//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 - The Second Front // Story: Ghosts from the Future // by Pix //------------------------------// Chapter 16 – The Second Front The buildings on either side of the street loomed menacingly over Rainbow Dash as she flew through the dark city. She was in pursuit of a shadowy figure that was galloping rapidly along the road in front of her, and she was having to fly at close to her top speed to keep up with him. She could not allow him to escape, but the longer he was able to keep ahead of her, the less confident she felt. And then a purple blur flew past Rainbow, also in pursuit of the figure. “Don’t worry Rainbow,” Twilight snarled through gritted teeth. “I’ll catch him.” Rainbow slowed down, stunned, as Twilight shot onwards at incredible speed. That wasn’t right, Twilight shouldn’t be faster than she was. Although… the young princess had been getting more comfortable with her flying recently, and perhaps it wasn’t too surprising that an alicorn could outfly her. Some sounds coming from below Rainbow distracted her, and she descended to find Applejack surrounded by a crowd of the shadowy figures. “Need help?” Rainbow asked, swooping down to join the orange mare. “Nah, Ah got this.” As she finished speaking, Applejack launched herself at the nearest shape, throwing it against the ground where it broke apart and vanished. She then spun on her forelegs and bucked two of the other figures at once, similarly destroying them. By the time Rainbow had landed, Applejack was alone. “Oh, er… Nice one AJ.” Applejack lifted her hat and swept her hoof across her forehead. “Ah know.” A sudden cry from behind Rainbow made her spin around. “HEEEELP!” In the distance she could see a small filly cowering against one of the ominous buildings, with another of the shadowy stallions stepping menacingly towards her. Rainbow didn’t waste a moment, kicking into the air and rocketing towards the pair. As she approached she realised the filly was Scootaloo, which encouraged her to push harder. Just as Rainbow was about to reach them however, a pale blue glow formed around the shadowy figure, and he was launched like a javelin at a wall nearby, breaking apart instantly. A similarly coloured aura then faded from around Rarity’s horn as she stepped into view. Rainbow slowed to a halt in the air. “Uh, wow Rarity. That was cool.” Rarity gave her a self-satisfied smile. “I can be ‘cool’ sometimes.” Rainbow returned her attention to Scootaloo, who was still looking petrified, not even attempting to fake bravado. The blue pegasus landed and stepped towards the young filly. “Hey Scoots. I’m here.” Scootaloo looked up and then slowly pulled herself to her hooves. She gave a small whimper and then sprinted towards Rainbow, but just as she was getting close and Rainbow was preparing to wrap her in a hug, Scootaloo veered past Rainbow and into the welcoming warmth of Fluttershy. “There there,” Fluttershy cooed, “I’ve got you. You’ll be safe now.” Rainbow opened and closed her mouth blankly a couple of times, before turning away. As she did so, she found herself face to face with Pinkie Pie, who gave her a curious look. “You okay Dashie?” “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Pinkie beamed. “I’m fine too! I’m so fine. Look at my wings, aren’t they amazing!” She extended them, revealing an impressive wingspan, and Rainbow’s eyes also jumped to the horn on her friend’s head, and then above that to a shiny golden tiara. “They… They look great Pinkie.” Rainbow glanced around and found she was now surrounded by all of her friends, who were staring at her almost venomously. “Err, girls?” A crackling sound echoed around the city, and the shapes of the mares surrounding her transformed into those of changelings, who jeered at her hungrily. Rainbow immediately shot up into the air to escape, but did not get further than a few feet before she felt a hoof collide with the back of her neck and she turned to see Flash Sentry shaking his head. “You’re just too easy to read, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow ignored him and attempted once again to flee from the changelings below. It took a couple of dodges to get away, as he somehow kept reappearing in front of her, but eventually Rainbow was alone, speeding along a narrow street with the oppressive buildings surrounding her. She did not glance back, instead focussing only on the city in front of her. And then, as she veered around a corner, there was another shape in front of her. Slamming against the ground, Rainbow looked over into the face of a threateningly tall black alicorn with bluish armour who was staring back with narrowed eyes. One more kick, and Rainbow threw herself towards the abomination with even greater speed, a foreleg outstretched. “Halt, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow resisted the urge to obey the nightmarish voice. She quickly reached the alicorn and attempted to connect a hoof with her face, but it passed directly through with no resistance. As she twisted to avoid a collision, the rest of Rainbow tumbled through the alicorn’s body, and then through the ground below her and into nothingness. There was a moment where she was flailing in the void, and then Rainbow lurched awake and found herself staring into a different pair of eyes. Before she was even aware of what she was doing, Rainbow reached out to try and swing at the smug face in front of her, but after a short struggle it became obvious that she was immobile. “Obviously I have you restrained. I have been preparing for this day for a while now.” Rainbow looked down. Her body was enveloped in a horrific black substance that was pinning her in place against a wall, several feet above the oily floor below. The wall itself was a similar colour, but seemed more solid and was pulsating somewhat, and as Rainbow examined the round room she was in she realised that the entire place was made of the same material, as if she were inside some strange organism. After breathing through her nose once she resolved to not do it again, the stench was so hideous. Lining the walls were others like her, cemented in place, although nopony else looked to be conscious at the moment. And in front of her, hovering in the air, was the changeling queen. “And so I have one of the element bearers. How perfect.” “Buzz off, bug,” Rainbow spat. She had a severe headache, and was not in the mood to listen to any gloating. “You will refer to me as Queen Chrysalis. I may treat you more nicely if you do.” Rainbow scowled. “What do you want with me?” “What do I want? Well, neutralising one of my greatest threats is a good start, and I know you insipid girls can’t use your fancy necklaces unless you’re all together.” “We don’t need our elements to stop you!” Chrysalis just laughed. “You won’t stop me. Not this time. Nopony will. I already know I will succeed.” “Succeed in what?” “Taking over Equestria, of course. I have learned a lot from my failure in Canterlot; I will admit that my plan then was flawed. It was too high profile, and I was too impatient. But now? You have already seen that I have taken Dodge Junction for my family, and your ‘great’ Celestia has not even noticed. Everypony is too busy concentrating on the drama in the north. It is only a matter of time before more cites follow this one. And I will have it all!” “That will never happen!” Chrysalis grinned a horrible grin. “We will see.” She then turned and started flitting upwards towards a hole in the ceiling through which distant starlight was visible. “Wait!” Rainbow shouted. “Let me go!” Cruel laughter echoed throughout the murky chamber once more. “Let you go? Because you asked so nicely? You should feel lucky I don’t intend to kill you.” Without warning Chrysalis zipped over to within a couple of inches of Rainbow Dash, holding a pointy leg against her neck. “Not that I wouldn’t love to kill you, because I would enjoy it; relish it; savour it. But you will apparently be more useful to me alive. “Your friends however? I have no use for them. And if I could eliminate one of them, your elements would be worthless.” “No! You can’t!” Rainbow started struggling harder against her bonds, but they did not loosen. “Of course I can. If my information is right, and everything would suggest that it is, then they are currently near the Crystal Empire, and will shortly be entirely preoccupied with a different battle. They will not see me coming.” She grinned eagerly. “I would usually send someone else to do a job like this, but my family are weak at the moment. They can barely change forms, let alone mimic anypony realistically. Now that we have ponies to feed off, they will start regaining their strength, but the time to strike is now! No, I will have to go myself.” Chrysalis did not look at all disappointed by this decision. “And I will enjoy it!” she finished, eyes gleaming. “No!” Chrysalis looked back at Rainbow with surprise, as if she had forgotten she had an audience. “Await my return eagerly,” she jeered,” for I will have wonderful news.” The angry yells that echoed throughout the chamber went unheard by the many unconscious ponies, and were keenly enjoyed by the departing queen. --- The worst part wasn’t the actual fighting. Applejack knew she was tough, especially after all the training she had done over the last few days, and she felt in peak physical condition even at this time of night. Every time a Shard would come into view she would duck and dive her way towards it, avoiding any of its attempts to strike, before giving it a good solid buck, which was usually sufficient in destroying it. The worst part wasn’t that the numbers of Shards did not seem to be dwindling. It was a little exasperating that their enemy seemed to be in infinite supply, but for the moment at least, Applejack was not tired. This fight on the eastern front was a little less structured than the battle on the field in the central front, in part because some of it was taking place closer to the mountains. Applejack, and the other ponies with her, seemed to have silently decided that their aim was to try and march into the mountains, destroying the Shards as they went. The worst part wasn’t the fear. Every now and then Applejack would come across a unicorn Shard, whose magical attacks would be a greater threat. She had even witnessed one of those attacks connecting with a crystal pony stallion she had been fighting with, who had keeled over immediately as a result. Applejack had not waited to see how he was, knowing that they had medical ponies for that purpose, and also concerned that she might lose her nerve. As long as she concentrated solely on the enemies in front of her, as if wiping them out was just another chore on the list, the awful reality of the situation would not sink in just yet. The worst part wasn’t even that Applejack recognised some of the creatures she was fighting, although that was disconcerting. It didn’t take long to realise that the Shards only came in about thirty or so different forms, despite there being thousands of them. Applejack presumed this meant they had only actually infected thirty ponies, which, while still a horrible number, was at least less than they had feared. At least three of the forms were from ponies Applejack had known however, from times when she and the girls had been to the Crystal Empire, such as the librarian and one of the spa ponies. She may not have known them well, but it certainly drove home the importance of their battle. No, Applejack reckoned the worst part was that she was definitely starting to enjoy this a little too much. She wasn’t one for bragging, but the other guardsponies that had made up this front were definitely not as capable or as confident as she was. As the battle had turned into more of a scrap, many of the ponies had formed smaller units in which to fight, but Applejack had quickly found herself alone. Not that she cared, because that just meant that she didn’t have anypony to watch out for. If everything nearby was a target, less thought could be put into strategy, and more into enjoying taking out the Shards. Because it was satisfying. Every time a Shard disintegrated, and the wisps of shadowy mist that escaped were blown apart in the cool air, it felt as if that were one more step on the road to a normal Equestria. One which was unthreatened by unknowable forces and one in which she could go back home to her family. Applejack shook her head when images of Sweet Apple Acres threatened to rise once more. She did not want to think about them now, in case it would distract her, or worse, make her more nervous about the outcome of the battle. Better to focus solely on the task at hoof. Her task currently was to take out a particularly annoying unicorn Shard that was partway up the nearest mountain. The battling on the eastern front was now spread over the bases of a few mountains and along a valley, and the unicorn Shard had found a spot from which it could rain down small rocks, launched by its magic. The rocks may have been small enough that they would not do significant damage on their own, but a distraction at a vital moment when facing down another Shard could be critical. It had been one of the crystal pegasi recon team that had flown down to Applejack, who in a night full of dark shiny shapes had presumably been the most recognisable from a distance, and had told her where the unicorn Shard could be found. Now Applejack was on her way around the far side of the mountain, since it seemed to be less populated and would hopefully give her a good opportunity to sneak up on the Shard and take it out. The climb was surprisingly uneventful; only four Shards tried to halt her progress, and they did not try for very long. She was only a few feet away from the plateau where the Shard was supposedly located when she witnessed another rock being launched into the fray below. Got you. It was always a risk getting close to a Shard, not just because you were in range of their attacks, but also because there was the danger of being infected yourself. Since Applejack was not entirely sure where the Shard was, the area being mostly covered in shadow, she did not want to run those risks and decided on a different approach. Reaching into a small pouch that she had strapped to her barrel, Applejack pulled out a horseshoe. She had been a little over-eager with her usage of these when starting the battle, and so this was her last one. She would have to make sure it was the perfect shot. She crept around the side of a large rock, until a little cove in the side of the mountain face was visible. In the gloom it was impossible to make out anything distinct, but a crackling red glow was presumably a good indicator of where the Shard was, or at least, where its horn was. Applejack found a firm surface to press her forehooves against and readied her attack. The Shard didn’t stand a chance. One quick buck and the horseshoe cannoned into the base of the glowing horn, and with a loud fragmenting sound the Shard was in pieces. It was almost anticlimactic. Applejack was just stepping over to retrieve her horseshoe when there came a loud thud from behind her, and she turned around to see that a pegasus Shard had landed on the plateau with her. Of course at this height up a mountain she would have come into range of that battle. She ducked her head and pawed at the ground, intending to charge, when the Shard flapped its horrific black crystal wings and a sudden powerful gust caused her to lose her balance. As she stumbled back, a fireball careered out of the sky and completely obliterated the Shard in front of her. She looked up to see who had helped her, thinking it might have even been Twilight, but the only shapes in the air were more pegasi Shards who quickly converged on her. As they approached, the fireball bounced up into the air again and Applejack realised that it wasn’t a spell, it was in fact a pony. As she watched the fiery pegasus zip unerringly from one Shard to another, charred remains of a blue flight suit still visible, it wasn’t too difficult to guess who it was. Applejack had never spent much time with the Wonderbolts captain herself, but if she ever did, she resolved to never make Spitfire angry. Applejack’s impressed gaze was interrupted when one of the pegasus Shards that was pummelled by Spitfire started falling to the ground instead of breaking apart. Realising that she was standing where it would land, Applejack stepped backwards, but in her haste she had forgotten how close she was to the edge of the small plateau she had been on. After just one clumsy step she tripped on a small rock, and then tumbled down the side of the mountain. A few moments later she was crumpled in a heap, a long distance away. The slope had not been particularly steep, but the sudden cliff at the end had been. In a daze, Applejack pulled herself to her feet and looked around. The short cliff face she had fallen down was behind her, and surrounding her on all other sides were a dozen Shards. She gulped. Up until this point, Applejack had only ever had to face down one or two Shards at a time. This would be far more difficult, and she didn’t even have anywhere to retreat to, with the rock wall behind her blocking off any thought of escape. Looking around once more at the range of glowing eyes, Applejack braced herself. This did not look like it would end well. Everything happened at once. About half of the Shards decided to simultaneously charge towards Applejack, who managed to fling herself aside just in time. In an inelegant attempt to roll, she felt a jolt of pain and realised that one of her hind legs must have been injured in her fall, but she still took a swipe at one of the Shards as she tumbled, connecting with but not destroying them. From the other direction however, came a strange echoing boom, a flash of light, and almost immediately afterwards the sound of splintering Shards. Applejack did not have time to identify what the commotion was about, as she was entirely preoccupied with the few Shards that were still around her. Dodging out of the way of another charge, she swung a foreleg at the passing Shard, connecting with the back of its neck and destroying it. She then ducked under a retaliatory swing from a second Shard and flipped it over onto its back, before jumping down onto it and crunching it into the earth. As she continued to fend off her opponents, ignoring the lingering pain in her hind leg, she could spot a similar battle closer to the cliff face. It appeared as if she had an ally, for which she was very grateful, although she could not identify who they were are at the moment. Maybe Spitfire had followed her; there seemed to be some orange in the midst of the carnage. Even with a damaged leg, the fact that Applejack only had half of the Shards to contend with meant that she was able to hold her own. In another minute two more of the Shards were down, and only one remained. Some clinking sounds echoed as the Shard started to lengthen all of the jagged spikes on its body menacingly, and Applejack decided it was time to end this. With one last lunge, she thundered over to the Shard’s side and swung a hoof, neatly connecting with its shoulder. Her action was perfectly mirrored by a pony on the other side of the Shard, and as it disintegrated between them Applejack gaped in bewilderment. “Whoo-eee!” the other pony exclaimed. “Don’t we work well as a team?” Applejack realised she was still staring slack-jawed, and closed her mouth firmly. “Ah’ve been waitin’ for this for so long,” the other pony continued. “It’s sure nice to be able to help out again.” “You… You were waitin’ for this?” Applejack repeated weakly. “How’d you know it was gonna happen?” “Ah remembered from when Ah was you.” Applejack nodded dully, still a little stunned. The mare in front of her was her; that much was obvious at least. She did look a little older, but seemed surprisingly bright for somepony who had presumably come back from the horrific future overrun by Shards and the Infection. “You’re lookin’ well,” Applejack said, feeling a little awkward. “We got ol’ Maudy to thank for that one. Ah told her Ah’d be coming back straight into some heavy fightin’ and she helped me out a bit.” The future Applejack grinned. “And anyway, you know how tough we are. Ain’t no Infection gonna slow us down!” “Hold on.” Applejack tried to make sense of the situation. “Are you sayin’ you knew you were comin’ back here because you were once me?” “Eeyup.” “But that don’t make a lick of sense. Ah thought y’all were sent back because everything went wrong, and with your help we’ll make it go right. How would you have been the me that meets you? Don’t that mean Ah’ll become you?” The future Applejack shrugged. “Ah don’t know. Leave that thinkin’ to Twilight.” Their conversation was interrupted by a blazing pegasus dropping out of the sky and landing next to them. As the mare touched down, her fiery mane was somehow quelled, and she began to look more like her usual self. “Sorry about that up on the mountain,” Spitfire began. “I shouldn’t have let any of the Shards get close to you. Are you-” She stopped, stunned. The two Applejacks glanced at each other with sheepish expressions, wondering how they could explain the situation. And then, after a moment of silence, Spitfire raised an eyebrow and broke into a wicked grin. “Well well well. I know you aren’t twins, so there’s something intriguing going on here. Do I even want to know why the two of you seem a little out of breath?” Applejack frowned. She wasn’t that out of breath, although her future counterpart did seem to be panting heavily, presumably due to the Infection which, although it was less visible than usual, must presumably still be present. “We’re in a battle,” she pointed out, unamused. “Sure, sure.” Spitfire launched up into the air. “Seeing as you’re okay, I’ve got a date with some Shards to get back to. I’ll leave the two of you to your… battle…” Applejack rolled her eyes as the Wonderbolt left, but then quickly returned her attention to her future self. “You’re dyin’ right?” The future Applejack nodded, although she did not look particularly devastated. Applejack supposed she must have accepted it for a while. “How long do you have?” “Maybe ten minutes.” Applejack pointed to the distance, where a large group of earth pony Shards were heading towards the front lines further south. “Think you could help me take them out?” The future Applejack grinned. “Ah bet Ah’ll get more than you.” They really were a good team, it was almost like having an extended body. As the two mares ploughed through the group of Shards, completely in synch, Applejack realised she was starting to enjoy herself a little too much again. It made her remember Blue Viper, the pony she had met in Appleloosa who had also come from the future. It was obvious how one could become so obsessed with fighting now that she knew how satisfying it felt. As she recalled that meeting, and the information she had learnt then, Applejack realised that she might have a duty to take advantage of this situation by asking some questions; a thought that seemed to be shared by her future self, who turned to her when they had finally eliminated all of the Shards in sight. She was looking a lot worse for wear now, and the blotchy Infection was clearly visible over most of her body as she stood, panting. “Ask me anythin’.” Applejack considered this, but not for long. However selfish it may have been, there was really only one thing she wanted to know. “How are they?” Her future self smiled. “They’re fine. All fine. Granny Smith’s still dodderin’ away. She’s a little crazier than usual, but Ah wouldn’t be surprised if she lives for another hundred years. She just don’t know how to give up.” She stopped to cough, and then continued, “Big Mac’s in the force. A good captain, Ah hear. Ah always get a little worried that somethin’ might happen to him, but he’s always okay. He don’t know nothing about givin’ up neither.” “…and Apple Bloom?” Applejack prompted warily, when it became clear that her future self was hesitating. “She’s… fine.” Applejack realised now that she was never going to be a good liar. “What’s she up to?” she asked, trying to ignore the dread rising in her stomach. “Still creepin’ around trying to hide that she wants to do somethin’ for herself?” “No, she’s… she’s runnin’ Sweet Apple Acres with me. She’s become a very capable farmpony.” “That’s it?” “Yup.” It didn’t look like a lie, so Applejack sighed in relief. “Well that’s great then! Ever since Rarity met the Sweetie Belle from the future Ah’ve been so worried how our family was. It’s so good to know that even if we fail to fix things, it’s not all bad.” The future Applejack nodded with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, but Applejack tried not to read too much into that. “So in the future Ah... Ah mean you…” Applejack frowned. “Ah mean… we? We’ve been runnin’ the farm this whole time?” She received a nod in response. “So we’re not still fightin’? Helping out Twilight?” Her future self seemed conflicted, but eventually said: “It’s been a long war, and ponies still need food. When it comes down to it… maybe we six were never the best ones to be helpin’ out anyway. Twilight excepted.” That sounded a little disconcerting to Applejack, but she refrained from asking for clarification when her future self double over in a painful coughing fit. Her orange body was now mostly black, a good portion crystalline, and it was clear she would not last much longer. “Anythin’ else you could tell me that Ah’ll want to know?” Applejack asked quickly. The future Applejack looked up at her younger counterpart, which seemed to take an inordinate amount of effort, and took a deep breath. “Don’t y’all worry about the future.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “It’ll all be fine.” Despite telling herself that she wouldn’t, Applejack turned her head away as the Infection finally overwhelmed her future self. This was just too weird to watch. It was about a minute before she could bring herself to look at the pile of fragments that had been her. What was she supposed to feel about this? There were no Shards nearby; the two of them together had seen to that; and the battle had been going well, so Applejack did not feel guilty about the decision to sit by herself for a little while. She was not given the opportunity for any deep thinking however, because after only a few moments she was abruptly thrown to the ground with a pony on top of her. “Oh Applejack I’m so so so so so sooooo happy that you’re okay!” “Whoa there Pinkie!” Applejack slowly extracted herself from the mess of pink limbs she was tangled up in and patted Pinkie Pie on the head. “Calm down sugarcube. Ah can look after myself, you needn’t worry none.” “Yes but I thought you might be dead! And just after Fluttershy got infected too!” “Fluttershy’s infected?!” Pinkie nodded grimly. “Yeah, sort of. My sister’s taking care of her and says she’ll be fine.” Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around Applejack again. “But the more important thing is that you’re fine. I really thought you had just died!” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ah’m still here.” She narrowed her eyes. “But Ah did just have an encounter with a future version of myself who came back from that bad future and Ah had to watch her die. That was weird.” “Really? Huh.” Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully, and then her eyes widened as if she had just had a revelation. “Ooooooh! That’s it!” “That’s what? What’s it?” “My Pinkie Sense! It isn’t broken, I’ve worked it out!” “Uh… good.” Applejack knew she was in for a long unintelligible explanation now, and wondered if perhaps she shouldn’t have said anything. “See I always knew that the worst-news-ever combo was an ear twitch, and then another ear twitch, and then an itchy knee, and then another itchy knee, and then a shaky tail, and then a head shake, and then another ear twitch, and then an itchy nose.” As she spoke she mimicked the actions. “But that had started happening a few times when ponies were fine, so I thought I was broken. BUT I WASN’T! I’d been mixing up the feeling of an itchy nose like this.” She screwed up her nose. “And an itchy nose like this.” She screwed up her nose in exactly the same way. “You see?” Applejack might have lied if she hadn’t been recently reminded just how transparent she was at it. “No, Ah don’t get it. What’s the difference?” “This combo,” she made the actions again, “actually means that somepony who came back from the future has died! Which is… well, it’s still sad, but not as sad, because we can change that so they don’t have to.” “Uhuh.” “But this is so great! It means my Pinkie Sense is working after all! I’ll be able to know if Fluttershy is okay! And now I know that the real awful combo I never want to get is the one where my ear twitches,” her ear twitched, “and then the other twitches,” and the other twitched. “Er, and then my knee itches.” Pinkie suddenly looked down sharply at her knee. “And uh, then another knee itches…” Her view then swung to another knee, eyebrows raising in surprise. Applejack now realised that the actions were happening without Pinkie doing them intentionally. “Um… and then my tail shakes.” Her tail shook. “…And then my h-head.” Her head shook. Her voice was quavering a lot now. “And… and then my ear tw-twitches again.” She gulped and looked a little green as her ear twitched. “And… And… And then…” Pinkie reached up to scratch her nose with a hoof and then dropped it down to the ground with a thud. Her eyes were wide and brimming with tears, and even more ominously her pink mane was slowly descending until it fell straight at either side of her head. “Oh no.” Her voice was hollow. “Err, Pinkie?” “No. No no no no.” Applejack had taken a couple of step forwards when Pinkie abruptly zoomed off into the distance. Applejack gave one further look around, decided the guardsponies would be fine for now without her help, and galloped off in pursuit of her friend.