Twilight's Garden

by Wanderer D

Chapter 4: Xokoyotl: The Time When Fruits Bloom

 
She could feel him approaching. His steps were slow, soft and ponderous, but they echoed in her conscience as loud as drums. She knew she could ignore them and get a little more rest, but Kuautemiktlan would knock on her door until she opened it.
 
Twilight woke up.The earth below seemed even darker than before, spongy and crumbly; alive in a way, almost brimming with potential... a quality which a feeling on the back of her mind told her was shared by the rest of the island. The smell of the compost was either gone or she had grown used to it in her sleep. She shook her coat a little, letting the last few pieces of dirt attached to it fall down.
 
Her hooves felt a lot better too. She used her magic to remove the bandages and had to smile at how effective Fluttershy's ministrations were. At least somepony here was learning something.
 
Too bad it wasn't Twilight herself.
 
Twilight took a deep breath, feeling unusually invigorated that morning. Kuautemiktlan would be there in a minute, most likely with additional news of how Applejack was doing something supremely interesting while she was stuck here getting dirty.
 
At least… at least her island seemed to be turning alright. She was by no means an expert, but her studies had pointed towards earth having the properties it had right now being ideal for planting all sorts of things. If the plants felt as welcome in her island as the deep earth made her feel, they would grow happy and strong.
 
The knock on the door came as expected and soon she was opening the door for Kuautemiktlan, who blinked at her in something resembling surprise. "You look well rested, Yolilistli," he said, nodding in greeting.
 
"I am," Twilight replied, stretching a little and sounding a little surprised despite herself. She had basically slumped down into the dirt, why was she so well rested? "What's the plan for today?"
 
Kuautemiktlan cleared his throat. "Today we shall plant the seeds that will grow in this island and turn it lush with life." He stepped away from the door and Twilight could see a huge cart filled to the brim with sacks upon sacks of seeds.
 
Twilight's horn itched and she wasn't sure if it was because she wanted to blast the thing or just use magic to spread them around. Probably the former, if she was honest with herself. Although either option would end in the spread of the seeds anyway. "Let me guess, I can't use my magic for this."
 
"The Yolilistli learns fa—" Kuautemiktlan stopped himself when he saw her look. "That is correct, yes." He coughed.
 
Twilight sighed. "Listen, Quack-mic-lan…"
 
"Kuautemiktlan."
 
"Yes. Anyway, I don't know how Earth Ponies spread the seeds. If I were to use my magic, I'd just levitate them and spread them all over the island. Am I supposed to just pick them up with my hoof and throw them over?"
 
"Some ponies drag a cart behind them that disperses the seeds," Kuautemiktlan said with a nod, "But because you must learn the ways of the Yolilistlitlatlakoli, you shall use your hoof, imbue them with the Yolilistlitlatlakoli's power, then spread them."
 
Twilight stared long and hard at Kuautemiktlan before she spoke slowly, "You want me," she reiterated touching her chest with her hoof. "To pick a bunch of seeds from the sacks, imbue them with Earth Pony Magic, spread them around and repeat that… for the whole island?"
 
Kuautemiktlan smiled.
 
The blast of magical energy blew up the island, expanding out as it obliterated everything; pony, earth, water, plant life and giant statues alike. The islanders stared in panic for the briefest of seconds before they were snuffed out like ash in the wind. The light, blinding and strong continued expanding for a round mile from its epicenter before a brighter flash suddenly sucked it back to the lone alicorn that had caused it. Twilight's Nightmare Form emerged from the flames laughing manically as the world shuddered in terror…
 
"...Yolilistli?" Kuautemiktlan called out, for—if the tone of his voice was any indication—at least the fourth time.
 
Twilight blinked, then very carefully forced herself to stop smiling. "I'm sorry, Quack-mic-lan, I think I need a drink."
 
"But, Yolilistli, it's seven in the morning."

"Trust me, Quack. I need a drink."
 
"If Yolilistli takes a drink now, she won't be able to finish the job tonight," Kuahutemiktlan insisted.
 
Twilight sighed. "Let me guess: It involves dipping my hoof into the sack of seeds, pulling out a bunch, and scattering them."
 
Kuatemiktlan nodded. "In part, but you must also infuse them with your desire for them to grow…"
 
Twilight blinked in surprise at the sudden interest in actual teaching from the shaman, nodding and concentrating.
 
"... yes, well done… just like the Yolilistlitlatlakoli would want you to perform."
 
Twilight cursed.
 

 
The bar/disco was surprisingly not empty when she walked in, even though it wasn't supposed to open for another two hours.
 
Twilight gave the two mares inside a surprised, half-raised left eyebrow.
 
"Oh, hello Twilight!" Rarity said, smiling pleasantly at her. "Please join us. Would you like a coffee?"
 
"Scotch," Twilight said to the bartender. "And if it's anything less than thirty years old I will detonate all the other bottles you have back there…" she glanced at the table. "Except for the Southern Comfort since my friend here seems to need it."
 
While the bartender scrambled to get to the select stock, Twilight flopped down on a table, where the other two mares simply stared at her.
 
"That bad, huh?" Applejack asked.
 
"These ponies…" Twilight trailed off, gritting her teeth. "Do you want to know what Quack-mic-lan had me do today?"
 
"Kuautemiktlan," Applejack and Rarity corrected her.
 
"Whatever. He made me plant seeds on a whole island!" Twilight muttered. "We went at it for seven hours! And all the time he was telling me how much you would want me to learn to plant!"
 
"Whoa, Nelly!" Applejack reared back. "Ah'm sorry they told you that, sugarcube, but trust me when Ah say I'd rather be doing your job than mine!"
 
"So... " Rarity ventured, a little hesitant to even ask. "Did you finish doing that?"
 
Twilight snorted, looking over her shoulder at the bar. "I'm waiting!" she hollered, earning a disapproving glance from Rarity, but at that stage, propriety had gone out the window. If she was to be treated like she was raised in a farm, she'd act the part. "To answer your question, yes, I did. I put all the carts in the center of the island, jumped on top of the carts, poured all the earth pony magic I could force into them, then made the whole thing explode after Quack-mic-lan—"
 
"Kuautemiktlan."
 
"...he called out the Yolilistlitlatlakoli's wisdom for the one-thousanth, eight-hundreth and twenty-sixth time." Twilight smirked a little darkly. "The whole island was covered in seeds and parts of cart."
 
"Ah hear you, sugarcube," Applejack nodded raising her glass and taking a deep drink. "No matter how much Ah keep tellin' them this is just a big misunderstandin', they won't listen!" She slammed down the glass of Southern Comfort she had been nursing.
 
Without looking, Twilight levitated the bottle of Southern Comfort as well as the one the relieved bar-tender had just fished out of somewhere.
 
"Now dears," Rarity spoke up slowly, watching Twilight pour some Southern Comfort for Applejack. "I understand this is taxing on both of you, but it is certainly teaching y—Twilight Sparkle! Put that down THIS INSTANT!"
 
Twilight ignored Rarity and finished taking a big chug of Scotch directly from the bottle. Behind her, forgotten and ignored, the bartender's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed behind the bar, unconscious.
 
"I bet mine was worse than yours," Twilight growled, looking straight at Applejack, who took a deep breath, leaning back and tilting her hat.
 
"Them's fightin' words, Twilight."
 
"Bring it on."
 
"Meet all of the shamans in the island and remember all their names." Applejack took a shot, raising an eyebrow at Twilight.
 
"Putting me to work without even explaining what I was supposed to do." Chug.
 
"Askin' me t'talk to their ancestors as if Ah knew how!" Shot.
 
"You have to crush all the rocks, Twilight! Make sure the earth is as soft as a sponge!" She mimicked Kuahtemiktlan's voice. Chug.
 
"Tellin' me to explain' Earth Elemental Magic to a bunch of shamans!" Shot.
 
"Ignorance disguised by mysticism!" Chug.
 
"Walls, and walls and walls of ponies doing the exact same thing for centuries!" Shot.
 
"Bury trash all over the island, Yolilistli," Twilight sang. Chug. "Now!" She waved her hooves in front of her, eyes wide. "Make it disappear overnight!" Chug.
 
"Find th' Celestia-damned exit of the labyrinth under th'island!" Applejack groaned in return. "It's a bunch of tunnels!" Shot. "And there ain't no lights!" Shot.
 
"Now, now, girls... we need an emergency visit to the SPA, you can't possibly continue like this," Rarity spoke up with an air of finality.
 
Twilight took another swig, pausing a moment to admire the almost empty bottle. "You know… that does sound nice."
 
Applejack nodded, hiccuping and downing another shot of Southern Comfort. "Ah usually would say nah, sugarcube, but Ah think I could do with some pamperin'. Mah brain feels like it's gonna 'xplode!"
 
"As you ladies must know, there's no time like the present an—"
 
"Wait!" Twilight said, taking another chug. "Wait. Wait." She leaned in and gave Rarity an intense, slightly glassy look. "What did—what did you just say?"
 
"That we need to go to the SPA, darling, this whole thing is cle—"
 
"No, nonono." Twilight took another drink, making Rarity's eye start twitching. "I mean… meant, what youze said after."
 
Rarity frowned. "Twilight, I don't think you're in any condition to discuss anything."

Twilight threw the—now empty—bottle across the bar. "Ah'm nut drunk, alrighty? I'm barely teepsy."
 
Applejack gave Twilight an incredulous look, throwing her own empty bottle to the floor blinking and blinking before talking slightly to the left of Twilight. "Sugar, you're so drunk y'all multiplied yerself. Ah didn't even know princesses could do that."
 
Twilight levitated another pair of bottles from the bar, not really caring what they were and passed one to Applejack.
 
Rarity attempted in vain to stop Twilight from drinking from the bottle again, before groaning and levitating a bottle of Gin over when Applejack had started to drink from the bottle as well.
 
"So, that thing… you said."
 
Rarity didn't answer, taking a long, long drink from her bottle before slamming it down on the table. "The SPA!"
 
"No! The other thing!"
 
"Ah think Ah know what…" Applejack swayed and burped, blinking a bit in confusion. "Ah know… the thing you said. I think I know what it is!"
 
"See?" Twilight drawled. "She knows! And she's a-a farmer! What happened to your educat—"
 
Rarity interrupted her by levitating the bottle of whatever it was that Twilight had brought up to their table to the Alicorn's mouth. "Shut up and drink."
 
She took a swig of her bottle of gin and glared at the other two. "This isn't going to end well."
 

 
The voyage had taken Chokilitsatsi's people months to complete. Their unicorn and earth pony shamans invoked spirits and water to guide them, and the pegasi that had joined them pushed the air into the sails carrying  them all away from the frozen lands.
 
The signs were good—omens and divinations had pointed towards this direction and the wind had been favorable for most of the trip. They had been forewarned of storms by their winged kin, and the unicorns understood the flow of the water better than none.
 
And yet… there was nothing.
 
The currents spoke of land here. The spirits had whispered of bounty beyond imagination. The wind had promised the smell of fruits and vegetables… and yet… there was nothing. Nothing but the tip of an underwater volcano, smoking periodically.
 
A hundred boats, wide and brimming with ponies of all ages stood, staring at the empty space in the water. The  exact spot, promised to them by all they believed in, and yet there was none.
 
Despair started to creep in.
 
They had left families, a war-torn land of frozen creatures, true, but despite the horrors a known factor where they could still feed themselves past the few remains of their rations. They knew, even if they turned back, they wouldn't make it.
 
The Great Shaman, Chokilitsatsi sank to his knees, resting his front hooves on the deck with a sense of defeat.
 
"Why?!" he cried to the skies. "Why have you forsaken us, oh spirits!"
 
It was then, as if in answer to his cries, the air above them seemed to split. A large sphere with unknown symbols and powerful energies that sent the shamans and all unicorns to the floor in abject awe, grew in place, making the wind shift and crack and the water churn.
 
Out of nowhere a huge mass of land slammed into the water and through the volcano's top. The waves lapped at the the barriers that had brought the land down as a fantastical being… an impossible being—a pony with wings and a horn flew down, laughing maniacally, while another pony of the earthen variety and wearing some sort of strange hat rode on her back swirling a lasso—circled from above before landing in the middle of the land.
 
They couldn't make out what the undoubtedly divine creatures were saying, but Chokilitsatsi's people quickly moored on the edges of the island and stepped into it, marveling at the soft feel of the earth.
 
Earth ponies wept when they touched it. So full of the promise of life and food… it was overwhelming.
 
They cautiously approached the pair of laughing celestial mares.
 
"T-that'll show them!" Twilight cheered, laughing as she sank to the earth, back to back with Applejack, who let out a woot of appreciation.
 
"Ah hear ya, sugarcube! Ah can't wait to see the looks on their faces when the new island is gone!"
 
"Can, can you believe it? I can… I can just see Quack-mic-lan's face, y'know, when he—when he comes to wake me up and there's nothing!"
 
Twilight's stomach growled. "Ah'm hungry."
 
Applejack gave her a look. "Welp." She paused to burp. "All them shamans taught you how to grow things, right?" She waved her hoof. "Make it grow."
 
Twilight rolled her eyes and stumbled to her hooves, swaying and glaring at the earth. Then she reared back on her hind legs and slammed her hooves down, shouting, "GROW!"
 
She felt the rush of energy leave her body and permeate the island, and before the amazed eyes of all the ponies that had gathered there to see this pair of celestial—if obviously intoxicated—beings plants sprouted at an amazing speed from the fertile ground, growing thick and strong and bearing fruit in impossible seconds.
 
Twilight giggled and reached up with a hoof to pick up a pear, tossing it to Applejack, who gave her a look.
 
"Y'all know these are illegal in Ponyville."
 
Twilight snorted. "They're not."
 
Applejack shrugged, biting into it. "Should be."
 
Chokilitsatsi watched them in bewilderment as they ate and stumbled, before gathering his courage and approaching them.
 
"Oh great ones!" He called. "Please! Let us share of your blessings!"
 
Twilight gave him a glare. "Whatever, I'm not staying anyway. Come on, AJ, let's go."
 
"But—please!" Chokilitsatsi asked again. "Please teach us, oh great one! Surely one such as you can only be the goddess of life and creation!"
 
Twilight gave him an amused look. "Me? Nah." She hugged Applejack, dragging the giggling mare into an embrace before levitating her up to the Chokilitsatsi's face. "AJ here. She makes things grow. Y'all hear me?!"
 
"She! Not me! Plants? HER. Magic? ME! You understand!?
 
Applejack giggled. "Y'said, 'y'all', that's so goshdarn cute, sugarcube."
 
"Did not!"
 
"Did to!"
 
Twilight hiccuped, raising a hoof to the her mouth. "In any case," she swept her hoof and pointed shakily at the ponies. "Y'all… y'all build something stupid. Like-like a giant statue! With a hat!"
 
"And a stupid labyrinth!" AJ added.
 
"And record everything you ever do!" Twilight hissed. "To the last detail!"
 
"And build a bar!"
 
"A big bar!"
 
"With Southern Comfort!"
 
"And lots of expensive whiskey!"
 
The horrified shaman nodded quickly.
 
"And we're done here." Twilight dropped the mic. Then blinked when Applejack cursed. "Oh… sorry there, AJ, thought you were a microphone."
 
"Do Ah look like a microphone to you?"
 
"Eeyup."
 
"Whatever."