//------------------------------// // Our Last Journey // Story: Into Darkness We Ride // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// Midnight broke according to the clock and Applejack was nowhere nearer to sleep than she had been a few hours ago. Every time she closed her eyes, she was taunted with visions of funerals, battlefields, filled hospitals, and dying friends. Sighing in frustration, she kicked off the thick layers of covers and a chill shot through her as she crossed the room to her small closet. Yanking it open, she quickly pulled on a vest covered in pockets and the cloak that Rarity had knitted for her what seemed like forever ago. The brown fabric kept the chill of the black air at bay as she yanked out her emergency saddlebags and laid them out on the bed. Already they were filled with most of what she would need to survive in the wilderness for at least a week – two, if she stretched them. Cans of water and imperishable food rattled in their recesses, their noise muffled by several blankets and pillows. After finding her crystalline hatchet and flint, she pulled out a compass and a first aid kit and added them to the growing pile. A map of Equestria – for what good it would do them – was slid into the outer pocket of her bags. The landscape was likely to be unrecognizable anyway, but it was more for sentimental reasons that she kept it with her. She stepped back and took stock of everything she had laid out. After putting it all away and setting it out on the floor, she gazed around the room that had been home for the past several years. There were many memories here – none of them particularly pleasant – and she held no illusions of the possibility of missing it when it was gone. What she would miss was the concept of home. It would be the second time one had been taken from her in her young life. She had watched Sweet Apple Acres overrun by their ashen foes, breathing black death upon her livelihood and shattering her life like it was naught but a fragmented mirror. She had been run out of Ponyville by a foe she couldn’t comprehend, and watched all of Equestria consumed under the encroaching shadows. And she would have to walk away from here too; ponykind’s last beacon of survival and endurance. Tomorrow she would watch it fade into the distance. Part of her was grateful to be rid of it… all the pain, all the suffering, all the madness and death… Yet another part of her, however, felt like she was betraying those she had come to know, care for and protect. It felt vaguely like she was running. Applejack had never considered the Crystal Empire anything but a place to live, yet never had she felt such a strong urge to protect her adopted home. She had been heartbroken, watching her native lands swept aside, but she had always been a pony to know where she was needed. Her ponies here needed her, not only for her ability to feed them, nourish their young, and rebuild their demolished homes, but for her willingness to fight for them… for that special trait that all the Elements carried. She was a light in a world devoid of it. She was a symbol – an icon. Never before would she have thought of such immense things being heaped upon her. She had always been a farmpony, and deep in her heart, that core value still rang true. She was a mare of the common ponyfolk, taught to give of herself and to raise up others. It had never occurred to her that she could be lifted so high up in turn. And now she had to leave it all behind. Her green eyes glimpsed across the dark to a picture frame sitting on the nightstand. She reached over and twisted the lamp, illuminating the faces of her family. She wasn’t sure why, but she unclasped the back end and retrieved the old photo, still glossy even after all these years. She could barely remember those days of her youth anymore. The bright and happy photo centered on her with her brand new cutie mark, standing alongside her proud grandmother and brother, and infant sister, like a raindrop of color in gray-choked desert. She ran her hoof over its smooth surface, wishing it were only that easy to reach out and touch them again. “Would you be proud of me for what I’m doin’, Granny…?” she choked. A small tap came at her door, and Applejack quickly gulped down the sore in her throat, sniffed back the tears, and turned to the door. “Y-yes?” “I remember you showing me that picture,” a soft voice came from her open doorway. Rainbow Dash’s silhouette stepped in out of the foreboding shadows, a solemn smile on her face. “Feels like it's been forever since I’ve seen it.” Applejack said nothing and lay the photo out before her. Rainbow circled the bed and curled up behind her. Her soft wing and body heat were welcome relief to her frozen nerves. She hadn't even realized until that point she'd been shivering for quite some time. “That looks like it was just a couple weeks before I met you. Right?” Her friend peered closer. “You hadn’t grown into your hat yet.” Applejack nodded. Rainbow smiled and reached for the picture, brushing it with the tip of her hoof. “Granny Smith sure didn't look like she'd changed all that much since the last time I saw her.” “Age got more to her head than anything,” Applejack muttered, continuing to stare at the picture. “She did get a little more kooky as she got older.” The pegasus smirked. “Had to finally start calling me her little zap apple 'cause she kept forgetting my name all the time.” Applejack smiled. “'Rainbow Smashed.'” She shook her head. “I thought I’d never stop laughin’.” “In my defense, it was really, really good cider.” “I still don’t know how you kept gettin’ into the cellar all the time.” “Seriously, AJ. You didn’t think you could keep me away from a batch of Sweet Apple Acres’ winter brew, did you?” Rainbow winked. “I guess not.” The duo chuckled. The farmpony's smile faded slightly. “She missed ya for a long time after you stopped comin' around so much.” Rainbow frowned and hid her face in Applejack's mane. “Well... yeah... but, a mare's gotta put food on the table and pay the bills, right?” She nodded. “I know...” She looked back and locked her friend's magenta eyes with her green ones. “She still liked havin' you around, though. To her, it was like you were a piece of the pie or somethin'.” She lay down and sighed. “You really were her little zap apple.” The pegasus shrugged. “I came around as much as I could...” Applejack nodded. “I know.” “You know I loved Granny...” She nodded. “I know.” She reached up and ruffled her friend's mane with a warm smile. “And she loved you.” Rainbow bit her lip and grinned. “And her apple fritters.” Applejack grinned back. “Fresh-baked apple pie, straight from the oven.” “Strudels for breakfast?” “Remember apple mousse for dessert?” “Frickin' cinnamon apple fries on Hearth's Warming Eve!” Rainbow squee'd. Applejack sighed happily. “And hot apple cider to go with it.” Rainbow's expression mellowed. “Storytime by the fireplace... big blue fluffy blanket to keep us kids warm... Granny in her rocker…” “Openin' presents the next mornin'...” Her friend gulped and folded her legs. “I kept that first present you guys made for me...” Applejack looked at her. “Which one was that?” Rainbow sniffed, rubbing her nose. “That necklace with you guys’ apples on it... and mine...” Applejack reached up and held her friend's hoof. “I never really had all that much of a family until I met you guys…” “Nopony blames you for not bein’ there, Rainbow…” She frowned. “There weren’t nothin’ you coulda done even if you were.” “That’s not true, and you know it...” Rainbow choked, burying her head in Applejack’s chest. “I could’ve done something. I could have saved your family… I could have saved Rarity and… and F-Fluttershy…” she whimpered. Applejack rolled over and wrapped her hooves around the pegasus, gingerly stroking her multihued mane. “And left me all by my lonesome…?” Rainbow sniffed and looked at her. She nuzzled the pegasus’s chest comfortingly. “You’re the only reason I’m alive right now, darlin’... or don’tcha remember?” Her friend’s eyes twitched as she looked away. Applejack wordlessly continued to brush her hoof through her friend’s short hair. Gradually, Rainbow’s sniffs ceased. “We’re gonna make sure it never happens again,” the pegasus said firmly, her brow wrinkled in determination in spite of the tears Applejack felt sliding down her coat. “I hope you’re right, darlin’…” She sat up and hugged her friend close. “It’s gonna be okay,” she whispered, squeezing her friend against her. “I know it will…” Applejack’s mind wandered to thoughts of Rainbow trudging back to her room in her scared and hesitant state. She couldn’t help but wonder how many tears her friend had left unshed over the years, leaving them to fester like a wound in the deepest pits of her soul. Just how many did she have left to cry? As her friend got up, giving the photo one last glance, Applejack sat upright. “Rainbow?” The pegasus paused at the door and looked at her. “Ummm… ain’t no sense in tryin’ to get sleep when it ain’t comin’, wouldn’t you say?” Rainbow wiped her eyes. “Whaddya say to a little walk?” She smiled. “For old time’s sake.” The pegasus’s tired eyes lit up as a smile again spread to the corners of her cheeks. “Sure… I’d like that, AJ.” * * * There was movement in the shadows as a figure broke from an alleyway’s cover, darting from one to the next. The starless, moonless night aided in concealing his cloaked form from the night watch. He skirred behind slit-eyed sarosians patrolling the streets, and skirted around the light-exuding crystal ponies and unicorn guards, bolting towards one of the city walls. The figure bolted up another alley and skidded to a panicked stop after knocking into a group of trash barrels. He caught one in his hooves and a second with his horn. The third spilled noisily, sending the lid and refuse flying everywhere. The figure froze, listening for the noise of approaching hooves. He waited. Hearing nothing stirring in the night around, the cloaked figure righted the overturned barrel and turned– –and spotted a curious resident. The unicorn’s horn glowed a soft bronze color, illuminating a small area as he peered out the door of his crystalline house. His eyes darted to the mess left behind on the ground, then back up to the cloaked figure. The two shared a tense pause. “Umm… excuse me. Y-you know that it’s after curfew, right?” he asked nervously, taking a step out of the threshold. The makeshift knife was in his jugular the next moment and the bystander’s silver eyes widened. A wet, gurgling noise escaped his throat, and black liquid splattered in a streak along the ground. He was silenced the next moment when he hit the wall of his house back-first, plowed into by the shadowy figure. A white light engulfed the crude blade and dislodged it bloodily from the unicorn, before sliding it fluidly across the surface of his neck. The unicorn twitched, coughed, and struggled only briefly. Then he moved no more. The white aura flicked the blade, splattering the unicorn’s blood on the ground, and the shadow sheathed the jagged piece of metal back into his cloak. A sound caught his ear and he turned, ears twitching The sounds of alerted guards approached, and the figure moved swiftly back into the darkness of the alley. He ducked down a perpendicular crossway and sprinted. The voices and hoofsteps grew closer by the moment. “We’ve got a body here!” “There! That way! The hoofsteps lead this way!” “I want a closed four block radius! Get more guards down here! The rest of you, with me!” He looked down at his bloody hooves and cursed his carelessness. The figure darted right and charged along the city walls. Sliding to a stop, his horn lit up and he reached  out with his mind, grasping a hidden panel with his concentration and shoving it aside. Carefully leaping into the blackness underneath the city walls, he levitated the secret panel back into place and waited. He leaned his ear against the panel. A series of thunderous hooves approached, and he winced, waiting for the inevitable. The charging figures came to a stop on the other side of the wall shard. “The tracks disappear here,” he heard a gruff voice say. The figure stepped away from the stone shard and flinched. “Alright gentlecolts, it looks like we have a teleporter on our hooves,” the muffled voice said. “Have the wall guards sound a general alarm.” The rest of the conversation was lost to the figure as he stepped further into the wall. Navigating a narrow maze of eroded stones and caverns, he wormed his way back out into the relative light of the featureless night, and hugged the wall before slipping into a shallow stream flowing southwards from the city. It was three miles before he felt safe enough to step out of the stale black water. The journey was a familiar one by that point, but it felt more treacherous every time he took it. He threw a glimpse backwards towards the Empire and the gleaming central spire of the Crystal Palace. Shaking himself out, the shadow trotted up the incline of a nearby hill and hid on the shadowed side before collapsing with a heavy breath. He didn’t have time for rest. A set of powerful, heavy hooves thundered against the ground, startling him into standing. He nearly lost his balance and went for a tumble down the hill. Catching himself against a crystal protruding from the ground, he levitated the metal shard out of his cloak and sent it flashing across the thin stream of light. All was still for a moment. “You’ve kept me waiting,” a powerful voice boomed, flicking the makeshift knife out into the night. The figure prostrated itself beneath the immense shadow. Tangible darkness rolled off of her form and weighed him down, holding him prone through fear. “A t-thousand apologies…” the doomsayer muttered, pulling back the hood of his cloak. “There was an… incident, milady.” The darkness seethed, driving icy needles into his nerves. “Were you seen?” He shook his head. “Only by a dead pony.” She growled angrily, causing the black mists swirling around her form to condense into patches of frost on his coat, and he shivered all the more violently. “Need I remind you what is at stake for you, slave?” He pressed his head against the dirt, clenching his eyes closed. “N-no…” A pair of raven wings spread threateningly above him like those of a fallen angel, casting a shadow over the darkness of night itself. “Then you would do well to remember that you are only useful to me so long as you remain uncaptured,” she snarled. “Explain yourself…” Slowly, he raised his eyes from the ground, peering up at the darkened monarch.  “I… I…” A pause. “It is as I thought,” she sneered, inky eyes narrowing. “You merely lack the courage to–” “Th-the Elements of Harmony, milady!” he blurted. She twitched, eyes narrowing and consuming what light remained into them as though they were black holes. “Go on…” “Th-they… I did as you asked,” he wept, burying his face into his hooves. “The citizens… they heeded my words… they were convinced the end approached. Hope lay dying within them,” he sniffed. “But they…” The figure pulled back the hood on her cloak. A multihued black-and-gray mane rolled off her head. Celestia’s eyes glared towards the city. “P-please milady… I…” “It was nothing you could help, knave,” she snorted. “Your words hold no sway more powerful than those of the Elements of Harmony…” She turned back to stare daggers into his soul. “But in spite of your limitations, you will continue to serve.” The crier bit his lip. “But, your highness,” he stammered, “what can I do? So long as the Elements yet live, hope will not die for the survivors.” “Leave the Elements to me,” she said, voice softening. “Your concerns are not mine. So long as you do as I command, you will have nothing to fear.” Turning back towards the void of shadows in the fields farther from the city, Celestia took a step away. “Return to your citizens, slave. Continue to serve as you have.” He gulped, bravely pushing himself up a few inches into a crouch. “M-milady… f-forgive my impudence…” She paused and glared at him again. He swallowed. “M-my… f-family…” Celestia snorted, eyes narrowing dangerously and sending a shiver through his spine. “Safe,” she said simply. Normally, the Princess’s stare was enough to fold anypony’s knees. The doomsayer stood resolutely, however. “M-may I please s-see them, milady?” he sniffed. His eyes shimmered in the faint light of the Crystal Palace’s beacon of light. “It has been months since–” Celestia began to turn to face him, and he fell silent. Her heavy hooffalls approached, and the doomsayer fell to his knees again, expecting a fierce lashing. It never came. Instead, the pitter-patter of several hoofsteps against the ground approached from the fields. Cracking one eye open, his heart soared when a malnourished, pale-coated mare and a young filly unicorn were marched in chains up to the top of the hill. The mare’s deadened eyes lit up, her horn sparkling. “Chanter!” she shouted tearfully, taking several steps before the chains went taught. “Thistle Blossom!” he exclaimed elatedly. “Daddy!” the pair’s filly squealed. She ran out from between her mother’s legs, charging across the blackened ground. The doomsayer nearly burst into tears, scooping his weeping daughter up into his forehooves. He pressed his lips to her stunted horn, and ran a hoof through her matted mane. The clanging of metallic chains were followed by the soft hoofbeats of his wife being released from her bindings. Husband and wife crashed together, embracing fiercely, followed by shows of affection. For an instant, the war, the death, the cold, the pain, the world, none of it mattered. All he had that mattered was in his embrace, so warm, so loving, so soft and comfortable. “I am a merciful ruler…” Celestia’s voice hissed, driving a burning-cold prying rod into the moment. Chanter’s eyes widened, realizing the Princess was still present. He turned to face her, clutching his family protectively. “I have kept my word, as you can see…” she said, locking eyes with him. The alicorn’s eyes pierced the trio like javelins made of the purest void. “So long as you keep your own, so long it shall continue…” He looked at his wife and foal, then at all the guards encircling them, staring at them with dull, lifeless eyes. The doomsayer looked up.  “You… you will keep them safe?” he asked, the tears beginning again. Celestia’s cold eyes softened. “Have you given me any reason to go back on my word all these years, knave?” she purred, like a panther contemplating tearing out his throat. She took a step forward, and the three ponies shrank. Her cold breath left an icy glaze across their coats, and the young foal began to cry. “Have you?” she asked. Chanter paused, remaining silent. He shook his head tearfully. “I have been faithful to my promise, as you can see,” she breathed. “Serve me unquestioningly, and you shall drift eternally in the sheltered harbors of my graces.” She paused. “Disappoint me, however…” Her voice trailed off, her speech taken up by her calculating glare as it traced slowly to the right, looking over the fearful mare and the screaming foal. “I will serve!” he said shakily, receiving Celestia’s stare again. He released his family and bowed. “Please, milady… I will serve.” “Then what reason have I to go back on our deal?” she said, her voice strangely soothing. He looked up with wet eyes and darted forward, snatching the monarch’s forehoof in his grip and pressing his lips gratefully to her armored limb. “My princess, your mercies truly know no bounds…” he whimpered. After a moment, the Princess reclaimed her hoof. “Then we are finished here.” She turned to her guard captain and nodded. Chanter’s heart twisted as he watched his wife returned to her chains and pulled away. He reclaimed her for one last kiss before she was led back into the shadows, whimpering. Looking down to his crying daughter, he stroked his hoof comfortingly through her short mane and kissed her once more. Gradually, her crying ceased, and she looked up to her father with frightened eyes. Chanter smiled and leaned in, giving her a soft, reassuring nuzzle, before setting her on the ground again. She sniffled and turned hesitantly to trot after her mother. A guard prodded her, and the two were gone once again out of his life. The crier bit his lip and sobbed into his hoof before a powerful limb landed atop his withers. Celestia glared at him. “Return to your task, slave,” she growled. “The dawnlight hours approach, and I will have need for you again…” Narrowing her eyes at him, she let a puff of cold breath out over his muzzle. “Be mindful of what you stand to lose.” Then, with a sudden spread of her wings, Celestia took to the black skies and was gone. Chanter stared after her as long as his vision would allow, before he pulled the hood of his cloak back over his head. Shivering in the cold, he started back towards the city, keeping to the darkness just as before. * * * Applejack gripped the last strap of her saddlebags in her teeth and pulled, tightening her luggage about her torso. Looking around the room, she bit at the edge of her lip and couldn’t help the twisting sensation in her gut as she looked at her all-too-small, all-too-plain, all-too-familiar living quarters. She stroked her hoof over the comforter, neatly tucked in just as it had been every morning. She had been a creature of habit, after all, and some never left her. Never again would she make this bed, she realized. It was such a little thing, yet something about missing the familiarity and the habit struck her in a painful way. She looked to the twilit window and strode over to the barricaded glass, pressing her nose against the cold surface. Her breath fogged the glass as she stared over the view that she had come to know over the past several years. All the death, devastation, depression and destruction... she wouldn’t miss it. The pale, ghostly light of the palace spire was just as cruel a reminder as it was a merciful beacon, and she frankly was ready for the darkness. She was decided. No, she wouldn’t miss this place... Yet there was a finality to knowing that it would be the last time she would call this place home. She’d known it before then. Only now was it finally beginning to sink in. It was like civilization… like her life was ending. It was like she was taking her last, desperate breaths before she was pulled under, into the depths of the eternal ocean of death. Perhaps it was true. Applejack couldn’t be sure. It had grown hard to feel anything but the same nagging numbness over the years. Sighing, the earth pony looked over to her bedside table and reached for her hat. She slipped the picture of her family into the inner lining before plopping it onto her head. Adjusting it slightly, she looked one last time at the window, tipped her stetson in a mournful salute, and turned away. Applejack shuffled to the foot of her bed and sat on it, careful not to wrinkle it. “Sure hope somepony can get some use outta ya…” she muttered to her inanimate friend, patting the mattress. She waited. She considered a nap, though even without sleep the previous evening and the stroll around the city with Rainbow, she didn’t feel fatigued. Perhaps it was adrenaline, or perhaps she had become accustomed to living without sleep. She closed her eyes, but she found no rest or solace in sightlessness. Finally, a knock came at her door, and she opened her eyes to Rainbow nudging into the room, outfitted in her combat gear. “Ready?” Rainbow asked. Applejack rose wordlessly and trotted over by the door. She shuffled her four legs into a group of upright gauntlets. The retracted blades glinted against the faint light of Rainbow’s aurastone. Giving her hooves a twist left then right, she experimentally extended and retracted the blades on the front of her forelegs, then again on the rear of her back legs. After a few more quick checks she breathed, satisfied that all was in order. “No,” she droned, striding stiffly towards the door regardless. Rainbow blocked her exit with a hoof, giving her an unsure look. The earth pony’s eyes stared back blankly. “It’s the right thing to do…” she assured her. “Then why doesn’t it feel that way?” The pegasus frowned. Applejack looked up at Rainbow, expression numb. “We’re in this together to the end, Rainbow…” she said softly. “You and me… we’re either gonna win this thing together somehow, or we’re gonna die together out there…” She stood upright. “There ain’t no in-between. Right?” Rainbow nodded softly. “Right.” “We’re all we got left…” Her friend reached up, and Applejack blinked in surprise, nearly forgetting what a brohoof felt like. “Yeah...” she said with a nod. “So don’t go dying on me.” She grinned. “You know I can’t stand to lose.” She sucked in a breath. “So we’re really doin’ this?” Rainbow smiled. “Hay yeah, we are. Better than waiting around here to just rot in our skin while Sombra’s goons think about growing a spine, right?” She didn’t know why she did, but Applejack snorted a laugh. “Guess bein’ bored to death is the worst way to go.” “Then let’s get moving,” the pegasus said, turning back to the door. “I dunno about you, but I can feel my blood stopping from all the nothing that’s going on here. Let’s go put some distance between us and this place.” Chuckling, Applejack motioned to the door. “Lead the way, pardner.” The two left their home behind. Neither bothered locking it; as far as they were concerned, what little remained in it was free game for any who wanted it. Hoof traffic was light throughout the city at such an early hour. A few homeless squabbled over some scraps of food as per the usual, and a few early-risers as well as some guards nodded at them appreciatively. “Look, mommy!” Applejack glimpsed to her left as the pair walked. A young colt shook at his malnourished mother laying across a park bench. “Mommy! It’s the Elements of Harmony!” he said excitedly. “Everything’s gonna be okay now!” The young colt’s mother shivered feverishly but still managed a small smile as the duo passed. She quickly broke eye-contact before she could be lured in by the ailing mare’s pained expression. Applejack pulled her cloak down over her withers and lowered her hat over her eyes. More adoring whispers sounded around them, and she bit her lip. “The Elements of Harmony…” “Are they really going to be fighting today?” “They can do it, right? They can still save us, can’t they?” “But what about all the other Elements? What about Princess Twilight? She was one of them, wasn’t she?” A rainbow of colors flashed across the earth pony’s vision, and it was only then when she found the tip of Rainbow’s tail in her mouth that she realized she had slowed down to listen. So badly had she wanted to step aside and offer them her meaningless words of encouragement. “Keep walking,” Rainbow said firmly. Applejack instinctively clutched her friend’s tail in her teeth. Never would she have thought she’d need it for herself as opposed to reining in the daredevil pegasus. More words of adulation reached her ears, but still she soldiered on. The pair reached the steps of the palace and were greeted by the princess’s personal cadre of troops. Salutes were exchanged, and the field marshal stepped forward. “Commander Dash, Master Sergeant Applejack,” he said respectfully, holding his salute in spite of outranking them by several orders of magnitude. “Her Highness, Princess Cadance, asked me to personally escort you to her chambers.” Nodding, Rainbow glimpsed sidelong at Applejack who nodded in turn. The pair were led inside, past the makeshift morgue, past the halls of screaming and dying patients, and past the throne room itself into the deepest depths of the central palace. The door to Cadance’s quarters was marked by a fractured crown emblem. “We must excuse ourselves,” the general officer said. “We’re expected at the command center within the hour.” “Thanks guys,” Rainbow said with a nod. Without hesitation, she knocked twice and pushed on the door to the royal bedchambers. Applejack had expected a bedroom with every luxury known to ponykind decking out the interior. What she saw instead was the evidence of many past fights between the two lovers who occupied the room under normal circumstances. Cracked floors from stomped hooves and a broken mirror were among the most notable marks on the room. “Shake and bake, ladies!” Rainbow said boisterously. Several officers turned to face her, and Cadance peered around the crowd gathered about her. She donned a tired smile and stepped forward, embracing them. “Glad to see some ponies got some sleep last night…” “Sleep?” Applejack smirked. “I’ve almost forgotten what that was.” “Yes, well…” Cadance never bothered completing her sentence before her eyes were drawn to the far side of the room. “Shiny?” The large, white stallion looked up from the table he gazed intently at. Without any words, he sighed and lead the group past the remaining doors until they arrived at the chambers of the royal couple. After they closed the door, Shining Armor went to a frame where it showed the garden party after he and Cadance got married, with all their family and friends there. He pushed it aside and a click was heard. Both ponies looked at the bed and saw it move to the side, revealing a hatch beneath. Applejack looked at Shining Armor who stared back at them with regret, but also understanding. Applejack nodded in respect. Words weren’t needed at this point. They knew what had to be done. “I wish there were more time for goodbyes…” he said solemnly. “Don’t bother,” Rainbow said with a sad smile and a shrug. “We don’t have a good track record with ‘em anyway…” “No, I guess you wouldn’t,” he said understandingly, stony eyes softening. His eyes turned to look at Applejack. She couldn’t keep her eyes locked with his. The guilt had grown too heavy. “I don’t have the words…” he continued. She could hear the tears in his voice. “I just don’t know how I could say thank you enough in the time we have left.” A great sigh heaved from his powerful chest. “We should have set some time aside for this…” “No thank-yous needed, big guy,” Rainbow said. “We’d do it all again if we had to.” Shining Armor smiled. “That’s the thing about you guys…” He chuckled. “I just don’t get what keeps you two going. Some days even I wonder why I bother anymore. But you two? You just keep that hope alive somehow…” Applejack looked up. “Sure beats the alternative.” “Well… I guess we’ll all find out soon enough, won’t we?” the prince said, levitating his helmet back onto his head. For a split second, Applejack wanted to hold the whole thing off. To grab a weapon and fight alongside Shining Armor for maybe the last time. To not abandon those who had depended on them until the end. But then she remembered the faith that Twilight had put in them to find her clues and save their world. And she would not disrespect her deceased friend now by running from her duty. “Don’t die, Shining Armor,” muttered Applejack as she turned to Cadance and bowed. “You too, Princess.” “Only if you don’t die on us either,” whispered Shining Armor as he saluted them. “Good luck. Whatever happens, it was an honor knowing you. If we don’t all make it out of this mess... then see you on the other side.” Both Rainbow and Applejack saluted the prince and his wife. Rainbow Dash was about to head towards the stairs before she turned to Cadance and said, “What are you guys gonna do without us?” Cadance smiled. “We have a back-up plan. We were going to wait until all six were finished but we’ll have to use the three we have for now.” Applejack was struck curious by what the princess meant, but she knew time was becoming a luxury. Turning to follow her friend, she looked at the foreboding gate blocking the stairs. One more adventure. Might be the last we ever have… With one final breath of Crystal Empire air, Applejack steeled herself, and the heavy doors were levitated open before them. There was no going back now. “Well… no point in draggin’ it out anymore, I guess…” she muttered. “HOLD UP!” she heard behind her, and whipped her head around at the sudden intrusion. Rainbow gaped. “Goldy?!” The tan-coated mare, still wrapped in bandages from head to hoof, hobbled into the room, shoving the royal bedchamber doors wide open. The scowl she held on her face could have melted steel, yet her limp was as pitiful as the first steps of a newborn foal. “What’s the meaning of this?!” Cadance demanded as a series of nurses rushed in on the unicorn’s tail. “F-forgive us your highness!” the lead nurse said nervously. “We begged her to stay in bed, but–” “Goldy, what the hay are you doing?” Shining Armor barked, eyes narrowing angrily in the filly’s direction. “The doctors told you that you weren’t supposed to move for another three weeks–” “All due respect sir?” the unicorn said, staring at her prince with hollow eyes, “Buck you.” Every jaw in the room dropped. Golden Scabbard, realizing her error, blushed softly and limped towards the center of the room. “So, you two were just gonna leave without saying goodbye?” Rainbow and Applejack looked at one another and frowned. “We wanted to, Goldy. But…” The earth pony bit her lip. “We’ve said enough goodbyes over the years,” Rainbow finished for her. “We don’t want you to be another one…” “That’s a hay of a thing to say,” the guard captain said, resting her weight on the crutch beneath her foreleg. “Last two friends I got in the whole world, and you two won’t even spare the time for me.” “Don’t be like that, Goldy. You know this is just as hard for us…” Rainbow said softly. “All I know is that the world could end in the next couple days, and all I got to show for it is a couple Elements of Harmony who are supposed to symbolize friendship. And apparently it doesn’t mean a damn thing to either one of ‘em.” Neither mare responded. An uncomfortable silence settled over the room as nurses, royalty, and military commanders looked uneasily between one another. Golden Scabbard sighed. “Well… I guess it’s a good thing I’m always there to clean up you guys’ screw-ups, right?” Applejack let out a tearful chuckle while Rainbow smiled on their behalf. “Just… just remember,” Goldy choked, swallowing the lump in her throat. She breathed, trying to steady herself, but it was clear to the farmpony that she was having just as hard a time with goodbyes as they were in spite of her brave face. The guard captain straightened again and forced a growl. “Dammit, just remember that… that I won’t be there to bail your tails outta the fire when you do this time…” Rainbow nodded, biting her lower lip. Applejack could see she was trying her stalwart best to keep her tears from rolling. “You give yourself too much credit, girl.” As she stepped forward to embrace the wounded mare, Applejack couldn’t help her own emotion. She squeezed Goldy, knowing it could very well be for the last time. Rainbow seemed no less distressed, resting her chin atop their friend’s back. “Oh, come on,” Goldy choked softly. “What, did you guys rub against a maple tree or somethin’? I didn’t ask for your sap...” Despite her meager protests however, Applejack felt their affection reciprocated. She couldn’t count the seconds or minutes the three of them held the hug, but the silence was broken by Goldy’s quivering voice. “I wish I could go with you…” She whimpered. “I wish I could just see home one more time…” Wiping a tear from her eye, the farmpony pulled back. “Hey, c’mon now,” she said, patting her friend’s chest. “Have a little faith, sugarcube.” “Yeah, if anypony’s got the awesomeness qualifications to win this war, it’s me and AJ.” Rainbow threw her hoof around Goldy’s withers and squeezed her softly. “Then, when we win, you can see home all ya want.” Goldy smiled tearfully and wiped a hoof across her face. “Yeah…” She sniffled. “Still, wouldn’t hurt to have me along, would it?” “Well, somepony’s gotta keep the awesome-quota here too,” the pegasus replied with a wink. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Commander Blowhard…” The trio shared a nervous laughter. Goldy was the first to regain her composure. “You two take good care of each other out there…” “Well, I’ve been doin’ it since we were little fillies,” Applejack said with a smirk, elbowing Rainbow in the ribs. “She never woulda got this far without me.” Rainbow blinked and opened her mouth to argue. She was interrupted by the distant bass trumpet of a faraway horn. Shining Armor jerked his head up and nodded to his staff. He turned to the duo and stepped forward, eyes softening. “That’s our cue…” Cadance was upon them the next moment, suffocating them in a tight embrace. “We can never honor you two enough for all that you’ve done for us…” the Princess wept. “Be careful… both of you.” Rainbow smiled. “There’ll be time for careful when all this is done with…” She turned to look at Applejack. “Let’s do this…” Giving one last nod and a bow to the Princess of Love, Applejack turned to the spiralling staircase, lit only by the ghostly blue flames of a series of torches. She couldn’t even see the bottom of the abyssal cavern. She swallowed nervously, unable to help the thoughts of fatal falls or bone-breaking trips. “Here goes nothin’...” she murmured. And into the darkness, the pair descended.