Twilight is called to Celestia's court in order to investigate a strange magic anomaly Applejack goes through various stage of sadness in mourning of a lost friend An alicorn makes what he thought would be his final defiance towards an old enemy
Friendships are tried, feelings are strained, and limits are pushed. But in the end hope will make its last stand against the coming darkness
- side note this is a sequel to my first fan fic: A Watchful Eye, you don't have to read it but I would suggest it so you understand the story a little better.
Twilight awoke with a start, shivering even though she was warm. She took a deep breath and exhaled, then pulled herself out of bed and walked to her door. she opened it with her magic and walked out and down the stairs to her tiny kitchen. Pulling a glass from the shelf and opening her refrigerator she pulled out some fresh milk and poured it into the glass. She went over to her table and sat down sighing.
Nightmares had been common the last few nights, most of them involving Applejack. Not that her other friends hadn't felt the brunt of her departure but Twilight missed her friend dearly. Twilight knew Applejack could take care of herself but she wanted her back home, among friends living a normal life. Bucking apples was her life, heck! it was in her name and it was her cutie mark. Picking cherries was NOT how Applejack operated. Twilight took another deep breath and let it out quietly. She drank her milk quickly.
"Uh-oh" she said as a brain freeze tore at her. she held a hoof to her forehead as she repeatedly said "ow". Then a green puff appeared in front of her startling her so much she fell backwards out of her chair and onto the floor. Her eyesight spinning Twilight looked at what had just appeared in front of her. A letter scroll stamped with.."Princess Luna's mark?" twilight said aloud as she picked up with her magic, unrolled it, and began to read the hastily scribbled letter.
Dear Twilight Sparkle
I know it is late and I am sorry for the inconvenience but something important is happening and we need a little help with the matter. Could you please teleport to the throne room so we can speak?
Sincerely
Princess Luna of Equestria
"Woah" Twilight looked at the time "1:36AM? what could be happening at this hour?" she got up off the floor and walked upstairs to Spike's bed. Snoring peacefully the baby dragon was to cute for Twilight to wake up. I'll just leave a note I should be back soon anyway. pulling a quill and paper to her eyesight twilight wrote outSpike I've got some important business at the palace but ill be back soon. she quickly rolled it up kissed it and laid it down next to him on the bed.
Walking back downstairs Twilight grabbed her saddle-pack and loaded it with a few necessities: notebook paper, quill, inkwell, and some apples from the fridge. "ready" she said as she checked her supplies for the 10th time. and with that she closed her eyes, concentrated and teleported in a flash of purple light.
Teleporting into the throne room at night felt weird to Twilight. Almost like breaking and entering, a feeling she never thought she would experience. Luckily the room was lit near the two thrones. one silver, one gold, one filled, one empty. luna sat quietly in her seat, twiddling her hooves.
The pure strangeness of this was enough to make Twilight stutter a little. "p-Princess Luna? Luna looked up startled then when she saw it was Twilight, she instantly relaxed. "ahh Twilight Sparkle it is good to see you" she said hopping down from her throne. "really i had nowhere else to turn and you delivered, our top researchers could not make sense of it but i think that-" "umm princess, i have no idea what your talking about im afraid but i'll do my best.
Luna looked Twilight up and down before responding. " Oh right well er, walk and talk with me Twilight". she turned and walked towards the hallway leading towards the grand balcony that over looked the forest. "well?" "Oh right sorry" Twilight straightened and followed Luna walking side by side down the hallway.
"Let me fill you in Twilight, three days ago I detected a disturbance near the desert where you recently... lost a friend". Twilight looked down then brought her head back up "please continue princess" Luna nodded and continued " yes well it was a strange powerful magic unlike anything I have ever encountered before. and it was so powerful that I could see it at night from the balcony". "strange" twilight said. "yes it is Twilight, the researchers saw it as well and couldn';t cme up with anything to explain it". Luna stopped before the door to the balcony " But now that your here mabye you can shed some light on the situation".
Luna opened the great doors and walked onto the balcony. Twilight followed. The stars were twinkling in the sky, enough that Twilight could make out her favorite constellations. She smiled a little, she had always enjoyed the stars they twinkled like diamonds yet they were never within her reach. Sure she had diagrams, but they could never compare to a real star.
Luna was looking at Twilight. "they are very pretty aren't they?" Twilight looked at Luna and blushed a little "yes". Luna smiled and turned towards the horizon. "I wish there were people like you back before my imprisonment twilight. I would have made some less foolhardy decisions if so". Twilight smiled at the compliment "thank you princess". Giggling a little Luna regained her composure and pointed at the skyline. "do you see it Twilight ? the flashes of light in the distance"? twilight looked long and hard at the darkness. After a moment she saw it, like lightning but with no clouds from a long distance she saw a quick flash of small light in the distance.
"Wow what is that? that has to be some insanely large magic power to be seen from that far away". "that's what I thought". Luna turned to Twilight " Now you see why I am so anxious Twilight. a tremendous source of power is burning up right in front of our eyes". Luna look down at the ground slightly embarrassed. "Twilight I hate to ask this of you but can you please investigate this? I am not able to leave the castle despite my continued objections to my sisters rules". Twilight was stunned by this act of humbleness from a princess but she quickly replied.
"Don't worry princess I can handle this". Luna looked up an expression of disbelief on her face. "Y-you will?" "sure thats what friends do right? help each other". Luna full on hugged Twilight saying "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou"! She then remembered what she was doing, let Twilight down and coughed uncomfortably. "ehm sorry about that". Twilight just responded "Oh no problem, but what about Celestia, does she know about this"? Luna looking reluctant for a change to this subject said "Well no but I figured she's under enough stress during the day running a kingdom and all that. Besides these flashes only happen at night and i think she needs her beauty sleep". Luna bashfully pawed the ground with her leg " Y-You won't tell her will you"?
"No of course not! you have perfectly good reasons for doing that princess. But after I get back maybe you could tell her"? Luna gave Twilight a thankful smile "yes of course I'll do that". Twilight then grew a puzzled face "your majesty I've never been to this place how am I supposed to get there"? "I know where it is Twilight I can teleport you there". "Well no time like the present your majesty. I'm all ready to go"! Luna nodded and stepped forward towards Twilight. She tapped her horn against her forehead and in seconds magical black sparkling smoke had enveloped Twilight completely then disappeared. "good luck Twilight" Luna said softly. She turned and went back to the throne room.
Twilight emerged from behind a veil of shadows, coming off a little dizzy she fell to the ground. A plume of dust goes up as she scrambles back up and takes a view her of surroundings. She was standing on the top floor of a half ruined cottage. She also appeared to be in a dark forest. Half of the house had been apparently burned away from some tremendous impact on the first floor. She looked around for some stair and eventually found some buried under rubble.
Levitating the bits of wood and shrapnel away, Twilight traveled down the stairs and looked at the first floor. the wreckage was more pronounced here. What walls remained were blackened and charred. and the floor had thousands of cracks running from the source of the impact. Twilight went over and studied the crater. The wood surrounding it had been completely incinerated, and the destruction ran so deep she saw the dirt of the surrounding forest at the bottom. when Twilight turned she saw a small bed.
The mattress had a massive rip in the side, the springs appeared to have been taken out. But what Twilight found more important was the sight of dried blood around the side of the bed. Grooves in the wood seem to com from around the blood, as if thousands of tiny heavy objects had been thrown towards that point from somewhere near the stairs. When Twilight walked to a wall under the stairs she saw the grooves coming from that point.
How could that..? aaaahhh a secret room she thought to herself. she pushed at the wall and it gave way to a set of stairs that ran down to a wooden floor. As she stepped down Twilight noticed that the paint that covered the walls had been ripped and peeled by sheer force, as if a violent wind had shot up the stairway. When she got to the bottom she saw a podium in the middle with a dark object on it. Walking towards it Twilight saw a small gold bit on the floor next to a groove. It matched the size perfectly.
Must have been some kind of vault. focusing on the coin she knocked into the podium and the object on top fell off and hit her hoof. Twilight looked down and gasped. A jet black unicorn horn was laying on the ground next to her. The only thing about it was that it was 3 ft longer than hers and as sharp as a javelin. "Sweet Celestia!" she whispered "that's an Alicorn horn!"
"Indeed it is" came a voice from behind her. Twilight turned and saw a tall stallion with a jet black body, blue eyes, black wings, and a broken horn. He was covered in scrapes, cuts, and bruises. his right eye was swollen with three cut marks leading from his brow to his nose. His white hair was singed black, and he limped towards her slowly coming to a halt in front of her. Twilight simply stood there eyes wide, and mouth open. "You miss Sparkle" he said "should not have come here".
The fields at Sweet Apple Acres were green and rich, the trees were in full bloom, and ripe apples littered the treetops. The moon was full, and the stars were bright. Yet in such ideal conditions all Applejack could do was cry and mourn. She was back home, she was rich beyond her wildest imaginings, and all she could do was remember the friend she had lost three days ago. No amount of apple-bucking could take her mind off of this. Especially when she was one of the main causes of his pain.
She and her friends had sent that dragon away from ponyville. Into the forest. It had fought and tried to kill him but Stargazer had overpowered it. But the dragon had taken one last thing from him before he destroyed it. Star had used so much magic that his horn cracked and fell off. With no place to hold it, the magic traveled through his body and bonded with him directly, causing severe damage when he used too much.
Applejack had tried everything to get rid of her sadness. She had told Big Mac the story (regardless she had to tell the whole family after she got back) for some kind of reassurance. But he didn't have anything to say. He didn't have to though she already knew it was her fault. She had even gone so far as to ask Applebloom what she does when she knows she's hurt somebody. AJ remembered how she had responded: slightly off guard by the question "well ah try to apologize the whichever pony ah've hurt sis". Applejack had simply nodded and walked away. You couldn't apologize to the dead.
She now stood at the top of one of the many hills that were scattered across the acre. Just looking at the stars and trying to forget. She had been like that for the entire three days, she didn't sleep in the house she slept under the stars. It didn't help her forget, but it did help her remember the good talks she had with Star whenever he was cooking food. In between fighting off the dark forest and it's magic left him distant however and she wished she could have found out more about him.
She had asked her family to not tell her friends she was back yet. She didn't want to tell them where she had been just yet. She wanted time to be alone, to think. She knew that the second any of her friends found out about her being back that she would be swarmed with questions that she either couldn't or didn't want to answer. Applejack would eventually tell them, she just wanted to be ready so she didn't break down or something.
When AJ was done with gazing at the stars, she decided to go on a walk. So she aimed herself in a general direction and walked. After awhile she noticed where she had ended up. The entrance to Everfree Forest. Applejack just walked in, she was no longer scared of that place. Regardless she remained on guard if she did have to fight some creature, she would be ready.
After walking for two hours AJ came to a large field. She had been here before so she knew that on one side led to the old ruins of the castle where she and her friends had used the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon. The other led to Zecora's hut. She still wasn't ready to share with her friends that she was back yet. So she walked towards the ruins.
The Ruin was still there, and it would stay there for quite awhile more. Applejack trekked the hallways of the Old castle. Adventuring around and learning a little at the same time. She saw the old royal tapestry, the old throne area, and an ancient tower that had started to crumble, yet the stonework still carried her weight. Once she was done there, she started walking back. Until she saw a familiar area.
A stone fountain in the middle of the room, ancient iron arms jut out from the side and were shaped to perfectly hold the locked elements of harmony. Applejack thought for awhile and realized that she had never really seen the full room. last time she was here she was too distracted trying to find Twilight after Nightmare Moon had taken her. She walked behind the old fountain and saw two doors, One emblazoned with the sun, the other stamped with a steel moon.
Picking a door Applejack proceeded up to the old door that bore the symbol of night. She opened it and despite being ancient the door opened as if it were freshly oiled, not even making a squeak. AJ now saw a wide staircase in front of her that went up in a spiral. She started walking and climbed the old stones. Along the way up Applejack saw old portholes that gave small views of the surrounding forest.
Now another door stood in her way, made of silver and some unknown black material, and stamped in the middle was the moon. Though now it was inlaid and surrounded by diamonds. Applejack pushed the door open and her jaw immediately dropped as she saw the sight before her. The ceiling was the very darkest shade of black, and so were the walls, but resting on them were glowing dots. Unlike anything Applejack had seen before, curiosity overwhelmed her and she stepped into the room.
Not only were the walls dotted with glowing dots but a whole plethora of color stood out among them, like oil in water yet more awe inspiring than that. And they were everywhere too not just in one place but in many, more prominent in some areas, but there all the same. Then one by one AJ began to recognize some of the patterns, more and more popped out at her until she finally realized what this room was. Its...its every star ah've ever seen! she thought to herself. an observatory that shows every star surrounding Equestria! Sweet Celestia! If Twilight knew about this she would have a field day, just sit here and write down the location of every star. Applejack relished the normality that surrounded that thought.
AJ looked around and saw one constellation that stuck out to her. She looked closer at it, it was just a regular looking pony. She reached out and touched her hoof to what she thought was a spot on it's forehead. Suddenly lines burst from the spot she had touched. connecting with the others to bring the pony to an even greater form. Then it's eyes burst with white light. The figure before her grew wings and a horn. The wings stretched and propelled the alicorn around the wall, all the time it's hooves reached out and touched various other dots on the wall, eliciting another burst of lines and a new shape or form making various movements. Then when it was done the figure flew back along the wall into its original position. It then turned its head towards her and saluted, took it's old pose and stopped moving.
Now the wall was filled with animals, plants, and other constellations from the sky. Applejack continued to stare at the alicorn who was now ever present on the wall. It almost seemed to smile at her, not in an evil way but in a friendly way. Applejack found a little too much familiarity behind it so she turned and looked at the room. She was wondering why it was here in the first place. For what was supposed to be a regal palace, this room felt pretty small. Like a room for only one person.
"Aw hay bales" AJ said aloud as she remembered the symbols on the door. "Ah must be in Princess Luna's old room. Ah'd better get outta here". AJ turned and walked hurriedly to the door. Before shutting it she looked back at the alicorn. It seemed to have followed her with it's eyes. Unpleasant memories refilled Applejack. She sighed and shut the door. Sometimes you just can't escape the past.
Pain… The word, and feeling, resonated through Stargazer's mind and body as he limped back to the ruins of his home. The dragon was playing a game of cat and mouse on him, and as in most cases the mouse was not doing very well. He had not slept since He had sent Applejack back to her home. Not that he slept much before that either, he was too busy making sure the taint of this place never washed onto her.
Sleep was nothing compared to his wounds however, he was sure that if they were not yet broken he already had fractured most of his ribs judging from the ache that throbbed through his body, and the way his lungs felt if he took a deep breath. His left eye (The white one, now blue) was swollen shut from three massive claw marks. It could heal it may not only time would tell, but if it didn't he would be half blind permanently. He was battered and bruised, claw and bite marks ran across his body, and he had long since run out of magic to use. That would be hell to pay later but at least he could see his old face now.
Blue eyes, black fur, black wings, black hair with a few grey streaks that blurred as he moved, and a black horn. Cracked and broken but that mattered very little to Star anymore. For three days he had fought the dragon and the forest's many evils. It was taking it's toll on him to the point where he cared very little whether he lived or died anymore, either way his pain would go away and one was easier than the other. Yet he took the most difficult one, he didn't care for his own life, but there was a certain pony who he missed more than he thought imaginable. One pony who had graced him with the first and best friendship Stargazer had ever had. One pony who he would love to see again, however unlikely it was that would happen.
"Applejack" he almost whispered it but the name already brought comfort to him before, during, and after the fights he had with the dragon and with his own mind as the magic tried to take control. It was the one thing he had held on to as he watched as all his worldly possessions were destroyed, except for two other things, one was stored safely under his house, the other was a reminder of why he was here and he kept it on him at all times. Applejack knew about one of them, his horn, but the other he had kept from her. It was not her burden to bear. But as much as he hated to do it he pushed her from his mind, he had to remain alert and she distracted him. Stargazer came into the view of the house that had provided his shelter during the demonic events of his life in the forest. He walked through the main entry, or rather what was left of it. The dragon had demolished it along with most of his house. Half of it was simply gone, obliterated by the fight that had taken place right after he sent AJ out of harm’s way.
He now stood at the crater where the Dragon had first landed in his house, the crater reached the forest floor and only served to further depress him as he remembered the last time he had seen her. He had teleported her away using quite a large portion of his magic, said his peace to the Dragon and charged.
The fight had both opponents covered in new injuries but was largely unimportant. Apparently the dragon was just testing him to measure It's opponent's power which was next to nothing. Using his magic to fight had drained him and he didn't even have much after teleporting AJ away. Adding to the humility of the moment the dragon had simply picked him up and clawed him across the face, then thrown him deep into the forest. Combined with the fatigue of using his magic the wounds he sustained were enough to knock him unconscious. When he woke up he was in a pool of his own blood and could barely stand.
That had started the three days of running and fighting from the dragon and the dark magic of the forest, and now here he was. From where he was standing he had the full layout of his house in view. He was just about to go find his horn when he saw a column of shadows fly from behind the treetops and land on the second floor of his house.
"What in the-?”
The shadows disappeared and from behind them came a supposedly small unicorn. She was lavender in color and had a violet streak going through her hair.
She seemed to be unused to teleportation because she immediately fell to the ground sending up a plume of dust. She scrambled to get up causing more dust to rise. Finally she stood and looked at her surroundings, she had a quizzical look on her face and was trying to find a way down. She saw the stairs and levitated some wreckage from his roof off of it so she could walk down. She appeared to investigate the wreckage from the impact of the dragon then moved on to his bed. Looking at the floor she walked towards the stairs. Why is she walking towards the-.. oh. She walked right in front of the wall and began to push at it. When the door opened she walked down the stairs into what was supposed to be his secret vault.
He stared at the hole in the wall where she had disappeared. Utterly astonished, in about two minutes a random unicorn had teleported into his home and found his vault area. Not to mention this is only the second pony he had ever seen in his entire life. Then he remembered the massive dragon that constantly found, him no matter where he was, and mercilessly beat him to his limit then tossed him aside to keep the 'fun' going. Being an Alicorn he could handle this barely.... But a small unicorn would be killed immediately. He ran forward ready to yell at her to get out of this place. But he stopped outside the door, he had never met this unicorn and if he scared her, she may not be able to use her magic, and he was out of his so she would be stuck here with him fighting a dragon!
He looked around, not a dragon in sight. No immediate danger, so he could do this calmly and just tell her to teleport back to wherever she came from. He took a deep breath and walked down the stairs as quietly as possible. Midway down he stopped. Wait a minute... She looks familiar somehow. he thought about her appearance. Lavender, streaks in her hair, unicorn, and that cutie mark is... oh no. Now he knew where he recognized her from. Applejack had described all of her friends to him. That unicorn was undoubtedly Twilight Sparkle.
While he realized who she was, she knocked into the podium that held his horn. He watched as it hit her foot then rolled onto the floor. Twilight just stood and stared at it. All the while irritation ran through Star. She could at least pick it up she's in someones... He looked around at his home then remembered the destruction that it had gone through. Right she probably thinks the owner is dead. This will be interesting.
"Sweet Celestia!" he heard her say "That's an Alicorn horn!”
He had to say something now, before she began to inspect his own Horn in front of his face when they didn’t have time, he wasn't sure when the dragon would attack next.
"Indeed it is" he said.
She turned and looked at him her eyes floated from his hooves to his wings then up to his horn, her eyes getting wider and her mouth hanging the entire time. He limped down the stairs over to her “You, miss sparkle, Should not have come here". She just continued to gawk at him. He waited for her to respond.
After a minute of waiting she cocked her head at him. Then she started to poke herself, she wiped her eyes, and slapped herself. Star felt like he had never been more confused before in his grand years accumulated in the forest.
"What are y-"
"Shhh" she said very quickly.
She then proceeded to start touching him, on the nose, on the knee, the leg, the hoof, then she tapped his horn right on the snapped area. Immediately electricity surged through his body and he let out a yell of pain as he quivered then collapsed.
Completely unfazed Twilight began to pace around the room muttering random snatches of speech that Stargazer could barely hear over the pain that raged from his horn. In between intervals of blaring pain, he managed to make out "Impossible... threat to Celestia...revolution...whole cities destroyed...think, think, think!”
As he lapsed in and out of consciousness it occurred to him that this unicorn may in fact try to kill him as she seemed to find him to be some form of threat to the royal powers that resided in Canterlot. Which was absolutely absurd but she didn’t know that. That fact aside she had no idea that her life was in serious danger. The dragon could appear at any moment and he barely had enough strength to stand let alone save this young mare.
After considering that one bit of information he snapped out of his lull in reality and pushed his body off the floor despite the protest his muscles groaned at him with after being practically electrocuted. He realized that magic had returned to his body at the sight of the crawling lines that ran around the length of his hooves and up onto his body.
Well well well! That didn’t hurt as bad as expected. Shaking from his thought he started to say something to the still rambling unicorn, but his eyes snatched at his horn and any sound he was about to make was shut off by yet another surge of irritation.
"…Could’ve at least put it back." He silently grumbled to himself and picked up the horn with his mouth and placed it back on top of the pillar where he always kept it.
Looking at it back in its usual spot a sudden pang of sadness went through him and before he could help it his aching shoulders sagged and his ears drooped. Suddenly the room became quiet. He looked in the direction of Twilight and saw that she was staring at him with her head cocked to the side, almost waiting for something.
“Yes?” he asked wondering what this particular pony wanted from him.
“Well I was wondering why you hadn’t attacked me yet. Also why has your coat and eye color changed, and why you bleeding from the mouth?” The second she was done talking, a coughing fit accompanied by a raging fire in his chest caused Star to cough blood for the next few moments. Hating the taste but unfortunately used to it, he wiped his mouth and drew his head up from the ground to meet Twilight’s mortified expression. Despite the circumstances he couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Then his frown came upon his face as he remembered her first question.
“Attack you?” he asked. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re an evil Alicorn.” She stated, not even asked, just stated. The accusation Stargazer was so blown away by it that he had to actually process it for five seconds before he responded.
“For someone who has so much learning in friendship you really seem to like to judge people. Besides I'm the one who now has to protect you from your damn dragon.” He growled it out at her and her expression became something of horror. “Oh I’m sorry, did AJ send you here blindly fail to mention that particular tidbit of info? Or were you just sent here to wander blindly through my home and get yourself killed?!” his voice along with his anger was steadily rising as his mind connected these events together in the only logical way possible.
Applejack must have sent her unicorn friend Twilight to find him, why she had waited three days he had no idea but that’s the only thing that made sense to him right now.
“W-what?” she asked quietly.
Stargazer calmed down as he saw the fear in her eyes. In fact she looked on the verge of tears. The anger he felt subsided and he knew he had scared her and now he felt horrible.
“Look I’m sorry I scared you” he apologized. “But you should not be here.” He pointed at her and said “unless you think you’re capable of fighting a very large dragon I would suggest teleporting back to wherever it is you came from.”
Suddenly she took a step toward the Alicorn, a sudden fire in her eyes as she seemed to realize something.
“Where is Applejack?” she asked accusingly.
Star blinked, confused by the question
“What do you mean where is she? Is she not the one who sent you to this place?” He responded. Now he was confused it only made sense if Applejack had sent her here. His thinking was cut short by her response.
“Applejack has been missing for weeks! How would I even contact her?”She said
“What do you mean missing?!"
“We haven’t seen each other since we tried to get her back from Cherry Valance’s farm!” she yelled at him tears streaming from her eyes as she recounted the memory.
Stargazer stumbled backward into a sitting position. Why would she not go to her friends after all that happened? Twilight noticed this and yelled at him “WHAT DO YOU KNOW?” she screamed at him.
“I-” he began to say but was interrupted as the ceiling exploded and massive shockwave knocked Twilight and Star against a wall, as they slammed against it the wall fell, burying them in rubble. At the center stood the Dragon, Dark Bloody red in color, glowing golden eyes that were fueled by pure evil, and covered in nicks and cuts that oozed shadows, that evaporated in the cool night air, instead of blood.
The very second he saw the Dragon he was filled with a fury that had hounded him for a long time, he shot up from the wreckage as magic and energy poured into his body fully engulfing him in power, one eye glowing piercing white, the other abyssal black. The lines across his body glowing with a whisping aura that drew off him when he moved.
He was ready for a fight but when he looked down he saw that, while he had not been heavily damaged, Twilight was unconscious and bleeding heavily from serious wounds that riddled her body. He gave one look at the dragon then flew down and picked her up. He looked at the dragon who seemed to just be waiting. Madness he thought. Then he looked into her mind.
He didn’t want to completely pervade her memories so he stuck to the ones from recent times. That didn’t help much because he still knew he was using her mind like a book, plus the memories contained her feelings toward him... they didn’t look good and they didn’t make him feel any better. But finally he found what he was looking for: a memory of where she had been and where he could take her to help her heal her wounds.
He saw princess Luna standing before Twilight, asking her to come here and pointing her in the direction of the area of where Star was. She explained about the magical disturbance and he immediately knew it was from his fights with the Dragon.
Stargazer pulled out of her mind with his destination in mind. Canterlot… The Royal Palace… Princess Luna… Oh grand! If I don’t die of dragon fire or claws, rest assured I’ll be banished for yet another millennia. He looked at Twilight and sighed, she would die if he didn’t get her there. No choice, but there never really is anymore.
He looked at the Dragon, it was slowly moving around him in a circle, waiting for him to make a move. Star slammed his wing toward the dragon and a blade of energy shot from it and slashed the Dragon across the face leaving a fresh cut and pushing the beast hard enough to flip it onto it’s back, roaring to make it’s pain known. With that Stargazer, leapt forward and pulled his horn from the rubble and took flight with Twilight on his back. The blow was hardly enough to kill the dragon unfortunately and, before long he heard the leather flap of wings in close proximity behind him… The chase was on.
Through a cloud, and another, perspiration and water dampened his brow and plastered his hair over his eyes causing them to itch. He wiped his face to clear his vision and continued to fly faster than he had ever flown. The dragon was close behind him and he was beginning to tire from four days lack of sleep, no food, water, and the numerous aches and cuts that were scattered here and there. He could see a mountain range and beyond that, The Royal Palace stood dark and quiet blotting out the stars.
Suddenly he felt an intense heat coming from behind him. He turned and threw Twilight into the air as a flaming inferno swallowed him. He quickly flung out his wings as far as he could reach and poured a reservoir of magic into them. The flames gathered in his feathers until he held two fireballs, which he launched back at the dragon. The Dragon dodged both of them and slammed into him. They grappled in mid air for a few moments spitting curses and growls, roaring when they received a blow, until they began to lose altitude.
Star whipped out his wing sending another beam that stopped an incoming claw and began to climb up the dragon’s side and onto his back using the spikes and crevices the dark scales offered. He found himself in between the two massive wings that flapped wildly at the air as the Dragon tried to steady itself. Star struck both of the wings, where they connected with the body in a soft skin like covering, with his hooves. An effective dead-wing.
As the wings went limp, the Dragon twisted it’s neck until was looking at him and breathed a new wave of fire at him. Star stuck out a wing to protect him from the flames and then whipped it off to the side to blow off the flames that stuck to them. He then jumped forward and slammed himself into the Dragon’s head just as they both struck the earth. They hit a peak of the mountains and teetered over a cliff that fell into a valley filled with trees.
With Star’s weight the Dragon fell over the edge and landed on it’s back in steep rocky decline, and began to slide down. Star had leaped onto the dragons stomach and now was dodging the claws that slashed at him from either the pain that the Dragon’s back was going through or the fact that it knew he was on it’s back. Either way he had to put all thoughts of flying out of his mind as they picked up speed. If I flare my wings he thought to himself they will rip from their sockets like leaves from a branch during a storm.
Suddenly the Dragon hit a boulder and Star was thrown skywards. He flung out his wings at the sudden slowing and caught the winds. His wings strained and he felt some feathers wrench themselves from their placement on his wing membranes. Luckily nothing was broken. He looked Down at the dragon who had hit the floor of the valley with the boulder not to far from- Star grimaced as he heard the crack of the boulder as it fell on the beast’s head, pushing it’s face into the dirt. Then despite the situation began to laugh as the Dragon clawed at the weight that had hit him square on the face. So he flew up and landed next to Twilight, who had hit a cloud and suffered no damage. He checked her over and grew serious. Her heartbeat was very faint, and her breathing was shallow. If I don’t get her to the castle… He didn’t complete the thought.
“Twilight” he said Her eyelids fluttered and she groaned. He shook her gently.
“Hey don’t fall asleep on me you might not wake up.” He didn't mean to sound so harsh but he needed her up. Her eyes shot open and she sat up abruptly and squeaked as the pain from her injuries made their appearance to her. He shot out his wing before she fell and lowered her back onto the cloud.
“And don’t move to fast.” He paused and thought then said: “In fact it would be better if you didn’t move at all you took quite a hit back there.”
“What happened?” she whispered
“You were thrown into a wall”
She groaned as a response…or from her injuries… probably both.
Star had to get her to the Castle now, he had no time to waste anymore, much longer and she would pass out possibly permanently. He looked over the side and saw that the boulder was almost dust on top of the Dragon. He turned back to Twilight who was twitching as the pain ran the course through her body.
So young to endure so much hardship he thought. Then he grimaced as he remembered whose fault this fell to. He shook himself from his thoughts and spoke to Twilight.
“Alright we’re not far from the palace and then I can get you some help from a doctor. But you’ve got to get up on my back for me to carry you, and you need to hold on. Can you do that for me?”
Twilight blinked and nodded. He started towards her but she stopped him with a question.
“When we get there will you answer my question?” She asked him with pleading eyes. I was going to tell her regardless at some point but she needs to hear this.
“Twilight I don’t have much time to answer you, but I can assure you I did not harm Applejack and that she is safe. Will that be enough for now?”
She looked immensely relieved
“Yes” she said back
Star nodded and lay down in front of her and helped Twilight crawl onto his back. He instructed her to wrap her forelegs around his neck so she could hold on. They would be going fast. With Twilight wrapped around his neck her face was squashed into the left side of his.
“Comfortable?” he asked. She nodded and blushed a little bit, Star smiled at her. Who knows I may make a new friend. He decided to focus on a style of optimism.
“Great, hold on tight.” With that he launched off the cloud and into the night sky.
She stood on her bedroom balcony, the deep blue of her coat was outmatched only by the necklace she wore and her cutie-mark, both bore the symbol of the Princess of the night. She was in her Time of day by preference and ruling and she couldn’t have any other way. Here she could think without being objected for it, here she could admire her beautiful night sky.
She couldn't even put to words how beautiful it was, not to mention useful. Scientists could look at it seeking knowledge of past times, but people with imagination just sat and stared. Admired really is a better word than stared but they did both. And that is what Luna found herself doing right now.
She knew it would seem like she was just preening her vanity, but to her she was just doing what few ponies did even now: admired the beauty of the sky during this time of year. It was the next night after she had sent Twilight to the arcane disturbance that had caught her attention a few days past. Now that it was being investigated by what she would call a professional, Luna had to admit she had nothing to do.
She had no friends to speak of, just servants, and loyal subjects, that agreed with her on anything because she was a princess. She wasn’t interested in any of the guard’s happenings, she already knew all of them. She talked with her sister of course but she was her sister, she knew everything there was to know. She enjoyed whatever time she spent with Twilight and the other elements after all they had done for her, but they lived in Ponyville, and Luna belonged in Canterlot.
With the Disappearance of Applejack, the other elements had been a dreary state. Fluttershy couldn’t talk without bursting into tears, Rarity went about her day normally but sulked in wine for her missing friend, RainbowDash took care of the clouds and but on a façade of optimism for the return of the cowpony, Even PinkiePie, whose joyful craziness brought joy to the face of everyone who met her, had not come out of Sugar Cube Corner for what seemed like ever. Twilight just buried her head in her books and tried to wait for the day When Applejack would come back to them. It had yet to come.
Luna knew what had made her run away, she had been at the rodeo, she was attempting to learn what ponies were up to after a thousand years and even though it helped and was a lot of fun to watch. She had seen the look of shame that had clouded the poor mare’s face. She had tried to talk to her but she had been halted by the annoying reporters that seemed to follow her every time she left the castle. After she had been rid of the reporters she found that Applejack had been lost to the crowd.
She could have easily told the other five what had bothered their friend so much but Luna knew her place in the matter, it was not her information to give freely. Applejack would have to come back from wherever she was and tell them herself. But Luna did hate to see them worrying so much. But they would never give up on Applejack, not now and not ever. If a thousand years were to pass and Applejack would still not arrive home, her friends would wait as if she was just to return from a vacation.
Luna just wished the friends she had before she was banished could have waited that long. I lost the right to call them friends after I became Nightmare Moon she thought to herself. Another stupid mistake from Princess Luna no wonder I don’t have any friends. She could already feel tears welling into her eyes and was just turning to go back inside when a blast of light illuminated the white marble walls of the balcony.
She looked about the area, sniffing, wondering what on earth could have made such a light when a dark shape hit the edge of her balcony. It bounced and rolled into her bedroom without a sound, with the exception of the royal red carpet that adorned the floor of her room rubbing against the floor as the object dragged across the ground.
Luna smothered a scream with her hoof, the thing had barely missed her as it rolled into the room. She put her head through the doorway and looked at the object that sat in the middle of her bedroom. It was pitch black in the room so she flipped the switch. As the lights came on she gasped, laying in the middle of the room was a black Alicorn.
She walked towards him cautiously, remembering the trouble that had been caused by other Alicorns before. Namely me she thought. She stood about five feet away from him and from there she could see the various injuries that covered his body. She could also see dark rings under his eyes, one of which had a large slice running from his brow to his cheekbone, and that one of his large wings was curled up as if holding something.
He appeared to be breathing still and when she placed a hoof on his chest she could feel a very powerful heartbeat behind it. Despite the injuries and the obviously haggard exterior she could feel the life force of this Alicorn, and it was very strong. There was an odd distortion beneath his left eye, a sort of mark or something. Looking at his body she realized he was covered in the strange distortions. When she moved in closer to look at it his left eye shot open and a ragged gasp escaped his throat. The other one stayed shut.
Luna was suddenly very aware how close her face was to his and she blushed as his eye met hers. She also noticed that their eyes were the same color although his had an abyssal look to them, like a pit. The first thing she saw in his eye was a look of surprise he seemed totally off guard. Then his face hardened.
“Well hello Princess.” He said in a calm voice “Care to explain why you sent a young unicorn to a warzone?”
“W-what?” she stammered. She had no idea what he was talking about. As far as she could recall she hadn’t sent anyone to a warzone.
“From what I can tell you sent Twilight Sparkle into the fray, whether you did so knowingly or not I cannot say but I believe that you owe her an apology and, if you are capable of it, healing.” He said it as calmly as he had before but there was a slight edge to his voice as if his behavior would depend on how she reacted to this news.
“What do you mean by healing?” she asked scared by what the answer might be.
He didn’t say anything but he nodded towards his curled wing. She looked towards it and it moved towards her. It slowly unwrapped itself. The frayed feathers giving way to a flash of lavender that slowly took form as the wing undid itself. The wing finally folded flat and laying on top of it was Twilight Sparkle.
Luna gasped as she saw the damage that had been done to the unicorn. She had numerous cuts and bruises she also appeared to have broken some ribs, judging from the ragged breathing, and her hind left leg was bent at an unnatural angle.
“What happened to her?!” she turned onto him “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
His face darkened and Luna suddenly became very conscious of what she had just said
“Excuse me?” he said darkly. “I have given up everything I own, lost everything I have gained over the course of my life. I have saved the only friend I have ever known in full knowledge that I would most likely die in the act, and I have traveled for a whole day without rest while fighting my worst nightmare and yet you accuse me of having harmed an innocent unicorn who you sent blundering into a battleground while you sat in your throne and twiddled your hooves.” He paused then looked at the ground. “I may not be perfect but I am not this… monster you make me out to be.” He looked back up with her with eyes that were filled with so much sadness it almost made Luna cry.
A roar split the silence, one that made Luna jump. The other Alicorn just seemed to sigh. His face returned to a look of calm.
“You were wondering who did this to Twilight?" He made a gesture towards the open balcony That would be him”
“What is he?” He shrugged.
“A Dragon… not a normal one but a Dragon nonetheless.”
Luna just stared at the Alicorn in front of her, he had clearly been through quite an ordeal to get Twilight here but Luna thought she saw something else behind that. She didn't know what but it seemed he was being abashed at something. But he seemed like a good person.
“I’m sorry I accused you of hurting Twilight”. She said very sincerely
“I’m sorry that I got so mad at you”. He said in response.
“You had every right to be mad”. He shook his head.
“My opinion might always be slightly prejudiced when it comes to you Princess.”
“And why is that?”
“I don’t think you want to know”.
“Why not?”
“Because right now I’m about to go fight a dragon and possibly die, and despite everything that has happened here… you seem like a nice pony, and I wouldn’t want to leave this world with the trouble that information is, weighing down on you.”
Luna was a little bit shocked by the change of heart in this Alicorn. He had seemed pretty hostile when she had begun this conversation, now he seemed edgy, almost like he was uncomfortable in his own skin, and his eyesight was drifting around the room. Luna again had the feeling something was off about him when, suddenly he began to shake.
"Whats happening?!" Luna cried out as she rushed forward to stop him from completely collapsing. He gently pushed her away and steadied himself as blood began to drip from his mouth.
"N-nothing of concern P-princess" he stumbled out as he actively began to cough blood. He closed his eyes, Luna heard a distinct crackle of magic as the distorted areas on his face and,as Luna learned, the ones that covered his body began to glow with a piercing white that made Luna cover her eyes. From what she could see the entire room was practically bursting white from the bright light this Alicorn generated. Then as quickly as it had come the brightness was gone. When Luna lowered her hoof she gasped at what had happened to the other Alicorn.
He stood with his head down panting. Steam rolled off his body and the thick musk of intense exertion hung over the room like a blanket, though the wind from the open balcony door swept it away as quickly as it had come. He slowly lifted his head to meet her horrified gaze and she gasped. His once blue eyes were now black and white, his right eye (the black one) had sealed up and was now clear to see with the exception of a scar that ran thinly wear the gash used to be.
His body was alit with lines of white that seemed almost alive as they grew brighter and dimmer at random intervals. They eventually settled into a light glow and the other Alicorn stepped forward.
"Look you have questions and that perfectly reasonable, but right now we have bigger problems." with that another roar shook the castle and the chandelier in the room shook gently. He continued
"That only proved my point further," he glanced at Twilight, then back at Luna "Help her if you can, then get out of here." He looked around the room "This whole castle is about to become a battleground"
"What about you?"
"Like I said, fight the dragon".
"But you said you would die!"
He glanced at her with a questioning look on his face.
"I could die, and I probably will die. Does that clear up your mind?"
Luna was completely astonished. He... he really doesn't care about what happens to him.
"Why would you fight that thing in full knowledge of the consequences?"
His gaze had drifted to Twilight curled up on his wing, but now directly at Luna.
"My nightmare, My fault, My responsibility, like I said before I don't have time to answer all your questions. All I can offer is this: If I don't die we can sit down and have a nice little chat is that good enough right now?"
"Can I convince you to not do this?"
"You could try, IF we had enough time."
"I-I could fight with you..." It was now his turn to be surprised. He had a quizzical look on his face that quickly turned into a softer, kinder expression.
"Luna that is...brave of you, but I can't accept that offer. I'll not have the princess of the night harmed on my behalf."
"Why is that? I can fight!" A look that Luna had never seen in anyone except her big sister's eyes was directed at her from this strange stallion. Then he spoke.
"I would not have the only thing that has kept me alive, and somewhat sane during the past millennia, die on behalf of my own idiotic mistake. You are a princess of Equestria and, more importantly to me, designated queen of the night. If you were to even get a scratch due to me I would never forgive myself. Do you understand?"
"But you said earlier-"
"I know but I also know just by looking at you that you had no knowledge of what would happen to her." He gestured to Twilight "Or..." He said, gesturing to himself this time. "To me".
"W-what do you mean?" He opened his mouth but whatever words were to be said were drowned by a roar that reverberated through the room, causing pictures of Luna and her sister to fall off the walls. His head turned to the open window and when he talked next he didn't look at her.
"Answers will have to wait. Take care of Twilight, tell the guards to leave the dragon be, they are hopeless against it". He turned back to her. "Make sure you and your sister find a good hiding pla-"
"MY sister will not let Canterlot, Ponyville, or any other area under our ruling be pillaged by a dragon and neither will I! We will not idle by while our kingdom is threatened". She marched up and put her face right up to his. "Do you have a problem with that?" Luna was outraged that this Alicorn had the gall to tell her to hide while her kingdom was to be attacked. Does he think we are princesses as an image?!
"I am only concerned for your safety Luna. The same can be said for your sister". He looked her straight in the eye with an unwavering gaze and Luna backed up a bit for space. The Alicorn looked relieved somewhat.
"Tell you what. You heal Twilight, finder her a safe place and then go get your sister and meet me where I am with the dragon". Luna thought about it and agreed with him.
"Be far away and use ranged magic or something else alright? don't get in close quarters with it, only I know how to fight it like that". Luna hesitated but he looked firm and unwavering and she knew she wasn't getting any more of a deal with him. So she agreed with a simple "yes" and he turned to leave.
"Wait!" she called to him. He stopped and looked back at her. "I don't even know your name".
"My name is Stargazer, lets hope I live long enough to answer those questions".
He lightly dropped Twilight on Luna's bed, turned walk to the balcony, propped himself on the balcony fence, gave a nod, and leaned backward propelling himself over the edge and into the night. Leaving Luna speechless with her mind afire with thoughts and questions.
She looked at The poor mare who lay upon her bed. Step one: Twilight She moved towards her, her stomach clenched in anticipation for the coming battle, and in fear for the young pony's life.
She stood next to her bed peering at Twilight's various injuries. Luna winced at the sight. It looked incredibly painful.C'mon, standing here won't help. Luna had a vast knowledge of magic and set to work on the complex spell in order to seal up the many cuts that covered her body. Luna closed her eyes and focused on her horn and in the back of her mind something clicked. Slowly the room began to glow from her magic discharge. The walls swam with the dark night sky of Luna's mane as her power increased.
Finally at the height of the charge, Luna lay her horn against Twilight's cuts and bruises, instantly healing them. As she sealed each cut and fixed each patch of bruised skin, the light from her horn and mane diminished. Once she had healed all the lacerations, she looked at Twilight's busted hind leg. She wanted to leave her at that but if her leg healed before it had been set they would have to break it again. The way her leg looked... This is going to hurt. Luna thought grimly.
I can't fix that without her biting her own tongue clean through. she looked around for something Twilight could bite down on. She looked around her room. It was pretty barren aside from the door for the balcony and the door, across from it that led to the corridors of the castle. she had a wardrobe next to her bed filled with the fancy clothes she hated. She smiled inwardly as she took her least favorite out. It was a dark shade of blue to match her own coat. Embroidered with gold thread on the sleeves and dress hem. It was beautiful, she had to admit it. But Twilight needed it more and she was glad to be rid of it. She ripped off a sleeve with her mouth and looked at its thickness. It seemed thick enough so she carefully placed it inside Twilight's mouth.
Luna could fix her leg with magic but it would be more efficient and easier to do it with her own hooves. She softly placed a hoof on Twilight's upper thigh and another on the lower part of the leg so she could push them into position. Even doing this Twilight moaned in pain. Luna would need more help and she knew where to get it.
"GUARDS!" she yelled at the door. ...No response. "Guards?" Luna confusedly added....No response. She walked to the door and opened it. The guards normally stationed outside her room were gone. Meanwhile panicked subjects ran through the hallways screaming. At that, the castle rumbled like an earthquake. Luna pitched forward and landed on her face. As she picked herself up, she was met with the bright face of her sister looking down at her with a sense of urgency.
"Sister we have a problem" Celestia said
"Yes, the dragon I'm aware of his-" Another roar and quake shook the castle causing both princesses to stagger. "...arrival" she finished as soon as she was steady.
"That, and reports of a new Alicorn follow with that. We believe he may have brought it here".
"No Tia, I just talked to him and-"
"You talked to this Alicorn? What does he want? Did he threaten you?"
"Yes I did, he's here to help us not destroy us, and no, in fact he did the opposite".
"Fill me in on the details"
"First help me with Twilight". Celestia bristled.
"Why? What happened to Twilight?" she asked. So many questions that need answering. Luna rubbed her head.
"I don't really know for sure but we can find out later, Her leg is broken and I need help setting it". Celestia looked horrified but nodded her head. Luna walked into the room, her sister close behind her. When they got to the bed Celestia was silent. She nuzzled Twilights head.
"Oh Twilight... What has happened to you?" Celestia whispered. Luna began to explain what she had to do.
"Hold her leg here, and here". Moving her sisters hooves to the broken leg and positioning them.
"I know what to do Luna. I've healed injuries such as this before". Luna nodded.
"Do it". Luna said. Celestia pushed the two parts of Twilight's leg together. As she did Twilight began to scream, Celestia's face only became more stressed. She had to rotate the lower half a little causing Twilight's voice to crack and then only a light buzz could be heard. Finally the leg popped together resulting in Twilight to squeak. Luna released a held breath and put her horn to Twilight's leg. The room glowed again. When Luna pulled her horn away Twilight's leg was covered in a dark blue cast.
Celestia gently stroked Twilight's mane. Luna walked to her sister and hugged her.
"Don't worry sister, she'll be alright now". Celestia nodded. "We should leave sister, our kingdom needs us". Celestia nodded again and left the room. Luna followed her but stopped at the door. She turned to Twilight, still unconscious but looking better, on the bed.
"Stay safe Twilight". She whispered. She left the room and joined her sister.
Applejack sat atop the hill again. Despite the sun having set hours before, the warmth clung to the earth like a stubborn foal to a parent. From her position the moon stuck behind the far away castle of the princesses. The cold, yet comforting light, spread across the expanse of Ponyville. Every building was illuminated against the darkness that the castle cast in contrast with the moon. The sky was clear around Ponyville and the castle. But Applejack could see storm clouds that ringed the town and Canterlot. Something seemed off about the clouds though, even if they were scheduled by the weather-ponies AJ received nothing but an ominous feeling from them. Like a lull before, well... a storm.
Despite the feeling of foreboding Applejack got, everything was normal. The day had been regular, Minus a single hide or hair of my friends. Applejack missed them. Every last one of them, she had no one to talk to, Big Mac never had much to say, Applebloom was talkative but didn't understand any of what had happened to her big sister. She understood so little of what had happened that AJ had begun to simply tell her that "Ah was lost, needed some help, got it". That was putting things lightly, If Applebloom actually understood she would think Stargazer was some superhero sent by Celestia. Even now Applejack was confused as to who he was. Yes he was an Alicorn but..Why? Not for the first time Applejack wished she had more time to understand who Star had really been.
More than that she wanted somepony to talk to. She wanted her friends. Everyday they lingered on in her mind, every moment she wished she hadn't so brutally hurt them when she ran away. Why would they want to talk to somepony like me. Applejack's head drooped. I at least owe them an explanation. Tomorrow... I'll see them tomorrow. Applejack groaned as her earlier sense of foreboding was replaced with fear of what her friends might do.
"Ooooohh Ah've hurt them so bad. Why'd ah have to go running away from them like that? Ah could've explained mahself. They would've understood! I wish ah'd never... Applejack paused in the berating of her actions as she realized if she had never ran away that morning, she would have never met Star, she would've been stopped by her friends, she would've gone home with no money and whatever dignity had left being soiled when she saw Mayor mare's face at the pitiful amount of money she would have brought back. Life would have gone on like normal. Star would never have met her and he wouldn't be..dead. she finished the thought as guilt and sadness over her fallen friend reared it's head. The ugly truth was she didn't know if she wished she had never met Star.
AJ sighed and had a moment of silence to add to the many she had already had for Stargazer. After about five minutes, Applejack began to trudge back to the barn house. Suddenly a flash of light illuminated the barn and surrounding areas. AJ looked around for a source but the light had dimmed down and was gone as soon as it had come. She dismissed as a shot of lightning from the surrounding storm clouds, and continued to slug back to her home
Another flash... Applejack looked hard at the clouds ringing the town and the surrounding mountains. They didn't seem close enough to cause such brightness from a lightning strike. She scanned around the ring and found herself looking at Canterlot. Looks normal, nothing seems to be- a bright flash interrupted her thoughts. she shielded her eyes from the blindingly bright light. The flashes weren't coming from the clouds... They were coming from Canterlot. "What in tarnation is that?!" Applejack shouted at nothing, and no one, in particular. The dimming lights of Ponyville suddenly became bright again as confused ponies opened the doors to see where the flashes were coming from.
Now AJ could see that the flashes were not one pure beam, but three coming together. One was a golden ray, that had to be Celestia, the other was a shaft of iridescent blue, Luna, the other was farther away then the other two which were close to each other. That one was a white blade that continually progressed at a high speed to the same place where Luna and Celestia's beams were meeting. Whenever they met a bright flash appeared. If I can see them from here whats their actual size? Applejack didn't know much about magic besides the times when Twilight would call her over for help with an experiment, but judging that she could see them from this distance, massive amounts of it were being used against something.
"Oh shoot! The princess's are in trouble! ah.. ah gotta do something!" Applejack babbled as she began to run for town. Her mind was working in an over load. I need to get the other girls, this is urgent! Questions can wait we need to help the castle. Applejack ran down the long dirt road that led from the farm to town. Applejack took a left and ran to the hill where Fluttershy's cottage was. AJ ran the front steps and barely had enough time to put on the brakes before she slammed into the door. AJ knocked hurriedly, she waited a couple minutes and began to get antsy, her legs moved on their own accord and shuffled back and forth, she wasn't anxious to see her friend in this manner.
After a couple more minutes she knocked again and was responded with sniffles from inside and a soft: "G-go away please." the tiny voice of Fluttershy said. Applejack groaned.
"umm..Flutters-" she was cut off as the door whipped open. Standing inside the doorway was Fluttershy.
"O-oh" Applejack stuttered. She was caught off guard by Fluttershy's haggard appearance: her eyes were red and puffy, and the white and pink bathrobe she was wearing was wrinkled and appeared crusty in some places.
Before she could even muster an inch of courage to speak, Fluttershy had her in a crushing bear hug. The likes of which defied the small mare's frame as the breath was crushed out of Applejack's lungs. A muffled sound came from where Fluttershy's face was rammed into AJ's stomach. All AJ could muster to say was a short gasping sound.
Suddenly the pressure was released from her chest and a serious of ragged hacks issued from Applejack as fresh air entered her lungs. Her eyes stung and her vision blurred lightly. Finally she got a hold over herself and looked to Fluttershy. She was sitting on the steps with tears in her eyes and her hooves over her mouth as stifling sobs came over her.
Applejack rushed to hold her but was forcefully pushed away by angry hooves.
"WHERE WERE YOU?!" Fluttershy screamed. AJ could only stay silent as her friend got more upset by the second. "WE CALLED TO YOU AND YOU DIDN'T COME!" she sobbed. Once again Applejack could only remain silent as her usually quiet and peaceful friend sobbed in frustrated rage. "W-we..." she trailed off as another wave of sobs came over her, and she slumped forward in a sign of utter defeat. Applejack was struck silent in of the current state of her friend. She had expected something along these lines but expecting and witnessing were two different things with different emotions attached. Knowing nothing else to do she walked over to Fluttershy and embraced her.
Minutes went by and Fluttershy didn't seem to run out of tears, if anything it felt like the sobs only became deeper and deeper. Applejack glanced at the castle, the flashes continued. Agh! we don't time to spare here.
"Fluttershy?" she asked.A low moan was all the response Applejack received for a response. This isn't helping, we have to get moving. AJ slowly pulled Fluttershy to her hooves. The weepy mare's head appeared glued to the ground as she moved in silence. Applejack stuck a hoof under Fluttershy's chin and lifted her head up to speak.
"Fluttershy you're angry, I understand why ah really do. But the castle is in trouble and they need our help, so if you cou-" AJ's sentence was cut short by a flurry of wings beats and the rush of air as Flutter shy flew up into the air and turned in the direction of the castle. "Hey girl wait we need to go-"
"I KNOW!" Fluttershy hollered at her. She turned in air and flew abruptly into Applejack's face. "We'll get the other girls and go help. But afterwords we are going to have a nicelongchat." ending each last word with a small jab in the chest. Fluttershy's tiny voice wasn't threatning in any way whatsoever. If anything it sounded like she was stating a fact. Applejack looked into Fluttershy's eyes filled with frustrated tears. All she could do was nod. Fluttershy began to fly towards Rarity's house. AJ stood for a little while then followed, walking side by side with Fluttershy felt wrong right now. What could she say that would heal the rift that had been forced between them?