//------------------------------// // Revelations // Story: Inferno // by DemonBrightSpirit //------------------------------// Walking aimlessly through the halls of Ponyville’s hospital, Applejack stumbled on quite the sight. It looked like Pinkie Pie, but she wasn’t smiling. Walking in to the large room, she noticed it was filled with fillies and colts, most of them still dressed in hospital gowns. “Figures I’d run into yah in a playroom,” Applejack said as she walked up to Pinkie. Pinkie looked up from the twins, her face twitching as if trying to smile, but it never came. “Oh, hi, Applejack.” “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to catch yah before. I, uh, I heard about the Cakes.” She took off her hat, pressing it to her chest. “I’m sorry about that, Pinkie. I really am.” “Me, too.” Replacing her hat atop her head, Applejack placed a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Hey, we’re gonna make it through this. I know yah must really be hurtin’. If yah need anything, I’m right here. And you got plenty of other friends, too. Don’t forget that.” “I’m leaving,” Pinkie said bluntly, never taking her eyes off of the twins. “Mr. Cake’s brother should be here soon. They said I could go stay with them in Manehattan.” Applejack’s jaw fell open as she recoiled. “I-I, Pinkie, are yah sure yah wanna make such a brash decision? Everypony yah know is right here in Ponyville.” Throwing a foreleg over Pinkie’s withers, Applejack pressed a hoof to Pinkie’s chest. “We’re all here for yah, and truth be told, a lot of the ponies around here could use some of that Pinkie Pie cheering-up magic.” Pinkie shook her head. “I can’t even cheer me up.” “Hey, cheerin’ somepony up is a job for friends,” Applejack replied. “You of all ponies should know that. You can’t rely on yourself for somethin’ like that.” She paused as her eyes widened. “Wait a minute, when did yah say they were comin’? Pinkie looked over to a clock hanging high on the wall. “Their train should arrive really soon.” “Uh…” Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m pretty sure they ain’t comin’, Sugarcube. Not today.” Looking back at her, Pinkie listlessly shook her head. “What?” Applejack sighed. “This mornin’, real early this mornin’, Twilight chased off a fella sabotaging the railroad tracks. Twilight saved a whole train of ponies from gettin’ hurt, but the trains ain’t gonna run for awhile.” “But, then where are they? Are they still coming?” Applejack shrugged. “I figure they sent a Pegasus either way to have any trains comin’ this way turn back. If they’re determined to come to Ponyville, they’ll have to hoof it.” She put a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder as she forced a smile. “Why don’t you write them a letter? That way you’ll know what’s goin’ on.” Pinkie withdrew. She shook her head. “I’ll just wait here…” she said, her voice painfully devoid of cheer. “Can I do somethin’ for yah? Get yah something?” Applejack asked. “You know, if yah need a place to stay, our door’s always open.” Pinkie Pie shook her head again. She turned away from Applejack, instead focusing on the twins. “Pinkie…” Applejack muttered. With a long sigh, she turned away. There, she spied a pony she had completely missed when she walked in. “Sweetie Belle?” Sweetie didn’t so much as flinch at the sound of her name. She just sat against the wall with her head hung low. Applejack trotted over. “Sweetie?” She put a hoof under Sweetie’s chin, lifting the filly’s gaze to meet her own. Those big emerald eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “H-hey, don’t cry,” Applejack said. “I know it’s hard for yah right now, but you gotta remember you’ve got all kinds of friends to help yah. And don’t forget about Rarity, either. You two are gonna need to lean on each other to get through this.” Sweetie’s lips quivered as she choked out a sob, sending tears down her cheeks. “Rarity hates me!” She shook her head free of Applejack’s firm hoof. Quivering, she sat there and sobbed. Applejack stared open-jawed for several moments before she could muster a response. She placed her hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder. “L-look here, Sugarcube. I don’t know if Rarity snapped at yah or what, but yah gotta understand she’s hurtin’ every bit as bad as you are. Even if she said somethin’ mean to yah, I know she couldn’t have meant it.” Sweetie shook her head, scattering her tears. “S-sh-she hasn’t s-said anything. R-Rarity won’t even look at me!” Wrapping her forelegs around Sweetie, Applejack drew her into a hug. “Hey, come on now. I’m sure Rarity’s just mourning in her own way.” Sweetie shook her head again. “She hates me. It’s all my fault!” Applejack rubbed sweetie’s back, shushing her. “Sweetie, ain’t none of this mess is your fault.” Sweetie’s grip tightened around Applejack’s neck, her voice soft and unsteady. “But it is. It’s my fault.” “You’re wrong, sug—” “No! You’re wrong!” Sweetie snapped, pushing away from Applejack and shaking her head. More tears poured down her cheeks. “I wasn’t s-supposed to be there. If-if-if I hadn’t been there, Rarity—she could’ve s-saved Mom and Dad instead of me!” “Look at me.” Applejack again forced Sweetie Belle to make eye contact with a firm hoof. “There’s only one pony that is responsible for all the horrible things that’ve happened, and that’s the pony that set the fires to begin with. If you want to find somepony to blame: blame him.” She moved her hoof over to rest firmly on Sweetie’s shoulder. “Don’t you ever blame yourself. There ain’t nothin’ down that road for you, trust me.” Sweetie stood in a daze. She blinked several times before she sputtered out just two words, “Wh-who? Why!” Applejack shook her head. “Dunno. All I heard was that Twilight confronted him last night, but that he got away.” Lunging forward, Sweetie hugged Applejack again as she cried into her chest. Sighing and shaking her head, Applejack rubbed Sweetie’s back. “We’ll find him, Sweetie. We’ll find him and make sure he pays for what he’s done.” Applejack trudged toward Rarity’s room. She managed to get Sweetie to finally calm down, but no matter how much coercing she tried, Sweetie refused to come along. A gentle sniffling stopped Applejack outside Rarity’s room. Placing a hoof on the doorframe, Applejack bit her lip. Already today she saw far too many tears. Everywhere she looked, ponies were suffering. And for what? Why? A dozen rumors echoed in her ears, but she dispelled them with a shake of her head. She came to the hospital to comfort her friends. Blame and punishment could wait. With a sigh, Applejack stepped forward into Rarity’s room. Applejack plastered on an uneasy smile as she made her way to Rarity’s bedside. “H-hey, sugarcube. How’re yah feelin’?” Rarity shook her head. Tears unstained with mascara matted her cheeks. Without her makeup, or fake eyelashes, or her hair made up, Rarity looked like a different pony altogether. “It's just awful, Applejack.” Sniffling, Rarity swiped her tears away, only for fresh tears to take their place. "Sweetie has completely shut herself off from me. I need to help her. I just—already I’m failing so miserably. How am I supposed to be there for her when I’m always making so many mistakes?” Applejack placed her hoof atop Rarity’s. “We’re all here for you, Rarity. I’ll do what I can to help yah through this, both of you.” Gripping Applejack’s hoof with both of her forehooves, Rarity stared into Applejacks eyes. “Th-thank you, Applejack.” She tugged on Applejack’s hoof, cradling it to her breast. The tumultuous beat of Rarity’s heart resonated into Applejack’s hoof. Not wanting to deprive Rarity of whatever comfort she found in the gesture, Applejack leaned in. “I, uh, I talked to Sweetie a few minutes ago, actually. She done told me what’s on her mind, but it’s gotta be you that puts her at ease.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t get through to her.” Rarity redoubled her grip on Applejack’s hoof. “Wh-what did she say?” A small smile touched Applejack’s lips. “Ain’t no surprise, really, but she’s goin’ through the same thing you are. She’s gone and got it in her head that… that what happened to your folks is somehow her fault.” “Don’t be ridiculous. She’s just a filly. How can she possibly think that this is her fault?” Releasing Applejack’s hoof, she swiped at the remnants of her tears. Pulling back her hoof, Applejack pulled her hat’s brim lower. “Sweetie tells me you two had a fight, the night before the fire. Seems to think that if she’d stayed at the boutique instead, that things might’ve turned out different.” Shaking her head, Applejack sighed. “I tried tellin’ her that it wouldn’t have made a difference, but she didn’t wanna hear none of it. She got real upset when I told her about… wait, have you heard about the stallion early this morning?” Rarity put a hoof to her chin. “No. No, I don’t think so.” Turning back to Applejack, a delicate eyebrow rose inquisitively. “What does this have to do with Sweetie Belle?” Licking her lips, Applejack pawed at the floor. Hopefully Rarity would take the news of the mystery stallion better than her sister. “Listen, this is just hearsay and rumor, understand?” she asked, looking back up at Rarity. “I ain’t heard from Twi since, so I don’t know what’s true and what’s a yarn. The story goes that Twilight ran across a stallion before dawn sabotaging the railroad tracks—he was a Unicorn and used his magic to burn ‘em. Twilight chased him off, but he got away ‘cause she had to stop the incoming train.” Rarity’s eyes widened and she leaned toward Applejack. “Are you saying this is the same stallion that set the fires?” “Yeah… did you already know that somepony set the fires?” Applejack asked, scratching her head. Rarity nodded. “Twilight visited me last night. Although she claimed she wasn’t sure, she did tell me that she suspected that somepony was behind the fire.” “Shoot, I really need to sit down and have a talk with Twilight.” Applejack shook her head. “Anyway, the fact that somepony did this on purpose affected Sweetie somethin’ awful. I reckon a lot of ponies are still under the impression that this was an accident, not some sinister plot by… Celestia-knows-who.” Sighing, Rarity relaxed back into her bed. “Well, if Sweetie Belle is anything like me, she’ll find some kind of comfort in blaming somepony else.” She closed her eyes and her jaw muscles tensed. “I hope Twilight throws him in a dungeon and throws away the key.” Applejack nodded. “Given the opportunity, I reckon I’d give him his what-to-for.” Rarity’s head rolled to the side to make eye contact with Applejack. “Could you try to convince Sweetie to come back in here? I think… I might know what to do now.” “I’ll do my best,” Applejack said, tipping her hat. Rehearsing her coaxing words in her head, Applejack turned to leave, but slammed into another pony. Staggering back, she shook her head. There in front of her stood Twilight. “Twi! What’re you doin’ here?” “Well, I came to give everypony an update on what’s going on,” Twilight said, “and to check and see how everypony is holding up. We did, actually. Spike should be in shortly.” She turned her focus to Rarity. “How are you feeling?” Ears drooping, Rarity shook her head. “My leg hurts, I’m completely exhausted, I’m worried about Sweetie and the thought that I might not have what it takes to get us through this terrifies me. I’m sad and-and angry, and I just…” She sighed, her voice raw and tired. “I’m a mess.” Twilight’s ears drooped. “I’m really sorry, Rarity.” Running a hoof down Rarity’s foreleg, it came to rest atop Rarity’s ivory hoof. “I wish… I knew what to do to make this all better.” Twilight’s hoof fell away, and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I wish I could’ve prevented all of this in the first place…” Applejack patted Twilight’s shoulder. “Hey now, blamin’ yourself ain’t gonna help anypony. Not like you can go and change the past, either.” After breathing a long breath in and out, Twilight nodded. “You’re right.” She turned back to Rarity. “We can’t change what’s already done, so we have to do everything to make the future better.” Twilight’s hoof landed atop Rarity’s again. “If there’s anything I can do, just ask.” A small, tired smile touched Rarity’s lips. “Thank you, Twilight. If you really want to help, Applejack was just about to help me get Sweetie Belle to open up.” “Of course.” Twilight nodded. Applejack threw a foreleg over Twilight’s withers, turning Twilight’s attention away from Rarity. “We got the situation figured for the most part. Just need to convince Sweetie to come in here and have a heart-to-heart with Rarity.” Twilight pointed back toward the door. “Spike and I saw Sweetie in the playroom. We couldn’t get her to talk at all. Spike’s still trying…” Applejack stepped back, nodding. “Yeah, I had a word with her earlier. Not sure if I made it better or worse, truth be told.” Twilight hesitated before turning to Rarity and Applejack. “Why don’t we give Spike a few more minutes? Besides, there’s, uh… there’s something I wanted to talk to you two about.” She motioned her horn toward the door, and a flick of magenta magic shut it. “This about that train mishap?” Applejack asked. Twilight nodded. “I guess everypony’s heard about it by now.” “Just rumors so far,” Applejack replied. “I take it that the fella that set the fires really did attack the train?” Twilight gave another nod. “He sabotaged the tracks. I managed to stop the train and keep anypony from getting hurt, but I…” She looked down and sighed. “I let him get away.” Rarity’s hooves dug into her bedsheets. “Who?” she asked, her voice low and demanding. “Who did this?” “His name is Blue Blazes, but we don’t know much more than that at this point.” Twilight shook her head. “When I met him, all he did was try to kill me and-and rant like some fanatic. The scary thing is I don’t know if he’s delusional, or if he really is taking orders from some… thing.” “Wait, so this guy ain’t even the one callin’ the shots?” Applejack asked. Twilight nibbled at her bottom lip. “Well… we’re not entirely sure. He might be taking orders, or he might just think he’s taking orders. He seemed… unhinged to say the least. That worries me even more. How could somepony so deranged have enough foresight to sabotage a train?” She sat down and held out a forehoof. “Even if he is taking orders, why would anypony want this wanton death and destruction?” Sighing, she shook her head. “I can’t make heads or tails of it.” “It’s simple, we find this ‘Blue Blazes’ fella and work him over but good,” Applejack said, thrusting one forehoof into the other. “We’ll get answers from him one way or another.” Rarity nodded. “Nothing would make me happier than to see him pay for what he’s done.” Twilight stood. “He will face justice, but we don’t know where he is or who he’s in cahoots with. We don’t even know the first thing about him. All I’ve learned from this morning is that he is a very powerful, very dangerous Unicorn. I’ve never seen pyromancy like that before, and he was even able to teleport away.” Trembling, Twilight sighed. “I… I’m scared.” She looked to Rarity, then Applejack. “It’s going to take everypony to help track him down and stop him, but…” Shaking her head, she choked back a sob. “I’ve seen too many ponies hurt by him already. He can summon massive pillars of fire and conjure fireballs the size of a cottage, and-and he won’t hesitate to do his worst, either.” “Twi, you know we’ll do whatever it takes to help you get this guy,” Applejack said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “That's just it!” Twilight replied. “Going up against Blue Blazes is incredibly dangerous. I don’t… I don’t think I could protect you girls in that situation. Worse, if we don't try to stop him…” Stepping back, she shook her head. “I mean, look at what he’s done so far, and I know he’s just getting started.” Applejack shared a glance with Rarity before looking back at Twilight. “Now, I say this with all the love and compassion I got, but it ain’t your job to be protecting us or Ponyville. Sure, if you got the opportunity, go for it. But it’s up to all of us to protect our own.” A small adjustment of her hat and Applejack grinned. “Ain't nothing in Equestria’s about to keep me from making sure this guy gets his just desserts. I’m sure Rarity and a lot of other ponies are with me on that.” Rarity gave a firm nod. She motioned toward her hind leg still in traction. “If it weren’t for this and Sweetie I would be out there right this instant hunting down that… that-that beast!” “No!” Twilight stomped a hoof. “Nopony is going after him alone. That’s way too dangerous.” Taking a moment to compose herself, she continued in a measured tone, “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are looking into his past to try to find out what’s driving him and who his associates might be. If we can’t learn where to find him that way, we plan on asking the public as a whole to see if anypony might know where he would be. When we find out where he is, we will take him down—together.” “Yeah, and what do we do until then?” Applejack replied. “Wait until he comes back and torches the other half of Ponyville?” “We have royal guards from Canterlot posted all over Ponyville on guard duty around the clock. We're doing everything we can to protect everypony,” Twilight replied, ire clearly present in her voice. Applejack opened her mouth to retort, but hesitated as the door handle turned. Twilight turned around as the door swung open and Spike stepped in. His little face lit up the instant he saw Rarity. “Rarity! I’m so glad you're okay,” he said, rushing over to her bedside. “I mean, are you okay? You look terrible.” Twilight rolled her eyes as Rarity tried in vain to revive her coiffure. Applejack walked past her, motioning with her head toward the door. Offering one last glance at Rarity, Twilight followed after Applejack. Once Twilight cleared the doorway, Applejack pointed down the hall in the direction of the play room. “Come on, let’s go and see if we can’t get Sweetie to come and talk to Rarity.” With a small sigh, Twilight followed after Applejack. In short order, she fell in step with Applejack. Not looking up from the floor, she spoke, “You know, I keep waiting to wake up… hoping that all of this is some horrible nightmare.” “That kinda thinkin’ ain’t gonna get you anywhere,” Applejack replied, never so much as glancing over. Twilight's ears folded down. “I-I know…” Coaxing Sweetie Belle into talking to Rarity wasn’t the ordeal Twilight feared, though it did take several minutes. After seeing Sweetie to Rarity’s room and sending Spike home, Twilight headed for the last room she still needed to visit: Scootaloo’s. Of course, when she arrived, she found Rainbow Dash at Scootaloo’s bedside. Gently rapping on the doorframe, Twilight stepped in. “Hey, Rainbow. I stopped by to check and see how everything's going.” Rainbow looked up at Twilight and grimaced a smile, but it faded away as her ears drooped. “I… don’t know.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?” Walking up to the bed, she noticed that Scootaloo’s breathing equipment had been removed. “She’s doing better, right?” Dash sighed as she locked her gaze on Scootaloo’s face. “I just—I don’t understand these doctors. She was awake earlier. Her eyes were open and she mumbled, but they say she still hasn’t come out of it. They say she hasn’t woken up.” “They’re probably waiting for her to become coherent. If she’s recovered that much already, it can’t be much longer,” Twilight said, offering Dash a reassuring smile. The sullen look on Dash's face remained steadfast as ever. She ran a hoof through the filly’s mane. “They seemed kinda hopeful, but the doctor told me that at any point she could just… stop getting better. Forever.” Twilight rounded the bed to drape a wing over Dash. “I’m not an expert in this sort of thing, but it seems to me that if she’s recovering so much so quickly, then she’ll wake up soon.” “What if she’s different? What if she changed?” Dash asked, turning her desperate, watery eyes toward Twilight. Looking over at Scootaloo, Twilight tilted her head. “What do you mean, ‘changed?’ Why would she be any different?” “The doctor said I should prepare myself for something like that. He said that-that she went without fresh air for so long that she… she might be—have—brain damage.” Licking her lips, she looked back down at Scootaloo. A dozen memories of the spunky Pegasus flashed through Twilight’s mind as she gazed at the filly in the bed. The thought that Scootaloo might be any different dared not coalesce in Twilight's mind beyond the present. “H-how terrible.” She looked back at Rainbow. “Do they know for sure?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “They said that I needed to be prepared. Just in case.” Twilight withdrew her wing, ruffling her feathers against her hide. “I wish there were something I could do,” she said, hanging her head. Rainbow didn’t immediately respond, urging Twilight to look over. Sure enough, Dash’s gaze fixated on the filly. The troubled look on Rainbow’s face made Twilight wonder if Dash was imagining a future even more bleak than the present. With a sigh, Twilight spoke up, “I also came to talk to you about all we’ve discovered about the situation so far…” After her ordeals at the hospital, Twilight looked forward to any semblance of normalcy. Researching pyromancy and Equestrian disasters in the comfort of her library would provide just that. Even that little bit of luck proved to be far too optimistic. Mayor Mare stood outside the front door. Surely she came by to talk about some facet of the disaster. With a measured sigh, Twilight tempered her posture and plastered on a smile. “Hello, Mayor Mare.” “Ah, Princess Twilight,” the mayor greeted with a bow of her head. “I was hoping I could talk to you about the commemoration ceremony. Since the train incident this morning, there have been calls to postpone the ceremony. There are fears that a large crowd of ponies may… incite another incident.” “It’s scheduled for the day after tomorrow, right?” Twilight put a hoof to her chin. She pursed her lips as she considered the ramifications. The motive behind Blue Blazes’ destruction remained a complete mystery. A crowd could very well be a target for him, but the biggest obstacle in stopping him for good was the fact that nopony knew where he was or when and where he might strike next. Would it be worth the risk to bait him? Realizing that Mayor Mare said something and she missed it, Twilight blushed. “Sorry, Mayor, I was just thinking about it. Why don't you hold off on postponing the event until we learn more, all right?” Mayor Mare nodded. “If you think that's best, but we will have to make a decision by tomorrow. Arranging and rearranging a big ceremony like this is no small task, especially considering how much we still have to do just to get everypony settled back into their normal lives.” “Of course. I’ll talk to the Princesses and let you know,” Twilight replied. With a parting wave, the mayor started off, finally leaving Twilight alone with her library and her books. Breathing a sigh of exhaustion, she stepped into the library. “Princess Twilight.” Twilight jumped at the familiar voice. Before her stood the Princess of the Night. Luna’s face bore no joviality as stared back at Twilight. “P-Princess Luna. Were you able to find out anything about Blue Blazes?” Luna gave Twilight a firm nod. “The situation may be far more dire than we feared…”