FIVE
“Oh I knew it had to be you, I just knew it, knew it, knew it!”
“That’s nice, Sweetie,” Twilight managed through a choke. The adolescent unicorn’s forelegs had been wrapped around her neck in a very tight embrace for the past few minutes. “But could you maybe, loosen your grip, just a little?”
“Oops!” Sweetie let go, smiling sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Twilight. It’s just… oh my gosh, we all thought you were dead!”
“Sweetie Belle!”
That was Applejack back from the ‘adult cupboard’ with the ciders. Twilight tried to cover her laughter with a cough.
“It’s fine, AJ, I would have thought I was dead too.”
Applejack shook her head. “Still don’t mean she should be botherin’ you like this.” Applejack gave Sweetie a half-serious look. “’Specially when she’s still got chores ter finish on the farm.”
Sweetie Belle blushed at that. “I was on a break!”
“Oh really?”
“Really!” Sweetie Belle eyed the bottles Applejack was placing on the table. “Hey, can I have one?”
“No!” Twilight and Applejack said together. Twilight laughed. Applejack didn’t.
Sweetie Belle pouted. “Come ooon! I’m old enough now. Rarity would totally let me!”
“Finish yer chores, then we’ll see,” Applejack said, dismissing her with a hoof.
Sweetie Belle groaned. “Fine.”
With that, Sweetie left the room, whipping her tail in a disgruntled fashion. Twilight watched her go.
“I still can’t believe how much she’s grown,” Twilight said, uncapping her cider with her magic.
Applejack shrugged. “She may be bigger, but she can still be jus’ as demanding.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Rarity says it’s ‘cause she still has a hard time adjustin’ to this new world. I say she jus’ wants ter do less work.”
Twilight chuckled. “Can you blame her?”
Applejack smiled, taking a sip of her cider. “Naw. Still fun bein’ the boss though.”
Twilight frowned, clearing her throat. “You, uh, you never did say what happened to your granny. Or…”
“Apple Bloom?”
Twilight nodded reluctantly.
Applejack sighed. “She’s alive, far as Ah know. She decided she didn’t want ter spend her life farmin’, not in a world like this. She wanted to help other ponies, those who might noth’ve been as lucky as us.” Applejack suddenly found the indents on the table a lot more interesting. “Ah can’t blame her, Ah know there’s ponies out there still who barely make it by. Still, Ah worry.”
Twilight wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I… wow, AJ, I’m sorry. That must be hard.” Twilight offered her a sympathetic smile. “At least she’s okay?”
“Fer now.”
That was true enough. Twilight had seen the dangers out there first hoof. What with the borgs and the husks, or, greys as ponies here seemed to call them running around, she was surprised Applejack would have ever let her sister go. Then again, thinking back to what Apple Bloom had been like as a filly, Twilight assumed it hadn’t exactly been a well-discussed expedition.
“As fer granny,” Applejack continued, “well, she always said she was gonna go out on her own terms. And she did. Peacefully in her sleep. She never let no grey or borg get to her, even when she was darn near chasin’ them outta the town border.”
Twilight smiled despite herself. “That sounds like her.”
“Crazy old mare,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “Least Ah don’t have ter worry ‘bout her risin’ like the others.”
Twilight’s stomach clenched at that. “Applejack… how did this happen?”
Applejack sighed. “You really wanna know? Maybe whoever took yer memory was doin’ yer a favour.”
Twilight’s expression was as resolute as her tone. “I have to know.”
“Okay,” Applejack said, taking a large swig of cider. “Jus’ don’t say Ah didn’t warn you.”
“It started with what you remember last; Queen Chrysalis. After she ran off like that, Thorax was desperate for her capture. We figured that without her hive or a connection to a source of love, she’d be easy ter find.” Applejack winced. “We were wrong.”
Twilight nodded slowly. “I think I remember a little of the search. We split up, didn’t we? I went to Griffonstone…”
“Eeyup,” Applejack said. “And Ah headed down ter the Crystal Empire.” She shrugged. “None of us found nothin’, it was like the Queen had jus’ disappeared.”
“But she returned?” Twilight guessed.
Applejack nodded forlornly. “More powerful than we’d ever thought possible. She’d rebuilt a new hive, one that didn’t know about that fancy old metamorphosis Thorax and his hive had gone through. She also rebuilt her throne so nopony with magic could get near her.” Applejack grimaced. “As the Elements, we were called back to Canterlot. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sat us down in the throne room an’ told us that what the Queen was doin' was an act of war.”
Twilight shuddered at the thought. She shook her head. “I don’t… what happened next?”
Applejack sighed. “We don’t know much of what happened in the fight on accounta the fact that we were earth ponies. Celestia requested that all pegasi be used on the war front. Unicorns couldn’t use their magic with Chyrsalis’ throne, earth ponies couldn’t reach the battlefield on hoof, but the pegasi could still use their wings.”
Twilight gaped. “All the pegasi? Even Fluttershy?” She couldn’t imagine the sweet and terrified animal-loving mare on the front line of a war.
Applejack’s eyes hardened. “Ah don’t believe it myself neither. Whether she was used in the fight or to help prepare soldiers Ah don’t know, but Rainbow Dash…” Something caught in Applejack’s throat. She paused, taking another swig. A bitter line crossed her expression.
“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight prompted softly.
Applejack closed her eyes. “She was one of their best fighters. All the Wonderbolts were. They rivalled the Royal Guard pegasi somethin’ fierce, and those stallions had been trained as fighters.” Applejack opened her eyes. “But Rainbow got hurt.”
Twilight’s heart contracted.
“Nopony knew how bad,” Applejack continued. “Turns out it couldn’t have been as bad as we thought, ‘cause next we hear she’s back in the fight. But soon after that, things turned sour.”
Twilight frowned. “How?”
“Some anti-war revolutionary types got it in their heads that if they threw a spanner in the works, they could stop the war.” Applejack gritted her teeth. “They were only half right.
“Cloudsdale was the base of operations, all soldiers went in and out dependin’ on their health and service status. So these revolutionaries decided to blow the thing up. We don’t know how, but after that, everythin’ started going wrong.”
Applejack looked out to the window, frowning. “The Princesses said it was a toxin created from the explosion, though it never made much sense to us. Suddenly, the weather had a mind of its own, nopony could control it. Tornados, storms, all sorts ravaged the land, destroyin’ crops and the like.” Applejack sucked a breath through her teeth. “Didn’t stop there ah’course. The bad weather had encouraged ponies to build underground shelters, and it was a good thing we did, ‘cause next the sun turned on us.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Celestia wouldn’t…”
“Not the Princess,” Applejack corrected. “The sun. The Princesses lost control of the sun and the moon. It started out with the sun refusin’ to set, then it got hotter… crops died, old and young ponies started dyin’ from the effects too.” Applejack sighed. “Finally, the ground weren’t safe for us no more. The Princesses told everyone to make like a groundhog and get underneath it.
“Granny Smith opened the barn’s shelter to anypony who needed it, that just-so happened to include Rarity and Sweetie Belle.” Applejack took a hearty swig. “We had ter encourage Pinkie ter stay with us too. She didn’t want ter leave the Cakes on accounta the fact that the heat had…” Applejack swallowed hard. “Well, like Ah said, a lotta young’ns didn’t make it.”
“Oh Celestia,” Twilight murmured. She took a swig out of her own bottle, relishing the bitter taste, but absently wishing for something stronger. “What happened? To the Cakes?”
Applejack’s gaze drew distant. “Ah don’t think they tried much ter fight the swarm. They were some of the first in Ponyville ter turn.” Applejack shook her head. “Surely not the last though.”
“Where did the swarm come from?” Twilight asked. “It didn’t look natural.”
“None of it’s natural,” Applejack muttered. “The whole darn world went ter crap ‘cause of those revolutionists.” She shook her head. “Nopony knows what started the swarm; some say it was part of the toxin that the Princesses say stole our weather magic from us.” She smiled bitterly. “’Course that ain’t quite true. Those borgs in the sky… Ah don’t know what made ‘em, nopony does, but they can move that swarm. Ah’ve seen ‘em do it.”
Twilight’s heart beat faster in her chest. “What? You mean they make it?”
“Ah ain’t sure ‘bout that.” Applejack’s cider was nearly finished. “But once it’s comin’, them borgs can guide it wherever they see fit.”
“So it just came? Without warning?” Twilight shook her head. “What about the dome? How does that fit into everything?”
Applejack glanced skyward, as if she could see right through the roof and into the magical dome itself. “It came with the swarm Ah reckon,” she said quietly. “Happened through the night. We was all in the shelter after a particularly bad storm, then we heard screaming.” Applejack’s eyes glazed over as her mind was sent reeling to the past. “There were… ponies on the street… so many of ‘em. The swarm had rolled in as part o’ the storm; none of us at the barn ever saw it, but it had crept into pony’s homes, had infected anypony who hadn’t been underground.” Applejack closed her eyes, a shudder passed through her body. “They were coughin’ up this black goo… chokin’ on the stuff. There were fillies crying, writhin’ in pain. Then they’d lie still. And we thought that was that. Big Mac even went to help collect the dead… a lotta ponies did. And then…” Applejack’s eyes opened and Twilight realised with a start that she was crying.
“It’s okay,” Twilight said, pressing her hoof against her friend’s shoulder. “You don’t have to say anything more if you don’t want to.”
Applejack shook her head, pursing her lips. “They came back,” she whispered. “They attacked us. They had these sharp metal teeth an' they screeched like banshees… they turned before we knew what was happenin’, these impossible dead ponies rottin’ from the inside.” Applejack shrugged off Twilight’s hoof, finishing her cider in one large gulp. “Anypony who got bitten by those things ended up joinin’ them. The greys, we called ‘em.” She barked out a joyless laugh. “That’s when the dome went up, after the first infection. Like we’d been cut off from the rest of the world. An’ we had.”
Twilight’s brow creased. “What do you mean?”
“Notice anything since you woke up?” Applejack asked coldly. “Bet you seen more greys than you could shake a stick at. Some borgs, too. Betcha haven’t seen nothin’ else.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise. “You can’t mean…”
“Eeyup.” Applejack’s expression was as bitter as the cider. “The dome’s a magical border. Only ponies exist inside of it. Anythin’ else was thrown outta the infection zone.”
“So you know where the dome ends?” Twilight’s heart picked up in her chest. “It doesn’t go on forever?”
“Nope.” Applejack sighed. “It cuts off in the Frozen North territory. Encompasses all pony cities, but not Griffonstone, not Yakyakistan and not Thorax’s hive territory.” Applejack pointed a hoof at Twilight’s cider. “Yer gonna finish that?”
Twilight blinked. “I, uh, could go for something stronger actually.”
The two ponies laughed. A kind of laugh that could only be brought on through the exhaustion of the knowledge that they had just shared.
“Ah can arrange that, got some Apple Jack Daniels saved up fer a special occasion.” Applejack shrugged. “Guess this probably qualifies.”
Twilight followed Applejack to the cupboard, leaning her weight against one of the counters. “So that’s why you believed me right away?” she asked as Applejack balanced the bottle of amber liquid atop her hooves. “Because I couldn’t have been a changeling… because they don’t exist here. They can’t.”
Applejack laughed humourlessly. “Guess it was one way ter end the war.”
Twilight closed her eyes. “I can’t believe this…”
“None of us can,” Applejack said, pouring out two glasses. “Still, we gotta live with what we have.”
“And the Princesses?” The question had been welling inside Twilight for quite some time, but she hadn’t wanted to say it, hadn’t wanted to hope. “…And Spike?”
Applejack slid a glass towards Twilight before taking a swig of her own. “Ah figure Spike was spared by the dome on accounta the whole dragon thing.” Applejack closed the cupboard with an exasperated sigh. “We stopped wishin’ fer the Princesses a long time ago. Frankly, a lotta us figured they abandoned us.”
“No,” Twilight said automatically. “That’s not possible. They wouldn’t do that to us.”
“Maybe not from what you remember,” Applejack said darkly. “But the war changed us, Twi. It changed them.” Applejack’s expression softened. “We was just glad it didn’t change you.”
Twilight took a sip of her drink. She greeted the burn in her throat like an old friend. “They wouldn’t abandon us, no matter what happened. Especially not Cadence, especially not my brother.”
“Yer do crazy things fer the ones you love,” Applejack said softly. “They had a young’n too, remember. I suspect they wouldda done just about anythin’ to make sure Flurry Heart was on the outside of that dome.”
“I…” Twilight cut herself off, shaking her head. “I…” There was nothing she could say, she realised. The truth was she didn’t know any of this. This was ten years of a history she hadn’t experienced. And a year before that she couldn’t even recall. No matter what she said, it wouldn’t change the deep seated grudges and beliefs that had been born from years of abandonment. If the Princesses hadn’t been seen for all this time… was it impossible to think that they might have fled their own kingdom?
But then… if even the Princesses - the kind and warm hearted leaders of Equestria - had left their world behind, why had Twilight remained? What had kept her here? Who had entrapped her?
“When was the last time you saw me?” Twilight asked suddenly. “During the storms and the swarm, when Cloudsdale exploded… where was I?”
Applejack frowned. She’d already finished her drink. “Ah don’t quite remember,” she said slowly. “But Ah reckon you was in Canterlot by then. All the Princesses were.” She tried to smile. “If you’d been in Ponyville, Ah wouldda made sure you was with us when the world fell apart.”
Twilight smiled back. A warmness had spread in her chest, and she liked to believe it was the warmth of a friendship rekindled, and not just the triple shot of whiskey she’d just knocked back. She sighed, suddenly feeling so, so tired. “Starlight Glimmer?” she finally asked. “Did you…”
Applejack shook her head. “Sorry sugarcube. Ah reckon she was with ya’ll in Canterlot. If she survived the initial outbreak… well, Ah don’t know where she is now.”
“Lyra said Canterlot was borg territory,” Twilight said carefully. “But the closer I get to the answers I'm looking for, the more I realise that’s where everything seems to lead me.”
“Don’t do nothin' crazy,” Applejack warned. “Lyra might’ve had a death wish of her own, but she was right in keepin’ you away from there. Nopony who’s gone to Canterlot has come back alive.”
“But we’re the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight insisted. “If anypony can do this-”
“We ain’t no more,” Applejack said roughly. “Kindness an’ Loyalty could be dead fer all we know. An’ the rest… well we ain’t nothing like we once were. Not after this.”
“You’re still helping ponies,” Twilight said. “That counts for something.”
“You ain’t thinkin’ straight,” Applejack said, quick to change the subject. “We got runnin’ water in the bathroom upstairs. You take a shower, get some grub an’ have an early night. Ah’ll run through chores with ya’ll in the mornin’, introduce you to the whole group.”
“What night?” Twilight asked bitterly. “What morning?”
“Ah’ll wake you,” Applejack insisted, sliding Twilight’s glass away from her. “Go on, Twi. You’ve had it rough, Ah know, but you’re safe here. Safe as yah can be. Jus’ rest, okay sugarcube?”
Twilight pursed her lips. She knew Applejack had her best interests at heart, but she also knew what her own heart was telling her. She sighed, glancing out to the hallway. “Where do I sleep?”
Applejack’s smile was genuine. “Bedroom upstairs to yer left. Ya’ll can bunk with me an’ Sweetie. Usually, Rarity and Pinkie sleep there too, but they won’t be back ‘til later.”
Twilight nodded. “Thanks AJ.” She bowed her head. “And I’m sorry.”
“You ain’t got nothin’ to apologize for. Jus’ get some rest.”
Twilight headed for the bathroom.
The Journal of Princess Twilight Sparkle
Entry #5 – Home Sweet Barn
I just spent twenty minutes in a shower watching ten years’ worth of dirt and grime wash out of my coat. I call that a productive ‘evening’.
What Applejack has told me is true. Going to Canterlot alone would be a death sentence, with all the borgs and ‘greys’ that hound the area, I’d be dead before I could even set hoof on palace grounds.
But if I had the other Elements at my side…
It’s wrong to think this way. After all this time walking the wasteland alone, having my heart broken time and time again, seeing death and being responsible for even more of it… I shouldn’t be planning to leave the first place I’ve felt safe in for, well, ten years I guess.
When I wake up I’ll see the rest of the farm. When I wake up, Rarity and Pinkie will be here. We can catch up. Maybe Rarity is still making clothes for the other survivors. I’m sure Pinkie still throws parties to keep everyone’s spirits up. I only wish Rainbow and Fluttershy were here too.
Oh, Celestia, it doesn’t matter how much of the story I know, it doesn’t change how much I wish I could turn back time and make it right. I don’t know how I could. If the Elements had been useless against Chrysalis’ anti-magic throne then I’m sure I wouldn’t have known a way to defeat her even if I did go back to where it all began. I can’t stay in the past, despite the missing years. I have to look to the future. I have to a find a way for this world to fix itself.
And again, I can only think that what I need is in Canterlot. Because if the Princesses are beyond the dome and I was in Canterlot at the time of their departure… then why did I wake up in my palace? Who put me there? The Princesses must have known. And if they knew, then they must have left a clue. I have to know what happened, because the more I think of it, the more I realise that the answers for fixing the future might just lie in my forgotten past. So much for trying not to stay there.
I can’t forget. I can’t let this go. But I need my friends' help for this to succeed.
I’ll rest now. It’s been a long… you know, I’m not even sure how long it’s been since I left my palace now. All I know is I have a lot of sleep to catch up on, and something tells me Applejack isn’t going to let me sleep through the ‘morning’ chores.