//------------------------------//
// A chance to mourn 
// Story: These Feelings 
// by golden-redhead 
//------------------------------//

"Applejack? Are you in there?"

Rainbow Dash pressed her hooves to the glass surface of a window, looking intently for some kind of a movement inside the room. 

"Applejack?"

With a quiet sigh Rainbow opened the window and flew into a darkness of her friend's room. She landed on the wooden floor and for a moment just stood there, not really knowing what to do now. 
The last few days were a mixture of worried glances and condolences. Usually bright and happy mood of Sweet Apple Acres was replaced by forced assurances that everything is fine and silent tears, shed when no one was looking. Granny Smith's death took everypony by a surprise. A few days ago she was here, making pancakes for her grandchildren and sharing stories from her young years, and now... 

"Rainbow Dash?" She heard a quiet, hoarse voice behind her and spun around to see Applejack standing in a door frame. "What are you doin' here?"

Rainbow gave the orange mare a considering look, as if trying to figure her out. Applejack returned the look.

'What?" She asked after a short while, slightly irritated.

"AJ, you... you look awful!"

Applejack laughed dryly. Rainbow almost covered her ears at the horrible sound, so different from Applejack's usual warm and pleasant voice.

"Thanks. That's just what Ah wanted to hear."

Rainbow Dash just stared at her friend, concern and uncertainty obviously on her face. She was afraid. She was afraid of that hollow look on Applejack's face. She was afraid so much, that if it were not for her strong sense of loyalty, she would be somewhere else right now, high above the clouds, trying to fly so fast that she would forget about the events of recent days. But she couldn't do it for Applejack. She couldn't leave her, when she needed her the most. Not like that. Not in that state.

There were bags under Applejack's bloodshot eyes. Her mane was a tangled mess and she was barely able to stand straight, thanks to exhaustion. She spent the last few days sending invitations for a funeral and trying to take care of everything. Rainbow knew how much a family means for her friend, so she and the others didn't say anything, but now she felt kinda guilty. Applejack was there for everypony, always, but had she ever thought about herself? Rainbow both admired and hated it about her friend. 

She hesitantly approached the farmer and looked straight into her emerald eyes, which begged her to go away. Applejack never was the one to show weakness. She was like a mother of their little group of friends, always mature and ready to lend a helping hoof. It was time to reverse the roles, even if only for a moment. 

Within a matter of seconds she made up her mind. 

With a slow exhale Rainbow wrapped her wings and hooves around the orange mare and drew her closer, gently kissing her friend's forehead. 

"Give yourself a chance to mourn." She said softly, stroking Applejack's mane and whispering the words of comfort in her ear. 

And she did.