Circumstellar

by Trickilee

Chapter 2

It was approaching noon by the time Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash crossed the eastern border of their farmland. Their grassy looking wheat made place for Applejack's more funky looking, bulbous oat.

Scootaloo appreciated the change of scenery. “Why aren't we growing any of these, Rainbow Dash?” she asked.

“Crop rotation,” stated Rainbow Dash, somewhat absentmindedly. She bit off the tip of a single oat husk and chewed on it, taking careful note of the texture and flavour. “Weird, it's still kinda young.”

Scootaloo followed her example, but the taste was too bitter for her. “Ew, yuck!” she blurted after spitting it out. “Wait a minute, didn't you guys start planting around the same time?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Oat actually grows faster than wheat, so AJ should have been almost ready to harvest by now.”

Scootaloo looked around a little nervously. “So she has fallen behind? That's not like Applejack at all. Do you think something has happened to her crops?”

“Dunno,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I don't like it.”

She looked anxiously across the fields for any sign of activity. While she had a good view of the fields to the south of Applejack's barn, most of her fields including the barn itself were obscured by a steep, uncultivated hill.

Rainbow Dash pointed at the top. “Let's head up. We can spot her or Pinkie Pie from up there in no time.”

The sun was almost right above the hill. “It's getting pretty hot out here already,” Scootaloo whined. “Can't we just go straight to her farm, like normal? I'd much prefer that over climbing in this heat and I'm sure Applebloom will know where to find her.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. She did not like to worry her sister unnecessarily, but she decided to be straight with her. “Look, it's just a feeling I have. Something feels off and I wanna return home to help Spike soon. Can we just quickly hop to the top and have a peek?”

Scootaloo nervously looked up at the hill again. “Uh, well it's okay I guess.”

She was admittedly curious about this new mystery, but something made her hesitate. So far this morning didn't have the greatest track record in regard to mysteries.

“Come on, Scootaloo,” Rainbow Dash said cheerfully as she patted her on the shoulder. “It's a tough climb, but it shouldn't take too long.”

Scootaloo let out a brief sigh and semi-optimistically swung her hoof in the air. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

A minute later, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash reached the base of the hill. Scootaloo, still worried looked up at the steep path ahead and felt her stomach cringe.

“Um... it's all right if you want to fly to the top, Rainbow Dash,” she said, fairly embarrassed of herself. “I'm just going to slow you down anyway.”

“Now what kinda sister do you take me for?” said Rainbow Dash surprised. “I'm not going to leave you alone. Besides, flying isn't quite as easy as it used to be anyway.”

“Because of the Great Fall?” asked Scootaloo curiously.

“Pretty much,” answered Rainbow Dash. “We can't fly as high as we once did and flying itself has become... well, harder.”

Scootaloo looked up at the hill and shrugged. “I know. I'd still prefer being able to fly over climbing that thing in this heat though.”

“Enough stalling,” said Rainbow Dash resolutely. “Let’s climb.”

“Right,” replied Scootaloo hesitantly.

The climb began easy enough. The dirt path they had been following steadily narrowed and started zigzagging as the terrain steepened. It hadn't seen frequent use however and some eroded parts of it had crumbled away.

“Did we actually ever talk about Great Fall before?” asked Rainbow Dash, to pass the time.

“Not really,” answered Scootaloo. “I mean, I've heard the stories on the radio and such, but I never really felt the need to ask, seeing as how you weren't there to begin with.”

“True,” admitted Rainbow Dash. “It all went down in the weeks after I crashed that prototype Wonderbolt aircraft. Twilight took me in while I was recovering and we... heh, hooked up.”

Rainbow Dash blushed. She hadn't thought about those early days in a while.

“On the night of the Great Fall, I actually ended up hearing the news from Rarity,” she continued. “She stormed over from the Carousel Boutique to the Crystal Palace to let the rest of us know. The days that followed were... chaotic, at the best of times. Tens of thousands of homeless pegasi scouring the ground, trying to find a new place to live. Surely you still remember that?”

“I sorta do, but I was only a little filly,” admitted Scootaloo. “Also, I'm pretty sure you and Twilight intentionally kept me busy a lot.”

“Ha, I forgot about that. Yeah, we figured you had enough on your mind, what the official adoption and all,” said Rainbow Dash. “Oh, watch your step. Big gap coming up.”

Rainbow Dash pointed at particularly damaged part of the path that had almost entirely crumbled and fallen down the steep side of the hill. Rainbow Dash jumped over it and reached for Scootaloo.

“It's fine,” she said, denying her hand. “I can jump it!”

Scootaloo braced herself to impress her sister, then galloped forward and jumped across the gap. She landed a little bit too close to the edge and lost her balance.

“Watch it!” said Rainbow Dash, quickly extending her hoof to pull her back.

Scootaloo grabbed it and pulled herself close to her sister. “Tha-that was c-close!” said Scootaloo, panting heavily.

“Just be careful Scootaloo. I'm not always going to be there to help you.”

Rainbow Dash immediately felt a strange sense of familiarity to what she had just said, but she didn't have time to think about it.

“So um, what was flying like before the Great Fall?”

“Easier,” answered Rainbow Dash. “Fluttershy, heck even Derpy could do it. Now it's more,” Rainbow Dash struggled to find the right words, “more about experience and technique. It used to take almost no effort to just sort of hang in the air. Upside down, if you wanted to. Now though, flying is hard work.”

Scootaloo wiped some sweat from her brow. She wasn't sure if it came from the heat or nearly falling.

“So, someone at school said us Pegasi don't dare to fly that high anymore. Is that true?” asked Scootaloo. “You made it sound like it's simply not possible anymore.”

“Oh, it's possible,” answered Rainbow Dash. “It's just really stupid.”

Rainbow Dash took wide step around another damaged part of the path. “Since we can no longer rest on clouds to catch our breath, we need to limit how much we fly. Wing cramp at high altitudes is pretty much fatal.”

“Oh. Heh, well I guess I'm not missing out on anything then.”

After five minutes of idle chatter, they reached the summit of the hill. From the top they had a good view of most of Applejacks land. It was wheat mostly, with some smaller stretches of rye closer to her barn.

“That's odd,” said Scootaloo. “Shouldn't AJ be out working by now?”

“Yeah. It's unlike her. What's weirder still is that Pinkie doesn't seem to have taken over for her either. Something must be up.”

“Any ideas?” asked Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “She could be in town I guess, but we were there not too long ago.”

“Maybe something around her house needed her attention?” asked Scootaloo.

“Possibly. Let's just make our way to her barn for now. It's not a long walk.”

The sisters walked down the hill and reached the first fields. There was something different about the crop here. “Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah squirt?”

“Is it just me, or did the crops on the other side of that hill seem a lot less.. dry than this stuff?”

Rainbow Dash stopped to inspect some of the wheat. She pulled out a small bundle of plants and tore apart the stem. “Super dry. And they look even younger?”

Rainbow Dash took a closer look to the leaves and noticed something suspicious.

“Is that.. hoofrot?” asked Scootaloo.

“Absolutely. Early stage infection, but still. It's all over the plants,” answered Rainbow Dash.

“Looks like all of these got it too,” said Scootaloo from the other side of the path. “What is going on?”

“Scootaloo, let's hurry,” said Rainbow Dash worried “We'll go with your plan and meet up with Applebloom down at the farm.”

“Right.”

It was a short walk to Applejack's barn, a tall lumber home painted black with tar. Nopony knew exactly how old the building was, but it was generally considered to be one of the oldest farms of the area. Applejack had done a great job maintaining it through the endless summer.

The familiar smell of dry wood and tar that clung to the place brought back good memories to Rainbow Dash. She and Twilight had lived there together with Applejack for a year before they moved into the neighboring barn. Twilight had studied engineering on her own, while Rainbow Dash had learned all about farming directly from Applejack.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash walked around to the other side of the barn and entered the antique kitchen. Both Applejack and Applebloom were in the kitchen, having a late breakfast.

“Oh, look who decided to drop by today,” said Applejack. “What brought y'all here on this fine mornin'?”

Rainbow Dash hesitated for a second, smelling the faintest whiff of alcohol on Applejack's breath. “Uhm, that thing with the pumping machines you were worrying about has happened at the north well, but we can talk about that in a minute.”

“Oh, it's no problem,” said Applejack. “We were just finishing up here.”

“What happened to your crop? And where the heck is Pinkie Pie?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Applebloom,” said Applejack, directing her attention to her sister, “why don't you take Scootaloo upstairs with you and show her what you've been working on?”

“Oh! Oh!” exclaimed Applebloom, eyes sparkling, “Wait, but it ain't finished yet!”

“It's all right, sugar cube. I reckon it might be a while before you get another chance to show off your lil' project. Just go on up now and let me and Rainbow palaver for a bit.”

“What's this about?” asked Scootaloo curiously.

Applebloom smiled. “Well, I've been workin' on something real special-like. Come on, I'll show you!”

“Sure!” replied Scootaloo, excited.

The two comrades raced upstairs.

“Get her somethin' to drink too!” yelled Applejack after Applebloom. Applejack looked back at Rainbow Dash. “You know what, I just ran dry too. Can you hang on a minute?”

“Sure thing AJ,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack stood up, walked to the other end of the kitchen and opened the door to the basement. “Be right back with ya.”

Rainbow Dash looked around the old fashioned kitchen for a bit. It might as well have been a museum piece. A minute later Applejack reappeared from with a little surprise under her arm.

“Is... that what I think it is?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Eeyup! Our very last bottle of distilled apple cider,” said Applejack proudly. “We don't really grow apples anymore, so I've been savin' this baby for a while now. Heck, I haven't opened up a bottle of this stuff since the day Twilight... uh, I-I mean,”

Applejack started stuttering as she assumed she had hit a nerve with Rainbow Dash, but for once the pegasus didn't seem care much. She was too preoccupied, being utterly dumbstruck. “AJ,” she said, “I simply can't accept this!”

“It ain't for you silly, I am havin' some. But since you're here, you're welcome to a glass or two?”

“Oh am I now!” said Rainbow Dash greedily. The mere sight of the bottle had turned her into a little filly.

Applejack popped the cork and handed the bottle to Rainbow Dash, who greedily sniffed up its fresh alcoholic aroma. Applejack walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the kitchen, took out two small glasses and put them on the table.

Rainbow Dash filled both with the precious liquor and watched Applejack immediately down one glass in a single gulp. She gestured to Rainbow Dash to fill it up again.

Rainbow Dash however cringed, watching Apple Jack waste the precious liqour like that. “Really now, AJ. You're disrespecting a great drink by drinking it that fast.”

“Sorry,” said Apple Jack, immediately following up with a burp. “I needed that one out of my system first.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head in disapproval and took a careful sip of her own glass. Sad memories of the last time she had a taste of this heavenly liquor rushed at her, almost as bittersweet as the drink itself.

“Let's talk about this well of yours,” continued Applejack.

Upstairs in her bedroom, Applebloom was busy letting Scootaloo in on her little secret. She was absolutely besides herself. “I'm so happy to show you! I haven't had the chance to show it to anyone yet, but I brought a little something back home with me from Ponyville!”

Scootaloo's jaw dropped. “Ponyville? When did you drop by there?”

“A few months ago when we went to see Granny Smith. Didn't I tell you?” Applebloom looked under the bed and pulled a blue box out from underneath.

“And I brought back this book. Do you remember it?”

Applebloom took off the lid and took out a green book, which looked vaguely familiar to Scootaloo. It was dark purple and had a little flag on it.

Scootaloo's eyes widened when she recognized the symbol. “Is... is that our clubhouse yearbook?”

“Yep!” answered Applebloom, as she opened the first page. “At first I just wanted to bring some pictures of our farm to Ponyville some day, to show to Sweetie Belle at the hospital. Then I found the old Cutiemark Crusaders yearbook and Applejack came with the idea to fix it up with some new pictures and stories of the you and me.”

“That's a great idea, Sweetie Belle will be so happy! Oh my gosh, is that from the day when we first met?” said Scootaloo, looking at the first picture, showing the three of them eating a whole tray of cookies.

“Yeah. Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera. I remember it pretty well because I was scared witless that day.”

“I... don't really remember much of it. It feels like a lifetime ago,” said Scootaloo sadly.

“Don't feel bad, Scootaloo,” said Apple Bloom. “Just read this book with me, it will all come back.”

“Oh, oh!” squealed Scootaloo. “Do you remember that time when Rainbow Dash dove into the water, and then Twilight came with-”

Downstairs, Applejack and Rainbow Dash heard their sisters laughing.

“You know,” said Applejack, feeling a bit more confident “I think they might be approaching the age we were when we all met Twilight.”

“Ha, ha!” chortled Rainbow Dash. “We were never that young!”

“Oh really now. I remember clearly the saddest pegasus, bawlin' her eyes out over her pet turtle havin' to hibernate through winter,” said Applejack smugly, “for five years in a row. Five.”

“Okay, okay. Point taken,” admitted Rainbow Dash.

She leaned further back into her chair and took another sip of the apple liquor. “So why did Pinkie leave?” she asked.

Applejack sighed. “I told her to. I'm not sure what they used to farm over at the Pie family, but Pinkie Pie has been itchin' for months to get back there to show them how it's really done.”

“Yeah, they're an odd bunch," admitted Rainbow Dash. “Pretty awesome in their own way though. Do you remember when Maud and Marble Pie made that huge rock sculpture for Limestone Pie's wedding? In like thirty seconds flat?”

Applejack took a long sip from her drink. “Ahh, yeah. I sure do. It was an amazin' feat. Gosh, is that really almost a decade ago?”

“Yeah. It seems like such a short time ago now,” agreed Rainbow Dash.

“Oh!” exclaimed Applejack suddenly. “Before I forget, Pinkie Pie left you a letter before she took off.”

Applejack got up from her chair, reached for an envelope on top of the fridge and gave it to her friend. “She said she was awfully sorry for not bein' able to say goodbye in person', but she really wanted to catch that train.”

“Yeah, I know how that is,” said Rainbow Dash. “Why did she wait so long anyway? I'm sure she learned enough about farming ages ago?”

“Well, you know the deal with the ground water,” said Applejack while sitting down again. “The oat was drying up and we didn't have enough time to dig another well to the north. Pinkie Pie got the idea to slow down the growth of the plants by rationing the water supply.”

“That's... surprisingly sharp of her,” admitted Rainbow Dash. “Did it work?”

“It started out pretty good, so she wanted to stay here and oversee the construction of the new well. But things started goin' wrong a couple weeks ago.”

“The hoofrot?”

“Yep. With the water rationin', the saplings turned out to be a lot weaker than usual. Darned hoofrot got everywhere before most of 'em even sprouted.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged and asked the hard one. “How much do you think you'll lose?”

Applejack took a sip from her drink, remaining quiet for a few seconds. “All of it,” she finally divulged.

Rainbow Dash recoiled. “What? Are you... are you serious? More fungicide won't do the trick?”

“It's pointless,” replied Apple Jack. “The plants are too fragile.”

“Sweet Celestia. That's... tough. Incredibly tough. What are you going to do?”

Applejack raised her shoulders and sighed. “Nothin'. Burn it all. Build more wells, try again. And again until the water runs out completely.”

Silence. Rainbow Dash was taken aback by her defeat. “That's... gosh, AJ. I don't know what to say.”

To her surprise, Applejack started smiling. “Heh, it's all right. The hardest part was actually breakin' it to Pinkie Pie and tellin' her she might as well head home now.”

“Yeah, I can well imagine,” agreed Rainbow Dash.

“Say,” began Applejack, “can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure?”

Applejack took off her cowboy hat and looked up at the ceiling. “What do you think of all this stuff?”

“You mean the drought?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Well no,” replied Applejack. “Kinda. I mean yes. In part. How do I explain it, it isn't just the famine or the drought. Sometimes it feels like the world itself has run outta gas. And everypony is too busy focusin' on survivin' or too afraid to look at the bigger picture.”

“And what is the big picture?” asked Rainbow Dash cautiously.

Apple Jack sighed. “That none of us can hold out here much longer. That somethin' or someone that has looked out for us ages has left us to the timberwolves.”

Rainbow Dash leaned forward in her chair. “Someone... you mean Princess Celestia?”

“Heck, Dash. I don't know,” said Applejack, raising her shoulders again.

“Twilight would have learned something,” assured Rainbow Dash. “She would never have held back any info on her.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

“What do you mean?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Did you ever ask Spike? I mean, really asked him about Twilight?”

“What does Spike have to do with... anything? He and I haven't talked about Twilight in ages,” lied Rainbow Dash.

“And was that your suggestion or his?” remarked Applejack.

“I don't even... oh come on, this is Spike we're talking about!” yelled Rainbow Dash. She felt dizzy and stroked her temple. “Hold on a minute, this cider is getting to my head. Wait, did you give me liquor on purpose to question me?”

“Questioning? Of course not,” blurted Applejack disinterestedly.

“It sure sounded like it,” said Rainbow Dash and took another sip of her drink. “Whatever. This distilled stuff is wasted on you, AJ.”

Applejack sighed and stood up from her chair. “Rainbow, I apologize for draggin' Spike and Twilight into this. I've just been gettin' kinda frustrated about the whole situation and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. It's just that something stopped making sense a while ago and the more I think about it, the more I feel that we as friends haven't done enough about it.”

“Are you kidding me?” said Rainbow Dash. “Twilight herself spearheaded our search for Celestia. We were out there for weeks. We did everything we could.”

Applejack sat back down in her chair and sighed. “Shoot, Rainbow Dash. I'm sorry. I'm just out of ideas.”

Rainbow Dash put her glass back on the table. “Listen, I gotta go AJ. Spike needs my help. And you really need to think about getting some R&R. You've been farming non-stop for years now. Take a season off or something. Go visit your brother.”

Applejack sighed again and took another sip from her drink. “I'll think about it. Hey you know what, take the darned bottle with you. I've had enough of this stuff.”

Rainbow Dash gasped. “Well, thanks,” she said, feeling very conflicted. Part of her couldn't accept the precious last bottle of distilled cider, part of her wanted it more than anything in the world and part of her just wanted AJ to stop drinking today. “I'll see you later this week, AJ.”

“Yep, see you 'round,” replied Applejack.

Rainbow Dash stood up and directed her attention to the stairwell. “Scootaloo,” she yelled upstairs, “it's time to head back!”

Scootaloo came running down a moments later, with a big purple book under her arm. “So soon?” she asked disappointedly.

“AJ has other things on her mind right now and I really need to go back home to help Spike,” explained Rainbow Dash.

Applebloom stuck her head through the stairwell. “Remember to choose some nice pictures for the book, okay? Sweetie Belle will be so happy!”

Scootaloo smiled. “Sure thing! Bye Applebloom!”

“Bye-bye, Scootaloo!”

The trip back home was thankfully a lot shorter. By the time they crossed the border into their own land, Scootaloo noticed that her older sister seemed to be bothered by something.

“You okay, Rainbow Dash?” she asked. “You haven't talked since we left.”

“What? Oh, I'm fine,” said Rainbow Dash.

“What did Applejack have to say about the wells?” asked Scootaloo.

“Not much. She... thinks the water level might rise again if we take it easier on the wells,” lied Rainbow Dash.

“Oh. That simple huh?” replied Scootaloo.

After a few minutes, the silence again became uncomfortable for her. “So, about Great Fall again,” began Scootaloo, “your friends back in Cloudsdale, they were all fine?” Scootaloo asked on the way back home.

“They all managed to fly away in time,” confirmed Rainbow Dash. “I think some elderlies and sick ponies couldn't react fast enough and nearly hit the ground, but they were all saved by other ponies and.. well, presumably Celestia, acting in the nick of time.”

“Wow,” said Scootaloo. “She was involved? Nopony ever told me that. Hehe, no wonder no one died!”

“Well, nopony knows for sure as she did disappear shortly after,” explained Rainbow Dash. She stopped walking and looked up at the sky. “It was a pretty confusing time. She gave the royal guard and five of us some orders that seemed pretty strange at the time, without explaining herself. Like how we suddenly had to ration our food and focus on farming. Some listened, but Twi and I assumed it had something to do with the cold war. Things were very uneasy between Equestria and the Changeling Empire.”

“They sound like pretty chaotic times,” said Scootaloo.

“They were, but at least back then there was still plenty of food for everyone. When the lack of weather control made farming really difficult, it became a different matter. Ponies panicked. The Royal Military was able to step in and calm the situation, but not every pony appreciated that. By the time everything calmed down, we started realizing what Celestia had actually tried to warn us about.”

“Endless summer,” added Scootaloo. “Wasn't the military meant to fight the Changelings though?” asked Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash sighed deeply. It still wasn't easy, talking about those troublesome years. “It was a different time,” she elaborated. “The cold war never became hot and with all royalty either missing or stepping away from the spotlight, they took control of the supply lines and regulated any available food to the ponies.”

“Why didn't Twilight Sparkle step in? Or the Crystal Ministry?” asked Scootaloo.

“The Crystal Ministry wasn't formed yet and Twilight really wanted to stick to the last thing Celestia told her to do,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Which was?” asked Scootaloo curiously.

Rainbow Dash smiled and ruffled Scootaloo's hair with her hoof. “To start an awesome farm with me and take care of you guys!”

When Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash returned home, Spike welcomed them with a brief apology, which Rainbow Dash accepted and returned. The rest of the day Rainbow Dash and Spike worked hard to remove the irrigation equipment from fields Spike had deemed unsuitable for further farming.

Supper came late that evening, but all felt content about having worked to the best of their abilities. Not much happened, afterward. Deeply tired, Scootaloo and Spike forwent their usual evening of listening to the radio and went straight to bed.

Close to midnight, Rainbow Dash joined Night Light outside. The heat of the day having finally dissipated, they both took some time to enjoy the coolness before heading to bed as well.

The aging stallion was sitting in his armchair on the porch, reading a book underneath an outdoor lamp. Rainbow Dash put a bottle of beer next to Night Light and sat down on a bench opposite of him. She popped the cap of her beer with the edge of her hoof and took a long swill from it, then looked back at Night Light who didn't appeared to have noticed the beer next to him at all.

“Ah, that tastes great after a long day like that,” said Rainbow Dash.

No reaction. The outdoor lamp above them flickered. Night Light's grey-blue mane looked almost silver underneath its failing light.

“So how are you holding up this evening, Night?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Alright enough, Dash,” muttered Night Light without looking up from his book. “I've been reviewing the kids' homework of the past week today. Both Spike and Scootaloo are doing well. I think they have a shot at getting into college.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Spike's not going to any college, he loves farming way too much.”

“Indeed,” agreed Night Light, turning a page of his book. “So much that I have hardly seen him at all today. I think he said something about souping up the southern well? I take it we'll be using the water bucket again for the time being.”

“Just for a couple of days,” confirmed Rainbow Dash. “I'm letting him work on the southern pump all by himself.”

“Alone?” inquired Night Light, still not looking up from his book.

“He's ready for it,” assured Rainbow Dash. “We had a bit of a fight earlier today, but it showed me he's itching to take on some real responsibilities.”

“I see,” said Night Light. “Well, Spike doing some of the decision-making around here can't hurt this place. So how were Applejack and Pinkie Pie doing?”

Rainbow Dash took another swill from her beer and sighed deeply. “The water problem is much worse on her land. On top of that, hoofrot has infected her entire crop. Applejack isn't even trying to rescue any of it at this point, she even send Pinkie Pie back home.”

Nightlight looked up from his book for the first time, looking very worried. “That's... troubling. Together with our losses this season, this setback will definitely be noticed further down the line.”

“Yeah, you're telling me,” said Rainbow Dash. “Crop production across Equestria hasn't really gone up in over five years. It won't put us into any nightmarish situation yet, but there will be... consequences.”

Night Light frowned and picked up the bottle of beer next to him. He removed the cap with an engraved bottle opener that was laying next to him on top the porch railing. “Speaking of nightmares,” he said and took a sip of beer, “I heard you had trouble sleeping last night?”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, yeah. Just some bad dreams, nothing to worry about. I can't even remember them.”

“The crash?” inquired Night Light.

Rainbow Dash moved around uncomfortably on the bench. Knowing Night Light, there would be little use in lying. “Yeah, more or less,” she admitted.

Night Light let out a deep sigh and put his book down. “You know, Scootaloo asked about you this morning,” he said. “She notices more about you than you realize.”

“Scootaloo knows? Oh great,” said Rainbow Dash.

Night Light gave Rainbow Dash a stern look. “She knows, Dash. She's worried about you. Be honest about it next time it comes up in conversation, it will save her a lot of stress.”

“Alright, alright,” admitted Rainbow Dash. “I'll talk to her.”

“Good. By the way Dash, just before you left this morning, I had meant to tell you about this colleague of mine back in Canterlot. She's a psychiatrist, specializes in traumatic experiences.”

“You want me to go to a shrink? Me?” said Rainbow Dash surprised.

“She's single too,” remarked Night Light.

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her ears. “Wha-”

“And pretty,” added Night Light.

She hit her forehead with her hoof. “You're kidding, right? Tell me you're just pulling my hoof.”

“Not at all,” remarked Night Light. “Hey, you know what? You should take a trip to Canterlot. Even if you don't want to see my friend, it could do the farm some good if we could cash in on a couple of favours. I'm sure there are still some royalists out there that are willing to help out Princess Twilight's very special somepony.”

“You mean the royal army remnant forces? They were helpful when we started out this farm, sure. But don't count on those numbskulls having anypony's interest in mind but their own these days.”

“What's the worst that can happen?” asked Night Light. “Perhaps you'll even run into Cadence.”

“Look Night Light,” said Rainbow Dash, “yes, you're right. I probably need to see a head doctor or whatever to sort out my dreams. And we do need help with the farm soon, we can't go on like this for much longer. But no amount of royalty hasn't gotten us anywhere this past decade.”

Awkward silence. Night Light shrugged and drank a little from his beer. “What are we even doing here, Dash?” he finally asked.

“We... provide,” said Rainbow Dash hesitantly.

“It stopped being about providing a while ago,” said Night Light. “It feels more like we're running away. All the time, faster and faster.”

Rainbow didn't like this sudden pessimistic change in Night Light. “Running from what?” she asked. “The truth? Come on.”

“I don't know. All I know is that somepony needs act before it is too late. Get all the smart heads together. Fix things.”

To his surprise, Rainbow Dash came with a suggestion. “You know, I do know of somepony who could help.”

“Who?” asked Night Light.

“It's kind of a long shot, but we could try of making an appeal to the Crystal Ministry in Ponyville,” explained Rainbow Dash. “They need to know what's happening way out here.”

Night Light scoffed bitterly. “The government? Please.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “They may not be royalists, but that doesn't automatically make them bad.”

Clarity dawned on Night Light's face. “Oh, wait. You're thinking of Fluttershy! You think she will stick out one hoof to help you? After what you said to her?”

“That was a long time ago,” said Rainbow Dash. “I was upset about what happened to Twilight and she just-”

“Gave up on her,” interjected Night light.

“Yes. Maybe. But hoof it, that's not the point I'm trying to make here.” replied Rainbow Dash, getting increasingly irritated. “She simply is my best shot at getting heard by the Crystal Ministry.”

“All right,” said Night Light, admitting defeat. “Go to that ghost town if you must. I'll take care of things here, don't worry. Just promise me one thing when you reach Ponyville.”

“What?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Night Light sighed and looked down at the porch deck. “I know I can be too much of a royalist at times, but...”

“Just spit it out, Night Light.”

“Promise me you won't trust any of these politicians?” asked Night Light.

Rainbow Dash took a long sip from her bottle and let it rest for a moment in her mouth before swallowing. “All right, I promise,” she continued. “But one way or another, I'm going to continue this where I left off.”

“With Fluttershy,” added Night Light bitterly. “You know, it's almost funny?”

“What?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Night Light stood up, poured the remainder of his bottle over the edge of the railing and headed toward the door. Just before he went inside, he stopped and crossed eyes with Rainbow Dash. “So much time has passed, but... perhaps the search for my daughter never ended.”

Night Light closed the door behind him and left her alone with her beer.

A cold evening wind swept across the porch. Rainbow Dash shivered and thought of Twilight Sparkle. Something stirred on the edge of her memory, something important. She leaned back into the bench and gazed into the stars above, biting at the edge of her hoof in a vain attempt to remember.

Comments

[Walabio]

It sounds like magic more than half-died at the Great Fall when Princess Celestia disappeared. Magic has more than half-died again. The world of Equus depends upon magic. Many magical life-forms cannot survive without magic. ¡Equus will die!

[Trickilee]

6027539
Yay!

6027750
Somepony needs to do something!

[Protopony350]

okay I'm trying to put this stuff together.

Twilight MAY not be dead, but is just missing like Celestia?

What about Luna?

How is the sun working without Celestia!?!?!?!?

I WANT MORE

[Trickilee]

6033993
Twilight MAY not be dead, but is just missing like Celestia?
Two chapters from now we'll come across someone brave enough to confront Rainbow Dash.

What about Luna?
Will be revealed in three chapters time.

How is the sun working without Celestia!?!?!?!?
Subject of multo conjecture in the next chapter.

I WANT MORE
i.imgur.com/mBSG9Tv.gif

[Bad Dragon]

https://ferum-lynxx.deviantart.com/art/Interstellar-493906219?

The cover-art link isn't working for me.