9 - Sweet Apple Acres
Chapter 9 - Sweet Apple Acres
In the realm of absolute darkness, Twilight's eyes envisioned a pony-like figure barely outlined by a single thin white line.
"Help me," the voice spoke in a soft and effeminate whisper. "You must help me set her free."
"Who are you?"
"You must help me. She is in pain. If this all continues, she will destroy everything that you hold dear."
"Tell me who you are!"
The figure came forward, and Twilight an impossible form of impossible proportions. It took up everything, and yet nothing. Its equine form became vague, and it craned its neck so that it wrapped curved around the frightened unicorn.
"I am… the Everlasting Darkness."
The sharp bump on the road woke the unicorn. She rode side by side in the backseat of a wheeled automobile whose ride was obviously not as elegant as the hover truck she found at the bottom of the Chasm. It had a bad smell, as if a Diamond Dog spilled his dish on the seat and slept here. Even the beard-stubbled taxi driven had a bad smell coupled with a surly attitude. Clearly he was not a conversational pony.
Twilight tried to remember her dream, but all she could think about was the hour before. She heard that pony, a mare no less, being beaten badly due to her obvious crimes of pirate broadcast. Yet despite the apparent injustice between genders, the crazed blue mare continued to proclaim her devotion to an unknown pony goddess.
Then there was something about the Prophecy coming true. What other secrets did Gaea carry? Was Applejack withholding information? She wanted to speak with Applejack about the mad mare and the pirate television broadcast, but the orange earth pony had been somberly silent throughout the whole ride.
The highway they rode over was not just bumpy, but visually unappealing. Even from the window could Twilight see that the road had seen much better days. Cracks appeared all over the asphalt, and wilted weeds jutted from the road's surface. From her initial impressions of her first time breaching the surface, she shouldn't be surprised any more.
The journey had taken them far from the Ponyville Slums and into a desolate wasteland of dead trees and dusty soil. The surly taxi driver didn't seem all that pleased to have driven his passengers all the way to this dump, and not even the generous tip Applejack offered lifted his spirits. He immediately sped off once Applejack and Twilight had gotten off.
Before them, barbed wire fence extended for miles. Signs were posted every so often to warn that trespassers would be dealt with deadly force, but it did not faze Applejack in any way. Carefully, Applejack wriggled her way through an opening, careful not snag her mane, tail, hat, or her coat against the barbs. She slipped through so easily, whereas Twilight with her dark cloak took twice as long.
"Are you sure it's okay to come here?" Twilight asked.
"The government ain't like wasting bits watching this place, but keep your guard up. There might be drones and spies watchin' our every move. So try and not to use your magic other than the one you're usin' now."
"Okay."
"And make sure you don't stray off the path. They buried land mines all over."
"Applejack."
"Yes?"
"That mare back at the station…"
"She's one those darn cultists who worship Twilight the First Unicorn. I gotta thank them for providing a big distraction for the Government while I work my revolution throughout the land."
"But she broadcasted an image of my Destiny Glyph."
"It's just a coincidence Twi. I know a few ponies who share the same Nature's Call, and there might be many more since they outlaw showin' your flanks. I bet your bees that you might have a distant earth cousin roamin' around Gaea."
"As a cultist."
"Hopefully not as a cultist."
As they walked down the path, Twilight saw nothing but scorched ruins. Wood fences that were once painted became brittle and collapsed at various parts. Craters dotted the land, and where farms would be standing there was hardly anything that remained except for ash.
Applejack trotted up to the plot of land that had the most amount of ashes. From her saddlebags, she procured three daisies that she placed on the ground, took off her hat, and lowered her head.
"Twi, what kind of religion do they have at Unicornia?"
"We worship the Celestial Gods. Why do you ask?"
"I'll pray to them, 'cause in Gaea there is no religion except the religion of the state. That there propaganda hour is just another one of Posey and her cronies' sermons, but it's built upon piles and piles of lies. It's all gonna crash down sooner or later. But at least with your gods, you won't get punished for steppin' out of line."
"So are those flowers for..."
"My family. Granny Smith, my brother Bic Mac, and my little sister Apple Bloom. They all died here that day when Posey burned down my farm."
"I’m sorry. Are your parents still alive?"
"My pa was lynched when he went to Ponyville to buy some medicine for ma. Ma died of a terrible heartbreak after that, but she managed to give birth to Apple Bloom that day."
"Don't you have any other relatives? Close friends?"
"They're all gone Twi. I'm all alone now, but I'm not gonna roll over and let Posey have her way. I'll do everything that I can to get my revenge and topple the government, even if I have to give up my life to do so. That is why I need to get the six Elements of Creation to bring them all back."
"Applejack, I don't think the Elements work that way."
"Oh? What does your ma say about it?"
"It is a source of untold power capable of giving the power of the gods to anypony, whether for good or for evil. That is why there are six of them so it will make gathering them difficult."
"You don't know what I've been through Twi. I lost everything! You still have your mother and your village."
"But my brother and father are still out here."
"If you lost them, what would you do Twi?"
"I don't know."
"Exactly, and I'd reckon we would share the same thoughts of revenge. Sorry Twi, but this is something I have to do as the last of the Apples, or I'll die tryin'."
Suddenly, Applejack noticed a red beam of light sliding up her leg.
"Twi, skedaddle!"
"Huh?"
Applejack jumped before any sniper bullet struck any part of her or her friend's body.
"Figured they send snipers," Applejack grunted. "Twi, we gotta head over to those trees."
"What about land mines? I can teleport us to--"
"Don't use your magic! Trust me on this one and follow my lead. Ready, go!"
Bouncing up and down, Applejack avoided both sniper bullets and land mines, and Twilight did the same. How fortunate that nothing happened when they arrived in a clearing and found constructed on a large tree a run-down clubhouse. Seeing that structure drew a smile across the orange pony's face, and her bouncing became livelier the closer she and Twilight approached it.
The bottom ramp ladder had been destroyed years ago, but for adult mares, there was no need. Applejack helped Twilight up the upper ramps and straight into a clubhouse littered with discarded cans and bottles, obvious evidence that a pony or two had squatted here previously.
"Are we safe?" Twilight asked.
"Depends how persistent these snipers are. I bet they're gonna wait till we pop our heads out. I can't believe my clubhouse is still standin' after all these years. I used to run here whenever the fillies picked on me, and on the day my ma and pa died. I really wanted to fix this up so that Apple Bloom could use this for herself and her friends."
"Please don't say you're going to die for revenge."
"What's that?"
"And you're not alone as well. You have me."
"Whoa there, when I meant that you're a friend to me, I meant that you're a friend-friend. A partner in crime if you will. The Apples used to have a lot of family friends across Gaea, and they're all gone."
"I'm not saying this because half my soul is inside your Element of Truth. I'm saying that hearing you say all those things made me feel sad."
"We really only just met sugarcube. Besides, anyone close to me gets killed, and I can't let you get killed because of my silly little mission. If I die, you can take the Element of Truth and your soul will be whole again."
"I already lost one best friend, and I'm not going to lose another one."
The two mares sat against the splintering walls to listen to the deathly silent air. Several minutes had passed, and then it became an hour. Each of them barely kept themselves awake throughout the entire time.
"Applejack..."
"Shh! They might have sent someone on hoof to get us."
"I have to go to the bathroom."
There were a couple of bottles and large opened food cans across from them, and sunlight from the window illuminated the center floor.
"Number one or number two?" asked Applejack.
"Both."
"For Pete's sake... All right, do number one in the bottle, and number two in the can. Be very quiet. I need to listen for our assassin out there. And don't use your magic!"
"I don't need magic to go the bathroom!"
"Jeez, I just assumed... Oh, just hurry up and go."
Twilight crawled on her stomach towards her poor excuse of a bathroom, but arriving there was half the struggle. She had to decide which to use first: the can or the bottle? And which would produce the least amount of noise?
"Hey do you smell something?" Applejack asked.
"I haven't even started!" hissed Twilight.
"They're setting this tree on fire."
The bathroom had to be delayed. Twilight quaked in her hooves to hold herself together as smoke began seeping through the door, window sill, and every crack and gap on the floor. Both mares gave up breathing deeply, and began coughing. Both kept low to the floor, but with heat of the fire rising, both felt the urge to leap out.
"What do we do?" Twilight asked.
"Surrounded by mines, and there's a sniper and a partner waitin' to ambush us."
"I might be able to..."
"I said, don't use your magic! Here's what we're gonna do instead: on a count of three, we're gonna jump out that there back window and climb up to the crow's nest so we can leap on over to the next tree. Ready? Three!"
From a running start, Applejack leapt through the already shattered back window, sparing Twilight from any cuts from the glass shards. The two avoided a few sniper bullets before climbing up to the tiny room that was the crow's nest barely large enough to fit two mares. By then, fires had surrounded the base of the tree house, and smoke engulfed the actual house. With no time to spare, both Applejack and Twilight simultaneously leapt for their lives to the next tree.
Suddenly, a shadow leapt after them from behind. Initially, the target was Applejack, but her right hind leg kicked away the unknown assailant, who then pulled Twilight down to the base of the next tree with her teeth. The assailant forced the unicorn to stand on her hind legs with a machete poised to her neck.
"I thought you'd be more aware of this trick silly Rebel Applejack," said Ingrid as she pulled the machete closer to her hostage's throat.
"I figured it was a matter of time you'd go after me," said Applejack as she held fast to the trunk of the tree above Ingrid and Twilight. The red laser sight of a sniper's rifle still floated over her body as a warning for her to not to pull any tricks.
"I thought you two don't like to get into politics," Applejack continued. "What changed your mind?"
"From one farmer to another, we only want to get back what was taken from us."
"Applejack," Twilight gagged.
"Sugarcube, don't talk and don't try anythin',” said Applejack. “I'll get you out of this."
"Sugarcube?" smirked Ingrid. "So that stallion must have left you and you got this mare as a replacement. What was his name again?"
"I suppose you want me to give myself in exchange for Twilight's life."
"We don't intend to kill her, but surely you don't want your new 'sugarcube' to be grievously injured, do you?"
"Well, I can't give myself up or allow you to hurt Twilight. It's complicated, and I don't have time to explain it to the likes of you."
"So you two are close."
"Not in that way."
The fire finally engulfed the clubhouse, and the smoke began blowing towards Applejack, Ingrid, and Twilight, who now coughed under the noxious fumes.
"What's it going to be Rebel?” said Ingrid. “Make your decision or we'll all die from smoke inhalation!"
In that tense moment of hesitation, a sniper bullet struck Applejack on the flank, causing her to fall of the tree and crash into the ground. Ingrid threw Twilight aside and pounced upon the wounded orange mare.
"My apologizes Twilight, if that's truly your name," said Ingrid. "You best be running from here. I don't want collateral damage weigh on my conscience."
"Let her go," Twilight growled.
"That I cannot do. If we don't capture Applejack, my sister and I will not get our farm back. Please don't make me shed any more unnecessary bloodshed."
"I said, LET HER GO!"
A gust of wind had been called forth from the unicorn's being, blowing away all the smoke and fire. The rage within Twilight's heart exposed her horn, and that rage caused her to levitate all of the land mines from the vicinity of the trees.
"Impossible," Ingrid gasped. "You're a... unicorn!"
"I won't let any Unicorn Hunters take any more of my family," Twilight cried. "And my friends!"
Detonating the mines was a simple feat--imagine pressing your hoof on it and letting go. The entire area rocked itself with explosions that disoriented Ingrid to cause her to flee. However, she was struck down rather painfully by a stun spell before crashing into a tree.
From afar, a wheeled truck freely plowed through the trees and slid to a halt with the driver's side facing Twilight. The driver, one Bellamena, kicked herself out of the vehicle and immediately fired off her sniper rifle. The bullet screamed towards the unicorn, who suddenly vanished right before it came in contact. Shocked, Bellamena spun around hoping to find the unicorn behind her, but it was too late. Twilight telekinetically threw a rock right into the earth mare's face, and then shackled her down into the ground with her magenta-colored magic.
"What did you do to him?" Twilight demanded.
"Who?"
"The unicorn you captured! What was his name? What did his Destiny Glyph look like? I know you two captured him!"
"I don't remember! It's been years, and the Government already took him right when we caught him!"
"How could you not remember? He's a unicorn! A unicorn!"
"Please! Oh by the earth, please don't kill me! Please!"
"Sugarcube, stop!" screamed Applejack.
The unicorn felt a strong yet shaken force pulling her away from Bellamena's body. From her vantage point of standing on her hind legs, she could see a trickle of blood next to her rear left leg. Finally calming down, she landed back on all fours, and turned to see Applejack struggling to stand next to her.
"Killing her won't bring your pa and bro back," said Applejack.
"But..."
"Ain't that an ironic reversal. A while ago you tell me not to throw my life away in the name of revenge, but then you go all psycho when I get put in danger. Sugarcube, don't you ever do such a thing again! It scares the hay out of me."
"I'm sorry. After all the losses so far, I had to use my magic."
"You did what you had to do. Now, as for the infamous Unicorn Hunters..."
Bellamena, too frightened to run, had backed away towards the tree where her unconscious older sister lay.
"W-why are you siding with the unicorns Applejack?" she cried. "A Twilight no less! Don't you know about the Starswirl Prophecy? She'll destroy the world!"
"Starswirl Prophecy?" said Twilight. "What is she talking about? Gaea believes in the same prophecy?"
"It's the reason why you unicorns had to be hunted to extinction: to prevent the world from being destroyed."
"Don't listen to her Twi," said Applejack.
"Tell me," said Twilight. "What does the Prophecy state?"
"That there will be a unicorn who will betray her own kind," said Bellamena. "That unicorn 'shall be a Twilight who will reunite all the Elements of Creation and there shall be a Twilight who will bring about the creation of a new world.' Applejack, I'm begging you, if this unicorn is the fabled Twilight the Destroyer, you have to kill her now!"
"Be quiet!" cried Applejack. Thus, she knocked out Bellamena with a swift kick in the head.
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(Joke) Alt. Title: Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Re:Re:Fwd:Fwd:Re:Harmony
Stop forwarding this crap to me.
Twilight is over kill. How many chapters are planned for this story?
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Oh, I don't know, probably an epic multiverse crossover with about a thousand chapters and dozens of OCs.
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The title was inspired by the song, Re-sublimity.
Double meaning. A new world can be both
1 - Destroy the world and let a new one rise from its ashes
2 - End the war, bring back the unicorns to the surface, and save the world.
Well, the world they are in kind of sucks. Twilight replacing it with a new one probably wouldn't hurt.
Wild, completely random guess, the world the story is in is a simulation running on the computer in the basement of Twilight's library, which is why they view her as the First Unicorn.
ok lets start here pllz give twilight cool looking armor aj has her duster let twilight get combat armor
Time for some more critical comments, I guess.
A few odd wording errors now and again. Nothing too major or flow breaking, but still. Things like "shed more bloodshed," and the like. Honestly strikes me as being the result of having two ways to word a sentence, changing your mind halfway through, but forgetting to edit the first part. 4eg, "we don't want to shed more blood" and "we dont want more bloodshed," becoming "we don't want to shed more bloodshed." Easy fixes with some proofreading or a dedicated editor/proofreader. But seeing how far this story is, and how early in it I'm commenting, may be a bit late for my comment
Otherwise, loving it so far. I like your take on established characters, and their fitting in this timeline. Also like your world building and culture. I think it goes without saying that a dystopia is most easily measured by its slums, and you've pulled them off well. On a more editorial note, your pacing is great. It doesn't feel like you're rushing plot points, but it isn't really dragging either. You're good at picking which new bits of world info to explain/expand upon immediately, and which to withold for later.
All in all, very enjoyable so far, and Iook forward to continuing through this.
5954132 tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=JN.hPsKsGadyD68x0Eon8xH5g&w=259&h=173&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.1 3.bp.blogspot.com/-DENKkTlmVaY/Tvd1LLFhhzI/AAAAAAAAZOo/XUr-ncbRj-8/s320/Capture.JPG
Or my personal favorite
fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/152/e/6/twilight_sparkle___adventurer_by_lethalnoodle-d51x39x.jpg
The conversation in the tree house at the beginning was off. It didn't sound like how real people talk. It seemed to just come out of nowhere and it seemed to have parts left out.
The dialogue all throughout the chapter seemed forced. The conversations seemed to come out of nowhere, and the way the characters spoke was awkward and seemed like it was leaving out important information.
But I really liked the use of magic to easily overpower the unicorn hunters.
WE FINALLY GET AN EXPLANATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6159679 The last one. Definitely the last one
Well, "creating a new world" is deliberately ambiguous...
Wonder which Alicorn Twilight will find: Celestia or Luna?
What kind of dumbass hears "create a new world" and gets the message "destroy the world"? Prophecies are vague on purpose, but "new" doesn't mean "went death star on the old world", and it would make more sense if you interpreted it as a new govt/"world order".
I get the feeling the ponies misunderstood that terribly. Well, I'll have to keep reading to find out.
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Or... The Alicorn Amulet!
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Actually, in this case, to make a 'new' world is always on the destruction of the old one... at least to those who listen to prophesy.