The hot summer sun beat down on the Apple family as they diligently toiled in the northern orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. While Applejack and Big Macintosh slowly but steadily worked their way down a line of trees each while Applebloom ran ahead setting up the buckets that would catch the falling fruit as well as picking up any stray apples that missed the bushels. In spite of the heat, they had nearly finished the day’s workload, and not a moment too soon. The trio’s nerves continued to fray as the minutes pressed on.
“Applejack!” The sweat was gushing off of Applebloom’s forehead. “Are we done yet? We’ve been goin’ at this all mornin’ and I don’t know how much more of this Ah can take.”
“Almost Applebloom. A few more trees and we can git everything back to the barn. Ah told ya, the caravan’s leavin’ for Canterlot first thing in the morning and we’re short on bits around here as it is.” Applejack herself was straining under the heat, but she couldn’t let her little sister see how hard it was for her in the heat. Still, Applebloom was only a filly, and heat exhaustion at this time of year could be dangerous. “Why don’t ya go and put a couple o’ them bushels in your wagon and haul ‘em back. Big Mac and Ah’ll finish up here.”
With a happy skip Applebloom did as her sister asked and moved a pair of buckets into a nearby wagon and began carting them towards the house. Applejack sighed. There wasn’t much in Equestria that she held above all others, but family was one of them. No matter how badly her day went she could always count on her family to keep her spirits up. Even on a day like this, when the sun was nearly oppressive, working together as a family had kept her going well past what a normal pony could talk. As for Mac, well… Applejack chuckled to herself. She would never use the word “normal” to describe him.
Finishing up their work for the day, they collected the rest of the bushels and loaded up a pair of carts. Even at the current going rate for apples, Applejack was confident their harvest would bring in enough bits to finish up a few of the repair jobs that the farm had needed, as well as keep them afloat for a few more weeks. Running a farm was never easy, and there had been a few times where Applejack feared that she would lose orchard, not least of which being the time The Flim-Flam brothers attempted to drive them out of business, but she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Coming up to the barn, they could see Applebloom had already stashed her load and had run off, likely to find her friends. Applejack turned to Mac.
“Ah swear that filly’d rather be out gallivantin’ with her friends then putting in an honest day’s work on the farm. Ah thought she might wait for us to get back but Ah guess I was wrong.” Applejack was shaking her head.
“Eeyup.”
“She needs to learn family comes first. Family is the most important thing we have. If we don’t have family, then we ain’t Apples!”
“Eeyup.”
“What kinda fool just runs off and leaves her family behind? Getting’ her cutie mark can’t be more important than family. Not like Ah was like that when I was her age was Ah?”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac was barely stifling a smile. Applejack gave him a glare and hit him across the back of his head with her hoof.
“Aww enough outta you ya big galoot. Who asked you anyways?” Applejack said.
“Er uh, well, uh…”
“Never mind, don’t answer that.” Applejack started to laugh, and was soon joined by Big Macintosh. As the laughter died away, Applejack looked up at her brother. “Alright, let’s head on up to the house. Ah’m exhausted and Ah could use a drink of water.”
“Eeyup.”
Rainbow Dash had napped most of the day away in her home. Normally she would have found a nice cloud to nap on, but with the sun passing it’s zenith the heat was too unbearable to be anywhere but indoors. That was fine by Dash though, it just meant that not only was she out of the heat, but it made it harder for anypony else to bother her on her day off. Harder, but not impossible.
“HEYA DASHIE!” Dash groaned and rolled out of bed as Pinkie Pie bounced up just outside of her window. The pink mare continued to pop in and out of sight as a headache rolled across Dash’s head. “I was looking all.. Over town for you and… I couldn’t find you so I… thought to myself… where in the world could… Dashie be then I thought… well if she’s not out… having a nap on some… cloud and she’s not… out working the skies then… she must be at home so… I got myself a big trampoline… and came to see if I could… find you and what… do you know you’re… HERE!”
“Pinkie…” Dash groaned, rubbing a hoof across her forehead. Rather than continue a sporadic conversation she flew down to the ground and waited for Pinkie to stop bouncing. A few moments later the pink mare dismounted with a flip and landed beside her. Dash just shook her head. “Why are you here? It’s so hot out, how can you be bouncing on a trampoline? Don’t you have anything else to do?”
“Noperooni!” Pinkie had a huge smile on her face. “I finished up all of my chores at Sugar Cube Corner, and helped the Cakes finish selling off the morning’s baking, so I decided to see what everypony else was doing. Twilight was busy working on some new spell, Rarity has a huuuuge order due in a week, Applejack is in the middle of a harvest, and Fluttershy is taking care of some extra animals.”
“What about…” Dash waggled her hoof.
“Oh well, you know him. He’s up in Canterlot right now working on something for Princess Celestia.”
“Oh yeah, and how’s…”
“O-o-oh well…” Pinkie looked down and rubbed her stomach. Her normally cheery disposition had faded .“Twilight’s helping me keep an eye on it. Pretty good I guess.”
“You sure you should be bouncing on a trampoline considering your ‘condition’?” Dash had raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe not, butttttt…” Pinkie’s smile had returned. “There was no other way to get up to find out what you were doing, and since all you’re doing was napping, you can come hang out with me! I have such a great afternoon planned. We can go eat cupcakes and fly kites and go for a walk and oooo we haven’t played any good pranks lately. We could get Rarity so good! Remember the time we dyed her cat to look like you? That was HILARIOUS.” Pinkie stood on her hind legs, front legs spread wide in the air.
Dash looked dumbfounded for a moment, but try as she might there was no way to get around the infectious nature of Pinkie Pie. A smile slowly spread across her face and she nodded to the pink mare.
“Alright, alright. I am pretty hungry, and I was going to practice doing some tricks this afternoon anyways, so you can come give me a hand with that. As for a prank… yeah Rarity is long over-due. I’ve got a good one! You said she’s working on an order right? What if we were to…” Dash bent over and started whispering a plan into Pinkie’s ear. As she did Pinkie’s already large smile grew impossibly wider and she started to giggle excitedly.
“Oh that’s a good one Dashie! Let’s go do it!” Pinkie bounced away towards the Carousel Boutique.
“W-wait Pinkie! I’m still hungry!” Dash sped off after her shaking her head. Food could wait, they had a unicorn to prank.
“Mom!” Dinky ran into her house, a piece of paper sticking out of the side of her mouth. “Mom! Somepony is passing these flyers around town! Something about a magic show later tonight, can we go? Please?”
Derpy Hooves was in the middle of cleaning her home, having delivered the day’s mail already. She was just finishing dusting the living room when Dinky had burst in waving the flyer in her face. She sighed, watching a new layer of dust from outside settle on the floor. Still, she couldn’t ever remember being as happy as she was as a mother, and any amount of work was worth the time she spent with her little filly. A kind smile washed over her face.
“Let me take a look at that dear.” Derpy gently took the piece of paper out of Dinky’s mouth and spread it out on their table. While her one lazy eye had disturbed other ponies in the past, it never actually impaired her ability to see and she quickly read through it. According to the flyer, there was indeed going to be a magic show that evening in the town square, and everypony was invited. It was reminiscent of another performance that had been announced in a similar fashion a few years before, before Dinky was old enough to remember, however Derpy remembered clearly the aftermath of that night. It had nearly cost her her home. As long as the show wasn’t going to be put on by… “Oh no.”
“Huh?” Ditzy looked up confused at her mother. “What’s wrong mommy? Is there something wrong with the show?”
“Well, no not necessarily, but it’s being put on by Trixie, and the last time she put on a show she insulted a lot of ponies and her… ‘creative self-promotion’ caused Snips and Snails to attract an ursa minor under the mistaken belief that she had dealt with them before. I’ve heard she’s learned her lesson, but…”
“Oh but please mom? Everypony is talking about it! It’s going to be a great show I’m sure. Please? Please?!” Dinky’s eyes peered up at her mother, pleading for her to take her to the show. Against her better judgment, Derpy could not say no to those insistent eyes. She rolled her eyes and gave another motherly smile.
“Alright Dinky.” Derpy motioned her head towards the kitchen. “Come help me finish cleaning and making dinner, and then we’ll go to the show. If nothing else, it’ll be a good laugh seeing Trixie make a fool of herself again.” She giggled and gently pushed Dinky with a hoof. The two, mother and daughter, trotted off towards the kitchen, a smile shared between them.
Darkness fell across Ponyville, and most of the interested town’s folk had already begun to gather in the square. Trixie’s new cart, which seemed to have been given a new coat of paint, was set up ready for the show, it’s stage extended. A few ponies, like Dinky, had never seen Trixie perform and were eager to see a magic show, however a majority had come to watch Trixie make a royal fool of herself once again. A few eyes peered over the crowd to make sure Twilight Sparkle was in attendance, just in case something was to go amiss again. Fortunately for all assembled, the unicorn was indeed present with Spike mounted on her back eager for the show to begin. A small smile graced her face.
“So, uh, Twi, I know that Trixie’s changed and all especially after… well everything that’s happened to her, but do you think her show’s going to be any different this time around?” Spike craned his neck down so he could at least put himself in Twilight’s peripheral vision. She looked over at him, the smile staying in place.
“Of course Spike. Everything is going to be fine. Everypony knows what she is and is not capable of, and her ego has deflated.” As she spoke a bellowing came from the stage and they could see the mare in question poke her head out.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie’s show shall begin momentarily! Please take your spots in the crowd and prepare to be amazed!”
“Well,” Twilight sheepishly grinned, “mostly deflated.”
Spike just rolled his eyes and laughed. The show was going to be good, one way or another. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his favorite white unicorn making her way through the crowd, her right eye twitching uncontrollably.
“Rarity! Hey Rarity!” Spike stood up on Twilight’s back and waved frantically at Rarity. “Over here!”
“Spike! Twilight! How NICE to see you.” Her response was through gritted teeth and the pair could tell she was clearly agitated.
“Uh, what’s up Rarity? You look kinda mad?” Spike said.
“Have either of you seen Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie?”
“Uh, no? Why?”
“I was in the middle of putting an order together for Fancy Pants when the two of them thought it would be just hilarious to tie a paint brush dipped in paint to poor Opal’s tail. Five minutes later my boutique and half of my supplies, not to mention three of the dresses I had already completed It will only take me a couple of days to catch back up, but it’s the principle of the matter. Needless to say, as soon as I get my hooves on the two of them…” Rarity cut off her own words with a shriek.
“Rarity, I know those two can be a handful but don’t forget about Pinkie’s…” Twilight was covering her mouth with a hoof, trying to not let her fellow unicorn see her laugh.
“I don’t care! She should consider the consequences of her actions before pulling pranks like that! ARGH!” With that, Rarity stormed off into the crowd.
“Well, I’d hate to be in their place if she catches up with them, eh Twi?” Spike laughed.
“They’ve done it this time that’s for sure.” Twilight said. Applejack came up behind her a few moments later.
“Heya Twi, the show started yet?” Applejack said.
“Which one?” Spike snickered, earning himself a telekinetic whack on the back of the head from Twilight. The purple unicorn in turn sighed and turned to Applejack.
“Not yet. Trixie announced that she would be starting in a few minutes, but she hasn’t started the fireworks yet.”
“Good. Ah’m looking forward to seeing her stick a hoof in her mouth again.”
“Now Applejack, we’ve talked about this before. She’s gotten better. Really.”
“Uh-huh. Ah’ll believe it when Ah see it Twi. Either way it’s going to be a great show!” Applejack laughed and shook her head. Several of the other ponies within earshot joined along, having very similar expectations for the show. Even Spike couldn’t help himself. Finally, Twilight started giggling. Even she had to admit the likelihood of the show not crashing and burning was a stretch.
The moment arrived, and a hush fell over the crowd. Trixie walked out into the middle of the stage and took a small polite bow to the crowd before smirking. Throwing her fore hooves in the air, her cape caught a magical draft of wind she generated and she called out to the assembled ponies.
“Welcome, one and all, young and old, to the new, improved, Great and Powerful Trixie Show!” With a flash of smoke and a rumble of explosions, several fireworks shot into the air punctuating her entrance. Regardless of their opinions of the show mare, the assembled ponies couldn’t help but stomp their hooves and cheer for the flashy entrance. Trixie smiled and gazed over the audience.
“The last time the Great and Powerful Trixie graced your town with her presence, her performance was… less than gracious. Many ponies homes were destroyed in the resulting chaos caused by the stampeding ursa minor. Of course, Trixie takes full responsibility for her actions that night.” A few of the crowd looked at the nervously grinning Snips and Snails, but their attention was quickly pulled back to Trixie. “Tonight, I shall be performing magical feats to astound and astonish, but first, I’d like to revisit that fateful night! Would anypony like to come up and ‘compete’ with Trixie? Perhaps the almighty Twilight Sparkle?”
Everypony’s eyes turned to look at the now blushing Twilight. She nervously glanced around and looked to Applejack for support. Applejack chuckled and shook her head.
“Git on up there Twi. Go on.” Applejack nudged the unicorn with her hoof. “If she’s so ready to make a fool of herself you might as well be the one to do it. It’s gonna be a good show, Ah can tell already.” Spike jumped down off of Twilight’s back and stood next to Applejack, motioning with his claws that she should go along with Trixie. Shaking her head, Twilight sighed and trotted up to the stage.
“Alright, Trixie, I’m here.” Twilight said.
“Everypony, let’s give a warm round of applause for Twilight! The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates you coming up and humoring her on such short notice.” Trixie waved her hooves towards the crowd, and the assembled ponies stomped their hooves again, hooting and whooping for Twilight. Twilight’s blush deepened. As the cheering died down, Trixie addressed the crowd again.
“Now, last time Trixie made a mockery of anypony that came up on stage and tried to challenge Trixie. Trixie has something different in mind this evening.” Trixie turned to Twilight. “Twilight, Trixie asks that you choose a minor spell, any sort of spell, and cast it here on my stage.”
“Any spell?”
“Any minor spell. Trixie has seen some of the spells you have cast Twilight, and Trixie must say that if the whole town falls in love with Trixie there might be a problem.” Trixie winked to the crowd who all joined in on a good natured laugh at Twilight’s expense remembering the time she had enchanted her childhood toy in order to create a problem to solve. Twilight giggled along.
“Alright, alright Trixie, I understand. A minor spell you say?” Twilight stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth, deep in thought. “Ah! I know. Alright Trixie, how about this?” Focusing her magic on a point in the air in the middle of the stage, Twilight created a ball of fire that hovered in place. The crowd “ooed” in unison as the sphere of flame slowly spun in place. Smiling, Twilight turned back to Trixie and pointed her hoof at it. “That good enough for you Trixie?”
“Indeed.” Trixie nodded. “The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates your participation. Now, it is Trixie’s turn!” Channeling her own spell, Trixie generated a powerful gust of wind that swept up the flames that Twilight had produced. A whirlwind of fire flew into the air bathing the town square in light and producing a wave of heat. It finally finished it’s ascent and exploded in the air. Everypony shielded their eyes, fearing for their safety, but a moment later they could see that the flames had spelled out ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ in the night sky. A smaller line below it spelled out ‘and Twilight Sparkle’. Everypony cheered.
“Great trick Trixie!”
“Wow that was amazing!”
You’ve learned some neat new tricks!”
“Hey! Nothing caught on fire! We’re all still alive!”
Trixie glared at the last comment, but replaced it with a smile soon after. She was finally putting on the magic show she always wished she could, and everything was going to plan. At one point she would have considered Twilight assisting her as charity work on her part. What unicorn could possibly challenge the might of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Now, a small part of her felt blessed that Twilight had bothered coming up at all. Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder brining her out of her thoughts.
“Trixie, that was great! Your show is going to be just amazing!” Twilight gave her a warm smile.
“Trixie appreciates your support Twilight.”
“I’ll just head back to my spot in the crowd…”
“No!”
“What?” Twilight turned back towards Trixie, halting her departure.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes for you to remain by the stage as her personal guest for the show. Please.”
“Uh… alright… I guess?” Twilight nodded and trotted down the stairs and took a spot next to the stage. Applejack and Spike made their way through the crowd and joined her.
As the show progressed, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were snaking their way through the assembled ponies keeping as low to the ground as they could. Every few steps one of them would pop their head up and search the crowd for a certain furious white unicorn.
“Dashie, I think we might have gone too far this time. I think Rarity’s really really mad at us. What are we going to do when she catches us?” Pinkie’s voice carried a tone of nervousness that was rarely heard from her.
“If. If she catches us, you mean. All we have to do is stay out of her mane for the rest of the night and we should be fine.”
“Well,” Pinkie started, “if we’re trying to avoid her, why are we here? Why can’t we just go home? She can’t reach you up In your house, and I can always hide out and Sugar Cube Corner.” Dash gently cuffed Pinkie on the back of the head.
“Think!” Dash’s voice was barely above a hiss. “If she can’t find us here the first place she’s going to go is to your place looking for you. As for me, well yeah I guess I could fly out of her reach but she’s pretty persistent. Twilight was saying she’s started to learn a few new spells, and if I know Rarity one of those is probably something to do with cloud-walking or flying. No, we’re much safer getting lost in this crowd. Besides, I wouldn’t miss seeing Trixie screw things up again for the world.”
“Ooooh…” Pinkie reach down and clutched onto her stomach. “This is too much excitement for me Dashie. I don’t know how much of this I can take.”
“Just a little longer Pinkie. It’ll all be over soon.” The pair snaked off into the crowd, still keeping an eye out for their stalker. Neither of them noticed Rarity slowly walk over to where they were just lying on the ground, a glint of malice in her eye.
Across the crowd, Dinky was perched on her mother’s back watching the ongoing magic show. Every few moments she would let out a soft “oo” or “ah” as Trixie performed more and more fantastic tricks. Most of the show mares repertoire was focused on the flashy and showy, but occasionally she would produce an effect that was on the level of a young Twilight Sparkle. Derpy watched on with her daughter and smiled. I’m so glad I brought her here. It’s so rarely that the two of us get a chance to get out and spend time like this together. After last time I was so worried that Trixie would cause more trouble, but she really seems to have gotten her act together.
“Whoo! Mommy look!” Dinky pointed at a rope hanging in the air that was magically creating images in the sky of various ponies. Several prominent members of Ponyville, Trixie herself, and a spectacularly accurate representation of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing side-by-side. Hearing the filly’s excitement, Trixie gave her horn a little flick and the rope shifted into an image of Dinky. Dinky herself nearly fell over in excitement. “Mommy mommy! It’s me! She made me!”
Derpy looked up at the image of her daughter in the sky and could feel a single happy tear welling up in the corner of her eye. Catching Trixie’s eye she silently mouthed “thank-you” towards the show-mare. Trixie gave a small smile and inclined her head gently. This really was a different Trixie. The flashy material finished, Trixie turned to Twilight and beckoned her back up onto the stage.
“Trixie will now perform her final trick! It is something that she has worked on for many months, and you, fair citizens of Ponyville, will be the first to experience it in all of its glory!” Raucous cheering filled the square. “However, it is potentially a dangerous spell, and for the safety of all involved she once more calls upon the assistance of Twilight Sparkle!”
Slightly more confident after her early participation, Twilight gladly hopped up on the stage and stood next to Trixie. Doing a little turn in place she bowed to the crowd, earning a few more hoots.
“Now now, Twilight, leave the showboating to the Great and Powerful Trixie won’t you? This is Trixie’s show after all.” Trixie was smirking. Twilight blushed again and nodded.
“Of course Trixie,” Twilight said.
“Now, for this trick, Trixie will show you a fantastic new spell that Trixie herself has developed! It is a spell that allows the caster to imagine a world of their wildest imagination! They don’t even need to imagine the whole world! They merely choose bits and pieces of what they want to see in the world, and this crystal ball…” she pulled out a glass sphere out of seemingly nowhere “…will find a world from far away that embodies those ideas. The magic tends to be unstable however. Trixie admits she has chosen Ponyville for her first showing due to the presence of a powerful unicorn that can assist her in maintaining the spell.”
The crowd began to murmur, and slowly but surely ponies began to shout out suggestions.
“Trees made out of rocks!”
“Edible dirt!”
“A place where ponies can’t talk and the dominant race are related to monkeys!” Several ponies looked towards who had given that suggestion, finding a sheepish looking Lyra being hauled away by a clearly embarrassed Bon-Bon. Trixie chuckled.
“Well that was an interesting suggestion, but Trixie doesn’t think she’ll be using that one.” The rest of the crowd laughed, and continued to shout out suggestions for the next few minutes, finally being stopped by Trixie. “Alright, alright, Trixie thinks she has an idea as to what sort of image to conjure. Now then, Twilight, would you be so kind as to cast a telekinesis spell on the crystal ball and float it out in front of the crowd?”
Twilight complied, gently lifting the ball in the air and allowed it to hover in the air, gently spinning in place and reflecting the torchlight illuminating the square. Trixie lowered her horn and channeled a spell through it. The crowd watched as the lavender hue encircling the orb changed to a lighter purple nearing blue. Trixie waved her fore hooves in the air and began chanting. Twilight smirked, realizing that it was mostly part of the show.
“Orb of power, crystal of vision, The Great and Powerful Trixie commands you! Worlds apart, or times gone by, show us the lands we can never reach!” The glow on the orb intensified as Trixie silently fed the ideas through to the ball. Twilight felt a slight vibration in the magical field she was maintaining, but overall the task she had been given wasn’t difficult. Finally, after a few more moments, the orb hung in place unassisted. Before Trixie could address the crowd again, however, several things happened all at once.
First, Rarity finally caught up to the two mischievous mares and screeched, grabbing hold of their tails in her own telekinetic spell. Pinkie was caught in place, crying out for somepony to save her from Rarity, while Dash managed to struggle free and bolt towards the stage. Seeing the commotion, Derpy looked over to the trio of mares and frowned at the show being spoiled. As she did so, she failed to notice Dinky slip off her back and wander up to the stage alone. Applejack turned to see Dash flapping towards her and dangerously close to the magical show.
“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity continued her screeching. “When I’m finished with you, I promise you that you’re going to think it was the WORST. THING. EVER.”
“Rarity! Wait!” Pinkie was scrambling to get away, her hooves digging into the ground and leaving parallel lines in the dirt. “Don’t forget about my ‘condition’!”
“Oh don’t worry, I’ll make sure the rest of you is injured!”
“What about Rainbow Dash?! It was her idea!”
“I knew it!” Rarity dropped Pinkie unceremoniously to the ground and galloped through the ground attempting to get a hold of the offending pegasus once more. As Derpy watched her run, she finally realized that Dinky wasn’t on her back anymore and started to panic.
“Dinky? Dinky?! Where did you go?” Derpy frantically scanned the crowd, finally spotting her a few feet away from the floating orb. Taking to wing, she flew over the assembled ponies in an attempt to retrieve her errant daughter. Trixie lost her concentration in he resulting chaos, and to her dismay the crystal ball began to tremor in place and expand in size. Twilight’s eyes went wide.
“T-Trixie is it supposed to be doing this?” Twilight was recoiling from the expanding orb.
“Trixie has never seen this before!” Trixie attempted to re-assert her control over the crystal ball, but to no success. The orb continued to grow. Most of the ponies close to the stage began backing up themselves, unsure as to whether it was part of the show or a spell gone wrong. Ditzy finally reached the stage and began reaching her hoof up towards the oscillating sphere.
“Dinky no!” Derpy rushed in and threw her hooves around Dinky pulling her away from the potentially dangerous device. Her grasp proved to be too aggressive though, and as soon as she had managed to get a hold on her daughter she slipped away again tumbling into the crowd behind Derpy. Derpy turned to go after her again, but found herself frozen in place unable to make any progress forward no matter how hard she beat her wings.
Applejack watched Dash’s approach and realized she was going to run headlong into Twilight. No time to think things through, she recklessly dove towards the unicorn.
“Twi! Look out!” Applejack shoved Twilight out of the way just as Rainbow Dash collided with her in mid-air, forcing the two of them into a tumble. Twilight was shoved to the ground and fully lost her telekinetic grip on the orb. The sphere dropped to the stage and began rolling towards the immobilized Derpy. Applejack and Dash continued to roll over each other in a tangle of legs and hooves, finally barreling into Derpy and dragging her along. Coming to a stop the three could only watch in horror as the orb rolled into them. All at once there was a flash of light and loud explosion. Everypony instinctively shielded their eyes.
Taking a chance, Twilight looked out from behind her hoof to see the crystal ball had returned to it’s normal, inert, non-magical state. With a sigh of relief she lowered her leg to the ground… and then her jaw dropped. Where before there had been three ponies, there were now none. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Derpy were gone.
“Trixie, what happened to them? Where are they? Where did they go?” The normally calm Twilight was beginning to panic.
“Trixie… sorry… I don’t know! This was just a trick! It wasn’t really supposed to show a different world, it was just images and show-mare-ship! I don’t have any idea what’s happened to them!” Trixie took one last look at the crystal ball before breaking down and crying. Rarity and Pinkie Pie approached the stage.
“Twilight, darling, what’s happened?” Rarity feared the answer.
“They’re gone Rarity. They’re just… gone.”
Untangling themselves from each other Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Derpy stood up and inspected their surroundings. While relatively unharmed, they were most definitely not in the town square anymore. Instead, they seemed to be in some sort of large cylinder. Along the sides there were several strange objects that pointed out of open windows. A gaping hole was in the floor a few feet away from them. From somewhere an almost deafening humming assaulted their ears and the entire area seemed to be vibrating. Applejack trotted over to one of the windows and peered outside. A moment later she went white as a ghost.
“G-girls, Ah know yer pegasi and all, and that it probably don’t bother ya none, but uh… we ain’t on the ground.” She pointed a shaky hoof out of the opening. Dash wandered over to the window herself and glanced outside, confirming Applejack’s words. Not only were they airborne, but based on the movements of the clouds they were traveling at a rapid pace.
“Where in the heck are we?” Dash turned to Derpy who was sitting alone in the middle of the room. The grey pegasus had begun to cry. “What’s wrong Derpy?”
“All I wanted to do was take my daughter out to a nice magic show. Now the three of us are Celestia knows where. I don’t know what went wrong. It was going so well.”
“Well,” Dash sighed, “There isn’t much point in standing here, let’s go see if we can find anypony else to tell us where we are. The three made their way to the end of the hallway and found a ladder. Climbing up, they could see two earth ponies wearing bizarre outfits sitting in front of a display with dozens of knobs, switches and controls. One of them was shouting into a microphone.
“This is Captain Pear Blossom of the B-17 All-Amareican. We’ve taken heavy flak damage over Germareny and are coming in hot, two Kraut-suckers on our tail. Most of our crew lost to enemy fire. We repeat, coming in hot with two bogeys. Requesting assistance. Please respond!” He turned to the other pony. “Dammit, I’m not getting through to them and we’re running low on fuel! I think we’re toast this time.”
“Don’t give up now Pear Blossom! I can see coastline up ahead. We just have to hold out a little longer and even if they can’t hear us, they’ll be able to see us!” There was a series of rapid pops and several holes ripped through the cockpit between the mares and the pair of earth ponies. While nopony was hurt it forced the three newcomers to scream. The pair of earth ponies whipped their heads around to find they suddenly had three stow a ways. Applejack broke the stunned silence first.
“Well gals, Ah think we can safely say we’re not in Equestria anymore.” Applejack glanced between her friends and the two ponies seated ahead of them. Derpy keeled over and fainted.
Chapter 1- By Air and by Sea
"Who are you three?!" The pony sitting next to Pear Blossom yelled. "How did you get on our bomber, and more importantly, how the hell are you not dead?!" He was wildly gesticulating towards the trio of mares.
"We don't know!" Applejack was holding on to her Stetson with one hoof, fearing the wind blowing through the new holes in the craft would rip it away, while trying to keep Derpy’s prone form from collapsing on the hard metal floor with the other. "We were at this magic show that Trixie was putting on, and one of her spells went wrong or somethin', and suddenly we're here!"
"Magic?!" The other pony narrowed his eyes. "How did you do magic?! Only unicorns can do magic!"
"Pshaw, of course only unicorns can do magic." Dash rolled her eyes. "Trixie's a unicorn! D'uh!"
"Unicorn sympathizers?" The pony shot a glare at them before looking to his compatriot. "I knew it! You stowed away to sabotage us!" The pony reached down and fumbled at his hip for a moment, before retrieving a side-arm and pointing it at them. Derpy recovered from her fainting spell and began struggling to her hooves, looking on confused while Applejack and Dash both took a few tentative steps back. Applejack held out her front hooves in front of her.
"Whoa whoa now. Now, we ain't here to make trouble, wherever here is. Ah told ya the truth- we got here by total accident. We ain't tryin' to sabotage ya none, and Ah don't know what ya got against unicorns, but there ain't none of 'em here." Applejack could feel her rear knees knocking together.
"Yeah!" Dash had gone a shade of white that Rarity would envy. "What she said!"
"You holster that piece right now Grass!" Pear shot his compatriot a glare. "We've got enough trouble as it is with the two Gemares on our ass. We can sort this out later."
"But, you heard them! Unicorns! They could shoot us or stab us in the back at any moment!"
"Yeah, and I know that I did the pre-flight inspection myself, and there wasn't anypony on this plane. I know that if they wanted to shoot us they could have done so long ago, and seem to have neglected to, not to mention none of them are carrying and sort of weapons- or clothes for that matter. I also know that those are two pegasi there, which as you might know, is next to impossible. Lastly, everypony else on the plane ate it when we hit the flak, meaning that the only way these three could be here is if they somehow got on the plane after we were hit. Now, you can just shoot them and be done with it if you're that big of an ass-hole and just want more blood on your hooves or you might start believing in the impossible for a minute and see if they might help us. God knows we need it if we want to see another sunrise. Your call." Pear glared at the other pony, leaving little room for argument.
"Fine." Grass holstered the gun, and shot a glare back before turning it to the three mares. "I don't like it, but he's in command. You three sit down somewhere in the back and shut up. Oh, and unless you feel like finding out what it’s like to breath through a hole in your chest, you’re going to want to strap those on." He pointed up at a set of large bulky overcoats.
"What're these?" Applejack questioned while obediently donning one.
"Flak jackets. Normally we would fly above most of their AA guns, , but we can't get 'er much above ten thousand right now with the damage we've taken. Not to mention they can stop bullets. If you're lucky." To punctuate his point, the popping sounds echoed again and several more holes appeared in and around the cockpit, one of the rounds striking the dash and leaving a smoldering pile of wires and gauges.
"Shit!" Pear tore his focus from the skies ahead and examined the damage. "That's the altimeter, fuel gauge, and artificial horizon out. Without those, we're basically flying blind. Everypony, keep your eyes peeled for the channel. What I thought was the coastline was just a series of ridges. We’ve still got a ways to go.”
"Can't you just do some fancy flying or lose 'em in a canyon or something?! Go faster?!" Dash pressed her eye up against one of the exit wounds on the bomber's floor, trying to get a view of the ground below.
"In this tub?!" Grass growled back. "Even in pristine condition, we're lucky if we can push over one-fifty. As it is, we were running low on fuel! With the condition we're in, we'll be lucky if we limp back to the strip. We're just going through the motions now lady."
"Who're you calling a lady?! And what do you mean 'going through the motions'?" Dash was indignant.
"I'm calling you a lady! You got the parts don't ya?" Grass's words forced Dash to blush. "As for the rest of it: we're all about to get real toasty in a couple minutes- these things make real good fireballs when they crash."
"No!" Derpy was on the verge of tears. "No, this can't be it! We have lives to get back to- families! My Dinky! There must be something we can do, anything!" The other mares nodded emphatically.
"Unfortunately we're out of bombs and all of the gun blisters and turrets- and their inhabitants- have long been taken out. We're down to four engines..." A Germare fighter came up from underneath them, shooting out in front before banking back and taking another attack run at the bomber. Gunfire raked the left wing, turning one of the engines into a smoldering wreck. As the power plant gave out, they could feel their air-speed dropping. "...Sorry, three engines, and a barely holding together fuselage, with the two Krauts taking runs at us. These bombers can take a beating, but they aren't indestructible. Sorry, ladies, I don't know how you got here, but you picked the about the worst place in the world to be."
"Well there's hope for two of you at least." Grass grimaced.
"Wha'dya mean?" Applejack narrowed her eyes.
"Your friends there can always fly out and hope the Germares don't use ‘em for target practice. I've heard that pegasi can fly pretty quick. Well, y'know, when they were around,"
"We're not leaving our friend behind." Dash shook her head. "Or you two. There has to be a way out of this!"
"Can the two of you lift three earth ponies and avoid those fighters?" The mares frowns was telling. "Then forget it. Save yourselves."
"No, not happening." Dash shook her head and unfurled her wings. "That's not how I roll."
"Dash, don't be so darn stubborn. You two c'n git outta here, try and find a way back home." Applejack pushed the pegasi towards the back of the cockpit. "Ah caint come with ya, and Ah'm sorry for that."
"No." Derby shook her head. "It's no use if we get back to our families only to tell them we abandoned you the minute we got here." Derpy was wildly gesticulating with her hooves. She took a step back, about to continue talking when her hoof smashed into something on an adjacent control panel. A few alarm sirens went off, forcing the pair of earth ponies to whip their heads around.
"What did you do?!" Grass yelled at them.
"I don't know! I just accidentally hit this panel and the alarms went off!" Derpy looked around, wild eyed.
"Shit! That was the emergency fuel release!" Pear groaned. "Now we've only got half of however much we..."
*BOOM*
He stopped mid-speech as a the now common sound of gun fire was suddenly followed by a concussive explosion. Looking out behind them, they could see one of the fighters engulfed in a rapidly expanding fireball. Pear looked at the mare wide-eyed and screamed.
"What in the hell did you do?"
"I just don't know what went wrong! Honest!" The grey mare's lips curled into a frown. "I hope they're alright."
"I don't!" Grass took a look out the windows to see only one fighter left. He gave a whoop and turned back to what was left of the instrument panel. "We might actually have a shot at this."
Derpy shrunk back dejected and began hyperventilating. Applejack helped her get her head between her rear legs and gently stroked her back. The pegasus jumped slightly as a few more pops of gunfire were heard, though there were less and it didn't actually seem to hit the plane. She started breathing harder.
"What's wrong with the grey dame?" Grass called back over his shoulder. "The action finally getting to her?"
"A-a-are they dead? Did I..." Derpy continue to pant, eyes squarely focused on a hole in the floor.
"She's in shock! Where we come from killing somepony, accident or not, ain't exactly common." Applejack did her best to conceal a scowl.
"Must be nice." Grass muttered.
"What was that?!" Applejack stopped trying to conceal it.
"What do you want me to say? This is a fact of life here- and don't think for a second I believe your namby-pamby sob story. Your friend bought us some more time, possibly saved all of our lives. We'll have to see what the other one does." Grass returned the scowl.
Applejack thought to throw back a retort, but returned her focus on the overwhelmed pegasus. Dash was peering out a window, trying to catch sight of the other fighter when something caught her eye.
"Hey, uh, this channel you're looking for... big body of water, long coastline?" She looked over at the pair of earth ponies.
"Yeah, why?" Pear retorted.
"I think that's it over there." Dash pointed her hoof somewhere over the left wing. Pear took a moment to glance over.
"What? Where? I don't see any... holy shit there it is. How in the hell did you see that? You've got some eyesight lady." Pear stuck his tongue out of his mouth and grasped the yoke firmly. "Alright folks, here we go, this is about to get dicey. If we can make it another twenty miles we'll be out of this." He gently twisted the yoke to the side, and the ponies could feel the plane start to bank. A groaning noise from the flaps could be heard, and it was obvious that the damage taken previously had reduced the effectiveness of their maneuverability. The turn was almost painfully slow. The remaining fighter took one last run at the belly, stitching another set of perforations in the craft. Finally, the bomber leveled out with the channel directly ahead. The fighters peeled off, leaving them to limp towards the coast "Ah, shit."
"What? The other fighter is gone, doesn't that mean we're safe?" Dash looked up at Pear, who gave a slow shake of the head. Her eyes went wide as she realized what had happened- during the last attack by the Germare fighter, one of the rounds had gone clean through Pear's leg, and he was starting to lose blood as it pooled on the floor and drained out of one of the holes in the floor of the cockpit. The blood in turn drained from Dash‘s face. "Oh no..."
"Ya got any medical supplied in here?!" Applejack frantically scanned the interior of the cockpit.
"Just a first-aid kit up in the boot there, but I don't know what good that's going to do!" Grass looked nervous for the first time. "Pear's going to drain out if he doesn't get help soon!"
"Dash, help Derpy!" Applejack motioned towards the panicking grey mare. She leapt up and rummaged through the boot, producing a sadly under stocked first-aid kit, while Dash complied with her order. "Ah'm gonna see to this feller."
"As much as I appreciate it, erg..." Pear groaned in pain, struggling to focus on the horizon. "I don't want you trying any amateur field medicine. If you don't know what you're doing, you could make it worse."
"Look, sugar cube, believe it or not Ah know a thing or two about patching up gunfire wounds." She found herself oddly glad she had that experience. "Now, this kit ain't much, but it's got just enough for me to do mah thing. Please. Trust me. Yer gonna die either way if Ah don't help." Pear looked down at his hemorrhaging leg and then up at Grass, who returned his look with a shrug.
"She's right. Either way you're on your way out. She can't screw that up." Grass looked back at Applejack. "Just be careful. If he dies there's not much hope for the rest of us."
"Concern duly noted Grass." Pear gave a humorless laugh.
"Alright, try an' hold still while I get this taken care of." Applejack pulled out a bottle of disinfectant and poured it in and around the wound. Pear jumped, gritting his teeth in agony. "Ah said hold still!"
"You try holding still when some crazy Appalachian bitch is pouring hellfire on your leg!" Pear yelled at Applejack before softening his expression. "Sorry, that was rude. Alright, keep going."
"Alright, but Ah ain't gonna be gentle ifn' ya call me that word again." Applejack scowled and reached for a compress. "Ah only ever let one stallion get away with callin' me that, and it ain't gonna be you."
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry." Pear held out a placating hoof. While Applejack tended to his injury, Dash was similarly taking care of Derpy. The grey pegasus had calmed enough that she wasn't hyperventilating anymore, but she was still in a state of shock.
"How's Derpy doin' back there, Dash?" Applejack called back with a bandage sticking out the side of her mouth.
"She's better, but I think this whole thing's a bit much for her." Dash fretted. "I mean, it's not like she's used to this sort of thing.
"Actually, I was meaning to ask you about that." Grass grunted. "You say you're from some idyllic land where nopony fights each other. How is it all three of you aren't screeching in terror? And how do you know how to treat a gunfire wound?"
"That'd take far to long to explain sugar cube. Just take mah word on it that we've seen some action."
"I'm not taking your word on anything, but I'd love to hear this story sometime. Assuming we don't eat shit in the next thirty or forty miles." Grass sarcastically quipped.
"Thirty or forty?! I thought you said the channel was only twenty miles!" Dash sputtered.
"The channel is only twenty miles. Well actually, that was a while back so by the looks of things it's more like five. The closest airstrip big enough to land this mechanical behemoth on is still a solid thirty to forty."
"Well crud." Dash frowned.
"Alright, that should do 'er." Applejack took a step away from Pear. "It ain't pretty, but the bleedin's stopped, and it'll hold 'til we can git ya a doctor."
"Thanks." Pear glanced down at his leg and flexed it slightly. "Still hurts like a sonofa... er like somepony's jabbing hot pokers into it, but not half bad."
"Yer welcome. All Ah ask in return is ya get us down safe." Applejack pointed a hoof at the rapidly approaching coast.
"That, I can't promise. The Germares may have given up, but this old tub's barely holding together not to mention..." Pear stopped speaking as one of the engines cut out on the right wing, sputtering a few times before seizing up. "Dammit. I really need to stop jinxing this thing."
"Can this thing still stay in the air with only two engines?" Dash looked up nervously.
"Technically she can stay in the air with only one, though at that point it's little more than assisted gliding. The tax on the engine at that point though almost assures that you'll be without power soon after. I'm sure we'll be fine though." Pear nodded to the mares and gave a smile, relaxing them visibly.
They flew in relative silence for the next few minutes, only the drone of the remaining power plants, and the odd desperate gasp for breath coming from Derpy audible. The channel passed under them, and at their low altitude they could smell the sea even over the scent of grease and smoke that filled the cockpit. Looking down, they could see the choppy waters filled with all manner of boats and vessels. A short while later they were approaching the opposite shore, and to the visible relief of the earth ponies, several new fighter craft approached them.
"What's goin' on? More o‘ them Germares?" Applejack bit her lip.
"No." Grass shook his head. "These are our guys. Our radio's out, so procedure is to fly up and make visual contact to make sure we're not the enemy or to see if we need assistance. Obviously with a bullet riddled bomber and only two props, we need help, but that's procedure." True to his word, a pair of fighters flew up and flanked the cockpit, their pilots close enough to be able to see the inhabitants of the bomber. The pilot and the pair of fighters exchanged a frantic series of hoof signals, including some shocked gesturing towards Applejack who was still up towards the front of the cockpit and could be seen by the others.
"What's goin' on? Ah take it they didn't expect to see anypony else in here?" Applejack raised her eyebrow.
"It's not so much that they didn't expect to see anypony, it's that they didn't expect to see a mare, especially one that nopony saw go up with the bomber." Grass shook his head. "However, they seem to be convinced everything is on the up-and-up and are radioing back to the base to have emergency crews standing by."
"That's great!" Dash smiled. "See? There was no reason for Derpy and I to just take off. We're all going to be just fine. I mean, we only have a few more..." She was cut off by a sputtering noise coming from outside. "...miles. What was that?"
"I knew it was too good to be true. We were only one good jinx away from crashing." Pear sighed and fruitlessly tapped the broken fuel gauge with his hoof. "I'm not completely certain, but I'd wager we're out of fuel. Engines are running on fumes." The sputtering noise ceased, followed by an eerie silence. "Annnnnnnd there they go. We're barely gliding now. Only a matter of time."
"What?!" Dash, Applejack and Grass all yelled at the same time.
"How can we be empty? We were taking it easy over Prance!" Grass continued.
"Yeah, but somepony decided it would be a good idea to dump half of our fuel reserves on a Kraut." Pear grumbled.
"Hey! That likely saved our hides! Have some sympathy!" Dash growled back.
"Yes, and now we're going to die anyways. I'm so thankful." Grass sarcastically quipped.
"Now everypony calm down! Ah have no idea how this flyin' tin can works, but there must be something we can do!" Applejack looked out the windshield, looking for a solution. "There! That river! How slow can you get this thing to go without pulling us out o' the air?"
"Maybe, and this is reaching but maybe as slow as fifty, anything slower than that and there won't be enough air flow over the wings." Pear waved a hoof. "What? We're going to jump in the water? Even at that speed and height it would be like hitting concrete. We'd be toast." Applejack flashed a grin.
"Dash, c'n ya fly that fast?" Applejack nodded to the pegasi.
"I have no idea what a mile is, but I can fly at least as fast as we're going now, not for long though." She shrugged. "If need be. Why?"
"We're just gonna have to chance it." Applejack pointed a hoof towards the river. "Take us along it!"
"You're either stupid, or crazy." Pear glanced back at the farmer. "I think I like you. If we do survive this, first round's on me." Pear gently angled the rapidly descending aircraft towards the river. Without the aid of the engines, the turn was even more laborious than the earlier one, but eventually they were flying nearly parallel with the water. "Alright, now what?"
"Dash, grab Grass first. Ah reckon he's the lightest one here. Head out the closest door the moment our speed drops low enough. Ah wager that we're only gonna have three shots at this. Go!" Applejack gestured towards the earth pony in question. Dash nodded and grabbed Grass by the shoulders.
"Hey, wait! What are you doing to me?!" Grass struggled to get free.
"Either relax, or I'll make you relax." Dash grimaced. "We're getting out of here." Grass calmed down enough for the Pegasus to grab him and flew to the closest hatch. Throwing it open, they could feel the wind ripping at them.
"Alright! Soon as we give the signal, slow down enough that he won't be injured and get low and dump 'em!" Applejack nodded to Dash, while Grass's eyes went wide.
"Wait, dump me?!" Grass looked down.
"Alright, we're sitting at fifty four!" Pear called. "I don't want to go any slower!"
"Dump me where?!" Grass was nearly screeching.
"Go!" Applejack cried. Dash stepped out and let wind resistance tear her away from the receding aircraft. Swooping low she gave a few flaps of her wings until she was around twenty feet above the river. Feeling her airspeed was slow enough, she prepared to jettison her cargo.
"No no no! You are not just going to drop me in that damn dirty river!" Grass cried.
"Sure am. See ya later!" Dash dropped the earth pony.
"You stupid stuck up…!" Several expletives were last words out of Grass's mouth before hitting the water. Dash barely hear them though, as she was already in hot pursuit of the bomber.
"Hot damn, she is fast!" Pear turned to face her. "Grass is ok?"
"Yeah, he and his dirty mouth will be fine. Alright, who's next?" Dash moved towards the front of the plane. Pear nodded towards Applejack.
"That'd be..."
"Pear." Applejack shook her head. "He's injured, and needs to be put down a might bit gentler."
"You're a civilian! You can't just..."
"Ah can, and Ah am. We're wasting time arguin'. Just go, I'll be along." Applejack frowned.
"Alright. Fine. You might need to make adjustments to the flight path though- just use the yoke." Pear stood and hobbled towards the back of the cockpit. Dash gently grasped him under the fore legs and carried him out the hatch. Applejack turned to Derpy.
"Alright, sugar cube. You should git a move on too. Dash'll be back for me any time now. Just hop on out." Applejack nodded to the door. To her dismay, Derpy didn't move. "Uh... Derpy?"
"I killed him. I don‘t even know who they were, or what they‘ve done. Did they have foals? I've been clumsy before, but I've never killed anypony because of it. What have I done?" Derpy continued looking at the floor, talking to herself. Applejack glanced forward and saw that the craft was starting to nose down. A moment later Dash reappeared.
"Alright, Applejack. Your turn. Let's go. You too Derpy." Dash beckoned to the pair.
"No, you'll have to take Derpy! She's still in shock!" Applejack waved a hoof frantically. "Hurry up, we don't have much time!"
"What about you?!" Dash cried.
"You're fast enough! You can get her out then come back to get me!" Applejack lied. "Just get her out!"
"Are you sure?!" Dash glanced between the two mares.
"Absolutely! Ah'll be fine!" Another lie.
"Alright then..." Dash grabbed the grey mare and headed for the door. "I'll be back faster than you can say 'Rainbow Dash'!" With that, she stepped out the door.
Applejack sat back and watched the scenery pass by. She gave a small chuckle and couldn't resist quietly muttering to herself.
"'Rainbow Dash’. Well, shoot. T’was a good run while it lasted. Ah guess mah luck was bound to run out sooner or later. Well, maybe she’ll get here in time yet.” Applejack stood, and started heading back towards the hatch on the side of the bomber. Looking back to the cockpit, she took one last look over the river and… felt her blood run cold. Up head, rising out of a bank of fog was a small town. Not as large as Ponyville, but large enough to house several hundred ponies. The farmer took a few nervous glances between the cockpit and the hatch and made up her mind.
Sprinting to the hatch, she slammed it shut and locked it down. If Dash did make it back in time she could be trapped in the doomed bomber, and Applejack didn’t want that on her head. Running back to the cockpit, she slammed herself into the pilot’s seat and grimaced. Taking a guess at the current speed of descent, the bomber would drop directly into the middle of the town, possibly killing dozens, if not hundreds. There was only one thing for it. She firmly grasped the yoke, and began to push it forward. The craft picked up a bit of speed, and began to slip downwards towards the river. Applejack gave a smile- flying this tin can wasn’t so hard. Heck, if she lived through this whole thing, she’d have loved to have learnt how it worked. That wasn’t to be it seemed, however. Taking another look out she could see that the bomber would now fall well short of the town on the bank.
“Big Mac, Applebloom… Ah’m sorry Ah won’t be coming home this time. It’ll be ok though. You’ll all be just fine.” Applejack closed her eyes. She heard some pounding on the hatch but ignored it. Dash was probably screaming and yelling. Stubborn mare, can’t a gal die in peace? As if on queue, the pounding stopped. Good. Applejack cracked open her eyes, and saw the approaching river. She settled back into her chair, grasped the underside of the seat, held on tight, and silently counted under her breath.
Three.
Two.
One.
As the bomber stuck the river, the force of the water smashed in the window, instantly filling the cockpit and slamming into Applejack. The water smashed against her, tearing her from the seat and the world plunged into darkness.
“Calm down, Trixie.” Twilight gently ran a hoof over the blue unicorn’s mane and brought her muzzle down next to the other mare’s ear. Trixie was currently bent over, on the verge of hyperventilation, and her eyes darted frantically around. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were standing off to one side. “We’re not here to lay blame, or chase you out of town again or anything of that sort. We just need to know what happened so we can try and figure this out.”
“B-b-but the princesses are coming, and when they find out what the great and powerful… no I mean what Trix… n-no I mean… when they find out what I’ve done, they’re going to be so angry. They’re going to lock me in prison or, worse, send me to the moon!” She could feel her heart racing a mile a minute and every breath was a struggle to draw in.
“They won’t do anything of the sort. If anything, they’re just going to ask you the same questions. If you tell us, then we can tell everything to Princess Celestia for you, if that makes you feel any better. Alright? No one is mad or angry at you.” Twilight cast her gaze at the remaining ponies in the square. “Right everypony?” The ponies all nodded. Dinky slowly walked up, tears in her eyes, and looked up at Trixie.
“I j-just want my mommy back. I don’t care what happened or h-how it happened. Anything you can tell us that can bring her home… please Trixie. Please.” The filly could barely contain her sobs, the pain and fear etched across her brow. Trixie glanced at the heartbroken foal and nodded, doing her best to stand up tall.
“A-alright. Alright.” Trixie removed her cape and turned to face Twilight. “I’ll try my best. After the last incident, I wanted to get back on my hooves and make a name for myself again. I went to Canterlot, to the royal archives, and started searching for spells. Nothing dark or powerful, mind you. I’ve seen enough of that to last me a lifetime. I was merely looking for cantrips and other incantations that would produce flashy or interesting effects.” Trixie slowly shook her head and then looked towards the sky, as if recalling the exact sequence of events that lead to the disappearance of the trio of mares.
“I found a few, and started weaving them into my show. I put on a few performances around Canterlot, and the new tricks were so well received that I just couldn’t help myself. I kept going back and looking for flashier and more amazing spells to wow my crowds with. Exhausting my options in the wing I had been doing my research in I moved on to the next. Again, nothing dangerous. The next wing I looked in had a wider variety of spells, some of which I passed over completely. Then I found this one.
“The description made it sound so benign- a spell that would allow you to craft a world of your choosing, though only to view it. I wasn’t aware if it actually generated such a world, or if it merely found a link to an existing one, but it sounded so amazing. It was listed under illusory magic, and I fully believed it was only in fun. I never could quite get it right though, so that’s why I asked you to help me with it. I don’t know if I misunderstood the spell, or if it had something to do with your involvement, but here we are.” Trixie felt a tear roll down her cheek. “I’ve likely killed two of Equestria’s greatest heroes and one of the most wonderful mothers. I’m so sorry, Twilight. I’m sorry, everypony.”
“It’s alright, Trixie. I’m sure the three of them are perfectly fine.” Twilight bit her lower lip, deep in thought on how to proceed. “Now, just out of curiosity, this spell… there were aspects of it I recognized. It wouldn’t happen to have been out of the Marechoir wing, was it?” A flash of recognition crossed Trixie’s eyes and Twilight’s ears flattened against her head. “Marechoir’s Magnificent Metaphysical Translocation Metamorphosis?”
“That… may have been the name of the spell.” Trixie saw the expression of worry on Twilight’s face. “Do you know anything about it?”
“Yes, I’ve come across it a few times.” Twilight sighed and looked towards Canterlot. She could vaguely make out the form of Celestia and Luna’s chariots approaching in the distance. “This… complicates things.”
Applejack’s eyes fluttered open and she took a deep breath. The morning sun was coming through her bedroom window, and she was nestled under the covers of her bed. Stretching her hooves, she slowly shook her head. All she could think of was the dream she had been having. She remembered… a magic show put on by Trixie. Then she, Rainbow Dash and Derpy had wound up in some strange world on a flying tin can that was slowly but surely falling apart. She was just about to die and then she woke up. Relief washed over her body. She was back home safe and sound. Glancing over the north orchard out the window she could see she had a long day of bucking ahead of her. Still, it was better than plummeting to her death. Grabbing her Stetson, she shed her blankets and attempted to stand, only to collapse to the floor as her rear left leg gave out behind her, excruciating pain washing over her body.
Confused, she turned her head to look at the offending limb and noticed an increasing pressure on her chest, slowly but surely choking out her ability to breathe. As her breaths became shallower and harder to take, panic began to fill her vision. What was going on? This wasn’t right. She felt like she had been slammed in the chest with a sledgehammer then was starting to drown. The walls of her room began to close in on her, and the bright sunlight Applejack had seen before was extinguished. A torrent of water poured through the open window, quickly filling the shrinking room that now trapped the cripple mare. She cried out for help only for the now oppressive water to drain down her throat. Her panic stricken eyes glazed over as her lungs filled her breathing passages.
“Applejack! Applejack!” Rainbow Dash was frantically shaking the mare, trying to force her awake. After the bomber started to nose down, she pulled herself away from the craft, watching in horror as it crashed into the river. Reacting as quickly as possible, she had flown down and swam through the now obliterated cockpit window, looking frantically for the entombed farmer. Fortunately for both, the bomber’s fuselage had cracked in half as the front end entered the water, and while the rear of the plane had disintegrated into a pile of scrap and wires, the cockpit had remained fairly intact. Applejack had been hurled clear of the front of the bomber on impact, and floated towards the back, knocked out on impact. Dragging her to shore, Rainbow saw a complete lack of life from Applejack. She began to furiously pound on her chest.
“Come on! Wake up! You have to wake up!” As Rainbow attempted to rouse the farmer, she failed to notice a visibly shaken Derpy and the two earth ponies come up behind her. Derpy wore a forlorn look, while the two other ponies glanced between themselves and frowned. “Don’t do this to us. We need to get home. We ALL need to get home.” Dash began pressing down on Applejack’s chest before ripping the flak jacket off. Returning to her compressions she pushed down over and over, harder and harder. Tears began to form in the cyan mare’s eyes. “You are not dying on me here. I’m not going to explain to Big Mac and Applebloom why I couldn’t save their sister. This is NOT happening!” Applejack began to go a pale blue colour, and Dash began to panic.
“Rainbow.” Pear walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “You should…”
“NO! I’m not stopping until she starts breathing. She can’t die here. She can’t!”
“I was going to suggest letting me try for a bit. We have training for this. Please, you’ve helped us. Let me help you.” Pear motioned towards the lifeless mare. Dash struggled with her emotions for a moment before relenting. Pear dropped down as quickly as he dared with his injured leg, stretched Applejack’s fore-legs out above her head, and began to resume compressions, more effectively than Rainbow’s amateur efforts had been. The other ponies watched on as the pilot focused on his compressions, watching the mare’s chest rise and fall with his pressure. Blocking out any distractions he started to silently count in his head. One, two, three, four, press. One, two, three, four, press. One, two, three, four, PRESS. One, two, three, four, PRESS. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, PRESS.
Furiously applying pressure, he pressed harder and harder, refusing to let the mare slip away if there was anything he could do about it. His fore-legs were burning, sweat was dripping off of his muzzle onto Applejack’s body, but he wasn’t going to give up. He wasn’t going to stop until the farmer woke or he passed out from exertion. The bandage on his leg loosened, and blood began to trickle out along the ground. Pear glanced down, snorted, and returned his focus to the mare in need. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, PRESS.
“C’mon, dammit. Cough it up. BREATHE DAMN YOU.” In frustration, and as a final act of desperation, Pear raised his fore-hooves above his head and slammed them down together on Applejack’s chest. To the shock of all around, a stream of water was violently ejected from the mare’s throat, her eyes flung wide open and she took a deep breath. “Applejack?! Applejack, are you alright?!” The mare sat up straight while Pare rubbed her back. She continued to cough and sputter for a few moments, gasping for air, before slowly turning to face the other ponies.
“Ah… Ah think Ah’m fine. Ah’m gonna be just fine.” As the adrenaline wore off, Applejack felt pain wash over her. Looking down, she could see her leg was bent at an odd angle, likely broken in the crash. She couldn’t help but scream, the pain was nearly intolerable. She screamed for a few moments longer before passing out from the pain. Derpy and Rainbow rushed to her side, checking her over as Pear pulled himself back to allow the mares to check over their friend. Applejack was alive, barely, but alive. As the two panicking mares debated frantically between themselves several vehicles pulled up.
“Alright you two, fore-hooves in the air where we can see them!” The pair turned to see a couple dozen armed guards carrying heavy armaments staring them down. Rainbow and Derpy slowly stood and complied, fear and shock etched onto their faces while Pear and Grass stood off to the side. Dash waved her hoof at the angry looking guards and tried to smile.
“Uh, hey guys. Think we can get a hand with our friend?”
