Just Friends

by lonewolf.007

Chapter 9

When sunlight streamed through the windows the next morning, Applejack sat up, and glanced over at the roll out bed… to find it empty. Her eyes widened, and she felt her insides tighten. Instantly awake, she ran for the door, into the corridor, to check the bathroom. Empty. AJ leapt down the stairs expertly, checking the kitchen, the living area… Nowhere.

Panic began to set in. It'll be fine, it's fine! Rainbow probably wanted to get some fresh air, it ain't the firs' time she's gotten up early. Maybe she went back ta her cloud home. Relax, AJ, relax. But Applejack was worried. She knew that whatever had happened to Rainbow while she was gone was really bothering the Pegasus.

Bursting through the front door, Applejack stood on the porch, disregarding the bright early morning sun that lit up the front porch. To see the rainbow-maned Pegasus standing just beyond the porch. Rainbow turned at the sound of the door crashing open, and their eyes met.

Applejack fell for her all over again. In those wild moments of searching for Rainbow, it emphasised just how much she cared for the cyan pony. How scared she was of losing her. The truth was, Applejack understood Rainbow, and she knew no one knew her as well as Rainbow did. They had been best friends for as long as she could remember. She wouldn't even have her Cutie Mark if it hadn't been Rainbow's signature move, her very first Sonic Rainboom. They had a connection, AJ could feel it. But it seemed that Rainbow couldn't. Not anymore. Lost when she thought she had lost AJ. Only, she never did. Applejack never really left the Pegasus. And now, AJ was the one afraid of losing Rainbow.

Shaking herself, she brought her mind back to the present to see the said Pegasus looking at her oddly. Applejack realised Rainbow was taking in her appearance. In her mad dash to find her missing friend, AJ had disregarded everything else. The customary Stetson was still on its hook in her room. Her mane and tail were both messy from sleep, and out of their usual bounds. Her blonde mane flowed freely over her shoulders, the wind catching a few strands and twisting them idly. Looking down, Applejack also saw her slightly rough coat, brushing it forgotten in the wake of finding Rainbow's bed empty. AJ could feel the blush creeping up her face, and looked away in an attempt to hide it.

"Heya, AJ. Are you alright?" The confusion in Rainbow's voice was matched by her expression.

"Oh, A-Ah'm fine, Rainbow. Ah jus' saw yer bed empty, an' wondered where y'all got to. That's all." Applejack inspected her hoof at the last part, the small lie tripping past her lips with difficulty.

"Oh, right. I woke up early, and wanted some fresh air. So I came out here for a bit. Sorry if I… uh… worried you with disappearing like that."

"'S alrigh', sugarcube. Ah guess I overreacted a little. Well, I'll let ya have some space, an' I'll go make some breakfast. Come in when yer done, alrigh' RD?"

"Sure thing, AJ." The orange pony turned to enter the house again when Rainbow's voice called out once more. "Hey, AJ!"

"Yeah, sugarcube?"

Rainbow gave the smallest of small smiles. "You look nice."

Applejack felt her face flush again, and turned back to the door. Hiding the growing smile on her face, from Rainbow's compliment. "Why, thank ya, Rainbow. Tha's mighty kind of ya to say that when y'all are seein' me at mah worst."

As she closed the door behind her, she thought she heard a reply, but she didn't quite catch it. It didn't bother her. She set about making the morning meal for everypony, looks forgotten in her happiness. As she set the oven, Rainbow's words ran through her head repeatedly. It couldn't be a bad day.

When the household woke up, the kitchen was filled with the aromas of apple and cinnamon tarts, freshly squeezed apple juice, apple strudel, and some pie in case anypony was really hungry. Big Mac was first down the stairs, taking in the kitchen benches laden with the goods.

"Wha's all this, Applejack?"

"Oh, hay, Big Mac. Ah thought Ah'd get breakfast ready fer us today."

The big red pony looked as his younger sister, her uncharacteristic appearance. "What happened ta ya mane? Ya look like ya jus' got up."

Applejack suddenly remembered. "Well, shoot! Ah forgot ta fix mahself up! Big Mac, could ya take care of the bakin' fer a minute?"

"Eeyup."

Applejack bolted up the stairs, and went straight to the bathroom, grabbing a brush and running it through her mane and tail before binding it up with her hair elastics again. She splashed her face with water, and wiped her hooves dry on the towel. She went back to her room, grabbing the Stetson of its hook, and placing it on her head again, back to normal.

The front door opened and closed with a snap. AJ made her way back down to the kitchen, and caught sight of Rainbow coming in again. "Hey, AJ." The spectral-maned pony grinned at Applejack, following her into the kitchen cross dining room area.

"Woah."

Rainbow stared at the plates of baked apple goods sitting on the table. Applebloom was awake now, and was prancing around the table, excited at the sight of so much food. Big Mac was by the oven, watching the last of the pie browning perfectly before turning it off. "So much food!"

"Ah figured y'all needed the energy fer today, and made a big meal fer us all."

"Wow, Applejack! Did ya make everything?" the little yellow filly came up to her older sister, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ah sure did! Now, we'll jus' wait fer Granny Smith ta come down before we tuck in."

"Wha's all this, here?" the green mare made her way down the stairs, smiling at the scene in front of her. "Did y'all make this feas'? Well, a good breakfas' is the bes' way ta end the day! Or somethin'… Now wha' was it? Ah don' think tha's quite righ'… Hmmm…" Granny lapsed into thought while Applejack placed the last of the plates on the dining table.

"Dig in!"

When three o'clock drew near, Applejack pulled the last cart of apples into the barn, ready for Big Mac's inspection. Rainbow had offered to help, but AJ could tell that she needed to have some time to herself. Whatever was coming, Applejack was sure she'd need the break. Rainbow wasn't the type to let out her weaknesses or her problems, and telling her five friends about it was an ordeal.

Big Mac stuck his head into the barn. "Oh, Big Mac, this here is the last of the apples today. Ah'm gonna go inta town ta spend some time with mah friends. I'll be at Twiligh's if ya need me."

"Eeyup."

With that, Applejack began the trip to Ponyville Library, thinking. Ah hope Rainbow's alrigh'. It's good that she's finally lettin' out whatever's been botherin' her. It must be hard… losin' yer family like that…

Rainbow never had any family to speak of. This was the first time any of the friends had heard about the Pegasus's parents and what had happened to them. Applejack had lost her parents herself at a very young age, but she had Big Mac, Applebloom and Granny Smith. The colourful flier had no one but herself to call family. And not knowing what had happened to them… Ah can't even imagine wha' it must be like… losin' your parents and not even knowin' where they went…

The giant tree of a library soon came up, with four of the ponies on the doorstep. A rainbow mane was missing, and they were waiting anxiously for their winged friend. Suddenly, AJ felt wind on her flank, and turned to see Rainbow swooping down to land beside her. The Pegasus looked determined as she made her way over to the library entrance. The cowpony followed, as they entered the world of books that was Twilight's home.

"Okay, I'm ready." Rainbow still wore the determined expression on her face, her words bearing the same force.

Taking their seats once again, all the ponies turned to the story teller, waiting for the rest of her tale.

"Okay… uh… you guys know what I was doing when I was gone… the first time… But I had to leave again. I know it was rushed. But I had to.

"One day, I woke up to knocking on my door, so I went to have a look at who it was. Derpy was there, with this letter. I asked her who it was from, but she didn't know. There was no return address or sender information at all.

"I was confused so I opened straight away… and… here, you can see it."

Hello Rainbow Dash,

If you think you've gotten away from us, then you should think again. We know who you are. And we know who your friends are too. We'll spell it out very clearly. You give us all the information we're after, and we won't do anything. Don't tell us what we want to know, and there will be trouble.

Where is Samael? What happened to him? What did you ponies do to him?

The questions are simple. We want answers. You have a week to give us what we want, or we will come after you. You wouldn't want what happened to your parents to happen to your friends too, would you?

Give us the information and no one will be hurt.

"That was it. I knew it was the Pegasi. Those two thugs that came last time and barged into my house. I was so angry. Who were these ponies, to threaten me for information about some Samael guy! I don't know who he is! But then I realised… they knew where to find me, they probably knew who you guys were. And I got scared. What if they took you guys away? Did something to you?

"That's why I left. I had to find them, settle things for good. I couldn't let them hurt my friends. I lost my parents… I… couldn't lose you guys too…

"So I left. But I couldn't tell you guys what was happening, because you guys might want to help, and get involved. This was my problem. I was going to fix it! So I left the note behind. I knew that Fluttershy'd come up and check up on me after I'd been missing for a few days.

"I had a problem though. I had no idea where to look, where to go. I packed up some things, bit of food, a few bits… I decided to pay one more trip to my parent's house… I needed their strength… A reminder of who I was, I guess…

"When I got there, I found everything as I left it. I dunno… I almost half expected somepony to be there, to ambush me… or something. But nopony was there, I was all alone. I decided to stay for a while, and try find out information. It was where everything started. Maybe they'd come again. I was sure they were watching me, that they knew I was trying to find them. It was just a feeling, ya know? I could feel them watching me…

"I spent a month in Cloudsdale. No one came for me, and I was worried, but there was never any news from Ponyville, about anything happening, ponies disappearing or anything. So I knew you guys were safe. I couldn't find anything though. Sometimes at night, I even flew around, went to a few of the back alley places, but I never saw either of those Pegasi.

"I wondered if I was missing something… I mean, why haven't they found me? Why haven't they done anything? Maybe they realised I didn't know about the guy? I didn't think so, it didn't feel like they'd stopped yet, ya know? It was just the feeling I got…

"So I tried again, to find out about this guy. I actually went to a library, and I looked through history books, I asked the librarians if there were any books that mentioned any pony called Samael. Nothing. I wanted to ask you, Twilight, but I didn't want to get you involved. I must have searched every book in Equestria! Four months… I've seen enough books to last me a life time!

"I never found anything on anypony named Samael… But one night I got a knock on the door again… and no one was there. There was just a piece of paper tacked to the door. It just said 'We're waiting.' They were still watching me…

"I had to lead them off. I felt like… they were too close. So I had an idea to try and draw them away… Maybe they'd confront me away from crowded places… I travelled around a bit, didn't ever stay in one place long… I hoped the chase would distract them from you guys… and make them reveal themselves…

"Manehatten, Appleloosa, Canterlot, Trottingham, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, Baltimare… even the small villages, like Hoofington, Bucksley, Gallopston… I went away from other ponies, I stayed in places with ponies… I never stayed in a place long. Maybe a month or two, max. I had to get random jobs, to fund the travel, but I got by. Still nothing… Two years of travel for nothing. There was still no sign of anypony after me, but I knew they were. I kept an eye out for any news on Ponyville at all, talking to ponies, reading the papers, but you guys all seemed safe.

"Finally I stopped. It wasn't working, so I came back to Cloudsdale. I wasn't ready to come back to Ponyville yet. I went to my childhood home again. It was really my home now… I've spent so much time there now…

"I got there, and when I opened the door I found another letter that had been pushed under the door. It had the same handwriting on the envelope as the letter I got years ago, I knew it was from them. This is it."

Hello again, Rainbow Dash,

We thought you might head this way after all that wondering. It was where it started wasn't it? But it isn't where it will end.

Head out west. Past Dodge Junction. You'll find us there. Or we'll find you.

"So I had my way. I knew where to go… I spent one last night before I left for Dodge Junction. Next morning, I flew to Canterlot bought the ticket for the next train to Dodge Junction, and luckily the next one was that afternoon. Or I'd have to wait for ages for the next one. I just made it in time and got on the train. It took two days' travel, I got there about midday.

"They had an inn, and I got a room for the night. I had to go on hoof from there on out. The letter said west, so I'd go west, no matter how far. I had to. And I wasn't going to let a couple of small-brained Pegasi mess with me! I recovered from the train journey, slept properly. Next morning I left. It was gonna get hot, I could tell. It was really early, about seven, and the sand was already warm. I made sure I had a lot of water, and began the flight.

"I dunno how long I flew for. I flew until it got too hot, but there was nowhere for shade. I just tried to use my pack as shade and sat for a bit, drinking water. It was only the first day and I was tired already! It got better in the afternoon, when it cooled off a bit. I started to fly again. I dunno how far I went, but I managed to keep going until Dodge Junction was long gone.

"The desert changed at night. It looked all different and stuff. Everything was purple… and you could see all the stars. It got really cold at night, but I remembered what you said, Twilight, and took a couple of blankets with me. I managed to keep warm while flying 'til it was pretty late, and then I finally had to rest and go to sleep.

"It went on like this for three days. I don't know what time it was, I just kept moving, sleeping and eating whenever I needed to. It was so… tiring. I couldn't even fly as fast as I wanted to. It was so exhausting, the sight never changed. By the third night, I was almost done. I knew I'd been going practically non-stop for the last three days and nights. The weight in my pack was weighing me down, and finally I couldn't fly much further. So I walked.

"By the fourth day… I was so tired... I could hardly walk. Even training for the Young Flier's Competition wasn't this bad. Even travelling for two years around Equestria was easier! It was so exhausting… I-I felt drained. I collapsed that night, couldn't even find the energy to eat or drink. I was just lying there on the sand, in the middle of the desert. I thought it'd all be over…

"Then I heard hoofsteps behind me, through the sand. It was the two Pegasi. The cowards! Facing me now while I was tired! And they had three henchponies with them too. One of them, the shorter one, smiled at me. He said, 'At last, Rainbow Dash. We've got you now. You'll be coming with us.' I couldn't fight off the three thugs that tried to catch me. I don't remember too clearly… I was struggling against them, as they tried to bind me up to stop me from getting away… I think they knocked me out, because next thing I knew, I was in some dungeon place. Like the ones in Daring Doo.

"It was all dark, and I dunno how long I was out for. But soon a pony came up and saw I was awake. A-a Earth pony… I thought I'd been dealing with Pegasi, but when guards came, there was a Pegasus, an Earth pony AND a unicorn! I was all bound up… I couldn't fly, and I was still tired, and now bruised. They took me to the two Pegasi, those cowardly ponies! They were sitting there, are smug, like they did anything! They asked me again, about Samael. I told them I DIDN'T KNOW WHO HE WAS. Again and again.

"I think this went on for a few days… they'd drag me out and question me about this guy, and when I didn't give an answer they just threw me back into the place. I knew I had to get outta there, but I had no idea how. They fed me a little, and stuff, but it was always this gross slop thing. But I remembered Daring Doo, and I knew I had to keep my strength up. So I slept and ate. I didn't know what time it was or anything, but finally, they took me out, and led me some place new. It wasn't the usual place with those stupid ponies.

"It was this different place, similar to my cell thing, and I didn't know why I was brought here. And then… I… I-I saw… my parents. Th-they… were in the cell. They had my parents. My mum… when she saw me… she was crying… and my d-dad… he was so shocked… and he started yelling… a-at the guards holding me… he was so angry at them… Th-the… those thugs… those COWARDS. Th-they came and said… 'Tell us about Samael… we won't wait m-much longer… Two Pegasi i-in a cell a-aren't much use to us.'

"And that's when I got ANGRY. I WAS SO ANGRY. THOSE COWARDS WHO WOULDN'T FIGHT ME ALONE. I somehow managed to break free, I dunno how, I just remember running at them, the shock on their faces… I just managed to hit one across the face with my hoof, but then somepony grabbed me by my bound wings…

"Then it was a fight, a crazy fight. I don't remember much… but they had to call for reinforcements or something… I got hurt… they had weapons, but I avoided the worst… My wings were bound though, I couldn't fly… Then a pony charged at me, and I dodged their swing, and the knife they had cut the ropes around my wings. I managed to fly again, and I got up above the others. I managed to get my hands on a club or something that somepony dropped while fighting, and I took out a couple of ponies. But I had a broken rib or two, I think, and cuts and bruises, and I wasn't… feeling as strong… as I usually was. In a moment when I managed to take down another Pegasus, I went over to the door of the cell… but it was padlocked and everything, there was… no way… I could get through.

"My m-mum… and d-dad, they told me to go. 'Just GO. We'll be okay. Escape! Get out of here! Fly east, and keep going! Be strong for us! Go, Rainbow. GO!'

"S-so I did. I bowled over the charging ponies in my direction, and probably got the gash down my side because of that. Then I flew, as hard and fast as I could. I'd never flown so fast! But it was s-so w-wrong! I was l-leaving my p-parents behind. I LEFT THEM BACK THERE. I managed to g-get out. It was afternoon, or something, I c-can't remember. I did what they told me. I flew east, a-away f-from the sun… I kept flying… I dunno how I kept going… I felt lightheaded, p-probably from l-losing blood. But I c-couldn't g-give up. My parents wanted me to survive. So I would. I flew, until I couldn't feel the pain or tiredness anymore… I dunno how long it was… but then one morning, I was back in Ponyville… and I crashed.

"And that's how I came back."

KABOOM! The mystery is over! Or is it? WHO IS SAMAEL? We have yet to find out. And what happens now?

I tried to keep in character as much as possible, Rainbow's reluctance to admit that she is actually WEAK, her anger, her attitude... her need to be loyal and how much it hurt to leave her parents behind... I hope I did a good job. These two chapters have been the hardest to write. But they were fun.

If you guys could shoot off a review about how this chapter went, that'd be great! Thanks for your support!

BY THE WAY, keep an eye out for "Apple Spectrum", by Arby Works. If you're enjoying this story, you'll love his story. Even though he hasn't updated for some time. GET A MOVE ON ARBY. Anyway...

Until next time!

Yours truly,
Lonewolf

Note: Posted onto FiMFiction by Arby Works with permission from Lonewolf.007. All credit goes to him for his fanfic, please check it out here or on FanFiction.

Mr. Masato/Arby Works.

Comments

[Meeester]

Oooo 3 updates, 1 left to read for this.

I did indeed feel RD's character done very well in ch9. The references to Daring Doo, the hesitance during her recollection, everything felt genuine/canon to me. VERY well written. Now I must read ch10!

[Lord-Sparda]

HA THATS HILARIOUS AUTHOR!!!!!