Applejack felt the world go dark. No feeling. No light. Just dark.
And then the dark subsided, everything went back to the way it was. Applejack opened her eyes to see the smiling face of her dear friend Rarity.
"Well, darling." began Rarity. "How did I do?"
Applejack smiled at her. "You did great, sugarcube. Thanks. Really." She turned to look at Fluttershy and Twilight. "You, too, girls. Thanks a lot for what you did."
"Wait, wha-" Rarity also turned to look at them. "When did you two get here?" Rarity asked in honest surprise.
They giggled. "We'll explain that later." said Fluttershy mid-giggled. "But first...." She went over to the open spell book and then took it and walked over back to Twilight, giving it to her. "We're going to lock up this book where nobody can find it."
"Wait." said Twilight. "We are?"
And then Fluttershy gave her The Stare, but playfully, not seriously like she would with her animals. "Yes. We are. And I'm going to help you find a better hiding spot, and that's final."
"Uh..." stammed Twilight awkwardly. "Ok."
"And in the meantime." Fluttershy turned to Applejack. "I believe you've got some unfinished business you need to take care of."
"You really do know a lot about that spell, don'tcha, sugarcube?" Applejack chuckled softly. "In fact, I do got unfinished business to take care of. And no, none of you can come. It's personal."
"Understandable." concluded Fluttershy. "Well, we won't be keeping you any longer. Go on." Fluttershy stepped out of the way and allowed a passage for Applejack.
"Thanks, sugarcube." And then Applejack went on her way.
"Mama?" Applejack said softly as she stepped through the forest, in the search of her frozen mother. "Mama?"
And then she found her. Just like the day she sacrificed herself to save Applejack, she was still frozen solid in the eternal ice.
The ice seemed to give off a faint blue hue in the shading of the forest. Inside the ice, Applejack's mother looked the same as she did when she first cast the spell.
Her mother and the business-suited pony were locked, arm in arm, hoof and hoof, wrestling each other. A face of intense fury of the business-suited pony's face, and a look of sadness in her mother's.
Applejack leaned her forehead against the ice, feeling the freezing coldness of it. She wept softly, tears rolling down her cheeks and softly impacting the soil.
"Mother." she said softly. "Thank you for saving me."
Applejack sniffled and went to the spot where she knew her father had died. On the day that her parents died, she had run home to her brother Big Mac where they mourned together, and yet, they never called the police. There was no need to. The killer was trapped forever.
They had cried in each other's shoulders and comforted each other for a long time before they had decided that to move in with their Granny Smith.
Applejack looked at the skeleton that used to be her father. She wept harder now, her tears staining the old bones.
And then her tears abruptly stopped. "No." She said firmly. "This is no time for tears."
She sucked in a deep breath of air, and then exhaled. "Thank you, mama. Thank you, papa."
She turned to face the business suited pony. "I might even have to thank you, for making me a stronger mare in the end."
And then she turned around and walked away, on her way back to Ponyville. She never looked back.
END