//------------------------------// // F4 // Story: Pathway to Oblivion // by supersaiyanmikito //------------------------------// /---Castle Oblivion (F4 Entrance Hall)---\ Applejack slowly trotted up the stairs. She remained completely silent. There was nopony there; she had left both Twilight and Rainbow behind. Both her head and her eyes hurt. She just needed to move on and clear her head a bit. She approached the door and held up the card she took out of Twilight’s bag. She just needed somepony to talk to. As the door opened, Applejack shut her eyes and walked in… /---Floor 4---\ Applejack opened her eyes to find herself on the Friendship Express. Everypony but Rarity was there with her. Well, fake ponies anyway. “Isn’t this just exciting!” Pinkie asked. “How often do we get to hold our very own party in Celestia’s castle?” “I know Pinkie, I can’t wait!” Twilight replied. “Good thing Celestia was so generous to let us use the Castle Ball Room. This will be the best birthday EVER!” “I even brought my party cannon!” Pinkie pulls out a large blue cannon. “Not in here Pinkie, I don’t think the conductor would appreciate it…” “Ok then…” Pinkie put the cannon back away… Somewhere… “I just hope Opal is ok, it’s too bad she is so sick…” Fluttershy gave a small frown when Rainbow came over and poked her with her elbow. “What do you see in that cat? She is nothing but trouble!” “She is still just a helpless creature Rainbow Dash. I can’t just leave some animal like that and not be worried.” “Whatever…” They sat there on the train for what felt like forever. Applejack just sat there, waiting. Her and Rarity never really got along but somehow she felt like Rarity would be the only one who she could really talk to at the moment. Applejack felt something poke her. Fake Rainbow was sitting next to her. “Hey Applejack, you haven’t said a word whole trip. What’s up?” “Oh, I’m just thinking…” “About what?” “Just some personal things. I don’t think you would understand…” Rainbow shrugged and turned away but continued to sit next to her. She may have been only a memory but seeing Rainbow not in a fit of rage brought a little happiness back to AJ. The thought that such an energetic and generally happy mare could have something so painful bottled up like that made it feel like her heart would split in two. She had to speak up. “Hey Rainbow…” “Yeah?” “I want to apologize…” Rainbow Dash was confused. “For what? You haven’t done anything.” “But what if have? What if I have and I just haven’t realized yet?” “Now you’re just acting stupid.” “I’m serious Rainbow. I understand we are all great friends but sometimes I wonder if we truly act like it. I can’t count how many times I’ve treated you like a simple child.” Rainbow leaned in and put her hoof over Applejack’s shoulder. “Listen AJ, I don’t know what’s gotten into you but don’t worry. You don’t need to apologize for stuff like that. I get it, I can be a bit irritating at times like with the whole bragging thing not too long ago.” Applejack wished she hadn’t brought it up. “I was being a braggart. I should have just helped everypony without asking for praise in return.” “Is that really you talking, or is that just what you want me to hear?” Rainbow recoiled back. “You don’t have to change just because your friends don’t exactly approve of your methods. It’s who you are sugarcube, and I never want you to change.” Rainbow stared at Applejack for a moment. This was rather unexpected from AJ. Rainbow thought for a second. “Applejack, if you feel this way why did you create the Mare-Do-Well to out-stage me?” “I… I guess I wasn’t thinking. You were becoming so annoying I just wanted you to stop no matter what the cost but…” Applejack turned to look out the window. “Afterwards I thought about what would happen if I was in your horseshoes… What if you or the others got annoyed with me bragging about my family’s Apple Cider and decided to run me out of business by making your own. It hurt Rainbow… It hurt so much…” Applejack began to cry. “I can’t just make you change just because you annoy me. It’s who you are. You are Rainbow Dash, nopony else… And… And I’ll glad to have you as a friend…” “Applejack…” Rainbow felt a tear coming from her eye now. She quickly wiped it away. “I never thought a pony like you would ever make me all teary eyed like this. No fair!” Rainbow gave Applejack a slight punch in the arm. “Hehe… I’m just happy that you’re happy…” Applejack turned away from Rainbow. She wishes she could always see the world like this. Twilight’s Birthday party was just what she needed to let out her feelings. Rarity was so scared of her friends originally but they were so understanding. She has her own life too and she can’t always be around but they know she will never stop thinking about them. She knows they will always listen and understand that things happen and not always in there control. If someone you care for is successful, let them be move on… “I never thought I would say this, but I wish I was Rarity…” /---Key to Beginnings---\ The five of them stood outside of Rarity’s room on the tower. The door and opened from the other side. “SURPRISE!” The five ponies shouted. Rarity didn’t seem fazed at all. “I had a feeling you five would show up soon.” “Really? You did?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, I know how persistent you are and I had a feeling you would bring the party here.” “Wow, that’s actually a good guess.” “So if you were expecting us, what’s with the getup?” Rainbow asked. Rarity was wearing a super fancy yellow dress with an oversized hat covered in flowers. “Oh… Well… While I was out getting stuff for Opal a possible business deal came up and I was going to visit a bit.” Rarity turned her head back. “Speaking of which, the dear is doing fine now. It was a short bit ago.” “Oh, well that’s good…” Fluttershy replied. The group all stepped into the room. Twilight quickly noticed the simple unfinished dress Rarity had promised for her. “Is that my dress?” “Yes, I was hoping to get more done but to be honest I got distracted. Hope you don’t mind…” “Of course not, I love it. I wonder it would have looked like finished?” “Meh, it was too fancy anyway. This looks so much better for you.” “Thanks Rarity.” Applejack had mostly just been watching from the back but she finally spoke up. “So hey Rarity, Celestia told us we could have our party in the Royal Ballroom. Why don’t the rest of you all go down there and get prepared? I want to have a quick chat with Rarity.” “Sure Applejack. We see you there.” Applejack turned back to Rarity who put on a nervous smile. “Ah can see your making good use of your second chance now are ya?” Rarity recoiled back a bit. “Applejack, is that you?” Rarity stepped up and took a closer look of Applejack. “OH APPLEJACK! IT IS YOU!” Rarity gave AJ a big hug and quickly backed out. “Time Travel or Mind Trick?” “Illusion…” “Ah…” “Ah’m so happy to see you are safe. Ah’m also happy you are handling the situation so well.” “Well, when I realized where I was I thought I was sent back in time. After what happened last time I thought perhaps I could attempt to handle the situation a little more… Honest… I tried to lie my way through Twilight’s birthday last time because I didn’t want to you to hate me but at the same time I am finally making some progress in the world.” “I get you Rarity. Don’t feel obligated to do things for us if it’s going to harm your dreams. Don’t let us hold you back.” “Thanks, it makes me happy to hear you say that. So, have you seen the others? The ‘real’ others I mean?” Applejack paused for a moment and looked downward at her hooves. How was she going to tell? It was going to break her heart if she told her. She wanted to lie so badly but after Rarity was so honest with the birthday situation, she just couldn’t. “We… Had a falling out…” “Oh my…” “Twilight and Rainbow are resting down below us. They are pretty banged at the moment.” “What… What happened?” “Rainbow was doing the same thing as you, trying to take advantage of her second chance but she went about it differently. She was sent to the time when we dressed up as the Mare-Do-Well to out shadow her and teach her to be humble but she eluded us. She used her knowledge to beat us to the punch so we came up with a plan to get Mare-Do-Well famous by ‘making a problem’ and then fixing it. “Oh Twilight, how could you…” “After that, things got ugly fast. She charged us in a rage and attacked us both. She overheard our plan beforehand and learned that we were her real friends, not the fakes… Well… She didn’t think of us as friends anymore. She scolded us about how we handled the incident and that we not once but TWICE kicked her of her high chair.” “Just as arrogant as always-“ *SMACK* A hoof hit Rarity in the side of the head. “Applejack… Why-“ “Shut up and let me finish… When we first did that, we just trying to teach her to not be so arrogant and be a bit more humble but after what happened earlier, I’m not so sure. She may not have shown it but what we did hit her, and it hit her hard.” She looked up into Rarity’s eyes. “Rarity, what we did that day was not only hurtful but emotionally scarring. All this time she has kept it bottled up and kept it away from us and I guess after it happened a second time, she couldn’t take it anymore. We broke her Rarity…” “I… I… I guess I’ve always known this would happen someday…” “What do you mean?” “Applejack, listen… I’ve been Fluttershy’s friends for years and over the years she has told me a bit about Rainbow Dash. On the outside she is so confident and arrogant but Fluttershy told me the complete opposite. She hides her inner feelings and emotions because she given them up. They have done nothing but harm her and so she bottles it all up. Truth be told, Rainbow is even more frail then Fluttershy, mentally at least. She fears us and Fluttershy knows it.” “She… Fears us?” “She is frightened we will leave her. She knows Fluttershy will never leave her side and that’s why Rainbow is so much harsher on her. She has this internal fear that if we were to ever leave her, ponies would place the blame on her much like I did earlier. Her success relies on us staying with her. If we leave her, ponies will start pointing hooves, eventually the Wonderbolts will find out she is untrustworthy and all her hard work is gone. Her entire life would just collapse upon her.” “But that would never happen, not for just a breakup.” “Your forgetting what we represent, remember? If we break up Equestria is defenseless. If Equestria’s heroes break up it’s not going to stay quiet for long.” Applejack was a bit stunned. “Wow, I never really thought of that.” “That’s not all. Rainbow’s fear goes a lot deeper than that. She isn’t just scared we will leave her, she is afraid it will be her fault.” “Why would she think that?” “Discord… We were all hit pretty hard by Discord’s tricks to turn us against each other but I feel like she got it the worst. We all managed to resist Discord to some degree but not her. Discord managed to break her with no effort at all. Since then she has questioned her loyalty and when you all dressed up as the Mare-Do-Well, it must have opened some old scars.” “Ah geez, I need to sit down…” Applejack slowly let her head down on the bed and sighed. “Rarity?” “Yeah, darling?” “We should probably go. Don’t want to keep our friends waiting.” “Yes, even if they are… Fake… I still can’t just disappoint them.” “You’re a true friend Rarity…” /--- Key to Guidance---\ As Rarity and Applejack approached the ball room, they heard super loud music blaring from the room. When they opened they were blasted with sound as though it was physically hitting them. “Woh nelly!” Applejack yelled. “Was the music seriously that loud!?” “Hey girls, so you finally showed up?” Twilight asked. “We were getting worried about you.” “It’s ok, we were just talking about some private matters.” “Well now that you’re done, we can PARTY!” Pinkie pulled a nice looking chocolate cake. Twilight cut a couple slices and passed it out to all of them. After they had all taken a bite, Rainbow threw a couple slices at Fluttershy and AJ splattering it over their faces. She just hovered and laughed at them. The other suddenly all grouped around her and gave her a smirk before all throwing the cake at her. All except for AJ. This caused her to cringe a little. ‘She fears us.’ Those lines repeated in her head over and over again. She knows it’s just innocent fun but Rarity’s words had completely turned her outlook of her friends upside down. It was then Pinkie brought out a bowl a chocolate dip. Rainbow and Twilight dipped in some sweets and Pinkie just shoved her whole face in. She looked so happy. Applejack just watched at how happy she looks. ‘She fears us and Fluttershy knows it …’ ‘I just… I just feel like I failed you…’ ‘Some friend you are…’ Applejack grabbed ahold of her head. Everything was just coming apart. Everything seemed so perfect before and now all that remained was an internal pain. “Just who are we? If we truly friends, wouldn’t we have seen it? AHHH! This is just so hard!” Then she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see Pinkie smiling at her. “What’s wrong? Are you not having fun?” “No, I am having a blast. There are just a lot of things on my mind right now.” “Do you want to talk about it?” “I guess… Maybe…” Applejack looked around the room. The others were still partying like no tomorrow. “Pinkie, if you know one of your friends is hurting, what do you do?” “I would get them a Band-Aid and kiss it!” “No Pinkie, I mean hurting deep down. What do you do if you know someone who seems completely happy and content is crying on the inside. What do you do?” Pinkie’s smile slowly dropped. “I… I don’t know…” “Pinkie, aren’t you supposed to know how to make ponies happy?” “Internal conflict is a serious matter not to be taken likely. It can forever damage a pony’s life forever if not fixed. It will slowly consume them until there is nothing left and they are but a lifeless shell of their former self…” Applejack was a bit shocked. Since when was Pinkie THIS serious about something? “Pinkie, why are you-“ “Sometimes it heals overtime... Sometimes they just need a good shoulder to cry on… Sometimes… Sometimes it’s already too late. The damage has been done and they will never be the same pony again. They may ‘appear’ normal but deep down their entire being has been shattered beyond repair.” Pinkie turned around and slowly trotted over to the chocolate bowl. She shoved her face in and pulled out with the all too well known smile. Something about it just disturbed her. What happened to Pinkie there? Is the memory glitched? No, there was something else. She trotted over to Rarity who was currently dancing. “Hey Rarity, I need to ask you something.” “Go ahead dear.” “I was just talking to Pinkie and she got all serious all of a sudden when I asked her what to do if someone is hurting inside. Why did she do that? This world is based on your memories and how you see it.” Rarity let out a sigh. “Dearie, there is something you should know. You see, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are two of the happiest and non-suspecting ponies ever. You would never think there is something wrong but after learning about Dash I got a bit curious about Pinkie. I’m not 100% but I feel like there is something up with her too. You remember her birthday right?” “Yeah, of course. Rainbow had to drag her in because she thought we were kicking her out of the group.” “Indeed, not only that but she seemed like a completely different pony. Her happiness, it was not there. It was not Pinkie. Not the Pinkie we know.” “Rarity, do you think we are all broken on the inside?” Rarity recoiled a bit from the question. “What?” “Are we the same, all six of us. If Rainbow and Pinkie are both keeping things from us, do you think all of us are? We may not know it yet but all of us may be suffering the same way.” “Maybe… Maybe not… We may never know.” “Rarity, do you think that maybe… Maybe our internal suffering is what brought us together? The elements chose us not because we represented our elements, but because our elements can help repair the damage to the others.” “Applejack, I never knew you could think so poetically.” “Heh… Say Rarity, you want to keep this honesty thing going with the fakes?” “What?” “You wanted to try again but this time being honest. You want to tell them you need to go to that fancy party and do everything right?” Rarity paused for a few moments. “Yeah, it would put my mind to ease knowing I did things right this time.” “And I’ll come with you in case the door is opened.” Rarity approached her friends who were about to break open the piñata. “Hey girls, I’m sorry but I need to leave for a short bit.” The others took off the blindfolds. “Aw, why do you have to go?” Pinkie asked. “Sorry, it’s important business. I didn’t exactly expect you to have the party at the same time as my important meeting so I need to do a few things and I’ll be right back.” “Yeah, don’t worry.” Applejack added. “It’s just outside with that fancy party.” “You going too Applejack?” Twilight asked. “Yeah… Uh… Rarity says I will be a big help to her.” “Ok then. I understand. Your both business ponies and I don’t want to hold you back. Just be back soon!” “Thanks Twi!” Both yelled. /--- Key to Truth---\ As they left the building, Rarity and Applejack approached the group of rich ponies. There were 2 in particular, Fancy Pants and Upper Crust. “Greetings.” “Well how are you today Rarity?” Fancy asked. “I’m doing well thank you. I was actually attending a friend’s birthday party today but I told her I was invited to this fancy party and told me to go.” “My, that’s a wonderful friend you have. Letting go of a pony so they can continue their life is not an easy thing to do.” “I’m just glad some ponies know that.” Applejack replied. “Hmm? Now who is this?” “Name’s Applejack…” She shook his hoof. “Ugh, just what is this hillbilly doing here?” Came a voice. They turned back to see Jet Set approaching. “This place is not for the likes of you.” “Now you listen here Jet Set.” Rarity commanded. “She is a close friend to me and you will not talk down to her.” “Oh… So your friends with this-“ “I suggest not finishing that sentence Jet.” Fancy said before turning to Applejack. “My girl, you wouldn’t happen to be related to the illustrious Apple Family would you?” “If course I am. I run the Ponyville division.” “Amazing! Always great to meet a pony from such origins. I love your family’s apples but sadly there are no shops here that sell them.” Fancy rubbed his forehead. “Sometimes I tire of this high up society. Ponies here seem to only care about something if it’s expensive. They don’t realize that sometimes the lesser things are better.” “I totally agree sir…” All of a sudden, a blast of green energy shot threw the yard and struck Applejack. She yelled as she was thrown back and slammed into the brick wall. “What in blazes is going on!?” Fancy yelled when he was struck by a bolt too. Rarity barely turned around when she snared by some energy tendril. She was slowly lifted in the air where she saw a pony in a black coat. “YOU!” She struggled to get free but to no avail. The pony lowered her close to her. Her face was covered by the black coat. It was impossible to see the pony’s face. “What’s wrong Rarity? I thought you were supposed to be the generous one?” Rarity simply spit at her captor. “Ugh, so unladylike… If you don’t want to be generous then let me help you…” Rarity’s body became completely enveloped in a powerful aura. “Yes… Yes…” “What are you doing!? STOP!” “Why? I need you Rarity. You’re the key to our final plan…” She continued to cover Rarity in the unknown magic. The guests in the party were all frightened. They were clueless about what was happening. “Yes… Just about done…” “Hey you!” “Huh?” The cloaked pony turned around only to get a powerful kick to the face but a cyan hoof. She went tumbling backwards flopping across the dirt. She slowly stood and looked back to see the rainbow maned pegasus helping the unicorn up. “You? Where did you come from?” “Hey, over here!” She turned again to see the lavender unicorn standing directly in front of her with a large light over her horn. “What-“ “YAH!” Twilight released a giant beam from her horn at point blank engulfing the cloaked pony. Rainbow had finished helping up Rarity. “You ok Rare?” “Rainbow? You’re ok?” “Never better!” With the cloaked pony on the ground, Twilight ran over to help Applejack who was covered a small pile of bricks. “Applejack, you ok?” Twilight moved all the bricks in one sweep of her magic. Applejack was a little beat up but not that bad. She slowly stood up. “I’m fine, just got a headache…” With the four of them up, they all approached the attacker as she stood up. “You lost…” Twilight called. “Hehehe… Not quite…” “What?” She chuckled a bit. “I got everything I need from the white unicorn. I shall be off now.” She was engulfed in a black and disappeared along with the portal. Twilight was slightly panting from the rather oversized spell she used. She brushed it off in a few seconds. “Wow, that took quite a bit out of me…” Applejack approached Twilight and Rainbow. “I thought we were done for. Thanks…” “Don’t mention it.” Applejack closed her eye and thought for a moment before looking at Rainbow. “So what happened? I thought you hated us…” “No, I could never hate you I just…” Rainbow shook her head. “I don’t know what came over me. I’ll admit when I saw you break the dam I felt a bit betrayed but I could never hurt you. When Mare-Do-Well appeared on the stage, something inside me just took over and I couldn’t control myself anymore. I wasn’t myself…” Applejack let out a sigh. “Well that’s a relief. Don’t know what I would do without you…” “But every word I said was the truth. I meant every single one.” “Yes sugercube, I am aware.” She put her front hoof over Rainbow’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you say were hurting so bad?” “Because…” A small tear came from her eye. “Because I didn’t want you to hate me…” “Rainbow Dash.” Twilight spoke up. “Why would we hate you for that?” “I thought you would say I was just being stubborn about you making me stop. I just can’t bear to lose you. You all mean everything to me… I’m just… I’m scared…” Applejack closed in and gave Rainbow a bit hug. “Don’t be. Now that we know we can help you. Just please don’t hide stuff like this from us again. You don’t have to face it alone anymore. You have us…” “Thanks girls…” “Group hug!” Rarity called. The four ponies all came together in a big hug and squeezed as hard as they could. They all released at the same time. “Now, let’s go save Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy!” /---Castle Oblivion (F4 Exit Hall)---\ The four exited the 4th floor into the main hallway. Twilight held a look of accomplishment on her face. “Our friendship may have been strained a bit more then I would have liked but in the end we prevailed and now we are stronger than ever!” “Yeah…” Applejack added. “I know it’s been hard on all of us but I think maybe now we will all be a bit more considerate of each other. I’m not one to talk all deep about emotions and stuff but if we all are brave enough to confess our problems like Rainbow did, he will never break apart.” “Again, thanks girls…” Said Rainbow. “It’s alright dear…” As they marched forward, Rarity looked over and eyed Applejack. She was in deep thought or something. She turned back to Rainbow who had her head lowered to the ground. ‘All we have left is Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.’ She thought to herself. ‘No matter which we choose it’s going to cause terrible strain on Dash the poor darling. The real challenge is only just beginning…’