//------------------------------// // Applewood // Story: Prisoners of the Heart // by KidatHeart5 //------------------------------// “Fillies and gentlecolts…welcome to Applewood!” Upon hearing the regent’s words, the visiting Canterlot family peered out their windows and took in the sight of Applewood, so shining, shimmering, and splendid. It was a place where the modern met the fairytale. When the train pulled up to the station, Canter Zoom and Cheese Sandwich sang as they danced onto the platform, “Applewood…Where the streets are paved with gold…Where dreams can never grow o-o-o-o-old…Right here in Apple…wood!” At the end of the song, they struck a mirrored pose in which they stood on their hind legs and stretched out their arms as if to reveal something to their audience. The other royals and guests laughed and clapped as they got off the train. Pinkie beamed with pride, “That’s my Cheesy!” Skyla remarked, “I can’t wait to see Applewood for the first time.” Capri waved her lizard hand nonchalantly as she said, “Eh. I’ve been here before.” Applejack asked, “With Discord after you were freed or when you were on Paraddock?” “Actually, both. But I’ve never seen a movie get made. Well, Discord and I tried to through a window, but that doesn’t compare to an actual experience.” Canter Zoom chuckled, “Well, I promise you an experience that’s gonna totally blow your minds. You’re gonna see magic happen right before your very eyes! Now, come along with me and I’ll show you an Applewood that’s up close and personal.” He and his guests walked off the platform and discovered three open carriages waiting for them. Each carriage could hold six beings at once, so the group quickly devised the arrangement in which they would sit. In the first carriage, Capri took the back right seat with Discord sitting next to her. In front of him, Fluttershy sat in the middle row with Flash Sentry on her right side. As for Twilight, she took her seat with Canter Zoom on her left in the front row. In the second carriage, Rainbow and Soarin called dibs on the front seats. Applejack and Spike were content with taking the back seats while Rarity and Fancy Pants sat in the middle row. In the third carriage, Pinkie and Cheese took the front seats while Sunset and Timber sat in the middle and Skyla and Blackthorn placed themselves in the back. The guards coupled to the carriages soon pulled the vehicles down the path and towards the city gate. Capri gave a fake yawn, “Not your typical Applewood welcome. I expected something a bit more…flashy.” The regent chuckled, “And flashy you’ll get.” Just as the carriages reached the city gate, the curtains just behind the raised gate parted. When the carriages rolled into Applewood, the royals were met with hundreds – perhaps thousands – of cheering ponies and creatures packed on either side of the street. Even the paparazzi were present, flashing their cameras for good shots of the royals. Sparkles and confetti rained down on the procession as the royals waved to the denizens they passed. Some of the group, including Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, greeted the crowd with enthusiasm. Capri waved to the crowd as she smiled in satisfaction, “Now this is an Applewood welcome.” Canter Zoom smirked, “We are a kingdom of tradition.” The carriages soon made their way to the palace gate and into the inner court, where a large crowd cheered for their arrival. A red carpet stretched from the edge of the stone path to the doors of the palace. At the doors was the crown princess, who was fidgety with excitement. In addition to her glasses and film reel mane bands, she had moderate azure eyes, a strong cerulean mane with moderate arctic blue streaks, and a pale, light grayish olive coat. When the carriages circled around the fountain in the center of the courtyard, they stopped with the first one right next to the red carpet. After a formal fanfare, the herald announced through a microphone, “Announcing the return of Regent Canter Zoom and the arrival of the Queen of Canterlot, her sisters and their husbands!” After the crowds cheered once more, the princess pushed the herald aside in her excitement as she said, “Thank you for that lovely introduction!” She then grabbed the microphone and cleared her throat. “Ahem. Welcome home, Uncle! And welcome to Applewood, everyone else! I’m Crown Princess Juniper Montage, and I want to give you a big welcome that represents all the glamorous things our humble little kingdom is.” Canter Zoom muttered to his passengers, “Oh, boy. This is where she reveals something big and over-the-top. I do admire her enthusiasm, but a lot of times, eh…she can leave quite a mess.” Discord smiled intriguingly, “Ooh, if that’s the case, then I wonder what Juniper’s going to pull off this time.” Juniper said giddily, “Whenever you’re ready, Uncle!” Canter Zoom said, “That’s our cue.” When the passengers of the first carriage stepped out of the vehicle and onto the red carpet, Juniper pressed a button that activated the party cannons on the wall walk surrounding the courtyard. The cannons blasted out streamers, gold and silver star confetti, and glitter over the court, much to the surprise of her uncle. Canter Zoom remarked, “Wow. This is actually nice. For a minute, I thought Juniper was going to go big and –“ A loud boom from larger cannons on the ground surrounding the walls interrupted his string of words. From these cannons flew large bursts of flour, which descended onto the ground and coated everything in a heavy snowfall. Canter Zoom deadpanned, “Ah. There’s the mess.” As soon as everyone cleaned the flour off them inside the palace, Juniper apologized, “I am so sorry, Uncle! I specifically told Grape Shot to put flowers in the cannons, not flour!” She then grunted in aggravation, “Ugh! Sometimes the servants can be so incompetent!” Canter Zoom put his hoof on his niece’s shoulder as he sighed in understanding, “It’s all right, Juniper. I know you wanted to make a big impression for the Canterlot royals.” Twilight smiled, “And the flour incident doesn’t make us think any less of you.” Juniper let out a tiny squeal of delight as she shook the mare’s hoof, “Queen Twilight Sparkle! It’s a pleasure to meet you! I have tons of questions for you!” A voice then asked, “Questions about ruling a kingdom, no doubt?” The group turned to see a tall pale unicorn step into the room. He had a black mane to match his pointed goatee, which underlined his serious face. Canter Zoom said to the visitors, “Your Highnesses, Captain, Capri, I would like you to meet my trusted advisor Neighsay.” The group greeted out of courtesy, “Hi!” Neighsay, however, only replied in a deadpanned tone, “Charmed.” Discord whispered to Capri, “Boy! Wet blanket, much?” Capri nodded in agreement, “Mm-hmm.” Canter Zoom continued, “He’s been helping Juniper with her queen training. They’ve been making excellent progress.” Neighsay spoke up, “You mean, I’ve been making progress. The princess hardly does anything to pay attention to my lessons.” Canter Zoom face-hoofed and groaned, “Juniper, how many times must we go through this? You need to listen to Neighsay so you can be prepared when you’re queen someday. I’m not going to be around forever.” The sisters and their husbands winced at each other as they were reminded of the longevity issue. Juniper argued, “I would be prepared if I got more free time outside of my lessons.” Her uncle sighed, “Okay...How about this? If I let you give the guests a tour of the movie studio, will you pay more attention to your lessons?” Juniper’s face broke out in a gleeful grin and she squealed, “Yes! Yes-yes-yes-yes!” She then hugged Zoom, “Oh, thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you, Uncle! I’m going to get ready!” As soon as she zipped out of the room, Neighsay protested to the regent, “Sire, you can’t cave in to her demands like this!” Canter Zoom explained, “What else can I do? She’s so free-spirited and stubborn. At times, she reminds me so much of -” The advisor interrupted him, “Yes, yes, yes. I understand. But she needs to be a proper queen in order to rule the kingdom. And to be a proper queen, she needs to be a proper princess.” “So she’s a little rough around the edges. I’m sure after today, she’ll be more willing to pay attention to her lessons.” Neighsay humphed, “I certainly hope so. In the meantime, you need to put your hoof down when she misbehaves. Show her that you’re the authority and she needs to obey you.” Canter Zoom said, “Well, when the situation calls for it, I’ll do that.” “See that you do.” Sunset then asked her family, “Do you think we should get involved in this?” Blackthorn shook his head, “No. It’s not our concern how the princess is disciplined.” Fancy Pants said, “I agree. It’s bad manners to intrude on one’s life unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Just then, Juniper entered the room and singsonged, “I’m ready!” She then asked in her normal voice, “So, where do you want to go first?” Skyla smiled, “I can’t tell you how grateful we are to have you show us around the movie studio.” Spike then muttered, “Even if two certain draconequui strayed from the group to watch a movie being filmed.” Juniper shrugged happily, “Eh, their loss. Now, come on! I want to show you the set where they recently made Hayvengers: Endgame!” Before the group could continue on, however, they heard shouting behind an office door. “If you had just listened to me, you would have a much better movie on your hooves! Good day to you, sir!” The door burst open and a frustrated mare charged out of the room with papers beneath her wings. Blinded by her anger, she didn’t see Sunset and ran straight into her. As she gathered her papers, the mare apologized, “Oh, I am so sorry! I didn’t look where I was going!” Sunset said, “Oh, no worries. Here. Let me help you pick these up.” She magically levitated the rest of the papers onto the mare’s hoof before she asked, “Are you all right, Miss…?” She trailed off when the mare looked directly at her. She had moderate sapphire blue eyes, a brilliant gamboge coat, and a striped grayscale mane in a ponytail that hung on one side. The mare’s face broke out in a giant grin, “Sunset Shimmer!” Sunset embraced her, “Virtue Mystique!” Juniper asked in confusion, “Uh…Do you know each other?” Suddenly, a stallion ran up to the group and said breathlessly, “Your Highnesses…*pant pant*…the story meeting is in…*pant*…eight minutes!” Juniper gasped, “Eight minutes?! We’d better get going!” The royals went with her, but Flash Sentry stopped before he could round the corner. He looked back to see Sunset with Virtue and he asked, “Aren’t you coming, Sunset?” Sunset shook her head, “No, no. You go ahead. I think I’d like to talk to Virtue for a few minutes. I’ll catch up with you later.” Flash shrugged, “Okay, then. See ya.” Sunset and Virtue found the snack bar and sat on a nice table while eating Bon Mot peanut butter praline crunch bars. The unicorn told the young mare, “Oh, Virtue. It’s so good to see you again.” She responded, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Sunset smiled, “Try eight years!” Eight years ago… 14-year-old Blaze had his entire collection of Daring Do books out as he waited with his family for the arrival of A.K. Yearling and her husband. Sunset came up to him and chuckled, “Are you going to ask Daring Do to sign all of those?” Blaze replied, “Heck yeah! This is my first meeting with her face-to-face!” Timber came into the room that was once Starlight’s study in the manor. “Trust me, kiddo, you will not be disappointed.” Sunset added, “And don’t forget, we’re also expecting Starlight, Sunburst, and Nova tomorrow.” Blaze pointed, “I know that, why do you think I bought some cologne -“ He caught himself, “I mean, some air freshener to make sure everything smells nice for their visit?” He made a cheesy smile. Sunset and Timber exchanged a knowing smirk. Blaze quickly said, “I think I’ll go check to make sure everything’s ready.” He swiftly left the room. Once he was out of sight, his parents chuckled. Timber commented, “He’s got it bad.” Sunset gestured, “Well, when you have your first kiss with somebody, you tend to get stuck on them.” Timber sighed, “He’s growing up so fast that it’s hard keeping track of what he’s thinking.” She patted his back, “He’s a teenager now, hon. We were about to hit this stage sooner or later.” “No duh…” Suddenly, a knock came at the front door. Sunset said, “Bet that’s A.K. and Quibble now.” They went right to the door and as she opened it, there stood Daring Do as her alias A.K Yearling. Beside her was Quibble Pants, but there was also someone behind them that Sunset couldn’t identify at the moment. She said excitedly to them, “Hey guys! Long time, no see!” She hugged A.K., who returned the embrace. Timber and Quibble shook hooves. A.K. spoke, “It’s great seeing you, too, and thanks for letting us meet here. Gotta keep a low profile, after all.” Quibble exclaimed, “I’ll say! You have no idea how popular the Daring Do conventions have gotten in the last twenty years! Mobs everywhere! It’s getting harder to hide A.K. Yearling’s personal life!” A.K. mentioned, “And the last thing we want is for our daughter to get publicity.” Both Sunset and Timber gaped, “Your daughter?!” The adventure ponies moved aside to reveal a 13-year-old filly who took after Daring the most but had her dad’s coat and eyes. Quibble said proudly, “Meet our daughter, Virtue Mystique. I came up with the name myself.” Timber whispered to his wife, “That’s fairly obvious…” Sunset slightly nudged him, “Be nice…” A.K. apologized, “Yeah, sorry we didn’t tell you, but we had to make sure that Virtue was raised without any exposure. It would have been too dangerous for her if anyone knew who she was related to.” Sunset gave a small smile, “We understand…At least we’re meeting her now.” She addressed the filly, “You know, we have a son about your age. Would you like to meet him?” Virtue smiled and nodded. “Great! Why don’t you three come inside to freshen up while I get Blaze?” The family of three went inside and Sunset was about to follow when her husband stopped her. Timber whispered again, “Wow, are we sure she’s Quibble’s kid?” Sunset scolded softly, “Timber! What a thing to say!” “Sorry! I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just that she’s not much of a talker.” Sunset mentioned, “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean she can’t speak.” Virtue explained, “Of course, it was so Dad could talk whenever he wanted. But truthfully, there was another reason.” “Oh?” “You see, I have a really bad habit of letting things slip. I think of something and it just completely comes out of my mouth.” Sunset smiled, “Sure reminds me of a certain stallion.” “Yeah, but Dad is way better at keeping secrets than I am. Mom is, too. Me? I have to try really hard to control my tongue so I don’t blow our cover.” Sunset then asked, “Just curious: what were you doing in that office?” Virtue groaned in agitation, “Because some smart-aleck film director wanted to take creative liberties with my mother’s work! Her work! Even though I’m A.K.’s daughter, they seem to listen to only her.” She then imitated the director in a less-than-flattering tone, “’Oh, well, she’s the expert. How would you know what she wants?’” She growled angrily, “Argh! I came this close to stuffing the contents of the nearest wastebasket down his throat! You don’t think I know my own mother?! I know what she likes, I know her closest friends and greatest enemies! I even know where she was born! The only thing I don’t know about her is where she is!” Sunset was surprised by her last sentence. “’Where she is’?” Virtue, realizing that she blurted again, sighed in dismay while holding her head in her hooves, “The last time I saw her and Dad was when they were leaving to find the fabulous treasure of Queen Parabola. They found the map spiders that were said to lead the way, but then Mom got bit by a venomous snake. Dad sent me a letter telling me what happened and how they were going to find the Crystal Sphere of Khumn, which can heal any ailment. It’s been over a year now and I’ve heard no word from or about them! “At first, when I waited a whole month, I assumed the worst. But then I decided to investigate the locations where they were seen last. I picked up on a few leads, but all they led to were dead ends. I’ve also been researching countless myths and legends in the hopes of finding my parents there, but my searches always turn up empty-hoofed.” Sunset asked, “And what about the film director?” The Pegasus explained, “My mom was being consulted for the upcoming Daring Do film when she and Dad disappeared.” Virtue’s face then twisted into pure aggravation as she continued, “I told the creative heads to wait until A.K. Yearling could be contacted, but two months later, they decided to make the film anyway, with or without our input! Apparently, my two cents don’t matter because I’m not the author!” She sighed as she calmed herself down. “You should’ve gone to the story meeting with the others. That way, your input wouldn’t be ignored.” Sunset cast her eyes down on the table and confessed, “It wouldn’t have mattered that much anyway.” Virtue asked, “What do you mean?” “I barely know my family, let alone my father. When I was a foal, someone kidnapped me and shut me away from the world for 27 years. Just before my 28th birthday, I snuck out of the house and made my way to Canterlot. When I got there, I met my sisters – who I thought were just the princesses. We eventually found out who I was: a princess of Canterlot. But sometimes, I just feel like a fraud. I didn’t grow up in the palace, I never spent my childhood with my sisters. I didn’t even stay because I wanted to explore the world.” “Hey, I get that. Being cooped up for a good portion of your life will make you want to crave something new, different, and exciting. Trust me, I’ve lived through it a couple times.” Sunset chuckled before she said, “You know, it’s strange. When I was young, I’d spend hours reading the exciting tales of King Sombra. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if he was my dad?’” She then gave another chuckle, “Little did I know…” Her face then fell again, “And yet, even with Sombra as my dad, it still feels like I barely know him outside of the stories I read about him. It’s weird, really. I spent half of my life wanting a family…and the other half trying to act like I never left. I want to be close to my family like my sisters are. I want to be a part of their world, but for some reason, I always feel like an outsider, never truly fitting in.” Virtue comforted her, “I think I know how you feel. When I’m A.K.’s daughter, I always feel like a fraud whenever I’m talking to somepony outside of my family and close circle of friends. I’m sure Mom felt the same way before she became friends with you and dated Dad.” “How come you never told us that your parents disappeared? We would’ve helped you.” “I didn’t want to draw attention to it. If the public knew that A.K. Yearling was missing, it would raise suspicion that she is…” She looked around to see if there were any listening ears before she continued, “…her. Besides, if something happened to you, I wouldn’t forgive myself.” Sunset assured her, “I wouldn’t worry about that. The Canterlot family succeeds in everything they do, no matter how great the danger.” Virtue took comfort in her words and then said with a confident grin, “Okay. Let’s fill everyone in tonight.” Sunset wrapped her arm around her and said, “Thank you. I promise we’ll help you bring your parents back home.”