• Published 8th Mar 2017
  • 3,133 Views, 54 Comments

Glass Bones - Mad Hattie



Twilight Sparkle wakes to a wasteland. Equestria as she knows it has been destroyed. Twilight must find out how this happened, and she must fight through a toxic gas that changes ponies into something unrecognizable to do it. Are her friends alive?

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Glass House

FOUR

Twilight followed the rail road to Appleloosa.

The tracks had been long-since abandoned, she didn’t suppose many trains came down here in a world like this. Still, it was an easy land mark to guide her into the town. A part of her hoped the husks weren’t smart enough to figure that out as well.

Lyra’s loss clung to Twilight’s chest like a parasite. She’d never seen a pony die before, she supposed she could still say she hadn’t. But hearing a pony die like that? In some ways, Twilight thought that worse. She didn’t even know what the gas had done to make Lyra into a husk; all she knew was the outcome.

Twilight had to wait hours in the dark before she was positive husk-Lyra was gone. Maybe that’s why it hurt so much, because she knew she didn’t finish the job. Lyra was still out there in some way. Because of Twilight’s cowardice, she could never truly be at peace.

Twilight came to a stop, stifling a sob. She had to be stronger than this. Lyra had saved her life. Lyra had valued Twilight’s life over her own. She had to make that count. In this world order, everything Twilight knew was dark and wrong. The dead walked and many ponies were long gone. Appleloosa was still standing in some way, and there were ponies there that would need Twilight’s help. She could share her weather spell with them so they wouldn’t have to worry about running the reservoir dry. She could even use magic on their farm land to ensure they had enough food to keep them going no matter the…

Twilight’s mind spun to a stoop. She was going to say weather, but there was no weather. Only the swarm.

What if the swarm somehow made its way to Appleloosa?

No. Twilight was sure they had a way to protect themselves there. Lyra had mentioned unicorn magic, which meant that there were unicorn survivors there experienced enough to protect their friends from the gas seeping between possible cracks in their shelters. They’d survived this long, after all.

Then again, so had Lyra.

Twilight continued the rest of the journey in subdued silence, though she kept her ears and eyes open for trouble. Fortunately, she made her way without seeing a single borg. Any husks that may have been roaming were too far away to notice her, shrouded in her green cloak.

Twilight almost didn’t realise when the tracks stopped at Appleloosa station. The old building was rotted in places, but the original structure still somewhat stood. Twilight wouldn’t have dared touch it in fear of the building collapsing, but if it had managed to remain in any part through the hell it had gone through, then she had hope for what she’d find within the town border.

It was only when Twilight got close to the farmland on the outskirts of town that she stopped, fur prickling on her skin. There was a disturbance in the air around her. There was something different about the magic here.

Twilight frowned, glancing about herself. If she was right, the farmland should have already started by now, but there was nothing. No soil, no trees, just the same dirt and rocks. Come to think of it, she should have been able to see the town from here too. But there was nothing.

This couldn’t be right. Lyra wouldn’t have lied to her about Appleloosa, not after what she’d done to ensure Twilight’s safety. It had to be the magic then.

Somepony had used a spell here recently… or was still using a spell, it was hard to tell. As the Element of Magic, Twilight knew when she was dealing with something powerful, and whatever this was, it took a great deal of magic to perform.

So what was it?

Twilight knocked the dirt with her hoof, wincing when she realised it still ached from earlier. “An invisibility shroud,” she said to herself, almost in awe. She’d considered doing something similar to herself to keep the husks from finding her, but this was on a much larger scale. Whoever was responsible for this had made the entire town of Appleloosa invisible.

Which left one question.

How in the hay did she get inside?

Twilight doubted she could just walk in through something this powerful, there were probably confusion charms set in place to turn any wandering eye away. The only reason Twilight had got this far was because she already knew there was magic at play.

She could wait for a survivor to show themselves?

Of course that only worked if there was somepony watching her. For all she knew she was miles from the actual base of operations. Maybe she hadn’t even entered from the right direction. There was no telling what lay beyond the magic.

“I’m going to regret this,” Twilight muttered, lowering her head. Focusing all of her power, she managed to create a small bubble of pulsating pink magic around her body. Adding that to the protection charm around her skin was difficult, but not impossible. Besides, she only needed to keep it up for a few seconds.

Walking carefully forwards, she felt the invisibility shroud connect with her bubble. Twilight winced, forcing her Alicorn magic into play to ensure that her bubble won the power struggle currently issuing between both spells. Finally, the invisibility shroud began to rip around her bubble. Twilight didn’t want to disturb the spell to an extent that it could break, she just wanted to create a small pony-sized hole that she could fit through. That was her bubble.

Sure enough, Twilight made it through. As she did so, the world opened up around her. What had been dry wasteland seconds ago turned into acres upon acres of fresh soil, apple and cherry trees. The trees were withered, Twilight realised, not nearly as healthy-looking as what she remembered, but she supposed that was to be expected. At least there was fruit on them. Nowhere close to the bountiful produce of the past, but if it was edible then she supposed that was all that counted.

Twilight was on the soil for a count of twenty eight seconds before she felt a large stick being shoved into her side.

A stick that was being controlled by magic.

“Who are you?” a voice yelled, frantic and female and somewhat familiar.

Stood to her right was a white adolescent unicorn with a purple and pink mane. Her green eyes glowed fiercely as she prodded Twilight again. Twilight winced.

“I said who are you? How’d you do that?”

It took Twilight a moment to speak. She knew she recognised that voice… and that colour scheme. But this unicorn was almost fully grown, there was no way she could be… unless…

Twilight realised there was only one way to be sure. Tentatively, she pulled her hood down with her magic, revealing her face. With a bit of shuffling, she managed to poke her wings out from behind her saddle bags too. Twilight gave a sheepish smile. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Hi, Sweetie Belle.”

She must’ve been right, because Sweetie Belle’s eyes popped wide open.

“OhmyCelestia,” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “No way.”

Suddenly, Twilight’s forelegs were forced together, nearly throwing her off balance. Sweetie Belle’s horn was alight with magic, tying Twilight together with a rough binding spell. Twilight could have probably broken the spell, but if this was what she had to do to gain Sweetie Belle’s trust, then she’d do it. She’d play the role of prisoner.

Sweetie Belle trotted around Twilight, her eyes bright with determination. When she reached Twilight’s hindquarters, she pushed her forwards.

Twilight stumbled; Sweetie Belle was in control of her limbs until she said otherwise and Twilight could tell she’d rarely had to use a spell like this in the past.

“You’re coming with me,” Sweetie Belle said crossly.

“Sweetie-” Twilight said. “It’s me, Twilight. Don’t you remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Sweetie Belle grunted. “But no one’s seen Twilight Sparkle for years. Besides, even if you are Twilight Sparkle, you just broke in.” Sweetie Belle swallowed hastily. "So... you're going to have to come with me."

Twilight’s ears drooped. “I understand.”

“Well. Good.”

Twilight chewed her lip as they walked. She could see buildings in the distance, these ones looked somewhat newer, like they’d been rebuilt. But the main source of her focus was on the barn that stood just at the edge of the farmland. It was large, easily twice the size of Sweet Apple Acres, and painted a fresh shade of red and white. Twilight felt at home just looking at the place. Of course, she doubted the ponies inside would be as welcoming as the barn felt.

Twilight couldn’t get over how much older Sweetie Belle looked. When Lyra had told her that her last memories were from years ago, she hadn’t wanted to believe it. The extra years on Lyra’s face could have been due to stress or exhaustion, she’d reasoned. But there was no way of explaining this other than with the truth. Twilight had been gone much longer than she ever would have wanted or expected.

Sweetie Belle pushed open a door on the barn’s right, guiding Twilight into a kitchen area. It was simple and rustic which was what Twilight had come to expect from the Apple Family.

“Applejack,” Twilight said suddenly. “Sweetie, is Applejack-”

“Stop!” Sweetie Belle said, before her voice softened. “Please. I- this is a lot to take in. I have to- I’ll go and get her.”

Sweetie Belle pointed to one of four stools by a small wooden table set. “Sit there. Don’t get any ideas of leaving. I can keep this spell going from a distance.”

Twilight nodded, taking a seat. “I won’t move a muscle.”

Sweetie Belle nearly smiled before her eyes hardened. She nodded once before trotting out of the room.

Twilight sat in silence, drinking in the room around her. The kitchen was of a decent size, decorated with worn but colourful wallpaper and aged knick-knacks that looked like they must have been salvaged from Ponyville. There was a pot of something simmering on the stove; Twilight thought she could smell apples. Her stomach growled against her will.

“Alright, alright, Ah said Ah was comin’ didn’t Ah?”

Sweetie Belle returned, but she stopped short at the kitchen’s entrance, tripping over her own hooves before scurrying back the way she came.

A moment later, Applejack entered looking faintly curious.

Twilight’s heart nearly stopped beating in her chest.

Applejack looked older too, a little like Lyra. Rough around the edges, tired-looking, her yellow mane loose and falling around her shoulders. But she was alive. She was here.

Twilight thought back to Honesty’s empty throne at the palace and nearly burst into tears on the spot. As it was she couldn’t keep a strangled laugh from creeping out of her muzzle.

Applejack’s mouth fell open. Her entire body went rigid.

“Sweetie Belle, is this some kinda-”

“It’s not a joke!” Sweetie squeaked insistently from the hallway. “She says she’s-”

“Twilight?” Applejack asked, her voice was firm, but Twilight could hear the emotion - barely contained - behind her words.

Twilight’s lips trembled. “Applejack, it’s me. I swear to you, it’s me.”

Applejack shook her head, looking dazed. “Ah ain’t honestly sure Ah could dispute that. Unless them greys have gotten mighty better at disguisin’ themselves in the last few days.”

Twilight exhaled sharply, eyes widening. “You believe me?”

Applejack’s eyes were beginning to shimmer. “Ah… Ah think Ah have to, sugarcube.”

Twilight’s wings flared outwards with joy. She threw herself from the stool – breaking Sweetie’s spell in an instant – and galloped the small distance to Applejack before practically falling into her open forelegs.

“Applejack,” Twilight breathed, her chest hitching and falling as the sobs finally started. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Ah have too, Twilight, Ah have too…” Applejack still seemed dazed, but she returned the hug just as strongly, which was all that mattered to Twilight in that moment. She wasn’t sure if she could keep herself upright otherwise.

Finally, Applejack seemed to come to her senses. She held Twilight a leg-length away, her expression desperately searching for something.
“Where in the hay have you been Twi? All this time… why, we looked everywhere for yah.”

“Everywhere?” Twilight frowned. “Applejack… I woke up in my palace.”

Applejack looked just as confused. “You… woke up?” Then her eyes widened. “Yer palace?

“You never checked my palace?”

Applejack scoffed. “Sure we did. It was the first place we checked.” Applejack’s gaze softened. “Twi, yer palace wasn’t there.”

“No.” Twilight shook her head uncomprehendingly. “I woke up there. On the palace table… in a crystal! I’ve been in there for… well, what I’m beginning to understand might have been years… I…”

Applejack wound her hoof securely around Twilight’s shoulder. “That might be so, but trust me Twi, since the last time Ah checked some months ago, yer palace has been gone.”

“So…” Twilight frowned, trying to understand. “The palace camouflaged itself? Can it do that?” She pulled herself away from Applejack, pacing the kitchen. “But that can’t be right, somepony took my journals… and if somepony was able to do that, that means my palace wasn’t invisible the whole time!” Twilight stopped, turning on the spot. “Unless of course it was, and whoever stole my journals was the pony responsible for turning my palace invisible in the first place.”

“Uh Twi, you ain’t makin’ a lick o’ sense.”

Twilight froze, offering Applejack an exhausted smile. “Sorry… it’s just… a lot to take in. I… I don’t know much about anything that’s going on.”

Applejack nodded understandingly. “Ah can see that sugarcube. Ah don’t quite know what happened to ya’ll, but we can try to figure it out together if that makes yer feel any better?”

Twilight grinned. “Thanks, AJ.” She shook her head. “I know I’ve already said it but I’ve missed you.” Then Twilight’s mind shifted. “Hang on… Sweetie Belle is here… so that means Rarity…?”

Applejack’s smile grew wider. “Yessir, Rarity is here too. She’s not much good at farmin’, but she’s gotten better through the years, mostly she helps with the magical border. Actually, she went on an expedition to the camp in Manehatten this mornin’ along with Pinkie Pie and Big Mac.”

Twilight’s heart felt lighter than a feather. After carrying around the fear of her friend’s possible demises all this time… to know that they were alive. That they were out there.

“Manehatten has a camp?”

“Quite a few actually.” Applejack tipped her hat. “We send some of the ponies who stay with us over there every once in a while, make sure they got enough food and such. Fact, Lyra Heartstrings headed that way some moons ago too.” Applejack made a face. “Well, uh, not moons no more but ya’ll get what Ah mean.” She smiled. “You remember Lyra, right Twi?”

When Twilight didn’t respond, Applejack’s face fell. “Twi?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak only to taste salt on her tongue. Tears had begun dripping down her muzzle without her even realising. She wiped them away, stifling another sob. “I… I met her out there.” Twilight tried to smile. “She, uh, she’s the only reason I even found out about this place.”

“Twilight?” Applejack’s voice was stiff.

“She didn’t make it.” Twilight felt so small in that moment, like she could just fall through the world and no one would pay it any mind. She closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry. She saved my life but the swarm… it…”

“It’s okay.”

Twilight looked up. “What?”

Applejack sighed. “You heard me, Ah said it’s fine.”

“Applejack… how can you say that…”

“Twilight.” Applejack’s voice was suddenly a lot harder. Whatever Twilight wanted to say next was cut off completely. “Now you may not have been livin’ the same life we have been these past ten years, and that’s okay, but the fact is a lotta us have lost ponies we cared about greatly. Mine included.” Applejack paused, lowering her gaze to the floor. “Lyra lost Bon Bon to the swarm on a normal enough expedition, after that, she was never the same.” Applejack swallowed. “Big Mac had ter stop her from runnin’ outta the protection spell one night. She tried ter get herself killed. Now, we thought she was past this. Guess we were wrong.”

Twilight smiled bitterly. “She saved my life. I don’t care why she did it, whether it was selfish or not. She could have let me die and still died herself, but she didn’t. That counts for something.”

Applejack tilted her head. “Ah reckon so.”

Twilight sighed. “Ten years?”

“I’m sorry sugarcube.”

Twilight shook her head, her lips twisting into a hard line. “I can’t believe it… I mean, I always knew this was going to happen. That I’d stay young and watch my friends age. The curse of an Alicorn and all that. I just figured I would have been there to watch it happen.” She winced. “And that it wouldn’t have been the apocalypse.”

Applejack chuckled. “It could be worse.”

“I suppose.” Twilight tried to smiled. Another thought came to her. “What about Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash?”

Applejack’s ears dropped at their names. “We never saw ‘em after they were called back ter Cloudsdale.”

“Cloudsdale?” Twilight’s mind raced. She remembered what Lyra had said. Something about an explosion. “So they’re…?”

“We don’t know.”

Twilight’s chest tightened. “Why were they called back?”

If it was possible, Applejack looked even more confused now than she did when she’d first walked into the room. “The war?” she supplied slowly.

War?

Applejack frowned. “Twi… now Ah know you weren’t in no crystal during the war.”

“I…” Twilight gaped before righting herself.

War!?

She cleared her throat. “I don’t remember anything after we were sent to find Chrysalis.”

“Really?”

Twilight nodded. “I don’t know why, but I’m starting to wonder if somepony took my memories on purpose.”

“Well,” Applejack said after a few moments of contemplation. “Ah better get us some hard cider outta the, uh, adult cupboard, looks like we got some things to discuss.”

The Journal of Princess Twilight Sparkle

Entry #4 – A Reunion of Sorts

Ten years.

I’d been in that crystal for ten years.

The longer I talked with Applejack, the more I realised just how much I'd missed. The world ended, ponies died, my friends died, and I was asleep. I was asleep for the whole damn thing.

When I first awoke from that crystal, I’d been convinced that the palace table had taken me to another universe. There was just no way that this wasteland could possibly be my home. But now I understand. It became this way while I was unconscious. The world was sent into chaos and I never knew. Somepony locked me away from my friends, they imprisoned me in a crystal inside an invisible palace.

It sounds like an old foal’s tale. A story your parents would tell you before you went to bed.

Be good or the evil wizard will lock you away in a crystal coffin.

This is my reality. I can’t deny the truth any longer. The world I knew is gone, replaced with a wasteland beneath a dome. And the more I learn, the more I realise that nopony seems to know how it got there. They’re just as clueless as I am.

But somepony did this to me. Somepony denied me not just these ten years, but the memories of the years before any of this even started. I don’t remember a war; I don’t remember all the pegasi in Ponyville being recruited into the war effort. I don’t remember the last time I saw Rainbow or Fluttershy’s faces.

I don’t remember.

Somepony will pay for this.

They. Will. Pay.