Glass Bones

by Mad Hattie

Glass Friends

Twilight awoke to an empty bedroom and a note on her bedside table.

That, Twilight surmised, was a pleasant surprise.

Her shared room was a beautiful collection of patchwork bed quilts, cushions and red and white decoration. There were old Apple Family pictures on the walls, evidently salvaged from Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight thought she recognised some of the ponies in the pictures. As she came down the stairs, she saw a photograph of Granny Smith and her siblings. The picture made Twilight smile.

As she reached the downstairs hallway, Twilight caught the scent of something sweet drifting over from the kitchen. She licked her lips, realising with a start just how hungry she was. Days of restricting herself to a single apple or carrot a day had done wonders for her appetite.

Twilight paused in the archway to the kitchen, surprised to a see a green earth pony with a dark green mane stood by the oven. A quick scan of the surrounding area proved that Applejack was nowhere in sight. Twilight cleared her throat, blushing awkwardly.

The mare turned around. Her mane had been tied into two pigtails around her shoulders, dressed with a pink bow each. She smiled brightly the second she saw Twilight.

“Well good mornin’ to yah!” the mare said with a grin. “You must be Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight smiled back, her stomach knotting nervously. This was the first stranger she’d met since waking in that crystal, unless she counted the husks who’d tried to kill her on the way. “Uh, yes I am!” Twilight glanced to the door that led outside. “Applejack told me to meet her here?”

The mare beamed at her. “Ah’course!” she said. “Cousin AJ is out in the farm right now, she’ll be with yah shortly.” She turned back to the oven. “In the meantime, we got some flour in from the Manehattan camp last night, so there’s fritters fer breakfast.”

Twilight’s stomach rumbled excitedly at the thought.

The mare chuckled. “Ah see ya’ll are hankerin’ for some. Ah’ll get yah a plate.” As the mare trotted to the cupboards, she glanced Twilight’s way. “Name’s Apple Fritter, Ah do the cookin’ here most o’ the time. That soup ya’ll tasted last night? One of mah recipes.” As Apple Fritter placed a new plate on the counter, she continued: “’course Ah had ter change a lotta mah old recipes after the Event, but if mah Ma taught me anythang it’s ter work with what yah got.”

Twilight chuckled, trotting over to Apple Fritter. “Well it was very delicious.”

Apple Fritter blushed. “Well thank yer kindly.”

Twilight sat at the table with a plate of fritters and a glass of water. The first bite was otherworldly, the second just as good. Twilight polished them off in a matter of seconds. Apple Fritter watched her the whole time, grinning eagerly.

It was odd, after spending so much time alone, running for her life, splattering all sorts of black blood across her hooves just to survive… Twilight had almost forgotten what it felt like to share a smile with another pony. Here, under a shroud of invisibility, it was easy to forget that the outside world was nothing more than a wasteland. It was easy to forget that the living dead walked the hot earth, rotting from the inside out, hungry for flesh and magic. But Twilight couldn’t forget. And she most certainly couldn’t forget what might be waiting for her in Canterlot.

After exchanging a few easy words with Apple Fritter, Applejack came trotting into the barn. She nodded towards her cousin. “Candy Apple’s got herself in a spot o’ trouble with the golden cherry trees,” Applejack said. “Could yah give her a hoof?”

“No problem,” Apple Fritter said, grinning broadly. “It was nice meetin’ yah Twilight.”

“You too.”

Applejack chuckled as Apple Fritter left. “See yer met my cuz.”

“She’s lovely,” Twilight said, gesturing to the plate she was washing up. “A wonderful cook, too.”

Applejack nodded. “She always had a knack in the kitchen, Ah tell yah, ‘sides from Pinkie she’s probably the happiest pony you’ll ever meet since the apocalypse.”

Twilight finished with her dish, drying it with a flash of her magic. “Are Pinkie and Rarity…?”

Applejack gave her a knowing smile. “Lemme show you ‘round the farm.”

The farm was decidedly larger than Twilight had imagined. As well as the cherry and apple trees being cultivated on the side that Twilight had ‘broken in’ on, there was a whole tended soil area for golden cherry trees at the front-side of the barn. The golden cherries seemed to have fared better than the apples, but they still seemed smaller post-apocalypse, more withered.

Twilight frowned. “You know with a touch of magic I could keep the farm in better condition.”

Applejack grinned broadly. “That’d be mighty kind, Twi. We got quite a few unicorns here at the farm, but none of ‘em know enough ‘bout farmin’ magic to help us much past tendin’ soil.”

“Well,” Twilight said, pointing her horn at the nearest tree. With a little concentration, Twilight was able to connect her magic’s flow with that of the life inside the tree. She felt it pulsate within the roots, taking root beneath the soil. She smiled as the bark began to glow, her magic inching its way through the trunk. “It might take a few days, but I’m sure I can get to every tree.”

Applejack drew Twilight into another hug, laughing softly. “Sugarcube, Ah gotta say Ah missed yer somethin’ fierce.”

Twilight laughed at that.

The lack of animals was startling, but not surprising. After what Applejack had said, it made sense that none of the animals would have existed within the border. It was good in a way, at least they were spared of the swarm. Still, Twilight couldn’t help but think of Fluttershy.

As they trotted through various farming ground – Applejack explaining the different chores as she went – Twilight began to notice how many ponies she didn’t recognise going about their daily routine. She saw earth ponies planting seeds and pulling ploughs through the dirt, dirt that was being kept alive by the magic that a few unicorns were performing, trailing behind the earth ponies’ efforts. The community was larger than Twilight had expected, but so many of these ponies were strangers to her. Hardly any of them were from Ponyville or even Appleloosa. And also, as Twilight focused her attention more on the ponies and less on Applejack’s voice, she realised that there was not a single pegasus pony among them.

“AJ…” Twilight said, apologising when she realised that Applejack had been in the middle of talking. “Where are all the pegasi?”

Applejack glanced about herself before lowering her head. “Not many o’ ‘em made it back from the war,” she said softly. “We try not ter talk ‘bout it much, but the fact is, the only time anypony sees a pegasus nowadays is in the sky… as one of them borgs.”

Twilight looked up at the dome instinctively. She saw nothing, though even if a borg had been up there, it wouldn’t have seen them with the shroud intact. Which reminded her.

“I can help with that invisibility shroud,” Twilight said suddenly. “I realise it must take a lot of energy for the unicorns here to keep refreshing it. If I add my Alicorn magic, we can change the recharge time from three times a day to once every few days, easy.”

Applejack’s expression softened into something of relief. “Twi, you’d be doin’ a mighty kind service helpin’ out them poor souls. Celestia knows it takes it outta ‘em usin’ all that magic.” She glanced towards the ploughing fields. “Plus all the magic they provide fer our soil.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m just glad I can help. Which reminds me.” She gestured towards the barn with her hoof. “I left some jars in my saddle bags under the bed. They have some small-scale weather enchantments attached to them that creates replenishable drinking water. It should be useful.” She thought it best not to mention the test tubes and other scientific equipment stowed away in there. There was no use frightening these ponies if they realised she had live samples of husk blood hidden beneath her bed.

Applejack was thankful for the support and continued the rest of the tour with a renewed vigour. By the end of it, the red sun’s heat had gotten to the both of them. Twilight could feel the sweat prickling beneath her fur, and Applejack looked about gasping for a drink.

“Ah’ll show you the barn where we keep our equipment,” Applejack said. “Then we can head on inside an’ get us somethin’ ter drink.”

Twilight nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

One thing Twilight hadn’t expected from a supply barn was the one thing she should have wholly anticipated.

“SURPRISE!”

The instant Twilight opened the doors, streamers came blasting from the ceiling. A wall of multi-coloured confetti sprinkled from all angles, raining down into Twilight’s mane. There was only one pony in all of Equestria who could somehow throw a welcome back party in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

Twilight squealed with renewed delight. “Pinkie!”

Twilight was very nearly tackled by a mane of ruffled pink joy. Pinkie appeared from seemingly nowhere, pulling Twilight into a hug that on all accounts should have knocked the wind right out of her, but instead felt like an accumulation of the things she had been missing all at once.
Twilight found herself laughing, burying her muzzle into Pinkie’s shoulder.

“OhmygoodnessgoddnessGOODNESS, I missed you sooo much Twilight!” Pinkie squealed, jumping up and down with Twilight still firmly wrapped in her forelegs. “When Applejack told us that you had turned up at the barn, me and Rarity didn’t know what to think, I mean it’s been ten years Twilight, ten whole years! And I knew this called for a Pinkie Party, but with the whole end-of-the-world thingy I was severely lacking in streamers butbutbut we’d just traded some supplies in Manehattan and they had an old party store, can you believe it? And I needed confetti for my party cannon because it’s my cannon, I couldn’t just go to a party store and not buy confetti for my cannon and I got side tracked and next thing you know I had half the store with me and Rarity told me that that was an obscene amount of party stuff and that I’d never need to use it and flour and food materials were so much more necessary but lookie now! You’re home and I can throw a PAR-TAYYY!”

Pinkie didn’t pause for breath once and Twilight had never been more thrilled for it. She hugged Pinkie back just as tightly, laughing along to her mad story. “This is amazing,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes. “Thank you so much.”

“Awww,” Pinkie said. Her eyes were glistening too. “We’re just glad to have you back!”

“All of us.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at the sound of Rarity’s voice. She squealed as the unicorn trotted forwards; Rarity was already crying, large globular tears freely running down her face and muzzle. Sweetie Belle stood in the corner, smiling brightly.

“Oh Twilight, darling, all these years!” Rarity said, sweeping Twilight into a hug the second Pinkie let her go. “I bet I look a mess compared to you, all safe and sound in that crystal.” Rarity made a huffing noise. “To think, the absurdity and just utter rudeness of it all for your castle to disappear like that. I swear to you Twilight, I will not rest until we figure out who did this to you!”

“Rarity,” Twilight said, tears leaking onto her friend’s shoulder. “Thank you.” She looked out to Applejack , Pinkie and Sweetie Belle, her smile extending to all of them. “I can’t thank any of you enough. I… I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t found you all.”

“It’s not worth thinking about, honestly,” Rarity assured. “Now, we don’t have too long until we must return to our arduous work ethic.” Rarity shot Applejack a humorous look. “But we have plenty of cider, and Apple Fritter brought in some extra fritters from breakfast, so dig in everypony!”

Twilight laughed, joining her friends at the makeshift table Pinkie must have rolled in from the barn house. For the first time in a long time, she felt truly happy.

Twilight found herself working until the early hours. Or at least she must have been, because everypony else had abandoned their chores in favour for their beds long ago.

The red sun beat down just as harshly, but a subdued breeze seemed to blow in from nowhere, ruffling Twilight’s mane and leaving an ashy taste in her mouth. Twilight paid it no mind; instead she tried to imagine that she was simply helping Applejack out on the farm on a hot summer’s day. Once the work was done, she’d be meeting Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy at the lake for sunbathing and swimming. Pinkie would bring Gummy and Spike would be there too, trailing after Rarity as always.

Twilight focused her energy on the last of the golden cherry trees. She’d been working all day to get at least one of the farms fully protected from the sun’s unrelenting heat. She could feel the pressure on her horn’s magic, sapping the last of her energy, but it didn’t matter to her. With a final burst of magic, the golden cherry farm was finished.

Twilight sighed, trotting over to a nearby rock. She could see the barn off in the distance, a few windows still aglow with soft candlelight where the last of the survivors had yet to relinquish their consciousness. She’d join them soon enough, but for now she just wanted to be alone.

Seeing Rarity and Pinkie that afternoon had been amazing, and spending that time catching up, eating and talking had felt like old times again. Twilight could ignore the significant exhaustion in her friend’s eyes, the small differences to their faces and manes that gave away the strain of those extra ten years. For a while she’d been able to pretend that everything was fine and that they were simply celebrating a normal Pinkie Party like always.

But it simply wasn’t true. Her friends might still be the same in many ways, but they had also changed in others. Rarity no longer worked as a fashion designer. She made a few pieces here and there for protective purposes, but mostly she’d spent the last ten years focusing on her magical ability just so she could keep the farm safe from harm. Sweetie Belle might still sing to entertain the survivors, but there weren’t any fillies or colts on the compound that were in need of help finding their special talents. Even if there were, Twilight wondered if foals would even acquire their cutie marks in this warped and torn future. Maybe they could only have marks to do with survival now. What did a husk-evading cutie mark look like, she wondered?

Pinkie was in high spirits it seemed, but Twilight had learnt from Rarity that the rest of her family was currently MIA. The only member to be accounted for was Maud Pie. She lived out in the Manehattan compound – apparently this new rock infested wasteland was like a Hearth’s Warming gift that never ended for her. Twilight had to stifle a laugh at that.

All her friends had lost somepony, just as Lyra had explained.

As Twilight looked out beyond the barn, out past the invisibility shroud where the overpowering wasteland never seemed to end, she wondered just how many ponies were out there right now. Lost, or surviving on their own. Was Apple Bloom with some of them? Did Twilight know any of them? Was somepony being killed by a husk right now? Or attacked by a borg? Was the swarm ravaging somepony? Were they turning into a husk as Twilight sat there, staring at the fire-like sky?

Twilight shook her head. All of this was so wrong. She’d spent a day fixing cherry trees just to feel like she was doing something worthwhile, but she knew in her heart that she was just stalling. When was an appropriate time to ask her friends to come to Canterlot with her? Twilight grimaced at the thought. She couldn’t expect her friends to go along with this, she could barely believe herself every time the thought crossed her mind. She was safe here; was she really willing to give all of this up just for the small chance at finding an answer the Princesses might have left for her? It was more than a long shot, it was border line insanity.

Then again, wasn’t everypony a little insane now?

“Ya’ll alright there sugarcube?”

Twilight jumped, turning at the sound of Applejack’s voice. She was stood by the rock, a look of concern on her face. Her hat was missing and there was sleep in her eyes.

Twilight tried to smile. “Sorry,” she said. “I just… got caught up in my work, I guess.”

Applejack followed Twilight’s gaze towards the wasteland. “It’s late,” she said quietly. “Maybe it’s time to get some rest?”

“Maybe.”

Suddenly, a thought struck Twilight. Something so simple, so easy, she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. “Hey,” Twilight said. “Those… expeditions you guys go on, how often do you do that?”

Applejack’s eyebrow rose in suspicion. “Every week give or take. Why?”

“Could I come with you on your next one?” Twilight asked.

Applejack’s expression shifted to that of exasperated understanding. “We don’t go near Canterlot,” she warned.

Twilight bit her lip before nodding. “That makes sense I guess.”

“Twi,” Applejack said slowly. “Yah have ter let this go. It ain’t healthy fixatin’ on somethin’ you just can’t have.”

“I know,” Twilight murmured. She glanced back out at the wasteland, trying to visualise Canterlot stood out there somewhere in the distance. Her first home. The royal capital. “I just…” She sighed. “I have so many questions.”

“We all do.”

Twilight turned sharply to Applejack. “Then why can’t we go?” she urged, a pleading note in her voice. “I understand the risks, AJ, but wouldn’t it be worth it if the answers to this whole thing lay somewhere in the palace?” Twilight shifted on her hooves, wincing slightly. “Plus… I’ve been taking samples of husk-uh-grey blood and the only place in Equestria that might have the technology to properly analyse them is the laboratory in Canterlot.”

“Husks, huh?” Applejack’s lips quirked with amusement. She sighed, shaking her head. “Ah get ya’ll want answers, Twi, but really, do yer think a bit o’ blood is gonna give you a cure ter this mess? Or even what yer wanna hear?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know.” She threw her hooves up in frustration. “That’s the whole point! I don’t know. And I want to. I need to.”

Applejack’s eyes flickered over Twilight’s expression before she softened. “Here’s what Ah’m gonna suggest,” she said. “Next week, Ah’ll let ya’ll tag along on our expedition ter trade some goods. You’ll get a lay of the land that way, an’ you’ll see what it’s like trekking with a group of ponies.” Applejack bowed her head not unkindly. “Ah can betcha it ain’t nothin’ like travellin’ alone.”

“So what?” Twilight asked. “If I do that and I still want to go to Canterlot, you’ll join me?”

Applejack sighed. “Ah reckon Ah won’t be able ter stop yah either way. Least if Ah’m with yah my conscience will be clear.” Her eyes narrowed. “But we trade first. Maybe then you’ll realise just how stupid this whole plan sounds in the first place.”

Twilight realised this was the best offer she was going to get. She needed answers, and Applejack understood that. Heck, maybe a part of her wanted those answers just as badly. With the samples Twilight had collected, there was a chance she’d be able to figure out a piece of this puzzle. Maybe she’d never find a way to defeat the husks; maybe she’d get to the lab and find that there was nothing worth finding. Maybe her dream of retrieving a lost letter from the Princesses was exactly that. A dream. But there was only one way she’d find out for sure.

Twilight bumped Applejack’s hoof with her own. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

I can’t put down in words how good it feels to see my friends again after all this time.

In one week I’ll be leaving the compound with Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack. We’ll be taking supplies to a settlement hidden in the cliffs just off of Neighagra Falls. The ponies there manage to keep off of the borgs’ radar, but Applejack tells me that the trek is a long and arduous one, posing many husk threats along the way.

I can’t say I’m thrilled about that, but if I can prove to Applejack that the four of us are more than capable of accomplishing this task together, then she’ll agree to accompany me to Canterlot.

I think that if I explain myself to the others, Pinkie would agree to come along in a heartbeat. I can’t say the same about Rarity; I know that she still thinks of Sweetie Belle as her responsibility despite her being older and more than capable of taking care of herself now. I also know that Sweetie Belle would be devastated if anything were to happen to her big sister.

I don’t want to put my friends in unnecessary danger, but the truth is that none of us are safe, not even in Appleloosa. The husks and borgs pose a threat to us at all times; taking a step out of the shroud for more than two seconds could get anypony here killed. I can’t ask for more than my friends are willing to give, but given these ten years where the dead have walked and cyborgs have roamed the skies, I’m willing to bet that they might just agree to this. If for nothing else than to help me.

I love my friends, they have always been the best of me.

Together, I know we can do this. We can make it to Canterlot.