Freeze
Applejack woke in a cold sweat, tossing and turning fitfully. She shivered fearfully, a low moan escaping her lips. Her entire body burned with a consistent, pounding pain. The gentle sensation of a hoof stroking her clammy and the quiet hushing sounds eventually calmed her thrashing, and she curled panting against a warm body.
A moment later, she felt something cold being pressed against her lips. Applejack twisted her head away from it, but the hard plastic followed, pushing into her mouth. Reluctantly, she took it in her teeth, rewarded by a splash of liquid on a throat she previously hadn’t known was past. Filled with a sudden craving, Applejack gripped the slender shape with shaky hooves to gulp down the water pouring from it. With her thirst satisfied, she dropped it onto the ground, followed by a sloshing sound.
It was then that she became aware of a distant voice mumbling something to her. Frowning, she flicked her ears as she attempted to make out the words. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that the voice sounded familiar, then that it was Twilight’s voice.
“Rainbow...drink… more water.” She drifted in and out of being able to hear what she was saying. Growling in frustration, Applejack forced her heavy eyelids open.
She was greeted by a blurry smudge of purple, and one with many colors all mixing together. Squinting, the lines slowly grew more defined until she could see her marefriends clearly.
Rainbow Dash’s wings spread, zooming forwards so quickly Applejack lost sight of her until she was right in front of her face, pressing their muzzles together bluntly. The kiss took her by surprise, her eyes widening in shock as Rainbow twisted her forelegs around her neck, pulling them ever closer. Applejack moaned slightly against her mouth, her eyes fluttering shut once again.
“Rainbow!” With a harsh tug, they were pulled apart. Applejack looked over to see Twilight yanking Rainbow away with a magical shimmer around her tail. She dropped her onto the floor, fixing her with a glare. “Applejack’s injured. Don’t go kissing her all of sudden, you might make it worse.”
“Injured?” The sound that grated through Applejack’s throat was far too hoarse to be her own, cracking with a high-pitched noise halfway through the one, simple little word.
“Don’t worry about it, Applejack,” Twilight was immediately by her side, cooing in what meant to be soothing but reach Applejack’s ears as patronizing. Scowling, she moved her muzzle out of the way when her water bottle was nudged encouragingly along the stubborn lines of her lips. “Come on. You have to drink, or else you won’t get better.”
Applejack refused to acknowledge what she said, giving her marefriend a harsh look. “I ain’t doin’ no nothin’ ya’ll say ‘till ya tell me what’s wrong,” her voice was hoarse, craving more of the drink Twilight offered, but she wouldn’t give in. She remembered the manticore landing a hard blow on her, then all turning black. “Wha’d that beast go an’ do to me?”
“It’s not so bad,” Rainbow chimed in. “Just a few scrapes and bruises. Or, a lot of scrapes and bruises. But you know, it’s totally fine.”
Apprehensively, Applejack examined her body. Rainbow’s words were nothing but truth. She was certain she was more bashed up than she had ever been before in her life, every body part scattered with a few dark, tender bruises and sore, stinging cuts. Her stomach was by far the worse, though, the entire slightly pudgy expanse turned a dark shade, broken occasionally with cuts and lighter patches. Biting her lip, she wriggled a hoof round to tap against her belly, letting out a hiss at the sharp jolt of pain that followed, gritting her teeth together. She dreaded to think what here back would look like.
“That manticore sure did do a number on me,” Applejack chuckled with a fake grin, stowing away her throbbing fear of the pain. “Ain’t nothin’ I cain’t handle, though. I’ll be back on mah hooves in no time. But I think ready for that drink now, Twi’. I’m as thirsty as a dry ol’ tree after a drought.”
Applejack swallowed hungrily at the drink, barely paying attention to Twilight’s fretting. “I don’t know. That bruise doesn’t look so good to me.”
“Yeah…” she paused in her guzzling as Rainbow, to her surprise, sided with the Alicorn. “I wouldn’t be cool with letting you hurt yourself. Because you’re all important to me and stuff.”
Applejack snorted defiantly, stamping her hoof on the ground, only to wince as she hit a weak spot, soon brushing it aside. “Ya’ll are frettin’ over nothin’. This is Applejack, remember? We all been through much worst times than this, and I ain’t gonna wait around for somethin’ else to come and snap us up. Th’ quicker we get there, th’ better, in mah books.”
Twilight heaved a heavy sigh. “I don’t want you to, you’re just too weak right now,” Applejack opened her to voice an indignant protest, but she left no room for arguments, plowing on with decision. “But Applejack is right. This place is dangerous, the manticore showed us that. I personally don’t want to put our lives in jeopardy by not continuing towards our eventual goal. We should pack up and leave. If we keep a brisk pace, we might reach the cave by the end of the day.”
“Fine, whatever,” Dash shook out her wings, the strong, beautiful feathers sending a jolt of envy through the Earth pony. “Sitting around it boring anyway.”
“Rainbow, would you carry the bags?” Twilight fluttered her lashes sweetly, hovering the glowing purple saddlebags in front of her. With a groan, she ducked under them, shifting to accommodate the new weight.
“Aw shoot, ya’ll don’t have ta carry mah bags. I ain’t that weak,” Applejack made to stand up and relieve Rainbow of her luggage. Or at least, that was the plan. As soon as she got to her hooves, a sharp pain stabbed her in the side and she crumpled to the ground with a groan.
“Woah, AJ. You okay?” Dash landed in front of her, a look of intense worry overcoming her features.
“I- I’m okay. Jus’ a lil worm in the apple,” she responded, putting on her brightest, and most fake, smile.
Through a sturdy wall of pain and worrying remarks from her marefriends, Applejack was once again upright. Awkwardly, she made her way out from the shelter of a bush they’d been resting under, bare branches tugging at her coat. Twilight and Rainbow Dash soon followed, hovering overhead as they trained their gazes on Applejack. She could feel the stares burning into her skin.
“Would ya’ll two quite buzzin’ around like a pair o’ bothersome bees and get down ‘ere already?” Applejack snapped, the stress from their travels and growing need for her own pair of wings breaking past her tough exsterior.
Sheepishly, the pair hovered down by the limping mare’s side. She could see that Rainbow was about to make a smart remark, but with one smouldering look she turned her head away, her tail flicking with discomfort.
A soft sigh escaped her lips, which only brought a few sting of pain. Now look at ya’ve gone and done. Ya’ll better make it up to ‘em somehow, an’ hopefully this big ol’ bruise’ll fade away soon. Ain’t no fun bein’ in pain.
It was then that a deep, thick voice sliced through her line of thoughts, bringing her to a complete stop. “Freeze.”