Rainbow Dash lay limp on the grass. Her feathers twitched. Her lips curled and uncurled.
Weakly, she darted her eyes up, unable to move her face... not even a single inch.
Applejack stood several feet away, bucking an apple tree in the center of the glistening orchards.
Rainbow Dash winced. Her hooves shifted slightly, but remained limp, heavy like dead weights.
Applejack bucked the tree some more. Apples fell into a basket. She shoved the container towards a wagon and paused to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her freckles shimmered in the hot sun.
Just then, a figure trotted towards her from afar.
Rainbow's breath left her. She opened her mouth to say something. No words came out.
Stu Leaves came up to Applejack from behind. He nuzzled the mare. She looked back towards him, smiling. Both laughed.
Rainbow gritted her teeth. Her insides burned. She exhaled heavily, trying to say something. Once again, the mare was mute.
Stu Leaves leaned in, brushing his cheek against Applejack's. The earth pony cooed. Staring at him lovingly, she took her hat off and placed it squarely on his head. Both smiled at one another.
Rainbow bit her lip until it bled. Her eyes reflected the muzzles of both equines as they came together.
Fresh grass and flowers sprouted out of the rolling hills of Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow's body was sliding back, gliding icily like driftwood across a frosted lake's surface.
Stu Leaves and Applejack grew more and more distant. Stu was nibbling on Applejack's ear and neck as the mare sighed in pleasure. They disappeared beyond the hill. As soon as Applejack's orange coat was gone, the sky darkened, as of bereft of all sunlight.
Rainbow slid faster and faster into shadow. She couldn't move. She couldn't cry. Her eyes darted about in helpless circles as the trees rolling past her grew dead and deader. Leaves vanished against the darkening sky, and the grass gave way to ash and barren bedrock.
Then, to her left, Rainbow slid past a skinny waif of a stallion. She gasped, and he turned to look at her. Rainbow's father was sad, sullen. There was no warmth to his emaciated face. With a look of shame, he hung his head, then collapsed against the top of the hill just beyond the vanishing point.
Rainbow wanted to scream. Instead, she rolled over...
...and collided her skull with the side of the tub.
Bonk!
"Ouch!" Rainbow gritted her teeth, clutching her head and wincing.
Seconds later, she gasped, flapping her wings as she hovered in the center of the shower stall.
The hotel bathroom loomed around her, dull and empty and quiet.
A minute limped by, and Rainbow slumped in midair, sighing.
"Damn... friggin' breadsticks..."
He face hung, long and melancholic.
Blinking, she glanced at the door. A dim light illuminated the crack at the bottom of the frame. Fidgeting, she ultimately decided to reach forward and turn the knob, opening her way to the rest of the hotel room.