(EGW)
The moon shone silver through every open window that they passed, leaving large patches of silvery light to lie against the darkness of the small house. Nothing moved except the creaking floorboards underneath the feet of its two only occupants… and even then, only one of those occupants was the cause of the noise. The other was wrapped snuggly within the arms of the first and had their eyes closed gently as if in sleep.
Finally, the two reached their destination; a lone wooden door in a seemingly long hallway. In one swift motion, the first person turned the knob and kicked open the door, the motion not even jostling their passenger despite the awkwardness of the sight. And still no words managed to pass between the two since they had first entered the small cottage. Not even as the door was once more closed and the two made their way over to the only piece of furniture in the room – a large double bed – was there sound. There was only silence.
As gently as if they were holding a baby, the first person carefully lay their charge on the bed before accompanying them on the other side. The bed gave a creak in protest to the sudden weight of two bodies, but despite its age, it still held strong, not bothering to protest further about the situation. It was then that the silence was finally broken.
“ Now can I open my eyes?” The second person asked, an edge of annoyance clear in their voice.
“ ‘Course ya can, sugar. Just not sure ‘bout what you’ll see, is all.” The first replied, a southern drawl gracing their own voice.
No attention was paid to what was said after the initial ‘yes’. Instead, magenta eyes opened to darkness. Panic was quick to set in as the thought of being blind as well as paraplegic started to envelope the mind, but the silver light that stretched across the room from the only window was all that was needed to dispel the fear that had formed. But just to make sure, those same eyes turned to the side, catching the twin green shapes that seemed to glow with moonlight themselves.
“ Told ya ya wouldn’t see much.”
The faint silhouette of the owner of those currently smiling, green eyes was all that was needed to bring a smile to the face of the other. Her hair was down, flowing over her shoulders like a waterfall that glowed in the moonlight, shimmering gold with just the barest movement possible. Her hat lay against the nearest bedpost, close to its owner and bowed slightly as if trying to make the moment as private as possible.
It couldn’t be helped. A sigh managed to sneak out from between the usually brash and self-appraising lips of the other.
“ You don’t get it, Jackie. I don’t need light to be able to see you.”
“ Look at mah little Rainbow, getting all sappy.”
The next thing Rainbow Dash knew was that Applejack had swung herself over the top of her and was proceeding to linger her lips just above her neck and jawline. The fresh scent of wood and worked soil combined with the other, more rustic scents that arose with farm life hit like a bullet train speeding past her, just like it always did whenever their ‘pleasure nights’ occurred, almost reminding her of her true calling within Applejack’s arms. And the musty apple scented breath that escaped the farmer’s lips… just being close enough to those lips to touch them was enough to send electricity running through Rainbow’s body.
But Rainbow also knew that she was being teased and it infuriated her to no end, being so close and yet so far to what she desired. She could feel herself rising to the challenge, though, as her mind started working on ways to get her lover even more closer to her than she already was.
Her hands, however, seemed to have a mind of their own. As if of their own accord, they snaked their way under Applejack’s shirt and trailed over the girl’s firm muscles that ran along her back and sides, making them twitch ever so slightly with just a single touch. But they didn’t stop there. Instead, Rainbow’s hands made their way towards the more sensitive areas of Applejack’s body, eliciting a small hum of pleasure from the girl.
Just as things started to get extra exciting, though, the door slammed open, forcing both girls away from each other in surprise.
“ Ah thought Ah locked that.” Rainbow Dash heard Applejack mutter under her breath.
“ Obviously not.” She couldn’t stop the words from falling out of her mouth as her irritation at being disturbed shrouded her mind.
“ Give her back.”
These new words were practically hissed at the two on the bed… and they sent a thousand waves of ice cold snow rushing down Rainbow Dash’s spine, effectively destroying any good feeling she had had previously. Unfortunately, the owner of the voice remained hidden in the shadows, so there was no way to make sure that it was who Rainbow thought it was. But that all changed when the once beautiful, silvery night was transformed into one filled with thunder and lightning as far as the eye could see.
The change was so sudden that both girls ended up screaming a little when a flash of lightning lit up the room unexpectedly; also revealing the new arrival to be none other than Rarity.
But there was something different about the fashionista that the other girls couldn’t quite put a name to. And it was that difference which made both Rainbow Dash and Applejack cautious. Especially since her voice seemed to have grown darker with the change. Not to mention both her skin tone and her hair colour had greyed considerably since she was last seen.
“ Rarity?” Applejack whispered, trying to understand what was going on.
“ Give me back my Rainbow, Applejack!” Rarity growled in response.
“ What?”
“ Rainbow Dash is mine! Now give her back!”
“ Ah think yer a little confused, Rares. First, though, ya need ta calm down. Yer givin’ us both a scare ‘ere. Mind explainin’ what this is all about?”
“ There is nothing to explain, Applejack. You took my Rainbow Dash and I want her back.”
“ Now wait just a gold pickin’ minute. Ah didn’t take Rainbow Dash offaya, she dumped ya. Ah got her fair an’ square after that, helped her back on her feet after what you did. You sure as hay can’t come bargin’ in ‘ere demandin’ anythin’ offa her that she don’t want. Now why don’t ya just go home.”
Usually, Rarity would have followed orders, apologised and left, but not this time. This time Rarity stayed where she was, her dulled eyes flashing dangerously with every clap of thunder that rang in the air outside. Not to mention her darker nature was just plain freaky. Yeah, she was capable of scary stuff when she was mad or upset, but acting all dark and obsessive was just plain unnatural. It just wasn’t her.
But the way Rarity stalked into the room after Applejack’s little speech sent waves of terror rushing through both girls. And the flash of silver in one of her hands was more than heart-stopping. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help it, she snuck a glance beside her, hoping that the silver flash was just a bracelet or watch and not what she thought it was. Applejack, however, seemed to know better and planted a last kiss on her girlfriend’s lips. That was when Rarity lunged, the silver gleam showing itself to be Rainbow Dash’s worst nightmare.
Rainbow Dash jolted upright with a start, her breath coming in short rasps as her heart tried to escape from her chest. The last thing she remembered was Rarity flying at Applejack with a knife in her hand, but looking around the darkened barn, she realised that it wasn’t real. It had all been just a dream.
Applejack was snoring slightly as she lay asleep on her back, one arm thrown behind her head and towards the centre of the circle that the girls had formed with their sleeping bags. Rarity was sleeping right next to her and just as peacefully. In fact, the only one who wasn’t sleeping well – aside from herself – was Sunset Shimmer who was grumbling about ponies and princesses and lashing out occasionally as if attacking some invisible foe.
Did she think it was strange that someone around her age was dreaming about pony princesses? Yes. Yes, she did. Just like she thought everyone was making up some really elaborate game about magic being introduced to this world because of some strange portal to a third world where everyone was a pony. It only took one look at Applejack to realise that the strange story was actually true. And just to prove her point, the farm girl was more than happy to do a small bass guitar solo to show her that magic was real.
But at that moment, Rainbow had more troublesome things on her mind to deal with… like the dream she had just had deciding that it was going to play over and over again in her head. And just thinking about that knife was making things very difficult for Rainbow Dash. Especially seeing as she was trying to get back to sleep. The image of moonlight shining on the blade as it was forced upon Applejack kept flashing in her mind like flashes of lightning in a storm… and she usually liked lightning.
With a soft sigh escaping her lip, Rainbow knew she wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep any time soon. So she grabbed one of the conveniently placed flashlights that Pinkie Pie had left nearby for her ‘in case of an emergency’, gathered herself and her pillow in the sleeping bag and somehow managed to shuffle her way over to where she had stashed her secret project. She figured, if she couldn’t get to sleep, she may as well be productive in some way.
If there was one thing about Rainbow Dash, it was that she was considerate… to a point. If someone was sleeping and otherwise slacking off when they should have been working, then she would harass them to no end. Being the only one awake in the middle of the night, however, was a different story altogether.
Yet, even though the minutes ticked by in the pretence of being hours, and the limited amount of colours she had on her, not to mention the fact that she was working by torchlight, Rainbow Dash made quick use of her inability to sleep. Not only had she managed to complete the outlines of her work, but she had also managed to colour it. She was almost finished too, when the pencil she was holding dropped out of her hand. The reason; sleep had finally found its way back to the rainbow haired girl and had quickly snatched her back into its grasps.
--
As is normal for farm life, Applejack was the first to wake the next morning; her internal body clock getting her up in time to start the day’s chores despite the fact that she knew she didn’t need to thanks to the sleepover weekend that was happening in her barn. Shortly after her – and for similar reasons – Fluttershy woke, a gentle smile on her face as she went to say good morning to all around her. She gave herself a slight shock when she realised that Applejack was the only one up beside herself.
“ Good morning, Applejack.” She whispered, getting out of her sleeping bag and rummaging around for her clothes.
“ Mornin’, Fluttershy. Sleep well?” The farmer replied, also in a whisper.
“ Surprisingly, yes. Not having Butterscotch in his stall for the night concerned me a little at first, but I guess things turned out okay. How did you sleep?”
“ A bit like you, Ah guess.”
“ What do you mean?”
“ Well, Ah slept okay. But Ah was worried a lot, too.”
“ Because of Rainbow Dash?”
“ Ah know that gal can defend herself just fine, but that Rainbow Dash tends ta have a hot head at times. Now, Ah don’t know about this’un, but our Rainbow could be gettin’ herself in some serious danger - provoked or otherwise – an’ she wouldn’t ‘ave us ta drag her kickin’ and screamin’ from whatever monster she was gonna get herself killed by. An’ Ah mean that figuratively.”
“ Or she could be totally fine. If this Rainbow’s world is anything like our world, then I’m sure our Rainbow Dash has found that world’s version of us. I bet they’re taking care of her right now.”
“ That’s the thing, Fluttershy. What if there’s a third Rainbow Dash or even a third world involved an’ by some unforeseen disaster, our Rainbow’s found herself in trouble?”
“ Do you really think that’s what’s happened?”
Applejack fell silent for a few minutes, her thoughts finally able to slow down. Yes, she was worried about her friend… her best friend. Fluttershy was probably worried about her herself. In fact, she currently had that look in her eye that clearly said that she was. But, unlike Applejack, the other girl was not letting that worry consume her. So, with a deep breath to help calm herself down, the farm girl gave a small nod.
“ Yer righ’, Fluttershy. Ah am worryin’ too much. Thanks fer snappin’ me back.”
“ Oh, you’re welcome.”
The two sat quietly after that, talking about what they were going to do with ‘Wheelchair Dash’ as Pinkie Pie had affectionately started calling Rainbow Dash the night before. It was a nickname that her own Pinkie Pie had come up with almost as soon as the two had first met, but Rainbow was more than happy to let her new friends use it. At least it stopped some confusion from spreading around.
By the time the list they were making reached its eighth idea, Sunset had joined them, adding ‘learn wheelchair sports’ to the list alongside ‘playing music’, ‘baking’ and ‘The Sonic Rainbooms’ to name a few. Sunset Shimmer also made Applejack and Fluttershy swear that they would stop her from drinking any form of apple cider before bed time, and only if they managed to catch her with the stuff. When asked about it, she only stated one thing; night terrors.
Dark memories of times past in both her old world and her new world obviously still plagued Sunset’s mind from the night before. Every now and then, her ears would twitch – much like she would have used them to swivel around in any direction in search of possible danger if she had been in her pony body. And the way she bit her bottom lip in an attempt to hide her fear was easily noticed by her friends despite her efforts.
Because of that, both Applejack and Fluttershy chose to leave any more questions they had about their friend’s night deep within the backs of their mind… at least for another time. Distressing a friend was not on their to-do list. Yet, despite the silence the two had fallen into, Sunset knew that if she really needed to, they were willing to sit by her and listen to her problems. Any of her friends would, no matter how large or small the issue was.
But not long after Sunset awoke, Applejack had a thought. So as not to wake anyone else up (as well as to check on how Butterscotch was doing) Applejack led the trio outside so that they may continue their conversation. Yet, even as the three of them made their way out of the barn, neither one of them noticed that Rainbow Dash was missing from their circle of sleeping bags. Apparently, Rainbow’s snores were loud enough not to warrant any concern as they obviously thought that she was – at the very least – still somewhere within the barn.
While they were gone (watching Butterscotch happily prancing around the paddock took a surprisingly long time thanks to the enjoyment of both the morning and the sight), Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie also woke with the rise of the sun. And still no one noticed the missing person in their group. Though that may have been thanks to the still loud snores coming from somewhere within the barn curtesy of Rainbow Dash.
Of course, right as the others were walking back into the barn – being careful in case they accidentally disturbed anyone – someone had to notice the empty spot where a red sleeping bag should have been.
“ You know, these wheelchairs are actually quite uncomfortable when you think about it.” Pinkie Pie stated from where she sat on Rainbow Dash’s borrowed wheelchair. “ Someone remind me to tell her when we find her.”
“ What do you mean ‘when we find her’?” Sunset Shimmer asked, having been the first to open the barn door and walk inside.
“ Exactly what I said!”
“ But she can’t be missing. You’re sitting in her wheelchair.” Twilight said, voicing the confusion that was enveloping the barn.
“ Heeellooo! Do you not see the missing sleeping bag?”
All eyes turned to the spot next to the wheelchair. Sure enough, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. Instantly, everyone found themselves in a panic as they started to frantically search the barn for the missing girl. That is, everyone except Pinkie Pie. She was just rushing around for the fun of rushing around, not because she was in a panic about a lost, disabled Rainbow Dash.
And still the snores continued. Yes, they had lessened somewhat, but that was probably because Rainbow Dash was slowly being pulled awake thanks to the continuous calls of her name; the two most prominent voices being those of Applejack and Rarity. But, as with anyone who never wants to wake up in the first place, she ignored them and tried to return to a deeper sleep.
That’s when Pinkie Pie found her… and her project.
“ Here she is! She’s over here!” Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs (how Rainbow didn’t wake up from that was a mystery) before noticing the piece of paper on the ground in front of her friend. “ Oooh. What’s this?”
“ Pinkie, darling, do keep your voice down. Especially when you’re next to someone who is quite clearly sleeping.” Rarity sighed as she and the others made their way to where Pinkie Pie was standing by Rainbow Dash.
“ Oh… sorry Dashie.”
Pinkie’s apology, however, seemed somewhat absent-minded and the others noticed it.
“ What have you got there, Pinkie?” Twilight whispered once she was close enough.
“ Rainbow Dash had it. I just stopped her from getting drool all over it.”
“ You really shouldn’t have taken that. What if it was private?”
“ Well, I was just going to move it out of the way, but then I saw what was drawn on it. And, let me tell you, it is amazing!”
Pinkie Pie then proceeded to turn the piece of paper she held over so that the others could see what was on it as well. And she wasn’t wrong. The picture was amazing.
It was a barn setting much like the one from the previous night with a food area to the right of the picture and a group of friends sitting in a circle in the middle of the barn with games of all sorts littering the surrounding area; including a few animal toys. Speaking of animals, there were seven very familiar animals scattered around the mid left of the picture with the only exception being the white snake that rested over the shoulders of one of the girls.
And it was with these expressively well drawn characters that everyone was getting confused with. They all felt rather familiar and even had familiar items and looks on their faces. Even the only oy that was in the group seemed somewhat familiar despite everything. What everyone was confused on was their skin colours. Two of the people (the boy included) had dark brown skin colouration and four of the girls had varying shades of light pigmentation. This left the remaining girls varying shades of tan, including one girl being a more yellowish tan than the others. Surprisingly, though, the hair colours seemed to look natural despite the rainbow they created – quite literally with one of them.
Other than the curiosity that was the skin colour and the somewhat familiar vibe that everyone was getting off the picture, the picture itself still lacked something. Something that would give it that extra push into the column of perfect artworks. Shading. With the fact that it was still unfinished clear as day before them, it was quite easy to work out that Rainbow Dash must have fallen asleep before she had gotten to finish what she had started.
“ If Wheelchair Dash is this good at arts, does that mean our Rainbow Dash has a talent for drawing as well?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“ Who knows?” Rarity admitted. “ But we shouldn’t push her about it. Remember last time she was pushed to do something?”
Unfortunately for the group, Rainbow Dash chose that moment to wake up. and the first thing she noticed, despite her still sleepy state, was that her artwork was missing. Instantly, Rainbow Dash was sitting up and looking around for the piece of paper that she had been working on. No one was allowed to know about it. No one was allowed to think that she wasn’t as tough as she made out to be. She needed to get that picture back before it fell into the wrong hands.
The thought of Apple Bloom sneaking into the barn and snatching it while Rainbow had slept, only to share it with the world, blazed through Rainbow’s mind like wild fire, instantly making her look up in fear. And that was when she saw it. It wasn’t Apple Bloom who had taken it, it had been Sunset Shimmer (or so she thought as Sunset had taken the artwork from Pinkie Pie in order to take a closer look at the image, specifically the snake).
Instantly, her eyes blazed with anger. Rainbow Dash knew Sunset was a mischievous one, having teamed up with her and Pinkie Pie at times when she had needed legs. But she never thought she’d go as far as to take her private work! She didn’t even take into account that she was in an entirely different world. She just launched herself (verbally, mind you) right into the thick of things, accusations and all.
“ Give me back that paper, you art thief!” she growled, shocking everyone into looking at her.