Applejack took a deep breath.
There it was. The fresh scent of Sweet Apple Acres. Just what she needed. She wished she could be out there with Big Mac, bucking the apples off the trees until sundown. Alas, it would not feel as great as she remembered with her coat still as raw as it was. Healing and resting was still in order.
Not that this mare would let her get out anyhow…
“Fresh water,” Rara exclaimed upon her return, hooves clicking against the old worn boards of the Apple house. “Just regular. I knew you’d spit it out if you caught an imported taste.”
The joking grin didn’t pass over Applejack’s head. She clutched the pillow, wishing she had sheets instead. Twilight may have insisted that she remain in the transported medical pod, but she wasn’t keen on experiencing what felt like a pampering. Her hide might be raw but she was a tough pony. One look from Rara, though, and she stayed put.
“I promised I’d keep an eye on you, AJ,” the singer said after she placed the water jug on the nightstand. “I meant it. The magic runes on the pod will speed the remainder of your healing. The more time you spend out of it, the longer it will take you to get back to work.”
Applejack groaned. “I know, Rara. I’m just not used to this consarned thing. I’d have preferred Twi just zap me back to normal.”
Rara looked about for the folded apple-pattern blanket and found it on the shelf across from the bed. She had set up a few larger pillows near the bed and adding a blanket would make it a more comfortable stay. “I may not be in that special group of yours, but it’s my understanding that Twilight is still not capable of everything,” she commented as she walked across the room and grabbed the thick blanket so old it was probably an heirloom. “In fact, I’m surprised you all survived given what you told me.”
Applejack remained disappointed even if she knew the truth of it all along. “Twi’s not queen for nothin’. Look, thanks for bein’ here, Rara. I haven’t said it yet, so I think I should. I’m sorry for havin’ to run away on you in Vanhoover. I really did want to spend more time-”
“Hush you,” Rara quieted her in a motherly tone. “Your friends needed you. Who am I to keep the Elements of Harmony apart? Besides,” she came up to the side of the open magic pod and stroked AJ’s cheek, “what kind of pony would I be if I cared nothing for the ponies you cherish?”
Applejack blushed and thought over what to say as her fillyhood friend got comfortable again beside the pod. Finally, she decided on, “sure know how to butter up a mare, huh?”
Rara’s only reply was a “dinner will be in an hour” before she put on her headphones to practice her familiarity with the beats to new songs she had in the making.
Applejack was getting hungry now that she was thinking about it. Her gaze lingered on her friend though, rather than the door that lead from her bedroom to the hall and kitchen beyond. Rara was the biggest star in all of Equestria and yet she was here looking after some farmpony.
The orange pony still felt unsure about what she wanted in her life. At least when it came to romance. But she knew one thing for certain. This pony truly cared about her. And that felt good. Really good.
With noticeably less pain, Applejack turned onto her back once more and looked up to the apple stickers stuck to the roof above this spot where her regular bed pillow would be. There was something else that made Applejack think this was not such a bad thing.
Rara was pretty hot.
All I am saying, darling, is that if you think another mare is ‘hot’ then you are clearly attr-
While I’m perfectly fine with the two of you debating the deeper meaning of appearance and attraction, Twilight interrupted over the hivemind relay, I’m much more interested in how you and Spike are doing.
Saved by the Twi, Applejack chuckled before falling silent in the mind.
Rarity huffed. Very well, Twilight. And I will not bother asking why you continue to inquire in spite of having the answer already. Really, sometimes I think you just interrupt for your own amusement.
The queen giggled only.
To answer: perfectly fine, though Spikey won’t stop fussing over his replacement changeling scales.
I’m not fussing, Spike grumbled, voice still deep but not as croaky as it had been when injured. He shifted about on his seat. I just wish they blended into my other scales. Two black ones stand out against my purple.
Rarity cantered over to the medium-sized dragon on the throne. “While I would normally abhor a spot different in color, this is hardly fashion. Some ponies have mottled coats or spots, though it is less common. I am not insensitive-”
Except for zebras, Twilight remarked.
“Now I know you are playing about,” Rarity deadpanned with a flat face. Her voice sounded out in the throne room, the few other occupants besides Spike raising brows in confusion.
“Let her have some fun,” Spike chuckled. It was a nice contrast to the recent mood in the Empire. “It helps lighten things up around here. Celestia knows we all need it.”
Seeing the white mare shiver a bit in her overcoat, Spike blew a breath of steamy air to her, to which her stony expression softened. “It is nothing more than the usual squabbles,” she assured him and leaned up to his face to give him a soft nuzzle. “Managing an Empire even as small as this one is bound to have its own troubles.”
“And vigorous nightly romps.”
“Gah!” Rarity and Spike exclaimed in unison, both falling away from the throne.
There, leaning against the other side of the crystal throne where she had not previously been, was Princess Cadance. The Crystal Princess and supreme leader of the Crystal Empire. She leaned forward onto the armrest from the side, resting her faux innocent face upon her golden royal shoe-clad hooves.
Rarity huffed with a blush. “You said to watch the throne while you went for luncheon!”
“Turns out Sunburst doesn’t have any hidden magi-film capture scrolls in stock at the moment. And they have to be the hidden variety or I won’t be able to film the two of you getti-”
Vvvmm!
The hum of Rarity’s azure magic vibrated as it closed the pink alicorn’s mouth and kept it shut. She had gotten used to Cadance’s endless teasing and pervy pranks, but that didn’t mean she was okay with it being shouted about with changelings and crystal ponies in the throne room. The low chatter of the minor official business being conducted in the throne room soon died upon Cadance showing up again.
Shining Armor, meanwhile, stepped through the front entrance of the throne room. “I told you not to use the Heart’s magic for teleporting, dear,” the stallion pouted. “I can’t keep up.”
“If only it could record pony and dragon coupling,” Cadance mumbled through Rarity’s silencing magic. Thankfully, it didn’t sound comprehensible to anypony.
“You could have just asked,” Spike shrugged, taking on a grin as he looked sideways to his relatively-smaller mare.
“Not helping, Spikey,” Rarity’s deadpan returned.
Canterlot was busier than usual. The sound of rumbling carts was on every street. The sound of an auctioneer rang out even in the chaotic clash of sounds and voices. The square had a dozen Royal Guards directing wagon traffic around the massive auction meeting that boarded off all but a narrow corridor snaking around the edge of the otherwise open square. Wagons bumped along over the tiled stone that formed the walking path along the square’s building storefronts. Guards helped ponies coming in and out of said stores avoid the wagon traffic they, in turn, forced to go slow and careful.
“859 North Canter Boulevard!” the auctioneer mare shouted out. “Two million! Do I hear Two-Five? Yes, the teal pony there! Three! Three million?!”
A certain pink Earth pony was flying over the tops of the old-era architecture that all of the square’s surrounding buildings were made in. “Target sighted,” Pinkie Pie giggled to herself and lowered the hum of her changeling flight turbines. “Engaging!”
The buildings zipped by on her left as she turned and glided downwards, intricate stained glass windows blurring along her sight as she aimed for one particular unicorn. In 100% certified Pinkie fashion, she crashed into the mare directly instead of landing beside her. Engines whined to a halt and pink hooves clacked against the stone walkway.
“Reporting for duty, sir ma’am sir!” Pinkie saluted the pony she was currently pinning to the ground.
“Relieved, Pinkie,” Storm Sword moaned. A glow of her magic placed the over-excited party mare off to the side. The Captain got back up to her hooves, ignoring the stares of the ponies who had been surprised from the event. “You’re not even under my command. What brings you here? Also, I’m off-duty right now.”
“Well that’s obvious, silly!” Pinkie rolled her eyes, smile still bright enough to outshine the sun. “That’s why I brought you these totally off-duty cupcakes! Hazelnut too. Your favorite!”
Storm couldn’t respond before a cupcake was shoved into her mouth. And then a second one. Pinkie’s reputation was well deserved, though. Nopony was a better baker. And these were her favorite. She calmly disregarded the fact that the mare was acquiring these cupcakes from the bottomless inventory of her pink mane. Pinkie even popped out a whole tray of hazelnut treats from her poofy locks.
“Also, Twily wanted to thank you again for everything you’ve done.”
Storm Sword groaned. “Besides it being my job, I do have a personal interest in keeping the ponies of Equestria...you know...not dead.”
Pinkie Pie threw the plate of cupcakes into the air and gave Storm Sword a spine-cracking hug. “You’re the best!”
“You came all the way here just because you wanted to fly around with that thing and make more cupcakes, didn’t you?” Storm guessed with a knowing look as she eyed the hybrid machine-contraption still strapped to the pony.
Pinkie Pie stepped back from her guard friend and proceeded to catch the plate of cupcakes as it came back down. “And give you some of the cupcakes and thank you and hug you and see some of my other awesome friends here in Canterlot!”
Storm Sword’s eyebrows furrowed. How long were those cupcakes in the air? Were they just hanging up there mid-air this whole time?
“They’ve put more trust in you, it seems,” Friendly remarked as she took a seat beside the not-so-tall changeling queen. The bench was less cold now that the dark being had melted away the snow and warmed it in the process.
“Nearly killing myself to save their dragon has put me in high regard,” Queen Flux answered, getting comfortable next to her fellow foreigner. Though perhaps her changelings were becoming less foreign to the Empire every day.
In spite of only the occasional snowflake drifting down, it was by all means still quite cold. Each of Flux’s words was accompanied by a puff of foggy warm air. “The Crystal Heart...I would not have survived without it, UA-17. It has evolved, connecting to every one of us. I didn’t believe in peace or hope for my hive. Certainly not for myself. There was only the struggle. The fight. That was all there ever was and all there ever would be. I don’t care that it nearly took my death to see a new dawn. My children are safe. There’s nothing more I want.”
Friendly looked into the changeling’s eyes for a moment and then turned her gaze to the mountains rising in the distance over the roofs of the crystal buildings. “It is strong of you to see that. Any good leader cares more for those she is in charge of than herself. And I told you, the name’s Friendly.”
“A direct name for an ambassador, don’t you think?” Flux grinned a bit, her fangs baring just a tad.
Friendly have a humorous “hph” of warm breath, finding amusement with it. “I do have a name besides that but this is my name for all others. Outside my borders anyways. You are a surprising choice for an ambassador yourself, are you not? Former enemy of these ponies?”
“I’m trusted now and they wish to fully include my hive in all matters. We are...accepted here.”
Friendly smiled as she looked to the mountains again, envisioning her home beyond them. “All will remember this time.”
“What for?” Flux tilted her head, orange locks shifting in the motion. “Strife? Trouble?”
“It was the time we all came together. In peace.”
Silence. The faint distant murmur of one or two conversations. Rustling of the trees in the gentle breeze. Chirping of birds. A bright sky with a few clouds lazing about.
Queen Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath. Her regalia was off for a change and she enjoyed the feel of the grass and soil beneath her hooves. She stood at the rear of the Golden Oaks just in case some random pony might see her and decide to have a chat. She would enjoy such a thing so long as it was not for an autograph, but at the moment all she wanted was this.
To know...to feel what she had been missing of late. The peaceful life she had here in Ponyville. She let her eyes fall wherever they wished. To the clouds. Then to Rainbow Dash, who was fooling about on one of them, paddling her forelegs like oars to move about.
She let out a blurt of a laugh.
Okay, so her life here in Ponyville hadn’t always been peaceful. There may have been a half dozen or so world-ending threats that she and her friends had faced. That was beside the point, though. Right now was just a time to enjoy this. The moment.
A minute passed. Then two. Suddenly Twilight felt something soft brush up against her foreleg. Looking down, she found a very familiar black cat with vibrant green eyes and a pair of transparent bug-like wings this time. Catsalis.
“I thought you were making tea inside with Shy,” Twilight remarked, her voice cool and relaxed.
“Meow,” the small black feline replied.
“Oh, you’re so funny,” Twilight brought out her sarcasm with a smile.
“I was sent by the strawberry lemonade pony to inform you of the tea’s completion,” her voice came out in an odd combination of a purr and buzz. “I was going to just tell you through our mind, but I was curious about the feeling you were getting through your hooves.”
“Haha,” Twilight continued her sarcasm. “And it’s quite a bit different with paws.”
The changeling’s response to that came in a flash of green flame that was harmless to the grass. Twilight didn’t reel back from the change in Chrysalis’ form but did have to point her head up rather than down. The changeling was still much taller than her in her natural form.
“Aaaah,” Chrysalis sighed happily. “Yes, I agree. It does feel good. Perhaps it helps that the sun has warmed it. Though I do admit it feels much different with small paws.”
“It won’t be around for much longer,” Twilight admitted. “The snowbanks are not far off in Rainbow’s schedule. She’s helping out now that we’re back.”
After that, Chrysalis turned more serious. “You should speak if you have thoughts troubling you. Not mask it in our mind.”
Twilight didn’t answer right away as she processed what Chrysalis had said. Mask it? Then with a bright light of realization she laughed hard.
Chrysalis rose a brow and even Rainbow Dash paddled over, thinning the cloud to get lower.
“What’s up?” the multicolored mare inquired earnestly.
Chrysalis just shrugged.
“You...” Twilight began bringing down her bout of laughter. “You’re just so...serious!”
“I thought-”
“It’s not that,” the queen alicorn assured with a trailing chuckle. “Really. It’s not. I settled all of my official duties in Canterlot before we left. I don’t have any reservations about what I chose.”
Rainbow Dash was quicker to ask as she hovered on a thin cloud beside Chrysalis’ head. “Then what are you hiding?”
Twilight stifled more laughter. “It’s just so funny that the two of you are so persistent in knowing the smallest thing I don’t let you in on.”
“Hey,” Rainbow pouted. “I love you and really care about you. I’d say I have a right.”
“You’ve been hiding more and more here and there ever since you grasped the ability to selectively mask and block within the hivemind,” Chrysalis added with an air of camaraderie with Rainbow Dash.
Twilight said nothing yet in return but instead walked the short distance from the rear of her library to the stream that flowed through Ponyville. She stopped there at the edge of the water, admiring the small smooth pebbles that formed the bed of the stream. Trickling water rolled over the stones and made its way to destinations far beyond Ponyville. This was a spot a fair distance from the bridge, so no ponies were nearby.
With a gentle movement of her shoe-free hoof, she poked the water.
Cold.
Soon she would be enjoying hot cocoa rather than tea with Fluttershy.
“I was just hiding my plans for tonight,” she finally answered, glancing back to her blue and black companions. “Wanted it to be a surprise. I was thinking we’d have a sleepover at AJ’s. Didn’t want to leave her out. And then tomorrow will be an entire day off.”
“That’s a plan I can get behind,” Rainbow replied quickly with a smirk.
Chrysalis, however, was rubbing her forehooves together. “I see opportunities. Is that Rara still there?”
“Yes,” Twilight slid into suspicion. “No pranks.”
“Only love,” Chrysalis defended herself. “Yes,” she repeated to herself, “it will be a welcome little vacation from work.”
A familiar voice then called to them from the distance. Soft yet not so timid. “Twily! Chrysy! Dashie! The tea is getting cold!”
“It ain’t easy getting over that,” Applejack commented to Pinkie Pie as Twilight and Fluttershy danced to the music of the record player the party pony had brought over. “Twi’s been helping though. Having peace of mind is something this hivemind can help with and I don’t know where I’d be without it.”
Pinkie whipped out another cupcake out of thin air like it was stage magic. She placed it on AJ’s plate. The frosting even had an apple design on it with red food coloring. “I know. Well, we all know. Cloudsdale, Canterlot, Las Pegasus, Vanhoover, Baltimare. They’re things nopony can forget. But we can still smile. Equestria is getting better and we’ll always do what we can to make it so. In the meantime,” Pinkie gave her trademark super-smile, “we’re gonna have a blast here in Ponyville~!”
“Got that right,” Twilight called over as she took a break from her signature dance moves. “I need a drink. Pinkie?”
“I’ve got it,” Chrysalis answered instead, practically prancing over to the juice table currently being restocked by Rara.
Twilight began to rethink her desires at that moment. Keeping some responsibility as queen while stepping back and letting the ponies make more of their own decisions was a new balance that only time would tell was satisfactory or not. Regardless of how the future played out, she was hoping that the worst events had already come to pass. Perhaps what she needed most to forget duties and enjoy this particular night was a slice of cake.
Just one.
Or two.
Meanwhile, Rarity was managing a sleepover of her own.
Which was mostly just Cadance insisting she and her husband spend a night with her and Spike. Rarity was quite certain Cadance was simply bored in spite of all the going-ons in the Empire. Thankfully, Sunburst showed up before long, but his droning about Crystal Heart pony-changeling connection magic was hardly adequate relief. Spike embraced her from behind as they all relaxed in the rebuilt bedroom, giving her warmth from the dragon flame burning hot in his chest.
And that kept her happy.