I didn’t even have to look to know we’d won. See, after a few rounds using the Elements of Harmony, or being used by them, take your pick, I'd gotten a gut feeling for when they worked. I knew the difference between when they'd petered out, versus when they'd saved the day. And the day, felt very saved.
We blasted Discord. We saved the city. All was well. Then, we got rain. That was a bit of a change from normal.
“My fucking mane!” Raritony shrieked, running in circles.
“The hay?” I said, staring up at the suddenly darkened sky.
“Over here, my little ponies,” Princess Celestia said, spreading her wings wide. The rain fell above her and Princess Luna, but it didn’t seem to quite reach them.
Since the rest of us didn’t have a magical Princess anti-rain shield, we galloped over to escape the sudden downpour. Stephanie was the only one who hung back, her walkie talkie pressed to her ear. As we all huddled together beneath the protection of the Princesses’ wingspan, Erishy yelped loudly. Well for her.
"I'm sorry, but that's my tail," she said. I was relieved to see she was bandage-less now, looking whole and healthy.
"Whoops, sorry,” replied a voice that I was sure I knew, but I couldn’t quite place
"Tara Strong?!" Erishy gasped.
"Uh… yes?" said a pretty blond woman, bent nearly double to fit under Luna's wing.
Erishy stared up at her with big eyes. "Tara Strong stepped on my tail," she murmured. "I'm never going to wash it again."
"What about my tail?" a new voice said.
"Oops, my bad," Raritony said to the unfamiliar golden pegasus next to her. She shuffled off his tail and peered at him. "Sorry. Have we met?"
"Wait. Markus?" Rainbow said, leaning out from her perch on my back. "Is that you?"
"Do you mind?" a dark blue unicorn next to me said. Rainbow's back hooves were perilously close to his face.
"I'm very confused here," I said.
“David!” Twilight squealed from Celestia's other side. Her hospital gown was gone, and she looked in as good a shape as Erishy. “You’re not in my head anymore! And you’re… a unicorn?!”
"Unicorn-under-alicorn," David grumbled. "Pressed against sweaty earth pony."
"Hey now, Mr. Sass," I snapped. "That is rain water."
"How many of us are there, anyway?" Rainbow asked, turning her head this way and that. I had to duck so she didn't bean me.
"A lot more," said a redheaded woman, hunched over Twilight.
"Lauren Faust!" Raritony exclaimed. "Oh my goodness! I know this isn't the best time, but can I get an autograph?"
"Tiiiiiiime out!" I shouted, throwing my forehooves in the air.
Everypony and person went quiet. Princess Celestia chuckled in the sudden silence.
"Now," I huffed, setting my hat. "Can someone, please, tell me what in the high hay is going on here? Where did all these other ponies and people suddenly come from?"
“The Elements of Harmony…” Twilight muttered, almost to herself. Looking up, she smiled brightly. “It must have been them! They really do bring everything into harmony!”
I tilted my head at her. "But… that doesn't make sense," I said. "Wouldn't 'harmony' be all of us merged or something?"
"Not necessarily," Twilight said. "From what I've been able to gather, the Elements’ magic dispels disharmonious things. And if a merge wasn't smooth, the magic would try to fix that."
"Define, 'smooth,'" I said, keenly recalling the shouting matches between Rachel and Applejack.
“Ooo! Ooo! Mine!" Pinkie said, leaning out from under Luna’s wings. "Why do you think I was taking so many naps? Oh, this is Reid. Say hi, Reid.”
“Hi, Reid,” a gangly, pink-haired guy said, grinning crookedly at us.
"Well, I must have been ‘smooth.’ I'm as merged as I've ever been." Raritony said, fluffing her mane and tail, which still had their golden streaks.
"Ditto," Erishy said, holding up a hoof.
“Hmmm. Pinkie was narcoleptic...” Twilight muttered. “And whoo boy, was I manic, and Rainbow… Uh?" She looked at Rainbow, who rolled her eyes.
"Markus and I were doing a lot of work. Trust me," Rainbow said.
"That's putting it mildly," Markus grumbled.
Twilight nodded. "Okay. So, even if RJ, Erishy, and Raritony had trouble, a lack of persistent physical symptoms suggests you did find a sense of harmony with yourselves in the end. Thus, you didn't need the Elements' help!" She grinned triumphantly. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case for all the ponies and humans out there. I'm going to need to do a survey!"
"I'm so glad I don't share headspace with her, anymore," David said, with a grin.
"Oh hush. I know you got a thrill out of making a shield that kept out Discord," Twilight said, sticking her tongue out at him.
I blinked, looking around quickly.
"What's wrong RJ?" Rainbow asked.
"Discord!" I said. "I just realized I haven't seen him! Or his statue!"
Before anypony else could join me in a freakout, Princess Luna cleared her throat. “Oh yes,” she said, politely. “Unfortunately, he was still attempting to escape our grip when you used the Elements of Harmony upon him. And, alas, he was hovering over empty space when the Elements’ magic disrupted our own. I believe the phrase is... 'oopsie?'”
She didn't look the least bit apologetic. Princess Celestia snorted.
“Does that mean… he shattered?” Twilight asked, an odd combination of hope and worry crowding her face.
“Most likely not,” Princess Celestia said. “He was in stone for longer than Luna was on the moon, and never suffered more than a bit of dust. A very hefty tree once fell on him, and he didn’t get a scratch. I doubt a drop from a skyscraper will damage him.”
“Yeah, he’s fine,” Stephanie confirmed, joining us under the wing umbrellas. “My guys are putting him on a flatbed.”
“Ah, thank you,” Princess Celestia said. “Could you keep him somewhere peaceful and quiet? A garden perhaps? Just until we can return him to Equestria, of course.”
“Will the archives, in the basement of the tax building, do?” Stephanie asked.
Princess Celestia blinked a few times, then laughed. “Oh yes. That will definitely work.”
“How about we get down from here,” I said. “Not that I don’t appreciate the coverage, Princess, but we can’t just hang out all day.”
“I see a dooOOooor!” Pinkie sang out, pointing to the roof access.
“Alright! Last one there’s a rotten egg!” Rainbow said, zipping off.
“Oh, you’ll have to be faster than that, Dash!” Markus challenged, as he flew to catch up with her.
Princess Celestia chuckled as she pulled her wings in. We all jogged to the door, trying to avoid getting totally soaked.
On the way, I spotted Steph's Captain America shield, back in pristine condition. I snatched it up. “The Elements of Harmony sure do a good patch job, huh?” I said to myself, tapping it appreciatively. It whummed in response. It was a good sound, and I smiled as I trotted to catch up with the group.
After drying off with some of Discord’s hotel room towels, we filed into the elevators. There wasn’t enough room for all of us in just one. Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Raritony, Erishy, and I shared the ride down.
“So,” I said, as the floors ticked by slowly.
Pinkie giggled. “So?”
“Things are a bit… different now, huh?” I said.
Rainbow laughed. “Juuuuust a bit, yeah.”
“It was all so scary getting here," Erishy said. "I’ll feel better once I'm back home at my cottage with my animals. Oh! I still think of it as my cottage. That’s nice.” She smiled a little Fluttershy smile.
“How about you, RJ?" Pinkie asked, sidling next to me. "Still wanna be a farmer?”
I snorted. “Like I’d be anything else. But Big Mac better watch out. He ain’t the only one good at fancy numbers anymore!”
Another round of laughter. "Oooo, fancy numbers," Pinkie said. "Think you'll be Ponyville's new awesome Apple accountant?”
“Maybe," I said, with a laugh. "After all that's happened, I know I'm definitely up for trying new things."
"We have a whole world of new things to try!" Twilight added. "New technology, science, literature, history… Some of us are even direct connections between it and Equestria! We live in a really exciting time, girls. I can't wait to start studying the ramifications of it all!"
"I'm glad to hear you're excited, darling," Raritony said. "But I'll be fine with a week long bubble bath, and marathoning something brainless on Netflix. Goddamn, but saving the world is exhausting."
"Least we didn't have to do it alone," I pointed out.
Raritony nodded thoughtfully, smirking at me. "Yes, RJ. Why… it's like our friendship is maaaaagic!"
I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Ya had to go there, didn't ya?"
"You made it too easy, darling," she said, batting her eyelashes at me.
Behind me, I heard Pinkie sniffle. "It's so true! Our friendship is magic! Group hug! Group hug!" Her arms stretched almost impossibly long, and gathered us all up.
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Outside we found the Princesses, Lauren and Tara, the halves of us who were better off on their own, and Stephanie. She was looking at us with the biggest, sappiest expression I’ve ever seen on her.
“Oh man…” Stephanie said, voice wibbling. “I don’t think Earth is ready for this much cute.”
We laughed, disengaging from Pinkie’s all-encircling hug. “Well, they’re gonna have to learn to deal,” I said, going into the lobby. “Thanks for waiting on us y’all.”
“We… kind of had to,” Reid said, gesturing out the lobby doors.
Outside was a party.
Someone had put up barricades so there was space to exit the lobby, but it looked like all of New York, both pony and human, had funnelled down to the front of the hotel to cheer and wave at us. Even with all the rain, they were whooping it up like an Apple Family shindig in high gear. Cops and other official looking types were everywhere, keeping the crowds mostly under control. I even spotted Al in the activity, harried but grinning. Cameras were pointed out of windows, folks waved signs, ponies were stomping their hooves or flying around, whistling. It was quite a sight.
“Holy shit,” Raritony said.
“That’s… a lot of… everyone,” Erishy said, hunching near Pinkie.
“Aw, Shy Shy. Don’t be afraid. You got your friends,” Pinkie said, hugging her with one forearm.
Rainbow flipped her mane. "Alright ponies! Looks like we've got an adoring public to greet.”
“Do we need to say anything?” Twilight asked, her voice climbing slightly. “If we do, I- I'm going to need note cards.”
“Twi,” I said, hooking her with a forearm. “Really?”
She looked outside, then me, then took a breath. “Yeah. Okay,” she said, licking her lips. “I- We can do this.”
“Together,” I said.
“Together!” everyone said, in unison.
I would've followed through on that. But, as we stepped forward, amongst all the activity outside, I saw a flash of pink ribbon. A flash of very familiar pink ribbon, at filly head height, in CIA company.
My hooves picked up of their own accord, and I pushed out the doors just as Apple Bloom shouldered her way through the crowd’s knees and into the clear. Rain poured down, flattening out her pink bow and bowing my hat, but I could see my sister!
“Apple Bloom!” I cried, tears in my eyes.
“Sis!” she yelled back.
I tore ass across the asphalt just as she ran at me. In a blink, I was lifting her up in my forearms, laughing so hard my stomach hurt. I’d been doing a lot of hugging today, but none of it compared to the full-on earth pony hug I gave my little sister. A warmth bloomed up in my chest I didn’t realize I’d been missing till just then.
And, as we hugged, I felt a warmth over me, too.
Looking up, I saw some of the clouds had thinned, and sunlight was shining down on us. I shook my head and laughed, squeezing Apple Bloom tighter.
“Applejack...” Apple Bloom wheezed. “I can’t breathe!”
I slackened my grip. “Sorry,” I said, grinning sheepishly.
“‘Salright,” she said, taking a few deep breaths. We smiled at one another for a second and dove right back to hugging.
Then I heard a familiar bark. I spotted Sam, who was wagging her tail so hard her back end looked like it was gonna fly off.
“Sam! C’mere girl!” I called.
She barked again, charging toward us and covering me and Apple Bloom in wet, doggy kisses. Apple Bloom laughed, rubbing behind Sam’s ear.
About then I realized the cheering had gotten louder, and was mixed with a smattering of d’awws to boot. Glancing around, I found cameras pointed right at us, flashbulbs going off in all directions. I rolled my eyes. Those folks didn’t know how lucky they were that I didn’t have fingers any more.
“Who’s this?” Apple Bloom asked, distracting me from glaring at the paparazzi.
“This here’s Sam,” I said. “Sam, this is my sis, Apple Bloom. Bloom, this is Sam. She kept me company while I was out travelling.”
“Howdy Sam!” Apple Bloom said, scratching Sam’s back. “Pleased to meetcha.”
Sam made happy, petted doggy noises.
I laughed, and focused back on my sister. “Looks like y’all be just fine. So... you’re okay, Bloom? No hurts or anything, right?” I asked.
“I’m fine, sis. Oh! And I’m all me again!" she said. "Are you all you, too, Sis?”
“Er, well… Nah,” I admitted. “Kept my half.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah. I heard that happened to a couple other ponies. Shining Armor's still got his human half, did ya know that?”
"No, I did not," I said. "You may've heard that I've been a mite busy fighting the forces of Discord and disharmony."
She giggled. “Oh yeah! Shining Armor was telling me all about that stuff!" she said. "Like how Flutter- I mean, Erishy weren’t Erishy, and you helped rescue her, and a whole buncha other stuff! I can’t wait to hear you tell it!”
“Oh, you’ll hear about it," I said, with a laugh. "Probably for a long time to come. Kind of a lot happened.”
“Tell me about it,” Apple Bloom groaned. She smiled and hugged me. “I’m just glad we’re together again. Apples together, forever!”
My smile lessened slightly. Lands, after all this time, it felt so good to see her, but I had to ask something. That’s the thing about being honest- you don’t wait around to ask the important stuff.
“Uh, Apple Bloom, are… you okay with me bein’... well, part human now?” I asked. “Still Apple in the core, but with a little… extra?”
Apple Bloom looked at me like I’d just asked if Big Mac was a Princess. “‘Course I am,” she said, with all the wisdom of youth. “You’re still all my sister, ain’tcha?”
Tears brimmed at my eyes again. Yeesh, I was getting as soggy as Raritony. Or Pinkie. I pulled Apple Bloom into another crusher hug.
“Ack! Sis! Can’t breathe again!”
“Tough it out,” I said. “Let your sister have her moment.”
It was a moment that felt like it could stretch on forever. It was certainly a better moment than where I started this whole mess: under a few feet of dirt and scared out of my wits that I was dead. Now, I was certainly alive, I had my sister back, I had my friends at my back, and I even had a magical shield on my back. Not bad for a gal who’d crawled out of her own grave a little over a week ago.
“C’mon Bloom,” I said, setting her back on the ground. “There’s still a lot to do, and then we got a farm to get back to.”
“Alright! I’m ready!” she cheered.
Sam added a bark of approval and walked with us. We headed toward the group of CIA officials, Princesses, and Elements of Harmony. Someone had gotten umbrellas out and held them over everypony as they talked.
Stephanie caught sight of us and gestured me over.
“Oh, hey sis?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah?” I said, nodding at Steph. From her exasperated expression, I bet we probably had to explain what we did to some government muckity muck. I was so done with this place. I just wanted to get back to Equestria and my farm. It was probably a mess. Especially if the whole family had ended up on Earth.
“Before we go home, can we get one of them computer things?” she asked. “After hanging out with Ian so much, I bet I could get my cutie mark in video game playing!”
I stopped just before the group, and looked down at my sister.
I snorted. I chuckled. And I laughed. I laughed so hard I nearly couldn’t breathe! Lands, it felt so good to be alive.