//------------------------------//
// IV. (B)We Raised Ourselves Up From Nothing 
// Story: Death of Mother Nature Suite 
// by Cynewulf 
//------------------------------//

Applejack lay awake in bed, waiting.


Her dreams had grown strange of late. Not exactly like the nightmares of her foalhood, full of fire and monsters. Not like the ones she had as an older mare, of debt and forgotten obligation. They were not exactly pleasant, these dreams. They did not come every night, but she usually knew when she laid down for the night when one would visit her. It would start as a prickling in the back of her neck, like a set of claws gently touching her. Then, slowly, like a hangover-fog, an awareness of something or perhaps of someone right beside her, right behind her, right in front of her. But she never saw anything.


What was it? imagination. She'd already decided that. She remembered a conversation--



"You got a moment, Twi?"

"For you? Always! What's on your mind?"











"Terrible sorry to barge in on you unannounced like this," Applejack muttered, playing with her hat. It was a stubborn, foolish ritual, but it helped in a way. "Jus' figured you were the best one to talk to, and 'sides I ain't seen you in a minute."


"It's quite alright. I was actually about to take a break," Twilight said with a smile. "Was going to have some tea out on the balcony. Care to join?"


Applejack smirked. "Sounds nice."


They adjourned, and spoke of odds and ends while Twilight summoned one of her aides and asked him to inform anypony who wandered by that she was busy. Applejack talked plenty, but as she found herself doing more and more as the years went by, she found herself simply considering.


The years had been kind to Twilight. She'd explained how aging would go for her after ascension a few times, but frankly Applejack hadn't understood her past the introduction and doubted anyone else had either. You could see perhaps a year or so marked out in her face but otherwise she wasn't so different from the Twilight who had waltzed into her orchards a decade ago. What was different wasn't physical. Twilight carried herself differently now. 


It wasn't as if the academic turned small town librarian had vanished. In rare, warm moments, the younger Twilight would shine through in some unrestrained fit of laughter or spontaneous smile. Applejack found she rather liked this new if not improved Twilight just as much as she had always loved the old one. And they weren't so dissimilar. She wore power well, and Applejack, who held authority to high standards, was satisfied.


Tea arrived and they settled into the rhythm of slow sipping and waiting. Twilight hadn't said anything, but she had supplied a cup more suited to use by hooves, and Applejack silently appreciated it. Unicorn magic sometimes unnerved her, but she respected it.


"What's been on your mind?" Twilight said at last, smiling her most Celestia-like smile. "Though, I hope it's not so bad, or else I'll feel a bit guilty for the excuse to see you before the weekly get-together."


Applejack smiled. "I wouldn't say it's bad," she responded with a wave of her free hoof. "Not bad. Just, not exactly good. How much do you know about, uh, dreams?"


Twilight's brows raised. She hummed to herself for a moment. "Dreams? Lots of things. I know what the psychologists might say, from a few different angles. I know how Luna navigates and understands them, at least in theory. I've never really mastered dreamwalking, though I can attempt it. And of course, I know my own dreams."


Applejack nodded. "Right, I figured you'd cover all the bases. I'm guessin' you need the whole story to know where to start?"


"Probably," Twilight said. "Nightmares? You said it wasn't something to bad. If it's, ah, uncomfortable in nature, I can assure you I will speak to nopony of it. And of course, you know that dreams are just that: dreams. What we do in them can be very significant, but not those things are amoral actions. I mean, they have no real force of..." she sighed. "Sorry, I'm tripping over my words. Weird or bad dreams do not mean one is weird or bad, if that makes sense."


"I getcha. Nah, it ain't that, so you can rest easy. It's..."


Applejack took a sip of tea to stall for time.


She didn't know rightly how to explain it. What was there to explain? How did one begin to explain the internal workings of one's self?


All at once, she guessed. "I've been havin' awful strange dreams, Twi. They go together, I think. Like a story, that's what it's like. They're dark and sad, and I don't rightly know why I'm havin' them. I don't understand what's goin' on half the time, but I'm me in every one, doin' things I don't understand and thinkin' things I'd never think. It's been happening for awhile now. First it was just... workin'. I would dream of workin' on the Acres, but it'd be different. Crops are dyin', air is foul. Thought I was just stressed. But then they changed. Folks were leavin', or they were comin' in hoping for greener pastures. There was fighting sometimes and once I woke up cause I dreamed Applebloom got bucked right in the chin and I fell out of the bed. I was furious and anxious all day, trying to convince myself it weren't real, and--"


"Applejack, slow down!" Twilight held up both front hooves, and her wings had splayed out slightly. "Whoa. Whoa. Alright, so you've been having recurring dreams? They have a sort of narrative pattern?"


Applejack nodded. "Right. Like a story."


"How long?"


Applejack shrugged helplessly, and bit her lip. "Ain't really sure, to be honest with you." Rolling her eyes at Twilight's soft chuckle at the use of the word honest, she continued. "Ha, yeah, I know. But..."


"Sorry. I laugh when I'm worried."


"I guess a part of me is glad you're worried, but is it that bad?"


Twilight shook her head. "At the moment? I don't think so. But its obviously caused you distress."


"Yeah," Applejack felt like that deserved a nice spit off to the side as per her custom when frustrated, but spitting off or onto Twilight Sparkle's fancy Royal Balcony seemed a bit... ill-advised. So she drank her tea instead. 


"What are these dreams like? This dream world, I mean. You mentioned they'd changed, but focus on the big things. You said something about the farm doing poorly? Something about the air?"


"Right. World's twisted and wrong in there. Sky is sooty half the time, and the land is all blighted. Most of your crop dies, and sickness is rampant. There was never food to go around. I'm not sure how it happened, or if it's just always been that way there one way or another. It's a bleak world, Twi. Violent, hungry, filthy. The rain stinks, for Celestia's sake. It's Ponyville, just... not like any Ponyville I've ever known or wanted to know."


Twilight shuddered. "That sounds awful, Applejack."


"It is. But they've been changing."


"The dreams?" Twilight sighed. "I'm assuming from your being here today that the change isn't a good one."


Applejack weaved her head side to side, vacillating between answers before settling. "Eh. It's a bit of both, I think. Good in some ways, bad in others. Don't have to watch Ponyville rotting like an old mare in bed, for one. That part is nice. But now that me is goin' off somewhere and I'm seeing everywhere else all dyin' and unnatural. It's all tradeoffs. If I had to guess, now that I'm thinking of it? I'd guess it's been a few months."


Twilight propped her head on one hoof. Her eyes were on something, but they weren't on Applejack. She was seeing something, or remembering something, and the way her face tightened in recalled anguish made Applejack wish not to know whatever it was.


At last, Twilight shook her head. "No," she said softly, as if to herself. But Applejack was a mare of action, and her senses were still sharp. "AJ, I think for the moment... I'd like to write Princess Luna, if you don't mind. Recurring dreams are perfectly normal, but you are describing something a bit more thorough than what I've read about, and... hm." She pursed her lips.


Applejack looked away, wanting to fiddle with her hat but refusing to do so. "Is this really worth botherin' her ladyship about?"


"I mean, you did bother me, and I'm a princess," Twilight said with a smile. "Though bother isn't the right word. I'm glad you came to me. Would you be alright with dream walking, if Luna feels it might be useful? Nothing too invasive. Think of it as therapeutic. If it helped, I could do it instead of her. If she hasn't intervened at all in this long..." Twilight shrugged. "I need more."


"Yeah, I thought you might." Applejack put the cup down and slumped in her chair. "Sorry, it's just... I knew you wouldn't have some sorta cure-all, but I guess I hoped."


Twilight rose and crossed the space between them to wrap her friend up in a tight hug. "You're going to be okay, AJ. I promise. We'll figure this out."