It was now morning in Ponyville, and all six friends were back into the basement of the library, where the portals that had each of their pictures were still on the wall. Twilight Sparkle smiled and looked at Applejack and Rarity. The three of them were the only ones left to enter the portals, and find how the elements of harmony were trying to change events, either those that had happened, or were yet to happen if not prevented.
There was an uneasy silence. Nopony was particularly eager to see what would await them on the other side of the portals holding their own pictures, even if Fluttershy’s seemed mostly harmless. Rainbow Dash herself, as they recalled, had been sent to the future, then a week later had encountered a Pinkie Pie who had travelled back from a different future. But as they had learnt the day before, not all the portals would always lead into events that had yet to take place.
“Ah’ll do it.” Applejack said, a tone of determination in her voice. She walked up to her portal, and stared at the picture of her own face. Applejack bit her lower lip, and gave a quick glance back at her friends, tapping her hat with one hoof. “See y’all soon, gals.” Then, she stepped forward before anypony could say anything.
--
The sun was low on the horizon, bathing the land in a warm orange glow. As Applejack looked around, a cool breeze blew across her body and made her shiver. Before her stood a scene of beauty, vast plains, leading to mountains with a small town near the bottom of them. She smiled, thinking that she had got a good situation to deal with.
With no one nearby to talk to, Applejack decided to head to the town, in hopes of getting something to work with. As she set off, she didn’t notice a dark blue unicorn, watching her carefully from a distance.
What she did notice was that something was very wrong with the sun. It had been bathing the ground in an orange glow earlier, and had clearly been setting, but it suddenly halted its movement for thirty seconds, and begun to climb the sky once again, backwards.
There was more as well. Beside the sun moving in strange ways, she had clearly seen the moon rise in the sky, do a few circles, before speeding, as though embarrassed at being seen doing the circles, out of sight once more below the horizon. And at first, the tremors in the ground had scared her to the point where she quickly fell to the ground and covered her head, but these had become common as her walk to the town continued, and she now hardly reacted to them. The fact the sun was not following its usual path was similar to when Discord had broken free, and it simply told her now that she was back in the same time Fluttershy had been in the day before.
Applejack stared at the town that now stood before her. It was supposed to be Canterlot, but it looked more like the Ponyville she had left behind. This Canterlot stood in the valley below the mountains that the Canterlot she remembers did.
Much to her confusion, the guard refused to let her in.
“Now why can’t ah come in?” she asked at the guard.
“Because my orders are to protect Canterlot from his followers.” the guard explained.
“But ah’m not one of his followers,” she replied. She wasn’t sure if he meant Discord, but she did know that she was follower of nopony. Except, perhaps, for Princess Celestia. “Ah know the princess. Is that good enough?” she questioned.
“Dear lady, the princess leader of the unicorns is dead. Equestria is controlled by an evil tyrant. Are you even from this land?” the guard replied.
Applejack mentally hit herself. Fluttershy had discussed this with her and the others in the library just the night before, how Canterlot once sat at the foot of the mountain it was on, how over protective three colts were of the town. Her situation made sense, she had ended up in the past just like Fluttershy had.
“Okay then, send a message to Fireshot, tell ‘im a friend of Fluttershy is here to see ‘im.” Applejack stated.
“And what exactly are you here for, besides to see Fireshot?” the guard asked.
“Ah’ll know it when Ah talk to ‘im, so just get ‘im here.” Applejack said calmly.
--
Three minutes later, Applejack was looking at the colt called Fireshot. He glared at her angrily, while beside him two guards waited ready for any sign of trouble and defend the town from it. Applejack stood still, following Fireshot with her eyes alone, as the white unicorn circled her. In one minute, he stood in front of her once again.
“What is your purpose for being here?” he questioned, his voice clearly reflecting how irritated he was.
“As ah said, ah’m a friend of Fluttershy, and ah’m here to see you.” Applejack said, starting to get irritated with having her honesty constantly challenged.
“Yes, yes, that was clear in the message. But how can I trust that you are telling me the truth, and this is not some trick by ‘him’ to get rid of myself and my friends?” Fireshot snapped, stomping a hoof on the ground.
“You want the truth? Fine. You met Fluttershy by the side of the road, brought her here for safety, and she was being watched by a blue unicorn who ran when you and Cloudswirl chased after him. From there, somepony named Sunshine Blaze arrived and told you she was from the future, and you helped her find the way back.” Applejack replied, keeping her own anger in check.
“You know,” Fireshot lowered his voice, and made it sound more menacing, “that just proves you have a good lie. Discord clearly told you all the details you would need to know.”
At this point Applejack felt like bucking Fireshot in the head. He was clearly paranoid, not trusting even the truth when told it, she shook her head, hoping that he would see reason. She cleared her throat, counted to ten, and stared at Fireshot.
“You want proof Ah know Fluttershy? She was shown Cloudswirl’s wife, named Rainflower, who was tortured. Fluttershy also told you that she and her friends had come across Discord before, and all you know is that it is in the future. That proof enough for ya?” Applejack asked, looking unimpressed.
Fireshot studied Applejack for ten seconds, and then looked away, his face clearly showing the inner turmoil. Applejack understood why he was hesitant to believe her, having met Discord, she knew that he was cunning, and able to trick anypony into believing what he wanted them to believe. She could only wait and hope that Fireshot would believe the truth.
“Alright, Applejack, what exactly do you want?” Fireshot asked, seemingly believing her.
“All ah want is to go back home, to the future.” Applejack answered.
“Fine. As much as I do not want to help you, I will lead you to the others. But be aware, if you have lied to us, you will not get away.” Fireshot stated flatly, as the way into the town was opened.
--
The house the three colts were using as a base was exactly as Fluttershy had described it, with one new addition. In the room with the table and chairs, there was now a long bench with a solid wood backboard. Upon this lay Rainflower, her husband, Cloudswirl stood protectively beside her as Fireshot brought Applejack inside. Sitting at the table was Forest Breeze, who looked over Applejack, examining her.
“This one says she knows Fluttershy. I have put wards around her to protect us in case this is not true. What do you two think?” he asked, standing some distance away from Applejack.
“Miss Fluttershy was not here long enough for us to be informed of her friend’s names. Or indeed, what kind of ponies they are.” Forest Breeze stated, his gaze never leaving Applejack.
“I do believe there is one way to know the truth. Miss Fluttershy was not even here long enough for anyone, us or someone on the side of Discord, to know what her talent was,” Cloudswirl grinned, clearly having thought of a good idea at finding out the truth,” So, miss, if you are indeed a friend of Fluttershy, what was her talent?” he asked, a smug look on his face.
“Well, her cutie mark is three butterflies, which show she’s good with animals and takin’ care of them. Her rabbit, Angel, can be a bit bothersome for her, but Ah don’t know any other pony who would even go outta their way to help a Manticore.” Applejack replied, smiling at the memory of when Fluttershy had done just that.
Rainflower stirred slightly, attempting to lift herself up. She looked into Applejack’s eyes, and studied her. After what felt like hours of uncomfortable silence to Applejack, but was in fact no more than ten seconds, Rainflower spoke.
“At the end, she recalled a memory. She saw Miss Fluttershy do exactly what she just said. This pony is not lying to us, she is no harm to anypony.”
--
Half hour had passed since Rainflower had helped Applejack, and Applejack now found herself beside Rainflower, talking to her about their respective families. Around them, Fireshot, Forest Breeze and Cloudswirl were moving items to a central location in the room. Now and then, Fireshot would stop, and look over all the items, before all three resumed their gathering.
“So, Ah don’t mean to sound rude, but, why are they sorting out belongings when Discord is about? Shouldn’t somepony be doing something about him?” Applejack asked.
“This is the stallion’s role, Applejack. Worried as we may be, we must remain not questioning the actions of stallions. Our place is to hope and wait.” Rainflower replied.
Rainflower’s reply made Applejack’s blood boil. She closed her eyes and then rolled them, reminding herself that she was back in a time when all mares were considered good for was cleaning and cooking.
“Ah think Ah should still be told, after all, Ah’ve had the misfortune of meeting Discord before.” Applejack replied.
“Indeed,” Fireshot spoke up, “it was miss Fluttershy who mentioned it before. So, I feel I can tell you, now I know you can be trusted, that we are packing supplies to take the fight to him.”
Beside her, Rainflower tensed up. She raised herself up slightly on her only remaining legs and looked at the three colts, a look of fear for them on her face.
“You are going to fight Discord? You... you can not! Did Celestia and Luna not tell you to just hold him off from Canterlot? They could return any day now, and I am sure they do not want to know you threw your own lives away pointlessly!” Rainflower said loud enough for only those in the room to hear.
Fireshot, Forest Breeze and Cloudswirl all shared a look at each other, each hoping the other would say something first. Cloudswirl was the one who walked closer to his wife, and looked into her eyes.
“If we stay and defend Canterlot, the city, and possibly, the world will end. While we understand the risk, it is one we must take. Nothing you say can make us change our minds.” he said, nuzzling her as she begun to cry.
Applejack did and said nothing as Rainflower continued to cry, as Cloudswirl walked back over to the supplies the three were gathering. Applejack sighed and stood up on all four hooves.
“When do you leave?” she asked.
“Tonight, or rather, when the moon is up once our supplies are ready.” Fireshot answered, as the sun set in under a second, the moon rapidly rising in the same space of time.
“Ah’m coming with you.” Applejack stated.
“No, you are not.” Fireshot said, not looking up as he checked on one particular rope.
“AH am coming with you.” Applejack stated again, slight anger in her voice.
Fireshot sighed. Looking at Applejack, he walked up to her, never breaking his gaze. He glared at her for a moment, before speaking again.
“Miss Applejack, you are a MARE. Understand? What we are doing, only stallions are fit and strong enough for this sort of thing. Mares, such as yourself, are only good for removing dust and cobwebs, cooking food and tending to the fillies and colts. So, to repeat myself, you are NOT coming with us.” Fireshot snapped.
“Ah AM a mare alright!” Applejack snapped back, and then she bucked him through a wall.
---
Author's notes: sorry this took so long to get out. I wasn't happy with how AJ's arc originally went, and decided to write it over. Hopefully, the next chapter wont take as long. So enjoy this chapter, and I'll be back within a week to put the next chapter up.