Nightmares | Appledash

Chapter Ten

Rainbow Dash climbs out of the car. Before closing the door, she leans in and attempts a friendly smile at Flash Sentry. She realizes it probably looks more like a sneer in her current state.

"Thanks for the ride," she says.

"Don't mention it," he says, nodding at her. Then he seems to think about something before asking, "Do you want me to wait for you?"

Rainbow Dash shakes her head. "I can get home by myself from here."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh," she answers. She closes the car door before he gets the chance to argue, but he rolls down the window to do it anyway.

"Here," he says, handing her a note. "It's my number, in case you change your mind."

Rainbow frowns at him but accepts the piece of parchment. She shoves it in her pocket while muttering, "I'm not into guys, just so you know."

Flash Sentry's eyes widen at her, mouth slightly ajar. "Wow there, slow down. I'm not hitting on you," he declares defensively. "I'm just doing my job."

Rainbow wants to argue that driving someone home outside of work hours and insisting they accept his number is not a task cops normally are required to do, but she's too tired to push the topic any further. Instead, she mumbles a low 'okay, thanks' and he waves at her before rolling the window back up and driving away.

She keeps watching the empty road for a long time before finally gathering the courage to walk towards the gate. She pushes it open with shivering hands. It's stopped raining by now, but the wind on her damp skin feels like torture.

Her chest is tight as she walks down the concrete path. Dash counts all the stones as she passes them. She's never had the courage to visit before, but she knows that Applejack is the 17th one. That's what Twilight had told her, so that she would be prepared when the right time comes. When today comes.

Eleven.

Twelve.

Thirteen.

Upon reaching the 14th one, she has to bite her tongue to distract from the pain in her heart, but the stark taste of iron doesn't serve her as well as she had hoped.

Fifteen.

Sixteen.

Rainbow Dash stops as she arrives at her destination. She takes a breath so deep it almost hurts, before turning to face the headstone. The name engraved on it is clear as day, and she finds herself staring at it with vacant eyes. She's uncertain of how to face it; uncertain of how she's expected to be coping with the heavy baggage of emotions, and she can't keep her thoughts gathered anymore. Her mind is filled with all the words she wanted to tell her – should've told her – when she still had the chance.

Applejack had always been around to guide her. She protected her, illuminated the gloom in her world, prevented the demons from getting too close. But now she wasn't here anymore, and Rainbow Dash hadn't even gotten the chance to say goodbye.

She kneels to get a proper look at all the flowers neatly arranged around the stone. She can immediately pinpoint which one is from who. Dash smiles slightly at the colorful balloons tied to one of the bouquets. As it turns out, Twilight hadn't needed to tell her where Applejack's headstone was; she couldn't have missed the spot even if she tried.

The smile on her face disappears as quickly as it had appeared. It's replaced with soft sniffles as Rainbow Dash wraps her arms around herself. She tries to pretend it's Applejack holding her close.

"When did you become everything to me, AJ?" she asks the headstone. "I don't get it, but all of a sudden, you were all I cared about..." she sobs.