//------------------------------// // 3 - Uprooted // Story: Window Shopping // by Parallel Black //------------------------------// Applejack and Discord had made their way to the hospital’s internal parking lot. There weren’t that many cars on Una Magna compared to inhabitants, but the large space could be kept cooler than the hot midday sun outside. Even during September, the heat posed a threat of its own to vulnerable patients. Outside, Applejack had noticed the cars driving on the main road that ran past the hospital. The light hum of flickering engines and the scent of crystalline magic emanating from their insides was a strange sensation for her, to have arrived from a country that had long abandoned such methods of transport. She looked back to what could generously be called her travelling companion. Discord walked ahead of her with a happy, confident sway to his every step, while he tossed the orb containing the nurse in his hand. “So, is kidnapping one of your old pastimes, by any chance?” Applejack asked with a bite to her tone. “It used to be, if you want an honest answer,” Discord replied, earning a silent frown aimed at the back of his neck. “Back in the good old days of chaos, one of my hobbies involved teleporting people’s houses to random locations across Equestria to see how they would react. Needless to say, ponies are afraid of almost everything, so many of them stayed put where they thought they were safe. After realizing this… eh, I fell out with it for a good long while.” “I wasn’t really askin’ for the full story, y’now.” The images ran through Applejack’s mind, of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres appearing at the top of Canterlot Mountain. In the modern day there were settlements and towns all over the map, so finding help wouldn’t be impossible under most circumstances. Over one-thousand years ago, however… “You sent them back afterwards, right?” she asked. “Hm? Yes,” Discord replied, glancing back at Applejack. She could see the lies on his face. He stopped walking and spun round to face her, a gap a few ponies long between them. “Now then, this seems like a good spot.” He grabbed the orb out of the air once more and tossed it to the ground between them. In a small explosion of water and steam, Doración Noguera found herself laying on a cold stone floor. The feeling of water covering her body vanished strangely quickly, and she opened her eyes to a very unwelcome sight. From above stared the monster she’d seen in the hospital room, with maddening red and yellow eyes, seemingly glowing in the relative darkness. “Where am I?” Doración asked backing up. She flinched when she felt someone brush against her side as they moved out of her way. She seemed to have lost her hospital scrubs in the orb. “Why am I here?” “Relax, girl,” said Applejack, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “we’re not here to hurt you or anything.” The nurse looked back at her with wide eyes. Applejack could tell how bad the scene looked, and sent a quick glare at Discord, who was starting to look like he was going to take advantage of the situation. The draconequus quickly put away the grin. “O-oh… it’s you,” Doración commented. “Yeah, from the hospital. I’m ok now, just so ya know,” Applejack replied with a slightly embarrassed smile as she remembered what had happened. Dammit, how the hay do I explain any of this without comin’ across as a lunatic? “So… how to say this…?” “We’re just here on a sightseeing trip, of sorts,” Discord cut in. He floated over to Applejack. “My dear friend here came down with a bad case of banana-fuelled insanity, and dragged me all the way here!” Applejack batted him away .”That is not how it happened. You’re the one who came to me, and you’re the one who brought me all the way here!” Discord shrugged. “You don’t know what happened after you lost control of yourself.” He materialized a box of wipes and began dabbing his eyes. “My, my, your friends and family were all so disappointed in you when they found out what you’d been up to!” For a moment, Applejack felt the now familiar feeling of anger welling up to the surface. Then, she thought about it; she didn’t know for sure what she had done after taking that first bite of banana. All she could remember was the exquisite, irresistible taste, and the colour yellow. Everything else between then and now was completely blank. “What do you mean?” she asked him, now with a hint of worry in her voice. “Oh, nothing. I’ll explain it later.” Discord clicked his fingers and switched back into his pony form. This time he wore a wizard’s black top hat and cloak, likely teleported straight from a real magician’s getup. Across his front an empty money bag was slung, and across his punchable face he wore a devilish smile. He patted Applejack on the back and waved goodbye, trotting his way toward the exit. “Right now we both have matters to attend to, so go ahead and do what you always do, Applejack; make friends!” Doración watched with interest as the Draconequus-turned-pony left the building. “Hm. He isn’t really as explosive and scary compared to what I read,” she commented. Applejack tilted her hoof about in an unsure gesture. “He goes up and down.” There was a gap of silence, instantly signifying how awkward the situation was. While Applejack was a perfectly friendly mare, and had little trouble speaking to strangers, talking to captives wasn’t something she’d had the pleasure of trying out. Well, here goes nothing… “So… you know about Discord?” Doración nodded. “Of course. Everyone does, in some form or another. I heard about him in the newspapers when he returned-” She glanced past Applejack again, catching a glimpse of the edge of Discord’s cape as he vanished. “-but I was never really sure whether it was all true. All they showed as proof of it happening was a picture of his statue and a word from Princess Celestia, which could have been faked.” Applejack crossed a leg and put on a look of pride. “Don’t forget us! Me and my friends were the ones who locked him back in stone in the first place!” It crossed Applejack’s mind that she might have wanted to keep such an important fact secret. This mare had no idea who she was or if she could even trust someone affiliated with the God of Chaos. “Umm… ok? I never heard anything about that?” Doración commented. Applejack grimaced. “Tch, pesky reporters, redirectin’ all the credit like that. I mean, not that I want a bunch of weirdos coming to the farm and askin’ for autographs and such.” “Your name was Applejack, yes?” Doración asked, leaning to one side to get a better look at her cutie mark. Applejack nodded. “It… does sound vaguely familiar, so maybe you were mentioned somewhere?” Applejack shrugged. “Whatever the truth may be, that’s neither here nor there. I guess it would only be right of me to tell you what you’re gettin’ yourself into right now.” She glanced back to the opening through which Discord had disappeared. “Discord dragged me all the way here for the sake of… gathering whatever kinds of farming produce we can find. I honestly couldn’t tell ya why since I never agreed to this in the first place, but I guess I’ll be bringing ‘em back to the farm to see what happens.” “Oh, so… you want my help?” Doración asked. “Discord said you were the mare for the job.” For just a moment, the look on Doración’s face wasn’t one of curiosity or hesitation. She looked like she was under attack; eyes and head facing the ground, a feeling of unease visible through her body language. And then it was gone, replaced by a smile Applejack couldn’t decide was real or not. “I suppose I can show you around Pezulma. I know this town well, so if you want I can take you to the local grocery stores?” “Really? That would be great! I mean, I sure hope I’m not cuttin’ into your time or anythin’ with all this, right?” Doración laughed. “Oh no, no, don’t worry. I would never pass up a chance like this. I’ve never even met a Draconequus before!” Without hesitation, the nurse motioned Applejack over to where her car was parked. It was a shiny, light-blue convertible, chassis hung low to the ground with the wheels pushed out to the front and back of the vehicle. Applejack slowed to a stop a few feet from the car. “Wait a second, I just realized that we can’t do this right now. You’re still workin’, right?” Doración visibly flinched at the question. “Oh no, I mean, they won’t need me. I’m not one of the essential staff.” Come on, don’t ruin this chance… Doración placed a hoof on a small alcove on the door. With a dull glow, it clicked open. The farmer watched and raised an eyebrow. “I thought all hospital workers were essential?” “Um, no, not all of them. I’ll just count this as one of my sick days. Besides, they’re probably still looking for me after Discord kidnapped me.” “Or maybe they didn’t even see Discord in the first place, and they think you just ran.” The door was open, but the nurse hesitated, hoof hovering over the driver’s seat. She’s right, she thought. “And it would be a lot easier to head back now and tell them you’re alright, than to just run off with a random stranger like me and deal with the repercussions later, wouldn’t it?” Doración placed her hoof back on the stone floor. Applejack could tell, even from behind, that the nurse was feeling guilt. “Unless there’s some reason you wanna stay out of that place…?” Applejack asked. Doración turned back to her and gave a small nod. “It… well... Would you be alright if I told you on the way?” Applejack didn’t seem satisfied, but she nodded with a sigh. “Fine.” From the shadows Discord’s eyes watched them both as they climbed into the car. He grinned. “What a nice little moment for you two,” he commented. “Far be it from me to get in the way.” In his little pocket dimension he looked down to the copy of Doración Noguera standing blankly by his side. Giving it a flick on one emotionless eyeball, the magical clone suddenly awoke and looked up at him. “Normal duties. Your shift ends in five hours,” he commanded. With that, the stand-in vanished to temporarily take the nurse’s place in the hospital.