//------------------------------// // Epilogue - Visiting the Past // Story: Storm Of Secrets // by Beware The Carpenter //------------------------------// Twilight sat on the front porch of the Apple’s farmhouse with Granny Smith, waiting patiently for the rest of the Apple family to assemble. Apple Bloom was the first to come outside, remarkably clean for a filly who lived on a farm and wearing an elegant little dress Twilight recognized as something Rarity had made for Sweetie Bell for her last birthday. For a split second Twilight wondered if Sweetie Bell had outgrown it already, and given it to Apple Bloom, but realized instantly that that would never happen. Sweetie Bell loved and idolized her older sister and cherished everything she gave her... with how erratic Rarity had been acting lately, and how little time she was spending with Sweetie Bell, this may be one of the last thing Rarity ever gave her. Twilight could only imagine how much it would have meant to Sweetie Bell lending it to Apple Bloom, whose vigilant steps showed she appreciated the magnitude of the gesture as she stepped gingerly onto the front porch. It fit the occasion well. After her came Big Macintosh; his dark russet fur cleaned to even greater lengths then Apple Blooms, wearing a suit that looked old but very well cared for. Last came Applejack who, like Twilight, was wearing her Gala dress. Her neck still bandaged enough that she probably shouldn't be taking a long journey, but she’d insisted and the rest of the family wasn't about to try and stop her. It had been three months since Applejack had gotten hurt; she was healing, slower then she would have liked, (mostly due to not resting as much as she should), but was strong enough to take the day trip... to visit her parent's graves. Twilight was confused; Shining Armor was still Captain of the Royal Guard, and that meant Celestia should be the only pony that could order him to do anything, but he still seemed to be taking Zecora's banishment from passing any dragon wall seriously. Nevertheless he had promised to send another Ranger to guide Applejack and her family to the Ranger graveyards, and if at all possible, he would send someone who had known Lasso Mac, and could tell them about his life in the Rangers. A day and time had been set, that day and time had now come. As if on cue, two easily recognizable ponies walked up the lane towards the gate, Rainbow Dash and Silent Storm. The ponies on the porch each took a bouquets of flowers from the railings and went down to meet them, Twilight consciously hobbling her pace to what AJ should be going as they met the Ranger duo at the gate. "You?" asked Applejack suspiciously to the red pony. "Silent Storm" nodded the unicorn; looking from one Apple to the other like he'd forgotten why he was there. "I told em about the Rangers” imposed Applejack, “You can lock us all up later if you want but you are going to show us where our parents are first.” Silent Storm said nothing but gave a faint shrug. Twilight felt nervous and thought it would be a good idea to introduce the family to Storm. “These are-“ "Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh and Mrs. Smith." said Storm, nodding to each family member in turn. "Did Shinen Armur tell you about us?" asked Apple Bloom. "Your father did." "You knew our pa?" asked Apple Bloom. "I knew him very well. He was one of the few friends I had until he died in battle. I wasn't with him." They began walking towards the forest; the going was slow, due to Granny Smith’s age, AJ’s injuries and Apple Blooms admirable efforts to keep Sweetie Bell’s dress clean, but no one minded this as it gave the family time to pepper Storm with questions about Lasso Mac which he answered as best he could. A few months ago, Twilight would have been more then eager to hear some war stories but now… they seemed much less glamorous now that she had been there, and it seemed better to hang back and let the Apple family get the answers they’d waited so long for. Rainbow Dash seemed to share her sentiment; staying back close beside Twilight, limping onwards on two of her legs. Twilight hadn’t seen her since the day she resigned from the Wonderbolts and was glad to see her again, but Dash didn’t seem talkative; she seemed… older as though these last months had taken a lot out of her, and under her tiger striped chain-mail Twilight could see tightly wrapped bandages. Several times, Dash opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but never did so Twilight spoke for her, "Looks like AJ healed some injuries and you got some” she said gently, “Was it a terrormonger?” "I don't want to talk about it." murmured Dash without stopping. A minute passed with none of them said anything, until Dash breathed quietly under her breath, "It's not as easy as I thought it would be." "It‘s OK Rainbo-" "I said I don't want to talk about it!" The trees rolled past, giving the impression of a treadmill; until they finally gave way to a sweeping forest of stone statues; each life size standing a few feet apart from each other. "Many of the Rangers here didn't officially exist" said Storm evenly. "Few in Equestria knows about the ponies here, but we have some skilled stone masons who have done what they could to give their graves some dignity.” Storm led them a short way into the graveyard, navigating it like he had been here many times before, to the statues of two ponies, a stallion and a mare, standing side by side. The stallion’s cutie-mark was a lasso. "Lasso Mac was killed in an ambush in front of an Ursa’s cave at a battle called Forest Jaws ten years ago. I wasn't with him when he died; but while I knew him he talked often about you, and about how proud he was of his children. A few weeks after his death, a patrol found the body of your mother, mauled by timber wolves on the line of the first dragon wall; someone recognized her and so they buried her beside her husband." The Apples sat down silently except for Big Mac who stood motionless, staring into the stone faces of his dead parents. Twilight, Storm and Rainbow Dash stood well back, allowing the family their long overdue time to grieve as they lay their bouquets one by one at the bases of the statues and slowly began reminiscing of all the times they had once had. After a few moments, Storm turned away. "You’re leaving?" asked Twilight. "It’s been a while since I’ve been here; I have some more stops to make. I'll be within ear shot." With that turned and strode off into the maze of stone. Rainbow Dash looked wistfully between Storm and the Apples and then limped off after Storm. Storm stopped when he heard her hoofsteps, and waited for her to reach him before starting off again, moving slower and caressing her in his telekinesis to ease her limp, the two of them moved off into the maze of history. Applejack lay sprawled out over her parents graves, no sobs shook her body but Twilight could see tears trickling down her face as she looked at the lifelike statues of her parents. Then Applejack began looking beyond them, her eyes blinking as though she were having some kind of a vision. "Twilight," she asked soberly, "Why’s there a thirty foot statue of Derpy in the middle of the graveyard?”