Chapter 8
Helping Isn’t Helping
Rainbow landed onto the hardened dirt path at an uncomfortable trot. She was so nervous that she felt stupid. It had been several weeks since her conversation with the buffalo, but the advice hadn’t left her, even after all the havoc she and the others had been through lately. Still, she was worried sick about the result.
She was heading down to Sweet Apple Acres to see if Applejack needed help with anything. A harmless little trip, it shouldn’t raise any suspicion, right? Still, Rainbow couldn’t find a way in her head to ask Applejack if she needed assistance without sounding… creepy.
“Hey, AJ, can I do some chores for you?”
“Hi Applejack, do you need help? Because I am good at helping ponies, so maybe I can help you…”
“Applejack, can I serve you?”
Dash groaned at how stupid her ideas were getting. This was a terrible idea. Why was she even attempting this? There was no way this would end well…
“Hey RD!”
Dash almost cried out she was so surprised to see the very farm pony she was thinking of standing right in front of her.
“What brings you to the farm?”
“Uh…erm…uh…”
Dash scrambled for words, but nothing was coming up. She would just have to wing it.
“I was wondering if you needed… help... with anything...” She trailed off.
Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Uh…” Applejack paused for a moment, looking concerned at Rainbow.
A small silence followed. Dash hung her head. She ruined it.
“Actually,” AJ continued, “Yes, Ah do. Ah was on mah way to find you, to be honest.”
Dash lifted up her head, her ears perking up.
“Really?!”
“Yeah,” AJ laughed, “Ah have an old barn that needs to come down so Ah can build a new one. Ah was wondering if you could help me this afternoon before the picnic.
Dash’s eyes lit up. This was perfect.
“Yeah, sure!”
She felt like herself again, and she shot Applejack an excited smile.
“When can I start?”
“How ‘bout bring yer best safety goggles and be back here in a half an hour?”
“You got yourself a deal!”
With that, Dash went shooting into the sky.
“Ah was wondering why you had gotten so mousey all of the sudden…”
“I was nervous, okay?”
“Why? You were just asking if you could help.”
“I was worried that helping you would be different, and that everything would change.”
Back at the house, Dash was still unsure about the whole ‘service’ thing. She stood in front of the mirror, contemplating two different bottles. One held a coat conditioner, and the other was a mild perfume. She sat there staring at the bottles, tempted to use them. She gave herself a glance in the mirror.
She saw a nervous pony who needed to take a chill pill.
In aggravation, she threw both bottles into the sink. What was she thinking? This was just a friend helping out a friend, not a date. Honestly, who was she turning into? Twilight Sparkle? The thought of her being anything like the slightly obsessive purple unicorn almost made her gag.
She checked the clock. Fifteen more minutes.
“Come on, Dash.” She spoke to the mirror. “Get yourself together. This isn’t going to be any different. Don’t worry.”
The more she really thought about it, the more she relaxed.
“Now, AJ needs some help on the farm,” she continued, “and you never leave a friend hangin’, so you are just gonna go down there, and rip this barn to pieces for her, okay? Simple and fast.”
She nodded, her reflection doing the same.
“This is what Rainbow Dash does. She helps her friends. And Applejack is one of her friends, so she’s gonna help her. She doesn’t like her, she is just helping out a friend in need of her awesomeness.”
Taking a deep breath, she put on the safety goggles so they fit snug around her eyes.
“Let’s do this.”
The flight back to the farm was fairly uneventful, the afternoon calm and ordinary. The wind was cool, and ponies trotted to and fro to their own businesses and homes. Twilight Sparkle could be seen walking happily around town, until suddenly turning a running towards Rarity’s boutique. Rainbow didn’t really care, but she still automatically catalogued this and other events as she flew.
As she landed onto the dirt and soil of Sweet Apple Acres, she found Applejack waiting for her.
“You ready partner?”
Dash took a deep, confidant intake of breath. This should be easy.
“Yep!” She replied with an encouraging smile.
“Okay, follow me.” AJ turned around and began leading Rainbow to the destruction site.
The target was a brown, chipped, rickety old barn with faded paint and rusty hinges. It sat on top of a hill in the orchard, away from everything else. The thing looked like it hadn’t been used in ages.
“You want a tour?” Applejack asked playfully.
“Why not?” Rainbow shrugged.
The door creaked loudly as AJ heaved it open, the smell of stale air hitting their noses. Inside it was dark, and a little eerie as the shadows danced on the old walls. A small breeze passed by outside, and the whole barn swayed and groaned.
“Wow,” Dash raised an eyebrow, “how old is this barn again?”
“Too old.” Applejack turned to RD. “You think you can take it down?”
“In this condition,” Dash gestured to the barn around her, “I could destroy it in my sleep.”
“Alrighty then,” laughed the farm pony, “let’s begin.”
She put on a helmet and the two exited the barn.
“Wait,” Dash suddenly stopped, “this could get a little… messy. Where are you gonna be in all of the commotion?”
Applejack smiled.
“Aw, don’t worry about me. Ah’ll be in the dried up water canal over there.”
She pointed to a large ditch near the edge of the hill.
“Oh, okay.” Dash nodded. “Just making sure nopony gets hurt, that’s all.”
“Ah hear ya,” Applejack smiled again. “That’s why I asked you fer help. ‘Cause Ah knew you could get the job done without too much trouble.”
“Yep,” Dash blushed slightly, “that’s me.”
Applejack ran over to the ditch and hopped in.
“Alright, get to it RD!”
With a strong nod Rainbow took to the sky and distanced herself from the barn. Her heart was pounding. She was helping Applejack. Or about to, at least. This was the test. And she was so scared it would be different. But she needed to suck it up and give it her best.
Steeling herself, Dash gave out a battle cry and ninja-kicked through the side of the barn. Pieces of wood went flying as she hovered in the center of the barn, adrenaline pumping.
She felt amazing.
Encouraged, Dash kicked a wall to her right and then threw herself at it, bursting through the other side. Pieces of shattered wood covered her body, and with a mighty shake, she threw them off.
Never before did she feel so…
It was hard to describe, but destroying the barn felt incredible, as if she had been handed a plate of pure energy. She was invincible, and nothing could stop her.
With this in mind, she flew towards the barn at neck-breaking speed and collided with the side of the barn again. Once inside, she used her hoof to break through a beam, bucked through the hayloft ladder, and bit into a plank and threw it out of the barn with everything she had. After that, she took off, looping and weaving through the barn at high speeds, yelling crazed ninja noises the whole way.
The barn was weak. One more blow, if it was powerful, could finish the job. Doing a loop away from the barn, she used the distance to gather speed as she soared at the barn, determination on her face. Just before impact, however, the world came to a halt.
“Stop!”
A magenta aura engulfed Rainbow’s tail, causing the rest of her to halt and dangle in the air. Blood rushed into her head, making her dazed as a purple unicorn approaching spoke.
“Listen Rainbow, I know you’re upset with Applejack, but don’t worry,” Twilight Sparkle winked. “Whatever it is that has come between you two, I know that I, as a good friend, can help resolve your problems!”
Twilight released Rainbow, causing her to face plant onto the ground. The pegasus sat up, slightly confused.
“Uh, what are you talking about?” Dash rubbed her neck.
“Oh Rainbow Dash!” Twilight laughed as she put her hoof around Rainbow’s shoulder, “You don’t have to hide your feelings from me!”
Dash froze. How did she know? Was her service that obvious?
Twilight put both her hooves on Dash’s cheeks. “I can tell you two must have had a terrible fight!”
Thoroughly confused, Dash let Twilight drag her to the nearest park bench. Using her magic, Twilight then made a clipboard, quill, a pair of secretary glasses, and a goofy hairstyle appear.
“Now,” Twilight patted Dash’s head comfortingly, “Why don’t you tell me all about your issues with Applejack?”
Rainbow couldn’t be more confused. Did she know about it or not?
“I don’t have any issues with Applejack.” She said.
“You don’t?” Twilight asked peering over her glasses. “Then why are you destroying her property?”
Dash stumbled to answer, trying to keep from talking about service. She had to get her off her tail.
“Because she asked me to,” she said slowly. Sitting up, she proved her point. “Right Applejack?”
“Yes Ma’am!”
As AJ explained the whole thing to Twilight, Rainbow gave a sigh of relief under her breath. That was close. It was hard to tell for sure if she knew or not, but if she did, she probably thought it wasn’t true now.
“Now get back to it RD!”
Rainbow snapped back into reality and put on her goggles.
“You got it, boss!”
With that, Rainbow took off so fast she left rainbow dust on the bench.
Once in the sky, she could see nearly the whole orchard. The barn with its tiny surrounding fence stood exactly below her. Her heart was pumping again, only for different reasons. She had almost been caught because of this whole service thing.
Caught. She acted like it was a thing. Was it? Anger bubbled up in her cheeks as she fought with herself over it. Did she like Applejack or not? No. She couldn’t. But yet…
Channeling her anger downward, she let out a frustrated cry with all her might as she forced herself to the ground.
“RAAAAAAAHHH!!”
Rainbow smashed into the barn, causing a giant explosion of dust and rainbow as a Rainboom with a mushroom cloud shot into the air. Debris from the demolished building landed everywhere in a several yard radius, covering both Applejack and Twilight in the canal.
As the dust cleared, Applejack popped out of the mess with a smile, shooting into the air like a rocket. She did it, and she knew she could do it.
The farm pony trotted over to where the barn had been, which was now only a blacked, smoking spot of land.
“Well,” Applejack chuckled, “You sure overdid yerself this time, Rainbow.”
She looked around, not seeing the pegasus anywhere.
“Rainbow?”
A groan came from a pile of debris over to her left.
“Rainbow!” AJ cried, running over to it and digging with her hooves
Underneath the surface of the dirt and splinters was Dash, goggles twisted and scrapes all over her body.
“Oh Rainbow,” Applejack chuckled and took of her helmet.
Dash blinked, bringing the world slowly back into focus. Standing above her was Applejack, her hair ruffled rom being in the helmet, her face silhouetted by the afternoon sun, the whole thing in a dreamy blur. Wow. She was beautiful.
Shaking her head, Dash cleared away the fog in her brain and slowly sat up. The demolition around the place surprised her.
“Whoa,” Dash rubbed her head. “Did I get it?”
“You more than got it,” Applejack laughed. “You mind helping me clean up?”
Help? Rainbow’s eye twitched.
“Uh, actually,” she tried to find an excuse. Then it dawned on her.
“Igottogetreadyforthepicnicsobye!!” Dash shouted before disappearing and shooting across the orchard.
No. No more service for her. She couldn’t stand to help that pony anymore. Too many crazy things happened, and she was done with craziness. After this fiasco, Dash would have to think twice before helping AJ again.
“You talk about it as if you were scared of me.” Applejack said, an upset look on her face.
“I wasn’t scared of you, I was scared of liking you,” Dash sighed. “And then others finding out about it. I hated the idea of having a crush on one of my friends. Wouldn’t you feel the same way?”
“Ah guess so,” AJ’s gaze fell. “Ah know Ah’d feel real ashamed.”
“Right. And I felt like that for a while. It kept me pretty anxious, and I was going through a rough time. I thought I was going through a downward spiral, and that only if something drastic happened would I be saved. If only I knew then how true that was.”
“Wait, something drastic happened?” Applejack’s eyes widened. “What?”
“I nearly lost you.”