20 - 2 Blue, 1 Yellow
Chapter 20 - 2 Blue, 1 Yellow
That dream again. It was the same one where Winter was surrounded by an inferno. While she believed she was going to burn to her death, the form of a mare reached out her hooves and pulled the filly into a world of love, safety, and serenity.
She had that dream before, but now they appeared more frequently than ever before.
On schedule, the young maidservants knocked, and Winter Tulip allowed them in for her morning ritual. Here in her private bedroom, they bathed her, fixed her mane, and clothed her in her casual dress. These mares were sworn to secrecy to never reveal the status of Winter Tulip's Nature's Call, lest she suffer snickering embarrassments from her two supposed best friends. Both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had just recently revealed to her that they received their Nature's Call, and they would not stop talking about how their upcoming Cuteceañera parties were going to be like. It bugged Winter to no end. At the same time, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had yet to show or tell her what their Nature's Call looked like. Some friends they were.
Not that she really cared, but if their names hinted anything, then the image on their flanks would reflect their bourgeois personality.
In the grand dining hall, she ate breakfast alone, relatively speaking. There were still servants standing around ready to wait at her every desire, but it was not the same because there was no pony who would eat with her. The only other pony who had the right to do so on a daily basis would be her mother.
Afterwards, Cheerilee dropped by at Winter's personal study in the room across from the bedroom. She was Winter's governess, although Gaea had long since abandoned such aristocratic tiles after the Revolution. Nevertheless, her official title was tutor, and aside from Lancer, she was the only adult pony Winter had spent any significant time with. She even had her personal, albeit modest room within the Palace of the Earth.
After lessons and lunch, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon dropped by for their usual play date on the palace grounds. For three civilized fillies, they didn't do much other than chat and trot. All her friends talked about were cute colts, servants, parties, and exotic gifts brought by their fathers' foreign business clients. As for her Winter, she barely listened to their banter. She knew they were talking to her, but they weren't having a conversation. Half the words became muddled in Winter's mind. They were really starting to get on her nerves.
"Winter, are you listening?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Is there something wrong?" asked Silver Spoon.
They arrived at the door to Winter's bedroom, but Winter had stood still for almost a long minute staring out to space. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were still here, leeching off of her influence, which was in effect her mother's influence. At least leeches weren't vapid chatterboxes.
"Why are you two here?" Winter asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Diamond Tiara. "We're here to discuss the plans for my cuteceañera."
"And this was the only day you were open," said Silver Spoon.
"Let's be serious," said Winter. "Your fathers sent you here to butter me up because of my mother."
"What? No!" cried Diamond Tiara. "We're here because you're the nicest and most honest fillies of all of Gaea."
"What's gotten into you, Winter?" Silver asked. "You've been acting funny ever since your birthday party."
"Oh, I think I get it now. You received your Nature's Call, didn't you, Winter?"
"Can you show it to us?"
"Why haven't you shown me yours yet?" asked Winter.
"Um, it's not polite to show one to anypony?" said Diamond.
"Did you even consider asking me if I wanted to see them?"
"If we did, then we would be bragging too much about ours," said Silver, "and that it would be disrespectful to you."
"But do you want to see them anyway?" asked Diamond.
Her so-called friends were not smiling. They winced and sweated in fear; fear of not losing their friendship from Winter, but from the fear of incurring the wrath of leader of Gaea, Chancellor Posey. These sycophantic foals were just like their parents, and Winter could not take it anymore.
"Get out," she said to them.
"Sorry, Winter," said Silver as she and Diamond Tiara stepped off the bed. "I guess we'll come back another day."
"No. I don't want you back. I don't ever want to see you two ever again. Get out now!"
The two fillies immediately burst into tears, but not because of hurt emotions. They feared for their life, and almost immediately they bolted out of the doors. Matron Harshwhinny, still with her muzzle bandaged, chased after them, while Cheerilee arrived in time to console the angry filly.
"Little Miss, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong!" Winter cried. "Everything's wrong!"
"Now, now, Little Miss. A lady should not have yelled at her friends like that."
"They're not my friends! They're just dumb fillies sent by their dads to suck up to me. Cheerilee, is my mom home yet?"
"She just got back from a military inspection, but there is a meeting coming up with the arms manufacturers. I don't think you could--"
Winter galloped past Cheerilee and down through the long hallways of the Palace, passing by many emotionless Clone Palace Guards and the servant ponies who often froze stiff before her presence. Nopony stopped her, and she was too fast for the frantic Cheerilee to catch up.
Without even knocking, she burst into her mother's office. Posey was at her desk with a glass loupe on her eye as she carefully pinned another dead butterfly on a corkboard for her to hang on the wall. The office might be large, but Posey was running out of places to mount her latest addition. She could always remodel the palace to make more room, just like all the other previous Chancellors.
"Yes, Winter?" Posey asked as she kept her concentration on her dead butterflies.
"Mama, can I sit by you?"
"Sure, sure. Here's a stool."
Winter trotted right next to her mother as she pinned another label for her new butterfly. Posey then drank down the strange green and gooey beverage she has been known to drink as long as Winter could remember.
"I've overheard you, mama," said Winter. "You told Big Brother Lancer that I was adopted."
Posey spun her desk chair so that she faced her daughter, her adopted daughter. The Chancellor held back her tears, and opened herself to receive her daughter.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"It's okay, mama. Do you know where I came from? Or what my real name is?"
Posey sighed and she looked into her daughter's eyes. "I'm sorry, but that information was lost. There were a lot of orphans created by the pegasii thunder-bombing Appleloosa, and you were one of them. When I first saw you, it felt like I was looking at myself when I lost my family in Mustangia. You were just so adorable back then.
"Winter, I'm certain that I will find out who you are eventually, but know that I will always be your mother and that I will always love you. I am very sorry that I wasn't able to entertain you during your party."
"Mama, you're the greatest Chancellor in the entire world, but you're always so busy," said Winter Tulip.
"I know, but that does not excuse me for neglecting my own daughter. Say, this might not make up for time lost, but do you want me to give you a horseyback ride?"
"I'm too old for those things. But why not?"
"Hold on tight, partner, and giddy-up!"
After placing her military hat on her daughter, Posey nudged her onto her back and they galloped straight out of the office. Laughing and giggling, Posey rode her daughter past the ruined library in the East Wing, rode up to the Spire's entrance, and then back down. They cantered through the private garden, and went through the dining hall before trotting back to the office.
There in the hallway there was the head of the arms manufacturing plants Filthy Rich and his personal guards. Winter slipped off her mother's back and gave back her hat.
"Good afternoon Mister Filthy," she greeted.
"Rich, ma'am. Filthy Rich."
Posey didn't take that correction kindly, and kindly did she remind him of his status with single icy stare.
"Um, Filthy will do, ma'am. I must apologize for my daughter's rude behavior towards Little Miss Winter. I suppose this is a bad time for our meeting."
"No, no, it's fine, apology accepted. Winter, I'm sorry, but I have an important meeting with Mister Filthy over the future of our country. Go back with Cheerilee and resume the rest of your studies."
"Yes, mother," Winter bowed.
Her mother, Filthy Rich, and the rest of the escorts went into the office. Cheerilee, now short of breath, managed to catch up her personal pupil, and together they returned back to the study room.
The bright moment of the day had been fleeting for the lonely filly. Her outburst to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon lingered in the back of her mind, but she continued to be preoccupied by her vivid dream of fire. She pinned the cause to appearance of that orange mare who broke into the Palace: Rebel Applejack. Even before and after her lonely dinner did she continue to think about that pony. It wasn't anger, fear, or the dream that kept her awake during bedtime.
That pony didn't seem like she wanted to torment Winter with lies. The more she dwelled upon it, the more Winter began to sense the genuine sadness emanating from Applejack's tears and the anger she directed towards her mother. The Rebel did attempt to kill her mother, and that was unforgivable. Yet in the face of rationalization, Winter could not bring herself to truly despise the orange rebel.
What if she was telling the truth? Why was Winter left with the only item connecting her to her real birthplace? Was her mother testing her? If anything apple-related manifested on her flank when she came of age, Winter became scared that her mother won't just execute her: she would hate her.
Still unable to sleep, Winter grabbed hold of the fateful pink ribbon and made her way to the dresser mirror. She stared at her reflection wondering if the filly at the other side was Winter Tulip, adopted daughter of the honorable Chancellor Posey, or Apple Bloom, descendant of the great traitor Smart Cookie. Winter brushed her red mane thoroughly, and after assuring herself that they were no tangles, she used her pink ribbon to tie into a bow and a ponytail. This was certainly a new look for her, yet somehow, it looked right.
I'm not an Apple, Winter repeated in her mind. I'm not an Apple. She needed confirmation that would not be the case, and late at night, she trotted down to Cheerilee's room and knocked on the door.
"Little Miss," Cheerilee drowsily answered whilst in a nightgown. "Is there something wrong?"
"There is. I need to go to Sweet Apple Acres as soon as possible."
Never did Applejack have a warm night's sleep in a long while. The body-sized pillow she hugged tightly was the softest and warmest thing she had ever touched. It even had a heartbeat.
Body-sized pillow? Soft touch? Adjusting her eyes to the darkness, her face was right up close to the pink pony's muzzle.
Okay. Pinkie Pie fell asleep in the same bunk. That would happen eventually. It would be no different from her sharing a bed with Twilight. Then again, Twilight never slept naked next to her. After sliding her hoof down her own body, Applejack discovered that she was also naked.
Naked. Assuming the worst, Applejack let out a scream so loud that maybe a few of the stallions at the other wing heard it. She shoved Pinkie off her bunk, leapt over her, and ran quickly to the other side of the cell to procure a bottle of sarsaparilla from the toilet.
"What did you do to me?" Applejack cried as she waved the bottle in self-defense while attempting to cover her flanks.
"I took off your clothes," Pinkie answered.
"What kind of sick mare are you? You think you can take advantage of my feelings and sleep with me?"
"That wasn't really my intent, but our clothes were smelly so I had to take them off. Then I got too tired to crawl to my bunk, and it was getting cold. So I shared a bed with you 'cause you're so warm and fuzzy."
"No. Oh no. You stay away from me. I ain't swingin' like that."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't go for mares! I like stallions. Stallions!"
"So you don't like being friends with mares?"
"No! I mean, look, just don't you ever do that to me ever again, okay? Go back to the top bunk and stay there until I wake up."
"Sorry."
"And put your darn pants on!"
"Fine."
Pinkie slipped her pants on, with Applejack trying hard not to look, but the image of three balloons, two blue and one yellow, had been permanently burned into her mind. After Pinkie settled herself in her bunk, the orange pony immediately drank down the bottle until she realized where got it. She nearly hurled, but instead she held it and dropped the bottle back to the toilet for it to be flushed.
Applejack made doubly sure Pinkie and her baby alligator were asleep before she climbed back to her bunk. She shivered, but at least she was alone and had pants.
What a night.
"Wakey, wakey!"
"I told you not to come down when I woke up."
"But now you're up. It's going to be a beautiful day AJ!"
"Ungh, I'm not in the mood."
"Neither is the guard. Gotta get up and start the day!"
The stern look on the guard at the other side of the bars was the real alarm clock. Angry, tired, and embarrassed, Applejack started her day at the wrong side of the bunk so to speak. She grumbled every time Pinkie bounced up and down behind her, and grumbled again when she attempted to order yogurt parfait from the half-dead Mrs. Cake.
She found herself sitting with Pinkie, either because she was an Apple or that there was no other vacant seats. Yet again, she sat across from Lucy and Quirky Screw (no relation), who tried their hardest to hide their giggles from the rebel mare.
"Very funny," said Applejack.
"That's Pinkie Pie for you," said Lucy.
"I bet she didn't get arrested for bein' a mass murderer. I bet she's a serial rapist."
"Or just a serial molester. You should lighten up, Rebel Applejack. You won't get these laughs anymore. Pinkie's going to be released tonight."
"Thank the earth."
"That's funny," said Quirky. "I thought you'd be sad about that."
"Why would I care about this… lewd and insane pony? And why the hay are you sayin' nice things about her? I thought you weren't her friends."
"We're not," said Lucy. "She drives us nuts--most of the time. At least once in a while, she'll manage to find a way to upset Lieutenant Quake, and Quirky and I make sure we're there when it happens."
"There will be some who will miss her," said Quirky as she rolled her baseball gift from yesterday back and forth on her table. "I wonder how long will it be when she gets arrested again?"
They all spoke within earshot within earshot of the pink pony in question, who happily devoured another stale cornbread Quirky gave her. Applejack couldn't put her hoof on it, but she felt that there was a little more despair in the air. Pinkie continued to bounce and make noises. Pinkie continued to sing the most inappropriate songs in the most inappropriate times. Some mares smiled, some didn't, but today felt weirdly different.
It wasn't yet dinner, but a special tray was given to Pinkie in her and Applejack's on the hour before her release. It was still the same mush they served as usual, but this time it had sugar and sprinkles. A modest improvement, but Applejack did feel a little envious and a little sad. It felt more like she was going to the gallows.
The pink pony was given her clothes from storage, which was a plain gray government-issued dress meant low-income mares. She was also given patched saddlebags where she began gathering her personal belongings she managed to hide all over the cell. She even procured two bottles of sarsaparilla from the toilet.
"I left a six-pack in there should you ever get thirsty," said Pinkie.
"Um, sure," said Applejack as she buried her muzzle in one of the books about farm equipment she borrowed from the library cart.
"Please don't feel sad AJ. I'll remember to ask for your permission the next time I want to sleep naked with you."
"Not in your life! Why are you still here anyway?"
"It's not yet six, so I got a few minutes to chat with you before I go."
"Fine. What do you wanna talk about?"
"Who's Twilight?"
Applejack blushed. "I, um, don't know what you're talkin' about."
"You keep repeating her name during your sleep. Is she your marefriend?"
"She isn't. And how the hay did you figure that she's a she?"
"That's because only mares are named Twilight, like the First Unicorn. So what's she like?"
"She's… someone who shouldn't have died for my sake."
"I'm sorry. She must have been a special friend."
"I guess you can say that."
"AJ, don't be sad forever. I'll be your special friend."
"Don't you know who I am? I'm Rebel Applejack. An Apple. A terrorist."
"And?"
"Why in the wide world of Gaea would you want to get involved with me?""
"'Cause I know that you're hurting inside, and you're a pony who needs somepony to cheer you up. That's why I'm here. All the ponies who end up here are always sad, and it's up to me to go in and cheer them up."
"By getting arrested?"
"I tried getting a job here, but I couldn't hold it down. I'm always clumsy, I keep breaking things, or I keep breaking into song. But I found a loophole that I'd get to play around with the criminals if I get arrested myself. I kinda wish I could see the prison stallions smile, but I have heard that when the male guards tell them about me, they become happy."
"There's something else you have to be good at. Don't you have any other family?"
"None that I know of."
"Don't you want go somewhere else other than here?"
"Nothing comes to mind."
"Then why here? Why Rock Prison of all places?"
"Because it reminds me of home. And because I was born here. Ah, here's the guard! Gotta go and sign some papers. The government of Gaea loves to receive my signatures."
She fitted her saddlebags onto her back just as Gummy slipped into one of them. The poofy pony followed the guard when she was let out, and down the walkway the prisoners' eyes trailed her as she happily bounced up and down past them. Then she was gone.
Born here? Applejack could imagine her mother getting arrested while she was pregnant or raped within these prison walls. This Pinkie Pie, by some cruel twist of fate, considers this her home, and it was here that she might have both the best memories and her worst mixed up in this dark pit. Applejack could feel it within the pink pony's words her insurmountable sadness beneath her bright façade. Yet Pinkie somehow found a way to continue marching on.
Dinner came and went, and Applejack returned alone in her cell to feel the weight of emptiness upon her. She didn't do much reading from her borrowed books, and she paced within her cell in her thoughts. The pink walls were still here, but there was no pink pony. When the lights turned off, there was utter silence. Profound silence.
On the next day, the morning felt a lot colder and depressing. The previous day, she felt anger at her cellmate's lewd acts. Today, she didn't feel anything, and neither did the other prisoners. Everything felt dead, and even Mrs. Cake appeared deader than usual.
Applejack sat with Lucy and Quirky again out of habit, but none of them spoke to one another. Quirky barely ate, and had to force herself to chew through the wretchedness of her cornbread. All she did was roll the baseball up and down the table the whole time.
Even though her group in the mines was scheduled for half day only, Applejack found the work to be more excruciating than usual, and it was the same type of work she did when she first arrived here. She now noticed the full extent to the aches and pain to her joints and muscles, and she barely had enough spirit to keep her hooves moving. Some of her fellow prisoners seemed worse off, and earned a stern yelling and a couple of warning shots from the guards.
Why was today any different? There wasn't any pink pony to distract them with stupid jokes, stupid puns, and stupid songs. There was just no way that she was the source of the prison's motivational energy.
After the mining shift, Applejack and her block were ordered to perform some domestic work as part of the weekly rotation with the other groups. She was ordered to tow back and forth piles of soiled linen between storage and the laundry complex. She passed by Golden Harvest a few times, but on the last time, she mustered up the motivation to speak with Applejack.
"Somepony wants to take a hit on you," Harvest whispered.
"'Bout time," said Applejack. "Can you tell me who?"
"Not right now. They're probably watching. Five minutes before the shift ends, in the laundry room."
Maybe there was hope after all. Pinkie Pie wasn't necessary, but at least there should be at least one pony that would make living in this hellhole a lot more worthwhile. Applejack written down on the keratin of her hoof the time and location of her meeting with Harvest, and made sure she remembered her way back to her group before their work shift ended.
Alone, Applejack entered the laundry room, but not for work. There was sufficient light, but the long line of massive dryers loomed over the lone mare with eyes of diode and with gaping glass mouths ready to devour her. Places like this should be busy, but yet it was not.
"Harvest?" she cried out. "You in here?"
Suddenly, a hoof punched the back of her head. Before she could get back up, a pair of glammed prisonmares grabbed her front legs and dragged her before a white-maned and blue pony who sat on a pile of laundry like a queen. Beside her was Harvest, Applejack's new Judas.
"Applejack, I'm sorry," said Harvest as she lowered her head in shame.
"Wunderbar," smiled the blue pony. "We finally meet again, Rebel Applejack."
"Do I know you?"
"You do recognize the greatness that is I?" the blue pony cried as she struck a pointed pose.
"I knocked out a lot of blue ponies. You gotta be more specific."
"Yes, yes. Vision! Mein eyes!"
The blonde-maned and brown-coated mare dug into a pile of linen and gave the blue pony something that she put on her glasses.
It was that same pony with the big and gaudy magenta shades who pirated the broadcast back at the station, and the same pony who tried to take her Element of Truth so many years ago.
She was Photo Finish: ex-President-Adviser of Information Control.
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Photo finish is a bitch... nuff said.
Heh heh, uh oh, it seems that Apple Bloom is on the trail of the truth, and every lies that Posey painted up will be ruined. Ooooh, I can't wait to see that. As for this new turn-of-event...man, Applejack can't get a break! At all!
C&C:
She didn't to much reading from her borrowed books...
> Not sure where you was going with this one, so I’ll just point it out for you to fix.
I'll be going back to earlier chapters to C&Cs them, since I was unable to get the chance before, due to some problems with the site.
2164394
Eeyup
...I have a feeling that the appearance of Photo Finish is not a bad thing. She seemed to be on AJ's side, a rebel, when she pirated that broadcast.
3365652
he enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.
Keep in mind, Photo Finish aired that 'cultist' vid during her pirate broadcast, and Applejack's been quite vocal about her distrust, if not dislike, of the cultists.
And you can be loyal, be honest, share your generosity, give your kindness and show the magic, but without this one, the world will always be gray to you.
Honestly, when I read this I imagined Posey had a saddle on her daughter and I couldn't stop laughing for like 5 minutes.
Well played.