Applejack then leaned in, slipping her forehooves around Big
Macintosh in a loving hug. “I…just
wanted t’say, before I left,” she said, “I love you. So much.
You ‘n’ Granny Smith, you’ve taken such good care ‘o’ me, ever since I
was a filly, ‘n’….”
Even as
he hugged her right back, Big Macintosh shook his head. “Nope,” he said, “You ain’t got nothin’ t’say
t’me now you can’t say when you get back.”
To her
own surprise, Applejack laughed a little at that.
The Moon Princess frowned, feeling anxious all over; she was
not used to this kind of uncertainty from Celestia. It shook Luna to her core not to have the
pillar of strength she had so often turned to in the past, especially when she
needed it so much now.
...she was still shaken at the knowledge that her rebirth
as Nightmare Moon was tied to the dark power wielded by their new enemy, but
where normally she had her sister to turn to for strength, Celestia instead
seemed burdened with doubts of her own.
Yet despite that, she found her way to Celestia’s side,
sitting down next to her and looking up at the same image. “Sister...” she said after a moment’s
silence, “there is…much about your choice to let Twilight Sparkle go I do not
understand….”
Celestia
looked to her, smiling wearily but giving her sister the silence to
continue. “
The
Moon Princess frowned, unaccustomed to seeing her sister so distressed. Combined with her own doubts in light of what
she had learned about Tirek, it left the younger alicorn with a keen sense of
confusion and uncertainty. Yet despite
that, she found her way to Celestia’s side, sitting down next to her and
looking up at the same image.
“Thank you,” she said, “All of you. This isn’t….”
“Save
the speeches, Twilight,” Rainbow interrupted.
“We’ve got a job to do first.”
Scorpan stopped walking, fixing his eyes on the dragon’s in
a heart-stopping stare.
“This is our destiny,” he said
lowly, “They were born to be conquered.
And we,” he gestured both to himself and to Spike, “were born to conquer
them.”
“You know this place,” the ape-beast told him then, “Every
instinct in your body knows this place.
It is your nature.”
His
first instinct was to contradict that idea, but Spike had to admit there was an
element of truth to it; something about their surroundings did seem
strangely…”right” now that he’d had a moment to consider it. “The age of the Sun is ending,” Scorpan
continued, “and the age of Eternal Night is ready to begin. This is the gift my Master has given to that
Pony. The gift he will give to all
Ponies.”
“Um…what the hay does that even mean?” Rainbow suddenly
popped up next to Twilight, tone as flat as her expression.
They were getting closer and
closer to the clouds as Twilight began her explanation. “OK, remember what Gilda told us?” she said,
simultaneously empowered and terrified by the fact that she now had every one
of her companions’ undivided attentions
“This…this is it,” Gilda said, gently floating away from
Rainbow, “This is the other world. I can
feel it.”
“Then our next step is findin’ that ‘Castle Midnight’ you
were talkin’ about,” Applejack said firmly, already beginning to steer the
balloon forward.
Rarity, however, approached the Earth Pony with a gentle
look in her eyes, caution in her tone.
“Perhaps the best way to do that is to get a better feel for our new
surroundings before rushing ahead,” she said as politely as she could.
“We certainly don’t want to stay in any one place too long,”
they heard Rarity say as she folded the now-emptied balloon over and over
again, miraculously getting it smaller and smaller, “If those dreadful beasts
from before are hanging about in the skies, who knows what could be waiting for
us here on the ground?”
Fluttershy
whimpered a little at that,
That got a groan from Rainbow. “Explore?
On hoof? With no flying?” she
moaned in annoyance.
Twilight
rolled her eyes a little. “You can fly,
Rainbow, just not too high, or too fast,” she said.
Watching the sad little display, Trixie gave an impatient
little cluck. “Oh very well, you may
shiver however you want,” she said, waving a hoof at the little filly, “and you
may even talk-“
“T-that ain’t fair!” Apple Bloom yelped before she could
stop herself.
“And
talking is definitely a violation!” Trixie snapped right back.
The
young Earth Pony groaned in irritation.
She briefly considered shutting up again, but having already gotten this
far, what harm could going any further do?
At the very least, talking might well help warm her up. “C’mon, Ms. Trixie!” she pleaded sharply, “
As she tried to process how to answer, the filly found her
thoughts turning to a scary night during a ferocious storm. She could still remember the lightning
flashing so bright, the thunder roaring so loud. She could remember hiding under her sheets
every time the trees moaned or the wind picked up. But most of all, she could remember
Applejack, sitting right there with her on the bed, with the most serene smile
that never wavered no matter how badly the storm raged outside. And thinking of that, Apple Bloom found what
to say.
Rainbow stomped past her unicorn friend with an unimpressed
look. “Which’d be great if we were on a
camping trip, but we’ve got a mission here!” she said.
“I promise…I’ll always look after her, no matter what!”
Applejack blinked a bit in surprise, shaking her head at
just how clearly that fillyhood memory had rung through her ears. Almost as if it hadn’t been a memory, but an
actual voice, speaking from somewhere nearby.
Immediately suspicious, the farm-pony’s eyes scanned over the darkened
landscape carefully, but saw nothing new or out of the ordinary. “Whatever ‘out of the ordinary’ means in a
place like this,” Applejack thought.
“Gilda! We’ve
got to help Applejack first!” the timid pegasus could hear the words in her
mind, but it was a surprising struggle to get them spoken; the fear pounding
through her over the current crisis found itself mixing with her old fear of
the surly griffon, and together they kept her quiet.