//------------------------------// // Chapter V // Story: My Little Redemption // by F-ShyAustin //------------------------------// Chapter 5 Apple Jack didn’t normally sleep this late. Wow. 8 o’clock. She finally managed to work up the steam to get out of bed, and began awkwardly stumbling around, as was her daily routine. She stepped a hoof out of her bedroom and peeked around the corner to see if Big Mac had gotten up yet. Most likely he had, and most likely Grannie was still in bed. Yup. She didn’t need to come any closer to hear the distinct snores. The thought of Silver Light crossed Apple Jack’s mind. She wasn’t finished yet; she knew she had been redeemed. As Silver Light said, she had now been grafted into the “Dynasty of the Chosen”, and though she wasn’t even sure what that meant, she had a feeling that it was the reason she felt so different. The day before, she had cried into Grannie’s shoulder, apologizing over and over for not listening to her pleas to seek Him; Today, although she wasn’t as emotional as she was when she first woke from her dream – or vision. She wasn’t sure which it was yet. In fact, she was sure about very few things right now. She had spent most of her life living the life of a good pony, but now, the only thing she knew was that she wasn’t finished yet. There were still more tasks to complete; there were still more questions to be answered. Apple Jack’s redemption didn’t explain why her parents had died the way they had. In fact, she was more confused about it than ever. There’s gotta be a book or sumthin’ in Twilight’s library that I can borrow that says something about this whole thing. The Ponyville library would be her first stop, then. That is, after she finished all of today’s things-to-do. Hopefully she would get to it today. She walked with purpose now, something that she had begun noticing just recently. She had been completely changed – the way she walked, held herself, thought of herself, and worked the farm. They had all changed. In the eyes of any other pony, Apple Jack went about her daily routine in much the same way as she had any other day, but to AJ, this wasn’t any other day. She was changed, and for the better; she did what she did normally differently. At least, in her opinion she did. She bucked about half the trees in the west orchard, which was a good three hours of work; she remembered that she needed to go help Big Macintosh carry the apple barrels to the barn. She galloped over to the orchard by the house, where they had bucked the trees the day before; she spotted Big Mac trying to lift one of the barrels onto his back, which was normally a job reserves for two people. Apple Jack snickered. Big Mac was always the one who tried to do things himself. “Hey Big Mac! You gonna lemme help?” Apple Jack shouted across the orchard as she ran toward him. He stopped straining at the load, looked up and smiled. “Eeyup!” He hardly ever spoke, something AJ still didn’t quite understand. Maybe she’d been around Pinkie Pie too much and talking was becoming a little too normal. Memories of Pinkie’s incessant questioning of “cherry-chonga” or “chimi-cherry” still echoed through her mind, but they made her smile a little anyway. “Welp, let’s get a move on,” Apple Jack said as she finished thrusting the apple barrel on Big Mac’s shoulders. He walked away, looking at Apple Jack a little curiously, but he turned back around humming a little tune their mother used to sing them when they were just foals. It normally made Apple Jack ache a little inside when he did something that brought up memories like that, but today was a completely different scenario. Wasn’t it? Of course I was; she was sure of it. She followed Big Mac to the barn to get the wagon, after deciding that carrying one barrel at a time wasn’t very efficient. They had a lot of work to do today, since a lot of the work was left for Big Mac to do himself. Apple Jack’s time spent talking to Grannie the day before was not a waste, but it did eat a significant chunk of time out of the day. The mare called out. “Hey Big Mac! I’m gonna get the wagon. We’ll get more done that way, don’cha ya think?” Her older brother nodded energetically with approval. “Eeyup!” She trotted over to the end of the barn where the wagon was stored and hitched herself to the front. It had been awhile since it had been used, and the wheels were a little stuck in the ground. Apple Jack managed to pull it out with a little effort, though. “Alright, let’s get to it!” she barked, catching Big Mac a bit off-guard. She laughed a little. He was always the tiniest bit shy and normally flinched when he got shouted at. It didn’t happen too often anymore, but then, he hadn’t taken any of Grannie’s apple fritters lately either. Big Macintosh was almost always silent, and never one to speak too many words at one time, so when he did, it was a relatively monumental event. His gruff voice spoke up. “You ok, AJ?” She glanced over at him, taken a little unawares by his questioning, rather than his customary “Nnope” or “Eeyup”. “Yeah, why?” “You seem different. Happier?” “Yeah. Did Grannie tell you anythin’?” He smiled mischievously. “Nnope. But I might’ve… overheard something. Finally found Him, did you? “Yup. Took me long enough, huh?” He laughed before answering. “Eeyup. I always thought you would, I just wasn’t sure when.” “How long?” Apple Jack asked of Big Mac, in reference to how long since he’d first encountered Silver Light. He thought it over. “Twelve years. But my experience wasn’t as scary as yours. He wanted in my heart, so I let ‘im in. “You were only ten? How was it so easy for you?” He chuckled, but his face quickly changed to a solemn expression, something she hadn’t seen to that effect since she had tried to convince him that she could buck the entire Sweet Apple Acres in week by herself. “It wasn’t easy. But after Mom and Dad passed, I had to learn to trust somethin’ – someone – else. I… cried. A lot. “Most nights, I cried myself to sleep. But one night I had a dream. Silver Light showed, and He told me who He was and what He wanted to give me: life, and life everlasting. I always heard Mom and Dad talk to us about that, and we never took ‘em seriously, but after seeing how fast life could be snatched away, eternal life sounded a whole heck of a lot more appealin’. So of course, I let Him in, and, well, you know the rest of the story.” “That's more words than I've spoke since I knew ya,” he said matter-of-factly. Apple Jack had never heard Big Macintosh talk for that long. I… I think I understand now. I’ve run away from all this because I thought Mom and Dad weren’t no more. They were finished, and Silver Light couldn’t exist if ponies died like my parents did. But He does. He was tryin’ to show me somethin’ through it all. Big Mac understood, and I didn’t. Not ‘till now. “I think I get it,” Apple Jack said after a long silence, and after having trotted at least another thousand feet. “The end–” “– is where we begin,” Big Mac completed her sentence, as if he had known what she was thinking the entire time. “Their earthly end was ultimately their beginning, and now, it’s our job to lead other ponies to see the same thing through Him.” Big Mac smiled big. “Eeyup!” Satisfaction snuck onto Apple Jack’s face, until she sported a full-blown grin. * * * Being afternoon, Twilight wouldn’t be able to get back to Ponyville until at least midnight, so she took up Princess Celestia’s offer to stay overnight in one of the castle rooms. As always, it was more comfortable than her bed at home, however foreign it may have felt. She got up the next morning feeling incredibly refreshed. It was a new day, and not meant as an intentional cliché this time. It really felt like it. It felt full of life and opportunity. Many times when Twilight was on the train, it was to save the world; most recently, the Crystal Empire. Today, though, despite the world being intact without Twilight’s and her friends’ expertise, she felt like she had saved it. Or maybe she felt like she could take it on – subdue it; make it see the love of Silver Light. Yes. Celestia’s song still echoed through her mind. ♫…to fulfill your destiny… ♪ Destiny… destiny wasn’t such a curious thing after all, was it? Except… it occurred to Twilight that her destiny wasn’t at all what she thought it might be. Frankly, she wasn’t at all looking forward to ruling ponies, day and night, for the rest of her life, or whatever the immortal renderings of what alicorns lived were. She had been looking seemingly into foresight, somewhat mesmerized by the possibility of ruling in the manner that Silver Light had intended for the alicorn race, but she realized that pursuing the skeptics, and relating to them the love, joy, and happiness offered by serving The Master, Silver Light, and Holy Incarnate – the Three – was her destiny. This was her ultimate purpose, her reason for living – and not at all something she would have decided for herself. This… destiny… was conjured up and predefined by The Master long ago, in the depths of creation, before Twilight even existed. To turn down that destiny, despite the fact that Twilight truly wanted to pursue it, would be nothing short of betrayal. After the blood and tears that Silver had shed for her – for everypony – there was no backing down now. She was committed – grafted into perfection. And now, she had every intention of fulfilling those perfect expectations of spreading the love of Silver Light. That was final. Twilight gathered her belongings, which included nothing short of her royal decorations and her saddle bag, and walked out her quarters’ door, to be greeted by the warm sun. She must have slept in later than usual, which was definitely out of place for somepony as organized as she, but it was of no consequence. She made sure to leave a thank-you note for Celestia, for her generosity with both her time and the castles quarters. Out of habit, she signed the note “Sincerely, your faithful student Twilight”, but quickly crossed it out and rewrote her benediction as “Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle” in a more scriptish Equestrian. She may as well start practicing that closing now and now was as good a time as any. She pulled out her round-trip ticket, which, as funny as is seemed, had been purchased under completely different circumstances, and levitated it in preparation for presentation to the station clerk. Princess Twilight Sparkle had temporarily left Ponyville, and now she was coming back. This time, though, she had a new credential on the back of her name: “Princess Twilight Sparkle, Child of The Master”. It was time to go home.