Twilight Sparkle slowly opened the library’s front door, her eyes darting around rapidly. After what she’d seen the night before, she was taking no chances. For all she knew, the orgy she had seen the night before might not have ended. It might have spread throughout the town. The last thing she needed to see this morning was a sweaty, intermingled…

Somepony was standing outside.

She made to slam the door shut…

“Miss Sparkle?”

The deep baritone of the voice gave her pause. It sounded vaguely familiar. Slowly, she pushed the door open once more to find a large red stallion standing just outside. The large yoke on his shoulders was attached to a small one-pony cart that rested behind him. He smiled at her from beneath messy orange bangs. “You… you were at Sugarcube Corner last night, weren't you?”

“Yes ma’am.” The stallion ducked his large head. “Pleasure to make yer acquaintance. The name is Macintosh Apple, but folks round here just call me Big Mac.”

Twilight chuckled as she took in his proportions. “I wonder why?”

He laughed as well, the pleasing sound easing her nerves somewhat. “Word around this mornin’ is that you want to have a chat with my sister. She sent me down to give you a lift.”

“How very kind of her.” Twilight stepped out and closed the door behind her. “So Applejack’s your sister?”

“Yes ma’am.” The stallion’s manners were impeccable. “She’s younger than me, a’course, but the gods saw fit to give her all the brains. That’s why she’s runnin’ things and I’m…” He nodded back at the cart.

“The gods. Right.” Twilight’s eye twitched as she tried to focus on her brother’s words from the night before about being more understanding. She climbed onto the cart and settled into the one seat. “Is it a long ride?”

“Not long at all, Miss Sparkle. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

The cart lurched as the stallion started off at a brisk trot. Twilight relaxed into her seat and breathed in the fresh morning air. She took in the sights of the waking town for a while before closing her eyes to focus entirely on the ambient bird song. She centered herself, trying to drive away the sights and thoughts of the night before.

The bustle of the town faded away behind her and she knew they had passed beyond the village’s boundaries. The only sounds now were the singing birds, the creaking wagon, and the steady clopping of Mac’s hooves on the smooth earth. Twilight yawned, considering the possibility of a short nap...

“Take the flame inside you,

burn and burn below.

Fire seed and fire feed

and make the baby grow.”

The sing-song voices made her eyes open. Trees lined the road on either side, and the voices seemed to be coming from not far ahead. She watched carefully until she could make out a small fire burning not too far from her. The fire was ringed by a gathering of older fillies and young mares, no more than twenty in all, all dancing and singing along to the same song;

“Take the flame inside you

burn and burn belay.

Fire seed and fire feed

and make the baby stay.”

Twilight watched in confusion as one of the mares, a pink one that looked vaguely familiar, jumped over the dancing flames. She landed nimbly and smoothly rejoined the dance and the song;

“Take the flame inside you

burn and burn belong.

Fire seed and fire feed

and make the baby strong.”

Twilight considered asking Macintosh what the mares were doing but ultimately decided against it. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to them at all;

“Take the flame inside you

burn and burn belie.

Fire seed and fire feed

and make the baby cry.”

At last the cart began to gain distance from the bizarre ceremony. Twilight relaxed back into her seat, pondering about what she had just seen. One last verse floated to her ears, carried by the wind;

“Take the flame inside you

burn and burn begin.

Fire seed and fire feed

and make the baby king.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sweet Apple Acres was everything she’d expected it to be; a few well maintained structures of wood surrounded by rolling fields and looming orchards. The wind carried the smells of livestock, sweet apples, and… something else. Her muzzle wrinkled. It was something foul she couldn’t quite place, something that didn't blend with the rest of the place at all.

Mac dropped her off in front of the large red barn, tipped an invisible hat to her, and headed back towards the fields.

Twilight was just opening her mouth to ask where she was supposed to go when a thick southern drawl came from inside the barn. “Be right out.” The unicorn watched as the barn doors swung open, pushed by an orange earth pony with a blonde mane tied in a simple pony-tail. She exhaled and wiped her sweaty brow with a brown Stetson hat that she then used as a fan. She smiled at Twilight with sparkling green eyes. “Trifle warm for this time of year, wouldn’t ya say?”

Twilight, who had no idea what the usual climate was for a town like Ponyville, just nodded. “Miss Applejack, I presume?”

“The one and only.” She returned her hat to her head and extended a hoof. “Just Applejack, if you please. And I'm plum pleased to make yer acquaintance, Miss Twilight.”

Twilight lightly tapped her hoof against the farmer’s, then tried, as subtly as she could, to wipe the dirt off on her coat. “Likewise. I suppose you know why I’m here?”

Applejack nodded. “A missing filly. One who apparently isn’t known around here.”

“Not just missing, Applejack.” Twilight cast her eyes around to check for any eavesdroppers. She spoke in a low tone. “From what I’ve seen of this town, I suspect foul play.”

“You don’t say?” Applejack’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well, I'm confident yer suspicions are wrong, Miss Twilight. We're a deeply religious community, and things like violence don't exactly mesh with...”

Twilight tried (she really did) but could not suppress a laugh at the ridiculous statement. “Religious?! Do you have any idea the things I’ve seen? And not just yesterday, but on the way here?”

If Twilight’s laugh offended her, Applejack hid it well. “Well now I’m curious. What did you see on the road that’s got you in such a tizzy?”

Twilight pointed back down the way where she’d come. “Just back there, I saw a number of young mares singing and dancing around a bonfire.”

Applejack leaned forward expectantly. “…And?”

“Th-they were leaping over the fire and... and singing a song!” Twilight pointed more enthusiastically, only feeling slightly ridiculous. “Can you explain that?”

“Well, it’s just the Fire Leap.”

“The what?”

“The Fire Leap.” Applejack pushed the barn door closed as she explained. “On the eve of our Summer Sun Celebration, the young mares looking to conceive this year gather around the bonfire to praise and request the favor of the gods. By leapin’ over the flames, we believe that they catch some of the god’s heat and use it to amplify their own.”

Twilight gaped at her, struggling to process the information. “And you… encourage them in this practice?”

“A’course we do.” Applejack latched the barn shut and turned back with a smile. “It's very important that each new generation born in Ponyville understands that here, in our own little corner of the world, the old gods aren't dead. Point of fact, they're thrivin.'”

“…what?”

Applejack laughed and turned towards the hen house. “Apple Bloom!”

A yellow filly with a red bow in her hair came bounding up to them, a basket of fresh eggs clutched between in her teeth. The filly waved at Twilight. “Hi!”

Twilight, still not fully recovered from her bit of culture shock, limply waved back. “Uh… Hi.”

“This is Apple Bloom, the youngest of our family.” Applejack ruffled the filly’s red mane. “I’m gonna take Miss Twilight for a little stroll around the farm. You run up to the house, get those in the ice box, and uncork us some cider.”

“What kind?”

Applejack looked over at Twilight. “What’s yer poison?”

Twilight blinked slowly. “I, um, don’t drink. Alcohol, I mean.”

“Gotcha.” Applejack looked back at the filly. “Let’s see how our guest likes cousin Caramel’s blend.” She caught Twilight's protest before she could make it. "Practically apple juice. Strictly non-alcoholic."

“Can I have some?” The filly asked excitedly, her bouncing threatening to send the eggs in her basket tumbling.

“’Course you can.” She kissed the filly’s cheek and sent her on her way with a light swat on her flank. She turned back to Twilight and nodded at a path that led to the orchards. “Shall we?”

Twilight frowned. “Applejack, we need to discuss…”

“Come one now. We can walk and talk.” She stared down the path, not looking back.

Twilight sighed heavily before following.

Only when she heard Twilight’s hoof-steps following her own did Applejack look back with a smile. “Ya see, in the last hundred years or so, the villagers of Ponyville were starvin.' They were scratchin' a bare living from livestock, carrots, and the like.” She looked around at the surrounding lands. “Then my grandpappy bought this barren land and began to… change things. He was actually a distinguished scientist from Canterlot if you can believe it. He believed that the Equestrian way of life wasn’t sustainable and he wanted to do his part to make things better.”

“And was he, your grandfather I mean, a follower of the True Faith?”

“He was a devout subject of Celestia, if that means anythin.'” Before Twilight could ask any further questions, she forged on with her story. “What attracted my grandpappy to this land, apart from the profuse source of free labor that it promised in the form of villagers desperate for anythin' to distract them from their impendin' doom, was the unique combination of Everfree soil and the strange ambient magics that surround it. Ya see, his experiments had led him to believe that it was possible to grow certain new strains of fruit, apples in particular, that he had developed. So, with typical Apple Family zeal, he set to work.”

The student in Twilight was intrigued. “How did he do it? How did he get seeds to grow in Everfree soil, I mean?”

“I’d love to tell you, but the process has been lost. There was a fire a few years back and grandpappy’s notebooks were one of the casualties.” She gestured at the multitude of trees that now surrounded them. “Luckily we still have all of these.”

“Yes. Lucky.” The foul odor was clearer now and Twilight started breathing through her mouth to keep herself from having to smell it. “So, how did your grandfather get the villagers to go along with it? Or did he just buy them all along with the land?”

Applejack chuckled. “I suppose that would have made things easier, wouldn’t it? Nah, he didn’t buy ‘em. He did a lot of research into this area’s local history and figured that the best way of accomplishin' his goals was to give these ponies back their joyous old gods.”

Twilight stopped. “But you said he was devout. Why did he intentionally sway the villagers from the True Faith?”

“I said he was a devout subject. We Apples have always maintained a healthy skepticism when it comes to the monarchy.” She winked. “Family tradition.”

Twilight frowned but said nothing.

“So he told them, so long as they helped him in his plans, that they were once again free to worship their gods as they pleased. He convinced them that as a result of this worship the barren land would burgeon and bring forth fruit in great abundance.”

“But what he actually did was to develop new strains of hardy fruits suited to local conditions.” Twilight nodded her head, impressed in spite of herself.

“When it all started, the ponies worked for him because he fed them, clothed them, and allowed them to seek comfort in the forces and deities that they were familiar with. But later, when the trees starting fruiting, it became a very different matter.” She ran a hoof along the trunk of one tree almost reverently. “It seemed that the old gods had indeed returned and the ministers of the True Faith fled the village, never to return. Things went so swimmingly that old grandpappy even married one of the local mares and started up a new branch on the family tree.” Applejack turned and smiled. “What he started out of expediency, my daddy continued out of... love, I guess. He brought me and Mac up the same way - to reverence the music and the drama and rituals of the old gods. To love nature and to fear it, to rely on it and to appease it when necessary. He brought me up…”

Twilight could take no more. “He brought you up to be a heretic!” She snapped.

Applejack’s smiled faltered only slightly. “But not, I hope, an unenlightened one.”

Twilight snorted irritably. “Applejack, I am interested in one thing: the fate of this missing filly. But I must remind you that despite everything you've said, you, and all the ponies of this town, are still subjects of Princess Celestia and thus, by proxy, expected to adhere to the laws of the True Faith.”

“But is this missing filly the only thing that has brought you to my little village?”

Twilight faltered. “I’m sorry?”

“Small town, Miss Twilight. Ears are everywhere. What was it you said to yer brother last night?” She slipped out of her accent and raised her tone a few notches to make herself sound smarter. “’Converting the village would be much easier if I managed to convert their leader first.’” She cocked her head. “Has the princess finally decided to secure her hold on every village in the land?”

Twilight sneered. “You should know the answer to that. You seem to know everything else.”

“I know only what the gods tell me, Miss Twilight. Well, them and the town baker.” She started back towards the homestead. “The gods would not have brought you to me if there weren’t a reason. So…”

“So?”

“So... I’ll give you your chance. To… how do you in the True Faith call it? “‘Usher me into the warmth of Her Loving Light.’” She nodded back towards her house. “But we’ll be talkin’ over cider.”

Twilight looked back down the path they’d been walking. The foul scent’s source had to be close, perhaps as close as just over the next hill…

“You comin?’”

Twilight nodded towards the hill. “What’s over that way?”

Applejack shrugged. “Just more trees. Would you expect anythin' else?”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Twilight settled into the farm-house’s couch and sipped the mug of sweet cider.

Applejack smiled at her, tilting slowly in an ancient-looking rocking chair. She sipped her own cider, her eyes never leaving Twilight’s.

The two watched each other for a moment, just observing the silence.

“Why did you inherit the farm?” Twilight finally asked.

“Beg pardon?”

“Why you? Isn’t Mac older?”

Applejack laughed lowly. “My brother’s never been much of a leader-type pony. His strength is in his work. The gods saw fit that I should be the one to succeed my father after his untimely demise.”

“How did he die?” Something Rarity had said the day before popped into her mind. “Timberwolves?”

“Good guess.” Applejack’s smile faded and she took another drink. “Damn beasts tend to stay in the woods, but a few years back a pack of ‘em got brave and raided us. We lost a lot of good ponies that night, my parents included.”

“The will of the gods?” Twilight offered, smiling sweetly.

The game began.

Applejack laughed once. “I’m afraid it was. We did somethin’ to anger them, I’d wager. Somethin’ pretty bad. We took some extra precautions at the next year’s Summer Sun Celebration and the monsters have stayed away ever since.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Precautions?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t be interested in such barbaric customs, I’m sure.”

“You’re probably right.” Twilight took another drink. She carefully measured her next attack. “...Why do you choose to worship them?”

“Because they are there to be worshiped, and we are here to worship them. That’s just the way of the world.” She said matter-of-factly. “Why do you worship Celestia?”

“I worship Princess Celestia for a multitude of reasons." She pointed a hoof at the roof. "She moves the sun and the moon, first of all.”

“Does she?” Applejack sipped. “And I imagine you have proof of that?”

Twilight smiled victoriously. “As a matter of fact, I have. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“Describe it to me, please. I'm ever so curious.”

Twilight’s smile fell. “What?”

“Describe to me what it looks like. When Celestia raises the sun, I mean.”

“Uh… okay. Her horn lights up, the sun becomes bathed in the light of her magic, and then she raises it. Simple as that.”

Applejack blinked. "Sounds kinda borin.'"

"It's spectacular.

“If you say so. So... what color is her magic?”

“Yellow.”

Applejack cocked her head. “And what color is the sun?”

“Yell…” Twilight stopped. “Wait.”

“She moves the moon too, doesn’t she?”

“Of course, but…”

Applejack forged ahead. “When’s the last time you saw the moon bathed in yellow magic, Miss Twilight?”

Twilight frowned. “Maybe her moon magic is a different color.”

“Oh, don’t you know?” Applejack examined a hoof in feigned interest.

“Princess Celestia doesn’t allow anypony to see her raising or lowering the moon.”

“Imagine that.” Applejack took another swig and motioned for Twilight to continue. “What’s another reason you choose to worship her?”

Twilight reluctantly conceded the point to the farmer. She knew her next blow was unbreakable. “Well... there’s the Reward Eternal.”

“Ah, the very bedrock of the True Faith, so I’ve been told. Would you care to explain to a poor, uneducated heathen exactly what the Reward Eternal is?”

Twilight cleared her throat. This was part of her faith that she knew well. She’d written several papers on the subject. “As the True Faith dictates, on the longest night of the thousandth year the stars will aid in the escape of the beast Nightmare Moon from her prison in the moon itself. She will extinguish the sun and plunge Equestria into the Night Eternal. All ponies who do not follow the True Faith will be left behind to freeze and starve for a full one thousand years of unending darkness.”

“Goodness.” Applejack murmured. “And what about the followers of the True Faith? What happens to them?”

“The Faithful will be taken to the Reward Eternal, a realm of never-ending light and peace. There they will dwell with Princess Celestia until the next thousand years have ended.” Twilight smiled at the thought. “Then She will return to Equestria, ultimately defeat the beast, and bring about the never-ending Age of Light. The dead will live and no one will ever have to die again. Just peace, love, and the worship of Princess Celestia forever and ever.”

“Woo boy. Sounds like a time and a half.” Applejack finished her cider. “Is that all there is to it?”

“Isn't that enough?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“So everypony is equal in this Reward of yours?”

Twilight snorted into her cider and came up giggling. “Of course not. The Most Faithful will be placed on either side of Princess Celestia and rule by her side.”

“I think I’m startin’ to get the picture. Everypony's equal in Her eyes, but some ponies are more equal than others.”

"I wouldn't put it that bluntly..."

Applejack put her mug aside and touched her hooves together. “So... when does this all start poppin’ off? When are the thousand years ended? When does Nightmare Moon get sprung from her jail?”

“Well, nopony knows.” Twilight swallowed the last of her cider and put the mug on the floor. “That’s why we must all be sheltered in the warmth of Her Loving Light. Nopony knows when the end times will be upon us.”

“So yer not tryin’ to convert me or my ponies at all.” Applejack mused. “Yer just tryin’ to save us.”

“Yes.” Twilight sighed blissfully. She was finally getting through. “Only by abandoning your false gods and accepting Princess Celestia into your heart can you be saved from what is to come.”

“And you fer sure know this is all going to happen?”

“Yes!”

“How?”

Twilight froze again. “...What?”

“How do you know? How do you know Nightmare Moon could bust loose any day now? How do you know this Reward Eternal exists at all?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Has anypony ever seen it?”

“Seeing isn’t always believing, Applejack.” Twilight resisted the urge to pout. This wasn’t going how she’d planned it at all. The earth pony should’ve been on her knees begging for salvation by now. “I believe in the True Faith. Many of us do.”

“And many of us don’t, Miss Twilight.” Applejack stood and stretched. “I don’t begrudge you your beliefs and I only wish you didn’t begrudge me mine. We just wanna be left alone. Is that so bad?”

Twilight glared at her. “I'm trying to save you from yourselves. You worship at the altars of ignorance and false gods.”

“As do you, from my perspective.” For the first time, Applejack’s look hardened. “You could not fathom the elements of our world, Miss Twilight. Your mind is just too small.”

Twilight bristled. “I resent that.”

“Doesn’t feel too good being called stupid, does it?" Applejack scoffed as she shook her head. "Y’know, I really do pity you.”

“Pity me?!” Twilight jumped to her hooves. “How dare you…?”

“Yes, I pity you. I pity you in that you are so slavishly devoted to a deity that expects blind worship and yet gives nothin’ in return. You go without the basest pleasures of our world, and why? Because she tells you to? When’s the last time you had a drink of good hard cider? When did you last dance in the light of the moon?" She smiled a secret smile. "When’s the last time you had a really good ruttin’ just for the hay of it?” She shook her head again. “You give and you give and you give and you get nothin’ for it.”

“Oh, you’re one to talk. What is it you told me?” She put on an exaggerated southern drawl and crossed her eyes. “’They’re here to be worshiped and we are here to worship them.’” She uncrossed her eyes and glared once again. “What do your gods offer you except lies, death, and timberwolves?”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Our gods reward us in ways you’d never believe.”

The tension in the air grew thick…

“Ya’ll need any more cider?” Apple Bloom poked her head into the room.

Applejack’s smile returned as she looked at the filly. “We’re good, sugarcube. Gettin’ to be mighty hungry though. Why don’t you throw in a few dumplins?”

Apple Bloom returned the smile. “Yes, Mama.”

When the filly had left, Twilight cocked her head. “She called you Mama.”

“That’s ’cause she’s my daughter. Right perceptive of you.” Applejack tapped the rim of her hat. “Youngest member of the family, remember?”

Twilight searched her memory for any other ponies she might’ve seen on the farm. “Where’s her father at?”

“I expect tilling whatever field he was headin’ for after he dropped you off.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Mac is…? But he’s… Your…”

“Heat comes on strong some years.” Applejack smirked. “When that happens, then it’s any port in a storm. The gods blessed me with Apple Bloom after that hot summer night.”

Twilight took a step back, not bothering to even try and hide her outrage.“That… that’s disgusting.”

“That’s nature, Miss Twilight. That’s what stallions and mares do.” She winked. “Word around town is that yer own brother is quite a sight to see. You can’t tell me the thought ain’t never crossed yer mind…”

“I believe I’ve had enough of this conversation.” Twilight turned and marched from the room and into the kitchen.

Apple Bloom looked up from the ice box with wondering eyes. “Arent’cha gonna stay for brunch?”

Twilight looked at the filly, a maelstrom of emotions in her heart. The pony was an abomination, a thing borne of incest and lust. She was a walking, talking sin. Her very existence was an affront to all she believed in…

Yet she was still just a child. An innocent. Pure.

She smiled as gently as she could. “I’m afraid not. Thank you for the offer.” She trotted out the back door, ready to run back to Ponyville…

“Miss Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight looked up to find a grey mare with crossed eyes floating overhead. She held an envelope in her mouth. When the pegasus dropped the letter, she caught it with her magic and tore it open.

It was from Shining Armor.

She read it as quickly as she could and spun to find Applejack standing in the door’s threshold. “Somethin’ wrong?”

Twilight brandished the letter. “My brother has been to the school-house and discovered that not only is Sweetie Belle an actual resident of this village, but that she is also apparently deceased.”

Applejack’s eyes widened in surprise. “Is that so? Well, what do you think could have happened?”

Twilight drew herself to her full height and looked down at the earth pony. “I think Sweetie Belle was murdered... under circumstances of heathen barbarity. It is my intention to return to Canterlot and report my suspicions to Princess Celestia Herself. She will undoubtedly demand a full inquiry takes place into the affairs of this heinous village.”

“Just an inquiry?”

Twilight bared her teeth a little. “Perhaps a bit more, in your family’s case.”

“You must, a'course, do as you see fit, Miss Twilight.” Applejack also stood to her full height. She now was now a full inch taller than the unicorn. “But I’ll thank ya not to threaten me, my family, or my town. We may be a bit backwoods, but even we’ve heard what’s happenin’ in Saddle Arabia.”

Twilight wilted only slightly. “I wasn’t suggesting…”

“Perhaps it's just as well that you won't be here tomorrow, to be offended by the sight of our Summer Sun Celebration.” Applejack nodded her head slightly. “Enjoy the rest of yer stay in Ponyville, Miss Twilight.”

Understanding that she had now been dismissed, Twilight spun and trotted away without returning the nod.

When she was gone, Rainbow Dash floated to the ground from her hiding place in the clouds and grinned at Applejack. “She got under your skin a little, didn’t she? I can tell.”

“Ain’t no laughin’ matter, Dash. The last thing we need is Celestia sending an army of Twilight Sparkles after us.” She spat into the dirt. “This has to go off without a hitch.”

“Everypony’s doing great so far. Pinkie’s ready to go…” Dash put a wing around her best friend. “Don’t worry, AJ. The gods are with us.”

“I know. Believe me, I know.” She gestured towards the kitchen door. “Want some brunch?”

Dash licked her lips and nodded enthusiastically.

“Good. Just don’t fill up too much.” Applejack spared a final glance at the road. “We’ve got a busy night ahead of us.”

Author's Note