The Fall of Celestia

by Leon Declis

"Time to wake up, y'hear?"

+++5 years, 11 months, 3 weeks prior+++ The Canterlott-Ponyville Train Line:

Looking wearily out of the window, Applejack let the rhythm of the train simply wash over her, her eyes resting and not focused. Her wide-brimmed hat flapped slightly in the chair next to her, lazily shifting with the winds from the window. She had been travelling all night, but couldn’t bring herself to sleep. There were so many plans to deal with…

The train jumped on the track, knocking Applejack out of her stupor. There weren’t many other ponies in the cart, most had long since decided to stay for the full month of festivities in Canterlott or had gone home. In regards to her friends, Fluttershy and Twilight had chosen to withdraw nearly as soon as the party was over. There hadn’t been much time to discuss that, so much had to be sorted. Maybe she’d seek them out. A familiar sight caught her eye.

Applejack looked at the sunset setting over her farm. A deep, akane apple red hung over the black silhouettes of the trees, in the distance over the mountains. It had taken several days after the wedding to get the accounts sorted. Several of the higher ponies came to her with hopes of further catering, after her assortment of apple pies, cakes, strudels and so on. Either way, she was late getting back to the farm.

She thought she spotted some movement among her trees, and smiled wistfully. Damn that Macintosh, she thought bemusedly, he would work himself till he was long in the teeth and lame in the legs if someone wasn’t there to supervise him.
A movement from one of the few ponies in the corner of her eye drew her. It appears that Derpy was currently asleep on some poor brown colt, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. Since they were nearing the station, Applejack wandered over.

The brown colt looked at Applejack as she approached, and Applejack gave a weary smile. “Hey, sugarcube,” she nudged her shoulder with a hoof, not too hard, “It’s our stop. Time to wake up, y’hear?”
Derpy simply rolled over and snorted loudly. Applejack sighed, and left her to her companion. She’d seen him around, he’d even turned the glass in that competition. Ponyville wasn’t a big place.
As the train pulled to a halt, Applejack put on her saddlebags, and stood by the door. The train stopped, and Applejack opened the door, glad to be off the moving thing and settle her stomach. She took a deep breath, and heard her name being called.

“Applejack! Hoo-ey, Applejack!” Cries came from behind a small crowd, and Applejack swore she could see a green hoof being waved over the heads of the ponies. Applejack smiled, and then moved through the crowd. Granny Smith also started pushing through, declaring “sorry!” and “don’t mind me!”
As Applejack hugged her grandmother, she noticed following in her wake was Apple Bloom, who leapt for a hug as well. As she hugged her family, she smiled. No, Ponyville wasn’t a big place at all. It’s perfect just as is.

---

+++5 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, 6 days prior+++ Ponyville High Street:

“Argh!”

A cry of frustration left Trixie’s lips as she stomped around. A few ponies nearby looked over, concerned, but looked away quickly as they saw her face. Ever since she told Twilight Sparkle about the events on the borders, Twilight had simply hidden herself away in her library with that dragon of hers and not said a word.
Walking down the street, Trixie frowned at nothing in particular, making other ponies move out of her way as she silently mumbled to herself furiously. What was that mare doing? She was supposed to be close to the Princess, to pass along a
message, but instead, she’s stuck her nose into those books.

Trixie noticed a café, and sat down at an empty table. She wasn’t in the mood for company, and when the waiter came over, she glared at him for a second before she heard what he said. “…you like to eat?”
“I don’t know, daffodils or something” she snapped. This wasn’t the time for politeness, this was a time for action, and this inaction was driving her crazy. It was already humiliating enough to be forced to come back and talk to a pony who had already bested her, but to be ignored by her? She was still glaring when the waiter delivered the plate, leaving it to the side of her before dashing away to help a customer who looked less likely to kick him.

Ignoring the food, Trixie continued to stare a hole into the wall. The worried stares of the other ponies only made her angrier. She turned to look at them. “What!?”

They quickly looked back to their food.

She noticed her food, a very nicely arrayed pile of daffodils, with some hay on top. With a deep breath, Trixie let out an equally long sigh. There’s no point getting stressed over it. She focused on picking up the food, her horn glowing blue as the food lifted to her mouth. Without really thinking, she started chewing. But her mind was elsewhere.

What was Twilight doing? She had simply listened, and then said to leave everything to her. Since then, Spike had said that Twilight was busy whenever she tried to visit. Maybe she should return to Canterlott, try sneaking in? It wouldn’t be too hard, after all. She is THE Trixie, after all.

She noticed that she had finished her food. With a sigh, she left a few coins on the table and left. The food sat in her stomach like a dead weight. As she passed the cupcake shop, she noticed that some of her hair had fallen out of place, giving her a slight mad look. She quickly arranged her hair back in position, and calmly walked along.

Her thoughts inevitably came back to Twilight. Why wasn’t she doing anything? Maybe she didn’t understand what Trixie had seen. To be honest, Trixie couldn’t understand what she had seen. It had been late, and she’d come with her show, and the town had been empty, and then…
She shuddered, a shiver creeping up her back. Mentally, she pulled away from that. It had been over a week now. Things were fine. Things were well. And soon Princess Celestia would know, and then Trixie wouldn’t have to involve herself at all.

Maybe it was time to see Twilight again. See if she couldn’t just… hurry things along.

---

+++ 5 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, 4 days prior+++ Fluttershy's Home, Ponyville:

“Oh, you want me to look after Owlowiscious?” Fluttershy smiled. She poured some grass tea into a cup.
“Yes. I’m off to go see the Princess again. I’ve come across some very disturbing news.” Twilight said somewhat absent-mindedly. Fluttershy nodded, noticing that Angel had rejected his food again, the bowl full of lettuce.
“Oh dear, I hope it’s nothing too dangerous? Is it Chrysalis again?” Fluttershy moved the cup towards Twilight, before sitting down and drinking some of her own.
“No, I don’t think so. She was just beaten this previous week, I doubt she wants to risk Shining Armour’s wrath twice.” Twilight smiled at the mention of her brother. That had been a stressful week for Twilight, as she was alone in suspecting the imposter Cadence. It was good to see Twilight smile.

Whilst she had been all sunshine and smiles during the marriage, afterwards Twilight spent her time worrying about this and that, and had spent a lot of time alone with her books. Rarity and Pinkie Pie had tried bringing her out, and Rainbow had tried dragging her out, but Twilight was still a bit quiet.
That said, today she was fine. Her mane was nicely combed, she didn’t have the usual sleeping bags under her eyes from staying up and reading books, and she was chatting openly. “Well, that’s true I suppose. Any word from him and the Princess?”
“Yes. I got a postcard from her yesterday. Apparently they’ll be coming back soon, and Princess Cadence would love to get to know me better. Sister time, she called it.” Twilight grinned happily at the prospect.
“That sounds good. I’m sure it will be great fun.” Fluttershy offered, giving Twilight permission to keep talking. Sometimes, it was nice to listen to Twilight just ramble about her life. “Where is Spike today? I bought some cakes, but without Spike, there’s one spare.”
“Spike? Oh, he’s just off gathering supplies. You know, paper, ink, ice cream…”
“Ice cream is a supply?” Fluttershy looked bemusedly at Twilight.
“Well, he sure seems to think so” Twilight laughed. “If that’s the case, I’m sure he’ll be joining us before long. But we can get started without him, can’t we?” She smiled.

Comments

[Hazy Answer]

So far so good. I look forward to the next chapter

One slight thing though. At the end of the first section of chapter 2 you seem to be referring to Sweetie Belle as a member of Applejack's family. Sweetie Belle is Rarity's sister, so that doesn't make much sense. I think you meant Applebloom.

[Leon Declis]

542640

You know what's even more stupid than that? I'd actually checked up on that, noticed that it was Apple Bloom, made a point to notice that, and then apparently wrote Sweetie Bell anyway.