Pony Age: Friendship is Magic

by PonyTom

Ancient History

"Can you guess what number I'm thinking of now?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"No..."

"What if I tilt my head this way? Can you see it? It's right there!"

"For the last time, Pinkie Pie..." said an irritated Twilight Sparkle, "I do NOT have mind-reading powers, and I cannot guess the number you are thinking of."

"That's because I was thinking of cupcakes, silly!" The pink mare burst into a fit of giggles and snorts as the little crew of ponies trotted down the path of the road. Canterlot was a straight shot north, more or less, but it could take them a few days to get there. "Wow, I figured unicorns had magical powers that broke all the rules, but I guess Rarity wasn't kidding!"

Twilight sighed. "No, Pinkie. Magic has rules and limitations. Sure, it's more flexible than simply doing things with your hooves, but a unicorn can't cast a spell that is outside of their magical capability, nor can they cast a spell they don't know how to use... while I imagine there are spells that allow for mind reading, I do not know them, and with the way some ponies are, I'm probably better off not knowing." Pinkie seemed to shrug, odd given she was bouncing instead of walking.

"So..." started Rainbow Dash, looking around. "How long is this trip gonna take?"

"A few days at least..." said Applejack, eyes on the road, focused on the journey ahead. "An' that's assumin' we don't run into any obstacles or detours or the like."

"A few DAYS?" shouted Rainbow. "Ugh... really? You sure you don't want me to fly ahead? I could be there like... within an hour. Two hours tops. I can give the letter to the Grand Cleric and everything."

"Uh-uh..." said the farm mare with a shake of her head. "First off, we gotta get Twilight there too, to verify that this is happenin'. Secondly, you aint got no connection to Big McIntosh OR the Templars, so Ah'm not sure they'd take you seriously. Twilight n' me have to be there to give them this seal, the letter, and anythin' else they need, to make as sure as possible that they're gonna listen to us."

Rainbow Dash shrugged and looked toward Twilight. She hummed a bit and drifted closer to the unicorn. "What about you, egghead?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, thank you... and... what about me?"

"Why do you care? I mean, I always saw Circles as prisons. Don't get me wrong, we pegasai get a pretty bum wrap, but at least we're free to roam around. You unicorns, it's like if you're not behind some kinda wall you've got a target painted on your back."

Twilight balked a bit. "Hey! The Unicorn Circle isn't that bad..." Well... it wasn't anyway. "I mean... sure, there's a lot of restrictions, and you can't really leave... but that isn't really such a bad thing."

"How can you say such a thing, dear?" Twilight's attention turned to Rarity, who looked at her with wide eyes. "Every unicorn who ever escapes lives in terror of those dreadful places! Why, my dear mother was a Circle unicorn before she finally escaped. She and my father were on the run for a few years before they finally lost their pursuers and settled down." She sighed and shook her head. "My mother admitted to me once that she dearly hoped her children would be Earth Ponies... not that she loves us any less... she just wouldn't wish the life we live on anypony..."

Twilight grimaced a bit towards the other unicorn. "How can you speak so badly of somewhere if you've never been there? How can you look down upon the Circles if you've never been behind their walls? I'll give, on the outside looking in, it seems restrictive, but it's more of a sanctuary than a jail." She looked forward. "Unicorns in Circle Towers are safe. We have everything we need provided to us. We can practice our magic and learn to use our skills practically, without fear of the resentment of others who would misjudge us or accuse us of Blood Magic. And for your information, we can leave the tower, so long as we have permission from the First Enchanter."

The other unicorn frowned. "I can speak so badly of it because my mother has been there. She has told me how every day, the Templars watch unicorns like hungry lions, waiting for one of them to show a sign, any sign, to justify murdering or tranquilizing them. You're hated for the fact you were born with a horn, and if you step out of line, or even so much as cough a way they don't like, you're labeled and punished!"

"You don't under-"

"Furthermore" continued the white mare, "Where is the quality of life? Detained to a tower for the whole of your existence, leaving only at the behest of one of your own who the Knight Commander decides they hate the least, and even then, you're watched and expected to return, lest you run the risk of being labeled an Apostate and hunted like game."

"Look..." said Twilight, putting a hoof to her forehead. "Can we not talk about this right now? I'm really not in the mood. I can tell you don't care for the Circles, and that is your right... but the Templars aren't really as bad as everypony thinks they are--"

"Then why are you here?"

Twilight stopped and looked to the other unicorn, who put her nose up in the air in triumph. "Hey now!" said Applejack, turning to face Rarity. "Ah know ya have reason to be untrustin' of Templars, but remember, mah Brother is in that there order. They got their bad apples, but he's livin' proof they ain't all bad!"

"Oh parish the thought, dear!" shouted Rarity. "Your brother is an absolute gentle stallion, I will not deny it. The fact he risked his life to get Twilight here is proof enough. But look what he had to go through to do it! His own comrades turned on him and tortured the poor thing!" She shook her head and put a hoof over it dramatically. "I would never dream of saying all Templars are bad ponies... " her expression became more serious as she looked towards the farm mare. "But I would never dare to suggest that there wasn't a lot who were."

"Can we drop this already?" Rainbow groaned and threw her hooves into the air. "I just wanted to know a few things! I didn't mean to start some sort of philosophical debate on the ethics of Unicorn Circles!"

"Yes, please..." said Twilight, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Yes... I'm sorry dear..." said Rarity, though in truth, there was so much more she wanted to say.

"You! Halt! Stop right there!"

Twilight froze and everypony turned to face three ponies sitting next to a wagon - each one was wearing chain link armor, and had swords on their sides, and all of them were Earth Ponies. There was a wagon behind them, filled with various odds and ends, and nopony failed to notice an overturned wagon and a few corpses off the road.

Fluttershy nearly passed out.

"Hey, girls. I'm afraid if you wanna continue down this road, you're gonna have to pay a tax" said their leader. "This aint no free roamin' thing."

"What?" said Applejack, eying them cautiously. "There ain't no toll here. Ah mean, first off, tolls are usually reserved for bridges an' not roads, so y'all kinda picked a bad place to do this... secondly--"

"You're missing the point..." said the stallion, shaking his head. "Look, just give us some gold or turn around, unless you want things to get ugly."

Fluttershy reached for a purse and put a hoof in it. "Oh, that's alright, I can--"

"No Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her friend's purse. "Keep your gold. We aren't paying these creeps a single bit."

"Well, that's a shame... I guess we're going to have to take it from you then..."

"Wait!" shouted Twilight. "You just said we could turn around and leave!"

"Yes, about that..." said the stallion. "I kind of say that to make it sound like a good deal thinking you'll just do it. That doesn't seem to be how this is going to play out, so we're just going to kill you six and loot your corpses."

"Think about what you jus' said..." said Applejack, stepping forward and glaring daggers at the stallion. "There's six of us and three of you. We got you outnumbered."

"Yeah, but you is mares, you is..." said an obviously... slow-witted pony. "Ain't got no hoof fer fightin', prolly wandered too far from a kitchen."

Rainbow's pupils shrank. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'aint no good fer--"

"Hold that thought."

Rainbow Dash rushed forward and uppercut the dim-witted pony, launching him into the air, and spun around, her wings now adorned with wing-tip blades, which slashed at him and threw him back, tumbling into the grass. Applejack rushed forward and headbutted the leader pony, causing him to stagger back, before turning around and bucking him in the face, sending him flying backwards. Pinkie Pie aimed her crossbow at the last stallion, who was readying a crossbow of his own, and fired, the arrow splitting the drawstring and snapping it, rendering the device useless. Twilight's own horn glowed, and suddenly the stallion found that his hooves weren't touching the ground - before he came speeding back down and slammed into it.

The leader slowly pulled himself up. "What in Celestia's divine ass..."

"What do we do with 'em..." said Applejack, staring at the three incapacitate stallions, then letting her eyes drift to the wagon and the corpses. "If they've been killin' ponies, Ah don't think we can jus' let 'em go free..."

Rainbow Dash growled. "Leave 'em to me." She held her wingtip blades and drew them to the leaders' throat, causing him to whimper pathetically.

"P-Please d-d-don't kill me! I didn't do anything!"

"What about these ponies?"

"I d-didn't kill them! They were like this when I got here! Honest!"

Applejack quirked a brow and looked at all the ponies. Something did seem odd... it was then she realized it. "Wait... these ponies... they weren't killed by blades... them's claw n' teeth marks..."

"Yes! Yes, we found them here, and found the cart, and we were going to leave but we decided to set up shop and scare some money out of other ponies!"

Applejack glared at him. "Well you threatened to kill us!"

"We were just trying to scare you!" he shouted, eyes filling with tears. "Wwwe were going to maybe rough you up a little bit at worst, make you give up the coin! P-please, we'd never kill anypony!"

Everypony glared at the stallion, Rainbow Dash aiming her wingtip blades at him. She looked to Applejack, who nodded to her, before pushing her wingtip blades back to her sides. "Get lost."

"An'..." added Applejack. "If we catch you doin' this again? Yer gonna envy these poor pony folk."

"C-can we take the cart with us...?"

The ponies looked towards each other, then to the wagon. It seemed to have a single treasure chest in it. "No. Leave it. Y'all are lucky Ah'm too busy to beat ya black an' blue an' drag you to Canterlot to rot in a dungeon."

"Oh come on--"

"GIT ON OUT OF HERE!"

With that, the stallion quickly stumbled up and ran away, his compatriots gathering themselves up and following. Applejack sighed and turned to her friends, humming. "So... what do we do? Do we leave this stuff here, or do we take it with us?"

"Well..." started Rainbow Dash, "It IS sorta free game, right?"

"What? We can't take it!" said Fluttershy. "We just chased them away from it! If we took it, wouldn't we have technically robbed them?"

"They were going to mug us!" Shouted Rainbow Dash. "Besides, if we leave it here, somepony's just gonna pick it up and run off with it anyway! We'd just be putting it toward our cause!"

"But this belonged to somepony!"

"Want us to leave a note telling passerby 'this belonged to somepony - please do not steal."

"Rainbow Dash, it's not ours!"

"It's not anypony's right now!"

"GIRLS!"

Everypony turned to face Rarity, who took a deep breath. "Look. I understand both of your points of view. Really, I do. Give me a second." Rarity trotted towards some of the bodies, grimacing a bit as she felt around them, looking in satchels and bags. Having found nothing, she climbs up into the cart and looks inside, grinning triumphantly as she reaches down and begins rooting through a bag.

"Ah-HA!"

Rarity hopped down from the wagon, holding a note in a magical aura. She opened it and read it.

Father,

I am looking forward to finally getting to meet you and mom! I had grown up so alone in that orphanage, wondering what happened to my parents... imagine my surprise when I was told they were alive! I heard how you lost me in a horrible storm, while being attacked by bears, which were being controlled by a Blood Mage, who was also possessed by a demon, while you were both tired from all your work feeding the poor and homeless. I've got some pretty cool friends, and I hope you get to meet them - their names are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and together we go on awesome adventures! I've been told you are both awesome flyers, so I hope you can give me some pointers!

Love,

Scootaloo

Rarity winced as she looked at the letter and looked up to the other ponies, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stepping forward. "What's it say?" said Applejack.

She stared silently at the parchment, unsure of what to say, still mulling over the situation. "Uhh... well... we uh... well I know who this should go to. Let's... gather this all up and take it with us. We can return these things to their rightful owner once we get back to Ponyville..."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked to each other, then back to Rarity. "Alright, sounds fair" said the rainbow pegasus.

"Good..." Rarity folded the letter and put it in one of her bags. "With that settled, girls, let's gather this up and then continue on our way as soon as possible, if we can?"

***

It was late, and the stars were out.

Twilight loved the stars. She figured if there was one thing about the world outside of her tower she loved, it was the night sky. The tower generally didn't let the unicorns stay in the courtyard after sunset, for fear they might take advantage of the situation and try to climb the walls or something. She often looked at the stars and wondered if, somewhere out there, something was looking at those same stars like she was.

"Hey Sugar Cube. You look deep in thought."

Twilight turned to see Applejack approach her, smiling as she sat next to her. "What's on yer mind, Twilight?"

"Oh, not much..." said Twilight, looking back up to the sky. "I'm just admiring the stars." Applejack nodded a bit, looking up at the sky with her. She turned her attention back down, and noticed something she hadn't noticed before.

"What's that?" she pointed at Twilight's pendant. "This another gift from yer First Enchanter?"

Twilight looked down and smirked, shaking her head. "Oh, no. This is mine. I've had it with me for as long as I can remember..." she held the pendant up so she could look at it. "I really have no idea what it is beyond that it is. I always figured it was a gift from my parents or something."

Applejack shrugged. "Yer parents eh?" She looked at the little pendant. "... What are yer parents like?"

The unicorn stared at the pendant for a few seconds.

"I don't really know..."

"Hm...?" Applejack quirked her brow. "How old were ya when they took ya from 'em?"

Twilight looked up to Applejack, a sad smile on her face. "I... was taken when I was six. But before that, I grew up in a Chantry orphanage."

Applejack bit her lip, reeling some. "Oh, geez, Ah'm sorry Sugar Cube..."

The unicorn giggled and shook her head, turning her attention back to the pendant. "Oh, no, it's alright Applejack. I don't really bother myself with it much... don't get me wrong, it would have been nice to know my parents, but I guess I really can't miss somepony I never knew." She sighed a bit, letting the pendant dangle from her neck again. "I suppose, in the end, it doesn't matter. I imagine I would have been taken from them eventually. So who knows, maybe I'm lucky like that?"

If Applejack shared her sentiment, she didn't say. She simply stared at Twilight with an unreadable expression. "... Do you know anything about yer family?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not a thing. I had asked the Chantry sisters once, but all they would tell me was that they didn't know my parents. One day, I was just brought to them by some Templars who didn't give any explanation as to where they found me..."

Applejack grimaced. She had a few wild guesses, but she didn't dare bring them up.

"Ah'm.... so sorry Twilight...." She apologized for what she couldn't verify.

"It's okay" she said. "Like I said. Never really knew them..." Twilight looked back to the stars. "I think, if I had one real loss in this situation... it's that it would have been nice knowing where I come from. If my folks were nobles, or paupers, or travelers... or maybe even pegasai?"

Applejack bit her lip. "W... what if they was apostates?"

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know..."

Applejack wanted to tell her. Wanted to say something.

Did them Templars murder her folks?

Is it possible she was a victim of Templar cruelty long before she even realized?

Applejack stared at the unicorn for a few minutes. Her expression filled with sadness and pity. She shook her head and looked at her hooves for a few minutes. "Ya know... Ah think we got a bit in common."

"Oh?"

"Mah folks passed when Ah was lil'. Shortly after mah sister was born." Applejack looked to the stars. "... Timberwolf attack on th' farm. They normally don't come outta the woods... but Ah guess these particular ones was desperately hungry..."

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Applejack..."

Applejack shook her head. "... It was surreal, really. Every mornin' Ah would wake up, expectin' that it was a dream. That mah Ma would tell me Ah was makin' lotsa noise in mah sleep, an' mah Pa would tell me he'd never let Timberwolves make 'is lil' filly cry..." She smirked a bit, her eyes glistening a little. "He always wanted to put on a brave face..."

The sight broke into silence as the two ponies stared at the stars.

'If I feel so hurt by losing my parents... I can't even imagine what never meeting them would do. Is she really okay? Or is there a void in her life that she just can't see?'

Applejack shook her head. "Ah'm gonna hit the hay. Goodnight, Twi."

"Goodnight, Applejack."

With that, the farm mare stood and trotted towards her tent and crawled into it, rolling into her sleeping sack and closing her eyes.

She would have a restless sleep that night.