//------------------------------//
// FaR Chapter Five 
// Story: Following a Rainbow 
// by malikvamp 
//------------------------------//

FaR Chapter Five- Arrival in Appleoosa

A cage of burgundy walls, and a single window to the outside world. Applejack never really like trains much. She was a farm pony, a natural born out-doors kinda gal, and being stuck in a small coach carriage was not her idea of a day well spent. Sighing heavily once again, out of pure boredom more than anything else, Applejack directed her vision to the window.

It was nighttime outside, Luna's moon casting it's aerie glow across the world. The sand was a desolate sea of purple, never changing. It had been some hours ago that Applejack had seen the last sign of vibrant life. The occasional cactus would appear here and there, but it was nothing compared to the lush landscape that surrounded Ponyville. No, out here on the way to Appleoosa the world was a desert, a never ending sea of purple sand.

Occasionally a new hill would sprout up on the horizon, but each time was just like the last, offering no real pleasure in sight-seeing. The nights on the desert were much like the days, bitter and humid. The mane difference between night and day was the temperature. During the day the place was unbearably hot, and it was rare to see anypony venturing in the outside at mid-day. The nights were a polar opposite, howling winds carried with them waves of icy air that could burrow its way into a Ponies bones.

With each breath Applejack inhaled she could taste the grainy, bitter atmosphere. The train cabin itself was freezing, and some time ago Applejack had stolen several blankets from the other bunks of the cabin. She was wrapped tight, shivering lightly as the howling wind assaulted her ears.

'Rainbow... Ah miss you.'

She missed everything about the Pegasus. Her smile. The way she always thought so highly of herself. The way she laughed, and the way she would leave rainbows in the sky behind her. Applejack missed the way that Rainbow Dash dreamed, and the way she took hold of every situation. At that moment, more than anything, Applejack missed the feeling of warmth she felt every time she locked eyes with Rainbow's beautiful eyes.

'If only Ah'd told you how Ah felt sooner. If only Ah'd been there to hold you when your world came crashin' down.'

After another unknown amount of time Applejack finally adjusted to the constant rumbling of the train around her. She took comfort in the warmth of her blankets, and in the beautiful world that only Luna's light could create, and slowly drifted to sleep.

The train whined loudly, shaking Applejack from her deep, peaceful sleep. In only a matter of hours the sun had risen, and the whole world outside seemed to morph in the new light. The peaceful purple was gone, replaced with a harsh yellow.

Yellow skies, yellow sand, and matching yellow patches of grass, withering to death. The heat was suddenly unbearable, and Applejack thrashed and turned to release herself from the cocoon of blankets she'd weaved around herself. "Holy Celestia! It's hotter in here than Ah've ever felt before!"

Applejack's coat felt slick with sweat, and she spent no time thinking before she reached to open the window beside her. Hoping for a gust of refreshing air, the orange pony was swiftly disappointed. The moment the glass parted sandy, dry, hot air blew into the cabin of the train. It was immediately closed.

"By golly, that was unexpected!" Applejack adjusted herself to sit more comfortably in her bunk, quickly trying to straighten her mane after the fierce assault. Never before had Applejack wanted water so badly. Again the train whined loudly, and she noticed happily that it was quickly slowing to a stop.

Her muscles fought against her as Applejack jumped down from the bunk that she'd resigned in for almost two days. Agonizingly she stretched, feeling her body whine in protest. Finally, after a thorough stretching of her muscles, Applejack harnessed the bag of necessities that she had brought along for her adventure in Appleoosa.

A loud screeching erupted as the cabin door swung open.

And there stood Braeburn, full smile.

As far as color schemes went Braeburn was an exact opposite of Applejack. Where Applejack had a strong, deep orange coat his was blonde; where she had a golden-blonde mane he had a mane of orange.

"Well hello, cousin Applejack! It's about time ya'll got here!" Braeburn smiled happily, as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Can you believe it, your train was a whole seven minutes late!"

At first Applejack didn't know how to respond. How did Braeburn know she was coming? Not that Applejack was mad or nothin; in fact she was quite overjoyed to see another friendly face, but she never told him that she would be coming into town.

"Well howdy, partner!" Applejack cooed as she exited the train. Immediately she wished hushed didn't have to, as a wall of desert air smashed into her. As the dry air assaulted her throat, Applejack continued to speak. "Ah'm mighty glad to see ya, Braeburn, but how'd ya know that Ah was headin' out this way?"

At first Braeburn seemed shocked by the question, but quickly regained your composure. "Why, cous, your friend Pinkamina told me!"

'Pinkamina? Who is- oh!'

"Pinkie Pie? Here, in Appleoosa! How?" Perfectly on cue the pink filly appeared, bounding down the street towards the cousins.

"Applejack! Finally, you're here!" Pinkie Pie spoke happily, bouncing her way closer until she was only a few hooves away from her orange coated friend. "It's about time!"

"Uh, Pinkie?" Applejack spoke out of confusion, eyeing the Pink earth pony. "How did you get here?"

"By hot air balloon, of course!" Pinkie smiled widely, seemingly oblivious to Applejack's confusion.

"Um, alright, but what are ya doing here?" After her encounter with Gilda Applejack went straight to the Ponyville train station. She couldn't risk missing a train that only departed between the towns once a week. There was no way that Pinkie could have known where she was going.

"I'm here to help, you silly filly!"

"Help?"

Before their conversation could continue Braeburn cut in once again. "Hay, listen cous, I gotta go take care of some things around town, but Pinkie has informed me that you will be staying with us at the farmhouse for the next few days!" This, too, caught Applejack off guard. "The rooms will prepared by tonight, but they will take some time to get ready. Would ya mind hanging' around town for a while until tonight?"

Applejack was silent for a moment, unsure of what was going on. Then again, when Pinkie Pie was involved, sometimes it was better to just go with it. "Oh, yeah, no problemo Braeburn! We'll see ya'll at the farmhouse later tonight."

And with that Braeburn turned, making his exit from the confused Applejack. With a wave of his hat he was gone, leaving the two friends behind. Slowly Applejack turned, taking in the scenery around her.

The town of Appleoosa was defined by the clock tower in the centre of the town, standing tall over every other building in sight. The tower would erupt loudly every hour, on the hour. The tower itself was a deep red, as were much of the buildings of Appleoosa. The rest of the settlement, including the ponies the resided there, we're an array of reds, yellows, greens, browns and oranges.

Appleoosa was built, essentially, in the middle of nowhere. No vast mountain defined the geography, nor a great body of water. All around the town in every direction was a sea of yellow sand. If Appleoosa had a weather team, which they most likely didn't, the team would spend most of their days staring up into an empty yellow sky, apt he occasional whiff of a cloud dotting the horizon.

It was Pinkie's voice that broke Applejack from her trance. "Gosh, why would Rainbow run to such a desolate place? Why not Cloudsdale, or Manehattan. Even Fillydalphia would be more interesting than this place."

AJ could have asked how Pinkie Pie knew of what was going on with Rainbow Dash, but really it didn't matter. Pinkie marched to her own drummer. Probably a drummer who couldn't keep a very good beat, but her own drummer none the less. If anything asking Pinkie why she was there would just confuse Applejack further.

"That's a good question, Pinkie." Applejack decided to just play along and accept the pink pony's help. She would probably need it. "If we hope to find Dash, then our first priority should be figurin' out why she came here in the first place."

"Well, the way I see it," Pinkie was using her hoof to draw in the sand. She was drawing a map of Appleoosa, not leaving a single building out. All around her ponies were staring at Pinkie, never before had most of them seen such a colorful creature. "We have to split up and cover as much ground as possible. You take the sheriff's office and 'The Saltblock', I'll look around the rest of the city. Let's meet back up on the outskirts of town tonight, and then make our way down to the farmhouse."

Applejack was dumbfounded. Never before had she seen Pinkie so... attentive? The pink filly hadn't made a joke, nor gone off on some tangent or anything. Upon closer inspection Applejack noticed that her usually flamboyant Pink mane had flattened a little. "Pinkie are you alright, sugarcube?"

Pinkie looked up from her drawing in the sand, her teal eyes slightly reddened. Sniffing lightly Pinkie spoke.

"Look, Applejack... Everypony is growing up so fast. Soon everypony will be moving on, and I'll be left behind to party all by myself. Trust me when I say parties of one are no fun, no fun at all!" Applejack lightly rested a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, in an attempt the now teary-eyed filly. "Just imagine how Rainbow is feeling right now, alone, no one to hold or comfort her. Loneliness... Isn't a kind of fear you can just laugh away."

Pinkie's words were becoming slurred, spoken between sniffs and heavy breaths. Applejack couldn't help but tear up herself. Somewhere, out there in the desert, was Rainbow Dash alone? Was she crying? Perhaps she was feeling the same way now as she was when Rainbow first met Applejack. Discordant.

"Pinkie?" Applejack tugged lightly on Pinkie's shoulder, drawing her friends gaze up to meet hers. The pony's tearful eyes were enough to break some ponies heart. When you only ever see some pony happy, and hyper, seeing them sad was heart wrenching. "What do ya say we explore this here settlement together?"

Instead of a spoken answere, Applejack soon felt herself in a tight embrace with her pink friend. Pinkie was right, loneliness was something that no pony should have to go through. Pinkie slowly stepped away from Applejack, wiping away traces of tears that hadn't yet been swept away in the hot desert air.

"Where to first?" The question was simple, yet still it demanded careful thinking. Asking around the ponies of Appleoosa could take forever, and the chance of somepony having bumped into Rainbow and remembering was highly unlikely. The Saltblock, Appleoosa's mane place to relax and have a drink was a good bet, as gossip would brew there more than anywhere else. Then again, and Applejack liked this option the best, the Sheriff's office was bound to know something about their rainbowed friend.

"The Sheriff's office." Applejack spoke confidently, and with Pinkie by her side they moved quickly across the desert sands.

Appleoosa's Sheriff was a stallion by the name of Sherif Silver-star. When the duo finally arrived at his office the light brown stallion was relaxing on the steps that led up to the building. As they neared he tipped up his pitch-black Stetson hat, revealing his chestnut brown mane and eyes, and gave them a strong stare.

"Well howdy there, fillies!" Slowly he rose from his laying position, and onto all fours, making his way to meet Applejack and Pinkie Pie. "How may I help you this fine, warm afternoon."

It was Pinkie who spoke up first, in her usual happy tone. Applejack could tell that Pinkie was forcing her happiness, though. "Howdy to you too, Sheriff! And if I may say so you town is sweet as cotton candy! I love what you've done with the place since we last visited!"

Applejack noted that nothing had changed.

"Aaaaanyways, my pall Applejack here were wondering if you could do us one, incy deency favored?"

Without even a moment's pause the Sheriff replied happily. "Why o' course I can! Anything to help the guest of Appleoosa! Now, what did ya have I'm mind?"

It was Applejack's turn to speak now, and she stepped forward accordingly. "Well, Sheriff, we were wonderin' if ya'd seen, or heard anythin' bout a friend of ours?"

"Well, I can certainly try." The Sheriff laughed lightly. "However, y'all may need to be a little more specific."

"She looks like a rainbow!" Pinkie spoke happily.

"And she's got a beautiful, cyan coat like nothin' you've ever seen!" Applejack added in.

"Ooh, and she is super-duper fast!"

"She flies like an angel, powerful yet beautiful!"

"She's super outgoing, always looking to one-up anypony if she gets the chance!"

"Her voice is like velvet, soft and loving..."

After the last comment by Applejack all three of the ponies were silent foe a moment. By this point the sun had started it's decent from the sky, and they knew that it would only be a few more hours until Luna's moon dominated the sky. Finally Sheriff Silver-star spoke up.

"Well, if there's one thing Ah do know about this pony yall're looking for, it's that she's loved dearly." The Sheriff casted a sideways stance at Applejack. "Aah can't tell ya that Ah've seen her, but I'll keep my eyes open. If Ah'm correct, and the pony that yall're looking for happens to be you're friend Rainbow Dash, then your best bet may be to find Chief Thunder Heart's buffalo tribe."

'Of course!' Applejack thought to herself. 'If Rainbow is anywhere, it will be with the buffalo tribe. The one place she may feel still accepted, and not abandoned.'

After quickly thanking the Sheriff the two friends began making their way back across town. The journey to buffalo lands was a long one, and would be better made starting in the morning. Venturing through the desert at night would be dangerous, and not a hazard they could take when finding a Rainbow Dash was on the line.

"Well, Ah s'pose we only have one choice, huh Pinkie?"

The once unbearably hot air was beginning to cool. The wind was quickly gaining force, and soon the unprotected desert air would be fierce and un forgiving. The sky was clear, except for a single rainbow, darting around in the distance. However, neither Pinkie nor Applejack noticed the beautiful streaks of color, both focused on simply putting one hoof in front of the other. After a long day of searching both ponies desperately needed food, and rest.

"Yuupers, AJ old pal! We gotta head back to Braeburn's farmhouse quick, though, before we get carried away in the wind!"

'Well, at least Pinkie and I are on the same page. Tomorrow morning We'll venture to the buffalo tribe, and hopefully find our next clue there.'

Side by side the weary friends made their way to their new, temporary home.