I knew you would still be here
“Rarity!” Spike cried.
“I don’t think she’s here, Spike” Twilight said, coming closer to the ruined Carousel Boutique. “I’m not sure anything we know is the same… But I know one place that could never change!” she finished with resolve, taking off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Applejack!” Twilight ran up to the orange pony, taking her in a hug.
“What can I do for you?” Applejack asked, pushing her away.
“It’s so good to see you! We couldn’t find Pinkie or Rarity or Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash! But I just knew you would still be here!”
“Of course I am. This is my home, and I’m always here.”
“Spare me your overblown ego! No group of friends, not even Princess Twilight’s is that important!” Starlight exclaimed, zapping the young Rainbow Dash out of the sky. Immediately, a large portal opened up in the sky.
“I don’t know how important other ponies’ friendships are to the future, but I can show you what the world is like without mine!” Twilight said, lunging for Starlight and taking her through the portal.
What awaited them was a barren wasteland. A howling wind was pushing clouds of dust through the dark sky. Dead and barren trees were barely holding against the constant gusts.
“Where are we?!” Starlight asked angrily, turning to face Twilight.
“The future. Or rather, present.” Twilight responded in a sombre tone.
“But there’s nothing here!”
“I wish I could say I was surprised-“
“Finally!” The three of them jumped at the sudden shout, and turned to face the source.
What welcomed them was a ragged pony, clearly malnourished, whose coat might have been orange sometime in the past. The omnipresent dust matted her fur and blonde mane into dull colours matching the surrounding world. On top of her head was a torn Stetson, crudely tied with a piece of linen string to keep it from flying away with the wind.
Despite her miserable look, she had a big, goofy grin on her face. Before any one of the dumbfounded ponies and dragon could say anything, she started speaking with apparent glee.
“Took you long enough! But I’m so glad you’ve finally showed up!” Her grin stretched even further before turning into a frown. “But a few things are off about you. You’re a princess, all right,” she said, spying Twilight’s horn and wings. “But you were supposed to have a white coat. And a crown. The dragon,” she pointed her hoof at Spike. “big and scary. And you,” lastly, she turned to Starlight. “a stallion.”
The last statement finally broke the silence from the trio.
“Excuse me?!” Starlight exclaimed, clearly offended. Applejack just shrugged.
“You are to save Princess Snow Flake from the terrifying dragon. I always imagined Gleaming Helm to be a big, burly stallion, a picture knight.” She looked Starlight over, her eyes getting dreamy. “A tall, handsome stallion… Proud and brave… With a big, long-“
“Ekhm.” Twilight interrupted. “Applejack?”
“-sword.” She finished. “Yes, Princess?”
“I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but we’ve just came here from another reality. I’m Twilight Sparkle, me and Starlight travelled through time into the past, when Rainbow Dash was about to perform a sonic rainboom-“
“No no no.” Applejack cut her off, waving a hoof. “You’re Princess Snow Flake, who will be captured by the terrible dragon. Gleaming Helm will travel to the ends of the world to fight the monster and save you. After many adventures on your way back, you will live happily ever after.” She scratched her head below the ragged Stetson. “I didn’t think I would have to tell you this. You should know what to do, this should be your personality.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight’s face fell. “I told you, my name is Twilight Sparkle, not Snow Flake, and I came here through an interdimensional port-“
“Enough!” Applejack burst suddenly with anger. “That’s not who you’re supposed to be! I’ve waited long enough for you to show up, and I just don’t accept that you came out wrong!” Her anger was quick to melt down into sadness. “Is it my fault? Did I fall asleep during passive forcing?”
Seeing her friend close to tears pained Twilight’s heart. She pulled her close into a tight hug, feeling the tears starting to fall on her shoulder.
“There, there. I’m sorry we’re not who you were expecting, but I will help you the best I can, if you just tell us what happened.”
Applejack sniffled miserably and breathed heavily into Twilight’s shoulder. After a second she stiffened, and pulled out of the hug, eyeing Twilight suspiciously.
“What?” Twilight suddenly felt very self-conscious under the scrutinising gaze.
“You-“ Applejack jabbed a hoof into Twilight’s chest, hard enough to make her wince. “I can feel you.”
“Uhh…” The purple alicorn was unsure how to respond. “Yes, you do?”
“Well, at least that went better than expected.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve been mancing you for the past couple of years, and now you’re here, fully. I thought that the process would be more… paced. Like, a faint projection at first, or just the voice, or something.”
“What…” Twilight paused, as realisation hit her. “You… You think you made us up?”
“Not think so, know so!” Applejack responded with another toothy grin. “I’m genuinely curious of your reaction to this. Do you accept, or prefer denial?”
“We’re not your imagination!”
“Either way is fine with me, as long as you’re gonna stick around.” Applejack shrugged again. “But, seeing as you came out completely different than planned, I guess there won’t be any Princess/Knight role-playing?” She asked with a pout. “I spent long months creating that story…”
“Look, Applejack,” Starlight said, watching quietly until now from her spot by the Cutie Map. The curiosity of the situation subdued even her anger towards Twilight. “We’re not how you want us to be, because we’re ourselves. We’re real, as real as a pony can be. Or a dragon,” she added, and Spike nodded vigorously.
“Yeah, whatever,” The orange pony waved her hoof. “I’d love for other ponies to be around, but I know it’s not possible.”
“Applejack, we are real.” Twilight reaffirmed.
“Oh yeah? Then how come you knew my name from the beginning? I don’t remember giving it to you.”
“I am your friend from another timeline. From another dimension.” It was Twilight’s turn to frown. “What do you mean it’s impossible for other ponies to be around? What happened around here?”
“Oh, you know.” Applejack answered.
The trio stared at her expectantly for a while, awaiting the story. When Applejack didn’t seem keen to start, Twilight asked again.
“So, what happened?”
“I mean, you know. You’re all in my head, we share memories. I don’t have to recall all of that again.”
“Oh, cut that tulpa crap already!” Starlight snapped. “We’re not in your head, you crazy nut!” With that, she slapped Applejack across the muzzle. “Is that enough for a confirmation? Tell us the story of this place, or I’m magicking us back right away. This dust storm is getting on my nerves.”
“No no no, please don’t leave!” Applejack fell to the ground, grabbing Starlight by her fetlocks. “I will tell you the story! No problem! Tell you whatever you want!” She begged, again with tears in her eyes.
Seeing this, Twilight felt another pang in her heart. She pulled Applejack up and into another hug.
“It’s okay. We won’t leave for now. Just tell us what happened.”
“What do you want to know?”
“For starters… How did Equestria turn into this wasteland?” Spike was the first to ask.
“Uhh…” Applejack started by rubbing her head, as if to make a headache go away. “Things began to go down after the Summer Sun Celebration that we got to hold in Ponyville, a few years back. I’m sorry, but I lost track how much time has passed since then. Anyways, on that day Nightmare Moon returned. Everypony was surprised she actually existed! We all thought she was just a tale. Turned out she was Princess Celestia’s sister, whom she banished in revenge for being banished. She began to rule Equestria.”
The three listeners looked at each other. While Twilight and Spike got to see this, it was news to Starlight.
“It wasn’t that bad, really. Some things changed, some stayed the same. She even moved the capital near Ponyville, to the old castle in the Everfree. She had to deal with a few coup attempts. But as long as you obeyed the law, life was pretty normal. After about a year, we’ve had the Changeling Invasion. It was a bloody struggle, with ponies turning on each other when they didn’t know who to trust… Eventually, the Princess defeated the Changeling Queen. But we didn’t even get to catch our breaths, as the Crystal Empire appeared. Along with King Sombra, who led an army of slaves trying to conquer us. Another war that ended only thanks to Princess Luna blowing the king into smithereens in a magic duel. But Equestria suffered a lot… Lots of land burnt down and cities destroyed, not to mention that our population was cut in half. And I lost my brother…”
Seeing the tears welling in her eyes again, Twilight wanted to give her friend another hug, but she just shook her head and continued.
“What finished us off was Tirek. A deamon straight from Tartarus, I tell you. He grew in power sucking out ponies’ magic. Somehow, he managed to sneak into the castle and drain the Princess, too. This was pretty much the end. Along with a squad of guards, she managed to defeat him. The story said that she drove a spear right through his heart herself.”
“If she defeated him, how come it was the end?” Spike asked.
“Well, Tirek was killed, and the magic he had gathered was just gone. The health of drained ponies declined rapidly, along with the Princesses’. Without magic, she was unable to move the Sun and Moon, and there just weren’t enough powerful unicorns left in the whole Equestria to do that either. With the day and night stuck, half of the planet got burnt to a crisp, and the other half froze to death. We are in the so-called Twilight Zone, the last bastion of anything alive.”
As the story drew to the end, the trio stared at Applejack with varying levels of unease. The most unsettled was Spike, who started to look around as if any other calamity was about to befall them.
“Don’t worry, little dragon, I’m pretty sure we are safe now” Applejack reassured him with a bitter laugh.
“Wait. You said that here is the bastion of anything alive…” Twilight too looked around. “Then where are the ponies? Or any other creature, for that matter?”
Applejack’s face grew grim.
“Do you see any food around here? I can only tell you that by now, the whole Zone is a barren desert like what you see here.”
“So…”
“Everything died off.” She said flatly. Twilight gave a glance to the ribs jutting out of Applejack’s sides. “It’s been about two years since I buried the last pony. And about a year since the last rat in Equestria died.” Applejack shifted a bit. “I mean, I think everything’s dead by now. I know that this stretch of land goes around the whole planet. Maybe there is still a surviving camp somewhere… But in those end times, all the ponies travelled here, to the capital.”
The next question came from Starlight, who was looking at Applejack with suspicion and a deep frown.
“If what you say is true… Then how comes that you lived two years longer than the next pony? What do you eat, if there’s nothing here?”
For a second Twilight wanted to reprimand Starlight for being so harsh, but she realised that those questions were bugging her too.
“I-… I really don’t know…”
“So that’s where your whole story falls apart. Or did you have a pile of food stashed somewhere, while all the other ponies starved?”
“N- No! I swear!”
“The fact that you’re still here tells otherwise.”
Applejack was about to cry again, and Twilight moved to comfort her. But, in a split of a second, Applejack’s face turned from sad into angry, and this time it was her who slapped Starlight.
“How dare you! How dare you say that! Little Apple Bloom was the last one, and I gave her everything I had! I was ready to go first! I just- I just didn’t!”
“Hey, hey, calm down!” Spike put himself between the two mares, pushing them apart. Instantly Applejack fell into a sobbing heap.
“I even wanted to go before her. I didn’t, and I don’t know why!” She cried into the gloomy skies. “I’m stuck here…”
“Applejack –“ Twilight started.
“I’m friggin’ stuck! I even tried to travel the Zone, to look for others, to leave the dead Acres, but after a few weeks I’m always coming back! No matter what I do! Always coming home…” There were tears running down her face. “I don’t eat, I stopped sleeping, and I’m stuck here. I can’t even finish myself off. I was so alone, believe me I tried…”
Twilight knelt by the sobbing pony and started to gently pat her head. Not knowing what to do or think, she looked up at Starlight, who just shrugged.
“Will I always be here? I just want this to end…” came Applejack’s muffled sob.
Starlight took a step back, and charged her horn with a big amount of magic. Before Twilight could ask what she was doing, she zapped the lying Applejack. Twilight sprung to her hooves like scalded.
“What in Celestia’s name did you do?! That was an offensive spell!”
“I ended her peril. Didn’t you hear what she said?”
“You… You killed her? How could you!” Twilight fell down beside the still, orange pony and turned her on her back. “Applejack, no…” Tears were running down her face.
To her relief, and Starlight’s big surprise, the orange pony moved, letting out a pained groan.
“How…” Starlight muttered. She looked around the barren horizon and made a quick decision. “Twilight, we’re leaving”.
The purple pony was currently occupied with her apparently not-dead friend, who still hadn’t regained consciousness, and Spike was looking on the whole situation half hidden behind the Cutie Map.
“Or at least, I’m leaving.” Starlight said under her breath, preparing the spell. When the portal opened, she jumped in without hesitation.
“Umm, Twilight?” Spike called out, but Twilight paid him no attention. “Twilight, we have to go back, before the portal closes!” He called again, running up to Twilight and pulling her by a leg. That finally made her take notice of the situation, but she was still unwilling to move.
“I can’t leave her here!” She cried, looking down at the unconscious pony.
“Then let’s take her with us! We can’t stay here!”
Without thinking much about the complications of such action, Twilight latched onto Spike’s idea, and lifting Applejack in her aura she jumped with him through the portal, barely making it in time.
They fell out face-first onto the race track in Cloudsdale. Looking around, Twilight saw the young Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the background. When a shadow fell on her, she looked up to see Starlight.
“So you decided to come back after all?” Starlight asked, as Twilight and Spike picked themselves up from the ground.
“Yes… But where is she?” Twilight looked around again, but couldn’t see Applejack anywhere, though she remembered holding her tight while going through the portal.
“Only the two of you came through. You tried taking her with you?” Starlight asked. Twilight nodded, as tears welled up in her eyes.
“We… We have to go back…”
“No, we can’t. That wasn’t your Applejack. And I don’t think I want to meddle with time anymore.” She said, looking to the side, where Rainbow Dash was lining up for a race.
Twilight started crying softly. Starlight sat down beside her and took her into a reassuring embrace.
“I’m sorry for what I did to you. I didn’t mean for it to turn out this way. And I know how it hurts to lose a friend…”
