Nightmares | Appledash

Chapter Eight

A/N: I posted the first chapter of this story not long ago, but we've reached 1k reads already. I'm eternally grateful to you all. This story means a lot to me, and I'm happy to share it with the world. I want to quickly say that from this chapter on, things might get a little heavy. I did mention this story won't be too long; it's about time I start wrapping it up.

Thank you for reading so far!

—

A gloomy Monday in September is the day of the trial. Rainbow would've probably overslept and missed it, had Applejack not been the best girlfriend ever and woken her up.

They're enjoying a warm breakfast together in comfortable silence. Dash can't help but constantly glance up at AJ, her subconscious needing reassurance that she's still there. Applejack notices her anxious looks.

"You feelin' nervous?" she asks.

"Not really," Rainbow answers honestly. "Not about the trial, at least."

Applejack tilts her head in question. "What's gotten you all fidgety then?"

"I'm not fidgety," Dash declares. "I'm just... thinking too much, I guess."

"About the trial?" she asks, reaching for her glass of water to take a sip.

"About you," Rainbow corrects.

Applejack's glass stops mid-air as she pauses in her tracks to stare at Rainbow. Her face displays something that Dash would describe as a crossover between trouble and surprise. AJ carefully sets her water back in its initial spot, no longer feeling thirsty.

"What about me?" she asks.

Rainbow's gaze drops as she quietly answers, "I'm scared you'll leave me after this..." She pauses to let a deep sigh escape her lips. "That I'll come home and you won't be here anymore."

"Now what in tarnation makes you say that?" Applejack questions in confusion.

"I... I don't know," Rainbow admits defeatedly.

Applejack shakes her before smiling tiredly at the girl. "I'll still be here," she tells her.

"Do you pinkie promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," AJ chants with a chuckle. Rainbow can't help but snicker, too.

"Thanks, AJ. I feel better now," she says.

"That's good. Y'all were sweatin' up a storm over there."

"I was not," Rainbow defends, rolling her eyes.

"Right, 'course not," Applejack says with a warm laugh. She shoots a glance towards the clock hanging on the wall behind Dash. Her smile fades. "It's time," she says.

Rainbow turns to glance at the time and notices that it is, indeed, time. She inhales sharply before rising from her seat.

—

"You sure you know what to say?" Applejack asks Rainbow Dash while watching the girl slip her jacket on. It's gotten a lot colder the past few days; it's near impossible to leave the house without one.

"Yeah," Rainbow says simply.

"And you sure you ain't nervous?" Applejack questions as she hands her phone over. Rainbow shoves it into her pocket.

"Positive," she answers while closing her zipper to make sure the evidence is safe.

"It's alright if you are," Applejack tries.