//------------------------------// // Let That Be Your Last Roundup // Story: The Twilight Child // by Detectivefish //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle examined the note, then once more, and again to make sure there wasn't anything she missed. "That's all there is" she exlaimed. There was a small whimper belonging to a little red-headed pony. "Applejack's not coming back?" the little filly looked like she was about to flood the whole room. "What d'ya mean she's not coming back?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "She loves Ponyville!" "And she loves Sweet Apple Acres!" Granny Smith added. "An' she loves her family!" Apple Bloom wailed. There was more gasps and muttered conversation, and Midday could swear she heard the sound of Rarity swooning. Midday rolled her eyes as she looked at the letter, while Twilight was giving it another look just to be absolutely sure she hadn't missed a single thing. "I'm pretty sure a few days at a rodeo did not cause Applejack's fondness for Ponyville to evaporate" Midday said. There was a sudden silence as everypony stared at her. "I'd say it's more likely Applejack's just... had some difficulties getting the money she promised to get." Everypony was still staring at her. "And... considering Applejack's usual attitude towards failure, I'd say what happened afterward is pretty obvious." Rainbow Dash floated in front of her face. "Why don't you explain then?" Midday stared at the speedster. "She's probably gone and gotten a job so that she can raise enough money to help fix the town roof." Something occured to her. "Which also means she either didn't recieve the note about what... happened to the town hall, or she's ignoring it for some reason." Rainbow Dash frowned and considered this. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find her!" Twilight ran towards the door, the girls following after her. "Don't worry, we'll search all of Equestria if we have to" she said, her eyes fierce and determined. "We'll bring her back." Midday watched as they rushed off. She felt a slight nudging at her leg and looked down to see Apple Bloom staring at her. "What?" "Ain't ya gonna help them?" The filly asked. Once more the room went quiet and everypony stared at her. She tried to think of something to say in response, something about it not being her business, even though she'd already interefered in numerous things already, and was still interefering just by being there. She thought of her mother, crying alone in a massive hall, abandoned and the words 'c'mon, y'all, let's go check on the princess' started repeating through her mind. Then, another voice started saying something. Applejack was somepony's sister, somepony's daughter. Somepony's daughter. "Ah mean, ah know Applejack and you don't get along, but..." "I don't hate Applejack" Midday said, defensively. She paused. She replayed that statement in her head. She frowned. "I don't hate Applejack." She made a small noise. She looked down at the slightly confused-looking Apple Bloom and smiled. "Yeah, I'll help bring your sister back" she said. Apple Bloom smiled slightly, though her distress was still obvious. There was an odd sniffing noise and everypony in the room turned to see the madpony calling himself the Doctor sniffing the note. "Sorry, just it smells amazingly like cherries. Not sure if I like those. Maybe I should try at some point." Midday quickly processed the first part of his statement, ignoring the somewhat adorable manic grin he was currently sporting. She rushed out of the door after Twilight and the others. She caught up to them just halfway through Ponyville. "Midday? What is it?" Twilight asked. "I know how to find Applejack" she said. The five ponies exchanged nervous glances. "We already know how to find Applejack" Twilight said. Midday stared up at her. "Let me guess, you're going to wander aimlessly around Canterlot asking if anypony has seen her." Pinkie gasped. "She knows!" "Yes, actually" Twilight said, looking taken aback. Midday shook her head. "Twilight, do you really think she'd send you a letter if she thought there was the slightest chance of you finding her?" Twilight and the other girls looked at each other, and the expression on their faces indicated they hadn't actually thought of that. Midday resisted the urge to facehoof or make a pithy remark. "Oh, it'll be a quest then!" Pinkie smiled, "I love a quest. We haven't been on a quest since the whole Discord thing, the Harmony Quest!" She gasped again. "We'll need uniforms!" And with that, Pinkie rushed off. Midday stood there for a second. "Okay, Rainbow Dash, can you go fetch Trixie, and before you ask why, because we'll need her to find Applejack." Rainbow Dash looked irritated, then glanced at Twilight who just nodded, and the mare shot off towards Sweet Apple Acres. "Alright, now then, to the library." ***** The first step in Midday's plan was drawing the curtains, before Midday asked Spike to run down to the basement and fetch a supply of candles and some chalk. When he returned Midday instructed him to begin drawing a chalk outline on the ground, to which the dragon complied, despite Twilight's objections. "First of all: You're messing up the floor, and secondly: Is this actually necessary?" Midday looked at Twilight the same way a particle physicist would look at someone asking them whether the particle accelerator was necessary. "It's not proper magic without the dribbly candles" she said, in a matter-of-fact tone. Spike returned, and then Rainbow Dash appeared with Trixie and Pinkie in tow, Pinkie carrying a small box which she carefully opened to reveal... shirts. Rarity lifted one out of the box and gasped. "Velour" she said, in a slightly uncertain tone. Midday clicked her tounge. "Okay, could everypony except Trixie stand in a... semi-circle, Twilight, you'll be in the middle." She watched as they quickly did just that. She frowned. "Okay, Trixie, can you stand there, okay, good, great." She looked at the sight before her. "Spike, can you join in? Otherwise it's annoyingly asymetrical, and you might be useful." He did so. "Right, now then, I want you to clear your minds, and think of Applejack. Think of the time spent with her, doesn't matter what you were doing, though if you could try and think of the happiest memories, that would be helpful." For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, Twilight's horn started glowing. Then, Trixie's started as well, and a strange beam lanced from the girls and Spike, into Twilight, and then into Trixie. "What the hay?!" The showmare yelped. "Keep thinking of Applejack!" Midday yelled over a loud rising noise. Then, there was a burst of noise, and the beam shot into Trixie. Her horn glowed bright and then there was an image of a strange sight. Numerous trees, which Pinkie helpfully noted were not apple trees, in a variety of pink and purple shades. "Those are cherry trees" Fluttershy said. Pinkie made a small 'ooh' noise. Then she looked concerned. "I wonder what would happen if you mixed cherries with a tortia..." she said to herself. "Where is that?" asked Twilight, looking at the illusion of a cherry orchard. Trixie just kept staring at everything else. "Well, there's only one place in all Equestria I know of where there are cherry orchards. And that would be Dodge Junction." Midday said. Then Rainbow Dash yelped. "Hey, look, Applejack's in this thing." They looked. Indeed, there was Applejack, moving from tree to tree, looking much less cheerful than normal. "There, Applejack's been found. Now all you have to go do is go get her. And convince her to return to Ponyville, of course." Midday said. At that, the illusion started to vanish, Trixie lifted up a hoof to try and catch it as it dissipated. "Dodge Junction, here we come!" Rainbow Dash declared. The five ponies set off towards the door. "WAIT!" Everypony stopped as Pinkie tapped the side of the box. "Uniforms." She said. Rarity, of all ponies, looked uncertain. "Must we call them... 'uniforms'?" she asked, with noticable distaste. Midday tilted her head. Pinkie paid her no heed, handing them out. "Red?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Why is mine blue?" asked Fluttershy, "Wouldn't yellow be better for me?" "And why are there only three colours?" Rarity pouted. "I like it" Twilight said, as she slipped on her bright blue shirt. Pinkie smiled. "Dashie, yours is red because you're the fighter of the bunch, Fluttershy and Twilight, yours are blue because you two are thinkers, and I'm yellow because I'm the young, excitable one who gets victimised to create an aritifical atmosphere of terror." She grinned more. "Pinkie, you're only going to Dodge Junction. The worse that could happen is if you meet a bad-tempered jackrabbit, or a rattlesnake." There was a small gulp from Fluttershy. "You aren't coming with us?" Twilight asked Midday. The royal blue unicorn paused. "Dodge is out by the desert, right?" She said quietly. "I think so, if my notes from Equestrian Geography serves me well." "I think I'll stay here." Midday said quietly. Twilight just nodded, and the girls set off, Trixie remained in the library, just sitting slack-jawed and staring. "I've never done anything like that before" she whispered. "Ever." She looked down at her hooves, then she looked at Midday. "How did you know that would work?" she asked. "Just throwing magic at the wall to see what sticked." Midday smirked. Then she remembered what Apple Bloom had asked her. Her smirk vanished and she sighed and turned towards the door. "Where are you going?" asked Trixie. "Dodge Junction." Midday frowned. "Right" said Spike, to nopony, "I'll just stay here, and... make sure nopony steals the library. Or something." ***** Pinkie had cheered when Midday had caught up with them on the platform, though Midday had been less than cheerful about having a bright yellow jumped forced onto her, along with the incredibly long train journey. As it went on, she saw the brown-white of the wintery Ponyville countryside start to turn to regular brown, then green and pleasant, then back to brown, and then a light shade of brown, and increasingly light and warmer. And for some reason she felt distinctly warm, and an all-too familiar buzzing noise was in her ears. There was a nudging sensation on her shoulder. "You okay?" Twilight asked. She fought down the urge to jump in shock and stared at him. She noticed the others were staring at her as well. She tried to smile. "Yes, just fine. Why do you ask?" "Well, you looked worried... and you were starting to make some odd noises" the unicorn said. There was a pause, punctuated only by Pinkie making odd squirming noises. "I'm fine, I'm fine" she said, still smiling as she pulled down the shade. "Does somepony not like the desert?" Rainbow Dash smirked. Midday glared at her. Rainbow Dash seemed to flinch slightly. "Pinkie, are you alright?" She squeaked something out rapidly. "We're almost there, Pinkie," Fluttershy said, "Just hold it in a bit longer." Soon the train pulled into a small, beaten-down looking station. "This is Dodge Junction, girls." Twilight announced. "Thanks, eagle eyes" Midday said. They quickly walked off the platform. "Now let's fan out and search for Applejack" Midday opened her mouth to point out the flaw in that plan when Pinkie rushed towards a small outhouse and began banging on the door. "Hurry it up in there!" she wailed. The door swung open and an orange-coated mare with blone hair kept under an old stetson, carrying green saddlebags held shut with stylised clasps in the shape of apples walked out. "Some ponies" Applejack muttered. Pinkie quickly rushed out of the outhouse and began yelling about having found Applejack. Midday wasn't really paying attention to their conversation, merely thinking about just how warm everything felt. "Hey, everypony." Applejack said slowly. "What's up?" "Wow." Midday said, remembering Pinkie's words about quests. "Shortest quest ever." "Why didn't you come back to Ponyville?!" Asked Rainbow Dash. Midday resisted the incredibly tempting urge to throw something at the pegasus. "Yes" said Rarity, examining a small medium-sized rock next to her, "why are you here?" "Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked. "Do you have any snacks?!" Pinkie Pie demanded. "Tell us what happened!" Midday under normal circumstances would probably have remarked upon what was happening, but all she could think of was that it was incredibly hot, despite being January. "Applejack?" Said a voice, belonging to a cream-coloured mare who had just exitied a building. Midday noticed the cherry for a Cutie Mark, which she presumed made the mare the owner of the cherry orchard they'd seen. "Are these your Ponyville friends?" "They are. I'm just an associate." Midday smirked, though for some reason Twilight was glowering at her. "And you are?" Rarity asked. "Why, I'm Cherry Jubilee, boss of Cherry Hill Ranch. Hasn't Applejack told ya?" "We only just got here." Midday said, mostly to herself. The mare walked up to Applejack. "I saw her compete at the Equestria Rodeo. Never saw anypony win so many ribbons in all my life." Applejack smiled bashfully. "Shucks, miss Jubille. You don't have to go into all that." Midday frowned. Based on what she knew (and not what she thought) of Applejack, combined with the mare's behaviour, she quickly arrived at a hypothesis. Cherry Jubilee laughed. "She's so modest. Anyway, I could always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back. So, when I heard Applejack was looking for a change of scenery, I snapped her up as quick as I could and brought her to Dodge Junction." Midday noticed she'd raised an eyebrow back at the 'strong back' comment. She quickly lowered it. "Well, I'll let you catch up with your friends." She turned to leave, "See you back at the ranch." Rainbow Dash quickly seized the moment. "'Change of scenery'? What's that supposed to mean?" Applejack looked nervous, and sweaty, and Midday couldn't blame her. Was she the only one who noticed how warm it was? "No big deal, guys. I though cherries would be a nice change from apples, so I took the job and came here. End of story." From the looks of things, none of the girls seemed to believe Applejack's rather forced description. "That's it?" Pinkie Pie yelled, "Well, that's a terrible story!" "Sorry, but that's all there is to tell. Thanks for checkin' in on me, but y'all can go home now." Applejack began to walk off, "Tell my family 'hi', and that ah'm doing okay." Rainbow Dash quickly placed herself in front of the farmer. "Excuse me, but we didn't travel all the way out here just to check in on you!" Applejack frowned. "An' ah didn't ask ya to come and find me! There is nuthin' to tell, an' I'm not going back to Ponyville!" And with that, Applejack stormed off. There was a slight pause. "I don't care what she says, Applejack's not telling us something" Twilight mused. "Duh" Midday exclaimed. Everypony stared at her. "What? She goes to a rodeo, and then doesn't come back and gets irritable when you ask her to come back? Oh, I do so seriously wonder what she could be hiding" she said. "Twilight's right" Rainbow Dash frowned, "We gotta get her to spill the beans." "What?! She had beans?!" Pinkie yelled, "I TOLD HER I was snacky!" "Can we do it inside?" Midday asked. "It's really warm out..." ***** An agreement was eventually made, after getting Pinkie something to eat, and some twenty minutes later, and ten minutes of orientation after that, Midday and the others found themselves walking into a large factory located in the middle of the cherry orchard. There was a conveyer belt which the six mares stood in front of, which seemed to be connected to a large wheel that Applejack was standing in. Midday got a sudden feeling of dread upon seeing this, and the looks of total innocent of everypony's face. "What are y'all doing here?" Applejack bleated. Midday shrugged. "Saw this cherry orchard and though 'ooh, nice orchard, might as well get a job.'" She paused, "Never had a job before, except being an accountant, though I'm pretty sure by this point I'm not actually an accountant any more. And we got these cute hats." She said, trying to smile pleasantly, which was helped by the fact that she wasn't outside by the desert air anymore. "Uh-huh" Applejack said slowly. "Shall we get started?" Twilight asked. Cherry Jubilee laughed at that. "Red cherries go in one bin, yellow in the other. Simple as cherry pie." She started walking out, before calling, "Just remember - have fun" At which point Midday's soul sank again. "What are you six up to?" "Well" Rarity said, "You made working in a cherry orchard sound... so delightful." Midday cursed Rarity's total lack of subtlety. Applejack didn't sound convinced. "Well, just remember, no talkin' about Ponyville." "Does that include ponies in Ponyville?" Midday asked. "Eyup." Midday didn't know much about Applejack, but she hazarded a guess that if Applejack was going 'eyup' then she was a lot angrier than she looked. "What don't you stop talking and start walking?" Rainbow Dash yelled. So, Applejack began to walk, and the conveyor belt started moving. Cherries started moving along from a hole to outside, and the girls gently nudged the cherries into the bins. For a few seconds. Midday noticed Twilight and Rainbow Dash making unsubtle glances towards Applejack. "So... AJ." Twilight said, "How was Canterlot?" She made a sly grin, "Not talking about Ponyville, talking about Canterlot, totally different place?" "Canterlot was fine." Twilight walked away from the conveyor belt, and Midday had a sudden visage of all her ancestors, including Crazy GreatGrandmother Sparkleshine, yelling obscenties for breaking a promise, and had to choke down the urge to yell at Twilight herself to restore her family honour. "Was the rodeo fun?" "Yes." "Did you meet some nice ponies there?" Midday noticed Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, had now slipped away from working. There was the tiniest noise of alarm from Fluttershy as the poor pegasus's workload increased. Applejack was getting irritated and walking faster. "Did you meet Wild Bill Hicok? What about Calamity Mane?" 'Those couldn't be real names' Midday Eclipse told herself, as she found herself nudging cherries quicker and quicker. She found herself remembering an old lesson she'd had on the language of the Diamond Dogs. As it turned out, they had a word which didn't translate into Equestrian, but roughly translated into 'Well, I never wanted to live forever' or just screaming, depending on the tone. She also found herself remembering that Celestia's name in Diamond Dog was 'Run Away!' "Yes, saw 'em both." Applejack said. Now Rarity had slipped away. Midday made a note to herself to pie those three in the face when they got back to Ponyville. "And how did you meet miss Jubilee?" "Well, Jubilee had a cherry stand at the rodeo. Real good treats." There was a soft noise of Fluttershy apparently clearing her throat as the three remaining mares desperately shoved ever-increasing amounts of cherries into the bins. "Cherry winks, cherry cheescake, cherry tarts. We struck up a conversation being orchard folks and all." "So you told her about Sweet Apple Acres?" Twilight asked. "Yes." "Did you tell her why you weren't going back?" Applejack was really beginning to move now. "No, 'cuz it was none of her business!" Midday sighed, and turned to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. "I'm sorry, you two, but you're about to see a bad side of me." Rainbow Dash frowned in frustration. "Is it beca-" Whatever Rainbow Dash was going to say was forgotten as there was a loud sob. Applejack stopped running, and four pairs of eyes turned, heedless of the impacting cherries, to see Midday's face buried in her toque. "Midday?" asked Twilight. There was a slight sob. "I'm shovelling cherries!" She said in a high-pitched whine. "I used to be somepony! I was going places! I was an accountant and now looks at me! It's not fair! THERE WAS TIME!" She yelled to the heavens. "I WAS AN ACCOUNTANT AND NOW I'M SHOVING CHERRIES FOR A LIVING!" She wailed, before breaking off into sobs. Fluttershy gingerly placed a hoof on her shoulder. After a few seconds Midday stopped and looked up with cold, dead eyes at Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. "Now that I have your attention, shall we get back to work?!" Three mares looked nervously at each other. "I'll clean up the mess." Midday said as they slowly walked back to the conveyor belt, her horn glowing as a small rag appeared. "That was... horrifying" Rainbow Dash uttered. "You can persecute Applejack when you're done working, not before or just after staring, only when you're done." And so for the next several minutes they worked in utter silence, Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash exchanging glances. Applejack just looked at Midday with utter confusion on your face. Once they were done the farmpony walked out of the room without a word. "Whose side are you on?" Rainbow Dash demanded of Midday. She raised an eyebrow. "Remember the Mare Do Well thing?" "I do!" Pinkie beamed. "Oh yeah, you aren't on anypony's side." Rainbow Dash snorted. "But I though you hated Applejack." "For the love of Luna!" Midday hissed, "I do not! Hate! APPLEJACK!" And with that she stormed towards the door. "Where are you going?" Asked Fluttershy. "To get something to eat." And with that she walked out. There were a few seconds were nopony said anything. "Well, girls, we seem to be striking out." Twilight mused. "'Striking out?' Where'd that come from?" Rainbow Dash laughed. "I was just trying it out." "You should put it back. And anyway, we're playing too nice." "Yes." Rarity said solemly, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." Pinkie looked up and smiled at the three mares, devilish grins on their faces. ***** "Hold up... you did what now?" "We may have let Pinkie Pie talk to her at length." Rarity said. They were sitting in a small... saloon, or bar, or grill, or whatever the appropriate term was. Midday was eating something that at one point had probably been a nice healthy green colour, but had since been slathered with an unhealthy amount of cheese. Midday looked at the somewhat guilty looks on their faces. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it?" "Well, you did throw that tantrum when we were just talking to her." Rainbow Dash said defensively. "I'm not the one who promised to help sort the cherries, then immediately skipped off to bother Applejack." Midday shot back. "Neither did I. I went second, Twilight was the one who stopped first." "And why are you suddenly so concerned about Applejack, anyway?" Twilight asked, inbetween looking irritated at Rainbow Dash. "Well, you guys are being pretty insensitive towards her, so I figured I might as well play Discord's advocate." Midday shrugged. "I wasn't being insensitive, was I?" Fluttershy asked. "No, you weren't." Rarity said before anypony else could, though they all had the exact same expression on their face. "So, did she say why she didn't come back?" Midday asked after a few chews of cheesy concoction, and deciding it wasn't that bad. "She said she'd tell us after breakfast tomorrow." Twilight smiled. "She Pinkie Promised as well." Pinkie nodded sagely. At that, a thought occured to Midday. "She said she'd tell you, at breakfast, tomorrow?" Pinkie nodded, before taking a bite of her own meal, which for some reason was a pickle. Midday felt like making a cutting remark on that, but she could feel the buzzing noise coming back. ***** As they left the cafe to go back to the ranch to get some sleep, Midday thought she had briefly seen a familiar blue and orange shape. "Hey, are you alright?" Twilight asked. She turned to look at her. "Yeah, I just... I though I saw somepony I recognised." She muttered. She looked down the street again. There was no sign of blue and orange ponies anywhere. The buzzing noise returned again. "You really don't look okay." Fluttershy commented. "You look like you saw a ghost. Oooh, maybe this is actually right next to a massive ghost town, and if we eat the food here we'll turn into pigs and be taken as collateral by the local ghosts" Pinkie said. "Just not exactly in the best of moods." She said quietly. She looked into their eyes. "It's nothing, nothing at all." She smiled. As they walked along the streets she thought to herself about many things, chief among them her plan, before the accident with time-travelling, to flee to Dodge or Appleoosa and hide there. 'Guess I didn't exactly plan that one out' ***** Sleep came easily enough in the incredibly nice and relaxing beds the ranch had. What happened once Midday was asleep though, was a different matter. She was running, running as fast as her legs could carry her, faster than she'd ever ran before, terror fueling her every hoofstep through baking hot sand dunes. The air was making her sweat like a sow, her legs hurt, her breath was haggered and her vision hazy, and always, always there was the everpresent buzzing of flies in her head. And then she heard the scream. "WISP!" She yelled, before falling out of the bed. For a moment, she lay there in the darkness, waiting for her heart to slow down. She could feel a tear moving across her face. She looked around for a clock, finding one that proclaimed it to be just before Early in the morning. She rose, her head pounding, and walked through into the kitchen, determined not to do any more sleeping. After a short while of sitting there, feeling miserable there was the slightest sound of a door opening, and closing as quietly as possible, and Applejack walked into the tiny front room. She stopped dead when she saw Midday. "Morning." The royal blue unicorn smiled. Applejack stared at her in terror, and Midday noticed she had her saddlebags on. "Fleeing somewhere?" she smirked. "How'd ya guess?" The farmer said, walking up the small table. "Well, you obviously don't want to talk about what happened at the rodeo, but I can probably guess anyhow, and the way the girls described how you... acquiesced to their request was suspicious." Applejack stood there and frowned at her. "If you're thinking I woke up early to try and stop you running, I'm not. I just can't sleep." "Bad dreams?" "Bad memories." Midday said, taking a slight swig from a glass of odd-tasting cherry juice. Applejack stood there, occasionaly glancing at the front door. "Why don't you like me?" She asked. Midday blinked. "You obviously do, and ah don't mind that, but if there's something ah can do to make up for it, ah'd at least like the chance." Midday sighed, and motioned for Applejack to sit. "You... haven't done anything to me" she said, slowly. She frowned, and wondered how much to say. "It's complicated. You see... you just remind me of this pony. It's a long story." She said, a part of her reminding her that she'd always wanted to say that. The old maxim of 'be careful what you wish for' was still going strong. "How long?" "About... oh, forty-four minutes or so, depending on whether I choose to explain everything and all the little side notes. Or I could just sum up, but in return, you let me guess why you won't go back to Ponyville." "Ah don't need to know that badly." Applejack frowned, standing up again. "Or you could run, and see if you manage to get away from an infuriated Pinkie Pie, which considering she's about as fast as Rainbow Dash on an average day (somehow), I really doubt you will. You don't really look like that much of an athlete." "An' how would you know what an athlete looks like?" "My uncle has taught Equestrian Games teams since before I was born. Even taught me a thing or two. Sort of. Not anything related to athletics, though." Applejack stared at her. "Well, why don't you explain what this pony did that makes you so angry, then." "Okay, you might want to sit down, because even though I'm gonna take the short route, this story might be a bit shocking." Applejack sat down. Midday considered what to tell her, and finally reached a compromise. 'Paradox be damned' she told herself. "Now, about nineteen years ago... no, twenty, actually, I think" Midday silently cursed time-travel, and math, "My uncle got married." "'kay." "And he and my mom were close, really really close, best siblings forever and all that. And he didn't even bother to tell her he was engaged until about a week before the wedding. And did I mention he only lived about an hour's train journey away from her?" "That's kinda rotten." "So, anyway, she goes to yell at him, feeling betrayed and whatnot, and finds out her new sister in-law's also her former foalsitter." "How old were they?" Applejack asked in astonishment, but Midday waved a silencing hoof at her. "And this is great, because my mom and her foalsitter got on great. And then..." "Lemme guess, she turned out to be a jerk." "Sort of, kind of, not entirely." "Huh?" "A... horrible pony had replaced her, in secret, and was brainwashing my uncle in compliance, which is apparently why he didn't tell his sister he was getting married, and why he didn't notice her magic's aura had changed from a pleasant blue to green. Or why she'd turned into a complete jerk. And she wasn't really trying by this point by the way. She spent the next several days belittling and insulting just about everypony she met and demanding her own way." "Okay..." Applejack said, before Midday fixed a steady glare at her. "Now, you are about to say, 'But ain't that natural for a gal preparin' for her wedding day?'" "Ah don't sound like that." "But no, because, again, replaced by horrible pony, but this is what everypony else was saying, and for some reason, only my mother, who is not usually the greatest at noticing things, was the only pony who noticed. So she tells her friends, the same ponies the bride's been a jerk to about this, and one of them says: 'Don't you think you're being a bit possessive of your brother'." A dark look overcome Midday's face, and Applejack could've sworn she felt the temperature drop. "My mother is a lot of things. She is stubborn, insensitive, foolish, prone to acting without considering and once managed to nearly vaporise herself because and ruined the lives of her friends just because she has no inner monologue, but she is not possessive of anything. To this day, I have no idea where on the Creator's green world this friend of hers got that idea from." Applejack just stared, a bit unsure about what would happen if she interrupted at this point. "And the evidence continued to pile up, up to my mother witnessing the 'bride' assaulting my uncle in the middle of an argument. So the next day she..." Midday looked embarrased, she coughed slightly. "With all the facts and outright evidence in hand, she stormed the wedding rehearsal. Now, all of her friends had just been made stand-in bridesmaids because the originals had apparently been 'cosying up' to the bride. They were later found in a cave beneath the chapel, just a teensy bit brainwashed. Now, my mother, even with all her negative traits, was still damn clever. So, do you know what she does?" "What?" "She yells that the bride is 'evil'. Her own friends and mentor are all watching her make a complete donkey's behind of herself. And then her brother..." "Her brother... what?" "Pretty much disowned her. Completely. And she's sitting there, and this is the time for her friends to stick up for her, remember all they went through together and stand up for her, over some pony they hardly know." She sighed, nudging the now empty glass of cherry juice. "And the reason I've been so... angry and nasty to you over the last few months is because you are a near-perfect dead ringer for the mare who, without hesitation or sign of guilt, told everypony to forget my mother and go help the fake-bride." Applejack was staring in horror. "She didn't" the farmpony breathed. "She did. And they all went along with it. And, now that I have time to think on it, it's not really sensible to hate you for it. But... I didn't. Maybe I thought it was a way of connecting with my mother, or something." "How could they call themselves her friends and just... abandon her like that?" "I'm sorry Applejack." "Was... did you mother..." "Oh, they worked it all out, eventually. Saved the real bride and the wedding, got rid of the fake, happy endings, huzzah!" "That's something, at least." Applejack looked at Midday. "But... you thought ah would do something like that? Betray somepony ah care about for no reason?" "Well, you aren't going back to Ponyville, are you?" Applejack's eyes went towards the floor, and she pawed it. "Ah can't. I won't explain but there is a reason. Ah just... can't." "No matter how much it hurts Apple Bloom?" Applejack looked like she'd been struck, as if she hadn't actually thought of her little sister. "Oh" she said, quietly. Midday slid off her chair and walked over to Applejack. "Well, I've explained my... admittedly insane reasoning, now you let me guess why you won't go back to Ponyville." "Fine, go ahead." Midday bowed her head slightly. "I think... Well, you said you would send the prize money in your letter, and miss Jubilee said she saw you win tons of ribbons, so here's what I think..." Applejack was sweating. "I'm thinking that while you did really well for yourself, you didn't win a single blue ribbon." There was a look of defeat on Applejack's face. "And since you seem to have some fear of accepting defeat, you refused to return to Ponyville until you'd gathered up enough money to pay back for the damages to the town hall like you said you would." "Yeah. That's pretty much it." "Would it help if I told you that no prize money in the world would help fix the town hall now?" Applejack stared at her in confusion. A bemused look slid across Midday's face. "You see, after you left I might have had an expert look about the town hall and she found... well, let's just say Ditzy Doo's unfortunate mistake might have been a bit of a blessing in disguise." "Pardon?" "The town hall was falling apart anyway. Ditzy just... sped up the process. So they're gonna tear it down and build a new one, rather than try and fix the old thing up." Applejack bit her lip. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "So all that... all ah went through... fer nuthin'?" "I wouldn't put it quite like that, myself..." Applejack walked towards the door. "Thanks, 'fer telling me that." She said calmly. "Ah've gotta go think about this. An' Midday?" "Yeah?" "Do you think maybe we could start over? Be friends?" "That'd be nice." Applejack nodded, and smiled. There was a slight pause. "Now then, shall we see if the others are up." "'Kay." They turned to see Fluttershy standing there. "How long ha-" "Long enough." Said a smug voice that sounded amazingly like Rainbow Dash, perhaps in part because it was Rainbow Dash. "Aw, crud." ***** Fortunately, they were understanding, and while Applejack seemed resistant to returning, Midday knew sooner or later they'd break through to her. And indeed, they did, especially once Midday pointed out the important factor of Apple Bloom, at which point Applejack's attempts to defend herself vanished. Goodbyes were exchanged with miss Jubilee, who was understanding of Applejack's need to return to Ponyville, and they promised that if they ever passed through Dodge Junction, they'd visit. The walk to the train-staion was largely uneventful, save for Pinkie muttering something about 'dramatic chases' before questioning Rarity about whether 'Chimicherries' or 'Cherrychangas' were better, after a slight slip of the tongue from Rainbow Dash (who did have the decency to look embarrased afterward, and then terrified at something Rarity whispered into her ears, involving the word 'bangs'.) Midday, remembering an incident when Rarity had styled her hair into bangs, felt a sudden swell of pity for the speedster. Then she saw something. A pony, a stallion no less, with a coat of unmistakable deep blue, with bright orange hair. "That's..." she whispered. "That's not possible..." She started to move towards the pony, who was turned away from her, and she felt a strange tension. Somewhere her mind was screaming that what she was seeing was impossible, a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep, but she kept going. "Midday!" Twilight said, "Hurry up, the train's about to leave." She stopped, and turned to glower at Twilight, and then turned around. The stallion was gone. Again. She stared for a few seconds before shaking her head and returning to the others. "What's the matter?" asked Fluttershy as they got on to the train. "Nothing. Nothing's the matter. Just thought I saw somepony I recognised. Again. I think I just need a bit of sleep, is all. Didn't get any this morning." "You do look out of sorts." Rarity said, sympathetically. "Lie down already." "-changa, chimicherry, cherrychanga, chimicherry, cherrychanga-" "Pinkie!" Twilight hissed. The bouncing party pony slowly stopped. And then started humming in ways that sounded remarkable like 'chimicherry' and 'cherrychanga'. And the good news didn't stop when it turned out they were sharing the cabin with a group of strangely dressed amateur musicians, who looked almost like escaped convicts. The song they started playing, while catchy, didn't help. "Ahhhhh am a mare Of constant sorrrrroow" "This is going to be a long trip." Midday sighed. It didn't help that the lyrics took an alarmingly familiar turn. ***** Eventually, some several hours later, they pulled in to Ponyville, where everypony was waiting for them. Applejack was quickly tackled off her hooves by a small brown and white dog, then embraced by the rest of her family. Midday quickly nodded at Granny Smith as she walked by. "Thank you." The elderly mare said. "Apple Bloom, c'mon, get off me, ah gotta go write a letter." "Ah could help, sis" "Alright then." Midday watched as the sisters rushed along to the library, where it transpired Trixie had desperately been attempting to create illusions of her own. Twilight offered to help with that, and Trixie muttered something that sound like an acceptance. Midday watched as everypony seemed to be more or less happy, especially Pinkie, who'd remembered her two minature new housemates, before she rushed off towards Sugarcube Corner. ***** Some hours later, as Twilight was doing a bit of early late-night reading of the latest Daring Do, she was aware of Midday walking past her wearing a hat and a scarf. "Just borrowing this telescope." The royal blue mare said. "Okay" said Twilight. She kept reading for a few moments, before what had just happened sank in. She quickly found a bookmark before gently closing the book and placing it on a small pedastal, before rushing out into the cold night air, then rushing out of the cold night air, finding a coat and scarf and hat and rushing back out into the cold night air. After a few minutes she found Midday sitting on a small, barely snow-covered hill just outside of Ponyville, the one she and her friends had watched a meteorite shower from some days before the Grand Galloping Gala. Midday was sitting next to a telescope, gently staring into it, though from the looks of things she wasn't looking for or at anything in particular. "Hello" Twilight said. Midday jumped, and turned to look at her. "Hello." The royal blue unicorn muttered. "I didn't have you pegged as a star-gazer." Twilight smiled. Midday gently placed a hoof on the telescope. "I'm not, really. It's just... something my dad did." There was a slight smile on her face. "He was an amateur... astronomer. When I was little, he and I'd sometimes go out and look at the stars, and he'd tell me all about them all through the night." There was a slight sniff, which Twilight could tell had nothing to do with the temperature. "'s how he met my mom, actually" she whispered. Twilight sat next to her, remembering all too late to cast something to stop the water getting into her coat. "Although he knew about her before, my mom was kinda a big name pony, but... he'd had a bit of a crush on her for a while, you see. Nothing major, and he never thought anything would come of it. His family were recluses, he lived in a big city, and she lived in a nearby town. And one night he headed out to the town, not to find her or anything, but because, you know, better conditions for stargazing and such. And by a mad coincidence, my mom was out stargazing. And they got into this massive argument about the 'best spot on the hill', until they finally agreed to just share one telescope for the night." She sighed, and looked at Twilight. "Of couse, that's what I was told anyway. Might not be what actually happened, knowing my parents." Twilight looked at the slightly sad, proud smile on the mare's face. "When you say... 'did'... is he-?" "Yeah." "I'm sorry." Twilight put a hoof on Midday's shoulder. "Discord did it." She said, after a while. "And after that, everything went wrong. Nopony remembered him. My own mom didn't remember him. And sometimes..." She made a noise that sounded slightly like a choke, "Sometimes I do actually wonder if he ever existed, or Discord just made me think I had a dad, just to screw with me and my mom. And when that happens I hate myself, and I feel like I'm betraying him, and his... his memory." For some reason she didn't understand, Twilight put her hoof around the mare, who was now beginning to shake, and she could see, just reflected off the moonlight, tears. "And I tried... t-tried finding a way to... bring him back, or save him, and nothing worked and..." There was another sob. And another. Then she started muttering something, something which sounded strangely familiar to Twilight. The muttering quickly turned into a somewhat melancholy song. "I was prepared to do my best, Thought I could survive any test. For I can do so many tricks ... But I wasn't prepared for this." There was a slight pause, and Twilight wondered if she was going to continue. "Levitation would have been a breeze Facts and figures I can recite with ease I could pass a test on friendship's bliss But I wasn't prepared for this. My mind is sharp, my skills intact Oh, I've taken my share of licks I've made it through the thin and thick" Whatever song she was singing seemed to stop. "But I wasn't prepared for this" she whispered. She leaned in closer to Twilight, who suddenly began thinking of all the years Celestia had taught her, and had to agree with the wording, if not the spirit of the song. She could feels some of the tear drops beginning to hit her legs, and held Midday close to her. "Midday isn't your real name, is it?" There was a slight murmur for the mare, who looked like she was falling asleep. She gave a slight smile, though it was tempered by concern for a mare falling asleep in the cold. "Let's get you home then." There was another murmur. "Can't we stay out here a little longer?" Twilight wondered if Midday was just talking in her sleep, and quietly lifted the mare onto her back, before folding the telescope up, and then teleporting back to the library with the both of them. As she laid Midday in bed, the mare occasionaly mumbling something, she frowned. Midday had leapt in to save Apple Bloom, seemed perfectly fine with leaping around on rooftops, held no grudge against her for the unfortunate remark a few days ago. Aside from some mild sarcasm, she seemed generally non-threatening. Twilight stared at this mare and wondered what could have caused such low self-esteem, and briefly pondered what her mother must've been like. She decided to dismiss those thoughts, just in case they led to trouble. ***** The next morning, in Dodge Junction, a stallion trotted through the streets merrily. He reached a small house, and gently rapped on the door. It opened, and Dust Bowl stared into the eyes of his best friend. "C'mon, you. You said you was going to hang out with the guys last night." "Well, I... got distracted. I though I saw a comet. Turns out it was just a smudge on the lens." Dust Bowl chuckled slightly at his friend's misplaced eagerness. "Don't you laugh!" "Too late" he said, before a slightly dirty cushion slammed into his head. He walked into the house, and saw something. There was a canvas sitting nearby. "Hey, I didn't know you could draw." Dust Bowl smiled. "Don't be a jerk" his friend said, his voice missing the usual Dodge accent. Dust Bowl stared at it. "Somethin' familiar about that mare" he muttered. "Really?" "Yeah, though I saw a mare like her talkin' to old Jubilee the other day." Suddenly he found himself seized between his friend's hooves. "You sure?" "Hey, you're hurting me, CC." "Sorry, Dusty, but it's important. Are you sure?" "You don't forget a mare that cute, CC." Dust Bowl said nervously, more than worried by the serious glare in his friend's orange eyes. Quickly he found himself released, as his deep blue-furred friend rushed out of the door. "Comet Chaser? Where ya going?" "To find her!" The amateur astronomer said, nodding at the slightly poorly-drawn picture of a mare with purple hair, fur and eyes, and while the picture was hardly award winning, his friend had certainly done Twilight Sparkle's smile justice.