A few hours had passed by since the two ponies had stopped for lunch. Since then, they had left the Unicorn Range behind them, now finding themselves in a brightly colored forest of oaks, birches, and the occasional pine. The leaves crunched under the Warden's hooves as he walked along, with Apple Bloom silently observing the scenery passing by.
They hadn't made much talk since they stopped earlier, giving Apple Bloom plenty of time to think about the Warden's tale about the hidden past of Equestria.
How in Equestria could such significant events and figures like the Equestrian Revolution and Hightower be simply forgotten?
"Hey, Apple Bloom!"
The Warden's call disrupted her thoughts and snapped her attention to him.
"Huh? What is it?"
"I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes, young one." He explained. "You must have been having one heck of a daydream."
"Oh. Sorry. Ah was jus' thinkin', that's all."
"That's fine. I was wondering if you might be able to bring me up to speed on what has happened since I… I first left Equestria."
Apple Bloom nodded, understanding that he must have been referring to when he had disappeared a thousand years before.
"Well, where should Ah begin?"
"How about your hometown?" The Warden suggested. "How did Ponyville come to be?"
"It's funny you should ask that." Apple Bloom remarked. "It was mah family that started Ponyville!"
The Warden's ears perked up. "Really? How did that happen?"
Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel some warmth at the Warden showing what seemed to be genuine interest in her family's story.
He was surprisingly considerate.
"Well, it all started when mah ancestors, the Smith family, was lookin' for a place to settle." She explained, reciting the tale that Granny Smith had told her countless times before. "They were makin' a livin' by collectin' new seeds an' sellin' the old."
"So they were settlers?" The Warden asked.
Apple Bloom nodded. "Eeyup! They'd been travellin' for years, on account that they hadn't found a good enough place to settle yet. That is, until they went to Princess Celestia for help."
The Warden's ears lowered slightly, revealing a shift in mood upon hearing the princess' name. Apple Bloom cringed a bit internally, not knowing how he would respond. However, he spoke again, sounding calm.
"Go on."
Feeling the need to make a point of Celestia's kindness towards her ancestors, Apple Bloom continued.
"Anyway, the princess agreed to help an' showed 'em a plot of fertile land next to the Everfree forest. Not only that, but she granted 'em ownership of the land as well, free of charge."
"Let me get something straight." The Warden interjected. "You're saying that Princess Celestia actually took the time to personally assist some lowly settlers and grant them a hefty plot of land for free? What was the catch?"
He was clearly skeptical, that much was certain. Why was he so distrustful of the princess?
"Nothin'." Apple Bloom replied.
"Nothing?" He asked, sounding even more skeptical. "That doesn't sound like her… Are you sure this story is truthful?"
"Did ya see me questionin' your history lesson earlier?" Apple Bloom asked, feeling somewhat irate.
The stallion sighed. "Somewhat, but I see your point. Just carry on."
Apple Bloom took a moment to clear her head and remind herself that she should perhaps give the Warden the benefit of a doubt.
"So, after the princess' generous an' selfless help, mah family settled in and planted a whole lotta apple saplings, startin' Sweet Apple Acres. Of course, food was scarce on account of their isolation an' the fact that apple trees take years to grow. Because of that, mah Granny Smith, who was a little older than me at the time; went into the Everfree forest an' found a zap apple tree."
"Zap apples?" The Warden asked, looking back at her with a confused expression. "What are those?"
"Only the tastiest apples in all of Equestria!" Apple Bloom declared excitedly. "Their trees can also grow overnight! Of course, the apples are only ripe for a single day."
"That's odd." The Warden remarked. "Why is that?"
"Nopony knows for sure. We do know that they are magical in some way, though."
"Fair enough." The Warden conceded.
"That bein' said," Apple Bloom continued, "you have to make zap apples into jam in order to eat them after the day they go ripe. Granny created a jam recipe so good, ponies from all over Equestria came to buy it! One pony, Stinkin' Rich; made a store nearby to sell the jam along with other things, an' before long, ponies moved in and created Ponyville!"
The Warden nodded, understanding the origin of her hometown.
"How long ago was this?" He asked.
"About seventy years ago, Ah think."
"Hm." The Warden mused. "No wonder I had no idea about Ponyville's existence. It's very young."
He paused momentarily, and spoke again.
"So you live on the family farm, correct?"
"Eeyup. Mah granny eventually ended up marrying into the Apple family an' took ownership of the farm. She still runs the place, but mah brother and sister have to do a lot of the work."
The Warden tilted his head slightly.
"Your siblings have to take the brunt of the work? How old are they?"
It occurred to Apple Bloom that for all he knew, Applejack and Big Mac were about her age. Understandably, he felt a bit concerned.
"Oh, Ah'm the youngest siblin' actually. Mah brother Big Mac is the oldest, an' he's a grown stallion. He's even bigger than you! Then there's Applejack, who's two years behind him. Between 'em both, they can carry the workload enough to where I can go an' get an education!"
"Uh huh…" The Warden muttered. "Where the heck are your parents in all of this?"
Apple Bloom felt the unpleasant sensation of realization and heartache slam into her. She didn't expect such a question at all.
"Uh… Ah- Well… Ah don't have any."
"Wh-" The Warden's eyes widened a bit as realization set in. "O-oh. I- Ahem! Forgive me, I was too slow on the uptake to think of that… Sorry."
Apple Bloom nodded in a melancholy manner. "It's fine." She said quietly. "Ah didn't tell you until now…"
Both she and the Warden fell silent for a few minutes, taking an occasional sigh as they thought of a way to move on from the heavy subject that they had stumbled upon.
"What about friends?" He asked, breaking the silence. "You must have at least a few."
Apple Bloom perked up a bit, happy to shift the subject and explain the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"Ah have a few." She answered. "Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are mah best friends, on the account that none of us have our cutie marks yet, an' that we're all about the same age."
"Now that you've brought it up," the Warden said, "I did notice that you didn't have yours yet."
She nodded enthusiastically, taking the Warden a little off guard by her confidence.
"Eeyup! Me, Scootaloo, an' Sweetie Belle all had the same problem: we're the last ones in our class to still be blank flanks, an' we have no clue what our purpose in life is goin' to be! So we formed a club of sorts for other blank flanks like us, to help us all try out new things and find our marks! We call ourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" She declared proudly.
The stallion paused, processing this revelation as he thought up a reply.
"That's… Actually quite a noble undertaking, to be honest." He remarked, looking back at her. "It sounds like you and your friends are truly driven by a desire to help others."
He sighed quietly and shook his head.
"Equestria would be a far better place if ponies kept the same degree of imagination and genuinity that they had as foals…" He mused, before looking back at her. "What you and your friends are doing is incredibly important, Apple Bloom. I hope you realize that."
She couldn't help but beam a bit at that praise, and her eyes sparkled happily. It wasn't very often that adults would actually take the time to recognize her and her friends' efforts.
"Something else that has made be a bit curious…" The Warden continued. "How did you get teleported out here accidentally?"
"Oh. That was… Sweetie Belle, actually." She said hesitantly.
The stallion's brow lowered slightly. "She did that to you?"
"Not on purpose!" Apple Bloom protested, sensing that he was insinuating that she did so deliberately. "She wouldn't! She- Well, Ah'm fairly sure that she sneezed as she was tryin' to teleport an apple."
"That's… Odd." He remarked, falling silent for a moment before adding; "I had no idea that could happen."
"Ah didn't either. But apparently, teleportin' spells are hard to do."
The Warden nodded. "You're telling me. There is an immense amount of focus involved in teleporting. A lot could go wrong if you aren't careful. For a filly like your friend, it's probably a bit too much to handle."
Several things occurred to Apple Bloom as the Warden's words sank in. First off, how in Equestria did he, an earth pony, understand what it was like to use teleportation magic? Second, was he doubting Sweetie Belle's talent with magic? She immediately felt the urge to rush to Sweetie Belle's defense first.
"Ah'll give Sweetie Belle credit where it's due; She did teleport that apple just fine once before. She might be a filly, but that doesn't mean she can't handle it!"
The Warden seemed to notice that she was a bit taken aback.
"My apologies. I had no idea that she had actually pulled it off before. Although, I must admit that it seems unlikely that she had learned how to do it by herself."
"Well, she did learn it from Princess Twilight." Apple Bloom remarked without thinking.
The Warden's ears perked up in surprise.
"Who?"
"Princess Twilight! You know, the princess of friendship?"
"No, I do not know."
"How do ya not know her? I thought you had a fight with her up in Canterlot."
"Okay, just hold on a second!" The Warden ordered as his tone turned a bit sour. "I only fought two princesses that day. I knew that there was a third who had gotten married only a few days beforehand, but her name was Cadence, princess of love."
He paused, and Apple Bloom came to the unpleasant realization that perhaps she should have not revealed that Twilight was an alicorn princess now. Given the Warden's behavior when talking about the princesses and how he had attacked the sisters before, it was obvious that he didn't think too highly of the princesses.
"Are you saying that there is a fourth princess now?" The Warden asked, his tone demanding a response.
The cat was out of the bag, so to speak. Apple Bloom sighed, and gave a truthful reply. "Eeyup…" She said hesitantly, hoping that he would not be quite as disparaging towards Twilight as he seemed to be towards the royal sisters.
"But I didn't fight any other alicorns that day." He said in a confused manner. "If I fought her, then that would mean that one of those mares using the elements had been turned into a…"
His eyes widened, as he realized who she was talking about.
"Princess Celestia turned that purple mare into an alicorn?"
Apple Bloom nodded and replied hesitantly.
"... Eeyup."
"Oh, wow…" He said under his breath, looking Apple Bloom dead in the eye. "What did she even do to earn that? For that matter, how in the hay was she able to use an Element of Harmony?"
"That's a bit of a tale." Apple Bloom answered. "But it all started when she was sent to Ponyville by Princess Celestia a couple of years back to learn about friendship."
"This was before my fight?"
"Eeyup. The very first night that she arrived, she met all of her closest friends. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Flutterhshy, an' mah big sister Applejack!"
She paused, and the Warden's face showed that something occurred to him.
"Your sister was one of them? Which one was she?"
"She's orange with three apples as her cutie mark and always has a hat on."
"Hmm." He mumbled. "That complicates things…"
He fell silent, then asked another question.
"These were the ones using the Elements of Harmony?"
Apple Bloom nodded, and continued.
"It was also that very night that Nightmare Moon escaped from her banishment. In order to defeat her, Twilight and the others went and used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon!"
"She- They-" The Warden tried to speak momentarily, but stumbled over his words. "They defeated Nightmare Moon?"
"They sure did! They used the Elements of Harmony for the very first time, and Twilight was the one who led all the others to do so. Because of them, they reformed Nightmare Moon and turned her back into Princess Luna!"
The Warden stared off ahead for a few silent moments, not speaking as he reflected on Apple Bloom's explanation. Then, he spoke again, quietly and in awe.
"So that's why… I guess Celestia did end up banishing her after all…"
Apple Bloom tilted her head.
"You didn't know?" She asked, astounded that he did not know that Princess Celestia had banished Luna. How could he not know?
The Warden's ears drooped a bit, and his pace slowed down as he shook his head.
"That… That explains…"
He sighed, and his head fell. To Apple Bloom, it seemed as if he had just realized something terrible.
"It's worse than I thought…" He said, barely loud enough for Apple Bloom to hear. "Why did I go and do that?"
This made Apple Bloom descend into thought. Was he talking about his attack at Canterlot?
She gasped silently. Was it possible that he attacked the princesses because he thought that Luna was still Nightmare Moon?
It seemed probable. After all, she remembered that Applejack had told her that the Warden had been gone for a thousand years, not unlike Nightmare Moon.
But that still didn't explain why he almost killed Celestia too. Maybe he thought that she had something to do with Nightmare Moon?
She shook her head. That was nothing but speculation. She still didn't know for sure. Of course, she could try asking why he attacked again, but she wasn't sure if it would work.
While she was debating with herself on whether or not she should ask, the Warden spoke.
"What else have those six done with the Elements of Harmony?"
Apple Bloom had to take a moment to shift her thoughts and think about what else the main six had accomplished.
"Well, they also reformed Discord."
The Warden stopped.
"They did what?" He asked, his eyes widening in shock. "Why would they free him to begin with? He wants nothing more than to-"
"He broke free from bein' a statue a while ago." Apple Bloom interrupted, rushing to cut him off from making a false conclusion. "It wasn't anypony's fault."
She fell silent, and took an uncomfortable breath, remembering how he broke out.
"Actually… It may have been me who caused him to break out in the first place…" She admitted, putting a hoof behind her head awkwardly. "Me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had an argument around Discord's statue which may have allowed him to break out."
The Warden glanced back at her as he began to walk once again.
"I guess that makes sense." He said plainly, his initial surprise dying off. "But I still find it remarkable that they managed to reform him."
"Well, to be fair, it involved them turning him back into stone for a while." Apple Bloom explained. "He didn't actually reform until after Princess Celestia decided to assign Twilight with the task of changin' him."
The Warden shook his head.
"Why would the princess even give her such a task? She knows how dangerous he can be."
"Princess Twilight said that it was a test." Apple Bloom explained. "She says that Princess Celestia wanted to see if she had learned enough about friendship to make her into an alicorn princess."
The Warden looked out ahead, clearly thinking hard.
"Has Princess Twilight always been a favorite of Celestia?"
Apple Bloom nodded, although she found his choice of words a bit odd.
"Ever since she was a filly, Twilight's been Princess Celestia's student. She said that Princess Celestia had apparently seen her potential to become a future princess."
"... I see." The Warden responded, deep in thought once again.
For a minute or two, the two ponies went along in silence, each thinking about their conversation.
Then, the Warden broke the silence.
"How did the reformation of Discord turn out?"
"Well, Fluttershy ended up becomin' his first friend, and he stopped tryin' to take over Equestria. But he still causes problems. That whole mess with lord Tirek was partially Discord's fault."
"I remember that…" The Warden mused. "It was impossible for me to not notice that, even from back at the lab. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot I could do at the time. I assume the six also took care of him?"
"They did." Apple Bloom explained. "They even did so by channelin' the spirits of their elements, or somethin' along those lines. They didn't even need the Elements of Harmony."
The Warden tilted his head a bit. "They didn't?"
Apple Bloom nodded.
"Huh." He murmured. "That's surprising… They must really embody the Elements of Harmony, then."
"Eeyup!" Apple Bloom declared. "And Ah didn't even mention Queen Chrysalis, the Tree of Harmony, or Starlight Glimmer's village! Time after time, the six have saved Equestria with Princess Twilight at the lead!"
The Warden nodded slowly. "Interesting. Perhaps Celestia wasn't foolish in bringing her under her wing after all…"
Once again, here was a remark that struck Apple Bloom as being somewhat disparaging towards Princess Celestia. This time, the urge to ask why he acted in such a way grew too big for her to ignore.
"Why don't ya like Princess Celestia?" She asked, a hint of irritation in her voice. "Ya don't seem to have anything nice to say about her."
The Warden looked back at her with a look that gave her the feeling that she had struck a nerve. In an instant, she was questioning the wisdom in asking.
Still, he gave a response.
"Remember when I said that my family and her had some history?" He asked, causing her to recall the beginning of their lunchtime conversation. "Let's just say that it was because of her that I ended up the way I did, and it was because of her foolishness that her sister fell."
Apple Bloom felt a bit shocked. What was he suggesting? Was he saying that she was at fault for Nightmare Moon?
She shook her head slightly.
There was no way that was true.
Was he seriously saying that Princess Celestia, the beautiful, regal, powerful, benevolent ruler that all ponykind looked up to was the cause of Luna becoming Nightmare Moon?
Up to this point, she had been more willing than not to take his word as the truth. But now, she was not quite so willing.
"What the hay do ya mean by that?" She asked in consternation. "She would never-"
"Listen!" He interrupted, shooting another glance back at her. "She isn't all who she would like for you to believe she is. If she didn't mess up before, then why is she unable to use the Elements of Harmony any more?"
This pointed question struck Apple Bloom profoundly after she took a few seconds to think. He had brought up an interesting point.
Princess Celestia had used the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon, that much she did know. She also knew that the princess could no longer use the elements. The reason why remained unanswered, however.
"She got too old?" Apple Bloom asked, adding; "Ah doubt it was because she did somethin' wrong."
The Warden shook his head. "The Elements of Harmony don't select their users according to some superficial factor such as age, Apple Bloom. They select their users according to how genuine they are and how well they embody the spirits of the elements. Would you agree that the six were able to use the elements because they embodied them?"
Not seeing any alternative, she nodded, wondering what he was getting at.
"Would you also agree that both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia also were able to use the elements because they once embodied them?"
Apple Bloom nodded once more.
"Now, why is Princess Luna unable to use the Elements of Harmony?"
"... Because she became Nightmare Moon?"
"Correct." The Warden replied, his voice growing more energetic. "She did something so evil, the elements rejected her! Now, my question to you is this: Why is Princess Celestia unable to use the elements either?"
Apple Bloom thought for a few seconds, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for this fact which did not compromise the princess' image.
But none came to mind.
After a minute of silence, the Warden spoke again, still sounding and looking agitated.
"Celestia is not above reproach. If she were, there would be no need for Twilight, your sister, or the other four. She would still be wielding the Elements of Harmony with no problems whatsoever."
That put a bitter taste in Apple Bloom's mouth. She had to choose between believing the Warden or keeping her perception of Equestria's figurehead intact.
She simply took a deep breath and stared off ahead into the forest, electing to remain silent.
She didn't want to choose what to believe.
The Warden sighed, becoming visibly calmer.
"Look," he said, "let's just forget about it, alright? I don't want us to be arguing about this all the way to Ponyville."
This was a proposal that Apple Bloom was glad to accept.
"Fine. Ah'm fine with that." She grumbled.
With that, the two ponies went silent.
As she rode along, Apple Bloom tangled with her thoughts.
She didn't want to admit it, but he had made a good point about Princess Celestia not being able to use the elements any more. If Princess Luna was cut off from the elements because of her fall, then was it such a stretch to say that Princess Celestia was cut off for a similar act?
Apple Bloom shook her head. She refused to believe it, despite the Warden's argument.
Speaking of him, he got a bit agitated when she brought the subject up. Clearly, he didn't seem to enjoy the subject. Neither did she, for that matter.
Perhaps it would be for the best if she kept silent about Princess Celestia, like the Warden suggested.
He didn't seem terribly unreasonable, besides his opinion on the princesses.
She sighed, and internally decided to no longer continue her defense of Princess Celestia, instead electing to settle in for the rest of the day.