The next morning came before they know it. A bright light uncovered the shroud of darkness that had blanketed Equestria for the last twelve hours. The lush apple orchard outside of Ponyville glowed in a bright green, complementing the red barn that sat in the middle of the orchard. A warm orange glow peeked through the cracks in the window blinds, illuminating one of the small rooms. A small ray of light shot right in between the eyes of the now half-asleep earth pony.
“All the way in Canterlot and Celestia still has perfect aim..” Apple Bloom mumbled. She grabbed her pillow in rage and covered her face, failing to notice how her two guests were already awake.
“You said you wanted one last good day before we are going to leave right?” Sweetie Belle said with an annoyed tone.
“Yeah, but five more minutes…” Apple Bloom sleepily moaned.
Sweetie Belle lifted her hoof and placed it atop her face as she sighed. “I can’t believe you sometimes, Apple Bloom. I’m going to get packed back at my place. You want to meet at Ponyville square at, let’s say, 8?”
“Yeah, sounds good!” Scootaloo yelled in enthusiasm, grinning from cheek to cheek.
“Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked, hoping that the sleeping pony wasn’t truly asleep.
“Yeah, yeah. 8 o’ clock, sure.” Apple Bloom waved her hoof signaling the other two to leave her room so that she could get that last few minutes of sleep.
The two ponies quietly trotted outside of the room, closing the door slowly. With the click of the knob, the two descended downstairs towards the exit of the barn. During the trek downstairs, a wonderous aroma spread throughout the house, with the exception of Apple Bloom’s room for some reason. At the bottom of the stairs, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo peeked into the kitchen to see a large scarlet colt stirring up a delicious meal of what seemed to be sunflowers and fried hay strips.
“I didn’t know you could cook, Big Mac!” Scootaloo said with excitement.
“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh replied with his signature form of agreement.
“Well, Scootaloo and I were going to go pack up and leave, but honestly, I would feel really bad if you were cooking that for us..” Sweetie Belle said with some guilt.
“It’s fine. I think that your journey is a bit more important than breakfast, ain’t that right?” Big Mac said. It was strange to hear him say anything other than “eeyup” or “nope”, let alone full sentences, but despite that, the two ponies nodded their heads in agreement. Sweetie Belle started to turn around. She looked back at Big Mac and waved her hoof.
“Goodbye, Big Mac. I’ll see you at the farewell party!” Sweetie Belle said with optimism.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac replied, once again using his signature phrase.
The two ponies cracked open the large barn door and stepped outside. The orange glow of the sunrise beamed onto the unicorn’s eyes. Sweetie Belle squinted to look at the amazing work of Princess Celestia. Scootaloo, being a Pegasus, was immune to most weather effects, including the glare of the sun, even though it wasn’t technically a weather effect. The two looked at each other and nodded their heads as if they knew what the other was going to say.
“So 8 o’ clock then?” Sweetie Belle reminded Scootaloo.
“Yep, 8 o’clock!” Scootaloo replied with a large smile. Sweetie belle merely nodded at this and started galloping towards the road to Carousel Boutique as quickly as she could. Scootaloo spread her wings out and looked towards Rainbow Dash’s old house in the sky. She brought her wings down with thunderous speed as she started dashing towards the cloud shaped house in the sky.
[Carousel Boutique]
The purple door opened, letting a small beam of sunlight into the dimly lit room. The white unicorn peeked in to make sure that everything still stayed exactly where she had put them last, and in fact, everything was still intact. The light purple tiles didn’t have a single scratch on it and the royal purple curtains were still in a perfectly folded fashion. The many “works in progress” that Rarity had started still sat upon the same mannequins that they have been sitting on for the last 10 years. Most of the plain mannequins have been moved to the back and were replaced with music sheets and equipment. A microphone stood at the center of the room along with a giant pile of sheet music and unfinished songs, just the same way that Sweetie Belle had placed them. The organized chaos was complemented by a large amount of music equipment on the right side of the former store, all hooked up to a white laptop, one made by a distant member of the Apple family to be exact. Speakers and a keyboard cluttered the bright pink desk where the laptop was sitting on, and a pile of black wires wrapped around the stool and would trap anyone who did not know how to effectively navigate through that maze of equipment.
Near the windows stood Sweetie Belle’s lesser skill, the ability to be at least somewhat like her sister and have some sort of fashion sense. Four mannequins stood with one on each window. The one on the very left had a simple black dress, perfect for just about anything really. The next one to the right wore a bright pink hoodie with the letters “SB” printed in an elaborate bubble-cursive hybrid on it, obviously a product of Sweetie Belle being a musical star in Ponyville after all. The next one had on a dark purple cloak. It was fairly simple compared to the others, being just a cloak and nothing else. No designs, no gems, no embroidery, nothing at all. Despite being very bland, the cloak was known to be Sweetie Belle’s favorite form of clothing and she would wear it whenever she wanted to go out to the market or someplace that wasn’t a concert or some sort. The fourth mannequin was completely naked. Nothing was on it and no designs were drawn on its body. Sweetie Belle had no designs for this last one and she didn’t really want a fourth design in the first place. The unicorn slowly walked up to the cloak, despite how badly it looked compared to the other two designs.
“For an adventure, I think this one would be the best. Even though it is kinda dark… Maybe we’ll explore caves and this cloak will make it harder for anypony else to see me!” Sweetie Belle said to herself. Her horn started glowing in an olive green as the cloak started getting engulfed by the same color aura. In the flash of an eye, the cloak exploded in a shockwave of magic and instantly appeared on Sweetie Belle’s body. Her face brightened with the fact that she could now wear this whenever she wanted and not only when she had to go undercover. She turned around and picked up her saddlebag from the center of the room. Inside the saddlebag stored the essentials, rationed food, water, apples, and emergency winter gear. At the bottom of the bag was a large red fire ruby in the shape of a heart. This ruby was Spike’s present to Rarity before he went on his first rampage, a day that Ponyville would never forget. This gem was one of Rarity’s most prized possessions and the only gem that Rarity would never ever use on anything. A tear fell out of Sweetie Belle’s eye as she remembered the events of that faithful night.
[Cloudsdale]
An orange blur shot out of the white fluffy clouds, not stopping for anything except the thought to be back at home after such a long and life changing day. A bright blue stretched across the sky, only obscured by the few clouds that manage to float away from the reach of the squad of pegasi overlooking that area. The constant sound of flapping wings muffled the chatter of the many ponies flying around the center square of Cloudsdale. Every once in a while, a puff would pop out of a cloud, revealing a Pegasus who had just returned home after a good day’s work down on ground level. A large fountain sat in the center of Cloudsdale, shooting a stream of Cloudsdale’s famous Rainbow water.
The houses around Cloudsdale were all unique, but composed of the same material, condensed clouds. A sea of cloud houses covered almost every square inch of Cloudsdale. Rounded cubes, spheres, even fairly abstract houses were scattered around, each personalized to the owner’s liking. Rainbow waterfalls spewed out of some houses, giving a slight tint of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple onto the plain white clouds. Despite the giant flurry of wonderful cloud houses covering most of Cloudsdale, a larger house stood in the background. Scootaloo looked straight to that house and instantly launched herself towards it. The closer she got, the more she could see. A pathway of cirrus clouds led from the metropolis of Cloudsdale to this house in the outskirs. Large arcs decorated the doors and windows, giving it a look that could only be described as “cooler” than the other houses. Two rainbow waterfalls streamed down the far left and right sides of the house, topped off by a larger rainbow shot off the dome atop the third floor. With every floor, there were columns that seemed like they were from ancient Equestria.
With this many rainbows, Scootaloo instantly knew whose house this was. She instantly shot herself towards the wooden door, the only flaw with an almost perfect cloud house. A loud creak echoed across the empty house as Scootaloo took her first step in the dark room. Despite the only light source being a beam of light emanating from the hole in the dome, the atrium of the house was fairly bright. A rainbow carpet led from the door to the center of the large atrium. A spiral staircase stood where the carpet had ended, leading up to the bedroom. The walls were plain clouds with not even a slight tint on them. Two more rainbow waterfalls were flowing down the fluffy cloud walls down to a pool of swirling colors. Scootaloo flew up the stairs and onto the second floor, which was also just as majestic. The entire floor was basically a bedroom, with a small bed in the back with a cloud-like design covered with sheets the color of the sky. Cloud furniture lay scattered around the room without any real pattern. Unlike the barren walls of the first floor, the second floor was almost entirely covered in posters. One had Daring Do swinging across a river filled with crocodiles using only her trusty whip. Another showed a minimalistic portrait of the original Wonderbolts from ten years ago. The biggest poster happened to be of the owner of the house itself wearing her very own Wonderbolts costume. With a rainbow mane and tail, everypony in Equestria was able to immediately notice the second in command of the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash.
A tear started rolling down Scootaloo’s neck as she looked at the poster of her adopted sister. She turned around, going back to what she was originally here for. She caught a glimpse of it in her eye and flew straight towards the nightstand without hesitation of causing any damage. On top was Rainbow Dash’s most prized possession, her “Lead Pony” badge from the Wonderbolts Academy. Alongside it was a golden chain, making this badge of merit into more of a necklace. Despite Rainbow Dash disliking the majority of jewelry, she thought of this as an exception as it was pretty cool, according to her standards anyways. Scootaloo grabbed the necklace and wrapped it around her neck, hooking the chain at the end. Just as she had expected, it was a perfect fit, seeing how Scootaloo would be the same size as Rainbow Dash now.
The orange Pegasus walked to the window and looked into the bright blue sky. “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. I’ll stop those three ponies. They don’t call me “Little Dashie” for nothing right?” Scootaloo started to tear up, remembering her older sister and the events of that rainy day in Ponyville. “I miss you, sister. I’ll do anything to get you back.” Scootaloo jumped out the window with great velocity. As soon as she got to the apex of her jump, she pointed downwards and nosedived back to the ground, tears flying out of her eyes.
[Sweet Apple Acres]
The further the sun came up, the brighter the room became and the agitated Apple Bloom became. She covered her face with the blanket, only relieving the bright fury of the morning sun by just a bit. In the background, the loud crow a rooster echoed throughout the field. Not looking even close to fatigued at all, Apple Bloom exploded into action.
“Rise and Shine, Ponyville!” The yellow pony yelled at the top of her lungs. She instantly dashed into her bathroom and started getting prepared for the day ahead of her. Just as fast as she cleaned up, Apple Bloom ran down the stairs without a care in the world, smelling the delicious sunflowers and hay strips that lay on the breakfast table. Unlike most mornings, a certain red stallion was not sitting on the table, ready to talk to Apple Bloom before she would start her morning farm duties. Instead, there lay a note, written in horrendous yet legible mouthwriting. The many scratches and lines that were plotted around the paper made it fairly hard to decipher, but the yellow filly could distinguish every letter that was written on the piece of paper.
Good morning Apple Bloom,
Since you’re going to be out enjoying yourself for today, I have decided to take on the farmwork myself. Don’t worry about me. Even though I may be rusty, it’ll take more than a few apple trees to take me down. Breakfast is on the table, and if you need to talk to me about anything, I’ll be starting in the northern apple orchard.
Love you, sis.
Big Mcintosh
Apple Bloom sat down on the chair, staring at the delicious breakfast that Big Mac had made for her. The delectable hay strips let out an amazingly savory aroma into the air and even the sight of them made her mouth water, but despite this, Apple Bloom could not help but think about the pony who would help Big Mac every morning. The thought of Applejack and the events of that eventful night could not leave her mind, no matter how much she tried to forget about it. The cracking sound of the thunder and the screams of all the residents of Ponyville would still haunt her every once in a while. Strangely, it was caused by something as simple as breakfast. Not thinking too much about it, Apple Bloom wiped the tears off her face and stuffed a hay strip into her mouth. It was seasoned to perfection and made exactly the way that Apple Bloom loved it, with a pinch of brown sugar to give the usually salty hay strips a slight sweet zing to it. The sunflowers were picked straight from the garden, planted just the right way in order to give it enough taste to be eaten alone, yet just bland enough to help compliment the taste of the hay strips.
After finishing the dish, she jumped out of the chair and started treading back towards the stairs. In the corner of her eye, she saw a bright orange book on the countertop. She recognized it immediately. Being one of the few books within the Apple barn, she instantly knew that the orange book was the family cookbook. Apple Bloom was never a really good cook, depending more on others to cook for her, so she never had a reason to look in the cookbook, let alone read it thoroughly. She walked to the book and opened it up, not knowing what to expect. Every page was crusty and old, being the cookbook that was supposed to be passed on from generation to generation. On top of each page was the name of the dish followed by the creator of the dish. Every page was handwritten and had many different kinds of dishes that the family would eat every once in a while, like the famous Apple family Apple Fritters or Granny Smith’s Zap Apple Jam. Recipes were scattered throughout the book, spanning dozens of pages, but there was an end to all of it. Halfway through the book, a blank page stood staring at Apple Bloom. Unlike the rest of the book, the later pages were new and smooth, yet still blank. Nothing was on it and looking through the usual Apple Family meals, there was no intention to continue the book for now. Apple Bloom decided to flip back to the most recent recipe, just to see the last addition to the Apple Family tradition. The yellow filly widened her eyes at the sight of the last written page. The writing on it was a style that she had known all too well. Unlike the majority of the family, this recipe was written very neatly. Every letter was legible and every letter had a shape that Apple Bloom had known for all her life. “Hay strips and freshly bloomed sunflowers” was written on the top, the exact breakfast that she had eaten just a few minutes ago. The recipe had everything to make this simple breakfast into an extraordinary meal. Fresh sunflowers picked at 7:00 in the morning and hay strips grilled for exactly 5 minutes in order to keep its taste. The recipe book said it all, but what surprised Apple Bloom wasn’t the fact that Big Mac had used the newest addition to the recipe book, but the name at the message at the bottom of the book.
“This is an Apple family regular that I started myself. The great balance of the hay strips and sunflowers make it nearly the perfect breakfast for any occasion. It’s really simple compared to the other Apple family recipes, yet still just as good. The best way to serve this is to your little sister just before she is going on a trip just to let her remember that you’ll always be back at home waiting for her. Apple Bloom, if you’re reading this, I’ll be here waiting for you, have a great day! –Applejack”
A single tear fell off Apple Bloom’s face. The trickling drop of water splattered on the floor, breaking the silence with a quiet pat. She gently wiped her face with her right hoof, alleviating her of the pain that she had kept locked away all these years. Her eyes scrunched up from the earlier sad and mourning look. She knew what she had to do. The yellow filly turned her head towards the kitchen window, staring into the sky as if Applejack was there herself.
“Don’t worry sis, I’m gonna bring back those elements if that’s the last thing I do. I wasn’t able to protect you earlier, but at least I can protect the world.” Apple Bloom reached over to a coatstand and grabbed the last piece of clothing sitting on it, a yellow scarf. “Do you remember this scarf, big sis? You gave it to me when I was a little filly. You told me that if I was ever scared and you weren’t there with me, just wear this scarf and you would be by my side, not physically, but in spirit. I hope you’ll watch over me throughout my journey, and don’t worry, I’ll have a wonderful day.” Apple Bloom twirled the scarf around her neck as if it were a lasso, fitting snugly as if she had practiced that move many times. She closed her eyes and tilted her head downward. “I miss you, Applejack.” Apple Bloom mumbled. She slowly walked towards the door, knowing that this is going to be the last time that she would see her house until the quest was fulfilled. Trying not to think about it too much, she opened the knob and ran out the door, leaving it open.
[Ponyville Square]
A loud ring echoed throughout the entirety of Ponyville, emanating from the giant clock that looked over the small town. The marketplace surrounding the square was just as bustling as ever, with everypony rummaging around to buy their respective groceries on their day off. From the west, a white unicorn bumped through the crowd, hoping to get to the center in time to meet her two other friends. She knew that she was already fairly late and she could not waste another second leaving the other two to worry about her whereabouts. At the same time, an orange blur shot down from the sky, causing many ponies to look up and see the spectacle that came down from Cloudsdale. Some were whispering about how they remembered when Rainbow Dash would do the same thing while others were whooping and cheering for her speedy performance as she descended from the skies.
“Scootaloo!” The white unicorn yelled. Sweetie Belle ran over towards the calculated impact site of the orange blur, knowing that this was her old Pegasus friend just from the color of the moving smudge in the sky. The orange pegasus steered as hard as she could towards Sweetie Belle, hoping to make a perfect landing in front of one of her biggest supporters. Just as she approached the ground, she extended all four of her feet and stopped flapping her wings. The orange pegasus slid a few feet after impact, but still ended up right in front of Sweetie Belle.
“Still not a perfect landing...” Scootaloo sighed with frustration.
“Well at least you landed, you dodo!” Sweetie Belle joked. The two giggled for a full 10 seconds before realizing that their third member was still not here.
“Where’s Apple Bloom? And here I thought I was late…” Sweetie Belle said, annoyed at the fact that Apple Bloom is once again late. Just as she finished that statement, Scootaloo noticed a struggling grunt over the engaging conversations that surrounded the square. The two looked behind them just to notice Apple Bloom barely squeezing through the dense crowd with difficulty.
“Hey, girls…” Apple Bloom gasped as she finally made it through the giant crowd surrounding the market. Just as Apple Bloom opened her mouth, a shriek pierced the peaceful landscape.