//------------------------------// // Calm Before The Storm // Story: Blanked // by Salnalus //------------------------------// Later on in the day, Pinkie Pie told Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy about what happened with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, which seemed to lower their downed moods even more than before. Fluttershy decided she wasn’t feeling too well for all of this, so they escorted her on home, where she was left in the comfort of her animal friends. But what Twilight had said to them got them curious about Applejack, who must’ve been taking the news the hardest considering the circumstances. They suggested that Pinkie and Rainbow check up on Applejack, while Rarity would go to see how Twilight was doing. After agreeing with each other, they went their separate ways. As they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie and Rainbow tried to hide their feelings from the townsponies of Ponyville as best as they could, giving off forced smiles if they felt the need to. They figured the citizens shouldn’t know yet, at least until everypony in the know agreed on the best time to do so. As soon as they entered the front gates of the farm, the only pony they saw outside was Big Macintosh, who was bucking down some apples from the trees. It seemed like most of his work was finished, and he only had a few trees left to take care of. Seeing how he wasn’t that far from the gate, they decided to approach him. “Hey, Big Mac,” said Rainbow Dash, trying to get his attention as he bucked down another batch of apples into the baskets on his back. He turned his head toward them, and the expression on his face showed a small hint of sorrow, as opposed to the laid back demeanor he always seemed to carry around. “Do you know where Applejack is?” Pinkie asked. Big Mac answered her question, not with any words, but by facing the house.. “Not feeling good, is she?” Pinkie responded. All he could say was “Nope…” The hesitation in his voice was quite apparent. Both mares were cautious to approach the building now, as they weren’t sure if Applejack was even going to accept talking to anypony in her current mood. But they figured it was worth a try, and Big Mac seemed like he didn’t mind, mostly because they were some of Applejack’s best friends. He thought that, if anything, they could help to calm her down even a little. And so they entered the house, but Applejack was nowhere to be seen. Granny Smith was there, though she was peacefully resting on her rocking chair. They didn’t know if she knew what happened as well, mostly as they couldn’t see any sort of melancholic expression on her sleeping face. They just looked at each other and shrugged, figuring as long as she didn’t look bad, they shouldn’t bother her. Their main focus was on Applejack at the moment. The only place they hoped to find her was in her room. They made their way up the stairs toward her room. Pinkie pressed her ear to the door, hearing nothing but a faint breathing coming from within. “She’s in there,” Pinkie said, facing Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare noded and proceeded to knock lightly on the door. “Hey Applejack, you in there?” she asked, hoping to get an answer. They waited and waited, but heard nothing in return. She knocked again, with no answer to greet them still. “She probably needs a bit more alone time,” Rainbow suggested, at least until they heard hoofsteps coming from the other side of the door. It opened up to reveal Applejack, but she wasn’t wearing her trademark hat. It was lying down on the bed beside her. And as expected, she looked the most miserable they had ever seen her. The worst thing they saw were her slightly bloodshot eyes, quite possibly from all the crying they assumed she was doing. “What are y’all doin’ here?” she asked. “We heard what happened from Twilight,” Pinkie started, “and wanted to see if we could turn that frown upside-down.” “Sorry Pinkie,” Applejack responded as she turned away, walking back into her room, “but ain’t no way you’re gonna flip my mood over. This is way too serious a matter to be makin’ things easy on me.” Pinkie and Rainbow Dash entered the room, seeing no resistance to them being there. “What Pinkie meant to say was, maybe we could keep you company at the very least. You know, make you feel a bit better?” She wasn’t sure if that helped any, but Applejack didn’t seem to be cross over it. “Ah just don’t know guys… just not in th’ mood for company,” she said as she slumped down to the floor on her flanks, lowering her head in despondency. “Well, I don’t know about you, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to her friend and sat down beside her, wrapping her foreleg around the orange mare’s neck. “But I’m always going to be there for my friend, no matter what.” “Me too,” Pinkie agreed, sitting on the opposite side of Rainbow Dash, wrapping both of her legs around Applejack’s body. Applejack sat in between her friends’ hugs, sighing and doing nothing to push them away. She wanted to be alone for most of the day when she woke up that morning, and even when she saw two of her best friends come in, she still wanted some solitude. But she couldn’t deny that it felt… nice to have somepony come in to cheer her up. Somepony that wasn’t doing it the way Twilight “helped” her, at least that’s how she saw it.. Rainbow and Pinkie just wanted to see her get better, and that was something she could respect. She found herself hugging them back, happier than she was in some time. Even if that wasn’t much. “Ah love you guys,” she followed, accompanied by a miniscule smile. “Y’all didn’t have to come here and cheer me up, but ya did anyway. Ah’ll be fine, really. Just need a bit a’ time to accept things is all.” The other mares let go of Applejack and looked up at her “I doubt it’s just going to take a little accepting the facts to get you through this. We’ll be here with you every step of the way to, uh, make sure you don’t go crazy or anything,” Rainbow Dash joked, though she meant part of what she said. “”Ooh, I know one thing that’ll work! Why don’t we make an apple pie together? You know, just to get your mind out of the gutter?” Pinkie Pie suggested with an upbringing smile. “Ah suppose we can do that,” Applejack answered while rising up from the floor. “But Ah can’t promise y’all that Ah’ll feel any better. What happened to Apple Bloom is way too huge for me to ever ignore or get outta my mind.” “Yeah, we understand. We’d probably be like this too, if we lost somepony so close to us,” Rainbow Dash explained, while she and Pinkie rose up as well. “But me, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight will help you all the way, and Big Mac and Granny Smith too.” However, hearing Twilight’s name made Applejack’s eye twitch with a bit of frustration, and she walked toward the door with her eyes narrowed. “Ah’d rather not talk about Twilight…” “Why?” Pinkie questioned as they followed her. “Did something happen between you two?” “You could say that…” was all she said afterward. Spike was in the library, organizing a few books on the bookshelves. He had seen Twilight even more down than before, and he thought that a job done well would at least bring up her mood a bit. He was just about done when a knock came from the door. Quickly setting a book down, he walked over to the door and turned its handle, opening up to see Rarity standing in front of the doorway. “O-Oh, hi Rarity,” he said as she graced him with her presence. Though, with how things were going recently, he figured it wasn’t just another visit. “Is Twilight here, darling? I don’t know if you saw her yet, but she is having… problems,” she explained to the small dragon, while he opened the door all the way to let her in. “Oh yeah, I know what you mean…” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know what’s up with her, and I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she wouldn’t tell me.” “Oh, she didn’t tell you? She said she was going to… poor dear,” she said, with a hoof held to her chest in dismay. “You’d think that if you saw her like that, making you wonder what the problem was, she’d tell you instead of keeping you concerned.” “I know, right?” Spike exclaimed with his hands thrown up in the air for emphasis. “Do you at least know what’s wrong?” “I do, but… it’s rather hard to explain. I’ll tell you what I know.” Rarity explained everything, about Twilight and Apple Bloom going into the Everfree Forest to deliver herbs to Zecora. That part of the story got him curious, especially considering Apple Bloom went with her. It went on until the part just before Twilight’s discovery of the filly’s body, where she started hesitating. “This is where it gets even worse, doesn’t it?” Spike asked worriedly, as if he was hearing some sort of scary story, which it was in a way. Rarity slowly nodded. “According to Twilight, Apple Bloom was… attacked by some ferocious creatures, and she’s… she’s no more.” That got a loud gasp out of the baby dragon, and he suddenly felt uneasy, especially knowing why Twilight was disheveled now. “You...you mean...she’s…oh no…” he trailed off, unable to speak anymore. The wave of emotions hitting him was too much to bare. He wasn’t crying, but he wasn’t far from reaching that point either. Seeing her poor Spikey Wikey acting like that, Rarity came over and brought him in for a hug. He was too overwhelmed by the news to react like he wanted, but there was nothing wrong with that. “It’s fine if you want to cry,” Rarity comforted him. “There’s no shame in doing that for something like this.” “That’s horrible,” Spike responded. “That’s just...horrible…no wonder Twilight’s been acting like that…” “There’s more to it, unfortunately. You see…” She explained what Twilight did that night, and how she blamed herself for Apple Bloom’s death in the end. As she continued on with the story, Spike’s expression was even more saddened. It was too much, and he started to cry from it all. “No...she can’t do this to herself...it wasn’t her fault,” he cried, trying to wrap his head around such a thing. “It can’t be…” “I know how you feel, but that’s how she sees it. And I’m here precisely to make her feel better about it. Could you take me to see her?” “I can do that. I don’t want to see her like this anymore.” He grabbed one of her front hooves and took her to the bedroom. Rarity wasn’t sure what to expect from Twilight, but she was preparing for the worst. And that was what she got. Twilight was curled up on her bed, closing her eyes and tearing up. Her mane was a little frazzled, a result of being in bed for so long. She wasn’t even aware that Rarity and Spike were there in the room with her. That was how deep into guilt she was. The baby dragon hesitantly climbed into bed with her. He wanted to tap her on the shoulder so she’d know they were there, but he was scared about her reaction. He took a deep breath and did it anyway. Twilight slowly opened her eyelids and turned around to see him. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, as she lost control over her emotions when she got home. Rarity almost gasped from the sight, but she had to ignore it to be a good friend. Seeing that Rarity was here, the purple mare sat up on her hind legs. She brought over a tissue and wiped the tears away, enough to look presentable before she could speak. “Hi, Rarity,” she said in a downed mood. “What are you doing here?” “I’m here because I’m not going to let you be like this anymore,” Rarity responded, in a tone that was half comforting and half confrontational. “You have every right to be sad about this. Apple Bloom was a good friend of ours, and we’ll never find somepony like her. But I’m not letting you take the blame for her death.” Twilight’s ears drooped again, and she nearly shoved her face back into the pillow. “But it is my fault…” “No, it’s not. I don’t care what happened that night. We all know you did the best you could in that situation. You always do--” “But I didn’t,” Twilight interrupted. “I could have been there to save her. I wasn’t, and I should have. If I was right there with her, none of this wouldn’t happen, and--” “I will hear nothing of it. Please, darling, I know you wish you could have changed the outcome. We all would have if we were in that position. But please don’t do this to yourself. We know you better than that.” “Same here,” Spike spoke up. “I… I don’t want to see you like this. So what if you didn’t do what you wanted to do with her? From what I’ve heard, those creatures were creepy and scary. I would have run away if I was there. You were brave for even trying to save Apple Bloom.” “Try? Try? That’s not good enough, Spike. I could have saved her...and I didn’t...and now Apple Bloom is gone, and Applejack will never forgive me for losing her little sister…” “Are you kidding? I know Applejack took the biggest loss out of all of us, but she has to forgive you...right?” Spike asked. Twilight shook her head, and spend the next few minutes explaining what happened between them at Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity gasped at the news, while Spike came down to tears again. “Oh my Celestia,” Rarity replied. “That doesn’t sound like the Applejack I know. I understand that she would take this the hardest out of all of us, but to go that far?” “Exactly. And I’ve been thinking lately about it,” said Twilight. “And I think I deserve it--” Before she could continue, Spike broke down and hugged her as tightly as she could. Rarity did the same, embracing her to make her feel loved. Twilight did nothing while they were hugging her, still consumed by the guilt eating away at her heart and soul. “Please… don’t do this to yourself,” Spike cried again. “Please…” “I’ll have to deal with Applejack about this in the future,” Rarity said, pulling away from the hug. “That’s no reason to hate yourself for what you did.” Twilight said nothing again, and she laid back down on the bed. Rarity was heartbroken that her words did nothing to help her friend, but she felt like this was the best she could do by herself. Spike stayed by Twilight’s side in bed, making sure he would be there as soon as she needed something. He had to do that for her now. Rarity sniffed and regained her composure enough to keep a straight face, and she rubbed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder to comfort her one last time. After that, she left the bedroom to head out the door. She would think of something else to do that would help Twilight in the end. Something had to work on her. Anything. However, right before she pushed the door open, she heard seven words come out from the bedroom. It was enough to make the whole thing worth it, and her heart was uplifted from hearing them. “Thank you, Rarity. You’re a great friend.” When Applejack was finished with her story, the contrast in Rainbow Dash and Pinkie’s faces were enormous. Dash only gave a blank stare to Applejack, and Pinkie’s face was soaking wet from the tears. “And that about covers it,” Applejack concluded. “Ah know that might seem rough and tumble, but it was the right thing to--” “You kicked Twilight in the chest when she was trying to help you? Seriously?” Dash interrupted. “Now, you just wait a moment before you’re pointin’ hooves at me. Apple Bloom was a huge loss for our family. It will always be a big loss. And Ah can’t just forget somethin’ like that, not when Twilight could have stepped in and put her hoof down when she didn’t.” “You… you mean… you’re no longer friends?” Pinkie asked cautiously. Applejack had to think about the answer to that question, which was noticeable by her sudden pause. “Ah don’t know about all that. Ah do know that Ah don’t want to see her right now. She could have saved her, she didn’t, end of story.” “But that’s no excuse to act like that toward her!” Dash shouted. “I know you have every right to be mad at her right now. I get it. Maybe Twilight should have been there for her. But you can’t do things like that just because you’re angry.” “She wouldn’t give me the space Ah needed,” Applejack retorted. “Ah had every right to shut her down.” “But you can’t kick her. She was trying to help--” “You call that help? She knew what was up. She should have--” “I don’t care! You don’t treat friends like--” “Why won’tcha understand? Ah should have--” “STOP!” Pinkie finally snapped, unable to take any more of the arguing. She shoved a hoof into both of their mouths to shut them up, and she was literally shaking from all the mixed emotions she was feeling. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were surprised by Pinkie’s actions, and they stopped in their tracks and looked at her. “Please, I can’t take it when you two fight like that. It’s fun whenever you’re being competitive, like your 192nd Iron Pony competition to figure out who’s the toughest pony, but this isn’t fun at all! You’re being mean to each other, and that’s not what friends do! They’re supposed to talk it out and be open to both sides.” That was enough to calm them both down. They sat down on their haunches and were ashamed over what they did. They both shared a defeated sigh and faced each other. “Ah’m sorry, Dash. You know by now how touchy this is for me. Ah know Ah might sound a little blunt at the moment, but you can’t just forget somethin’ like that.” “I’m sorry, too,” Dash apologized. “But you know what the deal is? We know you lost something deep and personal to you. I would be the same way if Scootaloo died on me like that. She’s the closest thing to a sister I have. We just don’t want to lose something else along the way.” “And what would that be?” “Your friendship with Twilight,” Pinkie spoke up. “If you keep acting this way, you two are never going to be friends again. And that would be horrible.” “Are you saying that our friendship would be a greater loss than my own sister?” “No,” Dash cut in, knowing Pinkie would break down if she had to answer. “That’s not it. But it would make things worse. We don’t want to lose anything else because of this.” “Guess Ah see what you mean. But Ah’m not going to forgive Twilight that easy.” “Can you at least try?” Pinkie added, her voice full of hope and optimism. Applejack stopped for a moment and thought about it. “Ah… Ah’ll think about it. But there’s no guarantee that it will be a yes.” “Better than saying no, at least,” Dash said. “Just understand, we feel sorry that you lost Apple Bloom. Don’t ever forget that, and we’ll be there to help you out. But don’t let it be an excuse to do something you’ll regret.” With that said, Dash and Pinkie hugged Applejack one last time before leaving the room. Pinkie shut the door behind them, leaving Applejack alone with her thoughts. Applejack sat down on her bed, thinking over what her friends said to her. She wasn’t mad at her, and at least they weren’t being sticks in the mud like Twilight was. But at the same time, she had some thinking to do. A lot of thinking.