Her number one fan
(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Hasbro or Lauren Faust, and certainly have nothing to do with My Little Pony™. I am simply an author writing a story for my own entertainment and for readers like you.)
If she was honest with herself, she'd say that she was lost. However, not wanting to admit this to herself, the pegasus continued on forward in the maze she was in. Five years seemed to have done wonders in this farm...And unfortunately for the pegasus, it just made the job a whole lot harder for her to find the actual farm houses. The reason why stood up, tall and proud, and the shiny apples that hung from them seemed to mock every move she made deeper into the labyrinth.
Apple trees. Apple trees everywhere, full of their delicious, mouth-watering sweet juices that just begged to be picked off trees and be eaten. Then again, it wasn't surprising, considering this was an apple farm. A lone pegasus was walking through a worn and dusty dirt path between those same trees, trying to resist the urge to take an apple and have a quick snack without anypony looking. Maybe, if she was quick enough, she could...
No, that'd be disgracing her friend...And that was the last thing she wanted to do in her memory. Still, her stomach growled in anger as she continued to pass by rows upon rows of apples, and being unable to eat them. Wanting to take her mind off such a petty problem, she started to think about Applejack, and wondered what would be fitting words to say over the dead farmer; heck, she should start thinking about words for her other friends, as well. On to Applejack first, however.
She was a hard working farm pony; one that also happened to be brutally honest and couldn't keep a little white lie if her life depended on it. She was also very fit, lean, and happened to be her rival while the Wonderbolt was still living in Ponyville. She remembered far more happy memories with her than with any of her other friends, barring Fluttershy. Applejack was just...One of those friends you never, ever, wanted to forget about.
She didn't waste time going through the motions, and often cut to the point quickly. This often gave off the impression that she was rude, an assumption that didn't fit her at all, no matter how hasty and truthful she could be with her words. The Wonderbolt supposed that a few words that got right to the point of her death would seem rather cold, but the ponies would know that Applejack probably wouldn't have had it any other way, and would accept that.
Her thinking was interrupted when she heard a faint rustling, near one of the apple trees. Which one, it was nearly impossible to determine; every damn tree looked the same. Although she would have usually written such noise off as an apple falling down on its own, there were plenty of times where she heard little noises that were actually from the paparazzi ponies who followed her around. Admittedly, she wasn't that discreet when she left Canterlot, but she thought she'd have at least enough time to visit her friends before they caught onto the fact that she was here. Sighing, she lazily jumped off the ground, and flew slowly towards the general direction of the sound.
Of course, it really could have been just an apple that managed to be very, very loose. This, however, was Applejack's farm...If the trees weren't kicked (Or picked), the apples didn't come down. That much, the Wonderbolt knew about the farm. It took a fair while, but the pegasus managed to find the general area of the sound; the rustling seemed to be between a small trio of trees, and the Wonderbolt was flying around them like a hunter stalks prey, ready to chase after any ponies that ran from her, not that any of them would actually try to run. Most gave up trying to run from her long ago when they realized that the pony they were stalking also happened to be fastest pony in the skies...Although there was the occasional youth that panicked, or the odd reporter that thought they could run from her when she was grounded.
The paparazzi wasn't to blame for distracting her this time around, though. Out tumbling from the trees was a now grown-up filly that Rainbow Dash 'almost' immediately recognized. The shameless filly smiled at her, and quickly jumped up and grabbed the Wonderbolt into a warm, inviting hug; a hug that all too much reminded her of her friends. She wanted to pull away, not wanting to be reminded about them, but the filly held on too tight, and the hug seemed to melt away the stress of having to deal with her current problems. The Wonderbolt, slowly, but surely, started to wrap her hooves around the filly's neck, and pulled her into a tight hug.
She temporarily forgot the name of this pegasus; she was somepony she knew very, very well, though. Her name escaped her mind for a few minutes, and she only remembered what it was when she saw a nearby scooter propped up against a tree. "What are you doing here, Scootaloo?"
She was going through the Apple Family's apple trees, picking an apple here and there, and placing them in a basket. She had promised to help Applebloom with the farm work; she knew how devastating it was to lose somepony important to you. As she was picking apples (And secretly taking a few for herself), she noticed that somepony was walking down the dirt path; probably another pony wanting to pay their respects to Applejack. Still, she couldn't help but be curious; the funeral was due to start in about another hour, so anypony coming along now was cutting it pretty close to say goodbye, especially when they were just going to say it again at the funeral.
So she lazily wandered her eyes towards the path, and caught a glimpse of the pony. Pegasus, female, her coat was a bright cyan, rainbow mane, striking rose colored eyes...Her mind unfocused for a second. The pony seemed familiar; too familiar. She decided to follow the pony around for awhile, slowly climbing down the tree; and in doing so, she caused the tree she was in to rustle. Not loudly, mind, but just enough to catch the attention of the other pegasus. She quickly dived towards the floor, and pressed her back to the tree she just climbed down, hoping that the other pegasus wouldn't try to find out what made the sound. Unfortunately for her, the pegasus did exactly what she didn't want her to do, and with every passing second, she got closer and closer.
The filly was nervous; after all, the identity of the other pegasus was still being processed in her mind; who was the pegasus? She thought of a few names as she dodged the pegasus through the trees; none seemed to fit her, though. All she knew was that it had something to do with a word that described multiple colors and a word that meant 'fast'. The pegasus was famous, but even so, she forgot who the pegasus was. She darted between trees, trying to evade her pursuer, but eventually, she was cornered into a small area, where she couldn't move without the pegasus immediately spotting her.
Then the name of the pegasus hit her as she once again looked at the pegasus' rainbow mane, and her eyes lit up. It was Rainbow Dash! Unfortunately, as she was caught in this revelation, she tumbled out of the tree, right in front of the pony she admired the most. The pegasus looked down on her in surprise; she probably didn't expect a pony to tumble out of a tree. She quickly grabbed the pegasus into a tight hug, and held her there, like a teddy bear.
At first, the filly was disappointed that the pegasus wasn't hugging back; didn't she recognize her? The idea that her idol may have forgotten about her brought down the good mood she got when she saw her for the first time in five years. Her pessimism was crushed when the older pegasus hugged her back, and very nearly squeezed the breath out of her. The two were locked in this embrace for quite awhile, when the older pegasus spoke.
"What are you doing here, Scootaloo?" The filly smiled, and responded back.
"I'm helping Applebloom and Big Mac! They're going to need the help, you know, with...You know why, right?" The older pegasus she was hugging sighed, and withdrew from the hug, nodding slowly at the filly.
"Yeah, I know why, kid, and that's a great thing you're doin' for your friend, Scoot. How have you been doing?" The filly shrugged; she didn't really know how she was feeling personally, since her life was okay, if boring, and with the recent storm, she honestly didn't know what to feel anymore. Sad, yes, for her friends and the ponies that died, but for herself? She didn't know.
"I-I'm...Not really sure, Rainbow Dash. I'm sad for Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, but...I just don't feel as bad as them. Does this make me a bad friend?" The older pegasus shook her head slowly.
"No, Scoot, it just means that either you're a little bit stronger than your friends, or you aren't as affected from their deaths as much as they were. That doesn't mean you're bad; you're just more 'used' to this kind of stuff, because...Well, you know what happened to your parents. Just be there for your friends; they'll need your strength to pull through this difficult time." The younger pegasus smiled at her idol, although she felt a little hurt that her parents were mentioned. Even so, Rainbow Dash always knew just what to say!
"Alright...Thanks, Rainbow! That makes me feel a little bit better about myself." The older pegasus nodded slowly, and was about to ask her to lead her to the actual farmhouses themselves (It seems as if the barn had moved around, which didn't make her job of actually finding it any easier), when she saw a rather familiar face, one that probably shouldn't be here. She frowned at him, who, in turn, motioned her forward with a hoof. The pegasus sighed, and nudged Scootaloo gently, giving her a bright, fake smile.
"Scootaloo? Could you wait here for a second? I think I saw something over there in the apple trees, and I want to make sure it's nothing dangerous, okay?" Although the pegasus had half-expected her fan to pout and go along with her anyway, the filly simply nodded at her, proving her completely wrong.
"Alright, then! Be careful, Rainbow Dash!" The pegasus was a bit taken back from this reply, but hid it inside of her. She walked off towards the trees, and, once she knew for certain that she was out of sight, looked questioningly at the stallion who was here.
"Deep Thought? What are you doing here?" The stallion smiled at her; there was a look in his eyes that told her that he knew a little bit more than he should, but that was probably just her paranoia. After all, the smart ponies always seemed to know something ahead of time. Not saying she herself was dumb, of course, but she could never figure out how those ponies were always one hoofstep ahead of her, never mind how fast she was.
"I was just here paying my respects to your friends, Rainbow Dash. After all, they are the Elements of Harmony, are they not? It's not just you who's mourning them. Perhaps you've forgotten how famous you and your friends were before becoming a Wonderbolt?" The pegasus rolled her eyes, and sighed. She supposed that was a valid enough reason; what she didn't understand was how he even managed to get here, the town he resided in was quite away from Ponyville. She wouldn't pry, though; she knew that feeling all too well. She realized that, while she was going around and visiting her friends, she hadn't given much...Ha, 'Deep Thoughts' to what she would say at the funeral, although she did have a basic outline for all of them. She decided to ask him, since, well, he did give her some pretty good advice earlier.
"I see, I just didn't think ponies would flock to Ponyville, though. Hey...Do you have any advice on what I should say during the funeral? Even though I've visited my friends, I don't really know what I'd say to all the ponies that'll be there, and, as much as I hate to admit it, everypony's going to expect something...'Awesome' from me." The stallion looked lost in thought; again, she was reminded by how easily he fit his name. He shook his head briefly, and shrugged.
"It's not for me to say," he began softly, "because what you can say depends on what you want to say. Death does not acknowledge the words of the living, Rainbow Dash; no matter how many words you pour onto them, they turn away with dead, deaf ears. Words of happiness, of sadness, what does it matter? You, alone, must ask yourself what you need to say to the crowd that is surely going to be there." The pegasus looked confused; did he just say that she needed to 'ask' herself? And here she thought she was getting some good advice.
"I have no idea how I'm going to go on 'asking' myself for advice, Deep Thought." The stallion winked at her, and walked off.
"You'll figure it out. Anyway, I should get on meeting the rest of your friends, and you should finish up meeting your last friend. Bye!" The pegasus watched him leave, and bucked a tree softly, disturbing the apples, but not causing any of them to fall down. So much for getting advice. She disliked the intellectual types, usually because they tended to make things a lot more complicated than they were supposed to be. Honestly, asking herself the question? She walked over to Scootaloo, who, amazingly, was still there, and once again, flashed her a bright, fake smile.
"It was nothing. Come on, let's visit the farm, Scoot. Can you take me there?"
"Of course! Follow me!"
And so, the two pegasai set off into the sunset, looking for the farmhouses.