Be Strong

by fluttershylover357

Chapter 4

Rainbow Dash woke up in a hospital bed with an IV in her hoof.

"Unh... what?" She looked around the room, eyes beginning to focus. A small door opened across from her room, and she saw an orange earth pony laying in bed, still unconscious. That orange pony.... was Apple Jack.

Apple Jack opened her eyes slowly, her body still weak from her extreme temperature and throbbing head.

"Urgh..." She moaned, her eyes falling on a doctor wheeling a cart into her room. She didn't move, and she controlled her outbursts the best she could. She breathed really quietly, and the doctor began to run some tests. The moment he finished, he inserted a needle into Apple Jack's IV, and she almost immediately fell asleep.

Rainbow Dash tried to move to get up, but couldn't. A nearby nurse noticed her struggling, frowning. She immediately came over and said, "You need your rest, Rainbow Dash. She then inserted some medicine into Rainbow Dash's IV. Rainbow Dash suddenly couldn't stay awake, and with one final struggle and a sigh, she fell into a very deep sleep. Rainbow Dash looked around. She was in front of a cemetery. A... quiet, empty cemetery. What's going on? She thought. Where is everypony? Suddenly, she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

"AAAAH!" She screamed, flying into the air and grabbing onto a cloud. Apple Jack laughed, looking up at Rainbow.

"Wow, you're more nervous than a worm in an apple on cider makin' day." Eyeing her again, she then said, "You all right, sugar cube?" She watched Rainbow for a couple of seconds.

"Yeah... I'll be fine." Rainbow Dash flew down, landing next to Apple Jack with a relieved sigh. "Phew... I thought for a second you were someone else... or something else." She looked at Apple Jack curiously. "When did you get here, anyway?" Apple Jack sighed, looking at Rainbow again with a weird look.

"Well... when the doctor inserted some medicine into my hoof, I showed up here." She looked around, then her eyes landed on a tomb stone. Hmm... I wonder whose that could be... She began to slowly walk towards it. As soon as she was halfway to it, Rainbow Dash followed, constantly looking over her shoulder nervously.

Rainbow Dash gulped, then noticed the familiar words on the tomb stone. Wait a minute... I know who that is.... She dashed up to it, reading it quickly. It read: Here lay Sweet Apple and Washington, loving parents to Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Apple Jack. 1976 - 2009 The moment she finished reading it, she stopped Apple Jack.

Apple Jack looked at her curiously, then managed to shake her off.

"'Ah'm just wonderin' whose that is. Can I at least read it?"

Rainbow Dash sighed, then sat down in defeat.

"Fine, if that's what you really want." She sat there, watching Apple Jack.

Apple Jack sighed. What is with her today? Well, I guess it really shouldn't matter... She put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "You know what? It didn't really matter to me anyway. Let's go." She then walked past the tomb stone, not caring if Rainbow followed her or not.

After about a minute or so, Rainbow Dash followed her. Here we go...

Suddenly, something moved in the bushes in front of Apple Jack. She jumped a bit, then rolled her eyes. Ugh, who cares? It's probably just a little woodland critter anyway. She walked past the moving bushes, ignoring them almost completely.

The moment Rainbow Dash saw a chicken head pop out, she knew.

"RUN!" She shouted, dashing past Apple Jack at an unbelievable speed.

Apple Jack turned her head, then saw the chicken head sticking out of the bush. She laughed, then walked over to it.

"Aww, it's just a chicken, Rainbow. Completely harmless." Suddenly, the "chicken" popped out of the bush in front of her, it's green, scaly wings flapping as it rose into the air. "Uh oh," She said, her body immobilized in stone.

The moment Rainbow Dash saw her, she facehoofed herself. Ugh, does this pony EVER learn? By the time she got there, it was too late. Apple Jack was encased in stone. Rainbow Dash grabbed her stone friend, placed her on her back, and dashed off, stopping in an empty cave after she managed to shake off the cockatrice.