They Walk Among Us

"Urngh..." said Twilight, slowly opening her eyes.

Her head hurt. Really badly.

Barely managing to sit up, Twilight pressed one hoof down on her forehead and began to rub it in circular motions. No effect. Looks like the pain is there to stay.

What happened?

It didn't take too long to figure that out. She immediately felt a rush of energy come over her, and the intense pain in her head was completely forgotten.

Applejack! Where Applejack?

But as suddenly as she began to panic, Twilight felt a strange calm fall over her.

Am I dead?

It certainly seemed so. She felt like something was weighing her down, making it hard for her to move easily. It really seemed like she was in the realm of the dead.

Applejack had killed her.

But Twilight had saved Applejack. She had freed her PFF from the clutches of the evil humans. She only wished now that the others would come to accept her.

Her only regret now... was not being able to see Pinkie again. One last time.

She laughed to herself. Since when did she become so dramatic? That wasn't Twilight at all.

Now that Twilight didn't have much else to think about, she began to take a good view of her surroundings. She immediately took all of it in.

It wasn't hard, considering that she was floating in the middle of a black nothingness. She wasn't able to see, hear, or feel anything except for her breathing.

Is this what being dead feels like? Do I have to spend eternity in this place?

"Don't kid yourself." said a voice from afar. "You're not dead."

"Discord!" growled Twilight. Her deep hatred of the chaos-wreaking draconequus forced her to remember his alluring, sarcastic, voice.

"Discord, huh?" said the voice. "I really put that much of an impression on you, eh?"

Twilight didn't answer. She just frantically looked around for the source of the voice. But it was useless- she wasn't able to see him even if he was standing nose-length from her.

But the draconequus then did something that Twilight did not expect. He appeared.

He appeared, for the first time since she and her friends had defeated him with the Elements of Harmony. Twilight immediately felt saddened- she wondered what her friends were doing right now. What happened to Applejack? What happened to Pinkie Pie? What about Spike? She missed them all.

No! thought Twilight. No emotions, Twilight Sparkle! He'll use them against you!

But Discord was right in front of her. He was not doing anything.

He, in all of his chaotic greatness, was standing still far away from her. But the way he appeared was, well, strange.

Twilight was able to look at Discord and she could notice all of his features- his paw, his claw, his horns and tail... Yet there was no light about them. No light entering or exiting where they were. But Twilight could still see Discord, clear as day.

But he looked different.

No, he looked exactly the same. Those irregularly shaped eyes, those strange hands, those crazy horns and that evil tail... Everything about Discord looked exactly the same as she saw them the last time.

But those eyes were sad and weary. Those hands were drooped down. Those horns looked soft and saggy. And that tail seemed to bear down on the rest of the body like a heavy weight. He might look exactly the same...

Yet they were completely different. That Discord was always smiling or grinning, always moving about in glee.

This Discord...

Looked like he had lost all hope. Like he had no more reason to live.

No, Twilight! she scolded herself. This is obviously a trick! A trick! Nothing more!

But not even Discord was that good an actor...

"Twilight Sparkle." said Discord, in his normal, sarcastic voice. "Element of Magic." Discord began to move closer to Twilight.

"What have you done?" asked Twilight angrily. "What is it this time? Did you spark the war? Did you make the planets collide? WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"The last time we met, I had almost made you kill one of your best friends." said Discord, who apparently had chosen to ignore Twilight's previous words. "I'm sorry for that."

"Yeah, you're sorry." grunted Twilight. "And all is forgiven. Is that what you expected? HE ALMOST DIED! And it's all because YOU manipulated me to!"

DIscord let out an audible sigh.

"I can feel your anger, Twilight Sparkle." said Discord. "I thought it could go away, but your hatred for me runs too deep. I guess that is my fault too."

Twilight felt taken aback. It wasn't only what he said, but the way he said it didn't resemble Discord at all. He usually addresses her very casually. But this time... This time his voice was full of sadness and regret. Much like how Twilight was feeling at the moment. And after all that, Twilight could feel something that he had never felt before when talking to Discord. Something compelling. Something powerful.

Truth.

But Twilight chose to disregard that. Discord was trying to get into her head... she knew it!

"You are not dead, Twilight Sparkle." said Discord, pacing in front of the unmoving Twilight. "In fact, you will wake up very soon to see your closest friends about you, waiting for you to awaken."

Discord looked into Twilight's

"Trust in them. Even if you don't want to believe anything else I say, it is important to follow this last piece of advice. Trust in them."

Discord then snapped his fingers, opening a strange, completely white portal to his right.

"Until we meet again." said Discord, entering the portal. "Arrivederci."

As soon as Discord left, Twilight began to convulse and shake violently. It all happened so quickly, like a flash, and Twilight wasn't able to take in what was happening. Before she knew it, she felt herself, and the world around her, explode.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Look! She's stirring!"

"I can't believe it! I thought it would take much longer to heal everything!"

"C'mon, this is Twilight we're talking about! The best, most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!"

"I guess so. Do you think she can hear us?"

"Ah don't know. Twilight! Helloooo, Twilight! Can ya hear us?"

"I don't think she can answer you right now, Apple Bloom."

"Guys, look! Her eyes are beginning to open!"

"And her ears are twitching! Is that normal?"

"I have no idea. I hope she's fine, though. She was beaten up pretty badly back there."

"Twilight? Are you alright? Can you see me?"

Twilight's vision started to become clearer. She felt the voices around her begin to clear up as well. He head became lighter, and her heart began to clear up as well. For the first time in what felt ling a long time, she was happy. She was alive. She was with the ones she cared for the most.

Twilight's vision soon completely cleared up, and she found herself looking into a friendly face. A very friendly face.

"Hey, guys." said Twilight, much more weakly compared to her feelings.

"Twilight!" said a soft, gentle voice. She turned to see Fluttershy pounce on her bed and... sit there.

"I'm really glad you're okay!" said Fluttershy, sounding excited but somehow still maintaining to keep that gentle voice.

Without a second thought, Twilight jumped out of her bed and hugged Fluttershy. Twilight felt Fluttershy tense up for a while before hugging Twilight back. They maintained the embrace for a short while before finally pulling apart.

"Hello, Fluttershy." said Twilight. She was feeling very emotional- she had no idea how much she missed her friends. It was such a short while, but she had been thinking all that time that she was never going to see them again. She let out a small, shy giggle.

"What's so funny?" asked Rainbow Dash, who moved to hug her as well. Fluttershy was still sitting on her bed, smiling- no, grinning happily.

"Nothing, nothing..." said Twilight, who hugged Rainbow Dash back. It didn't really seem long, but she missed her friends so much! It's strangely fascinating how their logical mindset ('I'm dead, so I can't associate with the living') could affect their emotions ('I can't ever see my best friends again? NOOOO!') so much. She again giggled to herself

"It just feels really great to be able to see you guys again!" said Twilight. "I really thought that I had no chance of living back there."

The whole group immediately fell quiet. Steven, however, was quick to break the piercing silence.

"We seriously didn't expect you to be able to heal so quickly." he said, obviously still excited. "I thought you were going to have to stay here for a few more weeks, actually. I usually don't believe in miracles, but hey! I have never believed in magic before, have I?"

Something about what Steven had said struck Twilight as strange.

A few more weeks?

"How long have I been in here?" asked Twilight, her grin slowly beginning to drop.

"Ten days." said Fluttershy.

TEN DAYS?

"No, that's eleven days, now. Does today count? Because I counted today. I'm sorry, please don't get angry!" rambled Fluttershy

Not ten days? Oh, okay then.

ELEVEN DAYS?

Twilight felt as if she had only been hanging around in that 'dead space' for about less than an hour or two. But eleven days? She hadn't expected that!

But then again, she WAS beaten to near-death. Or possibly beyond that.

"Don't kid yourself. You're not dead."

Was it true? Was she never dead in the first place? All this thinking was starting to hurt Twilight's head. She had just woken up after... wait, how many days was that again? Oh yeah. ELEVEN DAYS, after all.

"I was very anxious, darling." said Rarity, who Twilight just realized was brushing her mane. "I could hardly get any of my much-needed beauty sleep since the battle! Now look at my puffy eyes!"

"We wer' all anxious." said Big Macintosh, who looked like he came to join them late. "And we're all glad that yer right as rain."

"Big Macintosh!" gasped Twilight intuitively. She wanted to ask more about how he was coping and all, but she somehow couldn't find the courage to.

"Berry's funeral was yesterday." said Big Macintosh, who seemed to have read Twilight's face rather accurately. "A great send-off, no less."

Twilight was glad that Big Macintosh was taking all of this so nicely. She would kill to get emotional stability of his level.

"Big Mac's been drinking a lot lately." whispered Fluttershy under her breath. "I'm really worried about the poor stallion."

Twilight turned to look at Fluttershy, shocked. Was she... Is she...

No, romance isn't really Fluttershy's style.

Then again, the quiet ones are usually the craziest. Twilight mulled over the thought for a bit before going back to her friends.

"So what've you guys been doing since then?" said Twilight, not having to specify when she meant by 'then'.

"You know, the usual things." said Bush, who had 'tip recently said absolutely nothing. Twilight had begun to miss his 'Down Under' accent. "Except that we all had to do our share of repairing and cleaning up."

"Oh, and dear Steven comes down here everyday for the last ten days to heal you up." said Rarity, almost freeing Twilight's mane from the clutches of the evil bed-clamp. "He spends several hours here, healing you up, repairing your bones and all. He's such the gentlecolt."

Twilight saw Steven blush at the corner of her eye. He really was humble for somepony of his intelligence and power. Twilight immediately felt a rush of gratitude fall over her. How many of her lives did she owe to Steven at this point again? She had already lost count.

Twilight immediately jumped up (knocking Fluttershy off the bed with a soft "Oomph!") and hugged Steven tightly.

"Thanks, Steven." said Twilight. "Even after all I did..."

"It was nothing, really." said Steven. "No problem at all. And I already told you that I forgave you, right? So don't talk about that ever again, for both our sakes."

Twilight remained hugging Steven. She was grateful- grateful for everything. Grateful for being able to have so many wonderful friends, for having all the time in the world to spend with them, and for being able to share all her experiences with them as well. She had never thought about this before, but Twilight really was one lucky pony.

"Okay, hands off my boyfriend now." said Rainbow Dash, a sly grin and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "You've had your fun."

Twilight winked back at Rainbow Dash, and then turned to face her group of friends. All of them were smiling at her, happy and relieved at the same time. But Twilight couldn't help but notice one friendly face missing- A friendly far that was supposed to be there. And it bothered her to no end.

"Where's Applejack?" asked Twilight.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Mrs. Twilight, you are nowhere near strong enough to go to the dungeons right now!" said Nurse Redheart, trying to pull Twilight back under the covers.

"No!" shouted Twilight, who was struggling against the Nurse's hooves. "I... have...to talk to her!"

"Don't be such a wanker, Twilight! You have all the time in the world to talk to her later." said Bush, who joined Nurse Redheart's efforts to keep Twilight down. "Right now, you still need your rest!"

Twilight was putting up a huge fight against these ponies, and she was still nowhere near giving up. She had to talk to Applejack. And the need to do that managed to outweigh the strength her friends used to try and hold her down.

"Twilight..." said Fluttershy, who was trying to hold her down as well. She was sobbing loudly. "Please stay down..."

"I... CAN'T!" screamed Twilight, who was able to push away Bush. She summoned up all the magic she had left, and she successfully teleported in front of the clinic door, letting Fluttershy and the nurse bump their heads violently against each other. But Rarity and Bush were already there, and they push Twilight back. Twilight fell on her flank, and Bush and Rarity held down both of her forehooves.

"Enough of this!" said Big Macintosh. He pulled away the rest of the ponies trying to keep Twilight down. "Ah agree with Twilight."

"Big Macintosh!" shouted Rarity. "Twilight is in no condition to-"

"No." said Big Macintosh, gently but sternly. "Ah'm sure all of you would agree with me when ah say that Twilight is mighty healthy. Healthy enough to hold herself up against all of you and still win."

Twilight felt Bush and Rarity loosen their grip on her. She immediately jumped back up, pushing back her two attackers onto the floor. They fell back with a 'thud', and Twilight almost felt sorry for them.

"Ah think it would be better for the both of them in Twilight goes and meets AJ." said Big Macintosh.

"I think so too." said Steven. "She might've healed quickly, but she did heal. Much better than I thought, nonetheless."

Twilight shot both Big Macintosh and Steven grateful looks, and then she ran towards the elevator that would lead her to the Dungeons (Fluttershy had been careless enough to completely divulge every detail before she tried to escape), and thus to Applejack.

She immediately pressed the 'call' button for the elevator, and with a loud 'ding', the elevator doors opened. Twilight entered, and the first thing she noticed was how spacey the elevator was. It must be used for transporting a large amount of ponies and people at a time.

"Um..." said Twilight. "Dungeons?"

"DUNGEONS." said a strange, female voice. Twilight had expected this, but she still jumped back in surprise. "FLOOR B7."

She immediately felt the elevator begin to move, and she stood there, awaiting for the elevator to reach their destination. Of course, back in Equestria, there was no such thing as elevators- it was a completely human idea. She thought it fascinating how humans were able to cope without magic- How will the sun rise and set? How do they power their vehicles and machines? How do they send their letters to each other?

But her thoughts about the subject quickly subsided when she began to think about where she was going to.

Applejack.

Out of the rest of her best friends, Twilight had always felt closest to the roughest, toughest pony in the group. Perhaps it was because Applejack was her very first friends in Ponyville. No, scratch that. Her very first friend, ever. Except for Spike, but he didn't count- he was more like family to her than a friend.

Where was Spike, anyway? She hadn't seen her dear assistant since the crash. She wasn't worried, though. Dragons are supposed to be very long-lived beings, topped only by perhaps alicorns and phoenixes (who were both immortal). Dragon scales were also the toughest material one can get. It would reflect anything- flying projectiles, lasers, anything. Twilight wasn't worried about Spike being alive or not.

What she was worried about, though, was how and where he was right then.

Had he been captured? Is he being experimented on like she was? There were so many unanswerable questions, and Twilight tried to force herself away from the subject. It was far too painful.

Swearing to go find Spike as soon as possible, her mind drifted back to Applejack. Why was she in the Dungeons? Sure they were scared, but Twilight had already given it her all to get Applejack to normal; release the control Black Wesa had over her. She felt sorry for Applejack. Her friends have told her about everyone questioning her all the time, and how rough it must have been for her. Twilight was dead sure that Applejack had never faced that kind of pressure before. She was always the honest, all-for-justice type. Until now, she definitely had never been in prison

Most people would think it to be ironic that her very first friend would be the one to kill her in the end, the last face she would ever see. This was the stuff of books! Well, maybe not books, but stories nonetheless. Fanfiction level, maybe? Whatever the matter, Twilight's desire to see Applejack just kept growing. She hadn't seen her for such a long time!

"DUNGEONS." said the mechanized female voice, startling Twilight once again. "FLOOR B7."

Knowing that she could never get used to the idea of artificial things speaking to her, Twilight immediately escaped the confines of the elevator. There was one corridor going straight ahead, with many rooms on both sides. It looked like a normal corridor, like one would find if they stayed at an inn, but Twilight could sense the sadness and despair in it. Her spirits  quickly began to dampen.

And Applejack's been here for ten days. In the maximum maximum security room, no less.

She quickly walked through the corridor, not wanting to stay any longer in that place. It was downright depressing. She was almost galloping through the corridor. It saddened her even more when she found out that the corridor was indeed really long.

Twilight looked back. The elevator was almost out of sight. Fluttershy said that the door to the maximum maximum security clearance should be right in front of her by now. Twilight snapped her head back to the corridor, and-

BAM!

Twilight felt her forehead flatten as she crashed against one of the hardest surfaces she had ever crashed on before. And that was saying something.

"Freeze!" shouted a male voice.

"Oh my goodness!" said a female voice. "Twilight!"

Twilight faced back up again. Why were there little birds and stars flying around her head? She dazedly tried to catch one of them, but her hoof always landed on thin air.

"Put that gun down!" said the female voice. Twilight heard a faint clip-clopping of hooves before she felt something warm touch her chest.

"Her body's still working fine." said the female voice, and Twilight felt the warmth leave her chest. "But I don't know how much her head has been affected."

Hearing that, Twilight immediately shook her head a little too violently (she could feel what seemed like her brain crashing to both sides of her skull), and looked straight at the two voices.

One was a pony. And the other... a human.

"She sure looks okay." said the male voice... the human. "But why's she staring at us like that?"

"Twilight?" said the female voice. The pony. "Are you there? Clop your hooves once if you can hear me."

"And twice if you can't." said the male voice.

"Why would she clop twice if she can't even hear you in the first place?" asked the female voice, a little more than angry.

"It's a psychological thing." said the male voice. "I read it in a book somewhere."

Twilight raised a hoof and sent it crashing back down to the floor, mostly to stop that infernal arguing.

"Twilight!" said the pony, whose face came into view. "Are you okay?"

"Lyra?" asked Twilight, who raised a hoof and felt around the pony's face. "Is that you?"

Lyra shifted around uncomfortably.

"Hello, Twilight." said Lyra. "Do you need to go to the clinic?"

Twilight shook her head again, escaping from her terrible daze.

"Oh no!" said Twilight. "I'm so, so sorry, Lyra!"

"There you go." said Lyra. "Hi, Twilight."

"Oh my goodness..." said Twilight. "I'm really sorry..."

"No problem." said Lyra. "I'm just glad to see you walking around again. Here to see Applejack?"

"Yeah." said Twilight, smiling uncomfortably. "It's really important."

"WAIT!" said the human, pointing his gun, once again, at Twilight. "The password!"

"Come on, Rob." said Lyra, making a huge deal of rolling her eyes. "She's okay."

"No!" said Rob. "Not okay! What if she's a spy?"

"She's not a spy!" said Lyra, who then began to talk in whispers. "Just humor him. Do you know the password?"

Twilight was now stuck in an uncomfortable position. She didn't know the password. Rainbow Dash had mentioned something about some kind of human candy, but she had forgotten it completely. What is she going to do now? What if they lock her up as some kind of spy? Sure, that would give her plenty of time to talk to Applejack, but what then?

"Lemon Drops." said Steven, from right behind her.

"Very well." said Rob, who then looked at a small machine next to the door and started talking to it. Humans and their strange machines. What will they think of next?

"How did you know I was here?" asked Twilight.

"Fluttershy said something about us not telling you the password yet." said Steven. Twilight knew that there was more to just that- Fluttershy would've rambled on about what was going to happen, how worried she was, how I would feel, then how she would feel, et cetera et cetera. Twilight immediately began to picture the moment in her head.

"Oh no! We haven't told Twilight the password yet! What if she doesn't know? Then she'll go down there, and then the guards will ask her for the password, then she wouldn't be able to tell, then the guards will lock her up in jail and then we'd have to visit her everyday then she'll keep on talking about how miserable she was and it'll be all my fault! I'm so sorry, please don't hate me..."

Twilight giggled to herself at that thought. Twilight wouldn't have been surprised if Steven came all the way down here just to stop Fluttershy talking.

"What's so funny?" asked Steven.

"Nothing." said Twilight. "Just Fluttershy being... Fluttershy..." Twilight's mood continued to dampen down. Pinkie Pie was still missing as well. Applejack, who was in Black Wesa all that time, might have some answers.

"The doors opening." said Twilight. "Why don't you come in with me?"

"No, I shouldn't." said Steven. "This is your chance to talk to her. Besides, she um... She doesn't like me very much."

"Applejack?" scoffed Twilight. "Not like you? She likes everypony! And both of you are, like, the most likeable ponies around! What could you have done to make her not like you?"

"Thing is, I don't know." said Steven. "She was warm at first, then Rarity said something, and she started to stare at me. Angrily. And besides, I haven't gotten much sleep last night, so I have to go and rest. I'll see you later?"

"Okay." said Twilight. She could hardly believe that Steven's friendliness with her hadn't been strained at all since that time. Twilight really was lucky to have friends like them.

Steven had turned back to the elevator, so Twilight entered the maximum maximum security room. Two maximums must be really serious.

"Be careful in there, Twilight." said Lyra as soon as Twilight entered the doorway. "Applejack is the only trustable one in there."

"I'll keep that in mind." said Twilight. "Thanks."

"Always welcome." said Lyra, who pressed a button and closed the door. Twilight could hear large clicks come out from the door, and she knew that it had been locked. Maximum maximum indeed.

She slowly trotted through the cells, looking left and right for Applejack. Instead, all she saw were disgraced humans and ponies, sitting in a corner, wallowing in shame. It would be sad to see Applejack like this.

And you won't! Applejack will remain strong, no matter what! She's Applejack, after all!

But where was she, anyway? Twilight kept on looking, picking up the pace, for where Applejack was. But she was nowhere to be found.

"Applejack?" whispered Twilight, very afraid of this place. There was absolutely no response.

She kept on going, though. She was going to find Applejack, and nothing can stop her! Once Twilight Sparkle resolves to do something, you can count on her to do it!

But it still was really scary.

She was nearing the end of the corridor. Feeling despaired, Twilight took a look at the cell to her right- the last cell in that place, made to keep only the most criminal of criminals. Instead, however, she saw...

"Applejack?"

The figure lying on the floor shifted a little, but didn't move.

"Applejack, is that you?"

The figure then immediately jumped out, revealing the strong, but slim orange figure of Applejack.

"Twilight?" said Applejack, turning around to face her. As soon as she saw Twilight's face, however, Applejack immediately sprang to life, actually jumping the long distance to the cell bars.

"Applejack!" said Twilight. Looking into her friend's eyes, her friend's real eyes, brought upon her a whole bunch of emotions that she had never seen coming. No! She was going to be strong, for Applejack's sake! She was not going to make her feel guilty in any way! She managed, albeit barely, to hold back her tears.

But she didn't need to.

Applejack was crying her eyes out, right in front of Twilight. Twilight was shocked to see the most stable of her friends show all of her emotions like this. Twilight had never seen her in this kind of state before. Her mane, although normally dirty, was now all over the place, the band that keeping it together barely hanging on. Her face was full of mud, and it looked like she didn't even bother to clean them at all. Twilight felt a tear run down her cheek as she saw Applejack crying like that.

"Twilight..." said Applejack, hardly managing to let out the words. "Ah...ah thought... ah thought you..."

"I'm fine, Applejack." said Twilight.

"Ah-ah'm so sorry!" said Applejack, completely breaking down. "Ah thought ah had... killed you..."

Twilight gently shushed Applejack, putting a hoof on her cheek and slowly stroking it. Applejack looked up at Twilight's face, both of them sobbing together. Twilight was smiling.

"I told you already, haven't I?" asked Twilight, still stroking Applejack's cheek. "I forgive you, Applejack."

"But ah can't forgive mahself!" shouted Applejack, looking down at her own hooves. "Not after what ah did. Ah should just be locked up here, locked up in this $#!%hole ferever."

"No, Applejack." said Twilight, silently laughing. Applejack always sounds funny when she swears. "I keep telling you, and I'll always tell you, that I forgive you. Nothing's going to change that. You're my best friend, Applejack. You know what that means."

For the first time since she last saw Applejack, the cowpony began to smile.

"Ah guess so..." said Applejack, pulling away from Twilight's hoof and walking back into the dark corners of the cell. Not long later, though, she came back, her favorite hat on her head again. She almost looked like how she usually did. Almost.

Twilight then began to gather up her magical energy again.

"What are ya doin', Twi?" asked Applejack, quickly standing back.

"I'm going in there." said Twilight. She immediately felt herself turn into a spectral form, and she easily walked through the bars to Applejack's cell.

"No, Twilight!" said Applejack. "What if they still have control over-"

"I'm pretty sure I did a good job of getting rid of that." said Twilight, materializing in Applejack's cell.

Applejack jumped back and closed her eyes. After some waiting, though, she hesitantly began to open her eyes. Upon knowing that she was now able to see Twilight without wanting to rip her to pieces and step on them, Applejack dove into Twilight.

"Twilight!" said Applejack, resting her head on Twilight's shoulder. "Ah missed you."

"Ah missed you too, AJ." said Twilight, hugging Applejack back. She could feel her friend's sobbing against her shoulder, and her tears streaming down her coat. In normal circumstances, this would've been annoyed by this. But right now, she couldn't care less. She wanted to be there for her friend. She slowly began to pat Applejack's back.

Twilight and Applejack stayed locked in this tight embrace, both ponies crying into each other's shoulders, for a very long time. Neither of them could care less if a guard happened to walk by them or if anyone wanted to watch them. That seemed like such a small, unimportant thought at the time.

Twilight felt her heart go faster, which was strange. At moments like this, her heart would usually go slower, along with her thoughts and her perception of time. Now, however, her thoughts were at a blank, all time seemed to have stopped, but she felt her heart keep going faster. She took a look at Applejack's face, noticing at once how, despite all the mud, was nothing short of perfect.

"Twilight." said Applejack, rather suddenly. "Thanks."

"For what?" asked Twilight, as clueless as ever.

"For saving me." said Applejack. "The whole time ah was under their control, ah felt... alone. Ah felt trapped. In a dark place that's mighty scary like. It was bad, Twilight. Ah can't explain it, but it was bad."

"It's okay, Applejack." said Twilight. "It's okay. We're here for you."

"Ah know, Twilight." said Applejack, sighing and releasing Twilight. "Ah know."

Although they weren't hugging anymore, they were still intensely connected. They were staring into each other's eyes, both of them feeling all of the other's emotions and memories rushing through them. For Twilight, it wasn't actually that bad.

They might be sharing bad memories and experiences, but there were good ones too. And they were experiencing it together.

"So..." said Applejack, wiping a tear off her cheek. "How did ya find this 'ere place?"

"Long story." said Twilight, shaking her head and smiling uncertainly. "But it was all thanks to Luna we got here."

"Luna?" asked Applejack. "Isn't she in cahoots with Celestia?"

Celestia.

She still couldn't believe that her former mentor would turn out like... like that. It felt like a whole part of her was just cracked in half and thrown away. Celestia, goddess of the Sun, embodiment of it's warmth and light. Now eclipsing upon herself. Twilight could do nothing but sigh.

And why did Luna help them, anyway? Did she want to stop the war, like them? Or did she just want us to be safe? Twilight forced the thought out of her mind.

"In a way, I guess." said Twilight, putting a hoof on her chin. "But she's helping us too."

"And yer big brother?" asked Applejack.

Twilight paused. She hadn't been thinking about Shining Armor at all. How could she?

"He might be still with them." said Twilight. "Celestia, I mean. Now that I think about it, I wonder where Cadance is?"

"Cadance?" asked Applejack. "Princess Cadance?"

"Yeah." said Twilight. "Do you know anything?"

"Do ah?" said Applejack. "The Princess was the only one to have ever been able to defeat me, even under their control! Ah was punished for over a month! But ah didn't mind."

"You didn't mind?"

"Yeah." said Applejack. "At least ah knew that there was somepony out there who can clean up this whole mess. Cadance, the Princess of, um... Princess of..."

"Love, maybe?" suggested Twilight.

"Love." said Applejack, whose voice suddenly turned bitter.

"What's wrong, Applejack?" asked Twilight.

"Nothin'!" said the cowpony. "Nothin' ayt all!"

"I've said this before, and I'll say it again." said Twilight. "You're not a very good liar."

"None of us are." said Applejack, who slowly began to smile again. "So what have ya been doin' so far, anyway? Other than being half-dead, of course."

Twilight laughed, rather earnestly.

"Many things." said Twilight, sighing. "Too many. I'd rather not talk about it, Applejack."

"Come on, sugahcube." said Applejack. "Ya know ya can tell me anything."

Twilight suddenly remembered something important.

"Oh, Applejack!" said Twilight. "Have you seen Pinkie Pie around?"

"Ah wouldn't know, even if ah had." said Applejack. "Ah'm only in control of mahself for about a few seconds a day. Why?"

Twilight felt her heart drop. To the depths. The Mareiana Trench.

"Nothing." said Twilight, not wanting to make Applejack feel any worse for being under their control. "What have you been doing? Rarity told me that you were captured when you and your family were trying to run away or something."

"Oh." said Applejack, scowling. "Now that's a really long story. Ah had to live in secret for about a month-"

"A MONTH?"

"And then we found the Resistance, and we wanted to go there real quickly. Ya know, to halp them and stop the war. But Black Wesa found us first."

"It must be tough." said Twilight. She knew what it felt like to be experimented on and all by those evil scientists.

"It was." said Applejack. "Ah couldn't do anything. Just stay there, mah whole body completely tied up. Apparently somepony went ran away recently, and security's been crazy since then.

Twilight felt a pang of guilt at those words. She decided not to tell her about her glorious escape (which she was really close to doing).

Not long later, Twilight and Applejack was chatting around like normal, laughing at some things and crying at others. It was one of those really special experiences, like times when one would spend a lot of time with each other, their feelings always growing stronger for each other. Twilight felt exactly like that. They talked about lots of trivial stuff, their friends, the evil scientists, how great the Resistance Base looked... Basically everything. The usually organized Twilight had completely lost track of time as they kept on talking.

"Oh, Applejack..." said Twilight, laughing to herself for once. Here she was, having such a good time with the pony that almost killed her. It was like they were back at Ponyville. Back before any of this had happened.

"Ah miss Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight." said Applejack, out of the blue. "The trees, the view, the wind... It was all nice and dandy. And now..."

Twilight knew what Applejack meant. She had seen Sweet Apple Acres the last time she visited Ponyville, and it had been destroyed completely, unlike any of the other buildings in town.

"It's been long since ah did any hard work." said Applejack. "Since then, ah've been doing a lot of thinkin'. Maybe even too much thinkin'."

"What did you think about?"

"Many things, Twi." said Applejack. "Mah family, mah friends (she winked cutely at Twilight), the war, Ra-"

Applejack immediately stopped talking. She glanced around, as if trying to see if there was anybody spying on them. There wasn't. Twilight, however, knew that whatever Applejack had almost said was very private, and decided not to go digging up on it. She knew this because what followed next was an incredibly uncomfortable silence.

"And what's this I hear about you not liking Steven?" asked Twilight, desperate to change the subject and to keep talking.

"Steven?" asked Applejack, genuinely confused. Her ears and eyes then dropped down. "Oh."

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight. "He likes you just fine."

"Ah know, ah know." said Applejack, turning away from Twilight and facing the cold, dark wall. "It's not his fault."

"What do you mean, AJ?" asked Twilight.

"Ah mean that it's not his fault that ah don' like 'im." said Applejack, looking up.

"I don't understand." said Twilight, looking closely at Applejack.

"Of course ya wouldn't." said Applejack. "Heck, ah don't even understand it, either."

Twilight slowly walked to Applejack and began to groom her mane. Not with a brush, because she didn't have one, but how Earth ponies normally groom themselves. With her hooves and her mouth. Applejack didn't seem to mind.

Twilight pressed both her hooves down on Applejack's mane and pulled them (gently) downwards. She then used her mouth to try and release all of the matted or tangled hair, with great effort and difficulty. The natural smell of her mane (fresh apples!) helped a bit, though. But it was still really hard.

If this is what it's like being an Earth Pony, then she's lucky to have been born with a horn on her head. she thought.

"Can ah tell ya a secret, Twilight?" said Applejack, still looking away as Twilight groomed her.

"Uhuh." said Twilight, still focusing on grooming Applejack.

"An' can ya promise not ta judge me?" asked Applejack.

"Uhuh." said Twilight, still not looking at her.

"Make it a Pinkie promise?" asked Applejack.

Twilight immediately let go of Applejack's hair. This must be something serious. And she was determined to keep the secret this time, even if Pinkie Pie wasn't around her saying 'FOREVER!' all the time. She had to honor this, both for Applejack and for Pinkie.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." said Twilight, performing all the gestures that came with them.

"Okay." said Applejack, turning back to look at Twilight. Her face was now completely clean, Twilight having wiped all the dirt off earlier with the napkin she always seems to have around somewhere. Twilight's heart began to beat faster again as she saw Applejack's sad face look at her.

Stop it, heart! she thought to herself. You're making me feel giddy all over!

Twilight could imagine her heart replying with something like "But it ain't my fault, boss!"

"The reason I don' like Steven..." said Applejack. "The reason I don' like 'im... is... Golly, this is hard..."

"It's okay, Applejack." said Twilight. "You don't need to tell me."

That's a lie, of course. She needed to know. If there was something she didn't know that needed knowing, you can always count on Twilight to have it known. To herself. But this was a friend's secret. She musn't impose.

"Ya don' understand, Twilight." said Applejack. "Ah need to do this. Ah need ta tell you. It's somethin' ah need to let off mah chest."

"Okay, then." said Twilight, completely dropping her cool friend act. "Spill."

"The reason ah don' like that colt..." said Applejack. "Is not because of how he is or how he looks. 'Cause he can easily top both."

Twilight said nothing. She just nodded.

"The reason..." said Applejack, who completed that sentence in whispers.

"Sorry, Applejack, but I didn't catch that."

Applejack looked up at Twilight, her face very conflicted.

"It's because..." said Applejack. "It'sbecausehe'sRainbow'scoltfriend."

"Rainbow's... coltfriend?" asked Twilight, confused for a minute. She noticed how Applejack's face looked very forlorn and solemn, much unlike how she usually looked.

And then it all came crashing down on her.

"Applejack!" said Twilight. "How long?"

"Since the Running of the Leaves." said Applejack. "After the Iron Pony competition."

Twilight turned away, not believing it. Applejack was... a filly fooler? She was into mares?

"Wow..." said Twilight. She needed time to think about all this. Of course, she had heard about filly foolers before, but she had never imagined one of her friends being like that? In fact, it's been long since Twilight had even considered how she felt about romance herself. It's been really long since her last date.

Her last date... with DANGER.

Naw, just kidding. But it had been a long time since she last went out with somepony. That was back in Ponyville, only a year after she moved in.  Of course, Rarity was directly involved in that. The stallion she was with was of course, handsome and nice (Rarity's best pick), but Twilight didn't feel any sort of connection. She hadn't gone on a date since.

And now she was in a room with one of her best friends, who 'til recently was thought to be straight as a whistle. Looks can be deceiving.

"Ah thought fer a long while that Rainbow was like me." said Applejack. "Ya know, into mares and stuff? An' now she's went and got herself a pretty little coltfriend..."

Twilight was shocked at what Applejack had said. But the shock she felt was nothing against the shock that Applejack showed on her face. The cowpony immediately sat down and held her hat to her chest.

"Oh no..." said Applejack. "Wha...What did ah just say?"

Twilight couldn't answer. She was too busy taking it all in. She had never considered the possibility that she could be into mares before. And now that she found out how Applejack felt, she started feeling that strange, familiar high again.

Bad heart! thought Twilight. Stop beating so fast!

"Ah'm sorry ta be layin' all this on ya, Twi." said Applejack. "But ah figured ah needed some release. Or ah might just as well explode right there."

Twilight turned back and kissed her closest friend on her cheek, causing her friend to blush (she needed to start doing that less often on Applejack). She might have a lot to think about, but she still had to comfort her friend. She couldn't say that she understood... because she didn't. Not a single bit. There was only one thing she could say.

"Thank you, Applejack." said Twilight. Applejack herself looked stunned and confused.

"Thank you, for trusting me enough to tell you all this." said Twilight. "And remember that wherever you go, I, as a friend, will support you all the way."

Applejack still looked stunned for some reason, but she recovered easily enough.

"Thank ya kindly, Twi." said Applejack. "I knew ah could count on you."

Twilight felt like she needed to say something... ANYTHING to comfort Applejack more. Something about Steven, about Rainbow Dash... but deep down, she felt that matters like this can't just be solved so easily. What it needed was time.

"I should leave now." said Twilight. "It's almost lunch, and I don't want the guards to see me here chatting nicely with you."

Applejack smiled back at Twilight. Her normal, proud, full-of-cowpony-charm kind of smile.

"Ah understand." said Applejack. "Ah guess we've been talking for real long already."

Twilight began to perform the spell again to get out of the cell.

"Thanks a bunch, Twi." said Applejack. "Yer really a friend anypony could ask for. Which is mighty great, considering that ya only started making friends two years ago."

Twilight chuckled as she walked out.

"See you later, Applejack." said Twilight, looking at her friend one last time before leaving. "And make sure to write to Granny Smith. She's worried about you.

"Ah'll keep that in mind." said Applejack, seeing her off. "Bye, Twilight."

As Twilight walked away, she begun to fulfill the promise she had made to herself not too long ago- she thought. She thought, and kept on thinking.

First, she thought about Pinkie. Applejack said that she could only perceive for a few seconds between really long chunks of time. And considering that she was brought out to battle, she naturally couldn't have stayed in the base for too long. And she also didn't know if her few seconds of consciousness had ever happened at the Black Wesa base or not. Which meant that the chances of Applejack having met Pinkie at all during that time was very little to none at all. Thinking about Pinkie, complete. Conclusion: No results at all. Applejack barely had any consciousness all those times, so it was to be expected, anyway.

Next, she thought about her sister-in-law, Cadance. What was she doing, fighting Applejack? Where was she right now? Why wasn't she with Shining Armor, her husband, back with the Prin- no, the Queen? Twilight didn't understand anything. Cadance was not standing with the Queen, and she must have fought off Black Wesa at some point. So where was she? There can only be one conclusion, but Twilight never saw Cadance around there, either. Thinking about Cadance, complete. Conclusion: More questions are raised rather than answers. Was going to have to ask around the base later.

Then she began to think about Luna. Sure she had helped them before, but where did the Princess of the Night's true loyalties lie? Was it with them? Or with Celestia? Or (albeit much less likely) with Black Wesa? She certainly didn't seem corrupted like her sister, but that that answer anything. Luna was still one of the more mysterious subjects of which no one seemed to have a direct answer or any physical evidence to. Thinking about Luna, complete. Conclusion: Think more about Luna later.

And then it came to the final thought, the thought to think about most.

Applejack herself.

She had said that she liked Rainbow Dash. That much was a lot to think about already. Applejack had admitted herself that she was a fillyfooler, a mare who was into other mares. What did this mean? What does it all mean? She didn't understand. Then there was the strange rise in heart rate whenever she looks at Applejack. It certainly was a strange feeling, much like the feeling one would get when...

No. Applejack was her friend, nothing more. She was sure of that.

Then why did it happen? asked a persistent voice in her head.

There has to be a logical reason.

Logical? Or emotional? asked the voice.

Twilight shook her head. There had to be a logical reason.

Then there was the fact that Rainbow Dash was already in a relationship. With Steven Reilly.

To be honest, Twilight herself thought that Rainbow Dash was into mares as well. It was a pretty popular thought around Ponyville- most of the inhabitants think that it's true. Luckily for them, however, Rainbow Dash never found out about what we thought. Which was good for all of them, considering that it was not true.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Applejack was jealous of Steven. Her mentor (and Rarity) had always told her that Love itself is a many-splendored, complex thing. Much like the embodiment of Love herself, Princess Cadance. Even Twilight had always wondered about the many mysteries of love.

But what would Applejack do to satisfy her need for love? How far would she go? Those questions were the ones which worried the young unicorn, as Applejack had shown her love for Rainbow Dash to run very deeply. Would Applejack fight for Rainbow Dash's love? What lengths would she go to prove herself to Rainbow Dash?

Twilight had found herself in a middle of another complex love thing. Apparently, it was supposed to be shaped like a triangle or something, although Twilight had always thought that a 'V' shape was better suited. She had told Applejack that she would support her, but how far will she go to support her?

Thinking about Applejack, complete.

Conclusion?

No conclusion, just a question.

What have I gotten myself into?