My Old Apple Acre Home

by Sith_Dreamer

My Old Apple Acre Home Part 2

Fire. The flames rose and swirled like angry red tornadoes, sucking up everything within their paths. She couldn’t see through them, and the black smoke the created rose so high flying above them would be difficult. Screams cut through the air, managing to reach her ears despite the crackling all around her. She knew who it was.

As fast as lightning she zoomed through the flames, the cushion of air around her keeping them at bay, causing only minor singes to her wings. Her vision was a blur of reds and oranges and grey, until suddenly she found an area of peace amidst it all. Despite the sky being shrouded in smoke, she could still clearly see the greens and reds and browns, the colors of living things, completely untouched. All around her was what she could only describe as hell. The walls of flames seemed to ignore this particular area. In the center of this area stood a very familiar farmhouse. An orange earth pony hung out the window, fear in her eyes as she looked around for means to escape this place. Then she looked straight at the Pegasus pony that had emerged from the flames, and let out another scream.

The flames behind the Pegasus pony had twisted into a grotesque copy of herself. It cackled wildly above her, and then threw itself into the untouched landscape. She flew as fast as she could to snatch up the orange pony, but she felt her wings suddenly fail her. She dropped to the ground as the horrible flame pony crashed into the farmhouse, obliterating it and anyone inside. The Pegasus pony tried to cry out, but nothing would come to her throat.

The flames around the farmhouse twisted and turned again, transforming themselves into an image of the orange pony that the Pegasus had failed to save. Tears of blue flames poured from its eyes as it slowly started to deteriorate, as if the flesh of the pony’s face were rotting away. The flames fell, then rose again, and exploded, engulfing everything in the burning mass.
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Rainbow Dash awoke extremely unsettled by the dream she’d just had. Panicked, she quickly reached over and pulled back the covers. Applejack’s orange form lay curled up beside her, sleeping soundly. With a sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash gently covered her back up, and climbed out of bed. It was early, somewhere before five in the morning. She paced around the room for a few minutes, worried by what she’d just experienced. She kept telling herself it was just a dream.
Her mind, however, continued to try to tell her a different story.

You know what it meant, a voice in her head said to her. You’re guilty, guilty of destroying Applejack’s life. Guilty of all the hardship that will surely come from losing her family business.

“It’s not my fault,” Rainbow Dash reasoned with herself out loud, “I told you already I had no idea that would happen. And Applejack has never been happier than she has lately.”

Then tell her the truth, the voice urged, tell her you were careless, and stupid, and that you burnt down her farm!

“I didn’t burn it down! It…was…an accident!” she said louder, almost yelling, then realized that Applejack might hear her.

Dash suddenly realized just how she sounded arguing with herself, and tried to shake the voice out of her head. Soon it had stopped, and she was extremely thankful it had. Things were getting better all around, and Rainbow Dash didn’t need anypony thinking she might be crazy. She yawned, realizing just how little she’d slept during the night, and calmly climbed back into bed with Applejack. She grabbed the sheet in her mouth and stretched the covers back up to her chin. She couldn’t get the dream off her mind though. She kept asking herself if she was guilty, and what would it have been like if things had been worse than what they were. Worse, she was beginning to become fearful of what would happen if Applejack ever found out about the cause of the fire.

Dash snuggled close to Applejack, who gave a warm sigh in her sleep, and grinned. Dash tried to clear her mind. All she wanted to think about was Applejack.
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Out at what was left of the orchard, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had taken refuge under one of the last large apple trees still standing. Celestia’s sun was beating down hard today, and Ponyville wasn’t due for any rain until the end of the week.

“Phew we,” Applejack sighed, flipping her braid behind her head and shaking her hat to the ground, “Ah’d think even Princess Celestia would know when ta turn the heat down.”

Rainbow didn’t seem to notice. She sat gazing into the blue sky, her mind seemingly elsewhere.

“Uh, hello, Earth pony to Pegasus pony?” Applejack waved a hoof in front of Dash’s face.

Rainbow snapped out of her daze, and looked at Applejack.

“Sorry AJ, just got things on my mind,” Rainbow Dash told her, not realizing Applejack would probably ask what it was.

“Well, what could possibly be distractin’ ya from such a beautiful day like this?”

“Oh…uh, our friends, that’s all. I mean, do you think they should know about us?” Rainbow half lied. She’d actually been thinking about that question at one point or another.

“Do ya think they’d have some problem with it?” Applejack questioned her, doubting their friends would be so shallow.

“Well, I mean…no, no I don’t think they would. It bothers me though, you know how some of the…less open-minded ponies talk about Lyra and Bon Bon. Let’s not forget all the talk over just where Berry Punch’s daughter came from.”

“Does it really matter that much to ya, Rainbow Dash?” she rolled over on her back, not caring that her mane was getting a good coating of dirt across it.

Rainbow Dash thought this over for a second. On the one hoof, she wouldn’t want her friends to think anything less of the two. However, the only person that really needed to matter was Applejack, and Rainbow Dash already had her.

“No, it doesn’t matter,” Dash answered finally, “I’ve got what matters right here.”

Dash rolled over on her back and joined Applejack in an upside down stare at the midday sky. Rainbow had to give Applejack a lot of credit. Even after that day not so long ago when Applejack had decided to stay in Ponyville, she hadn’t wanted to even hardly look at what had been Sweet Apple Acres. And then, one day she got up early and headed out to find Big Macintosh, and help him in the long process of clearing the land. From that point on, when her time permitted, Dash had helped too, and now it once again had some semblance to the orchard that had existed before the fire. With only a few trees, the fields looked rather bare with only the sprouts of grass shooting up, but Rainbow hoped she and Applejack would be able to see the land returned to its former glory. Together.

Their vision was suddenly filled with a very large amount of pink. Both confused, they rolled back over and saw Pinkie Pie hanging upside down from the apple tree.

“Pinkie Pie! What’n tarnation are ya doin’ up there?” Applejack snapped a bit, concerned over what the pink earth pony had heard.

“Well, I was gathering some sticks for Gummy to play fetch with, and the best sticks are always still in the trees so I climbed up here, but then I realized Gummy doesn’t even play fetch! So then I saw you two here and decided to surprise you!” Pinkie carried on for a minute.

“Say Pinkie, did uh, did you hear anything?” Rainbow Dash asked her.

“Why sure, there’s a whole nest of birds up there going cheep cheep cheep! And there’s all sorts of sounds coming from Ponyville and-“

“Pinkie!” Rainbow interrupted her, “I meant, anything we said.”

“Well, gosh, I guess I just wasn’t paying attention to you. Was it something good?” Pinkie’s curiosity was obviously peaked.

“Ya’ll mind me askin’ a favor?” Applejack said suddenly

“Why sure Applejack, anything.”

“Ah was thinkin’, it’s been a while since ya’lls had one of yer famous Pinkie Pie parties, and it’d really cheer me up to go one,” she told Pinkie as the pink pony listened intently. “But uh, me’an Rainbow Dash kinda want to talk to everypony about somethin’ too.”

“Oh, surprise telling party! Okie dokie lokie, be there at 7 tonight!” Pinkie said and bounded off into Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what to say. She certainly hadn’t expected things to move so fast. More thoughts were already running through her mind, from having the best party ever to an angry mob of ponies chasing the two with torches of burning hay and signs made with giant red letters, exclaiming the word “fillyfoolers.” She could feel herself begin to sweat from nervousness. Applejack caught onto her fear rather quickly.

“Now don’t ya’ll be tellin’ me that the Rainbow Dash, best young flier in Equestria, is getting scared over a little party with her friends,” Applejack teased her.

After a few deep breaths, Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air and tackled Applejack. The two rolled around for a moment and came to rest back at the trunk of the apple tree. The two burst out into a fit of laughter that lasted for several seconds. Without thinking or caring who might be watching, Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Applejack’s neck and pulled her in close for kiss. For several minutes the two continued, enjoying every moment under the warm rays of Celestia’s sun,
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Hours went by, and so here they were now, standing at the door to Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie was setting up another one of her signature parties. Lightly, Rainbow Dash knocked on the door. They waited.

“Still got cold hooves?” Applejack grinned a little at her, “T’ain’t nopony gonna hear that feeble knockin’.”

Rainbow Dash blushed and gave a look of mild bewilderment. Applejack knocked louder. Suddenly the door swung open and Pinkie Pie greeted them, grinning ear to ear. She had a huge new party hat covering her mane, and it appeared as if she’d dyed her tail green. It was actually Gummy, who’d latched on tight to Pinkie’s flank, tail and all.

“Gosh,” Applejack gasped a bit, “Gummy sure is getting’ big.”

“You wouldn’t believe it! His teeth started growing in and I’ve just had to pull ‘em back out. Oh, but you’re here, and now the party can really get started!” Pinkie bounced away.

The two followed slowly behind the pink pony, and headed towards the food on the table. Twilight was already there, her quill and a piece of parchment raised up into the air.

“Girls, really glad to see you. I don’t know what you could possibly have to tell us, but I’m sure it could be something really awesome to tell Princess Celestia about,” Twilight told them and winked.

“Heh, yeah,” Rainbow Dash tried to keep her cool.

When they were out of sight of everyone for a minute, Rainbow Dash nuzzled up to Applejack.

“Ohmygosh, AJ, I can’t do this here. What if they don’t like it? What if they think it’s unnatural? Is Twilight ok with that? Rarity? What if it ruins Pinkie Pie’s party!?” Rainbow Dash poured out all her worries.

“Whoa, sugarcube,” Applejack said, and pecked her on the cheek, “ You told me not long ago that I was the most honest pony you knew. Well ya’lls the bravest ah know, and ah couldn’t love you more for it. Plus, it’s a party fer us, so I doubt it’d ruin anything.”

They took a few minutes just to comfort each other, gathering their courage for the night ahead. Everyone was going to be there soon, including the rest of the Apple family. Big Macintosh had never been one to talk about relationships, so his presence worried Applejack just a bit. Dash let her fears go, and stood up strong. Applejack was right; they could do this, as long as they did this together. They headed back to rejoin the party.
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“Well, this is an interesting development, darlings,” Rarity said, moments after hearing the news from the couple.

“I think its super duper special awesome!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up and down as usual.

“I, um, had an idea,” Twilight said, trying to hide the fact that she already knew.

“Um, excuse me Twilight, but I think you are a very bad liar,” Fluttershy surprised everyone by saying, then said, “Oh, and Angel and I are very happy for you two.”

Twilight turned a shade of red only rivaled by Rainbow Dash’s mane. Her jaw nearly touched the floor. The other ponies in the room just laughed.

“It’s just like one of those amazing love stories I found in Twilight’s library!” Pinkie Pie shouted, “Despite great tragedy, love rises from the ashes! And where fire claimed the Apple family’s orchard, the fire of Rainbow Dash’s love burned brighter!”

“Heh, well ah just hope I don’t get burned,” Applejack gave a hesitant laugh, obviously disturbed by the mention of the fire.
Twilight gave Pinkie a nudge, and then took her aside for a moment to explain why her comments may not have been in the best taste.

Rainbow Dash fell back on an old favorite, and said “Pinkie Pie, you’re so random.”

Suddenly, an odd feeling hit Rainbow Dash. The dream from that morning began to flash through her head, reminding her yet again of her own mistakes. She tried to brush it off, and keep her composure, but her mind kept showing her the horrible images of Applejack being overcome by the torrent of fire. Rainbow could hear the voice in the back of her mind, slowly creeping back in amongst the noise of the party. She didn’t want to hear it, and began to try and clutter her mind with other things.

She walked away from her friends for a moment, trying not to make anything appear wrong. She could feel a single tear as it slid down her cheek. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and tried sucking it all back in. Now wasn’t a good time for any of this. Luckily, Applejack had been distracted by something, and hadn’t had time to see if anything was wrong. The tear had slipped down to her lower jaw, and hung limply from her face. When it finally fell, Rainbow was certain no one had seen anything.

Pinkie Pie popped up next to Dash without warning, a look of concern on her face.

“Hey Dashie, are you crying?” she asked the cyan Pegasus, “Is something wrong with the party? Oh, I know something is wrong with the party!”

The pink pony turned away as if she was going to try to fix something she was not sure of, when Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie’s mane in her mouth, and pulled her back.

“No, Pinkie, everything’s great!” Rainbow Dash had to nearly lie through her teeth. “I’m just a little overwhelmed, that’s all. Things couldn’t have gone better, and it couldn’t have been any cooler.”

A big smile crossed Pinkie’s face. “Oh Good! I was worried there was something wrong with my party! I mean it was so good it made you cry!”

With that, Pinkie hopped off to mingle with the other ponies. Dash let out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t lost her cool, and that Pinkie was oblivious to the truth. She did have to give Pinkie credit though; the sudden interruption by her had completely wiped the dreams from Dash’s mind. Trying to keep her head clear, Dash went back to where the festivities were still going on.
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Meanwhile, Applejack was preoccupied with her own issues. She had been a little put off by Pinkie Pie’s comments, and while she was sure that the pink earth pony had said it all with the best intentions, she had gotten to thinking about everything her family had lost. Now Applejack had retreated to a corner herself so that no one saw her sudden onset of depression. For a moment she completely forgot about Rainbow Dash, instead focusing her mind on all the good times she’d had at the orchard in the past. She had even met Rainbow Dash there, although at the time she’d thought she was a free-loading apple thief.

A long shadow fell across Applejack, making her wake from her daydreams. She looked up to see her big brother standing tall over her. She stood up on all four hooves, and looked up into his face.

“Yer lookin’ like you could use somepony ta talk too,” Big Macintosh said, not breaking from his usual demeanor.

“Maybe ah am,” Applejack said with long sigh, “It ain’t nothin’ really, just thinkin’ about the farm and everything.”

“Eeyup, I have every day since,” Big Macintosh told her, “But we all have ta move on. And I think ya’ll have been doin’ the best o’ all of us.”

Big Macintosh scanned his gaze around the room, stopping on a happy Applebloom and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, no doubt devising another scheme to get their cutie marks. He saw Granny Smith rocking in a chair Pinki Pie had sat out especially for her. He saw all of Applejack’s friends, and some other ponies from town laughing and dancing and having a good time. His gaze returned to Applejack.

“All these other ponies are here fer you and yer friend,” he said, “And that’s some good support. Cheer up little sister.”

Applejack knew Big Macintosh was right. She smiled and through her front legs around his neck and gave him a big hug. She held him close for a moment, and then released him to go back to the others. She didn’t notice the tears rolling down his face as she did, he himself finally losing to his own internal struggles. It didn’t take long for the big red pony to return to normal though, and he too went back to enjoy a little more of the party.
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Hours later, the party had died down to just a few of the ponies remaining. Rainbow Dash had stayed behind to help Pinkie clean up, while Fluttershy had left with Big Macintosh to help Granny Smith back to her room at Fluttershy’s cottage. Rarity and Twilight had both left early, each having something to do early on the following day.

“Another successful Pinkie Pie party,” Rainbow patted the pink earth pony on the back.

“Couldn’t ta went any better, sugarcube,” Applejack told her.

“Oh thanks guys, but it was all for you! I’m just happy to help!” she exclaimed, and gleefully bounced around.

They said their goodbyes and headed out into the cool night air.

“I’m always worn out after one of Pinkie’s parties,” Rainbow Dash told Applejack.

“Yeah, but, ya know, ah don’t think ah’m ready ta hit the hay yet,” Applejack told her, seemingly los tin thought.

“Is…is something wrong AJ?” Dash asked.

“ No, but, just, a beautiful night like tonight reminds me of sittin’ in the orchard, watching moon rise under the stars.”

Rainbow hadn’t really been paying attention to her surroundings, but suddenly her eyes were drawn to Luna’s huge moon in the sky, surrounded by millions of twinkling lights. With everypony in town asleep, the moon and stars were the only thing illuminating the path back to Twilight’s library.

“You know, we could get a better view,” Rainbow suggested.
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They slipped quietly inside the library, hoping Twilight might still be awake. They slipped into her room, and found the purple unicorn passed out on a pile of books.

“Twilight…”Dash whispered in her ear.

“Maybe we shouldn’t wake her,” Applejack tried to whisper to Rainbow.

“Hey TWILIGHT!” Rainbow suddenly screamed.

Twilight jumped awake and fell off her chair. Her head thudded hard against the ground.

“Ouch, sorry Twilight,” Rainbow Dash tried to cover her mistake, “We, uh, just came in and saw you sleeping there, and thought maybe you needed to get some sleep in a real bed.”

Groggy, Twilight stood up and shook off the pain in her head.

Rainbow smiled a toothy smile, than boldly asked, “But, uh, we were wondering if you could do us a favor?”
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“It really is beautiful up here,” Applejack told her, snuggling next to Rainbow Dash.

The two were now perched on top of a cloud overlooking all of Ponyville. The moon and stars were closer than Applejack had ever been able to see them before. A tinge of envy hit her, that all this time she’d never been able to see a night like this with such magnificence as she could now, and yet Rainbow Dash could anytime and yet never took the time to notice.

“Ya know, Applejack, I was thinking, since the magic’s good for a day or two, you want to crash at my place tonight?” Rainbow asked her.

“Why Rainbow Dash, ah thought ya’d never ask,” Applejack smiled and gave a playful tug at Rainbow’s mane.

They sat in silence for a bit longer, before Rainbow Dash knelt down and motioned for Applejack to climb onto her back. Wings stretched out, Rainbow Dash dropped down and soared over Ponyville, before swooping up, and landing in the front yard of her cloud home. She walked up to the door, and opened it for the orange earth pony. Applejack smiled and tipped her hat to the Pegasus. They both laughed, and headed inside. Although it was quite late, the night had only begun for the two.

Comments

God I cant wait for the next chapter!!!!!!!!

Thank you for taking the time to wright this!

[Sedgewick]

Very nice. I'm really enjoying this so far. Can't wait to read what will happen next.

[Squid Squidy]

That final bit at the end was perfect for this. Good job.

[JavaChips]

it's a really amazing story, I can't wait to see what picture the words will paint next.

[BestiaAuris]

You wouldn’t believe it! His teeth started growing in and I’ve just had to pull ‘em back out.
Owww..... Owww... Owww.

My only complaint with this chapter is in the last section. The wake up twi, late at night, knowing she has to do stuff early in the morning, asking her to cast a spell? Buh?
Overall, a very solid story. Good job!

[Salad king]

The tension and guilt is really building up for dash, im kinda liking this.