Chapter 10: Carnation
Hyacinth panted under the strain of maintaining the memory spell currently lashing her horn to Applejack’s.
She was tired – absolutely exhausted, in fact. The magical exertion on her body was causing her legs to buckle and wobble, and it felt like gravity was getting exponentially stronger. She barely had the strength left to stand, let alone channel such a complicated spell like a memory transferal.
But she forced herself to. She gritted her teeth and concentrated, forcing herself to think only on her past and not the unbearable need to collapse.
She was almost there, almost done…
The magic around her horn popped and fizzed like a fire on the verge of being smothered. A thin, ethereal ribbon of green light flowed from the tip of her horn, tethering hers to the young changeling queen seated in front of her.
Applejack’s eyes were wide and staring, but no one could tell what she was seeing just by looking at her.
Her eyes burned with brilliant emerald light as bright as a lantern. She was gazing off at some point five feet off to Hyacinth’s left, straight towards a wall, seemingly lost in a daydream.
Alright…, Hyacinth thought to herself, Alright… just a little bit longer. You can do this, Hyacinth. For Applejack… Remember that… For Applejack…
She snarled and redoubled her efforts, focusing with every ounce of willpower and strength she had left in her weary old body.
Hyacinth took one last look at her niece before squeezing her eyes shut.
For Applejack…
~~***~~
Shapes started to materialize in front of Applejack’s eyes, forming from nebulous shrouds of unconsciousness.
But right away, she could tell that this vision was not like the others.
Images appeared before her in a seemingly disjointed chaos, some having nothing to do with each other. Each was like a portrait – a flash blinking in and out of existence as it rushed passed her, forming only long enough to be recognized before making room for others.
In no way did she find herself in a stable environment; everything around Applejack was in constant flux. If it weren’t for the reassuring feel of cold stone beneath her, she might’ve believed that she was tumbling headlong through a vortex.
The first fear that popped into Applejack’s mind was that the memory spell was still unstable; that Hyacinth was too exhausted to maintain it properly.
But just as she started to open her mouth to say something, an order started to manifest in the chaos.
A shape took form before Applejack’s eyes, one that spread out beneath her, and immediately she recognized it.
It was difficult to not know the map of her own country, after all.
But it was the sheer size of the map of Equestria that was throwing her off. It was as massive as a carpet, forcing Applejack to turn her head this way and that just to see each border.
Applejack let her eyes rove over the large map laid out under her hooves for a moment. True enough, she’d seen the exact same thing when she’d attended the school in Ponyville when she was a filly. The thing beneath her even had stains upon it, and tatters along the embroidered canvas edges.
Granted, the map of Equestria in the school house wasn’t big enough to fill out an entire room corner to corner by itself, and Applejack was getting the feeling that this particular one had had magical help to swell to such an incredible size.
As Applejack was just turning to gaze over towards Canterlot, however, she became aware of the room materializing all around her.
This time, as her surroundings slowly took form from inky darkness, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar chamber. Yet, the fact that it seemed to have been hollowed out of a thick tree led her to believe that she hadn’t gone too far – that she was just in one of the many places in the abandoned changeling hive she hadn’t seen before.
The chamber was spacious – perhaps big enough for quite a few ponies to stand in without bumping elbows.
And yet, it was remarkably barren. A number of root-like vines hung from the ceiling, some bearing small grapefruit-sized light bulbs that cast a soft yellow, orange and red light.
A small crystalline chandelier hung in the heart of the bulbs, refracting their light enough to bathe the entire room in bright, warm light.
Besides that and the gargantuan map at Applejack’s hooves, however, there was little else of note.
Applejack herself sidestepped instinctively, already used to where – and who – she’d be standing at.
To her surprise, however, she found Hyacinth not standing at the foot of the map, per se, but rather hovering slightly over it on buzzing wings, her brow creased with thought, her eyes carefully scrutinizing the layout of the terrain before her.
She was staring intently at an embroidered label in the canvas beneath her, one that spelled an all-too familiar name; that of Ponyville.
She was hovering just over a dark splash of green to the south of Applejack’s hometown, and though the label was partially obscured in unawareness, she knew the location of the Everfree Forest well enough.
As Hyacinth hovered on the spot, clearly lost in thought, she happened to glance down towards the part of the map that lay directly beneath her.
When she did, more of the memory solidified around Applejack, revealing still more of the Everfree.
And as she watched, a small wooden column materialized out of an inky black shadow.
It was hardly more than a peg, really – only slightly larger than a chess piece – and yet it sat in its place with obvious purpose, marking some spot deep in the Everfree.
Upon its top rested a small, perfectly rounded ruby.
The moment Applejack laid eyes on the strange thing, the image of Freedom instantly jumped to her mind, and for a moment she saw it sprawled out beneath her hooves as if she were looking down from a great distance upon the real thing; a gargantuan tree canopy exploding out of the deep, dark forest like a mountain.
It lasted for but a moment – a memory momentarily overpowering the other – but it was enough to make Applejack’s heart flutter in anxiety.
“Hyacinth, what are ya showin’ me now?” she asked quietly, nervous.
“This,” said Hyacinth’s voice in her head, “Is Equestria as you know it.”
Applejack once more turned an eye towards the map the past Hyacinth was scrutinizing. This time, the apple farmer regarded it with confusion.
“Ah coulda told ya that,” she said, befuddled. “Any particular reason fer showin’ me this?”
Hyacinth didn’t answer right away, but she didn’t need to.
The Hyacinth currently hovering a few feet off the ground beside Applejack slowly turned around, putting her back to most of the familiar geography.
But what Applejack saw materialize before her eyes from the darkness shocked her.
Hyacinth wasn’t running out of map like Applejack thought she would be.
“And this, Applejack, is the world as we know it.”
Applejack could only gawk in awe.
The map had nearly tripled in size before her. Equestria was but a small portion of the land in comparison to the splotches of brown, red and dark green terrain to the south of it.
There was just so much it; far more than Applejack had ever dreamed possible. Most of it was roughly drawn, and by unskilled hooves who were clearly going more off of memory than anything else, but it was there, and the sheer scope of it was taking Applejack’s breath away.
She saw the Badlands – a familiar splash of rusty red – only it extended much further than she’d thought it might, at one point spreading from the eastern shore to the western.
South of the Badlands lay a mountain range – or at least, that was the impression Applejack got from the crudely drawn saw-tooth patterns crisscrossing the border of the Badlands, from one coast to the other.
And yet, even those two combined were only a small portion of the map – barely even half the size of Equestria itself.
No, what dominated the southern portion of the continent was an immense, ominous splash of dark green.
It stretched on and on for leagues in every direction, coast to coast, right down to the distant peninsula at the land’s end.
“This is where our people called home for thousands of years, perhaps longer,” Hyacinth said. “Since the dawn of our written history, we have dwelled in these lands, eking out a tough existence among the small nations and races that also call this place home.”
As Applejack surveyed the immense jungle-like terrain, she spotted several different markings, all made with what looked like the strokes of a rather course brush.
In one of the northern corners of the jungle was a marking adorned with bull-horns. Not far from that was a small, unobtrusive representation of a head with long ears and a dopey-looking muzzle.
Applejack saw a crudely drawn image of what could’ve been a pony head, except for the number of stripes across its neck and muzzle.
But also among those were less friendly icons – icons with sharp teeth and leery smiles.
And spread sporadically throughout the jungle were a number of representations of ponies – proper ponies, some with horns and wings, and others with nothing special at all.
“Our kind existed here in secret, spread out here and there in hives.”
That was when Applejack noticed the pegs.
The more she looked, the more she saw wooden pegs dotting all over the map, each one topped with a different colored gem stone.
In total, Applejack counted twenty hives spread out all across the harsh south. That was nineteen more than she ever dared to think possible.
“But existing in this harsh environment was… brutal. At its peak, our species numbered only a few tens of thousands. Queens quarreled over the best hive sites and territory disputes constantly. They rarely turned to open warfare, but when they did, the battles were… messy, yet quick.
“Changelings fought over every scrap of love they could get, using whatever methods they could think of to get it. It was a brutal existence, but we had little choice to survive.”
Applejack repressed a shiver as she saw flashes of Hyacinth’s memory materialize like snapshots before her eyes. Each one showed a changeling doing something, often things that didn’t sit well with the apple farmer. These were changelings as she imagined them – lying, tricking, even enthralling helpless ponies the same way Queen Chrysalis did to Twilight’s brother.
It was not a flattering picture, and Applejack felt worse for seeing it. It was a familiar disgust, one that she’d been warring with for several weeks now, but seeing it shoved under her nose very nearly made her sick to her stomach.
But while Applejack worked around her nausea, She noticed the memory of Hyacinth moving through the air.
After taking a second to transition herself, she came to a stop over the dead center of the jungle – directly over another hive marker topped with a deep ocean blue lapis lazuli.
The memory of Hyacinth regarded the hive marker with heavy, unreadable eyes, her gaze unfocusing for the first time thus far.
Applejack, too, turned her graze to scrutinize the hive marker with a frown. A flash of a mountain crossed her mind’s eye; a hollowed out dead volcano, devoid of vegetation and towering far above the jungle below like a granite monolith.
She was just starting to open her mouth to ask Hyacinth a question when the changeling herself spoke first.
“This is where all that changed. Amid the strife and hardship, there arose two queens; each set on one goal; to bring their people into a brighter age free of hardship and suffering.”
A shadow materialized in front of Applejack, making her cringe back in surprise.
Even as the shadows took shape, she didn’t relax the tension in her muscles, especially when she found herself almost nose to nose with a younger version of her own mother.
Carnation couldn’t have been more than a young adult – only a little older than Applejack herself. She was remarkably pony-like in stature, though she was slightly too thin, and too long-legged to be normal.
“One, no one believed would amount to anything. She lacked the drive of most queens, and to many, that made her weak. And yet despite that, she made a move that took everyone by surprise. She took a fool’s gamble.”
The memory warped once more. This time, Applejack found herself walking, following behind an older, much taller Carnation as she walked slowly down a small game trail choked with alien, verdant foliage, headed to places unknown.
“After all, no one had ever attempted a journey so far north. All that was believed to be up beyond the Badlands was ice and snow. But Carnation was adamant. She believed that if there was a solution for her people’s plight, she would find it in the far north.”
Flashes of memory shot across Applejack' vision – snapshots of Hyacinth’s and her mother’s journey across the harsh, unforgiving land, including the numerous graves they had to dig along the way.
“And what your mother found, Applejack, was everything she’d been hoping for, and more.”
Applejack watched as the memory warped yet again, shifting to muddled shadows for half a second before once more materializing a scene before her; one of Carnation, horribly thin and travel-worn, standing upon the peak of a mountain and gazing out at the land beyond.
And there, laid out before her, was Equestria, bright and resplendent under a mid-summer’s sun.
The look on the weary Carnation’s face was unlike anything Applejack had ever seen before, and likely would never be seen again. It was as if Carnation was seeing the light of day for the first time in her life.
Applejack could only stare, her heart lurching once more, as the memory of her mother’s arrival in Equestria faded.
Once more, she found herself standing on that oversized map, only now she was looking down at the Everfree Forest – and the tiny Freedom marker.
“But I won’t lie to you, Applejack,” said Hyacinth soberly, “your mother’s intentions coming here were not purely benevolent. She sought the source of energy her people needed, nothing more.”
Another image of Queen Carnation solidified in front Applejack’s eyes, making her jump back; a queen, standing tall and proud with her back to AJ, her expression fierce and undaunted.
“When she discovered Equestria, that’s exactly what she thought she’d found. She saw it as a resource of near limitless potential… at first. But this land changed her. And it all started with one event.”
As Applejack watched, the image of Carnation changed before her eyes, warping as one memory overpowered the other.
The tall, intimidating queen on a mission disappeared. Her entire demeanor softened; her eyes became gentle, her lips softly curled upwards at the edges.
And as Applejack watched, Carnation sat down and raised her hooves.
A blinding flash of warm violet light made her flinch, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw that Carnation wasn’t alone anymore.
She was holding a small, crying hatchling, who couldn’t have been more than a few hours old.
Before Applejack could get over the shock of that image, yet another memory presented itself to her – a vivid one, momentarily overpowering the others.
She found herself standing in her mother’s bedchamber once again, only this time it was filled practically to the rafters by curious, icy blue eyes.
Queen Carnation was lying on her side on the bed. And in her forelegs was clutched that same tiny hatchling, who’s only concern seemed to be to wail its displeasure to its new world.
Bits of dark green shell still clung to its little black body here and there, which Carnation was wearily trying to clear away with a red towel.
She looked exhausted, like she hadn’t slept for hours, possibly even days. And yet, she was still smiling for all she was worth, barely contained amazed laughter occasionally working passed her debilitated composure.
“You did it, baby,” she said in a weak, shaking tone, “You did it! Just look at you… Ha, you’re so gorgeous! I… I can’t believe it.”
The newborn Applejack just continued to cry fitfully, completely unamused with the cold, bright world she found herself in.
Carnation pulled her newborn daughter close against her chest, tears of joy rolling down her black cheeks.
“It’s okay, It’s okay – ssh, ssh. Mama’s got you…”
The present Applejack could only look on in stunned silence, her mind refusing to work.
She hardly seemed to notice when the image of her first moments started to lose its contrast and fade. She just stared at the same spot in front of her and tried for all she was worth not to think.
It wasn’t working.
“Are you alright, dear?”
“Y-yeah,” Applejack said hastily, quickly rubbing at her eyes. “Ain't never been better. Yep.”
Hyacinth hesitated for a moment, then gently put a hoof on Applejack’s.
Neither mare said anything, but after a brief pause, Applejack took the hoof and held it tightly.
She didn’t even mind so much that she could just feel its uneven, holey surface, or that part of that same inconsistency came from her own limb.
She just didn’t have it in her to care at the moment.
Hyacinth gave her niece a moment, only offering a supportive squeeze before continuing on.
“That day changed everything, you know. You changed everything. When you hatched, your mother’s world was set on its head. To her, you weren’t some continuation of her legacy or some tool to advance her agenda. You were her daughter, and she, your mother. You have no idea how revolutionary that idea was to us. To her.”
An image of Carnation and the little baby hatchling appeared before Applejack once more, momentarily causing her breath to catch. It was but a snapshot in time, but it spoke volumes to the mare.
Carnation was lying on her belly, her body frozen in time as she laughed, a warm expression of pure happiness adorning her face.
She was nose-to-nose with baby Applejack, who also looked to be laughing like she was having the time of her life, her tiny holey legs frozen in place as they playfully batted at her mother’s cheeks and muzzle.
It took her a second, but Applejack reminded herself to take another breath.
“After that day, your mother did something she’d never done before then. She started to learn about the ponies of Equestria… and from them.
“Queen Carnation started to see the Equestrians not as a source of power, but as equals, and even as companions. Over the course of just a few years, the hive mingled and bonded with ponies all across Equestria. These were not the tactics our kind had used in the past… and yet they worked.”
Applejack noticed dozens of emeralds popping into existence all across the map – materializing seemingly from nowhere.
They were spread out all across Equestria – from Canterlot to Manehattan, Los Pegasus to Fillydelphia. It seemed like every major city in Equestria had an emerald at it.
The memory of Hyacinth, too, wasn’t where she’d been before. She was now standing off to the side of the map, along with at least two other changelings who silently regarded the map and the little gemstones adorning it.
“For once in our lives, we didn’t need to fight for every little scrap of love. We didn’t need to lie or replace or manipulate. All we had to do… was be us. That was it. No strife. No hardship. No complications. It was exactly what we had all been looking for.
“And for a while, things were looking so promising… Queen Carnation was even starting to plan to meet with Princess Celestia. For the first time ever, we were going to step out of the shadows and make ourselves known to the world.
“But that was not the hand fate dealt us.”
Applejack felt a cold chill run down her spine.
“After all,” Hyacinth continued in a quiet, subdued tone, “Carnation was not the only queen with high ambitions for our people.”
Applejack slowly turned around, looking back towards the heart of changeling territory.
Towards the sneering visage of a towering, gangly figure; one with a languid purple mane adorning her jet-black, viper-like face.
“And she would stop at nothing to achieve them.”
~~***~~
Slowly, colors and shapes began to form in front of Applejack’s eyes, solidifying from nebulous shadows into a familiar bedchamber.
Lights filtered in through the cracks in the walls, striking the chandelier overhead.
However, this time the lights seemed oddly muted, as if someone had turned most of them off.
The interior of the bedchamber was gloomy. A curtain of hanging moss had been drawn over the entryway, and many of the gaps in the walls seemed to have narrowed, letting in less light.
And in the gloom, Applejack made out a familiar shape.
She about jumped out of her skin when she looked down where her hooves should’ve been and found an amber-maned baby changeling looking right back at her.
Instinctively she lurched back, and almost immediately saw the true scene before her.
Hyacinth was lying on a nest of cushions beside Carnation’s bed with a baby version of Applejack between the bodyguard’s front hooves.
The baby was on her back, giggling hysterically and flailing her limbs challengingly at the changeling looming over her.
Hyacinth was smiling gingerly, like she wasn’t entirely sure if she should be enjoying herself, just before she ducked her head swiftly and blew a raspberry on the hatchling’s belly, making her squeal and flail worse than ever.
That was when an emerald veil of magic enveloped the mossy curtain over the door. Hyacinth saw it immediately and raised her head, just as the curtain was parted, and in walked Queen Carnation.
But… something was wrong. She moved slowly, her head bowed slightly. Her wings drooped at her sides, her eyes downcast.
Right away Hyacinth locked on to the glum state of her queen and stood up, much to the annoyance of the baby Applejack, who whined and pawed at her holey legs to get her attention.
“Your Highness? Is something wrong?” she asked, deeply concerned.
Carnation took a moment to answer, her pink eyes flicking up towards Hyacinth like she just realized she was there before once more wandering off into space, her gaze becoming distant and filled with pain.
“Queen Gardenia is dead.”
Hyacinth paled, her black chitin turning almost grey as her eyes got bigger.
“But… but her hive was the strongest left,” she managed to say weakly. “How could she…?”
Carnation raised her head, but her gaze was still far away. “She did not go quietly,” she said softly. “But she and… and my niece did not survive.”
Applejack’s heart clenched in her chest.
“Hyacinth… what’re ya showin’ me?”
“The end.”
Applejack’s heart clenched even harder, almost painfully.
But before she could speak again, the memory of Hyacinth stepped forward, a desperate look written on her face.
“But what of the others? Queen Honeycomb, Queen Cocoon? What of Queen Nightshade?”
Carnation did not meet her bodyguard’s gaze, but the pain in her eyes was evident. “They did the only thing they could to keep their hives alive.”
Hyacinth’s eyes grew still bigger in total shock. “They… they surrendered?”
Carnation nodded heavily.
A deathly silence fell over the bedchamber as Hyacinth continued to stare at her queen with a horrorstruck expression.
Carnation continued to stare into space, her expression barren and lifeless.
And they might’ve stayed like that for hours, neither one knowing what to do or say as the terrible implications of Carnation’s news sank into their hearts.
However, Applejack was not that patient.
The silence was broken when she started crying, jarring both changelings back to their senses.
Carnation turned a sad eye towards her daughter, a brittle smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. It was like she didn’t want to smile, and yet was physically unable to restrain one regardless.
“It’s okay, dear Applejack. It’s okay.”
She carefully stepped forward, and using one long, gangly leg full of holes, she scooped up her daughter and hugged her tightly.
Hyacinth could only watch as Carnation sat down and gently rocked her daughter until she calmed down.
The present Applejack could see that Hyacinth wanted to say something, but for nearly a minute she forced her own silence. She just watched the heavy look on her queen’s face as she gazed upon her daughter.
At last, however, she broke her silence, speaking in a barely audible voice.
“She’s coming here… isn’t she?”
Carnation didn’t seem to react to Hyacinth’s question at first. She just continued to gaze at her daughter, deep-set worry clear in her eyes.
But after a few seconds, she nodded slowly. “Yes… she is.”
Hyacinth cursed under her breath, turning away slightly. For a moment,
Carnation’s memory faded into the unknown as Hyacinth’s attention shifted elsewhere.
But just as quickly, she turned back to her queen, her expression set. “What are your orders?”
Carnation paused, her gaze lingering on the baby Applejack still held tightly to her chest.
Hyacinth took a step closer, her gaze searching. “Should we warn Princess Celestia? She needs to know what’s coming.”
Carnation remained silent for a second longer, still unwilling to look away from the toddler clenched to her front.
That was when the baby Applejack looked up towards her mother, her smile gone, amber eyes big and questioning.
Her mother looked back at her, her eyes unknowable and ancient. And then, she smiled lovingly at her daughter.
“If we do, everything I’ve worked for will be undone,” she said quietly. “Everything we as a whole have strived for… for that shining future… undone.”
Anger worked its way into her face, her eyes bending in an unfamiliar glare.
“She cannot succeed. She cannot undo what we have worked to achieve. If she does, our kind will be nothing but monsters to the ponies. She will kill us all.”
Carnation gently set her daughter down and stood up.
For the first time, Applejack felt intimidated by the creature standing before her. She stood taller than anything AJ had ever seen before – seemingly taller than Celestia herself. She stood taller than life, and with a resolute determination to match.
“That is why she will not succeed.”
Carnation suddenly turned a sharp eye towards Hyacinth, fixing her with a look that made the captain automatically flinch to attention.
“Hyacinth, I want you to organize everyone we can,” she said, “anyone willing to fight.”
Hyacinth hesitated for a moment, a look of concern crossing her eyes. “Your Highness… we can’t hope to stand for long, not against a force that big.”
But Carnation only smiled. She took a step towards Hyacinth, lower her head so that she was on eye level with her.
“My old friend… just because we won’t survive does not mean we will fail.”
Hyacinth gave her queen a confused – and slightly scared – look. “Queen Carnation… what are you planning?”
Carnation just continued to smile, her expression soft once more. “You have your orders, Captain. Organize whoever you can. If anyone does not wish to fight, let them leave. That is their choice to make.”
Hyacinth’s expression hardened. She looked almost like she’d just been insulted. “Your Highness, no one here would dare think about abandoning you.”
She threw a smart salute, a fiercely resolute expression on her face. “I swore I would follow you to the ends of the world. I never go back on my promises.”
Carnation’s smile grew. “… I will keep that in mind, Hyacinth. Thank you. Now, leave me. I need some time to think.”
Hyacinth bowed low. And in a burst of emerald flames, she fell through the floor and was gone in hardly the blink of an eye.
The last thing Applejack saw of the bedroom as it faded into nothingness was the sight of her mother turning, her gentle smile slipping at last.
~~***~~
When next the world solidified around Applejack once more, she found herself surrounded by a state of chaos.
Again she found herself in that room with the gigantic map, but this time the room wasn’t quiet in the slightest.
Dozens of changelings were piled around the map. Some scrutinized its surface with a deep-set frown. Others talked with their neighbors, speaking quickly and in sharp tones.
Above it all, a small team of changelings with long sticks was hovering over the map itself. Every now and then, one would push at a set piece adorning the map, altering its position.
“Captain Hyacinth,” spoke a voice beside Applejack.
She lurched out of the way, just as the memory of the changeling captain turned to regard the drone standing at attention beside her.
“We’ve just received news of more refugees coming in from the Badlands,” he said.
“More?” Hyacinth repeated, clearly dismayed. “How many more?”
“Roughly twenty, captain,” the drone said. “They claim to be from Queen Firefly’s hive.”
Hyacinth sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging. “That’s the fifth group in three days,” she muttered. “And there’s no telling how many more didn’t make it through the Badlands…”
The drone paused for a moment, giving Hyacinth an inquisitive look.
“What should we do with them, captain?”
Hyacinth waved a hoof, not turning to face the drone completely. “The same as the others. Get them situated and inform them of the rules.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With that, he left, buzzing away over the heads of other couriers as they filed into the chamber on the ground.
No sooner did he leave did another drone march up to Hyacinth, snap to attention, and start to give his report.
“Captain, we just got word back from the scouts.”
Hyacinth regarded the newcomer, obvious dread creeping into her demeanor. All around her, the other officials fell quiet, ears turning towards the courier intently.
“And?” Hyacinth prompted, bracing.
The drone bit his lip for a moment, clearly uneasy.
“Queen Phantasma’s forces will reach the Everfree Forest in less than two days.”
No one spoke for a moment after that. Every other conversation ground to a halt as all eyes turned towards Hyacinth.
Applejack herself thought she felt the air get suddenly a lot colder.
After a moment, Hyacinth opened her mouth. She even managed to sound unfazed by the news, even if she was a little too stiff to pull it off.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Hyacinth heaved a sigh, her shoulders slumping once more.
“Captain… what should we do?” asked the drone quietly.
The changeling captain turned a sharp eye towards her subordinate. “Tell me… you have a wife in Canterlot, don’t you?”
“Yes ma’am,” the drone responded right away.
“What would you do to protect her?” Hyacinth asked. By her tone, Applejack knew that she already knew her answer.
The drone stood up taller, positively glaring with determination. “Anything.”
“Then there’s your answer,” Hyacinth stated.
The drone’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, before he gave Hyacinth a firm nod, his expression set. “Yes ma’am.”
“Good. Now, I want you to—”
“Captain Hyacinth!”
The changeling in question repressed a groan of irritation before turning around to find yet another drone standing before her. This one, at least, had the sense to bow in apology.
“Yes, what is it?” she asked in a clipped tone.
“Her Highness requests your presence immediately,” the messenger replied, still not quite raising his eyes high enough to meet the captain’s gaze.
Hyacinth was clearly pulled up short, blinking in surprise.
“…Very well then,” she said after a momentary pause.
She then quickly turned towards the other drone standing next to her. “Keep me appraised of the enemy’s position. Tell me if they deviate on their course in any way.”
“Yes ma’am.”
And without waiting for another distraction, Hyacinth lit her horn and promptly fell through the floor, disappearing in a flash of changeling fire.
~~***~~
It took the scene only a second or two to reform in front of Applejack, and when it did, she could tell she’d missed something.
She found herself standing next to Carnation, who was walking slowly down a gently arching tunnel.
On her other side, a long section of the wall had been cut away entirely, revealing a breathtaking view of the Everfree forest and the dazzling night sky that gleamed over it.
Aside from the starlight and the glow from the blemished moon, there was nothing to light their path.
In an action that was becoming almost second-nature by now, Applejack sidestepped out of Hyacinth to see her gazing upon her ruler with a look of deep concern.
Carnation herself looked to be lost in thought, her expression oddly composed and emotionless.
Together they walked down the passageway in silence, moving slowly. Hyacinth was clearly waiting for Carnation to speak before she opened her mouth, but the matriarch hardly seemed in any rush to do so.
Without warning, Carnation ground to a halt. She stopped so suddenly that even Hyacinth took a step out of place before she could catch herself.
“Hyacinth,” the changeling queen spoke quietly.
“Your Highness?”
Carnation paused, her gaze drifting off over the vista of the Everfree treetops under a full moon’s light.
“… How are we looking so far?”
Hyacinth scrutinized her charge for a moment, keeping her expression blank. “Your Highness… Permission to speak freely?”
“Of course,” Carnation responded, sounding almost surprised that Hyacinth would ask.
The changeling guard waffled for a second, clearly having second thoughts, before she opened her mouth to speak.
“You wanted to ask me something else, didn’t you?”
Carnation sighed almost inaudibly, her eyes sagging slightly. “Yes… I suppose I do.”
“Then, what is it? You know you can ask anything of me, My Queen.”
Carnation glanced towards the captain, her gaze unknowable. Her pink eyes shown like pale peach disks under the bleached light of the moon.
“Anything?”
“Yes,” Hyacinth responded immediately, taking a step forward. “Name it.”
Carnation continued to look at her bodyguard without inflection for a moment longer before finally opening her mouth. “Very well then. Promise me that, no matter what happens, you will protect Applejack.”
Hyacinth blinked – not out of surprise, but rather confusion. “But of course, Your Highness. You know I will.”
Carnation looked away, out over the seemingly endless expanse of green treetops laid out before her.
“I know you will.”
Hyacinth paused, clearly nonplussed. “Um… is everything alright?”
Carnation didn’t respond right away. Her eyes were once more distant.
“This morning, Applejack changed for the first time,” she said quietly. “I wish you could’ve been there to see it. You should’ve been there to see it.”
Carnation sighed heavily, looking sad beyond her years. “And if it wasn’t for these circumstances, you would’ve.”
For the first time, Hyacinth’s ears fell limp against her temples as she gave Carnation a careful look. “Your Highness, don’t blame yourself for this. You had no way of knowing what Phantasma would become.”
“That’s the funny thing about fate, Hyacinth,” Carnation said. “We have no way of predicting where it may take us. And yet, the consequences are always ours to bear.”
She turned a heavy smile towards her long-time bodyguard. “You are kind to say otherwise, but the truth is what it is. If I had not come to Equestria, these ponies would never have been put in danger. In the end, it is my fault that Phantasma comes on the warpath.”
She looked up towards the Everfree again. This time, a hard edge entered her demeanor – a ghost of the determined, undaunted queen that’d first come to Equestria in the first place.
“And the consequences of that action are ours. Both mine… and hers.”
Hyacinth gazed up at Carnation, her expression riddled with dread and suspicion. “Your Highness…”
Carnation turned towards her bodyguard sharply, catching her by surprise. “Hyacinth. Tomorrow, I am going to have Applejack moved somewhere safe, somewhere where my cousin cannot find her.”
Hyacinth’s eyes got huge as she took a step back in surprise. “What?”
Carnation merely gauged her bodyguard’s reaction, her own expression hard and unreadable.
Hyacinth looked stunned. Never before had Applejack seen her expression so readable and full of emotion.
Shock and dawning realization ran rampant through her face, along with the beginnings to panic.
Judging by the heavy look on Carnation’s face, that was the reaction she’d been anticipating most of all.
“Th-then, let me take her,” Hyacinth said quickly, struggling to recompose herself.
But to both the memory of Hyacinth’s and the real Applejack’s surprise, Carnation shook her head. “No, old friend. I cannot do that.”
“Please, Your Highness,” Hyacinth said, desperation creeping into her voice. “I can look after her! I can keep her safe!”
“Hyacinth…”
“Please, Carnation, let me take her!”
“Hyacinth!”
Hyacinth jumped back a step in shock, as did Applejack. Obviously the bodyguard was as unfamiliar with hearing Carnation shout as Applejack was.
The matriarch affixed her bodyguard with a hard – but understanding – stare, one that made her look somehow taller than ever before.
“I have thought long and hard about this,” she said firmly, her voice still raised slightly. “I know that it is not fair to you, believe me I do, but you are the only one I trust to keep her safe from the others!”
She took a step forward, and the intensity in her eyes drove Hyacinth back a step.
“And can you honestly tell me that she will be happy living our lifestyle?”
Hyacinth winced.
“Applejack deserves far better than what our kind will offer her, Hyacinth, and you are the only one I can rely on to make sure no one interferes with that.”
Carnation’s eyes softened then, her weariness returning. “Our kind does not need another changeling ruler. Someday, I hope you understand that.”
It was clear from Hyacinth’s expression that she wasn’t anywhere near beginning to fathom that statement.
She opened her mouth, clearly intent on fighting it out to the bitter end.
But she never got the chance to.
For the second time that night, the memory faltered, cracks forming around the edges.
It took Applejack a moment to realize that the scene before her wasn’t actually real, but by that point, the memory was unmaking itself, falling apart as darkness rushed over her vision.
~~***~~
Very slowly, images started to solidify before Applejack again. They coalesced lethargically, forming into trees and bushes.
For one dangerous moment, the memory wobbled, fractures appearing around its edges.
Applejack could just see beyond the memory; to a well-lit bedchamber filled with the stench of rotting vegetation.
She heard Hyacinth grunt, coming from simultaneously in front of Applejack and inside her head.
“Come on… almost there… almost done…”
“Hyacinth?”
Applejack got no response, and a second later the fissures in the spell sealed once more.
And immediately she found herself surrounded by chaos.
She was standing on the edge of a clearing; a vast rend in the Everfree forest that ran like a tear from the top of a hill downwards.
And there, spread out as far as Applejack could see, were thousands and thousands of changelings.
Their black shapes darkened the horizon like a swarm of locusts, buzzing low over the tree tops as they literally ripped their way through the forest.
Applejack could see innumerable trees toppling as the horde advanced, some exploding in violent emerald flashes.
They crawled through the clearing, blackening the field in an endless carpet of obsidian forms. Countless icy blue eyes stared back at her, forming an entire galaxy across the ground and sky.
Applejack took a step back automatically, her heart pounding.
That’s when she saw Hyacinth, standing resolutely just under the shade of a tree. Every muscle in her body was tensed and keyed to go.
But when Applejack looked around, she felt her heart sink.
There were only a few dozen changelings standing beside her, forming a single line just beyond the clearing.
And at its head was Carnation. She stood straight-backed and oddly serene, making her the most relaxed creature in eyesight.
She was staring straight ahead, her eyes locked on something at the other end of the clearing.
When Applejack turned to follow her gaze, she felt a chill run down her spine.
At the very heart of the swirling mass of vicious changelings trotted another gangly queen as black as obsidian.
“Well, well, well,” hissed Phantasma, grinning toothily, “This is a surprise.”
Queen Phantasma had changed little from the memories Applejack had seen, at least physically.
She still had a long, languid purple mane that seemed more liquid goo than actual hair. Her long, sickle-like fangs only barely passed her narrow chin, the white contrasting spectacularly against her black chitin.
Her large, bulbous plum-colored eyes stared almost hungrily straight at Carnation, her gaze never faltering.
She was horribly thin, looking borderline emaciated; making her look far ganglier and stilted than any queen Applejack had ever seen before.
Despite that, however, she moved with ease, striding with an obvious swagger in her step and pride in her eyes.
But more than that, there was just something horribly unsettling about her.
Merely looking Phantasma in her eyes sent shivers down Applejack’s spine. Those eyes, she realized, were the eyes of something that placed no value on another’s life.
Abruptly, Phantasma pulled to a halt in the middle of the clearing. The moment she did, her army froze in its tracks behind her; an entire legion freezing in place for a single creature at its head.
“I must say, dear cousin,” Phantasma commented derisively, “I honestly expected you to run and hide. You never seemed like the type to stand your ground.”
“I never had anything worth fighting for before, dear cousin,” Carnation responded smoothly.
Phantasma snorted. “Really? The one time you grow a spine, you pick a losing battle? Why are you even opposing me, Carnation? Just look at what I’ve already achieved!”
She waved a long, holey leg towards her legion behind her. The massive changeling swarm obscured the trees and countryside behind them, making it seem like the very world no longer existed behind them.
“A united changeling empire, free of the petty squabbling of queens too weak to make a difference,” Phantasma gloated, a smug smile on her face, “strong enough to topple any foe, claim any prize!”
Slowly, she put her hoof down, and when she turned back to Carnation, her smile was gone. Instead, she gave her an ominously unamused glare. “A prize that you stand in the way of.”
“Equestria is no prize, Phantasma,” Carnation countered, but the other queen was already laughing.
“No prize?! Were you not the one to tell me it was everything you’d ever hoped for? That it possessed more love than any one place in the world?”
Carnation frowned. “I was wrong, Phantasma.”
“No, I don’t think you were,” she hissed insidiously.
Phantasma suddenly stamped her hoof, producing a loud clap that resounded across the clearing.
And to Applejack’s horror, she watched as several ponies stepped out of the ocean of buzzing, snickering creatures. There were over a dozen of them, all looking dazed out of their minds, their eyes sheened over by changeling magic.
“No…,” Applejack heard herself gag.
Carnation, too, looked pale, her eyes wide.
Phantasma only laughed. “You were quite right, dear cousin! These ponies have more love than they know what to do with!”
Several of the changelings behind her cackled, echoing their queen a thousand-fold.
“I’ve only been in Equestria for a few days, and already I’m feeling stronger than I ever have before in my life!” she went on. “And that was just a small, insignificant settlement. Just imagine what I can achieve after I grind this place into the dirt.”
Carnation’s expression fell, becoming saddened. “Phantasma… don’t you see what you’ve become? How many hives did you destroy in your conquest?”
“All of them,” Phantasma replied indifferently.
Carnation’s eyes widened in shock.
Phantasma merely grinned smugly back at her. “Why so surprised? Did it ever occur to you why we were failing as a species?”
She took a menacing step forward, grinning still wider. “We were so busy squabbling over scraps like a bunch of starving dogs. Each and every hive was concerned only for itself. So… I removed them from the equation.”
Phantasma spread her hooves wide over her head, standing up on her hind legs. “There are no hives any longer! There is just the hive! MY hive!”
“And at what cost,” shot Carnation.
Phantasma glanced down her nose at her cousin, wearing a look one might wear when regarding a carcass.
Carnation took a step forward this time, her brow bent in a hard scowl. “Thousands of years of history, of culture; all gone, because of you. How could you do such a thing to your own family?”
Phantasma stared at Carnation like she couldn’t believe what she’d just said. Then she snorted, followed a second later by a great peel of laughter.
“HA! This land has made you so soft, Carnation! By the Maker, since when has family mattered to you, eh?”
Phantasma continued to laugh, throwing her head back and belting out her amusement in a loud, harsh voice.
Slowly, she worked her way down, going from uncontrollable hysterics to chuckles, to barely repressed snickers, and finally ending with an exhale.
“So are you going to step aside or not,” she asked, humor gone.
“No,” Carnation said.
Phantasma stayed still for a moment, her eyes locked on Carnation in a chilling look that sent shivers down Applejack’s spine.
“A pity… I was hoping you would finally see some sense.”
Carnation’s eyes narrowed. “Once upon a time, perhaps. But you’ve become nothing but a monster, Phantasma.”
Angry acidic sparks started dancing off her horn, furious electrical discharges popping at the air.
That was the moment Applejack glimpsed the true depths of Carnation’s fury, and the sight made her more than a little uneasy.
“Oh, scary,” Phantasma teased, still grinning.
“Pity,” Carnation remarked, “You don’t seem to be frightened.”
“You? Scare me?” Phantasma chuckled derisively. “I'm afraid not.”
“Like I said,” Carnation said in a cold tone, “a pity.”
Phantasma cocked an eyebrow, bemused. “Alright, if you want to play so badly…”
She swung her horn straight up, just as it erupted with sickly green light.
And as Applejack watched, the shadows of the nearby trees started to stretch. It was as if the sun was setting in fast forward, causing shadows to reach out from across one end of the clearing and towards Carnation.
It only got worse when the shadows started to pick themselves up off the ground.
Applejack watched in morbid fascination as each shadow molded itself into a tall, ominous silhouette with a jagged, crooked horn and glowing green eyes.
Without warning, they jumped at Carnation, maws stretching improbably wide.
Carnation scowled, just as she lit her own horn.
With a great explosion of earth and rock, gigantic roots exploded out of the ground, each shooting forward like a javelin, running every shadowy assailant through and popping them like bubbles.
Then, with a flick of her horn, she sent the thick roots rushing across the clearing, tearing up the grass and dirt as they extended, razor sharp tips aimed with lethal intent.
But Phantasma merely grinned in amusement and cast her own spell.
Each oncoming root ground to a halt only an inch from their intended target.
As Applejack watched, they whipped around, ends ripping open like the maws of gigantic snakes.
Carnation frowned, then stamped her hoof.
And the woods on either side of her exploded. Two gigantic tree trunks launched into the clearing, and as they did, their ends exploded and splintered, forming cruel talons.
Each one of Phantasma’s serpentine constructs were smashed aside with such violence that they shattered, sending shrapnel raining back the way they’d come.
Changelings shrieked in pain, their ranks breaking.
Amid the turmoil, Applejack just caught sight of a bright emerald flash.
A split second later, the ground just five feet from her burst into flames.
Applejack yelped and jumped back, just as Phantasma launched herself from her portal, a vicious grin on her face
She’d popped up off to Carnation’s left, and already her horn was crackling with light.
“Look out!” Applejack shouted before she could catch herself, but she was too late.
Phantasma loosed a stream of violent energy from her horn that tore through the air like a lightning bolt, straight for Carnation’s exposed side.
But Carnation herself merely glanced over, her gaze just as cold as ever, just as the deadly ray of magic plowed into her.
A deafening bang rang through the clearing as the spell connected, exploding in a cloud of emerald flame and acrid smoke.
Phantasma beamed in victory, leaning in… only to have the look freeze on her face.
Applejack herself, had to do a double-take.
Where Carnation had been standing, there was now nothing but a blackened, splintered log.
Phantasma’s eyes got wide in shock, her smile falling away.
That was when Carnation burst into being off of Phantasma’s side, her horn already aimed and flaring with light.
Applejack only just heard the hiss of a spell streak by her at almost super-sonic speeds, lighting up the tree beside her for the barest moment it took it to pass.
And then, the air was rent by an almighty explosion of fire and smoke.
Applejack spun around a moment too late, just in time to see the cloud of black smoke hit her in the face.
Her first instinct was to shut her eyes and hold her breath, but the sting of fire smoke never touched her skin.
It took her nearly five whole seconds to remember that the scene before her wasn’t real.
When at last the smoke parted, Applejack found Carnation standing not far away from her, panting heavily.
“Your Highness!”
Applejack jumped yet again when she saw Hyacinth start to rush over towards her queen, only to be pulled up short when Carnation raised a hoof towards her.
“Stay where you are, Hyacinth! This isn’t over yet.”
“No,” hissed an ominous voice from the heart of the swirling smoke. “I have to disagree.”
And to Applejack’s disbelief, she saw the silhouette of a gangly figure still standing at the epicenter of the explosion.
The last vestiges of a shielding spell were scattering to the wind, fizzling like sparks as they faded.
But Phantasma didn’t escape unharmed. She had her right eye clamped shut, and most of the chitin on that side of her face seemed to be marred and disfigured.
Already her changeling magic was working at healing her wounds, but that only seemed to make her visage worse to look at.
She still managed to level a murderous glare towards Carnation with her remaining good eye, however.
“This ends now,” she spat, all humor gone.
Before Carnation could react, Phantasma whipped around towards her, her jagged horn crackling with deadly energy.
Carnation herself had just a split second to lower her own horn and fire just before Phantasma did so in kind.
With a high pitched shrieking sound, both beams of magic crashed into each other, throwing volatile sparks and lances of emerald energy cascading between the two queens.
Magic raged against magic, shoving and pushing against each other in a violent clash of light too bright to look directly at.
The grass between them ignited, shriveling under the intense heat of the combating spells.
Both queens leaned their entire weights – both physically and magically – against their opponent.
“Stop this, Phantasma!” Carnation shouted over the howl of magic. “There is still time to go back! Don’t make me destroy you!”
“You? Destroy ME?!” Phantasma roared indignantly. For a moment, her stream of magic started to push Carnation’s back, tipping the balance ever so slightly.
“You should be standing by my side, Carnation! We were going to rule together, remember!”
“It was never about ruling,” Carnation shouted, forcing Phantasma’s spell back a fraction of an inch.
“It was ALWAYS about ruling,” Phantasma bellowed. “The strong always guide the weak! That was our place, Carnation! Our place!”
Phantasma glared at Carnation with unbound hatred, her teeth bared. “Why? Why are you standing against me?!”
Gouts of angry flames started to roll off of Phantasma’s horn as her rage spiraled out of control. The magic roaring out of her horn wasn’t so much a beam of light anymore as it was a flamethrower.
“Tell me, Carnation! WHY?!”
Phantasma’s spell started ramming Carnation’s back. Inch by inch, she was overpowered.
But as Phantasma’s rage-fueled magic drew ever closer, Applejack noticed something stirring in the air around them.
Tiny motes of light were swirling around the two; tiny, richly purple specks of light.
“Because,” Carnation grunted, “I… love this land. I love it’s ponies and the wonders they have created. I love my hive and my daughter! I love it all with all my heart! And I will NEVER LET YOU HARM THEM!”
Phantasma’s beam of magic was almost to Carnation’s horn, but she didn’t seem to care.
She just stared with resolute determination as swirls of violet energy engulfed the two queens, whirling around them like a tornado.
And as Applejack looked on in amazement, she saw the same swirls of violet energy swirling around her mother’s horn, around her entire body.
By now, Phantasma was starting to take notice. She glanced around, her eyes shooting open wide in shock.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
The two figures were almost completely obscured by now, swallowed by a growing nova of blinding emerald and violet light.
“You fool!” Applejack heard Phantasma cry, her voice filled with fright. “You’re going to kill us both!”
Applejack felt her heart thud painfully in her chest, dread and awe washing over her in equal measure. As she sat there, she just made out her mother through the tornado of violet light for one last time.
And she was smiling, even as cracks split open across her body, issuing forth a bright, clean white light.
Her voice carried over the howling, raging magic, reaching Applejack as if she was speaking right next to her.
“A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye. An end for an end… A life for a life.”
“No!”
Before she knew what she was doing, Applejack rushed forward, lurching desperately towards the disintegrating changeling queen.
She barely made it two steps before she felt something tackle her, throwing her to the ground.
“Applejack, stop it! Calm down!”
“She can’t do it,” she shouted, desperately trying to throw her restrainer off.
“Applejack, calm dow—”
BOOM
The rest of Hyacinth’s words were drowned out by the deafening explosion that followed.
The swirling, blinding nova of light before Applejack detonated with horrifying force, erupting a beam of deep purple light straight up into the sky, blowing apart clouds and outshining the sun.
The last thing Applejack saw was an onrushing wall of pure, unbound magic that scoured everything it touched – trees, boulders; everything.
And then, quite abruptly, it all went out, and she was thrown into darkness once more.
~~***~~
The first thing Applejack became aware of was being crushed to the floor by somepony lying on top of her.
The second thing, that that same somepony was simultaneously holding her down and hugging her tightly. And they were both shaking.
“I’m sorry, Applejack. I’m sorry…”
“She… she’s gone.”
“I know, dear.”
Both mares just lay in silence for the longest time, Applejack’s eyes still staring at the spot her mother had just been occupying.
The memory of her mother, sure, but… her mother, nonetheless.
And now she was gone.
Applejack was no stranger to loss. She’d already lost two parents, after all. But that didn’t make her impervious to that caliber of pain.
It took her nearly ten straight seconds of just staring into empty space to realize that her front hooves were dangling in open air.
That was when she realized why Hyacinth had tackled her; she’d very nearly rushed right off the landing outside Carnation’s bedchamber and into open space.
She saw it, but for the longest time she didn’t comprehend it. She just stared, not really taking anything in. Her eyes burned, but she didn’t cry. She refused to let herself.
For nearly five straight minutes, they both lay there, neither speaking nor moving, until Applejack’s heart finally stopped throbbing quite so hard.
“Hyacinth,” she muttered at last, her voice cracked.
“Yes?”
“Did… did she win?”
“Yes, dear. She did.”
Applejack finally managed to close her eyes and bow her head. It wasn’t necessarily a feeling of relief that washed over her, but it did make her feel a little better.
“After that,” Hyacinth went on, speaking straight into her niece’s ear,
“Phantasma’s horde scattered, fleeing back the way they’d come. And… I accompanied them.”
Applejack felt her heart lurch.
“The remnants of your mother’s hive either did the same, or… went into hiding. I don’t know where they all are anymore. The ones I do know of found new queens to serve, even though things never went back to the way before. Our society was… too fractured for that.
“I wanted to come back for you, Applejack, and a couple times I almost did.”
Applejack glanced over her shoulder towards the old changeling, who didn’t meet her gaze. “Why didn’t ya?”
Hyacinth’s expression smoothed out, becoming unreadable. “Because… I never go back on my promises.”
A second later, she carefully got up, stepping over towards the edge of the landing to look down at the ground far below.
“I blended in with the changelings, all the while keeping my ear to the ground for the first sign of trouble.”
She glanced up, eying a light bulb, but evidently not really seeing it.
“When Chrysalis announced that she was going to invade Canterlot – thus succeeding where the great Phantasma could not – I tried to warn Celestia.”
Applejack’s eyes got wide. “You were the one that tipped her off?”
Hyacinth nodded. “But, I couldn’t be too specific. By that point, changelings were already in Canterlot. And… when I saw that you would be in attendance, I didn’t want to run the risk of having you exposed. So, I had to be a lot vaguer than I would’ve liked.”
Applejack had managed to get to her hooves by this point, and once more she found herself looking at the back of Hyacinth’s head.
“You were at the wedding?”
Hyacinth nodded. “For… most of it.”
“You got blown out of Canterlot with the rest of ‘em?”
Hyacinth hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head. “No. It’s the strangest thing… when the blast reached me, I felt it start to blow me away. But then it just –”
“Let ya go?”
Hyacinth turned around this time, looking curiously at Applejack.
She just smiled weakly back at her. “That’s what happened ta me. Still don’t know how in tarnation it happened, but here Ah am.”
Hyacinth frowned. “I don’t know, either. Perhaps it’s because there is love in our hearts. Perhaps it somehow knew that we had Equestria’s best interests at heart.”
Applejack sighed, shaking her head. “Only pony Ah know who might know would be Twi’…”
Applejack drifted off, a frown crossing her brow. Thoughts of her friends danced through her head, and suddenly she felt very uncomfortable with her surroundings.
Hyacinth noticed. “What’s wrong?”
Applejack sighed through her nose, sitting down. “Just thinkin’ ‘bout my friends. Ah hope they’re holdin’ up alright…”
Again, she was visited by the last thing she’d seen of Rainbow Dash – surrounded by a burning barn, with no obvious way to escape.
She didn’t notice Hyacinth still watching her, her gaze unreadable. “You know, Applejack…”
When the young queen glanced up towards her, Hyacinth smiled. “… One of the reasons why I kept my distance was because I saw how happy you were here.”
She turned around towards Applejack, facing her fully. “Every time I worked up the courage to come check on you, you were always smiling and hard at work. You were always happy.”
Her smile broadened when she saw Applejack’s surprise. “I know that that’s your world, Applejack. But there’s still one more thing I want to show you before we go.”
Applejack piqued her ears, standing up. “Somethin’ else?”
Hyacinth nodded, but to Applejack’s surprise she turned and started to trot away down the spiral ramp.
“Where to, then?” Applejack asked, falling into step beside her.
Hyacinth flashed her a soft smile that momentarily disarmed her niece.
“To your mother’s grave.”