Chapter 7
++ Twilight ++
No matter how much we talk it out or avoid the strange feeling of impending… something hovering over us, Applejack and I are baffled. There really isn't a thing we can do until we reach Canterlot and most likely we won't be able to get any attention from the princesses until after the solstice and the attendant celebrations. All in all, it's a bit unnerving and I stick close to my strong lover for reassurance. She is so much more down to earth than I, even tempered and calm in the face of the discordant magics that feel as though they are tightening around us like a net.
Day two of our leisurely walk is clouded by the feelings and we make far better time to the central city of Equestria than we normally would have. Applejack is baffled by how busy and noisy it is, but I remember how it gets during midsummer. So many strangers in for the festivities and every business packed to overflowing with all manner of goods and entertainment.
"It's crazy, huh?"
She only nods at my question, those lovely green eyes casting about to take it all in. Spike drags us over to a gem vendor to indulge his sweet tooth and I follow my nose to a fillyhood favorite of a slightly salty nut treat all the way from Manehattan. They're rare and pricy, but that's what makes them treats!
As the long day begins to cool towards evening, the crowds become too much, even for me. Poor AJ looks a downright unnerved by the chaos and I take mercy on the whole trio of us and lead the way away from the thickening crowds.
"Whoo wee, but that's a whole lot ah ponies," my lover marvels as we come to a slightly quieter district of homes built close together. "We gettin' close?"
It's a small concession that she's getting tired, having pulled my overloaded wagon most of the day. In mute apology, I give her a quick kiss and a pointed look at Spike has him scrambling from her back to mine. "Yes. Just a few more blocks to the northwest and we'll be on my old street."
"Beautiful neighborhood."
Quiet falls between us, a relief from the chaos of the festivities and our unsettled feelings. Having left home to study with Princess Celestia at such a young age, my childhood home has never felt like home to me. It's a place where I stay with my folks and little more. Not that I have any complaints! Luckily, when we come to the building that my parents share with several other tenants, their parlor lights are thankfully ablaze. Since we're a day early, I've had no idea if they would be in or not.
The look on Dad's face is classic as he answers my clop on the heavy door. "Twilight! How good to see you and early no less! Come in, all of you. Applejack, you can just leave that cart off to the side of the entry hall."
"Thank you, sir."
The respectful title pleases Dad, even if he tries to hide it. Mom is surprised to see us early, but greets me with a hug and inquiries how our trip went. Part of my wants to confide my unease, but like the flash of magic at the Spring Equinox, I cannot figure out what questions to ask.
So, I wait.
My folks have a party to go to and AJ and I gratefully shoo them off to have fun while we get settled in what was once my childhood room. At least the bed is larger, though we'll still have cuddle. No problem there! Spike is perfectly happy with the collection of Dad's magical recordings of plays and music, so we girls can retire early.
Brushed out and with clean teeth, I trot over to imperiously wedge my smaller body against Applejack's warm chest and belly. This is my favorite place in the world I think, wrapped in her strong limbs, her heart a steady tattoo against my sensitive spine. It will get even better later, when the faint bulge of her growing foal presses against me.
"You feel it, doncha?"
Really, I shouldn't be surprised. She's impossibly sensitive for an earth pony. Twisting to lie on my back, I search the gorgeous green eyes. "There does appear to be something… odd growing more powerful, yes."
"It's like anticipation," she muses, her gaze distant for a moment. "Like when ya see storm clouds brewin'. It don't have to be a bad thing, but it's powerful fer sure. What?"
Doubtlessly, I'm looking at her like a lovesick sap, which is certainly commonplace enough. "Do you know how much it delights me that you appreciate my nerdiness?"
Applejack looks at me like I've gone mad, making me giggle and eagerly accept her kiss. "I like you, smart girl, and I like that you've expanded mah bound'ries. Ah don't get it all, but ah git enough." Her contemplative tone eases into something warmer and more intimate as those strong legs draw me closer. "Now, lemme show you how much ah 'preciate all ah you."
There is no more need for words.
In the morning, Mom is surprised to find us both awake and breakfast made. I laughingly explain that we've been up for some time and push over the plate of fritters and muffins that have the entire house smelling amazing. Any reticence that she might have had melts away in the delicious earthiness of the breakfast treats.
"Oh, Applejack, these are amazing," Mom gushes and my lover shrugs demurely.
"Thank you. Ah don't work much with strawberries, but I reckon they came out pretty nice."
The food gets my folks downright friendly, not to mention coaxes in a bleary Spike, and we five make plans for the day. Those plans become a pleasant day, despite the ever-present niggle of faint alarm in the back of my mind.
I really must get some of Princess Celestia's time once the solstice is over.
As the shortest night of the year falls, we give in to the city alive with music and revelry, dancing our hooves off and laughing until we're breathless. I notice how stallions and mares alike watch my charismatic lover, so different from their snooty city existence. Applejack moves unselfconsciously, dances like tomorrow will never come, eats and drinks with a deep appreciation for the care and ingredients. Even if I were hooked into the odd society rules these city ponies contort themselves into, I would be hard pressed to care in this mare's amazing presence. Let Rarity play that game, I want no part of it!
Wobbly-legged with our strenuous day, we make our winding way back to my childhood neighborhood.
"Ah always did tell Jazz that you kin have a darn good time without lickin' too much salt or alcohol," AJ laughs. It almost covers the shadow of hurt still raw from her brother's abominable attitude and I give her a friendly hip bump.
"I had an amazing night, Love."
"Me too, Sugar."
We sleep like exhausted foals, bleary when my parent's knock wakes us in the dark before this magical dawn. It isn't easy to drag my weary body towards the center of Canterlot, but I feel drawn like iron to a magnet. Whatever has been building magically is coming to some sort of a head. AJ feels it, too, we don't need to discuss it, I can see it in her eyes, in the lines of her body, unconsciously prepared for fight or flight.
We should have stayed with the others, kept the Elements of Harmony a cohesive whole. My token of the Element of Magic, feels unfathomably heavy against my ribs, pressing against the new life in my body.
"Something's not right," I hear myself say, halting in my tracks as surely as if I'd stepped in a hole. "Applejack, we shouldn't be here."
The panic rises quickly, my horn starting to glow, the streams of pedestrians parting like water around a stone. It's growing, a wild outside force pressing its will strong on mine, demanding something that scares me half to death.
"Applejack!"
Both of us are terrified now, wrapped in a foreign magic that has stalked us for so very long. Alarmed, the crowd surges away as we glow brighter and brighter. Like the day I met Spike, the magics overwhelm me, drowning out even the touch and sound of the pony I love more than life.
It is too sudden, too overwhelming, and I am torn away to a blackness that consumes me.
I never even get to see the sunrise.