Fear (n); a feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something or the safety of someone.
The day was already hot, yet the sky was still covered in cloud. Rainbow Dash had her work cut out for her today. She'd spent a lot of the day already bucking clouds in the west, and she had to move a cold weather front to the east before the end of her shift. Alongside her were Cloudchaser, who was busy chasing clouds, and Flitter, who was busy lining up the weather front ready for the move.
Dash's cloud-busting team made light work of the final few clouds which were lingering in the west and everything was in place to move the cold front. Her team lined up, and with collective flaps of their powerful wings, the cold front began moving east. Thunderlane, who had started a light breeze in the south, rejoined the rest of the team, giving the clouds a firm kick which started the rain pouring out, teaming down to reinvigorate the soil and plants.
With the hard work finally over, Dash congratulated the others on a job well done before dismissing them and shooting off back to her home in Cloudsdale. Rainbow was exhausted. The day had been tougher than most; creating cold fronts were always difficult. She figured she'd have a bit of a power nap before heading down to AJ's farm to chug down some Sweet Apple Cider.
The blue pegasus glided gently back to Cloudsdale where she was greeted by the familiar sight of gigantic, soft, brilliant white sheets of fluff, a breath-taking spectrum of rainbow falling between the gaps in the clouds, and the ever-present Rainbow Factory looming far above the great city.
Dashie drifted into her humble abode, rolled right into bed and fell into the land of nod without a moment's notice.
The rainbow-maned mare woke up a short time later with a gleam in her eye and a taste for cider in her mouth. She sprung out of bed, quickly admired herself in the mirror, and flew off down to Sweet Apple Acres.
However, when she got there, the whole farm was unusually quiet. There was generally much more activity down there at this time of day. Big Mac would be working the fields, AppleJack would be bucking some apple trees, even Granny Smith was absent from her rocking chair on the front porch.
Confused, RD flew a few quick laps around the farm in hopes of finding somepony, and she thought her search was in vain until she saw the door of AJ's cider cellar had been left open. She swooped down, slamming the brakes on just before entry, gliding gently, but swiftly, down the flight of stairs.
The scene which was presented to her left her horrified. Her heart slammed into her throat, her breath quickened and her muscles tightened. Her brain was working overtime to comprehend the sight laid out in front of her eyes. Her mind told her to flee, but her body was frozen in shock. She refused to believe it. It was gone. The whole lot was gone. Not a single drop of cider was to be found in the cider cellar!
Rainbow held her head in her hands, hoping that the sight would disappear, but when she lifted her head once more, the scene hadn't changed. There was no cider. Not a keg, not a barrel, not a bottle nor a jug. RD sealed her eyes shut in sheer horror and made for the stairs which lead back out, but she was stopped when she ran into something. When she opened her eyes, she was on her bedroom floor.
'Damn it', she thought. She was sleeping the whole time! Such a horrific nightmare had left her in a cold sweat, panting. She gathered her thoughts, got her bearings and peered out her window. It was getting dark; she'd overslept!
The blue mare darted out of her house with a blinding flash of colour, aimed squarely at AJ's farm. The velocity at which she flew made it difficult for her to catch her breath. She arrived at the farm in 10 seconds flat and thundered straight to the cider cellar.
The door had been left open, just like in her nightmare! Dash stopped herself in mid air, her heart had started beating harder and her eyes began to dilate. She proceeded with utmost caution; she didn't want to have to suffer the same fright twice in the same day!
As she clopped down the stairs, her shadow of doubt had been lifted, revealing her worst nightmare. The cellar was empty, completely bereft of any cider! This cellar did, however, contain an AppleJack. Panicked by the sight, she turned and grabbed AJ by the collar of her neck.
"Where's the cider?" Dash bellowed.
"Oh, uh, hi Rainbow!" AppleJack replied, startled. "The cider's been taken fr-"
"Taken?!" RD cried. "Where is it? Who took it? I need that cider, AJ! I demand to know where it is! Was it Pinkie Pie?! She's always taking all the cider! Was it Twilight? She says she doesn't drink it, but she carries a hip flask! Oh, she says it's for 'research', but what kind of res-"
AJ cupped her hand over Rainbow Dash's mouth, interrupting her. "If ya let me finish! Ah was gonna say, the cider's been taken from the cellar to th' barn 'cause somebody accidentally dropped one of the barrels in here. We moved 'em temporarily until we got the mess cleared up, an' now that th' cleanin's all done, we were just about to move 'em back down here. Fancy lendin' a hand?" AJ enquired. "I'll even let ya take one of the barrels. Harvest's been real kind, we've got plenty a'cider this year"
"Thank you, AJ. Thank you!" Rainbow Dash's tears had advanced into fully flowing water-works. "AppleJack, you are just the best friend ever!"
AJ smiled. "Ah know, RD... Ah know"