Quiet, heaving sobs wracked Twilight’s body as she laid in the dirt, face buried between her forelegs. Tears soaked her cheeks and turned the dust under her snout to mud.
“I did it,” she gasped to herself. “It’s over. It’s over.”
She was finding it to difficult to qualify why she was crying. Part of her rationalized that it was simply a stress release; after so much buildup and agonizing, the relief at finally completing her task was simply too overwhelming. That made sense, and she was inclined to believe in it.
There was another part, small and nagging, that told her otherwise. Planting the seeds was a mistake. She had just destroyed the catalyst of friendship for several poor ponies who didn’t understand any better. Illusory happiness or not, they’d never forgive her for this. Gone forever was any sliver of hope for that joyful acceptance they’d been so willing to give.
But wasn’t that what she wanted? Friendship and Harmony was a lie, an artificial construct of control that would eventually end in nothing but pain and misery. Better to cut those ties off as soon as possible, or avoid them completely.
Twilight had done that. She’d severed the ties of Friendship, rejected the allure of Harmony, and ensured the continued reign of Discord’s glorious Chaos for her generation and a thousand generations to follow.
So why did she feel so awful?
She indulged the tears for a few more moments before forcing herself to push down the emotion in her chest. She’d have time to agonize over whatever it was later. Right now, she had to get out of this castle. With a shuddering sigh, she wiped her tears and got to her hooves.
A quick glance confirmed The Seeds of Discord were scattered haphazardly on the dirt and rock around the tree. Surprisingly, they appeared inert; Twilight had expected them to dig themselves into the ground and immediately begin growing black tendrils or something, but that obviously wasn’t the case.
She shrugged to herself and prepared to leave, making sure her saddlebag was closed and secure. She left the burlap sack where she’d thrown it, hovering above the cave floor. Now, just to get back up to the surface through the dungeons and into the forest…
Twilight froze as the realization hit her. The burlap sack was not resting on the dirt. Rather, it was suspended about a hoof-height from the surface.
She stared at the floating bag for a moment, looked at her hooves, then kicked a tiny dust plume just to make sure they were definitely touching the ground.
The nervous feeling was back in her stomach again. She knelt down low and looked parallel to the cave floor, then finally saw it: Neither the bag nor the seeds were in contact with the surface. There was a shimmer of sorts, like a pane of glass, but so faint she could barely make it out.
Something was protecting the Tree of Harmony, and Twilight had the feeling she knew exactly what it was.
With a crushing sense of dread, she slowly looked back, then gasped in horror as her worst fears were confirmed.
The Night-Mare was standing directly behind her.
Even in the most vivid of dreams, there is still an underlying sense of unreality. Faces aren’t always clear, ponies don’t always move or talk correctly, clocks never show the same time if looked at twice. It may feel real when it’s happening, but it’s never quite right.
In this case, it was most definitely not a dream. Twilight could see every exact detail, from the arcane runes engraved on the Night-Mare’s battle armor, to the distant constellations and galaxies in her flowing, ethereal mane. She was tall and elegant, nearly twice the height of a normal pony. Her coat was dark royal blue, fading to haunches black as ink that were marked with a brilliant crescent moon. But it was her eyes that were the most compelling; deep as the night sky, with turquoise irises and the shimmering highlights of a thousand distant stars.
Eyes that were filled with cold fury, and fixed directly on Twilight Sparkle.
It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity of terror before the towering alicorn spoke.
“What is thy name?”
Twilight cried out. The voice in her dream had not done justice to the roaring torrent of power assaulting her ears. She cowered and held her hooves to her throbbing skull.
“Thy name, little one, what may it be?” The Night-Mare stepped forward, her thunderous voice matched only by the heavy thump of her armored hooves.
Her voice barely above a whimper, Twilight tried to form words. “I… I’m…”
“Thy name, Child of Discord! Speak, ‘ere we pry it from thee by force.”
“Tw-Twilight! My name is Twilight Sparkle!” The tiny unicorn tried to shout but could barely squeak out the words for terror.
A royal nod of approval. “Very well. And what, prithee, is thy purpose here at the Great Tree?”
A fresh clutch of terror gripped Twilight’s heart. It was not the primal fear of destruction, but rather the fear of a guilty child, about to be punished by an adult.
“I… I was…” she stammered. “...studying, trying to learn…”
“Lie not, foal.” The Night-Mare’s eyes flashed, and the very ground shook under them. “Know that asking is but mere courtesy; tempt not the limits of our patience.”
Shrinking even further into herself, Twilight knew her next words might be her undoing. Her mind raced; the Night-Mare was waiting expectantly, and probably wouldn’t do so for very long.
A lie would only prolong the inevitable, perhaps excruciatingly so. As cowardly as it seemed, her allegiance to Discord was simply not worth the prospect of being tortured or having her mind invaded. Besides, as Applejack once said, “honesty is the best policy.” The words gave Twilight something approaching a semblance of hope that at least the Night-Mare might be merciful if she told the truth.
She got her hooves under her, tried to blink back the fresh tears of panic already spilling down her cheeks, and took a deep breath.
“I was sent… by Emperor Discord,” she said, voice shaking. “He instructed me to come here and plant Seeds of Discord around the Tree of Harmony, to… to destroy its power.”
The Night-Mare frowned. She looked past Twilight, then a magical glow flared around her horn.
Twilight winced, but she didn’t feel her throat being crushed, or her coat bursting into flame. After a moment, she saw the small burlap sack and the seeds float past her to hover between the two mares.
The Night-Mare seemed to study the seeds and the bag. She turned them over and over, brow furrowing occasionally. Twilight noted the seeds' didn’t darken or cloud the Night-Mare’s telekinetic magic, as they had her own.
Finally, after several excruciating minutes, the seeds were roughly placed in their enchanted sack, and the drawstring pulled tight. The Night-Mare sighed to herself. “Foalish child...” She looked down at Twilight again, expression partially hidden by her war-helm, but her eyes seemed torn between rage and pity. “Wouldst thou destroy not only thyself but all of us?”
“W-what?” Twilight stammered, still a little amazed, but gaining a little confidence since she had not been summarily destroyed. “I don’t understand…”
“Forsooth, perhaps ‘tis well. Beyond the minds of most, these things are,” the Night-Mare said. “And now for thee, Twilight Sparkle.”
A chill of apprehension ran down Twilight’s spine. “What about me?”
“Thine allegiance to Discord hast been shown by words and actions.” The Night-Mare’s voice didn’t sound particularly merciful; rather, it was a tone of finality. “By admission, thou art complicit in conspiracy to destroy Harmony and the land of Equestria. Thy punishment shall be meted in accordance with thy crimes.”
“Wait, no!” Twilight gasped. This was all happening too fast for her to comprehend it fully, but she knew it wasn’t good. Was she about to be incinerated? Turned to stone? Banished to an unknown realm? “Please, I haven’t hurt anything! The Tree is fine! I’ll leave and never tell anyone about it!”
The Night-Mare was dispassionately silent. Twilight looked around in a panic. There were no side passages, no convenient hiding places. The alicorn stood between her and the only way to freedom, and Twilight could not possibly hope to dodge around.
Adrenaline and panic rose up, blinding and choking. Logic and reason were useless, the option of flight had been removed from her. In a desperate bid for survival, her mind latched onto one last hope, even if it was madness.
Twilight was a cornered animal, and all she could think to do was fight.
Rearing back on her hind legs, she summoned all her force of will and concentration. The magic welled in her, surging through her body and channelling down into her horn. She gritted her teeth, stomped back down on the cave floor, and let fly with the most powerful beam of pure chaotic energy she could generate.
A brilliant plaid and technicolor flash filled the room, accompanied by a loud SNAP as the beam split the air, randomizing the very molecules in its path.
All her energy spent, eyes squeezed shut against the pounding throb in her forehead, Twilight stood panting for a moment. Either it worked or it hadn’t, but she hardly dared to look...
After a moment Twilight opened her eyes. The Night-Mare was standing, intact and unchanged, except for a tiny polka-dotted lizard crawling across her muzzle. She laughed dryly.
“A worthy attempt, little unicorn. We are impressed,” she brushed the lizard away with her hoof, “but it shall not save thee from our judgement.”
“How ‘bout this, then!”
The Night-Mare’s head jerked as a third voice joined the conversation, then she grunted as something landed on her back. An orange blur bounded high, arced downward, and a familiar earth pony landed squarely in front of Twilight.
“...A-applejack?” she sputtered, “what are you -”
Without responding, Applejack lowered her head and raised her haunches. Twilight felt a shockwave of earth magic, strong enough to blow dirt from around Applejack’s front hooves, as her powerful rear legs simultaneously bucked high, directly into the Night-Mare’s chin.
The blow landed with a sickening thud, and the alicorn stumbled back with a sharp cry. The bag of seeds fell to the ground as the levitation spell faltered, and there was a sudden shift, a vacuum in the ambient magic, as if air had been rapidly let out of a balloon.
Twilight stood, jaw agape, until Applejack’s voice roused her.
“C’mon Twilight, let’s GO!”
Shaking off her stupor, Twilight snatched up the bag of seeds in her magic, and followed Applejack past the stunned Night-Mare into the cave tunnels. The pair galloped as fast as their hooves would carry them, but it was only a few moments before they heard an angry cry and the thunder of hooves. The tunnel was too small to fly in, but the Night-Mare’s strides were long.
Twilight’s lungs were already burning, and she cursed herself yet again for not taking the time to exercise as often as she should. There was no escape, they would just die tired. The monster would catch them, and-
“In here!” Applejack cried out, skidding to her left and jumping through a hole in the cave wall.
Twilight didn’t think, she just turned and barreled full-tilt into the hole behind Applejack. They collided with a thud, and she nearly yelped in surprise, but a quick foreleg against her muzzle cut the sound short in her throat.
Barely a moment later, there was a thunderous blur past the little hole. Twilight’s heart stopped as she imagined the Night-Mare realizing she’d been duped and stopping to search the side passages, but the pounding hooves receded into the distant tunnels.
After a few minutes when the Night-Mare did not return, both ponies breathed sighs of relief. Twilight’s heart finally started beating again as she caught her breath. “Applejack, you… you saved me!”
“Don’t go thankin’ me,” Applejack said curtly. “We still ain’t outta these woods. Now keep quiet, give us some light, and follow me.”
Tucking the recovered seeds into her saddlebags, Twilight obliged gratefully with a light spell as Applejack led them deeper into the side passage away from the main tunnels. For a while, she followed quietly, but after several twists and turns with no discernible pattern, she began to get a little worried.
“Applejack,” she whispered. “Where are we going?”
“Gettin’ out,” Applejack responded. “These here caves have entrances all over the place, not just at the castle. Course you gotta know ‘em or you’ll get lost forever. I searched for gems in here with Rarity, so I kinda remember the general way ‘round.”
“That makes sense,” Twilight said, keeping her light spell focused ahead to illuminate the tunnel. “By the way, how did you know I was down here?”
“I followed you,” Applejack said simply. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to face Twilight. “What I’m more curious about is why you’re down here.”
Twilight’s ears flattened back. “How much did you hear?” she asked hesitantly.
“I heard enough. What I want now is to hear it from you.”
There was a long moment of silence as Twilight’s brain worked. She’d pretty much summed up everything to the Night-Mare, but she couldn’t be sure how much of that Applejack had actually heard. She might have been right there the entire time, or she might have gotten there at the last possible moment. “Well, what do you want to know?” she hedged.
“I just want the truth, Twilight. Right now, all of us ‘cept Rainbow and Pinkie know you’re in town. We just don’t know why.”
The words were sincere enough, although there was a definite edge on them. Still, Twilight was worried about Applejack’s reaction to “the truth.” She might accept it gracefully, or the hot-tempered earth pony might make a certain purple unicorn the next target of her powerful, steel-shod hooves.
After a moment, she sighed in resignation. No sense hiding it anymore. “I came here on Emperor Discord’s orders. He wanted me to destroy the Tree of Harmony in the cavern back there.”
“Why would he want that?”
“Because friendship is created and driven from the magic of Harmony,” Twilight explained, “and both are a threat. They need to be purged to avoid corrupting Discordia.”
Applejack visibly bristled. “Just like in your letters, huh? ‘Cease and desist the practice of friendship,’ I think you said.”
“Exactly!” Twilight exclaimed fervently. It was a long shot, but she might have a chance to finally convince somepony that what she was doing was right. “Don’t you see? It’s the Tree, it always has been. It’s been poisoning your mind with the lies of Harmony, and blinding you to the wonders of Chaos.”
Twilight could see Applejack’s jaw tightening, but she pressed on. “In reality, it’s all a lie. Friendships are temporary and always end in pain. Harmony will eventually decay into Chaos anyway, unless it’s subjected to harsh control. A thousand years ago, ponies rejected the dictatorship of the Sky Mares to be free of that control.
“And now today, we have such wonderful opportunities! Every day, every moment is new; pain and happiness are known in full measure so we can better appreciate both; nopony can maintain rule over another or raise themselves above; all are equal in anarchy, none are exalted.
“But the Tree of Harmony has been corrupting that. It’s been spreading the lies of friendship, and all of us have been caught in it. That’s why it needs to be destroyed, so it can no longer deceive us.”
As Twilight paused to catch her breath, she briefly considered that her zeal might have overstepped the bounds of good judgment; Applejack’s face was locked in an expression of tranquil fury.
“That there’s a mighty interestin’ perspective, Twilight,” Applejack said slowly, “considerin’ you seemed pretty warm to the idea of friendship for a while.”
“But it wasn’t real,” Twilight continued, despite reservations. “It was the Tree of Harmony, trying to convince us that friendship and order is better than Chaos. If you could just open your mind and understand...”
“Understand?!” Applejack’s voice brimmed with barely contained anger. “What I understand is that Chaos does nothin’ ‘cept make my life miserable!”
Twilight recoiled. “But-”
“Do you realize I have to practically live and work every day in the Everfree Forest to keep my farm runnin’? We provide most of the food for Ponyville, and we have to keep our output high to beat the chance of somepony’s apples goin’ random-like! That’s not even mentioning the weather, or the timberwolves an’ such. Other places don’t have it nearly as good; over in Westfoal they’re practically starvin’ to death, every day! We try to send them extra, but it don’t always make the journey.
“You ever wonder why Ponyville has more standin’ buildings an’ industry than just about anywhere else? It’s ‘cause we got organized and decided we were tired of livin’ in holes in the ground, eatin’ whatever happens to show up. We’ve gots ponies who work round-the-clock keepin’ stuff repaired, and everypony has plans and replacements for everythin’. We gotta work ourselves to the bone just to keep ahead of Chaos.
“An’ the only thing that’s ever made it worthwhile was having ponies who were grateful and helpful back. Even before Zecora showed up and taught us ‘bout friendship, we at least had that. Now, not everypony’s quite kind to the ideas of friendship, so it’s been slow to spread, but those five mares have made my life more bearable than any of your platitudes ‘bout livin’ in the moment.”
Applejack stepped closer to the stunned Twilight Sparkle, until their snouts were nearly touching.
“Now, I don’t know for sure what’s goin’ on in this here castle, but somethin’ woke up that Night-Mare. An’ you know what? I’m glad she’s awake. I hope she flies right down to Discord’s castle, and turns him into stone!”
Suddenly looking tired, Applejack stepped away and sat on her haunches. “But I wouldn’t ‘spect you to understand any of that, bein’ the ‘Emperor’s Personal Student’ an’ all.”
There was a long stretch of silence while Twilight tried to find the words to respond. Applejack made valid points, most of which Twilight already knew about, but they were understood consequences of Chaos. Ponies lived, ponies died, buildings rose and fell, possessions were gained and lost. It was that simple. Whether random happenstance or otherwise, it was simply a fact of life regardless of the why.
She was also very tired herself, not only physically but mentally. The last couple days had been extremely stressful, and she didn’t have the willpower or desire to point out the obvious flaws in Applejack’s worldview. Instead, she settled on asking a simple question that had started bothering her several minutes ago.
“Applejack…” she said slowly. “If you really feel that way, then why did you save me? Surely it would have been easier to just let the Night-Mare...” She trailed off, unsure herself of her intended fate.
Applejack’s shoulders slumped and she was quiet for a moment before responding. “I really don’t know. I s’pose if anythin’, it’s ‘cause I couldn’t live with myself otherwise. You were my friend once, and Rainbow Dash taught me to never leave a friend behind.”
There was a subtle pulse of magic in the air, and Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat.
Applejack blinked in surprise and shook one of her hooves. “You felt that, right?”
Twilight nodded. “It’s the Tree of Harmony,” she said. “I think it grows when there’s an expression of friendship nearby.”
“Ain’t that ironic.” Applejack chuckled to herself and stood back up. “Well, we better get movin’ if we wanna get out of these caves anytime soon.”
The two ponies continued on, and Twilight was left alone with her thoughts for a moment. She understood what Applejack was saying; a life of chaos was difficult. It was full of ups and downs, with no way to tell what would happen next. But didn’t that make living it more rewarding?
Now, watching the mare walking in front of her, Twilight wasn’t so sure anymore. She seemed driven by something besides just living moment-to-moment, and it was difficult to pin down exactly what.
“Applejack, can I ask you another question?”
“Sure thing.” Applejack didn’t turn around to reply.
“You said only the gratitude of other ponies makes all your work worthwhile, but there seems to be more to it than that. What drives you to work so hard when everything is so transient?”
A quiet scoff. “Why you wanna know, Twilight? Feelin’ the magic of friendship again?”
“No,” Twilight answered, trying to be sincere. “I’m really curious, because it just doesn’t make sense to me. You spend almost all your time building up things that could break down or disappear at any moment. Why not just let it go and savor the moments Chaos brings, good or bad?”
Applejack’s pace slowed, and there was a moment of silence. Finally she stopped and looked back. “I suppose… I want it all to mean somethin’, y’know?”
Twilight shook her head. Applejack rolled her eyes and began walking again as she spoke.
“My feelin’s are that a pony needs purpose. Not like a purpose, like a job or a cutie mark or somethin’. I’m talkin’ ‘bout the thing that drives a pony. My talent is growin’ apples, but that’s not a purpose, it’s just what I’m good at.
“I don’t wake up every day, and I think ‘gee, I sure wanna work the farm today!’ Shoot, sometimes that’s the last thing on my mind. It’s hard work, it hurts, and takes forever when we can’t get some hired ponies from town to help us.
“When I wake up, I think about what I can accomplish that day. If it’s haulin’ a dozen extra bushels to Westfoal, or just givin’ one apple and two bits worth of honest advice to somepony, then I can sleep easy knowin’ at least I did somethin’, ‘stead of just lettin’ it happen.”
Applejack stopped and turned to face Twilight.
“What I’m tryin’ to say is, life ain’t just about experiences. Sure, you can just let Chaos happen to you, an’ some of it might be enjoyable, but even the nicest things ain’t satisfyin’ if’n you don’t work for ‘em.”
After pondering for a moment, Twilight nodded. “I suppose I can see how you feel that way, then.”
Applejack opened her mouth to respond, then paused. She sniffed. “Hey, you smell that?”
A quick inhale revealed that something was now different in the air, but Twilight couldn’t put a hoof on the scent. “What is it?”
“Fresh air,” Applejack said. “Just a whiff. It’s comin’ from that side tunnel up ahead, means we’re almost out.”
“Thank Discord,” Twilight grumbled, “my horn is starting to hurt.”
“Well, we ain’t home free just yet,” Applejack reminded her. “We still gotta get through the forest, an’ like a filly I left my lantern harness at the stairs ‘cause it was too unbalanced.”
They kept following the tunnel, and it wasn’t long before something else besides the fresh air became apparent. Twilight first noticed it when the walls ahead of them began becoming visible before her light spell reached them. “Applejack, is that…?”
“Yup. Either we’re both seein’ things, or that’s daylight up ahead.”
It was very quickly becoming easy to see, and Twilight ceased the magical illumination. She pondered to herself what could possibly be going on. The sun hadn’t been out in over a day. Had something changed? Or was it some sort of artificial light or spell shining into the tunnel?
For better or worse, she was about to find out. After only a few more paces, they turned a corner and suddenly found themselves at the exit of the tunnel system. Eyes suddenly watering, Twilight blinked against the painful brightness.
It wasn’t a fluke or a fake; a quick glance revealed that the sun was indeed high in the sky, directly overhead. Her eyes adjusted quickly, although her tear ducts continued to gush annoyingly against the light. The sun wasn’t only up, it seemed exceptionally bright, nearly white instead of the familiar yellow hue it usually wore.
Twilight could see they had exited the cave system in a small, shallow canyon she hadn’t been in before. The spires of the old castle were visible behind them, over the steep canyon wall. It looked much closer than she would have estimated, considering how far it seemed they’d walked.
Applejack was looking around in confusion. “Well, I guess we weren’t seein’ things. Why do you reckon the sun’s finally out?”
“I don’t know.” Twilight shook her head. “It could have all simply been a random chance of Chaos, but that doesn’t seem right… I think... perhaps the Night-Mare was controlling the sky, keeping it dark. When you bucked her, it probably broke her concentration and ruined the spell. The only other possibility…” She trailed off, not wanting to speak too soon.
The other possibility was one she didn’t even want to consider. It was improbable, a wild guess, but not without precedent. It was also even more frightening than everything they’d experienced thus far.
“What’s the other possibility?” Applejack’s voice was apprehensive.
“The only other thing I can think of… is that the Day-Mare is awake and has taken control of the sky.”
Applejack gulped. Both ponies glanced around in fear, as if their words would summon the terrifying alicorn princesses to swoop in and destroy them.
“So what do we do now?”
“We could try and see inside the castle, maybe confirm if the Day-Mare’s awake, but I don’t know what good that would do and we might get caught.” Twilight rubbed her aching eyes. “But, we should get our rumps back to Ponyville; I have to send a letter to the Emperor and warn him.”
“Send a letter? Why in tarnation should I let you do that?” Applejack’s voice suddenly took on a very serious tone.
Twilight looked up in surprise and saw Applejack staring at her with a dangerous look. “B-because,” she stammered, realizing she had made another error. “Nopony knows what the Sky-Mares are capable of; he’s the only one strong enough to stand against them. They could be plotting now to take over!”
Moving slightly to block the way out of the canyon, Applejack kept her eyes locked on Twilight. “An’ that’s a bad thing?”
“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed, starting to feel the nervous pit in her stomach returning. “They might overthrow Discord and destroy the magic of Chaos; they could enslave the entire land under their dictatorship for a thousand generations!”
“I dunno,” Applejack said, as she settled into a defensive posture. “I might be scared of ‘em, but anythin’ sounds pretty darn appealin’ to me after a lifetime under the claws of our glorious Emperor.”
Twilight’s breath was beginning to come in short gasps as she considered the possibility that it might take more than words to convince Applejack. Although she knew some magic that could be used offensively or defensively, violence was not her forte by any means.
A quick probe revealed they were outside the primary sphere of influence from the Tree of Harmony, and the control magic from earlier was nowhere to be felt. At very least, her chaos magic might work mostly as expected this time, but the whole magical atmosphere felt drained, and she’d drawn a lot of her own trying to cast that useless spell against the Night-Mare. Without much ambient magic she might not have enough herself to use in combat.
“Applejack,” she said, beginning to circle around and get an angle on the canyon entrance. “You need to let me send word to Discord. This is bigger than our petty desires; we’re talking about a war between gods here.”
“Is that s’pposed to scare me, Twilight?” Applejack moved to block her path. “Shoot, at this point I’m practically cheerin’ in the stands.”
“And what about our world?” Twilight replied, circling the other direction. “You’ve heard the legends just like I have; mountains leveled, lakes sucked dry, forests incinerated, entire towns blinked out of existence, untold thousands of miles devastated by the clash between Discord and the Sky-Mares.”
Applejack blocked again, and Twilight furrowed her brow. “Do you really want that? Do you want your fellow ponies, your friends, your family caught in that crossfire?”
She saw Applejack’s resolve falter, just momentarily, then recover.
“Well, I don’t reckon how your plan’s any better, Twilight. Seems to me, neither of us can stop them, so what’s the difference?”
“If I can warn Discord,” Twilight said, trying to keep her breathing under control, “he can catch the Sky-Mares by surprise. They might not be fully recovered from being imprisoned in stone. He might be able to stop the battle before it begins, but If we give them time to rally and plan, then there won’t be any stopping them, and thousands will die before it’s done.”
The words were having an effect. Applejack was bull-headed and hot-tempered, but she was also soft. Friendship had made her soft. She couldn’t stomach the thought of thousands losing their lives as mere collateral damage in a bloody, violent coup. The earth pony broke eye contact and bit her lip with indecision.
Twilight wasn’t actually thinking about the lives at stake; Chaos, with the help of Harmony’s betrayal, had finally made her hard, and her pleas were really just a smokescreen. Applejack was right, there really was no way to stop it; the terrible battle would happen, one way or another. Whether at the Capitol, here at the old castle, or somewhere in between, it was going to happen.
She didn’t relish the thought of so much death; it just wasn’t something she could worry about at the moment. There were bigger concerns. The only thing that mattered was getting the warning to Discord. If the battle was inevitable, at least the Emperor could have it on his own terms. He might catch the Sky-Mares unaware or unprepared, and the tide would shift. Ponyville would likely be obliterated, maybe the entire Everfree Forest, but it was a small price to pay to prevent the return of Harmony.
“Just let me go, Applejack,” Twilight pleaded, taking another few steps forward. “Let me try to stop this before it even starts. It’s the only way.”
Applejack’s face revealed her battling emotions as Twilight drew closer. She was conflicted, torn between her ideals for a land free from Chaos, and the holocaust that would accompany such an upheaval.
Twilight pressed the advantage. She didn’t trust her magic just yet, so she needed another plan. A few steps forward… Applejack was so close to giving in, and if she didn’t… “Please Applejack, help me save our empire.”
Suddenly, Applejack’s face set. A switch clicked inside her brain, and she looked up to face Twilight again. “No. It ain’t our empire. Not anymore. It’s yours, and I’ll be bucked if’n I’m gonna-”
It was too late. Twilight made her move. Applejack yelled as a plume of dirt hit her in the face, and Twilight charged toward the gap at the end of the canyon. She only needed a few-
The shoulder-check hit like a cart full of bricks, and Twilight felt something crack. The impact flung her two lengths sideways into the rocks of the canyon wall. Her ribs made a crunching noise against the rock, and she slumped into the dirt.
She gasped for air, breath knocked out of her by the force of the blow. Sweet air filled her lungs... and then she screamed as a shooting pain tore through her side. She didn't know exactly what was broken, it hurt infinitely worse than she could have imagined.
Vision blurry with pain, Twilight looked up just in time to see an orange blur leaping toward her.
The first hoof landed on her shoulder. It was a blind, sloppy hit, but the hoof stayed there and held her down.
A second steel horseshoe slammed into her cheek like a sledgehammer and snapped her head into the canyon wall. Twilight’s vision went swimmy and dim as her brain seemed to disconnect from reality.
This is how I’m going to die, she thought dispassionately as a third blow struck her, making the world shake. Applejack’s going to beat me to death in this little canyon, Discord will never get my warning letter, and the Sky-Mares will win.
Oddly, the thought didn’t concern her anymore. She was past concern now. The pain had faded to a dull roar. Another blow landed somewhere in the distance, but it barely registered. All she felt was a vague kind of coldness seeping in from her extremities, as her vision fell from dim, to black.
“What the hay?”
Stumbling backward onto her haunches, Applejack blinked to try and clear her scratchy, watering eyes. Her brain was foggy; the last thing she remembered was dirt hitting her face, but everything else was a blur.
She shook her head, wiped the muddy tears off her eyelashes. The adrenaline-induced rage was fading now, her senses returning. Her ears stopped ringing, and her vision finally cleared enough to see ahead.
Twilight Sparkle was lying slumped against the canyon wall, motionless. A bruise on her side was spreading under her coat. There were shallow gashes on her face; some were very small, old and re-opened, but others were fresh, large and ugly. A small dark pool was seeping into the dirt around her mouth.
Applejack stared, jaw agape. Her clouded brain tried to make sense of it as the memories filtered in. Her eyes were blinded with dirt, but she'd heard a pony beginning to gallop past. Without thinking, she'd called on the earth magic she knew so well, and hurled herself toward the sound of hooves with all the strength she could muster. And then-
She looked down; her fetlocks, forehooves, and steel shoes were stained dark red.
“No…” She began hyperventilating. How many punches had she thrown? Four, five, maybe more? She couldn’t remember.
A sudden wave of nausea swept over her, and she fought the urge to vomit; it wouldn’t help to give in to hysterics now. “Keep it together, AJ,” she said to herself. Swallowing the nausea, she stood up and slowly walked over to the still body.
“Twilight?” she said hesitantly, then nudged gently with her hoof. “Twilight, wake up…”
No response. Twilight’s head flopped limply to one side with the nudging, and Applejack jumped back. Was that normal? It looked too loose, but Applejack couldn’t tell for sure. She was a farm pony, not a doctor; her medical knowledge was limited at best.
“Oh no…” The panic was creeping in again, and Applejack was starting to crack. What had she done? What should she do now? Was she a murderer? What would her friends think? Her family?
The thoughts came unbidden. One after another, swirling like angry bees. There were no answers, no respite, no justification. She was scared and confused, a filly in the woods with a hurt playmate, and with no other options, she did what any filly would.
She began to scream for help.