Chapter 1. Falling Tears
Love wort dying for.
By dartmaul15
Chapter 1
Falling Tears
AKA: how to demolish a barn using snow.
The light breeze of the winter morning cut like ice-cold knives through Rainbow’s Fur, and her speed didn’t exactly help the cold. It was midwinter, and most ponies wouldn’t even consider sticking their hooves outside running the risk of catching a cold or even worse; getting pneumonia.
Yet it was in this weather one could find the light sky blue pegasi soaring through the sky. Truth be told, she didn’t even notice the weather; her mind was fixed on something very, very different. It wasn’t something in her line of sight at all. No, her mind was already several minutes ahead of her; imagining her and Applejack snuggled together in front of the roaring fire from a furnace, with a mug of steaming hot chocolate each. She then put the cup gently down before leaning closer to applejack making their lips meet in perfect unison.
A powerful gush forced the pegasi out of her daydreaming, and back into the freezing reality. She was currently flying above the first row of snow mushrooms, or apple trees if one wishes to be a prick, and got the sweet sight of the Apple Residence in sight. The building stood there like a beacon of warmth and love in all the cold, like it encouraged her to speed up more to get there; to get to Applejack.
She was heading over to her marefriend of six months, Applejack Apple. She wasn’t entirely sure how it had started. She had always cared for that stubborn pony, yet it was exactly a stubborn pony, three days at hospital and a lot of care that had been needed to make her realize what it was; Love.
It had all been more or less uphill after that. They had their share of fights and troubles since then, but nothing that couldn’t be solved with some diplomacy and a portion of pillow talk, or some unconventional usage of ropes and Pegasi Feathers.
As she drew closer to the residence she spotted her marefriend, curiously enough outside and on top of the barn. In her hand she held something that looked like a snowplough.
The pure joy of seeing her made Dash call out. “Hey Jack; are you ready to get inside for some warmth? Or maybe you want some hot pegasi?” Her voice made Jack react just like expected. Her head shot straight up, and she frantically searched for its origin; her beloved Dashie.
“Ah’d love some Pegasi. Ah just have ta clear this barn here Sugahcube, then Ah’ll be right there.” Jack replied with a sheepish grin, and a sultry voice “besides, we don’t want it ta come crashing…”
Just as Applejack was about to finish the sentence a loud hollow crack rippled through the sky followed by Jack seemingly sinking about half a meter into the snow on the roof. Her eyes stared back at dash with absolute terror; A stare that would be burned into her very soul for the days to come.
Rainbow Dash reacted instantly, shooting towards her marefriend. She flew as fast as she could; pressing her body beyond the limit of what was doable under normal circumstances. Each flap of her wings was a torment begging her to stop, yet the opposite were needed. The icy weather bit through her fur and wings, chilling her to the bone and further enhancing the pain in her wings. Even then she kept pushing herself beyond the limit, now only a stone’s throw away from the barn.
Then a second, deeper, crack pierced the silent sky. The whole roof of the barn started to give in bellow Applejack. Large rumblings and hollow cracks could be heard as the supporting beams collapsed and hit the hard floor in the barn down below. Jack just stood there, large pieces of the gable disappearing around her, completely frozen in terror before finally disappearing alongside what remained of the roof. A small cloud of snow was hurled up into the air as the debris and packed snow hit the ground on the insides of the barn.
Then a long terrifying scream of absolute agony followed, and after that, nothing; only the distant howling of the wind could be heard.
Rainbow Dash just hung there in mid-air looking in disbelief at the barn trying to comprehend what happened. She had been so close; mere centimetres away from saving her.
She then dived downward toward the bottom the barn, not really knowing why and how it would help. As the dreaded reality started to sink in bit by bit her confusion were replaced by tears. Silent tears of pain making their way down her chin before dropping towards the snow bellow. The cold air effectively freezes them solid before hitting the ground, leaving just a tiny entrance hole in the soft snow. A hole what will be filled with snow in the next gush, effectively wiping away any trace of its existence.
Yet there were still hope, there had to be hope; she had to be alive. There would be no way in Equestria she would be able to forgive herself if something had happened to Applejack.
She tipped forward and accelerated, bound to not waste a single second. Pulling up was not an option as she hit the snow at a speed that would have caused severe damage if it was a normal pegasi landing on dirt. But she was no normal pegasi, nor did she land on dirt. She was hitting snow. It was packed, but still snow. The force of impact sent the snow around hurling up into a second snow cloud, allowing more or less clear sight of what had been below it.
There, to the left of her! The blanket of white was disrupted by something orange… and red!
“Jack! NO!” Rainbow Dash hurried over to what was her marefriend and started digging desperately. The digging formed large clods of snow in her fur around her hooves, but she didn’t care. The more she dug out the redder the snow became, and as she neared the chest the snow were almost as red as the blood itself.
She was getting desperate. “no, don’t die jack. Please. I need you.” The horrible truth had fully sunk in as she dug her out. Her marefriend Applejack was bleeding from a large wound in her side, right above her front hooves. There were also small portions of blood coming from her mouth and nostrils. Yet what worried rainbow the most was her weak heart.
She gently bowed forward, and placed her hoof bellow Jack’s ear to get her pulse.
“No, no, no. This can’t be true. Jack, don’t die!” Rainbow Dash’s words of despair and sorrow echoed across what was left of the barn. Wet salty tears started flowing down her chin again, hitting the snow like tiny manifestations of her sorrow and grief.
“Not yet… dash.” A few faint coughs, followed by blood gulping into the snow, could be heard bellow.
“Jack…” The pegasi ran her hoof from her neck, and lingered on her marefriend’s chin. A limp, orange hoof touched her mane.
“Rainbow… ah love ya.” A few weak coughs escaped the once so strong farmpony as her hoof loosened the grip, and her head fell back into the snow, the icy wind gently playing with the fur on her still chest.
“NO! Don’t die Jack. I can get you to the hospital. Just please, don’t die.” The last words almost disappeared in the sobbing as Rainbow Dash just collapsed to the ground. Her marefriend was dead, and she had been too late to prevent it. It was all her fault; she had killed her with her slow response, and there were no way to undo it.
For the first time in her life Rainbow Dash felt there was nothing more she could do. Apple Jack was dead, her life shattered as a result, and it was all her fault. If she had been able to follow her into the great beyond she would have done so; gladly. She simply wanted to lie down next to her, and let the cold carry her away. She lay down beside her, and rested her own head against Applejack’s chest, and let her tears flow freely; just wishing for this nightmare to end, wishing to simply die.
Kadump… kadump... kadump…
Each of Applejack’s heartbeats was like massive thunderclaps in Rainbow Dash’ ears, each of them being a small beacon of hope and life to the poor pegasi mare besides her; each of the beats adding a small spark to the hope residing within Rainbow Dash.
Kadump… kadump… kadump…
‘I have to save her. I can’t let her die like this; not while there’s a chance. Not as long as I am Rainbow dash; the fastest flyer in Equestria, and the element of loyalty.’ Rainbow Dash’ newfound determination and hope filled her with enough power to get up from the snow, and take a proper look at the situation.
Applejack were lying beside her bleeding from Celestia knows how many wounds; most likely draining her life by every passing second. Rainbow Dash herself was more or less unharmed. Cold as ice, but unharmed.
The pegasi dug her snout through the snow and under Applejack’s body in a desperate attempt to get her marefriend onto her back.
With her marefriend steadily placed on her back she started to walk into the snow. The first that hit her as she exited the relative sheltering from the barn was the icy wind. It found its way between every single hair and feather on her body, and instantly sent shivers of cold through the light sky blue Pegasus. Yet she could not let wind or weather stop her. She had to get Applejack to the hospital. The high snow, reaching her almost to the elbows, made moving in the snow a painstakingly slow process. It would have been completely impossible if the snow hadn’t been that dry and loose. At least now she could force the snow to the sides with her hooves.
For every step she took she instantly sunk down to her barrel before her hooves would meet a layer of crusted snow, thick enough to barely hold the weight.
Yet she knew couldn’t survive forever, that every second she lingered outside brought her beloved one step closer to her fate; one step closer to her own fate. There was no way in Equestria she would fail now. Not now as every step she took brought Applejack one step closer to safety; one step closer to salvation and life.
As Rainbow Dash stamped her way through the snow the dreaded realization hit her. The reassuring beats of Applejack’s heart were slowly fading; each of them driving the heartless yet unstoppable countdown until her passing.
“Jack! No, don’t die! Please, don’t do this to me, don’t do this to us” Yet again, for the third time that day, the snow were stained with salty pegasi tears of sorrow; Each of them bearing the message of a heart shattering under the torment of seeing the love of her life dying in front of her own eyes. Each of them to be swept away and hidden by the next gush of wind. Hidden, but never forgotten.
Yet it was in this moment she received newfound strength, strength to push further through the snow.
She needed to hurry, and she knew it. She also knew that an attempt to run through the snow would mean the risk of hurting, or dropping, her. A risk she wouldn’t take.
It was then she remembered a trick they were thought back at flight camp. It made you able to more or less lock somepony to your back at the cost of not being able to fly at all. Another danger was the risk of dislodging your wings; not to mention the intense pain it would cause. Not that she really cared about that now.
She gritted her teeth as she twisted her wings almost to the point of breaking, and placed them over Applejack’s torso; hooking the last feathers locking together, effectively locking her to her own body. It made her cringe in extreme pain, and the only thing keeping her going were the determination to save Applejack; to save her marefriend.
She cringed in pain as she made the first steps forward; dislodging her left wing in the process. The intense pain jolted out from her wing, and spread out in the entire body, almost making her black out.
‘No! I will not let her die, not now! I… Need… to… keep… going.’ Each step sent another jolt of pain through her body, and forced her to stop.
‘No, this won’t do. Think Rainbow Dash, think!’ She still kept walking, pushing the intense pain into the back of her head. ‘Leap. I get further by leaping, and it doesn’t constantly stress the wing.’ The light sky blue leaped slightly ahead to test her idea. ‘Yeah, that’s about… ’. She then proceeded to jump a meter ahead only to land in the soft snow before beating a hole in the layer of frozen snow she had been walking on so far. She repeated the process over and over again, each landing shattering ice bellow her hooves. Ice that cut deep into the sole and fetlock, painting the snow in her hoof prints crimson from the blood.
She continued the journey toward the hospital, leaving a trail of blood behind her; each jump cutting another tiny wound enhancing the bleeding.
By the time she arrived in ponyville her hooves were smeared red by the blood all the way from the fetlocks and down to the tip of her hooves. The soles were cut up to the point where every step felt like walking on burning coal through hell; a journey she would gladly take to save her marefriend.
As she stepped up the stone steps leading to the ponyville hospital she felt the last of her powers leave her. She gathered her remaining strength for those last few meters to safety; feeling her body collapsing underneath her. She used her forehead and teeth to push open the front doors before tumbling in on wobbly feet before collapsing on the floor.
“Help me…. Jack is dying” was the last words she said before passing out with pleading eyes looking at the mare behind the counter.
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I looked at the comments to get an idea of what the fic is like. I find 4 deleted comments... I think I have an idea...
1991505 well, it was mostly me and one of my handy helpers who forgot about the new system where a note is left when you delete a comment
Of course you are getting what the tags tell you, so if you don't agrre with them then i suggest you ignore and move on
However if the tags brough you here then you are in the right place
I really don't see what warranted the dislikes i liked reading it.
1991514
I came because it was placed in the shipping group. I'll read it and then post a more worthwhile comment
1991524 let me answer that with appledash.
so much for love and tolerate 
Appledash fics are notoriously thumbed down by some parts of the society
1991543
if people dont like shipping then ignore the story. i guess some people are just bored so they thumb down ship fics.
1991567 well, then it's their loss
Okay, first off this doesn't deserve all the dislikes it's getting; your paragraphing is just beautiful, and your grammar relatively spotless. I did notice a few errors (mainly your mispelling of the word "below", but I think most of the dislikes actually came by the fact you have a sad/tragic romance, with one of the protagonists dying. When I got here from the shipping group I was expecting a "D'aww" romance. I got this. I certainly withdraw my previous comments; it is in no way as bad as I was expecting, but I did finish it a little relieved. Perhaps it's just because I'm not a huge fan of darker fics, or perhaps it's because the likeliness of the barn collapsing on Applejack being so unlikely.
You didn't explain how Applejack and Rainbow Dash got into a relationship, so the reader fails to really understand what is the two mares see in each other, and we don't get the chance to see them face any obstacles in their relationship either. In the end the reader just can't empathize with Dash and Applejack, or their relationship. I just didn't feel the pain that Rainbow Dash was feeling (despite the fact that you described it so well.)
Of course, this fic is still incomplete. I can, of course, expect more. But I'm just not sure about where you're taking this, and the inkling of an idea I do have I'm not even sure I like.
And then onto your tags: You have Romance, which we barely saw, Slice of Life, which I don't understand why it's there - I don't think a barn collapsing on a protagonist is an "Everday experience", And then you have both a sad and tragic tag at the same time... How did you even manage that? I thought they automatically declined fics that were submitted with that... interesting
Welp, I just wanted to include with two personal criticisms, and the first is your use of the name "Jack". I've never ever heard Applejack referred to as Jack. I've heard Rainbow call her AJ, which I'm fairly sure is her canon nickname, but never Jack. Perhaps you should explain why Rainbow is calling her friend that before using it so constantly.
The second thing was this:
Please tell you meant "wishes to be picky"
Made me laugh, either way. I'm not going to pick at your grammar, but this one just came across as a little... strange 
1991725 Yep, i know there's a few errors in it. I'm constantly reading it in hopes of finding them all
Noticed the "incomplete" tag? good. You see, this is the first chapter, and there's more to come. I also tagged it for the overal content in the story, not the chapters posted so far.
To be honest i was a bit unsure wetherr to include slice of life, and i see now it was a wrong decision to include it.
Thanks for the honest feedback, i really appreciate it