The first Equestrian war; it was a terrible thing and I will tell you what happened.
The first Equestrian war came out of nowhere, it was an alien concept to the ponies there and they weren't able to expect it. Now they have to fight against the rebels to save their own lives, and to attempt to return back to the lives that they had previously had.
Applejack was the luckiest mare in the world. She got a feeling of pure amazement that her life could be just perfect and the way she wanted it every time she woke up next to the love of her life. She always woke up before Rainbow Dash did when she started out her day. She worked on her farm while Rainbow primarily focused on her job as a weather Pegasus. Rainbow helped out on the farm during some of the days she had off just so she could spend more of her time with Applejack. Applejack never complained and was just happy she could get Rainbow to be a little less lazy.
They had been together for three years coming up in a few weeks, and Applejack could not find a single problem in their relationship even if she had tried. Technically their heads butted pretty much every other hour, but that's what made their relationship thrive. It's what they were both best at, competing with each other, it had made them great friends so why shouldn't it stay when their relationship escalated? If she had to be forced to pick an issue between them however, Applejack knew what she would pick; Rainbow's nightmares.
During the first year they were completely gone. The comfort, affection, and warmth Applejack had provided her kept them away. As the excitement and glamour that a new couple always brought died down and things settled more, they started to return. Slowly they had begun to drift back into her life. At first they just appeared once in a blue moon. Soon they started to become more prominent, until they began to be a natural occurrence like they had been before the two started to date.
Finally Applejack had had enough; she couldn't stand to see how hurt Rainbow was by her nightmares. They kept both of them up at night and sometimes left Rainbow in a state of shambles, and occasionally bringing her to tears. Applejack wanted to get rid of them, and insisted that Rainbow went to see a psychiatrist. She was sure that one could help Rainbow get rid of her nightmares, or at least it “wouldn't hurt ta try.”
Two years earlier
“ But I don't want to!”
“Can ya tell me a legitimate reason why?”
Rainbow huffed, “Because I'm stubborn; that's why. I've dealt with my nightmares my own way since I was a filly, so why should I change that?”
Applejack sighed and walked over to Rainbow placing a hoof on her shoulder, “Rainbow ya know Ah learned my lesson the hard way about being stubborn. Don't make my mistake, it wouldn't hurt ta try. Ah'll pay for it and everythin'.”
Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes, “Quit bein' all mushy and girly and crap. You know I hate that stuff.”
Applejack laughed, “No ya don't. Don't lie ta me Rainbow.” She nuzzled quickly against Rainbow's neck as if to prove a point. She watched as Rainbow's wings started to rise and a flush rushed to her cheeks.
Rainbow coughed and looked away, “Shut up.”
Applejack just laughed again and began to walk away. “Come on, just try the therapist Rainbow. Ya can't knock somethin' until ya try it.”
“I very easily can do just that.” Rainbow crossed her arms and refused to budge. Applejack sighed and stopped, sat down in thought and a smile appeared on her lips as she realized exactly how she was going to get her way.
“Fine, have it yer way.” Rainbow jumped in success, and then Applejack continued, “No sex then.” Rainbow's face immediately turned to shock. Applejack just grinned and began to walk upstairs before Rainbow grabbed her tail and dragged her towards the door.
“I hate you, you know that?” Applejack just chuckled to herself and let Rainbow drag her for a little bit before getting up and walking past her to lead the way.
When they arrived at the therapist's office Rainbow was looking glum which Applejack wasn't too surprised about. The therapist walked in and opened his mouth to presumably say hello, however, before he could speak Rainbow interrupted, “Look Doc, I'll be honest. I don't really want to be here. I know what the problem is, so this is pretty much a waste of time if you ask me.”
Applejack shook her head and apologized for her partner, “Ah'm sorry, Ah did kinda force her to come here.”
The therapist only chuckled, “It's okay Miss orange pony, I get that a lot. I deal with all kinds of ponies here.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow and mumbled to herself, “Miss orange pony?”
He turned to Rainbow Dash and continued, “So, rainbow pony, I understand you're here because you're having nightmares?”
Rainbow looked at Applejack with a look that obviously meant something like “What kind of kook did you just bring me too?”
Turning back to the therapist she simply responded, “Er...yeah?”
The therapist looked down at his notepad nodding and used his horn to write something down, “I see, and if you already know what is causing them, can you tell me what that is?”
“My parents were murdered right in front of me when I was a filly.”
The therapist paused and glanced up at “rainbow pony” before continuing to write down. “I'm very sorry for your loss; however you seem very calm with the situation. What exactly are you here to accomplish?”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head to “orange pony” indicating her, “She wants them gone, I've lived with them ever since that incident so I don't really care, I can deal with them.”
“You don't seem to be especially traumatized by the situation so that's definitely not it.” Rainbow blinked and cocked her head, “so tell me rainbow pony, where did you go after that incident.”
Rainbow Dash ignored the question asking one of her own, “That has to be the issue, nothing else 'traumatic' happened other than that.”
“Just answer the question please.”
Her feathers bristled and she looked at the therapist with annoyed expression, “Don't tell me what to do.” Applejack reached over and smacked the backside of Rainbow's head and received an indignant glare in return, “Fine, I didn't go anywhere.”
“Come again?”
“I didn't go anywhere, I took care of myself.”
More scribbling in the notepad, “I see, I see. So how much family are you even in contact with?”
Rainbow Dash again tilted her head towards Applejack, “Just her. Nopony else.”
“And she is?”
“She's Applejack.”
Applejack facehoofed again, “Not like that ya numbskull, he meant how are we related. We're partners Doc.”
Rainbow grinned at Applejack and she realized that she was just trying to annoy her, “How long have you two been together then?”
“A year.”
“Have you ever thought about kids?”
Rainbow looked back at the therapist confused, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just answer the question please.”
Her feathers began to bristle again and she glanced to Applejack before responding, she got a glare telling her to quit being so hard-headed so she bared her teeth and responded. “We've put a little thought to it yes, she's all for it and I don't really oppose it, but it's not on the top of our to-do list. Can you answer my question now?”
“I think that your lack of family has disturbed you more than you realize and you partly blame yourself for your parents death. The combination makes you confused about what exactly is causing your dreams, blurring the dream itself. I'm assuming your dreams focus on your parents' death because you're telling me that's what you think is causing it. However you're obviously not traumatized by that situation specifically, so why would that be causing your nightmares, and why is that what your nightmares focus on? The last question is the one I'm attempting to answer here, and I believe your lack of knowledge of what a family actually is, is the answer. You haven't had a parental figure for so long that you're not sure what one is, that specifically is what I believe causes your nightmares, even though they seem to be unrelated due to the images actually in them, again from what I'm assuming happens in them. If you can place yourself in that parental place and learn what it's all about, I think your nightmares will go away.”
Rainbow seemed to actually begin listening to the therapist finally as she realized that possibly he actually knew what he was talking about. “So you want us to get a kid just to get rid of my nightmares?”
He chuckled and closed the notepad, “Not right now no, I'm saying put more thought into it as I believe it will stop them. If you decide to get one, then it's an easy solve isn't it? If not, then come back to me and we can think of another solution.”
Applejack watched Rainbow Dash who seemed to just be thinking about either the situation, or what it would be like to have a kid, or something. “So Doc, are we done here now? Ah mean...that was only what, fifteen minutes? Ah was expectin' a bit longer than that ta be honest.”
“If there's nothing else you need to talk about, then I suppose yes that's it. If fifteen minutes is all it took, then so be it. If you go this route, then this is farewell I guess. If not, then we can just take it one solution at a time and I'll see you again later.”
Applejack stood up and began to walk over to Rainbow who was still sitting there in thought mode, “Thanks Doc, Ah appreciate and Ah'm sure she does as well. Come on Rainbow, we can go now.”
Rainbow Dash snapped out of her thoughts and looked from Applejack to the therapist, “Oh, heh, yeah. Thanks Doc.” They walked out of the office and began trekking home with Rainbow again thinking about something. Applejack watched her for a while, wondering if she was actually considering adopting a kid. Before when they had talked about it she had just basically shrugged the subject off, saying there was no point, and both of them were too busy with their own lives to pay attention to a kid. Applejack had guessed that she was probably right and the conversation didn't go much further than that, but she had made sure she made it obvious to Rainbow that she thought they could handle the responsibility.
“Rainbow?”
Without even looking at Applejack she responded, “Would I even be a good parent? I never really had either of mine for very long, I can assume what I'd have to do. But that's just guessing, no experience.”
Applejack stepped closer to her trying to comfort her, “Rainbow you'd be great, Ah know ya would , there's absolutely no reason fer ya to worry sugarcube.”
Rainbow looked over to Applejack and smiled, unfurled a wing and draped it over her, “Thanks AJ, I think...I think I'd like a kid. And I think I'd be their favorite parent, don't you?”
Applejack rolled her eyes and stepped out from under Rainbow's wing, “Way ta ruin tha moment there Miss 'would Ah even be a good parent'.”
Rainbow stepped back over to Applejack and put her wing back around her, “Shut up 'orange pony', I'm teasing you.”
Applejack leaned back into Rainbow and they walked the rest of the way in silence. After they got back home Applejack couldn't resist trying to prove she was right any longer, “Still think it wasn't worth goin' 'Rainbow pony'?”
“Don't push it, remember this is still doing something you originally wanted, to fix something you think is a problem, you've already pushed your luck enough. Besides, at least he got half of my name right.”
“Ya can't tell me that ya'd rather have yer nightmares than not. And don't lie ta me, Ah know ya want a kid as well. There's no way somepony would be able ta change yer mind that easily.”
“Whatever you say orange pony, whatever you say. Like I said, quit pushing it. I said I'm agreeing to adopting before I thought I was going to. I never I said opposed it, I just thought we should wait.”
Applejack shook her head, walked up to Rainbow, and kissed her cheek, “Quit bein' grumpy, Ah made ya go to the therapist, Ah didn't make ya agree ta wantin' a kid. Ah'm gonna go make supper, cheer up then come eat.”
As Applejack walked into the kitchen she glanced over her shoulder to see if Rainbow still had a frown on her face, she didn't, she was following Applejack towards the kitchen and looked like she was feeling better. Applejack was trying not to show it but on the inside she was incredibly excited. She was not expecting Rainbow to change her mind and the day had ended in both of their favor, whether Rainbow saw it or not, Applejack knew it was true.
"So let me get this straight. You go to a therapist for fifteen minutes, he tells you to adopt a kid, and you're going to do it....just like that?"
A day after Rainbow Dash and Applejack visited the therapist they decided to tell the rest of the girls the news, and everypony had gathered at Twilight's to listen. Applejack had gone through the story rather quickly due to excitement and Twilight believed they were rushing things.
"Ah've been wantin' a kid for a while now, it's not rushin' anything for me. And Rainbow is...well Rainbow, that's what she does." Everypony looked over to Rainbow to see if she had a response but found that she wasn't even paying attention, she had a book open titled "Advanced Flying for Advanced Pegasi" and was paying no mind to the rest of the group. She looked up when she noticed it had gone silent and saw everypony looking at her.
"What?"
Applejack got up, walked over to Rainbow, and grabbed the book from her and told her to pay attention as the discussion was about her as well. Rainbow crossed her hooves across her chest and looked at Applejack with indignation, claiming that she saw no problem with reading while Applejack explained everything.
"Ya have ta pay attention ta give your opinion on the matter. Now Twilight was sayin' that we're 'rushing things' and Ah told her that Ah've wanted a kid for a while, and ya rush everythin' so that wasn't anythin' new."
"I don't rush things, I just see no point in delaying something that we could get done now....so I can take a nap later."
Applejack was going to make a comment after that saying that technically she could nap now and put things off till later, but she knew that would increase Rainbow's procrastination which wouldn't really be a good thing to do. So she just let Rainbow continue.
"Besides, I've assured myself that it's no big deal, I can raise a kid easy-peasy. Can I have my book back now?"
Twilight's jaw literally dropped open and it took her a second to figure out what she wanted to respond, "It's no big deal?! That's a kid you have to raise! You two have to be the ponies that they look up to, you control the rest of their lives! You could screw up and ruin that pony's life if you treat it as if it were 'no big deal'! You can't seriously think something that big is just...'no big deal.' Do you even know what you're getting into? You can't just turn around in a week or so, decide you don't like raising a kid, and kick them out. You have to make a commitment."
Everypony watched as Twilight calmed down after her little outburst, after which an embarrassed apology came. Rainbow shook her head, "You really know how to not put pressure on somepony, don't you Twi?" Twilight blushed and bowed her head, "Applejack and I talked about this before and I wasn't disagreeing with her then, I just thought we should wait because I didn't know if I'd be paying attention to a kid too much because of how busy work was at that time. It's slowed down now, and of course I've put a lot more thought into it after Applejack brought it up. You know, I'm not as stupid as you think Twi."
Twilight apologized again after which an uncomfortable silence came, eventually it was broken by a not so surprising outburst by Pinkie Pie, "You know what this calls for everypony? Cake! And no need to worry, I keep cake everywhere just in case of a cake emergency! In fact I left one right in here!" She lifted up a statue of a horse and pulled out an empty platter. "Oops! Silly me! I forgot I ate this one I already, I'll be right back girls!"
They all watched as Pinkie sped out of the house, Twilight spoke up after a couple seconds of confused stares, "Okay seriously, when would she have been in my house eating cake without me being there? That makes no sense whatsoever!"
Rainbow laughed and responded with the saying they all now knew as really the only way to describe their friend, "Pinkie Pie is just so random! I just don't understand how we can all keep getting surprised by it." Everypony laughed and the awkward tension that was in the air dissipated. Twilight apologized again for her outburst, and said that if Rainbow was sure that she had thought about it and made up her mind, she trusted her.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash had an appointment at the orphanage they had to make, so the said goodbye to the others and left and began the way to the orphanage. They saw no point in putting off adopting a child when they both knew full well that Rainbow wasn't going to change her mind now that she thought it was a good idea. So they had made the appointment for the very next day.
When they got closer to the orphanage Rainbow's conversational tone started to shift into one of nervousness, she tried to hide it but Applejack knew her too well to not notice the shift. "Ah know it's goin' ta be a bit of a change Rainbow, but trust me when Ah say that ya'll do just fine. Ah ain't the element of Honesty fer nothin'." She gave Rainbow a playful nudge forward and they continued in the door the meet the director for their appointment.
They were told that they would be placed in a room and each child would be brought in for half an hour, and they could just keep it simple and talk to the child about whatever they wanted. It kept things neat and easy, all they would have to do is pick the child they liked best at the end.
They spent the alloted time with each child until they got to the end of the list, when the second to last child left the room the director came back in, "There's only one more left, her name is Scootaloo and she-"
Rainbow shouted in surprise, "Scootaloo is an orphan?!"
The director nodded, "I assume you know her?"
"Yeah she's like, my biggest fan ever!"
The director raised an eyebrow, "She's your...fan? I'm sorry but I haven't heard of you before, are you supposed to be famous?"
Applejack snickered and Rainbow shot her a glare, "I'm the greatest flier in Equestria, I've saved the wonderbolts' lives, saved Equestria twice, gone to a super selective party invited by Celestia herself, am on 2 stained glass art thingies in Celestia's castle, and I'm the Element of Loyalty! Seriously, how is it that no one has heard of me?!" Applejack bust out laughing and Rainbow shot her another glare, the director just kept staring with an eyebrow raised at the two.
"Okay...so...I'll just bring her in now if you don't mind." She left the room and brought the little filly in the room back in with her, when Scootaloo saw who was in the room possibly about to adopt her she let out a very Fluttershy like squee. She bolted up the seat Rainbow was sitting in and bounced up and down with excitement and her eyes opened wide.
"Oh my gosh! You're looking to adopt! You have to pick me! I would be like, the best daughter ever! How could I not? I'm just like you! I think...I mean...I hope I am, and you're like the best pony ever!" She didn't stop bouncing and Applejack rolled her eyes at the two, but let the kid have her moment of excitement.
Rainbow laughed and put a hoof on top of Scootaloo's head to stop her from bouncing. When she stopped, the excitement spread to her grin which was almost as big as Pinkie Pie's biggest grins. "Calm down Scoots, yes we're obviously here because we're adopting somepony. We've seen everypony else, and personally I want to choose you over the rest of them." Scootaloo gasped in excitement and her grin grew impossibly larger, and not even Rainbow's hoof on top of her head could keep her from bouncing. "Of course, it's not just my choice, it's up to Applejack also."
At that Scootaloo bolted from Rainbow Dash over to Applejack and gave her the grin Rainbow had just been receiving, she just chuckled, "Well Ah'll look at it this way, Ah married Rainbow, yer pretty much her in filly form," again Scootaloo's grin grew, "of course Ah'd like ya as a child."
It looked as if Scootaloo's smile was going to outgrow her face at the pace it was growing, "Oh my gosh this can't be happening, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, I'll go pack my stuff!" She left the room with an astounded "Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh" following her.
Applejack looked over at Rainbow Dash who was just watching Scootaloo as she left the room, she had a big smile on her face and looked as if she was going enjoy having a child to look after. She turned and saw Applejack watching her with a smile and quickly flew over to envelop her in a hug. "I love you Applejack."
Applejack put her hooves around Rainbow in surprise, "That's the most affectionate you've been in a long time, Ah like ya this way, you should do it more often."
"Yeah yeah, you get what you get. You're lucky I even show any affection at all."
"That's true, anyways, Ah think we know who the favorite parent is going to be."
Rainbow pulled back and rolled her eyes, "Well duh, I mean you are just absolutely amazing AJ."
Now that much Applejack would have never expected to happen, her mouth dropped open in shock, "Wow, Ah never would have thought you of all ponies would pass up a chance for an easy conceited moment."
Rainbow quickly responded by kissing her, "I'm just in a good mood."
Applejack pulled her into a hug and sighed, "We should keep it that way." Scootaloo returned to the room with the bounce and grin still with her, "We have to sign some papers first Scootaloo, then we can go home." Scootaloo just responded with a fast nod.
Applejack filled out all the necessary paperwork and left with their excited new daughter to return home, when they got outside Rainbow gave Scootaloo's bag of stuff to Applejack and put Scootaloo on her back to give her a flight home. Rainbow knew she would probably enjoy that, and Applejack didn't mind. She was just happy for her new daughter, Rainbow, and a hopeful future with all of them in it together.
When she got home she found that Rainbow had already showed Scootaloo all around the place and they were sitting in the living room talking. She took Scootaloo's suitcase to the guest room that they had just recently made in the house in case they ever needed it, it would become her room after that. They all spent the rest of the day laughing and talking, they all ate supper and went to their rooms when it was time to go to sleep. Scootaloo said a quick goodnight to both of them and started to walk off to her room before stopping, turning around, and bolting to Rainbow Dash for a hug. "Thanks for adopting me Rainbow Dash and Applejack, you have no idea how glad I am you did." Rainbow felt as if the Wonderbolts had just invited her to be a captain to their team, she didn't even know what to respond to Scootaloo so she just hugged her back.
"Goodnight Scoots." Scootaloo broke her hug with Rainbow Dash and gave an equal hug to Applejack before going off to her room and closing the door. The other two walked into their room and Rainbow flopped down on the bed and looked up at Applejack, "Ah'm plum tuckered!"
Applejack raised an eyebrow at Rainbow, "Yer 'plum tuckered'? Ya know ya don't just get an accent from living on a farm for a few years right?"
"Ah can if Ah want to!"
"No ya don't just 'want to' either! Whatever, do what ya want. Ah'm goin' ta sleep." She slinked into the bed, layed her head down on Rainbow Dash's chest, and placed her arms around her neck. "Ya should do tha same."
Rainbow closed her eyes and sighed, "I'm glad we did this AJ, I think we made a good decision."
"Of course we did, did ya see how happy we made her? It was just heartlifting."
Rainbow Dash smiled and held Applejack closer to her as she started to drift off into sleep, "Yeah, it was pretty awesome, I love you AJ."
What those two mares, along with the rest of Ponyville, didn't know was that at that moment, war had just been declared on Canterlot and any town that decided to align with them. Even if they had known at the time, what could they do? A war in Equestria was the last thing anypony expected to happen, weapons for war weren't even made because they weren't needed. War wasn't in their nature, they all lived in peace and harmony, and nopony could complain. How in Celestia's name then, did it happen? When the news of the war first arose, everypony thought it was a cruel prank, a bad April fools joke, it had to be, didn't it? Nothing of the sort had happened before, it was unheard of, and hard to imagine. Too bad it wasn't April first, it would have been nice to know that everything in Equestria was working out the way that it should be, but that was not the case.
The idea of a revolt started in a small town on the outskirts of Equestria, far from the social reaches of Canterlot. They were out of touch with the princess and the high-life, and it made them jealous. All they knew was the land was ruled in a Monarchy, and they wanted the life that those directly under her received. So what better way to get it than by taking it yourself?
The idea spread like wildfire; there was something about the allure of change that caught on. With the spread through commerce between towns, it started to seem like it might become a possibility instead of wishful happenings. The word was kept away from towns like Ponyville, places that are directly linked to Canterlot weren't going to be on their side. So the plan was spread as much as possible, while still being safe, and it was done perfectly. No resident of Canterlot, Ponyville, or places similar knew anything was amiss, and that was what made it so successful.
From Canterlot's eyes, a normal day turned into hellish chaos out of no where. Weapons that they didn't know existed were unleashed upon them, magical spells that they had never seen before were revealed. From the rebels point of view, it took years of careful planning. They didn't have the resources to make and invent weapons and spells, but where did, that they knew of? Canterlot. Traitors were implanted in the city with noponies' knowledge, and nopony had a reason to be suspicious. There wasn't any knowledge of something going wrong, and the word and idea of “revolt” was alien to them.
The attack was terrifying when it happened, Canterlot was attacked directly with the idea that attacking the source directly would be the best way to make a statement, and it surely did. At first there was just massive confusion on Canterlot's part, they didn't understand what was going on, and only when ponies were dying left and right did they understand they were being attacked. But by their own kind confused them, why would this happen? Why did it happen? Their own kind were supposed to live in harmony with them, the closest thing to the attack that had happened was when Nightmare Moon wanted to introduce eternal night. It felt different however, because Nightmare Moon was a pony on a scale higher than the rest of them, and her purpose wasn't murder; this however was their own kind killing them. It was so much to take in, and too much for many to understand that they were going to have to retaliate. Kill as they were being killed. Shed the blood of their own kind, because If they didn't, every single one of them would die.
As fast as the attack had started, it stopped. The rebels just wanted to make a statement, and they made a huge one at that. Out of the chaos and confusion, Canterlot didn't know exactly who they were attacked by, and what the reason was. It was executed perfectly, not a single rebel pony died, while the death toll in Canterlot was astoundingly just over a hundred. Not a huge death toll considering it was an attack that marked the beginning of a war, but that was the rebels' point. They wanted to show what they were capable of, and give the enemies time to prepare themselves. The rebels thought what they were doing was right, and they didn't want to kill too many innocent ponies.
When news started to spread about the attack, everyone thought it was just a joke, a prank that Celestia was pulling because she was bored (albeit a cruel one), or something, because everyone thought this couldn't be happening...why would it? After days of relentless speeches, news of some of the ponies' relatives among the deaths, the realization started to sink in. Celestia decided to tell the Element's of Harmony the news directly, making sure they realized that this wasn't a joke. After everything sunk in, Celestia asked Twilight to have a word privately, so the two took a step outside Twilight's library where they had all gathered to get their privacy.
“I know this is a lot to take in over one talk my student, but I have more to tell you directly.” Twilight gave a curious look to her mentor and waited patiently for her to continue. “Twilight, I'm sorry that I have to say this, but your parents were among the deaths in Canterlot. I'm extremely sorry and I wish that I didn't have to tell you this, but it's what happened, no matter how much I wish it didn't.”
Twilight's face was shocked when she heard this and Celestia gave her a few minutes of silence to let even more terrible news sink in.
“Did...did they at least die fighting back, being valiant and brave, or something?” Twiligh asked hopefully, trying to put what little good she could to the situation, but she knew the answer as soon as Celestia bowed her head and sighed.
“I wish I could say that Twilight, but I don't want to lie to you, they were sleeping in their bed as the attack was at night. They couldn't do anything to defend themselves. I'm very sorry.”
Twilight let out a single choked sob before trying to stop herself from shaking and calm her nerves. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply a few times before speaking again, “Can I get a few moments to myself to think about all this?” Celestia nodded and without a further word Twilight turned around and walked back into the house. She heard Rainbow Dash ask her what was wrong and she knew they could all see that she was upset, it's pretty hard to hide how you're feeling at a time like that. She ignored Rainbow however and walked slowly up to her room and lay down on her bed.
After a few minutes she heard a soft knock on her door, but again she ignored it. Just as she expected she could hear the click of the knob as the door opened and she heard hoof-steps behind her as she looked out the window. It was Rainbow Dash's voice that she heard again, “Twi', is everything alright?”
She responded shortly, “Not really Rainbow.”
A few seconds of silence occurred before Rainbow Dash spoke again, “Well, could you tell me what happ-?”
“My parents died in the attack.” Twilight interrupted, “They were sleeping in their bed and their house must have been set on fire, or raided or something, I don't really even know. All that matters is they're dead. I don't even know when the last time I've seen them was, and now...now I'll never get to see them again. They're gone...just g-gone.” Twilight voice started to crack and she began to stutter as she felt tears starting to stream down her face.
A couple more seconds passed and Twilight felt hooves wrap around her and pull her away from the window. She turned her body to wrap her own hooves around Rainbow and she buried her face into Rainbow's mane and burst into tears. A few minutes passed as Rainbow let Twilight mourn before Applejack came through the door and coughed to get the others' attention. Both ponies looked up at Applejack, Twilight's face covered in the tears she was crying, and Rainbow's eye's teary as well. “Celestia says she wants us all to go out to the town center for some news.”
Twilight scoffed and turned away before responding, “I think I've had enough news for one day thank you very much”
“She says it's important. She said it's some new law about somethin' she called a 'draft'.”
“Mares and Gentlecoats of Ponyville, I've come here myself while delivering this speech to talk to make this more personal than a simple letter might show. It will also show exactly how grave of a time this is, and how sorry I am that something like this has to happen.” All the ponies in Ponyville had gathered around the center of town to listen to their Princess' speech. Nopony knew exactly what her speech entailed, and only a few had gathered that she called whatever her new law was “the draft”. However what that meant, nopony knew.
“We all know that this in our history is most likely the most grave ponykind has ever faced. We have never had anything like this happen before, nothing on a scale close to this war either. We were not prepared to have to fight our kind to save our own lives. We have to take lives of our own species to save those of the ones we love. However since we haven't faced this before, we do not have the means to defend ourselves for long without changing something. We need an army. I'm sure everypony is aware that we need one, but we need to actually have ponies join. With that I'm going to get straight to the first part of the point of why I am here. Any pony that is of age, and willing to join will be gladly welcomed. If you want to help our cause and save lives then step up now.”
Princess Celestia looked over the crowd and silenced herself, waiting for anypony to step up to the plate. After a minute of awkward silence, and awkward coughs, nopony had stepped up. Celestia gave a little sigh and continued, “This is what I was afraid of. In a small town like this I wasn't expecting many that wanted to risk their lives to do what is needed. It is with that knowledge that I come into the last part of this speech. If I don't have enough volunteers for my army, then I need to fill those spots. And that is what the draft will do. Fifteen ponies from this town have been randomly chosen to join the army. If you resist, you will face punishment.”
At this point all the ponies in the crowd had either gasped, were whispering quietly to those around them, or just held their mouths open agape as Celestia stared over them with unmoving, but apologetic eyes. “Trust me when I say that I do not want it to be this way, but I'm afraid it must. If a life must be risked to save thousands of life, then it needs to be that way. To save as many lives as I can, I need to be quick about this, and that is why you have not had time to prepare. I am gravely sorry I have to do this, but the fact is that I have to do this. I will be risking my life along with my subjects, so don't think I am just throwing these lives away. I care enough that I will be sending out every single one of my royal guards, who are sworn to protect me and my sister alone, out into this war, along with myself. I will do all I can to save as many lives as I can, and again, I'm sorry it has to be this way.
“If I call your name, please come up to the stand.” As Princess Celestia started naming the names of the ones who were chosen to fight for the lives of themselves and the ones they loved, fear spread through everypony's eyes as they knew that the very next name called could be their own. Twilight and her friends all silently begged that no name that they knew was called, and for the names called to be of ponies that weren't too close to any of them. Pinkie Pie appeared to be breaking down each and every time a name was called, and when the last name was called, she began to wail. All of the crowd turned to the last chosen pony, after Princess Celestia looked over the crowd solemnly and spoke the name of a pony everypony in the town knew.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack were back at their house and the feeling in the air was anything but happy. Applejack was on the verge of tears and she knew it wouldn't be long till she crossed that line. Rainbow Dash felt dejected, and although she wouldn't tell anypony, not even Applejack, she also felt downright terrified. However, loyal as always, Rainbow Dash was going to do as she was needed and wasn't going to back down. She'd already met with Princess Celestia about where she was assigned, that she would be leaving the very next day, and had been informed she should pack light.
“I have to leave Applejack, I was drafted and I have to go. I have to go or I'll get repri-man-teld. Re-pry-milted...Uhm...in trouble. Celestia said I would get in trouble....d big time.” Rainbow Dash stopped packing the single saddlebag she was allowed to bring as she tried to figure out how to articulate what she meant without sounding stupid, which it was too late for, so she gave up, “Oh hay, you know what I mean. Celestia will be mad if I don't go and I'll probably get banished to a dungeon or something. Or the moon.”
Applejack looked as if she was on the verge of tears as she watched her wife packing a saddlebag, the realization that she was not going to see her for Celestia knows how long not yet hitting her. Out of no where Rainbow Dash felt herself get plowed into, and glancing over her shoulder revealed that the perpetrator was Applejack, who had let the tears begin to fall. Rainbow Dash turn around and wrapped her hooves around the sobbing pony, but couldn't figure what else to do as Applejack continued to cry onto her shoulder.
“Ah'm going to miss you so much Rainbow Dash.” Applejack whispered into Rainbow Dash's ear, “So much Dash.” Rainbow Dash shivered as she could tell how much Applejack was hurting. She was about to speak to try to comfort Applejack when she felt her pull back and looked her in the eye. “What about Scootaloo Dash? That filly looks up to you so much...” Rainbow Dash flinched as she realized how true that was.
“I know AJ, I know. Don't forget about me though. I'm going to miss y'all as well.” She stopped as she heard a giggle from Applejack. Rainbow Dash looked at her with a curious look on her face.
Applejack sniffed and wiped her face, “Ya said Ya'll. Ah seriously doubt ya said that at all before me.” She frowned as the little bit of enjoyment she got out of that faded, and the situation again loomed in front of her. “Ah'm not going to be able ta hear yer voice for a long time Dash.” She sighed and looked down at the floor sadly.
Rainbow Dash again wrapped her hooves around her wife, “I wish I could do something to make you happy right now, but there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry Applejack. I'll do my best to come back.”
“No. Ya WILL come back. There's no try. Ah can't even imagine ya not coming back.” Applejack's face had turned stern, and she stamped her hoof in frustration.
Rainbow Dash looked sadly into Applejack's eyes. “Applejack, don't lie to yourself. You know you can't do it well anyway, there's a possibility that I'm not going to come back at all AJ. I can promise I'll try my best to come back home, but that's as much as I can do AJ.” Applejack again lost it and began to weep into Rainbow Dash's shoulder. “Come on AJ, it's getting late, we should get to bed. It's going to be my last night here.”
Applejack sniffed and nodded, trotting slowly towards her room as Rainbow Dash followed her and placed her hoof on Scootaloo's door as she looked sadly at it. She'd already had her episode with her, where Scootaloo had balled her eyes nearly out begging Rainbow Dash to stay, saying it wasn't fair. She cast her eyes down and continued her way to her and Applejack's room for the night.
The next morning was spent mostly in silence as they were all feeling like it was the worst day of their lives. They all ended up at the train station and were all looking forlorn as they all only had five more minutes before the train was due, and they wouldn't see Rainbow Dash for quite a long time. Each pony said their goodbyes, and when it got to Twilight she had something extra. Her eyes were bloodshot and it was clear she had gotten next to no sleep last night.
“I stayed up all night trying to figure this spell out, since I didn't have much time to finish it.” Twilight Sparkle tapped her horn to Rainbow Dash's head, lighting her body up in the violet magic everypony had come to know so well and yawned shortly after, closing her eyes.
“Uhm. Twilight? What did that do?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head looking at the pony who appeared to now be sleeping.
Twilight snorted and looked up and around, looking temporarily frightened, apparently she actually was sleeping. She let her eyes rest on Rainbow Dash who was still looking at her curiously, “Oh sorry, uhm, it lets you write to Applejack like I do with Princess Celestia, and she can write you back. All you do is write a note then eat it.”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth in shock for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. Twilight just looked at her crossly, “What's so funny?”
“Are you serious? Eat it? Couldn't you like...bottle up whatever you just did and let me pour it on it or something?” Rainbow Dash said in between breaths.
“I was tired! It was the first thing I thought off.” Twilight pouted as all the rest of the ponies started to giggle as well, eventually Twilight smiled as well, joining in the laughing.
Rainbow Dash sat up and let out a couple more chuckles and wiped her eyes of the tears that had formed there. “Thanks Twi, I really needed that.” Twilight Sparkle smiled and nodded in response. Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack, the last pony that hadn't said goodbye yet. “Applejack, I know your upset-”
“It's 'you're' Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie Pie stated.
“I-What? That's what I said?” Rainbow Dash looked at her confused.
“But that's not how you spelled it, so it was still wrong!”
“But I didn't...I...What? Okay...ignoring Pinkie Pie now. Back to AJ. I can write you now thanks to Twi, so it's not going to be as bad okay? I'll write at least every week, I promise, even if I have to stay up way later than I should I promise it'll be at least every week.” Rainbow Dash stopped talking as she could hear, and see the train as she looked towards the sound, coming. She looked down, then back to Applejack, whose eyes were tearing up again as she realized the time to part her mare was now within seconds.
“Applejack...I love you. I'm sorry this has to happen, but it just does. I'll see you as soon as I can AJ.” She planted a kiss on Applejack's cheek, before turning back to every pony in turn, then towards the train before she heard Applejack shout her name. Turning back to her, she saw Applejack biting her lip and had her eyes shifted offset. She took of her hat and looked at it, then at Rainbow. Walking over to her, Applejack placed the hat on top of Rainbow Dash's head and looked at her seriously. “Ah know what you're going to say, and Ah'm telling ya, you're going to take it. No buts.”
Rainbow Dash closed her mouth as it had opened in surprise, and just nodded to Applejack, knowing that she had no chance in arguing against it. She tilted the hat to the side a little bit, so that about a quarter of her left eye was covered with the hate, giving it a more “Rainbow Dash” feel to it, and smiled. “Thank you” she whispered to Applejack, giving her a hug before again looking at everypony present, and stepping up to the train. She gulped, took a deep breath, and stepped up into the train, preparing herself for....the unknown really....as she noticed she really had no idea what she had gotten into.
She took a seat where she could see her friends out the window and placed a hoof on it, letting her eyes rest on Scootaloo, who had been trying to keep strong in Rainbow Dash's eyes, but had been visibly shaking the whole time. As she watched her daughter drifting away from her as the train moved forward. Her last glimpse of Scootaloo was of her dropping to the ground and placing her hooves around her head, and Rainbow Dash could tell she had started sobbing. She felt tears running down her own face as she looked forward in the train, leaving behind her old life to live one that she didn't want to live, but needed to.
I know you're supposed to have some symbol thingy after that beginning part...I can't remember what it is. Twilight'd have a fit if this was addressed to her. Oh well, she wasn't lucky enough to catch the attention of an awesome mare like me! So...uh...I don't really know what to write because it's SO BORING here. It's been a week...which you probably know because it's been a week there too. Yeah. This is awkward. It's so much easier to have a conversation with you when I can hear your voice and see your face. Okay writing long letters with your mouth isn't the best idea, I wish I could float things. Seriously, it's taking a lot longer to write this than you think. I've been here for like half an hour already. Now I'm rambling. I should probably talk about what it's like here. So there's like NOTHING to do. Honestly, we just sit around and fake like we're doing stuff. We're so far away from the actual fighting that I don't even understand why they need us. Whatever, I just hope that I can be back soon, that's all I care about right now because this is SO BORING. Well I guess it's technically better being bored than dead. ...Wow that was terrible. I can't believe I just wrote that. Oh well. I guess that's really all, you're lucky I love you because my mouth is sore right now. If only it could be sore doing something else ;). Okay is that face thing even allowed in a letter? It feels weird. Oh well, TOO LATE. Celestia, I'm terrible at letters...well...bye! Or talk to you later...or write...or something. I promise I'll get the hang of this.
Dear Rainbow Dash,
You have no idea how much I was laughing while reading that whole letter, picturing how awkward it was for you to do all that. You'll get better at writing, I promise. However it's quite cute picturing how flustered I know you were getting. It's good to hear that you're not in any danger really, that's what I was really worried about. Just deal with the boredom till you can get home, I'd rather you be bored than in danger anytime. Plus if you were straight in the fight, that would mean you'd have to kill ponies...actually kill them. Think about that. Also that reminds me, Twi asked Princess Celestia why we couldn't just use the Elements of Harmony to fix this situation. She said to think about what it's done when we did use it, it completely destroyed the essence of Nightmare Moon, it turned Discord to stone. Apparently we're a destructive force that could kill half of Equestria if we used it on the other ponies. It kind of hurts to know that that would be US. We could just kill half of Equestria just like that. Why can't there be a simple way to finish this? Anyway, I don't wanna to talk about depressing stuff like that. Scootaloo is doing better now, the day after you left she refused to leave her room, but you know fillies. I just sent her to hang out with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and she was better the same day. Every now and then I can see her just lying on the couch staring out a window, or at a wall or something. It hurts me to even see it. Just come back to us soon Dash. Please.
Love, Applejack.
P.S. I got Spike to write my letter for me. Jealous?
Dear Applejack
Crap I forgot that ending thing didn't I? This whole writing thing sucks. Seriously, Twilight should have made like a screen where I could just talk to you. That would have been so much easier than this. Plus I have to eat it...I mean seriously...eat it? I almost barfed last time. It felt so weird, then it was just gone. Twilight's supposed to be the smart one, I don't think I could ever let go of her making it so I have to eat this stupid letter. Scootaloo'll be better soon, I just know it. She's a lot like me you know? You probably do. I already told you why I liked her so much. Celestia this is just so awkward! Uhm...so yeah. There's just nothing to update on. Nothings happening. So I don't know...talk about there or something. Maybe I'll actually figure out what to write then.
Love Rainbow Dash.
P.S. Shut up.
4 Months Later
Dear Rainbow Dash
It's been a while since you haven't sent a letter on Friday. And you know I get a little more worried than I probably should be. Just write back when you can.
Love Applejack
2 Days Later
Dear Rainbow Dash
You've never waited this long after the last letter. I know you can't have forgotten, you've never done that before. If this is a prank it's not funny Rainbow Dash. Sometimes you don't realize you're going too far, and if that's what you're doing, it is too far. Just...answer me okay? I know you might be busy or something, but you promised you'd make sure you write me. Make good on that promise Dash.
Love Applejack
1 Week Later
Rainbow Dash this isn't funny at all. Why aren't you writing me back? You promised me you would...what is going on? I can only think of one explanation if you haven't written back yet...but that can't be it. I can't believe that to be true, you're coming back Dash, you have to. You have to Dash, I miss you, we all miss you, everypo-
“Applejack, can you come with me please?” Applejack had decided not to use Spike for this letter because of how different it was from any others she wrote, so as she looked up from the letter she found Twilight Sparkle looking slightly off to the side as she spoke to Applejack.
“But Ah...Ah have to finish this letter to RD Twi, she...she has to get my letter,” Applejack whispered. “Do ya think maybe your spell messed up and she just can't send letters anymore?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed, “Applejack I told you already, it didn't mess up, trust me on that. However we...did find out why she hasn't been answering. Just please come with me.”
Applejack's eyes lit up and she jumped to her feet and shouted, “Ya did?! So she's okay?” As Twilight didn't answer Applejack's head dropped a little. “She's...okay right Twi? ...right?' Twilight just walked out of the room expecting Applejack to follow her at this point. They were both upstairs, where Applejack always was when she made her letters, usually having Spike write them. She gulped and followed Twilight out of the room and downstairs, expecting bad news because of Twilight's demeanor.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs she looked up to see both Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia standing in the middle of the living room with solemn looks on their faces. Applejack was too stunned to remember to bow, she just stood at the bottom of the stairs with her mouth slightly open. After a minute Applejack looked between the two ponies and gulped again, “What...what's goin' on Princess, why isn't Rainbow answering me?”
“I apologize Applejack, but it might not be appropriate for me to just tell you. I can show you what I found when I went there myself, but I can assure you it won't be pretty. I'm sorry to say it Applejack, but expect the worst whether I'm going to show you, or tell you. I am honestly really sorry Applejack, I never wanted this to happen to her of all ponies. That is specifically why I stationed her out of the way of everything else, I'm afraid it wasn't enough.” Princess Celestia hung her head and waited for Applejack's response.
As Applejack heard Princess Celestia talking, second by second her heart dropped further and further, by the end she was trying so hard to hold back her tears that she couldn't even speak. She just looked at Princess Celestia and nodded. Princess Celestia understood what she meant and conjured up a small screen in front of Applejack. On the screen Applejack could see a desolate field. As the screen panned right her heart raced, as the image on the screen reached where it was obvious where Rainbow Dash's building had been, Applejack lost her composure and dropped on the ground and started balling.
What was once a building was clearly only rubble, it looked like the place had been leveled and she couldn't see anyone still alive there. However what she could see was bits and pieces of what was obviously ponies, this is what made Applejack lose it. This was the place that her wife was living, any of those ponies laying on the ground could be her. Princess Celestia began commentating on the image, “This is all that I found, I couldn't identify a single pony there, but I do know for a fact this is the building that Rainbow Dash was located. I do not know what else there is to say Applejack, I can't tell you how sorry I am about this. I cared for her a great deal and it hurts me more than you can know.”
“But...but ya said that ya couldn't identify anypony there, isn't it possible that she made it out alive? She's a tough pony Princess...Ah can't imagine her just..gone like that. It doesn't make any sense.” Applejack was looking up from the ground at Princess Celestia with just a dash of hope in her eyes.
Twilight Sparkle walked over to Applejack and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder, “Applejack, the Princess said she was able to deduce that the attack happened approximately 2 A.M. She would have been asleep by the time this happened. She had next to no chance to survive this, plus my spell that linked her letters with you was terminated.”
“But...but...” Applejack tried to think of a valid argument but she could find none. She choked as she unsuccessfully tried to hold back more tears, “Ah...Ah'm gonna go home.” She stood up and walked out of the library in silence, letting her tears fall but not saying a word as she walked past Twilight and Princess Celestia. She trekked towards her farm slowly and by the time she had she realized that it was already late into the night, with the moon high in the sky. She walked into her house and straight to her room, she looked at the sign where it said “Applejack and Rainbow Dash's room” she continued to stare at it until she suddenly smashed her hoof into it in anger. She turned around and looked at the room opposite hers, Scootaloo's room. She stepped to it and opened it up to find Scootaloo sitting in bed looking frightfully back at her.
“What was that AJ?” Applejack looked sadly back at the filly in bed and Scootaloo could see that she had been crying, her looked turned to one of worry, “Wait what's wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Ah'm so sorry Scoots....so sorry.” Applejack couldn't meet the filly's eye and her lip was quivering as she tried her best to keep her composure for Scootaloo.
“What is it? What's wrong? Please tell me it's not Rainbow Dash...”
At the sound of her name Applejack choked back another sob, Scootaloo jumped and and looked at Applejack with fury in her eyes. “What's wrong with my mom?!”
Applejack walked over to Scootaloo's bed and lay down next to her, she pulled her daughter into a hug and let her tears fall. “She's dead Scootaloo, she's not coming back to us.”
“Stupid freaking writing. They should just have someway to have your thoughts put down on paper without actually doing it yourself. That could just save me so much time.” Rainbow Dash muttered as she stared at the letter that was not forming itself in front of her, much to her chagrin. She was trying her best to keep her voice down, as it was late into the night that she writing her later, just like normal, putting off what she needed to do till the last second.
However she wasn't as quiet as she had hoped, as a pony that was stationed with her listened as he lay down in his cot to Rainbow's right. “Who are you writing too?”
Rainbow Dash let out a little “Eep” as she realized she hadn't checked if every pony was asleep well enough. “Uhm...nopony...nopony at all. There's no letter here. I have no idea what you're talking about!” Rainbow Dash sputtered as she tried to cover up the letter she was writing.
“Oh come on. I don't care if the 'big bad Rainbow Dash' has somepony special she's writing to. So come on...is it a husband or something?” He asked as he waggled his eyebrows at Rainbow Dash, a smirk lit upon his face.
Rainbow Dash bit her lip before responding, “It's actually...my wife.”
The colt blinked in surprise, “Oh, sorry about assuming that. So do you write to her often?”
Rainbow Dash blushed...as she usually tried to stay away from any mushy stuff like this. It obviously made her less awesome if she talked about it, at least in her mind. “Er....like every week.”
“Awww that's cute. Never knew the mighty Dash could be such a romantic.” The colt next to Rainbow Dash snickered as he watched of her whole face was blushing.
“It's just a stupid letter, it's not a big deal.” Rainbow Dash muttered, while her face betrayed how she really felt about the letter.
The colt smiled gingerly to Rainbow Dash, “Aww come on Dash, I'm just messing around. You've just never talked about her, or anything at all about a family back home. I'm just curious, what's her name?”
“Applejack.” Rainbow Dash didn't look up from the letter laying in front of her, which she noted was still blank.
The colt didn't mind the short answer he was given, he knew it wouldn't take much to get Rainbow Dash out of her stupor, “What's she like?” And just like that he saw a smile start to show on Rainbow's lips.
“She's awesome dude, she runs an apple farm with her family, well my family too since we're married. But yeah, she's competitive just like me, we can do anything together and turn it into a competition, it's awesome! It makes anything we do fun, even stuff that sucks, like chores...just a simple 'I can do it faster than you' makes it so much more fun. Like...for example we were cleaning the dishes and she said that...and of COURSE she couldn't beat me in something involving speed. So we had a dish washing contest...well we found out that dishes are really sensitive and it doesn't take much to break them. I don't think any of them survived, so we had to buy a lot of dishes to replace them. But I broke more, so I think that means I won. I'm really not sure, but the point is she made boring chores fun!”
She stopped when she looked up at the stallion and saw he was smirking at her. “Aww Rainbow Dash actually does have a heart. Who knew?”
Rainbow Dash cursed her bodily reactions as once again, she felt heat rising to her cheeks. “No I don't, there's no heart there. It's just a gaping whole of nothingness. I hate everypony.” She huffed as the pony next to her just grinned in response. “Fine! Whatever! So I have feelings, so does everypony.” He just nodded, satisfied, and laid back down, intent on getting sleep. “Except mine are better.” Rainbow Dash muttered before she returned her attention to the letter.
Then all of a sudden her vision went blindingly white, she had no idea what was going on and closed her eyes instinctively, but the light didn't go away. Then the pain hit her. More pain than she'd ever felt in her life wracked her body and she tried to scream out for help. Before anything could escape her lips however, everything went black and she could feel nothing. She felt as if she was still aware of everything, she felt awake and alert, but her vision didn't agree with that. There was nothing that she could see, and if she wanted to describe the color that was around her she couldn't. Black wasn't dark enough to describe it, it was darker than that. It was as if no color existed wherever she was.
Wait a minute, she thought, WHERE am I? All she could remember was the pain, even imagining it made her want to cringe. But she couldn't cringe, she couldn't move anything, she tried to look down at herself, but again found she couldn't do anything. Panic started to set in until an eerily calming realization settled in, I'm dead aren't I? What even happened to me...all I remember is pain. I didn't see anything coming, a pony can't die from just pain can they? I'm dead...oh sweet Celestia, what about my family?! She started to panic again until she felt a tug on her body, she felt herself flying backwards and with an abrupt stop she opened her eyes, and let out the bloodcurtling scream that she tried to let out when she felt the pain hit her. All she could see around her was a dark room, and a couple ponies staring at her, then everything went black again as she felt something solid connecting straight with her muzzle.
Silence can be good or bad, a silence with the one you love can be a heavenly thing. A silence when you rest alone after a long day of anything strenuous can be amazing. A silence because you believed one of your best friends, a mother, and a wife was been killed does not fall under the “good” category. The rest of the gang...well the whole gang now, as they still thought Rainbow was forever gone...was sitting in Twilight's library. They had all been invited there by Twilight because they all needed to talk to Applejack. It had been three months since the fateful day that rocked the lives of everyone in Ponyville. Applejack looked sadder than she had ever been in her entire life every day now, she barely spoke to anyone anymore save Scootaloo, who was in worse shape than Applejack and absolutely needed Applejack to be strong for her.
“Applejack, I know we've talked about this before, and I know where you stand on this subject, but we're going to be a little more forceful on this right now,” Applejack scowled at Twilight as she knew what was coming, and the stubborn mare was insistent on not budging. “It has been way too long Applejack, we need to do this.”
“Ya ain't throwin' that filly a funeral. That's that, and Ah'll hear no more about it.” Applejack stomped her hoof and glared into Twilight Sparkle's eyes, begging her to challenge her.
Twilight's gaze didn't falter as she continue to sternly look at Applejack, and her voice started to rise a little, “But why Applejack? You don't have any reason to say no! If a pony dies, you throw them a funeral, it's how it works! It's completely illogical for you to refuse one for her!”
“Ah. Said. No.” Applejack's teeth were gritted together and her speech had turned into a growl, “If you say one more word, Ah swear Ah'll-”
“YOU'LL WHAT!? SULK MORE!?” Twilight Sparkle had finished being too kind on this matter, and she screamed what she knew the other mare needed to hear. Maybe saying it louder would get it through the thick skull of hers. Applejack's mouth hung open, and hurt was obvious in her eyes as she watched one of her best friends yell at her with nothing but anger in her voice. “I'm sick of this Applejack! You're acting like a selfish little filly and it's getting on all of our nerves! We need closure AJ, we all loved her and we always will. A funeral isn't forgetting somepony, it's honoring their memory. It's a completely insult to Rainbow Dash to have gone this long without throwing her a funeral. I'm sorry I have to be so harsh Applejack, but nothing else is getting through to you. We're throwing her a funeral, with or without you.”
Applejack had gone through a range of emotions through she was surprised when Twilight had more forceful with her than she had ever seen, she briefly touched upon sadness before turning to anger, the same emotion she still had as Twilight finished. She took a menacing step toward Twilight and opened her mouth to lay into her when she heard Fluttershy begin to speak.
“Please don't do this AJ. I don't want to see anymore fighting, it hurts so much when you two fight.” All of Applejack's anger died instantly as she saw the hurt clearly written in Fluttershy's eyes, and in the tears that were streaming down her face. “I...I miss Rainbow Dash too, I've known her far longer than any of you have, she was the closest pony besides my family that I've ever had. She was always there when I was a filly, helping whenever I needed it. She didn't stop that even as we both became adults, she was still my best friend and always will be, nopony can ever take her place. And you won't let me say goodbye to her now that she's gone forever.” Fluttershy looked up into Applejack's eyes and began to sob harder than before. “Please...please Applejack, let me say goodbye to my best friend.”
All eyes turned to Applejack as they awaited a response, Applejack's eyes were locked on Fluttershy's as she felt a different mix of emotions hit her: guilt, apology, sorrow, understanding. She couldn't have possibly held back her own tears if she had wanted to, and she muttered softly, “Oh dear Celestia what have Ah done. Ah didn't mean to hurt y’all girls, Ah was just being my stupid old stubborn self again. And now Ah've gone and made Fluttershy cry, look girls...Ah know ya'll are just looking out for what's best, Ah know Ah'm being selfish about all of this...so Ah guess Ah need to back down and let ya'll do a funeral. Ah'm not going though, that much Ah'm sticking to.”
Twilight Sparkle just growled in frustration and turned to Rarity for some help, both Fluttershy and herself had tried to get to her but it didn't work. Maybe Rarity could talk some sense into her, so Rarity cleared her throat and tried her turn at changing Applejack's mind, “Darling you can't be serious, this is YOUR WIFE that is...gone. If anypony should go and respect her memory, it should be YOU. You're the one she looked to for support when she needed it, she trusted you more than anypony else she knew, and she would trust that you'd be able to say goodbye when it's her time to leave. You're keeping her trapped her, figuratively, and you know Rainbow Dash would never stand for being trapped someplace. You need to say your goodbyes, no matter how hard that may be, because it's time that we all moved on. Saying goodbye like this does not mean we erase her from our memories, it means that we are telling her that we will live our lives to the fullest for her, she would not wanting you dwelling on her death Applejack. She loved you and that's why she would want you to keep living on, even if that means without her.”
“Ah'm ready to say my goodbyes gal's, that's not what Ah'm saying. Ah'm just going to do it my way, and a funeral isn't it. After ya'll are all done Ah'm going to go and say goodbye myself.” With that said, Applejack walked out of the library, her decision had been made and everypony there realized it was the most they were going to get out of her.
Applejack let a whimper escape from her before taking a deep breath in and holding her head up high. She let it out in a long sigh and started walking back to her farm.
Rainbow Dash lifted her head and groaned when she realized she had a splitting headache, one of the worst she'd ever had in her life. She completely forgot where she was, and stood up to go to the sink to get a little bit of water for herself. She felt herself get pushed back as soon as she stood up and she opened her eyes in surprise with a little “Hey!” When she looked around she realized she didn't know a single pony in the room, and they were all looking at her with either hate, or a smirk on their face. She also took in her surroundings and she noticed she didn't recognize where she was either, that's when her brain attempted to figure out what was going on and it made her head throb. She groaned and put a hoof to her head but didn't take her eyes off of the other ponies in the room. She stood up again and glared at the pony in the middle of the room, who had the biggest smirk in the room, and who just appeared to be the leader of whatever little charade was going on.
“Who the hay are you, where am I, and what in Celestia's name is going on here?” Rainbow Dash had to speak as quiet as she could, while still being menacing, as the pain in her head was starting to die down just a little bit. “And who do you think you are pushing me around?”
The mare being spoken to giggled before beginning to walk in a circle around Rainbow Dash, and spoke, all while keeping an insanely large smile on her face, “You must be slow Rainbow Dash, lets think back, do you think you can do that? Can you keep up?” Rainbow Dash growled at being talked to like a little filly, but that just fueled the mare on, “you were sitting there at that little desk, about to finish your love letter to that filly you have back home.” At the mention of Applejack, Rainbow Dash felt fury course through her and she hoped that the rage was clear in her eyes as she stared down the other mare.
Again this only elicited giggles from the mare, and she continued on, “It was so sweet, you know that little colt was right, I would have never expected YOU of all ponies to be such a softie. Quite ironic, don't you think? Oh well, do you remember what happened after that colt went back to sleep? Hmm?”
Rainbow Dash didn't want to play along with this little game, but she had a feeling she had to follow along or something bad was going to happen. She racked her brain and what she found was the pain, she shuddered again at the thought of the most painful thing she'd ever felt. She had no idea what happened, but she had a feeling she was about to find out. “All I remember is pain, a lot of pain...what did you do to me?” Rainbow Dash's heart began to speed up, and for some reason she felt frightened, of what exactly, and why, she wasn't sure. But she had a feeling of who. “What did you do...” She whispered.
The mare's grin turned malicious, and she whispered in response, “I blew up your whole camp. Everypony there is scattered into pieces, except you Rainbow Dash. I killed them all and spared you, you should be thankful that you're even here.” She smiled proudly at Rainbow Dash, who just looked at her in horror.
A minute passed by before Rainbow Dash could speak again, and she sputtered when she did, “Wh...why would you do something like that? We didn't do anything to you!”
The mare just raised a hoof to her forehead and shook her head, “You seriously are dense Rainbow Dash. I'd heard stories about you, but this dense? Seriously? We're in a war, it's kill or be killed. Plus it's fun to be at the control of other lives, it's your choice whether they can breathe air another day, your choice whether they can go home to see their family again, your choice whether or not they live. It's empowering.” The mare's eyes darkened more and more as she spoke, and Rainbow Dash slumped to the floor. Horrified at what was coming out of the mare's mouth.
“You're a monster...” She whispered. She felt tears on her cheeks as she spoke, and she wasn't sure what exactly had triggered them. The sheer terror she felt, the horrifying things she was being told, or even if it was because she felt sorry for the pony who she now knew to be insane. Something had to have happened to her to make her like this, there just had to be. She only one thought on her mind that she feared bringing out, but knew she had to sooner or later. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Oh come on Dash, even YOU can't be that stupid. You're a prisoner of war now, and under my control? I'm going to torture the shit out of you. Prepare for the most hellacious and painful segment of your life, trust me, you're not going to enjoy being here.” Rainbow Dash let out a whimper as she realized the sheer magnitude of the situation she was in. She absolutely couldn't believe it was happening, and all she could think about was going home. Which she was now not sure was possible. The thought of that on top of everything else made her break down, she tried to hold it in, but more tears just kept pouring out of her eyes. She eventually let out sobs, and held her head in her hooves as she began to shake.
The mare who she now feared more than anything stepped towards her and cooed, “Aww come on Dash, don't cry, I haven't even done anything to you...yet. I promise I'll actually give you something to cry about later on.” She leaned towards Dash and nuzzled her neck, and as soon as Dash felt the snout touch her she snapped. Every emotion she was feeling turned into rage as she jumped on top of her captor and started to pound the muzzle that dared to touch her. She landed several hits before she felt magic surround her neck and start to squeeze and lift her up. It slammed her against the wall and held her there with the force on her neck, she couldn't breathe and she fought against the magic but couldn't get a grip on anything that was actually there. Just as her vision began to get blotchy, she felt it loosen up, and something clamped around each of her limbs. After taking a few deep breaths she looked at her hooves to find that each one had been clamped to the wall with iron clasps. The same could be said about her wings, she looked down and tried to catch her breath more and felt something connect with her stomach. All the air she had gotten back was pushed out of her again as she was kicked twice more in the same spot, she watched helplessly as the hind-hooves of that mare lifted up each time and kicked her. One more time she watched as they lifted higher up and connected right with her face and she blacked out again.
When she awoke she felt an offending object around all of her appendages. As she began to stir and think more clearly she attempted to move her fore-hooves forward but found they were trapped near her head. She realized that her hooves were clamped to the wall and she couldn't move anywhere; her wings were similarly trapped and there was nothing she could do. And again she was in pain, she wondered if she were going to wake up without being in pain anytime in the future. She groaned and it alerted that mare that was now the bane of her existence.
“Oh you're awake Rainbow Dash! Good! I was hoping I hadn't killed you already, I haven't even begun to have fun with you yet! You should really watch your temper, I might not be so kind as to grant you the pleasure of unconsciousness before making you suffer for attacking your master like that.” The mare spat venomously as she spoke. Clearly not happy with being attacked as she was.
Rainbow Dash growled in response. “You're not my master, you're a piece of trash and nothing else.” As soon as she finished, Rainbow Dash saw the mare's horn light up and she felt herself whipped across the face. She cried out as the impact of the whip left a large cut on her cheek.
“What do you not understand about being under MY control? I am your master, whether you like it or not. And sooner or later I will train you to like it. Now call me your master.” The look in the mare's eye scared Rainbow Dash, but she refused to waver. She would not be broken, she promised herself in her mind that she wouldn't. If not for her, for Applejack. She knew that her wife would never be able to imagine Rainbow Dash cracking under pressure, and wanted to hold true to that.
“Never.” She responded, glaring into the eyes of the pony that tortured her. She watched the whip raise once again, but did no more than flinch as it came down across her face once more. She blinked back tears and spoke again, “I will never call you my master.”
The mare sighed as she lowered the whip she had brandished out of no where. She walked towards Rainbow Dash and put a hoof to her chin. “If that's the way you want it, then I'm going to have to break you forcefully.” She giggled viciously as she used her magic to unlatch Rainbow Dash from the shackles and flipped her around. She reattached them so Rainbow Dash was facing away from her and all Rainbow Dash could see was the wall. “This is going to be fun Dashie...you'll see.” She whispered maniacally, and for the first time she gave away her name to Rainbow Dash. “You will answer to me Rainbow Dash, to Black Rose. I. Am. Your. Master.”
The first day of Rainbow Dash's capture was finally over, and she lay on the ground of what was now her personal cell. In front of her sat a plate of mushed up something, she wasn't even sure it was real food, but she had eaten half of it already due to how hungry she had been. She ate enough to make her feel satiated, but couldn't eat another bite of the slop that sat in front of her.
Rainbow was a wreck and she knew it, she lay on the ground exhausted, bloody, and beaten. She was extremely tired but was trying her best to not fall asleep, afraid of what would happen if she did. She watched the guard that was positioned outside of her cell closely, the whole time she had been in this cell she would catch him randomly throwing something at her, or spitting in her direction. She had been staring at the guard for the past hour, so she would be prepared do dodge whatever the sick pony was throwing at her, and it also gave her something to do to keep her up.
A while later Rainbow Dash noticed a new pony come into the room and her eyes whipped to him and she glare without moving, wary of anything that might happen. The guard who had been sitting down before got up, nodded to the new pony, and left without saying a word. She continued to glare at who appeared to be the new guard as he sat down in the chair outside her cell. He glanced at her and winced at the fierce glare he was receiving. "Uhm...hi," he said, trying to diffuse a little bit of the tension he felt.
However it didn't go quite how he wanted, Rainbow Dash only growled and responded, "Fuck you."
He frowned slightly and said, "Well that was a bit uncalled for."
Rainbow's eyes shot open and she stood up in a flash, "Uncalled for?! That was uncalled for?! You guys beat me for hours because you felt like it! I've been lying here in a small pool of my own blood because I'm cut in so many places I'm probably more red than blue at this point! No, what YOU guys did was uncalled for. So fuck. You."
The guard winced again at her words, "Yeah I'm sorry about that, I don-"
"YOU'RE SORRY? Well then by all means full steam ahead with the beatings, as long as you're SORRY it's completely fine! That makes me feel so much better knowing how sorry you are, thanks for fixing everything with your apology." She continued to glare at the stallion while she let out the frustration that had built up in her throughout the day.
He sighed before responding, "Look I know it doesn't mean much, but I am sorry that that happened to you. I had no participation in it and I do not wish to. I don't agree with what they're doing to you here but there's not much I can do about it without facing the same type of treatment, sorry."
Rainbow paused while the guard talked, curious about his differing standing than the other ponies she had come into contact with there. "Okay...then why are you even here if you're not like the others?"
He sighed, "I'm here because I believe in what this revolt was supposed to do. We all come from small towns, cities, and in general places that your princess has overlooked. We started with the idea that we wanted to show that we deserved some attention to, simple things get ignored when your princess has other stuff to pay attention to. I think what set us off in the first place was when Luna came back. You now have 2 princesses, 3 with Twilight being coronated, and yet there's still as many places overlooked than there used to be. We noticed that and decided that it needed to change, so we organized that and tried to get things to change."
Rainbow eyed him suspiciously as he talked, "You keep using past tense, what changed?"
"I don't know. I don't know what happened but everything's changed, everyone here is now just trying to overthrow the princesses, take control of everything, and get rid of everything that gets in their way. I hate that that's how we're seen now, as an aggressive group of greedy ponies. I didn't want things to end up this way but they did, and now I'm stuck here with this horrible example of a corrupt group of asses, to put it bluntly."
While the guard had been talking Rainbow had calmed down a little bit and sat down, listening as he talked. After he finished she asked, "Why don't you leave then? If you don't like it here why don't you just leave?"
He shook his head before answering, "I unfortunately can't, Rose has us all tracked, she doesn't trust anyone so she put a spell on all of us when we came here to alert her if any of us leave the camp unexpectedly. She would kill me on the spot, she's just ruthless. But hey, I don't like talking about depressing stuff. I know you're probably hungry, with that crap being the only thing they give you." With that his horn lit up, and Rainbow eyed it suspiciously, within a second a plate of actual food appeared in front of her next to the other plate. With it came a glass of water and Rainbow paused for a bit, the generosity from this guard still seeming a bit foreign to her. After a few seconds of contemplation she leaned down and took a tentative bite. Finding nothing at fault with the food, she began to eat gratefully.
When Rainbow finished she took the glass and downed it quickly, it being the first drink she'd had in over a day. She finished and looked over at the guard, who had turned around and leaned back against the bars of her cell. She cleared her throat and spoke up, "Hey uhm...thanks for the food and everything, and I don't mean to sound ungrateful...but how do I get out of here?"
The guard turned around and looked at her sadly, "I'm sorry but I don't really see a way to get you out of here. It's near impossible to get out of here without someone finding out. If I figure out a way somehow then I will, I promise. I just...don't think it's going to happen."
"So I'm never going to see my daughter again? Or my friends? I'm going to be stuck here until I die?"
The guard's ears drooped as he answered, "I'm...so sorry Rainbow Dash. I promise if the chance arises, I will take it. You don't deserve to be here, I wish this hadn't happened..."
Rainbow Dash lay down and responded with a forlorn tone in her voice, "and what am I supposed to do in the meantime, let myself get beaten into a pulp everyday until I drop dead or this non-existent chance comes up? Sounds like a great time. Glad I got into this situation." She sighed and wrapped herself into a ball, trying to keep herself warm, "I'm just going to go to sleep now that I'm not as afraid I'm going to get killed in my sleep"
The stallion frowned before saying, "Good night then Rainbow, I hope you stay strong throughout this. For your sake..."
