Apple In The Sky

by XionFate

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Somepony, anypony, I need help now!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she burst through the door of the hospital.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” a nurse pony asked Rainbow Dash as she trotted up.

“No, I’m fine. It’s my friend, she ran into a tree as we tumbled through the apple orchard and when I found her she was like this.” Rainbow said worriedly as she set Applejack down in front of her.

“Oh my! I need a room set up quick! We have an unconscious pony that’s not breathing very well!” the nurse pony said as she picked Applejack up off the floor. She wanted to ask Rainbow Dash for the full story, but decided that the patient was more important at the time. “Now miss, thank you for bringing her here as quickly as you did. It will take some time to get her vitals straightened out and have her breathing right again. Come back in about two hours if you wish to see her.” With that final remark, the nurse pony turned around and galloped down the hallway, Applejack riding peacefully on her back.

Rainbow Dash was lost, she had no real idea where to begin. She could always tell her friends what had happened, but it probably would not be a good idea to have so many ponies bothering Applejack so quickly. She also did not want her friends to worry, one worried pony was enough for the time being. She could tell the Apple family the situation, they were Applejack’s family after all. The problem was they might not take too kindly to hearing news like that from Rainbow Dash.

In the end Rainbow Dash remembered that Applejack’s hat had fallen off in the orchard, and she resolved to go back and get it. She ran out of the door to the hospital and looked up to the sky. After a bit of math she had figured out that it would take roughly an hour and a half to get to the orchard and back on foot. The muscles in her wings were still locked up and she elected to just hoof it.

As Rainbow Dash began to run she realized just how tired she really was. The failed attempt at a sonic rainboom had taken nearly all of her energy, and the run to get Applejack to the hospital really did not help. She grimaced, realizing that she still had to run to the orchard and back. Normally Rainbow Dash would have given up, went and taken a nap or something like that, but there was something different about this situation. She was not really sure why, or how it had happened, but in the past few hours Applejack had become the only thing that mattered to Rainbow Dash.

Ever since the running of the leaves Rainbow Dash had been having strange feelings towards Applejack. They had not been very pronounced, and with ease Rainbow Dash could push them out of her head, but in the past few months she had found it harder and harder to do so. Every time the duo were together, Rainbow Dash felt her heart race. Her breathing became quick and random, and she found it hard to concentrate on things. Applejack was cute, and Rainbow Dash had even said it to her a time or two. Of course at the time there was no real meaning in the words, but now the simple thought of Rainbow Dash saying it made her stomach flip.

“Maybe there’s something more to my feelings for Applejack than I thought. I’ll have to ask Twilight later if she can explain it to me, but right now I’ve got to get Applejack’s hat for her.” Rainbow said aloud as she raced through Ponyville. “The only thing is, if I like her so much then why do I always compete at my highest level against her?” Rainbow Dash shrugged off the thought and continued her race for the orchard.

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Applejack was silent, stone-faced, and unmoving as the dark blue colt stood over her, his hoof dangerously close to crushing her neck.

“Well, I’m impressed, it seems you do listen after all.” the colt said as he brought his hoof up from Applejack’s neck and hopped back down onto the floor.

“Well thank ya kindly sir, but you haven’t really given’ me much of a choice.” Applejack said, hoping not to anger her captor any further than she already had.

“Yes, I do suppose you have a point. If I let you go though, you’ll surely tell somepony what I’ve done.” the dark blue colt said as a fiendish smile found its way to his lips. “And for my safety and well-being I can’t have you run and tell other ponies.”

Applejack wanted to argue with him, tell him he was wrong in hopes to get out of this horrible situation. The problem was Applejack was the spirit of honesty, and when her family came home and asked what had happened she would have to tell them. Things had only grown worse for Applejack, her only hope now was that it was all a nightmare that she would wake up from soon.

“Then what the hay’s the point of keeping me alive anyway!?” Applejack asked forcefully as she tried to move her body.

“Well my dear, to put it in as simple of terms as possible, I want to have a bit of fun with you.” the colt said maniacally as he jumped back on top of Applejack and placed his hoof on her throat again. “I think I’ll make you my pet, a fun little toy to toss around as I please.” He pushed against Applejack’s throat, her breathing becoming audibly more difficult as he did so.

A look of terror exploded across Applejack’s face as the words left his lips. She knew there was no hope of escape now, the only thing keeping her going was her family. Her thoughts raced, desperately trying to find a way out of her pitiful fate. Suddenly a dark thought entered her mind, and she clung to it with everything she had. If she could not escape her fate, then she would just change it. She thought back to what the dark colt had said, the words he uttered so frenziedly before. He had said he would kill her if he had to, and she intended to make him do just that. A life as a play toy was no life for a farmpony, and Applejack had no desire to be one. She would fight to the last, forcing him to kill her. She closed her eyes and said a quiet goodbye to her family, then with fire in her heart she twisted her body and prepared for the wildest rodeo she had ever had the pleasure to compete in.

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Rainbow had spent the last ten minutes looking for Applejack’s hat. she found it right where it had fallen off of Applejack’s head, under the same tree that she had found Applejack under. She picked the hat up off of the ground, looking at it intently as she turned it over a few times in her hoof. It was a beautiful hat, and Rainbow Dash had wanted to wear it for quite sometime. Now that she had the chance to wear it, she could not bring herself to put it on. It was not her hat after all, it was Applejack’s, and Rainbow Dash did not deserve to wear it right now.

Rainbow Dash began to walk towards the exit to Sweet Apple Acres. She had recovered the hat, now it was time to return it to its rightful owner. She took a few steps forward and then stopped, collapsing to a kneel. A sharp, searing pain blazed through her head. She buried her head in her hooves, hoping that she could make the pain stop. Suddenly pictures and images began to form in her head, and she knew that the pain was far from over.

The first of the images was Applejack being knocked unconscious by a dark blue hoof. The next image was Applejack, tied to her sisters bed, the same dark blue hoof pressed against her throat. The final image in the barrage was a single, solitary tear rolling down Applejack’s face as she prepared to meet her untimely demise. The images played in Rainbow’s mind, bouncing like pin balls from one side to the other.

After several minutes of the hell in her head Rainbow Dash forced herself to stand up. On her face was an unmoving, unwavering grimace and confusion had set itself in her eyes. She tried, desperately to make sense of what had just happened but was met only by failure. The images of Applejack’s final moments flashed into her mind once again, her world spinning and shaking in front of her as she was assaulted with these reproductions of something grim.

Why was she having these visions? Was she seeing the future? No, the ability to see the future was reserved for very special unicorns like Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash mulled over it more, hoping that something would eventually click. All of a sudden her thoughts turned to Applejack in the hospital. Rainbow let her mind wander through this little thought, hoping that she would be able to piece together an answer from it. Applejack was unconscious, There was no way that this could all be happening right now.

"Come on Rainbow, damn it, think!" She shouted as she stamped her hoof against the ground. There had to be an answer for why she was seeing these images, and she would not rest until she found it. There was the possibility that Applejack was dreaming, having a nightmare during her absence from the conscious world. It would make sense, and right now it was the best answer she could come up with.

Rainbow's mind now turned to the images themselves, a new question rising to fill the place of the old one. How was it possible that Rainbow Dash could see Applejack’s dreams? if in fact that is what they were. Was it the elements of harmony? That would make sense, but that would fail to explain why it had just started now.

“Maybe there’s more to my feelings for Applejack than I thought.” the thought reverberated through the deepest levels of Rainbow’s mind. It still was not coming together, and it just frustrated her even more. Applejack was important, she mattered in a way that no other pony had to Rainbow Dash. There was no fighting her feelings for Applejack, she knew that for a fact, she had been thinking about them for a good part of the day and was secure in them. She cared about Applejack deeply, and wanted nothing more than to be there with her.

Rainbow Dash was in tears now, the solitude of the apple orchard allowing her to weep freely. The pony she cared the most for was in the hospital, and she was not there to be with her. Rainbow Dash forced her wings open, yelping in pain as the muscles bent against their will. As Rainbow’s wings reached full length she stopped for a moment to let the pain subside. Her heart was racing, and her breathing was not very far behind. She took a second to catch a breath and then jumped into the air. In ten seconds flat Rainbow Dash was gone.

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Rainbow Dash arrived back at the hospital in record time, her speed pulling young leaves from their homely branches. She landed forcefully in front of the hospital entrance and raced inside, unafraid of what anypony else thought of her. She galloped through the hallways in a mad dash, taking turns with frightening accuracy. She was running to Applejack, intuition and instinct telling her exactly where to go.

When Rainbow Dash had reached Applejack’s room she stopped to regain herself. She opened the door slowly, hoping that the chaos she had caused outside had not spilled inside. As she entered she was greeted with the sight of Applejack sleeping peacefully in the bed, her friends surrounding her on every side.

“Oh Rainbow Dash, thank Celestia you’re here!” Twilight quietly exclaimed as she pulled Rainbow Dash into a tight hug.

“Yeah, I’m the one that brought her here.” Rainbow said quietly, “I’m actually the reason why she’s here in the first place.”

“Oh now that is simply preposterous. How could you possibly be the reason that dear old Applejack is in the hospital?” Rarity asked Rainbow Dash in her artificial accent.

Rainbow Dash spent the next few minutes explaining what had happened just a few short hours before. She explained the attempted rainboom, and the crash landing, and how she found Applejack when the calamity subsided. The only thing that Rainbow Dash left out was the part where she had seen Applejack’s dreams, but that was not important right now.

“Hmmmm... well, accidents happen. Don’t blame yourself for what happened, you didn’t know that she would be in the orchard.” Twilight said to Rainbow Dash as she placed a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her.
“Thanks Twilight, that helps.” Rainbow Dash said as she forced a smile to her lips.

“Hey look everypony, Applejack is waking up!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced up and down in place.

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Applejack awoke slowly and groggily, the light searing her retinas as she did so. She slowly turned her head from side to side, loosening the stiff muscles in her neck and taking in the sight of her friends. It was always a wonderful experience to wake up to the sight of friends all around, and Applejack drank it in like the finest cider.

"Ah just had the worst dream ever." Applejack said as she cleared the sleep from her eyes.

“Applejack, you’re awake!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed with a sigh of relief, “are you alright?”

“Huh? oh, yeah, I’m fine sugarcube. Thanks for askin’, it means a lot.” Applejack said as a smile warmed her face.

“Oh Applejack, we were all so worried about you.” Fluttershy whispered shyly, hiding her face as the attention of everypony in the room shifted to her.

“Yes dear, we did not know what had happened to you until your good friend Rainbow Dash told us.” Rarity said as she smiled at the blue Pegasus pony beside her.

The smile that had warmed Applejack’s face disappeared, leaving behind a stern, unmoving scowl. After the nightmare she had just been forced to suffer through, the last pony she wanted to see was Rainbow Dash. Just the thought of the blue Pegasus pony standing there with her twisted, malicious smile made Applejack’s stomach turn.

“Um Rarity, did ya just say Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked Rarity, venom layered in every syllable.

“Why yes dear. See? She’s right here.” Rarity replied as she pushed Rainbow Dash into the spotlight.

There, standing right at the foot of Applejack’s bed, was the atrocity that had given her the worst scare of her life. Rage filled her, her mind racing through the dream she hoped she never had to relive. Applejack swallowed, fighting back the explosion forming in her throat. When she finally suppressed it she let out a sigh of relief and looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes.

“Get out.” the words fell cold and harsh out of Applejack’s mouth and buried themselves deep into Rainbow’s heart.

“Now dear, this is not...” Rarity began, but was silenced by Twilight.

“Rarity, ah don’t think ah asked for y’all ta say anything.” Applejack said with a stern voice, “And as for you Rainbow Dash, y’all just need ta get out. Ah don’t want ya in this room right now.”

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The words were like knives, cutting Rainbow’s heart into thin, string-like pieces. She had expected Applejack to be upset, but she did not expect the words to hurt as bad as they did. Rainbow Dash knew that she wanted to be here, helping Applejack recover. This just was not fair! She had seen the things Applejack had seen in her dreams, the horrible nightmare she had just endured.

“Fine, if that’s how you want to be Applejack then be that way. I sure hope that dark blue colt in your dream doesn’t turn out to be real though, for your sake.” Rainbow dash remarked coldly as she threw Applejack’s hat down on the ground and stormed out of the room.

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Applejack froze, fear plastered on her tired features. How did Rainbow Dash know about the dark blue colt from her dream? Was it a spell of Twilight’s? Maybe it had to do with the elements. Applejack turned the thought over a few times in her head, but was unable to piece it all together. It did not make any sense to her, and she hated it. If Rainbow Dash had seen this dream then what others had she seen? Applejack hoped Rainbow had not seen the other dreams that she had had.

Applejack envied Rainbow Dash. Her skill in the air was second to none and she was always so confident in herself. Applejack would never be able to admit it, but she liked Rainbow Dash around her and loved when she showed off. There was a sense of security with Rainbow Dash and Applejack liked her for it. It was more than a rivalry, or a friendship. To Applejack, Rainbow Dash was someone she could connect with, and she wanted to be more than “just friends” with Rainbow Dash. In Applejack’s head it seemed so wrong, but in her heart it felt so right.

“Well, is anypony up for a party?” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled out a balloon and blew it up.

“No thanks sugarcube, ah’m not quite in the mood.” Applejack said as she rolled over on her side.

“Well Applejack, what was that all about?” Twilight asked the stubborn farm pony.

“Ah don’t want ta talk about it. Now if you’ll excuse me I’d like ta get some shut eye.” Applejack said closing her eyes.

“But darling, you can’t just leave this growing drama on such a drastic cliffhanger.” Rarity said, Twilight nudging her as she finished her sentence.

“Look, I’ll tell y’all what ya want ta know tomorrow, now leave me alone before I have ta call in the nurse.” Applejack said with frustration building in her tone.

“Alright Applejack, We’ll see you tomorrow.” Twilight sighed, leading the rest of the ponies out of the room.

When Applejack was alone she took some time to think. She was apprehensive about sleeping, knowing that Rainbow Dash could see her dreams. She had to sleep though, and knew it was only a matter of time before she was out. Her thoughts were focused on only one thing right now, and it helped her to stay awake. She wanted Rainbow Dash, there was no more fighting that fact. The only question was how could she prove to Rainbow Dash that she was worth it? As her body gave way to exhaustion a thought crept into her head, and she fell asleep with a smile. She had a plan for the future, and there was no way she was going to stop trying.

Comments

[ArcaneTrex]

wow O_O
the dreams...
the dream seeing
oh well i hope there'll be an explanation later :3

[RainbowSoul]

Looks good, gonna track this and give it a read later

[my little broney (MLB)]

cool yet oh so creepy i love it

[Appleloosa2011]

Epic!

5 stars!