Chapter Two
The Earth Below
Twilight Sparkle yawned, lazily running a brush through her mane with her magic as she made her way downstairs eyes opened so narrowly that they looked still closed.
“I bid thee good morning Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna sang out happily almost causing Twilight Sparkle to jump out of her skin. “It must be nice to be so young and able to sleep in so late.”
“Princess?” The purple unicorn questioned her eyes moving over to a clock and shooting open, “Oh no I slept in, I should have been up hours ago. Oh, my schedule will be completely thrown off, and I had so many plans for us this morning.”
Princess Luna sat at Twilight Sparkle’s desk seeming to have taken over the librarian’s position with books out all around her, parchment and quill held aloft by magic. “Thy should have gone to bed when I advised thou to do so,” The deep purple princess scolded the purple unicorn lightly with a smile. “Thy had ‘thrown off’ my own somewhat. Tis all right, though, I was able to do as intended last night with only a small delay.”
“Oh I’m sorry,” Twilight Sparkle said jumping up and giving a little bow. “I was just so glad to have another pony, as knowledgeable as you, to talk with that I didn’t want the night to end.”
Princess Luna gave a little chuckle, “I see, but it did end when thy fell asleep trying to tell me about current werepony legends. I had to carry thee to thy room; thou was most cute dozing off like that.”
Twilight Sparkle blushed at that and stammered out an apology which the princess deflected. Suddenly the purple, and somewhat now red, mare realized that the entire conversation had passed without a singled snide comment from a certain purple and green dragon. “Where’s Spike?” Twilight Sparkle asked looking around for her assistant. She might have accused him of sleeping in as well without her there to get him up, but she was sure his bed was empty when she woke up.
“I sent him out on an errand; thy have a fine assistant Twilight Sparkle, he was up and doing his chores bright and early.” Princess Luna said looking back and forth from a piece of parchment she was writing on at Twilight Sparkle’s desk.
Twilight Sparkle smiled proudly and was about to thank the princess for the compliment when the door of the library was thrown open with a loud bang. Spike tore into the library his face was filled with panic, and he was out of breath.
“Spike’s what...” Twilight Sparkle started to scold the dragon but was quickly cut off.
“It’s Rainbow Dash; she’s in the hospital! Something happened last night, and she’s all banged up!” Spike shouted waving Twilight Sparkle to the door, “Come on we have to tell the others.”
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh what happened?” Twilight Sparkle asked following Spike from the library her face lined with worry.
“I don’t know I just heard it from...” Their voices faded from Princess Luna’s ears as panic gripped her as well. How could this have happened, everything had gone so perfectly. How could she have made such a mistake? The panic was quickly replaced by frustration, and the princess gritted her teeth angrily wondering how she could have been so foolish.
---
“...ainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash!” The voice asked then called urgently through the dark haze. As Rainbow Dash slowly floated back to consciousness, she became aware of more and more. The voice, the stiff bed she lay in, the hoof clutching her own, the presence of another pony with her, and as she opened her eyes, a bright light and the worried familiar green eyes of her best friend.
“Applejack,” The blue pegasus groaned trying to sit up.
“Whoa there Sugarcube let me help ya, y’all got pretty banged up,” Applejack said releasing her friend’s hoof to help lift her up into a sitting position.
Rainbow Dash looked down at herself, her legs were wrapped in casts along her wings and chest as well, so was her head by the feel of it and her left eye was swollen shut; across her whole body were countless smaller bandages covering minor cuts and scrapes.
Rainbow Dash tried to remember how she had gotten there or even what had happened but a flash of a dark figure and the feeling of uncontrollable falling quickly dissuaded such inquiries causing her to tense up and shiver. “What happened,” She asked weakly not willing to search her thoughts again just yet.
“Ah was hopin’ y’all could tell me that,” Applejack said fixing Rainbow Dash with a frustrated glare. “Ah woke up in the middle of the night t’ such a wild commotion, y’all going off on a Sonic Rainboom no doubt. Ah was already t’ go out there and give ya a piece of mah mind ‘bout wakin’ up hard workin’ ponies. But when ah got outside t’ where yer house was supposed t’ be it was nowhere t’ be seen and ah found y’all on the river bank up to yer eyeballs in mud.”
Applejack took a breath and glared down at the floor, “Ah almost died right there m’self thinkin’ y’all were gone. Ah picked ya up and ran y’all here, it took the doctors hours t’ patch ya up.” Applejack looked back up at Rainbow Dash fixing her glare on her friend this time. “What in tarnation were y’all doing practicing dangerous tricks like that at night, yer lucky I came around when I did or y’all would’ve drowned in that muck.”
“What?” Rainbow Dash yelled in surprise at the blond mare’s accusation. “I wasn’t practicing tricks I was attacked...”
“Ladies if you please,” Interrupted the doctor pushing open the door. “We can hear your conversation down the hall; please keep it down. Especially you Miss Apple, your presence here is a privilege extended to you by myself and my staff given your friendship with Miss Dash, but that privilege can be revoked.”
“No please we’ll keep it down,” Applejack said quickly turning back to Rainbow Dash and fixing her with a hard look, “Right.”
“Ya, ya,” Rainbow Dash waved the whole thing off with a wince of pain, “Ow! Probably not a good idea to strain myself anyways.”
“Good, then you have more friends here to see, girls you can come in now.” The doctor said pushing open the door, and the other girls trotted in.
“Rainbow Dash what happened?” Twilight Sparkle asked leading the pack into the room.
“She got seriously thrashed by the look of it,” Spike replied.
“Oh my, are you going to be ok?” Fluttershy asked rushing to her oldest friend's left side, leaving the other girls, save Applejack, to stand at the end of the bed.
“Oh, you look, terrible darling,” Rarity gasped with concern joining Fluttershy.
“Did they perform any unnecessary surgery on you?” Pinkie Pie asked bouncing in earning her a confused look from everypony. “What? That’s like, the most important question a pony should ask when she wakes up in a hospital.”
“Miss Pie,” A regal voice cut off the doctor’s protest, “I assure thou the medical system in Equestria does not perform ‘unnecessary surgery’ on anypony.” Princess Luna said stepping through the doorway, “Right Doctor.”
“You!” Rainbow Dash shrieked cutting off the doctor again, “I remember now! You did this to me, you destroyed my house, you almost killed Tank, and then you tried to kill me!”
Princess Luna took a few steps back eyes wide with shock, “What does thou mean Rainbow Dash, thou arth mine friend. I would never hurt thee.”
“Ya right I know it was you,” Rainbow Dash shouted flailing in a doomed attempt to get up and face her properly; Applejack and Fluttershy gently pushing her back down to keep her from hurting herself. “You thought I wouldn’t know it was you with your face all shadowy like that, but I knew it was you all along!”
“ENOUGH!” The doctor finally shouted silencing the rest of the room and causing several curious patients and nurses, who had been peeking into the room to see what the commotion was about, to rush back to their rooms. “If this is the kind of disturbance you lot are going to cause my patients then I’ll have to ask you all to leave.”
“No!” Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Fluttershy cried at once. Pinkie Pie, who seemed to trust her friend’s word completely, crouched low, glared and almost growled at the princess. Rarity turned a glare on Pinkie Pie, not quite ready to blame anypony of anything yet, plus she was more than a little protective of the princess. Rainbow Dash continued to glare accusingly at the lunar princess who back-up another step shamefully.
“Please doctor if you just give us a minute alone we’ll be able to sort this all out.” Twilight Sparkle pleaded her hooves together and gave the doctor the most innocent pleading look she could muster, “We’ll be very quiet I promise.”
The doctor fixed her with a stern look then agreed with a sigh, “All right, but if I hear a single raised voice in here I’ll throw the whole lot of you out of my hospital so fast your cutie marks will spin.” He gave them all one last stern look then left closing the door behind him.
They all sighed in relief before Rarity broke the silence that followed, “All right Rainbow Dash what’s this all about? You can’t truly expect us to believe that the Princess tried to kill you.”
“Rarity’s right Rainbow Dash,” Twilight added calmly trying not to offend her friend. “You said your assailant's face was in shadow, so it could have been anypony.”
“Are you calling me a liar,” Rainbow Dash shot back at the unicorns already pushing the boundaries of the volume. “She had wings AND a horn, I don’t know any other ponies around here with both, so unless you’re trying to tell me that Princess Celestia dropped in last night to try and kill me; it had to be her.”
Princess Luna winced at the accusing point of Rainbow Dash’s hoof but quickly recovered holding herself high and stepping forward. “I assure thee Rainbow Dash twas not me who attack thee; truly we parted as friends yesterday.”
“Save it,” Rainbow Dash snapped, not caring at all for the princess’ authority after what had happened. “You might have been ticked ‘cause I beat your highnass, but you tried to kill me!”
“Now hold on there Sugarcube,” Applejack interjected before the accusations got too out of hoof. “Y’all say you saw wings and a horn then ah believe ya, but if y’all didn’t see the princess proper then ah’m inclined to believe her as well. Ah, don’t know nothin’ about this magic mumbo-jumbo stuff.”
“Magic is not mumbo-jumbo,” Twilight growled under her breath.
“But we all seen plenty to know things ain’t always what they seem.”
“AJ’s right Dash,” Fluttershy added quietly, “We need to find out what happened for sure before we go accusing anypony.”
“Fluttershy’s absolutely right we need to go to the scene of the attack and investigate,” Twilight Sparkle said with a definite, but soft, stomp of her hoof.
“If somepony’s fixin’ t’ do Dash in then we otta keep an eye on her too,” Applejack added earning a groan from Rainbow Dash.
“Applejack I don’t need a foalsitter.” She said firmly trying to cross her forelegs only to jump in pain trying to move the broken one.
“That’s too bad cause yer getting one if ah have to stay here night and day mahself,” Applejack replied giving the blue pegasus a hard glare.
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to argue, but Rarity stepped in before she could. “I’ll stay with her for now, something really must be done about the decorum of this room anyway, and I am just the fashionista to do it.”
Rainbow Dash gave a long groan if Rarity volunteered that quickly to take a shift there was no way her friends were going to let her get out of it. Hopefully, she would be able to nap all the way through Rarity’s shift and could always make a fuss and get her kicked out it if got really annoying.
“All right then the rest of y’all can split up the day shifts as ya like. They already agreed t’ let me stay the night so ah’ll take the night shift. Ah’ll show y’all were ah found Dash so y’all can start lookin’ and ah’ll head back to the farm, do a few chores and hit the hay since ah’ll be up for the night.” Applejack laid out the plan, then quickly turned to intercept Rainbow Dash’s whining, “And no! The farm work don’t stop just cause you went and got yerself in t’ trouble.”
The other girls nodded in agreement and they were off like a flash, rushing past the doctor who was coming to give them trouble for getting a little loud and leaving Rarity and Rainbow Dash alone.
“Well,” Rarity said smiling brightly determined to lift up her friend’s spirit. “Let us start with these curtains shall we?’
---
“That was where ah found her, right over there,” Applejack said pointing her hoof over at the bank of the river. She had become more and more nervous as they got closer to the site as if she were afraid that she would suddenly discover that saving Rainbow Dash had been some fantasy and they would find her broken and long dead body still laying there. Although the orange mare did her best to hide this, her friends were quickly beginning to realize that her excuse to go do farm work was just that to get out of having to see these scenes again. For her part, Applejack was never more grateful that she had such friends that she could trust to handle this matter for her.
Twilight Sparkle moved over to the bank of the river; it was easy to find where something had impacted with the mud and been pulled out, the distinct hoofprints of Applejack tracked in and out of the mud around it. Landing in it was probably what saved Rainbow Dash’s life. She looked close to find several blue feathers still stuck in the mud confirming without a doubt that this was where she had fallen. “Alright, everypony spread out and look for anything suspicious.”
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy nodded and split up, Fluttershy moving down the river bank while Pinkie Pie searched the nearby field. “I’ll search the skies,” Princess Luna said spreading her wings to take flight.
“No, wait,” Twilight Sparkle said quickly trotting up to the starry-maned princess. “I’m afraid you can’t help us look.”
Princess Luna looked confused for a moment then sadly folded up her wings. “Of course thou are correct, I am a suspect in this crime so my assistance would be inappropriate.”
“Yes,” Twilight Sparkle said a similar sad look was spreading across her features. “I’m sorry princess, if you wouldn’t mind, please go back the library, for now, I’ll tell you what we found when I get back, I promise.”
Princess Luna just nodded and turned to trot back to town, not feeling up to flying anymore. However, before she had gotten too far, Applejack called out “Wait” and trotted up to the princess.
“Y’all don’t need to go back and wait around at the library all by yer lonesome,” Applejack said with a bit of a forced smile. “Y’all can come back t’ Sweet Apple Acres wit me, some hard work and a nice home cooked lunch will help both our nerves.”
Princess Luna looked at Applejack solemnly for several moments as if trying to find some ulterior motive for her kindness, finding none she simply nodded and followed Applejack giving her and Twilight Sparkle a small smile.
“Twilight come quick it’s Tank,” Fluttershy softly called breaking Twilight Sparkle line of thought as she watched Applejack and Princess Luna depart. She turned to see Fluttershy flying towards her Tank the tortoise hugged to her chest.
“Is he all right?” The purple mare called running up to her yellow friend; Pinkie Pie quickly joined them.
“Yes, thank goodness,” Fluttershy said landing and putting Tank on the ground. “He’s been looking for Rainbow Dash all morning; he’s really worried about her.” Tank looked up at Twilight Sparkle with mournful eyes, giving a groan and nodded.
“Does he know what happened,” Twilight Sparkle asked hoping that with Tank as a witness and Fluttershy’s special talent they would be able to find out what happened first hand.
Fluttershy leaned down, and Tank groaned and shook his head, “No, not really. He said the house just started shaking and then he fell. Rainbow Dash caught him but something hit her, and she dropped him. He didn’t really see any pony but Rainbow.”
Twilight Sparkle sighed disappointed, she put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment before asking. “Can he take us back to where he fell?”
Fluttershy leaned down, and Tank gave seemingly the same groan as before but nodded his head. Using Tank as a guide, the trio quickly made it back to where he had fallen and found what remained of Rainbow Dash’s belongings spread out across the meadow. Most of them were smashed and ruined, but they gathered what they could. Unfortunately, there was not a single clue to be found among the wreckage. Not a single feather that was not Rainbow Dash’s, nor a single hoof print of any pony save themselves.
“Find anything?” Twilight Sparkle asked Fluttershy when they had all regrouped around Tank.
“No Sorry, you Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy asked passing the question on to her bouncy pink friend.
“Yes I am, but I didn’t find any clues either. Did you find anything,” Pinkie Pie asked passing the question on to Tank who shook his head.
“Urrg this is getting us nowhere,” Twilight Sparkle groaned clutching her head in her hooves and shaking it. “We have to think this over from the start; what do we know for sure?”
“Well,” Fluttershy started a hoof to her chin. “We know something attacked Rainbow Dash last night. It was after her specifically because it left Tank alone and it wasn’t a monster because it left her for dead rather than eating her.”
“Oh and it was super strong,” Pinkie Pie chimed in, “And it could fly ‘cuase it knocked her house down.”
Twilight Sparkle thought for a moment, “Maybe not Pinkie; magic could have knocked it down as well, it would just take a few deconstruction spells to the supports.”
“So we’re looking for something that can fly...” Fluttershy began.
“...and can use magic,” Pinkie Pie finished. There was, of course, one creature, one pony, that came to their minds.
“This isn’t looking good for Princess Luna,” Twilight Sparkle said as all three of them bowed their heads in defeat. Twilight Sparkle shook her head ending their stupor. “All right forget that for now, so after she dropped Tank Rainbow, flew that way, and got knocked out of the sky.”
There was a low moan, and the three mares looked down to see Tank shaking his head. “Sorry Tank what was that,” Fluttershy asked leaning her head down next to his. Tank groaned again, and Fluttershy looked a little surprised, “He said she didn’t fly that way at first she flew this way.” Fluttershy related to tortoise’s words pointing the opposite direction towards Whitetail Woods.
“Come on we’ve got to check it out,” Twilight Sparkle said starting off towards the woods. “We can’t have any worse luck there then we did here.”
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie nodded and followed after their purple friend, Fluttershy pausing to pick up Tank.
They spent hours searching every inch of the forest, but most of it was barren with no signs of the presence of anypony. That was until they came across an unforgettable scene. Everything around the fresh stump of a tree had been shredded and punctured with countless wooden needles of all sizes. It was like the maw of some terrible creature full of nothing but countless long sharp wooden teeth leading towards the center, the tree stump.
“Wow this is kinda super creepy,” Pinkie Pie said with a shiver while Fluttershy quivered behind her pink friend clutching Tank to her fearfully.
Twilight Sparkle’s horn flashed with magical energy, and she was instantly teleported onto the stump. Looking it over it was easy to see that no monster nor logger had cut down the tree, its surface was perfectly smooth, and only magic could have cut it in such a way. She turned back to her friends still standing on the edge of the scene and shouted, “Fluttershy! Fluttershy you have to fly around and look for clues. Pinkie Pie and I can’t search up in the trees very easily, and we can’t disturb the scene.”
Pinkie Pie looked back at her yellow pegasus friend, who was shivering nervously and gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s alright Fluttershy I know it’s scary, but we gotta do it to help Dashie.”
Fluttershy swallowed nervously but nodded, “Al-alright,” She put Tank down and tentatively took flight to search the area. She had only been searching a few minutes when she reached the top of a nearby tree and shrieked, “Twilight!”
Twilight Sparkle, who had been watching the pink-maned pegasus intently quickly summoned up her magic and teleported to a thick branch at the top of the tree that Fluttershy was hovering near. She looked down at what Fluttershy had found to see several blue feathers pinned to the trunk of the tree.
Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy quickly made their way back down to join Pinkie Pie. “Whatta dja see, whatta dja see?” Pinkie Pie asked bouncing up and down curiously.
Twilight Sparkle explained about the feathers and convinced Fluttershy to keep looking around for more clues, but even after agreeing the yellow pegasus gave the tree a wide berth.
“This was definitely where Rainbow was attacked, but she must have managed to get away. Still,” the purple unicorn looked back at the smooth flat stump, “Whoever did this had powerful magic.”
“And was a cruelly cruel mean meanie head to do that to Dashie and the poor trees.” Pinkie Pie said looking over the scene.
“Twilight,” Fluttershy called softly flying up to her friends holding out a hoof that held more blue feathers. “I found more feathers over there heading back the way we came from.”
“They’re Dash’s all right,” Twilight Sparkle said looking from the feather’s and back the way they had come. “This must have been where she turned back; she must have been flying incredibly fast. Did you find any sign of her attacker?”
Fluttershy shrank back from her friend worried the answer might upset her. “No, I’m sorry; I looked as hard as I could.”
Twilight smiled reassuringly at her friend, “It’s ok Fluttershy, you tried your best, there probably just nothing out there to be found.”
“Ya you did great,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “We wouldn’t have found any clues if it weren’t for you.”
Fluttershy smiled weakly at that and thanked her friends; she was glad they were so understanding but wished she could have done more to help Rainbow Dash.
“Come on girls we’ve been out here for hours, and I don’t think there is much else we’ll be able to find. I need to get back and make sure the princess gets her rest and somepony should go relieve Rarity.” Twilight Sparkle said turning and starting back towards Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie Pie bouncing after her.
Fluttershy picked up Tank and flew after them, “I’ll go watch Rainbow Dash next.” The yellow pegasus volunteered softly, looking down at the tortoise. “I’ll take Tank with me; I’m sure Dash will be happy to know he’s ok.”
The others nodded in agreement, and Fluttershy took off for the hospital leaving them to make their way to the farm.
---
Applejack gave out a long, loud yawn as she moved from one tree to the next. She squinted at the tree trying to decide through her sleepy haze if the apples in it were ready to be bucked.
“Thou look most ill with fatigue dear Applejack,” Princess Luna said stepping up to the blond pony. “Thou needn’t push thyself so hard. Thou should seek rest; I can return to the library by myself.”
Applejack shook her head slowly, “Don’t y’all worry Princess ah’m just fine. Ah pushed myself much harder than this before. ‘sides Twilight will be here soon to come ‘n get ya, y’all shouldn’t be wanderin’ around alone.” Applejack said approaching the tree and bucked it with all her considerable strength, knocking down all the apples held in its branches, then added. “Fer yer own safety.”
Princess Luna looked down at the ground, of course, she knew that Applejack was not worried about her safety. It had been plain enough when Applejack had asked her to come to the farm that she wanted to make sure somepony was watching the princess to keep Rainbow Dash safe, just like she wanted somepony watching Rainbow Dash for the same reason.
“Thou does not trust me Applejack,” She had meant it to sound accusatory, so she could stand up against the earth pony’s accusations and defend her innocence, but instead it just came out as sad and remorseful.
“Ah didn’t say that,” Applejack replied calmly not even turning back to look at the princess as she moved to examine another tree.
“Thou did not have to, it was quite plain to see,” Princess Luna said her voice a little more even. “In mine short time here I can see that thou are very important to Rainbow Dash, just as she is very important to thee. But I beg thee to understand that I would never hurt her.”
Applejack tensed momentarily picturing Rainbow Dash’s broken form lying in the mud. “Ah ain’t never accused y’all of hurtin’ Dash,” Applejack said turning to face the princess a hard look painted across her face. “But ah’m gonna kick the tail of whoever did, and ah don’t care who they may be, understand.”
Princess Luna found herself wanting to cower away from the fierce earth pony but managed to stand her ground and nod in response, “I understand.”
“AJ!” A voice called through the trees, and the two mares turned to see Twilight Sparkle trotting towards them. Somewhere along the way through the orchard, she had lost Pinkie Pie, who had hastily excused herself before disappearing among the trees. Twilight Sparkle had been a little suspicious at first as to what her crazy friend was doing, but quickly dismissed the suspicion and chalked the disappearance up to ‘just a Pinkie Pie thing.'
“Greetings Twilight Sparkle, was thou’s search successful?” Princess Luna asked, glad to see her sister’s prized pupil had returned to her.
“What’d ya’ll find?” Applejack asked quickly, desperate to know anything about what had happened to her rainbow maned friend.
Twilight Sparkle sighed remorsefully, she knew had little hope of avoiding the question, but little hope was still hope, and she was sorry to see it go unfulfilled for her own sake. “I’m sorry we didn’t find much, whatever attacked Rainbow Dash used magic for sure, but that’s about all we found out. We were able to track Rainbow Dash flight pattern, but there wasn’t a single clue about her attacker. No tracks or fur or feather, and even Tank, who’s all right, told Fluttershy that he didn’t see anything or anypony except Dash.”
Applejack looked, almost glaring, from Twilight Sparkle to Princess Luna then snorted angrily and glared down at the ground. “Ah guess there ain’t nothing we can do then is there.”
“AJ...” Twilight Sparkle started but Applejack cut her off turning to leave.
“Ah gotta get some rest if’n ah’m gonna be staying up to watch Dash. Ah’ll see y’all tomorrow.” Applejack said and walked off, her anger plain to see as it played across her features.
“Forgive me Twilight Sparkle I fear-” Princess Luna started, but the purple unicorn held up a hoof to stop her.
“You can’t blame yourself Princess; I know you wouldn’t do these things.” Twilight Sparkle said reassuringly then turned to start back to Ponyville, “Come on let's head back to the library. This all must have been very hard on you; you’ll feel better after a good day’s rest.”
Princess Luna nodded; her head hung sadly as she followed after Twilight Sparkle, “Don’t worry princess. I’ll get to the bottom of this, and the others will see this is not your doing.”
“If only that were true,” Princess Luna said quietly to herself.
---
The day passed without further incident, Fluttershy had been relieved by Pinkie Pie who spent most of the rest of the evening with Rainbow Dash, terrorizing the hospital staff with their pranks. Fluttershy had taken Tank home promising to look after him until Rainbow Dash was able to leave the hospital.
Twilight Sparkle had been spared a tour of watch duty, spending all day researching for anything that could explain what had attacked her blue friend. Considering all she had to go on was looking for a creature that could use magic and fly she did not have much luck. There were many ancient legends about all kinds of creatures using magic to attack ponies, none of these legends held up against modern facts about such creatures. Either the creatures had been revealed to have only magic-like abilities, or there was no record of them in modern texts. As she reached more and more outrageous possibilities about what creatures may have attacked Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle was beginning to admit to herself that her friend’s accusation of the princess was the most feasible conclusion given the few facts she had.
She had mentioned sending a letter to Princess Celestia about what was happening, but Princess Luna had begged her not to. The lunar princess must have rambled off half a dozen reasons not to involve her sister before Twilight Sparkle agreed not to send a letter. Twilight Sparkle understood, Princess Luna was a princess too after all and wanted to take on the responsibility for what had happened herself. The fact that it had happened at night, a time she was meant to be the guardian of, and to someone whom she had gotten close to that very same day only fueled her desire. Still, if they did not find something to go on soon Twilight Sparkle would have to contact the princess of the sun regardless of Princess Luna’s wishes.
Twilight Sparkle rolled over again and shut her eyes trying to go to sleep only to open them again a moment later and snort in frustration. Giving up on sleep, she used her magic to push the covers off of herself and quietly got out of bed, taking care not to wake Spike, and softly crept to the door. Opening and closing it without a sound she crept to the stairs and her breath caught in her throat. She watched as Princess Luna’s unmistakable tail slipped through the front door which was shrouded in her magical aura and quietly closed it behind her.
Twilight Sparkle fought the urge to call out to the princess and instead quickly moved to the window and peered pout to see the princess take flight and disappear among the pitch black and stars of the night sky. “It can’t be...’
---
“...stupid cloud brain pegasus...” Applejack grumbled to herself turning back the way she had come from intent on returning to the hospital only to curse angrily at herself and to turn back to the farm.
Walking back and forth through her orchard had been how Applejack had spent the last several hours of the night. She was supposed to be watching Rainbow Dash, but after the two got into a heated debate about the rules of a game of cards they had been playing the staff decided Applejack was hindering their patient’s healing process and kicked her out.
Applejack had been so mad at the blue pegasus for getting her kicked out that she decided to forget about the rainbow maned mare and return home. Of course, Applejack did not get very far before concern took hold and she started walking back, only to make another argument about why Rainbow Dash was an ungrateful cheater prompting her to turn home again. It went on back and forth like this for hours of walking, though given that she made it almost halfway home she must have been more angry than worried. But now the two feelings had reached an equilibrium leaving Applejack wandering in circles for the last hour.
Applejack sighed and sat down on the ground defeated by her indecision, what had the rainbow maned mare done to her? She was never so indecisive with other things, but when it came to Rainbow Dash, she could never decide what she wanted to do, go or stay, work or play.
Applejack let out another sigh, “Maybe ah should just…” The snap of a branch threw Applejack from her thoughts. She jumped up on her hooves and scanned the dark but familiar surroundings of the orchard for whoever was there.
“Who’s there? Show yerself!” Applejack demanded, the response was an echoing laughter that seemed to come from all around her. Applejack’s eyes shot open, and a chill ran down her spine, it was the most unnerving cold laugh she had ever heard. Suddenly she remembered what Rainbow Dash had told her, ‘She didn’t say anything, but she had this creepy laugh, it gave the chills like flyin’ way too high.’
At that thought the cold fear she felt turned to burning anger, “Come on out ya coward cus’ ah’m-”
“‘Gonna kick the tail of whoever did.’” Applejack’s own voice spoke from the dark form of a pony with wings and a horn, followed by the same cold laugh.
“Princess,” Applejack gasped, but the shock only lasted a second then Applejack snorted and pawed at the ground angrily. “So it were y’all that attacked Dash! And now what, yer here fer me? Didn’t like bein’ told that some lowly farmer was gonna kick yer tail? That there’s too bad cus that’s exactly what’s gonna happen!”
Applejack snorted and charged the dark figure, whipping around at the last moment and kicked out with all her strength, but the figure was gone in an instant. Unable to control all the power she’d put into the kick without something to absorb the energy, Applejack lost her balance and tumbled to the ground.
The dark figure’s laughter snapped Applejack from her momentary daze, and she looked over to see the dark figure standing calmly a few feet away. Its taunting laughter just made the blond-maned earth pony’s blood boil, and without a thought, she charged in again.
Like her first kick, this one failed to connect with the shadowy pony and instead slammed into something unexpectedly far more solid. Pain ran up the orange mare’s legs and was followed by a cascade of apples which shook loose from her kick and rain down on her painfully.
The pain was short lived as more laughter echoed through the night air, and Applejack looked up to see that the dark figure once more stood calmly a few feet away. Applejack charged the pony again but had finally learned her lesson. This time she did not turn to buck with her powerful hind legs and instead rose up to slam her fore-hooves into her opponent careful to keep her eyes trained on the dark figure. Suddenly it was as if the figure had shifted places without actually moving and was a foot left of where it had been. Applejack came down upon an empty space, and the dark figure threw open its wings jumping back landing a few more feet away before calmly folded its wings. It looked like it had been standing there the whole time, the figure moving so swiftly that the evasion only took a moment.
Applejack clenched her teeth and snorted angrily, “Cheatin’ varmint!” She whipped around to face the figure, “Quit usin’ yer cowardly magic an’ fight me proper!”
The dark figure laughed at that, flicking its horn dramatically as if to taunt the angry earth pony.
Applejack charged again; the coward could cheat all she wanted, this time Applejack was ready for it. She rose up on her back legs, hesitating ever so slightly, her hooves posed high ready to shift and follow the dark figure’s escape.
However, the dark pony did not dodge this time and instead shot forward, taking advantage of the earth pony’s hesitation, slamming its body into Applejack’s chest with far more force than the earth pony would have expected from a princess. The blow flung Applejack back, and she crashed onto her back with a gasp of pain.
Applejack barely had time to think as the dark figure advanced on her and rose up on its hind legs poised to slam its hooves down on the mare’s chest. Applejack rolled to the side narrowly escaping the attack and sprang back up to her hooves. The dark figure was too quick, however, and before Applejack had even steadied herself, the figure pivoted on its fore hooves and kicked out with its hind legs.
Applejack suddenly knew what all the trees she had ever bucked felt like as the dark figure’s legs connected with her side and she was thrown into a tree. Her sides ached like never before and Applejack reeled from the pain, and both her hat and her will to fight had been lost as she had flown through the air. An alien fear had taken hold of her heart, and as much as she tried to fight and deny it she was not strong enough to defeat this pony, she needed help.
“Big Mac-” she began to call only to be slammed in the flank by a pair of hooves which sent her tumbling forward end over end a couple of feet before she slid to a stop.
The blond mare struggled to get back to her hooves, she needed to run, but the dark figure would not let her. It slammed its hooves into her over and over seeming to come from every direction throwing her back and forth like a rag doll. Finally, Applejack just collapsed onto the ground in too much pain to move. When the blows stopped and were replaced by all too ordinary hoof-steps, she looked up to see the dark figure standing over her. Fear gripped Applejack, thoughts of never seeing Rainbow Dash, her friends, or her family again terrified her, but as these thoughts washed over her that fear quickly turned to anger.
Applejack summoned up her strength and spat angrily at the dark figure’s hooves. “Go on an’ kill me then if that’s what yer gonna do, ah ain’t afraid of the likes of you!” Applejack swore, refusing to cower to anypony, if this was the end her last words would not be that of a scared filly.
The dark figure just laughed and started to walk away, its horn flaring to life with dark magic. The base of several surrounding trees began to glow with the same energy and then with a flick of the horn the trees were severed from their base and rocked forward three converging on Applejack. She struggled to get up but without any strength left all she could do was cover her head with her forelegs.