The Road of Courage

by PrismaGalaxy514

Chapter 4: A Cry for Help

In the Sweet Apple Acres, business went on as usual: The Apple family were doing some farm work, while Applejack was bucking some apples. Later, a young beige earth pony filly came to the farm with a velvet red mane and a pink bow. She had some fun with her filly friends earlier.

“Welcome back, Apple Bloom!” Applejack greeted the filly. “How was your crusade?”

“Pretty amazing! We had a great adventure and helped some fillies and colts on our way!” Apple Bloom smiled, while reminiscing her latest adventure with her friends.

“That’s good to hear.” Applejack replied, while being proud at her little sister’s latest achievement.

The two ponies walk to the orchards for some farm work. During which, a very muscular red stallion with orange mane can be seen working on the fields in order to plant the apple seeds there. Then the orange mare got to work: She went to several apple trees with fresh apples and bucked them using her back hooves, while Apple Bloom caught them with baskets. Later, the big red earth pony collected the baskets and carried them to the farm, while the sisters were following him.

“Ah’ve seen, y’all did a good job!”  A voice can be heard and it came from an elderly green earth pony mare walking to the three ponies.

“Eeyup.” The red stallion responded.

“Indeed, Granny Smith.” Applejack added.

The red pony, also known as Big Mcintosh or Big Mac carried the cart of apples somewhere, where they can be prepared. 

“Apple Bloom my dear, could you please help out your big brother?” Granny Smith asked.

“Sure thing!” Apple Bloom accepted and walked on her way.

During her walk, she crossed the farm. Suddenly, she stopped, since she saw a shadow in the farm. The young filly went inside to find the source of the shadow. She walked closer and closer until she saw a figure. Apple Bloom was scared about the figure. Maybe it could be a dangerous intruder or even worse? Whatever it is, she ran off to tell her family about her discovery.

Meanwhile, Applejack and her grandmother were exchanging some talks, while looking at the apple trees.

“Ya see, I’ve met some….interesting friends sleeping in our barn.” Applejack remembered about the encounter with the two stallions.

“Oh my. Why would they sleep there?” Granny Smith asked.

“One of them told me that he was really tired.” Applejack answered and added. “I’m pretty sure, they didn’t mean to cause trouble, although seeing the pegasus appear from a light in one of our haystack was strange.”

“Strange indeed.” the elderly pony agreed.

Then, they saw Apple Bloom running towards them with a panicked look. The mares immediately went to her.

“Is something the matter, sweetie?” Granny Smith asked. To which Apple Bloom responded: “There is someone in the barn!”

“Again?” Applejack responded. “It’s been like yesterday!”

“Can you show us to the stranger?” Granny Smith asked. 

The beige filly nodded and ran on her way to the barn with Applejack and Granny Smith following. Once they arrived at their family’s barn, they entered, only to see the unknown figure as well. Apple Bloom hid behind her older sister, as the eldery pony yelled at the unknown figure.

“Listen up, fella! You have a few minutes left to leave our barn!” 

No response. Just pure silence. Granny Smith tried to get the stranger’s attention, but once again...silence. That was until the strange figure raised something a bit, looking like a tail. Applejack gasped. She knew the shape of the tail that well.
“Wait…” Applejack slowly approached the figure. 

“Applejack, what are you doing?” Granny Smith asked.

“Could it be?” the orange earth pony mumbled.

It couldn’t be Winona, since the tail was bigger than those from her pet. And as she got closer, the figure became much clearer to see. Sure enough, she recognized the figure as Dukey, but something was not right. He was sitting alone with a blank expression, however she couldn’t see it, since his head was lowered.

“Uhm...Y'all alright, fella?” Applejack asked, but she received no response. 

“What’s going on?” Apple Bloom asked. And her older sister replied: “Ah have no idea.”

She gently tapped his shoulder, which caused him to look back at her and her family. His eyes were full of sadness.

“What’s wrong?” The southern mare asked. 

He mumbled something that the family couldn't understand. When Applejack asked him what he said, he made his answer loud and clear: "It's because of Johnny! He yelled at me!" 

"Come again?" Applejack asked. 

"What happened?" Apple Bloom asked as well. 

"Y-you see...I was witnessing Johnny in a terrible condition… He was falling apart….I tried to help, but he yelled at me! He was really mean to me, even if I didn't have the intention to hurt him! He is really destroying himself, yet he doesn't let anyone help him, even me! His best friend!!!" His voice was shaky from the event.

"Why would he do that?" Granny Smith asked. However the hybrid couldn't answer her question, as he buried his face into the hay and started sobbing. Applejack went to the crying stallion and gently rubbed his head in order to comfort him.

"There, there fella...Shhhh.." 

The other two mares watched, as the mare comforted the stallion, until his crying became quieter. After that was over, the southern earth pony looked at him with a warm smile.

"Hey, why not take a walk outside? It'll gonna clean your head for a while." She said.

He didn't say anything at first, but after a minute of thinking, he finally agreed with a silent nod.

And so, the two ponies set out for a walk outside, while Apple Bloom and Granny Smith looked on.

"Ah was wonderin', what exactly happened between him and his friend?" The young filly asked.

"I wish, I knew the answer, sweetie..." Granny Smith replied with a sigh.

Meanwhile, in the dark forest, a black hooded figure was wandering around and as it turns out, that it was Johnny, who just put down the hood, looking very somber with his hair covering one of his eyes.

After he sang the song, sobbing can be heard…

In the meantime, Dukey and Applejack went on a walk outside through the scenic fields. However, Applejack was not happy, when he told her about the event that tore him apart. 

“What he did to you was not nice… If I find him, he better apologize to you or else!” she said. However, Dukey shot down that suggestion with: “Applejack, it’s not gonna be easy...”

“What makes you say that, fella?” she asked. 

“There is a history of him, that is not all sunshine and rainbows. And I have the evidence. But first, we have to go to Twilight’s castle, in order to retrieve it.” he explained to Applejack and thus, they continued to walk, but this time...their goal was set.

Arriving at Twilight’s castle, Applejack knocked on the door and after some waiting, Spike opened the door. 

“Hey, guys.” Spike greeted.

“Spike, we really have to go to my room. I must retrieve something in order to show it to Applejack.” Dukey said to the little dragon.

“I have no idea what item you want to retrieve, but okay. You can go inside.” Spike allowed them the entrance and the two ponies went inside.

After remembering the path and many trial and errors, due to the castle’s sheer size and lack of memory, they finally went into the guest room, where Dukey immediately looked around at every corner and object, until he picked up the item, he wanted to show it to the southern earth pony mare.

“What’s this?” Applejack asked, after Dukey showed her the blue diary. 

“It’s his diary. Yeah, it’s strange that he started to write in a diary, since he usually hates diaries, but this is different. It’s actually written like a journal, full of things, that are….say...disturbing.” he explained.

“How much?” the orange mare was confused.

“Just read the diary….” 

With those words from his mouth, Applejack opened up the diary and started to read the pages. At first, she was confused when she read the first page. However, as soon she started reading the pages, her mood changed into being horrified. The shaky writing, the teardrops and the pages about depression, abuse and other dark topics made her feel sick and filled with disgust. Why would they do this to him? She threw the diary to the ground with a yell.

“That tears it! They’re a bunch of rotten apples!!” Her voice was filled with anger. She couldn’t believe that those horrible people would tear him apart so much, that he was scarred for the rest of his life. Dukey put his paw on her head with a slight somber look and said: “They surely are..”

“Johnny? Where are you?” 

They heard a voice and soon, Rainbow Dash flew around and looked at the room. 

“Rainbow, what are you doing?” Dukey asked.

“Trying to find him.” Rainbow Dash replied with a sigh.

“Wait, don’t tell me, he vanished….” He was in a denial, but the worst fear came true, once Rainbow confirmed the fact. Johnny is gone!

His sight was fading in and out, his heartbeat racing fast, he was close to freaking out. Surely enough, he freaked out, screaming and jumping around. Meanwhile, Applejack went to her pegasus friend and asked her: “What in the tarnation happened??” Rainbow Dash soon explained: 

“Well, basically he was feeling extremely tense. Then Dukey came in and said something about stopping to fake his emotions and such. Then they had a huge argument with him running away. As if things couldn’t get worse, Johnny suddenly screamed and flew up, bursting through the sealing of Fluttershy’s cottage. I attempted to chase him to the skies, however he was nowhere to be seen!”

“Say wha?!” The orange earth pony was alarmed by the situation. She slapped Dukey back to his senses.

“Come on, everypony! We have to find him!” said Applejack.

With that, the three ponies ran off in a hurry.

They soon meet Twilight and Fluttershy, who were looking around. At the same time, Pinkie Pie and Rarity came back.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack! Any signs of him?” Twilight asked.

“Nope. No signs of him whatsoever..” Rainbow Dash answered.

“I just learned about the situation, thanks to Dukey.” Applejack responded. 

“Shit...” Thinking back of what Rainbow said about the event, he soon got very concerned. “His breakdowns are getting worse!”

“What?” Twilight was shocked. “If that’s the case, we have to find him fast!”

“It seems like there are three locations, we haven’t checked yet.” Rarity reminded.

“Here’s the plan, Rarity! Pinkie Pie! Go to Canterlot and find any clues there!” 

“Okey dokey!!” Pinkie Pie responded with a smile.

“Fluttershy and I will check the Crystal Empire for hints. And as for Rainbow Dash and Applejack, go to the Everfree Forest!”

“Oh god...The death forest…” The hybrid was shaking in fear. 

“Is it okay to let him join us? His dog skills will be coming handy later.” Applejack asked.

“Hmm….Of course.” Twilight agreed.

“Hey, calm down! We got your back!” Rainbow Dash calmed down the brown hybrid.

“O-okay. If it means finding my friend in that scary forest...then so be it!!” his expression changed to being serious and full of determination.

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Rainbow Dash was happy.

The three groups split off to the three locations: Canterlot, The Crystal Empire and the Everfree Forest.

Arriving at the Everfree Forest, the trio looked around in order to find any signs of Johnny. Everything about this place would make anyone feel scared: The unsettling atmosphere, the fog, scary trees and dangerous creatures. It’s no wonder why most ponies refused to go there, unless they have a death wish. Suddenly, a scary noise sent chills down to the hybrid’s spine.

“Uhm….Excuse me….? I’m scared…” He looked at the mares with his voice cracked.

“Relax. We are with you. We handled those situations before.” Applejack assured him.

They looked around the forest, but no signs of him.

“I might look around by myself. This forest surely is big.” said Rainbow Dash and flew off.

“Guess, we have to find him on the other side.” Applejack responded and she, alongside Dukey, went the other way.

On the other side, Rainbow Dash looked around. The unsettling atmosphere soon caught up to her and she felt scared. Suddenly, she heard a sound. 

“Waah!! What the?!?!” she quickly looked around, but because of the fog it was hard to see. She sighed and landed on the ground.

“Man...Relax, Rainbow Dash….You’ve been there before and you dealt with it. This place is not scary!” She tried to convince herself, in order to continue on. She gulped the fear down and walked around for a bit. Despite the scary setting, she continued to press on and do her mission. Suddenly, she tripped onto something. 

“Ow!! Man, that hurts!!” She rubbed her arm, after getting up. The pegasus mare looked back, only to see something on the ground. Then she smelled something.

“What’s that smell..? Wait...Is it blood?!?!?” Rainbow Dash panicked. Sure enough, as the fog gets clearer, it’s revealed to be a hooded pony, laying on the ground as well as some blood stains. At first, she assumed that the timberwolves had attacked that poor pony, but as she went to the other side, she saw some cuts on the arms, which made her feel uneasy. Who would do this?? And who was the hooded pony? The latter question got answered, when Rainbow Dash removed the hood to reveal the pony’s true identity. And that discovery made her scream loudly.

On the other side, Applejack and Dukey were still finding clues, when they heard the scream.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack recognized the scream, belonging to her friend and quickly went the other way with Dukey following her.

“Oh my gosh…This can’t be…” Rainbow Dash was traumatized at her discovery and backed off. She never saw someone being unresponsive and with blood. It was at this time, when Applejack and Dukey came to her. 

“Rainbow Dash, what’s wrong??” Applejack asked.

“NO!!!! JOHNNY!!!!!” When Dukey saw the black pony’s body, he was filled with hysteria and shock and became uncontrollable, once he picked him up. 

“No….This can’t be happening...Johnny, answer me!!! Come on!! Answer me!!!!” his voice was filled with sadness and despair, when he attempted to wake him up. Tears were filling in his grey eyes and soon, cried on Johnny’s lifeless body. As the mares watched, Rainbow Dash soon laid on Applejack’s head and started to cry. The southern earth pony laid her arm around her.  “There there, sugarcube…Shhhhh...” 

As Dukey laid on Johnny’s chest to cry, he heard a heartbeat. That’s right, his heart was still beating. He was filled with hope that his friend might be still alive...

“Girls! Listen to his heart! It’s still beating!” he yelled at them. The mares laid their heads on the black pegasus’s chest and heard the heartbeat.

“Oh my goodness...There is still a chance that he can be saved!” said the orange mare.

“We need him to get him to the-” Before Dukey could finish his sentence, the prismatic pegasus mare picked him up and flew off at high speed. “Well that was quick.” 

“We have to follow her!” said Applejack.

“Got it!” Dukey replied and the two went off to follow Rainbow Dash.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew faster and faster. There was no time to spare. As soon she arrived at the Ponyville Hospital, she screamed for someone to help him. Nurse Redheart was doing her job, when she heard her cry for help.

“What in Equestria is going on?” the white mare asked. However, as soon as she saw Johnny’s body, she rushed to him and told the doctors that there was an emergency. The doctors carried him to a bed, as they were rushing through the walls and into the operating room.

“We’ll do our best to save him. Please wait in the waiting room.” said Nurse Redheart and went off to help the doctors.

Exhausted, Rainbow Dash went to the waiting room. After some time had passed, Applejack and Dukey entered the hospital as well and sat alongside with the prismatic mare in the waiting room. There was one question, that she wanted to know:

“Why did he do it?”

Later, Spike came in with a worried look.

"I've heard that you found him!" he said.

"Yep. With his arms slit…" Applejack responded.

"Tell Twilight and her friends to get them here...now!" Dukey was on the edge, which is no surprise. His friend is now being treated at the hospital.

"Will do." Spike ran off.

Dukey started to cry again, but Applejack hugged him, in order to comfort the broken earth pony hybrid.

"Shhhhhhhhhh...It's gonna be alright, pal…" She softly spoke to him. 

Rainbow Dash was still shaken after the discovery. "I...I can't believe it...Why did he do it?!?!" She asked and it was at this point, where the earth pony mare gave her the blue diary. 

"What's this?.." she asked.

"It's his diary...It contains the answer to your question." Applejack replied.

With a gulp, the prismatic mare opened the diary, thinking that maybe the whole blood and his body was just a prank. But she was proven wrong, once she started to read the pages. Her sight was fading in and out, her hooves were trembling and her heart was racing. The reason of his suffering made her sick and filled with rage and anguish. And before anyone knew it, she suddenly flew off. 

"Oh boy…" Applejack sighed.

Once the sky blue mare was outside, she flew in a circle, picking up more speed as she went around. Essentially, she created a big tornado. But it wasn't enough. Filled with tears, she flew up into the skies and after some heavy breathing, flew down, picking up even more speed than before. As she was doing this, a cone started to form around her and as she got faster, it got tighter and tighter, until it became like a pointy triangle. Then...it happened.

She broke the sound barrier, therefore creating a sonic boom. But not any sonic boom. It was rainbow-colored and flame like and Rainbow's trail became a literal rainbow with sparkles. It is known as a Sonic Rainboom.

After unleashing the Sonic Rainboom, the prismatic mare flew around the fields and Ponyville in a zigzag pattern. It would look dangerous, but at this point she was so blinded by the anguish, that she can't see the ponies on the ground. Or anything in that matter. She flew up again and then down to an empty field, picking more speed as she went. Finally, she screamed as she crashed to the ground, creating a rainbow-colored explosion. Because it was at a close proximity and because of it's greater impact, it caused a minor earthquake in Ponyville. Thankfully, no one was hurt and no building were damaged. But it was enough to throw anyone off guard.

As this was going, Applejack and Dukey felt the earthquake.

"Earthquake alert!!!" He panicked.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash came back, however her mane was messy and had some scratches. She was breathing very heavily.

"Rainbow Dash, are you alright??" Applejack went to her best friend, while Dukey went to a nearby water container and filled a glass with water.

"Here. Have some water." He gave her the glass of water, where she immediately started to drink it.

"Take it easy, sugarcube." Said Applejack.

"All the time, that Johnny was happy, awesome and cool...It was....It was..." Rainbow Dash struggled to finish her sentence and the hybrid finished it for her with:

"...fake. He was broken on the inside, yet he decides to hide it. That's a sign, that he has depression."

Soon, Twilight and her friends arrived to the waiting room.

"We came here as fast as we could!" Said Twilight, while panting.

"Oh my goodness! Rainbow, are you okay?" Rarity asked.

"What did I just miss??" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Why did the earth shake that day?" Fluttershy asked.

"I....I...I had to let my emotions out." Rainbow Dash answered.

"It's funny, that the rainbow was all zigzag! It came up and down and up and down!" Said the pink earth pony in a chipper tune.

"I caused the zigzag rainbow... And the earthquake... because I did the Sonic Rainboom..." the blue mare confessed. "After I read his diary, I was sickened...I couldn't think anymore, it was all messy!"

"What are you talking about?" Rarity asked.

"Read the diary, okay!?!?" she yelled and threw the blue diary at them, however Twilight managed to stop it with her magic.

"Rainbow Dash, calm down!" Said the purple mare and opened the diary. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike all looked at the diary as well. As Twilight read the pages, the emotions of anguish, sadness, rage and despair can be felt to everyone. Soon, Twilight struggled to read the final pages, as it was painful to do so.

"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy was shocked.

"What in the name of Celestia!?" Said Spike.

"This is just...." Pinkie Pie struggled to find the words.

"This is horrible!! Horrible!!" Rarity cried out.

"I...I can't believe it... He's been broken all along? If he's in the hospital....then that means...he....he..." Twilight was in loss of words.

"He attempted suicide...." Dukey filled in the blanks.

"They've been all cruel to him..." Fluttershy was close to crying, when Rainbow Dash comforted the yellow pegasus mare.

"Yeah..they're monsters..." Rainbow Dash gulped.

"Let's hope, that he would make it..." Rarity was in tears. Her cheeks flow with black tears, because it ruined her makeup.

Soon, a nurse came in and the Mane 6 as well as Dukey and Spike rushed to her.

"Is he okay?? Did he make it???" Dukey asked in a rush.

"We have some good news. Despite the earthquake, we managed to bring him back to life." The nurse responded.

The group felt relieved at the good news, that Johnny's life was saved. However, with serious looks on their faces. They requested the nurse to visit him and with approval, they were on the way to his room. There was no time to spare.

To be continued...