There were many words one could use to describe the pony Applejack; honest, hardworking, dirty, but one specific phrase that fit her would be steadfast. Though not as stubborn as a mule like she was when she was younger, Applejack was a pony who would become, and remain, committed until the task was done.
And for now, this particular task was the locating of Rainbow Dash’s pet, Tank. The tortoise had gone missing, and though her searching had turned up nothing so far, Applejack had a feeling that would change this particular day.
Waking up early in the morning, Applejack trotted downstairs through the farmhouse, making sure not to rouse any of the other sleeping members of the Apple family, most notably the sleeping Granny Smith, who had collapsed onto her rocking chair in front of the staircase for a prolonged nap the night prior.
Having already put on her trademark hat, the earth pony only needed to do a few hoof-stretches before she left. Opening the door, Applejack left. And she bumped her snout right into that of Rainbow Dash.
Applejack nearly let out a cry of alarm, due to the surprise appearance of her friend, but managed to keep her mouth shut, at least until she carefully shut the door to block off the noise.
She turned to Rainbow, who looked at her with a dumbfounded expression, “What in tarnation are you doin’ here Rainbow?” Applejack whispered with surprise, “Do you have any idea how early it is? The sun rose literally a minute ago!”
Rainbow smacked her lips, tiredly blinking at Applejack, “No, I don’t know how early it is, I kinda lost track of the time here after the first hour or so.”
“Hour?” Applejack made an expression of confusion, ”Ya know you coulda just knocked.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t respond, instead looking at Applejack with a child-like look of innocence. Applejack, however, narrowed her eyes, her eyesight having adjusted to the early morning sunlight. She hadn’t seen Rainbow in person for a few days and now she could notice that Rainbow Dash looked terrible. The pegasus’s mane was disheveled, dark bags were under her eyes, and her coat was uneven, with patches of fur and feathers sticking out erratically.
Applejack only needed a moment to realize why Rainbow stood before her, and she didn’t hesitate to say it. “Oh, I know why you’re here,” Applejack stated in a calm tone, “You’re here to see me, wonderin’ ‘bout Tank and all that.”
Rainbow tilted her head, “I mean- that’s partially the reason.”
“Unfortunately, my searchin’ for him has so far turned up cold, but I was about to head to look for him again.” Applejack paused, looking up at Rainbow with a slight hesitation, “I don’t want to pull yer tail or anything, but you’re welcome to join me if you want!”
Rainbow sighed with a shrug, “Why not, I got nothing better to do.”
Applejack nodded, “Glad to hear it partner. Well, I was plannin’ to search the left acres of the orchards. Come on! This way!”
Applejack trotted away, heading up a grassy green hill to the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow almost began to run after her, but paused. Trying to fight the vestiges of sleep, Rainbow shook her head and looked up into the bright sunlight. She exhaled, having kept awake for now, and ran to catch up to Applejack.
As the two ponies began their search, Applejack tried to strike up small talk with Rainbow, but she seemed easily distractible, nothing surprising, Applejack assumed, based on Rainbow’s condition and situation.
But even as the search continued, she couldn’t help but take note of Rainbow’s behavior. She was practically the opposite of her usual self, more reserved and nervous. She also noticed Rainbow’s flying, or lack of. In fact, Applejack had yet to see Rainbow spread her wings and fly once. Nonetheless, Applejack had resolved to find Tank, and diligently continued her search.
Two hours later, Rainbow loudly sighed as she leaned her body against one of the many apple trees. Unsurprisingly, they had so far turned up nothing.
“This is pointless!” Rainbow groaned exasperatedly, “He’s nowhere!”
“Don’t be so sure sugarcube,” said Applejack as she searched the roots of another apple tree, just in case Tank took an early and impromptu hibernation at Sweet Apple Acres, “There’s still plenty left of the farm to look over. We’ll find him, I know it.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” mumbled Rainbow, “You’re all fine! You have somepony at home to rely on! Me? I’m all alone.”
Applejack stopped, “Oh Rainbow, you know you’re not alone. You have me, you have all of us. In fact, why don’t I take you back to the homestead right now? You can rest up, and I can even have Big Mac pull out some of our secret stash of apple cider for ya.”
Rainbow walked up to her friend, “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass up on the cider, I have a sore throat,” She swallowed, trying to hide that the act of doing so made her cringe in pain, “But I’ll take up the offer for going back to the farmhouse. You see, the thing is,” Rainbow shuddered, almost having trouble getting the words out, “What I said about having somepony at home, I meant it literally. Without Tank, all by myself- Applejack, I can’t take it anymore. I can’t spend another night with these dreams of mine all alone. So, what I’m asking is if I could possibly spend the night at your place?”
Applejack looked at Rainbow with a kind smile, “Of course Rainbow, you can stay as long as you like.” She patted Rainbow on the back and the two began to go back to the farmhouse for a break from searching.
As they walked, Rainbow lowered her ears, slowly losing the paranoia that had been plaguing her the entire morning. In fact, she had nearly forgotten what she was so worked up about. Of course, this feeling was short-lived.
Applejack noticed Rainbow’s ears twitch up, moving erratically as if they were searching for something, but her eyes were closed, her expression unchanging.
To Applejack, things were fine, Rainbow assumed, she didn’t notice it. She couldn’t hear it either. In fact, Rainbow assumed she was the only one who could hear the sounds.
For hours Applejack had searched, checking the roots and branches of every apple tree in Sweet Apple Acres. Unfortunately, she had found nothing and by now, she had begun to doubt she would ever find the lost tortoise. Resided to ending for the day, Applejack took the path back to the Apple farmhouse.
Walking up to the farm, she noticed Big McIntosh walking nearby. He looked just as tired as Applejack felt, him having taken care of the daily farmwork while Applejack herself spent the day combing the acres. Walking up to the large stallion, Applejack exchanged a worried look to her brother, “So Big Mac, I know you’ve been busy an’ all, but has Rainbow improved since I brought her over?”
He shook his head sadly, “Nope.”
“Is she worse?”
Big Mac squirmed uncertainly in place, “Um, yep?”
Applejack sighed, resuming her walk to the farmhouse. Big Mac followed, and the two entered together.
Inside, Applejack noticed that Rainbow remained in the same place she had left her. The pegasus was still seated in a large high-back chair next to the staircase. She looked sickly, with her hooves rather aggressively grasping the arms of the chair. Applejack walked up to her, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “Hey Rainbow.”
Rainbow yelped, nearly jumping out of her seat, and spun around to face Applejack. “Oh,” she sighed with relief, “It’s you.”
“So,” Applejack asked gently, “How ya doin’ sugarcube?”
“I’m fine!” Rainbow stated affirmatively with a hoof wave. She sniffed, wiping away a dribble from her nose. “Just nervous about Tank, that's all.”
Applejack didn’t believe her. “Right,” she said, “If you’ll excuse me, I have something to attend to in the kitchen.” Rainbow didn’t answer, instead turning away again as she slouched down in the chair more.
Applejack slowly walked away to the kitchen, not looking away from the distressing state of her friend. Entering the kitchen, Applejack turned to the rest of the local Apples, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and Sugar Belle, who had all anxiously watched her brief conversation with Rainbow.
“So, she ain’t doin’ too good,” stated Applejack, lowering her voice in a meak attempt to prevent Rainbow from overhearing, “Has Rainbow been like this all day?”
“Eeyup,” affirmed Big Mac.
“She refuses to sleep,” Apple Bloom explained, “I don’t know why, and she won’t let me help her with it!”
“And she still refuses to eat anything,” Sugar Belle added, “She hasn’t eaten or drunk anything all day, even when I made food for her.”
Granny Smith grumbled, “She’s bein’ as stubborn as a dragon! The fellers refused to do anythin’ all day!”
“Yep,” contributed Big Mac, pausing to cast a glance to Rainbow, who didn’t seem to notice the Apple family huddling in the kitchen, “She hasn’t moved all day, or fly either. I think she’s sick with something.”
Applejack nodded, “She’s down with somethin’ fierce alright, but she won’t admit it, that's fer sure.”
They all froze as Rainbow coughed. They looked over to see if she moved, but the pegasus remained still. “So what should we do?” Sugar Belle asked as she looked back.
“I say we let her stay the night, see if a good night’s rest will help her feel better.”
“And if that don’t work,” piped in Granny, “I gots some ol’ fashioned Apple family remedies that ought to do the trick!”
Apple Bloom looked up at Granny Smith, “Okay okay, but if that doesn’t do anything, we take Rainbow Dash straight to the hospital.”
Applejack nodded once more, “So it’s settled then, we let Rainbow rest, help her, but if she doesn’t improve, we contact the Ponyville Hospital.”
The rest of the Apples nodded along as well, Big Mac adding in an affirmative “Eeyup”.
Applejack straightened her hat, looking back at their rainbow maned guest, “But for now, the first thing I have to do is help Rainbow with her sleep.”
Meanwhile, Rainbow had remained unmoving, and though she pretended not to, she had heard everything the Apples had discussed in the kitchen. Rainbow sniffed to herself, furrowing her brow as she tried to ignore the sounds. They had begun when she woke up earlier in the morning. It was mostly just an obnoxious ringing in her ears, but sometimes it was something else, the ticking, a rustling sound like the tearing of wing feathers, and most notably of all, the voice.
The voice of the queen from her dreams Rainbow presumed. She tried to ignore it, but it always said just the right thing to get under her skin. And now, the voice spoke up again.
“Those friends of yours, those Apple ponies, they think you’re sick,” the voice dryly commented, “Whether you are or not is up to you, but more importantly, they think so very little of you.”
“What do you know?” Rainbow wanted to mumble through her gritted teeth, even though she knew it was pointless.
“Oh, I know everything about you. You say I’m not real, remember? Still, the Apples think you can’t hear them, they drastically underestimate your intelligence, Rainbow. Of course, that's what everypony does, you’ve always been the dumb one to them.”
Rainbow grunted, not wanting to hear the voice. But a feeling fluttered in her gut, the feeling that the voice was right. Rainbow didn’t want to agree with it, but it usually was, through the bluntest and rudest terms, but correct, nonetheless. Or at least that’s how Rainbow felt.
“Rainbow Dash? Could I help you with somethin’?” asked a new voice. Rainbow turned with surprise to see Applejack, who had walked up to her while she wasn’t paying attention.
“Like I’ve said a million times already,” Rainbow answered absentmindedly while rubbing her throat, “I’m not going to eat any of your pies or apples, I have a sore throat.”
“It’s not about that,” retorted Applejack, “I’m here to help you out.” She paused, examining Rainbow’s tired look of confusion, “Rainbow, you need rest. I know you don’t want to, but you need to sleep. We’re concerned- I’m concerned. We’re worried about you.”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes, straightening her shaking body, “I know I need sleep, it’s just- you don’t know what it's like, the dreams, the sounds.” She let out a heavy sigh, rubbing her temples with her wings, “I just don’t think I can do it alone again. Not like last night.”
“Okay.” Applejack lowered her hat, “How ‘bout this? You miss Tank, he gave company and all. So how about somepony stays by yer side the entire night. Hay! I’ll do it! I’ll make sure nothin’ bad happens to you!”
Rainbow sniffed, stifling back a tear, “Sure. I think I’d like that.”
Applejack held out a hoof, letting Rainbow grasp it as she stood up. Her legs were shaking, weak from remaining still for hours. But Rainbow was quickly back on her hooves. Together, the two ponies made their way upstairs, Applejack following Rainbow into the farmhouse’s guest room.
It wasn’t large, it was rather cozy even. The soft candle glow filled the room with a gentle light, providing a soft atmosphere to the large, padded bed.
Rainbow immediately took advantage of the bed, flinging herself on the mattress and spreading her body across. The pegasus loudly sighed with relief as she stretched her limbs with a loud crack, and with her already tired state, had fallen fast asleep under the blanket in a few seconds.
Applejack smiled to herself. Rainbow really did want to sleep; she just needed a companion to help her.
Then Applejack, the earth pony of firm resolve, sat down on a wooden chair by the window, preparing to keep a watch over her friend in need for the remainder of the night.
As the night trickled onward, Applejack soon found herself fighting the creeping sensation of slumber herself. But awake she remained, keeping an eye on the sleeping Rainbow bustled up in the bed.
Applejack wasn’t exactly sure why Rainbow was so hesitant to sleep. Sure, Rainbow was never a sound sleeper, but even now, aside from occasional rolling over or soft grumble, Rainbow’s sleep was peaceful.
Peaceful enough that it was uneventful. Uneventful enough that Applejack was bored. And bored enough that she was tired.
“No!” Applejack whispered to herself, slapping herself awake as her eyelids began to droop, “I made a promise! I gotta finish this! Remember AJ, this is for Rainbow Dash!”
Despite all this, the weariness returned. Applejack stopped her head from nodding, “Ugh, I need somethin’ to keep me awake,” she asked to herself. She looked over at Rainbow, who remained still, “Right, I’ll step out, but just for a moment.”
Standing up, Applejack tip-hoofed her way quietly out the guestroom, making sure to not stir Rainbow Dash. Applejack quietly walked to the bathroom. The bathroom wasn’t large, as most pony bathrooms were, but it did have a sink.
Turning on the faucet, Applejack splashed cold water on her face, shaking herself awake. The shock snapped away her weariness. She shivered, “Woo! That ought to do it!”
Unbeknownst to Applejack, she had chosen the worst possible time to leave, for as soon as she left, Rainbow began to stir. It was less aggressive than her other night terrors; small movements, wing twitches, barely audible groans, but in her mind, something new was happening. Something entirely unexpected to Rainbow.
In the meanwhile, Applejack finished her business in the bathroom exiting into the hallway and preparing to return to Rainbow. However, as soon as she raised a hoof, a scream emanated out into the hallway. Applejack jumped in alarm, it was Apple Bloom!
Rushing into her sister’s bedroom, Applejack found the filly wide awake, and in a state of distress.
“Apple Bloom! What happened?”
Apple Bloom held up a hoof, pausing to let her quick breathing slow down. “Something,” she stammered, “Something attacked me.”
Applejack squinted in alarm, “Attacked? Now? What was it?”
Apple Bloom shook her head with an expression of disorientation, “I don’t know! It was some kind of- thing!” She held up her right hoof, which had been under the covers the entire while. Applejack stared in alarm as she saw that her sister’s hoof was coated in some kind of viscous, green substance that dripped from the hoof down onto the bed.
“I- I hit it, and I think I squished it?” Apple Bloom stated in a tone of bewilderment, “I think it some kind of bug. Maybe a flyder?”
“Whatever it was, I’m just glad you're okay. You’d best go wash yourself off now, it’s over for now.”
Apple Bloom nodded, hopping off the bed and exiting the room, leaving Applejack alone for a moment. After the filly left, she leaned into the bed, and sniffed the green substance. It had a putrid odor that made Applejack wrinkle her nose in disgust. Looking around, Applejack then noticed that the goo, or whatever it was, was elsewhere in the room. A small, barely visible trail of the stuff went up one wall and through a hole in the ceiling, as if its owner had fled.
A feeling of dread began to build in the pit of Applejack’s stomach as she began to trace the trail. The substance went through a hole in the ceiling and out into the hallway. The drippings continued, crossing the hallway and into the guestroom.
A gasp of horror left Applejack’s mouth as she realized she had left the already vulnerable Rainbow exposed to whatever had attacked Apple Bloom. As quick as a dash, Applejack barged into the guestroom.
The substance seemed to have trickled, with a small amount of it pooling on bed. The bed that was empty. “Rainbow Dash?” Applejack yelled out, her voice quivering with fear, “Rainbow! Where are you!”
It was then Applejack’s gaze twisted across the room, attracted by the gentle sound of blowing wind. The window of the bedroom was open, and Rainbow was gone. Running up to the window and resting her hooves on the sill, Applejack her head out into the shadowy nighttime darkness of the Sweet Apple Acres.
She looked around, there was no sign of Rainbow or the thing that had attacked Apple Bloom, but there were no hoofprints in the mud below either. Wherever she was, Rainbow was gone, having flown off into the night.