//------------------------------//
// Chapter XV 
// Story: Journey to the center of Equestria 
// by Rarity Belle 
//------------------------------//

With the words of Applejack still ringing inside of her mind, the doctor herself did became stiff in her own chair. Each one of those words managed to hit her like a sledgehammer against the walls of stone. She was a pegasus, a being of pride and Applejack had done the one thing that would be breaking any pegasus. She hadn’t just touched upon her pride, but she had shattered it. Or at least tried to do so.

That one question, the question of where her sense of duty laid, was something that the mare had never expected to come out of the admiral. She hadn’t expected to run in her again for a second time. Not after she had declined the offer to begin with. The doctor remained frozen in her chair while the quill calmly dropped down to the desk, dripping its ink upon the piece of paper.

Those piercing and determined green rimmed eyes of the admiral never took themselves away from the mare. She wanted to have an answer and would be getting it out of her in one way or the other. Whether Fluttershy herself would have liked it or not. Neither mare made a single move with their bodies as their eyes did the entire conversation between them.

The silence in which the pair of them sat was uncomfortable, tense and highly flammable. One wrong thing and the dangerous cocktail of mixed emotions would explode, resulting in the two mares fighting with either words or hands.

“Ah want mah answer, now,” hissed Applejack through her teeth in a dead serious tone. She really wanted to know what held Fluttershy back the way it was done. Yet there was a secret to everypony. Some were willing to share it as others wanted to keep it hidden until the end of their time. Fluttershy, was a bit of a special case in and of herself.

The mare knew that she was cornered by the admiral. That there wasn’t any right or wrong answer upon the question that was being asked either. But which answer she would decide to give, would bring trouble for either of them. That was the part where the moral debate was raging on like nothing that had ever been seen before.

Deep inside of Fluttershy’s mind did all of the possible outcomes of their conversation came by. All while one was even more bleak than the next. It terrified the good doctor down to her very soul. She wanted to stand up and scream against the admiral that she had no business with her anymore. But on the other she wanted to agree with her. The odds were continuously weighed against one another. Something that only added more to the stress that the pegasus.

“Ah don’t have the whole day here, Flutters. Yar gonna tell me, now. Where, lies, your, sense, of, duty?!” Applejack exclaimed in a tone as she almost yelled to the mare. A mare who in response managed to thaw herself out of the ice she was worked in.

Finally did Fluttershy have the ability to do what she wanted with her body again. The very first thing that she did was standing up and looked the admiral straight in the eyes for a couple of seconds. Deep and loud exhales were given by the mare as she made it known to her adversary that she really didn’t enjoy the way their conversation was going.

Yet instead of hitting her with anything, the pegasus just turned her attention away from the earth anthrony and walked over to a series of windows that looked over the plains of grass. Her hands were placed behind her back. Then the longest and deepest exhale had been released by the doctor. One filled with both doubt and fear.

Doubt of what she had to do, while the fear was of the unknown. Unknown were the facts to her, facts of how each of the anthronies would react to her decision. Whatever her decision might have been.

“So that’s how yar gonna handle it? Walk away the way you just did? Like pretty much every other thing?!” Applejack yelled to her. Then she slammed her fist into the desk in frustration. The desires to just punch the pegasus right back to earth were there without a doubt. Though hurting the doctor like that would only end up in an dishonorable discharge for her.

That was about the last thing that she wanted to have happen to herself. No, the game had to be played mentally while keeping her hands at bay. Something that Applejack wasn’t really all that good in, but she had to try it. Their team needed a doctor of any kind, and she stood against one of the best in the business.

“Ah ain’t gonna tolerate ya with anything else anymore if ya decide to stay. Ah want mah answer on the question asked. Fair and square. What ya decide to do afterwards is yar own business. But know Ah won’t be tolerating you like the physician ya claim to be,” the admiral growled to her. The chair was rolled back by her and took place into it.

Though her words did have some impact on Fluttershy. She did turn herself around and rested her body against the windowsill as her arms went cross over each other. “Oh look at you, missy all-grown-up! For the love of the clouds themselves, listen to yourself for a change!” the doctor exclaimed when she had gathered her guts to speak against the admiral.

“You are nothing but a big meanie who only looks after herself. You say you joined them for her protection, but I don’t believe it for a second. There’s something else in it for you. Something not even you fully know yet,” added Fluttershy before she quickly turned herself back around. The quick and short inhales were enough for Applejack to realize that the pegasus was nearing the edge of crying. It was obvious to see within the eyes of the other mare.

Emotionally weak and quickly taken away by anything that involved nature, that was the best description given for the pegasus. It was something that didn’t suit Applejack one bit. The words the doctor spoke against her were harmful for certain. Yet they would be nothing by what the admiral had planned next. It was even cruel in her own mind. But it were desperate times.

Desperate times always ask for desperate measures. So with a gentle exhale from herself did Applejack leave her spot again and she turned Fluttershy her back. Her eyes were facing the dossiers cabinets with the pictures hung above them. A turn and twist came to her own heart as she was actually doubting whether or not she would spill the words that were on her mind.

At one end she found it was time that the truth needed to be told, on the other end, it would be truly devastating for the pegasus. But it could be giving that little push she needed in order to get her to join their quest. If Applejack knew one thing, it was just doing that.

“Ya know. There’s one little thing that had been bugging mah mind ever since ah first came here. Something unusual ‘bout you, Flutters.” Applejack closed her eyes before the dry throat made another swallow. It was then or never, she had to speak the words for not only her best will, but all of their. The difficult to ignite flame had been sparked long enough. The time was there to turn the tinder into a flame.

"Ah don’t believe ya can heal any kind of wound, without ever seen any form of combat,” the admiral commented in a confident and almost hateful sounding tone. But the underlying one was filled with nothing but doubt and pain of her own. She could then only await whatever reply Fluttershy would be giving to the matter. Patience was required to play the game full.

The pegasus herself released a sniffle of sadness while she caught the words but there was also something else inside of her. Something that caused her to look up a bit strange towards the window. For her eyes looked right into a reflection of themselves and they even managed to catch Applejack in it.

The teeth were being gritted together when she allowed a quiet growl to be released from her throat. Nopony would be talking about her word like that. And Applejack would be feeling the full fury of the pegasi her own words. With one turn was her body going around and she faced the admiral once again. Her pink hair waving in the wind as if it was dancing. But the steps that the hooves made were everything but pleasant.

Once the pegasus had reached the desk, she smashed both of her hands into it before the words of hatred were being released. No sadness could be found within her tone, only pure and flaming anger. “Now you listen to me, and you listen very careful, missy admiral. I can heal any kind of wound there is out there with the snip of a finger. I know how to heal them, but I also know how to cause them!”

“Ya wouldn’t,” replied Applejack to her. Yet out of curiosity had she turned her body back around to look at the pegasus. Her arms went over each other while the stern looking eyes met the enraged pair. Two mares that held powers in their own and equal rights were clashing up against one another. Nothing good has ever come out of that and their argument wouldn’t be any different. “Ya wouldn’t even be able to hurt another anthrony, even if ya wanted.”

The eyes of Fluttershy narrowed themselves while she reached for something inside one of the drawers of her desk. “Don’t tempt the doctor,” she spoke to the admiral. Fluttershy had taken out a bottle with a strange liquid inside of it. The bottle itself bore the skull and crossbone mark which meant that it was a dangerous substance of some sort.

Applejack looked at the bottle and tried to identify exactly what it was where she was looking at. But nothing in her mind could even come close to the thing that Fluttershy had in her hand. “So, yar gonna blow us and probably half of this place up, like that?” she then asked. The initial thought that she had was that it was nitroglycerin.

“Hmhmhmh, oh Applejack. Always a bit naïve, aren’t you? No, this is a little bottle of cyanide. You know what this does, right? It can kill you instantly. So think again when you come barging in and threatening me!” the pegasus yelled up to her. She waved the bottle around as if she were drunk.

Whether the pegasus was bluffing or not was unknown to the admiral. All she knew was that she had to take the situation calmly from that moment onwards. If it was actual cyanide that was in that bottle, they could both be dead before they knew it. It meant that the mare had to change her entire plan of action and reaction. Which did help Fluttershy in perhaps more ways than one.

“Well if ya just told me where yar sense of duty laid, we wouldn’t have been here now!” the earth anthrony then replied in a bit of a raised voice of her own. It was just enough to make it noticeable, which it did beautifully. The eyes of Fluttershy were narrowed once again when she released a deep huff through her nose.

It was only after the huff that she even attempted to speak any sort of words. Words that possibly could be answering the question of the admiral. But perhaps not in the manner that she would have liked. “My sense of duty lies with the anthronies in this hospital. Not by the pair of you. If that’s going to cause the end of the world, so it be. But I know I will at least die, doing what I always have done.”

“And ya can prevent it all from happening if ya come along!” Applejack then exclaimed as she took a hold of the other side of the desk. Once again were their eyes locked in a deep stare. One that once again led the conversation. Argument to join and to decline all went across their rims as the both of them stood firm to their believes.

How much more was required to get Fluttershy crazy enough that she would be joining them? Applejack could only think of one last thing that she could try. A strange and downright crazy accusation of complete and utter madness that she couldn’t build up with much prove. Yet it was worth a shot in her mind. Only time would knew which one of the mares was right.

“Ya say ya know how to treat every kind of wound in anthrony. That makes ya very skilled, but also incredibly old. Judging yar looks, ya ain’t even forty. So how can a landlubber like yarself know all of that, eh? Unless of course, yah made a deal with the devil. Ain’t that yar secret?”

Even Applejack thought that she would have gone too far with her words because she basically accused Fluttershy to have made a deal with one of the Dark Witches of Everfree. Or perhaps even Nightmare Moon herself.

The words were more than enough to make the pegasus gasp for air. Her wings sprung open to both sides. Never in her life had she even could have expected such an accusation to come her way. The only way that she then saw to get out of the trouble was to do the unthinkable for her. Yet she was blinded by her own madness and rage. The little bottle of cyanide was set down upon the desk before a fist slammed itself into the wood.

Their eyes still locked against the those of the other meant that anything could still happen. Yet there was something that not even Applejack could have expected that left the mouth of the pegasus. “Fine, you want your answer, you get your answer,” she wheezed up. Then another growl was released towards Applejack.

The amounts of anticipation that went through the earth anthrony were unknown to the pegasus. Though she felt a moment of complete and utter silence going through her body. It seemed as if time itself had slowed down to the point where seconds looked like hours. Her eyes quickly turned themselves on and off from the admiral as the thoughts raced through her.

 She had her answer ready of course. Though the underlying thoughts of it perhaps being the wrong decision still rushed through her. Yet there was no way back, not anymore. Time began to tick again in its normal speed and the words had to come out of her. So with a calm, collected and sure tone she spoke the couple of words. A series of words that she could possibly be going to regret with the rest of her life.

“I shall prove to you once and for all how wrong you are, count me in for this,” said Fluttershy. A thing that was much to the glee of Applejack. Whether it was liked or not by the pegasus, she had been bait for the admiral since their first meeting. The admiral herself was truly happy that she had gotten the answer that she wanted to hear out of the pegasus.

The wings of the mare were finally tucked back against her back again before their eyes broke the contact with each other again. Not to mention the fact that the mood also instantly lightened up to a more comfortable degree.

With Fluttershy also having joined their little company, it meant that they were consisting out of four out of the six beings. It was of course a worry that they were still two short. Yet with the massive victory that Applejack had achieved over the doctor, it wouldn’t come to her until much later.

“Doc, ya have no idea how glad Ah am to hear that. We can really use somepony like yarself on this.” Applejack then spoke up in a kind hearted tone before she stuck out her hand to shake it with one of Fluttershy. The doctor herself was a little bit hesitant by shaking it, but she eventually did it nonetheless. No words came from her as a response, a little something that the admiral could understand.

“Oh, yes, before I forget again. We also managed to get major Rainbow Dash of the C.A.F. for this. Might be doing some good for yar feelings.” Those words were actually quite unexpected to have come out of the admiral’s mouth and Fluttershy could hear the difficulty that Applejack had to say them. Normally the air force and the navy would be at each other’s throats. Yet now they would be working together.

Stranger and stranger had the case become in the eyes of the pegasus. But on the other end she was also a little bit relieved. With the knowledge known to her that another pegasus would be joining them, there was the little feeling of the major being able to stand with her. It was something that a lot of pegasi did for each other, they would be standing together and tall when they were together.

There where both the earth anthronies and the unicorns had to be drummed together in order to fight a common enemy, the pegasi did it automatically. Nopony could truly explain of how and why it came to be that way, but it just was part of their nature. Perhaps the ability to fly and control the weather forced them to become a true unified team that over the centuries only became stronger in bounds? It was one of the many miracles their land was rich.

Nopony knew the answers and nopony wanted to know it either. It was a it was and that was the way it was supposed to be lived with. Something a lot actually agreed with. Yet Fluttershy’s hopes were high but she knew they could just as easily be shattered again. Perhaps her hopes were too highly placed in the other pegasus.

She didn’t knew, she honestly didn’t knew. Though the thought of one other pegasi in the group comforted her. Even if she had no idea that she and Rainbow were total different. Something the mare would discover as the time would have been there. When the need was high and the company actually needed to leave the place. Time would tell whether or not Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would be getting along with each other.


~~~~

                     
Back in the waiting room had Twilight Sparkle been sitting calm. She had never ceased to toy around with her arcane powers though. Some of the adult mares and stallions shrugged it off. Others shunned it off while most of the fillies and colts were actually amazed by her little tricks.

It was almost as if a magician was playing for them. Tricks with disappearing arcane birds in a hat, to that same hat turning into a bird of its own. Magnificent was the words that would come to mind by Applejack as she watched over the little plays. She had returned from the office with good news. Though didn’t wanted to disturb the peace and calm that Twilight was in. Not to mention the younger anthronies. It wasn’t her place to go down and wreck the party.

But Twilight took of course notice of the mare that leaned against the entrance. Her eyes were begging if she could continue just a little bit more to wrap the show up and her audience could leave in peace. Applejack simply gave a nod in response before she continued watching as to what magical trick would be pulled off then.

Minutes went by before the show was finally over and the fillies and colts all let out a sad sounding ‘aw’ before they either returned to their parents or seat. Only once they were all gone stood Twilight up again and began to calmly make her way over to the admiral. Who in her eyes seemed to have been oddly happy about a little something. The unicorn couldn’t quite place her hand on the matter, thought she was having an idea or two.

“I do suppose that your little talk with her went, well?” the unicorn asked once they had cleared the waiting area. The two of them were walking towards the entrance of the place. It was a carefully asked question though. There was no indication as it when the mood of the mare would swing backwards again.

Yet the earth anthrony managed to remain happy as she nodded to the spoken words. “Our talk indeed went rather well. Ah tell ya outside though, might cause too much commotion inside,” replied Applejack then. They walked through the glass doors of the hospital.

The both of them were then finally surrounded by the fresh air of the outside world as well as its cool and warm breezes of wind. The day was just perfect in Twilight’s eyes and Applejack had a look towards the skies. Not a single cloud was carried inside of them which meant something good for the both of them.

They continued to walk away from the place for about a minute or five before the unicorn began to question herself whether or not Applejack would actually tell her what had happened. She of course didn’t want to play rude and thus waited for the mare to start about it all herself.

Which was something that was done a lot sooner than Twilight had expected. For it was only after they had walked around ten minutes that the mouth of the admiral opened up again. “Well, let’s say we finally have our doctor. She’s in for the quest.”

Those words, those very important words were said in that oddly normal tone. A tone that indicated as if it was the most normal job in the word, had the unicorn baffled. There wasn’t much more needed or her entire jaw just would have dropped itself towards the ground. All sorts of questions began to race and rush themselves through her mind. Questions on which she wanted an answer on just so badly. Yet knowing it was Applejack that she was speaking against, such a thing was perhaps easier said than done.

Nonetheless, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t try it in the very least. “H-How did you manage to, to get her crazy enough after she firmly said no the first time?” the mare asked in all of her curiosity. Twilight would lie if she said she didn’t wanted to know the finer details.

With the wind blowing against their backs and the path clearly visible before them, the two of them walked over the plains of grass that stretched themselves as far as the eyes could see. Canterlot was their heading and with luck they would be getting there the following afternoon. At least that was the plan in their minds.

Applejack just began to chuckle to herself before she calmly shook her head towards Twilight. “Twilight, take this from me, when a anthrony says no the first time, usually there’s a manner to get ‘em to join ya anyway. Ya just need to being in that extra little bit of persuasion and leverage.”

“Don’t tell me you threatened her!” Twilight exclaimed out of the blue. The mare immediately thought about the worst of the worst on the matter. Her eyes went as wide as they were allowed before they turned over to the admiral with a pleading glare in them. She could only hope that she was dead wrong.

“Ah never threatened her. If Ah did, Ah would be having all of mah officers standing ‘round mah ship and ready to discharge me like that,” she replied with a snap of her fingers. The explanation was more than enough for Twilight to understand that she didn’t threaten her, but it still made her wonder as to how she did it.

It was a wondering glare that was caught within the eyes of the admiral herself before she simply would explain what she had done. Yet the truth as she would have told it was a slight bit different from reality. “Ask her enough questions and compare the answers ya get. Then ya can judge whether or not she’s willing to go. Naval persuasion, let’s keep it on that, shall we?”

It was fine for Twilight. She wasn’t in the mood and didn’t had the desire anymore to figure out what had been done to the doctor onboard of their quest. They had a doctor and that was the thing that counted the most. They didn’t had to rely on her anymore for any of their torments or pains. Which was relief bigger than Twilight every could have thought after their discharge from the hospital.

Though there was one question that still lingered through the mind of Applejack. One question that would shock their worlds in their own manners. One question that would perhaps silence Twilight for the rest of the trip. And that question was being asked at the moment they reached the top of a hill.

A hill that looked out of the never ending planes with the mountain of Canterlot in the far distance. “Who else is required for the team? What’s our next destination?” All of the sudden it felt as if Twilight had seen a ghost floating by.

Her entire face began to turn white just before she felt her stomach turn and twist inside out. The question couldn’t have been more inappropriate when it came to timing. As for the answer, it would have been even more terrible than anything she had ever said against the admiral. For just a second could Twilight actually smell the scent of treason and mutiny that was done on so many ships. Not to mention the gunpowder that had burned away as well as the salt of the sea.

Piracy, that was the very first word that came to Twilight’s mind after the scents had faded away again. The town of pirates would have been their next heading and knowing she travelled with the admiral herself, things could turn ugly really after. Perhaps it was luck that came into play, as Applejack didn’t notice how pale Twilight had become in the span of just a couple of seconds.

The feelings of sickness also hadn’t faded away as another moral dilemma was being presented towards the soothsayer. Would she be able to tell an admiral of the royal Equestrian navy that they would be going down to the most pirate infested town of the land, in the hope to ransack one of them? Of course not.

All kinds of possible scenarios went through the mind of the mare as to how Applejack would be reacting to the matter. Everything from taking it in calmly to tackling her against the ground and setting a blade to her gullet came by. It wasn’t something that she actually preferred happening to her at all. A shudder came through her body as she had fallen behind just that little bit.

A deep exhale then left through her nostrils as she dared to speak the words that were on her mind. “I, I’ll be having to look up where the next location is. I can’t tell you for certain right now,” excused Twilight. Her eyes went up to the grassy fields that had the sun shining bright across them.

It was an answer that satisfied the admiral. It meant to her that they had to go back to Canterlot either way. The two had been through so much together already. It was only the beginning of the trip that was going to be undertaken though. “Something Ah can understand. Just gimme a holler whenever yar ready to head out again. Although, if ya don’t mind me asking, you planned something else in Canterlot?”

“Hm? W-What?” Twilight reacted a bit shocked. She hadn’t thought about that answer and didn’t understand Applejack’s question at all. Perhaps the mare was just that little bit too far off in her own mind, perhaps she just didn’t wanted to know what was being asked to her.

“Ya plan on visiting family as well?” Applejack then asked. It was in the hope that it would clear things out for the unicorn. Which it luckily did. Those words could be understood by her pretty easily. There was a silent sigh of relief that came from Twilight’s direction before the thoughts continued to race through her mind again.

“Well, I suppose that you can say that I might look up my brother. Perhaps even my parents. They do live just outside of the castle. But what about you?” said Twilight the hope that she could be turning the attention back to the admiral. Even though it didn’t truly interest her what she would be up to, it was always better than talking about what she would be doing.

The admiral released a chuckle when her hands were placed upon her back and she leaned just that bit forward in the wind. “Well, Ah think Ah’m going to look how mah ship has been doing since mah departure. Not to mention, how mah own brother has been doing. And who knows, if there’s time, make a quick stop at the family farm, for ol’ time’s sake.”

The idea sounded wonderful to listen to and the unicorn turned to visualize the farm of her family. Yet none of her vision could have ever even compared themselves to the reality of the place. Though she had to admit one thing to the earth anthrony. “That does sound like a wonderful thing yes. You, still having family on the farm, I presume?”

“Hehe, oh yes. Ol’ granny Smith and mah little sister Apple Bloom guard the place now,” the admiral replied in a gentle chuckle. The thing that immediately stood out in Twilight’s mind was the lack of the word ‘parents’. She didn’t knew what had happened to them, but if even Applejack didn’t name them, there was only the worst possible thing that could have been thought about.

All of the sudden did the mare felt sorry that she had asked the question. Yet the admiral didn’t seemed to have any troubles with it. Who knew how long it had been since her parents had left her life. Perhaps she had never even known them. So many more questions were opened up, but most of them would never receive an actual answer.

So the subject had to be changed once more, hopefully into something a bit more friendly. “Your sister is going to keep the farm, I take it. Since you and your brother are both in the navy and all,” said Twilight while she hoped it wouldn’t have fallen into the wrong gullet.

The admiral just gave her a chuckle before she shook her head. “She’s gonna keep the farm and when Mac and Ah are too old for this, we return to the only true home we had ever known. Probably go in her service though. Bells of the future, Twilight. First things first.”

Those words couldn’t have been more true. First things first, Twilight repeated in her head before her eyes were shut down for just a moment, first be needing to get rid of you and then make my way to that cursed town. It were dark thoughts without a doubt. But in Twilight’s mind it really would have been for the better if Applejack just didn’t went along. That she didn’t even knew where she would be doing.

But a thing like that was more often than not a whole lot easier said than actually done.