Twilight grew curious about time travel, and devised a spell to send her into the future. But new magic rarely works as it should.
History has proven that one pony, in the right place at the right time, can change everything. What would happen if one was to remove that pony? Twilight accidentally finds out when her time travel spell sends her into a new timeline where things didn't play out like she remembered, and she can't go home until she can save this new world. But how do you save a world in which you were never born?
Ah'll never get used to this... Ah thought as a burst of green fire appeared in front of mah face. A scroll materialized out of the fire an' fell to the ground. Ah stepped away from the tree Ah was buckin', picking up the scroll. Sigh, better see what Twilight wants. "Hey, Big Mac, could ya finish up over 'ere?!" Ah yelled down the row of trees ta mah older, bigger brother. "Ah just got a letter from Twilight!"
"Okay."
That's mah brother, master of one word answers.... Ah started to walk back ta the farmhouse as Ah broke the seal on the scroll.
"Dear Applejack, I hope this letter finds you taking a break. I would like to ask you to come to the castle and help me with the final stage of my latest experiment. I've already sent letters to the rest of our friends asking them to be there as well. If you could meet us in the Isolation Room in about six hours, I would be grateful. Hope to see you tonight, Twilight Sparkle."
What's she workin' on this time? Hmmmmm.... There are a few more chores that Ah could get done before Ah'd have to leave, but first Ah'd need to let Granny know where Ah'm goin'.
An', soon enough, Ah'm headin' into town with mah saddlebags, and a cart full of apples. Not to sell, mind ya, but ta bring ta the castle. Almost all the food made there comes from the local farms, an' yours truly supplies the most! Most of way ta town, Ah run into a good friend of mine. And by 'run into', Ah mean 'she popped out of mah cart'.
Again.
"What'cha doin'?" Pinkie Pie asked as her head emerged from the pile of apples.
"Takin' these apples to the castle storerooms before we gotta meet up with Twi'."
"Ooh, you got her letter, too?! Does this mean that the others'll be there soon, too?" Pinkie hopped out of the cart, not spillin' an apple. "But why would she want us to meet her in the Isolation Room? Isn't that at the veeerrrryyy tippy top of the castle?"
"Twilight mentioned in her letter somethin' about an experiment of some sort. Maybe-" Ah'm interrupted by Pinkie doin' a full body shiver, kinda like when she knew there was a doozie about ta happen an' lead us all to Froggy Bottom Pond. "What was that all about?"
"Don' know. But I do know that what Twilight's surprise is, it'll be a doozie!"
"An' that's.... Bad?" Ah couldn't help but worry. Ah mean, her last 'doozie' invovled a hydra.....
"Oh, nonononono. Doozies can be fun, too!"
"Right.... Ah've got a few more things Ah want ta get done before Ah meet up with Twi. You're welcome ta come with me."
Shunk.
Another set of heavy wooden boards fell into place, blockin' off the sunlight coming in from the window. Of the five windows in the room, only one remained uncovered, a stack of boards lying on the floor below it. The stack became surrounded by a purple aura as it was gently lifted into the air.
"Are ya sure that this here's a good idea, Twi?" Ah asked. Mah errands took a little longer then Ah expected, so Ah missed most of Twilight's explanation of what was goin' on. Pinkie was having fun followin' Rainbow Dash around the room, while Fluttershy and Rarity were shooin' Angel out. An' Twilight stood in the center of the room, wearin' her old saddlebags, carefully puttin' the last of the boards into place.
With a solid thunk, the room was plunged into near darkness. The only light came from the glow around Twilight's horn and the open door.
"Yes, Applejack, I do. This is the only way to know for sure." She replied. A small ball of flame ignited at the end of her horn, which she then sent flyin' around the room with a deft flick. Where ever it landed, it lit a torch or candle. "And, besides, I've done this test several times with apples, and nothing bad has yet to happen."
"Except for when you merged one with my tail." Spike deadpanned as he entered past Angel an' closed the door behind him.
"That must have been a simply dreadful experience. Whatever did you do?" Rarity simpered, holdin' a hoof ta her mouth.
"I just simply recast the spell on the part that was the apple, which left Spike's tail in one piece." Twilight stated as Spike gave a reassurin' "Don't worry, I'm fine." A long yellow an' black streamer was lifted into the air. Twilight carefully wrapped it 'round four thin metal poles driven into the floor in the center of the room. "It's because of that that I started to cast it up here, and in a roped off area."
"Wait! Isn't the spell you used on the apple the same spell you're gonna cast today? What is it? What does it do?" Pinkie asked as she zoomed up ta Twilight's face. Twilight's magic surrounded the energetic pink pony an' gently picked her up an' deposited her back outside of Twilight's personal space.
Twilight started ta pace 'round the room doin' some last minute checks against the list she held in her magic, Pinkie bouncing along behind her. "Well, I've been researching time spells now that we've had some time to ourselves since I became, and you all effectively became, princesses. However, all the spells I've found are all for traveling to the past or stopping time entirely. I want to try traveling to the future! the spell I've been testing has been able to send those apples into the future for up to five minutes ahead." Ah swear, she didn't breath in once durin' that.... Twilight turned back ta us, satisfied with her list. "Now I want to see if it can work on a pony."
Pinkie started ta bounce up an' down, hoof in the air as if she was at school, "Oh! Ohohohoh! Cast it on me! Cast it on me!"
Twilight shook her head. "Sorry, Pinkie, but I can't cast the spell on you. Any of you. I know how the spell works, and I've memorized a spell to come back to this point in time should something go wrong."
"So, what yer sayin' is, is that if thin's go right, you'll appear where ya cast the spell in 'bout five minutes, an', if thin's go wrong, it'll seem like ya never moved?" Ah asked.
"What if you don't reappear at all?" Fluttershy faintly asked, "We might never see you again!"
"Don't worry, if she doesn't reappear in about ten minutes, I'll be sending a report to Princess Celestia so that she knows what happened and the notes Twilight's been keeping of this spell." Spike said.
"I just don't understand why ya gotta cover up the windows to cast the spell." Rainbow Dash inquired, hoverin' by one of the said windows, "Does the spell require it to be all gloomy and dark?"
"Well, remember all those loud bangs and pops over the past few weeks? That's because the apple left behind an empty atmospheric void in it's place upon completion of the spell. The air around the apple rushed in to fill said void at supersonic speeds, causing a rather loud implosion. This is the same effect as what happens when one teleports."
Rainbow turned to Spike, "Translation?"
"Sigh. The apple left behind an empty space in the air. The air rushed in to fill it, causing a bang." Good ol' Spike. Ya'd think Twilight would've learned ta use layponys' terms by now.....
"Uh, right." Twilight stepped over the caution tape an' stood in the center of the room, "Well, that small apple-sized bang can knock over a stack of papers from across a room. If that's what a small one could do, then what about a pony-sized bang? I've done up some calculations, and you'll be fine." She waved a hoof at the windows, "Those, however, would shatter."
"Ya really thought o' everythin', huh?" Ah pushed mahself off of the wall, "So, what're we here for, then?"
Twilight opened her saddle bags and pulled out a group of quills and note pads, "You're here mostly to help Spike take notes." She passed out a quill and note pad ta each of us, "But, you're also here in case something goes wrong. This is unknown magic we're dealing with here. We can't ever predict what the side effects could be." She turns ta look at Pinkie, "Except, maybe, you."
We all turned ta look at Pinkie, who just stared back with a quizzical look on her face, "What?"
"Anything on your Pinkie Sense, dear?" Rarity asked.
"Ooh. Noperoodle, nothing so far!"
It looked like she was about ta say more, but was interrupted by Spike, "Well, the sooner we start, the sooner we're done, right?" He turned ta Twilight, "You ready, Twi'?"
After makin' one final look through her list, Twilight finally gave a nod an' put it away. "Looks like everything is set, so I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She looked at us each in turn. "Remember, I need you to record as much as you can." She closed her eyes an' started to, Ah don' know, focus on her magic? Ah know next ta nothin' about unicorn magic....
After a moment, Twilight started to mutter.... The incantation? ....A focusin' mantra? ....Somethin' under her breath. Pretty soon, she finished up with that, and started ta float off the floor, an' her normally purple eyes glowed pure white when she opened them. Nothin' new there. She does that whenever we use our elements, or when she's castin' a high level spell.
None o' us could take our eyes off o' Twilight to write in our notebooks. Not only were Twilight's eyes glowing, her whole body was startin' ta, too. Ah could see Pinkie violently shiverin' on the far side of Twilight from me. We looked at each other, and it seemed like she was tryin' ta say somethin'. Her mouth was movin', but Ah couldn't hear any sound. But Ah could still understand her look of panic. This was the doozie!
As the light condensed around Twilight, Ah stepped forward ta try ta break her concentration. A lance of white lightnin' speared past me and almost hit Fluttershy. More an' more of these bolts started to fire out from Twilight as her saddlebags burned up. The last thin' Ah saw was Twilight silently screaming in pain, before ah was pulled off mah hooves toward her, then thrown against the wall.
Ah don't know how long Ah lay there. Ah remember comin' to ta see Rainbow's worried face an inch from mine. Ah could hear a tinkling' noise, like somepony had hung a glass wind chime out on a windy day. As Ah started ta get up, Rainbow let out a breath Ah'm not sure she was holding.
"Geez, AJ, ya had us worried there." She backed away to give me some room, "You were the last one I could wake up."
Ah surveyed the room. There was glass tricklin' from beneath the boards coverin' the windows, makin' that wind chime-sh noise. Rarity was helpin' a sobbing Fluttershy outta the room. It looked like not all of the bolts missed everypony. Fluttershy had a black-charred gash runnin' down her left side an' wing. Rainbow had flown across the room, an' was helping a very shell-shocked Spike to his feet. Pinkie Pie was tryin' to keep the glass shards from fallin' to far into the room.
Twilight....
..... Twilight wasn't there. Just a black mark on the floor an' ceiling where she had been standing.
My name is Twilight Sparkle, and something has gone wrong.
The last thing I remember is starting to cast my time spell, something in it going wrong, and it feeding upon itself to completion. I think. I may have passed out from pain before that part. Did I mention the pain? It felt like I was being crushed by an Ursa Major while being set on fire.
My head still felt like there's an Ursa sitting on it. Every time I tried to move, it felt like somepony bucked horn.
Oooh, my head. This doesn't feel like the time I went back in time to warn myself to not worry about the future. I thought. I've got to make- I tried to open my saddlebags, and another spike of pain lanced through my head. Maybe, if I just rest.... Here a bit.... I.... Can....
I awoke some time later. Keeping my eyes closed, I checked over my body. Rear legs retain feeling, so my lower spine is still intact. No pain in the abdominal area, so there should be no internal bleeding. Front legs move on command with no pain, so no fractures, cracks, or breaks in any of my legs. In fact, it felt like I was lying in bed with heavy blankets covering me.
Except my head. That still felt like it was in a vice.
Owwww, my head.... I thought. I had no idea how long I had been unconscious. I did a few mental exercises I picked up from having to deal with infrequent migraines brought on by sleep deprivation. (I may get a little caught up in my studying every now and then.) When my head felt like it was merely throbbing, as opposed to splitting, I opened my eyes.
At first, all I could see was vague shapes of green. It took a moment to figure out that I was looking at grass. The last place I remember being before casting my spell was the Isolation Room in my castle. That must mean.....
Just how far ahead did the spell send me? I got unsteadily to my hooves, the migraine forcing me to keep my eyes closed. I opened my eyes once the nausea died down again, and took a good look around me. I was standing on a small hill, in the only green patch of grass and flowers. Everywhere else I could see, the dirt was clearly visible through the withered brush. Well, I shouldn't worry too much, I do need to let the others know it was a successful cast, even if it needs some fine tuning. At least I know my Returning spell works...
I closed my eyes and started to gather up my mana, but I stopped when I felt myself being crushed again. Opening my eyes, I let my magic dissipate. I watched as a purplish mist spread out in front of me before drifting back behind me. Odd, that's never happened before. I lifted my hoof into view, only to see a tendril of the mist floating where my hoof should be. I looked over my "shoulder" and saw more of this mist where my body should be. Well, this is definitely going to be a problem....
Okay, I think I've got this now. I had spent the entire morning relearning how to move in my new body. Truth be told, I much preferred learning how to fly over this. I even discovered that I could pass through objects if I'm not careful. Now I was back over the area where I woke up. The grass had withered during the morning, but I still knew where I was because of the withered flowers. This was the only spot with flowers.
I settled on the ground, trying not to sink into it, and took a look around. The area felt familiar, but I just couldn't put my hoof on why. I sighed, Well, as much as I would like to look around and make some notes, I really should get home. I hope I can get my body back when I get there...
I started to draw my mana again, ignoring the squeezing feeling. As soon as I had gathered up all of my own, I reached out to draw in the ambient mana of the land around me-
-And found nothing
Nothing. No latent mana. Not even the smallest shard that every living thing had in it. I couldn't use it even if it was there, but its lack worried me. It's almost like it had been drained away....
I shook that thought away. My friends and I defeated Tirek four years ago (from my point of view) and locked him back up in Tartarus. Fluttershy even made sure Cerberus wouldn't leave his post again. I just had to be in a mana devoid area. I read that those cropped up in areas where intense magical duels had been fought. There was nothing for it, I'll have to find my way to Canterlot and explain myself to Celestia. Although I'm certain Spike sent the reports already.
I looked around again (I'm doing that a lot, lately) in the hopes that I could recognize. Once again, I had the nagging feeling of familiarity. The mountains looked familiar, but then, almost every mountain looks the same to me. The hills looked familiar, the trees in the distance looked familiar, even the bridge I saw earlier seemed-
Wait! A bridge! Of course! If there's a bridge that means there's a trail or road, and that means that there might be a house or town nearby and I can find out where I am! I congratulated myself as I rose off the ground, twisting myself (I'll never get used to this) this way and that trying to remember where the bridge was. I flew a few small circles until I saw it in the distance. I flew over to it as fast as I could, descending slowly as I drew near. I hovered as I studied the bridge itself, even floating under it to look at the underside. Why does everything seem so familiar?
I put the feeling to the side for a moment. Again, I looked around, focusing more on the road on either side of the bridge. Finally, I found what appeared to be buildings in the distance. Finally, now I can figure out where I am! I flew as fast as I could, eager to find my way home, but something seemed.... Off. It wasn't until I got a good look at the first building that it became clear.
The town appeared to be abandoned. Many of the buildings were in a state of disrepair, most having been boarded up when their residents left. Quite a few roofs had even fallen in. A few buildings were still inhabited, with planters full of dying plants set high off the ground. The normally gurgling river that flowed past had dried up to barely being a trickle. But what worried me the most was the weathered sign with the faded words "Welcome to Ponyville".
That's why everything seemed familiar! I've seen those mountains, those trees, that bridge almost every day since that fateful Summer Sun Celebration! Just how far ahead did that spell send me?! And what could've caused such devastation? I thought as I looked around for the one major landmark that had turned Ponyville into a tourist hot-spot over the last four years. ....W-where's my castle?
I flew as fast as I could through Ponyville towards where my castle should have stood, avoiding the main roads and the town square. (I wasn't sure, but the last time anypony saw a flying cloud of mana around Ponyville was when Luna was still Nightmare Moon.) Focusing too much on what wasn't there, I almost missed something that shouldn't be around anymore. Near the middle of town was a large, long dead oak tree. At its base was a boarded up door, and it had several windows set seemingly at random throughout the branches. There was even space for a balcony, though that looks like it had been removed a long while ago, possibly for boarding material.
What is the library doing here?! I thought this was destroyed by Tirek. I flew up to, then through, the loft window. This doesn’t look like how I had my room! All of my things weren’t even in the room, and there was a thick layer dust over everything else. The bed didn’t even have any sheets on it. It didn’t look like anypony had used the room for several years.
Just how far did that spell send me?!
Thunk
Somepony was moving around downstairs. I floated down through the floor and walls until I could see the floor below. There, I could see a hooded pony standing in front of a reading lectern, muttering to herself as she read from a book. Judging by the voice, she was a mare not much older than I was. Her cloak stretched down to her flanks. Several books already lay in piles on the floor. From what I could see, they were all about various farming and growing methods. I slipped down into the floor to get as close to the Mare as possible without being seen to get a good look at her cutie mark. Growling, the Mare violently knocked the book in front of her to the floor.
“No, no, no, no! Ugh, why can’t this stupid library ever have what I need to know?!” For a brief moment, when she knocked the book down, I could just see her right flank. It was blank.
The Mare stormed to a nearby bookshelf, grabbed a few books seemingly at random, and then stalked into the little kitchenette at the back of the library. I floated through the wall a moment after. The kitchenette was as I remembered it, save with more dust. The Mare was at the back door, shoving the books she grabbed into a beat-up set of saddlebags hard enough to make me wince for the poor book. The Mare took a moment to make sure the saddlebags were secure, then pushed the door open and stepped out into the night.
I floated up through the ceiling before I went through the wall. Floating in the dead branches, I watched as the Mare place a few boards onto the back door in a way to make it look like the door was boarded shut. She looked around like there might be somepony after her, then started galloping as quietly as she could through the deserted streets. Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I followed at roof height.
The Mare soon left the western edge of town. Only once she was passed the first hill did she start to slow down. A lack of tall trees forced me to stay close to the ground, shifting through the underbrush, as I attempted to keep out of her sight. We soon came upon the local school. This building, too, had been boarded up. There were several planter boxes filled with wilting plants set into the roof’s edge. The Mare walked up to the door, and, after ensuring that no pony had followed her, pulled off a pair of boards I had thought were securely nailed down. She shut the door as soon as she crossed the threshold. The loud cathunk of a heavy timber falling across the door sounded soon after. I floated through the wall near where I guessed the ceiling to be, taking the room in with a glance. The desks had all been pushed up against the windows to make it even harder for anything to get in. The larger teacher’s desk appeared to have been cannibalized into a makeshift ladder leading to a haphazardly made second floor. In the center of the room lay a pile of hay and a blanket. Most of the details of the room were lost on me, though, as the Mare had removed her cloak. There, standing by the door, was Cheerilee.
Cheerilee had finally fallen into a fitful a few minutes ago. I continued to watch her toss and turn on her pile of hay for a few minutes more until I felt sure she wouldn’t wake up. I floated down to the floor and flowed to where Cheerilee had left her saddlebags. I opened one of the pouches and carefully pulled out the books inside. Great. More farming books. What would Cheerilee need these for? I took a closer look at the titles. And they’re all about ancient farming techniques. I returned the books to their pouch, straightening out any bent pages as I did so, and quickly checked the contents of the other pouch. ....And even more farming books.
Curiosity for the saddlebags placated, I floated around the schoolhouse. I examined every drawer, cabinet, and desk still capable of holding something. I even floated up to the second floor. The only thing worth noting was that there was a door set into the side of the roof leading to a walk-around balcony. The balcony, in turn, lead to each planter box I saw coming in. Inside the nearest box, I could see a few wilting roses.
Odd, these should be thriving in this type of climate. Unless…. I let myself flow through the bushes and soil. (I had discovered earlier that passing through something to check on how much mana it has was easier than just touching it.) The roses barely had any mana, and the soil had none. I pulled back from the box. This is bad. Those roses won’t last much longer like this. I quickly checked on the other boxes. All were in a similar state of magical depravity.
If only there was something in the soil to help the plants. I know I read a book on this somewhere……. Ohhhh, I wonder if Applejack’s still on her farm, she’d know what to do. I look around at the dead and dying trees around the schoolhouse. Although, I doubt AJ would stay here no matter how attached and dedicated to her farm as she may be.
I flowed up into the air until I was a good fifteen hooves above the schoolhouse, then turned and flew back to the library. If there were any books that might tell me what I needed to know, they would be there.
A few days had gone by, and I had fallen into a pattern. Wake up at sunrise, tear through the library looking for every book on farming I could, break for lunch around four, put away every book I could before sunset, then hide in the walls when Cheerilee showed up at night, and then try and get enough sleep before I had to be up to do it all over again. If I had time, I would've made a checklist.
The first night Cheerilee came in, I had to fly into the pony bust in the main room, leaving a massive mess behind that scared Cheerilee out of the library. I made sure to clean up from then on, though I did miss a book or two now and then.
But of all the books we looked through, not one seemed to hold the answers we were looking for. Cheerilee seemed to be sticking to books on ancient farming methods earth ponies used before the unification of the tribes, while focused on more magical means. Cheerilee plants continued to wilt in the meantime.
Tonight, after Cheerilee had left, I decided to just take a break for the night. I nestled myself into the branches of the tree to do some stargazing. Flowing into the branches beneath me, I tried to pick out the various constellations. Soon, my thoughts turned to my friends, and found myself drifting off…..
And promptly found myself falling through the ceiling of me old room. What in Tartarus?! I gave myself a mental shake, and flowed back up to where I was resting. When I arrived, I found the branches I was resting in had vanished. There were still branches coming from the main trunk, but where ever they passed through where I had been, they simply stopped. There were even some loose branches that had been sheared off, their ends perfectly flat.
As I watched, the branches started to regrow. Over the next hour, the branches reformed where they had disappeared, the loose twigs even snapping up to reattach themselves to the ends of a few of the newly formed branches.
I just couldn’t understand what had happened. I was certain that nothing like this had happened in Equestria before. If it had, somepony would’ve studied it, written down their findings, and she would’ve read about it.
I let a part of myself sift into a newly reformed twig, it didn’t feel any different from the branches that I had been resting in before. There just didn’t seem to be any reason the branches would’ve disappeared like that. The only difference from the moment I first flowed into the tree to rest were my own thoughts….
I once again found my mind wondering to my memories of my friends, family, even the library itself. I was pulled back to the present when a twig fell from the tree, its end perfectly flat. I froze. The twig had fallen from the edge of my “cloud”, which was beside the other end of the twig still attached to the tree. The cloud itself was clearly visible, even though it was inside the branch a moment ago. I pulled back so that I wasn’t touching anything.
This time, it only took ten minutes for the twig to reform.
Over the next hour, I experimented on parts of the library. I discovered that I could make a part of the library disappear of I focused on how the building looked like before I had cast my time jumping spell. I even found parts of the lower floors that didn’t vanish, but instead became charred as if they had been a fire. It wasn’t until the sun had reached its zenith did I decide to finally get some rest, feeling like I used up a lot of personal mana.
A moon had passed. I had spent some of it experimenting on how I could affect things, and the rest using my newfound ability growing Cheerilee’s plants. I couldn’t just leave Ponyville without helping somepony. I found that, if I spent time in the soil of the planter boxes focusing on how things were before my spell, the soil would regain its fertility, which in turn caused the plants to grow again. I couldn’t explain it, but, even after the soil returned to its “dead” state, the plants stayed healthy.
I made sure to do this at night, when Cheerilee was either out or asleep, so that I wouldn’t be found out. Then, I would sleep through the day, so that I would have the mana to re-fertilize the soil. It’s odd though. Cheerilee forgot to close the balcony door tonight….
*^*
I didn’t know what had happened. One week, my roses were dying. The next, they seemed perfectly healthy. But I tried, for the most part, not to question why my plants were doing so well. That’s how things were: if something seemed off, you accepted it and moved on. It was safer that way.
One night, however, I had trouble sleeping. I had been hearing strange noises lately, and I had found something’s had gone missing or not being where I’d left them. Tonight, I figured I might as well find out why since I couldn’t sleep. If it’s mice, then I’ll need to get rid of them before they eat my plants…
The noises always seemed to come from the upper floor, so I stated to creep up the ladder. I only went far enough to peek over the floor. Nothing seemed out of place from how I left it that evening. Then I saw it. I don’t remember leaving the balcony door open….
I crept to the doorway, and carefully leaned my head out to look. There was a slight rustling coming from one of the rose bushes just outside. As I watched, a dark mist seeped out of that rose’s planter box, and drifted over to the next one beside it. I shivered as I watched the roses from the first box wilt, but I was worried even more when the flowers in the other box start to stand up straighter. This, this can’t be… I thought as I backed away from the door, She was banished, there’s-
Crack! .... Thumpf!
I had backed up to the ladder opening, and had put too much weight onto a loose board. The board had given way, causing me to fall through the opening. I looked up towards the opening, expecting the mist to come rushing down on her. When nothing happened, I carefully stood up, glad to have suffered only a few bruises from the fall. Then I saw the mist seeping through the ceiling.
“S-stay back!” I stammered, backing towards the door. “I-I’ll c-call for the g-guards!” I hope She doesn't know that the guards were pulled out a few moons ago! The Cloud had fully entered the room, and slowly floated through the room, circling to my right. “I-I’m warning y-you, N-nightmare M-moon!” The Cloud froze, or as much as a cloud could. “I-I don’t know h-how you escaped T-Tartarus, b-but I-I’ll yell for the guard i-if you come near me, a-and then you’ll be sent back!” I felt braver as I reached the end of my threat.
The Cloud started to drift further to my right, but no longer towards me. It reached the chalkboard, and, picking up a piece of chalk, wrote in a surprising neat scrip. “Not Lu-“ It rubbed out and started again. “Not Nightmare Moon. Here to help”
“H-how do I know you’re t-telling the truth?”
“What color was Nightmare Moon’s mist form?”
“H-her mist form? Dark blue with white speckles, I think….”
The cloud seemed to glow, and a group of candles were pulled off their shelf and were lite as the floated closer to the Cloud. Said Cloud was lavender with two streaks in it, one magenta, the other pink. The chalk was pulled across the chalkboard. “See, different.”
“T-then, who are you?”
“Princess Twilight Sparkle”
Wait, all of the history books I've read only mentioned Princess Celestia, and then there’s Princess Cadence, so.... My brain stopped working for a moment, I almost didn’t notice myself sitting down. “Wha?! There was a THIRD?” ….. Oh, real smooth, there, Cheerilee….
The Cloud (I’m not calling it a princess yet) paused before starting to write again. “Yes. Why are you so surprised? And why would you say Lu-“ Again, the Cloud rubbed that out, “Nightmare Moon is in Tartarus?”
“Because there were only two Princesses before…. Before…..” I couldn't get his name out. In fact, I wanted to forget everything about him.
The Cloud just floated there, then hurriedly wrote, “When you’re ready, please, tell me everything.”
“Well,” I fell almost naturally into the role of the teacher, “I guess you can say everything started over a thousand years ago, with Nightmare Moon……”
*^*
Cheerilee had gone through all the ancient history that I already knew, but I listen to it anyways. There might have been any new information hidden in there, after all. I had taken a smaller chalkboard from its shelf so that I could ask questions closer to Cheerilee. At first, she seemed to be scared of me getting nearer, but as the night progressed, her fear appeared to die off.
“….Then, a few years ago,” It seemed her ancient history lesson, “Nightmare Moon escaped from her imprisonment on the moon, and banished Princess Celestia to the sun. She then created an eternal night and ruled over us for the next several moons.”
Moons! I thought. But didn’t we turn her back into Luna in less than a day?
Cheerilee continued, “We couldn't farm our food because our crops needed the light and warmth of the sun to survive, but She had already considered that, and had those who were loyal to Her start to convert the plants to be able to grow in moonlight. But it was happening too slowly, and many ponies were starving. Princess Cadence and the Captain of the Royal Guard started a group of freedom fighters, called the Old Equestria Rebels, and tried to free Princess Celestia. Everypony calls them the OER.”
Cheerilee sighed. “Then, one day, a new threat came to Equestria. The Dracquinious, Discord, appeared.” She looked at her hooves. “They battled over the right to rule. Many ponies had to choose between the never ending night, or the chaotic madness. The OER was driven further underground, forced to fight a war on two fronts. It soon became apparent that Nightmare Moon and Discord were equally matched, and they agreed to a truce. They split Equestria in two, creating the Night Lands of Nightmare Moon, and Discord’s Chaos Realm, with Ponyville caught on the Border. Many earth ponies whose corps hadn't been converted yet moved their farms to the Chaos realm, allowing more food to be grown. There was peace, of a sort.”
Cheerilee paused. “Then, about five years ago, some strange plants from the Everfree Forest stated to invade Ponyville. But, after a few days, Discord came and made all the plants disappear. It felt…. Strange…. Knowing that someone who we knew from our history as a villain was the one to come to our rescue.”
This time, Cheerilee looked as if she had to force herself to continue. “Th-then, He came. A-at first, he stole the magic from the unicorns, th-then the ability to fly from the pegusi, a-and th-then the strength of us earth ponies.” Cheerilee was visibly shaken, obviously remembering things painful to her.
Knowing that this had to be done, I wrote “Who did?”
Cheerilee looked up at me. “Lord Tirek” I barely heard her whisper. She continued in a slightly stronger voice, “He came from the north, with an army of crystal ponies. Nopony had ever seen their kind before. He conquered the Night Lands first. I don’t know for sure, but I've heard He drained her of her magic and locked her away in Tartarus. Then -and again, I’m not sure if this is the truth- He drained Discord of his magic and sealed him in stone. We were forced to live under his rule.
“He said he would send aid to those who obeyed His rule. That’s how He’s been keeping everypony in check. He renamed Equestria the Empire. But it wasn't long before He decided he didn’t have enough, and felt the urge to conquer new lands. We weren't prepared for what happened next.”
Cheerilee started to stare off into the distance, looking as if she was going to vomit. (Which I knew to be scientifically impossible). Maybe I've pushed her enough for one night. I’ll just write that down, and-
“He forced all to march through the Everfree.” Head hung low, she continued in a quiet murmur. “He didn’t care who was hurt, or k-killed by the creatures of the forest, so long as we reached the other side. The unicorns had it worst, being unused to long marathons like that.
“We came across a race of beings nopony had ever come across before when we reached the other side. They called themselves the Changelings. They could make themselves look like anypony they wanted. Their rulers, Queen Chrysalis and someone called Cacophony, just bowed to His wishes.” Tears started to drip off her down turned muzzle, her voice becoming even softer, “We march through the forest, we lost so many ponies, and then he tells us to turn around and go back! And we lost even more unicorns on the way back!”
She looked up at me, wiping a hoof across her eyes. “Since then, the Changelings have acted as His spies and His officers in His new army, while the crystal ponies became the ruling class. And all while the rest of us slave away to feed them at our own expense.”
“How long ago was this?” I wrote.
“He came to power about four years ago.” Silence spread as I tried to understand just what Cheerilee had said. After a moment, Cheerilee glanced over at me with a, suspicious look in her eye. “If you’re a Princess, how do you not know all of this?”
I mentally froze. Great, now what do I tell her?! I can’t just tell her about me, because according to her impromptu history lesson, nopony even knows that the Elements even exist! My thoughts chased themselves around my head, trying to come up with a good enough excuse. Just as Cheerilee started to look impatient, I wrote out “That’s because I’m not technically a princess. More like a Spirit of Magic.” It was much easier to lie and hide the pauses in my writing then if I was talking. I’m sorry, Applejack, but this lie needs to be told.
Cheerilee looked at me with a thoughtful look. Suddenly, a small spark seemed to come alight in her eyes. “Does- Does that mean, you can defeat Him?” She asked hopefully.
“Not on my own.” I respond after carefully choosing my words. “I’ll need to ask you some more questions, but you look tired, and they can wait until morning.” As Cheerilee was reading this latest message, I gathered up the chalk and cleaned off the large chalkboard that I had used earlier. When I finished, I flowed up through the ceiling, turned around, and shifted a small tendril through to watch the floor below.
I watched Cheerilee shuffle back to bed, giving the area I phased through a wary glance as she did so. She soon settled in and fell back to sleep. And, while she slept, I wracked by brain to come up with both a plan, and a cover story.
*^*
I awoke from a strangely restful sleep. I hadn't felt this well in the morning since, well, since before Nightmare Moon came to power. Which is odd, given what I had dreamed about.
Nightmare Moon, in my home, needing a history lesson. I thought to myself as I dragged myself from the hay pile I dared to call a bed. I began shuffling about the lower floor gathering up what I would need for my usual, meager breakfast. There’s no way She could’ve escaped from Tartarus without magic, and He would be on the lookout for the non-magical ways out. And, even if She did find another way out, She can’t go misty like that without-¬
Ca-lunk.¬
A small chalkboard had been placed on the table in front of me. On it was writing in a neat script. “Good morning, Miss Cheerilee. I have already seen to the watering of and care for your plants. When you are ready, we will continue our talk.” The Cloud floated there as if expecting me to eat faster.
Maybe it wasn't a dream, after all….
The Cloud waited long enough for me to finish eating before writing out its first question: “When you are ready, I would like to know what happened to the residents of Ponyville.”
I felt a bit braver now that I had a good night’s sleep and some passable food in me, so I asked, “Why? Why would you need to know this, if you are a princess like you claim? After all, Princesses Celestia and Cadence were next to perfect, and would know all this, and how to fix it.”
“As I confessed last night,” It replied, “I’m not technically a princess. I’m more like a Spirit of Magic, and I thought that, if I claimed to be a princess, you’d be more inclined to help me. You can still call me by the name I gave you earlier, though. Now, please, what happened to the residents of Ponyville?”
“And why that name?” I pressed.
“I've already answered a question of yours, now please answer mine.”
“Fine. Some fled with the rise of Nightmare Moon, and more still when Discord rose. When He came to power, ponies mostly died…..” I had to fight those memories from coming to mind. The Cloud had scrawled out her next question by the time I had recomposed myself.
“Fled to where?”
“Answer mine first.” I smirked I've lived in the Chaos Realm for three years, this kind of word play is second nature for me now. The Cloud paused, as if considering its answer again.
“As a being of Magic, I do know of the old Alicorn Princesses. Celestia of the Day. Luna of the Night. I am neither, and I hold loyalty to both. Twilight is the time between day and night, vis a vis myself. Now, where did Everypony flee to?”
So you really aren't a princess. Buck, does that mean she can’t defeat Him? I pointed towards the windows. “The Everfree Forrest. What do you mean, “Spirit of Magic”? Are you an Alicorn like the Princesses?”
The Cloud took its time writing out its reply. It spent the next few minutes writing only to rub it out and start anew. Finally, it handed the chalkboard back. “Once, maybe. Now, I am all that you see here. If there was a past for me, I've long since forgotten. That answers two of yours, now for two of mine: Why would ponies flee to the Everfree? And what happened to the farms around here?”
“Some ponies fled to escape from Nightmare Moon, Discord, or Him. Others…” I really didn’t like talking about this, but it seems like the Cloud needs to know. “We call it going feral. There is a rumor going around that He lets the Ferals be because their raids make things harder for everypony else. I've even heard that the Ferals even have a Queen that serves Him.
“As for the farms, all but two of the farming families left for the Chaos Realm, and the Carrots didn’t make it through the Everfree March, as it’s become known.” The sadness of the memories muster reflected on my face, because the Cloud scribbled a quick “I’m sorry” out. I gave a small smile, “Only the Apples remain, bless them. They've adopted many of the orphaned foals.”
I sighed, “Why are the farms important to you?”
“Equestria will need food when this is over, no matter the outcome.” Came the reply. Wiping the whole board clean, the Cloud started to write. And write. And write.
…. Is it making a list?!
Sure enough, when it handed it back to me:
“Please tell me what happened to these ponies, as well as what you know of them from before Nightmare Moon’s return: Mayor Mayer, Rarity Belle, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, The Cakes, Ditzy Doo, and what you know of the Apples.”
Why in Tartarus would it want…..? I looked over the list, “We~el, the Apples run the sole remaining farm in the area, and rarely let anypony in to ‘just visit’. Like I said earlier, though, they did take in every orphan they could, and they do spread what they can around to everypony in town. It’s still not enough, though.
“Mayor Mayer was just that, the mayor of Ponyville. Nightmare Moon made a public example of her just because she was the first pony who stood up to her on the day of her return. Her body was taken down from town square when the Chaos Realm was made.
“Rarity used to be a dress maker here in town, but she caught the eye of the Canterlot elite, as well as Nightmare Moon herself, with her new night themed fashion line. She left to start up a store in Canterlot, but returned to work out some sort of business deal with the new mayor, but disappeared shortly after He conquered the Night Lands.
“I was surprised to find out that Sweetie Bell was Rarity’s younger sister. Rarity rarely talks about her, and then there’s the age difference. Now, unlike most of her class, Sweetie Bell never gained her cutie mark. The only other two were Scootaloo and Applebloom. All three now live with the Apples. I-I don’t know much else about them, I’m afraid.
“Pinkie Pie was, and still is, a very unusual pony. She’s completely random, yet can always bring a smile to your face. She was Ponyville’s best kept secret. When Nightmare Moon returned, she managed to keep everypony happy. But, when Discord came, she just upped and vanished. When He took over, she returned, but she seemed…. Different somehow. She now travels all over the Empire doing her best to bring a little bit of joy to every town she comes across.
“We…. We don’t really talk about Rainbow Dash any more. She left Ponyville after He came and stole all of our powers. She was the only pony to try and stand up to Him when He came. She spent the next month in the hospital for her ‘bravery’. When she awoke, she flew into a fit because she was now ground bound. She trashed much of the hospital and the surrounding area before being driven out of town. Ditzy, and her daughter Dinky, went with her to look after her. We haven’t seen them since.
“Fluttershy was another pony that just seemed to vanish overnight. She disappeared shortly after Nightmare Moon’s return. Then again, not many ponies saw her very much before that anyways. When we started the Everfree March, we came across an abandoned cottage. Strangely, it wasn't boarded up and run down like the buildings in town are, but more like whoever lived there just packed up and left without closing the front door. Now, not many ponies know this, but that was Fluttershy’s cottage. I only knew because I used to get eggs off of her.
“As for the Cakes, I think they’re dead. Mr. and Ms. Cake left their foals with the Apples, and left on day without saying a word to anypony as to why. They had the best plants outside Sweet Apple. I tried to save as many as I could,” I shrug, “but you saw how that turned out.”
I sighed, and looked at the Cloud. “Now, for my question: can you defeat Him?”
*^*
Cheerilee look at me with an expression of wary hope. Oooh, boy, that’s a loaded question if I've ever heard one!
“Like I said last night, not on my own. But, with the right ponies, I can fix this.” I wrote. “For now, I need to form a plan.” As Cheerilee read that, I started to float towards the ceiling.
“…. I want to help.”
I paused my ascent.
“I want to help.” Cheerilee repeated. “He needs to face judgement for what He’s done. I can help you.”
I flowed over to the larger chalkboard. “No, please. I want to avoid bringing as many ponies into this as I can. You've done eno-“
“But I can help!” Cheerilee yelled. She got up and walked towards me. “And, by forcing us to work for Him, everypony’s already involved.” She sat down on her haunches and raised her front hooves in front of her face. “Even if it’s not much more than showing you around the Empire, I want to help.”
Is she serious! I quickly wrote “NO!” onto the board before taking off for the ceiling again.
“Please!” Cheerilee reached out to grab me, as if to make me stay. She was able to get a hoof into my cloud before-
Cheerilee stood in her classroom on Hearts and Hooves Day, staring in wonder at the largest card she had ever received from her students.
Cheerilee sat in an empty classroom, the desks pushed against the windows. She had just found a Hearts and Hooves Day card in her monthly food supplement that Big Mac brings to town.
“W-what’s this? A-are these my memories? But what’s this odd one?”
“What the-?” I thought.
“Who was that?!”
Cheerilee sat behind her desk, looking over the faces filled with wonder at the story of Ponyville’s origins being told by Granny Smith.
She was on Sweet Apple Acres on Big Mac’s invite. She was here to attend Granny Smith’s funeral.
“…. I remember these. But why does the fake one feel so real?”
“Cheerilee?” I tried.
“Ahh! I can feel you in my head! What’s going on?!”
Cheerilee was leading her class through the Canterlot Statue Garden as part of the field trip. Three fillies started to argue as they neared the statue representing disharmony.
She had just finished packing her possessions, and wrapped her scarf around her neck. She had had enough. She had heard rumors of another land on the other side of the Everfree, where Nightmare Moon’s power couldn't reach.
*^*
My face was rudely introduced to the floor as the Cloud stopped its ascent again. I could feel….. Something in the back of my head, like a persistent memory that I couldn’t quite recall. “What was that?” I thought, rising to my hooves
“What the-?!” I heard echo around my head. “I can still hear your thoughts?!” The Cloud dropped down and floated in front of me. “But, this shouldn’t be possible. This can’t be possible!”
“And why not?” I retort. “You said that you’re a Spirit of Magic. What isn’t possible with you?” “I guess this means the Cloud’ll have to take me with it after all….”
*^*
“The ‘Cloud’ has a name. And I can still hear your thoughts, Cheerilee.” I hung there.
“But, does this mean I can come with you?” Cheerilee started to give me the best puppy dog eyes she could.
“I….” I sighed, “I rather you didn’t.” Somehow, Cheerilee turned the puppy dog eyes up even more. “But, if –and ONLY if- you can’t find somewhere safe to stay, then you may come with me.”
Cheerilee hopped up from where she was sitting and practically ran to her saddlebags. “Finally, I can do something to make Him pay!”
“….First, you need to learn how to keep your thoughts to yourself, Cheerilee. Now, I have some planning to do. Ooooh, I might even be able to make a checklist!” I was going to have some comfort, and maybe even a bit of fun, doing this. After all, haven’t I been doing this saving-the-world thing since I first came to Ponyville?
The next morning, I pack up as many of my meager possessions as I could. The Cloud, which I guess I should start calling Twilight, helped me prune the edible plants. On the way out, I paused long enough to nail down the boards that I usually leave loose. No sense in leaving this open for looters. I thought with a sigh.
Replacing my saddlebags, I started walking down the road away from the shambles we've dared call Ponyville. As I looked back at what was once my home, I noticed a certain cloud had disappeared. “Uh, Twilight? Where’d you go?”
“I've shrunk myself down and am currently hidden in you saddlebags.”
“Why? Don’t you want ponies to know that we have a chance to finally stand up to Him?”
“And risk losing my element of surprise?! By staying hidden, I can catch Him off guard. And, like I said yesterday, I want to involve as few ponies as possible.”
I shrugged. “Fine.” I muttered as I neared a wooden palisade.
The palisade looked to be made from whole trees laid on their sides, stacked four or five high. Over the top of it, I could see the tops of the farms trees. I approached the gate, which was a sturdy, yet cobbled together mess of planks and boards. Over the gate was the old Sweet Apple Acres sign that had been a part of the farm since the Apples had settled there. I knocked on the gate as hard and loudly as I could. Somepony must have seen us coming, because a small slot on the gate soon opened.
“Yer back.” A mare drawled from the other side. All that I could see was her emerald green eyes, “Ah thought Ah told ya didn’ Ah wan’ ta see ya ‘round here anymore.”
“Please, my plants are dead and dying-“
“An’ if Ah fed everypony who gave me tha’ excuse, Ah wouldn’ have a crop ta feed the ones who grew it!”
“Please, Applejack, I've got nowhere else to go!”
“Applejack! But- but what happened –“
“Shut up! I can’t do two conversations at once!”
“Look, Ah understand yer plight, that’s why Ah send anythin’ extra Ponyville’s way! But Ah just can’ accept another mouth ta feed onta mah farm!” Applejack sighed, “Ah, Ah’m sorry, Cheerilee, Ah truly am, but Ah just can’ help ya.” The eye slot closed with a faint click.
I lowered my head. “Okay,” I murmured, “then this is good bye.” “Where to, Twilight? Sweet Apple Acres was the safest place around here.”
A sigh echoed through my thoughts. “Then head for the Everfree Forest. It’s time to start our quest…..”
I turned towards the forest. As the farm faded from view, I could’ve sworn I heard Twilight whisper “…. What happened to you, Applejack?”
*^*
Ah climbed up ta walkway runnin’ the upper edge of the walls. Big Mac stood waitin’ for me there. Along the wall stood armed and armored scareponies every few hooves. Big Mac stood watchin’ Cheerilee walk towards the Everfree Forest with a tear in his eye.
“Ah know ya hate ta see another pony goin’ feral. Ah do, too.” I tried to comfort mah older brother. Especially ta see that happenin’ ta such a good pony. It’s heart breakin’.
“….. Eeyup.” Ah pretended Ah didn’ see his tears fall.
*^*
“So, when are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked as I turned to the Cloud floating behind me.
“I already have. We’re going to the Everfree.” Twilight had seeped out of my saddle bags the moment we had entered the forest. “Thinking of, eyes front, please. You should know the dangers of these woods as well as I do.”
I almost tripped over an errant root with a front hoof. By Discord! Just because I can’t pass- Then my back hoof hit the root, introducing my face to the forest floor. …. If she says ‘I told you so’, I swear…. I quickly picked myself off the ground and trotted to catch up to Twilight.
There didn’t seem to be a path to wherever Twilight was taking me, but she seemed to know her way. She passed through bushes, trees, rocks and other obstacles, pausing just long enough for me to find my own way around them. “Okay, where in the forest are we going?” I grunted out as I struggled my way through a thorn bush.
“I highly doubt you would know of it.”
“I've spent time in the Chaos Lands, and I did –UNWILLINGLY- take part in the Everfree March.” I finally popped free of the moon sent bush. “Try me.”
I could’ve sworn that the edges of the Cloud drooped. Twilight was silent for a while, to the point where I was sure she was just ignoring me. “….. During the Everfree March, did you ever come across an ancient ruin of a castle?” She almost sounded, reluctant, to ask this question.
“No, why?”
“Well, that’s where we’re going. I need something from there.” Twilight paused. “…. You know, I've been there several times before. There was once a path that lead right to the castle, but not the first time we found it. My friends and I almost by accident.”
“Wait, there’s more of you?! Are you all different colored clouds?” I couldn't believe this. “Is Nightmare Moon one of them?” I thought to myself.
“In order: Technically, no, and stop grouping me in with Nightmare Moon!” I still need to work on keeping my thoughts to myself.
After another bout of silence, I noticed the Twilight’s leading tendril seemed to be weaving back and forth as if she was looking around with…… Nostalgia? “We were walking along a cliff, when Ni- next thing we know, the cliff edge fell out from us!”
“What happened?”
“Well, A- I was grabbed by my friends, and we had to continue to the bottom of the cliff, as there was no easy way back up. So we decided to press on….”
*^*
We had been walking for some time now. The sun had set, and the moon was well on the rise. All through out that time, I had been sharing the story of how my friends and I first found the Castle of the Pony Sisters. I never gave any names, and I didn’t give much on why we were looking for the castle in the first place. When we passed through the grove of creepy looking trees I couldn't help singing Pinkie’s song.
But, after what felt like forever, we had come to the chasm. The rope bridge was, of course broken. Makes sense. Rainbow Dash would never have fixed since it looks like we never came here. There was a heavy fog on the other side.
Cheerilee finally extracted herself from the current bush she was stuck in, and got a good look at the gorge. “How are we gonna cross this?!”
I smiled to myself. “Heh, one of my friends said the same thing when we first came here” I started to float over the chasm. “Just give me a moment to fix this.” I flowed into the bridge, and, focusing on my memories, raised it up so that Cheerilee could walk across.
I didn’t notice that the ropes hadn't secured themselves by the time Cheerilee stepped onto the first plank. Nor did either of us consider what could happen if she put weight onto said planks. As soon as the Cheerilee stepped out onto the bridge, the plank passed through me, with Cheerilee following after.
I suddenly found myself falling, just after stepping onto the bridge Twilight had raised. I would've been proud I didn’t scream, but, truthfully, I was too scared to. I jammed my eyes shut, not wanting to see the ground rushing up to meet me. I was certain that the next moment would see my personal rebellion against Him to come to a sudden stop.
After what felt to have been hours, though it was only minute, I did stop. I felt like I was floating, painlessly. ‘…. Is this what being dead feels like?”
“You’re not dead! Open your eyes, Cheerilee, you’re okay.”
With that, I could feel myself starting to rise. When I was able to finally open one of my eyes, I could see the walls of the chasm descending past me. I looked down, expecting to see the bloody, broken remains of my body smeared against the rocks below. Instead, I could see the edges of a pair of lavender, misty wings extending from the side of my body, where a pegasus’s normally would be attached.
It still took me a moment to come to grips with the fact I was still alive. “What did you do to me?” I asked as we cleared the cliff edge.
“….I’m not too sure. I knew I needed to catch you, and I started to push up against your body.”
“A-and the wings?”
“An unnecessary side effect? I’m pretty sure it’s still a part of me….”
Twilight flew us over to the foggy side of the chasm, “landing” a safe distance from the edge. The “wings” dissolved off of me and rejoined Twilight as she left my body. “See, side effect” She sounded happily relieved at that thought.
“…..You had no idea, did you?”
“…. No, I didn’t.” Twilight’s edges started to rapidly undulate, what could be seen as nervous fidgeting in a normal pony. “You have to understand, I- I only….”
“You only…. What, Twilight?”
Twilight started to block her thoughts from me. The undulations slowed, so it was obvious she was thinking. Eventually, she opened her thoughts to me “I only… Just woke up… A few days before you met me. That’s why I needed the history lesson, to see what had changed.” She turned a tendril back to me. “But, you must understand. I need to keep much more about me a secret, lest you, and that information, fall into Tirek’s hands.”
I looked around with a sigh, “Fine. Now, where is this ruin you spent so much time talking about?”
*^*
“Heh, just follow me” I turned and lead Cheerilee into the mist. Since I knew where I needed to go, I flew just fast enough to stay ahead of Cheerilee. After a little while, I passed over the first step to the castle. If I didn’t know what to look for, I would’ve flown right over it. The fog hadn’t lifted at all since we had landed. I didn’t realise it, but I had started to fly faster as I moved through the castle. Now, if I remember correctly, I need to stop…..
“Here.”
Cheerilee fell to a sliding stop next to me. She lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath. “You can –gasp- move pretty –gasp- fast when –pant- you want to! Just let me…” Her words trailed off as she focus on regaining her breath. After a minute or so, she sat up, still breathing heavily. “So, are we at the ruins?”
“Better: we've actually have been in the castle for a little while now.” I turned to look at her. “But here is where we need to be.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good.” Cheerilee slumped forward again, “Discord, she just took off on me! I really need to get back in shape if we need to keep running everywhere.”
Did she just swear by Discord? I thought to myself. Just how much has changed?
“So, what is it we’re here for……?” just as Cheerilee asked that, the fog started to lift, the new sights causing her to trail off as she stared about with wonder. We found ourselves in a large hallway. Tattered tapestries hung from the walls between crumbling columns. Sections of the ceiling had caved in, exposing the faded carpet to over a thousand years of weathering. When the moonlight finally managed to pierce the fog, we could see the mosses, grasses and other plants growing along the base of the walls. But what drew our attention was the device in the middle of the room.
Five arms branched out from the main trunk, each supporting an orb. The main trunk itself held up an orb easily twice the size of the others. Each orb seemed to have a slightly different shaped notch in them, as if gems had once resided in them. The whole device looked like something my teachers, and likely Cheerilee, used as a model to teach foals about the solar system.
From my own memories, I knew the orbs to be the old Elements of Harmony, just as I knew that the arms once moved and spun as the whole device would rise from their home in the floor. Now, they had sat immobile for so long, the mossy vines hanging from it would prevent it from budging even an inch. If it could still move at all.
“This,” I state as I flow up to Elements, “is what we've come for.” I spread myself out as much as I could to pick up all of the Elements in one go. Instead of picking them up, though, I passed through them.
That can’t be right. The Elements seemed to be…. Devoid of mana.
*^*
The Mist coiled around the five smaller stone orbs for a moment. Eventually, Twilight brought the orbs down, one at a time, and placed them on the ground in front of me. “So~oo,” I started, “what are these?”
“These are what are known as the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight answered as she set the final stone down. “They may not look much now, but they are what will help us defeat Tirek. Princesses Celestia and Luna wielded them in the past against Discord in ages past, and Celestia used them on Nightmare Moon to banish her to the moon. But Celestia’s connection to them was lost with the defeat off Nightmare Moon. Ever since then, they’ve stayed here, lying dormant, until their new bearers could come along and claim them.”
I looked at the Elements. “What about Luna? I know she disappeared when Nightmare Moon fought Princess Celestia over a thousand years ago. Are we to find Luna, and reconnect her to these Elements?”
“Ee~eh, no. Her connection was lost before Celestia’s. And even if hers was still there, she wouldn't be able to use the Elements at their full potential. If we are to defeat Tirek, the Elements must be used by a group of ponies. And they can’t be just any ponies. They have to be the ponies that are exemplars of their respective Element, and contain its spirit.” Here, Twilight floated over the orbs as she listed their names. “Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness,” she floated over the floor behind the elements, “and Magic.”
I did a quick count. “You listed six Elements, but there are only five here. Where’s the sixth?” Twilight seemed to, flinch, at that. Odd. She never said much about herself, except that she was a Spirit…..
…. Of Magic.
“Are, are you connected to the Element of Magic?”
Twilight shrank away from me. “….. Yes. But my Element was hidden away, then lost, by Celestia. I think. What I do know is that mine cannot be revealed until the others have been Awoken.”
“Okay, so we just need to find the rest of the bearers, connect them to their elements, and use them to defeat Tirek.” I look at the Elements, then my saddlebags. “Why do I get the feeling that it won’t be that simple?”
“I know where one of the Bearers is.” Twilight floated up to me. “And I have a plan that requires your help. Ironic, I know.” She drifted back above the Elements. “I’ll tell you what I need you to do in a moment. But there is something I need to do first. Just trust that I know what I’m doing.”
And with that, she seeped into the Elements, and proceeded to shatter them.
Moons, I hate wall duty. I thought as I paced past the scareponies on the wall overlookin’ the Everfree. It’s sooo boring. But no! Applejack won’t let me do anythin’ else! It’s always ‘Scootaloo, yer not strong enough ta do a good buck’, or ‘What have Ah told ya abou’ playin’ with the chickens, Scootaloo?’. I reached the corner, and turned around with a sigh.
I just wish somethin’ interestin’ would happen….
As I got close to the middle of the wall, a flash of sunlight caught my eye. I focused on the source to try and figure out what made it. It looked like a single pony mare was walkin’ near the edge of the Forest, with somethin’ hangin’ from her neck. She was walkin’ towards the main gate. I quickly ducked below the edge of the wall, and made my way to the rope that had been placed midway on the wall.
It didn’t look too dangerous, and I don’ think that was a Feral, so I only need to pull this…. Once? I grabbed the rope and gave it a sharp tug. A bell near the barn rang out, its chime barely makin’ it to the wall. Soon, a familiar unicorn came trottin’ up to the wall’s base.
“What is it?” He hissed trying to keep his voice down.
“I don’ know for sure, Flam, but it looks like an earth pony mare coming out of the Everfree.”
“Feral?”
“No, she didn’ look Feral, and she was alone. Ferals don’ come alone. She was heading for the gate by the looks of things.” I looked back over the edge of the wall, tryin’ to get a better look at the mare, but she had already turned the corner. “It looked like she was wearin’ somethin’ around her neck. I didn’ get a good enough look at it, though.”
“That’s okay, ya did a good job there, Scoots.” He smiled up to me. “You stay here in case there’s more coming. I’ll let Miss Applejack know about our visitor.” He galloped off back into the orchards before he even finished speakin’.
I returned to pacin’ the wall top with a sigh. Well, there’s my excitement for the day. I looked back out at the forest. Moons, I hate wall duty....
*^*
“Are you sure this’ll work, Twilight?” I asked the amulet around my neck.
“About ninety percent sure.” After Twilight had broken the Elements, she had collected the shards up into her cloud, grinding them down into smaller pieces. She then gathered herself up into the pieces and molded them into the amulet she is now, stringing the pieces onto a thin strap taken from an ancient tapestry. She looked like a lavender alicorn with its wings spread, supported by a jagged stone chain. We had stayed the night in the ancient castle, setting out at the crack of dawn towards the farm. “Just stick to the plan.”
“But what am I supposed to say? You never went over that part” I started to panic as we neared the gates again.
“That’s just it, I can’t tell you what to say, either wise it won’t seem natural. Just say something about finding me in the forest, and what I can do for the farm, and you should be fine.”
I reached a hesitant hoof towards the gate, but the eye slot slide open before I could knock, revealing an emerald eye. “Fer the last time, no! We cannot let ya onta the farm!”
“Wait!” I shouted as the slot started to close. “I can guarantee that I can increase your production!” The eye slot paused, barely open.
What sounded like a hushed argument broke out from the other side of the gate. Eventually, the slot cracked back open. “Ah’m listenin’.” Applejack growled out.
With a sigh I began my ‘tale’. “I was wondering around the Everfree, when I came across an old castle. The place was in ruins. There, I found this!” I lifted Twilight up with my hoof. “It was in a small library. I also found a book there that explained what it was.” I let Twilight fall back to my chest. “This is the Dawn’s Light Amulet.”
“An’ that means what ta me?” Applejack interrupted.
“In the olden days, before the Unification of the tribes, a small group of unicorns made this amulet for a small farming village nearby. It can increase the fertility of a patch of soil, but only during the twilight and predawn hours.”
“So, it’s magic.” The emerald eye had a skeptical look to it. “An’ how did He miss it?”
“I don’t know. But I think it may have to do with how it’s activated.”
“An’ that is…?”
“I can’t tell you-“
“Then we have nothin’ to talk about!” Applejack closed the eye slot with a sharp snap.
“I can’t tell you,” I yelled at the gate, “Because it would be easier to show you!”
*^*
She’s always comin’ ‘round here, Ah think ta mahself as Ah trot towards the farmhouse, Ah just never figured she’d try an’ pull a stunt like this! Ah started ta pass the first of the trees left ta us.
After a few more steps, Big Mac joined me with a disappointed look on his face. “AJ….”
“Don’ you even start!” Ah shot him a glare. “Ah know ya was listenin’ in on us, an’ Ah know what yer gonna say.” Ah stopped and turned my glare fully onta him. “An’ you should be ashamed of yerself fer fallin’ fer a scam like that! Didn’ ya listen to the Brothers’ when they taught ya what ta look out fer?”
Big Mac’s expression didn’ change. “They did.” If anythin’ he seemed to be scowlin’. That’s never a good sign…. “Just as Granny taught us that everypony deserves a chance ta prove themselves.” He pointed a hoof back towards the house. “It’s even written in her Book, if’n ya don’ believe me!” ….. An’ he spoke more than four words in each sentence. Eeyup, he’s mad.
“Granny also taught us ta look after our own. An’ we’ve been doin’ that aplenty after taken the twins in.” Ah continued mah walk back ta the house. All Ah wanted was ta get there an’ make sure Applebloom an’ Sweetie Bell weren’t burnin’ the juice. Again.
“We’re abou’ ta lose the far eastern row.” Ah looked back over mah shoulder. Big Mac hadn’ moved. “An’ that’s after the Brothers’ extended those ‘irrigation pipes’ o’ theirs’. Ah say: Let Cheerilee have a chance ta convince us usin’ those trees.” He turned ta the wheat fields on the other side of the trees. “They’d just be kindling otherwise.”
Ah watched him trot back ta work. Why should Ah even consider that Cheerilee’s ridiculous claim? Ah mean, He did a very thorough job pullin’ all the magic outta this place. Ah looked towards the trees Big Mac mentioned. They were even more withered then the rest of our meager crop. …..Although, we really can’ afford ta loose anymore trees…. Or carrots…. Or anythin’ else for that matter. Ah took a final look at the house before turnin’ back ta the gate, an’ the mare waitin’ behind it. Why does he always have ta be right?
*^*
Applejack had brought us to the barn after letting us onto the farm. I hung around Cheerilee’s neck the entire time we were waiting. Nopony had said more than two words to us all day, those that came into the barn just ignored us. I was bored so I had made a mental list of who I knew who now worked on the farm. Applejack, Big Mac, Applebloom and Sweetie Bell brought Cheerilee her lunch, Flim and Flam, and quite a few foals from the school.
The sun was starting to set when Applejack and Big Mac came to get us. With a gruff “Well, come on then,” from Applejack, they led us to a row of withered trees. Applejack stood off to the side expectantly. “Well,” if glares could kill, Cheerilee would have burst into flames, “we’re here. Ya’d better make this day worth our time.”
“Okay, stand back.” Cheerilee waved the two Apples further from her. She looked down at me. “You sure they’ll fall for this?”
“Honestly, I’m fairly certain, though these two are certainly more perceptive then they look. It all really comes down to you. Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be…” Cheerilee took a few calming breaths, and began to sing.
~ I have a friend as old as time, yet new as every day. She banishes the night’s dark fears, and sends bad dreams away. She’s always there to visit me, so faithfully each morn. So peaceful and so beautiful, my friend whose name is Dawn.~
As she sang, I sifted out of the ‘amulet’, the stones being held in place by the cord. I rose up into the air so that I was drifting around the dying trees. I could see the looks of stunned disbelief on Applejack's face. Big Mac just stopped chewing on his wheat stalk.
~She fills the air with small bird’s song, and opens all the flowers. She bids the beaming sun to shine, to warm the daylight hours. She comes and goes so silently, to leave the earth reborn. Serene and true, all clad in dew, my friend whose name is Dawn.~
As she sang this last verse, I seeped down into the soil around the base of a few trees. I focused on the on the memories of the good times I've had on the farm. I could feel the soil change as Cheerilee stopped singing. “Okay, there’s no change in the trees so far. Applejack’s still looking dumbstruck.” She reported. “How’s the soil coming along?”
“Hmmm. Give me five more minutes, then I’ll move on to the next batch of trees”
I waited for a moment before I heard muffled voices coming from above me. ”What’s going on?” I asked as I felt heavy hoof falls directly above me.
“Applejack got impatient because she couldn’t see anything happening, I told her that everything that’s changing is in the soil, and Big Mac just confirmed that the soil did change.”
“Okay, thanks. I’m moving on to the next trees now.” I sifted over to the soil beneath the next trees in the row as Cheerilee walked over to the same trees above ground. I began to wait again, moving on when Big Mac sampled the dirt again. This continued on until the row was done. “Okay, do they want us anywhere else?”
“Let me check…” I heard the sound of muffled voices, “….. No, they said something about needing to discuss this with the other farm hands. I guess it’s time for you to return to the ‘amulet’.” Once again, Cheerilee began to sing, both vocally and mentally so I could hear.
~When the sun sets like fire, I’ll think of you. When the moon casts its light, I’ll remember, too. If a soft rain starts falling, I’ll stand in this place. Recalling the last time, I saw your kind face. Good fortune go with you, to your journeys end. Let the waters run calmly, for you my dear friend.~
I rose up out of the ground and floated back into the ‘amulet’. Applejack and Big Mac came over, eyeing me the entire time. Applejack spoke up first.
“So, all ya have ta do, is sing?”
“There’s more to it than just singing.” Cheerilee corrected. “I have to hit a certain resonance in order for the Amulet to work. I find that those two old poems work best for activating and deactivating it.”
Applejack didn’t look convinced, and stalked away with a huff. Big Mac paused as he walked past. “Ya can sleep in the barn. Tomorrow, you’ll know if yer stayin’.”
We watched the Apples walk off towards the farmhouse for a moment before Cheerilee trotted back to the barn. She looked at the rickety ladder leading up to the loft. It looked in worse shape than the one back at the school house. Cheerilee quickly took a look around and outside the barn for anypony else hidden away. Finding nopony else, Cheerilee glanced down at me, “Care to give me a lift?”
I faded out of the ‘amulet’ and caressed Cheerilee’s stomach as the wings from the gorge sprang into being. Giving a quick flap, I carried us up to loft. Dispelling, for a lack of a better term, the wings, I drifted back into the ‘amulet’ as Cheerilee shoved some of the hay into a pile for a make-shift bed.We both lay in silence as we tried to fall asleep. Both of us trying not to think the same thought: whatever was being discussed in the farmhouse right then would determine how hard our task for the Elements would be.
I sat, hidden, amongst the bushes ringing a clearing in the Everfree Forest. I had been following one of my Queen’s “advisors” around, waiting for the proof I needed. Needed to get rid of him. I didn’t trust him. None of the Queen’s friends trusted him, but she practically let him run her kingdom.
My target was a grey earth pony with his mane cropped close to his head, his shaggy coat knotted in many places. He was standing in the clearing, waiting for something. We did not have to wait long.
A light brown pegasus crashed into the clearing, leaving a long furrow in her wake. Is that how my Queen taught you to land? For shame…. I think to myself. Apparently the stallion had the same opinion, as he started to berate the pegasus’ sloppy landing.
The pegasus, hanging her head in embarrassment, was finally given a chance to speak. “I was watching the old castle we found a moon back, like you asked,” she began, “and something happened. I heard a noise from the far side of the castle, and I flew over to take a look. There I saw a purplish earth pony standing over a pile of stone shards, which started to rise and drape themselves over her neck. I think I heard her say something about it being the Dawn Amulet, and how it can help defeat Him.” She paused to catch her breath.
“I was on my way to tell the Queen when I saw you here, Agis.”
Agis smiled, “That’s good to know. I’ll let the Queen know myself. You had better get back to the castle in case our mystery mare comes back.”
I turn, and, after making sure I was a good distance away from the two ponies, I bounded off through the woods. I must tell the Queen about this. There’s no way Agis would tell her something as important as that! He might use it to cause a coup! Off I ran, to warn the Queen about this new power, as my mind started to wonder.
Just what does this Dawn Amulet do? And what does this mare plan on doing with it?
“Is anypony watching us?” I ask Cheerilee.
“….No, not that I could see. Nopony has been keeping tabs on us this past week.”
“Good.” I flowed out of the amulet and into the ground as Cheerilee sang. For the first moon, Applejack had made sure that somepony was awake and watching us to ensure we weren’t slacking off in our duties. Usually, it was Applejack herself.
Now, it seems she trusts us to do our job without supervision, but we were still careful, just in case. I never left the amulet without Cheerilee singing, and I would never show myself out in the open until she ‘sang’ me back. For the past week, I had been scouting out the farm, making notes on when ponies fell asleep, when they woke up, and who had night wall duty. Cheerilee, for her part, stayed near where we were to work that night. Not a very interesting job, but she would jot down all the information I told her, and she kept up the illusion that I was there as well.
But that was the past week. Now, it was time to put my plan into motion. I finished up the row of trees that we were given to do, then I flowed through the ground to the farmhouse.
Ah stepped out onta mah front porch, taking a deep breath of the sweet, apple-scented air. Ah open mah eyes and look around the farm. Ah take a moment ta take in the sights of the farm as Ah trot towards the eastern orchards. The sky was never so blue, Big Mac finally had that new plow he’s been wantin’ for the past moon, an’ Granny Smith was just comin’ back from droppin’ Applebloom of at school.
….. Wait, somethin’s not right, Ah think ta mahself, stoppin’ in the middle of the path.
Granny past me on her way ta the farmhouse. The farmhouse without the crude extension we made for the Brothers’ workshop…. Ah turn back ta the front of the farm, headin’ ta the gate we built ta ….Alright, where’s the moon-sent gate?! Or the walls for that matter? Ah stepped out onta the road an’ turned ta look back at where the gate should’ve been. The worry Ah was feelin’ was becomin’ clear on mah face.
“Applejack? Are you okay?” A voice behind me asked. Ah turn ta find mahself lookin’ at lavender unicorn with a two toned magenta streak in her mane an’ tail. “Is there something wrong?” She asked with her head cocked ta the side.
Ah shake mah head. “Nah, nothin’ ta worry yourself with.” I reach out a hoof. “Sorry, where are mah manners. M’name’s Applejack, an’ this here’s-“
“Sweet Apple Acres.” The mare interrupted me. “I know where we are.”
Ah drop mah hoof, an’ back up slightly into tha farm. “Ah’m sorry, Ah don’t think Ah got your name, miss…?”
“Who I am is not important right now. The question you should be asking is: Who are you?”
“Now just wait a minute here,” Ah stomp a hoof inta the dirt, “ya come here, an’ don’t even take the time ta introduce yourself.” Ah level a glare at her. “Ah won’t let anypony onta my farm without knowin’ if I can trust ‘em. So, unless ya got a good reason ta be here, ya might wanna git goin’.”
The mare sighed. “Fine. I’ll leave, for now. I will be back.” She turned an’ trotted a little ways down the path, then looked over her shoulder. “Oh, and Applejack?” A pair of wings spread from her back. “It’s time to get up now.” With a powerful thrust of her wings, she took of inta the air as cracks burst along the ground from where she had taken off.
And with the sound off shatterin’ glass the world faded to black….
Cheerilee and I just managed to get to the barn when Applejack threw her window open, looked around at the farm, and gave a relieved sigh. She briefly stared off into the farm with a wistful expression on her face before shaking her head and disappearing inside her room, shutting the window as she did so.
“What did you do?” Cheerilee asked.
“I showed her how things could’ve been,” I replied as I spread my wings and flew us up to our bed, “in the hopes that that will bring her closer to her Element.” We settled in for a good day’s rest. Until somepony needs something from the barn, that is.
“Why didn’t you just tell her she was the Spirit-of-Whichever-Element-She-Is?”
“Because it’s something that she needs to figure out for herself, or else her connection to her element will not be as strong.” I block off my thoughts so that Cheerilee didn’t the I think? I mentally added.
“And you’ll be doing this again tomorrow night?”
“Of course.”
Again, Ah wake up in mah room. Again, Ah walk up the path ta the front gate. Again, Ah pass Big Mac an’ Granny Smith. Again, Ah find mahself in front of the farm.
An’ again, Ah find mahself glarin’ at a lavender unicorn.
“Why are ya here?” Straight ta the point this time. “This has been goin’ on now for the past few weeks. Why? What do ya want from me?” The unnamed mare just stood there, weatherin’ my questions. Just like she’s done for the past week. Ah was startin’ ta get tired of these dreams. Ah’m not even sure Ah’m dreamin’ half the time, everythin’ feels so real.
“Why don’t you answer mah questions?!”
“Applejack, I completely understand that you are going to stubbornly ask me these questions,” she finally spoke, “when the answers are all here. If you could only be bothered to look for them.” With that, she unfolded her wings an’ took to the air. She hovered just outside shoutin’ distance, keepin’ a watchful eye on me. Makes me feel nervous when she does that.
Ah turn, castin’ a critical eye over the farm, tryin’ ta use this hint she gave me. Ah spent the next few, Ah don’ know, hours, lookin’ over every tree in the farm Ah could see. Ah got through the entire west orchard, an’ Ah still didn’ see anythin’ out of place.
Ah was just crossin’ the main path when Ah heard those six words that fill me with both dread an’ relief. Relief that this dream is over, and dread ‘cause Ah know Ah’ll just be goin’ through this again tonight.
“Applejack. It’s time to get up.”
Ah made my way out of the south orchard. Another night, an’ Ah still haven’ found anythin’. Except that mah old club house had been repaired instead of torn down for scrap, an’ there were three filly-sized red capes hanging from the wall. Those Ah had taken down an’ brought with me.
Ah glared up at the silhouette of the…. Alicorn, Ah guess. Ah mean, she does have both a horn an’ wings. “Hey, you! Ah need ya ta come on down here a sec!” Ah saw the Alicorn tilt her head briefly, but she did not begin to descend. “Hey! Ah’m talkin’ to ya!”
Ah know ya know what’s goin’ on here. Ah thought to mahself. Why won’t ya just tell what ya want me ta know? Ah shake mah head with a sigh, an’ walk back ta the farmhouse. It an’ the barn were really the only places Ah had yet ta search.
Ah started in the barn, but Ah couldn’ see anythin’ different between it an’ the barn Ah see every day, exceptin’ that this one was in much better shape. Ah made mah way inta the house, lookin’ for anythin’ out of place. Nothin’ in the lower floors, an’ nothin’ in mah siblin’s rooms. Ah decided ta check may room before Ah would even think of goin’ inta Granny’s old room.
Ah saw mah unmade bed when Ah opened mah door. Ah walked over an’ quickly looked under the bed, pillow an’ mattress. Findin’ nothin’, Ah tossed the capes onta the bed. Ah looked through mah closet, an’ –surprise, surprise- found nothin’. Ah flopped onta the bed with a frustrated sigh. Just what does that Alicorn expect me ta find? Ah mulled this thought over for a moment. She could’ve at least told me what it’s supposed ta look like. I could be lookin’ for anythin’. With another sigh, I rolled onta mah side ta stare at the wall. It could be a discolored apple, a loose floorboard, an odd piece of jewellery on mah nightstand, anythin’!
…. Wait, what?
Ah got up ta take a closer look. There, on mah nightstand, was what looked like a medal of some sort. It had an orange jewel set into a flexible gold back set. I held it up ta the light comin’ in from mah open window ta get a better look at it. “How did Ah not see ya earlier?” “I was wondering the same thing.” Ah jumped like a startled cat, whippin’ mah head around ta look at the window. The Alicorn was lazily flappin’ her wings, restin’ her head on her crossed hooves on the window sill. “That had been there every night we’ve had to go through this.”
“Okay,” Ah hold up the medal once more, “so what is it?”
“That is the-” The dream world violently shook. The Alicorn looked at me with a sigh, “It looks like you've overslept, Applejack. It’s time to get up.”
The sun had started to rise by the time Twilight returned to the Amulet. “What took you so long tonight?” I asked.
“She has pieces of the puzzle that is her Element, she just needs to put them together.” I got a pulse of a sheepish feeling through our connection. “Although I think we should hold off on these dreams for a while. She deserves to get some actual sleep after all this.”
“That is a statement I can agree on.” I mutter to myself.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, let’s just go to bed ourselves.” I trotted over to the barn, coming from the rear. I slowed as I neared the front. “Hold on. Do you here that?”
“… That sounds like Applejack. Who is she talking to?”
I crept towards the front of the barn until I could hear her clearly.
“- An’ then, last night, Ah found this weird medal of some sort on mah nightstand.” A brief pause. “Ya do believe me, right?”
“… Eeyup.” So she’s talking to Big Mac. “What does this have ta do with th’ barn, AJ?”
“Ah think these dreams are connected to that Dawn’s Light Amulet thin’ that Cheerilee brought onta the farm.” Another pause. “What?” Pause. “Don’ give me that look. Ah never had these dreams before she came here, an’ now Ah do. What else am Ah supposed ta think?”
“… Ah think tha’ your sub-conscious regrets not joinin’-“
“IT’S NOT-” Applejack paused, sounding like she was trying to calm down from something. “It’s not that. Whatever it is, it’s not that. All Ah want ta do is just talk ta Cheerilee an’ learn more about the Amulet, okay?”
Another pause, broken by Big Mac, “At least let her sleep, AJ. She just had a long night. She was still out there ten minutes ago.”
“Ah… fine. Ah’ll let her sleep.” We heard them walking away. “If’n her breakfast is still on the table, could ya bring it out ta her?” Their voices faded as they rounded the corner of the house. I quickly darted into the barn, and Twilight flew us up to our makeshift bed in the loft.
“What are we going to tell Applejack?” I thought to Twilight. “Are we going to come straight with her?”
“I don’t think that’s the best idea right now.”
“Why?”
I swear I heard her sigh, “She’s bonding with her Element. Remember how you reacted when you first saw me? I’m worried that that kind of reaction would shatter the tenuous bonds she’s forged so far.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“Right now? Sleep.”
I rolled my eyes as I lay down on my pile of hay. “I meant about Applejack.”
“Nothing. We’ll just do nothing. Deny anything she may ask about me, and stick to our story about the Amulet.”
I gave an agreeing grunt before trying to get some sleep. That hope was briefly shattered when Big Mac came in to give me my meager oatmeal breakfast.
*^* I watched Big Mac leave the barn with an empty bowl. I had heard the exchange earlier between the Apple siblings, and saw Cheerilee enter the barn. This was an interesting development. I’ll have to include this in my next report.
Ah made mah way down the path towards what was left of Ponyville. Ah had made sure ta leave before Cheerilee had recalled her Mist, which she insists we call Dawn. Applebloom is just too young ta know about this, an’ Ah don’ think AJ would like me doin’ this at all.
It hurts me ta do this behind her back, though.
Ah stuck to th’ allies an’ shadows. No one really expects me ta be sneaky, given my size an’ color, which, oddly, makes it even harder for anypony ta see me. Carefully, Ah made mah way ta th’ library. Several moons back, we discovered tha’ somepony had pried th’ boards over th’ kitchen door off. They did a good job coverin’ th’ door back up whenever they left, and it helped us keep our meetin’s a secret from th’ town, so we put th’ boards back however we found it. Ah pulled th’ boards off, carefully opened th’ door, checked the daggers Ah’d hid in mah yoke, an’ snuck inside.
Once again, Ah had beaten them. Ah took a quick look ‘round the library, an’, findin’ nopony, Ah took a book down off th’ shelves for somethin’ ta pass th’ time with. Darin’ Doo, uh? Might be interestin’….
*^*
The wagon creaked to a stop on a hill top. The sight of rundown roofs was visible in the distance. I bounced out of the harness, glad that I wouldn’t be the one pulling it into town.
“That’s where we’ve been heading this entire time? It looks worse than Trottingham!”
I shot a quick glare through my mane at the light blue unicorn behind me. “Hey, I used to live here, remember?” I moved to the back of the wagon, the unicorn following me. “And, besides, Ponyville was wa~ay smaller than Trottingham, even before Nightmare Moon. And, being smaller, means less ponies. Less ponies, worse upkeep. Many left for the Chaos Lands, where the food was being grown, rather than stay here, in the dark and cold.” I reached into the back of the wagon, and pulled out a dirty, tattered brown cloak. With a quick snap of my neck, I draped it over myself.
“Whatever.” The unicorn huffed, “So, what’s the game plan, then?”
“We~ell,” I started, “I’m going to go into town, and meet with somepony. You are going to hide the wagon until I get back. Then, tomorrow, we’ll both go into town, sell the junk in there,” I point at the wagon, “while trying to gather any juicy info from the townsfolk. Then, we’ll leave tomorrow night, and give our report.” Running like madmares away from this place the whole time. I turn to look at the unicorn. “Any questions?”
“Yes. Why does Trixie have to watch the wagon?” She pouted.
The pout quickly shriveled up and died under the full force of my glare. “Because the boss put me in charge. And you know that, since he put me in charge, I have his authority. You know what happened to the last pony who didn’t follow orders, right?” Trixie’s bravado withered like Whitetail Wood. “Now, be a good little mare, and hide the bucking wagon.”
I start walking towards the town, listening to Trixie grumbling under her breath. Faust, I hate dealing with ponies like her…
It didn’t take me long to reach the outskirts of town. Keeping the hood on my cloak up, I darted through the town, ducking into my old hiding spots whenever I knew somepony was about to look in my direction. Eventually, I made it to the library. I snuck around back, and, seeing that the boards over the door had been removed, I quickly snuck inside. He’s early again.
Just as I was about to walk into the main room, my rear left hoof went numb just as my tail twitched. I jerked my head back, just as a dagger buried itself into the door behind where my head would’ve been. I moved back from the wall a little ways, but kept myself away from the door. “Identify!” I yelled into the room, drawing a dagger of my own.
“... Blue!”
I relaxed, sheathing my blade. “Well, it’s been a while.” I state as I pulled the dagger from the door. “Did you kill the last pony we sent here with that trick?” I peaked into the room to see the sole occupant nod. “Ah. We were wondering what happened to him.” I finally entered the room myself and hoofed over the dagger. “So, what happened since we last talked, Big Mac?”
The red stallion sat down, motioning me to another chair. “Whelp, Ah guess th’ most important thin’ would be tha’ th’ farm got a new pony workin’ on it now. Y’see, ‘bout a moon back, Cheerilee left for the Everfree, but came back with an Amulet….”
*^*
We were a bit later than normal. There was a tree that was near death that Twilight needed to spend more time on. Now, I was walking around the barn to head in for a late breakfast, Twilight safe in the Amulet. I entered into the kitchen, and opened the “fridge” door. It was more of an ice box, really, though I never figured out where they got the ice. I carefully grabbed the plate they made up for me last night, and brought it to the table.
I looked over my shoulder to see if anypony was watching, then tapped the amulet. I watched Twilight seep a tendril out of the amulet and into the food. Soon, it was warm enough to eat, and I watched half of it dissolve into the cloud that made up of Twilight’s body. As soon as she slide back into the amulet, I started to eat the rest. It was a mutual agreement we had. I didn’t get very far when I heard the sound of hooves behind me.
“Mornin’, Cheerilee.” Applejack mumbled as she moved to sit across from me.
“Morning.” I focused back on my food. It seems Applejack wouldn’t let me.
“Ah want ta ask ya somethin’ about tha’ Amulet of yours.” She began. “Did the book ya found say if there was anythin’ else tha’ the Dawn’s Light Amulet could do?”
“I think she’s talking about the dreams I've been giving her.”
“Thanks, Twilight. I kinda figured that….” To give myself more time, I took another mouthful from my plate, while screwing up my face in “concentration”. “No,” I replied once I had swallowed, “I don’t think so. All the book said was that the Amulet will, if I’m remembering correctly, “aid in the growth of nature”. Or something to that effect. Why?”
“Nice ad lib, there.”
“Shush.”
Applejack looked away, biting her bottom lip. She looked back to me with a nod. “What Ah’m about ta tell ya doesn’t this room, got it?”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” I intoned, going through the motions. I could almost feel Twilight doing the same.
“Well, abou’ a moon after ya started workin’ here, I've been havin’ these weird dreams.” She sighed. “In ‘em, Ah wake up on the farm, an’ it’s the way Ah remember it, from before Nightmare Moon. Granny’s alive an’ Applebloom’s at school. But Ah can tell that it’s well after Nightmare’s return. Ah reach the gate ta the farm, an’ there Ah meet this Alicorn. Except she doesn’t look like Princess Celestia or Cadence.”
“Was she a purple Alicorn, with what looks like a star cutie mark?” I interrupt.
“Yeah,” She narrowed her eyes at me, “how’d ya know?”
“There was a picture of her in the book. Her name was Twilight. I think she was the one who made the Amulet. The book didn’t say what happened to her, though.”
“And how is this not telling her anything about me?”
“Don’t you think it would be easier to talk to Applejack if she knew something about you?” I pick through what’s left on my plate while I waited for Applejack to digest this tidbit of information. “And I still left it vague enough for you to do your own ad libbing…”
Applejack finally spoke up, “So, mah dreams could be connected ta the Amulet? Ah mean, this Twilight made it, right. An’ now she’s appearin’ in mah dreams. Don’ ya think that that’s a very convenient coincidence?”
“Repeat this…”
“…. Well, the book did say the Amulet would aid in growth. What if that also included personal growth?” I finished off the remains of my breakfast. I got up and cleaned the plate. I put it back on its shelf and turned to the door. I looked back and noticed that Applejack hadn't moved. “If there’s nothing else you want to talk about, I’m heading to bed.” She nodded, with a thoughtful look on her face.
I hid in the bushes. Well, we were all hiding in the bushes, but I was hiding from everypony else. My Queen had tasked me with the important task of making sure Agis completes his. I had made sure to tell my Queen about the Amulet, and she summoned Agis to her court. She and I made sure I was out of the caves when he got there, but Stones and Stix filled me in on what happened.
Apparently, She had charged Agis with finding the Amulet, and bringing it to her. I was to make sure there he didn’t try anything. The pegasus that saw the mare in the first place said that the mare was no longer at the castle when she had gotten back. Now, after nearly two moons, we had found it.
So, here we were, hiding in the bushes, waiting for the signal to attack the one farm that had repeatedly withstood every attempt to raid it. I checked to see if Agis had moved, then turned my eyes back to the walls of Sweet Apple Acres. With every Feral called in that we could on short notice, we may actually be able to breach them this time.
A cry rang up and down the line. Then, with a war cry from some thirty ponies, the small horde charged forth.
This time, I thought with a smug smile, the walls will fall.
Chapter 9: Saving the Farm, and Other Extreme Sports
We barely had an hour's sleep when the bells by the barn started ringing. I flowed out of the pile of hay Cheerilee had thrown me into, and over to Cheerilee's head. Said mare was covering her ears and groaning.
"Any idea what's going on?" I sifted into her ears to help muffle the sound.
"Oh, Discord, that tickles!" She shook her head in an attempt to dislodge me. "No, I'm not sure. Applejack said that one ring is for an unknown, non-hostile pony, twice is for known, non-hostile pony, and thrice is for hostile and/or Feral ponies. But she never said what a continuous ringing was."
The bells stopped ringing shortly after they started, and I drifted back to my Amulet. "Well, if they need us, they'll send somepony." I reasoned.
Our attempt to sleep was rudely interrupted by two sets of hooves thundering into the barn and up the ladder. I peeked out the hay pile in time to watch two foal-shaped missiles slam into Cheerilee's side. The 'missiles' immediately began to babble over each other.
"Miss Cheeriwee, Miss Cheeriwee!-"
"Miss Appyjack told us ta-"
"She wooked mad!-"
"An' she's lookin' for you-"
"'Cause o' th' bells-"
"Quiet!" Cheerilee cut through. "Okay, now, what does Applejack want?" Both foals open their mouths, "Just Pumpkin, please."
Blowing a quick raspberry at Pound, Pumpkin spoke with a proud nod. "Appwejack's wookin' for you."
"And what does Applejack want?"
"She want's you ta meet her at th' wall." Pound began.
"The one by the Evewfrwee Fowest."
"Did she say why?" Cheerilee rubbed her temple with a hoof.
The cake twins looked at each other before Pound answered, "She said ta brin' th' Amulet."
I drew back into the Amulet, tugging on Cheerilee's hoof so that she could find it."If this about the bells, it might not be a good idea to let the twins follow us to the wall."
"It's not a good idea for them to be at that wall, period." Cheerilee turned back to the foals, "Stay here. If anypony comes in that you don't know, hide."
She descended the ladder to a "Yes, Miss Cheerilee." in stereo. Leaving the barn, Cheerilee kicked the doors closed. Now, because the barn had a bad lean to it, only Big Mac could easily get it open. Moving at a trot through the small orchard, I clasped the Amulet around Cheerilee's neck as she approached the wall. As we neared, we could see all the farm hands lined up along the top of the wall, all armed in some way.
Applejack almost flew down the stairs built into the wall. Armored in what appeared to be a steel version of the Royal Guards' armor, she passed Cheerilee a spear while holding her own close to her chest. "Ah hope ya remember how ta use one o' these." She turned and led the way back up the stairs, "There's a group o' Ferals tryin' ta hide near th' edge o' the Everfree. Thy're just stayin' there, though."
"How many?" Cheerilee asked as she reached the top of the wall.
"Not sure," Applejack peered over the edge of the wall into the Forest, "last we checked, there was 'round fifteen o' 'em down there." A bit of color blanched from her fur. "Looks like that's grown, though."
As Cheerilee took a peek over the wall, I lifted a tendril out to take a look myself. Sure enough there was a large group of ponies trying, and failing, to hide in the sparse bushes near the tree line. It was hard to get a good count because the constantly shifted places.
"Applejack, Ah can't seem ta find Big Mac." We heard Applebloom whisper to her older sister. "Ah don' think he's even on th' farm."
We turned to look at the two farm ponies. Applejack stomped a hoof. "Great, this is the biggest attempt they're makin' ta git in here yet, an' Big Mac decides ta up an' vanish!"
Flim leaned over to his brother, "What're we going to do without his inpony strength?"
"Cheerilee, I might have an idea, and I'm going to need to tell Applejack."
"I'm listening." Before I could pass my idea on, a loud cry was taken up by the Ferals.
*^*
I watched from the bushes as the horde charged forth, the few faster ponies pulling ahead. This was a tactic they've always done, and charges like this have been successful against lesser defended farms. I was always saddened when the walls here had stood defiant at the end of every attempt. Still, more of them would've succeeded if that large red stallion wasn't there.
He could easily toss three Ferals off the walls.
I frowned and twitched my ears towards the wall, because I could almost hear.... Singing? As the song got louder, I saw a large, purplish, misty cloud spread from the wall down to the ground. It barely slowed as it seeped into the dead grasses. What was that? The thought had barely crossed my mind when the first of the Ferals reached the spot where the cloud was....
And fall over. Every Feral that stepped into that area was finding it hard to press forward. Looking closer, I could see something wrapping around their hooves. However, once the main group of the horde approached, more and more ponies were able to break through.
Soon, enough ponies broke through to be a problem at the wall. Whatever they did, it had changed nothing.
*^*
I released the finial few Ferals from the grasses I had caused to grow. I had left Cheerilee to hopefully stop the charge all together, but the grass swiftly became brittle when I wasn't controlling it. And I couldn't be everywhere I was needed.
"What happened, Twilight?" Cheerilee had her eyes closed, pretending to be controlling me more forcefully than she normally does. "I just heard somepony groan and there's this pounding noise coming from the wall."
"I couldn't stop enough of them."
"Now what's the plan, grow them a welcome mat?" The sarcasm oozed through her thoughts. She had been against the plan from the start. "Or, maybe you could grow a tree they can use for a ramp?"
"That could work! The growing trees part, not the ramp part." I shifted through the ground to the middle of the horde "If I angle this right, i could launch them back into the forest! Cheerilee, you're a genius!"
I began to find as many apple seeds I could spread over, and concentrated. "Twilight," I could feel the seeds grow into saplings, "I don't think this is -" I felt and encouraged the saplings to explode in a massive growth spurt. I 'aimed' the growth to push back towards the Everfree.
I floated up to get a clearer look at the fleeing ponies. I could feel my pride swell knowing I was the cause of their flight. I have just routed an, admittedly small, army. And without bloodshed! Shining would've been proud! I settle back to the ground with a sigh. All I could feel was contentment. Not even when I felt the first drops of a slow rain fall.
"By Discord, Twilight...." That was when I noticed the lack of clouds in the sky. "What did you just do?" I looked down at the red puddle starting to grow underneath me. I traced my eyes to the branches above my head.
There was a stallion there. His belly was rent open by a large branch that stuck out through his spine, with two more spearing through where his front left leg should be. Said leg was wedged into a fork in a branch just a hoof away from my 'head'. While most of his entrails hung in the branches below him like some macabre version of Heartswarming tinsel, some had followed the main branche out his back. On the other side of the tree, I could make out a mare who was being held up solely by a branche that had grown through her head. Her lower jaw hung uselessly, while her muzzle and right eye had been all but obliviated by the invasive twigg.
I turned and looked around at the carnage I had caused with the other trees. Here, a stallion twitched his last as he bled out from his many perferations. There, a mare cought at the edge of the ring of trees finished ripping her own leg off to hobble back to the woods. She collapsed just inside the treeline.
I could feel a part of me starting to panic. After a few years of practice, I knew how to force that part to the back of my mind. Even then, only one thougt chased itself through my head. What have I done?
We all stood on top o' the wall, lookin' out over the remains o' th' macabre orchard beyond. Th' Mist had retreated from the trees, and appeared ta sink inta Cheerilee, 'bout five minutes back. But none o' us really noticed, we were too busy tryin' ta figure out what had just happened. After th' Mist left th' trees, they started ta rot an' crumble away, until it was like they had never even existed.
The mess o' corpses would say otherwise. Ah turned ta look at Cheerilee, "Alright, what did ya-?" Ah cut mahself off when Ah saw her. There seemed ta be some o' that purplish mist seeping from th' corners o' her eyes, an' Ah thought Ah could see a ghostly image o' a horn an' wings comin' from her.
".... M-miss Cheerilee?" Applebloom took a tentative step towards her old teacher. "Are.... Are you alright?"
".... They didn't listen." Ah couldn' quite hear her, but Ah could've sworn Ah heard a second voice when she spoke.
Applebloom stepped closer, "Ah'm sorry, Ah, uh, didn' hear ya there. Could ya, um, could ya repeat that?"
Cheerilee's head snapped ta face Applebloom, her pure lavender eyes starin' inta Applebloom's. "... They didn't listen," That time Ah know Ah heard a second voice. A familiar voice, "They wouldn't listen, didn't heed my warning, so I made them listen." Cheerilee turned ta look back out over the grisly sight. "...They should have listened..."
Th' wings an' horn seemed ta fade inta th' Amulet. Cheerilee blinked a few times before her eyes returned ta normal. She stumbled forward inta a scarepony, before sliding down to the floor. "Wh-what just happened?" She groaned out.
"Ah don't know." Ah confessed. "Ah was hoping ya could tell me...."
*^*
"Thank Discord they bought it..." Cheerilee thought as we landed in the barn's loft. I drifted the amulet over to it's hiding place.
"Thankfully thoughts are faster then actions..." I thought back. ".... Although, I am a bit worried that i was able to take control of you like that." I drifted forward enough to look towards Cheerilee. She had fallen onto her bed with a slight 'umf'. I could see her eyelids drooping as she stared dully ahead. "What did it feel like?"
"I don't.... Really know." She rolled over onto her back. "I guess the best way to describe it would be to say that I felt kinda like a puppet, only, everything you said felt like it would be something I'd say. Everything you made me do felt natural." She rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "You didn't have to snap my neck around like that, though."
"Sorry, I just-"
"Miss Cheeriwee, is it good to come out?"
"Are da scary ponies gone?"
Cheerilee's eyes snapped open. "Buck!" We both thought. Cheerilee tilted her head up to look at the Cake twins while I drew what little of me was poking out back into my haystack. "Y-yes. It's safe to go and play now."
"How'd ya fly like dat?" Pound Asked, tilting his head to the side.
"BUCK!" Cheerilee rubbed a hoof over her eyes. "Pound, I'm an Earth Pony. Earth Ponies don't have wings, so I can't fly."
"But, we-"
"I am very tired right now, so could you go play outside?" Cheerilee lifted her hoof just enough to glare at the Cake twins, who hadn't moved yet. "Now, please."
The two foals both made their way down the ladder with pouts on their faces. I slowly settled back into the amulet when I heard the twins let off a shrill "Big Mac!" which was followed by a muffled "Oomph". I mentally sighed "Cheerilee, I'm going to look into where Big Mac went."
"Mmmhmm." Cheerilee waved a hoof at me in a shooing motion.
I slid through the barn into the ground, then towards where I heard the twins collide with Big Mac. I lifted the smallest tendril i could manage to see and hear what was happening.
"-An' den we hided in da barn until Miss Cheerilee told us ta go an' play!"
Big Mac gently pushed the two foals towards the orchard. "Well, then. Don' let me stop ya from playin'. Ah need ta talk ta Applejack."
"That ya do." Applejack stood on the front porch, glaring at her older sibling. "In the house, now."
I quickly flowed into the farmhouse through the nearest wall as Big Mac followed his younger sister in. I stayed in the floor as i drifted from the living room towards the hallway. I stayed hidden as I watched Applejack and Big Mac walk past, then followed them into the kitchen. Applejack glared at Applebloom and Sweetie Bell before dismissing them from the room with a growled "Get out." Once the two fillies had left, I drifted up into the darkest corner I could find.
Applejack turned to her brother. "Where the buck were you?!"
"Ah jus' went to the old school-"
"An'?"
"Ah got some books-"
"Why?"
"Ah figured Ah'd teach the Twins how ta read." Big Mac Held a hoof up to Applejack's mouth. "An' Ah don' think they would like ta read somethin' like Granny's Book. Ah'm still gonna have 'em read it, mind."
"Good." Applejack snorted. She glared at Big Mac for a moment longer, before dropping her gaze with a sigh. "While ya were out, th' farm was attacked by Ferals. An' it was th' largest group yet."
"Ah'm sorry Ah wasn't there. Ya obviously fought 'em off, seein' as how th' farms still here." Big Mac sat down at the table. "Wha' happened?"
As Applejack began to recount the fight, I phased back through the wall, then down into the ground. I made my way back to the barn, back to my pile of hay.
"Hey, Twilight." Cheerilee cracked an eye open to look at me. "What did'cha find out?"
"Big Mac went to the schoolhouse to get some books for the Twins to learn how to read."
"There aren't any books left for foals like that. I, uh, had to kinda burn them for warmth last winter...."
You WHAT?!? I poked a tendril out to give my best Stare at her. I think I saw Cheerilee shiver. "Wait, if Big Mac didn't go to the schoolhouse...."
"So," Cheerilee began, "how are you going to deal with Applejack and her Element?" We were both sitting by a patch of carrots, watching the moon set. Well, she was sitting. I was spread out around her in the soil, only a small tendril poking out. "I mean, it's been a while since you did anything with that."
I turned to look at her. "Well, I'm just trying to figure out what reasons Big Mac has to lie about his whereabouts to Applejack" I turned back to the moon. And when did he get so good at lying?
"I think saving Equestria is more important then a single fibbing stallion."
"... You're right." I sighed. "It's just, this is going to bug me until I figure this out..."
"Tell you what," I looked back to Cheerilee as she passed a hoof through my tendril, her way of patting me on the head, "you focus on Applejack, I'll deal with Big Mac."
I pull myself back underground. "You just want to spend some more.... Quality time with him."
"N-no, I-I-I, uh...." "You're blushing, Cheerilee." I giggled. "Sing me back, we can deal with this tomorrow."
I floated outside Applejack's room, watching her 'wake up'. Jumping out of her bed, she looked around, quickly spying the Element on her bed stand. "Welcome back, AJ."
"Don't call me that!" Applejack whipped around to glare at me. "Ah ain't that buddy-buddy with ya!"
"Pardon the slip."
"So, ya gonna tell me what this is all about?" Applejack held up the Element as I drifted into the room. "An' Ah wan' ta know everythin' about it."
Oh, what to tell her? I can't just come out and say that it's her Element, she wouldn't bond with it as well. If i'm too vague, she won't understand it's importance. But, then how - Why is she staring at me? Oh, right she's waiting for an answer..... I cleared my throat. "That, is a part of a... Set." I began as I walked over to Applejack's bed. I paused long enough to sit down and get comfortable. "Only a few ponies can use it. And only one pony per piece. This set cannot be used individually, only together."
"An' what does this have ta do with me?"
"The set has... a mind of it's own." Applejack rolled her hoof, as if urging me to get to the point. "That piece chose you to wield it."
Applejack looked at her Element as she sat by the wall. I saw confusion, awe, then frustration all flash across her face. "So, what does that make you?"
Your friend who misses you greatly.... "A guide. Though I cannot give you all the answers." I held up a hoof to stall any further questions. "I will answer what I can, but my job is to guide you through strengthening your bond with your piece."
She held the Element up again. "Did ya make these, whatever-their-called?"
"No, they were found long ago by the Princesses in the Time of Discord. That," I gestured to the Element, "is one of the Elements of Harmony."
"Which one? An' what does it do?"
"I can't say. You must discover that on your own. What I can say is, is that it is a powerful device to be used against Ter- Him."
Applejack dropped her gaze. "Have Ah always had this bond? With the Element?"
I started to rub my chin. "Quite possibly. Not even I truly know how they work." My musing was interrupted by Applejack dropping the Element. "Applejack?"
"All this time, Ah could'a made a bigger difference." I thought I saw a tear fall.
"Applejack, what's wrong?"
"Ah used ta be member of th' Old Equestria Resistance. Ah worked in th' base, tryin' ta grow enough food ta supply th' Resistance. Ah couldn't seem ta grow a single sprout..." Applejack met my inquisitive gaze. It was obvious she was holding back tears. "At first, Ah left because Ah thought Ah could help Granny with th' farm, but then Ah.... Ah gave up hope in the Resistance. Ah left because Ah didn't think Ah would make that much of a difference. An' now yer telling me tha' Ah could'a been on th' front lines with this Element?!"
I dipped my head, ears back, and spoke in a soft voice. "No. You'd need the rest of the Elements there with you. And you'd need to find the other ponies who could wield them." I brought my hoof to my chest. "That's part of my job."
"Ah thought that ya were just fer aidin' in growin' thin's?" I started to giggle, then laugh. "What? What did Ah say?"
I waved my hoof. "Sorry, sorry. It's just," I had to cover my mouth to stifle the next batch of giggles, "after all these years, thats what ponies remember about me? No, no. I am connected, in a way, to the Elements themselves. It's my job to find the newest bearers, and help them develop their bond to their Element. I was just able to find you first." I finished, pointing to Applejack.
"What of Cheerilee?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "What's she gotta do with this?"
"I need somepony to carry my Amulet." I shrugged. "She volunteered." I got up and flew out the window.
"Wait!" I looked over my shoulder to see Applejack hanging out of her window. "What am Ah supposed ta do?"
"What do you mean?"
"How am Ah supposed ta 'strengthen my bond'?"
I shrug. "Don't quite rightly know. Everypony bonds slightly differently. Why don't you get somepony else's opinion?" I drifted up towards the clouds. "By the way, it's time to wake up."
Twilight drifted back into the Amulet beside me. I hoped she thought I was sleeping. "You awake, Cheerilee?"
Damn it. "I was. What do you want?"
"Sorry, just wanted to know what you figured out."
"Nothing. Big Mac was as silent as he always is." I sighed. "What about you?"
I fell asleep part way through Twilight's retelling. I don't think she noticed.
