Author's Note

Hello there and welcome back once more to yet another new chapter of War Orphans' Wishes, the sequel to one certain story out of many of my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots I've given you since the inception of my presence; suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for y'all which had given a taste of what had came earlier on but I'm happy to tell you that this will be the final one.

As such, I want to take the time to say thank you for never pulling out too early since we're now in the the new year and a new month with a new hope to have and hold with tender loving care rather than yet a totally lost cause and the strength to continue onward in staying tuned for the future that is the now; in addition, I'd also like to apologize for not doing so in time as usual since this chapter here was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I'd made yet after all this madness we'd made it through like before.

Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can find some joy in this chapter now more than in the others before them enough to have the strength in finding some happiness because some special guests are going to be joining our fateful protagonist in the final chapter below; henceforth, I will leave y'all with much to say significantly: thank you very much for sticking around to the very end, I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting for it to happen, and more importantly, farewell once again.

Phantasmagoria

An absolute absence of light currently dominated the otherwise almost colorless environment; of course, that didn’t mean that it was lonely or without some semblance of substance of sound in the very least. Even so, there was almost no way whatsoever that it was either a solid vision of terrain or even of earthly ground to say thereof; not helping matters was the endless legato of airstreams mixing in with rain. Only the sea of countless debris was there, being easily perceived as scary due to the ambiguity concerning whatever lifeform thereof dwelt within the obstinately jet black void of the flotsam and jetsam. Nevertheless, the very dangers themselves were already still ubiquitous overall because of these minimal traits, lacking of both safety and security while seemingly filled to the brim with endless freedom here.

Resting out and about amongst the dark oceanic terrain was a lone individual resting upon a wooden board swimmingly all along without any signs of stopping in the very least whatsoever. The occupant in question had some dark skin that had possessed a feminine structure, with the complexion and texture of an elaborately made antique furniture made solely with wood overall. A set of multicolored locks had made its way from the very darkness thereof, providing some form of illumination with three hues of purple, pink, and aqua neatly curled up past the neckline. Even though that she wasn’t moving on her own free will, her eyes were starting to open up, revealing a pair of turquoise orbs circling around the pupils despite the narrow viewpoint thereof. Worn over the female’s body was a snow white blouse that was moistened by the overabundance of water that had almost drowned her because of it, despite the fact her head was above anyway.

“Uhh…!” a soft gasp was emitted from her, creating an anomaly that gave such a darkness some semblance of life whatsoever: the suddenly new voice being nothing more than ragged panting and wheezing from between intervals; before long, the haphazard breathing had been quieted down into stabilization.

In the course of the raging waters thereof, the timid female had started climbing aboard the lone debris was spacious enough to support her rather lanky weight that was held down by the overall achromatic liquid within the very void itself and roaring winds that were pushing them to and fro with reckless abandon. Directionless and without any means of her own to gain a set course in the making, she couldn’t help but being silent even against the pitter–patter of precipitation pouring down from above; of course, the observer curled up, expecting a flashing bolt of lightning to be interspersed almost instantaneously no less. Rather than even so much as a brief rumble of thunder even joining the meteorological orchestra however, nothing much overall had ever happened: no flora to be in awe of, no fauna to approach the female, not even the distant sounds other than the storm itself that she could’ve heard from any angle or trajectory.

The female couldn’t help but weep, her tears besieging the darkened skin as they were already assaulted by the rampant rainstorm as she remained unaware of the rising wave charging at her back. Sure enough, the raging waters that carried the seemingly countless debris grew tall and wide, creating a shadow that had towered over her body, prompting the observer to turn around all at once. Undertaken by the overwhelming amount of the dark liquid, the female was swept off of the wooden raft and into the briny deep that was now surrounding her from every single dimension here. Now, it seems that her only objective that came to mind was to not only swim back up to the surface but also stay above the water as long as she can until something would come across for help. As the female was currently climbing away from the darkest depth of the environment at hand, she had left a trail of bubbles in her wake that had moved higher and faster, a sign of urgency at hand. Many cubic centimeters of the otherwise achromatic liquid were starting to work against her as she had started to get closer onward for the much needed oxygen that was slowly now within reach. In due time, the female was successful: although that she had struggled to breathe after being compelled to hold herself in, the excess of air entering the lungs was more than enough to satisfy her.

Like before, she was able to grab ahold of something that would already fulfill her expectations; however, it was a lot different from the wooden raft that she was previously resting upon: it was stony and lonesome, almost resonating with the likes of her from long before here. One crucial detail that had caught the female off–guard was that the surface was far from solid, compared to the rather ligneous texture that she had found her own hands resting upon a long time ago: its newest mass of matter has some silky stands that had resembled hair. Not only that, she had found a small a set of a few fine flowers flowing freely against the airstreams, all of them different with their own stems refusing to kowtow against the storm as the petals were constantly changing their own colors each and every passing second. Even so, the very female in question had been currently greeted by the sight of another figure at close range: like herself, the other straggler was already sharing the same gender and skin complexion along such simplistic attire dampened by the atmospheric phenomenon.

Of course, it was almost instantaneously clear that the very females themselves alone had their own differences in the very least. The perfect stranger that was just now lurking about had some long tresses of solid gold already running past the nape of the neck. Draped over the individual’s body was a true blue ensemble of a jacket and skirt, both of which were made of the same material.

The haphazard onlooker remained still, already able to hear the stranger crying quietly, “Apple Bloom…”

“Apple Bloom…?” the younger individual had thought to herself, “I think heard of that name; who was she…?”

“Ah should have been stronger enough to save you; Ah don’t even know why these bastards would do this t’ all of us: Granny, Big Mac, Babs, Braeburn, but mostly you, Apple Bloom…!” the other female cried aloud, a flash of lightning crackling about against the formerly darkened firmament.

The onlooker then said to herself calmly, “Applejack…?”

“Hmm…” a whimper escaped from the stranger’s mouth, causing the younger female to gasp silently while the thunder roared aloud, “wha…?”

“Oh, no…” the onlooker squeaked.

It wasn’t long until the eponymous individual turned around and started to face the younger counterpart almost immediately. Catching the onlooker off–guard, the tall womanly figure otherwise known as Applejack took a hard look at the former at once. Even though the youth in question was able to resist the temptation of simply screaming loudly, she couldn’t help but feel aghast.

Sure enough, the sad stranger had started stuttering slowly, “is that ya Star Dreams; is this me…?”

“Applejack…?” the aforementioned straggler sputtered to the titular target, “what is going on…?”

“Mah sister, have ya seen her…?” the woman gasped about, her breath shaking about with reckless abandonment rivaling a deadbeat panda of a reluctant father.

The younger onlooker shook her head and had replied only hesitantly, “no, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Apple Bloom: she remembered going to school with ya a few years ago…!” Applejack exclaimed as another flash of lightning brightened the sky above, “Ah want to know if ya had seen her at all recently…!”

“No, I’m sorry; I wish I did…” Star Dreams had answered back almost instantaneously, her head dropping down away from the pensive stranger.

As soon thunder roared once again, two streams of red were currently pouring straight throughout Applejack’s cheeks as she began to growl about slowly but surely, “then ya no better than the other bastards…!”

“Wha?!” the younger observer replied, now greeted by sight of the stranger’s new facial structure: the origins of the crimson streaks pointed to the blackened eyes matching the irises, complimented by the open mouth filled to the brim with carnassial triangular dentition, “Applejack?!”

“That fucking war has made us all look weak and powerless, just like that damned excuse of a stage magician: the fact that ya even alive and breathing here and now is a mockery of the fact that Apple Bloom is out of mah reach once again; as a matter of fact, Ah oughta put ya out of both of our miseries while there is still time…!” the eponymous straggler roared loudly at once.

Within so much as little warning whatsoever, Star Dreams was tackled back into the dark and lonely water, resurfacing almost immediately to find herself blocked off from the structure as she sputtered about, “hah… hah… HELP ME…!”

“No one’s coming to save ya, just like the others: Apple Bloom, Babs, they’re all fucking gone because of weaklings like me…!” the belligerent battler bawled out, “there’s no room in this accursed world for any of us: we only exist as food for the strong and even our Princess Celestia knows this; stop resisting and it’ll be over soon…!”

“Mommy… daddy…!” the young individual gargled as Applejack wrapped her own hands around the former’s neckline extremely tightly with water pouring into the mouth with every desperate struggle.

The vice–grip right around Star Dreams had straightaway increased about in pressure as the stranger yelled intently, “don’t worry, ya’ll be able to see them again as soon as Ah am done with ya, missy…!”

“Ackkkkk…!” the young victim had gagged as her vision started to blur, the sight of her bloodied attacker decreasing in focus, “ahhhh…!”

“UNHAND THAT HELPLESS CHARGE, THY WARPED CARICATURE…!” a loud voice had boomed, belonging to neither of the female figures in question.

Almost instantaneously, the attacker otherwise known as Applejack had spontaneously combusted, rays of light emerging from her body as she screamed about. The matching attire that the tanned figure had worn was starting to singe about as the flames begun consuming her while leaving Star Dreams unharmed in the process. Even though that they were both in a seemingly endless body of water, only Applejack herself was already disintegrating as she was burned up into absolute oblivion.

When the belligerent battler disappeared in a mass of heat and light, the young occupant gasped for oxygen once more for feeling, attempting to find the source of the mysterious articulation. It wasn’t long until Star Dreams was accompanied another female figure descending from the firmament almost immediately, the latter’s complexion already being about fifty shades darker. Glimmering about in the cold distance was but a pair of cyan irises glowing about alongside with the rest of the owner’s eyes, illuminating the area where the young witness had remained. The descendant’s elongated hair was now flowing into the soft wind, sparkling about as each and every one of its tresses were a bluish tint with both lighter and darker hues vying for laterality. Aside from the small obsidian tiara matching the widely wide crescent necklace, the new visitor wore a long shimmering dress that was colored in a dark pink scheme and achromatic slippers.

Star Dreams was in awe of this rather magnificent sight but had only found the strength to say a few words, “who are you…?”

“‘Tis I, Princess Luna, the one and only sister of Princess Celestia…” the aforementioned visitor introduced herself to the youth as a tender smile had appeared to be worn upon the visage, “the bridge betwixt both the dream world and the real world by which where the people slumber and wake respectively…”

“What happened…?” Star Dreams gasped frantically as she had struggled to stay above the water like she had done a long time ago.

The princess knelt towards the youth and answered, “‘tis only a nocturnal terror, a rather normal occurrence for the young such as thyself, dear child; in fact, it possesses only but a few similarities to those of both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle some time ago ever since the conflict’s twilight.”

“What do you mean, your highness…?” Star Dreams asked as Luna had quickly pulled her out from the splashing waters, “what does my dream have in common with those you’d mentioned just recently…?”

“The war against out homeland has changed them and their siblings: on certain nights, they find themselves besieged by the presence of their sisters, or rather, their caricatures on the verge of betraying their bonds of bloodline by staining their hands; in thy case, thou hast been attacked by one otherwise envisioned as Applejack…” the princess said as the raging storm began to subside.

The recent memory of the titular terror brought a chill up the youth’s spine as she stuttered, “but how does Applejack happen to fit into all of this…?”

“‘Tis very obvious: thou were the first friend of Apple Bloom, a kind and gentle soul, years before war were declared; she hast invited thee into her home for a slumber party in the weekend a month since the commencement of thy pedagogy…” Luna had begun to explain all this to Star Dreams all at once, “a fresh face into the community prior to the arrival of mine sister’s protégé. I can also remember the sense of trepidation and loneliness that held thyself in bondage, ringing back to the time when Twilight had retreated into her studies rather than integrate with her peers at the capital. Despite all that, thou were willing take her up on that gesture of hospitality; to them, thou became like a part of the family and even more: Applejack was even more than willing to extend her sisterly influence unto thyself. Ever since that fateful day, thou hast gained a boon worth of confidence to adapt and overcome the passing school daze that afflicted thy peers, seconds passing into minutes, then hours, and finally days, more than willing to wish that thou weren’t an only child.”

“Why Applejack: what did I do to deserve this; what did they do to deserve this…?” the young observer wept, her tears falling onto the still water.

The princess placed a hand upon Star Dreams’ shoulder and sighed, “nothing at all in the very least; the things that were done unto both thy friend and her sister were all the more tragic: one devoid of sight and comfort from their kin, the other rueful and ruminating on her young born in the vestry…”

“‘Born in the vestry…?’” the youth had repeated out of only confusion, “what does even that mean…?”

“Let’s just say that the circumstances regarding the child’s birth began on a rather heavy note…” Luna answered Star Dreams almost immediately.

As if things were all quiet on the western front, a pained cry had invaded the youth’s ears, shrinking her irises as the right hand was being held onto by the princess. Before long, the otherwise overextending oceans had become a sterile solid state society, various contraptions and mechanisms at the adjacent partitions within their sights. Cacophonies of beeping now echoed into their ears before subsiding into a rather acute piercing whine, interspersed with rampant wailing that was different from before. Defined by the disconsolate outlook of things, a small mass of people in front of the two females had broken formation, each with various traits and similarities thereof. Emerging out amongst the band of seven was but a diminutive infant already being cleaned of its reddish tint as the latter was instantaneously compelled to cry profusely.

As the atmosphere’s new identity became finalized, Star Dreams then asked, “where are we: what is this place; who are these people…?”

“This is the hospital, an ephemeral habitation for the sick and feeble masses: Applejack was amongst them, bringing forth her sickly young at this very particular moment…” Luna asked, pointing to sight of a single lifeless woman, “this otherwise selfless act of bringing life into this troubled world hast nearly costed her own; even she understood the aftereffects from it all…”

“Sweetheart… let’s just stop: it’s over already; focus on the child…” one of the voices said, belonging to a feminine figure all dressed in white.

Another figure in white, also female yet stockier turned to the young newborn in accordance to such a command; the observant youth asked the princess, “what is wrong with him; why is the lady tending to the baby…?”

“The child is unwell: a pox was inherited from his afflicted mother, another victim of this recent strife…” Luna replied rather hesitantly, a tear escaping from the eye as Sweetheart clothed the weak toddler, “this illness hast thereof already deprived him of his sight due to the severity of Applejack’s plight.”

“How sad…” Star Dreams had sighed as the infant was now being cared for by the several people in attendance.

The princess then grabbed the youth by the shoulder and said, “however, there is a rather haply pleasant conclusion to that heavy affair: both she and her child survived because of a miracle: Applejack was able to be revivified and he was able to live past infancy. Of course, considering the transgressions committed against herself and her sister Apple Bloom, the child hast to be raised by a different matriarch, the same way thou is being reared by thy own caretakers who took office. Even though your differences were apparent, the result was as clear: the struggle between our homeland and the foreign legions were the source of this grave tragedy; as such, the warrant for thy safety is to be upheld.”

“If that’s the case, then what happened to the child…?” Star Dreams asked as she’d listened to the newborn nearby them, “surely he would’ve been able to have a mother and father like I have had.”

“Only one: Fluttershy wont to the responsibility of looking after him, most befitting of a kind soul out of all that circle of friends mostly…” Luna said as the environment all around the twosome had begun to dissipate at once.

It wasn’t long until they were alone again, the youth quickly breaking the golden silence asking, “what is she like…?”

“A true friend and a more charitable example of the homeland’s ideals: earlier, she hast only desired to tend to the fauna that coexist with us to this very day…” the princess had answered, “for a while, it hast seemed to be rather decent and noble goal, even more than taking office upon crown and country along with the people who serve them.”

“Princess Luna, do you think that I would be able to see her one day…?” Star Dreams sighed as a shooting star streaked away from themselves.

The eponymous aristocrat stated, “only if premisses art favorable: whilst that she has managed to find a new home to live in the country, the reluctance to bond with her peers is still stronger than ever; the only exceptions she makes are her friends and family and they know her more than the others.”

“I understand…” the youth said as they'd quickly found themselves in the white void, a contrast to the past environments they were both in, “some people want to be alone…”

“But don’t fret: as cruel as fate can be, time is a rather compassion force that can heal many wounds; in time, Fluttershy wilst be able to find the courage to love and be loved once more, the same way thou hast be able to do so after all these…” Luna had replied to Star Dreams, smiling greatly than before albeit under control.

The youth looked away and began to ponder onward, finding the time and energy to speak at once, “that’s reminds me: I’ve been wondering what had become of Apple Bloom; where is she…?”

“In the forest, living alongside Zecora in harmony with nature…” the princess had quickly said, “whilst she hast grown much like thyself, she hast been able to reconnect with other kith and kin.”

“I bet I wanna talk to her again; I have so many questions to ask her like what’s it like to live there and what her guardian does…” Star Dreams chirped as Luna began to fade away out of the former’s sight.

The princess’ hand still made its way upon the youth’s shoulder before responding, “be still, thou hast plenty of means and opportunity to commit thyself to such tasks whilst awake, preferably following the morrow after…”

“I know… it’s just that I thought that I wouldn’t be able to see her again since we’d moved away…” Star Dreams said, “the fact she’d lived…”

“‘Twas only a miracle… right now, all that matters to thee is the present; it should be no more important than the past or the hereafter…” Luna interjected softly as she'd currently dissipated completely, leaving the lone youth back to her own devices like long before but still safe and secure nonetheless.