Nightmares | Appledash

Chapter Four

A/N: I know I've been very confusing, but this story isn't going to be very long so you'll understand all of it soon enough. Thank you for the support so far!

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Applejack peers at Rainbow by the dinner table. She's picking at her food silently, eyes completely blank. She had barely said a word since coming home.

"Rainbow?" Applejack speaks softly.

The girl doesn't bother to glance up as she replies, "Uh-huh?"

"Talk to me," the blonde says. Rainbow hears the concern in her voice and sighs.

"What exactly do you want me to say?" she mutters, and Applejack frowns at her. She seems unsure of what to answer.

"Well, anythin' for starters," she says eventually. "Y'all been so quiet since comin' home I could've mistaken you for Fluttershy."

Dash finally looks up to meet her gaze. She narrows her eyes, supposedly studying the blonde, but still doesn't speak.

"Rainbow Dash," Applejack says firmly, voice now rather irritated than worried. She puts her fork down and crosses her arms. "What the hay's gotten into ya?"

"Did you know?" Rainbow asks with a voice so low, Applejack has to strain her ears to make out the question. She quirks an eyebrow at her.

"Know what?"

"Who it was," Dash answers while staring daggers into her.

"What?" Applejack blinks at her. "Rainbow, what on earth are yall mutterin' bout?"

"You knew who did it, didn't you?!" Rainbow snaps suddenly, slamming her hands on the table as she shoots up from her seat.

The blonde flinches. She examines Rainbow's expression, finally realizing what the girl is talking about. She opens her mouth to speak, but she has no idea what to say and it slowly falls shut again.

"AJ, be honest with me," Rainbow pleads. "Did you know?"

She watches as the girl awkwardly shuffles in her seat before sighing deeply. Her gaze falls and her shoulders slump. She nods, and Rainbow gapes at her in disbelief. Minutes pass and Applejack keeps her face down.

It's not until she hears the other shift on her spot that she allows herself to look up again. Rainbow Dash sits back down with an unreadable expression on her face. She stares straight into AJ's green eyes as she speaks.

"He's guilty, isn't he?"

Applejack goes rigid. She's never heard Rainbow so serious before. Sure, they'd fought a lot, but it's never been like this. If she didn't know better, she'd think Dash was trying to scare her out of the house with that glare. Her eyes absently travel across the room and stop to rest on a plant in the corner of it. She gulps before nodding, and Rainbow swears she could hear her heart breaking in two.

"...Why didn't you tell me?" she asks, and Applejack hears the crack in her voice by the end of the question.

"I... I couldn't," she admits. "I didn't want you doin' something you'll regret."

Rainbow can't believe the girl's words. "Are you serious? You know how much this means to me!"

"Listen, Rainbow. If I knew he was planning somethin' like this, I would've told ya. But I honestly had no clue, and there was no use tellin' when the damage had been done. It would drive ya mad," Applejack explains, eyebrows hanging low.

"Drive me mad?" Rainbow repeats. "Damn right, it would drive me mad! And what do you mean 'if you knew he was planning something like this'? For how long before this have you been talking to that psychopath?!"