Friendship Was Magic

by Error732

Chapter II

Applebloom only made it most of the way to Canterlot before they kicked her off the train. She'd stowed away in a freight car at Ponyville station, lured in by the scent of packing hay. By the time they kicked her out, she'd stuffed herself so much she'd nearly forgotten where she was going.

The euphoria of satiation faded, however, and she refocused her sights on Canterlot, where she was sure to find Twilight Sparkle. Last she'd heard, Twilight had returned there to work and study, though she didn't know exactly where.

Even if Twilight was difficult to find, Applebloom certainly was not. The capital was a place of white dresses and polished buckles, and Applebloom was at best a stained rag. Noses turned up in her presence, gazes wandered aside, and strides diverted away. Applebloom crept down the streets like an ant across a ballroom.

After much wandering, Applebloom found the academic quarter, where she visited countless buildings faced with marble columns, pestered countless secretaries behind mahogany desks, and followed endless instructions across campus after campus. At last, one particularly unimpressed unicorn took pity on her long enough to look up Twilight's name in a university catalog. She had graduated, it seemed, and started work at some nearby royal offices.

The building was squat and plain. Small windows dotted its exterior on each of its half dozen floors, and, on her hind legs, Applebloom could just barely peek inside. She had never seen so many unicorns working at once. Each of them stood only a hoof's breadth away from the next, rows and rows of ponies inking quills and scratching them to paper. Scrolls and codices glowed faintly with magic as they drifted above the heads of other workers, each landing neatly atop a pile on some pony's desk. Except for the relentless crunch of official seal punches, Applebloom could make out no sound.

A bell sounded, and, in continuing clockwork, the unicorns sheathed their quills and began filing out, as excitedly as sea slugs. Applebloom scanned the crowd for a familiar face, and, after several anxious minutes, spotted one.

It was Twilight. She looked different, in little ways. Her mane was dull, and her infamous lavender highlight had been subdued under a dense bun. She wore a black and white blouse, identically to each of her coworkers. Even her fur was plain, having lost its vibrant, youthful hue like so much smudged lipstick.

Applebloom ambushed her as she exited the main doors. "Twilight Sparkle, it's you!" she cried, her voice slightly hoarse.

Twilight Sparkle reacted to the sight of her friendly assailant with a start, freezing up before the delayed onset of recognition. "App . . . Applebloom?"

"That's right! I found you at last!" Applebloom allowed herself something resembling enthusiasm for the first time in months.

Twilight Sparkle studied the emaciated mare before her. "Are you okay? What happened to your hip?" she asked, staring at Applebloom's flank.

"That's my cutie mark," replied Applebloom, matter-of-factly.

"Oh," said Twilight.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle's home was more of a stable than an apartment; every cubic inch of it had been appropriated for one of a very few essentials: a narrow bed, an under-equipped kitchenette, some water-damaged cupboards, and a lonely shelf of books. A second bed lay not far from Twilight's; her roommate was away for a week, leaving just enough space for Twilight and Applebloom to swing their tails.

"I wish I could help you," said Twilight Sparkle, "but I'm not exactly well-to-do, myself. After I left Ponyville, I went back to my classes, and I racked up more student loans than I could afford. I'm practically an indentured servant until the school of magic takes pity on me. I wish I could quit my job and move back to Ponyville; I never really appreciated the convenience of having a princess for a sponsor until she was assassinated."

At the mention of Celestia's death, a beat of silence interrupted conversation. Applebloom had still been a foal at the time, but the Princess's death had transcended the blinders of youth and innocence. Like every other pony in Equestria, a part of her would forever remain frozen in the memory of when and where she first heard the news. Applejack had come galloping home one disrespectfully beautiful spring day, tears in her eyes and panic in her voice. The story had jumbled at first, loud and malformed, and it was only through tedious interrogation that the truth was gleaned.

An unknown pegasus pony, acting alone, had dropped a rock on her from in impossible height, taking the princess and her royal guard unawares. While Celestia was transported to what would be unsuccessful medical care, half the royal army gave chase. The perpetrator surrendered just outside of Cloudsdale. She wore a slate-grey coat and a subdued mane; the only remarkable aspects of her appearance were her brilliant gold eyes. She was delirious, a simpleton of no faculty, and would give no meaningful answers after a month's questioning. Tens of thousands attended her execution.

The Long Night followed, prolonged not by the agony of a bereaved kingdom but by an absent sun. Princess Luna had assumed her sister’s throne young and unseasoned; it took what might have otherwise have been counted as weeks for her to compel the sun to rise again. The blow to Equestrian farms had devastated food supplies, to say nothing of apple farmers. Luna had made few public appearances since, either out of shame for her early mistakes or sorrow for her murdered sibling.

And, now, at a moment's notice, the two of them mourned all over again. After a sufficiently painful minute had passed, Applebloom asked, "Ain't there nothing at all you can do? Applejack's too proud to ask for help, but we ain't had a decent meal in weeks."

Twilight Sparkle sighed defeatedly. "I can give you a place to crash for the night, since my roommate's away. I can spare you a hot meal and maybe the train fare home. But my means are limited. I wish I could go back and tell myself to put off classes. I wish I could go back and tell your family to prepare for some rough harvests. But there's no easy spell to turn back time."

Applebloom bowed her head in understanding. "Thank you kindly, Twilight Sparkle. I'll repay you one day, if I can."

The rest of their evening continued in heavy silence. It wasn't until they were finishing the last drops of a thin soup dinner that Twilight thought to remark, "You know, there might be one pony you might talk to before heading back . . ."

Comments

[fuck mcdickbutt]

OW

RIGHT IN THE HAPINESS

[Nantheo]

Slate-grey coat... Gold eyes... Delirious...

Wild guess, but did Derpy just accidentally drop a boulder on Celestia?

Must read on!

[Howling Wolves]

Derpy! Why??

[Spades_of_Ace]

Oh now that's just a bullet to my heart buddy.

[themanesix]

No, no nononono......, maybe I need more suspension of disbelief, but even in grief wouldn't Luna cover Twilight? Also how could said assassination have happened. She would have had to have been outside in one spot for a decent amount of time and neither her or her guards caught and/or sensed it............

[Cyborcat]

I'll be honest, I have a hard time believing 2 things:

1. That Applejack would be so stubborn as to have her whole family suffer for this long before accepting help from anyone. If it was just her, maybe. But Applebloom and Granny Smith (why are you calling her Granny Apple, BTW?) as well? Not so sure I buy that, especially after some episodes where she DID accept help from her friends.

2. Princess Celestia was killed by a rock? Really? After being alive and not aging for hundreds of years, she's taken out by a rock? Don't you think that if she could be killed by normal means, it would have happened a LONG time ago?

... that came out rantier than I intended, but in any case, you've got an interesting premise going here and I generally like how it's written (and having an adult Applebloom as a main character is interesting), so I'll overlook those aspects of the backstory and keep reading. Just wanted to share my $.02 on that.