Chapter Twelve: My Heart is Drowning. (The Second Front)
It was supposed to have been a nice day.
The weather forecast for the Galloping Gorge area had called for sunny skies and a crisp, cold breeze. Further down south, in Ponyville, there would’a been a light dusting of snow, first one of the year.
Instead, what little sunlight there was had to struggle its way through the dark clouds that churned across the sky from horizon to horizon. The breeze was sharp, which had prompted the ponies there to dig out coats, scarves, and whatever else before heading out. No snow, but the brown autumn leaves were soaked down. Likely to minimize the odds of any fires starting up from the fight that lay ahead.
No, Applejack corrected herself. Not a fight. This here’s a war.
She looked back at the earth ponies again. Heck of a thing, being in charge of something like this. After all, the princesses already had generals they could have called up, and maybe a few knights here and there.
(Did the princesses still knight folks? Or maybe it was a family thing, and got passed along? Applejack wasn't sure.)
But anyway, while the earth ponies were down on the ground with her, Rainbow and the other pegasi were somewhere up above. Crouching on their clouds, keeping the snow and the lightning in check until they were needed. Which, hopefully, they wouldn't be.
Still, it remained.
Her and Rainbow Dash. Leaders.
Huh. Now, how the hay had that happened?
Sure, it was an honor and all to be tapped for the job. But as she stood there in the stopping wet leaves, watching her breath frost in the wind, she kept asking herself, Ain’t there nopony else more qualified?
Then again, both generals had looked at her and Dashie and just nodded, said they’d be happy to advise. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“You’re brooding again, darling.”
Applejack’s mind snapped back to the present. Her eyes refocused on Rarity, and as they did the world got just a little brighter, despite everything. Gal was a beauty, no question. Plus class, charm, a strong will and generous as all get-out. Not to mention a lion’s share of brains…
Aside from settling for me, anyway, Applejack thought happily.
“Ah! And now you’re smiling again,” Rarity said happily, her eyes shining.
“Hard not to, with you around,” Applejack admitted, still smiling despite herself. “Even with, well...”
“Yes,” Rarity nodded, her own smile faltering along with Applejack’s. “I agree, on all counts. Still, we’re here, we’re together, and we’ll find our way through.”
Then she looked at her scarf and boots and sighed, adding, "Still, one could wish for a bit more warning. This is hardly a fighting ensemble."
Applejack chuckled. “Wisht’ta heck I had your confidence.”
“Well, here, then,” Rarity smiled again, kissing her lover gently on the cheek, “Have some. I can spare it.”
For a time, the two of them simply stood, leaning on one another in companionable silence, each thinking her own thoughts. Finally, Applejack frowned as she scanned the various ponies behind them again.
“Say, ain’t that, um, what’s-her-name? You know, that one high-falootin’ gal?”
Rarity’s smile was fond. “Darling, have you any idea how little that narrows down my circle of business acquaintances?”
“Well, alright then, how about, ‘Hey, ain’t that the only unicorn here asides from yourself?’”
“What?” Rarity blinked, then examined the mass of earth ponies milling about in the field behind them before exclaiming, “Good gracious, that’s Fleur de Lis! What on Equus is she doing here?”
“Beats me.” Applejack considered the mare, then added, “Well, okay, maybe I got a guess. She don’t look too happy, though.”
“Indeed she doesn't,” Rarity added, frowning. “I wonder whatever is the matter.”
“An’ why she’s here in the first place,” Applejack added.
“Yes.”
Rarity contemplated the forlorn mare a few seconds longer, then said, “Darling, I hate to suggest this, and of course I’ll be right alongside you, but…”
Applejack nodded. “But she needs you more right now. I was gonna suggest it if you didn’t.”
“Thank you, dear.” Rarity kissed her lightly again, then trotted away towards the mare who was somehow alone even while surrounded by her fellow ponies.
For her part, Applejack nodded to herself. Fleur de Lis was gonna have a hard time ahead, and maybe knowing she had a solid friend here would help. And thinking on that, Applejack had an idea of maybe why her and Rainbow Dash were in charge of this mess.
More’n one kind of experience, after all.
Applejack sighed. It was all a mess, and that was a fact. Which made what lay ahead hard to think about, but miles harder not to.
Naturally, some of the young bucks and fillies were excited, prancing about here and there, thinking this was some kind of glorious thing. Something that was gonna work its way into stories and songs. But the rest of the ponies knew better. All around the field, earth ponies were talking, stretching, even getting into some lighthearted sparring here and there. Some of the ponies were quiet, some weren’t. Mostly they were just filling time.
That was alright. They’d have plenty of warning. And staying in a quiet formation wouldn’t make what was on everypony’s mind any easier:
Was this gonna mean killin’ folks?
The only good news was that Celestia and Luna had agreed that Rarity could be with her on this little jaunt. If by 'good' a pony meant 'what the hay are you even thinkin’.' Applejack hadn't asked for that, would never have asked, hadn't wanted Rarity anywhere near the battlefield, just in case.
But of course, Rarity had gone and asked the sisters if she could, and of course they'd said yes.
Not that Applejack doubted Rarity’s abilities. Far from it. But damn it all to Tartarus, girl, did you have to put yourself right in the line of fire?
Applejack sighed. There were times, she did declare, when love was nothing more nor less than wanting to hug and strangle the mare of your dreams at the same time.
“Fleur!” Rarity gasped delightedly, trotting towards her friend. “How positively lovely to see you!”
The slender unicorn gave a sad smile and also trotted forward, and the two exchanged a quick embrace.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Fleur de Lis smiled. “I thought I’d be the only unicorn.”
“And I thought I would be. The princesses made an exception for Elements. All the rest…”
Fleur sighed. “Yes, even Blueblood is there, for all that he can barely heat a teacup. And others, even less magically endowed than he.”
Rarity frowned. “But darling, then why…?”
The noblepony looked away, screwing her eyes shut. “Celestia’s compassion, frankly. You see, my husband and I… we…”
“Oh, oh dear heart, no, don’t say another word,” Rarity quickly interrupted, giving her friend another hug. “Forgive me.”
The two shared another embrace, this one longer than the last. Then they parted, Fleur de Lis forcing a smile through her tears.
“But enough of that,” she said. “What about you and Miss Applejack? You know, one hears rumors…”
Rarity looked away, blushing happily, and Fleur squeed.
“Details!” She cried happily, positively bouncing. “I want details!”
Applejack smiled at the two unicorn gals talking so excitedly, then went back to her own thoughts, rolling the situation over in her mind for the thousandth time.
Fluttershy was away to the west of the gorge, keeping the local animals out of harm's way. Discord was with her, according to Rainbow Dash, likely coiled protectively around the yella mare like a big ol' snake. There were cliff sides and other natural barriers between them and where the battle was planned for, but no one was taking chances with the animals' safety that day. They were bystanders, after all, and they deserved better than to be dragged into some other folk's nonsense.
Fortunately, the evacuation had gone without a hitch, thanks to Fluttershy and her inner circle of animal helpers. Which meant, in turn, keeping them critturs out of harm's way should be all she had to do. And while that had most surely been for both her sake and theirs... it remained that if the battle somehow did reach them, even in his diminished state the protective wrath of Discord would like to be pretty fierce. Maybe even indiscriminate. And nopony needed to see that.
No, thank you.
The ponies knew what direction the Changelings were comin’ from, and no matter what shapes they took, a moving army was gonna be noticed from up high. Her ponies’d have five minutes, easy, plenty of time to get in position and ready.
Of course, fighting Changelings on an individual level, or even seeing the first few of ‘em when they reached the meadow, well, that was a whole other thing.
Almost on cue, Rainbow Dash glided down with her usual grace, and ended by just hovering, upside down, in front of Applejack.
“Is it time?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash shook her head.
“Nah, not yet. I’ve got scouts in place, we’ll get plenty of warning. And then, we just wait for the signal.”
“Which is what again?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash nodded, looking suitably authoritative.
“When we see the Changelings,” she said.
“Uh-huh. ‘Course, these are Changelings, these Changelings we’re talkin’ about,” Applejack drawled, amused. “Well known fer doin’ Changeling things. That bein’ why we call ‘em Changelings, an’ all. So that being the case, how’re we gonna know ‘em when we see ‘em?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Well, why the hay not?”
Rainbow drew herself up where she hovered, eyes closed, the very picture of self-satisfaction.
“It’s a secret,” she said.
Applejack gave a noise of frustration as she rolled her eyes.
“No it ain’t, you just don’t know!”
The two of them exchanged a look, then both burst into laughter.
“Seriously though, how’re things going down here?” Rainbow Dash asked when they were done. “You guys ready?”
Applejack nodded. “’Bout as ready as we’re gonna get, I guess. I mean, how do you even prepare for something like this?”
Rainbow sighed, flipping and landing in front of her friend, her levity gone.
“I asked General Stormwell about that,” she said.
“And?”
“He said, ‘You learn to fight, you prepare to grieve, and you try to be ready to heal after.’”
“Well,” Applejack said. “That ain’t encouragin’.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Yeah, not much about this is. We’ve got the numbers, the magic, the weather, and the terrain on our side. And everypony’s hoping for a quick surrender…”
“…but how often have we had folks surrender without a fight,” Applejack finished for her with a sigh. “Granted, those were actual villain types, an' these'll just be folks…”
“We might still be able to just beat most of them up,” Rainbow Dash suggested hopefully.
Applejack gave her a sardonic look. “You believe that?”
Rainbow started to answer, then lowered her head with a sigh.
“None of the generals think so,” she admitted. “They’ve spent years studying the strategies of Sombra, Tirek, undead armies, you name it. They say taking prisoners is way harder than… you know,” she finished uncomfortably. “So I guess most armies just don’t bother.”
Applejack looked out towards the northwest, where the enemy army was expected to come. Rainbow Dash joined her.
“Then we find a way to do it,” Applejack said. “We ain’t most armies. An’ besides, I ain’t killed folks yet. I ain’t gonna start now.”
Applejack didn’t have to look at her friend to see that Rainbow Dash was thinking the same thing she was. That all the lives in their care, in a sense including the Changelings, relied upon them doing what was right. No mistakes. No miscalculations. No excuses.
Rainbow Dash gave a sudden flap! and was gone, soaring back to her fellow pegasi and leaving Applejack again alone with her thoughts. Applejack considered for a moment longer the hundreds of ponies she was somehow supposed to lead, each and every one of them placing their trust in her.
And then, here came Rarity, all aglow despite everything, with that fancy mare in tow. More beautiful than the dawn, finding friends and pulling ‘em up even in the midst of all this, because of course she was.
“Applejack, dearest,” Rarity beamed, “Surely you remember Fleur de Lis?”
Applejack smiled. “’Course I do. Good to see you again, Miz de Lis. Wish it was under better circumstances.”
The other unicorn’s smile was genuine. “Charmed,” she said. “And so do I, believe me. Your lady and I have been catching up on a few things, which has been lovely, but it suddenly occurred to me how utterly selfish I’ve been, keeping her all to myself.”
While Rarity and Applejack embraced, Rarity whispered, “I’ll be fighting right beside you, love, but Fleur’s going through a terrible time even without this, and she’s still rather unsteady…”
Applejack gave her an extra squeeze. “Go,” she whispered back.
Then, speaking out loud, she said, “Naw, you gals are fine. I was just getting’ ready ta meet with General Frostfire again, go over a few last minute things.”
This was not a lie. Upon talking with Rainbow Dash, Applejack had determined to pick the older stallion’s brains one last time, just to see if there was anything they’d overlooked before that might help keep folks alive. On both sides.
She and Rarity exchanged a kiss and a smile, and then the two unicorns were trotting away again, Rarity assuring her friend that no, it was quite alright, there was plenty of time and Applejack was terribly busy anyway, Rarity was just trying to stay out of the way…
Applejack watched them as they walked away. She watched them all, so many other ponies, talking, playing, trying to keep warm and distract themselves while still keeping calm and ready. And all of them, all of them, counting on her to make every right move and every right decision, and see them all safely home.
Applejack felt suddenly exhausted, as though she couldn’t take a single step without stumbling.
All these folks, lookin' to me, she thought. Everything I do, everything I say.
With effort, she kept her head up. Every now and then, different ponies glanced at her, then went back to whatever they were doing. Playing, practicing, talking... all of them taking for granted that their leaders knew what the rut they were doing. And that, as much as possible, everything would be alright in the end.
Applejack sighed. She shook her head, then looked upwards to the clouds that swirled blackly overhead. Somewhere above, the eternal sky still remained. And beyond, maybe the spirits of those ponies already gone.
Sweet ancestors before us, she thought, if somepony here has to pass on today… please, let it be me.
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You would think that since they are fighting changelings the sight of a pony where they aren’t supposed to be would raise a few red flags. At least send another pony with Rarity to check Fleur. Sigh… and now Applejack is watching the two unicorns wander off alone!
11746442
Yeah, it's been shown that the average pony doesn't put things together that well, especially when under stress.
As for Applejack, she has her own reasons for acting as she is about this...
Wait, are we supposed to already know why Fleur is here and why Fancy Pants seems to be a touchy topic? Or is it being left vague on purpose? I don't remember her being mentioned in this story so far, was it from one of your other ones?
11746598
It's vague on purpose. And it will be filled in later. So, you haven't missed anything.
Had a bit of a brain fart but when did AJ and Rarity get so close again?
11749111
About Here.
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Comedy
- Slice of Life
A while back, Applejack and Rarity had broken up and were plainly miserable about it. With their own summer plans unexpectedly cancelled, the CMC decided to save the day... and see if their cutie marks were in matchmaking. It could have gone worse.11749353
I vaguely remember now 
Thanks for the reminder
11749384
My pleasure.
What did you think that rigamarole after beating Discord was, Dame Applejack?
In any case, brilliant portrayal of the
calmanxiety before the storm. Looking forward to more. And I do wonder just what Celestia has planned for all those unicorns…