A Rather Large Adventure

by BradyBunch

Chapter Seventy-one: Applejack Rising

Tempest Shadow was not one for expressing emotion. She had gotten to the point where even feeling it was a rarity. The Storm King’s conditioning had driven her to suppress it, even under stress or duress.

But simply seeing the hometown of the Elements of Harmony, something so innocuous and homely… made something ancient and dark slither within her.

Hey! What happened to her horn?

Did you get hurt or something? Did it change you?

Let’s go somewhere else, guys. I-I don’t want to get hurt!

These buildings… these streets… they seemed awfully familiar to her, in some odd, heartfelt way. They made her both nostalgic and fearful. Her legs shook as she stood on the wooden platform, unable to take a reliant step into town.

Tempest didn’t know if she could do it again.

Twilight sidled alongside her with soft steps, her look also empty and haunted as she too gazed into her hometown. She looked like she was seeing it for the first time, like a visitor or a reluctant tourist.

“Well,” Rainbow awkwardly said, breaking the silence. “Home sweet home.”

And after a moment more, they moved as one into Ponyville.

The journey had come full circle for these ponies. Tempest must only imagine how pained it must be to be back where they started, among the buildings and ponies they all knew. The town hadn’t changed at all. But the ponies had. Tempest knew than none of them were the same as when they had left. A grim maturity was in the lines of their faces now, in the bags under their eyes, in the toughened hooves that had gathered dust from one end of the continent to the other.

Tempest was glad to see they were growing up, and their exposure to the devils of this world had done the job marvelously. Whereas for her… what was her change?

Tempest knew it. She hated it. But it was a part of her now.

The Storm King was a thing of the past. The past was irrelevant to who she was now. Ponies were her kin now. Power was shown in the friendship they shared. Death and pain had been conquered--or had they? Tempest Shadow knew that pain would never go away. But did negligence of pain negate its effects?

“Twilight? I-is that really you? A-are you… back?”

Tempest’s attention was drawn to a flower vendor with a pink coat and vivid green hair. She was gaping at the group as they came near. And many other vendors were staring at them too, along with the customers in their lines. Gasps and whispers flurried about. Their reentry hadn’t exactly been a fanfare, after all, and only now were ponies starting to pay attention to their presence.

“Daisy,” Twilight said simply, scanning her as if she was completely new to her. “Yes, it’s me. H-how are you?”

“How am I?” Daisy asked, blinking in surprise. She shook her head. “How am I? What about you? You look like you haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in weeks! What did you do on that adventure you had?”

Tempest had a good idea that Twilight didn’t want to talk about it.

“It’s a long story,” Twilight replied.

“We all missed you, you know,” Daisy said after a pause. “The town didn’t seem right without you. Or any of the hijinks that would ensue every week. It felt… odd. Like a part of ourselves was torn out.”

“A part of myself was lost as well,” Twilight said, all serious. “I don’t know if things can ever go back to the way they were.”

“Was it because of the war?” came a new voice. Two other ponies, vanilla and pink, popped up beside her, as if from nowhere. The pink one had spoken.

“We heard tell that an invasion of Manehattan occurred,” came the vanilla one, and she seemed the most distraught. “Towns all across the country have begun to mobilize. My husband got drafted!”

“It’ll be okay,” piped up Noble. “We’ll put a stop to it. I promise.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again,” she lamented. “I just… the thought of us being at war… I’m not sure I can stomach it.“

“Did anything happen while we were out?” came Rarity.

“Not really. We were all just… really… really… nervous,” said the pink one, beginning to shake.

“Where are you going now?” came Daisy.

“To the Tree of Harmony,” Starlight Glimmer spoke up.

Daisy gave a reluctant shrug. “I guess you should know what you’re doing. You’ve done this all before, right? Good luck with that.”

The party drifted away after saying goodbye to the vendors and began to move through the town to the opposite end.

Ponies threw open their windows to gape at the returning adventurers, whose journey was not yet over. Their main whispers had to do with how they all looked… changed. Their manes are frazzled, look at that! Yes, I see it. What must they have gone through? See their eyes? They look tough. Even Fluttershy, can’t you see? Who’s that newcomer, she doesn’t look familiar. Why is her horn missing?

Tempest began to feel a pain in her head that had nothing to do with her stumpy horn.

“Twilight?” came Applejack after a while. “Can Ah go to Sweet Apple Acres ta say hi to my family?”

“... Fine,” Twilight allowed. “We’ll take a break when we reach the outskirts of the forest. I can close up Noble's wounds with that time. Get back in two hours at most, and once you do, we’ll head to the Tree.”

“Tempest?” Applejack asked, and Tempest turned. Applejack gave a jolt of her head. “Wanna come? Ah can show ya th’ farm.”

Tempest didn’t really see any reason why she should refuse, and besides, she was suddenly curious as to this elusive earth pony. “Fine.”

---

As they approached the entrance to the farm on the well-worn dirt path, Tempest couldn’t keep herself from widening her eyes involuntarily. The sheer scope of the fields and fields of apple trees made her halt in place for just a moment.

“Eeyup,” Applejack confirmed, putting an arm around Tempest. “Everyone’s got that reaction at first. Some days even I can’t help but feel proud of it all.”

Tempest shrugged Applejack’s arm off. “I thought ponies like you were supposed to be humble.”

“Th’ only thing I take pride in is what I do, not in who I am,” Applejack replied.

They headed down the dirt path that led to a tremendous red barn, passing by rows and rows of apple trees. While Applejack had a blissful, nostalgic expression, Tempest felt a sharp twist in her gut. She had almost taken her away from this farm forever. How many farms and fields had the Storm King burned? This could easily have been one of them.

Before they even reached the barn, a large red stallion barged out of the doors and charged right at Applejack. They met head-on and both of them ended up in a close, loud hug, laughing and spinning as the impromptu reunion took place. Tempest held back respectfully, allowing the two of them their moment.

“Sis!” Big Mac bellowed, setting her down roughly. “Ah never knew ya were comin’ again! It’s felt like ages!”

“It’s great ta see ya too, Mac,” Applejack said with a wide smile, giving her brother a hard noogie. “How’s the farm? Did the barn burn down without me around?”

“Eenope,” he simply said, throwing his head out of her way and pushing her back. “But it came close a few times. Few of the cows didn’t take too kindly to yer absence, if ya know what Ah mean.”

“Did we get the harvesting all done?”

“Without you, Ah had ta get some enlisted help from the townsfolk. Ah paid ‘em fer their trouble.”

“How’s Granny?”

Big Mac turned serious. “She’s been holdin’ together. I wish Ah could say she’s doing better’n that.”

“...Whadda ya mean?” the farmer managed to get out, worry crossing her face. “She’s not--”

“Oh, she ain’t dead,” Big Mac said, sitting on his rump. “But her health’s gone down. Without an extra hoof ta help out, she’s been busier’n ever, and even though she’s Granny Smith, her energy’s gonna run out someday.”

Applejack looked distraught. “I… Granny…”

“She never stopped worryin’ about ya,” Big Mac murmured. “Neither did Apple Bloom.”

“And what about you?”

“O’ course Ah worried!” he interjected. “But Ah didn’t show it. It wasn’t what we needed. What they needed was a rock they could stand on, and if Ah wasn’t that rock, who could be?”

“Not all rocks stay strong forever,” Applejack reassured him, taking off her hat.

“Ah know,” he said, with the air of a child who had been reminded of a rule, even though Applejack was five years his younger. “But still, I…” His eyes finally fell on Tempest, who was watching the scene with an air of awkwardness. “Who’re you?”

“Tempest Shadow,” she whispered.

Big Mac looked like he wanted to say something, but he settled for a simple, bemused, “...Eeyup.”

“We met ‘er on the journey,” Applejack quickly explained. “She’s been a real help, right?”

Taking the cue, Tempest followed with the simple word, “Absolutely.”

“She ain’t of much words,” Applejack continued, in an encouraging tone. “You two’d get along fine!”

Big Mac looked her in the eyes and, after a pause, said, “Eeyup.”

What was with him? He talked fine around Applejack, but not to strangers. Sibling bonds, maybe. Tempest obviously made him uncomfortable.

So, feeling empathetic, she backed off, leaving them both to their own devices, and, before Applejack could call her out, meandered around the barn, inspecting the settlement.

After some time walking without much of a goal or direction, she came across a small treehouse. Tempest pondered… a younger sibling, obviously. She had mentioned an Apple Bloom. Was she in there?

Those thoughts vanished when she heard the sounds of laughing and shouting from a row of apple trees. Turning her head to the source, three fillies ran out, laughing breathlessly and shouting competitively, as they bounced a yellow ball from snout to snout, keeping it from touching the ground.

Tempest froze. No.

The fillies froze as well. The white one did first, and as a result, the ball bounced off her forehead with a comical bonk and rolled to a stop at Tempest’s armored hooves.

Tempest couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. It was all coming back to her.

“Wha…” came the orange one with purple hair as she ogled the imposing frame of Tempest Shadow.

“Where’d she come from?” asked the white one, looking quizzical.

“...Who in tarnation are ya?” came the one with a tied bow bigger than her head in her mane. Her voice was so young, but it held that same country twinge Applejack carried.

Tempest took a step back. She needed distance. Now.

“Hey, come on. Don’t be nervous,” said the white one, as if speaking to an easily-frightened cat. “It’s okay.”

Was it, though? These were children, ignorant of her actions and past. They couldn’t understand.

“What’s the big deal?” muttered the orange one to the one with the bow. “She’s acting like she’s scared of us. If anything-”

“Scoot! She can probably hear you!” hissed the filly back. “Be kinder!”

“All I said was-”

“I know whatcha said. It ain’t workin’. We’re supposed ta help, remember?”

The white one looked back at her friends. “What are we gonna do? She looks like one tough cookie.”

“Lemme think, Sweetie. Hmm…” said the one with the bow, obviously thinking hard, a hoof to her chin. After a moment, she trotted up to Tempest, who still looked paralyzed. The size difference between them was considerable. “Hiya, uh… ma’am! I’m Apple Bloom! D’ya… want to play ball with us? You looked kinda lonely.”

Never in her entire life had Tempest been rendered so speechless. She couldn’t find the part of herself that had the power to refuse. These fillies… were offering her… to play ball. Her. Tempest felt bewildered at the offer, confused at her grace. Not to mention the lack of hesitation in Apple Bloom’s face when she spoke. Her hopeful, smiling face, the sparkling, wide eyes, the innocent voice she had used… Tempest felt her hard warrior self shut down.

Tempest softly batted the ball at the white one for her unconscious answer. The white one picked it up with her magic and tossed it experimentally at Tempest.

Tempest, who hadn’t registered the fact that she had joined yet, batted it at the orange one. (Scoot?) She bounced it on her hind legs twice before kicking it to Apple Bloom, who tossed it to Tempest again. Tempest, not feeling debased for playing with these fillies (strangely enough), directed it at the white one (Sweetie, her name was), who tossed it high into the air and ran after it, urging the others to follow with a “Come on!”

“First one to let the ball touch the ground is a puddle of tree sap!” Scootaloo challenged, running after it. Tempest and Apple Bloom raced after on instinct.

For a moment, she wasn’t Tempest Shadow anymore. For a moment, she was a little filly looking up to the sky, chasing a ball. For a moment, she was…

Fizzlepop.

---

Applejack followed Big Mac into the house. The smells of her home hit her all at once: The smell of rusty nails, wood, fertilizer, homemade apple dishes, and Granny Smith’s perfume. The shelves and drawers and dressers were all in the same place. It filled Applejack with a comforting sense of familiarity, which she sorely needed after the unpredictability of her adventure.

Applejack noticed that Big Mac didn’t seem like the pony he was before he left. He was fidgety, as if strung too tight. His nerves could probably be plucked like a banjo string.

“All right, now, spit it out.”

Big Mac gave her a sideways glance before looking at the ceiling like a movie was being played on it.

“Big Mac, you’re about as subtle as a brick. Drop the act. Ah know something’s pullin’ atcha.”

“Sis,” he murmured. He made his way to a dresser, opened the top shelf, and drew out an unfurled scroll, shaking in his usually steady hoof. “Sis, I…”

Applejack took the paper from her brother and scanned the sheet. Before she had even reached the end, her eyes had widened larger than the tea plates in the nearby china cabinet.

“It came three days ago,” Big Mac explained, keeping his eyes down. “Ah’m s’possed to be shipped out to help the forces up north.”

Applejack thrust the draft letter away, feeling a mix of queasiness from anger and grief. “When do you have to leave?”

“In a week,” Big Mac replied sadly. “Ah tried sendin’ a letter back, explainin’ ma need ta stay on the farm, but… without me, who’s gonna run it?”

“Ah don’t care that much ‘bout the farm,” Applejack reaffirmed, her voice breaking. “Ah care ‘bout you! I mean… y-you’re gonna leave, and all that’ll be left to run the whole farm is a filly and an old mare! I know how much this place means to me! But you… what if I never see you again? What if the only thing that comes back t’ the farm is… little bits an’ pieces--!”

“Ah’ll be fine,” Big Mac told her, his voice stronger than before. “Ah can handle maself.”

“This is war, Mac,” Applejack refuted him. “No matter how strong you are, once you get pierced by a lucky arrow, it’s all done. Ah’ve seen a thing or two. You can handle yourself, but ya can’t handle this!”

“All I can do is the best I can,” he promised, holding her hoof with his two front legs. “If Ah die, I die. But I’ll die knowing I gave my all to ma family’s freedom. And that’s good enough fer me!”

Applejack’s eyes wavered as tears threatened to spill over. “S-stop tryin’ ta sound so noble, Mac.”

“Should I be a coward instead?” he demanded. “A draft dodger?”

“...I don’t want you to die,” was all she managed to choke out before hugging him, his heavy yoke pressing hard into her chest. “Ah don’t want ta see you go through the same things I have!”

“Ah know,” he murmured, patting her back, interrupting her breathing. “But this is unavoidable. Yer time came, and you met it head-on. It’s time fer me to prove ma mettle.”

Applejack nodded, tears soaking into the crook of his shoulder.

After a while she pulled away. “Ah need to see Granny.”

“Upstairs.”

Applejack trotted upstairs, her head spinning. She hated the idea of her brother away at war. But, she reasoned, that must have been what he felt when she had disappeared. A taste of her own medicine had to have been in order.

Applejack came to Granny Smith’s hoof-carved door, and, after a deep breath to compose herself, opened the door and entered.

Granny Smith was in her large bed, but only her head was above the covers, which were pulled to her chin. She looked even saggier and weary-eyed than usual. A red-and-white polka dot hot water bag was on her head, and a thermometer was between her lips. Seeing the astonished Applejack enter, she shook her head and talked, sounding croaky and weary. “Ah knew it. My eyesight’s failin’ me. It was bound ta happen since my hearing went, but Ah swear Ah can see Applejack right there.”

“It ain’t yer eyes, Granny,” Applejack choked.

Granny Smith seemed to straighten in her bed and produce a look of incredulity. “It’s… really you? You’re finally back from that highfalutin’ adventure?”

“Yes!” she managed to say before running to her bedside and giving her a nuzzle. “Ah’m really here!”

“Oh, come ‘ere, you,” Granny jokingly admonished, giving Applejack a noogie; her hat was off at once. Though Granny was sick and old, she was still as strong as ever.

"All right! All right! Ah get it!" Applejack squirmed away and adjusted the hat back on her scuffed-up head, grinning madly. "I promise ta never scare ya that badly again."

"Don't make promises a gal can't keep," Granny scolded. "Time and time again you go off and save the land. Stop fooling around and get th' priorities right."

"Ah thought I had ma priorities straight already," Applejack said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Jackie," Granny sharply said, and Applejack shut up. When was the last time she had called her that? "Ya can't save anyone if you're dead. You come first before anything else."

"... What about my friends?" Applejack asked. "They come first."

"Ya need-" Granny coughed and wheezed. "Ya need… ta be strong. That's how you help your friends come first."

“I am strong!” the young farmer insisted, holding her grandmother’s hoof while kneeling by her side. “I-I am!”

“In yer legs?” Granny asked. She tapped Applejack’s chest, right above her heart. “Or in here?”

“... Both?” Applejack guessed. “Granny, Ah’ve saved Equestria with a strong heart before, and I’ll do it again! This ain’t gonna be any different!”

“It might be different if ya freeze up at the wrong time,” Granny wheezed. “What in th’ blazes is wrong with you? You go and tell Big Mac to not throw ‘imself inta danger, and then ya turn around and do th’ same thing yerself!”

“What?” Applejack breathed, starting to tremble. “I-I mean… Well, uh…”

Granny had a nonplussed expression deep in the wrinkles of her skin.

“...Hold on a sec--How’d ya hear us from downstairs if yer hearing’s all wonky?”

“Well, you musta done it,” Granny simply said. “I knew this might happen if you ever came back. I’m yer granny. I know everything ta know about my babies.”

“Granny, I… This is bigger than farms. This is bigger than war. This is the world I’ve got ma hooves on that’s at stake. I ain’t gonna be the Mistress of the Plains if there ain’t no plains left. And I can’t help but protect my family to that end.”

“That’s my role. I protect ‘em by keepin’ them behind.”

“That role’s mine. And it’s yours. And Big Mac’s, and Apple Bloom’s, and…” Applejack derailed. Then it hit her. “Oh.”

“See yer mistake yet?” Granny sounded awfully smug for a sick old pony.

Applejack took her hat off yet again and kept her gaze on the old floorboards at her hooves. “Gosh, I feel like such an idiot. To protect everyone you love, you gotta allow ‘em to fight fer themselves and win the day. You can’t do everything yerself. You’ll jus’ end up the biggest hypocrite on Equus.”

Granny grinned satisfactorily. “Big Mac’ll do great, Applejack. He’ll carry on the honor of the Apple family into wartime, and he’ll… give his heart to us and to the whole tootin’ land we love. But you’ll save us all. You’re th’ only one that can use that darnfangled Element o’ Honesty.” In a sudden fit of strength, Granny Smith squeezed Applejack around her middle so hard a premature breath escaped her lungs. “Take care out there. My heart can’t take much more surprises, and having my baby in danger ain’t gonna help it.

“I’m… not yer baby anymore, Granny. I’m… a mare now. I’m not even th’ same pony I was when I left ya. I’ve… traveled the continent. I’ve killed bugs three times bigger’n you. I’m so tired of it all, and I’m… I’m not little. I’ve grown into something… much bigger.”

“Ta me, you’ll always be my little pony,” Granny insisted with a wobbly grin.

Applejack’s usually stoic face wavered before she buried her face into Granny’s shoulder and nodded, holding back the tears. She felt like her throat was closing up, making it hard to breathe or speak, so she didn’t speak, and her breaths came short and quick.

“You’re mine,” Granny murmured, grinning softly while rubbing the shoulders of her grandchild. “You… always will be.”

“Ah know,” said Applejack, and her voice was strained, on the verge of cracking. “Ah know!”

Granny let out a long, long sigh. “If ya gotta save th’ world yet again, go ahead. Who’m I ta stop ya? An old, rickety granny with old, rickety bones?”

“Granny?” Applejack interrupted.

“What is it?” she responded with her hooves on her defiant hips, faux-annoyed.

“...You and I both know that you could bear the weight of the entire world on your shoulders and not break a sweat.”

“You’re overestimating me, Jackie.”

Applejack let out a short laugh and settled her hat back on her head. “Jus’ keep tellin’ yerself that,” she wryly told her. “Th’ next time I see ya, it’ll all be over fer good. Ah Pinkie Promise.”

Applejack trotted to the door and was about to leave before she paused and looked back, as if expecting Granny to say something.

And say something she did.

“Whatchu waitin’ for? Go save the world, Applejack.”

---

It was almost time to go. Applejack was out by the barn, hugging Big Mac. Their strength was so evenly matched that neither of them could break the other first. They were hugging each other so hard, it would have broken any other pony’s ribs after a while. But the Apple family was resilient and tough, which Applejack understood clearly now.

“Don’t ya dare die out there, ya hear?” Big Mac demanded of her.

“Funny,” Applejack almost retorted, grinning. “Ah could say th’ same thing to you.”

“Come to terms with it yet?”

“Ah wouldn’t say completely,” she admitted. “But Ah’m lettin’ ya leave, if you get my drift.”

“You woulda kept me here?” he asked, sounding like it was a challenge. “Ah highly doubt that.”

Hoofsteps caught their attention, breaking their hug. Apple Bloom was slowly stepping towards her, looking as if Applejack was an apparition. Disbelief and joy were mixed with excitedness, and eventually the slow hoofsteps turned into a full-on gallop as she ran at Applejack and collided into her chest.

“Ah know, Ah know,” Applejack said before Apple Bloom could say anything. “Ah’m back.”

Apple Bloom let out a laugh of joy before burying her face into Applejack’s chest and sobbing.

Following Apple Bloom came the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders, plus Tempest Shadow. Applejack caught Tempest's changed demeanor and was momentarily taken aback. She looked lighter; her footsteps came quicker than she remembered. She looked… well, happy was a long shot. Content was a more accurate word. A calm smile, relaxed eyes. It was a look Applejack never expected to see on her. But she was still happy it was there.

"Applejack!" screamed the fillies in separate choirs. "You're here!"

"You're finally back!"

"How was the journey? Dija fight monsters and whack 'em upside the head?"

"We made a new friend!"

"Oh, did you now?" Applejack asked knowingly.

"Yeah! Her name's Fizzlepop Berrytwist. She played ball with us!"

Applejack gave Tempest a raised eyebrow, who seemed unable to meet anypony's eye. As if embarrassed to have the name spoken aloud.

Applejack understood. An innocent alter ego would swerve suspicion of her true, dark nature.

"We met 'er on the trip," Applejack explained. "She'll be going with us."

"Going with you?"

"You mean… you're leaving again?"

"But you just got here!"

"It'll be brief," Applejack hurriedly said. "All we're gonna do is get the Elements of Harmony and find something important, and then it'll all be over."

"I don't want ya to leave!" Apple Bloom protested, nuzzling Applejack's chest even more. "Can't ya stay?"

"I wish I could," Applejack said, and she meant it. Between their adventure and her normal, everyday life, she much preferred this. "But it's by going and doing this that I'll be able to stay with you forever. Ya understand?"

"... Not really," Apple Bloom muttered. Applejack couldn't blame her. It was a toughie, that was certain.

"Listen here," Applejack told her, lifting her sister's eyes so she was level with her own. "It'll be okay. It'll only be a small moment, and if you're a strong little filly and help Granny until we get back, I'll never leave again. Can you do that? Can you be strong?"

"I thought I already was!" Apple Bloom protested. "How much longer d'ya think I can keep this up?"

"Ya don't have to be strong all the time, Apple Bloom," Applejack told her. "Only when ya need to be." She smooched her sister's forehead. "Everything will be okay. I Pinkie Promise."

Her younger sister took a moment before she nodded and smiled to show she could handle it. She set her sister down and stood up.

Tempest and Applejack turned around to go, but Applejack turned around once more. "We'll be back b'fore you can say lickety-split!"

As the pair set off, and the collection of friends and family watched them leave, Apple Bloom whispered, “Lickety-split.”

---

The rest of the ponies were at the entrance to the Everfree by the time Applejack and Tempest got back. Twilight's horn was busy, and Noble's bandages were off, his skin sore, but healed. Some were lounging on the cool grass, gazing up at the skies. Others were whispering amongst themselves in hushed conversations. Still others were looking into the depths of the forest, recalling the first time they had entered in order to reach the ancient castle and tree beyond.

Once the two of them had returned, however, everything came to a halt. An unspoken agreement was present and hung around them like a fog. The ponies were solemn, dark, resolute.

They knew what they had to do now. They knew they were leaving behind everything for the last time.

As one in mind and spirit, the ponies entered the dark forest.

It would be the last time any of them would.

Comments

[FanficReader920]

That ending feels a bit finite, don't ya think. Regardless. GREAT chapter. Tempest was really well written.

[BradyBunch]

9996975
You, sir, are phenomenal. I'm glad I was able to move you in this chapter.