//------------------------------// // Motherless Day // Story: I Want To Take You Flyin' // by MintyJoy //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Motherless Day One of the better differences that Dash had discovered between Ponyville and Cloudsdale was that Ponyville’s sky was always free. She did not need to share it. So today, Dash looped, and whirled, and cork-screwed, and dived, and dashed, anything to take her mind off the heavy feeling in her heart. Nothing was working though, even as the day crawled on. Finally, the sun began to set, so Dash decided to do a free fall as her finale. She couldn’t do it near town in fear someone would chew her out for recklessly flying, so she took to the open fields for the stunt. She was as high into the air as she could get without feeling too light-headed, the ground below just a mere green blur. Then she folded in her wings and fell. She almost didn’t want to open them up and save herself. The ground would have been so nice to crash into, it would have meant instant nothingness. But Dash had dreams to fulfill and a dad to care for, so she opened her wings in enough time to crash on a green hill without harming herself. She lay there in the grass, breathing in its scent, feeling the spots where the grass must have stained her coat. It was peaceful. And lonely. Then a cry made her jump nearly out of her skin. “RAINBOW!” The cry was so heart broken and scared that Dash questioned her still being alive and not just a ghost lying next to her body. But she was still very much a living pony, so when a very shaken Applejack came up over the side of the hill, Dash was a little irritated. “RAINBOWDA—!” “What?” “Oh.” The farm pony sheepishly looked away, realizing her mistake. “Yer fine.” “Well, yeah why wouldn’t I—” Dash put the pieces together and stopped. “You thought I—” “It doesn’t matter.” Dash hopped up from the ground and to Applejack’s side. “Hey.” She looked into the teary green eyes of her friend. “It’s not like it hasn’t crossed my mind, but I’d never go through with it. I’ll always be there for my friends.” “Good,” huffed the orange pony. “Cuz I don’t want another reason to hate this stupid day.” Rainbow turned her head suddenly and took a step back. “What?” “You heard me.” “Well yeah but I didn’t kno—” Applejack shot her a look so deadly she almost didn’t continue, “—know you were just like me.” Applejack’s wet eyes widened. “Come again?” Rainbow smiled with a little bit fondness. She looked cute when she was surprised. “I don’t have a mom, either.” “Really?” Applejack’s ears drooped as she realized her rudeness. “Ah’m sorry for your loss.” “Eh, it’s okay.” Dash shrugged her off. “I was four.” “Oh.” Applejack lowered her gaze. “Seven.” Dash took another step back in shock. “Seven?! Oh wow!” “Yeah,” Applejack’s voice sounded gritted and offended. “Not my fondest memory.” “Hey, I’m sorry.” Rainbow stepped forward, allowing her wing to wrap around the farm pony. Applejack tensed at first, then relaxed a bit. A warm tingling filled Dash’s cheeks. “Ya…” Applejack struggled for words. “Ya mind if I let loose on ya?” Rainbow sat down, her wing still around the other pony. “Shoot.” Taking a deep breath, Applejack sat and began to speak in a lowered voice. “It was the worse combination. There had been a nasty drought because the other ponies wanted more sunshine than rain, so the Pegasi were ordered to schedule a nasty storm by the mayor to make up for the loss of water. Our crops were taking it pretty hard, and we needed the water badly. So, everyone piled in the farmhouse and prepared for the howler. “Ah remember Ma in the rockin’ chair with baby Apple Bloom, and Pa with Big Macintosh on the couch sanding the new baby cradle. Apple Bloom was very new, and we were still tryin’ to make room for the new addition. Ah was with Granny Smith, putting together a puzzle by the warm fire. Then a terrible swooshin’ sound was heard from outside, and Pa ran to the window. “Because of the lack of rain, none of the crops had rooted very well, and were being washed away in the storm. The erodin’ plants made an enormous mudslide, that was tryin’ to wash away some of the property. It was particularly attackin’ the barn where all the livestock was. Pa wouldn’t have that, so he left the safety of the farmhouse to clear some of the mud away. “Ah stayed by the fire, thinkin’ everything was fine, but Big Macintosh, still on the couch, looked out the window. Apparently the mud only increased in size, and eventually Pa started calling for Ma. Ma got out of the chair and took one look outside and rushed to Granny Smith.” “Ma,” she said, “take the baby.” Granny Smith took Apple Bloom into her arms and then grabbed my Ma’s hoof. “Hey now,” she said looking into her daughter’s eyes. “You be careful out there, ya here?” Ma smiled slightly. “Ah will, Ma.” She then turned to us. “Big Mac, you look after your sister, ya hear?” “Eeyup.” “And you be good for him, okay sugar cube?” She knelt down beside me. “Yes, Ma.” “Alright, Ah’ll be right back.” Then she went into the storm. “Ah went onto the couch by this time, and watched Ma and Pa fight the mess. Then, all at once, Ma slipped into the mud, after trying to stick a shovel in the slide. Pa cried out Ma’s name, and then spotted her a few paces away. He dove bravely into the muck, disappearing for a few seconds. They were the longest seconds of mah life. And then they popped up, Pa carrying Ma to safety. Then just as they were getting to the edge where it was sturdy, Ah saw a huge wave of mud coming up behind them. Never before had Ah seen anything like it. Ah pressed mah face against the glass, screaming at them to look out, but they didn’t hear me. “The wave engulfed them, and may other items in its wake. I cried out their names, scanning the wreckage for their tiny bodies. Nothin’. Ah would have gone out there to search for them, even possibly save them, but Big Mac stopped me. I tried to git around him, but he ended up pinning me to the floor. Apple Bloom began cryin’ from all the commotion, Granny Smith standing dumb-founded at the window, while I laid of the floor screaming ‘Let me go!! Let me go save ‘em!!’ and all Big Mac said in reply was: “Nope.” “The next mornin’, we searched the yard for ‘em. The mud had either dried or washed into the river, and so we came out with shovels to see if they were buried. We never found either of ‘em. “And… and the stupidest thing was…” Applejack began to choke on her tears. “...every single animal in that dumb barn was FAHNE!!” Dash gave Applejack a squeeze. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Applejack finally found her composer and wiped her eyes. “Yeah, now it is. Ah am so grateful for the family I still have. Ah love them so much. It’s just days like this that are no good at all.” “Yeah,” Dash smirked a little, “today sucks.” “So.” Applejack sat upright and sniffled. “Tell me your story.” Dash’s stomach turned with grief as the memory was nothing but a faded blur. “Aw, it’s not much.” Dash shrugged off the offer a bit. “But I’ll tell you what my dad told me.” “Basically, my mom got really sick. I don’t know what kind of sick, or what made her sick, but she got so sick they had to take her to the hospital. I remember coming in to visit her a ton, the whole thing went down over a few months. I remember coming in and she’d say ‘Don’t worry, Mommy’s gonna get better’. But she never did. “I was over at my pal Fluttershy’s house when she died. That’s where Dad would send me when she wasn’t looking too good. He didn’t know she was gonna die this time. So my mom never got a chance to say good bye. “I don’t remember her much, but I have this picture my dad gave me that’s from their wedding day. She had a white coat, with a beautiful flowing rainbow mane. Dad liked to joke that they met at the Weather factory and fell into a rainbow vat together, but I’m not sure if I believe that at all. She had what looks like a sunrise for a cutiemark. Altogether she was pretty awesome. “Still, it’s not really fair I can’t remember my own mom. It… it really sucks.” Grief was a strange thing to Rainbow, and she had struggled with it all her life. It felt heavy and empty, like something inside her had been torn out and been replaced with a lead ball. She had no idea what to do with it. Dash held back the tears, not wanting to ruin her perfect record of not allowing anyone to see her cry. Applejack began to return the embrace, putting her hoof around the pegasus’ neck. “It’s alright. Ah won’t tell anypony.” So Dash let it out. Tears came that had been held back for years. They rushed down the filly’s cheeks, wetting the fur and causing it to take on a glossy, polished look. Rainbow had never before felt so sad, so unhappy. But with each sob came a feeling of relief, as if feelings that had been rotting inside her were finally letting go. "And... and... everypony else has an awesome mom! Even you can remember yours!!" Dash yelled. "There, there," Applejack tried to comfort her, but she was getting too choked up to say much more. "It... it was just their time, Ah guess..." "Well," Dash tried to bite back the tears, but only more seemed to come. "It shouldn't have been!! Dad and I need her! Do you know how bad his cooking is?!" Applejack let out a laugh through her tears. Rainbow swiveled her head towards the sound. "Are you laughing at me?!" "No..." Applejack said still choking on tears, "that was just so random, and it sounds like his cooking is AWFUL." Memories of choking on burnt pancakes and liquid toast brought Dash a smirk to her face. "Yeah," her vision still blurred by tears, she tried looking at Applejack. "It's pretty terrible. Eating out is our main option most days. But he's gotten better. He can now make sandwiches and the occasional bowl of cereal." "Bowl of cereal?!" Applejack chuckled harder. "You don't MAKE cereal!" "Well, my dad has to. He needs help with other things, too. Like laundry. And sometimes when I can't sleep, I find him crying alone in his bed. A dad isn't supposed to be without his wife. At least your parents went together." Dash began to choke up again. She looked over to see Applejack doing the same. So she leaned into her, feeling her shudder and sob, while replying with some of her own tears. Being motherless was hard. Then something dawned on her. After her fair share of sobbing, Rainbow pulled back a little so she could look her friend in the eye. “Hey, I didn’t know you lost both your mom and your dad. I’m sorry about that.” “Aw, you didn’t know. I forgive ya.” “K.” The two sat in silence for a moment. “Hey, ya know what could make us feel a little better?” “A nap?” Dash’s wet eyes grew large at the thought of her own soft bed. “Apple fritters.” Applejack winked. Rainbow laughed truly for the first time that day. “AJ! You and your apples!” “Are you sayin’ you don’t want any?” Applejack shot her a sly look. “Oh no, I’ll have some!” Dash said hurriedly. “I’ll even race you to ‘em!” “You got yourself a deal, Rainbow!” Applejack wiped a tear from her eye. She looked over to see tears staining the other pony’s face. “Ya cryin’ over there?” Applejack sniffled. “Noo…” Rainbow whined, trying to rub the red out of her eyes. “Rough story?” “Yeah, rough.” “So, what happened next?” “Well,” Dash sniffled and sat a little straighter, “Things went pretty normal as far as friendships go, all the way up to when Twilight showed up. We were close enough friends to talk and tease, but we didn’t really hang out until after Twilight brought us together.” “Yeah, that’s true. So when was…” Applejack stuttered a bit. “...the next time you felt… ya know…” “Gotcha. Probably not again until the Running of the Leaves.” “Aw yes, the day you thought you were better than me.” “Yep, and we discovered that I was obviously the best.” Dash winked mischievously at Applejack. “You are not!!”