//------------------------------//
// Consequences 
// Story: Misfortunes 
// by Spectral 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 5 

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash finally enjoyed a night of deep and dreamless sleep, being able to relax in each others hooves. Rainbow Dash awoke first, well rested but her stomach aching from hunger. She lied there, looking at the yellow cowpony sleeping next to her, a peaceful look in Applejack's beautiful face. Applejack had been her best friend for a long time, and perhaps they could be more than that now? Just thinking about what happened the evening before made her blush, even though it had been nothing more than kisses. 
Rainbow Dash sat up, looking around in the cave where they had spent the last few days. 
"How long has it been? Two days? It feels like so much longer" she thought to herself as she got on her hooves. The cave was brighter now, light pouring in from the entrance. Outside she could see that the storm had abated significantly, the sun shining, the the wind having subsided as well. She could perhaps even fly now. But out of experience, she knew that wasn't a good idea. This weather wouldn't last long, and it could go back to how it was before in an instant. The storm wasn't supposed to die away entirely until the end of the week,so this was just a minor pause from it. Rainbow Dash carefully nudged Applejack's side, waking her up. 
"Wha?" she said sleepily. Noting Rainbow Dash standing beside her she smiled. "Mornin' Dashie." 
Rainbow Dash loved it when she called her that. 
"Good morning" she smiled back. Dash made a gesture towards the cave opening."The weather is much better now, so we should probably try and get back to Ponyville" She paused for a second, a serious look on her face."We may not get another chance like this." 
"We better get goin' then" Applejack said while standing up, suddenly fully awake. She had almost forgotten the broken leg, and swore loud as she accidentally put weight on it. She bit her jaws together, determined not to show any weakness. 
"You okay?" Rainbow Dash asked, a bit worried."Can you walk?" 
"Yeah" was the response. Applejack took a few limping steps towards the exit."Let's go" she said,  determined not to let pain get the better of her. Rainbow Dash saw through her brave facade immediately, but she just shook her head silently, following her friend out into the rain that was still falling lightly. 
The sun shined through a hole in the clouds creating a beautiful rainbow up in the distance. Large storm clouds were still in the sky around them, occasionally lit up by a lightning bolt. The wind was very unpredictable, changing direction and strength all the time. On the whole, there was something strangely beautiful about the storm. 
As the first drops of rain hit her, and she could feel the wind trying to constantly tackle her to the ground, Rainbow Dash gave up all hope of being able to fly. The two mares started making their way through the storm, walking close to each other to help against the wind. Even though it wasn't raining that much, they both became soaking wet and cold after only a few minutes. Yet none of them spoke a word, and they continued in the direction they knew Ponyville were. 

They walked for what felt like forever before Applejack called out in pain and collapsed under a large tree. 
“AJ!” Rainbow Dash rushed to her side. 
“Ah'm fine...” she said, fighting to keep the tears away.”It hurts, Dash. It hurts so much.” She paused for a few seconds, breathing heavily.”I think” she said, looking down and sobbing quietly. “Ya'll have to go on without me. Leave me here.” 
“Applejack.” Rainbow Dash walked up to her, putting a hoof under her chin and forcing Applejack to look her in the eyes.”I'm loyalty. I don't abandon anypony. Ever. You know that.” Applejack gave her a brief smile through the tears. 
“Ah know ya don't” she said.”Ah'll just have to... rest here for a while.” With that, AJ moved towards the trunk of the tree and leaned against it. Rainbow Dash cursed for herself, knowing that in her own weakened condition she wouldn't be able to carry Applejack. A quick look towards the sky showed her that the skies were getting darker with more and more clouds. The wind was also intensifying again, as was the rain. If the storm got back to full power, they wouldn't be able to get home. 
Frustrated that she could do nothing about the situation, Rainbow Dash decided to just take a walk.
“I'ma scout ahead a bit. I'll be back.” she said, leaving Applejack alone by the tree. 

Applejack watched as Rainbow Dash disappeared between the trees. The pain was almost unbearable, pulsing through her entire body, and when she moved, it felt like her leg was pierced with a thousand needles. Despite all of this she didn't scream, she didn't moan, she just sat there, teeth bit together waiting for the pain to slowly die away. Which it eventually did. When Applejack felt that she could move without too much pain, she took a closer look at her broken hind leg. The bruises were even worse than before, having turned purplish now, and the leg had swollen up where the actual fracture was. 
“Well Ah won't be using this leg fer at least some weeks” she thought to herself, jerking slightly as she touched the leg. 
Rainbow Dash hadn't even been away 5 minutes, yet Applejack felt eager to keep moving. While a part of her really enjoyed being alone with Rainbow Dash, especially now that she had they both seemed to have feelings for each others, out in a thunderstorm with no food or shelter wasn't really optimal. She just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. 
A bit bored, she tried standing up. Pain immediately shot out from the leg, almost paralyzing her, but she forced herself to remain standing and after a while, the pain subdued, becoming nothing but a distraction. After taking a few steps around just to see if she could, she went back to the tree and sat down. 
The sound of a snapping stick from her right surprised Applejack, and she quickly turned to see what caused it. She peered through the rain; there was nothing there. But as she got to her feet she saw, between the trees, the shade of something big quickly moving through the bushes and out of sight behind a tree. 
“Dash?” she asked, a bit nervous. “Stop foalin' around an' get over here.” The thing quickly moved to behind another tree. The light had started to fade away, but a lightning bolt showed Applejack the contour of it. It was huge, bigger than anypony could possibly be, and moved with ease through the thick vegetation. 
“Dashie?” she asked silently. 

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was walking through the rain, trying to find the way to the main road running through Whitetail Wood.  If she did, finding their way back to Ponyville would be a straw of hay. Rainbow Dash had been walking for a while, but she made sure to always keep an eye on her surroundings so she could find her way back to Applejack. 
“Applejack” Rainbow Dash tried to clear her mind and focus at the task at hoof, but somehow, her thoughts kept trailing back to the yellow cowpony. Her yellow mane, her green eyes, her stetson hat, her country accent. She was perfect in every sense. Still deep in her thoughts, Rainbow Dash almost crossed the very road she was looking for without realizing. 
“Sweet” she thought after letting out a small chuckle at her own obliviousness, allowing herself to smile.

A sudden roar followed by a scream snapped Rainbow Dash out of her thoughts. 
“AJ” She  immediately turned and started running back as fast as she could, exceeding her own physical limits as she darted through the forest. Another roar, another scream. This time, Applejack screamed out Rainbow Dash's name. The Pegasus forced herself to run even faster, frustrated beyond description that she could not use her wings. 
“Just a little bit more...” 

Applejack was staring at the beast that had emerged from the shadows. It was a bear, and a really big one too. However, it was thin, as if it hadn't eaten in days. The bear eyed her with curiosity, like it was considering whether Applejack was edible or not. After a few seconds it stood up on its hind legs, raising high up into the air, before it unleashed a mighty roar and slammed its paws into the ground with tremendous power. Applejack had let out a scream of fear. The bear now moved towards her, growling and with bare teeth. Applejack slowly backed of, trying to keep the distance to the bear. The bear gave up another roar while closing in the distance. Applejack couldn't outrun the bear. She couldn't fight it. At least not alone... 
“RAINBOW DASH!” she cried out, sending a prayer to Celestia that the Pegasus wasn't far away. The bear drew closer and struck against Applejack, hitting her left front leg. Applejack jumped backwards and tried to scream, but no words would escape her throat. Applejack backed into the trunk of a tree, and simply froze there, out of fear. When the bear was barely a meter away, it raised a paw with the intention of striking her down. However, before it had the chance to, a streak of rainbow and cyan shot out of between the trees and pummeled into the bear's side. The bear stumbled a few steps sideways, before roaring and turning to deal with the new threat. 
“You okay AJ?” Rainbow Dash asked, positioning herself between the bear and the earth pony.
“Yeah” Applejack answered faintly, examining her front leg. Pain was shooting out from it, as if it was broken or dislodged, and the bear had scratched up a large wound which she was bleeding from.”Or not really...” Applejack slid down as the pain got overwhelming, lying leaned against the tree but staying conscious. 
The bear glared at them, before roaring again and charging Rainbow Dash. The cyan pony skillfully dodged sideways before landing a kick on the bears head. She wasn't a black belt in karate for nothing. 
The bear growled in pain before sweeping with his paw against Rainbow Dash. Again, she dodged sideways and again, she kicked the bear on the side of it's head. It roared out if pain, but this time, the bear stopped and just stared at her, wanting her to the first move. Rainbow Dash decided to walk around the bear, trying to force it's attention off Applejack. As the bear turned to face her, she jumped forwards again, throwing another kick. This time, however, the bear was ready. As Rainbow Dash charged towards it, it quickly swooped down with it's paw, hitting Rainbow Dash just above her wing and knocking her down on the ground. Taking the opportunity, it then struck her again, sending the Pegasus flying through the air and into the trunk of a large tree. 
Seeing Rainbow Dash being struck down, Applejack immediately shot to her feet. She bit together and ignored the pain that was pulsing through her entire body. She limped towards the bear as quickly as she possibly could with her two damaged legs, determined to not let it harm the cyan pony anymore. 
For said pony, the pain was almost unbearable. Rainbow Dash saw everything through a haze, having hit her head when she collided with the tree.  When she got hit the first time, she had felt a snapping sensation in her right wing, and she spent a brief moment wondering if it was broken. The second hit had struck her right side and ripped open a wound, her blood slowly pouring down her side from it. As she fought to remain conscious, she could see the beast slowly approaching to finish her. 
“No...” she moaned, raising a hoof in front of her, as if could shield her from the bear. As the bear got closer, Rainbow Dash could barely make out something yellow approaching it from behind with her blurred vision. 
“Applejack...?” 
Applejack ran up to next to the bear's face and turned so that she faced away from it. The bear looked in her direction, seemingly surprised. The farmer pony stood on her front hooves like she would buck a tree, and kicked at the bear with all her might using both her hind legs. She knew, out of experience, that a few kicks with that power was enough to actually break an apple tree in half.
The kick connected to the bear's face with a hear-able *crunch*. It staggered backwards, blood flowing freely from it's nose. The bear whimpered, before turning and running off into the forest.
Immediately after landing the kick, Applejack fell to the ground. She hadn't really thought about the enormous pressure she would put on both her wounded legs, and now they burned like fire. Gasping, she turned to Rainbow Dash. It wasn't a pretty sight. One of her front legs were in an awkward angle. Her right wing was completely broken, drenched by blood and rain, and she was bleeding from her head and heavily from her side. Applejack crawled towards her. 
“Dash” she panted, while moving closer and reaching out for her hoof. As Rainbow Dash heard her name, she looked Applejack in the eyes and took her hoof. 
“Heya” she said weakly, and gave her the tiniest of smiles. “The pain, it's...” She paused, breathing in quickly.”I don't know if... if I'll make it.” 
Applejack was crying now, tears streaming down her face. She had no words. She just lied there, next to the wounded Pegasus that she loved. 
“Applejack” Rainbow Dash spoke silently now, every word being harder to speak than the last one. ”I want ya to know...” Another pause. Rainbow Dash locked eyes with Applejack, rose staring into green. “I love you” she said. She then went completely silent, slowly closing her eyes and lowering her head to the ground. 
“No... NO!” Applejack broke down in tears. Why was the world so cruel? She lied there, alone in the rain that was now pouring down before exhaustion, pain and blood loss finally claimed their prize and the Applejack's world faded into darkness, while she was still sobbing quietly.





Originally posted here
Thanks for reading, peace.
~ Rainbow Breeze