//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Always connected- Aftermath // by The-rogue-shadow //------------------------------// Applejack adjusted the wide-brimmed purple hat that sat on her head and took a deep breath, watching as her family prepared for a battle that would decide the very fate of Ponyville. In the distance stood the largest building in Ponyville, the town hall that rested in the centre of town. At the moment however, it looked more akin to a fortress than a place to pay fines. The police that had surrounded the building were quaking in fear as uncountable amounts of arrows and magical fireballs assaulted them from the Minotaur and traitorous police that hid inside. Looking out over the battle from the balcony on the top floor was Flame, leader of the gangs that had taken over Ponyville. The smirk on Flame's face made her wish that her powers were working so that she could teleport up there and wipe it off his face. Applejack spotted the Police chief hiding behind Roseluck's florist, as the fire department tried desperately to save the stores and homes from the fireballs. "Coffee Shot!" She called out as she galloped toward him. His SWAT uniform was covered in back scorch marks and his vest had an arrow sticking out of it. Applebloom galloped ahead and dived as arrows peppered the ground around her. Applejack let out the breath she was holding as Applebloom got behind the stone wall of the Florist. Applejack looked at Big Mac, who nodded with a smile on his face. She nodded once and signalled Applethunder and DuskDrift, who began their assault on the fortress from above. Applethunder flung arrows at the top floor as DuskDrift charged the arrows with magic, giving them extra destructive power. Applejack and Big Mac galloped for the war memorial that rested halfway between the town hall and the police line. She peeked around the corner and smiled as she saw Flame diving for cover as Applethunder's arrows exploded on contact with the building. "We need to get inside, but how do we get past that defence?" Asked Big Mac, effortlessly batting away a fireball with his shield as it rocketed toward the rock. The fireball spiralled back at the building and blasted a big hole in the wall. Applejack closed her eyes against the sounds of pained screams. "Well that works." Said Big Mac, he whistled and Spike poked his head around the corner of the Florist and nodded. His head disappeared and from the safety of the stone wall, he began to lob green fireballs at the fortress. Applejack looked back around the rock as Flame let out an angry cry. He exploded from his hiding spot and sent a wave of blue fire towards Applethunder and DuskDrift. Applejack's eyes went wide as Applethunder closed her wings, narrowly dodging the fire, but DuskDrift was not so lucky, it hit her and she flew toward the ground, fire still clinging to her body. She landed about ten meters from where Applejack and Big Mac were and together they both sprinted out and made their way over to her, ignoring the arrows and fire as they did. When they reached her, Big Mac deflected the projectiles as Applejack put out the flames on DuskDrift's wings and dragged her back to the rock, Big Mac's enormous mass shielding them both. As soon as they had her behind the rock, Applejack called for a medic, expecting Applebloom to come bounding out into the fray. But to her surprise, it wasn't Applebloom; it was a grey earth pony stallion that had a blonde mane. Around his right arm was a white band with a red cross on it, indicating that he was a paramedic. "Okay, what have we got?" He asked, reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out a syringe. "She was hit with the wave of fire." Said Applejack. The grey pony nodded, lifting up DuskDrift's head and smiling as he looked into her eyes. "Hi there, what's your name?" He asked her and Applejack knew that it was just in an attempt to keep her conscious. "Dusk…DuskDrift." She choked out, and Applejack looked at her wings, which had lost most of their feathers and were covered in shiny burns. "Nice to meet you DuskDrift, I'm Noah. Now I'm going to-" "You're very handsome Noah." Said DuskDrift weakly. Noah smiled wider. "Thank you. I think you are very beautiful as well. Now I'm going to give you a sedative that will dull the pain and put you to sleep. Okay?" He told her. She nodded and he stuck the needle onto her arm. Within seconds the sedative took hold and her eyes closed. "Is she going to be okay?" Asked Applejack, feeling guilty that she had gotten one of her friends hurt. "She will be fine with time. The burns aren't too serious and with the proper care, should be completely healed in a few weeks." He said. Big Mac helped him to get DuskDrift onto his back and then shielded them both as Noah galloped her back behind the Police line. Tears started to roll down Applejack face, but were hidden behind the polarised glass of the eyes. "I didn't want this Big Mac. I didn't want anyone to get hurt because of me. I… I just want to go home. I want to see Rainbow again. I just want everything to go BACK TO NORMAL!" She shouted, and arcs of electricity whipped off her body. With an ear shattering cry, she dived over the rock and sprinted at the hole in the wall. Arrows whistled past her face, tearing at her clothes as they went passed. She jumped through the hole and stood in the middle of the room, as the ponies and Minotaur turned to face her. A stunned silence filled the room as Applejack panted heavily, the electricity changing colour from yellow to blue as it spiralled across her body. She could feel her muscles tensing at the same time, the same way that they did when her super strength activated. "Enough of this." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow's eyes snapped open as she took a huge gasp of air. She quickly realised that she was unable to move and looked down to find that she was strapped to a bed. She cried out, and some curtains opened to reveal the nurse and The Doctor, as well as Black Diamond. The Doctor's eyes were red from crying and his mane was a mess. The nurse checked Rainbow over, but she could tell that the nurse was scared. "What… What happened?" She asked, knowing the answer but needing to hear it from somepony else. Black Diamond put his hoof in hers and she noticed that he had his hidden blade attached to his arm. "You lost control. I had to stop you." He said, his voice cold. Rainbow looked at the Doctor, and knew that she had done something terrible. "Derpy… Did I?" She asked, and the Doctor took a deep breath. "You did. She's alive, but only just. At the moment she is in surgery, having her ribs removed from her lung and part of her skull removed to make way for her swelling brain." He told her, and Rainbow let out a tense breath. Her vision hazed as they were filled with tears. "I'm so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt her. Or anypony for that matter." She cried, and the Doctor put his hoof on her shoulder, shaking his head at the same time. "It's okay Rainbow, I know that you had no control over yourself. I'm just worried to death for her. Even if I know that she doesn't die here." He said cryptically. The Doctor turned an began to leave, but Rainbow stopped him. "Wait! Don't you have some way of helping me regain control over Rainbow Dark?" She asked, and the Doctor nodded wearily. "Yes, it's quite simple really. We just have to reunite you with Applejack." He said and Rainbow smiled, wanting nothing more than to see her love again. "Is she here? Can I see her?" She said excitedly. Black Diamond shook his head. "No Rainbow, she is still in Ponyville. And all attempts to contact her have failed. It seems that Ponyville is in some kind of crisis." He said, and Rainbow's heart sank. All she wanted to do was forget what had happened and lose herself in Applejack's embrace. The Doctor left and Rainbow was left with Black Diamond, who was watching her with cold eyes. It scared her to see how different he was after the fight. "Did I hurt you as well? She asked, and he shook his head, much to her relief. "No, not physically. But you did bring out a side to me that I try very hard to supress. The anger I felt when fighting you was greater than any I have felt before. I wanted nothing more than to kill you. And part of me still does. But you know what stopped me, and what is stopping me right now? Loyalty. I have loyalty to my country. And I have loyalty to Rarity. I know that she would never have forgiven me if I was to kill you." He told her. Rainbow nodded, understanding what he meant. She lay back, resting her head on the hard pillow and closing her eyes. Her mind flashed back to her time as Rainbow Dark, and every single griffin and Minotaur that she killed. She could see their faces, and the light in their eyes as it faded with their death. Her mind flashed again, and this time she was Rainbow Dark. The back of her head hurt where Black Diamond was pulling her mane and her jaw hurt where it was broken. She looked up at Black Diamond's face, at the rage that she saw, and cowered. Black Diamond pulled his arm back and thrust the blade into her throat. She could feel it slide in and the panic that came with the inability to breathe. Her eyes snapped awake again and she screamed. Rainbow started to struggle against her bindings and cry out. Black Diamond put his hooves on her chest and forced her down. "Stop Rainbow! It's okay, I'm here, you're safe. You're safe." He said, looking into her eyes once again. Rainbow started to cry again. "I just want Applejack back. I need her. I can't get through this without her. I love her." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack bounced off the walls as the ponies and Minotaur attacked with blades. Electricity arced around the room as Applejack retaliated, the resulting shockwaves repelling her attackers through walls and windows. The last one standing was a pony that Applejack recognised as a member of the police force. He swing the sword downwards at her head, only to have it stop because of the electromagnetic bubble that Applejack had unknowingly erected around herself. She kicked out with her back legs and sent the pony flying through a thick wooden beam and out into the street. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Applejack searched for the rest of Ponyville's politicians and found them all locked in a closet. Bound and gagged. Some of them had burn marks on their bodies and Applejack could tell that they had been tortured to some degree. She released them all and sent them out into the street and behind the line of police. Tentatively, Applejack walked up the stairs, eyes darting around in search for the tell-tale signs of magic. With electricity still coursing over her body, she kicked open the door to Flame's office and found him sitting in his chair, sipping a glass of what appeared to be whiskey. "It's all over Flame." Said Applejack, staring at him. Flame finished off a glass and then poured himself another one, sighing as he did so. "It was perfect before you came along. Did you know that? I had all the power in the world and was unstoppable, untouchable. But then you started to interfere and I didn't have a contingency plan to cover something like you. But I persevered, believing that I was smart enough to overcome the challenge that you set for me. But then that idiot Iron Will ruined everything when he spilled his guts to you. Although now his guts are spilled in a more literal sense, but I digress. I agree that my time in Ponyville is over, but not my career. I am going to leave this place and move onto someplace where nopony knows me and start again. Because it's all I can do now." He explained, finishing his second glass of whiskey and standing. Applejack shook her head. "I don't think so. You are going away for a long time. I am going to make sure of it." She said, leaping onto Flame and teleporting. They found themselves above Ponyville, higher than even Cloudsdale. The ground stretched out below them and Applejack could swear that she could see the Battlefield in the distance. Flame started to scream as the two plummeted toward the ground. Applejack smiled, finding amusement in his terror. As the ground rose to meet them, Applejack concentrated as hard as she could and teleported once again, the momentum carrying on and making them both slide along the ground. They hit a building and stopped. Applejack couldn't move, but she knew that Flame was in even more pain than she was. She started to laugh as she rolled over to look at the sky, the hot sun beating down on her face. Her vision was soon filled by Big Mac, Applebloom and Applethunder. "AJ, are you alright?" Big Mac asked, looking down at his little sister with concern. "Okay? I'm fantastic. It's finally over! I can go see Rainbow again. That's all I want." She smiled, before her eyes closed and she passed out from sheer exhaustion. "That's all I want… Rainbow."