The AppleDash Project

by bookplayer

Gone (The Last Roundup)

(Authors note: This is the sad one.)

Applejack lay awake in the hotel bed in Canterlot. She couldn't sleep.

It wasn't Discord this time. It was visions of Apple Bloom's face when she found out there were no blue ribbons. The Mayor when she learned there would be no prize money. Town hall crumbling, and ponies whispering that it was her fault. All the ponies in town leaving the wreck Ponyville had become, taking their business with them. The farm going bankrupt, and her family being forced to move someplace else to make ends meet.

She could imagine ponies telling it in the future: ”Despite saving Equestria twice, Applejack could not prevent her town or farm from falling into disrepair. Abandoned by everypony, the ruins of Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville are now known as 'Applejack's Failure.'”

The voice of reason told her this was probably going a bit far. But the voice of reason was faint and far away after two days without sleep. She wanted Rainbow Dash here with her so badly right now, to feel her forelegs around her and hear her voice saying it would all be okay, but admitting her failure to Dash seemed worst of all.

She was supposed to go home tomorrow, but she couldn't. If she went home a failure, she was afraid that there wouldn't be a home to go to after a while. She had to get that money for Ponyville.

. . . And after that? What would she do the next time? The next time the town came to her, the next time she did her best and still failed them? What would happen when she failed her friends, when they were up against something awful and she just messed up? It had almost happened with Discord, what if next time they lost, because of Applejack?

She couldn't take that risk. She couldn't let the ponies in town, her family, her friends keep counting on a pony who was a failure. There was that job offer in Dodge Junction, a cherry orchard. She would take it, send home the money, and disappear. The ponies in town would find a better pony to count on, Big Mac would finally step up to run the farm, and her friends would find an element of honesty who wouldn't be turned around by something like Discord.

What was she going to tell her friends? None of them would understand this. They all had things they were dedicated to, but none of them felt this kind of responsibility. Twilight was probably closest, but Twilight always came through. Even against Discord. Twilight was the kind of pony who deserved to be a hero, she would never understand that Applejack's best just wasn't good enough.

Then there was Rainbow Dash. Should she tell Dash anything? More than anypony, Dash didn't accept failure. Even if she didn't say anything right away, Applejack couldn't stand the thought of Dash growing more and more disappointed in her, especially as Dash moved on to bigger and better things. The love and respect they had for each other was so perfect that Applejack nearly started to cry at the thought of that turning to pity and shame. She'd never be able to explain this to Dash, but she couldn't very well lie about it.

She made her decision. This was what was best for everypony. Leave, send back the money, and then they'd be rid of her for good. She'd send a quick note to let them know she hadn't forgotten about Town Hall.

***

The scenery flashed by the train from Ponyville to Canterlot. Rainbow Dash had her head out the window of the train, the wind in her mane calmed her down just enough to keep from losing her mind.

How could Applejack do this to her? How could she just leave her? Didn't she know how much Dash loved her, how much this would hurt? It was the cruelty of it that tore Dash apart. No break up, no long letter explaining what went wrong, that she found somepony else or hated Dash for something she did. That just wasn't AJ.

It wasn't AJ, and that idea turned her rage into terror. She couldn't sit here and blame her if Applejack was hurt, or in trouble. Imagining Applejack scared and alone felt like a nightmare she couldn't get out of her head. She started to make a list of everything she could think of that might have happened. Maybe she was in the hospital, or in trouble with the guards. Dash decided that captured by a monster was unlikely, monsters didn't usually let a pony send a telegram. Unless it was a really weird one. Like- Oh Celestia, no.

“Twilight!” She cried to the unicorn, who also had her head out the window. She motioned inside the train, and pulled her head in.

Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were all sitting there, trying to calm their nerves in various ways. Twilight pulled her head into the car, and Dash nearly pounced on her.

“Twilight, what if Discord got out again? What if he got AJ, and he's using her to lure us into a trap? We need to stop by the palace and get the elements!”

The four other ponies looked nearly as panicked as Dash for a moment, until Twilight collected herself and said firmly, “No. Just. . . no. We would have seen signs. Princess Celestia would have warned us.”

Everypony but Dash relaxed. Dash was willing to admit that made sense, but her mind kept tossing up worst case scenarios. “What if there's something out there worse than Discord? What if there's something that's even bigger or more powerful?”

Twilight sighed and put a forehoof on Dash's shoulder. “You need to stop it. I know that you're worried, but this isn't helping.”

“Well what would help?” Dash asked, flying away from Twilight's hoof and circling the train car nervously. “I'm just sitting here, and all I can think is that either something bad happened to her or that something bad didn't happen to her and she's just as happy to let me think that something bad happened!”

“Rainbow Dash, dear, we know how hard this is-”

“Good!” Dash cut Rarity off. “Then help me think of what could have happened.”

“Okay! Maybe she fell down a really big hole! Maybe there was a trap at the bottom and she's trapped at the bottom of a really big hole!” Pinkie suggested, eyes wide.

“Oh my gosh, you really think so!?” Dash asked, zooming over to Pinkie.

Pinkie shrugged, “No. But it could have happened.”

Dash's frayed nerves couldn't take it, and she screamed, “YOU'RE NOT HELPING!”

Pinkie looked surprised at the outburst. “Sorry?”

“Dash!” Twilight admonished, “Pinkie doesn't know any more than you do, than any of us do. We're doing what we can, we're going to find her.”

“But what if. . . what if. . .” Dash tried to counter, looking around frantically. Finally she sank back into a seat with her face in her hooves and whispered, “What if she just left me?”

Comments

[WereWolfGod]

wow! two post in one this is definitely a different side of Rainbow we havent seen thus far. going to the next chapter now to see how this climax

[The Dusty Mop]

“Dash!” Twilight admonished, “Pinkie doesn't know any more then you do, then any of us do. We're doing what we can, we're going to find her.”

Only thing I noticed when I wasn't actively looking for mistakes, they should be than. Awesome chapter though, getting a sense of that desperation from both of them. I love and hate it, lol.

[bookplayer]

759387
You win! You caught my number one worst writing habit. Normally I remember to do ctrl-f to fix it, but appearent I forgot on both chapters this time, so thank you sooo much for pointing that out.

[The Dusty Mop]

759480

Oh, you're most definitely welcome, I sort of didn't catch this comment before I commented on the other chapter, sorry. But again, awesome work, I patiently await the next.

[AlicornCousins]

actully there is someone more powerfull then discord and his name is tirek unless tirek gets defeated

[MLPlover22]

4537200
Grogar...