//------------------------------// // Applejack's Regret and an Unexpected Notice // Story: A Bell's Sonata Magic of Love Part 2 // by MysteriousStranger //------------------------------// The sound of the birds singing woke up Fluttershy, just like always. She smiled at the new day that greeted her, but her happiness faded quickly when she remembered the events of last night. She looked over to see her fiancée sleeping peacefully. “Twi… Morning’s here…” Twilight didn’t wake up, so Fluttershy started to shake her body with a hoof. There was no success. “Since when was she hard to wake up? This will make her open her eyes...” The Pegasus lowered her head and pressed her lips against Twilight's. She could feel that the kiss was returned and broke it after a few moments. “Fluttershy… From now on, I want you to wake me up like that. It’s good to start the day with the right hoof!” Twilight yawned and gave Fluttershy a hug. “'Honey, I know that you love your necklace, but it’s cold. At least take it off when you sleep!” She jokingly said. “Twi, I was serious when I said I would never take it off.” Fluttershy said after giggling. “You’re so cute! Now, let’s go downstairs… I bet Rainbow will wake up when she smells your delicious food!” “Don’t count on that... She really hates mornings.” The couple headed downstairs. When they reached the living room, they were surprised when they didn’t find their friend there. Spike and Angel were still sleeping. “Weird… I wonder where she could have gone…?” The Unicorn wondered aloud. “I’ll check outside… You prepare breakfast…!” The Pegasus said, already out the door. Fluttershy started to shout Rainbow Dash's name while trotting around her cottage. The grass was still wet from the downpour last night, and only a few clouds remained in the sky. Maybe she’s on one of the clouds! She thought, flying to a nearby cloud. It was empty. She continued her search in the sky, from the Everfree Forest to Ponyville, but she was nowhere to be seen. She started to get hungry, so she returned to have breakfast before continuing the search. The timid pony went back to the ground once she neared her cottage, and sighed before opening the door. “Twilight… I didn’t find Rainbow Da…” Fluttershy stopped talking when she saw the cyan Pegasus herself coming from the kitchen. “Rainbow!” She happily exclaimed, flying towards the mare. “Fluttershy, I…” But Rainbow Dash soon found herself in a tight hug from her friend. “I looked for you everywhere! Where have you been?” “In the bathroom.” Twilight said ash she also came from the kitchen. “I was about to tell you to come back, but I saw you flying towards Ponyville and you didn’t hear me.” “Oh… I guess we should have started looking for her here before going outside!” The shy Pegasus giggled, releasing her friend. “That’s what I was about to suggest before you rushed outside!” The Unicorn said with a smile. “Sorry....” “You don’t need to apologize, honey… It was a nice gesture.” She kissed her cheek. “You acted under the influence of your instincts. That’s another quality I love about you.” Twilight added, causing her fiancée blush. “I don’t want to interrupt you guys, but my marefriend hates me. Remember?” The rainbow-maned Pegasus sighed. “Oh, yes…! We’ work on that after breakfast. I'll talk to Applejack while you stay here with Fluttershy…” the Unicorn said. “Okay… As I said last night, I trust you, Twilight… Please, I need her…” “Don’t worry, Rainbow. I’ll do my best to make Applejack apologize to you.” Twilight said while she put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. The bookworm pony went to the kitchen again and brought four plates to the table using her magic. She then brought vegetables for Angel bunny and she woke the bunny and Spike up. Rainbow Dash barely touched her food, though. She spent most of the time staring at her plate. “Please… Eat, Rainbow…” The timid Pegasus said after noticing her friend's lack of movement. “I don't really feel like eating right now…” “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day… It gives you all the energy you need to start the day.” Twilight added. “I’m not going to do anything today, anyway… What’s the point without AJ…? Thanks, girls, but I’ll just go find a cloud and think about how empty my life is…” Rainbow Dash slowly flew outside, leaving them alone. “That’s it! I’m going to talk to Applejack now!” Twilight yelled as she hit the table with her hoof. She couldn’t stand seeing her friend in such a depressed state anymore. She headed to the door. When she was about to open it, Fluttershy called her. She turned to see the Pegasus approaching her. “Twilight, don’t do anything stupid… Just talk to her; we don’t want to hurt her…” She said worriedly. The lavender Unicorn put her forehooves on her fiancée’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, shy, I wouldn’t do anything that I'd regret later, no matter how mad I am.” She gave her a quick kiss. “Remember, stay with Rainbow Dash. She needs a close friend right now…” “I will.” Twilight opened the door and both got out the cottage. “I’ll see you later!” the Unicorn said. Fluttershy nodded and took off. “Spike, look after the cottage, okay?” “I’m your dragon, Twi! Don’t worry!” Spike puffed his chest out. Twilight smiled and closed the door before heading to Sweet Apple Acres, trotting as fast as she could. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were watching Applejack apple bucking. She still was angry, so they didn’t dare try and talk to her. She'd been working even before they woke up. “I’m really worried, Apple Bloom… Rainbow Dash hasn’t came back yet… What if she never comes back?” “She will come back… She has to! Mah sister misses her, even if she won’t admit it…” “How do you know?” The Pegasus filly asked. “Ah know mah sister; just look at her face.” Scootaloo took a closer look and she could see that, despite her anger, she was crying. “She isn’t herself, Scoots. Without Big Mac, she's taking on much more than her body can stand. Nopony can make her stop when she’s like this…” “I guess if Rainbow couldn’t… Then nopony can…” Both fillies kept looking at the farmer pony, feeling pity for her. Applejack kept kicking the trees, letting all the apples fall in the buckets she'd placed around them. Rainbow Dash… Thanks to you, Ah have to work more to recover all the bits you made me lose! She thought to herself. Ah wonder if she’s okay…? Who cares!? Ah hope she spent the night in the rain! No, Ah don’t want that… Ah want to see her again… But she owes me an apology! Her mind kept arguing. She was confused, unable to find a solution, and still not sure what to do. She could only delay those thoughts with working, but they wouldn't go away. She was starting to feel guilty, and was wondering if she should be the one apologizing. “No! She’s the one that ruined mah harvestin’ and made me lose important bits! But… ah can get them back… Rainbow was offerin’ something that nopony else could give me, and if Ah lose her, Ah'll never get her back… She was giving me her love…” Her tears became more evident now. She was now feeling very guilty for her actions. “Oh, Dashie… What have ah done…?” Applejack collapsed onto the ground as she began to cry uncontrollably. The fillies were about to approach to her but they heard a voice coming from the distance. Applejack heard it too, and looked toward the direction it came from. She wiped her tears away and stood up. She saw a lavender Unicorn approaching fast, and she didn’t seem happy. “Applejack, there you are! I have a few things to tell you, and you will listen!” “Twilight… Can’t it be later? ah have to…” “No, it has to be now! Do you realize what you've done!? Rainbow Dash came to Fluttershy and me looking for help… She's destroyed! She had told me what happened and I have to say that you overreacted!” “Twilight, please listen to me…!” She was starting to cry again, but Twilight was too busy yelling at her to pay any attention. “No, you listen to me! She thinks you hate her and is refusing to eat or do anything! She cried until she ran out of tears, and even then she kept crying! You had no right to yell at her like that! And don’t tell me that this is none of my business, because she’s my friend, and I don’t like seeing her…!” “Twilight, please stop!” The Unicorn stopped yelling and looked to where the voice came from. Two fillies were trotting towards them, and Twilight recognized them. Apple Bloom went to comfort her sister. It was now when Twilight noticed that the mare was crying. “Twilight… Look at her! Do you think she’s proud of what she did?” Scootaloo said, almost angry. Twilight got closer to Applejack, who looked up when she sensed somepony approaching and she saw her friend sadly looking at her. “Applejack, I’m sorry... I was so mad at you that I didn’t stop to think about your feelings… You clearly regret what you did… right?” Applejack nodded and hugged her friend, bursting in tears once again. “Twilight… Ah'm a monster! Ah don’t deserve her after what Ah did... She thinks that Ah hate her and it’s all mah fault! Ah don’t know if she will ever forgive me!” She let out all of her sadness on her friend’s shoulder. The Unicorn held her tightly and patted her back. “You’re not a monster, Applejack. You just commited a mistake and you recognize it… The only way to find out if she forgives you is if you apology to her…” “But, what if she doesn’t forgive me?” The crying pony questioned with a sob. “If she really loves you and sees your regret… She will. Now come on, she may still be at the cottage with Fluttershy!” “Okay…” She looked at the fillies. “You two stay here and take care of Granny Smith.” The fillies nodded and went to the house. Twilight started to walk back with Applejack following close behind. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ “Please, Rainbow Dash, will you eat something now…?” “I told you, I’m not hungry! I will never leave this cloud! Never!” “Oh ,don’t say that Rainbow, don’t say that! You have to move eventually... You're part of the weather control team; you have a job to do! Not to mention that your friends would miss you if you stay here by yourself…” “I don’t care! They were fine before meeting me and will be fine without me. They don’t need me... Nopony needs me… And I don’t need anypony!” “But… But…” “Please leave me alone, Fluttershy…” Fluttershy didn’t move. She opened her mouth to argue more, but closed it when she didn’t know what to say. She stayed next to her on the cloud, looking at her… Feeling bad. When she couldn’t stand the sadness she looked down to the ground and she saw something that made her smile again. “Rainbow… Why don’t you look down?” “Why should I?” “Please do it… For me…?” Rainbow Dash was about to turn her down again, but when she saw Fluttershy’s cyan eyes wet, she couldn’t do it. “Fine…!” She sighed and glanced down where Fluttershy was looking. Her eyed widened when she saw Applejack walking closely behind Twilight. She wasn't sure if she should or shouldn’t go talk to her at first, but after looking at Fluttershy's expression, she decided to go. She landed right in front of them. “What do you want?” Her eyes were focused on Applejack. Her anger was obvious. Applejack took her hat off. “Ah came here to apologize… Ah realized mah mistake; Ah never meant to hurt you… Ah love you, Rainbow. Please forgive me. Ah don’t want to lose you; yer important to me…” Tears started to fall through Applejack's eyes she was speaking, but the cyan Pegasus wasn’t convinced. “You made me feel horrible... I felt like if I was just bothering you… You made me feel unloved…” “Ah know, and Ah’m really sorry! Ah wasn’t mahself. Ah made a terrible mistake… Please, forgive me… Ah need you…” “Rainbow Dash, just look at her… This is her state after losing you for one night… Do you think she’s proud? She won’t be doing anything like that again… Give her your forgiveness… Another chance… She needs you as much as you need her!” The Unicorn spoke in a serious tone. The rainbow-maned pony thought for a few moments, not looking away from the farmer pony. She could tell that she was really sorry. She approached her and took a closer look. Applejack stared into her magenta eyes, and before she realized what was going on, she was embraced by her marefriend. “That means that you will forgive me one day?” “I already did, AJ… I missed you…” “Ah missed you too, Dashie… Ah missed you so much…” They moved their heads back to see into each other's eyes. Applejack then placed her hat atop Rainbow's head with a small smile. “But will you let me help next time, AJ?” “Yes… Sorry for…” But she was cut off by a kiss from her marefriend. “Stop apologizing; I already forgave you!” Rainbow Dash said between kisses. Fluttershy flew next to her fiancée and nuzzled her cheek with her own when she put her hooves on the ground. “Well done, love. I knew that you could do it!” “Thanks, honey… But I think we should leave them alone…” “Oh, you’re right.” Fluttershy said as they both started to walk back to their home, their tails intertwined. “So, what happened at the farm?” Twilight told her what happened at the farm without missing any detail. “And now I feel bad for yelling at her…” The Unicorn said, ashamed. Her partner kissed her cheek. “Don’t feel bad, Twilight, you didn’t know… Besides, you apologized to her, and she accepted it.” “Thanks, Shy… You always know what to say to cheer me up!” They soon arrived at their home and sat on the couch for their well deserved rest. Fluttershy put her head on Twilight’s shoulder as they sat in silence, enjoying their company for an hour before a knock on the door made them stand up. When they opened it, they found Applejack and Rainbow Dash on the other side. “Hello there! We thought you would be at the farm by now.” Twilight surprisedly said. “Something happened when we were going back…” Applejack spoke and, after looking at her marefriend, she looked back to Twilight and Fluttershy. “Rainbow and Ah are kinda engaged…!”