The Legacy and the Remnant

by Tiggakun

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Sad, Main 6, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Adventure, Tragedy, Princess Celestia
Length: 6917

Equestria is assaulted by a very old association. Whether they were friend or foe, time has changed them.

(ATTENTION: PRINCESS TWILIGHT This story is set before Twilight turns into a alicorn.
Some time has passed since the fall of the Changeling queen, followed up by years of peace. Time has healed wounds and calmed nervous souls, but also drifted friendship apart. As if it was waiting for the exact moment where wounds were not completely closed and friendship was dangerously unstable, a certain forgotten force emerges from the darkness.

Published 2014-01-25 02:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-23 05:17:10 UTC

Prologue

Twilight Sparkle paced around her bedroom hastily. She was indeed tired, but more worried.
“I feel……..terrible.” Those were the words she coughed out before she collapsed into her bed.
“Uhhh……....so the sleeping pills don’t work again?” Spike mumbled quietly, but loud enough for the exhausted unicorn to hear. It was early morning in Ponyville. Perhaps too early in the morning.
“No Spike……….. I feel like…..something terrible is going on, and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at….” Before she could finish her sentence, Twilight closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Spike was relieved to see the purple mare finally getting some sleep. It has been nearly 3 days since Twilight last went to sleep, and she took sleeping pills that day. They saw a doctor, but she was the picture of health, with the lack of sleep as an exception. In the following days, Twilight was never able to relax. Even sleeping pills recommended by the doctor didn’t work. But it didn’t matter now. She was now sleeping, and she will be able to rest at least for now. Spike took one last glance at Twilight, before climbing into his basket to get some sleep himself.

It was constantly busy on the grand streets of Canterlot, the home of many prosperous ponies, as well as the center of Equestrian civilization. Despite the loud city noises, it was dead silent behind the massive walls of the royal castle, ruled by the 2 regal sisters. The trained royal guards were barely noticeable in the night, even with their gold armor. The defense seemed impenetrable, at least from the outside………
It was eerily dark in the castle quarters. The hallways were decorated in the finest of marbles, and the rarest of gems. At the end of the extensive hallway, was the entrance to the royal bedroom. Everything seemed to be in place as usual, but something was missing. The guards, the elites responsible for guarding the royal bedroom no matter what cost, were all missing.
Behind the massive doors, Princess Celestia was sprawled out on the fine carpet. Next to the soulless body of the princess, stood the very pony who was responsible for this. Content with the results, the unicorn let out a smile. An innocent, bright smile as if she was finally released from a trauma. It was almost the scheduled time for Celestia to raise the sun. Time was running out. Without a second of thought, the unicorn disappeared into thin air. The dark, cold morning confirmed it. Princess Celestia, the sun god, was dead.
The death of a god concludes the Equestrian chapter of peace and harmony.
The chapter of division and war, is about to begin.

Author's Note

A rather long story that I've been building up in my mind for a while. Might be chewing more than I can swallow, but we'll see. I'm new to editing, so pointing out grammatical errors would be great, and I'd be more than happy to see constructive criticism.

Chapter 1

“Luna, listen to me. You will have to keep order, and protect our royal subjects.” Twilight knew that voice too well. It took her eyes a while to adjust to the rather dimly lit room, but soon she saw her mentor speaking to a shady figure.

“Tia, what are you saying?”

Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?

“It will be up to you to keep this civilization intact, and please be patient with Twilight. It will take a while for her to accept the truth.” Twilight wanted to speak. She wanted to know what she had to do in this conversation. But she couldn’t. Her mouth wouldn’t move.

“Tia, what do you mean it will be up to me? We are both going to rule Equestria together!” The sisters acted as if they couldn’t see Twilight.

“Good luck and I’m sorry little sister.” As each word escaped from her, the already dim room began to darken even more. Princess Celestia’s body began to fade along with it.

“Tia? Tia!!!........” The voices began fading, as the room became pitch black. Suddenly, Twilight lost all balance in her body, and collapsed to the ground, as if an invisible force knocked her out. Even in the dark room, she could feel the world around her beginning to fall apart…..

The sun rose that morning with an hour of delay. Everypony was puzzled by the peculiar incident. For over a week, the newspapers’ front page was filled with the rumors of Princess Celestia, and “professional’s” theory on why it was caused.
Unfortunately, the only theories that made a little bit of sense were either that the incident was a mischief by one’s deceit, or the princess simply made a mistake, a mistake for the first time ever in a millennium. The newspapers began writing nasty articles about the princess.

“SUBJECTS DEMAND EXPLANATION” That was the heading on the front page.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake……” Twilight groaned in annoyance as she read. “Professionals? More like lunatics… So she made a tiny mistake for the first time. It’s just an hour of delay! Why do they have to all pile up and criticize her like she doesn’t know about Equestria at all in the first place?”

As the days passed, the headings got worse, and in the 5th paper after the incident,

“PRINCESS CELESTIA; DOES SHE DESERVE TO RULE OVER EQUESTRIA?”

“It’s come to this!!!” Twilight ripped the paper into shreds with her magic, and tossed them onto the floor. Some of the bits were on fire. She was indeed, enraged by the other ponies’ sudden lack of royalty to their princess.

“But...” Twilight wondered. In these kinds of occasions, the princess would send a letter to Twilight immediately. Maybe something bad has happened to her.
Suddenly, the words from last night’s dream ran across her mind. Twilight felt a sudden urge to write to the princess. As she picked up her quill with her magic, she heard another familiar voice. Spike was calling from downstairs.

“Hey I’m back! While I was at the market, a letter from the princess arrived!”

About time, Twilight thought as she got up to head downstairs.

(A week back in Canterlot)

“No…this can’t be happening…” Luna stared blankly at the lifeless body of her royal sister.

This must be a dream.

“Haha…okay, joke’s over…come on sister…”

This has to be a dream.

“Tia, please! It’s not funny anymore!”

Please, this needs to be a dream.

She didn’t want to believe it. There were no signs of Celestia breathing, or any sort of life left in the body.

“Tia……”

This wasn’t a dream.

Luna collapsed to the floor, tears flowing freely from her eyes with devastation and grief. She honestly didn’t know what to do. After minutes of staring into her sister’s blank eyes, thoughts began pouring into her.
Without her, who will raise the sun? Who will lead the government? How should Luna tell everypony about this? Worst of all, how will Equestria remain as a civilization without a ruler?
Then, Luna remembered the dream she had last night. She remembered exactly what Celestia has told her in the dream.

“Luna, listen to me. You will have to keep order, and protect our royal subjects.”

She has watched Celestia attend the meeting. She has watched Celestia raise the sun. Luna has watched Celestia rule Equestria ever since she was released from the conscience of Nightmare Moon.

After another minute or so of silence, Luna got up to her hooves. The news of death must not be out in public right now. She stared at the empty body for another minute, until tears starting welling up again.

No.
Luna turned back to the massive door and stepped outside, gently closing the door behind her. There was no time to waste. The sun was supposed to rise half an hour ago. Then she remembered another thing Celestia has told her in the dream.
“It will be up to you to keep this civilization intact, and please be patient with Twilight. It will take a while for her to accept the truth.”
Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. If there was anyone else who needed to know about this, it was her. She was her sister’s prized pupil and the wielder of the Element of Magic after all. She had to write to Twilight Sparkle, but not now. Luna had a sun to raise.

“The carrots were only 3 bits today.” Spike said as she handed the letter to Twilight. “Last week was what, like 5 bits?”
Spike has grown quite a bit in the past years. His voice was getting lower, and he was already taller than Big Macintosh. Rarity was already aware of Spikes secret crush on her, but the shy dragon had still kept it a secret.
“Thank you Spike.” Twilight smiled. He may have changed in looks, but for her, Spike was still the number one assistant.
“It’s been a while since the princess last sent you a letter huh? I thought she……”
The conversation stopped dead on it tracks as spike pulled out a half burned carrot out of the bag.
“Oh…..heh, I think it was the fire when the letter…uh…. Um….well there goes another 3 bits.”
Twilight couldn’t hold back her laugh. Spike seemed a bit upset at first, but soon after they shared a nice laugh.
“It’s alright, it’s just one carrot.” Twilight chuckled as she opened the scroll. Spike always seemed to lighten up the mood.
The letter was short. The letters were messed up with unnecessary letters scattered everywhere, while the paper itself was ripped up and some of the inks were faded.
“Deaewtar Twiligdsa……parkle, I speak ………….of great urgedaghncy. ……………. to Casefanterlot immfagaediately. A royal …………………. soon in Phaeshnyville towhsehn ……………….ruly, Luna.”
Twilight felt her stomach twist and turn. From Princess Luna, and not Princess Celestia. What has happened? She turned to Spike.
“Spike, pack up. We’re going to Canterlot. I’m not sure how long we’ll stay. About a week worth of stuff will do. Princess Luna needs us.” Spike was rather surprised by this.
“Princess Luna needs us? Why not Celestia?”
“I’m not sure. It says it’s a matter of great urgency. Now hurry, the chariot is supposed to arrive at the town square any moment now!”
“Um…alright!”
Twilight was prepared for the worst.

Chapter 2

Chrystalis, the changeling queen dragged her hooves aimlessly across the endless forest of the Everfree. Since the day that her minions were defeated by the love of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor and was blasted to the middle of nowhere, she has been looking for her faithful minions that have scattered all throughout Equestria. However, even after all the time she has wandered the land, she found nothing that resembled to her minions. Over the years, the changeling queen's anger was replaced by regret.

There was plenty of love all over Equestria...why did I go for the most dangerous, a damned royal wedding?

Chrystalis was an immortal. She didn't need any love to survive. Therefore her craving of love has deceased, leaving her as nothing more than a lonely soul without any purpose.

What am I going to do...?

Her train of thoughts came to a sudden stop when she heard a cheerful voice.

"Hello there."

Chrystalis turned around to see where the voice came from. All she saw first were trees, but soon she found a figure resting under a tree.

Was she there the whole time? Chrystalis couldn't feel her presence at all.

"Do you go by the Changeling Queen, or is just Chrystalis okay?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Chrystalis just stood there, speechless until her senses kicked back in.

"What is it you require, sweetie?" she tried to keep her chilling, stern tone, but the shaded figure seemed to find her attitude humorous.

"Is that a yes?" As the figure got back on its hooves, it spoke again, this time in a more commanding tone. "Target confirmed, take it down."

Before Chrystalis could figure out what was going on, she suddenly felt all her muscles give up on her. With no strength left to stay up on her hooves, Chrystalis collapsed on the cold soil of the Everfree.

"Come on!!! Where the hay is the chariot? Twilight was getting quite irritated by the delay. "IT's already been an hour since the planned arrival!!!"

Spike seemed to be the patient one at the moment. "I don't know...maybe they're having some trouble?"

"...." Twilight slumped her head down, and let out a brief sigh.

After a moment of awkward silence, Twilight suddenly turned and started trotting away from the town square.

"Hey, what's the matter!?" Spike called out. "The Chariot can get here any moment!"

"Just follow me!!!" Twilight yelled back in a rather irritated tone.

It was just a dream...but...

Something wasn't right. There was a nagging feeling screaming at her that something was wrong. Twilight quickened her pace as she trotted to the train station, but she stopped as a thought ran across her mind. Spike managed to maneuver the unicorn before tripping over his own foot and went crashing down.

What if the princess really was in danger? Can I really take down whatever the source of the danger is by myself?

"What is it this time?" Now Spike was the irritated one, while Twilight just stood there silent for a moment.

"Lets go get everyone."

"Say what?" Spike asked, confused.

"Let's go get everyone else before we board the train!" Twilight replied hastily.

"Wait, what? Train? What train? Everyone, you mean Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack, and most importantly Rarity!? Sorry Twilight, I got no idea what you're going on about. Also, does that mean we can meet Rarity?"

"JUST. FOLLOW. ME." The last time Spike saw Twilight this caught up was at the royal wedding, when she saved Equestria from the horde of Changelings, and their Queen.

Maybe it's something like that, Spike thought briefly, but that also meant that Equestria was in danger.

"Spike, come on!!!" Spike now noticed the serious look on the violet mare's face.

"Ugh....alright, wait up!"

The sun was about the disappear behind the mountains from Canterlot's view. The tangerine light poured though the windows of the castle, creating a beautiful pathway replacing the dark castle hallways. Celesta's day was about to end, and Luna's evening was about to begin.

At least, that's how it was supposed to be.

Luna galloped through the castle corridors, her body now covered in painful bruises and cuts. All the royal guard mangled and tossed in the sides. She turned back to her current foe.

It was a young unicorn mare. It gave Luna chills when she saw the innocent smile on her face. Her red mane resembled not roses, but blood. Her white coat was nothing like Celestia's white coat. While the sun goddess' coat resembled beauty and warmth, this mare's coat was a soulless white, as if every little thing has been washed out of her.

"What's the matter, 'Princess'?" She spoke in the soft voice, but for Luna it sounded as if she was mocking her. "Have you been hiding behind your big sister for too long? Come get me."

Luna glanced at the sword the mare was holding. It was a stone sword, the sides chipped looking as if it would not cut, but grind the skin it strikes. Luna knew exactly what it was.

"Oh, this? Come on," The mare raised her sword. "It's just a broken useless sword."

"For normal ponies, that is." Luna glared at the cheerful unicorn. "Nice try."

"Aww." The mare frowned, but it looked more like a childish pout. "Okay then."

As if the gears had been switched, Luna could feel the playful aura of the mane escaping from her body, leaving just the threat, With a cold, but soft voice, as if she was singing,

"Eliminate goddess."

As the voice escaped her mouth, all the nearby doors burst open, revealing dozens of ponies in heavy armor, each wielding deadly weapons. The castle royal guards regained their conscience once more, but seemed to be confused with the new guests. Luna stared at the newcomers for a couple moments, but sighed in disappointment.

"Seriously, aren't you underestimating this failure of a princess a bit too much?"

Before the armed mobs could process what Luna just said, they saw the mare leading the mobs disappear in a split second. When they turned their attention back to Luna, they were met with an inevitable force that struck everypony in the hall, causing them to go flying to the other side of the corridor.

When Luna's vision cleared, she could see the intruders all the way on the other side of the hall; some were even thrown out the window. However, the castle guards were not harmed. They just sat there, dumbfounded. Luna was not worried about any of the guards. She had something else to be concerned about.

The white mare. The young unicorn that lead the group, was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm over here, you know..."

Luna snapped her attention behind her, where the disappointed voice was coming from. But she couldn't see the mare. She could only see the mare's front right hoof, hurling towards her. Luna's vision shook violently as the hoof crashed into her left temple. Luna wielded one of the most powerful magic in the universe, but she was not used to close range combat. She could barely keep her eyes open as she fell onto the cold floor.

The mare's move wasn't over yet. She raised both her front hooves, and crushed Luna's wings.

"....!!" Luna grimaced in sharp pain, but she did not waste even a single moment. She teleported several feet away from the mare, as she prepared her next attack. But as the wounded alicorn fixed her sight on the target, the mare was already couple of inches away from her, pulling her hoof back, and this time she had a stone sword in her mouth, ready to strike.

How did she....!?

Backup plan. Luna did not want to cause any severe injury on any of her or her sister's royal subjects, even they were killing her. But she couldn't think of any other choices, other than to attack at the moment. This way was much faster, but more deadly and painful. Luna concentrated her magic in her left hoof, and willed it to strike the mare in the upper abdomen. Even if her hooves lacked in physical power, her magic could crush it into the opponent and at the same time, bluntly pull her own muscle. Without a single sign of hesitation, Luna smashed her hoof into the hostile unicorn. She rolled a few feet away from Luna, coughing and wheezing. The stone sword clattered near the mare.

That should have broken a couple ribs....!?

Luna gasped as she witnessed the mare just get right back up on her hooves, as she spoke.

"Grrr....Watch it moon princess, that swords more like an antique than a weapon...you almost broke it." She didn't care about the fact that she was in agonizing pain, or that she was bleeding from her mouth. She picked up the sword once more.

"Well...more like an instant death machine for you!!!"

The mare bolted towards the princess once more, this time not concentrating her power on her hoof, but gaining momentum on the sword. As the unicorn wielding the so called "instant death machine" shortened the distance, thoughts flew around Luna's mind.

This unicorn...whoever she's working for...she's no doubt skilled in close range combat.

But that wasn't the only thing that concerned Luna.

Why hasn't she used any magic at all? But that sword...with that in her hooves, I'll just end up being pushed back, probably ending up dead.

As a conclusion, it was apparent that this mysterious mare wasn't unleashing her full potential. Luna took the only move she could think of. She concentrated the last of her magical force to create an explosion that shook the entire castle, and jumped out the window. She didn't have enough time to concentrate magic for teleportation. After a melee that was more than intense for her, she wasn't even sure if she was in a state that unicorns, if not alicorns could concentrate any magic. It was only the second floor window she jumped out of, but with mangled wings, her hooves met the rather stale dirt with enough velocity for another wave of pain. Again, Luna was not used to combat, nor was she used to landing from such a height. With broken wings and a disturbed mind, she gingerly dragged herself out of the enemy's sight, into the darkness of the gardens.

With mortifying thoughts, she wondered.

What would have Tia done in time like this?

Author's Note

Pretty intense eh? More to come sooner or later, but again, grammatical errors are to be pointed out, and constructive criticism is appreciated. How's the lines dividing the scenes? Well, I'll keep refining.

Chapter 3

The sun had set by a delay of 30 minutes. The moon was barely visible behind the mountains. It was dark as ever inside the Canterlot Castle. Everything was still in the hallways, including the lifeless corpses of the royal guards. They were slaughtered, bled to death, scorched to death, pierced to death, and tossed in the side. Not a single life could be sensed out in the atrium.

But out of the shadows, a royal pegasus guard revealed himself to the faint moonlight, coming from the windows. His lance was raised and ready to strike any target. He was new to the whole job of serving as a royal guard. He just passed his training a couple of weeks ago. Now because of the attack, he was one of the very few survivors.

For fucks sake...am I really the only one alive here?

He truly didn't know what to do, or where he even was. It was nowhere near his post, that was for sure. He found his comrades, all dead, missing. He felt truly helpless and weak in the darkness. If it wasn't for his natural calm personality, he would be on his knees, begging for mercy on whatever was causing this.

Suddenly, the dead silence was broken by a shriek, most likely to be a stallion's. The guard turned to see where it came from, but nothing was visible in the darkness. His heart skipped when he heard a metal clang behind him from the back hallways. The stallion spun around to see what caused the sound. But before he could fix his sight behind him,

something pierced his left eye.

After a millisecond of another silence, the guard let out a pain filled screech. It was another lance. Similar to his, but this one was far more jagged, rusted, dirty, and now blood trickled down its blade.

The ambush wasn't over yet. Before the guard could make out another scream, the lance was shoved further in, grinding through his head, piercing through his very skull, and bursting the other side of his heavy helmet open with unreasonable strength. There was no way the rookie guard was moving by now. The lance completely penetrated his head, ending up on the other side, with remnants of shredded flesh on the tip of the blade. A faint glow on the handle of the lance was visible.

Unicorn magic.

Out of the other side of the moon-lit atrium, another guard, this time more heavily guarded, trotted out of the shadows and approached the now motionless body. With a hint of magic, he violently yanked his lance, bringing all the flesh and blood with it. The lifeless body with half of it's face missing, had nothing to support it any longer, and fell to the cold tiles, making a splattering noise as the insides spread out on the castle floor.

"Aaaaaand flesh to clean up. Wasn't there a better way to seize the bastard?"

A low, tired, and unmotivated voice echoed through the room. The heavily armed pony looked up to face a stallion staring at him from the shadows.

"Oh...forgive me your highness." The armed pony scrambled up to its hooves and lowered his head. Another voice, this time a young, cheerful mare's voice came from behind the stallion.

"Oh come on dude, it's just a guard. Besides," The mare grinned, "I shouldn't be the only one who gets to have all the fun." She was covered with cuts and bruises, but didn't seem to care. Fresh blood trickled down her hooves, however it was not hers.

The stallion chuckled. "Well yeah, but we already killed the peasants here, so we don't want to make anymore mess. The stallion didn't even give one look at the mare's wounds. "So anyways..." The old stallion's attitude changed, this time to a more serious tone of voice. "How did it go?"

"Well, as you can see..." The mare gave an awkward look, "I was about to get her, but then she decided to go all ragnarok on me. I saw her horn get all sparkly and the whole place went BOOM! The guards were like WHOAAAA and I was like WHAAAAT and then...." The stallion cut her off.

"So...she got away."

"Yup!"

"...you should at least sound sorry."

"Okay..."

The stallion shifted out of the shadows, showing his presence. His mane was a shaded brown color, but his coat matched the mare's mane, blood red.

"Screw it. As long as we can keep her out of the rest of the world we're good." The stallion gave a sly look. "Now you go on with your next matter. I'll greet the rest of the gang when they get here."

The mare turned around and began pacing back into the shadows, but turned once more. "Uhh, what's her name again?"

The stallion answered without moving, facing away from her. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Alrighty then!" The mare began her steady trot once more. The stallion called out from behind her.

"Don't fail us. We're counting on you, Garnet."

"Whatever." That said, the mare disappeared once again into the shadows.

The stallion slowly glanced up at the moon, now directly above him, as he let out another menacing grin.

Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. The element of Magic, and the main piece of the puzzle. The puzzle that held this disgusting empire together, and is now on its way to ruin. When all the pieces have assembled, it'll be my pleasure to smash it into pieces.

Chapter 4

Twilight slowed down her pace as she rushed past the houses. Though she was caught up and in a hurry, she remembered that the gang couldn't just all get together like old times.

"Finally...jeez, you finally slowed down," Spike caught up to Twilight. "So, who do we start with?"

"Rainbow Dash is away from Ponyville for a couple more days for the Wonderbolts, and I remembered Rarity saying something about leaving for Canterlot to buy supplies...." Twilight glanced towards the direction of Canterlot. "It feels like...we haven't been too close together after the wedding."

"Come on Twilight, it's just that everyone's busy with their own...things." Spike replied.

"Sure, we all have our own lives to get back to, but weren't we all a part of each of those lives?" Twilight glanced down at her hooves and sighed.

"Don't worry Twi, it's not like friendship fades that easily..." Spike gave a reassuring smile before Twilight snapped back to her senses. "Oh...I just went on complaining didn't I? I'm sorry Spike, you shouldn't have to listen to my rants. Anyways, lets start with Fluttershy. I'm sure she'll hop right in!

_______________________________________________________

Fluttershy waved as a mailpony trotted away. She got an unusual abundance of letters today. Some from her old fans when she was dragged by Photo Finish through her model career, and another from Photo Finish herself about getting Fluttershy back in business, and one from Rainbow Dash about coming back soon from the Wonderbolts camp, which she opened and read immediately. One particular envelope with an emblem of a crescent moon stood out among the remaining letters.

Who could this be from?

Inside the envelop was a single parchment paper with just a couple blunt sentences written on it.

A sudden urgent matter. Presence is expected. Prepare for departure.

Fluttershy stared at the letter for quite some time before she heard somepony knocking on her door.

Rainbow Dash? She's back earlier than I expected.

However, instead of her flamboyant Pegasus friend, she was greeted by Twilight. "Oh, hi Twilight!" Though it wasn't Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy was still delighted to see a good friend of her's. It had been a couple weeks since Fluttershy directly talked to one of her best friends. She could see Spike all the way in the back, out of breath. "What brings you here?"

"Hello Fluttershy, how are your animals?" Twilight too, was glad to hear Fluttershy's soft voice. However, there wasn't much time for idle talk. "I'd love to keep on chatting, but we got a world to save."

"....?" Fluttershy stared at Twilight for a couple of seconds. "H-hold on...I'll be right back..." Fluttershy trotted back to the table to check to see if the letter was still there. "Twilight, did you send....?"

"What was that!?" Twilight yelled back from the doorway.

Fluttershy pondered in thought for a moment. "Erm...nothing!!" She figured her lavender friend wouldn't send such a letter in a urgent matter to "save a world".

By the time Fluttershy came back to the door, Spike finally caught up. "Hey...Flutter....shy..." He gasped out her name before Twilight cut him off. "Anyways Fluttershy, pack up enough stuff for a week-or-so stay at Canterlot and meet met at the station in exactly 30 minutes from now, alright? Let's go get Applejack now, Spike." With that said, Twilight galloped away, leaving Spike in the dust. "Bye....Fluttershy...." Spike proceeded to crawl after Twilight's trail.

Fluttershy just stood there for a while, rooted to the floor, processing what Twilight had told her.

So we're staying in Canterlot for a week? What's happening over there?

After a minute of silence, Fluttershy couldn't keep the laughter inside. It felt like it had been a long time since she saw Twilight running around the small town, gathering attention, going on about saving Equestria.

"Just like old times...isn't it?" After gently shutting the door, Fluttershy heard papers rustling behind her. "Angel, please stop messing with the le-" She decided not to go on, since it wasn't her cute Angel bunny looking through the letters, but a unicorn cloaked in red, staring at the envelop with the crescent on it. He slowly shifted his attention towards Fluttershy, but his hood hid most of his face, only revealing his snout. "Ms. Fluttershy?" He spoke in a calm, but demanding tone. "Wielder of the Element of Kindness. Your presence is expected at Canterlot immediately."

Fluttershy couldn't help but give a doubtful look at the unexpected guest.

Who is...how did he...? I don't remember leaving anywhere open...

Soon she managed to build enough courage to speak. "Um...excuse me, but who are you?"

"Who I am does not matter. What you should worry about is getting ready to come with us." The stallion quickly replied. Fluttershy could not trust this unicorn at all. She decided to keep quiet about Twilight, and she was just about ready to chase this intruder out of her house.

Twilight didn't say anything about this...

So, she decided to mare up. "Look here, Mister." Fluttershy stared right into where she assumed the stallion's eyes would be. "I'm not going to follow a stranger all cloaked up, who showed up in my living room without notice or permission. You won't even tell me who you are! If you thought that the Wielder of the Element of Kindness was such a pushover, you have another thing coming for you."

"If my attempt at secrecy have offended you, I owe you a sincere apology." The stallion bowed his head, unfazed of Fluttershy's change of attitude. "I assure you, everything will be explained when we are safe. For now, we must leave this area at once. My subordinate is currently keeping an eye out for pursuers. He should be back any-"

"Stop it right there!!!" A voice roared from the door as it was slammed open.

Fluttershy spun around to see 3 royal guards standing at the doorway, two on the side with helmets covering their faces, and one in the middle with a face she knew too well.

Fluttershy gasped. "Shining Armor? What are you...doing here?" Indeed, it was Twilight's brother, with a menacing look on his face.

"Step away from her right now, or you'll go through what he did." Shining Armor dragged an unconscious pony cloaked in red, just like the one behind Fluttershy.

"That's my subordinate. Well...there's no talking out of this now." Fluttershy could hear the stallion whisper behind her.

Suddenly, Fluttershy collapsed. She felt every muscle give up on her, as she hit the cold floor, unsure of what was exactly happening. She could see Shining armor and the rest of the royal guards rushing towards the cloaked stallion behind her, with swords drawn and spears pointed towards him.

Before Fluttershy fell unconscious, she heard the cloaked stallion yell out before charging towards the guards.

"JUST LIKE OLD TIMES, ROYAL BASTARDS!!!"

_____________________________________________________________

Applejack glanced at the sunrise, illuminating the apple trees in a soft tangerine light. Another day filled with work. That was all that was going in her life now.

Granny Smith has passed couple years ago. The youngest, Applebloom still couldn’t accept her grandmother’s death. Applejack still saw her weeping alone, holding the picture of Granny Smith tight in her hooves. Working, working, and more working. Since the day that apple prices have dropped drastically, the Apple family’s wages dropped with it, leaving Applejack for overwork. Her tired hooves ached constantly, combined with sleepless nights.

Big Macintosh was terminally injured in his back left hoof right after Granny’s funeral, in his part time shift at a construction site. He couldn’t buck apples at the rate he used to be able to. He insisted that he would be better use finding other jobs than pulling the family’s leg in the farm, so he was working in constructions in the day and working under the tables in a bar at night.
Applejack still managed to make enough money for Applebloom’s tuitions, but other than school Applebloom was also working all day long, and sometimes all night. Nothing was stable as it was long ago, along with her own friendship with the others.

Twilight found Applejack, bucking apples with the help of her little sister, Applebloom.

“Thank ya Applebloom. How ‘bout we go back inside for a break?” Twilight heard Applejack chuckle as she saw Applebloom trot ahead of her into the barn.

“Hello Applejack!” Twilight called out. "Hey Applejack!" Spike called out. Applejack froze for a moment, but turned around and gave a rather uneasy smile back at Twilight. “Why howdy there, Twi and Spike! What brings ya here?”

“Oh, I just stopped by to visit. How’s everypony doing?” Twilight glanced up at the barn. The once well-kept barn was covered in cracks and dented. It seemed it was barely staying up.

“Good.” Applejack answered with a bit of sorrow in her tone, as she also glanced up at the barn. “Heh…maybe it’s time for repaint...but sorry Twi, I gotta get to work, those apples don’t buck themselves…now if you’ll excuse me…”

“Applejack...I need your help.” Twilight looked straight into Applejack's eyes.

Applejack gave another obvious faked smile, as she chuckled uneasily. “Oh...sorry Twi, maybe later...”

A brief moment of silence followed after. The two mares glanced towards the sky.

“So…” Twilight broke the awkward silence. She felt like she needed to keep the pace and catch up before asking further for assistance. “How’s Big Mac?”

“Oh he’s doin’ alright.” Applejack kept her answers short and blunt.

“Applejack…” Twilight gave another uneasy look. “Is there something bothering you?” Applejack was nothing like the bright talkative Texan she once was. Ever since she began overworking, Twilight felt like something changed inside the workpony.

When she looked straight into her eyes, she noticed that Applejack’s once bright green iris was replaced with a dull, soulless look in her eye. Every smile she makes, it was obvious that she was faking it.

“Applejack, you’re obviously not getting enough rest. I know you’re quite the worker, but even you can’t keep up with all this…” At this point Twilight was more concerned about Applejack more than the pressing matter at hoof.

Applejack scoffed at that. “Hell I’m gettin’ enough rest alright. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with me, I’m just…”

Something caught Twilight’s eye. A couple feet from Applejack, near the orchard entrance, there were multiple empty containers scattered around, used to store Applecider.

Twilight trotted past Applejack, to the containers. Applejack spun around to see what Twilight found. “Ah…that’s…well, uh…”

As Twilight approached, a slight scent of liquor could be caught. It was still fresh. “It’s not Applecider season…” Twilight sighed. “Been drinking lately, Applejack?” Calculating from the amount, Applejack was drinking quite a lot. Even excessive amounts if divided every day and night. Saving Equestria could wait. Twilight was more concerned for a friend, a friend who must have went through horrible times, and is still doing so.

“Yeah, just a lil’ bit.” Applejack looked away, a trail of sweat slid down her cheek.

“A little bit?” Twilight stepped closer to Applejack, followed by Applejack backing away from Twilight. “Do you call this a little bit? Last time I visited these weren't here.”

“W..well ya know, it’s already been a month…” Applejack stammered, desperately looking for excuses.

“A barrel could last a whole month for a pony.”

“Ah…I wasn't the only one drinking the whole thing…” By this time Twilight had cornered Applejack .

As response to Applejack's excuses, Twilight was growing doubtful more and more as the seconds passed. “First of all, as I mentioned earlier, it’s not Applecider season, and I haven’t heard about any party whatsoever.” Twilight then quickly held a hoof up.

“No, Applebloom is too young to drink, and Big Mac can’t possibly come home during his long shifts and drink a half a barrel or 2, and just jump back in work.”

Twilight decided to stop. She knew cornering her friend and making her talk won't help anything. After making her point, Twilight spoke again, this time with a more soft, caring tone. “Applejack, you’re the element of Honesty. These past years, it feels like…”

“Feels like I changed?” Applejack cut Twilight off. Applejack was still looking down, her hair covering her expression. When she looked up to face Twilight, anger was written all over her face. Her empty eyes were replaced with a vengeful, hate-filled eyes.

“Yeah, I changed. I changed alright. But do ya think I give a Celestia damned fuck about what people would think of me right now? NO!” Applejack stomped her hooves, as she began pacing towards back at Twilight.

“Do ya think I’m doin’ this ‘cause I want to? Do you think I’m already over losin’ granny?”

Tears were pouring from the workpony’s eyes, as she pushed back the lavender unicorn. “Twi, ‘honestly’ I think you stick yer’ muzzle into otherpony’s problems too much. Go mind your own problem! Oh wait, you can’t, YOU DON’T HAVE ONE.”

"Applejack....!" Spike growled at Applejack as he approached her, but Twilight cued her to stop. "Spike...no...this is between Applejack and I." Applejack just kept intently staring at Twilight, ignoring Spike.

Twilight looked like she was going to say something, but Applejack didn’t allow her. “No, don’t ya dare say ‘but you’re my friend, and we can solve the problem together’ or sumthin.” Applejack mocked Twilight’s voice, with obvious sarcasm crammed into it. “This is my problem, and you ain’t bringin’ your “magic” into it.

With that said, Applejack turned her back on the now-speechless ‘friend’. “I don’t think I want you here right now.” Twilight stood there, trying to make a point, but anything she tried to say, ended up as just Twilight looking away. Shock came before regret. She felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest.

“Well?” Applejack glared at Twilight. “What are you waitin’ for? Leave!”

Twilight silently turned around and trotted away. Spike took a couple moments staring right into Applejack's eyes without saying anything. Applejack backed up and trotted back into the barn. She could easily tell what Spike was trying to say just by the look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Spike." She muttered before slamming the door shut.

"'I'm sorry'? Is that all you have to say? After what Twilight offered to you?" Spike could feel rage boiling inside of him. "Don't you dare apologize to me..." He stomped on the dirt beneath him, shaking the ground slightly and making a small crater in the shape of his feet. "APOLOGIZE TO TWILIGHT!" He boomed at the torn-down barn.

Applejack put her back against the shut door, as tears streamed down her face.

Author's Note

So I ask myself; "When are you going to watch season 4, fool?" I just can't get myself to watch it. I'm not sure if that might make the entire story sound a little outdated.