Chapter 7
Applejack
Flam sped through Ponyville at top speed. Within minutes they were outside of the town and driving beside the train tracks. None of the changelings had survived Inkie's blast. Trixie and Flim were freaking out because of the explosion. Zecora and Fluttershy were doing their best to calm them down.
Flam stopped the car.
"There's a tunnel here," Flam said, pointing ahead, "and we can't ride beside the tracks any more. Time to change into train mode?"
Twilight nodded.
"Ok, this is what I need; Flam, turn the car off. Everypony off of the car—Zecora you watch Trixie and Flam you can watch Flim for now. Make sure they don't go running off into the trees. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Inkie, I need you stationed as four corners on the train tracks. After I transform the wheels, I'll levitate it over onto the tracks. Each you make sure the wheel in your corner is aligned properly. We can't afford to have any accidents," Twilight said. "Pegasi? Fly up and keep an eye out for any changeling activity. Big Mac, help watch over the scrambled ponies."
Everyone moved into their positions. Applejack watched as Twilight began to transform the car wheels into train wheels. Her thoughts kept drifting around, thinking of Apple Bloom back in the forest. Sure, they'd only been separated for less than an hour, but she worried so much. What if the twins were too much for her? She knew Pinkie Pie had a talk with them, and that they usually always listened to Pinkie Pie, especially when Pinkie was serious.
It was weird to see Pinkie so serious at the moment. Given the circumstances, it was very understandable, and Pinkie had shared that that was her message from Celestia. Every now and then she'd be cheery and smile, but Applejack could tell she was trying to keep it to a minimum. Especially now that one of her sisters was gone. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Pinkie Pie and Inkie were feeling. They kept their emotions under wraps, because that's what they needed to do at the moment.
Applejack wished she could do better and do the same. But she kept thinking of Granny Smith. She'd already lost one pony, and now she was separated from her little sister. And what if something happened to Big Mac? She glanced over at him. He was patiently watching over Trixie as she picked out some new pinecones she found along the ground. Zecora seemed to be meditating upside down.
Almost all of these ponies here had had something bad happen to them. She and Big Mac had Granny Smith; Twilight was concerned about Spike, and terrified of what happened to Trixie; Flam had Flim; Rarity was worried about Sweetie Belle back in Canterlot—not to mention she had been the most brutally beaten on her journey to Ponyville; Pinkie and Inkie had Blinkie; Derpy was anxious to find her little sister; and Rainbow Dash had been more affected by Scootaloo's death than Applejack had thought she would be.
She was sure that Zecora had been very worried about what to do with Apple Bloom and how to make sure she was comforted and not fretting over her family. CloudsArmor said he had gone back to Cloudsdale to find family. Titan Wings was here on a mission, but he must have felt apprehensive not hearing from his princess for so long while she was imprisoned.
She looked up at Fluttershy, who was hovering close to Rainbow Dash, while keeping a lookout for any trouble. Derpy was fluttering near them as well. She knew that Fluttershy was terrified to the core at what was going on.
She didn't even get a chance to go to her cottage and see if everything was ok... I'm sure she's worried about all of the critters.
That was something that Applejack had noticed right away. There didn't seem to be any little furry creatures around. She hadn't seen a single bunny or even a bird in the sky. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure where Winona was.
Applejack looked back over to Big Mac. He was looking at her too. He gave her a small smile and nodded. Don't give up it seemed to say. She hadn't told anyone about her message from Celestia. Nobody had forced her to; everypony knew that they were personal messages. Except for Twilight's. She felt ashamed that she needed that extra push to keep going. Here were all these other ponies who had had something bad happen to them, and they continued on and put their feelings behind them no problem.
It's not that black and white; they're just having an easier time doing it somehow...
Which almost didn't seem fair as Applejack thought about it. Sure, she had lost Granny Smith, her only parent figure left in the world. But both of her siblings had survived. And none of them were in pods. They were ok and healthy. Sweetie Belle was trapped in a cocoon, in the most highly changeling populated area in Equestria, yet Rarity had let her go without question when Twilight told her to do so. Applejack wasn't sure if she could have done the same if it were Apple Bloom.
She had two ponies from her family survive and awake, and yet she was having the hardest time. Pinkie Pie had found family too, only to find her parents in pods and see one of her younger sisters dragged into a hole with the changelings. How was she coping? Applejack knew she was being strong for Inkie's sake, but Inkie was still doing better than Applejack was.
"Ok; track team, are you ready? Here comes the car," Twilight said.
Applejack snapped away from her thoughts. She needed to focus.
Twilight cautiously levitated the car to the tracks and slowly lowered it down.
"Is it aligned?" she asked.
"Ok on my end," Rarity said.
"Same here," Inkie said.
"A little to the left," Pinkie said. "There, that's good."
"Applejack?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, it's good," Applejack said. She shook her head. Her thoughts had strayed again.
"Alright everypony! Back onto the car!" Twilight shouted.
"And with good timing—there's a small dark mass flying this way!" Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted.
Big Mac and Zecora rounded up Trixie and bribed her onto the car with pinecones. Flam did the same with Flim.
Flam stood at the controls and began to fire it up.
"Pegasi—maybe you should follow above the tunnel. Try to divert them from all coming into the tunnel after us," Twilight shouted up to them.
"Ok! See you on the other side!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
Flam thrust the car into gear and they sped into the tunnel.
"Unicorns, I want lights on," Twilight said, sparking her horn. Rarity and Flam did the same. Surprisingly, so did Trixie, but that was because she had figured out how to make the pinecones levitate again, and she was making them fly behind the car.
The car sped along the tracks. The tunnel wasn't very long, but it wasn't short either.
Applejack looked back to the entrance. Black silhouettes began to overtake it.
"They're coming!" Applejack shouted.
The changelings charged after them. As they came closer and closer to the car, they began to knock Trixie's floating pinecone trail out of the way.
"GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!" she screamed. Without warning, a powerful burst of magic streamed from her horn, knocking a few of the changelings to the ground. They didn't get back up.
"Inkie and Pinkie! Start loading the cannon with apples; I want to save the real ammunition for when we get to Canterlot. Once we're out of the tunnel, fire. It won't kill them, but it'll deter them for a bit," Twilight said.
Applejack helped them find the apples and shove them into the cannon.
"Everypony stay clear of the cannon," Inkie said.
"Almost there," Flam said.
The second the whole car was out of the tunnel, Inkie pulled the trigger. A dozen apples flew out and rained on the changelings. While it didn't kill them, it did slow them down, like Twilight said.
The pegasi were busy fighting and flying, trying to shake the changelings off of their tails. Once some of them saw the car again, they abandoned the pegasi fight and dove towards the car.
"Load more apples!" Twilight shouted, "Rarity, use your magic to throw some at them, I'll do the same."
The two of them began throwing apples using their magic at the crowd. Applejack and Pinkie loaded apples into the cannon, while Inkie fired afterwards. Flam kept driving. Big Mac kicked any changeling that came too close to the car. Surprisingly, Trixie began throwing her precious pinecones at the changelings as well. Flim ate leaves.
"Um, Twilight?" Flam suddenly said.
"Yeah?" she said, as she threw another apple and hit a changeling in the eye.
"Look down."
Applejack did the same. They were on a bridge, towering over a huge gorge with a river at the bottom. She could barely see the water flowing.
"Everypony be careful not to fall out of the train!" Twilight said.
The changelings, hearing her message, began to dive in and swoop close to the car, trying to knock them off of it. The pegasi did their best to keep them away from the car.
The tracks suddenly hugged a cliff on one side, openly exposed to the death drop on the other.
"I see the end," Flam said, "only a few more minutes of this bridge."
Half of the changelings suddenly abandoned the whole fight together and flew up above them and out of sight. The pegasi flew low and surrounded the car beside it and above it.
"Keep an eye out," Twilight said, as she threw another apple at one of the remaining changelings. "I doubt they just up and left."
"Maybe Chrysalis called them back again," Fluttershy said.
"We're almost there," Flam said.
Suddenly, the tracks began to rumble.
"Wha-what's going on?" Applejack said.
"Avalanche!" CloudsArmor shouted. Applejack looked up.
Rocks were tumbling down the side of the cliff, the changelings at the top shouting victoriously.
"We're not going to make it!" Rarity screamed. Flam pushed the car faster.
They sped along, the rocks falling closer and closer. Some began to crash onto the tracks behind them, seconds after they were just there.
Thankfully, they were on the ground again. The changelings were still above them. Flam stopped the car just on the other side of the bridge.
"We made it," Twilight said, "Everypony ok?"
Everyone nodded and murmured, looking over one another.
Suddenly there was a scream. Applejack and a few others jumped off of the car. Fluttershy was still on the tracks of the bridge. A huge rock had fallen, and one of her wings was trapped underneath.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie shouted.
Applejack looked up at the changelings. They were started to fly down.
"We have a problem!" she said.
"Remaining pegasi, go up there and try to deter them; Inkie, fire apples out of the cannon, Pinkie you help her. Zecora, get medical supplies ready; somepony help drag her out once I lift up the rock," Twilight said. The pegasi flew up and began attacking the hoofful of changelings left.
But it was too late. As the last few words left Twilight's mouth, there was a terrifying cracking noise. Applejack whipped her head over to Fluttershy. Big Mac was over there trying to push the rock off and get her out—but he wasn't fast or strong enough. The rock, too big and heavy for the tracks, began to weigh it down.
Before anypony else could rush over and help, the train tracks cracked and collapsed, sending Fluttershy and Big Mac into a death defying plunge over the edge.