Chapter XXX
"Do you see him yet?"
"He'll be here."
"Maybe Ditzy Doo forgot?"
"He'll be here." Rainbow Dash stated with more power. She didn't want to consider the very real possibility that Derpy had forgotten.
"Oh. Sorry."
The pair were hunched on a hill just above Sweet Apple Acre's fence line, affording them an unbroken view of the western sky. They'd been sitting since early afternoon, watching for any sign of Skystriker coming over the sleepy hamlet of Ponyville. Ignoring the boredom and hungry that arose some time back, Dash refused to take her magenta eyes off the sky even for an instant.
Fluttershy, meanwhile, contented herself with the small, ground-crawling insects. At least until she discovered with a scream why they were called Fire Ants. After that, no matter how bored she was, she didn't leave Dash's side, even to the point of pressing up against her bad wing. Now, hours later, there was still no sign of rescue.
"Don't do that."
"Don't do what?"
"Apologize for everything."
"Oh. Sorry."
"See? Don't--" Dash glanced at her friend's face, dropping the sentence where it lay. Fluttershy was smiling, teasing Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy, you got me!"
"About time." Fluttershy grinned.
"That was a good one." Dash smiled back. Then her stomach took that opportunity to groan again.
"Your tummy's talking."
"Yours too." Dash chewed her lip. It had been almost three hours since they'd eaten. It was bad enough to be grounded, but to be hungry as well? They might as well become mules. But could she just leave her station? How would her daddy know where to find them? But she had Fluttershy to think of as well as herself. "Okay. Let's go back to the barn."
"What about your father?"
"He'll be here." Dash said one last time. "But... I don't think our going hungry will speed him up."
"You're a good friend, Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy helped her to her feet.
"Thanks, Fluttershy. You too."
The pair trotted back towards home. Dash mulled the words over in her mind. Home; home. Perhaps they could walk home? All the other species seemed content to keep all four hooves on the ground. How hard could it be? Perhaps as a last ditch effort they might try galloping to Cloundsdale. Or maybe they could even stay here until the city made another pass? Loathed as she was to admit it, Dash was beginning to fear Ditzy Doo may have forgotten after all. Or she flew east instead of west. Again.
An extended stay with the Apples was not a pleasant notion. She and Applejack would probably end up killing one another. Not that she couldn't take her. And welcome as they may be, she and Fluttershy would become nothing more than ground pounding farm hooves. The thought being grounded for that long caused her wings to tremble.
"Are you alright, Dash?" Fluttershy noticed her friend's mis-step.
"How are we going to get home, Fluttershy?"
"Some pony will come get us, you'll see."
"What if we never make it home? What if-- What if I never see my mommy again?" Dash's voice cracked.
"You can't think like that, Dashie!" Fluttershy held her friend's face between her hooves. "Everything is going to be alright. We'll be fine."
"I can't..."
"It's okay." Fluttershy intoned in a soothing voice, nuzzling her friend's face.
Rainbow Dash swallowed hard, her bravado returning. Fluttershy was right. They were Pegasi, bless by Princess Luna with the gift of flight. More than that, she was Rainbow Dash. If any two ponies in all of Equestria had a whinny's chance of making it home it was Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Together they could do anything.
And yet, the world was a much more complicated place than either of them gave credit for. Sure, they were up to their ears in manure, but that didn't mean everything would be alright. Things weren't always bleakest before the dawn. Sometimes... sometimes the darkness just swallowed you whole. Firefly often said 'Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, no matter how right you are; sometimes the dragon wins.'
Neither Dash not Fluttershy knew this yet. If they did, it was not a lesson they could articulate into a letter, shoehorned onto the end of a day's adventure. With age and experience also came doubt and bitterness, something they still had a great deal to learn about. They were still too young and inexperienced to fully grasp the intricacies of a very real and uncaring world.
Applejack understood though. As she watched the two Pegasi trot towards the house, she saw the dark clouds following them, still ripening on the vine. She embraced the darkness of the world quite easily for one so young. Little Mac and Granny didn't get it; they let things go too easily, forgave too readily. Applejack couldn't do that. Honesty was her gift, the ability to see the worst in ponies and to be brutally truthful with them. The world was cruel, why should she be any less?
Seeing her move to intercept them, Dash's trot slowed a pace. Applejack was filthy, covered in sweat and scratches, her chest thick with froth. When she said she shared Mac's work load she hadn't been lying, doing the same jobs as her brother who was more than twice her size. It was not an easy job. She looked utterly exhausted and... Beaten? Envious?
Dash stopped, letting her catch up. "Hey, AJ. What've you been doing? You stink like a bayou breeze."
"Been tryin' clear out the brambles down near the tree line. Rabbits keep gettin' into our crops."
"Oh! What's a rabbit?" Fluttershy perked up.
"Little varmints. When ya find 'em ya gotta wring their necks or they'll just breed us outta house and home." AJ tried to brush herself off, actually embarrassed of her appearance. The blood was one thing, but sensible girls didn't wander around with foam on their chests when they had company. Her embarrassment just served to irritate her further. "I gotta tell ya though, I wish Granny would let us jus' burn 'em out; they sure do wriggle 'tween yer teeth when ya have to snap their necks. The briar patch is too close to the trees, though, so we can't risk the flame. Still, it'd almost be worth it jus' ta get the screams out of my ears. At least there was only one today."
Dash didn't quite understand what their toe-headed friend was talking about. There wasn't any kind of real wildlife in Cloudsdale to speak of. Still, if Applejack said that the nuisance had to be dealt with then it must be true. She knew much more about farming and animals than Rainbow Dash ever would.
For Fluttershy, however, no amount of shock or disgust could properly convey the horrible feeling deep in her gut. She'd seen a rabbit once in a book. The fluffy little mammal had been so adorable, Fluttershy had no idea how any sensible pony could kill one. Bursting into tears, she made a bee line for the door.
"Fluttershy, wait!" called Dash.
"She alright?" asked Applejack.
"I'd better go see."
Following her runaway friend into the house, Dash spent fruitless minutes searching the corners of the home. She had to be hiding somewhere, cowering behind her bangs. She was so sensitive, she cried over every little thing. Dash needed to protect her, but right now she couldn't even find her. AJ snorted, heading for the stall to wash up. Dash was verging on panic until Little Mac pointed toward the stairs. Taking them three at a time she rushed for the last door on the left. The door to AJ's room was shut tight and no amount of knocking would open it.
"Fluttershy? It's me, Dash. Come on, let me in." Her ears swiveled toward the door, hearing nothing but quiet sobs and her own breathing. "Fluttershy, please let me in. Please?" Dash didn't know what to do. She didn't know what had made Fluttershy so upset, and more to the point she couldn't concentrate. Hunger was making her light headed. If she was this hungry, then chances are Fluttershy was as well. "I'm going to go get us some food. I'll be back. Okay, Shy?"
When no answer came, Rainbow took that as an affirmative and dashed off to find something to eat. Maybe a nice head of lettuce or eight would take her mind off of whatever AJ had said to set her off. What had Applejack done anyways? Obviously the thought of killing a rabbit was quite upsetting. Dash didn't know what a rabbit was, or a varmint, but she knew a nuisance; she'd been called that enough to last a life time. She usually didn't need to be punished, let alone killed; she just needed some pony to talk to. So maybe that's all rabbits needed too was a friend? Heading downstairs she decided to discuss it with AJ once she got out of the stall.
Applejack, meanwhile, ran through the conversation in her mind, kicking herself even as the water rushed through her mane. She hadn't meant to upset Fluttershy, she just hadn't thought about it. Applejack sometimes lacked a filter between her brain and her mouth. It was like some supernatural element deep inside constantly compelled her to be honest. She should have just treated Fluttershy like she did Applebloom; simple and easy to upset. But there was no reason to be upset, that was just how life is, and the faster the accepted that the better off she'd be in the long run.
UGH! She was doing it again! She was trying to change ponies' view of the world to better suit hers. Bowing her head, she watched the soap suds wash off her body and spin down the drain. She had a higher point of view than the soap; she knew where it would end up. But the soap would know too soon enough. Maybe she should just let ponies live their own lives without philosophical commentary from a cowgirl who could even spell 'philosophical'?
Toweling off, she gave herself a good rub down. Mac and Granny always told her to take a comb to her coat, but that just took too long, and she never really felt like it. If 'scruffy' was the cost of quick and casual, she'd take it.
Wandering down the hall, she entered her room without knocking. It wasn't locked; those two pesky Pegasi must have been off elsewhere. Probably crying. Sighing, Applejack reached tor a tail ribbon. She'd almost finished putting her tail into an easy braid when she heard a sniffle come from her bed.
"What tha hay?!" She nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping her hair. Pulling back the sheets, she found Fluttershy curled into a ball. "What are you doing here?"
Fluttershy just whimpered.
"Didn't ya hear me?"
Fluttershy curled tighter, scrunching her nose and eyes. Applejack sighed. Calm, she needed calm. Sitting on the bed she searched for the right words to say. They weren't easy to find.
"Look. What I said earlier, about them rabbits, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. I forgot how much like my sister you are, and I didn't figure it'd upset you like it did." There was no response, not that she expected one. Fiddling with her hair ribbon, she was ready to hop down and head for the door. "I'm sorry."
"Youdidn'thavetokillit." muttered the mound under the covers.
"What was that?"
"I said you didn't have to kill it, Applejack. They're just sweet little bunnies; you could have figured something out."
"They're jus' varmints. We've already tried everything we know--"
"Then try something else." Fluttershy wasn't making a suggestion. Applejack could see that as the pony sat up. Eyes crisp, if not a little red, she met AJ's stare full on. She was telling her to find another solution.
"But I-- We--"
"They're just scared of you, the poor dears. They'll probably move if you ask them nicely."
"Ask a rabbit?!" AJ couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Uh-huh. I can go with you tomorrow. I've never seen a woodland creature up close before. I'd be very happy to help you."
"But Fluttershy... They're jus' rabbits. If we don't get 'em the Timberwolves will."
"I'm not worried about them as much as I am you." Fluttershy's wings drooped slightly.
"Me?! What's wrong with me?"
"Applejack, no pony so young should have blood on her hooves. Even if you do only consider it a nuisance. We're not animals."
"I-- But we-- You..."
"It's okay, Applejack."
Applejack found herself wrapped in a tight embrace of gangly, yellow legs. Fluttershy was concerned about her, about what such a violent, every day act was having on her. AJ was following her own policy of facing life's ugliest head on, and for the first time she realized she really kind of hated it. She hated killing innocent creatures just because they were in the way. Rabbits were sweet; they never deserved such a violent end. They had to go, but Applejack didn't want to be the one to do it. Let Little Mac handle it if no other solution could be found. Fluttershy was right; no filly should have to be that strong.
AJ let out a shiver, clinging tighter to Fluttershy's lanky form. Applejack outweighed her, her stockier girth threatening to crush her winged companion. But Fluttershy wasn't worried; she could almost double her legs around the Earth Pony. Her wings were soft and sweet, so fluffy and voluptuous. AJ nuzzled her face deeper into them.
"Thanks, Fluttershy."
"For what?"
"You really do care. Y're the kindest pony I've ever met." AJ spoke, her voice muffled by the tickle of feathers.
"Life is mean, Applejack. That doesn't mean we have to be mean back."
"Yeah, you're right. You can let go now."
"I'm not the one who is shaking."
Fluttershy was right; Applejack was shaking like a leaf. Pulling away, she held onto her new friend's hooves, trying to get the jitters out of her system. This only lead to an infectious giggle fit in Fluttershy that quickly spread to AJ as well. The two sat there on the bed, laughing up a storm.
"Fluttershy!"
Rainbow Dash stood in the hallway, a bowl of greens balanced on the hoof. The two ponies jerked, pulling away, afraid of Dash's reaction. Applejack kicked herself for showing weakness, while Fluttershy waited for the thunder bolt, afraid Dash would think she'd been replaced. But Dash wasn't paying any attention to them; her ears were cocked skywards, searching.
"Listen!" she almost whispered.
Fluttershy couldn't hear anything at first. Her wars swiveled back and forth, trying to pick up the sound that had Dash so excited. There was nothing but the usual noises from the farm. Then she slowly caught on, a growing drone like insects or a train. Maybe even rain on a tin roof. Whatever it was, it started low but was steadily becoming louder.
Applejack had never heard anything like it before. It was a rush of wind and power, but not a tornado. She'd lived through enough of those to recognize those killers coming a mile away. Besides, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She was just as lost as the older filly.
Then Fluttershy got it. It was the steady beat of wings; racing, powerful adult wings. And not just one pair, oh no. This had to be the sound of at least a dozen or perhaps even a score of them. She and Rainbow Dash locked eyes.
"Pegasi." Fluttershy took a moment to let that revelation sink in. "We're saved!"
Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide with excitement. "Daddy!"
And with that she was out the door and gone.