Bittersweet Apples
(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Hasbro, and certainly have nothing to do with My Little Pony™. I am simply an author writing a story for my own entertainment and for readers like you.)
It was getting rather late, and the sun was reaching the moment where it would soon be overtaken by the moon, although there was still about an hour left before that happened. Although she did her best to harbor any doubt about the filly she was following, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but wonder if Scootaloo really was leading her to the farm, in which case the farm must have expanded tremendously in size while she was away, out performing in the Wonderbolts for only five sickening years (And five years she absolutely wished she got back), or if the filly just managed to make her even more lost then she already was in this forsaken forest of apple trees. Oh well, it wasn't as if she had any other choice in the matter, and Scootaloo had to have known where to bring the apples in anyway. Hopefully.
She followed her around, choosing to keep quiet against the filly's questions. Although Scootaloo had a lot of questions, the pegasus wasn't up to answer any of them, and eventually, the filly got the hint and stopped asking questions entirely. Although she didn't like to shut Scootaloo off like that, her head was swimming with thoughts that were distracting her. Naturally, they were about her friends. She looked out into the sunset, frowning.
Her friends. What was she without them? Just another famous Wonderbolt that flew for giggles and money? Did her past life in Ponyville mean anything to those reporters who crowd around her, asking her questions about the latest performance that they did and what flying with the Wonderbolts was like, even though she answered the same questions just yesterday? Did she even care about the Wonderbolts anymore? She sighed softly, and while this caught the attention of Scootaloo, she didn't say anything. Perhaps that's all life was, trying to fulfill your own dreams; the pegasus couldn't think of a single pony that wouldn't want to fulfill their own dream for themselves. Some dream she had pick for herself, though; what if the dream that you've been chasing for all your life turned out to be the most miserable thing you've done to yourself? Her thoughts simply echoed, not giving an answer. As they walked up a hill, they stopped, and Scootaloo looked over at her.
She blinked in confusion when Scootaloo frowned at her. "Is there something wrong, Scootaloo?" She asked, not unkindly. The filly rolled her eyes, and pointed with a hoof at something just outside Rainbow Dash's eyesight. Looking down, the pegasus gave a low whistle at the sight that greeted her, and boy, was it impressive. The Apple Family sure got busy during the last five years. What was once a few farm buildings was now something that looked like the farm equivalent of a military compound. There was housing scattered throughout the area, and ponies milled about, bringing in cartloads upon cartloads of apples. Upon seeing the stunned expression on her face, the filly smiled, and began to explain the obvious change the farm had been through.
"The Apple Family has gotten really, really busy while you were gone! They hired a few extra workers and had more apple trees planted so that they could supply even more apples to everypony in Equestria and beyond!" The Wonderbolt shared a small, forced smile with Scootaloo, still amazed at the sudden growth of the apple pasture. Applejack sure went to great lengths for her family; at least, she did...
"I'm amazed that Applejack could've done this in the few years that I was in the Wonderbolts. I mean, she...Scoots?" Scootaloo had made a gagging sound, and the cyan pegasus quickly looked at her, concerned for her health. Some medical complication could have occurred within the filly and she didn't need another pony dying on her. "You alright, Scoots? Scootaloo?" The filly looked at her with wide, unbelieving eyes, as if she had dropped an unbelievable and terrifying secret right in front of her.
"When you werein the Wonderbolts?! Does that mean you quit? Got fired? Laid off? Forced to retire? Was it because of a dirty scandal?! Rainbow Dash, how could you?! You were my idol!" It was only after a few seconds of dumb, confused thinking that Scootaloo was on some new kind of medication that was making her go all loopy on her when she realized that she said she 'was in' the Wonderbolts, making it sound like she quit. How she wished that was true. She smiled nervously and rubbed the back of her head, recollecting herself before she spoke to Scootaloo.
"Oh, no no no, Scoots, I'm still in the Wonderbolts, I guess...Talking about AJ and the farm kinda made my tongue slip a bit, heh heh, I'm sorry. Speaking of AJ...Do you know where Big Mac is? I wanna talk to him 'bout how AJ...You know, bit the...Uh, apple earlier." Scootaloo shrugged, unable to answer her idol's question, but glad that her idol just said the wrong thing; after all, Rainbow Dash, getting kicked out or leaving the Wonderbolts? Impossible to believe!
"S-Sorry for freaking out like that, it's just that you're perfect in every way, Rainbow Dash! I mean, I've been following you from the very start, and of course I want to follow in your hoofsteps!" A snort from the older pegasus told Scoot that she should probably answer Rainbow Dash's question about Applejack, and she sheepishly looked away from Rainbow Dash. "Well, sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I can't help you with anything about Applejack, since I don't know much about the details, and I haven't seen Big Mac all day; he tends to go missing for awhile now lately. He could be helping to set up the funeral; yeah, that seems like somethin' he'd be doin' now. But, I bet Applebloom is still locked up in her room, maybe you could talk to her!"
At the words 'locked up in her room', the last thing Rainbow Dash wanted was to barge in on the farm filly; when she was a filly herself and locked herself in her own room, she didn't want to see anypony, much less her own parents. And to talk about AJ while...She tried to say something, but Scootaloo was already going down the hill, and Rainbow Dash followed her, trying to get close enough to tell her that this probably wasn't a good idea.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast Rainbow Dash was, she couldn't beat the near infinite energy that young fillies and colts seem to have. She, a trained, toned, and experienced Wonderbolt, for all of her training and years of keeping herself fit, still found herself breathing heavily at the bottom of the hill, while Scootaloo seemed as lively as ever, and seemingly even more energetic by the short run down the hill. "Follow me, Rainbow Dash, Applebloom is over at that big red house over there! Race you!"
'Damn it, no, Scootaloo!' Thought Rainbow Dash. She opened her mouth to say a few words to stop Scootaloo, but, unfortunately, she 'dashed' off before the Wonderbolt could say something. Damn. This was going to suck, probably more so than her hazing when she got into the Wonderbolts. Oh well, there wasn't much she could do now; she could only hope she could salvage what was left of the situation and pray for the love of Celestia that things wouldn't go wrong.
After catching her breath, a sudden realization made her slap a hoof against her face in a forceful manner. Why did she bother to run down the hill when she could've flown ahead and stopped her quicker than she would have running down the hill? She sighed at her stupidity, and after mentally cursing herself for awhile, she walked towards the 'big red house' that Scootaloo mentioned earlier to be where Applebloom was. In truth, it was more of a red-orange and medium sized house, but she would, of course, keep that to herself, if only because she had long since learned to keep quiet about her own opinion. One of the things that a Wonderbolt soon learned was that shooting off your mouth and opinion unwisely was a Wonderbolt's quickest way to find themselves out of the outfit, and despite how much she hated being in the outfit, she just didn't know what else she'd do with her life; she had the bits to live comfortably for a lifetime ten times over, and more than enough time to do absolutely nothing, but the thought didn't appeal to her.
Entering the house cautiously, she was greeted with an impatient looking Scootaloo. "Is something wrong, Rainbow? I can't tell Applebloom that you're here if you were outside, taking your time!" Oh, thank Celestia, thought Rainbow Dash, she didn't manage to talk with Applebloom yet. Even better, a mare with a bright green mane came out of Applebloom's room; Apple Fritter, the Wonderbolt thought as she remembered her name from an Apple family reunion party that Applejack once threw. One look from the filly to the older pegasus told Fritter everything she needed to know.
"Well, shucks, I didn' think ah'd have company here today. I guess y'all want me to 'splain 'bout Applejack, but kindly wait fer a sec. Scoot, y'all be a dear now and ring the bell, tell everypony to get ready fer the funeral, alright?" The filly nodded, and ran off. A short while after, a bell chime could be heard. Apple Fritter motioned for Rainbow Dash to sit down at the large ebony table in dining area. "I'll be with ya in a sec, jus' gotta get somepony' first." With a curt nod, the Wonderbolt seated herself on one of the chairs, waiting for Fritter to appear again. It wasn't long before Fritter came back, although, she came back with another pony, one that the Wonderbolt could swear looked exactly like Apple Fritter if it weren't for the fact that she had a violet mane. Fritter took note of the Wonderbolt's confusion, and apologized, explaining her near duplicate.
"Oh, this 'ere is Violet Fritter, sister o' mine. Sister, this 'ere is Rainbow Dash, best friend o' AJ. She's the mare that wants to talk to 'bout...AJ's death. I gotta go get Applebloom from her room and tidy her up some before I take her to the funeral. Y'all have a nice chat now." With that, Apple Fritter left Rainbow Dash and Violet Fritter alone in the dining area to discuss Applejack's death. Or, at least, that was Apple Fritter's intention, which happened to backfire on her.
An awkward silence was stretched out between the two; unfortunately, there really was nothing that came to the Wonderbolt's mind that could possibly dispel the silence between them without sounding blunt or impatient, and so too was the problem on Violet's side. The silence overruled any impulse of wanting to shatter it in some way. So they sat there, quietly, fiddling around with their hooves and staring down at the floor, which suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world to them; at least, until hoofsteps were heard, and both the pegasus and the earth pony looked up to see Applebloom walking out of her room.
Needless to say, the pegasus was shocked at the filly's appearance. Applebloom's mane was untidy, unkempt, and dirty; her eyes were completely bloodshot, and her face looked matted and wet, most likely from the tears that were from her eyes. Said eyes fixed a broken gaze on her; unfortunately, the sight of the Wonderbolt who just happened to be her now deceased older sister's best friend made things worse for the filly, it seemed, as she suddenly started bawling her eyes out. Violet Fritter got up, and after a short nod exchanged by the two sisters, began to gently coo soft words of sweet, empty nothings such as 'It's going to be alright, Applebloom', and 'Things'll get better, Applebloom, ya gotta trust me'. Oh, how those words twisted inside Rainbow Dash's stomach, and she fought the desire to retch. Nothing would be alright for the filly; you just aren't the same after knowing your sister died.
It seemed to work, though; Applebloom slowly got back up on her hooves with a sniffle, and followed Apple Fritter into what the Wonderbolt presumed to be a bathroom. The resulting scene happened to loosen the tight clutches of the silence that gripped them, and now, Violet Fritter looked ready to talk, and talk she did to the slightly squirming Wonderbolt trying to contain the contents of her stomach.
"Well, ah should stop delaying n' get on with tellin' ya now; mind you, it ain't pretty. You sure yer okay fer this? Ya don't look like it."
"Many things aren't pretty, and...I should be fine. I hope."
"Yer call, partner. Well, Applejack ain't the kinda pony to dash off like a fool n' try to save everypony, but that's what she did. She was buckin' them apples as usual, with the rest o' us buckin' alongside her; weren't no signs of a storm then. Then, the rain came down. Now, we earth ponies more n' anypony love the rain, means our crops are gettin' what they need to grow bigger! 'Cept, it started to get a bit too windy; had a close call with a branch being flung over mah head.
"It was about that time that AJ knew that the storm was prob'ly gonna get worse fast, and yelled at all of us t'scram into the cellars; was the only safe place 'round, I reckon! So we hurried our rumps over to the barn cellar. These buildin's ya see 'round us? They look mighty fine, don't they? 'Cept, befer you came on by, had a heck of a lotta damage on them, and some of them even had pieces o' glass and such from windows being broken in 'cuz of the debris and everythin'; we just finished all them repairs 'bout an hour before you came by. N'ways, whiles I was helpin' AJ get 'lil Applebloom into the shed, we suddenly saw one hell of a tree rip out from the ground and jus' start tumblin' down our way.
"AJ, fortunately, tackled us down quick like, and we managed to avoid that tree, jus' barely. After the tree flew on by us, AJ got up from the muddy ground, n' yelled at us tah pony on up back to the cellar. Wish she didn't get up and was lookin' down on us while she was sayin' that, tho, 'cuz then we saw...Applejack git hit by another tree that jus' so happened to be flyin' around at the same exact time. Her body, n' the tree that hit her flew away, leaving behind a buncha blood, most o' it on us. Ya don't know hell until you've been pushed to the wet, muddy ground, clutchin' onto a cryin' filly that just saw her older sister get smashed against the impact of the very trees that we take care of, have her blood splatter o'cross us like some sick joke, n' think that yer 'bout to be next.
"The hardest part o' it all? We couldn't check n' see if Applejack was alright, even tho' we knew that AJ prob'ly didn't have a chance. I damn near had to knock Applebloom out 'fore she finally accepted that it was more 'portant that we needed to git to the cellar instead o' runnin' to Applejack's broken body. After that, it was one hell o' a sprint to the cellar; lemme tell ya, you'd never see so many damn bits o' tree flyin' around like all o' 'Questria was under attack from the trees themselves.
"Despite all them branches flyin' at us, we managed t'get over to the cellar; I just thank Celestia we were able to survive. Applebloom ain't agreein' with me, tho', if her earlier reacktion was any proof o' that. Speakin' of which, I think I'll go help mah sister prep Applebloom up. You'll be alright by yourself, I reckon?
The Wonderbolt was unresponsive, but upon Violet Fritter repeating her question again, she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry." Violet Fritter smiled slightly, and surprised the Wonderbolt by wrapping her up in a tight hug. After a few minutes, the earth pony left her alone promptly as she entered the bathroom to help her sister prepare Applebloom for the...Funeral.
She slumped down in her chair, and slow, warm tears dripped from her eyes. Finally; her painful quest in knowing how four of her friends died was finished. All because of a stupid, stupid storm. The Wonderbolt cried for what seemed years as she let the grief tumble over her and overtake every other possible emotion that she had; other emotions that she had once shared with her friends.
Time seemed to crawl as the pegasus slowly clamped down a grip on her emotions, and turned off the imaginary faucet that was controlling her tears. The funeral for them was due to start at any moment; ever since her arrival in the town, she, of course, would be expected to be there. The Wonderbolt took a look at the door that the three ponies had disappeared to, wondering if she should stay with them. However, it was painfully obvious that the nauseating smell of apples would probably force her to think about Applejack, and she would break down again; so she quietly made her goodbyes to the beautiful place, and walked out the door, ready to face the fact that she now had to arrive at the funeral.
"...They always said that I moved along too fast, that I would miss all the small things in Ponyville when they're gone, even though I never took the time to notice them." She paused in her monologue, and then, gathering strength in her legs, jumped up, and spread her wings wide, taking to the air. "They never said what would happen, though, if the big things in Ponyville were gone. I wish I listened to them, stayed with them, to laugh, cry, and live with them.
"To be alive is considered to be the sweetest and most precious of all rights to anypony and anything alive in Equestria. Ha. Life never tasted so bitter and felt so worthless."