//------------------------------// // Unfond Memories // Story: A Song of Ponyville // by PonyJosiah13 //------------------------------// "AJ? Where's Rara?" Apple Bloom asked. Rocking back on the chair on the back porch, Applejack stared up at the night skies, as if trying to divine some answers from the distant, twinkling constellations. "I...I dunno, sugarcube," she mumbled. "Did she leave?" Apple Bloom pouted. "She didn't say goodbye!" "She didn't leave," Applejack replied, turning away so that her sister couldn't see that she was talking through her teeth. "She's just...got some things she needs to sort out. She'll be back." "When?" Apple Bloom protested, trying to run around to face Applejack. "Why do you have a bruise on her face?" "When she's ready, and it was an accident," Applejack replied, tilting her head back to continue peering at the stars, reaching up a hoof to touch the bruise, tender with recalled pain. "Go to bed, sugarcube." Apple Bloom pouted, but retreated back into the house, the door creaking shut. Applejack rocked back and forth in her chair, still staring up at the night sky, her thoughts as far as the stars themselves. She glanced over at the other side of the porch. Big Mac was sitting there, frowning at her as he slowly rolled the straw in his mouth from one side to the other. "I'm an idjit, aren't I?" Applejack muttered. "Eeyup," Big Mac grunted. Applejack buried her face in her hooves and groaned. "I shouldn't have yelled at her," she said. "I was just...she was sneaking around behind my back and—" "That don't mean yelling at her was justified," Big Mac interrupted. "She ain't a child like Apple Bloom; you can't discipline her like her. She's an adult and should be treated like one." "Mac, you remember what she was like when she came here two years ago?" Applejack asked. "Pale and shaking, sick every night?" She sighed. "There's a part of me that still sees her like that. I...I wanna protect her. Make sure she's all right. So when I found she was drinking, and she got upset at me, I...guess I lost control of myself." She mopped her face. "It wasn't right," she admitted. "What I did to her then. What I did when she hurt her ankle. She ain't a child, and I was wrong to treat her like she is. I shoulda been more understanding." "Eeyup," Big Mac nodded. "So the real question is, what're we gonna do about it?" "I gotta find her and make it right," Applejack said, standing up. "Applejack, be reasonable," Big Mac replied. "There ain't no way you can search the whole city looking for her. Do you even have any idea where she might be?" Applejack froze and stared out into the dark, rolling acres of Sweet Apple Acres. "I..." She groaned and rubbed her tired eyes. "Horseapples." "Best you get some sleep, Applejack," Big Mac replied, standing. "Rara won't do anything too stupid. She'll come back tomorrow. And if she doesn't, we'll go find her." "All right, Big Mac," Applejack nodded. The two ponies walked back inside, the floorboards creaking beneath their hooves. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Applejack looked back at the front door. A heavy thumping drew Applejack's attention from the apples she was coring. Rising and stretching out the kinks in her legs, she walked over to the door and opened it. The mare on the other side was pale ivory, her white mane spilling off her head in tangles. Makeup ran in rivulets down her face, revealing wide red eyes, the turquoise irides shining dully through tears and darkness. A saddlebag hung loosely off her side. It was only when AJ's eyes fell on the cutie mark—a star with five colored music notes—that she recognized her. "Rara?!" she cried, rushing forward and pulling the shivering mare inside. "What happened to you?" "I quit," Rara whimpered, leaning against Applejack for support as she carried her inside, dropping the saddlebag on the floor next to the door. "Svengallop was setting me up for a photoshoot and another album record and tour and I couldn't take it anymore. I'm sick of having to put up an act all the damn time, sick of being mobbed by fans and not being able to control what I sing and who I have to be, and I'm sick of being doped up all the damn time. I needed to get away. I took a train from Manehattan, came here." Rara looked up at Applejack, her face making the farmpony think of an abandoned puppy. "Will you help me, AJ?" "Of course I will," Applejack promised, hugging the smaller mare tight to her chest. Her matted coat was cold, damp with sweat; her breath stank of vomit. "Rara, are you sick?" Applejack asked. "I'm withdrawing," Rara groaned. "I've been using poppydust for months. I...all I can think about is getting more..." "It's okay, Rara," Applejack whispered, rocking back and forth gently. "D'you think you can hold down some medicine?" "No," Rara moaned with a swallow. "I just wanna rest." "Okay, I'm gonna put you up in the guest bedroom," Applejack said, carefully helping Rara stand. One step at a time, she carried Rara up the steps, past the bedrooms where the rest of the family lay snoring, and opened up the door to the guest bedroom. A simple little room with a quaint dresser and a good-sized bed, the blue sheets neatly folded. "AJ?" Rara mumbled as she carried herself to the bed, tugging the sheets back. "Did you get my letters?" "I kept 'em, sugarcube," Applejack replied, pulling the sheets over Rara and tucking her in. "Every single one." Rara smiled as she closed her eyes, shivering and clutching the sheets. "I kept all of yours," she mumbled. "They're in my saddlebags." She moaned and clutched the sheets, fresh sweat running off her face onto the pillow. "AJ? Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" she whimpered. "Course I will," Applejack replied, gently sitting down on the mattress and stroking Rara's mane with a cloth. She started humming an old family lullaby, something she remembered from her own mother. "That feels good," Rara sighed, nestling into the pillow. Eventually, Rara's breathing slowed and her groans were replaced by soft snoring. Applejack returned to her room, pulled the sheets and pillow off her own bed, and carried them back to the guest bedroom. She laid down on the rug and wrapped herself up in the sheets, resting her head on the pillow and closing her eyes for a light sleep. Applejack laid down on her own mattress, the fabric beneath her feeling cold and hard beneath her skin. Hugging the pillow tight, she buried her face into the down to muffle her tears.