Applejack sat at the table, her hind hooves on top of the table while she tilted back in her chair. Outside, the sun was being lowered, not that she could actually use the front door; it was being sealed by what appeared to be some rather ominous magic.
Not gonna mess with that. She turned her attention from the door to the bookshelves; now fully loaded with the many grimoires and glowing with a pitched black magical energy. It was intriguing to her, then again, magic always had been. A nullification spell, with those books as a catalyst. A rather crudely made artifact to seal another’s power. The energy is too unbalanced should it be activated, that battery is going to detonate.
Applejack chuckled wryly to herself, lowering her eyes to stare at the cider bottle in her hooves. It somewhat amused her, seeing such a crude device, like looking into the past. Spells ain’t like artifacts, and Twilight might be a powerhouse of magic, but this is like when Rarity and I had that assignment in Professor Flamel’s class.
Sighing, Applejack took a smooth sip of the golden amber, feeling her normally sour mood vanish once more as it flowed down her gullet. A dozen or so years ago, she would have probably offered advice on the topic, but that felt like a lifetime ago for the Apple Farmer of Ponyville.
The cider made her feel good, really good. Years of regret and pain were washed away with just a few swigs of the homegrown brew. She grunted in a slight annoyance at thought, hating herself for relying on such a crutch, but after a few more sips, she no longer cared. She felt warm and bubbly once more. Her memories became nothing more than fuzzy images she could neither see, nor cared to try. She could smile; friendly, hospitable, and just the loving down-home Earth Pony all of Ponyville knew, once more. For just a few minutes, she was truly free of her past.
Rocking her chair lightly, Applejack glanced over at the corner of the library and chuckled; the boxes from the books had been piled up in a makeshift fort. It wasn’t the fort though that made her smile, it was the sprawled out, softly snoring form of Rainbow Dash in the opening; a soft smile on her muzzle. Applejack’s heart leapt at the sight; she wasn’t sure when the last time she saw a genuine smile from Rainbow Dash. Rest well. And perhaps just as surprising was that right next to Rainbow, curled up with her gray tail wrapped around herself, was Fluttershy using Rainbow’s stomach as a pillow.
Applejack stared at the odd scene with mixed feelings. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of Fluttershy; after all, according to her and Rarity’s knowledge, Rainbow Dash was the only surviving Pegasus of that day twelve years ago. The strange coloration or rather, lack of color, in Fluttershy’s mane suggested she wasn’t a Changeling in disguise. Cutting her eyes slightly to the right, she noticed Spike sleeping against the fort. Ah, a castle guardian, hm?
Once more though, she stared at Fluttershy. Spike seemed to know that Pegasus, and since Applejack couldn’t really sense or see any magic emanating from her of a decidedly wicked nature, she decided to let the issue be for now. Good for you, Rainbow. You’ve made a new friend. Suddenly a loud, horribly grating sound hit Applejack’s ears. She glanced over at the source and tried hard not to smile, though she failed miserably.
Rarity lay on a couple of boxes she had turned into a makeshift couch, snoring loudly. Her pose was anything but ladylike, one hoof hanging off the edge while she used the puffiness of her own mane as a pillow. Taking a sip of her cider, Applejack lowered her Stetson down over her eyes. Mares and gentlecolts, our prim and proper Priestess. She chuckled silently to herself, when the door to the library opened, causing her to glance up. And now the castle’s queen makes her entrance. Suddenly a bottle of ice-cold cider appeared in her hooves. Looking at it in surprise, Applejack popped the top off and began to eagerly drink the beloved beverage. And she seems to be in a good mood as well. That’s when she noticed Twilight staring at her.
“-oddly enough Aunt Celestia used two different Sirens for contributors of magic when creating her two children. Cadance will never cast magic again, you know, since I ripped her horn off. As for Sunset-”
Twilight stopped talking to Pinkie Pie as they both arrived at her front door. Staring Pinkie in the eyes she stated.
“We’re here. Don’t make a sound, it is getting late and I’ll bet they are all asleep. And frankly, it’s better that way.”
Without waiting for a response, Twilight slowly pushed open the door; standing in the doorway and taking in the situation at a glance as Pinkie ran past pulling a pillow from her mane and diving onto Rarity’s box couch; without a single sound. Empty boxes, full shelves, and at a makeshift table, Applejack sat rocking lightly back in her chair, her fabled hat pulled down over her eyes.
While Twilight was confounded by Pinkie’s antics, per usual, her attention was mainly focused on the dark scowl slowly forming on Applejack’s muzzle. It started as a twitch of her lips, before slowly turning into a frown. Twilight took note of the dozen empty bottles of cider scattered around Applejack. Just like me, she thought bitterly. Her horn glowed brightly and in an instant a bottle of cold cider appeared in Applejack’s hooves.
Without hesitation, Applejack expertly popped off the bottle cap and began downing it; her horrible expression changing almost as quickly. Twilight met Applejack’s gaze as the farmpony smiled gratefully back at her. Twilight turned around, calling out to her in a quiet whisper.
“Follow. Let’s have a chat.”
Without waiting for so much as an acknowledgement, Twilight walked through the entrance to the outside.
Applejack was a bit startled. Her body had begun to move on its own, forcing her to rise up and follow Twilight. Calming down, she analyzed the situation, noting her inability to stop herself. It seems my soul has been bound to her will. She was no Familiar, but suddenly she understood. Celestia! I see, it was the collar from before, the magic within it. But why? Applejack didn’t know, but something told her she was about to find out.
Walking through the doorway, Applejack was aghast at the scene that greeted her. Ruins, dilapidated and forgotten by time, lay scattered across the seemingly burning landscape. The fire was a mixture of black and purple flames as it raged all around her; though she couldn’t feel a thing as she walked through it.
Cautiously, Applejack reached out a hoof to touch the fire. It was cold, strangely cold, making her shiver uncontrollably until she wanted to scream in panic. Suddenly a barrier of light purple magic surrounded Applejack’s body and she felt the warmth of her own body once more.
“Be careful. These flames are not for mortals to touch.”
Glancing up, she saw Twilight, standing there staring at her from amidst the flames as they lapped hungrily at Twilight; though she seemed completely unconcerned.
“My magic. I did this.”
Her words weren’t ones of pride, rather she spoke in a tone of pure misery. The look on her face was downcast; her eyes as empty as could be, and yet Twilight continued.
“The Centaurions used to thrive in these woods, well they used to be woods. Now they are gone. The woods, the Centaurions…and many other civilizations. No creature can live here now. Because of me. Because of my magic.”
Applejack looked around her at the bones scattered all around her hooves, while Twilight whispered disheartedly.
“Bones and ashes, ruins and destruction. Because of me. Because of me. Nothing remains. Because of me.”
Applejack hated the entire scene; from the tears on Twilight’s face, to her hatred of Alicorns in general, not to mention the remains of a once bustling civilization. She could see the pain written across Twilight’s expression, how what she did seemed to be tearing her up inside.
Applejack just stared at Twilight. She didn’t know what to say. What should she say? What could she say? Perhaps if this was a dozen years in the past, Applejack might have given some form of farmer’s wisdom; about apples and the like. But now? She wasn’t sure she had any words to offer in comfort. Was there even any comfort for a situation like this? She didn’t know, but she did know one thing; her throat was feeling pretty parched and her buzz was fading fast.
“Hey darling? You got anymore of that cider on ya?”
Twilight’s eyes widened from surprise at the comment, before the ghost of a smile flitted across her lips. Just like me. Twilight’s horn glowed a light purple and a bottle of cider appeared levitating before Applejack. Twilight watched as she immediately grabbed it and began to down it, contemplating what could have made Applejack require such a thing to function.
In her case, Twilight felt more at peace from the dulling of her mind; she could simply turn off her mind when drunk, no more screams, no more thoughts. Twilight summoned a glass of rum, sipping it lightly and letting the familiar feeling of shutting down wash over her. As both finished their drinks, Twilight summoned some more, before casting a teleportation spell.
“Let’s go somewhere a bit more tranquil.”
The tingling sensation on her skin faded as Applejack looked around at her surroundings. Around her, glistened crystals of various colors shimmering in the single beam of moonlight that filtered down from a hole in the top of what she perceived to be an underground cavern. The cavern was massive, and the faint sounds of many waterfalls reached her ears.
“Watch your hooves, they’re a bit fragile.”
Glancing at her hooves she was a bit surprised to see little lifeforms, if they could even be called that; tiny little insects, seemingly made entirely out of crystals, had stopped their motions, staring back at her. Their eyes, made out of mismatched gemstones, blinked in confusion as she peered down at them, causing Applejack to feel self-conscious of herself.
“Sorry, little ones.”
Twilight watched the scene as a tiny crystal crawled across her hoof, chuckling as Applejack called out to her.
“What are these things?”
“Crystal mites. They thrive in extremely crystalline environments, and care for the crystals. Cute aren’t they? I love watching them scurry about. To this day, no creature knows how or why they came to be, then again the same could be said for my mom and Aunt Celestia.”
Glancing up at the moon, Twilight continued softly.
“My first time seeing moonlight in a thousand years. Crazy isn’t it? Might very well be the last time I get to as well.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“What’re you talkin’ about, Darling?”
Twilight gave a half hearted chuckle.
“I’ve been chained up in a pitch-black cell within the deepest depths of Tartarus’s Maximum Security Ward for the past thousand years, Applejack.”
Applejack gave a rather doubtful reply.
“If that’s true, then what’re you doing walking around without restriction then?”
Still staring at the moon, or rather the fabled imprint of the ‘Mare in the Moon’ on its surface, Twilight bore a wicked grin.
“Aunt Celestia let me out, to kill my mother.”
“Kill…Princess Luna?!”
Applejack’s reply contained a bit of panic within it, so Twilight asked her a question in reply.
“That night fifteen hundred years ago. I believe Aunt Celestia said it is referred to as the start of the Great Cataclysm. Tell me, did you ever learn about the events that transpired leading up to it? I mean, Earthponies do learn history in your schoolhouses, right?”
Applejack snorted in derision.
“Actually, yer highness, I’ll have you know Ah attended that fancy pants school of Princess Celestia’s; the School for Gifted Unicorns.”
Twilight seemed intrigued by this proclamation; at first it seemed rather ridiculous to her, but she couldn’t really sense any deception from Applejack.
“Really? Earthponies can attend a school for magic nowadays? Times really have changed.”
Applejack shook her head.
“No, it ain’t the norm. Truth is I’m pretty dern gifted with magical artifacts. Or well, that’s what that Princess told me back when I were a filly. Ahm the only Earthpony to ever be permitted to attend, let alone graduate from the magical university, darling.”
Twilight stared at her in silence, considering this new information. If what Applejack said was true, then it was quite an impressive feat, and in magical artifacts, nonetheless. Upon returning to the realm of Equestria, Twilight had been forced to attend private lessons from her Aunt; history, spell crafting, and magical devices.
She knew first hoof that Magical Devices was a subject most magic users failed to comprehend; as spell casting was more technical, while devices required mechanical knowledge of spells. Unicorns were more mentally focused, but rarely did Unicorns use their hooves in combination with their horns, resulting in the fundamental lack of knowledge of mechanical intricacies of magic devices.
The lessons had been utterly brutal for Twilight. She glanced down at her left forehoof, thinking bitterly to herself how her lack of her ability to cast her own magic had made it a living nightmare for her. Even now she still felt the stinging punishment of every wrong answer she had given; a year of torture.
Glancing up at Applejack, Twilight decided to test her claim.
“Alright then, what’s this?”
Holding out the hoof for Applejack to see, Twilight watched her carefully as she inspected the bracelet that materialized on it. Trust was not something Twilight easily gave, nor friendship. Still, if the farmer really was well-versed in magical devices, then there would be no reason she wouldn’t know the answer.
Applejack gazed in amazement at the bracelet as it shimmered into view. Instantly, her mind went into overdrive as she noted every detail about it. Etched with arcana circuits, each circuit ends at the end, but they all meet up in the center. Solid gold; good for conduction of magical current. Hm, these glyphs seem to be activators and that one there is a dispenser.
“It’s a storage device for dispensing magic in an emergency situation. Magic is stored in it and can then be used by the one wearing it. From what I can see, the amount of magic it currently contains is enough for nearly five hundred Unicorns to utilize.”
Twilight blinked in surprise. What skepticism she had towards Applejack vanished in an instant. Still, an Earth Pony with knowledge of magic was quite peculiar to her. Sure, Pinkie had what she called magic, but that was an anomaly casting at best. Applejack seemed to grasp the fundamentals of real magic, though Twilight doubted she could actually cast spells due to her lack of a horn.
“Yes. Aunt Celestia’s magic; to be specific, less than a fraction of a tenth of one percent of it.”
Applejack swallowed hard; the power contained in that bracelet was nearly enough to vaporize the entire planet. Just what were the limits of the Alicorn Princess? Still, that just raised more questions.
“So why do you have it?”
“Can I trust you?”
Applejack was stunned. The question had been instant and staring into Twilight’s eyes, Applejack could see why. She saw the hurt of betrayals from those closest to her. The centuries of burning hatred echoed within those beautiful purple irises, though the shine of hope seemed long dead and buried. And staring in those eyes, Applejack had never felt closer to another pony in over thirty-two years of life.
She nodded, looking somewhat amused by the idea of her relating to an Alicorn, as she spoke her thoughts aloud.
“Well, considerin’ mah soul is now bound to y’alls will, I’d say you can trust me with your very life, Darling.”
“Good, because what I’m about to tell you could literally be doing exactly that.”
Applejack blinked in confusion. Telling her about wanting to kill a worshiped deity wasn’t as dangerous as this back-up bracelet? Twilight took a deep breath and seemed to be struggling to form the words.
“I-I-”
Applejack spoke up suddenly, attempting to comfort her.
“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want-”
Twilight cut her off as she seemed to be having an internal conflict with herself.
“No! No…I can say it, it's just a rather hard pill to say the words out loud.”
Applejack watched Twilight close her eyes and take a deep breath before blurting out in frustration and slamming her hooves down.
“I can’t cast magic without it!”
Silence fell over the cavern and Twilight slowly opened one eye to gauge Applejack’s reaction. The Earthpony silently gazed at her for several long minutes of silence. Twilight’s frustration reached a boiling point and she shouted in annoyance.
“Say something, damn it!”
Turning her gaze from Twilight, Applejack stared up at the moon, speaking softly.
“You know, the moon is beautiful tonight.”
Twilight was a bit startled by the comment, she had expected surprise or anger, or perhaps for Applejack to attack her in a desperate bid of freedom, but not this.
“W-what?”
Glancing down at the cavern ground and kicking at a tiny rock, causing crystal mites to flee in panic, Applejack spoke in an uncharacteristically dark tone.
“Ya got no magic? Am I supposed to freak out, Miss Wingless Alicorn? Yore tellin’ an Earthpony, Darling, that you have no magic. An Earthpony. I can’t really begin to fathom how upsettin’ that could be fer a normal Unicorn let alone a damned Alicorn like yerself. So tell me, Immortal One, what exactly am I, a mortal who can’t use magic, supposed to say to ease a mind that has seen eternity and spells I cannot possibly imagine?”
Twilight blinked in stunned silence; she hadn’t considered that. She herself was literally an immortal being her body was completely constructed of her mother and father’s own magic. She had seen many lifetimes, even before her incarceration, in Tartarus, of all places.
And here she was expecting a reaction from a creature that by their own nature could not use magic like she could. How could she possibly expect Applejack, the pony she had just met that morning, to understand such a declaration? She really did just ask Applejack to describe the dark side of the moon, didn’t she?
Twilight hung her head, chuckling in embarrassment.
“You…have a point there. Maybe I should explain more about Alicorns, here have a drink.”
As midnight fell on Equestria, within the cave, Applejack and Twilight sat with their backs against the wall; dozens of empty glass cider bottles laying strewn about the cavern floor. Giving a gentle, satisfied burp, Twilight said.
“-And when the magic of an Alicorn is combined with the willingly given magic of another being, a hybrid is made. The combined magic then creates a body, combining elements from the two involved, as well as the magic both contain. My traits are a mix of my mother’s cunning and my father’s unapologetic brutality.”
Applejack seemed to stare up at the moon, thinking about what Twilight had said.
“Well now, that really is something. So, a being of magic losing its connection to usin’ magic. I can see why y’all were so upset there, Darling. Though your traits sound pretty destructive if ya ask me.”
Twilight gave a drunken giggle as she too stared up at the moon.
“I’m a Nightmare, you know Sugarcube.”
Applejack laughed rambunctiously.
“Ya certainly are, Twi.”
Twilight waved a hoof weakly at the farmer as she giggled once more.
“No-no. I really am a Nightmare, Applejack.”
Clearly not understanding, Applejack stared at her.
“An’ what exactly is a Nightmare?”
Twilight pointed a hoof to herself.
“Me-”
Pausing, Twilight gestured towards the moon.
“And mom. We destroy and bring ruin to all we wish. Nightmares. See?”
With a wave of her hoof, a nearby crystal shattered into pieces amidst the glow of her bracelet and horn. Twilight chuckled at the display, while Applejack took note of the crystal mites screaming in panic and running around in fear.
“Ah see. But what about Princess Celestia?”
Twilight giggled.
“A Daybringer. Well, now that she has my magic, perhaps a Daybreaker. The Daybringers are the Harmony and Light to balance out the Nightmare’s affinity for Darkness and Destruction.”
“So, what, are ya sayin’ yore evil? Gonna be honest with ya Darling, I ain’t all that content to follow an evil entity; soulbound or not.”
Twilight seemed to immediately sober up upon hearing the word ‘evil’.
“Evil? No. Necessary.”
Applejack turned towards Twilight, speaking incredulously.
“And just how in the world is destroyin’ stuff necessary?”
Twilight chuckled and threw back her head against the rocky wall, before taking a deep breath and sighing.
“Because from the ashes of destruction rise new and stronger forms of life. The sun must set on all lifeforms, just as the sun is lowered each evening. When the sun falls beyond the horizon, the night falls and the moon must rise as well.”
Her tone was surprisingly gentle as she explained to Applejack. Her words didn’t seem to fit her at all, as though she were reciting a lesson she had heard many times before.
“When the sun has set on a civilization, we are the ones to make way for the next one. Though the rubble remains, those left behind rebuild stronger foundations than before. The lessons taught and the histories written are passed onto those that come after they are gone.”
Twilight noticed the surprised look on Applejack’s face, before gesturing at the crystal she had destroyed.
“See for yourself.”
Glancing over at the broken crystal, Applejack stared in shock. What had been fragments, was slowly pulling itself together, no, not it but the little crystal mites; having gotten over their panic and loss, the little insects were busy swarming over the various shards and placing the pieces of what had been one area into another.
The crystal was a bit different than it was before, with little houses and porches etched into it. As Applejack watched a tiny road was carved into it, spiraling around the side.
“So, what yore sayin’ is ya dun destroy willy nilly?”
Twilight smiled contentedly watching as a little neighborhood developed from the once shattered remains.
“While I do love destroying things, a Nightmare’s actions are quite necessary so that the Daybringers can nurture the foundations that are created in the place of the ruins. Understand?”
Applejack was silent as she thought about that; destruction was just as necessary as the building and rebuilding of life? She supposed it made sense; after all, new cannot be if the old remains. A fire burning foliage leaves nitrogen embedded in the soil beneath the ashes, growing a much lusher foliage later on. But that still left one thing she didn’t understand.
Looking Twilight in the eyes, she asked her.
“If you destroy only when necessary, can you tell me what you did to end up locked away in Tartarus?”
Twilight nodded.
“I destroyed eighty percent of the world fifteen hundred years ago, rendering it completely uninhabitable-”
“And you want me to believe you ain’t evil?”
Twilight’s eyes hooded over as anger gleamed within them.
“I was not the one controlling my body at the time. Mother was.”