//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve // Story: Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds // by Caineachu //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash awoke with a start, sitting up in a flash and looking around. Her heart pounded inside her, making her chest heave slightly until her gaze settled on the sleeping orange mare lying next to her. A hand found her tired eyes, rubbing at them with her palm before she slowly stood up, her body telling her to just go back to sleep. But her mind was far too awake for that now. She moved over to her backpack lying on the ground, bending down to scoop up her bat lying down next to it, gripping it with one had as she rested it on her shoulder. She glanced back at Applejack, smiling softly before she turned around, looking out into the distance. A nice late-night stroll usually helped her to clear her mind, so that's exactly what she would do. With no destination or anything planned out, she started walking, trying to remain in as straight a path as she could manage. Several thoughts plagued her mind, most of them having something to do with her life before everything changed. How she aspired to be in the Wonderbolts. Her job on the weather patrol. Ponyville. Her friends. That last thought made her heart ache tremendously, and she quickly tried to think of something better. It came right away, her mind bringing up the form of an honest, hard-working orange mare. She was incredibly thankful she wasn't totally alone, and out of all of her friends, she had liked Applejack just a little bit more, as terrible as that sounded to say. She had loved all of her friends in Ponyville, but with Applejack, something just clicked right away, and they quickly became best friends. She smiled to herself. And now look at us. After a while of walking through the forest of dead trees, she walked right into a clearing, a rather large one at that. The only things in it were a few large boulders, and a downed tree or two. Looking around to make sure no one else was around, she set her bat against the closest dead tree trunk, her wings unfurling from their position on her back. With a few strong flaps, she was up off the ground and floating up higher and higher. The wind blew her hair this way and that, but she didn't care. Her body nearly ached from how long it was since she last took to the skies, and while she knew her injured wing couldn't take her usual speed and stunts, even gliding in the night sky sounded good right now. And that's exactly what she did. As she soared through the air, she lost nearly all track of time, losing herself in the sky's gentle caress. She missed this so much, being able to soar as high as wanted to go, feeling the wind coursing through her fur. This was part of who she was. This is what made her Rainbow Dash, the fastest mare alive. She stopped her slow upwards spiral, taking in a deep breath of the nighttime air. The moonlight hit her light blue coat, making it almost look like she was glowing against the darkness of the sky behind her. She didn't notice the glint of a scope far below her, and by the time she heard the shot, it was too late. ---------- Applejack's eyes flew open as she heard the familiar crack of a gunshot in the silence of the night. She sat upright, immediately reaching for her holster and slipping her revolver from it. Her head turned next to her. "Rainbow, are you-" Her face paled at the empty spot next to her. She spun around, trying to find the familiar blue of her pegasus friend. Her gaze fell on Rainbow's backpack, noticing it was absent of her bat. Even knowing she had her weapon with her didn't console her fears, and she immediately stood up. "Dammit, Rainbow..." She slung both of their backpacks over her shoulders and holstered her gun, looking around her. Which way could she have gone? Cursing under her breath again, she took off dead ahead, pushing aside dead branches and bushes as she near sprinted along in the darkness. What were ya thinking, ya plum-crazy mare? Going off alone like this in the middle of the night! She continued onwards, her boots thudding into the dirt as she ran. When I find ya, I'm gonna give ya a piece 'a my- Her thoughts were interrupted as she came to a large clearing, and saw a familiar blue form lying on the ground, as well as three other forms standing over her. Applejack drew her gun without even thinking twice about it, her foot steps taking her closer to them. "YOU BASTARDS GET AWAY FROM HER!" Her initial panic, fear and anger getting the best of her, she opened fire, unloading the entire cylinder at them. They ducked away from her barrage, one of them grabbing Rainbow's form and trying to drag her back with them. This only seemed to fuel Applejack's anger, and she quickly reloaded and sent another flurry of lead down range. They were wildly inaccurate compared to her usual abilities, but half hit their mark anyway. The person dragging Rainbow was stuck in the chest by two or three rounds, and he fell in a heap to the ground. Rainbow, however, still didn't move, and now she was just closer to their side of the clearing. Applejack moved to reload, then blinked when she felt only two rounds on her belt. After those, she'd be out entirely. She cursed under her breath, flicking open her revolver's cylinder. "Dammit, I can't-" A sharp pain was suddenly felt on the back of her head, and she fell to her knees, nearly losing consciousness right there. As she turned around to try to counter with her own attack, she just made out the form of a crowbar before her world went black.