Lost and Found

by Cloudy Skies

31. Lost

To each side, the dirt road was flanked by the forest that had been the ponies’ home and sustenance for many weeks. All around them, the dark pine trees were speckled with bits of snow, and the greying clouds hung low giving the road the appearance of a tunnel. Far in the distance to the north, Fluttershy could barely make out a change of color. The light at the end of the tunnel was a faint but noticeable tint of red.

And the road was blocked.

It was no real tunnel. They could easily have moved around the pony who stood in their path. He bore a torch for a cutie mark, the pale green unicorn thin—gaunt, even—and he hardly looked the type to run or give chase. His features were sunken, and his brown hair was in tatters, mane frayed and tail drooping listlessly. Fluttershy wanted nothing more than to excuse them, nod politely, and move around him. Maybe she should be thrilled to see another pony on the road. Perhaps he came from Equestria? It would be ever so rude not to greet him, but his eyes frightened her.

Deep-set white eyes with blank irises and a tiny black pupil regarded her. They held her fast, and would not let her move. It took effort just to turn her head and look upon Applejack. The staunch farmpony stood entirely still at her side, a bead of sweat on her brow.

“Um, hello,” Fluttershy said.

“Quite,” the unicorn replied in a voice both tired and weak, halfway between a sigh and a hiss. “This meeting has been a long time coming.”

Fluttershy spread her wings and leaned back an inch, while Applejack gave an outright growl.

“You’re the one that’s been following us and mucking stuff up!” Applejack said.

“I am he.”

“Why? You’re a pony just like us,” Fluttershy said, trying to keep the question out of that second part. He looked so very odd despite the familiar form, and every so often, she could swear he flickered like a candle.

“It’s deeply ironic if you seek pity points because of our mutual heritage. I sought to hurt her through you. I wanted to make her suffer, because it is obvious she is connected to you. By my hoof, an old tome with older ideas found their way to a perfect tool. If she learned you were languishing in a prison so far away, yes, that would hurt her.”

“It was the hardest part by far. A bit of magic to cause a storm, that was an afterthought, and manipulating these simple tribesponies was foal’s play. Three times now, I have underestimated you, but why go through all this when I can go straight to the source?” With painfully slow steps, he began advancing on the pair, sunken eyes locked with theirs, now Fluttershy, now Applejack.

“Who the hay do you think you’re hurtin’? We haven’t done anything to you!” Applejack snapped, lowering her head. Her posturing didn’t cost the unicorn a single step, though his pace was barely a crawl to begin with.

“You? I never cared about you. I think of my beloved Princess Celestia, of course,” he drawled in a sinister whisper. “I gave my life for her, and she repaid me by forgetting about me. Everything, I offered her. Nothing she accepted. I was lost trying to solve her biggest riddle, and my dues are to never know the sun’s kiss again.”

Fluttershy’s jaw fell slack. “You can’t be. You’re—”

“Brighthoof’s been gone for two hundred years,” Applejack said, but the words were tainted by desperation. It was spoken in denial, in futile hope, but the pony that could not be kept advancing. Fluttershy tried to step back, to get away, but just as she sought to move, the unicorn’s horn glowed with a sickly green.

With a groan and a rumble, the very earth itself cracked and moved, grabbing at their hooves and rooting the the two ponies to the ground. Fluttershy tugged and tugged at her legs, but they yielded nothing. Applejack grunted and shifted violently, but not even she could break free.

“I have watched you for so very long,” Brighthoof said, a smile spreading across his face. Soon, it was a grin that stretched his face until his mouth looked ready to devour the rest of his head, an unnatural and maddened thing. “So very long. I sensed your passing when you disturbed my rest beneath the spire, and I have followed, watched and waited. At first I thought you only good for letting Celestia know you were lost as I once was. Perhaps she would remember me if you shared my fate.”

Fluttershy spread her wings and flapped with all her might, but it availed her nothing. Applejack’s breath came ragged whilst she gathered her strength for another pull, but it looked like all she’d do was hurt herself. Exhausted, the pegasus leaned over to nuzzle Applejack’s withers while keeping one eye trained on the inexorably approaching unicorn. He was less than half a dozen strides away now, and for every step he took, the world around them darkened.

“What’re you gonna do, huh?” Applejack asked, sweat dropping from her brow.

“What I will do,” he replied. “Is have my revenge. To watch you succeed where I have failed, to see you reach home where I could not, that will not stand! I will set things right! I am weak, and this form is expiring, but I can take yours. You, I think. She will not see it coming from a simple pony such as yourself. What delicious irony, Element of Honesty.”

Fluttershy shivered. She was light-headed and short of breath, all the tell-tale signs of pure terror threatening to make her entire body lock up. Brighthoof’s eyes were on Applejack now, but the earth mare could not budge. She leaned as far away from him as she could, halfway to sitting on her haunches, but the maddened unicorn drew closer still, picking up speed. The sky was blotted out by his shadow, everything disappearing in the face of that broad grin.

“It is enough to make a dead heart sing,” he exulted, his pearly white teeth the only thing that shone through the darkness. “Thank you.”

She was powerless. She had learned by now she wasn’t weak, and never again would she doubt herself, but right now it wasn’t enough. Fluttershy swallowed her fear, time stretching as she watched the shadow close in on Applejack, and there was nothing she could do. She had no great revelation, her love for her friend couldn’t save her—they were up against simple, directed malice. Simple magic, and she had nothing.

Two strides away, he opened his jaws and let out a foul laugh that went on without end. Before their very eyes, the unicorn dissolved into a grin-bearing mist that launched itself at Applejack. The earth mare cried out as a smoky tendril reached for her mouth, a sound that lanced straight through Fluttershy’s heart.

Simple magic. Fluttershy gasped, a painfully slow thing and a waste of breath. Her neck ached as she twisted around to reach behind Applejack. She spotted a bit of glass peeking out from her tail, uncorking and grabbing the slim flask in her mouth in one swift motion. With all of her remaining strength, she stretched out, nudging Applejack to the side. She gave herself no time to think, leaning in front of her friend with the bottle in her mouth. The bottle set to shaking, rattling against her teeth; the mist tried to veer away, but its course was set.

Immediately, the laugh was replaced with a wail, and the bottle was ripped from her grasp. Fluttershy tried to cover her ears with her hooves, but when that option was denied, she buried her head in Applejack’s mane and pinched her eyes shut. The screeching became an unearthly roar building up to a painful crescendo, and Fluttershy thought her ears would explode—until suddenly, it was over. The darkness lifted and the noise died down in a single instant punctuated by a dull clatter. The earthen grip on her hooves slackened, and when she peered out from around the other side of Applejack’s neck, there was no trace of Brighthoof.

In the middle of the road, the magical bottle lay. Before, no matter how much water they filled it with, it had always remained clear, but now the glass was shadowed and filled with dark smoke. Without a single word, Applejack turned around on the spot, picked up the cork, and stoppered the bottle. Only then did she throw her forelegs around Fluttershy, hugging her tight.

“Thank you, sugar,” Applejack murmured hoarsely into her pink tresses. “Thank you. That looked awful grim for a second. Bless you and your quick thinking.”

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Fluttershy asked, wrapping her legs around Applejack’s neck.

“I’m fine. Thanks to you, again,” Applejack said, letting go of her. Her smile was painted on her face as she glanced at the glass bottle that lay before them, but ever so slowly, the tension drained from the earth mare. “You?”

Fluttershy shuddered. “I’m fine. Just a little scared. How can he be alive after so long?”

“I’m not rightly sure he is,” Applejack countered, giving the bottle a very gentle poke. “And now he’s pickled. I’m starting to like this bottle.”

“Do you think we should bring him?” Fluttershy asked, hesitant to even look at the clouded glass.

“It’s that or bury the thing and forget about him. Gotta say, that’s sounding mighty tempting,” Applejack grumbled, rolling her jaw. “Naw. Maybe let Celestia herself decide on it? What do you think, sug’? You’re mighty quick to let me decide on things.”

“Um. Well, if he can’t get out, and if it’s safe, maybe we should bring the bottle, yes. Besides, he might hurt somepony else if he ever gets out because we left him here.”

“Right, that’s settled then,” Applejack said, giving the bottle’s stopper one extra little push before she curled her tail around it. “Let’s hope this thing holds and bring him back home like he wanted. Speaking of home, though,” she trailed off.

Together, they both turned their eyes northwards. Without further words, Applejack set off at a trot, and when Fluttershy matched her pace, the earth mare upped their speed bit by bit until they galloped full tilt down the road. They’d of course not reach the hills within the day, and if they even made it to the edge of the Badlands before a week had passed, Fluttershy would be amazed.

In the face of all they had conquered so far, it was nothing.

---

It had been a blessed few days. When the forest released them from its grip, the snow that had been growing increasingly scarce fully faded with it, and they had a clear path to follow into drier and drier lands. The scare of their meeting with Brighthoof combined with all the other unpleasantness that had happened in the forest pushed them on, just like the promise of home pulled, leading to early mornings under a sun that became warmer without ever being comfortably warm, and camps being made late in the night.

Not that they were ‘camps’ any more, and it was felt. Even without snow, the Badlands were still touched by winter. As the days went by, they climbed up, then down, up and down again, the road winding over and around red hills and mountains just shy of frost. With neither blankets nor tents or even a tarp to block the wind, they made camp wherever and whenever they could.

“Makes you miss the forest, don’t it?” Applejack muttered as she spat out a particularly inedible bit of bush. She scraped the roof of her mouth with her tongue, but the taste wouldn’t let off.

“A little, but I don’t think I’m going to go for any long walks in the Whitetail Woods anytime soon, either,” Fluttershy admitted, smiling back at her. They’d hunkered down for the night in the cover of some rocks that warded off the worst of the chill, but neither of them said so much as a word about discomfort. After the high mountains, Applejack figured she could use a blanket made of ice and eat rock if it came down to it, anyway. In fact, the mesas barely visible to their far east looked particularly delectable at sunset.

“Do all ponies become bitter after being alone for so long?” Fluttershy asked. She lay on her back, staring up at the stars.

“What brought this on, huh?” Applejack retorted, walking over to sit at her side, back turned. “Think I got my mane tangled again. Could you fix it? The hair band you made from branches ain’t doing much good.”

“Sorry,” Fluttershy murmured, sitting up on her haunches and beginning to run her hooves through her mane. “I just wonder how I would have felt if I loved somepony, but couldn’t see them for two hundred years.”

“I’ll tell you what you wouldn’t feel; you wouldn’t want to hurt them just because you’re lonely. Something went wrong up in his head, I don’t know when. When he got lost, maybe. Who knows what happened to him down under the spire?”

“I don’t know if I want to know,” Fluttershy replied, and Applejack could feel her shiver.

“Just so long as you don’t go thinking about this and yourself in the same breath, then I’m happy,” Applejack nodded, closing her eyes and leaning back into Fluttershy. “Think you can do my tail afters?”

“Of course.”

“So. What’re you doing?”

“Um. I thought I’d start with your mane, you got some snarls and tangles still—”

“When we get back home, sugar,” Applejack laughed. “You gonna sweep her off her hooves? Invite her to dinner?”

Applejack waited for an answer. She’d hoped for a giggle, for Fluttershy to take it in the spirit it had been meant, but the silence stretched on. She licked her lips and cleared her throat. Fluttershy was still working her mane.

“Uh, if you’re still worrying about what she’ll say, I didn’t mean to rub at it,” she added.

“Oh, no. I’m thinking,” Fluttershy said, nosing the top of Applejack’s head. “I don’t know. I just hope she remembers me, and if she just wants to be friends, then that’s fine.”

“That’s it?” Applejack asked, turning around. Fluttershy gave a little squeak as the mane was yanked from her hooves.

“Well, um, if she wants to be more, then that’s fine too,” Fluttershy admitted, and finally, there was the blush Applejack had expected. The pegasus wrung her hooves and squirmed under her gaze. “But even if she likes me, too, I don’t know how to tell her. Ask her, I mean. I just really want to see her.”

Applejack nodded at that, relieved to finally see that there was no pain in her eyes with that admission. She smiled at her friend and leaned forward to give her a hug, but just as she extended a foreleg, something played at the edge of her vision. A flicker of color.

“What is that?” Fluttershy asked, her ears perked up as she homed in on the same thing. A speck of orange that lit up as if in response to the sun finally disappearing and shrouding the land in shadow.

“Fire,” Applejack breathed. “It’s fire.”

“Fire?” Fluttershy repeated, her wings half spread.

“I’m sure,” Applejack said. They sat staring down the road at the tiny smudge of light in a sea of darkness for who knew how long, neither pony saying a single word. It was unwavering, neither spreading nor changing, and it could be so many things. Every time they had happened upon others, misfortune had followed them, but neither pony so much as blinked.

“I’m not really tired,” Fluttershy said.

“I could run for another few hours,” Applejack agreed.

“Yes, blindly run to your doom,” a gravelly voice from Applejack’s tail chimed.

“Oh, quiet you,” Applejack snapped, leaning back to retrieve the bottle and jam the stopper on a little tighter. “I swear, if he doesn’t quit yapping, we’re going with the digging a hole idea.”

Fluttershy frowned. “I really wish the cork would stay on.”

“As long as he keeps it to stupid comments twice a day,” Applejack muttered. “Enough of that, though. Wanna go see what this is all about?”

It hadn’t been fire. Or rather, what they had seen wasn’t one singular flame, but many smaller lights joined by distance.

“It can’t be,” Applejack muttered. Despite her words, she kept moving at the same steady trot the two friends had maintained for hours now. The terrain was treacherous enough, and it was hard to make out the road beneath their hooves, but once they’d started questing towards the distant light in the dead of night, stopping was no longer an option.

“If we’ve passed through the Badlands,” Fluttershy said, but she couldn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t dare speak it, but with all her heart she hoped. They were still climbing a gentle slope, and with every minute that passed, the orange and yellow dots ahead separated. They were leaving the hills behind, and the land grew flat, giving way to a prairie in the grip of a mild winter.

“It’s a building,” Applejack said. “They’re torches and bonfires and lamps.”

They sped up in unison, legs in synch like a two-pony army. Fluttershy didn’t have to look at Applejack to know that she was smiling just like herself. She didn’t need to touch a hoof to her chest to know that her friend’s heart was racing just like hers. The road was gaining definition, and when they finally crested the slope proper, Applejack gave a loud whoop. At the top of the tallest tower gracing the walled fortress up ahead, a flag basked in the illumination of several large lamps. Two alicorns circling sun and moon. The Equestrian flag.

Fluttershy took to the air, pulling into an imperfect little loop before landing again, laughter spilling forth as she joined Applejack in her mad dash down the road. The thin noise of a single trumpet sounded in the distance, and at its call, three winged shapes darted out from the lowest reaches of the fortress, heading in their direction.

“Reckon they think we’re invading or something?” Applejack laughed.

“Oh goodness, I hope not,” Fluttershy replied, folding her ears. The next moment, three white pegasi zoomed overhead in perfect formation, pulling into a large turn to circle around and land on the road in front of them. Three imposing pegasus stallions blocked the road, one of them carrying in his mouth a small Equestrian banner, and another one pulling a glowing firefly-torch from his armor. Behind them, galloping down the road, four earth ponies were rapidly approaching.

“Halt!” the center stallion declared, bringing the two mares to a stop. “You approach Equestria. State your business honestly, and you will be granted passage. From where do you hail?”

“We’re from Equestria,” Applejack said, grinning. “Just coming home.”

“Hardly look like travellers,” one of the stallions flanking the speaker murmured around the small flag he carried.

“Maybe they’re hill ponies?” the one opposite whispered back.

“Um, no,” Fluttershy explained, biting her lower lip. “We’re really not. We’ve been in an accident and it’s a bit of a long story. Do you know if Rarity and Rainbow Dash and—”

The center stallion shrugged, his armor rattling with the motion. “I am not here to bar passage, nor to play judge, and Equestria is free to all those who have peace in their hearts, but perhaps you’d best come with me to see the captain.”

“Horncall!”

The pegasus sighed and glanced over his flank. One of the approaching earth ponies broke off from the group and was galloping full tilt towards them whilst hollering at the top of his lungs. Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged glances.

“D’you think it’s this much of a mess every time they get company?” Applejack asked. The leader of the three white-coated pegasi had turned on the spot and was impatiently awaiting the earth ponies’ arrival.

“I don’t think they get a lot of visitors, honestly,” Fluttershy whispered back, trying to keep from smiling too much. The stallion carrying the banner was scratching his withers, and the torch-bearer was awkwardly shifting his weight from side to side.

“That’s Sergeant Horncall, Corporal Ploughshod,” Horncall snapped as the newest arrival finally drew near, his golden armor shining in the scant light.

“Right, right, Sergeant,” he agreed, pausing for breath before snapping an inexpert salute. “They’re the missing ponies!”

Sergeant Horncall peered over at Fluttershy and Applejack, then back to Ploughshod. He looked about to speak, but turned to look at the two mares again, his jaw hanging open.

“The two ladies the princesses spoke about in the end of summer report?” he finally asked, lowering his voice.

“Guessing that’s us, yes,” Applejack interjected. “Don’t much feel like a ‘lady’ ‘till I get me a proper bath, mind.”

“I know them,” Ploughshod said, reaching up to remove his helmet. At once, the enchantment on the armor let off, and his eyes changed to dull yellow, his coat a brilliant orange. Applejack’s face lit up in a grin.

“You’re Carrot Top’s cousin!” she called. “I remember now. Thought the name sounded familiar.”

“Guilty as charged. Carrot Top’s always talking about you and your family, about how you keep helping her out and all.” Ploughshod laughed, stepping forward and extending a hoof. Applejack shook it vigorously, and Fluttershy did the same in turn.

“Nice to meet you,” the pegasus said with a little bow.

“If you’re well and truly done killing professionalism here, corporal, I’ll leave this whole event in your hooves,” Horncall snapped. Without waiting for a reply, the white pegasus took off, the other winged guards following suit just as the three remaining earth ponies arrived.

“He’s a bit too puffed up for his own good,” Ploughshod chuckled, plopping the helmet back atop his head, his comment drawing a few grins and mutters from the newly arrived guards. “Let’s get you quartered for the night, shall we? I’d offer you a chariot, but our skyrider teams are out west until next week.”

Applejack hesitated, as did Fluttershy.

“Maybe—”

“Actually—”

The two mares stopped, looked at each other, and laughed.

“Go on sugar,” Applejack said.

“No, I insist,” Fluttershy said.

“Alright. Well, Ploughshod. If I’m right, Nettlestead ain’t too far away, and much as we appreciate your offer, I think we’d just like to get home. We’ve been running all day long, but this here’s a walk in the park by now. We’ll just head there right now, unless you were about to say something else, sugar?”

Fluttershy smiled and shook her head. “No, I agree. There’s a train station in Nettlestead, isn’t there? I’m sure we can find something to eat on the train. I just want to go home.”

Ploughshod nodded along with their words, chewing his tongue. When Fluttershy was just about to dip her head and excuse them, very eager to move, Ploughshod tossed his helmet over to one of the other three guards.

“It’d be bad form to let you go alone. Private Stormhoof?”

“Yes sir?” a rather confused stallion replied.

“Until I get back, you’re Corporal Stormhoof. If anyone complains, tell them to take it up with me when I return. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Let’s get you gals home, then.”

---

Despite reassurances that they had faced far worse over the course of the past however-long-it-bad-been and that they didn’t need help, Ploughshod would hear none of it; not that the two mares minded the company. Rather, it soon seemed that Ploughshod himself was the one who almost regretted his choice. The pace Applejack and Fluttershy set was high, and more than once did Applejack ask if they needed to slow down. Each time, without fail, the heavier stallion slogged on and resolutely shook his head.

The sun had already risen across the wintery prairie when they finally reached Nettlestead. Despite the fact that it was a very small village built on flat and dry land, Fluttershy could see only the similarities. Applejack hardly paused at all, beelining for the train station, but even what little they saw in their race through town was enough to bring a smile to Fluttershy’s face. Ponies were waking up and just starting their day, foals playing in the streets, carts being rolled out to market, and somewhere, off in the distance, a mare raised her voice in song for no other reason than the joy of singing.

“I’ll get tickets,” Ploughshod said amidst gulps for air. A train already stood at rest on the only track visible. “I’ll be right with you.”

Finally, they slowed and stopped after having been on the move for almost a full day. Fluttershy paused to stretch her body, legs and wings all, while Applejack did the same, taking a deep breath before she followed her friend inside one of the train’s wagons. The ponies in the first sleeper car gave them odd looks as they passed by, glancing over the rims of their books and papers, pausing their conversations before going back to their business. When they entered a second, empty car, Applejack gave a snort and a bark of laughter.

“Reckon we ain’t exactly ready for a gala,” she said. “Haven’t seen a brush for months. When was the last time we had a bath?”

“Um, there was that brook before we left the forest?” Fluttershy asked, shrinking back. “Oh goodness, we probably stink.”

“Nah. It’s honest sweat and grime, sugar,” Applejack grinned, reaching out to touch a hoof to the pegasus’ face. Fluttershy critically inspected her own coat in proper lamplight for the first time in goodness knew how long, and she had a vague feeling she was supposed to be a brighter yellow than this. Applejack mane and tail were nearly as long as hers. They had failed to find any decent replacement for her hairbands, and the makeshift things they’d tried never lasted.

“Well, um. I’d still like a bath. I still think you look really nice with your mane out,” Fluttershy offered.

“So you keep saying. T’aint about looks. It’s about practicality,” Applejack huffed, but she smiled still. “Anyhow, won’t find me objecting to soap either. Reckon you’ve gained a bit of muscle too,” she added, tapping Fluttershy’s chest.

“I suppose,” Fluttershy muttered. She wasn’t quite sure what to say, glad of the interruption when Ploughshod entered, gently easing himself through the narrow door. His large frame and larger armor was a tight fit. He spat three tickets out on one of the free beds and craned his neck to undo one of the straps of his golden accoutrements.

“Right,” he said. “This train goes through Appaloosa to Vanhoover via Ponyville, and it’s a proper earth pony train, none of that steam nonsense. Should be two nights. Still can’t believe you two girls are here and alright.”

“The princesses were looking for us?” Applejack asked. “Heard something about that out and about way down south, too.”

“Um, actually, sorry to interrupt, but our friends—” Fluttershy said, raising a hoof.

“Oh horseapples, they’re alright, aren’t they?” Applejack asked, her eyes growing wide. “He’d have told us, I mean, you’d have told us if they weren’t okay, right? You’ve been to Ponyville—”

“Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle—” Fluttershy added.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down,” Ploughshod said, taking a few steps back. Fluttershy clopped a hoof to her mouth and blushed, but Applejack did not budge an inch.

“They’re fine as far as I know,” he explained, looking back and forth between the two ponies. “The princess told us to look for you, and she’s repeated that message every so often. If more of you were missing, she’d have told us, I’m sure, and I know Twilight Sparkle is okay at least. One of the messages sent from the princess was written by her, on the princess’ behalf.”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took deep steady breaths until she trusted her voice not to crack. “Okay. Thank you,” she managed.

“I’m happy to hear that, but why’s Twilight sending letters for Princess Celestia?” Applejack asked.

“For Princess Luna,” Ploughshod corrected her. “She’s acting princess for the moment. You’ve been gone, so you wouldn’t know of course, sorry.”

“What?” Fluttershy asked. “Is—is Princess Celestia taking a break?”

Ploughshod scratched his cheek and glanced to the side. “Uh. I don’t suppose you two are hungry? You’ve been gone for months, so, uh.”

“What happened?” Applejack asked, furrowing her brow. The stallion sighed and hopped on to a free bed, the entire construction shaking from the weight of a fully armored pony as he sat and faced them.

“We don’t know exactly. I wasn’t there. Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and the three other Elements of Harmony—I guess those’re the ones you asked about—they left Equestria, a search party.”

“Thought you said they were back home,” Applejack interrupted, giving voice to the sinking feeling in Fluttershy’s stomach.

“And they probably are. They returned the next day. Night, really. Celestia’s fallen under some sort of spell or other. At least, they say it’s a spell, because the best physicians in Equestria are stumped. She just fell asleep, and she won’t wake up. They say she’s not doing well,” he finished, his gaze downcast. “The guard’s not taking it too well. The captain’s blaming it on himself for letting her head out without an escort.”

“Nevermind the guard,” Applejack snapped. “She ‘fell asleep’?”

“That’s what it looks like,” Ploughshod said, nodding briskly. “Saw them bringing her past the fortress and hurrying back to Canterlot. She just looked like she was having a nap, but that was early last month.”

Fluttershy swallowed. Already she was back in the old valley fortress they had happened upon so long ago. The ancient tapestries flew past her eyes, along with the words that Brighthoof had written in his second journal. The secret that had led to Brighthoof’s demise, the knowledge that had seemed so infinitely pointless and disconnected at the time now brought to the fore again. Alicorns lay at rest by a dying flame, the Elements out of reach. In Applejack’s eyes, she saw recognition, and she knew that she was thinking the same.

“Sugar?” Applejack murmured. “This sounds awfully familiar.”

“What do we do?” Fluttershy asked, her voice thin.

“You know something about this?” Ploughshod chimed, perking up. The guard in him shone through as he narrowed his eyes. “If you have knowledge about what happened—”

“The Elements,” Fluttershy said, fumbling for words. “I—we don’t know exactly, but—”

“Forget the trinkets,” a dark voice commented. “They are foci, nothing more.”

“I swear I’m gonna glue the darn bottle shut,” Applejack growled, letting the bottle fall out from her tail. Ploughshod was up on all fours in an instant so fast, he banged his head against the stacked bed above him.

“You fools, let me speak!” the voice hissed, and Applejack paused with her hoof on the cork, the very image of skepticism.

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Fluttershy said with a weak smile at their stallion friend. “He’s a very bad pony, but maybe we should hear him out?”

“I wanted revenge, yes, but for her to fall and be lost?” Brighthoof said, a thin tendril of smoke snaking its way out from the bottle to sway in tune with his voice. “Is it not enough that one of us has died? I never wanted this. Not like this. Listen.”

“We’re listening,” Applejack said, her hoof still resting on the bottle in silent threat. “Just say something worthwhile, why don’t you.”

“You’ve obviously paid some attention, you know that the alicorns are creatures of harmony, and the princesses more so. If she’s weakening, it’s related to the ties that bind her.”

“But what do we do?” Applejack asked, rubbing her face. “Half an hour ago, I was thinking about what to have for dinner when I got back home and all, and now this? I can’t believe it! Is she in danger?”

“Maybe we just need to gather the Elements, um, or us, the bearers?” Fluttershy suggested.

“It is not an exact science,” the bottled unicorn commented, for once sounding almost contemplative. It was a welcome relief from the angry growl that usually accompanied his words. “For ponies such as they, harmony is in their blood. I cannot say what caused this based on what little information this oaf has given me—”

“Hey!” Ploughshod called, momentarily breaking out of his shocked stupor.

“—but I presume it is the result of some internal conflict combined with trying to leave her home. Celestia was right, but so was I. I refuse to believe she’d fall over just from leaving her peoples’ embrace alike this, but if she was already struggling with something, it’s possible.”

“And we fix it how?” Applejack repeated, a little louder.

“I do not have a clear answer, foal!” the bottle snapped, the smoky tendril thrashing about. “Gathering the bearers is a natural first step, but forget the jewelry. I’ve never seen them, but i have read about them. If you’ve recovered them since my leaving, brilliant, you’re not entirely worthless, but unless you intend to bring harm to her, they’re pointless. They are for putting the Elements to use as weapons. The bearers are what matters. You. And if she’s already in decline, every second counts!”

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Fluttershy suggested. “It makes sense.”

“As much sense as anything does right now,” Applejack half-agreed, motioning to the bottle and looking askance at Fluttershy, who gave a small nod.

“We’ll let you know if we have any further questions. Thankee mister ghost pony,” Applejack concluded, jamming the cork back on properly.

Ploughshod cleared his throat. “Okay, so...”

“He’s a ghost of a pony. Or, maybe more than a ghost, but his name is Brighthoof,” Fluttershy explained, crawling atop the bed where Applejack sat, opposite from the guard pony. Just as she sat down at her friend’s side, a whistle could be heard from somewhere outside, and the train soon started moving.

“He tried to do a lot of mean things to us,” the pegasus continued. “He didn’t want us to get home, and he’s very very angry. He used to be, anyway.”

“So Fluttershy here bottled him,” Applejack finished for her, grinning as she leaned against her.

“Um. And that. The bottle is magical,” Fluttershy affirmed with a blush.

Ploughshod puffed out his cheeks at let out a low whistle,running a hoof through his short mane. “Alright. Right. This is way above my pay grade. You and those friends of yours who passed by the fortress earlier, the loud one, the pretty one and the pink thing, you’re the Elements?”

“Honestly, why does everypony but us obsess over that again?” Applejack muttered.

“We were informed by the princesses, national security and all that,” Ploughshod shrugged. “So if it’s you six, you’re thinking you need to gather up?”

“I think so,” Fluttershy said, glancing over at Applejack before continuing. “The others will be in Ponyville unless—unless that’s all changed too,” she added, folding her ears.

“And then we better high-tail it on over to wherever the princess is,” Applejack agreed. “Which, if everything’s upside down now, is probably down in my apple cellar.”

“She’ll be in Canterlot,” Ploughshod said, not so much as smiling at that remark, slipping off the bed.

“Where are you going?” Fluttershy asked.

“To talk to the ponies up ahead, send a message to those who drive the train. I’m gonna tell them that we’re not stopping before Ponyville, and then we’re heading straight for Canterlot. I’ll pick up something edible from the food car on my way back,” he said, trotting the length of the car and heading up the train without waiting for a reply.

“He’s nice,” Fluttershy commented, laying down on top of the blanket, all too aware that she was smudging the clean white sheets. She really wanted that bath, now. Her hooves weren’t so much dirty as the soil, dust and mud had become part of her.

“It’s nice to meet somepony who’s on our side again,” Applejack agreed, resting her head atop Fluttershy’s withers. “Thought things would get simpler for it, with us being back, but this ain’t over, is it? Princess Celestia, of all things,” she muttered.

“I hope she’s okay,” Fluttershy sighed. “This is terrible.”

“Me not getting me an apple pie right as I step off the train on to Ponyville station, that’s sad. Bet you’re missing all the little critters you left behind too, and that’s saying nothing of wanting to see all our friends and family,” she said, pausing there for a moment. “Just want to give them all a hug and go to sleep for a week.”

Fluttershy nodded along with this. She closed her eyes briefly and thought about it, about what she wanted to do first of all. There was so much she needed to do, so many things to say to so many ponies.

She would tell Rainbow Dash, and accept whatever came of it. She knew she wouldn’t lose her as a friend. At worst, all that would be lost was a terrible weight she’d carried with her for so very long. She would need to talk to her parents, too. They loved her, and she loved them back; the rest mattered so very little next to this.

“No,” Applejack said, rolling over so she lay with her hooves in the air, resting against Fluttershy who was glad for the contact. “Terrible? Terrible is what it’d been if we didn’t find our way back, sugar. The rest’s bad, but we’ll fix this yet.”

Fluttershy nodded without hesitation, turning around to look at Applejack where she lay smiling a tired but honest smile.

“And then we’ll both have some apple pie,” Fluttershy said. “If you’d like to share.”

Applejack laughed. “I’ll bake you your very own pie with extra cinnamon and twice as many apples.”

“I would like that very much,” Fluttershy admitted, giggling. “And perhaps some cider, too? Then you can visit me sometime and I’ll bring out the tea I bought in Canterlot years ago. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think it’s about time.”

Applejack’s laughter slowly petered out, leaving the two mares smiling contentedly until the earth mare again broke the silence.

“Sugar?”

“Yes?”

“I mean it. Please don’t go off and be a stranger again, y’hear? We’ve lived next door to one another for the longest time, but I can count on my legs the amount of times I’ve popped by other than when Winona’s sick. That just ain’t right.”

Fluttershy leaned back to touch snouts with her and nodded, the only noise being the steady clickety-clack of the train itself. When Ploughshod stepped back into the wagon a few minutes later, Fluttershy was halfway to asleep.

“Alright, this train is now officially under Royal Guard command,” he announced.

Fluttershy rubbed at her eyes and yawned. “Oh. Um. That’s good, I think?”

“It means there’ll be one heck of a lot of explaining for me to do sometime later,” the stallion countered with a shrug. A second later, the train car jerked, and he swiftly spread his hooves to steady himself while the two mares yelped and rolled over in the bed.

“What in the hay was that?” Applejack demanded.

“That was the earth pony team pulling this train accepting my challenge to do the Nettlestead-Ponyville run in half the usual time,” he said with a grin. “You Apples ain’t the only family with ties around Equestria. One of them’s a cousin of mine.”

“Also, found a guard who’s off duty. Shrike Star. He’s a pegasus scout, and he’s agreed to fly across Lake Mirth when we approach the last stretch. If he’s half as fast as he says, he’ll get word to Ponyville half an hour early. See if we can get your friends to wait at the station.”

Fluttershy’s heart leapt at the thought. She was tired beyond belief still, but it was impossible to think of her friends without feeling a little giddy.

“Well, that’s mighty useful,” Applejack said, nodding. “Thank you kindly.”

Ploughshod scratched at his muzzle and shrugged. “You’d be surprised to hear how eager ponies are to help when the princesses are mentioned. Just don’t fail, huh? I’ll go get that food I forgot about.”

Comments

[SomeponyTheVectorer]

My god, reading this last stretch is making my heart soar! They've done it, they're coming home!

Small mistake I found in the chapter.

“I do not have a clear answer, foal!” the bottle snapped, the smoky tendril thrashing about. “Gathering the bearers is a natural first step, but forget the jewelry. I’ve never seem them, but i have read about them. If you’ve recovered them since my leaving, brilliant, you’re not entirely worthless, but unless you intend to bring harm to her, they’re pointless. They are for putting the Elements to use as weapons. The bearers are what matters. You. And if she’s already in decline, every second counts!”

Next chapter!

Edit: Also, I think Brighthoof said "Quite" when I think he meant "Quiet", although with his weird manner of speaking, it's hard to tell.

[mrjerrio]

You know what, scratch what I said about Brighthoof.

[Bumble Berry]

I've finally finished the chapter, and I'm so happy they're finally coming home! Two more chapters to go before the epilogue, I better hurry.

[JAG]

And, again, it's Brighthoof. Guess he turned out to be a jerk, but two hundred years in an A.I.'s dungeon would probably do that to anypony. So he still gets some sympathy. That he's willing to help Celestia now gives him a bonus point.

On a happier note, AJ and Fluttershy are home! Not out of the woods yet, given the Celestia thing, but still. And of all things, now they're the ones on a rescue mission. Kind of funny, in a messed-up way.

Ploughshod deserves a mention, too. Finally, a Royal Guard gets to be useful, even if it is just a glorified version of their usual escort jobs.

[Altair4]

Thankee? is that a dark tower reference? cool

[Cedric Bale]

Back in Equestria! :whyistherenosuperhappyAJicon:

[Kapuchu]

fim.413chan.net/oatmeal/src/129887811759-CHEER.gif
They made it back to Equestria! They're home!

[Eakin]

I like Brighthoof. I picture him and his bottle as Murray the Talking Skull.

"Soon I shall stride through the gates of Canterlot and-"
"Stride, sugarcube?"
"ROLL! Roll through the gates of Canterlot! Must you take the fun out of everything?"

[avidreader07]

I'm not sure why, but somehow, the funniest part of this chapter is Ploughshod's description of the other bearers. The loud one, the pretty one, and the pink thing. Not pink one, but pink thing! They were there for what, hours? Maybe overnight? I forget. And that's enough for the guards to question her...humanity, so to speak. It actually made me stop reading for a minute to just laugh.