Chapters The sun blazed down on Ponyville, midsummer weather being exceptionally brutal today as the cloudless skies did nothing to defend the ponies below from Celestia’s unrelenting sun.
Mostly cloudless skies. There was one field on the outskirts of town, property of one of the oldest families in Ponyville, which had a single cloud parked over a small grove of apple trees and the picnic blanket therein, around which six friends shared a lunch they’d been looking forward to for quite a while.
"It is way too hot," protested Rainbow Dash, whose shade-casting cloud had done very little to alleviate the intense summer heat.
"Really?" Applejack smiled around the butter knife in her mouth that she was using to manipulate a slice of cheese onto a cracker. "Ah reckon the temperature’s just fine."
Rainbow Dash bristled a little at the dismissal of the record-setting heat, and coughed. "I meant way too hot for Twilight. Look at her."
The five friends looked at their sixth - Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria and Element of Magic. As usual, she was reading, but thanks to the heat, she was lying spread-eagled on her back, a book hovering in the air above her face as she carefully sipped juice through a straw, the cup parked next to her head. She looked back at her friends briefly, and blushed a little.
"It’s hot out, okay?" she said defensively. "If I lie down normally, I sweat like a pig."
"Poor Twilight," Rarity murmured, lowering her Canterlot Weekly magazine briefly and adjusting her sunglasses and head scarf. "Dark coats are murder during the summer season, I hear."
"Tell me about it," Twilight muttered, turning a page.
"Oh, Twilight," Fluttershy began, making ready to put down her own magazine (Stitch This , the sewing enthusiast’s magazine), "I could always fly back home and grab a pack of icecubes, if that would help?"
"No, no," Twilight dismissed. "It’s fine, Fluttershy. I’ll just... be sure to have a cold bath when I get home." Twilight made to suck more juice, and got an empty gurgle. "Spike? Could you top me up?"
"On it," Spike said, from his own spread-eagled position on the grass; unlike Twilight, though, he was out in the sun proper, unbothered by the heat, wearing a set of sunglasses and a strange garment around his lower torso. He got up, and waddled under the cloud cover to the chilly bin, from which he produced a large container of juice; he decanted a glassful of the chilled beverage to Twilight, and after offering to top up the other ponies’ cups (Rainbow Dash took a refill and a half) tossed the juice back in the bin and pulled out a can of Dr. Gibb. He cracked it open, draining it as he walked back to his place, and stacking the already-empty can on top of a similar pile next to his resting place, reclined once more and went back to tanning.
In fact, about the only pony not really enjoying herself at all was Pinkie Pie, who was staring at a lumpy black mess on a plate, covered in plastic-wrap. Applejack tried to ignore it, but couldn’t, and eventually caved in, asking the question.
"Pinkie, what in the hay is the matter?" The apple farmer took a bite of the cheese-topped cracker, indicating the sky with a nod of her head and swallowing her mouthful. "Sun’s out, we all got th’ day off, and for once, nothin’ is going wrong."
"It’s my cake," Pinkie bemoaned, indicating the dark shape. "It’s too hot! It melted! I told you guys we should eat it quick, but no, you insisted on the sandwiches first! And now look!" Pinkie looked at her friends. "It didn’t have to be this way! If only you had all listened to me! Why didn’t you listen?!"
"Pinkie, dear," Rarity pointed out. "We told you a chocolate cake wouldn’t be a good idea. Several times. Just saying."
"But... chocolate," Pinkie argued. "Banana cake just doesn’t... you know? Fluttershy, back me up, here."
"I, um," Fluttershy coughed. "That’s, uh, chocolate cake is fine, but..."
"But...?" Rainbow Dash pressed.
"I, um, like carrot cake better," Fluttershy admitted. "It’s easier to share with Angel, he won’t touch anything banana, and I really don’t think it’s a good idea to give him chocolate."
"Darn right," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Angel on chocolate... the little snit’s already Tirek incarnate without anything hyping him up."
"Heat aside," Twilight said, closing her book and setting it down as she rolled onto her side, "I think this is probably the nicest day I’ve had in ponyville, period. Nothing can mess this up."
There were five simultaneous groans, and Twilight frowned. "What is it?"
"Twilight, darling," Rarity coughed. "That is just inviting disaster."
"Remember the last time you said nothing could go wrong?" Rainbow Dash pointed out.
"That was only a little explosion," Twilight defended. "Nopony got hurt."
"We were pickin’ bits ‘o’ that fancy machine o’ yours outta our manes for days ," Applejack pointed out. "Just sayin’, is all."
"What about Applejack?" Twilight exclaimed, flustered. "She said," Twilight cleared her throat and put on her best Applejack impression. ""For once, nothin’ has gone wrong"!"
"Yes," Rarity admitted. "But she just commented on what’s happened so far! She didn’t make a prediction about how it’s going to stay that way, because everypony knows that the moment you do that, something’s going to happen and prove you wrong."
"Can I just point out," Pinkie Pie pointed at Twilight, "That I think Twilight’s now holding the "Best Applejack Imitation" trophy?"
"What?" Applejack blinked. "That’s a thing? Why is that a thing?"
"Well, yeah," Rainbow Dash admitted. "It’s a thing, we have contests to see which one of us can imitate somepony best. Specifically, you."
"Why me?" Applejack asked. "Doesn’t seem very sportin’ to do this behind m’ back."
"Well, it was originally just me and Pinkie," Rainbow explained. "We were practicing for a prank where we’d lead you and Big Mac all over the farm by copying your voices, but then Spike caught us mid-practice, and well, it... became a thing."
"Ah still don’t like it," Applejack shook her head. "Why don’t we all do RD imitations?"
"Ooh, yes," Pinkie agreed. "I wonder if anypony can really sound like Dashie."
"Don’t be ridiculous," Rainbow dismissed. "I’m too awesome to be imitated."
"I’m too awesome to be imitated," Rainbow’s voice echoed, quietly.
"What the hay was that?" Rainbow asked, alarmed.
"What the hay was that?" Rainbow’s voice echoed, again.
"I think we have our RD champion," Twilight said, smiling as she nodded towards a copy of Stitch This positioned in front of a yellow pegasus.
"What?" Rainbow Dash turned around, looking at Fluttershy, who was blushing furiously behind her magazine. "Fluttershy?"
"Oh, I’m sure Pinkie Pie could probably do better," Fluttershy quietly whispered, sounding almost exactly like Rainbow Dash if the blue pegasus was speaking at about a tenth of her normal volume.
"Oh, no way, sister," Pinkie waved a hoof. "Best I can do is this:" Pinkie twisted up her face, and in a hoarse voice, began her enactment. "I’m Rainbow Dash, ten seconds flat, twenty percent cooler, wonderbolts, awesome!"
Rainbow Dash just burst into laughter. "Celestia above, is that really how ponies think I sound?"
"Six hundred thousand fan-fictions can’t be wrong," Pinkie said, in a sing-song voice.
Rainbow just snorted. "Dragons can get tans. Twilight can do a damn-good imitation of Applejack. Fluttershy can do a perfect, if quiet, imitation of my voice, and Pinkie’s being Pinkie... can today get any weirder?"
Thunder rolled, and Rainbow Dash realized what she’d just said. "Aw, ponyfeathers."
Right on cue, there was a low, mournful howl that echoed through the still summer air; Spike sat up, and raised his sunglasses, looking alarmed. The six mares and one dragon shivered as one when the howl was answered by a chorus of much louder howls that sent chills through the gathered ponies. Those howls sounded awfully close.
"See?" Rarity pointed to Rainbow Dash, as she quickly folded up her things with telekinesis and threw them inside the picnic basket. "This is why we don’t say nothing more can go wrong, especially on days off."
"That sounded like a timberwolf!" Applejack exclaimed. "What’s one doing this close to town?"
"I have no idea!" Twilight said quickly, as the howls sounded again, this time much louder. "But they are definitely getting closer! Run!"
The six friends abandoned the picnic blanket, and at varying paces, fled the shade. And with moments to spare, as the sound of heavy running filled the air, and with a crashing of foliage and wood on wood, three menacing quadrupeds of wood burst out of the edge of the treeline, prowling around menacingly, as if hunting for something.
One spotted the ponies between trees further away, and unleashed a howl into the air, running forward and taking the lead. The other two didn’t hesitate to follow, as a distressing number of responding howls came from throughout the orchard.
The ponies kept running through the summer heat as they cast fearful glances behind them; where the heat slowed them, it did nothing to deter the wooden timberwolves that were rapidly gaining ground on their flagging pace.
Applejack looked around, and spotted a handy bunch of loose stones; she didn’t waste any time in skidding to a halt next to them, and tossing several into the air just as the timberwolves got within throwing range. She spun, and with artful grace, bucked the stones in rapid-fire succession. The lumps of rock spun through the air at terrifying speed and like magic, nailed the timberwolves in the snouts, causing them to yelp in alarm and halt their charge in panic.
"Good idea, Applejack!" Twilight shouted, as a violet beam of magic flew past Applejack and splashed into the face of a stunned timberwolf. "We should stand our ground, and save our energy! We can do this!"
"They already went and flanked us, didn’t they?" Applejack asked wryly, sending more stones at the timberwolves to keep them stunned.
"Yeah, kinda," Rainbow admitted, jumping back as a timberwolf tried to bite her, and spinning to kick it in the side of the snout.
The six friends began to back up, forming a tight circle as they continued to repel the timberwolves in the middle of the orchard. But for every timberwolf they managed to scare off, it was as if two more joined the party.
"I didn’t know there were this many timberwolves in the Everfree forest," Fluttershy said loudly, cowering at the middle of the defensive circle.
"Well, I hope they don’t have much more," Applejack remarked, patting the ground next to her and starting to panic. "I think I’m outta rocks!"
"I’m beat!" Twilight complained, weakly firing a laser that definitely didn’t have the vim or vigor of the ones she’d been throwing a few minutes prior. "It’s just too hot!"
Rarity slugged a timberwolf in the face with a ball of telekinesis, and looked around. "Um, I don’t wish to alarm anypony, but where is Pinkie Pie? "
Everyone spared a moment to do a quick headcount. There was six of them... if you counted Spike.
"I thought she was with us!" Rainbow exclaimed, grabbing a timberwolf by the jaws and, trying not to breathe or smell its' bad breath, shoved it backwards. "Would it kill her to include us on these disappearing acts?"
"But Dashie!" Pinkie’s voice rang out from behind the timberwolves. "If I told you guys everything , it would spoil the surprise!"
The timberwolves parted to turn and face the source of the sound behind them, and the ponies saw Pinkie Pie; unscathed, standing upright on her two hind legs, and wearing sunglasses to match the glowsticks that were dangling off her by the dozen. Between her forehooves was a large portable stereo, the casette deck of which snapped shut with a very menacing snick .
"Let’s amp it up!" Pinkie shouted, before pushing the play button on the boombox and holding it above her head.
Heavy, rumbling vibrations rippled out from the boombox, and several timberwolves took steps away in fear. An underwhelmingly ineffective precaution, because the song starting to rumble out of the box was a DJ Pon3 mix, and when the DJ dropped the bass, she dropped the bass .
Like an auditory avalanche, the sounds of Pon3’s latest composition ripped out of the box and reverberated violently through the air, discordant sounds causing the boombox itself to shake in Pinkie’s grasp. The ponies and dragon had already hunkered down and clamped hooves and claws over their ears when they recognized the first few notes of the song. The timberwolves had no such defense, and whatever thought processes they had were overridden by a visceral, senseless beat that now filled the air at what was officially "stupid" volume.
It was too much, and the already sound-sensitive predators turned wooden tail and ran for it, yelping and howling distress into the air. The ponies watched as the timberwolves ran through the trees and rapidly vanished, leaving them entirely alone.
"OH!" Pinkie shouted over the music. "I GUESS THEY COULDN’T STICK AROUND!"
"YOU CAN TURN OFF THE MUSIC NOW!" Rarity wailed.
"WHAT?" Pinkie shouted.
"SHE SAID, TURN OFF THE MUSIC!" Applejack shouted, trying to worm her way across the ground without taking her hooves out of her ears, wincing with every fresh beat that came out of the boombox.
"I CAN’T HEAR YOU!" Pinkie exclaimed louder, shaking her head.
Rainbow Dash let out an inaudible groan of frustration, and took wing, flapping into the air and falling towards Pinkie, wing outstretched. Like a vindictive angel, her outstretched wing easily knocked the boombox out of Pinkie’s hooves and onto the grass where it landed hard; with a click, the battery compartment popped open and the batteries within bounced out and onto the grass, leaving the boombox powerless and silent.
"Aw!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It was just getting to the good part!"
"Ugh," Applejack said, getting up and digging in her ear. "That was... how did you know loud noises scare off timberwolves?"
"Loud noises scare off timberwolves?" Pinkie asked.
"I fear we are not quite out of the woods yet," Rarity whispered fearfully. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Twilight asked.
Thoom.
"That," Rainbow said, looking around, "That does not sound like a good time."
The thudding started to grow in intensity and volume, ponderous footsteps that were being punctuated with the loud rustling of leaves and pained creaks of wood. It wasn’t any surprise when the ponies looked above the treeline, and saw a moss-rimed, geometrically-carved stone-and-wood monster that was twice as tall as any tree Applejack had in the orchard. Lumbering and bipedal, with vines and creepers swaying from crenellated shoulders and protrusions, it’s upper limbs ended in slightly smaller manipulator digits. It seemed to be made of massive pieces of carved stone held together with wooden pegs and limbs like a giant, primitive doll.
"I don’t think he’s here to party," Applejack conceded.
"No, he’s here to par-tay!" Pinkie chimed in, brandishing the boombox once more, and starting it up again.
Nobody expected the music to be as dramatically effective as it had against the timberwolves; the music was starting post-bass-drop and therefore it was going to be less startling. What they did expect was some sort of effect, as they clamped their hooves over their ears or on the sides of the boombox.
What they got was a stone giant leaning over, and casually flicking the boombox out of Pinkie’s grip with a smash and pristine accuracy. It didn’t look overly upset, just annoyed.
"I know what it is now!" Twilight exclaimed, looking awestruck. "That’s a woldwarden!"
"Great!" Rarity said, afraid to move now that the creature was leaning over them, scrutinizing them carefully. "I don’t suppose it has a weak spot we can perhaps strike for massive damage?"
"Uh, nopony has seen one of these things for hundreds of years," Twilight admitted. "And they’re supposed to be immortal. So there’s that."
"Hey!" Applejack yelled, running away from her friends, waving her hat in her mouth to get the woldwarden’s attention. "Over here, y’ big galoot!"
The bid for attention worked, and the stone golem’s head turned with a grinding of stone to track the earth pony with interest. And after a moment, returned to the ponies, as the woldwarden raised a massive fist, and attempted to crush them flat.
"No!" Applejack cried out in alarm, heart pounding a mile a minute as the very ground shook beneath her.
Under the woldwarden’s fist, there was a crackle of energy, and a creak of stone as something pushed up. Applejack saw the bottom of a translucent dome, and Twilight’s shaking hooves as she pushed up with all her might, increasing the height of the spherical shield. A moment after, the shield’s growth increased expoentially and gained a blue tint as Rarity chipped in her power as well.
The woldwarden gave up, and stepping out of the trees properly, wound back to strike the shield with his other fist. Applejack ran towards it, unsure what she could do to help her friends. Why was this happening?
The earth shuddered and the bubble with her friends in it flashed violently as it was slammed a foot into the earth, everypony inside wailing in terror, save for Twilight, who finally couldn’t do any more and collapsed onto one knee, the shield flickering and dying outright.
Applejack looked up at the backside of the woldwarden, and saw it winding up for another strike. The one that would end the lives of her friends.
"Hold on, everypony!" Applejack shouted, pouring on the pace as she raced between the titanic legs of the woldwarden. "Ah gotcha!"
Applejack dived, and with a grunt, tackled the huddled group of friends with her shoulder. Everypony cried out in alarm as they were all thrown back a good two or three feet, landing on their backs and sides on the grass outside of the shallow crater that Applejack now stood in, alone, as the fist of the woldwarden flew in...
And missed entirely, the strike deviating at the last moment and smashing into the ground. Applejack jumped, and when she realized she wasn’t dead, turned around. The woldwarden’s face was immobile and unreadable, but as it straightened, she realized the woldwarden was staring at her again. Why wasn’t it trying to attack her like it did her friends?
And just like last time, it seemed to come to a conclusion and proceeded to ignore her; it took a stride forwards, stepping over her, and made to approach everypony else, who had made a small but relatively useless attempt to get away, not getting far with Twilight being too weak to walk and the others unwilling to leave her behind.
"Hey, now!" Applejack yelled at the woldwarden, turning around and running back in front of it, just as it stopped within hitting range of her now cowering friends. "Don’t y’all just ignore me like that! You got business with me, buster!"
The woldwarden stared at her again, this time seeming to pay attention.
"Y’all don’t get to pick on my friends," Applejack said loudly, placing herself in front of her friends. "If y’all wanna get to them, you go through me first."
"Applejack, no!" Twilight called out weakly. "It’ll pulverize you!"
"No he won’t," Applejack said confidently, looking around and flashing Twilight a cocky smile. "I got him all figured out, he don’t wanna hit me, seeeEEEEE?!"
Applejack began to kick and thrash in the woldwarden’s grip as it picked her up firmly but gently by the shoulders, pinched between two opposing stone digits, and held her in front of it’s face as if to look at her more closely. Applejack settled for trying to kick it in the nose, which she was well out of range for. The woldwarden gave up and put Applejack down again, this time off to the side so she couldn’t stand between it and the cluster of ponies.
The moment Applejack’s hooves touched down, she let out an indistinct battle-cry and charged towards the woldwarden’s leg, launching herself into the air at the last minute, and delivering a flying kick just as it wound back a fist to try smiting her friends for a third time.
The impact of hooves on stone was loud and echoed through the trees. There was no rumbling of stone or collapsing of wood as Applejack hit a convenient weak spot, and there were no explosions as hiterto undiscovered magic overloading powers were discovered in the nick of time. In fact, the kick did absolutely nothing except cause Applejack to land on her side, hooves ringing.
The woldwarden still didn’t attack, looking at Applejack again. Its face hadn’t changed, but now it looked... upset? Applejack got up, and pointed a hoof at the woldwarden.
"Weren’t you listening?! If it’s a fight you want," she said, jabbing the hoof for emphasis, "you deal with me first! Leave my friends alone! If y' can't handle that, go home. "
The woldwarden seemed confused, and hesitantly raised the fist again, as if to continue trying to strike the ponies, but also seemingly looking to Applejack.
Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Do it, and I will hunt you down. I will find you, and I will take you to pieces ."
The woldwarden lowered it’s fist, and took a step back. Applejack took a step forward, and to everyone’s surprise, the woldwarden fully turned, lumbering away back the way it came, checking over it’s shoulder just once before entering the trees and disappearing into the distance until it’s footfalls couldn’t be felt anymore.
"Applejack," Rarity said hesitantly. "That was..."
"How did you even do that?" Rainbow asked, flying over and standing next to a shell-shocked Applejack.
"I haven’t got the foggiest idea," Applejack said numbly.
The sun set, and rose again in due time, shedding light on a new day. For some, it was the signal to get out of bed and start working in the hopes that it would distract them from the uncomfortable questions they couldn’t stop asking themselves, and perk them up a little better than the night of restless slumber they’d had.
For others, it meant getting their hooves dirty and going for another cutie mark in a dwindling field of possible talents.
"Ah dunno, girls, this seems wrong," Applebloom said, eying the sunlight-dappled scene before her anxiously. The ground around the clubhouse was practically covered in sawdust and offcuts of wood from the Crusaders’ latest cutie mark crusade.
"Nah, it just looks wrong," Scootaloo said, her voice muffled. "Once we get this rope tighter, it’ll look a bit better."
"You know," Sweetie Belle puffed, the small unicorn struggling to hold her position. "I thought of something. What we need is a safeword."
"Eh?" Scootaloo asked, looking up at Sweetie.
"A safeword," Sweetie repeated. "So we don’t have any confusion about one of us being in danger, you know? A code-word for 'abort mission' or something."
"Yeah, Ah can dig that," Applebloom said, consulting the big tome she had propped up in front of her. "How about ‘Apple’?"
"That doesn’t seem like a good safe word," Scootaloo pointed out.
"What’s wrong with apples?" Applebloom challenged.
"Nothing," Scootaloo backtracked. "But, you know, it sounds a lot like your name. It is your name, actually. What if you mishear us?"
"Hmm, good point," Applebloom admitted. "Alright, what do you propose?"
"I’m thinking... ‘Rainbow’."
"Okay, and that’s a better choice how?" Sweetie grunted.
"It’s not my name?" Scootaloo retorted, yanking on her rope.
"But it’s the name of somepony you talk about all the time," Sweetie said.
There was a quiet grunt of concession from within the framework the Crusaders had spent the morning putting together, but no other objections.
"I’m thinking a universal signal," Sweetie said. "What about banana’?"
"Banana?" Applebloom asked.
"We don’t know any bananas, I guess," Scootaloo admitted.
"But Ah don’t like bananas," Applebloom complained.
"You don’t have to like it," Scootaloo said. "It just has to be distinctive." She grunted. "And there. Whew. Tight fit."
Applebloom put the Bumper Book of Siege Engineering down, and craned her neck to look at the assembly that Scootaloo was now crawling out of.
"Can I let go now?" Sweetie asked.
"Yeah, let ‘er go now," Applebloom confirmed, and there was a twang as a rope went taut.
"Huh, you’re right," Sweetie remarked, as she hopped off the top of the machine and backed up. "Looks pretty good when you got the string on it."
"Did we earn blister cutie marks yet?" Scootaloo wondered, looking at her own flank.
"It’s ‘ballista’," Applebloom corrected. "And no."
"Rats," Scootaloo said. "This thing looks pretty cool, I thought I had a knack for it."
"It was a team effort," Sweetie Belle decided. "Good work, team."
"Ah reckon we won’t get the cutie mark for it until we fire it," Applebloom said.
"Fire it with what?" Sweetie asked, walking over to the book. "Whoa! That’s a huge arrow!"
"Yeah," Applebloom said. "I dunno if we can get a bolt like that."
"Couldn’t we just use a stick?" Scootaloo asked.
"Bit big for a stick," Sweetie observed.
"Didya mean a branch?" Applebloom asked.
"Yeah, yeah," Scootaloo said. "Branch. Totally meant that."
"Well, got one here," Applebloom said, walking over to a nearby tree, and picking up a bough that was almost as thick as her body by the end, and dragging it over to the now-completed ballista.
"Hey guys," Sweetie said, rubbing the back of her mane. "I’m getting that feel again."
"What kind of feel?" Scootaloo asked, helping Applebloom move the branch by grabbing it by a stick.
"It’s a feely kind of feel," Sweetie clarified. "A feel that feels feely. You know, the one I have right before we do something monumentally dumb."
"Oh, come on," Applebloom said, tossing her end of the branch on the ballista. "How is this a dumb idea?"
"Yeah, we even double-checked it," Scootaloo said, nudging her end into place. "And we got a long rope so we can set this off from behind a tree or something so it doesn’t blow up in our faces."
"I dunno," Sweetie said. "I feel like we’re about to change a whole lot of stuff and hurt somepony."
"Excuse me," Applebloom said, winding the drawstring back with the crank. "Are you saying Ah didn’t think this through? It’s pointed at the Everfree forest. Nopony in front of th’ ballista for miles. Safety first."
"Trust us," Scootaloo said, leaning on the ballista. "We got this locked down. Could not be any saf-"
There was a clunk of wood, and a loud whump that startled them all, Scootaloo falling over as the thing she leaned on shifted. The string vibrated in place violently, suddenly back where it started, and the branch that had been loaded was gone, a small speck quickly vanishing beyond the treeline.
"On second thoughts," Applebloom said quickly, "We might wanna go make sure that didn’t land anywhere it shouldn’t."
* * *
Applejack whistled to herself as she bucked another tree, and a rain of apples rewarded her efforts, falling neatly into perfectly placed tubs.
She blew a blonde lock out of her sweaty face and adjusted her hat. Her gut feeling had turned out right -- applebucking was good for the soul. Or for a troubled mind, at least. It was hard to ask yourself questions like "Why would an immortal stone golem be afraid of me" when you- aw, heck .
Applejack moved onto the next tree, and prepared to kick it. She’d gone and thought of it again. Her hooves hit the bark, and the crack it made sounded not unlike the kick she’d dealt the woldwarden. This time, she couldn’t even appreciate the apple perfection that was raining out of the tree. It shouldn’t have been twisting her up like this. Whatever the reason, the woldwarden had gone away and left her friends alone. They were alive and unhurt, and that should have been enough.
Applejack clicked her tongue irritably when she spotted a stray apple next to the foot of the tree; it must have landed in the bucket next to it and bounced out. She hated it when they did that. Applejack bent over and picked up the apple, dropping it back in the bin, when she heard a thin whistling sound.
Her ears struggled to identify the sound as it grew louder. It wasn’t more timberwolves, was it? Because she was honestly sick of them by now.
Then it hit her, and Applejack found herself thrown sideways, hat flying off her head. Luckily, her journey was a swift one and came to a very abrupt end as she heard the crunching of wood, and her face slammed into a treetrunk.
When she came to, she became acutely aware of several things. One, her face hurt from slamming into the bark where she was now resting. Two, her sides really hurt, and not in the "Pinkie Pie just told a hilarious joke involving two investment bankers and a goat" kind of way.
And probably most alarming was three, which was the fact that she couldn’t feel the ground beneath her hooves. Applejack took a deep breath, trying not to freak out, and dared to look down.
"Nope," she said quickly, looking back up and trying not to believe what she’d just seen. This was all just a bad dream. There was no way a big old branch had punched straight through her and pinned her to a tree trunk. That was ridiculous. She would be dead, right?
She waited a little bit in denial, but didn’t wake up or pass out, and so dared to look down again. This time, she couldn’t help but stifle a sob as she saw just how bad it really was. The branch had just gone through the middle of her torso, below the ribs. No biggie. Not like there was any important organs in there, right?
She kicked her legs ineffectually, and felt some give in a disturbing place as she shifted along the branch slightly. She looked at the length of the branch that was on the outside of her, and winced. It only got larger, and she could see a few twigs that would in all probability be absolutely horrible to her, pointing the wrong way.
She looked the other way, and saw that between her and the trunk, there was a little bit of branch, and it was already fractured. Applejack scooted herself out from it gingerly, as far as she dared, and worked out a plan.
Right now, she had to be in that thing they talked about in first aid class. Shock. That was it. She couldn’t feel a thing because her body was trying to help her get out of this alive. So she had to work fast, before the pain came back and she died or something. Well, she was probably going to die anyway, but she wanted to do that on solid ground, and she was determined to do that, at least.
So, with that in mind, Applejack girded her loins, and as vigorously as she dared, jostled herself, bouncing up and down by swinging her legs and kicking at the air. Aside from the horrible sensation of the branch moving around inside her, she felt a little give with each bounce, the branch bending a little bit more with each bounce, splinters working free from the branch next to the trunk.
"Over here, girls!" Applebloom’s voice called out. "I think it came down over here!"
Applejack cursed silently. The crusaders. She couldn’t let them see her like this, it would... well. ‘bloom had already lost two family members. She didn’t need to see her big sister go as well. She threw herself into it harder this time, rocking up and down to break the branch quicker, and her efforts were rewarded with more distinct snapping sounds.
And as she bounced down, it finally cracked and with a thud, the branch hit the ground, tipping Applejack over for a moment before she managed to stagger the other way, and pull herself free with a sickly squelch.
The other end of the branch hit the ground, and she looked at it in alarm, realizing she’d need to take it with her.
And froze, when she saw there was no blood on it. She looked around beneath her and on the tree. Nothing.
Her heart skipped a beat, and Applejack froze up as her brain started jumping to uncomfortable conclusions. A lockup that she was shaken out of when she heard the sound of running hooves.
She could have an existential crisis somewhere else. For now, she needed to hide. She looked around, and saw the pile of apple buckets that she’d made nearby, all filled with apples. She ran over to it awkwardly, wary of the uncomfortable cold breeze she was feeling around her midsection, and slid behind the tall pile just in time, as there were gasps from the Crusaders.
"Ooooh no," Sweetie Belle said. "I told you this was a bad idea."
"It’s just stuck in a tree trunk," Scootaloo said. "Well, it must have been, anyway. See, it’s all broken-" there was a groan of disgust. "Aw, come on, tree sap? Again?"
"It’s alright," Applebloom said, voice low. "It’s just one tree, it’ll be fine, Ah reckon. But look at all these buckets." There was a rustle of grass. "Applejack must be nearby, she’s never far away from her hat."
"Maybe we can hide the evidence?" Sweetie asked.
"Yeah, you do that," Applebloom said. "Ah’ll go stall my brother or sister."
The sound of small hoofsteps moved away from the tree where Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were quietly discussing how they would get the branch away without coating themselves in more sap, and Applejack realized something. Applebloom was going to see the holes in her sides.
Then her gaze fell on a pair of loose tubs, and she quickly reached over and pulled them towards her, before slouching down deep, and crossing her legs and forelegs casually. Just as the steps grew louder and closer, she closed her eyes, and pretended to be asleep.
And then the steps stopped, and there was a quiet noise of surprise. A few more, and Applejack’s heart beat faster as Applebloom presumably got closer. Would she notice?
And then Applejack felt something get placed on her snout and face -- her hat -- and the steps retreated cautiously, before breaking into a proper canter back over to the tree.
"Ah found AJ," Applebloom said quietly. "She’s havin’ a nap behind those apple buckets there. So if we stay real quiet, she might not even notice us."
"A nap?" Scootaloo asked, incredulous. "This early?"
"She looked a bit tired at breakfast," Applebloom said. "Maybe she ain’t feelin’ so hot."
"Let’s not look the gift horse in the mouth," Sweetie suggested. "Applebloom, grab the other end?"
"Yeah, sure-" there was a groan. "Oh, come on. Sap?"
"One," counted off Sweetie, ignoring Applebloom. "two-"
"Three!" Scootaloo said, and there was a synchronized grunt of exertion, and the sound of timber leaving the ground.
Applejack waited as the sounds of hushed coordination and bickering vanished into the distance before she dared to sit up, and adjust her hat on her head.
Crisis averted. She looked down, and flexed her hooves. And she was still feeling exceptionally good for a dead pony walking. She gingerly got up, and bent her neck around to carefully look at the hole through her side. It was wide, and puckered where flesh had been pulled inwards, but aside from that... it was surprisingly tidy. A thin trickle of translucent fluid dribbled out of it, and Applejack caught it awkwardly on a hoof, feeling the texture.
"I’ve heard of being sappy, but this is ridiculous," she said, disbelievingly.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle was building another book fort. Not on purpose, of course, that would be immature and childish, but the newest Princess of Equestria had a habit of placing referenced books next to her for quick access and cross-referencing.
The latest subject of her research: Woldwardens. Ponyville library wasn’t the biggest in the country (A title that belonged to Manehattan Central) or the richest in esoteric knowledge (Canterlot Castle, Restricted Wing) but it had a sizeable selection of books that, in the past, she would have dismissed as bound trash, the researcher’s equivalent of gossip.
After that debacle with Super Naturals , though, she had an appreciation for the books, recognizing them as amazingly detailed information on things that were credible enough to believe, but not quite credible enough to make it into a quadruple-verified research paper. The things she’d only seen vague hints of in Canterlot textbooks, which had entire chapters dedicated to them in tomes here that broke down everything that so much as rumoured to exist, from Alicorns to Zebras.
Compared to some of the other topics available, the entries for woldwardens had extensive and detailed information on them, which she was reading up on now, and seeing a lot of cross-references to timberwolves, and-
There was a crash as the library door was thrown open.
"Twilight?" Applejack’s voice called out. "Twilight, y’here?"
"Applejack!" Twilight chided, putting down her book and departing the fort to go confront her noisy friend. "This is a library! Indoor voices!"
Applejack spotted Twilight emerge from the reading room, and rushed over to her, saddlebags hanging by her sides and bouncing about, limp.
"Twi, I got a real big problem," Applejack confided quickly, and now quietly. "It is kind of a matter of life and death."
"W- of course," Twilight nodded, taken aback. Life or death for Applejack must be pretty serious. "What is it?"
Applejack nudged Twilight back into the reading room, and making sure nobody was watching, reached around and let her saddlebags drop to the floor, presenting her side to Twilight.
Twilight’s cheeks ballooned out, and she quickly summoned a bucket out of nowhere, which she promptly buried her head in and vomited. Applejack waited until Twilight was done, and had wiped her mouth with the back of a hoof.
"Applejack," Twilight gagged. "This is not- you need a doctor !"
"I’m thinking maybe I don’t," Applejack pointed out uncertainly. "This happened half an hour ago."
"Half an hour ago? " Twilight hissed. "How are you still alive? How did this even happen?"
"I think the crusaders had somethin’ to do with it," Applejack said. "I heard the word ‘ballista’, and if I get through this, I am going to give Applebloom such an earful. And if I knew how I was still alive, I wouldn’t be coming to you, now, would I?"
"Why me?" Twilight protested, gesturing at herself. "Do I look like a doctor?"
"Y’all are a princess ," Applejack said, leaning in close with a pleading look on her face. "And a huge nerd, to be blunt. If I ain’t right, I can trust you to not just lock me away and throw away th’ key. I don’t wanna go to Rosewell or no Area 51."
Twilight swallowed. "Alright. I’ll see what I can do." She gingerly looked down from Applejack’s face, and at the wound. Looking at it a second time, it wasn’t so bad. The hole was relatively clean, and rather wide bore. The apparent damage was mostly down to this clearly being the exit wound, and it didn’t look as bad when Twilight realized that Applejack wasn’t bleeding.
Twilight got closer, curiosity suddenly overriding squeamishness. "Uh, Applejack," she said quietly, using her magic to pick up a glob of the fluid tricking out of Applejack’s wound. "What is this?"
"The crusaders thought it was just tree sap," Applejack said.
"Tree sap?" Twilight frowned. "Why is..." she trailed off as she looked at the wound in more detail. "Applejack, what do you know about pony anatomy?"
"I, uh," Applejack shrugged. "Important stuff in the ribcage, less important stuff under it?"
"There should be a lot of ‘less important’ stuff here," Twilight remarked. "And yet, your lower torso appears to be... well, mostly pure muscle?"
"I do work out?" Applejack guessed. "Wait, where’s my less important stuff?"
Twilight looked Applejack in the eye and shrugged. "By all rights, you should be trailing several feet worth of intestine right now. And dead. But, well," Twilight indicated the hole lamely. "This is literally a flesh wound because you don’t seem to have any actual intestines that I can see from here. Just muscle, which kind of looks like..."
"Like?"
Twilight frowned. "Wood. Really flexible wood. When was the last time you had an X-ray?"
"Never needed one," Applejack said proudly. "Never broke a hoof, leg, bone..." Applejack’s pride waned a little. "Uh, actually, now that I think about it, I think the worst I ever got was a sprained fetlock?"
Twilight sat on her haunches. "This all sounds familiar... but where did I..." Twilight froze and slowly turned to look at the book she’d put down to greet Applejack.
"What is it?" Applejack asked, before letting out a nervous laugh. "Don’t tell me I’m like, a timberwolf in pony skin? That might maybe explain the timberwolves the other day."
Twilight shook her head as she flicked backwards through the book. "No, no, I was reading an article on woldwardens. That big stone thing."
"Hard to forget," Applejack said.
"Turns out, they are incredibly durable, and very rare," Twilight continued. "They’re only seen in areas in or around places weather can’t be controlled by pegasi. Like the Everfree."
"How is that relevant?"
"Because they are the servants of things that live in untamable forests," Twilight said. "Most timberwolves, too." Twilight stopped on the page she was looking for, and held it out to Applejack.
"Dry-ads," Applejack read aloud, eyes narrowing as she squinted at the page. "Magic plant ponies?"
"There’s almost nothing on dryads," Twilight said, turning the book back around and scanning the single page. "Just rumors. They’re supposed to be very in touch with nature. Strong and as tough as an oak."
Applejack caught Twilight’s pointed look. "Hey, why are you looking at me like that for?"
"Does that sound like anypony in this room?" Twilight asked. "Somepony who has a hole through her torso and isn’t dead? Also made of flexible fleshy wood?"
Applejack blinked. "H-hold on, now," she stammered. "This all just has to be a coincidence. Lookit the bit about dryad descriptions. Bark skin?" Applejack pointed at herself. "I’ve got rough skin, and all, but not that rough. Besides," Applejack said. "I’m a pony, got two pony siblings, remember? And they’ve both definitely broken bones and had x-rays. They’re ponies, through and through. How can I be a dryad if my kin are all ponies?"
Twilight put the book down. "Applejack, I can see how this might be hard to believe, but... well, your siblings might not be dryads, but I can’t see any other reason you have a hole through you, appear to be made of wood and not dying."
"This can’t be real," Applejack said, sitting down numbly. "I’m dreamin’. It’s one of them lucy dreams."
"Lucid dreams," Twilight corrected. "And I’m sorry, but you just read a book. You can’t read in dreams."
Applejack looked up at Twilight, dread on her face. "I- I just can’t... how?"
Twilight walked over to Applejack, and gingerly avoiding the hole in Applejack’s side, leaned in for a comforting hug. "There, there," Twilight said awkwardly. "Look, you’ve got me. And the rest of our friends. Whatever’s going on, we’re gonna help you through it."
Applejack sniffed. "Thanks, Twi."
"I mean it," Twilight said. "Princesshood means I have access to a lot of stuff. Records, historians, experts... state secrets. I’m sure one of them will explain what’s going on here."
Applejack perked up a little. "Maybe we won’t need any of them."
"Why?"
Applejack gave a weak smile. "I just figured it out. Granny Smith. She oughta know something. No, everything."
"Could be," Twilight said. "You okay to teleport?"
"As okay as I ever am," Applejack said.
Twilight inclined her head, and sparing the visibly anxious Applejack a quick glance, applied her magic to the fabric of space and pulled hard, leaving nothing behind but a flash of light and some displaced air.
The two friends reappeared in reality with a second flash of energy, and fell an inch or two to the ground, landing on the dirt just outside the time-tested Apple family farmhouse.
"Sorry," Twilight apologized. "Not used to teleporting two ponies, miscalculated."
"I didn’t even notice," Applejack said, without a hint of sarcasm, before turning her head to look at the farmhouse. "Granny Smith?"
"Applejack?" Granny called back, the elderly mare’s voice coming from what Twilight guessed was the Apple farmhouse’s living room. Applejack locked onto Granny’s voice, and started walking up the stairs to the farmhouse.
Twilight couldn’t help but be morbidly fascinated by how Applejack was still not only alive, but seemingly minimally impaired by the fact that her lower torso was as close as it was to being cut in two. She still walked like she didn’t have a hole through her.
"Are you alright?" Granny Smith went on, a hint of worry creeping into her voice. "You were runnin’ about like a madpony just before! Didn’t even have time to tell me where y’ were goin’!"
"Sorry, Granny," Applejack said, leading Twilight through the front door and around a short corner into the living room, where Twilight saw Granny Smith sitting in her rocking chair, with half a scarf sitting in her lap, needles at the ready. Granny was squinting at her, and leaning forward a little.
"Oh, it’s Princess Twilight!" Granny Smith made to try and sit up straighter. "I’d bow to you, and all, but forgive me, my hip’s playin’ up."
"You don’t need to bow to me," Twilight reassured, waving a hoof. "Really. I kind of understand why Princess Celestia feels the same way about everypony bowing to her."
Granny Smith started peering at Applejack. "And you... what’s goin’ on with you, AJ? Don’t think I can’t tell when my granddaughter’s got somethin’ on her mind."
Applejack didn’t waste time, and cut to the chase by presenting her side to Granny Smith, hole and all. "That’s the problem," Applejack said. "I might not really be your granddaughter."
Granny Smith flinched a little when she saw the wound, but to Twilight’s astonishment, didn’t react in surprise so much as she sagged a little in her chair, and resignedly set her knitting aside.
"I knew this day would come," Granny Smith said quietly. "I’m sorry, Applejack."
"Sorry for what?" Applejack pressed.
Granny Smith shifted in her seat, and looked around. "Where’s Mac and lil’ Applebloom?"
"Out in the orchard somewhere," Applejack said. "Why?"
"Because this story ain’t for them to hear ‘less you’ve heard it from start to finish and want them to know, too," Granny Smith said levelly, looking at Twilight. "The truth can be a tricky beast to wrangle once it’s out of the cage."
"Twilight stays," Applejack said. "She’s already thinkin’ I’m a dryad. She needs the answers, too."
"Alright, then, I’ll start from the beginning." Granny Smith cleared her throat. "Long ago, when I was a little pony, things were very different here in Ponyville... because there was no Ponyville!"
"Granny," Applejack said quickly, cutting her elder off. "We’ve heard the story of how you helped found ponyville with the zap apples."
"I haven’t," Twilight mumbled reproachfully.
"But did y’ hear the whole story?" Granny Smith challenged, not hearing Twilight.
"I, uh," Applejack blushed. "I think so?"
"Y’all have thought wrong, then," Granny Smith said bluntly. "Just like how I wanted it. Now do y’ wanna hear the truth, or not?"
Applejack sighed. "I would like to hear the truth, Granny."
"Then shush, y’all are bustin’ up my flow," Granny Smith chided, before clearing her throat again. "Now where was I? Oh yes -- we were runnin’ short on food."
"Why were you-" Twilight started, before an orange hoof filled her mouth quickly, and a look from Applejack strongly discouraged Twilight from finishing the sentence.
"So, in th’ dead of night, I went out lookin’ for vittles," Granny continued. "I looked high and low, and there were naught to be found in what would soon be Ponyville. So I expanded my search to the Everfree Forest -- I figured since there were critters living in there, there had to be somethin’ to eat, right?
"Now, I walked through that forest for hours, didn’t find nothin’ edible. It was damp, musty, and I was fair spooked by th’ place, bein’ a little filly and all. So I decided t’ pack it in and come back durin’ the day, maybe, when I managed to take a wrong turn of sorts.
"Th’ forest led me astray, and I didn’t recognize a bit of the forest I was walkin’ through, completely lost, until I found a clearing, and standin’ in the middle of it? Only the most incredible apple trees! I had never seen anythin’ like it, or it’s colorful fruit! Needless to say, I didn’t waste no time pickin those apples as quick as I could."
Granny Smith leaned forward, chair creaking slightly, and Twilight sensed a change in the mare’s story. However the story usually went, it must have ended then and there.
"And then there was a sound behind me," Granny Smith continued. "I turned around, and thanks to those accursed shadows, couldn’t see a thing. I heard it again, it was like a low moan. Sounded like somepony was hurtin’ to me, and I couldn’t ignore it. I stepped forward to get a better look, and saw this strange shape pullin’ itself through a bush.
"It was strange, sort of like a pony, and at the same time, definitely not. It had thick bark for skin, a mane of what I think looked like moss, and a pair o’ horns to match. But you know what I remember most?
"It was her eyes -- and it definitely was a her -- those eyes were a most brilliant green, and I felt like they belonged to somethin’ that y’ could talk to every day and still learn somethin’ new from. But they were also filled with pain, and as this bark pony crawled outta the bush, I could see why -- her back legs were all kinds of messed up; she was missin’ one entirely, and the other weren’t movin. I wanted to run, I really did. I won’t lie. But she held out a hoof to me, like she was askin’ for my help, and how could I say no?
"I carefully got closer to her, and she beckoned me closer, holdin’ out the biggest seed I did ever see. It was about the size o’ my hoof, it was that big. She pushed it out to me, and said somethin’ like "Take it", before she finally gave in to her pain and collapsed. And I stood there for a spell, askin’ myself what I was to do an’ all. I picked up that seed, and as I was considerin’ what it was, I heard another fearsome sound; a long howl that sent a shiver right through m’ bones.
"Well, that did it for me. I said a quick prayer to Celestia to look after that bark pony, and I put that seed in my bag and ran for it with those durned timberwolves on m’ tail, fixin’ to eat me. Everypony knows th’ rest. I escaped, lived to tell th’ tale, planted the seeds out of those rainbow apples I picked the next mornin’, and bam, we was swimmin’ in zap apples overnight. Farm saved by yours truly.
"That other seed, the one the wood pony gave me? I didn’t plant that’n. Didn’t know rightly what it was, and even my pa had no blinkin’ idea, and he was the seed expert, don'tcha know. So it lived on my shelf like a keepsake for a spell of years, and I guess I forgot about it until I wasn’t such a little filly no more and we had us a proper farmhouse -- this one, in fact.
"By then, I had the zap apples all figgered out, and reckoned I had what it took to deal with this mystery seed, so I cleared a lil’ space somewhere behind one of the orchards where nopony would bother it none, and planted it in th’ dirt.
"I waited for weeks, months for that seed to do something. Watered it daily, sang to it, read it stories of Grognak th’ Barbarian, didn’t get a peep. But after a whole year o’ feelin’ cheated, it finally sprouted, three lil leaves on a stick, and I was over th’ moon about that.
"‘course, I should have guessed that it’d take another couple o’ years to do anythin’ more than that. I paid it as much attention as I could, but I had responsibilities, a farm to start runnin’ proper because my pa was gettin’ on, and my brothers couldn’t run a three legged race, much less a farm. Even had a coltfriend, too.
"When I went back to check on it, it was like a real small tree, not growing tall, but not growin’ like a regular shrubbery. I almost out and pulled it up then and there, truth be told. But somethin’ about it just made me... I had this feelin’ and all. It was important, important enough that somethin’ had died giving me that seed, so I kept waterin’ it when it was dry, and readin’ it a story when I had the time.
"‘course, by then, everypony on th’ farm knew about it. Joked it was my pet tree, and all. They almost put it in a plant pot and dragged it to m’ wedding to boot! Although I’m real glad they didn’t in the end. It was goin’ on fifteen years since I planted it when I had my boy, Russet Apple, and that seed still didn’t sprout.
"I waited near on forty years in the end. It was just after Russet himself got hitched and had a son -- Mac -- that I noticed a new change in the plant. For the first time in over thirty years, it had produced any sort of fruit. And it didn’t even look like no fruit I’d ever seen, like some sort of tough ol’ seedpod more than anythin’ else. But it got bigger, until it was about the size of a foal.
"Then it finally died. The plant just... withered overnight. It spent near forty years growin’ to a real stately height of about two foot tall, to produce that one pod and die. Didn’t make a lick of sense to me, and I was a bit sore about the plant dyin’ so sudden. So I figured I’d take the pod in and see what sorta soup I could fix up from it.
"Only, when I got to cuttin’ it open, I found it was still real warm, and it kicked like there was somethin’ alive in there. I opened it up, and I could not believe my eyes -- it was a little baby filly, orange with a little tuft of yellow mane, and big, green eyes." Granny smith pointed a hoof at Applejack. "It was you."
Applejack looked stunned. Twilight actually had to look carefully to make sure she hadn’t quietly died during Granny Smith’s story. The elderly mare hadn’t stopped, though, and she kept right on talking.
"So, I had this little filly on my hooves, when Russet walked into the kitchen; he was gonna make a joke about how he hoped the pod soup was gonna be worth it, but he shut up sharpish when he saw AJ in my hooves. Wanted to know where she came from, couldn’t believe "from the pod".
"But just like me, when all was said and done he figured it all meant somethin’. That wood mare givin’ us a seed that gave us a pod with a filly in it weren’t just for kicks. So’s nopony asked questions about a mysterious extra kid, we agreed to keep her origin a secret. Sour Grapes – your mom – agreed to pretend she was several months pregnant all of a sudden with a second kid, and it wasn’t long before AJ was officially a member of th’ family.
"Since then, we wondered if you’d do anythin’ weird. But you grew up a normal little gal, and never suspected a thing about your birth. And when Russet and your mom... passed on, well. I was the only one left that knew the truth, and as the years went on, I almost expected y’ to never do or show any hint of where y’ came from." Granny Smith sat back. "Until today. I don’t rightly know what happened or why, but y’ know as much as I do now, and y’ old enough to make y’ own decisions."
Applejack just shook her head slowly. "I just can’t believe it. Whoever heard of a pony comin’ from a seed?"
"Well, technically ," Twilight began reflexively.
"That ain’t the same, and you know it," Applejack countered, cutting the princess off.
"You’re right," Twilight apologized. "I’m sorry."
Applejack just sat back heavily in her seat on the couch, slumping, and seemingly unbothered by the hole in her torso. "I mean, if this story is true and all, that technically makes me, what, sixty-somethin’?"
"You look good for your age," Twilight chipped in. "So, what now, AJ?"
"What do you mean, what now?" Applejack asked. "I’m a dryad, apparently. A dryad what looks like a regular pony. What am I supposed to do?"
"What th’ princess means," Granny clarified, "Is what you’re gonna do with that knowledge. If y’are still fixin’ for answers, why not go in and ask about? Or y’ can wallow and mope in it," Granny added to Applejack, "And quit. But I know I didn’t raise no quitters."
"But I’m not even your granddaughter," Applejack said sadly.
"Just because we ain’t related by blood don’t make us any less of a family," Granny Smith said levelly. "You been payin’ your dues like an Apple, you’re an Apple. Don’t matter where you’re from."
Applejack smiled a little. "Thanks, Granny."
"‘sides," Granny grumped. "Raised you long enough. Pretty sure that counts."
* * *
Applejack and Twilight stood at the entrance of the Everfree forest, and both couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive about the whole idea. While the both of them had made the journey through the forest to the Castle of the Pony Sisters several times in recent memory, they hadn’t had to make it with recent timberwolf and woldwarden interest fresh on their mind, and a pony that was almost confirmed to be a dryad in their number.
"Are you ready?" Twilight asked, eyeing Applejack’s wound, which had puckered up somewhat but was still significantly gaping and oozing the occasional drop of sap.
"‘m fine," Applejack said dismissively, catching Twilight looking. "It hasn’t killed me by now, so I don’t think it’ll do me in."
"Alright, just checking," Twilight said. "The book said dryad were hardy and tough like trees, not necessarily indestructible or undying."
"When was the last time you saw a tree die because it had a hole through it?" Applejack pointed out.
"Huh, good point," Twilight conceded. "Well, if you’re ready, lead on!"
"Eh?" Applejack blinked. "Why do I gotta lead?"
"Well, since you’re the one discovering hiterto unknown origins," Twilight reasoned, "I think this is your show and you should take the lead."
"But you’re a princess ," Applejack countered, gesturing in front of her. "Ain’t right that a princess walks at the back of the group."
"Hey, what did I say about playing the princess card?" Twilight retorted. "Besides, you’re a dryad, and probably a princess of this forest. You go."
Applejack opened her mouth to try and think of a reason why Twilight should still take the lead, and gave up, unsuccessful, declining to comment as she wordlessly took the lead and Twilight followed her into the dappled shadow of the forest.
The pair looked around, unsure of what to expect; the two mares’ minds flicked through countless scenarios, from three-on-two woldwarden ambush, to trees full of dryad archers straight out of a fantasy novel.
Applejack was wondering how hard it would be to spot a dryad archer, when she spotted something else; low, lupine and wooden.
"Timberwolf," she whispered, stopping.
"Where?" Twilight asked.
"Right there," Applejack said, pointing with a hoof at a fallen log, against which the timberwolf was pressed.
"I don’t see it," Twilight said.
"His eyes are glowin’," Applejack pointed out.
"I still don’t see it," Twilight said.
"Look, it’s right there ," Applejack said a little louder, stepping towards the timberwolf, pointing. The movement was enough to cause the timberwolf to break and run back into the shadows of the trees.
Twilight gasped. "Oh my gosh, I didn’t even see it there!"
"Are you sure your eyesight’s up to scratch?" Applejack asked. "Maybe readin’ by candlelight like I know you do is ruining your eyes or something."
"My eyesight is still 20/20," Twilight countered.
Applejack shrugged and continued walking. After a brief moment of peering at her own hoof, Twilight cantered to catch up.
"So, any ideas how we’re gonna look for clues?" Applejack asked. "I don’t exactly feel any different. No bursts of insight or anything."
"I don’t suppose the dryad have libraries?" Twilight wondered.
"And where would the library be?" Applejack asked. "Pretty sure ponies have explored this place top to bottom and found no unusual buildings. About the only two things of interest in here is Zecora’s place and the castle ruins."
"Well, remember how Granny Smith said she got lost all of a sudden and found the zap apples?" Twilight asked back. "Maybe we just have to get lost suddenly."
"And how do we just ‘get lost suddenly’?" Applejack asked aloud.
[My dear,] a rich, male voice said, [For a daughter of this forest, all you have to do is ask.]
Applejack looked up, alarmed at the new voice in the air.
"Who’s there?" she demanded. "Show y’self!"
[Whoa, calm down,] the voice said. There was a rustling of foliage above, and Applejack and Twilight looked up to see a rather alien creature descending from a vine that he clung to with one hoof lazily.
Judging by his voice and build, he was a stallion. Beyond that, though, the dryad descending from on high was largely alien. He didn’t seem to have a coat, his skin entirely comprised of sturdy, rough, dark brown bark not unlike a tree; the bark formed plates that shifted and overlapped, with the occasional gap that revealed an underlayer of smoother-looking grain in a similar colour. Where a pony would have a tail, he had something approaching that, only made out of rather uniform long grass.
His head sported a jaunty mane in the same style as his tail, and his face was also covered in bark that culminated in a pair of small, sturdy horns on his brow. And recessed in the eye sockets, two faintly glowing eyes, filled with intelligence and, as the dryad got closer, cheerful amusement.
[Well,] the dryad said, getting off the vine and giving it a tug. With a second rustle of leaves, the vine retreated back into the canopy. [I would ask if you remember me, but I believe the last time I saw you, you were barely the tiniest seed. How you have bloomed, absolutely spectacular.]
"Do you have any idea what he’s saying?" Twilight asked, ears flat. "I can’t understand him."
"I can," Applejack said, surprised. "He’s speaking Equestrian."
[Actually,] the dryad said, [ I'm speaking Dryadese. You just understand our native language thanks to your heritage.]
"What’d he say?" Twilight asked.
"Apparently I speak Dryadese because I’m a dryad," Applejack said.
Twilight hummed. "Racial language? That’s neat. Well, don’t worry about me, I’ll just... tag along."
[So,] the dryad said, bowing his head slightly. [I should introduce myself. Zapp Everfree, brother to the dearly departed Lady Ivy Everfree. Your uncle, and present Lord of the Everfree Forest.]
"Y- you’re my uncle?" Applejack asked.
[Mhmm,] Zapp said. [And it does give me great joy to see my only niece alive and well after all this time. We had thought you lost forever, you know.]
"Ah, well," Applejack looked down at her hooves. "I didn’t rightly know I was lost until a few hours ago. Still can’t believe all this."
Zapp nodded. [Forgive me, but I must demonstrate how poor an uncle I am – what is your name?]
"Oh," Applejack said, surprised. "I’m Applejack. Just Applejack." Applejack gestured at Twilight. "And this is Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. She’s a princess."
[A princess?] Zapp asked, surprised. [My, you do keep lofty company. My niece, Princess’ Consort...]
Applejack blushed violently. "What? No! No, we’re just friends!"
[Of course, that’s what they all say,] Zapp said, grinning slyly and nudging Applejack in the shoulder, before looking down at Applejack’s side. [I don’t wish to insult your intelligence, but were you aware there is a large hole in you? Or is that the style in the Equestrian society these days?]
"No, it’s... a hole." Applejack frowned. "I don’t really know what I’m gonna do with it."
[Well, we should fix that, hmm?] Zapp beckoned to Twilight. [Come, let us find somewhere more out of the way.]
As Zapp beckoned, the foliage to the side of the path parted of its own accord, and formed a rough but definite path further into the woods. Twilight looked at Applejack, who nodded reassuringly, and led the way into the newly formed path, leaving Zapp, who held out a foreleg to Twilight chivalrously, inviting her to follow.
Twilight did so, and Zapp brought up the rear, following the two mares off the path, leaving the foliage to reseal behind them.
* * *
Applejack stepped into a clearing. She could have sworn there was nothing but trees for hundreds of metres in front of her a moment ago, but suddenly, she was standing in a sunny glade, big enough to fit all of the Sweet Apple Acres’ farmhouse and barn into – if it wasn’t already occupied by a massive tree that sprawled across the ground and reached up far into the sky. Applejack craned her neck as she looked up at the top, which looked like it might be just touching the clouds, and wondered why and how it had stayed secret for so long.
[Pure magic,] Zapp’s voice said, as the dryad joined his niece, with Twilight at his side. [That’s our yggdrasil root.]
Applejack blinked. "That? That’s a root ?"
[Yep,] Zapp said, [Every dryad forest has a root from the great world tree. As long as it lives, the forest is blessed by Gaia, hidden from mortal eyes, and is sure to prosper, and so on, so forth.]
"So very important, then?" Applejack asked.
[Exceptionally,] Zapp said. [It also serves as a nice, uniform home for dryads. You’ve seen one root, you’ve seen them all, in a sense. A comfort when travelling abroad. Come, this way.]
Zapp lead the two mares towards the base of the root, where a sizable double door was embedded in the wood, intricate carvings adorning them. As Zapp drew near, the doors quivered, and swung open of their own accord, revealing an organic, curved interior to the root, lit by glowing nodules in the wood, like lamps. Twilight looked at the doors and felt like they were watching her back.
"Applejack."
"Hm?"
"These doors don’t have door handles."
[What’s the problem?] Zapp asked brightly.
"Oh, just wonderin’," Applejack said, indicating the doors that were now closing of their own accord, "Th’ doors don’t seem to have no door handles."
[Don’t need them,] Zapp answered. [The doors open and close on their own, and they know who should and shouldn’t be going through them. And at the end of the day, they’re part of the Root, so if they’re closed...]
"We aren’t going anywhere," Applejack finished. "I getcha."
[Don’t sweat it,] Zapp said. [The doors are pretty good, not a lot of reasons to stop people going in and out. Last time they had to lock up was maybe a few decades back, while the timberwolves got ready to scare off a drunk that wandered in.]
"Applejack?" Twilight asked, and the apple farmer blinked as she realized she’d have to break it down.
"Uh, they’re smart doors," Applejack said.
"Oh, alright," Twilight said, accepting the explanation. "Hmm. I should see if I can get a couple for the library, maybe..."
The trio continued on, Zapp clearly leading a somewhat scenic route past relics of interest that had Applejack translating abridged snippets of dryad history to Twilight almost constantly; mostly in the form of wood carvings and sections of tree trunk that literally depicted the relevant scene in the rings.
"Where are we goin'?" Applejack asked Zapp, as she finished relaying the cliff-notes edition of some war long since passed.
[To see the resident court mage of the Everfree,] Zapp said. "It's plain to see that you've not channelled a bit of energy in your life, and you've no bark on you. Which means, as much as I'd love to teach you how to channel your power, I'm not actually sure if you could. You need an expert.]
"And the court mage is... down?"
[She prefers a more... grounded environment to work in,] Zapp said. [Which is unusual, since most dryad mages prefer a more sunlit environment; but our mage isn't like most mages. Here we go.]
The trio came to a halt at a sturdy wood door, which waited a moment before opening with a creak of flexing wood, revealing an unlit chamber with a single, dim light source in the middle, the sound of chanting coming from a huddled silhouette against it.
Zapp bowed, gesturing inwards. [I shall leave you two to the gentle ministrations of Sessalisk,] Zapp said. [It's not every day a long lost niece returns to you, I need to get on the horn to the other forests, get the word out.]
"Sure," Applejack said, nodding, and walked into the darkened chamber, Twilight following suit hesitantly. The door creaked shut behind them, and the light from outside was cut off, plunging the chamber back into almost complete darkness.
[Who approachesss?] a feminine voice hissed, as the huddled shape rose up, and kept on rising, standing tall on an elongated body that had Applejack and Twilight gawking in a mixture of amazement and horror.
"A- Applejack," Applejack said, taking her hat off. "Applejack Apple, Zapp Everfree's niece, or somethin'."
There was a "sss" noise from the tall, shadowed creature as she studied Applejack, which rose in pitch as she seemed to come to a realization; all of a sudden, nodules began to glow on the ceiling of the chamber, revealing a vast room; the walls were lined with shelves and filled with countless tomes with titles indecipherable both metaphorically and literally. The middle of the hardwood floor sported a thick, spiral-pattern rug which was home to a cauldron, the source of the light from before, and the unconcealed form of the thing that had hailed them.
She stood easy five or six foot tall on her tail, which was that of a snake; this lasted up until roughly her midsection, where her body became a more familiar equine shape, her forehooves bent and ready, covered in spiralling, corkscrewing tribal runes that covered her forelegs like sleeves, and stretched across her torso. Her face was less equine, too, her snout more snake-esque in shape, and distinct snake eyes.
"She's a snake," Twilight mumbled, fighting a strong 'flight' reflex. "Why'd she have to be a snake?"
The snake-creature regarded the half-blinded Applejack and Twilight critically, and a smile formed on her face, revealing long fangs in her mouth. "Equesstriansss!" she said in what sounded like awkward Equestrian, with a thick accent and a sibilant hiss, a slender forked tongue flicking out excitedly as she sank low to the ground and slithered quickly over to the pair. "How are you?"
"We're... very well, thank you?" Applejack responded, a little adrift.
"My name a Sssesssalissk," the creature self-introduced in rough Equestrian. "My Equesstria name iss Coconut Lily, I am big fan of Equesstria life, I love the... the... how you say... Princessess. I bow to the Princesss Celesstia every day."
Twilight rubbed her eyes and looked around – now that her eyes were adjusting to the new light, she could see a multitude of posters dotted about the chamber on naked bits of wall; mostly promotional posters for tourism in various parts of Equestria, and several enshrined portrait posters of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
"Pleased to meetcha," Applejack said, putting her hat back on and tugging the brim. "Like I said, I'm Applejack, and this is Twilight Sparkle."
[You ssspeak the tongue?] Sessalisk asked, dropping back into a still sibilant, but vastly more fluent speech – Applejack guessed she was actually speaking Dryadese now.
"I understand it," Applejack said. "I did say I was Zapp's niece." Applejack pondered. "Lady Ivy Everfree's daughter, I think? Twilight doesn't, though."
[Lady Ivy?] Sessalisk sat back in surprise, regarding Applejack critically. [Yesss, I sssee it now. You have her eyesss, and...] Sessalisk tilted her head sideways. [I sssuppose that if Lady Ivy were barklesss, sshe might look ssomething like you...]
"Thanks?"
[And yet...] Sessalisk straightened her head again. [You look like an Equesstrian... could it be true, then? That she...]
"Um," Twilight put a hoof up. "I don't want to be rude, but... we were getting along pretty well in Equestrian for a moment there, and then..."
"Ah, yes," Sessalisk said, her fluency taking a hit as she turned to look at Twilight. "I am guesssing we should be ssspeaking... how you say, the common language. Forgiving me of poor ssspeech," Sessalisk apologized. "I am not to be getting much chance for practice. Is problem."
"No problem," Twilight said. "You speak it pretty well for... well."
"Pretty well for Naga living under Yigdrasssil root, yess?" Sessalisk laughed. "But thiss iss not being sssocial visssit, I think."
"That's about right," Applejack said, pointing to the hole in her side. "I'm sportin' this lil' fashion statement here, and Uncle Zapp said somethin' about channellin' energy."
[Of course,] Sesalisk said, defaulting to Dryadese on reflex, then switching back to Equestrian. "I help with that. Come, sssit."
"Is this energy channelling... universal?" Twilight asked. "Or is a dryad-only thing?"
"Dryad energy channelling isss... how you say, unique, to dryad race," Sessalisk explained, waving a hoof gently as Applejack had a seat next to the cauldron. "Energy come not from within, but from the earth. And earth insside dryad, you sssee?"
Twilight nodded. "I see." She eyed the books, tomes and scrolls lining the walls. "Mind if I look at the library, then?"
"Isss free country like glorious Equesstria," Sessalisk invited, gesturing. "But all bookss written in dryad language."
Twilight nodded, and plucked a book off at random; as the spine tilted to face Applejack, she found the symbols shift and blur into what looked like plain Equestrian. It was just a problem that the book seemed to be titled "Maintenance and Repair of Woldwardens: Volume III ", so it'd be gibberish to Applejack anyway.
[Look thiss way, Lady Applejack,] Sessalisk said, speaking fully in Dryadese now and getting the orange pony's attention. [Channelling iss a fundamental ssskill; without it, you cannot hope to gain any power, authority or ressspect.]
"Will it heal this hole in m' side?" Applejack asked.
[As well ass other thingss,] Sessalisk said. [Lean forward, I ssshall divine the nature of your power.]
Applejack did so, and Sessalisk leaned forward, placing a cold, scaly hoof on Applejack's forehead, closing her own eyes as she did so. She hummed to herself, breathing deeply, and lifted the hoof away after a moment of concentration.
[You have never once channelled your power,] Sessalisk assessed. [Many dryad channel at leasst once before reaching maturity, even if only by accident.]
"Well, some ponies are just late bloomers," Applejack said dismissively.
[Thiss iss true,] Sessalisk said. [But for dryad, it meanss your first channel will be sssomething of a release; I can help you control it, but it will still be a wild releasse of energy as your body getss used to it.]
"So, basically, I could explode if I channel for the first time?"
[Only if I were not helping you,] Sessalisk said. [It is probably good that you have not channelled in that ssense, Equesstria would not be used to exploding poniesss.]
"I dunno," Applejack said, looking at Twilight. "Some of us exploded when we first used proper magic."
"Why are you looking at me?" Twilight asked.
"One of us turned her parents into pot plants."
"We don't talk about that!"
[I ssee,] Sessalisk said, still talking Dryadese. [So Equesstriansss have channelling jitterss, too. I didn't know thiss, thank you.]
"You're welcome," Applejack said. "So, to channel, what do I do?"
[Normally, we approach the first channelling ssslower than thiss,] Sessalisk said. [But you are Lady Ivy'ss ssap and bark – the time to prove your inheritance will sssurely come ssswiftly, so you musst sswiftly masster at leasst a token demonsstration of power.]
"How hard can it be?" Applejack asked.
[Firsst, you musst empty your mind,] Sessalisk said. [In time, you will be able to channel your power without thinking. But novicess ussually find it eassier to concentrate.]
"And then?"
[And then, will the power to risse up from within,] Sessalisk continued, gesturing with a hoof. [It iss different for all dryad, ssome visualize manifest energy, otherss visualize fire, a growing tree...]
Applejack closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and held it as she tried drawing imaginary lightning out of her diaphragm, gut tensing.
[Do not force it,] Sessalisk said. [Yiggdrassil's gift is to be coaxed out, not pulled out like a turnip. Vissualize it... perhapsss, flowing out of a jug and into a mould,] Sessalisk said. [The mould iss how you want to usse it, and the energy flowss like your Equestrian cider.]
Applejack stopped straining, and tried again; this time she tried the pouring imagery, imagining an apple-shaped mould for the heck of it, and frowned slightly when nothing happened.
[You have not cassted before,] Sessalisk said, noting the frustration. [This iss natural, it takess a few channellingss for the energy to flow ass it should. Just visualize and-]
Applejack gasped as she felt something shift inside of her, and her cheeks flushed. She opened her eyes, and Sessalisk was smiling knowingly.
[It feelss ass if someone hass turned a tap inside you, no?]
"A mite uncomfortable," Applejack said.
[Keep channelling, but brace yoursself,] Sessalisk said. [The flow will rapidly intenssify. I will be right here with you.]
"You mean this isn't the-" Applejack stopped mid-sentence as the warm trickling sensation turned into a rushing warmth, as if a tap had been opened all the way up.
And it spread through her, warming her body like sunlight would a leaf; all around her, the world began to glow in response, and she saw veins of energy flowing through the yigdrasil around her and beyond, lines tracing through the dark; they cris-crossed all over Sessalisk in artificial-looking ruinic shapes, and Applejack noted that the ley-lines seemed brighter around Twilight, as if paying attention to her out of curiosity.
She felt the warmth centre itself on her midsection, and she spared a glance at her side; the hole was rapidly closing in and filling up with a strange, tingling sensation, layers of fresh wood-flesh covered by fresh skin that practically rippled as it was covered in turn with orange coat, as if she'd never been skewered. And elsewhere in her body, she felt aches from the early morning's work fade, and her teeth shift ever so slightly as they straightened a touch.
And then she felt the energy bottom out; the tap kept on pouring ever harder, and yet it had nowhere to go. She wanted to say something, but she felt like if she opened her mouth, the energy would spill out, along with everything inside her. She closed her eyes, and began to feel the burn, pushing and straining at everything she was, the energy just looking for a way out, a purpose.
[I'm right here,] Sessalisk reminded. [It's okay, let it all go. Ssshare your burden with me, Lady Applejack.]
Applejack let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and the energy flowed with it, into the hooves touching her shoulders and into Sessalisk; the naga siphoned energy like a straw sucked up thickshake, but after a moment, the pain was back, and Sessalisk seemed like she, too, was having trouble dealing with the energy, her tattoos glowing with electric blue power that they struggled to contain.
"Too much!" Applejack grunted, pitching forward and hugging herself tightly, panting in pain, her hat falling off her head as she rocked.
Sessalisk gasped in pain, and her hooves left Applejack's shoulders, the naga wringing them as she grimaced, her tattoos leaving luminescent contrails of energy as she did. She looked around frantically, and spotted a box on a shelf, dusty with disuse; flinging out a hoof and shouting a command in something similar to Dryadese, the box was yanked towards her at high velocity, and Sessalisk caught it, opening it up.
On the inside, there was a lump of dark stone; where all around them there were ley lines, veins of energy, there was a growing area around the stone that quickly went dark. Sessalisk could feel her own power ebbing as she held the stone, the electric blue tattoos fading back to a more normal black, and she touched it to Applejack's arm with determination.
Applejack's pain did not visibly lessen, although the stone began to grow warm. Sessalisk's eyes went wide as she ballparked the power Applejack was producing; truly, she was Ivy's daughter.
And then there was another shout of pain, followed by a thump and the scuttling of hooves; Sessalisk looked behind her to see Twilight on her side on the ground, kicking herself in circles in a vain attempt to dislodge what seemed to be a vicious headache, judging by the two hooves violently clamped on her temples and horn. Twilight finally turned to face Sessalisk and saw what she was holding – Twilight tried to open her mouth to say something, and immediately vomited.
And then Applejack started screaming, too, and Sessalisk watched in amazement as the mare underwent a dramatic transformation; all over her orange coat, it was starting to tent up with pressure from underneath, and shards of bark began to force their way through; there was no blood, the skin just seemingly splitting indefinitely to accommodate the growing bark, which proceeded to cover Applejack all over, spreading like wildfire as the mare cried out in agony. Her tail and mane took on an earthy tone as vegetation began to spread through it, and in no time at all her "hair" had become something not unlike tussock grass. It spread to her face, and covered her eyes rapidly, forming "eyelids" of bark, which split open to reveal recessed, lambent orbs of green light the same color as her eyes. The bark converged on her forehead, and with a cracking of wood, two horns forced their way out of her brow, forming two-pointed, forked horns.
And then Applejack stopped screaming, looking as if she was seeing for the first time, taking cautious breaths as she seemed to calm down; as quickly as it had manifested, the bark began to crumble, falling off Applejack to reveal intact coat underneath, and into evaporating dust on the ground, tussock falling out in clumps as a natural tail and mane returned to their home.
Sessalisk nodded, and put the rock back in the case, closing it. As soon as she did, the agonized moaning coming from Twilight dropped away, and the mare lay there for a moment, tentatively letting her head go and sitting up, looking around.
"Is every late-bloomer's first channeling always so rough?" Applejack asked, panting. "And what the heck just happened to me?"
[It is not alwayss sso rough,] Sessalisk said. [None have channelled sso late in life as you have, nor have they delayed channelling with ssuch innate power. It could easily have been worsse.]
"What did the rock do?" Applejack asked, staying down for a moment. "It felt like an ice cube."
"Orichalcum," Twilight groaned, sitting upright properly once more and wiping her mouth with the back of her hoof.
"Ori-what-now?" Applejack asked.
"Orichalcum," Twilight repeated, more slowly. "Anti-magic ore. Acts as a sink for any form of mana energy. Like your..." Twilight gestured with a hoof at Applejack. "Your dryad channelling."
"Are you alright?" Applejack asked, realizing that Twilight wasn't exactly in top form all of a sudden.
"No, I am not alright," Twilight said. "I just got exposed to the biggest bucking lump of orichalcum I've ever seen. Felt like my brain was on fire and somepony was cutting through it with a rusty hacksaw." Twilight hunched over, breathing deep, and when Applejack sat up to ask, Twilight interrupted her with a waved hoof. "Sorry, I'll be fine. Just... give me a moment."
"Apologiess," Sessalisk said in Equestrian, bowing. "I had to do ssomething, I forgot that one of uss wass of unicorn."
"You still didn't answer my other question," Applejack said, standing upright again and stretching. "What happened at the end there? Was that what I thought it was?"
"I've never sseen it before," Sessalisk admitted in Equestrian again, shrugging. "My guess... your dryad nature iss buried under the Equestrian ssshell, along with your power. If you channel more, it will probably return more eassily, and for longer."
"So the more I channel my dryad magic, the more dryad I become?"
"Essssentially," Sessalisk said.
Applejack looked at her leg, and frowned. She flinched as the prickly sensation of bark flowed through her leg, and grimaced as she watched bark overtake it, forming the wood-plated leg of a dryad attached to her normally equine shoulder. She gave it a flex, tapping it on the ground, before relaxing, and watching her regular coat return.
[Interessting,] Sessalisk said, observing carefully. [You have inherited Lady Ivy'ss talent, it is certain. Few can channel sso precissely sso ssoon. None ass quick ass you.]
"You really admired Lady Ivy, didn't you?" Applejack asked.
"It is true," Sessalisk said, before switching back to Equestrian for Twilight's beneft. "Lady Ivy wass remarkable in every way. Sshe was sstrong, wisse, and kind. She take me in, train me and give me power to channel," Sessalisk said, indicating the spiralling tattoos through her coat. "I wass honored to be her court mage when she pick me, and honoured just now to be here for her daughter's first channel." Sessalisk bowed her head. "It was tragedy that sshe wass killed by Equestrians." Sessalisk shrugged. "Sstill, there must be ssome decent Equesstrianss worth ssaving out there, like Twilight and the oness that raissed you."
"Wait, what?" Twilight's horn glowed as she got up finally, and with an erratic spark, the vomit and mess of a moment before vanished, cleaned by still-shaky magic. "Killed by Equestrians?"
"Yes," Sessalisk said. "I know Equesstrianss are so mortal, more mortal than naga, so I sshall elaborate. Almosst sseventy yearss ago, there wass widespread debate between dryad communess regarding Equesstria and whether we sshould bother to sshow ourselvess to them again – not since our alliance with Hurricane and lossess to Platinum have we interacted with ponykind."
Sessalisk closed her eyes as she recalled fond memories of the past. "Lady Ivy Everfree, blesss her ssoul, believed in the good that Equesstria had to offer, and wass on her way to make treaty with the poniess living jusst beyond the foresst." Sessalisk paused. "Her brother, Zapp Everfree, go after her, fearing that the poniess would be cruel and attack her on ssight with fire and lightning, ass they did to their ancestorss before." Sessalisk shook her head. "But he was too late. By the time he find her, apparently sshe had been attacked by a ssscouting party of poniess with axess, and burned." Sessalisk nodded a head at Applejack. "They musst have thought your sseed to be food or ssome ssuch."
"What... What a load of hogwash ," Applejack hissed. "I have never- Ponyville ponies never attacked Lady Ivy! There was never a scouting party!" Applejack stamped a hoof. "Granny Smith was the one who found Ivy, and she'd already been attacked by somethin' that tore off her leg! She was dyin', and she gave Granny Smith my... my seed."
"That's what sshe claimss," Sessalisk said. "Would sshe tell you the truth? Perhaps sshe killed your mother?"
"She was only a little filly of ten at the time!" Applejack exclaimed. "Would Lady Ivy be laid low by a hungry little filly?"
"I- no, sshe wouldn't," Sessalisk admitted. "No. Sso... why would Zapp Everfree..."
"Zapp was next in line when Ivy passed on, right?" Twilight asked, interjecting. "If so, then..."
"You sayin' my uncle killed my mother jus' so he could be 'Lord Everfree'?" Applejack asked hotly.
"You've known him for all of half an hour, now!" Twilght said hotly. "You remember what Granny Smith said – Ivy had been savaged by something! What somethings serve dryads? Timberwolves! What if the trees were Zapp's way of trying to make Granny Smith go away?"
"This is crazy," Applejack said, shaking her head. "This can't be it, who would... his sister! What sort of pony would kill his sister for somethin' like that?"
"Not a pony, dear Applejack," a cold voice said. "A dryad lord tired of waiting for what was rightly his."
Author's Note
Handwavium, the chapter. I'm sorry.
Twilight, Applejack and Sessalisk spun around to see Zapp Everfree standing in the doorway. He stepped inside, expression no longer jovial but bitter, jaded.
"You just had to ask, didn't you?" Zapp asked, in flawless Equestrian. "I leave you alone for five minutes, and you manage to unravel the plot I spent almost a hundred years putting into action. Typical."
"Why'd you do it?" Applejack asked. "Why kill Ivy?"
[She started it!] Zapp hissed, defaulting to Dryadese in his frustration, and jabbing a hoof at Applejack. "That brute didn't have what it took to rule! The Everfree would have been better off with me at the helm, and her free to keep on doing what she did best, like hitting things and making friends with mortals... I told her this, asked her to just withdraw from the succession, but no, she was stubborn , and refused to bow out! Convinced our father to make the succession a contest of strength! Like that's any way to decide the heir to the Everfree!"
Zapp began to grind his teeth. "She beat me, became Lady Everfree, then used her power to point us towards destruction. Dryads are supposed to be quiet , unseen by the eyes of mortals! And then here comes Ivy, gallumphing away, having liasons with travellers! She was a loud, overt moron!"
"She was your sister, for pony's sake!" Applejack exclaimed, stamping a hoof.
"She was going to destroy the Everfree dryads," Zapp said coldly. "Did you know we're one of the few intact enclaves left? We used to span the world from coast to coast, and now? Ever since we interacted with ponykind, we've been on a downward spiral." Zapp jabbed his hoof at Twilght. "You mortals poisoned us, destroyed our homes, slaughtered our kin by the hundreds with fire! Thousands of dryad who should still be alive today!"
[That wass a long time ago!] Sessalisk interjected. [The sssins of the forefathers are not theirs to bear! They have changed!]
"Shut up, naga," Zapp spat. "Should have just killed you when I had the chance. This whole sordid episode is a lesson in prudence..."
"So your excuse is that you did it to save dryadkind?" Applejack asked levelly. "And it just so happened to involve you becoming Lord Everfree?"
"That was my destiny!" Zapp bellowed. "Me! Lord Everfree! I was the eldest! I had all the right qualities! My mastery over yigdrasil's gift was without peer! But by dryad law, my sister was still entitled to make a bid for power at the succession, and our father, in his infinite wisdom," Zapp hissed, "liked to play favorites , doted on her and ignored my plights. Soft-barked piece of firewood, may he rot in the glades."
"Disgustin'," Applejack said, spitting on the ground in front of Zapp. "If it were my little sister makin' Lady of somewhere or somesuch, I'd let her have it. You've got no respect for your family, you're despicable, Zapp."
"I'm hurt you think that of me," Zapp said, looking back up at Applejack, a sinister gleam of joy in his eye. "But it won't matter for very long, you're all about to have an unfortunate channelling accident."
Twilight, thoroughly confused, opened her mouth, but all that came out was a violent scream as she – along with the other two – was thrown back by a vicious bolt of lightning from Zapp Everfree's inclined horns. She bounced and rolled across the ground, grunting as Sessalisk landed on top of her and blacked out.
Only Applejack landed more or less upright, bouncing and rolling back onto her hooves just as she slammed into a bookshelf, looking over her nefarious uncle with borderline hatred, her chest smoking where a shallow crater had been blasted in her body, quickly healing over. The dryad was standing tall, his bark carapace crackling with energy that Applejack recognized.
"So," she said. "The Zap Apples. Your work?"
"My finest," Zapp declared. "Watching you all year round, even if you didn't know it. I'll admit, I wasn't sure if I had the right pony," Zapp said. "Did my sister's bastard child ever actually sprout? Would it be like us, or like them? I just didn't know – but now I do." Zapp pointed his hoof at Applejack. "You're just a mortal plus," he declared. "You speak the tongue, you might have a few parlor tricks with your chanelling, but you don't have the bark. And that's what counts."
Applejack blinked in surprise. He didn't know. She felt a plan coming together in her head – Zapp was going to be in for it.
"It ain't the bark that makes a dryad," Applejack declared boldly. "I mean, look at you. You got the bark, but y'all are still just a damn snake. Don't got the b-" Applejack lowered her head as if to get a better look. "Do dryads even have balls?"
"Metaphorically and literally," Zapp said, flinging a hoof at Applejack, a bolt of lightning flying out the end of it at blinding speeds. Applejack didn't flinch, just focusing on pouring that apple cider hard and fast. She felt the familiar warmth build up again, but this time it stayed at a manageable level, one where she felt she could control it. It obeyed her whims, and Applejack willed her new skin to grow in with record speed, bark emerging and encasing her quicker than blinking. Then she charged in one smooth motion, feeling only slight resistance from the energy bolt as it punched into her new solid-wood skin and fizzled, unable to conduct.
Zapp's mouth opened in surprise, but nothing came out save for air as Applejack shoulder-tackled Zapp backwards and back through the library doors, which swung open around them. The run came to an abrupt end in the wall of the root as Applejack pinned her uncle to the wall hard and fast.
"I got the bark," Applejack said, grinning.
Zapp looked sideways at her, and smiled. "You're just like her," Zapp said. "More than you realize, perhaps."
"If you think sentimentality is gonna save you from the ass-whooping you deserve..." Applejack growled.
"No, I was just saying you're like her," Zapp said casually, ignoring the fact that he wasn't even touching the ground. "Headstrong, brave, reckless, a touch of cunning..."
There was a rumbling from further down the corridor, and Zapp spotted Applejack's attention waver briefly. Applejack blinked in surprise and tried to back off as she spotted what was making the rumbling, only to get speared sideways by some titanic green vine, and carried off down the corridor.
"And predictable," Zapp concluded, rolling his shoulder and walking down the corridor after the root.
Applejack felt her concentration slip despite her best efforts, and most of the bark on her body retracted or fell off as the vine carried her body along, caught in the claw-like head of the vine. She struggled and pushed, but the supernaturally charged plant was too much for her, pushing her along the corridors and tunnels of the root at extreme speeds; she recognized some of the exhibits as they flashed by, and realized where she was headed an instant before she got there, thrown through the main doors and out onto the ground outside.
The sun was setting now, colouring the sky a reddish orange as Applejack got up and looked around; surrounding the tree was a veritable army of timberwolves, and a pair of woldwardens, all of them watching her as she got up.
"You know, when me and Ivy were still saplings," Zapp said, emerging from a recently-sprouted flower bud and stepping onto the ground. "We used to joke about just how strong she was. How many timberwolves she could fight at the same time. As it turns out, the answer is six." Zapp shrugged. "If she was better at doing things with her magic other than hit things hard, perhaps she could have lasted longer."
"Coward," Applejack cursed.
"Wrong C-word," Zapp said. "Careful ."
"Careful this," Applejack said, throwing out her hoof again and willing her magic into motion, working on a heat-of-the-moment idea. It worked, her foreleg rippling with bark once more; only this time, a panel of the bark had been pushed up, allowing a thin, whiplike vine to shoot out, and lash itself around Zapp's neck with a snapping sound and squeezing hard.
"Cute," Zapp said, his voice squashed but otherwise unaffected by the choke. "Eye for an eye, Applejack."
Zapp flung out his own hoof and mimicked Applejack, who yelped as Zapp's own whip coiled around her neck and began to squeeze, Applejack feeling the blood rushing in her ears and her heart pounding away.
The apple farmer struggled and kicked, her resistance futile as Zapp smashed her onto the ground with the vine and freed himself from her suddenly-loose grip.
"Can't handle it?" Zapp taunted. "Need to breathe? Poor half-breed."
"Get... you..." Applejack choked.
"Obviously, there's more mortal in you than dryad," Zapp said, lifting Applejack up and bringing her closer. "Another reason I should be Lord Everfree. Your mother would have destroyed us with her half-breed get, diluted the blood of the Everfree until we were nothing more than strange ponies with an affinity for plants."
"That's... an earth pony..." Applejack gagged.
"I know," Zapp said, rolling his eyes. "I couldn't imagine anything more pathetic. At least pegasi and unicorns bring something new to the table."
"Pathetic... huh?" Applejack snorted, drawing as much breath as she could through the chokehold, straining. "I'll show you... PATHETIC!"
As Applejack exerted herself, vines punched out of the ground below her, lashing onto her hooves and pulling her back down to the earth; Zapp leaned forward, caught off balance by the pulling motion, and Applejack regrew the bark on her head, just in time to catch Zapp in a perfect headbutt, the crack of wood on wood echoing through the enchanted clearing.
Zapp stumbled back, his own hold on Applejack broken and head swimming. He looked up just in time to see Applejack's hindquarters compressing as she wound up for a kick, hooves clad in dryad bark and eyes filled with determined fire. The twin cracks were like gunshots, and Zapp flew through the air, landing on the ground as he rolled to a halt, his back to the cordon of timberwolves and woldwardens as he regained his footing.
"That's how we do it on the farm," Applejack said levelly, scuffing her hooves on the dirt. "You know, the one full of 'pathetic earth ponies'. Who's pathetic now?"
Zapp felt his chest, and found a perfect pair of matching hoof prints in his bark. He looked back at Applejack, who had clad herself completely in bark once more, and his heart was filled with memories.
"Have I mentioned how like your mother you are?" Zapp asked, spitting a thin streak of amber onto the ground.
"I've heard nothing but, today," Applejack said.
"Well, I've got good news," Zapp said, stepping back and whistling loudly, a shrill screech that got the attention of everything in the ring. "You look like her, you fight like her, and now you're going to die like her." He switched to Dryadese. [Kill her!]
The timberwolves surrounding the two barked and snarled as they finally began to advance. Applejack took a step back in horror, but gritted her teeth and didn't take another.
"Heel!" she bellowed at the timberwolves.
The creatures stopped briefly, and Applejack blinked. She drew more power into her voice, and pointed a hoof at half of them, mustering as much authority as she could.
[Sit!] she yelled, this time her voice carrying an imperceptible edge to it.
The timberwolves looked uneasy for a moment, looking between Applejack and Zapp, before deciding to do what Applejack had said, and sitting down, placing their hindquarters onto the ground obediently.
Zapp blinked and looked at them in disbelief. [What are you doing?!] he yelled. [Get over there! Tear her limb from limb!]
The timberwolves seemed to come to a consensus, and remained sitting, more resolute now, and eyeing Zapp not with the wary respect afforded a pack leader, but the keen interest they gave to a potential target. Zapp took a step backwards in fear, and Applejack smiled.
"Who doesn't have the bark now?" she asked.
Zapp's confidence was gone as he looked warily around, his mouth moving silently as he was finally lost for words.
"You know," Applejack said. "I am wondering... if Ivy could handle six timberwolves... how many will you handle? One? Two?"
[No!] Zapp protested fearfully. [You wouldn't!]
"You're right," Applejack admitted. "Not gonna lie." Applejack cleared her throat, drew herself up and pointed a hoof. [Grab him!]
The timberwolves moved rapidly, quickly forming a circle around Zapp to prevent him running away; Zapp tried it anyway, throwing himself into the air with a plume of vines, only for a stone hand to snatch him out of the air; the former Lord of the Everfree strained and struggled, sparks flying as he electrified his bark, to no effect in the unbeatable stone grip of the Woldwarden holding him and looking to Applejack for the next command.
[You can't do this!] Zapp complained, struggling desperately. "I'm your uncle!" he protested in Equestrian. "Good old Uncle Zapp! Can't you find it in your heart to spare me? Please?"
"Good question," Applejack said. "But, do dryads even have hearts?" Applejack looked to the woldwarden. [Would you kindly throw my Uncle far, far away?] she asked. [As far as you can throw.]
The woldwarden nodded, and stepped into the centre of the clearing for a clear shot at the sky above; all the while, Zapp was thrashing away in the woldwarden's fist.
[I'll have my revenge!] he shouted angrily. [I will be Lord Everfree! I'll get you, you Gaia-damned half-breed!]
"If I ever see you again," Applejack said firmly, "I will personally cut you into firewood. Bet on it."
Zapp went pale – or as pale as a bark-skinned equine can go, anyway – and whatever he was going to say next was lost in an involuntary terror-scream as the woldwarden finally cut loose with the throw, and he shot into the air like a thrown caber. Applejack put a hoof to her brow as she watched Zapp's screaming form quicky shrink and vanish in the distance against the setting sun.
"Good throw," she muttered, loud enough for the woldwarden to hear. The stone titan rumbled contentedly as he caught the gist of the praise, and nodded.
There was a raspy bark, and Applejack's attention was drawn to the timberwolves, who were now sitting perfectly still, waiting for her next word.
"Uh," Applejack paused, clearing her throat and taking a breath. [Good dogs, you can go now.]
The timberwolves barked, and as one, got up and bounded away into the treeline, vanishing with supernatural speed.
Then there was a crashing of wood and a gout of flames as the two main doors to the Yigdrasil were blown open by a phenomenonal blast of magic and energy, allowing Twilight and Sessalisk to dive-roll through them and onto their hooves, striking poses as they prepared to sling magic.
"Hooves in the air, Zapp!" Twilight yelled, holding a wild approximation of a wing-chun stance. "I know how to cast fireball, and I'm not afraid to..." Twilight faltered, seeing nobody but Applejack and rapidly retreating woldwardens. "Where is..."
"Gone away," Applejack said. "Far away."
"Oh." Twilight relaxed, and Sessalisk followed suit. "Well, so, you won, huh?"
"I guess so," Applejack muttered. "What now?"
"Now?" Sessalisk said in Equestrian, sinking low on her coils and bowing. "Whatever you want, Lady Applejack, masster of the Everfree."
"Anythin' I want?" Applejack asked.
* * *
"Alright, everypony!" Rainbow shouted. "Listen up!"
Fluttershy and Rarity cringed at their proximity to the shouting. Pinkie Pie just stared blankly into space just behind Rainbow's left ear, and didn't seem to react. The four mares were lined up at the edge of the Everfree forest, burdened with large saddlebags bristling with all manner of search and rescue equipment.
"We're right here ," Rarity said tartly, tossing her mane. "You don't need to shout."
"Why are we doing this?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm sure Applejack is fine..."
"Because Applejack's been actin' weird," Rainbow said. "One, there was that stone robot yesterday. Then two, she runs to Twilight like she's seen a ghost, and the two vanish – presumably leading to part three, where they go into the Everfree forest and don't come back. Applejack knows better than to hang about in that forest after dusk!"
"Those, um, are pretty good points," Fluttershy said quietly
"No, I think you're right," Rarity said. "Applejack is a grown mare. She knows what she's doing, and I think we might be over-reacting just a bit here, Rainbow."
"Over-reacting?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Is it over-reacting to give two flying feathers about your missing friends?"
"Point!" Pinkie chirped, pointing with her entire body past Rainbow. Rarity and Rainbow ignored this to continue the discussion.
"All I'm saying is, calling an emergency search party for Applejack just because she wasn't home when you tried sponging an early run of cider off of her is a bit much."
"What if she's lost?" Rainbow argued. "Every minute counts!"
"The sun hasn't even gone down yet!" Rarity exclaimed. "It's still going to be in the sky for another twenty minutes!"
"Fifteen, actually," Fluttershy said.
"Whatever!"
"Point!" Pinkie chirped again.
"For the love of Luna, are you even paying any attention?" Rainbow asked.
"No, I'm pointing ," Pinkie said. "Look! It's AJ and Twilight! They've made a new friend!"
The other mares turned around or paid more attention to the treeline, and they saw Applejack striding out of the forest towards them, with Twilight and some serpentine creature. Applejack, by far, looked the strangest, her coat covered in patches with thick-looking bark.
"Applejack?" Rainbow asked, taking in what she saw. "What in the wide world of Equestria is going on? What happened to your skin? Is that bark ?"
"RD," Applejack said, "You are not going to believe the day I just had."
The Apple family farmhouse had not seen such a gathering in quite a while. At least, not since the last Apple Family Reunion. It had been a week since Applejack had returned from the forest, and things were almost back to normal.
The kitchen was operating at full tilt, Granny Smith directing the cooking as well as any sailor-mouthed ram as the makings of a proper feast were put together by Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Big Mac. Applejack would have helped, but Granny had insisted, and when Applejack had pressed the issue, Granny had deployed an unbeatable argument.
The newly coronated Lady Everfree rubbed her still-equine brow with a hoof where Granny had bopped her with the wooden spoon, and fidgeted with her cider as she sat with all the other ponies who had been deemed forbidden from the kitchen for the night.
"You did alright," Twilight Sparkle said, patting Applejack on the shoulder.
"I was nervous as a rattlesnake in a mongoose pen," Applejack confessed. "Can't believe I managed to get through that ceremony without makin' a mistake."
"Hah," Rainbow agreed. "That was like, ten times as complicated as Twilight's coronation! You had to recite all that Dryadese stuff, and make a tree grow... it was awesome!" Rainbow snorted. "All Twilight had to do was stand there and smile."
"I'm surprised you were paying attention to the ceremony," Twilight said, a little burned by the comparison of ceremonies. "On account of you making eyes at Lord Aspen the whole time."
"What? No!" Rainbow blew a raspberry. "Don't be ridiculous! Me? Make eyes at a Dryad Lord during a ceremony? Ha! Good one!"
"Well, why wouldn't you?" Twilight asked. "He was absolutely dreamy ."
"Oh, I know, right?" Rainbow leant forward, squeezing her face between her hooves. "The way he moved, and his voice ... did you see his muscles? Dude is so fit, it's crazy!"
"You know," Applejack said. "I could ask around, see if he's available..."
Rainbow went bright red, and sat back upright. "W- What? Why would you do that?" She closed her eyes defiantly, and turned her nose up. "I- It's not like I want to date him, or anything!" Rainbow opened one eye hesitantly. "Well... maybe a little."
"I reckon I'm just plum lucky I had Sessalisk on my side," Applejack said. "Without her help, I don't think the ceremony would have gone half as well."
"Speaking of," Rainbow said, "Where is that crazy naga? She's coming to tea, right?"
"Rarity took Sessalisk shopping in Canterlot," Twilight said.
There was the sound of the front door opening just as Twilight said that, and Rarity's voice rang out.
"We're back, everypony!"
"Speak of the fashionista," Rainbow said. "Sessalisk, what'd you get?"
"I got the besst sshirt," Sessalisk said. "Canterlot iss amazing . Look at this sshirt!"
The sound of Sessalisk slithering along was heard, and the naga emerged into the dining room, forelegs spread wide to show off the dark T-shirt on her torso. Upon the shirt's front, an image of the moon had been printed, and around it were three images of Princess Luna howling at it.
Rarity was not far behind and clearly forcing a smile of approval as she gestured to it. "Isn't it wonderful?" Rarity asked.
"Oh my stars, it's a three Luna moon shirt," Twilight breathed. "Why is there a three Luna moon shirt?"
"That's what I'd like to know," a familiar voice declared. "Where's my three Celestia sun shirts?"
"Princess Celestia?" Applejack blurted. "When did you get here?"
"Yes," Rarity said. "I was going to say, we've brought an extra guest for tea."
The solar princess of Equestria stepped out from around the corner, and smiled apologetically.
"I hope you don't mind," she said.
"There's always a place at our table for friends," Applejack said.
"Did somepony say Princess Celestia?" Granny Smith shouted from the kitchen.
"The princess is here for tea, Granny!" Applejack shouted back.
"Oh, good," Granny said. "I hope you've brought your appetite, Princess -- I thought Luna would be joining us as well, so there's a bit extra."
"Luna will join us a little later on," Celestia said. "She has some affairs of state to settle before she's free to join us for dinner."
* * *
"Night Court is now open, Princess Luna presiding. Send in the first petitioner!"
Luna slumped against the arm of her chair, face sour. Curse her sister for making her attend to night court first! She was going to have to arrive late, and that would be awkward, and no doubt her sister would eat all the good pastries before she got there…
"Presenting his lordship, Prince Blueblood!" the Night Guard nearest the door said, his face betraying his sympathy for the princess, who was now grinding her teeth and headbutting the arm of her chair.
She was never going to make it to the dinner on time.
* * *
"Oh, well, I'll make sure to set aside a plate for her, then," Granny said. "Carry on!"
"What brings you all the way out here, Princess?" Twilight asked.
"It's not every day one of my little ponies becomes a ruler," Celestia said. "I came to congratulate you, and advise you of your new tax responsibilities as the ruler of of a nation within Equestria."
"What?!" Twilight and Applejack exclaimed simultaneously.
"Kidding!" Celestia said, smiling as she sat down at the end of the table. "Here, I brought a gift."
Celestia reached into empty space with a hoof; it disappeared as if going inside an invisible hole, and she withdrew a box made out of beautifully carved and treated wood, with a leaf and vine motif covering the sides.
"What is it, what is it?" Rainbow asked eagerly, all but interposing herself between the intended recipient and Celestia.
"Hold y' horses," Applejack said as she elbowed Rainbow aside, taking the box from Celestia and nodding. "Lemme open it."
The box opened with a click of a latch; as it did, an earthy smell wafted out, and inside, sitting on a lining of rich silk, was a tiara that seemed to pulse with life, made from wood and vines that were still green and vibrant like they had been picked only moments ago.
"It's a tiara," Applejack said, looking up at Celestia. "Thank you, Princess. But why?"
"Well, every princess needs a tiara," Celestia said. "What's a head of state without a fancy piece of headdress? But you deserve this tiara more than most, I feel." She pointed to it. "I found this, many years ago in the Everfree forest, hidden in the fork of a tree. Someone put it there."
Applejack blinked. "How long ago, exactly?"
"Hmm… how old are you?" Celestia asked. "I was holding onto it, waiting for the heir to emerge. It is now with the rightful owner, I can feel it."
Applejack picked up the tiara; it was a sturdy piece of work, and a firm attempt at flexing it revealed it was solid as any metal tiara. Most notably, the scent was familiar.
"Ivy vines," Twilight said. "The box… the tiara."
"They caused a fearsome rash to anypony who dared touch the tiara," Celestia said. "But I suspect that they would not -- could not -- harm the true heir."
Applejack turned the headpiece around, and set it upon her own head. It pulsed with energy, and Applejack felt the vines extend a little, twisting into her mane to hold the crown in place when she removed her hooves.
"Looking good, AJ," Rainbow said, nodding approvingly.
Applejack looked up, sighed, and lifted the tiara off her head again, the vines relinquishing her mane automatically.
"I think I'll save this for important occasions," she said.
"A good idea," Celestia said. "Heavy is a head that wears a crown all the time."
"But don't you wear yours all the time?" Twilight asked. "I've never seen you without it."
"So, Sessalisk," Celestia said, turning to face the naga. "How was Canterlot? To your liking?"
"It iss amazing," Sessalisk declared. "I sssecured a garment ssstating that "I loveheart Cantertlot", and "My powersss were ssstolen by Tirek and all I got wass thiss loussy T-Sshirt"!"
"Ah, ha ha," Celestia said, forcing a laugh. "Ah, they still make those, why?"
"What, the Tirek shirts?" Twilight asked, tilting her head.
"No, the I-Heart-Canterlot shirts," Celestia said. "They're so very… 90's."
"Alsso, Canterlot poniess are sso… sso... athletic ," Sessalisk went on. "All the time, running and flying!"
"Uh," Rarity said. "I think maybe they were running aw-"
"Running for their health, yes," Celestia intervened, cutting Rarity off. "Good cardio, long life. Did you know we have a quad-annual event called the Equestria games? I think you would like it."
"You musst tell me more," Sessalisk declared.
"Uh, how about later?" Twilight asked. "Dinner should be out any moment now, and I don't know about you girls, but I am starving ."
"Eh?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"There was no food at the coronation!" Rainbow exclaimed. "And I didn't wanna go grazing, because A, it's a coronation," she said, counting off on one hoof, "And B, I didn't wanna risk like, eating some foreign dignitary!"
"Ah, right," Applejack blushed. "Sorry girls, my bad. Shoulda made sure there was some catering going on."
"Well, there might not have been actual food," Twilight said, giving Rainbow a sly look, "but at least there was a feast for the eyes, eh, Rainbow?"
Everypony at the table sniggered, and Rainbow choked on her own cider, mid-swig, and thumped her hoof on the table as she tried to regulate her breathing again.
"Gentle ribbing," Celestia remarked, decanting some cider into a martini glass she'd managed to procure from somewhere. "Well done, Twilight -- you've really grown."
"Soup's on, everypony!" Spike hailed from the kitchen doorway, the head of a conga line of dishes and platters and carrying a platter larger than he was into the dining area. There was a minute of logistical planning as this and the other platters were jammed onto the table, but eventually all the dishes were set and everypony was seated.
"Who would like to say grace?" Applejack asked.
"If you don't mind," Celestia said, "Today, I will say grace."
Celestia closed her eyes and cleared her throat, and everypony else followed suit. There was the clink of a knife on a platter, and everypony opened their eyes to see a large section of the quiche in the middle of the table was already gone, and Celestia poking the rear end of the slice into her already-full mouth.
She stopped, and barely managed to close her lips around the slice. "Grace," she mumbled.
* * *
The ivory moon lit the top of the farmhouse like a spotlight.
"You up here, Applejack?" Twilight's voice called out.
"Over here, Twilight," Applejack called, waving from her seat not far from the smokestack.
Twilight clambered up onto the roof, wobbling a little as a brisk wind pushed past her. She looked at Applejack and pointed at the wall she'd just climbed.
"Those creepers are surprisingly strong," she remarked.
"Yeah," Applejack said, staring back out over the orchard.
"Luna saw you come up here as she was flying in," Twilight said. "Said you looked a little glum."
"I'm alright," Applejack reassured.
"She just found out that Celestia deliberately ate all her favorite foods," Twilight said invitingly. "She cast Sleep on Celestia, and she's going to put a permanency spell on a moustache spell.…"
"I'm good," Applejack said.
"You don't sound good," Twilight said, walking over to Applejack.
Applejack sighed. "I suppose I'm not."
"Well, you trusted me with a hole in your side," Twilight said. "Can you trust me with what's on your mind?"
"It's just… all this dryad stuff," Applejack said. "Growing bark, ruling people I didn't even know existed a week ago… I'm changing, Twi."
"There, there," Twilight said, patting Applejack on the shoulder. "You're still you -- you can do this."
"But what if I can't?" Applejack said. "At the end of the day… I'm just a half-pony, half-dryad apple-farming know-nothing."
"Hey now," Twilight said. "You're not just a half-pony half-dryad. You're the first half-pony half-dryad." Twilight snorted. "Probably not the last if Rainbow talks to Aspen. You're going to bring fresh leadership to a society that honestly seems a little stagnant, and you're going to cultivate it just as well as one of your blue-ribbon apples." Twilight gestured at space. "And if you need help, you've got your friends -- Sessalisk, me, the girls… I reckon even Celestia and Luna would have advice for you if you asked for it."
"I suppose you're right," Applejack said. "But…"
"But nothing," Twilight said. "By all accounts, Ivy was a fantastic leader, and you are her daughter -- I'm sure you have what it takes to make her proud."
Applejack nodded, and got up, trying to hide the tears and doing a terrible job of it. "Thanks, Twi."
"Princess of friendship," Twilight said. "Practically my job. Don't mention it."
Applejack sniffed, and dabbed at the corner of her eye with a fetlock. "Did y'all say somethin' about a moustache and a permanency spell?"
"At least."
"Well, I'm in."
Author's Note
Took me long enough, sheesh.