Chapter 1: A New Day
~Siren of the Everfree~
I can’t believe I was ever so foolish. Granted, there was no way I could have known the details of your plan to lure out Equestria’s enemies with the Heartstone, but in hindsight it feels like it should have been so obvious. That’s the difference experience makes, isn’t it? The more of the world we see, the more we start to understand the big picture. I suppose you know that better than anyone, don’t you Princess?
Is that what you were trying to teach me that day? At the time I could only focus on myself; on how much it hurt to fail and be expelled from the Academy, but looking back I realize that was also the day my journey truly began. That was the day I stepped out into a bigger world filled with people, places and sights both wondrous and terrible. Don’t get me wrong: I still love my books, but there are some things that you just can’t learn in a cloistered classroom. It took me a while to figure that out too, but luckily my friends were there by my side to help show me the way.
That was the day I first met my closest friends too... well, with one notable exception. All my friends are special to me, but in some ways she was the most important. Everyone always looked to me as the leader, but there were so many times that her gentle grace and quiet encouragement felt like the only things that kept us going when the days grew darkest. I know now that it was fate and Harmony that arranged our first meeting, but back then it seemed like nothing more than a series of coincidences…
Dawn broke over Canterlot city in its usual, spectacular fashion. The first rays of the morning sun struck the highest tower of Canterlot Castle, where, if people on the streets below looked hard enough, they could catch a glimpse of Princess Celestia, her arms outstretched as the blazing celestial body heeded her call to begin its trek across the sky. As always, there was a sizable cluster of people gathered in Victory Square, immediately in front of the castle. The sheet of morning light slowly slid down the magnificent building, illuminating the many stained-glass windows and the exquisitely detailed metalwork that decorated it, and casting off a dazzling array of reflections and rainbows that danced across the plaza to the pleased sounds of the gathered crowd.
As the sun rose higher and the show came to an end among the brightening daylight, a round of applause and appreciative cheers rose up. Princess Celestia lowered her arms and gave her customary wave to the people below before turning and vanishing back into her ivory tower. The crowd dispersed, people smiling and chatting happily as they went about their daily lives, content that Equestria’s wondrous monarch would be watching over them on another beautiful day.
From the farthest edge of the wide, open plaza, Applejack watched it all with a scowl. After a moment she turned, repositioning the large burlap sack on her shoulder, and strode away.
When she’d first moved to Canterlot, she’d made a point of being in that crowd every morning. Even after everything her family had been through she still believed that the Princess was a caring and just ruler. Even if the nobles were petty and the merchants shrewd and shady, Equestria would always be a place where someone could get an honest chance and be treated fairly so long as Celestia sat on the throne.
Now, in light of recent events, the former farmer wasn’t so sure.
Applejack glanced at the folks she passed as she made her way to The Dancing Dame through the streets of Canterlot. She noted the smiles and overall cheerful demeanor that had always been a fairly common trait of the Equestrian people, particularly those who were the type to be up and about their business at the crack of dawn. Applejack normally liked seeing everyone so carefree and happy in the morning, but right now the smiles and upbeat attitudes just seemed… hollow, somehow.
It’d been almost two weeks since the night Spellbinder’s tower had collapsed. The final death toll had been announced at seventeen--much lower than had originally been feared, but still more than enough to mark the event as a terrible tragedy for many. Especially for Twilight.
Applejack’s grip on the sack tightened a little. Even after the announcement had been made that the Princess herself would be paying for the damages and reconstruction, people had been angry. They were angry that their peaceful lives had been disrupted, but it was an anger that had no real focus and would have dissipated quickly if Celestia hadn’t given it one. She made it very clear in a public speech in that very same plaza that the fault for the incident rested squarely upon the shoulders of an Academy student who had been expelled and had all ties to the school and the monarchy severed. She hadn’t named names, but people talk, and it wasn’t long before half of Canterlot was cursing the name Twilight Sparkle. The real villain, Spellbinder, hadn’t even been mentioned.
The worst part was that Twilight herself seemed perfectly fine with that.
The cowgirl kicked a small rock in her path a little harder than she had intended, skipping it noisily along the cobblestone street. A few passing faces turned her way, but the dark look she was wearing silenced anyone who might’ve spoken up. She pulled her Stetson a little farther down and kept her eyes forward.
It had taken some prying, but Twilight had eventually told her, Pinkie, and Spike everything: about the Heartstone, about Spellbinder’s betrayal, and a little bit about some vague threat that Equestria was facing because of it. Applejack had wanted to go forward with the truth, but the young mage had begged her not to. Despite Celestia more or less throwing her to the wolves, Twilight was still infuriatingly loyal to her. Having to keep what really happened a secret didn’t sit well with Applejack one bit--especially when the whole tower thing had been more her fault than Twilight’s--but while she didn’t like it, she could at least understand where her new friend was coming from.
A short time spent lost in her thoughts later, Applejack strode up to and unlatched the front door of The Dancing Dame. The inside of the grimy tavern was empty of patrons; not unexpected given the time of day. The chairs were all upended and resting on their respective tables or the bar, creating a forest of wooden legs that Applejack weaved carefully between. The place still held the acrid stink that came from too many drinks and too many unidentified bodily fluids staining the worn wooden floorboards no matter how many times they had been washed. It was a far cry from the sweet fragrance of an apple orchard on a spring morning, but for now it was still her place of employment, and thusly something of a comfort to her nonetheless. She hefted the sack onto an open place on the bar just as Tapped Keg emerged from the doorway that led to the kitchen and back rooms carrying a wooden rack of clean mugs.
“Mornin’ Keg,” she patted the sack. “Got that bag of grain you wanted.” Keg grunted once as he set down the rack with a rough clink and picked up the burlap bag before trundling into the back rooms again. “Yer welcome,” Applejack mumbled.
“Aw, don’t mind him; Keg’s always Grumpy McGrumperson in the morning!”
Applejack turned to see Pinkie Pie, her smile as broad as ever, stepping out of the stairwell that led to the Dame’s meager upper floor with a tray of food in her hands. The cowgirl grimaced. “I think he’s still a little ticked at me for runnin’ off and lettin’ the bar get all smashed up,” she glanced back in the direction Keg had gone.
“Don’t be silly! Keg loves us! Why else would he be so super-fantastically kind enough to let you keep your job and let Twilight stay here too?”
“Because you threatened to walk out on him otherwise, remember?” Applejack said. “He needs a top-notch entertainer a lot more than he needs another bouncer or a freeloader.”
“Hee hee, oh yeah!” Pinkie scrunched up her face and gave a short, snorting giggle. Applejack rolled her eyes, but then focused on the tray in her friend’s hands. On it was a mostly empty glass of water, a bowl of congealing soup that looked like it had barely been touched, and a small bread roll with only a couple of bites missing.
“She still ain’t eatin’ much, huh?” she asked. Pinkie’s smile grew a little less vibrant as she looked down at the food.
“Well, last night’s dinner was kinda ‘eh’ anyway,” Pinkie said, “so today I’m gonna whip up something super-extra-special for breakfast!” She tossed the tray to Applejack, who just barely caught it with only a small amount of spillage as Pinkie appeared behind the bar wearing an apron and with a comically-oversized chef’s hat perched on her pink curls. “I’m thinking… strawberry shortcake waffles with banana whipped cream and chocolate syrup! Ooh! And caramel candied bacon! Nobody can resist caramel candied bacon! She’ll have to eat!”
Applejack’s stomach twinged a little at Pinkie’s description of the free-form breakfast explosion. “Uh, that could be nice, I guess,” she set the tray down on the counter, “but how about we go with somethin’ kinda simple? If Twilight hasn’t been eatin’ much something that… flavorful might make her sick. Don’t we have any oatmeal or anythin’?” Pinkie stared blankly at her for a moment, blinking once as he mouth popped open in shock.
“Oatmeal?! Are you craz--hang on, I’ll go check.” She dropped down behind the bar and vanished, somehow making a supreme level of noise as pots and pans that Applejack was fairly sure shouldn’t have been under the bar clanged against each other. The cowgirl sighed and sat down on a nearby stool, resting her chin in her hand. Maybe if she got her usual daily dose of Pinkie’s antics all in now the rest of the day would be slightly less random. As Pinkie reemerged with some bags of ingredients and hummed a upbeat tune, Applejack’s eyes and thoughts couldn’t help but drift back to the partially-consumed tray of food, and then to the stairs that led up to her secluded friend.
Twilight Sparkle sat on her small, dilapidated room’s only chair; a rickety wooden affair that squeaked at even the slightest shift of her weight. At the moment it was silent, the only sounds present being Spike’s light, steady snoring and the soft, twinkling hum of Twilight’s magic as she levitated a trio of objects in the air above the small writing desk before her. The first was a book, its magenta-lit pages delicately flipping by one at a time. The second was a small cup filled with water that hung motionlessly, the liquid’s surface completely still in the grip of her levitation. The last item was the blanket from the room’s single bed, and it was also the one that held most of Twilight’s focus as she repeatedly folded and unfolded it with her magic. After another three repetitions, all three objects settled down to the desk, and Twilight let out a satisfied sigh as her magic faded away.
“At least that’s back to normal,” she muttered. While it was not uncommon for a wizard’s magic energy to be agitated and difficult to control after being exposed an outside magical force of sufficient strength, most cases only lasted from a few minutes to a few hours. The fact that her magic was only now settling down after two weeks was a testament to the sheer, untapped power of the Heartstone. Twilight swallowed involuntarily as she considered not for the first time how lucky she had been. Stories of magical burnout that permanently damaged a person’s ability to manipulate magic energy were the stuff of nightmares for any wizard.
Twilight bowed her head as thoughts of Trixie came to mind. The brash mage had overtaxed her magic and very nearly killed herself in order to teleport them safely out of Spellbinder’s tower, and Twilight still didn’t fully understand why. A soft knocking pulled her from her reverie.
“Twilight?”
“It’s open,” she said as she stood, eyeing the still-snoozing Spike curled up on her bed near her pillow. The door eased open and Applejack stepped into the room; she looked to Twilight briefly before spotting the sleeping familiar and grinning widely.
“Aw, he’s cute when he’s nappin’,” she shut the door gently.
“Yeah, and it’s a good thing too since he spends so much time doing it,” Twilight rolled her eyes, drawing a soft chuckle from Applejack.
“So how’re you feelin’?”
“Well,” Twilight hesitated, sitting down on the edge of the bed and idly petting her familiar, “better, I think. My magic is working normally again, so that’s a plus, and I managed to actually get a full night’s sleep. Thank you again for letting me stay here.”
Applejack shook her head. “I'd've had you back at my place but it's already a little tight just between me, Mac and Apple Bloom. Keg’s the one who you should be thankin’, though you might want to wait a bit longer; I think he’s still a mite sore about the whole fiasco. Speakin’ of, I gotta head back to the market to pick up more supplies for him. Pinkie’s whippin’ up some breakfast for you, but after you’re fed do you wanna tag along and keep me company? It’s lookin’ to be a real nice day out; great for stretchin’ your legs and gettin’ some fresh air.”
“Oh… well,” Twilight replied slowly, her eyes suddenly interested in anything other than Applejack. “Thank you, but I think that I’ll stay in today. I’m still a little tired, and… and Spike is exhausted! I wouldn’t want to leave him here all alone.” She offered a thin smile, but Applejack merely raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. After a moment, Twilight’s shoulders sagged and she let out an exasperated sigh. “I know, I know, I can’t stay cooped up in here forever, I just… I don’t know I’m supposed to do. The Academy was my home, and I don’t have any family left that I could turn to.”
“What about your brother?”
Twilight looked to Applejack with wide eyes. “How’d did you-”
“Weren’t that hard to figure out. I got one too y’know,” the cowgirl replied with a smile. “He seemed like a nice enough fella, and he was real glad you were okay.” Twilight frowned and looked away.
“He only acts like he cares because he feels guilty.”
AJ cocked her head and leaned back against the door. “What about?”
“Nothing.” Twilight said after a moment. “Sorry, it isn’t something I want to think about right now.” She stood and pulled open the room’s single squeaky window, letting in the morning’s full brightness before leaning on the sill and staring out over the street.
“Sorry, sugarcube, I didn’t mean to pry,” Applejack sighed. “Why don’t you c’mon downstairs and get some grub, then we’ll see if you’re feelin’ up for goin’ into town?”
“Okay,” Twilight said absently. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.” AJ turned and had just taken hold of the door handle when she hesitated.
“Y’know… me and Big Mac and Apple Bloom lost our folks right after Bloomer was born, and Granny Smith passed away around the same time we lost the farm,” Applejack said evenly. “Havin’ your whole world fall apart in front of you ain’t an easy thing to deal with. I don’t think I woulda been able to go on if it hadn’t been for my brother and sister.” She turned slowly so that she was facing Twilight again, though the mage was still staring out the window. “I know it ain't exactly the same, but… well, I still wanna be your friend. Pinkie does too. We’re here for you if you need us.”
An awkward silence filled the room. Applejack waited several long moments, but Twilight neither moved nor spoke. The cowgirl sighed again as she pushed the door open.
“Thank you, Applejack.”
Applejack turned around to find that Twilight was looking back over her shoulder with a soft, genuine smile. She responded with a grin of her own and a quick tip of her Stetson before she slipped out of the room for good.
Twilight turned her gaze back out the window, looking over the street and the handful of people as they went about their early morning business. After a moment Twilight reached up and put her hand into the neckline of her shirt, fishing around a bit before emerging with a small silver locket in her fingers. She popped the clasp on one side and opened it, revealing a pair of tiny, intricate ivory cameos, one of a man and one of a woman. She delicately traced a finger over the images before focusing on the latter.
“What would you do, Mom?”
Almost as soon as she asked the question, Twilight’s eyes widened and a grin broke over her features.
“Of course!”
Applejack sat back down at the bar to wait for Twilight. She could hear Pinkie in the kitchen, singing to herself as she cooked, when suddenly there was a rapid thumping of footfalls on floorboards above. It was loud enough that it drew the entertainer out into the main room as both she and Applejack turned their attention to the stairs. Twilight Sparkle appeared at the bottom of them a moment later, a backpack over her shoulder and a very groggy pseudo-dragon in her arms.
“I have a favor to ask,” Twilight said before either of the other girls could speak. “It might be dangerous, but I think in the long run it will help all of us. I know you don’t have any real reason to trust me, so if you don’t want to help I under-”
“We’re in,” Applejack cut her off with a grin, which Twilight eagerly returned.
“Really?”
“Absotute-a-lootaly!” Pinkie exclaimed, popping up next to Twilight as if she hadn’t just been across the room and wrapping her in a tight hug. “We’re super-happy to see you feeling better and we wanna keep it that way! No more Miss Mopey Moperson the Third for you, Twilight!”
“If there’s anythin’ we can do to help, just ask,” Applejack stood and walked over to the pair, joining their embrace. Twilight sniffed slightly, and despite the rib-crushing hug she was receiving from Pinkie the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes were welcome ones.
“Thank you, girls,” she extracted herself from the group and started for The Dancing Dame’s front door. “In that case, there’s no time to lose! We’re heading for the Mercenary Bazaar!” Pinkie and Applejack exchanged curious glances.
“Uh, can we ask why?”
Twilight Sparkle spun about with an uncharacteristic flourish. Her long, dark hair swept briefly in front of her face but did little to hide her wide, excited smile or the lively, infectious glimmer in her lavender eyes.
“We’re going to form an Adventurer’s Guild!”
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Once more, you fail to fail to disappoint
4264300
At least he's failing at something!
... wait.
4264300 4264392
Yeah!
... what?
IT'SA HERE!
My true review, for realzies.
A nice setup chapter and a good way to deal with the fallout from the last story.
Also nice to see that we skipped most of Twilight's mopy period and only got brief glimpses here and there. Dealing with a depressed Twilight would have been a mega bummer for a whole chapter. The gal bounces back once she's got a goal in mind.
Till next time!
4265665
Yah, I didn't feel like dealing with depressed Twilight either, and after things played out so rough on her last time I figured I owe her one... or three,
Now it's time for the comeback!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/12/4/489254__safe_twilight+sparkle_pinkie+pie_meme_image+macro_reaction+image_it%27s+about+time.jpg
4267674
is this it?
4270274
YES!! Thank you, my good Admiral! Thou art a gentleman and a scholar, and thine good looks are exceeded only by thine brilliant personality!
4270289
No problem; glad to help
finally
4287924
Haha, yeah, I take a while sometimes,
This sounds like an interesting sequel. Can't wait for the update.
4358939
I'll get right on it!
Oh who am I kidding. OMFG a SEQUEL?!?! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH
4393091
Are you by chance the offspring of Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps?
j/k, I'm just as excited about it as you are!
I knew there would be a sequel, but I didn't expect it so soon.
4484128
If that's a shot at how slowly I update... it is entirely justified,
4487406 No I ment that you got story two out quicker than I expected.
I love the last line. ADVENTURE!
4916911
Me too!
Just two more weeks until I can hopefully get this story rolling again!
4917067 Ok, good I was wondering when you were going to start this up again, or if you just cancled it.
An adventurerer's guild! A positively wonderful idea!
6409933
You mean: What a wonderful idea!