This chapter was written by bahatumay.
For having just walked out of Tartarus, Applejack's parents were in surprisingly good shape. Applejack found herself hard-pressed to keep up. Even so, she tried to speak with them. There were so many questions to ask! She couldn't let this opportunity get away.
“How's life in there?”
And of course, the first question always comes out lame.
Her father smiled, though. “A mite boring, t' tell you the truth.”
“Y'all ain't bein' tortured there or nothin', right?”
This brought a laugh from both parents. “Nah. The tortured ones would never get to leave.”
“So that really is a thing?” Applejack asked, hopping over a rock. “Ah didn't know. How does that work?”
“Sorry, Lil Apple. Only the dead can know that.”
“And Ah hope you don't find out for a while,” Red Delicious added.
“Hri ebet!” A harsh screech interrupted their discussion.
Carrot Seed skidded to a stop. “What was that?”
Applejack growled under her breath. “Of course...” She turned to face her parents. “Ma? Pa? Meet the changelings. Ugly little buggers what feed on love and have a vendetta 'gainst good ponies.”
Sure enough, alerted by the watchling's voice, changelings began to swarm. A thick buzzing filled the air, sounding like a group of demon bees from Tartarus.
“They sound like the demon bees from Tartarus,” her mom said.
Applejack was taken aback. “Those exist?”
“Don't worry none, Lil Apple,” her dad said, his eyes flicking around to see just how many they were dealing with. “They never come to our side.”
“Coincidence,” one changeling hissed. With a flash of green fire, he changed into Carrot Seed. “We don't intend to be on your side, either.”
Carrot Seed laughed even as he shifted his weight forward. “Told you Lil Apple would have an adventure waiting for us.”
“You don't have to be right all the time,” Red Delicious said, but it was a playful smile she wore.
Well, Applejack now knew where her brother had inherited his calmness from.
“Well, sometimes I have to be.”
The changelings had grown tired of this banter. One was brave enough to charge, choosing Red Delicious as its target. Red Delicious waited and at the last second, reared back and delivered a punishing headbutt, sending the changeling crashing to the ground in a heap of chitin.
The changelings were taken aback. As were both Applejack and Carrot Seed.
“That's your cue to run,” Red Delicious stage-whispered.
Oh. Right.
Applejack led the way, tearing through changelings and sending them flying. Their light bodies were no match for her powerful earth pony frame.
Problem was, there were a lot more of them than there were of her.
Before she knew it, Applejack found herself surrounded by changelings. She bucked, stomped, and kicked as hard as she could, but more kept coming, and her forward progress slowed dramatically. Her father was just as much into it as she was, with his powerful hind legs that left changelings broken in their wake. Somehow, he even managed to keep Rainbow on his back.
Suddenly, one of the bodies Applejack kicked didn't move.
“Hey! Same team!” Red Delicious rubbed her ribs.
“Sorry, Ma!”
Red Delicious grumbled playfully as she headbutted another changeling. “Come out from Tartarus and my own daughter attacks me, what's this world coming to?”
“Watch from above.”
Applejack sidestepped quickly, and a changeling landed right where she had been standing. A quick kick from one hind leg ensured that it was done attacking for now.
“Thanks,” Applejack said, but the rest of her words died in her throat as she saw the speaker.
“Welcome!” Meph grinned.
“What are you doing here?” Applejack hissed.
“Well, I don't offer day passes to just anypony who asks. I wanted to see—left flank—what you were going to do. My, you sure are one for trouble, aren't you?”
“You just gonna stand there, or you gonna help?”
“Weeeell...” Meph said slowly. “This is kind of a big tragedy. But I think I found a way to offset it so you can keep your parents and your marefriend.”
Applejack looked over towards her father, and even through the heat of battle, could see Rainbow's infection looked like it was getting worse. “All right. What's the deal?”
“Basically, I make the deal and you, your parents, and your marefriend get to live on Sweet Apple Acres forever. Big Mac eventually takes over, and life is good.”
“Ah think that's a good deal right about now,” Applejack said, ducking another flying changeling. “You ain't gonna do anythin' stupid like take Apple Bloom instead, right?”
“Weeeeell... no, because technically she wouldn't have been born.”
Applejack needed no time to think about her response. “Go to tartar... wait.”
Meph smiled. “Already there, sweetheart. Oh, on your six.”
Applejack kicked just in time, sending a changeling flying through the air.
“I'm kind of running out of deals to cut here.”
“Ah ain't interested no more!” Applejack spat. “And if'n you know what's good fer ya, you'll stay away from me and mine!”
“I'm not the bad guy here,” Meph said as she turned and faded away. “Just saying.”
Furious, Applejack lashed out even stronger, actually cracking the chitin with every kick. Her motion was blurred from its speed. She was not happy. And seeing a changeling impersonate her father? Even worse.
"Hey! Real me!" the real Carrot Seed protested.
Applejack spat. “Likely story. If it's really you, where's Rainbow?”
“She's right...” Carrot Seed froze. “Oh, horsefeathers.”
“Where is she?”
Applejack scanned around, but saw no flash of blue. For some reason, she looked up.
Sure enough, up in the air was one blue speck, surrounded by many, many black specks.
“Rainbow Dash! You get down here right now!” Applejack called.
In all probability, Rainbow Dash never heard Applejack's command. Even so, she obeyed, angling her body downwards. An air cone began to form around her body, and it quickly grew more and more defined.
Applejack could only stare. Her first thought was, that shouldn't be possible. She's sick, she's injured, that's impossible.
Her second thought—and this one was much more urgent—she needed cover. And fast.
“Get down!” she yelled, tackling her mother and covering her head.
She didn't even have time to ask what was going on before there was an explosion of color.
The fabled Sonic Rainboom exploded across the landscape, blasting changelings backwards and sending a shower of dust and dirt over everything.
Applejack sat up and coughed, tears streaming down her eyes from the dust. She waved her hat desperately to try and clear the air.
“Ra- Rainbow!” she yelled.
As soon as she could stand, she rushed over to the site of impact. Rainbow Dash lay in a crater, with fresh cuts and scratches covering her body. Her eyes flickered open before slowly closing.
Applejack rushed over, unsure where to even start. She ripped strips of cloth from her shirt and held it against Rainbow's largest gash.
“I don't think she's going to make it,” Red Delicious whispered. She had no lighthearted comments anymore. Not at a time like this.
At a time like this, strange things happen. Things that don't really make sense, do. Somehow.
Applejack turned and saw her mother's cutie mark, as if for the first time.
“Your cutie mark.”
“Yes?”
“You still have them.”
Her father came up. “Yeah, so?”
“You still have your talents, then.”
“Well, yes; though I grow more poisonous plants now than apple trees. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Do you know how many doctors have died?” Applejack asked.
Eyes widened as the implications of her question bounced in their heads.
“So you want to go back to Tartarus?” Carrot Seed asked hesitantly.
“She's not going to survive another hour and the journey home takes longer than that. Ah have no other options.” Applejack looked around. “Ah think she bought us enough time to get back. Ah say we take her gift and use it.”
Sure enough, the changelings were beginning to stir. One nearby hissed, but Red Delicious silenced it with a rear hoof.
Carrot Seed pulled Rainbow Dash back onto his back. “Then let's run, Lil Apple.”
They say that when you return from a journey to the place you started from, that time seems shorter. Applejack believed that to be a lie. That journey back to the gates of Tartarus seemed like it would never end.
But eventually, a large three headed dog and a little alicorn filly faded into view.
Meph was holding a juicebox, looking more innocent than she had any right to. Had Applejack not had something quite desperate in mind, she probably would have wondered just where she had obtained such a thing. But she had more important things to worry about.
“Meph, we need to get inside.”
Meph sucked the last of the juice out of her box before letting it go. It burst into flame and disappeared. She sighed. “Like I said before, only the dead can enter.”
“We are dead,” Carrot Seed argued. “Let us back in. Applejack can stay outside.”
“Technically, you're not,” Meph replied. She might have continued her explanation, but Applejack cut her off.
“Ah ain't stayin' outside!” Applejack retorted. “Not at a time like this.”
“Unless you intend on killing yourself, too, you ain't goin' in there! And that ain't gonna happen on my watch!”
“That's a little dramatic, don't you think?”
“Dramatic?”
“Why is everypony fighting?”
Everypony froze as the new voice spoke. Rainbow Dash raised her head painfully and jabbed with a hoof. “The gate's right there. Can't you see them?”
Applejack squinted. “Ah don't see anything. Just rocks.”
Meph gave a half-smile. “Only the dead can enter because only the dead can see the gate.”
“Rainbow ain't dead yet.”
Meph looked down at the ground and said nothing.
“They're just straight ahead,” Rainbow said. “Right there. Right...” She passed out again.
Applejack made to take a step forward, but Meph appeared in her path and set a hoof on her shoulder. She spoke with a low voice. “If you cross those gates, I can make no guarantee that any of you will ever come out again.”
Applejack shrugged off the hoof and strode forward. Meph stood and stared, her face an expressionless mask. “So be it,” she whispered.
Cerebus whimpered and scratched the ground, as if wondering if he should attack, but Meph held out a hoof. “They have made their choice,” she said.
Applejack strode forward. She trusted Rainbow Dash, even if she couldn't see anything.
Taking a step forward, she found herself midway through the rock.
“Whoa.”
The gates really were here.
She looked back at her parents, who nodded. They stepped up, too.
Together, they walked into the unknown.