While everypony else was busy being distant and emotional, Rainbow just sat on the balcony, staring down at the city. It was a ghost town, no one left their houses. And when they did, they crept around, hoping not to be seen.
She loved and hated it. She loved the feeling of fear she put into everypony, so much that they couldn't even walk outside. But she knew the consequences of their fear. If everypony was stuck inside, then there was no pony working.
She intently stared down at them as she tried to think of a solution. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the hoofsteps behind her.
"Boo," the black stallion guard whispered in her ear. They learned his name was Thunder Smoke, which was expected. She jumped away and just stared at him as he laughed at her.
She sneered. "You should respect me a hell of a lot more than you do, buster!" She growled at him. She'd never been startled before, and the only thing that sided with them did it. He reminded her a lot of somepony, but like she would tell him. He was too close for being a guard.
He just smiled at her. "Trust me, I respect you a lot. I apologize if I'm stepping over boundaries," he said as she turned away from him. He crept up next to her. "I can't help it, you interest me."
"God, you can't be buddies with your commanders! It doesn't work that way!" She barked at him, of course he just stayed like his cocky self, another thing they learned about him. He was so annoying, she hated it. Even if he was a good guard, he was more than insufferable.
"Well," he said with a cocky attitude, one that got on her nerves more than loads of times. "With so many of you, I'm bound to know one better than the other."
She rolled her eyes and looked away. "You can't just use charm to act like you're worth more than everypony down there," she pointed down at the city. And just as she expected, he took the least important thing and questioned her for that.
"So, I'm charming?" He asked and she just growled at him.
"Look, if you want something go to Fluttershy or Rarity, jerk," she sneered rudely. "They're pretty... or something!"
"Sure," he said with a smirk and just watched her reaction. She didn't budge, which only disappointed him. So he messed with her some more. "Aren't you gonna get jealous or something?"
She turned to him, anger covered her face. "Why would I? You're annoying and way too close." She turned back to the city, watching a stallion sneak around and walk into a different house. He could've been doing so many things, so she thought about each one, just hoping to space out like she did before.
"Are you just going to let them hide out like that?" He asked, she didn't answer. She tried ignoring him, it was what her mother always told her when someone annoyed her.
The silence just stayed for a while. He didn't mind, and she tried to forget he existed, it even worked. Until he started talking again. "Why don't we go scare them outside? Treat this like you actually have control over them?" He asked, trying to get her to talk.
She turned to him again," And why aren't you gone yet?" She was even more annoyed when she looked at him. His coat was so dark you could barley see his features. The only thing she could see was his green eyes, and she'd curse those things forever. Just the sight of him made her wish everything was for nothing so she could go home.
"The princesses were always so boring! It was just watch over this and watch over that, and it seems the same with all your friends," he said bluntly.
"So you think I'll actually let you help cause I'm a power freak?" She asked bluntly. He was almost worried about her, which was surprisingly evident on his face.
He smiled nervously. "Pretty much, you haven't stepped off the balcony all day."
She rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine," she started for the door. "You can help. Just consider yourself lucky. Even back home I didn't let anypony help." He giddily followed her out of the castle.
She was more than annoyed as she travelled down the halls with him following her. He was like a pet, and the happy look on his face was just gross. And she was confused, why was he even interested in her? If he guessed he had liberty to be her buddy, she expected him to guess he had the liberty to do whatever he wanted.
So she knew whatever he was doing was about her. But she had no idea what. It most definitely wasn't her looks, Rarity and Fluttershy were way prettier than her, even Twilight faired better. And of course Applejack was one of the cutest, she was a big southern baby.
And if he didn't go to everypony else for their personality, he wouldn't like hers. She was being so difficult. And she kept calling him names. She tried to remember why Soarin hung around her, then she realized he never answered her.
She sighed and kept walking until the passed through the barrier around the castle. She shivered, passing through magic was so weird to her. Just magic was weird to her. "So, what's your plan?" He asked with an adorable look on his face that she portrayed as ugly.
"Uh, just ask them to come outside. And if not, we go in and throw them out," she stated bluntly and walked over to a bush.
"And how are we going to ask? Just go up to every door?" He asked, noticing she was digging in the bush. "What are you doing?" He asked, tilting his head with it. She pulled out a megaphone. "Oh."
"Found it out here a few days ago," she stated and tucked it under her wing. "Dunno who would leave a perfectly good megaphone here, but it makes good use for a dictator." She started for the neighborhoods. He followed her with a chuckle and a smile. She groaned.
Applejack was one of the nicest of the seven, surprisingly. But her and Rainbow seemed to be the only ones still fine. Everyone else was distant and cold and she kinda felt bad for some of them.
She woke up in her throne, it didn't even hurt her back to sleep in it, but she still told herself she needed to get somewhere else to sleep.
As she walked through the throne room, she looked to the balcony and just saw Rainbow sitting there, she ignored the mare and kept walking. Applejack had walked through most of the castle numerous times. She knew where what was, as she didn't sleep very much. She was just raised that way, she didn't mind.
So she knew where the princesses rooms were, she guessed Twilight kept in Celestia's room. But she had no idea who took Luna's room, so she decided to investigate. Luna's room wasn't that far from Celestia, which just confused her when she saw who was held up in it.
She pushed the door open and just saw a dark heaven. Well, it was ruined, but it was still pretty. While Celestia's room used to have pastels, Luna's was full of blues, purples, and blacks. The blue walls were covered in writings, all the font was scratchy, seemingly done by a quill. Words like 'Knives', 'cupcakes', and 'ponies' covered the wall. She looked to the middle of the room and saw a pink mare rocking back and forth, shivering.
"Alright, Pinkamena," Applejack walked towards her, terrifying her. The mare jumped up, pinning her back against the wall with wide eyes. Applejack didn't advance any further. She'd seen the behavior before, but most definently not from someone as young as Pinkamena. "C'mon, let's get you outta here."
Pinkamena huffed and looked away with a pout. "If Twilight wants me, I'm not doing it!" As Applejack got closer to her, she pinned herself further and further into the wall, trying to seem confident with her chest puffed out.
"Twi ain't said nothin' 'bout you. She doesn't talk much," Applejack admitted shyly. She looked up at Pinkamena with a comforting smile. "I just, uh, kinda wanna help ya," she looked around the room. "This don't look very healthy. I thought gettin' ya outta this room would help."
She watched as Pinkamena slowly lowered herself to all four legs, she just stared at Applejack, extremely confused. "Why do you want to help me? You don't know me." She almost seemed disgusted when she talked about herself. Applejack smiled.
"I was thinkin' of bringin' Rarity with us. And no pony likes her," Applejack said sweetly as she pushed her shoulders up. "I ain't need ta know somepony to help 'em. I tried to help y'all in Ponyville, but I, uh, heh, got kinda scared of ya."
"Why aren't you scared of me now? Just cause I'm your ally? I still ate a bunch of ponies!" Pinkamena yelled at her, she was just confused and scared, Applejack knew that. So, she didn't give up.
Applejack chuckled, just confusing Pinkamena more. "You ain't nothin' to be scared of pardner, y'all are just scared yerself."
They just stared at each other, Pinkamena tried to understand everything while Applejack's smile just reassured her. "You ain't gotta understand it now, alright? Just trust me." She extended her hoof out towards the mare with the biggest smile.
Pinkamena's blue eyes sparkled as she put her hoof in Applejacks. "Wanna hug?" Applejack asked. "You don't got to if y'all don't want to." She didn't get an answer, she just got pink hooves wrapped around her. She smiled and wrapped her hooves around the mare. She felt motherly, but she guessed the mare needed it. And she thought she couldn't do one thing right on her own.
"T-thanks," Pinkamena pulled out of the hug reluctantly and wiped her eyes on her hooves. She hung her head in embarrassment, but she glanced up at Applejack and saw the biggest smile. "W-wanna go get Rarity?"
"Sure!" Applejack smiled happily and started trotting out of the room, Pinkamena walking behind her. She hoped that Pinkamena wouldn't bounce on the entire trek they would go on. She wanted Twilight to be the mare to make Pinkamena the most comfortable. She just wanted to be a helpful push.
The two walked in a nice silence, hoofsteps echoing in their ears. But Pinkamena didn't mind, she was happy Applejack helped her, even if she wanted it to be somepony else. But she was happy it was Applejack, just cause Applejack didn't know her. It was like a new face coming out of the dark with a smile. Just a friendly pony. And Pinkamena could smile at that.
Of course, she felt like a baby for how dependent she was acting. She thought she was a bother, but she never saw that smile leave Applejack's face, and she never looked away. She shook her head to rid herself of just thinking in general. "Hey, you know where Rarity is holed up?"
Applejack nodded as she turned a corner and saw a purple curtain hanging there, three light blue gems on it. She went underneath it to a dark hallway full of the same design. She walked down the dark hallway and stood by a door.
The trimming around the door was dark blue, gems of any color covering it. The door was dark purple, a line of three blue diamonds on the door. Pinkamena hung her head. "Oh." Applejack chuckled at her and knocked on the door.
"Go away!" Rarity yelled through the door, clearly on the other side of it.
"C'mon Rare! Ya can't stay in there forever! It ain't healthy!" Applejack yelled. Once she got silence as a response, she turned and bucked the door. She heard a scream as she door opened. She smirked to herself as she walked through the entrance before Rarity could shut it.
Rarity was sitting in front of a purple vanity. The whole room was a mess. Fabric and gems of whatever color she could find around the castle where strewn around everywhere. The furniture was all dark purples and light blues. The floor was barley visible, but Rarity seemed to mirror the room.
Mascara stained the fur on her cheeks, her eye shadow was rubbed off poorly, some remnants of it still visible. The mares mane was a mess, it wasn't even curled that well anymore and it was riddled with tangles and knots. She hissed at them. "It's perfectly healthy to stay locked in a room! How do you think ponies get over things!?"
She crossed her hooves and just stared at the two, feeling immense hate for Pinkamena. She looked to Applejack for a fight. Applejack just rolled her eyes, already tired of the mare. "Look Rarity, ponies get over things by talking about 'em. Or fixing them."
"How am I supposed to fix this?!" Rarity shot up to her feet as she yelled rudely. "I screwed up! Big time! I don't deserve for it to be fixed." She fell to the ground again and put her hooves to her eyes. "Look. I don't feel like letting anyone see me. Just leave, okay?" She asked nicely as her voice shook.
As Applejack went to talk, Pinkamena bounced in front of her and started talking. "You're full of yourself. Why not waste our time with your mistakes to make you feel better?"
"Cause I hate being ugly and gross and caring," Rarity mumbled.
"Spike liked you from the start, even after he figured out you were selfish!" Pinkamena said in a bubbly, determined attitude.
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Wow. Thanks," she said sarcastically.
"Don't mention it!" Pinkamena said loudly. "But why not start feeling better! So you can start thinking properly so you can find a way to fix it!"
Rarity growled and looked up at Pinkamena rudely. "I thought I said I don't deserve to fix it!"
Pinkamena sat down in front of her and grabbed her face. "Then tell us why! Trust me, it makes everything feel okay when you're not so alone." Applejack just stared at her, wondering who was ever there for her. But she was so proud. She comforted a child and watched the foal grow up so fast. She felt like a real mother as she smiled.
Rarity stared down at the ground. "What did you have in mind?"
Pinkamena smiled as she clapped her hooves together. Applejack smiled at her. "Well, I just thought we'd all walk around town and just talk whenever y'all want to. And if not today, then it's fine."
Rarity just looked up at her, an eyebrow raised. "Uh, alright. Sounds easy enough. I guess getting outside the castle would help."
"It sure would!" Pinkamena bounced up with a smile as she raced for the door. Applejack smiled after her and turned to Rarity as the unicorn stood up.
"You think you'll tell us?" Applejack smiled.
Rarity raised and eyebrow and smirked. As he walked past Applejack, she spoke. "Like Pinkamena said, I'm too full of myself not to waste your time with my problems. But maybe."
The two walked down the hallway, following Pinkamena as she bounced in front of them. "Did ya ever tell Spike?"
Rarity nodded. "He asked me to tell him something about me. So I told him the most important thing."
"Was it that you have the capacity to care 'bout somethin'?" Applejack smiled at her and leaned towards her. She suddenly backed away. "Sorry. Forget it, tell us whenever your ready."
"Oh don't treat me like a child. I have my tantrums but that's it. I guess everypony's very up and down some days," Rarity explained bluntly as she watched Pinkemena bounce as the mares humming echoed in her head. "But yes. Something like that."
"Alrighty then." Applejack smiled and the group walked -and bounced- in silence until someone talked.
Rarity looked over at Applejack, taking in the mares features. She had emerald green eyes, a nice smile, and golden hair. But the best thing about her is that she was nice. She was kind, she had a heart. It just made Rarity more depressed.
What keeps Spike from loving her? She thought as she drooped her ears and hung her head. She's nice! She's sweet! She can actually care about him. I did too... but I should've done a better job of it.
She looked to Applejack and just saw that nice smile. And she was infuriated with jealousy. She took her mind off of it, asking the mare something. "So. What was your little sister like?"
Applejack smiled in the memory. "Rebellious, sweet, adorable, stubborn. Like any good ole apple." She wore a sad smiled as she spoke, but she enjoyed reminiscing in her family. "I hope she's alright."
"But doesn't she have your caretakers taking care of her?" Rarity asked, the anger dissolving into curiosity. "They seem like the best to me."
Applejack smiled at her. "Her and my big brother left the farm a few weeks before we left for here. I don't know where she is."
Rarity just felt guilty as she bit her lip and looked away. "Oh. I'm so sorry."
"She's got my brother. He'd find somethin' out. It was their choice anyhow," Applejack stated bluntly. "I just think she didn't wanna end up like me."
"I'd love to end up like you," Pinkamena and Rarity both said with a smile. They looked to each other and giggled happily. Rarity smiled at Pinkamena. "Got any siblings?"
Pinkamena smiled as she started walking backwards, taking Applejack's head movements as directions. "Yep! Had three sisters! Maud, Limestone, and Marble! I kinda left the rock farm, so, but I know they're okay! I don't think that part of Equestria got hit by anything dangerous."
"Really?!" Rarity gasped. "I don't believe it! Everypony got something!"
Pinkamena smiled happily. "I don't know! They never wrote about anything! But once I got to Ponyville, I lived with the Cakes, learning to bake and such.
"They had twins. Pound and Pumpkin Cake! I helped raise those little suckers!" Pinkamena bounced happily.
"What happened to them?" Applejack asked quickly, knowing Rarity had no idea what happened to Ponyville. Pinkamena just smiled sadly at her.
"Orphanage. Like lots of other fillies," she stated bluntly, trying to sound okay with it. She failed. "I tried to adopt them, but I wasn't old enough. And once I was, they were gone. But I didn't trust myself with them anyway.
"I think somepony from Van Hoover adopted them, so they're okay. I think they'd love the snow up there," Pinkamena said sadly. But she smiled, and she didn't curl up. She was sorta okay with talking about it, and even if no one else saw it as an accomplishment, she did.
By the time the stories were done, they were at the castle doors. Two guards let them through the doors, and the second they were outside, they wanted back in. It was freezing, and they kept hearing yelling. Pinkamena and Rarity hugged each other in fear.
They reluctantly followed Applejack as she started walking. But they all crept around corners and walked slowly. The yelling suddenly became recognizable. They heard Rainbow yelling cruel things harshly. "Jeez. I'm not that mean, am I?" Rarity looked to Pinkamena.
"Uh, nah, you're just mean in the sense that you don't care," Pinkamena shrugged. Rarity sighed in relief. The were confused when they saw Applejack walk towards the noise. She was horrified. Rarity and Pinkamena were curious, so they crept up behind her and screamed, hugging each other again.
They just saw a crowd of quivering and shaking ponies as Rainbow Dash flew over them with a megaphone. Her little guard friend made sure everyone stayed attended. Rainbow Dash had a wicked grin on her face as she yelled into the megaphone. "Just go back to your normal lives! But your world isn't gonna be ruled by Harmony and Friendship anymore!"
She set herself down on the ground, her guard friend sharing her same evil stare. "Got it?!" She yelled into the megaphone, everypony in the crowd nodded their heads, terrified as some started crying.
"I can't heeeeeear you!" Rainbow yelled, sticking her ear out to the crowd and holding her hoof up to it. "I said, 'Got it'?!"
"Y-yes!" The crowd cried in unison, staring back at Rainbow. Applejack rammed Rainbow out of the way and grabbed the megaphone.
"Hey!" Thunder yelled at her. "What're you doing!?" He just got a cold stare from Applejack.
"She isn't the only one bossin' you 'round. Go help her up already and don't talk back," Applejack said coldly. He just backed away from her and trotted over to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow pushed herself up, her eyebrows furrowed. The two just stared at Applejack, waiting. The whole crowd did as well. Suddenly, Applejack smiled as sweet as she could at all of them. "I'm sorry for all this, y'all! She's just in a bad mood, I'm so sorry y'all were all a victim of it."
The crowd conversed amongst themselves, whispering and mumbling to one another. "But like she said, go back to y'alls normal lives. We ain't gonna hurt y'all."
She smiled reassuringly at the crowd, hoping to calm the down and not scare them. She didn't know how Twilight or Rainbow were gonna do things, so she at least wanted to get the town back to normal. "Just see all this as new management. And try to live with the changes, please."
"Where are Celestia and Luna?" Someone from the crowd yelled.
Applejack smiled, "They're okay. I believe they're in Ponyville. But they aren't coming back. But I promise we'll be -or try to be- just as good leaders as they were."
The ponies in the crowd started smiling and nodding. Rainbow and Thunder just started at her in confusion, questioning how she calmed down the entire city. Of course, her eyes were their new murky green.
"Y'all can go home now and get a good night's sleep. But please start working again tomorrow," Applejack asked sweetly. She turned away from the crowd and threw the megaphone at Rainbow with an annoyed look.
The crowd walked away, more of a safe confused than a terrified worry. Applejack trotted back over to Pinkamena and Rarity who seemed amazed. She smirked as she walked past the two towards the shops, just so they could walk around.
The two followed, their jaws dragging on the ground. "How'd you do that?" Rarity asked. "Is what you said even true?"
"Nope," Applejack said bluntly. "But we don't need a scared panic this early. Rainbow can decide what happens once we get all of Equestria."
Pinkamena and Rarity smiled at each other. "You're amazing," the both said to her with a smile. Applejack rolled her eyes with a chuckle.
"We're out here for you two, 'member? So stop complimentin' me," Applejack said with a sweet blunt. "So, either one of ya want to talk?"
The two just stared at each other, their eyebrows turned up in worry.