//------------------------------// // Friends Forever III: The Truth in Friendship // Story: Friends Forever // by Snow //------------------------------// Honey Apple was young, a year older than Applebloom at the time of the Nightmare Moon incident, and had long loose blonde hair, and a burnt orange coat, with no cutiemark. She slept soundly, dreaming a familiar old dream; she was on her family farm in Sweet Apple Acres, which had grown so large as to require several branches of the Apple family to tend it. In that dream, she was bucking the ancient, massive apple trees like they could do in newer sections of the orchard; she was doing it all by herself. Many of the older trees in Sweet Apple Acres had simply grown too ancient, and had to be cut down before they became hazardous the next time a storm blew in. A particular grove though, was reputed to be a little over two thousand years old, and it took an entire team of Apples to buck those apples! They were Honey Apples namesakes. These were the ones she was dreaming about bucking all by herself like the Princess that was rumored to come tend to a few trees for some reason. Princess Twilight was the only pony to ever buck a honey apple tree all by herself in anyponies living memory, and for that reason she was usually the one that brought in the most honey apples. Not a single pony knew how that had gotten started either, but she was always so friendly it seemed natural to treat her like one of the family. "Good afternoon, Honey Apple, it looks like you're enjoying yourself." The filly jumped at the voice; it was Princess Twilight herself! The filly found herself blushing a bit, shy around the princess, but couldn't help nodding. "Ah was just applebuckin' th' honey apples, Miss Twilight" The smile Twilight gave that filly could have melted a patch of ice that had never even heard of sunlight, as she always did when talking to a member of the Apple Family. The reasons why were never revealed save as a polite, "A promise I made somepony very important to me” which caused no end of rumors. "I can see that! You're doing a wonderful job of it too. Your parents will be so proud." The tall, regal-looking Alicorn with her purple fur and mane of varying hues smiled down warmly at the filly again as she spoke, putting her head level with her. "Thank ya kindly Miss Twilight" Honey Apple's voice was a squeak, and her cheeks red as the apples filling the baskets around the trunk of the ancient tree. "Did you know I once knew the pony who planted these trees with her own hooves? No magic or anything. Her name was Applejack." Twilight spoke conversationally as she lowered herself onto her knees, leveling herself with the young filly, who was flabbergasted; just wait till she tells Granpa Apple Stem about this! "Ah...Ah didn't know that Miss Twilight. We got ourselves two Applejacks right now though. There's grandpappy's cousin's nephew Applejack, then there's momma's cousin's uncle's brother's sister's son's daughter named Applejack, but she's only three." Even the foals are apparently as familiar with the Apple family tree as they are any other apple trees. "My, my. I think for a few hours I may have forgotten just how expansive your family is." A laugh flavored Twilight's words, but a kind one. "But in fact, it's you I've come to visit, little one. Could you take a little break from applebucking and have a talk with me?" The filly was torn, truthfully enough; it really was a request, even she could tell that. On one hoof, Princess Twilight was practically family, and for all anypony knew, was family. She sure bucked like an Apple. On the other, she was actually having fun with the big trees, and knew somehow that she'd probably never be quite this good again. Still... "Well, these here apples aint gonna buck themselves but... Well if ya aint got time for yer friends, yer a bad Apple." The words had a practiced feel to them, and it was a piece of advice that Twilight remembered Applejack saying to her own foals, once. In that funny way of dreams, the two made their way to the kitchen without seeming to cross any of the intervening space between the orchard and that homey little room. Though, something seemed a little out of place to the filly; it was a cozy warm wooden room, smelling like years and years of cooking apples and had the old Apple family feel to it, but with a start she realized what it was. She hadn't ever actually seen this room before. In the truly massive expanse of time since Twilight laid eyes on Applejack last, she never forgot the kitchen where she'd eaten more than her fill countless times, to the chagrin of her belly. It was her memory that the two found themselves within. "Where...are we, Miss Twilight? This aint th' farmhouse kitchen." Honey Apple's mind was starting to struggle against the dream, but between the magically induced sleep, and being within one of Twilight's own memories, the filly couldn't quite wake up, even though she had realized she couldn't be awake. "Relax, Honey Apple, it's OK, you're safe and nopony is going to hurt you. I just needed to talk with you about something important. You can leave anytime you want, just let me know. Alright?" A wing draped over the filly as Twilight stood beside her, her voice softer than silk. "Ah'm... Ah'm dreamin'. Gotta be." Honey Apple looked up at Twilight; that wing felt real, as did the Alicorn’s presence. Realer than anything in a dream had any right to. "But you aren't a dream, are ya...?" A quick poke that drew a giggle from a still-ticklish Twilight gave further evidence to that particular observation. "Well, Ah guess it can't hurt none, 'specially since Ah guess Ah wasn't really applebuckin'." The prospect makes the filly wilt a bit, but something about being draped in those warm downy feathers just made it difficult to feel blue. "What didja wanna talk about?" Twilight stood for a moment longer, considering. Truthfully she hadn't given too terribly much thought as to what she would say when it actually came down to explaining it. Since this was the Element of Honesty though... "I wanted to talk about my old friend Applejack, actually. You see... A long, long time ago, Ponyville was a small, small town; nothing like it is today..." Together, they sat in that cozy little kitchen, Twilight talking about an age gone by, and Honey Apple listening intently, interrupting only to ask a question or two. They talked about how Sweet Apple Acres had grown, about how Twilight met Applejack, how they found the Elements of Harmony, and used them to rescue Princess Luna, and how Twilight missed her friends every day. "...And that's why I wanted to talk to you, Honey Apple. You see, you inherited the Element of Honesty, and..." She sighed, starting to buck herself sideways for what she was about to ask. "And, I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me see my friend again." Honey Apple sat dumbfounded, dozens of thoughts fighting for attention like, 'What does she need me to do?' and 'I inherited an Element? Can I even do that?' All the while Twilight just sat here patiently, allowing the filly all the time she needed to think. The filly took awhile to respond, but she did so with a somewhat hopeful smile. "Ah wanna help Miss Twilight, but um, how? Ah mean Ah'm glad t'help but Ah don't rightly know how Ah can, with some'n like this." "Well Honey, Applejack's spirit sorta gets passed down with the Element of Honesty. If the Element was activated, any number of things could happen. You could get Applejack's memories, her personality, or both. You could become a mix between you and her, or..." Twilight took a deep breath and sighed before continuing. "Or... You could end up being overwritten with Applejack entirely. This hasn't been done before, and it has to be your decision if you want to or not. I miss my friend, but not so much that I'd force something like that on one of my wonderful little ponies." The filly looked up at the Alicorn, at one of the mares that she had been taught were goddesses, at the serene and ancient being before her. She looked up at all of those things, and yet all she saw was a friend, and member of the family. She couldn't imagine the kind of emotions Twilight must have been going through, and she, Honey, knew she could help. "Miss Twilight..?" she asked, after another contemplative silence, "Ah still wanna help. If Ah do get... um... what you said, 'overwritten' then 'least Ah did it helpin a friend. 'Sides, maybe then Ah could finally buck one o' them honey apple trees by m'self!" She turned up a somewhat worried smile, but she meant it. Facing a hard decision, Twilight weighed her own feelings, and the willingness of the filly before her against the very real risk of losing a special, unique pony at such a young age. She knew that each pony was special, each life a wonderful unique thing that needed to be valued, and that she as one of the Princesses should try to take care of each one to the best of her abilities. Yet, she also knew the emptiness in her own heart where her friends used to be, and the sorrow of waking up every day without them. "...Honey Apple, are you sure? I don't know if we can undo what might happen..." For the first time in the conversation, her voice cracked, letting some of the emotion show through; a tiny spark of hope, fear, worry, and even the shadow of disappointment, though that was directed at herself. As young as she may have been, Honey had a big heart, and she'd be lying to herself if she thought she could have said no. "Ah'm sure Miss Twilight." It was all the Alicorn could do to choke back a sob as she nodded. Not trusting herself with words, she reached deep inside of herself to a place she hadn't touched in ages. Her crown lit, and the gem set within glowed with an inner light. It was a warm and comforting sensation, like sinking into a bath on a cold day. Light coalesced around Honey's neck, forming the familiar necklace of the Element of Honesty, and the gem set within it began to glow in harmony with Twilight's crown, but before the magic could activate beyond that, the necklace sparked, a mote of light shooting out of its heart. Before the two's eyes, a third formed. She wore a brown Stetson, wore her golden tail and mane tied back into a pony tail, and looked out with brilliant green eyes. It was Applejack, exactly as Twilight remembered her in the days of her youth. Not even all that much older than when they first met. The next thing the dusky mare realized was that she, the apparition, bore a very confused look. "What the hay..?" That was it. When Twilight heard her friends voice, she lost all composure and threw her forelegs and wings around her old friend, hugging her so tightly that even the stout Earth Pony had to squeak a bit. Honey Apple watched this with confusion, looking down at the necklace wound around her throat, then over at Applejack and Twilight. She noticed what Twilight had not; Applejack wore the same necklace as her, glowing in harmony with her own. "Miss Twilight? What happened?" The filly's voice broke the spell, and the two friends that had been hugging one another looked to her, then at each other, and laughed a bit, settling down onto their hooves. Neither moved to answer at first, then both tried to reply at once. Twilight quickly shook her head and smiled at Applejack, giving her the floor. After all, Twilight was just as confused as Honey, because strictly speaking she didn't feel the element activate. She just felt it start to. "Ah...Well, y'see sugarcube, when y'all did whatever it was y'all were doin', this here thing," Applejack tapped a hoof against her own glowing necklace. "Pulled me plum 'cross creation t' right here. Other'n that, Ah couldn't rightly tell ya." "Wait," Twilight began, "Pulled you... You mean you were... and you came.... And you're..." She boggled, giving an expression she used to reserve for Pinkie Pie. "It did, Ah was, Ah did, and Ah am. Was. Ah don't rightly know m'self at th' moment." A familiar little grin appeared on Applejack's face, followed by a shrug before she turned to Honey Apple, giving Twilight time to piece together her thoughts. "Hey there sugarcube. Guess that hat means yer family, even if th' freckles didn't give it away. Ah'm Applejack." She offered her hoof. "Um, Ah'm Honey Apple..." The fily took applejack's hoof in hers and gave it a nervous shake. That is to say, it lasted five seconds instead of ten, and neither pony had trouble putting their leg down after. "So um, you planted the Honey Apple trees?" "Ah sure did, sugarcube! Me'n Big Macintosh even got a few harvests outta 'em 'fore... Well, we got a few harvests outta 'em anyway! They still 'round?" "Course they are! They're th' biggest trees on th' farm! Bout th' oldest too!" The ice was broken between the two on the subject of apples, and Apples, discussing plants and family both. Meanwhile, Twilight had been trying to sort out what all this meant. If Applejack had been...wherever it was dead ponies went, then that probably meant that the information Celestia and Luna had dug up was a bit flawed. That was understandable, she supposed, since the Elements didn't exactly come with an Instructional Booklet of Harmony. Beyond that, her thoughts kept turning to Applejack; she was sitting there in the apple kitchen chatting away with her great great great great..... Chatting with her descendant as merrily as if it was over a picnic. It did her heart a world of good, and yet old wounds had been reopened. There was only one question she could think to ask, and she was honestly afraid of the answer. "So..." she began, cutting off the other two, "What...happens now?" Applejack looked at her friend of over two thousand years, and smiled a warm, healthy, happy smile. "Well sugarcube, Honey Apple here has a decision t'make. Ah'm here 'cause of this fancy necklace." She tapped the gem again. "And Ah can stay, or leave, dependin' on what she wants. It's up t'her how much o' me gets let in, an' what happens to her. Fer instance, she could boot me out, and the Element along with it, or on th' other end, she could let me move all th' way in and sorta take over. She'd still be here mind, but as a part o' me. Leastwise that's how it got explained t'me." There were so many things in what Applejack told them that confounded the daylights out of both mares, though Twilight recovered first. "Explained to you? By....?" The question was answered with a shrug. "Don't know, sugarcube. One minute Ah'm havin' th' saturday picnic with th' gang, next Ah'm surrounded by orange light an’ this voice soundin' awful lot like mine talks to me. Right when it quit talkin, Ah'm here." "So um, Ah gotta choose?" The question sounded hesitant as Honey Apple looked from Twilight to Applejack and back. "Ah want Miss Twilight t'have her friend back but Ah'm a little scared. Ah wanna still be me but... Could Ah be you too?" It wasn't the most eloquent phrasing of the question, but the light orange and blonde mare nodded in understanding. "Course, sugarcube. Th' Elements of Harmony are 'bout helpin ponies, not hurtin 'em. Now, Ah think Honey Apple here an' me have some details t'work out" Applejack turned and smiled to Twilight again, her green eyes glimmering. Twilight took the hint, and nodded. "Alright Applejack. And... no matter what I'm so glad to see you again. I missed you so much." They embraced again, Applejack nodding in response. "It's OK sugarcube, Ah missed you too. An' one more thing? No matter what happens we'll all be there for ya when your own time comes. T'aint nothin t' be afraid of." Luna's horn dimmed and Twilight's eyes opened. She was resting on a cushion next to Honey Apple's bed, and tears were pouring down her cheeks. A smile was on her face though, and her eyes shown with happiness. Even as she sat up, there was a soft flash, and the Element of Honesty appeared around Honey Apple's sleeping neck. "So... What happened?" Luna nuzzled her younger sisters tears away, and draped a wing around Twilight. "...I think we need to update the information Tia and you found... And, I got to see Applejack again." Another choked back sob later and a bit of rearranging, Twilight was looking at a very young unicorn filly with a silver mane, dark grey fur, curled up into a comfortable ball. Luna had told her that she had inherited the Element of Kindness, and Twilight was excited to see Fluttershy again. To be continued in Part IV: A Kind Heart. Notes: Sorry for the delay. I hope you all enjoy the story thus far.