Applejack laid silently in the rain. To her right sat Rainbow, still unconscious and stationery from her injuries. The only sounds that echoed through the small campsite was the falling of rain and the occasional boom of thunder. Every few seconds Applejack would shut her eyes tight and glance back at Rainbow, hoping to see the walls of her room and not the Pegasus, beaten and bruised. To Applejack, this all felt like a dream, a nightmare.
Mud had covered almost her entire body, hiding the light-orange coat from view but this didn’t bother her, she was more than comfortable of the feeling of dirt on her coat. She turned her head once more towards Rainbow. However, this time Rainbow starting stirring. Applejack stood up, steeling herself for the scream of pain she thought would come, but instead, Rainbow’s movements became larger and the scream never came.
“R-Rainbow!?” Applejack called out in surprise as Rainbow stood up, seemingly void of the feeling of pain. “Rainbow! H-How...W-What...” She didn’t know how to react to what was happening in front of her eyes. Less than a hour ago, Rainbow couldn’t move an inch without feeling pain, much less stand on her own four hooves.
“Applejack.” Rainbow’s voice was soft, her breathing was slow and taken in large breaths. She tilted her head slightly downwards, obstructing her magenta eyes with her multi-colored mane. Rainbow took a few steps backwards, exiting the warmth of the makeshift shelter and into the cold night rain.
“Rainbow! You need to rest! You’re hurt! How are you even...”
“Just like you Applejack. Always telling other ponies what to do, thinking they’ll do it.”
“W-What!? Rainbow Ah would never-”
“You were always my friend Applejack but now I see that you’re just bossy, stuck-up and useless, just like the rest of them.”
Applejack held back her rage. She knew deep inside that this wasn’t Rainbow Dash, the loyal and steadfast Pegasus. Taking a breath in, she spoke again.
“Rainbow snap out of it! This ain’t you! You would never say stuff like this!” Applejack tried her best to coax her best friend back.
“And what if it is me Applejack? What if this is what I’ve been wanting to say since I met you?” The words that Rainbow muttered were like sharp swords, stabbing Applejack’s heart and forcing her to reject that that may even be a possibility. “Did I hurt your feelings?”
Applejack didn’t respond, closing her eyes as she took another deep breath. Rainbow glanced down at the ground and spotted a small rock which grew into a razor-sharp tip, capable of slicing through skin in an instant. Upon turning back up and seeing that Applejack had her eyes closed, she reached down with her hoof to grasp the dangerous weapon in her hoof, pulling it out of the mud.
“I thought you prided yourself on being strong? On being tough?” Her sarcastic tone made it all that much worse for Applejack to listen to, feeling herself breaking at each word which escaped Rainbow’s lips. The words were said with no remorse, no restraint. “The truth is you’re weak, weaker than any of us. You always think you can be strong but when push comes to shove, you would abandon us all in an instant just because you feel helpless.”
‘No I wouldn’t!’ Applejack shouted in her mind and her heart but for some reason, the words never left her mouth. Whatever Rainbow said pushed Applejack back another step, as if they were strong gusts of wind and the Earth Pony was trying her best to stand her ground.
“So tell me Applejack. Can you take a little...” Rainbow dashed forward towards Applejack. “...pain!?” Applejack turned and opened her eyes just in time to see Rainbow come down on her with the pointed stone, opening a large wound on the right side of Applejack’s face and pushing her back, landing in the mud a short distance away.
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“No!” Rainbow struggled against the chains with all her might, warm tears streaming down her face like a river. “Stop please! I’m begging you!” In front of her, the hole which had been ripped in the air showed her attacking Applejack and opening the wound. A trail of blood laid in front of her. The chains held fast, restraining the Pegasus’s valiant attempt at escape.
“Applejack run! Get away! Kill me! Do something!” Her pleads went unheard, only echoing through the endless white space around her. “Please!” she begged, “Whoever’s doing this stop! I’ll do anything! Anything!! Don’t hurt them anymore!” Rainbow struggled as she cried out into the empty space around her.
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The screams that tore through the stormy night came from Applejack, who could feel the warm blood rush down the right side of her face, inches away from her eye as she pressed against the wound. Her breaths were quick and short, her hooves trembling from the pain which surged through her body. Turning her head upwards, she saw Rainbow walking towards her, her face showing no remorse for what she had just done. In her right hoof gripped the weapon which had now be stained bright red from her victim’s blood.
Applejack tried her best to stand on her hooves, her left hoof still pressed over the right side of her face, hiding the wound from Rainbow.
“That was just a bit of what I had to go through. All the while you sit, thinking that you’re the hardest worker. You have no idea how much pain I had to go through...”
“R-Rainbow! Ah care for you! Why are you doing this!?” Applejack questioned.
“Why!?” Rainbow shouted in anger. “Because I want you to experience the pain I had to go through all my life. I want all of you to experience it. Now fight back Applejack. You know you want to.” She tempted the orange mare.
Applejack stood silent, her emotions of anger and sadness were close to taking over her body, wanting to hit Rainbow in the face.
“N-No...” Applejack whispered under her breath. “Ah won’t fight you Rainbow. You’re my friend and Ah won’t fight you.”
“W-What!?” Rainbow responded with a shocked expression. In a quick motion, she dropped the stone and tackled Applejack onto the muddy ground they stood on, pinning all of her limbs down to the floor as she stood over her. Applejack could only let out a small whimper at the sudden force on her back. The wound finally showed for all to see, the large gash which had appeared very close to Applejack’s right eye had stained almost the entire right side of her face a sickening dark red. The blood continued to flow, although less than when the wound first opened. It dripped onto the ground beneath them.
“Fight back Applejack. Admit it, you’ve always wanted to! Attack me. Let your emotions control you.”
“N-No! Ah won’t attack you Rainbow! You’re my friend! You’re more than a friend! Ah want you back, sugercube! Ah want the pony who would do anything for her friends!” Applejack paused, seeing no change in Rainbow’s expression. “B-But if she’s gone then... kill me. Ah ain’t got no reason to live if the Rainbow Ah knew ain’t coming back. Ah won’t resist. Ah promise.” Applejack closed her eyes, accepting the strike that would probably come, preparing for the agony she might feel.
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“Ah won’t resist. Ah promise.”
The words caused Rainbow to cease her struggling for a moment, feeling a part of her die as the words crossed her ears. “N-No...” She mumbled to herself. “No!” She continued her attempt to break free of the chains, trying so hard that only a few seconds in had the chains begun to cut into her skin, causing the familiar red substance to flow. However, this did not slow her down. Her body was numb to the pain that should have ran through her body but instead she tried harder and harder, the chains digging deeper and deeper into her wound.
Until at last, she heard it. The first sound of her success.
Ping
The chain which had wrapped her back right hoof had broken. This provided Rainbow with enough leverage to rush forward, tugging onto the rest of her chains with all her might. The pain had slowly started to catch up with her but she passed it off quickly in her mind, the thought of the imposter in her body taking Applejack’s life gave her immense strength.
As she continued her struggle, the sound of another chain breaking, this time on her front left hoof, resonated throughout the white space she was in. She continued her effort and within a few more seconds, the last two chains broke. Giving her enough freedom to charge through the tear in the air in front of her which showed the defeated Earth Pony.
“Applejack!” She yelled as she flew towards the gap. As soon as she entered the hole, she felt a warm bright light enveloping her before everything went dark.
----------
To Applejack’s surprise, she felt the pressure on her hooves disappear. Opening her eyes once again, she saw that Rainbow had collapsed onto the ground next to her, her face twisted in a way Applejack had never seen before. It was clear, even in the darkness, that Rainbow was in extreme amounts of pain, the mud soaking into the wounds that were present.
Applejack wasted no time in walking on weak hooves towards her friend and trying to get Rainbow on her back. Each facial movement Applejack made brought a surge of pain through her body, the wound slowly stopped leaking blood. She leaned down close to Rainbow and slid her hoof underneath her friend and pulled as hard as she could. She barely managed to get Rainbow on her back, buckling her legs and threatening to have her collapse on the very ground she stood on.
Applejack bit the bottom of her lip and turned her sight towards the shelter which set a short distance away. She took the first step with the pegasus on her back and almost immediately, she lowered herself inches away from the ground in torment. The one step had strained Applejack’s already exhausted hooves from the weight of the pegasus. She bit her bottom lip harder as she took another step, resulting in an even worse outcome, threatening to leave both of them helpless in the mud. With the thought of Rainbow in her mind, she forced herself to take one agonizing step after another.
Finally reaching the shelter, Applejack slid Rainbow slowly onto the fabric, shielding her from the harsh storm that was still raging around them. She leaned forward, softly nuzzling Rainbow and even though the pegasus was silent, it was still clear to Applejack that she was conscious and in so much pain that she was unable to make even the slightest sound.
Applejack stared at Rainbow, her heart in pieces at the sight of her friend. She was also prepared to crumble onto the ground and sleep the pain away. Suddenly, the faint sound of the snapping branches and rustling bushes caught her attention, causing her to jump back and lift her right hoof over her right eye, hiding her wound from view.
“Whose there!? Ah warn you! If you’re here to hurt me, I ain’t going down without a fight.” Applejack was scared, she knew she stood no chance at anyone who would be looking for a fight but she continued putting on a strong front.
“Relax, darling. It’s just us.” A familiar voice called out from the bushes. Not long after, the familiar white unicorn appeared with Twilight and Fluttershy, who was carrying Pinkie.
“W-What happened!?” Applejack asked, worried after seeing Pinkie’s burn on her flank and the many small wounds on Rarity.
“Nothing major. How’s Rainbow?” Twilight asked, looking at the hurt mare lying near lifeless on the fabric. She immediately noticed that Rainbow was out of her Shadowbolt suit, though this only displayed her wounds which made Twilight cringe at the sight.
“She’s fine.” Applejack replied quickly, keeping her right hoof pressed against the right side of her face. Twilight moved silently away from the rest of them, sitting at the edge of the clearing with her face turned away from her friends.
“Oh, Applejack. Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked meekly.
“Yeah, sugercube. Ah’m fine.”
“Then why are you pressing your hoof against your face?”
“It-It’s nothing.” Applejack trotted up to the pink pony, who had her gaze turned away from Applejack. “What about you Pinkie? Ya doing all right?”
Pinkie nodded in silence. The awkward feeling between the two former friends was immediately noticed by Fluttershy as she stood with her mouth wide open.
“Ah got some medicine for minor burns in my saddlebag. I’ll go get-”
“No!” Pinkie shouted, stunning Fluttershy and causing Applejack to freeze in place. “I mean... I don’t need it now. I’ll be fine.” Pinkie whispered under her breath, which nopony had ever heard her do before.
“A-All right Pinkie. Well, if ya need anything I’ll be-”
“Okay.” Pinkie interrupted, causing Applejack to walk away. Unbeknownst to the pink pony, her reaction had driven the orange mare to the edge of tears.
Applejack walked towards Rarity, who had her whole attention on Rainbow.
“Heya, Rarity?”
“Yes, Applejack? May I help you?”
“Would ya mind if I talk to you for a few minutes? Alone?” Rarity wondered why Applejack would request such a thing but nodded her head in agreement as they wandered off into a nearby clearing.
----------
“What is it, Applejack?”
“Ah need your help.” Applejack turned away from Rarity, preparing for the worse.
“Anything, darling.”
“But you have to promise me you won’t tell Twilight or any other pony.”
“I promise.”
“Pinkie promise?”
Rarity trotted towards Applejack, putting her hoof on her shoulder and causing the tangerine mare to turn around.
“Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.” Rarity chanted with a warm smile. Applejack returned a similar, but more broken, smile of her own.
“O-Okay...” Applejack slowly lowered her right hoof, revealing the gash to Rarity. Upon seeing the wound, Rarity’s smile turned into a frown of horror.
“Applejack!? What happened!?”
“Shhhh!” Applejack quickly reacted.
“Did...Did Rainbow do this to you?” Rarity’s hooves felt weak just looking at the blood red color that had covered Applejack’s orange coat.
“Well, yes... but no! Ah mean, Rainbow wasn’t herself when she did this. Something was wrong. It was like another pony took over her. Ah’m guessing it was...”
“...the green liquid in the syringe.” Rarity finished Applejack’s sentence. Applejack could only nod in regret.
“Ah need you to heal this wound Rarity.” Applejack stated. Rarity took a few steps forward, analyzing the cut with squinted eyes.
“I’m afraid I can’t heal it completely. Truly sorry, darling. The only way for me to heal it completely is for me to use one of the two forbidden spells and... well...” Rarity took a step backwards, allowing Applejack to see the dark red cuts which adorned her coat. “You can see what it did to me when I used it on Fluttershy.”
Applejack looked down in disappointment.
“I can, however, heal it as best I could.”
“Are ya sure? Ah mean if it hurts you Ah’d really rather not.”
“It won’t. Its just a minor healing spell I use all the time. When you have a sister like Sweetie Belle its’ imperative that you-” Rarity stopped mid-sentence and without warning, a stray tear fell from her eye.
“R-Rarity? What’s wrong, sugercube?”
“It’s...It’s Sweetie Belle. I asked several ponies around town to go and look after her while I was away but the more I think about it,” Her voice broke in between sobs, “the more I imagine her, alone in the boutique, hurt with nopony to take care of her. I miss my sister.”
Applejack leaned forward and raised her hoof around Rarity, giving a unicorn a huge hug.
“Ah’m sure Sweetie’s alright, sugercube. All we need to do is finish this mission and we can go back to our families. Ah miss mine a mighty lot too.”
There was only silence for the new few minutes as Rarity cried herself dry.
“Thank you, darling. I needed that.”
“No problem, sugercube. We all need to do that once in awhile. Ya ready to cast the spell?”
“Y-Yes.” Rarity replied, wiping off the last of her tears. “This won’t hurt, I promise.”
As Rarity’s horn glew a bright blue, she placed in centermeters away from Applejack’s wound. Soon, a soft blue light had enveloped the wound and begun healing it, fixing back small pieces of skin and drying the blood quickly. After a few seconds, Rarity pulled her head back, the large gash having been reduced to a smaller but still very noticeable laceration.
“That’s all I can do. Do you feel better?”
Applejack could feel herself somehow gaining quite a bit more strength, allowing her to stand without shaky hooves and move around without feeling small, painful stings.
“I feel a might better. Thank ya, Rarity.”
“Anytime. Now we ought to get back to the girls, they might be worried about us.”
“Ah hear ya.” Applejack replied as they trotted back to the campsite.
----------
Tears were flowing down Fluttershy’s cheeks. The heavy rain masking the visible tears but her louds sobs and whimpers gave her away. She stood in front of Rainbow, Pinkie on her back being the only thing motivating her to stay on her hooves.
“Hey, Flutters. She’ll be okay.”
“N-N-No...S-She w-w-w-” Fluttershy couldn’t finish her sentence.
“Flutters. How about we go somewhere else first? Blaming yourself isn’t going to do anything.”
“B-B-B-But R-R-Rainb-bow-”
“Come on Flutters. Let’s go over there.” Pinkie pointed to a small tree fairly close to the shelter. Fluttershy nodded reluctantly and trotted slowly towards the destination.
Upon reaching, she sat Pinkie down at the base of the tree, making sure to face the burn towards her and ensuring it does not touch the muddy floor.
“Feel better, Flutters?” Pinkie asked with a worried tone.
“W-W-What happened?”
“To Rainbow? I think she-”
“No, Pinkie! W-What happened... to you and AJ?”
“N-nothing happened.” Pinkie lied, turning her gaze towards the cold ground she lay on.
“Don’t lie to me!” The command struck fear into Pinkie’s heart, never hearing Fluttershy talk to her in such a tone before. “When you and AJ were talking I could feel something was wrong! You both acted like strangers! You both acted like you had never seen each other before! What’s wrong Pinkie!?”
Pinkie recoiled at what Fluttershy said, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before she explained.
“A-Applejack cursed you. She said that you were probably alone, hurt and wishing I’d be there. I wanted to believe that it wasn’t true but somehow I knew it was. The thought of you, injured and alone in the cold forest just broke me and...and I couldn’t forgive her, even after she apologized.” Pinkie admitted.
“B-But she’s your friend! And I’m fine!”
“I’m sorry, Flutters. I just....I can’t accept her apology, not now.” Pinkie said with her eyes closed. Fluttershy stood in front of the pink mare, not saying a word or moving a hoof.
“Pinkie, can you at least promise me something else?”
“W-What is it?” Pinkie opened her eyes to stare at the yellow pegasus.
“Can you be Pinkie Pie again?” Fluttershy requested with tear filled eyes.
“What are you talking about, Flutters? I am Pinkie Pie!” She responded, confused.
“No! I want the Pinkie I know back. The one who smiles, the one who is happy when everything else goes wrong. The pony who wants to see her friends smile and tries her best to do anything to make that happen. I want that Pinkie back.”
“I...I’m not sure that I can get that Pinkie back...”
“Please.” Fluttershy begged.
“Y-You’re right. There’s no reason for me to be all mopey-wopey! Everypony’s so down I need to cheer them up!” Pinkie shouted with a large grin on her face. Fluttershy kneeled down and gave Pinkie Pie, the real Pinkie Pie, a big hug.
“Promise me you’ll stay like this? For us? For me?”
“I promise!” Pinkie replied chirpily.
“Pinkie promise?”
In a heart’s beat, Pinkie chanted the familiar tune.
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie’s big eyes and wide smile brought tears, tears of joy, to Fluttershy’s eyes.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Flutters!” As Fluttershy walked towards Rainbow, she could hear Pinkie humming her own little tune, shaking her head back and forth as she sung.
“It’s nice to have you back, Pinkie.” Fluttershy whispered under her breath as she reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a roll of bandages. Just then, Rarity and Applejack appeared behind them. Applejack immediately walked up to Pinkie.
“Feeling better, sugercube?” Applejack asked the surprisingly chipper pony.
“Oh yeah! Much!” The bright reply was one that Applejack was not expecting. “And AJ... can I have that burn medicine you were talking about?”
Applejack didn’t know how to reply at first, having to think about what Pinkie had just said over in her mind. “Y-Yeah...S-Sure...” was all Applejack could muster out from her lips. As she leaned to her saddlebag to pick up the medicine, she couldn’t help but smile.
Rarity walked towards a tree behind the shelter, sitting down and resting her head as Fluttershy trotted up to Rainbow. With the bandages gripped in her mouth, she starting wrapping the first few strips around Rainbow’s wing....