A walk along the Orchard of Dreams
Despite the advanced hour of the night, a few people in Ponyville were still wide awake. Bartenders and restaurants’ cleaning crews, guards on night duty, and many others. One of these others was Luna, the Princess of the Night. Due to her title, the star-haired monarch wasn’t used to sleeping at the same time as the Sun.
Her insomnia only became more intense whenever something was on her mind. And today, that something was what her sister had been doing during the previous day. Celestia had told her that it was Applejack’s decision to not reveal what happened to anyone, and that frustrated Luna a lot.
She hated to feel left out of important matters, and judging by the hour her sister came back, it had been a very important matter. She wanted answers and by Faust, she would get them from the only one who could deliver them.
Luna focused her magic to sense where the blonde farmer was at this hour. She spotted her aura right next to Rarity’s in the seamstress’ hotel suite. After a bright, blue flash, the Night Princess was standing in front of Rarity’s door. She lifted her hand and knocked a couple of times.
“Rarity,” Luna called when no one came at the door. “I know you and Jacquelyn are here and awake. I’d like to just talk to her for…”
The monarch was interrupted by the sudden, and rather violent opening of the door by a rather disheveled, and angry Rarity. Luna didn’t know what puzzled her the most, the state of Rarity’s hair and the fact she didn’t seem to care about it, or the furious glare she was casting her.
“Applejack doesn’t want to talk with anyone, and would appreciate some peace and quiet!” Rarity snapped angrily before starting the movement to slam the door.
“Rare!” Applejack’s voice called, and Luna couldn’t miss how tired she sounded. “Let her in.”
The seamstress gritted her teeth together in anger, much to Luna’s incomprehension, before letting her Princess in. Rarity led Luna to her bedroom, wherein the monarch snapped her eyes open in shock at the sight of a very badly injured Applejack sitting on the bed.
“What in Tartarus happened to you?” Luna asked in a soft, worried tone.
“Don’t play the innocent, Princess!” Rarity growled. “You perfectly know what happened!”
“Rarity, Ah told ya she didn’t know,” Applejack retorted with a wince before holding her sore ribs. “Princess Celestia told me she hadn’t told anyone.”
“My sister did this, didn’t she?” Luna asked slowly before Rarity was about to reply, pointing at the many bruises lit up by the golden healing spells.
Applejack licked her lips uneasily. “Yes.” she replied simply while her lover simply glared at Luna in silence.
“When did she cast those healing spells?” Luna asked after inspecting the blonde’s wounds.
“A few hours ago,” Applejack replied.
“Really?” Luna frowned before examining Applejack closely. “That’s odd…”
“What? That Celestia nearly killed my lover?!” Rarity snapped. “Because that sure is odd behavior!”
“You should be completely healed by now.” Luna commented, ignoring Rarity’s rant and casting her magical sight spell on. “....Sweet Faust…” she whispered in complete shock.
“What is it?” Applejack asked with worry, causing her lover to scoot closer to her.
“You need to rest!” Luna stated firmly. “Try to get some sleep!”
“Ah ain’t feelin’ like…”
“Sleep!” Luna ordered, poking Applejack’s forehead.
The effect was instantaneous. Applejack’s eyelids almost immediately closed as her body slumped backward on the bed. Rarity quickly grabbed her lover in her magic to prevent her from falling on one of her injuries too harshly.
“What did you do that for?” Rarity asked with a glare.
“I sped up the healing process!” Luna explained as Rarity settled Applejack comfortably. “Her own magic was fighting the one from the spells. Normally, Celestia’s spells can completely heal any wounds in less than an hour.” Except on herself and me… Too much power within us for that…
“Then, why wasn’t she healed before?” Rarity asked in a whisper as the light of spells glowed brighter than before.
“I suppose her mind was still set on battling Celestia, which caused her magic to instinctually try to reject the spells,” Luna suggested slowly as Applejack’s snores filled the room.
“That’s actually possible?” Rarity asked with curiosity.
“It’s a rare phenomenon, but it’s not unheard of,” Luna replied casually. “Anyway, did she tell you what happened with my sister?”
“She was going to tell me about it when you knocked at the door.” Rarity’s anger came back at full charge. “All she told me was that Celestia started a fight with her!”
“She didn’t tell you anything else?” Rarity shook her head in response. “I guess, you and I’ll just have to wait for her to wake up… or..”
“Or what?” Rarity asked with a cocked eyebrow.
“I could just….” Luna licked her lips uneasily. “I could just visit her memories of today through her dreams!”
“You can do that?” Luna nodded slowly. “But, wouldn’t that be an invasion of privacy… sort of?”
“We could say it like that,” Luna answered with a brief wince before sitting cross-legged next to the bed. “Watch over my body while I’m gone, please,” she added before taking a deep breath and joining her hands together.
“Wait! I didn’t give my authorization for this!” Rarity nearly shouted when she realized what Luna was about to do.
“That’s good, because I don’t remember asking it, my dear!” Luna replied with a short, half-hearted chuckle. “Seeya gal later, as Rainbow would say,” she added before closing her eyes in intense focus.
When she opened her eyes again, Luna saw that she wasn’t in Rarity’s suite anymore, but in the middle of a gigantic orchard. She guessed it was Sweet Apple Acres, considering whose memories she was visiting.
The Night Princess took a look around and noticed that there weren’t any limits to the lines of trees. They just kept going beyond the horizon. She couldn’t miss the fact that there were different kinds of trees, despite a rather limited knowledge on the matter.
“I wonder if there’s a meaning behind them,” Luna thought out loud as she walked close to what clearly looked like an orange tree.
She brushed the bark of the tree with her fingers, causing the scenery to change from the orchard to a fancy apartment living room. She looked around, stumbling across a rather cute scene.
“Do Ah have to wear this dress, Auntie Orange?” An eight year old Applejack asked with obvious discomfort as her aunt was closing the zipper of her niece’s orange dress.
“I think you’re just radiant, Honey!” Aunt Orange replied with a smile before. “Don’t you agree, Ariane?” she asked to the woman who looked like the carbon copy of the Applejack Luna had come to know.
“She’s just adorable!” Ariane cooed softly, pinching her daughter’s freckled cheek. “Good job on picking Jacquelyn’s dress, little sister.”
“Good, that’s one girl done.” Aunt Orange looked around for a few minutes. “Where’s my other niece so that I can put that new dress on her?” she asked playfully when she spotted a lock of blue hair peeking from behind the chair of her sister.
Luna couldn’t refrain her giggle at the sight of the tiny head of Vinyl Apple slowly going out from her hideout formed by the coat of her mother and the back of the chair. Aunt Orange smiled widely at the young, shy girl before showing her the light blue dress she had picked for at the shop.
“Your mother wrote me that you like the color blue, is that true?” Aunt Orange asked softly, earning a small nod from the tiny Vinyl who walked out of her hiding spot, holding a small, stuffed unicorn with a mane similar to her hair tightly secured in her right arm.
With an encouraging, and delicate shove from Ariane, Vinyl slowly walked up to her aunt. The smiling woman turned the dress around to show its back to the young girl.
“Would you like to try it?” Aunt Orange asked slowly, earning another nod from Vinyl. “Perfect! Now, let’s just…” she gave a small tap on Vinyl’s upper back.
Immediately after the contact, Vinyl let out a short yell followed by a bright flash of blue magic that surged from her hands before a light blue cord hit strongly Aunt Orange’s hand, giving her a long, and rather deep cut on the back of it.
Ariane quickly stood up from her chair to reach for her sister who held her bloody hand while biting her lip to not curse in front of the girls. Vinyl looked at her wounded aunt in horror before running away to the closest closet, not seeing that Applejack was right behind her.
“It’s nothing, Ariane,” Aunt Orange tried to reassure softly. “Just an accident, and it was all my fau...” her voice turned mute as the closet door closed behind Applejack, forcing the Night Princess inside a crammed coat closet with a little Vinyl hugging her plush while sobbing uncontrollably.
Luna was more than perturbed by what she was seeing. She had only known Vinyl as the confident spellcaster and musician, and had trouble believing it was the same terrified little girl in the memory in front of her.
The Immortal Princess gasped in shock when the young Applejack tried to reach for her crying sibling, only to have Vinyl’s magic attacking her as well. The young blonde ignored the magic tendril hitting her on the shoulder and simply pulled her blue-haired sibling’s head into a strong embrace.
“Ah got ya, little sis’!” Applejack whispered softly to her sister’s ear while the blue tendrils whipped around the closet. “Nothin’ gonna hurt ya, Ah’m here!”
Applejack kept repeating her that until Vinyl’s magic stopped its rampage and that the smaller girl turned around to bury her face in her sister’s chest. Luna was more than impressed by how true Applejack’s words to always stand by her sister’s side rang for a girl so young. Such a sincere and genuine sisterly bond wasn’t something the monarch was used to seeing.
Luna closed her eyes and focused her thoughts to pull herself away from the memory. When she opened her eyes again, she was once more in the middle of the orchard, before the orange tree, noticing that its bark was cracked at the junction of one of the branches to the trunk, similar to the cut Aunt Orange had received on her hand.
The Night Princess continued her exploration of the orchard, stepping next to fully grown, and healthy trees full of ripe-looking fruits. She quickly identified those as holders of precious memories of the blonde farmer. Like the one when a little red-haired girl stood up and took her very first steps in what Luna had supposed was the farmhouse living room.
During her roaming, Luna stumbled across a rather thick tree whose bark looked like it had been torn away by a huge feline. She touched the trunk and the scenery changed again, though not much as Luna was still surrounded by countless trees. She looked around only to duck when a large, furry body was sent in her direction.
While the manticore was knocked unconscious against a tree, Luna saw a slightly younger Applejack kneeling next to another blonde girl who the Princess recognized as Cloud Kicker. Luna watched with attention the events that followed.
Luna couldn’t help but to let out a silent wow when she saw Applejack knee-striking the manticore’s jaw to stop its charge. The farmer diverted the beast’s stinger with one hand before locking its thick neck in a choking grip. The panicked roars came to a stop after a very sharp snap noise.
As the beast fell lifeless on the ground, the scenery changed back to the Orchard after Luna decided she had seen enough. She had come here to see one event in particular, and by the Four Gods she would find it.
Luna searched through the trees for what seemed to be like an hour, until she saw what she was looking for. Well, she wouldn’t be certain of it until she saw the memory that the tree was holding, but the fact that some of its branches were on fire was a good hint for the Night Princess.
For the nth time this day, the scenery changed, though this time, the place was somewhat familiar. It took her a few seconds, but Luna recognized it. It was the ruins of the first Titanian Household in the Everfree Forest.
“Where in tarnation are we?” Applejack asked, looking at a mix of ancient tapestries and furniture around her.
“We’re in what’s left of the ancient realm of Unicornia,” Celestia replied slowly while taking off her tiara to put it on a nearby stone table. “A ruin lost in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Very practical when you don’t want to be disturbed,” she added while taking her bracelets off.
“Why did ya bring me here?” Applejack asked slowly, cocking an eyebrow when Celestia tied her long, waving hair in a braided ponytail with her magic.
“I already told you why, Applejack.” Celestia looked at the farmer before her hand glowed in a golden hue.
“No, ya di.....HEY!” Applejack shouted angrily when her hat and silver necklace were levitated to the table next to monarch’s jewelry. “Give those back!”
“Don’t worry, Applejack. They’ll be safe here.” Celestia pointed at the table before putting her right palm on her left fist and bowing to Applejack. “I do apologize…”
“Fer what?” Applejack blinked in confusion at the princess’ gestures.
“...For this!” Celestia replied with a pained frown.
The next thing Luna felt was the hair at the back of her neck standing. Her trained eyes could see her sister coming closer to the unprepared farmer, but she doubted that the blonde’s could.
“TIA, STOP!” Luna shouted in panic, forgetting this was a memory.
The Sun Princess’ punch flew straight to Applejack’s face, and was about to hit its mark before the farmer put her elbow in the way of the punch. At the impact, Applejack winced in obvious pain while a violent clash rang through the empty ballroom.
The strength used by Celestia pushed the farmer’s back while making her stumble backwards as well. The Alicorn Princess lifted her other fist for a second attack, only to be blocked by a violent stomp from the blonde.
Using both her kick and Celestia’s punch’s momentum, Applejack put a long distance between her and the monarch. Luna watched the two staring at each other: one with shock while rubbing her sore elbow, the other with an impassible face which cracked into a small, proud smile.
“Very good reflexes, my dear,” Celestia calmly commented like she would have at a tea party.
“....thanks, Ah guess,” Applejack muttered, her eyes stern as an eagle’s focused on her monarch.
“Shall we continue?” Celestia asked politely.
“Ah suppose.” Applejack slowly nodded before taking her jacket off.
Now that Applejack had thrown her Ponyville Team jacket away, Luna could see the presence of a developing bruise on the blonde’s elbow. The next actions undertaken by the farmer surprised the Night Princess as well as her sister.
Applejack took stance before Celestia before nonchalantly signaling her to come at her with her fingers.
“I didn’t know you were as cocky as Renée,” Celestia commented with a cocked eyebrow.
‘’Ain’t cockiness. It’s just a simple invitation,’’ Applejack replied simply. “It ain’t like Ah tol’ ya :’’ Come and git yer royal ass kicked!” Ain’t ma style.”
‘’True that would have been...” Celestia began calmly.
“Ah would have been honest and added ‘’fat’’ between ‘’royal’’ and ‘’ass’’.” Applejack smirked.
Luna’s jaw attempted to reach for the floor at that comment while she saw her sister blinking in shock. Applejack took advantage of the moment of confusion, and leaped forward before throwing a scything kick in Celestia’s face.
“Sweet Faust,” Luna let out as Celestia was catapulted against the wall with a loud slam before disappearing in a massive cloud of dust.
“THAT was just rude!” Celestia commented sourly.
She rose from the dust while massaging her jaw. Other than a few misplaced locks of hair, the Princess’ body showed no signs of being hit by the young farmer.
“It ain’t like ya brought me here to test ma manners,” Applejack replied with narrowed eyes. “Ya took me away from quality time with Rarity. Ya better don’ expect ma best behavior after that!”
“How odd… I’m angry at you for being so unpleasant with me, yet particularly proud of your reasons behind that bad behavior,” Celestia commented in a slow, casual tone. “With any luck, your skills are far beyond your poor behavior.”
“Try me, Princess.” Applejack snarled.
“Oh, believe me! I will!”
The two opponents stared at each other for a few seconds before they both charged forward, and Luna stood there watching a scratch melee that would last a lot more than she thought it would.
******
During her long existence, Luna had witnessed many things one might think it never happened. She had faced Discord’s random but extremely powerful magic along with her sister. She had seen Pinkie’s inventing the special harnesses for their flying carriages, thus canceling the need for the Princesses to cast a spell on their horses to make them fly. She even saw a living being other than her and her sister breaking the sound barrier while flying.
Yet she was completely shocked by what she had been witnessing for the past two hours. It was something she couldn’t have imagined beforehand, something she knew was impossible but had happened anyway. Celestia had had a very hard time against Applejack.
Her regal sister, who had always been an embodiment of class, poise, and grace was a mess. Her left eyelid was swollen so much that only a tiny portion of her cerise iris was visible. She couldn’t close her left fist anymore, probably because of broken fingers. Her right leg was limping when she walked, thanks to a powerful stomp from the farmer, and her posture was oddly tensed since Applejack had elbowed her in the back.
Applejack was in a far worse condition though : she had so many bruises all over her body that Luna couldn’t see her natural skin color anymore. Her right arm hung limply while a small part of her bone was piercing the flesh with a tiny, yet constant flow of blood. Her legs were shaking so violently and her breath so labored that the Night Princess couldn’t help to wonder how she hadn’t collapsed yet.
Though that question was overcome by the one about how she had even survived so far. Her sister had been far from her gentle, merciful self during the fight, and every single time, the farmer simply stood up to respond to Celestia in kind.
How she had kept up for so long, Luna didn’t know for sure, but the fight was clearly over now. Celestia was holding Applejack on the ground after a rather strong blow from the monarch.
“You...You’ve clearly overcome my expectations, Applejack,” Celestia said through heavy pants. “… I must congratulate you for that.”
Applejack’s response was to breath loudly and with great difficulty before nodding imperceptibly while the Monarch kept her palm pressed on the blonde’s chest.
“I… I have a proposition for you…” Celestia added slowly.
“Huh?” Luna cocked an eyebrow while Applejack remained silent.
“You clearly are above every Eponian I ever saw during my life…” Celestia continued slowly. “You’re fast, strong… both in body and in spirit… Yet you lack something important.”
Luna tilted her head in confusion while Celestia made a short pause for Applejack to guess, but the farmer didn’t seem inclined to speak and was just staring at her sovereign.
“Technique,” Celestia said softly. “While I doubt that anyone would be able to overpower you in basic hand to hand combat… There are many ways to defeat you… Had I used my Titanian magic, you would have lost about an hour and fifty minutes ago.” Celestia looked at the young farmer with hard, yet kind stare. “There’s also a lot more to Eponian magic than what you and others know about….”
“.... There’s more?” Applejack asked in a shocked whisper.
“Sister, what are you implying?” Luna wondered in confusion.
“Yes, much more… Let me teach you, Applejack,” Celestia demanded softly, leaning closer to Applejack’s face. “So that this time remains the only time you were ever defeated in battle. What do you think?”
Applejack licked her bloody lips. “Mighty… interestin’...” she answered with difficulty. “...But…”
To Luna’s great surprise, Applejack’s forehead lunged upward and slammed against Celestia’s, causing the princess to release the pressure on the farmer as well as a small yelp of pain.
Celestia had to take a few steps back, rubbing her forehead while Applejack stood up and stomped the royal’s chest as strongly as she could. Celestia fell on her back a few feet away from the farmer, her hand on her sternum, wincing in obvious pain.
“Except Ah still wasn’t defeated,” Applejack commented with a slow smirk despite panting heavily. “And ...Ah... ain’t interested…”
After she said that, Applejack blinked multiple times and fell on her knees as exhaustion and her wounds were finally catching up with her. The entire scene started to get blurry as Applejack fell down, and was slowly fading to black. Though Luna still managed to see her sister sitting up straight to look at Applejack, her hurting frown slowly turning into a small smirk.
“I’ll just wait for you to change your mind then,” Celestia said as her hands started glow in her usual golden light.
“....Y’all will wait for a…. long time…” Applejack said before closing her eyes while her wounds shone in Celestia’s magic.
“You’ll find out that I can be quite patient, Applejack.” Celestia commented slowly as the scene disappeared and Luna found herself back in front of the flaming tree.
“To think that someone who could challenge Celestia like that existed…. right under her nose.” Luna passed her hand through her hair before taking a few steps back and leaning against another tree, which was surrounded by many lilacs and roses. “Huh?” Luna looked around as the scenery changed one more time.
Instead of the orchard, she stood in the middle of barn at night. The moonlight coming from one of the windows lighting up the floor enough so that Luna could notice a tweed, red, checkered shirt on the floor. She turned around only to freeze when a white dress flew through her along with a frilly purple bra.
“Oh!” Luna let out in stun. “.... Well, apparently Jacquelyn’s wild for other things than fighting.” She thought outloud. “Rarity doesn’t seem to mind though.” A pair of panties matching the bra from earlier flew right through the Princess’ body. “And now I go!” she added before quickly closing her eyes to bring herself back in the middle of the orchard.
As Luna took a mental note to not approach the trees surrounded by roses and lilacs, she felt someone blowing a large quantity of hot air on her neck. She slowly turned around, and realized that she might have overstayed her welcome with that last memory.
A gigantic wooden horse, easily two times the size of the tallest tree Luna had seen (if not more), stood behind her, its head lowered so that its glowing orange eyes were staring at Luna.
“I suppose you want me to leave, right?” Luna asked the apparition casually.
The tree-horse flared its nostrils so that a large puff of steam engulfed Luna, making her hair stand in a bizarre fashion as well as her clothes. Luna simply arranged her clothes and hair calmly as possible.
“No need to act like that, you know? I was about to go.” The gigantic, wooden equine whinnied loudly, as if growling. “Fine, I also promise I’ll never come here again.”
Satisfied by the honest answer, the behemoth of a horse turned its back on the Night Princess who was focusing on leaving Applejack’s dreams and memories. As her body was fading into non-existence, Luna glanced a last time at the Guardian which inhaled the scent of the lilacs and roses bushes before trotting away.
Well, Jacquelyn’s Guardian’s much more intimidating than Twilight’s book-made Owl. Luna thought with a small smile as she blinked and found herself sitting cross-legged next to Rarity’s bed.
“You’re done already?” Rarity asked in a surprised tone as Luna rubbed her eyes while standing up.
“Yes. How long was I away?”
“Barely two minutes!” Rarity remarked slowly.
“Huh!” Luna let, easily as surprised as Rarity sounded. Even after four thousand years, I still can’t get used to how time flows differently in the Dreamworld. “Anyway, I have my answers. I’ll just leave you two rest in peace.”
“Wait up a minute, Princess!” Rarity called as she grabbed Luna’s shoulder. “You had your answers, but I didn’t!” she added with an angry stare.
“Rarity, your answers can wait until she wakes up,” Luna said softly, glancing at the sleeping Applejack.
“Oh, no! I deserve to know NOW! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through while she was gone?! How worried I’ve been?!” Rarity asked angrily.
“No, I don’t, but I’m pretty sure what she’s been through was a lot worse.” Luna argued sternly, immediately silencing Rarity who looked at her feet sheepishly. “I think she deserved her rest, and, while I don’t know her that much, I’m convinced she would appreciate it if you’d just join her!” Luna brushed a few locks of Rarity’s hair out of the way before pulling her chin up. “And I think you need it as much as she does,” she added while looking at Rarity’s concerned and worried eyes.
“O-Okay…...But..what if I hurt her during my sleep?” Rarity asked sheepishly after a good minute of silence.
Luna chuckled softly before nodding at the sleeping form of Applejack, making Rarity notice that many of the healing spells had stopped after doing their jobs: only her right arm and her left ribs were still glowing but far less than before.
“Just mind her right arm when you settle in,” Luna added playfully before levitating Rarity and shoving her into the bed next to her lover.
“HEY!!….” Rarity didn’t get time to complain to the princess as a strong arm locked itself around her torso and pulled her close.
“Shhh! You’re going to wake her up!” Luna playfully whispered. “Anyway, sweet dreams! And, don’t worry about Celestia. I’m going to have a few words with her about this!” she added sternly before teleporting away from the suite.
In the meantime, Rarity was being assaulted by a very snuggly Applejack as the farmer pulled her seamstress against her body, quite easily for someone who had their arm broken not an hour ago.
Inside her lover’s grip, Rarity suddenly felt the sleep catch up with her. She yawned slowly before turning around to face the freckled visage she adored so much. Rarity slowly and delicately caressed her lover’s cheek, earning a soft, satisfied moan from Applejack.
“I suppose it can wait until tomorrow,” Rarity whispered before planting a delicate kiss on the farmer’s lips and snuggling in the crook of her neck. “It’s not like anything will happen tomorrow,” she added before slowly falling asleep.
~~~~~
“Are we sure this place is safe?” A cloaked figure asked with worry as she inspected the ruined castle she and her party were settling in.
“I inspected the surroundings,” A gigantic man wearing the same cloak as the first replied in a deep voice. “All the nests I had spotted close by a few weeks ago are completely empty. Like the herds were chased away not long ago.”
“Good thing for us then.” Another woman lead the group into another wing of the ruins. “It spares us the trouble of chasing them ourselves.”
“Aren’t you curious about what drove the beasts away?” the giant of a man asked abruptly. “It’s the Everfree Forest after all.”
“Considering our business here, no, I’m not curious.” the leading woman replied apathetically.
The group entered the Western wing of the castle in ruins, walking inside what looked like an ancient ballroom or banquet hall. When the leader stepped inside the room, she stopped right in her tracks.
“What is it?” the other woman of the group asked slowly. “Did you feel something?”
“Magic,” the leader replied slowly. “A lot of magic!”
“This castle was the home of the first Titanians,” a cloaked man commented slowly. “It’s probably traces left from a long time ago.”
“No!” The leader corrected as she glanced around the room. “It’s too intense to be traces from millenias ago.” she kneeled next to a small plant growing from between two stone slabs. “And, it isn’t only Titanian magic that I feel,” she added, nearly caressing the leaves of the plant. “Eponians were here…. Very recently.” She spotted a brownish stain near the plant’s root and touched it softly.
“How recent are you talking about?” the other woman asked in a worried tone.
“From the color of that blood, I’d say earlier during the day,” the leader replied matter-of-factly as she inspected the brownish liquid on her fingers. “Looks like the damage in the ruins might not all be from time. Search the room. I want any clues on who fought here of all places, then start settling in!”
“Aye, Aye, Ma’am!” the ten cloaked figures replied in unison before doing as instructed.
While her underlings searched through the room, the leader pulled her hood up before she spotted another blood stain. She went to examine it and found a long strand of blonde hair lost on the floor.
The tanned woman brought the blonde hair closer to her face, close enough so that she could smell the faintest odor of apples coming from it. She hummed while thinking about something for a little bit until she levitated the unknown hair in her light, teal magical aura. Using the blood on her fingers and the hair in her magic grasp, she casted a little Divination spell she knew.
It lasted only the time of a blink of an eye and some other than her might have thought it was their mind playing trick, but she didn’t. For a brief second, she saw something. Something that looked like a tall woman with long blonde hair staring down at her with bright glowing eyes.
The sudden, short apparition made her shiver with an undeniable sense of dread. It was like her own instincts were shouting at her that the apparition was dangerous, very dangerous.
“Hey, you okay?” the giant of a man called with worry. “We heard you gasp and what not…”
“I’m fine,” the leader groaned while pinching the bridge of her nose, still feeling the cold sweat of an unexplainable fear running along her spine. “Continue with the preparatives! And you!” she snapped her fingers at one of the her underlings. “Return to Ponyville and keep a close watch on things.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” he nodded. He was about to leave when he pulled a thick file from his satchel. “Here’s the maximum I could gather before you arrived.” he handed his leader the file before taking his leave.
She leafed through the file until her gaze fell on the picture of a blonde woman in a red and golden armor holding hands with Twilight Sparkle. The picture was taped to a record of a reception that took place the saturday before. The notes on the record mentioned the two women in an apparently serious, love-relationship.
The woman frowned at that, and glanced at her slightly uncovered shoulder. Well at the clear, old and long cut-scar on it to be exact. She kept leafing through the report, finding a picture of the Baroness Rarity Belle with her arm entwined with the one of a tall blonde. The same blonde from her vision.
“Things might just have gotten harder.” she thought out loud before freezing at the sight of another picture in the file.
The picture showed Viscount Fancy Pants, his wife and Lady Octavia discussing with a blue haired woman who looked like she came to the reception straight from a farm, much like the blonde she had a vision about. The two tones of blue, the shade of red in her eyes. Those elements disturbed her a lot more than her previous vision.
“Althea, install the Mirror immediately!” the tanned woman ordered loudly. “I need to talk to the chief, stat!”
“Right away!” The other woman, Althea apparently, replied sheepishly. “It’ll take some time though.”
“Hurry up then!” She barked loudly.
“Of course, Sunset!” Althea nodded in fear.
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YYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHHA!!!! YOU ARE AWESOME THIS IS AWESOME!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im just gunna sit here and ponder what I just read... HAHAHAHHAHAA WE GOT TO SEE PART OF THE BATTLE! *Squee*
Finally we could see what happened! Poor AJ, at least Luna was there to help before something worse happened to her.
I really enjoyed this chapter, can't wait for the next one.
Totally called the villain reveal
I'm very curious how this will play out; I wonder who Shim-Sham's boss is, though?
ITS ALIIIIVE!!! you have no idea how long ive been waiting for this to update. wait, yes you do. you probably know when you updated before this, so yeah, you know
finaly an update
btw sunset shimmers aura was light blue not green 
anyway good update was really glad to see it
"For the nth time this day, the scenery changed, though this time, the place was somewhat familiar." i guess you ment ninth??
Loved it!!! Loved everything about it!!!! Please post more!!!!
fucking Celestia, fucking bad guys, FUCKING ANNOYING WANKERS!
3753835
I corrected it!
Indeed... the last video I had seen wasn't top quality, and the color appeared more greenish than it was
Also, nth is an adjective that means "an unspecified ordinal number" (quoting some dictionary). It's a formulation often used in French (at least where I live), but I'm not sure about English
3754035 i see, i didn't know about that
I really like the description of Luna as she visits the Orchard of Dreams when she browses through Applejack's Memories. It reminds me of Jack Skellington as he enters the Forest of Holidays before he steps into Christmas Town.
I am shocked to see the reveal of supposed villain in this story, Sunset Shimmer. I figured that you would focus on the Equestrian Games, and then bring the villain into the next story.
Anyway, great chapter! And it's so good to see an update on this story too!
3754035 Well, English has that phrase, it's just not as used in the past generation or so
Good job on the chapter, noticed you didn't give us the full account of what happened in the fight.
I hadn't even noticed/thought about who the heck that was until the comment you were replying to said something.
This is going to be interesting.
But what about Vinyl's competition? Do we get to know about that? How well did she do at horse riding? Was there another confrontation with Octavia's family?
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It's just for a preparation for the Apple Scratch IV....:pinkie crazy:
3754623 3754620
I'll get back to the competitions in the next chapter
3754632 Wait you cant just leave it like that after telling us who the villain is that's not fair
o and a side note: I know it would be silly but you could do it once and I think every one would be ok with this Lyra when in pony form she is coco for humans so why is she not crazy for trying to prove that small colorful talking pony's are reel? even if you only made a small nod to this I think it would go well but that's just me. (any how great chapter and cant wait for the next as I read up on all the other story's in this virse)
Ooooh, what a twist at the end. Hmm I wonder what going on? And what those mysterious people want with AJ and Vinyl. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Would have liked to See bit more of The fight. Also, I had expected AJ to tilt her head slightly to the side to avoid Celeste's initial punch, then send her flying with a punch.
Aside from that, nice chapter but Luna is a dick. No respect for privacy...
You. Are. Magnificent.
...
But you suck for making us wait
valio la espera grandioso y ahora aparece la incógnita de que quieren estos personajes ya sea con el consejo o con nuestras protagonistas
Well, we have a glimpse at the next story. That's pretty cool. Though, it seems like either they have their OWN mirror, or they stole the one...it'd be interesting to find out.
Good thing for that fight re-telling, I kinda forgot where it took place. XD
Private Dangle approves this story.
This fic is so hipster
It was doing "the equestria games" before it was cannon
OMG! Can't Waits for what's next!
Damn you... I don't know what I want you to update more now....
I discovered you because of GTVS, and I am loving that story, and Troubles in the Big Apple for the Scratchin Thieves, whici am also loving, but then I found (after asking you which was the first) of these stories. Now I am hooked on this series too... Damn you!!!! You wonderful author... You have earned hours of my time...
That may not seem like a big deal to many people, but to me my time is precious and very hard to give or to be received...
Sunset Shimmer, interesting.
Ahhhh!
Now the giant horse on An Apple Scratch Toward the World's cover makes sense!!!
+ I've nearly caught up so
So... Celestia abducts and assaults her subjects simply to satisfy her curiosity, then trys to pressure them into working for her, while Luna invades the dreams of the same subjects to satisfy her curiosity.
I know it isn't going to happen, but I really wish Rarity would tell them both where to get off and resign from the Council.
Oh, and we finally get to learn what happened to Sunset. I think this is going to be pretty hard on CK.