//------------------------------// // Rainbowlonius // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash lay belly-first across a lone cloud along the western edge of Ponyville. Her ears drooped around her head as she gazed dully at the warm horizon. With a sigh, she lifted her skull and glanced in the opposite direction, spotting the gray haze that was her home to the far east. She imagined her dimly-lit bedroom, along with the overtalkative piece of granite that she had left inside. Groaning, Rainbow planted her head against the cloud's fluff and covered her eyes. She muttered out loud. "I'm hallucinating you... I should be hallucinating you... I should be hallucinating all of this." Eventually, she lifted her head again, looking west towards the red gloss that foretold orchard after orchard of apple produce. "I didn't ask for stuff to get this complicated. Just give me a few delivery jobs so I can roll in the bits. That's all I need. Everything would be just gravy. Everything..." She bit her lip. Rolling over, she flexed and unflexed her forelimbs, feeling the muscles. There was no tingling sensation—no numbness whatsoever. Her legs were fine for the moment. Rainbow Dash knew better. "Nnnnngh... I should just tell Twilight Sparkle. She knows just what to do with all this magical crud. She always does. Friggin' egghead would be princess of Canterlot if she only had the wings..." Silence. Rainbow turned over again. She peered anxiously over the clouds as if they were a fluffy mound of bedsheets. Sweet Apple Acres loomed beyond the nearest line of trees. Rainbow bit her lip, fidgeting. With a shallow sigh, she kicked off the cloud, flapped her wings, and glided due west. Hovering slowly towards the farm house in the center of the orchards, the pegasus squinted her eyes. She spotted two figures on the front porch, one orange and the other green. Before she could fly too low, Rainbow Dash darted towards the east edge of a silo and clung to it. Craning her neck, she listened in on a conversation issuing from the front steps of the Apple family home. "...just fine. Will ya stop fussin' so much over me, already? Yer too young to have to fret left and right over an old mare's needs." "I just wanna make sure yer nice and relaxed, Granny. You went through an awful lot today." "Hmmph! And what makes you say that, AJ?" "You were almost flattened like a pancake, Granny!" "I don't recall any such thang happenin'!" "Granny..." "Applejack, are you certain I'm the pony who went through an awful lot? You look like a wreck!" "Guess it can't be helped, Granny. I swear, there are days I fear for ya somethin' fierce." "I take good care of myself, darlin'. I was like you in my day. Well... eheh... maybe not exactly like you, but I've had my strong days, and—believe it or not—I carry a lot of that strength with me now. I reckon it'll be the same for you when yer my age. Now, tell me, wouldja want ponies fussin' over ya left and right all worried-like?" "Well... I guess not. Though I wouldn't mind havin' my grandfoals around to visit me. 'Tis only proper." "Eheheheheheh..." "...what?" "Ohhhhhhhh nothin', silly filly. Just you and yer dreamy fantasies. Them young'n's have gotta sprout from somewhere to begin with, ya feel me?" "Grannnnnny..." "I'm serious! Yer always gettin' what you want done except for when it comes to what you really pine for outta life." "I just wanna make sure that the farm's in a good place—along with the ponies I care for. You... Big Mac... Apple Bloom..." "AJ, darlin', take a look around you. We're sittin' on a bounty of apples. Some namby pamby stallion out of Trottingham is payin' us a fortune to churn out fruit. Apple Bloom has got her friends to love and support her. And Big Mac... bless the big ol' goof's heart... he's done found himself a lady friend. I can't rightly say I've ever seen the handsome fella so content in his whole life..." "Yes... Fluttershy's such... such a wonderful catch. Eheheheh..." "Applejack, look at me." "... ... ..." "We are happy. You've done yer part. Now, more than anythang, ya need to find yer happiness too." "But I am happy, Granny. Yer alive. Against all odds... against everythang that's been thrown against us... yer alive and well. I... I-I about collapsed this mornin' when the building collapsed and..." "Unnngh... are ya still on that, darlin'?" "I... I-I can't help it, Granny. I was so... so afraid and... and..." "Now now... none of that, dearie. C'mere. Lemme hold you for a while." "I don't know what t-to think anymore, Granny. It's... it's l-like nothin' I've ever seen or f-felt before. How can we b-be so lucky?" "Hmmmm? 'Fraid you've lost me there, darlin'." "It's... it's like we've g-got guardian angels lookin' over us..." "Heh... and you say that's a bad thang?" "N-no! It's just... it's just so amazin'... and yet strange all at once. I never used to believe in miracles. I always reckoned that you g-got what ya earned through h-hard work alone. But... but to think that after all this time... we... we've finally..." "Shhhhh... AJ, look at me. We deserve this. You deserve it. Just accept happiness for what it is." "But... b-but why do I feel so afraid, Granny?" "Cuz yer still a young filly at heart, darlin'. A part of you is still reelin' from angels leavin' yer life... instead of coming into it. You have a lot of years left. That's plenty of time to witness more miracles. It's okay to be scared. Just have faith, and you'll see. Things can even get better." "Get... b-better...?" "Mmmmhmmm. Strange, I know? But that's how the world works sometimes." "I'm not sure I-I understand, Granny." "Got nothin' to do with understandin', darlin', but with feelin'. I don't blame ya for bein' so shocked. Just trust me... it's okay to be thankful, even if ya don't know who or what yer thankin'... or if there's nothin' to thank at all." "That... sounds awfully silly, Granny." "Hah! Well, ya freckled little scamp! I never did say I was no dang poet!" "Heheheheheh..." "Heeh heeh heeh heeh..." "...Granny?" "Mmm? Yes, young'n?" "I'm so... so glad yer okay." "Awwww... well, I'm plum glad too, 'cuz I get an excuse to hold ya like the filly ya used to be." "You... y-you think they... uhm... that they would be pr-proud?" "I dun think it, darlin'. I know it." The conversation fell silent. Far away, hovering behind the silo, Rainbow Dash hovered on stiff wings. She gulped, sensing the world around her go blurry. With a shuddering sigh, she wiped her eyes dry, gritted her teeth, and drifted off towards the furthest hillside.