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// 3: Things You Do Not Do [Adventure] [Sad] 
// Story: Thirty Minutes Shy 
// by Esle Ynopemos 
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((Prompt: Not all truths need to be spoken.))

The landslide took them both by surprise. One moment, Fluttershy and Applejack were walking together along a path that overlooked Whitetail Woods on their way to Rainbow Dash's practice field, and the next moment the earth swallowed them up in a cloud of dust and broken stone.

Fluttershy cried out as she watched Applejack's blonde mane disappear behind a hail of boulders. She tried to keep sight of her friend, but it was impossible to see anything as she tumbled along with a torrent of dirt and rocks. Instinctively she flailed her hooves, fighting to stay on top of the churning earth lest she get buried. Boulders as large as two ponies thundered past and bounced down the slope.

It was over nearly as quickly as it had begun. Fluttershy found herself choking on dust at the bottom of the hill, resting atop what had moments ago been most of the hill's face. Looking up, she could see the trail had been completely wiped out, replaced with a crooked scar in the earth trailing a thick cloud of dust.

“Applejack!” she called, scrambling to her hooves. Adrenaline allowed her to ignore the scrapes and bruises as she stood up and looked for signs of her friend.

“Fluttershy?” A rustic voice responded, oddly muffled. “Fluttershy, are you okay?”

Fluttershy took a quick glance at herself. She would feel her injuries before long, but she was well enough to stand and move. “Yes,” she called. She tried spreading her wings, and pain shot through her side, forcing her to bite her lip to keep from screaming. “I, um, don't think I can fly, though. Where are you, Applejack?”

“Over here!” An orange hoof raised above a pile of broken stones and waved.

Carefully choosing her steps so as not to destabilize the rubble, Fluttershy made her way over. When she rounded the corner and saw her friend, she put her hoof to her mouth and gasped.

Applejack hissed in pain as she pushed vainly against a boulder that was much larger than herself. “Dang thing's got me pinned,” she said, thumping her forelegs against the rock. Her rear legs were not visible. She glanced up at Fluttershy, squinting in the sun. “I don't s'pose you could help me move it?”

Blinking in shock, Fluttershy nodded and stepped up close to the boulder. As soon as she put pressure on it, though, Applejack began screaming.

“Aah! Stop! Stop!”

Fluttershy leaped away from the boulder as though it were on fire. “A-Applejack?”

Applejack took several short breaths before speaking again. “That ain't... ain't gonna work.” Her face contorted in pain. “Shoot, maybe if we had Twi here to teleport the whole rock away at once...”

Fluttershy frowned. “Twilight's in Canterlot.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said. “Yeah, I know that.”

“I'm sorry.” Tears carved wet paths in the dust on Fluttershy's cheeks.

“Hey, it's okay,” said Applejack. “It ain't... it ain't...” She took a sharp breath and coughed, leaving a dark trail of red spittle on her chin.

Fluttershy knelt down beside her friend, wiping Applejack's face clean for her.

Applejack glanced up into Fluttershy's eyes. “Hey sugarcube? You deal with hurt critters a lot, so you've seen stuff like this, right?”

Fluttershy winced, then nodded.

A cold sliver of fear crept into Applejack's voice. “How... how bad is this? Am I gonna die?”

There were some things in life you just didn't do. You didn't stare at Derpy's eye. You didn't take the last piece of cake if Pinkie hadn't had any yet. You didn't mention the name Tom when Rarity was within earshot. And you never, ever lied to Applejack.

Fluttershy ran her hoof through Applejack's mane. That old hat must have been buried beneath the landslide, because it was nowhere in sight. She took a quick glance down, and saw that there was blood seeping out from under the boulder. Fluttershy locked eyes with Applejack. Her tone was steady and even.

“You're going to be fine, Applejack.”