//------------------------------//
// Reunion - Honesty 
// Story: The Mare who knew too much 
// by Cynical 
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Reunion - Honesty

Twilight was there for a VERY long time.
So long that the sun was setting before anything happened that could snap the uncorn out of her stupor. The door to the library clicked open, and the grieving unicorn barely noticed it, one ear flicking as if registering the sound and filing it away for later observation.

No, what snapped her out of her stupor was the immense pain that had suddenly blossomed in the small of her back as some-pony bucked her as hard as they could.  It was pure instinct as the magic took over, seizing her attacker, and dragging them into the air so that Twilight could give them her full attention.

As she turned around though, she couldn't suppress a small chuckle at her would-be assailants expression, even going so far as to add a snarky comment of
"What's up AJ, never seen your friend before?"

The pallid face in question became even lighter as she tried to process all of the new information that she was getting.
Twilight was dead.
But she's standing right in front of me.
I was at the funeral.
So what does that make her, a Zombie pony?

She was distracted from her musings as a hoof gently shook her shoulders, clearing her mind, and replacing all of the confusion with a new emotion. One that the Earth pony could use, and had been storing for a very long time. 10 years to be exact.
Rage.

Twilight's concentration was interrupted by a solid hoof to the face, causing her to drop the spell that she was holding on Applejack, in favour of nursing her aching jaw.
"What the Hay was that for?"
Applejack drew back slightly at the retort, but followed it with one of her own:
"what'd ya think I did that for? Y'all abandoned us! 10 YEARS WE'VE MOURNED YOU. WE LOST OUR FRIENDSHIPS, OUR FAMILIES AND SPIKE!"
By this time the volume could easily be measured from two streets away, but Applejack didn't care. All she cared about was taking her revenge on the pony that had caused her so much strife and worry.
Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight on the other hand, was hard pressed to keep her own temper simmered down, she'd had ten whole years to refine her anger, to shape it and nurture it. And it was now being overturned by her old friend, if she was even that anymore. When she spoke, her voice was cold and magical enough that the air in front of her frosted over, and ice began to form on the surface of her desk.
"I abandoned you? I ABANDONED YOU? I've been stuck on the moon FOR 10 YEARS, WITH NOTHING TO COMFORT ME BAR MY THOUGHTS. YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME APPLEJACK, YOU LEFT ME TO ROT ON THE MOON!"

Twilight took a moment to breathe and looked around at the sudden silence. It appeared her magic was less stable than she'd originally thought, as she looked at the ice sculpture of Applejack cowering in the corner of the room. Shook her head slightly, and thawed the Earth pony out, drying her off and warming her up in the process. In the silence that followed, you could have heard a pin drop, but eventually, Twilight asked the question which had been playing around her lips ever since she'd got back to Ponyville.
"What happened?"

The defiant expression on Applejacks face dropped as she considered the question, finally speaking.
"Well, I suppose I'd better start from the beginning then. Where is the beginning for you?"
"I don't know, how long since I disappeared, or haven’t been quite myself?"
"You mean how long ago did you die?"
This caused Twilight some shock, she'd guessed that she must have been given a legitimate reason why she no longer saw her friends, she'd even speculated on the reason. And not once had the thought of her being dead as the excuse, and she mentally kicked herself for it. It was after all a low maintenance excuse for Twilight not being around anymore. But just because it was logical, didn't mean that it didn't hurt.
"Yeah, lets go with that."

Applejack let out a small sigh, then, with a few pauses here and there, began to speak, her accent was strangely absent, and she seemed emotionally detached from the conversation at hand. Twilight not daring to interrupt her in case she missed anything important, making sure to keep her face very straight.

"It must have been ten years ago to this day, it would have been your brother's 10th anniversary, had he not split up with Cadence after two years, but that's not what matters at the moment. You'd just gone to talk to the princess after we'd all been to Joe's for doughnuts, and around three hours later, Celestia sent a scroll through Spike, telling us that you were in danger. Telling us all to come."

Applejack paused for a moment, as if trying to remember something, then abruptly winced as she remembered just what she'd wanted to forget.
"You were ill Twi, really ill. You had that lunar bug thingy that you were on about.  We'd barely arrived before you… before you.. Died."
Applejack took a breath and continued. "Everyone was distraught, After your funeral the next day, we all sort of, drifted apart. Fluttershy became a recluse, only ever coming out of her house if she needed to, and even then. That was only to pick up the deliveries of food and water that were taken to her cottage. Rarity upped and left, she had nothing left in Ponyville, she only ever stayed because of us, not to mention that the amethyst circlet which she gave you attracted a lot of attention up in Canterlot. She moved there to get more orders, and to be closer to the high-society. Pinkie… Pinkie, well, Pinkie died too, in a way. She lost a lot of her energy, and the parties became fewer and further between. They stopped completely seven years ago. So by that time, there was nothing left to keep us connected. Pinkie just sits and cries in her room at Sugarcube corner now. Nothing changes that. We tried everything."

"Spike decided that life wasn't worth living I suppose, it must have been a year after Pinkie stopped the parties. In hindsight, those parties were the only thing that Spike lived for then, I suppose they gave him something to hold onto. After that, well, I think you can figure out the facts for yourself. He just gave up on life, he had nothing worth living for anymore. His closest friend was dead. The love of his life was far, far away. And we just, well, stopped caring about it. I told the others, and they just didn't care anymore. 'Not our problem,' It's like they've all been taken over by discord again, but this time, we couldn't do anything about it. I can't spare the money to give him a funeral, so I left him here, where he had the happiest memories."

"I don't know what happened to Rainbow, she performed that Rainboom, and flew off into the sunset so to speak. We never saw her again, not even a whisper of a rumour as to where she is. I'll give her that, she knows how to disappear from the public eye. She loved you Twi, she always did. It must have destroyed her, you died literally the day before she was going to tell you. I'll grant you that Twi, you managed what three years in flight school could never do to her. You broke her. You broke her heart, and her spirit." To which Applejack let out a short, sharp laugh, which sounded more like a sob at the end.

Twilight spoke, being careful to keep her voice level, and monotone.
"And yourself Applejack, I notice that you have left out what became of you." It wasn't that Twilight was being insensitive, she just had more important things to think about, and she needed to gather the facts about what happened, before she started to worry about some crush that one of her friends had had on her a long time ago.

"That's because I have nothing to tell anymore. I have no-one. The harvest went bad during year five. Apple rot, anyone who'd eaten a pure apple had died. Luckily it was the cider season, and no-one got infected with the lethal side of it, plenty of people were ill though, and our reputation was down the drain. I haven't sold a single apple since then. Then again, that's the crux of the whole thing. There's just me left, Granny Smith died to old age, Big Mac died after bucking a tree too hard, the tree broke his spine, and his skull. Applebloom, Sweetie belle, and Scootaloo all ate a tainted apple. They always were too curious. Now there's just me. Living in that dusty old house in Sweet apple acres. I sometimes come here to talk, to vent my feelings, and to let out my guilt. And that's how it's been for the past five years. None of us have even spoken to each other since then, I haven't even seen Rarity after the incident with her sister. Too many bad memories I suppose."

Twilight almost felt sorry for her old friend, but her years on the moon had toughened her up, given her an emotional detachment to everything which was proving very useful at the moment.
"And what became of the elements of harmony?"

"They died. They all died. We were given them after your funeral, and over time, they've just faded, I still have mine here" To which she produced a silvery necklace that held an apple-shaped stone. Not even crystal, or a slightly shiny stone. Just a plain old pebble that happened to look like an apple. Twilight's shock must have been evident, because Applejack continued:
"You think this is bad, Pinkie's element shattered completely, the element of laughter, forgetting how to laugh, I'll bet that did it."
"And where is my tiara, where's the element of Magic?"
"Rarity took it, she wanted to use it for something. If you want to find wherever your element went, you'd be better off asking her. For whatever good it'll do you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Twilight snapped.
"The elements only work when all six are present, and all six bearers are united in their cause, don't you remember that from when we faced Discord all those years ago? Or did the moon scramble your brain as well?" Applejack retorted.
The temperature of the room suddenly dropped by a good ten degrees as the unicorn narrowed her eyes at the offending pony.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
Applejack laughed, a cruel, harsh laugh.
"hmm, let me see, Fluttershy can't stand the sight of any of us anymore, Pinkie is so deep into depression that she's forgotten how to laugh, Rarity and I will probably never get along again, I did effectively kill her sister you remember, and Rainbow hasn't been seen anywhere in Equestria since the funeral, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd died in the wilderness somewhere. If you manage to get all of us in the same room, with a common purpose, and our elements restored, then I might believe you."

Twilight left the library after that with purpose in her eyes, and fire in her heart.