Chapter 6
Chapter 6
The walk from the town to the cabin was not a necessarily long one, but it was not altogether one that Cider relished undertaking anyway. Its passage was, of course, made all the more difficult by the near complete darkness a night lit only by the stars and, of course, his own intoxicated state. These factors, however, were not a new experience to the stallion in the slightest. He had made this journey countless times in the dark of night while less than sober, and held no qualms about his ability to pick out the route even with his limited eyesight, mostly by feeling the way with his hooves as he had done numerous times before. No, it was not the darkness nor his drunken stumbling that made the walk difficult, but the rather heavy extra weight slung over his already aching back.
It can be said that, among other ponies her size and especially among other mares, Applejack was rather on the heavy side. This was not to say, however, that she was overweight, in fact, quite the opposite. Applejack had spent years, the majority of her young life, even, building up lean muscle doing the sorts of strenuous, physical labor that even some stallions would balk at. The many pounds of lean muscle were an unavoidable by-product of the daily chores that come with life on a farm. Applejack had, of course, always been proud of her impressive physique, a strong, well-toned body that was doing absolutely nothing for her at the moment as she hung limply from her father's back, completely unconscious. Her build did weigh down on her father, but having spent his own young life involved in some of the same agricultural pursuits as her, he was physically up to the task. It was the stores of energy required that he found hard to come by.
As a result, Cider had to stop every so often, usually to catch his breath, but also at times because his senses were sidelined by the particularly strong side-effects of his intoxication. It took longer than usual for him to reach the shack he called his house. The door groaned under the protest of rusted hinges long in need of lubricant as he shoved the door open with his shoulder. He staggered into the doorway and very nearly lost his balance, stumbling forward as he had done several times that night with his legs bearing the strain of the extra load. Having finally reached his nightly destination, he leaned to the side, tottering precariously as he slid his daughter's immobile form onto the wooden floor with an unceremonious thump.
Despite his at-best marginal ability to think clearly in this state, Cider still managed to make the leap of understanding that Applejack would need some sort of restraint – especially if he was going to go out again that night (as he fully planned on doing). He spied a coil of rope hanging in the closet. It would suit his purposes perfectly.
It was not very long after that he had once again left the cabin and returned to the winding and somewhat overgrown road leading back to town. It was easier going this time around, as he was able to get his hooves underneath him with relative ease compared to the struggle he had undertaken not an hour previous. The night was dark, but he was completely accustomed to the darkness. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that it was approaching or likely past the middle of the night. Had he been sober, he probably would have stopped and stayed at home without returning to the bar, but then again, sober ponies hardly make good business for a tavern, and Cider was far from sober. As such, he once again found himself pushing the front door open and stumbling over to his usual seat, for the second time that night.
Cider had, of course, passed beyond the realm of a regular customer. His presence at night in the tavern had become a standard fixture. His stool by the bar had garnered the unwritten custom of being reserved for him each night. Moonshine, the bartender pony, glanced up from behind his wooden edifice and shot his best customer a sideways grin. "No problems there, Cider?"
"I took care of it, Mooney."
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The floor was cold.
In fact, she felt completely cold all around, but the sensation appeared to mostly be coming from the floor. The wood had acquired a significant chill over the night, and she could feel it soaking through into her skin while she lay. In fact, she didn't even know why she was lying on the floor in the first place, she found that she was having a hard time thinking. All she knew was that she was laying on the floor, she was extremely cold, and she seemed to have a dull ache in the back of her head.
Applejack groaned. This was not a way she particularly wanted to start her morning. Truthfully, she didn't even know if it was morning, but she was waking up, and she hated waking up cold. As she lay, groaning, attempting to process her situation, she began to wonder, even though the act of thinking seemed to cause her head to ache slightly more, why she was on the floor in the first place. Her entire right side was flattened on the hard wood flooring, and the side of her face was pressed into the cold surface as well, imparting an uncomfortable chill to her cheek. It seemed all too unbearable. It was time to get up. She made to move her neck, to lift her head up off the floor. It seemed that the most logical way to pull herself to her hooves would be to get a good look at her surroundings, anyway.
Her eyelids had barely begun to rise and her head had only barely lifted off the floor when the true pain began. It was as if somepony had tried to drive a white-hot metal spike into the base of her neck as soon as she tried to move her head. Her mind immediately registered the searing report of thousands of nerve endings in her head and neck screaming in protest. She immediately dropped her head back down to the ground, shutting her eyes closed in agony. She tried to scream, but no sound would come.
The pain became too much. Her eyes flew open from the pure shock of the excruciating spike of unexplained agony. They were met with the nearly-blinding light of the sun coming through the newly-cleaned window. She immediately shut her eyes once again, the barrage of light only adding to her growing migraine. She knew she had to move. She felt far too exposed here. She needed to get something, anything, to help end the pain. Even with the protest of her splitting headache, she tried to shift her head. She tried to move her legs. They wouldn't budge. She didn't understand it. She could barely move her body at all. No matter how bright it was outside, she knew she had to open her eyes again. She had to see why she couldn't move.
It hurt to open her eyes, but not as much as it hurt the first time. Gradually, trying to focus on her surroundings, if only to distract herself from the headache that seemed to be ripping her head in two from ear to ear, she managed to hold her eyes open. They watered for a moment before she became fully adjusted to the light. She looked down at her hooves. Ropes. Her hind legs were gripped in a secure knot and tied to what appeared to be the pot-belly stove. She craned her head, ignoring the sudden renewed ripple of further pain, to see her front hooves. They were tied in a similar fashion. She was rendered completely immobile.
She hadn't noticed it before, but the shack was completely silent. Somehow, despite the pain it took to even think, she registered in the back of the mind that she seemed to be completely alone. It was almost certainly morning, yet the cabin seemed completely vacant. She had only begun to wonder where her father might be when the events of the night previous came flooding back to her in a sudden rush. She could hear him taunting her, insulting her, chuckling at her. She closed her eyes again, squinting them shut. She didn't want to think about last night. A tear rolled down her cheek, unchecked as it squeezed form between her clenched eyelids. She felt terrible. Even though she didn't remember the striking blow that had rendered her unconscious, she knew, somehow, that Cider had caused this. She hated him.
She had no way of measuring the passage of time. It couldn't have been long however, before her ears somehow managed to pick up the sound of a rusty hinge squeaking over the pain.
Had she been able to see him from her position, Applejack would have noticed that Cider looked even more drunk than she had ever seen him previously. He had spent the early hours of the morning in the bar before stumbling out at sunrise. He had fallen a few times on the journey home, and somehow, he was still intoxicated. He hadn't even begun to suffer from a hangover yet, although that would come later. He had stayed up all night drinking, and still wasn't thinking properly.
Applejack saw four brown hooves clumsily step their way in front of her. She felt a shadow fall over her as her father's looming figure blocking the shaft of sunlight that streaming in through the window. She saw him sway gently from side to side. She saw him seem to gain some level of balance. Then, she saw his front hoof lift from the ground and swing backwards before falling forwards, headed directly towards her. She shut her eyes again, wishing for all of this to just be some sort of horrible dream.
She felt each blow as it struck her. Eventually, each sudden spike of pain became an overwhelming dull, throbbing, pained sensation that seemed to emanate from her whole body. She struggled, the tight rope bonds twisting and burning her legs as she made a valiant and ultimately fruitless attempt to move. Blow after blow rained down upon her stomach, her chest, and her head. She could hear her father muttering slurred obscenities at her as he kicked again and again, and she could do nothing. Her entire body ached with a dull pain, her head and her chest most of all. Eventually, it became too much for her mind to even keep herself awake. She was finally granted a reprieve from the sensation of every blow as she blacked out once more.
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Celestia's brightly glowing sun had already risen to a high perch in the sky. It beat down on the rolling hills and sparse trees of the Equestrian countryside. It found four friends as they walked steadily onward towards a destination they knew not where. Three of them were sweating, even Rarity who, despite her natural inclination to avoid overstraining herself, was not complaining. Her mind, like the collective minds of all three of her companions, was focused on pressing forward and finding their other friends.
Pinkie Pie, however, seemed unfazed by the beating sun and the building midday heat. She led the group, pressing forward at a pace that the other three could never hope to match, her boundless energy serving to keep her going despite the heat. Every once in a while, she would glance over her shoulder and spy her friends, struggling to keep up, and, with no small amount of annoyance, stop and wait for them. "Come on you slow-pokes! We need to find Dashie!"
Rarity shot her a disapproving glare as she and Twilight Sparkle caught up and stopped next to Pinkie. The three then turned around and looked back down the trail. Fluttershy was struggling along, plainly tired already from the distance they had traveled. For the four of them, this was their second day of travel. Fluttershy had been sufficiently tired out the day before, and was no struggling to keep moving. "Are you Ok, dear?" Rarity gave her best friend a sympathetic frown as she final caught up.
"I'm… I'm… I'm sorry I'm holding everypony up." Fluttershy panted as she finally reached her friends, sitting down to give her aching legs a moment's reprieve. "I think… I think I'd like to rest, if that's ok with you girls."
"OK? But we need to find Dashie! We need to…" Pinkie Pie's outburst was abruptly cut off as she found Twilight Sparkle's hoof stuffed into her mouth.
"No, Pinkie. We're going to rest for a moment. Fluttershy's tired. I'm tired, Rarity is tired. We can't keep going like this."
"But we'll never find Dashie at this rate!" Pinkie Pie spoke as soon as Twilight had removed her hoof. Twilight hung her head. "We've only been walking for half a morning."
"Pinkie, if you want to keep going, you can leave us here. But we need rest."
Pinkie Pie swiveled and looked down the road. There was barely any sign of civilization anywhere. She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if actually considering taking off without her friends, before she too, sat down on the side of the road. "No. I'll stay here with you guys."
Fluttershy smiled at Pinkie, who began twirling her hoof in the dirt in agitation. Twilight reached into her saddle bags and pulled the map out again. She had checked it numerous times over their journey so far. There were now three magic dots glowing from the parchment. The third, a pale violet one, marked their own location. They were now over halfway to where the Rainbow Dash dot was. Twilight had noted with some surprise that Rainbow Dash seemed to still be getting closer to Applejack, even though she had no idea how the cyan pegasus could know where to go. They were getting close though, and that was what mattered most. "Don't worry Pinkie, we'll see her soon. Even if we have to walk through the night tonight. We'll find her." Everypony seemed encouraged by her words. Nopony heard the last two she spoke, under her breath, so quiet that only she could hear. "I hope."
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The night had taken its toll on Rainbow Dash. The nightmares had been unrelenting in their assault. She tried not to think of them as she flew well into the afternoon. She was now almost certain that she had only imagined the scent of apples the day before. Deftly, she continued to follow the road. It was the only direction-marker she had to go by. She was growing discouraged. She began to wonder if this road would even lead her to Applejack, or if she was simply following a road to nowhere. She continued to trace its course, however, as she had nothing else to follow.
She felt like she had been flying all day, she knew, however, that this wasn't true. She had only awoken around midday, much to her chagrin, after an uneasy sleep. It was now well into the afternoon, and she had been flying, and trying not to think, ever since she had woken up. The warm air of the day whipped at her face, blowing her mane into long, flapping, rainbow strands that fanned out behind her. The warm air was in stark contrast to the chill of night, which she had experienced both the previous night and the night before then.
She could feel beads of sweat running down her forehead frown her mane. These tiny droplets were almost immediately picked up by the rushing current of air and hurled off behind her into the unknown. She looked down. The road, the only familiar thing in sight, stretched out into the distance. Hills, trees, and numerous other unfamiliar land features filled the landscape around her. She could see a dense forest to her left, and the purple shades of distant mountains to her right. This part of Equestria was completely unknown to her, and the very real possibility that she might wind up lost weighed heavily on her mind. Still, she foraged ahead. The rolling hills beneath her eventually gave out to even flatter land.
The land seemed to stretch out to infinity, the road grew straight. Even the distant mountains seemed to recede from view as the dominating flat plain grew to encompass her entire field of vision. Rainbow Dash was initially surprised to note that the land beneath her had seemed to acquire a rhythmic pattern to it, as square after square of sectioned-off, geometrically partitioned land sprawled out before her. 'Farms.' She finally realized. 'some ponies must live out here after all.' She hadn't seen a sign of anypony else in this place since the few towns she had visited the day previous, so the sudden view of numerous farms came as a surprise to her.
As she flew, she barely registered the changing light. The sun had almost set by the time she realized sunset was even occurring. She was too distracted, and now faced another late evening of flying. She mentally cursed herself once again for waking so late. It was getting later and later, and she still didn't know where she was or if she was getting any closer to Applejack. She was used to flying at night, though.
She considered a few times whether or not she should ask one of the farmer-ponies if they had seen either Applejack or her father, but decided against it. The road only bordered what appeared to be outlying fields, and the actual farmhouses were likely a ways away. Even if she did take the extra time to fly far off from the road and find one, none of the farmer ponies would have been likely to see Applejack if she and her father had stayed on the road. It struck Rainbow Dash once again that she was absolutely reliant on Applejack having actually taken this road in order to find her. It probably would have been a good idea to bring a map or something.
She realized as the sun finally slipped below the horizon for good that she hadn't even spoken to anypony that day. She hadn't even seen anypony else since stopping in the few isolated towns she had seen the day before. She hadn't even seen a single such community for a whole day. Her nerves were growing frayed.
She was almost right upon it before she even saw it. Of course, in the darkness, it was hard to spot at all. It was so faint, and so undistinguishable from the surrounding land, that she at first thought it had been some sort of illusion. She looked again. Whatever it was, it was certainly there. There was a light below her, a light that seemed to be coming from a building. It looked dim, and it looked particularly small, but Rainbow Dash knew one thing: Where there were buildings, there were ponies. In one smooth arcing motion, she dived down from her altitude and beelined towards the weak light source. As she approached the light, it revealed itself to be a series of lanterns. They hung from a low overhanging roof of a building that lay in shadows. In fact, as she flew closer, she realized that the lanterns appeared to be surrounded by a series of shadowy buildings. She felt a chill fly up her spine, but even so, she flew onward.
Before she even knew it, she was in their midst. The buildings were there, alright, but they were dark, and all were in various stages of dis-use. Even in the dim moonlight, she could see how decrepit the various homes looked. Several even had old thatched roofs that appeared to have long ago caved in. It was as if somepony had taken Ponyville, left it abandoned, and fast-forwarded time several years. Rainbow Dash decided then and there that she did not like this place at all. She hit the ground running, taking her time and using her wings as brakes to bring herself down from her high speed of flight. She almost lost her balance as soon as her hooves touched the road beneath her, the surface was so dusty. She soon brought herself under control and slowed to a trot to arrive in front of the only lit building. The three hanging lanterns shone from in front of the façade, casting long shadows across the small piece of the street they illuminated. The whole place seemed creepy to Rainbow Dash. The hair stood up on the back of her neck. Looking at an old, faded sign, she realized that the place was a bar just before she made to enter. No matter. It was the only sign of civilization for miles. She had to go in. She had to see somepony. She had to know if she was going in the right direction. She stepped over the threshold.
She froze.
She blinked twice. She couldn't believe it. It just couldn't be real. In truth, she didn't know what she had been expecting when she pushed the door open, but this certainly wasn't it.
The bar stood on the other side of the large, poorly-lit room. There were few ponies in at this hour. In fact, there were only two. The first one was behind the bar, deftly wiping out the inside of a shot glass. He didn't look up from his work and he didn't notice her. Neither pony had noticed her. The other one also had a shot glass sitting near his hoof, this one, however, was full. As Rainbow watched, he managed to balance it on a brown hoof, and in one swift motion, brought it to his mouth, held his head back, and took the amber liquid inside down in one big gulp. His eyes were closed, but Rainbow Dash still got a good look at his face. There could be no denying it. Rainbow Dash knew this large brown earth pony. He was unmistakable.
She ducked into a shadowy corner near the door. For some reason, she felt like she didn't want to be seen. Across the room form her, Apple Cider returned his empty glass to the well-worn surface of the bar. Slowly, Rainbow Dash backed out through the door, careful not to make a noise. She knew she hadn't been seen, and she didn't plan on being seen either. She knew one thing: Applejack's father was in there, but Applejack wasn't. She didn't want to speak to him, especially if Applejack wasn't there. In truth, she was somewhat afraid of him. She was far too nervous to approach him, especially if he had been drinking, and Rainbow Dash suspected that that hadn't been his first drink that night. She slunk into an alley next to the bar, out of the lanterns' light. She was more than content to wait there for him. She knew that if she followed him, he would lead her to Applejack.
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Twilight Sparkle had been true to her word. The sun was only just rising, and they were still walking. They had continued on well into the night, just as she had promised Pinkie Pie. The energetic pink mare walked along at her side, her normally energetic bouncing replaced by a slow walk as she moved under an extra burden. Across her back, Fluttershy's soundly-sleeping form lay, rising and falling with each deep breath the yellow pegasus took. Twilight smiled at the sight. It was a testament to her pink friend's strength, and certainly her resolve as well, that she had carried the sleeping pegasus for miles, unwilling to stop for the night when the tired mare had literally fallen asleep on her hooves. It was, of course, not the first time Pinkie Pie had carried the pegasus, and she maintained that she was actually very light. It was still impressive nonetheless.
Despite having been walking for much of the night, Twilight Sparkle felt completely alive. To her right, Rarity, her face a mask of determination, looked just as awake and alert. At the moment, Rarity had the map. It floated along before her, caught up in her magical grip, and she looked excited. "Twilight, dear, look at this."
Twilight Sparkle trotted over to her friend, catching a glimpse of the floating map as the trio continued their journey onward. She saw that the golden and cyan dots had gotten very close indeed, and the lavender dot was catching up as well. "It looks like Rainbow found AJ after all."
"Well, I'm glad the poor dear isn't lost at least. She seems to be right on top of her."
Twilight glanced back to Pinkie Pie, who had been listening intently. The unicorn was surprised her pink friend wasn't saying anything, considering she was normally the most talkative pony she knew. She knew that the news must have excited the pink mare, however; the side grin that spread over the earth pony's face spoke volumes. They were getting close. Twilight Sparkle could feel it.
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Rainbow Dash didn't know what time the sun had risen. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep in the dust behind the tavern. She was grateful, however, that the sun had risen when it did, because it had woken her up, and had it not, she would have missed her quarry.
As it was, she was keeping her distance behind him. He had left the bar that morning, she knew that much. He was also massively drunk, this fact was plainly visible to her as she followed him along. He swayed and staggered as he walked, it seemed a miracle that he was able to stand up, let alone walk, at all. Rainbow Dash wondered if he would even notice her if she walked right up to him, he certainly seemed intoxicated to the point of being unaware of his surroundings. She didn't want to risk accosting him, though. She was content with following, unseen, as he walked. To make sure he didn't spot her by accident, she followed him at a good distance, ducking behind trees and shrubs every so often to stay out-of-sight.
He was walking up a hill now. Rainbow Dash had to cover her mouth with her hoof to prevent herself from laughing out loud as he stumbled and very nearly hit the ground, catching himself just in time. She didn't quite know why her mood had lightened so, maybe it was the prospect of being able to see Applejack once again that had her so giddy. She smiled, and as she watched, safely from behind a bush, he reached the summit of the hill and immediately began down the other side, disappearing from view. Taking this as her cue, she stepped out from behind the bush and flew to the top of the hill, crouching low and peering over the edge. She was looking down into a depression, a bowl that lay in the middle of a ring of gently-sloping hills. The trail led windingly down one of these, terminating at the edge of a run-down old cabin. As she watched, she saw Cider open the door of this shack and enter, allowing it to shut behind him. She could hear it squeak even from her perch a good distance away.
Alone once again, she realized that this presented her with a particular challenge. In typical fashion, Rainbow Dash hadn't truly thought through her actions or developed any real plan or course of action when she decided to follow Cider. She had acted mostly out of her own emotions and mostly without forethought, and now found herself essentially stuck. Regardless of how drunk he seemed, Rainbow Dash was sure the stallion would not take kindly to her barging into his home without any forewarning, and she certainly had no idea how Applejack would react.
Contemplating her predicament in this way, Rainbow Dash spent several moments crouched in the tall grasses of the hilltop, watching the shack for any further sign of movement. Seeing none, she decided it might be a safe bet that Cider had gone to bed to sleep off whatever pounding he had given his liver. Cautiously, she rose from her concealed hideout and flew, low to the ground, closer and closer to the house. It was a risk, she knew, to come so close. After all, she might be seen and the resulting confrontation would be difficult to explain away. It was worth it, however; to her to get the chance to possibly see Applejack once more. With the risk weighed in a summarily hasty fashion, she approached ever closer.
She stopped in front of the door. After all, this was someone else's house, and she didn't pretend to know Applejack's father all that well. Even if Applejack was in there, it was probably a bad idea to just go barging in anyway. Sighing, she decided against it and went around the shack to a window instead. She hovered at window level to peek inside. It took a few moments for her vision to adjust to the lower light inside.
The first thing she noticed was a distinct, and somewhat relieving, lack of stallion in the room. From what she could see, Cider was nowhere to be found. In fact, the room itself seemed deserted, except for what appeared to be the sleeping form of somepony, have obscured by shadow on the other side of the room from the window. Rainbow Dash was about to idly think to herself how silly it seemed for a pony to be sleeping on the hard floor when she looked closer.
She saw the ropes on the shadow-pony's hooves. She saw the ruffled, unkempt appearance of mottled, orange fur in the deep shadow. She saw a blonde mane and tail, unruly and distraught-looking. She wasn't sure, but as she looked closer, her fear mounting, she thought she could see a trickle of red on the back of an all-too-familiar orange head. She couldn't see the pony's face, but she knew who it was almost instantly, and she felt her blood run colder than any chilly night spent in the open.
To her credit, Rainbow Dash didn't occupy herself so much with the morality of barging into the cabin when she actually did it. She was barely even registering her surroundings. One moment, she was outside, staring in shock through the window, and the next she found herself barreling straight through the door and dashing to the side of the prone pony. She wasn't thinking – except for the constant thought of one word, one word that grew to dominate her mind and seemed to thud in her ears with each beat of her heart. 'Applejack. Applejack. Applejack.'
Her heart was racing. It was too much to contain. She skidded to a halt at the hooves of the orange mare. She screamed. "APPLEJACK!"
Rainbow Dash didn't know exactly what she had been expecting when she set out to find her lover. Whatever it was, however, had been nothing compared to what she found herself confronted with. Applejack was lying on the floor, tied up, and not moving. Her mane, tail, and coat were messy and ruffled. Her normally orange fur was matted and splotched with what Rainbow Dash could only assume was either dried blood or serious bruising. The back of her head held a nasty wound, a wide bruise with an open gash that had already bled significantly onto the floor below. Rainbow Dash stood in shock for longer than she even knew, disbelief etched into her face.
It had only just occurred to her panicked mind that it might be a good idea check her marefriend's breathing, she heard a noise. Her mind was completely lost, the shock of her lover's battered and bruised body was enough to captivate her attention to a degree of near complete unawareness of her surroundings. The adrenaline coursing through her veins at seemingly hypersonic speeds was her saving grace, however. On pure reflex, she whipped around to face the source of the noise.
At first, Rainbow Dash didn't understand. To her unbalanced mind, there appeared to be half of a pony staring at her. It was only when the imposing figure of Apple Cider loomed out of what appeared to be a hole in the floor did she finally come to her senses enough to whisper, let alone say, anything. "You."
At first, the stallion didn't respond. He just grinned. It was a wide, terrifying grin that exposed his teeth, stained yellow after years of alcohol consumption. Rainbow Dash fell silent, able only to stare back at him in a mixture of horror and disbelief. "Looksh like the little fillyfooler hash come for her fillyfriend."
"Y… you."
"I never got the chansh to properly thank you. Thank you for turning my daughter into one of your own. Now I have a fillyfooler to dishgrace my name and my family, and I only have you to blame."
"W… what?"
"You know perfectly well what," The stallion's gaze turned hard, and he slowly began advancing upon Rainbow Dash. She cowered back in fear, her hooves slipping backwards as he approached her.
"W… what h-have… you…"
"I think you've overshtayed yer welcome." The much larger stallion glared at her, crouching as if about to pounce.
Rainbow Dash quivered, backing up ever further from the advancing stallion. She looked down, unwilling to meet his eye, and bowed her head as if to protect it. "W-what h-have you… d-done…? What have you d-done? What have you done?" Prior to her brush with death, Rainbow Dash had been known for her rather significant outbursts of anger. She had garnered somewhat of a reputation for being hot-headed and quick-tempered, but that, of course, had melted away when her very nearly successful suicide attempt had left her but a shell of her former self. In the months since, it had been as if she had somehow taken her old personality and shoved it as far inside herself as possible, having not had another outburst since her deeply-regretted shouting match with rarity in the hospital ward.
The trouble with holding emotions inside, however, has always been that they never seem to be able to stay within indefinitely. Always, without failing, they tend to find their way out, and like the proverbial dyke with a single crack, all the anger, frustration, and pent-up rage of multiple tortuous months of emotional imbalance came exploding out without a moment's notice. Rainbow Dash's eyes squinted shut. She clenched her jaw. She couldn't fight the flood any longer. When her eyes opened, they may as well have been twin blazing magenta infernos. "WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE!"
To say that Cider was surprised would have been a gross understatement. The mare before him had seemed timid, cowardly and submissive even. As it was, he wasn't prepared to deal with her fighting back, much less launching herself at him of her own volition. He was unable to dodge the speeding bullet that was Rainbow Dash.
She hit him square in the chest with her shoulder, feeling the satisfying sensation of his hooves giving way and collapsing beneath him as she plowed through him. She came to a halt just above and behind him, glaring as she watching him struggle to both regain his hooves and to keep track of her. She snarled at him, her wings viciously beating the air around her. She dove at him, this time landing a direct hit to his snout with her hoof before she angled upward once again.
She executed a perfect arcing turn in the air, pulling a complete horseshoe before entering another shallow dive, headed straight for him. In her haste, she forgot to watch him, and before she knew it, he had regained his footing and was prepared to take a swipe at her as she dove.
His hoof just barely clipped her wing, a glancing blow that would probably have been far more on-target and far more damaging had he been sober. Even so, she still momentarily lost precious balance, only barely managing to flip herself back up into the air before crashing to the ground. Cider was back on his hooves and glaring at her, but Rainbow Dash knew he couldn't keep track of her that well.
Her mind was working at a furious pace, as one is apt to do during such situations of rushing adrenaline and pure excitement. In the span of a few instants, she was already diving again, this time swerving and zigzagging through the air in a pattern designed to confuse him as much as possible. Her theatrics paid off beautifully, unable to keep track of her movements in his inebriated state, Cider resorted to taking a completely blind swipe at the air in front of him as the cyan blur that was Rainbow Dash flashed across his vision.
His hoof met nothing but air, and his blind swipe left him dangerously exposed. Like a missile, Rainbow Dash zeroed in on his exposed side and rammed him once again, knocking him onto his side once again and proceeding to pepper his soft underbelly with her front hooves. She had, however, in her wild movement, misjudged her angle of attack. She suffered a glancing blow to her head against his side where she had expected to hit with her shoulder. The disorientation was enough to slow her reaction time just enough that, as she was preparing to jump off the confused and dazed stallion, he managed to score a hit of his own to her chest.
Rainbow Dash could almost immediately feel her breath leave her, but the adrenaline-powered reflex controlling her wings did not allow her to stop and regain that breath. She was soon back up in the air, where she was safe at least, but she was gasping. She managed just barely to keep herself in the air long enough to get her lungs refilled again before she glanced down at her opponent. He was struggling to right himself after the series of blows he had taken. He had his back turned to her.
Rainbow Dash could still feel a dull pain in her chest. She glared, her eyes ablaze once more. If anything, the lucky shot only hardened her resolve. He wasn't going to get another chance at hitting her. He would hurt her, and he wouldn't hurt Applejack, ever again. He had his back to her. He never saw her coming.
From near the ceiling, she blazed down out of the sky straight towards him. At the last second, she threw her body into a spin, protecting her head and already bruised chest by throwing her left side around to hit him. Her quick burst of speed had already brought her to a crushing velocity when she collided with his bulk. The force of the impact was enough to seemingly shake the entire shack, and it sent Cider sprawling.
Reeling from the midair collision, Rainbow Dash, with her wings folded against her sides for protection, tucked her head and legs into her body and executed a crash-landing that quickly became a high-speed roll. For several seconds, she tumbled across the hard floor before coming to a stop. Dazed and dizzy, she groggily froze to her hooves again, ready to face her opponent even as her vision swam and the world spun before her. She was surprised, however, not to see the stallion anywhere.
She closed her eyes and shook her head a few times in an attempt to clear her vision. Opening them again, she found that he was still nowhere to be seen. Cautiously, she crept forward, peering down at the floor in front of her in disbelief.
Before her, the gaping maw that she now recognized to be a trap-door of some sort stood out black against the wood floor. As she inched her way closer, she was able to see down into what appeared to be a small room below. Even in the dim light, she could see something big lying at the base of the steps. The large, brown form of the stallion lay crumpled against the stone floor, having apparently struck each step on the way down. And even with a significant lack of light in the space, Rainbow Dash could plainly see the pool of red, seeping from the stallion's head and expanding outward onto the stone. He did not move.
Her heart and mind both working far too fast for her to stay and process what her eyes saw, she scoffed at the body and turned to look up, her gaze falling across that which was her primary focus.
"Applejack." In an instant, Rainbow Dash was at the orange mare's side. She hadn't seen it before, but the other mare's sides were slightly, almost imperceptibly, rising with the effort of labored breath. Rainbow Dash crouched down and buried her nose under her injured marefriend's head. "Come on, Applejack. Wake up. Wake up, AJ. I need to get you outta here."
She felt a slight stirring against her face, she pulled back for fear of hurting the already pained earth pony, and watched as Applejack struggled to lift a single eyelid. A brilliant, emerald-green eye stared back up at her. "R… R-Rainbow?"
"That's right, AJ. I'm here. I'm here and everything is Ok now. Everything is Ok." Rainbow Dash tried to smile, but even she found it hard to believe her own words.
"Dash… Dash… where's… where's mah Pa?"
"He's gone, AJ. He's gone. I took care of him. He won't hurt anypony ever again."
"Dash… please…" Applejack took a deep, ratcheting breath, gasping and unable to finish what she was about to say.
"What, what is it Applejack? I'll do anything for you. What is it?"
"Be… be strong."
"W… what?"
"Be strong. Be strong fer me Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash understood. She shook her head. "No… no…. Don't… don't talk like that, AJ. You're… you're going to be f… f-fine." She choked on her last word.
"Be strong fer me."
"No. NO! Come on, Applejack! Don't leave, don't leave me. You can't! I… I need you! I need you to stay here with me. You can't leave."
"You… you need to be strong, Rainbow. You need to be…"
"No. No. No. No. I don't believe you. You're going to be fine. You can't leave. I… I won't let you."
Applejack's eyes closed, she was sweating, the pain of trying to keep talking was taking its toll. "Dash… I… I… lo…" Applejack gasped and her eyes flew open. In her last remaining seconds, she locked gazes with Rainbow Dash, trying to convey her final message even as her head fell and her eyes closed for the last time.
"A… Applejack? Applejack, No!" Rainbow Dash, rushed forward, grasping the orange pony around the shoulders. She shook her. "Come on, AJ. Stay with me! Stay with me! You can't leave! You just can't. I love you too much! Come on, don't do this to me! I love you! Come on, love, stay with me!"
She shook even harder, even more. It wasn't enough. It was never enough. She grasped Applejack to her chest, trying to keep her warm even as she felt the earth pony's body begin to grow cold. She collapsed to the ground, her head falling across her lover's neck. She could feel no breathing; no heartbeat. "You… you can't leave."
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
D-d-did you just killed Applejack off??
Oh god please update as soon as possible wanna know how she's gonna get it over
why must you torture her like that?!
no
n-n-noo
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! HOW COULD YOU!!!!!!
jesus h christ does this author like torturing RD or what?
Wut.
Great chapter… until the end.
Why would you do that!? AJ just have to make it, somehow, for Dash's sake 
Poor girl.
Blimey, I knew AJ was in bad shape, but I didn't realise it was fatal.
Poor Dash.
One word. Shit
Wow. I wondered if the story would head down this path, but not exactly in this way.
Anxiously awaiting the next chapter.
I can now use RD's words on you."WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE!"
425214 It's a Cr1tiKaL quote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgI2ZQVyrBo
My response to what happened to Rainbow Dash after finding AJ and the end of this chapter.
no.no! you cant kill AJ she is the only thing keeping poor dashie going,without AJ... dashie has no reason to live, come on man dont do this please for dashie's sake you just cant kill AJ, she has to make it.
Dat cliffhanger!!!
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Shit hit the fan again..... applejacks death or looks like it might be my breaking point.
what you did to AJ makes me feel like this
Are you kidding me!? I don't even like AJ all that much, BUT WTF MAN!!! Have all the tear emotes!
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All the possible emotions for that cliffhanger and for possibly killing off AppleJack
------------
I know, too many pictures but Meh
You son of a...
Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!
APPLEJACK!!! poor rainbow,
I actually hope though that Cider isn't dead... Big Mac needs to curbstomp the hay out his face
Rainbow dash is here to kick flank and chew bubble gum and shes all outta gum
I think you mean, "forged ahead."
NOOOOOO!!!! SHE BETTER LIVE!!!