Sonic Forces: Equestria Divided

Sonic had been running for what seemed like hours to him. The trail of Apple Bloom's tears had vanished not long after he started looking for her. The Earthborn House's base wasn't much special. There were mainly ponies at industrial sites mining out valuable resources and building more weapons to wage war with.

Luckily, his speed was enough to sneak past them all without detection. The last thing he wanted right now was attention. It was then that he started to think about what he said to Applejack. Perhaps he had gone just a tad bit overboard scolding her.

It was short, sweet, and to the point, yes. But the tone he used sounded like he wanted to guilt trip her into feeling sorry for her actions. It wasn't that he was trying to make Applejack feel like the the scum of the earth... well partly entirely, anyways. He just wanted to give Applejack something to think about while he searched for Apple Bloom

Hopefully, he could find her in time before she did something she would regret.

It was now late at night later and Sonic was walking around the outskirts of town, stilling looking for Apple Bloom.

'Come on, kid!' he thought to himself. 'Where in the world did you run off to?' As he made his third lap around the base, he noticed the faintest trail of tears lining the ground once again. He saw the trail lead up to a tall hill with a single apple tree on top.

Taking another look, there was a distinct red bow hidden partially behind said tree. As he walked up the hill, the sound of sniffling grew louder and louder. When he finally got up to the top, he saw Apple Bloom looking out into the distance. She didn't seem to notice him and continued staring ahead of her.

Down below, there was a sparkling, blue pond with a few scattered trees and a small beach. Forward from there, the acres upon acres of untouched land spanned for what seemed like thousands of miles.

Apple Bloom then gave a few sniffs. "Why... Why c-can't this s-stupid w-war be over? *sniff* It's k-killed so many and r-ruined countless l-lives. Why d-did I have to c-create such a-awful things? *sniff* I j-just want t-things to go back to the w-way they w-were." She then proceeded to bury her head in her hooves and start to sob again.

Sonic, now seeing what he wanted to do, walked up to the crying mare and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up quickly before putting her face in her hooves once more. Sonic sat down next to her and put a hand around her. "Don't worry, kid. Just let it out."

And so, she continued to cry for another thirty minutes before it had turned into infrequent sniffling.

"You know, I think you're doing a really good thing." Sonic started.

"Huh?" Apple Bloom raised her head and looked over to the blue blur.

"You're doing your best to try and help make the world a better place, even if it's not working how you intended it."

Apple Bloom tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?" she sniffed.

"Not every world is guaranteed a happy ending. It's up to everyone to achieve the ending we want. At least, that's what I figure."

"If that's so, I'm being a horrible pony."

"That's not true. You said you build because you want to bring peace, right?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Well, you can't be a bad pony if you want to bring peace to the world. Doing what you're doing only shows that you care about the well being of everyone. You want this war to stop, but you're failing on your own. Lucky for you, I'm here. And because of that, I wanna help you put a stop to this insanity."

"R-Really? You want to help? " Apple Bloom asked.

Sonic took another step forward and wiped the tears off of her face. "Yeah."

"What about going back home?" She continued.

"That's the least of my worries. We're in this, together."

What came next caught Sonic off guard. Apple Bloom stood up and flung her front hooves around Sonic and embraced in a warm hug.

"Oh, thank you, Sonic!" She cried. "Thank you, Sonic... You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!" She held him tight and refused to let go. Tears flowed freely from her eyes while he patted her on the back.

This being, despite just meeting her today, was willing to help her enact her plan to help return Equestria to the way it was. No one, not even the ponies in the Earthbound house, were willing to help her to this extent. Perhaps fate had finally tipped in her favor.

After spending a good fifteen minutes on the hill, Sonic and Apple Bloom returned to her workshop with Applejack standing outside. As much as Apple Bloom wanted to go up and punch her sister across the face, something inside held her back. Maybe it was fear. Or possibly that she wanted to make up.

Sonic, on the other hand, maintained a slight smirk that one would have to pay close attention to see.

Regardless, Applejack started towards Apple Bloom. Her one real eye was light red and puffy from what the two could only assume was crying. Before she could react, Apple Bloom was suddenly pulled into a bear hug with Applejack holding tight.

"I-I'm so sorry, Apple Bloom. I love and trust you above all else. I never should have said the things I did. You are my sister. Through and through."

Letting go, Applejack continued on with Apple Bloom listening intently to what she had to say. "When I was younger, I used to believe in something greater than ourselves. But turns out that was a load of crap. ...Then I decided to believe in my friends. And wouldn't ya' believe it, that went to crap to."

Applejack did her best to hold back tears as she continued her speech. "It was then when I turned to those whom I neglected for following those lies. My family. Only ya'll and those pure sons of earth who helped us in our time of need... Is the force that keeps me going. I don't know in what else to believe in!" She then placed a hoof under Apple Bloom's chin. "Don't you get the picture? I need ya'll, sis! I need something to believe in! I need something to have faith in!"

Once more, she embraced in a hug with Apple Bloom, still catching her off guard. Tears now dripped from her eyes and onto the ground. "If you leave me, what the hell am I supposed to hold on to??" Both Sonic and Apple Bloom were moved by this speech. She was finally starting to show her true colors.

As Applejack sniffled, Apple Bloom grabbed her hoof and smiled. "Sis... Every step and choice I've made has been for the sake of peace. And so it will be until I die. And those choices and efforts will always be from here. I will never leave your side, sis."

Her tone then shifted slightly into a more confidant one. "But please understand... I too need something to believe in. And since that darn law came into effect... Neither the integrity of our family nor the sanity of this house are of those things." She then opened the door to her workshop and started to walk in.

"A... Apple Bloom!" Applejack exclaimed.

The young engineer then turned around with the smile now gone from her face. "We alone are NOT Equestria, Applejack. And this land does NOT belong to the Apples! The day we all come together will the the one that ends this war." Her head then turned to Sonic. "I'll move the couch out of the storage room. Come in when you're ready." With her messages sent, Apple Bloom closed the door behind her.

Sonic and Applejack were now both staring at the door Apple Bloom walked through.

"... Well damn." Applejack sighed.

"Relax, Applejack." Both of them turned around to find a guard of the area behind them. "She's just a naive, idealistic, and cranky youngster... or is she?" Sonic watched as Applejack's eyes snapped open in rage. This could only go so well. My princess there has quite a mouth, doesn't she? Ah would keep mah eye open, if you catch my drift, commander." In the blink of an eye, Applejack's hoof planted itself into the guard's face and sent him careening into the wall.

"SPEAK ILL OF MY BABY SISTER AGAIN AND I'LL SEND YOUR SORRY FLANK TO THE CHANGELING FRONT LINE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?" Applejack's yell echoed around the the area, except Apple Bloom's workshop due to the walls being soundproof.

The guard got up to his hooves and nodded, fear not evident on his face, then walked away.

Panting heavily, Applejack turned around when Sonic placed his hand on her shoulder, just like he did for Apple Bloom.

She looked behind her and saw that his expression was not one of malice, but instead one of happiness. "Why aren't ya' still mad with me?" She asked.

"Because you were being honest with yourself. I don't need some fancy eye to tell me that." Sonic replied. "Family is something you can't ever replace. I may have been a bit rude before, but that doesn't mean I don't think about this kind of stuff. But hey, don't dwell too much on this. We all get into fights sometimes. What matters is that we make up and move on, learning from the works of the yesterday." Sonic then turned around and started walking towards the door.

Applejack stared in complete disbelief, her jaw dropped in shock. She took a moment to process what Sonic had just said before giving a light smile, something she rarely ever did during since the war started. "You're much more insightful than ya'll let on, aren't ya'?" Sonic stopped and turned towards Applejack, a familiar small smirk forming on his face. "Thank you kindly for those words."

"Hey, no problem." Sonic gave the mare a thumbs up before walking into the workshop and closing the door.

Inside, he was greeted by Apple Bloom who had now taken off her work attire, revealing her bright yellow coat. More noticeably, he saw a wrench and apple mark on both sides of her flank.

Stifling a laugh, Sonic pointed to the mark. "What's with the tattoo on your butt?"

"Oh, this?" Apple Bloom replied, turning her body to show off her mark. "It's mah' cutie mark. It's what ponies get when we discover our special talents."

"Really, now? Back on my world, there are these things called tattoos where they dye your skin with needles." Sonic took a minute to look at Apple Bloom's confused expression. "Yeah... Never understood why people do that either. Anyways," Sonic took a long and hefty yawn. "you mind showing me where we're gonna sleep?"

Apple Bloom nodded and waved her hoof for him to follow. She soon led Sonic to a simple room with both her bed and his couch. As Sonic jumped onto his small piece of furniture, Apple Bloom climbed into her bed. "Are ya'll sure ya don't want me to build ya something more suited fer' sleep?"

Sonic fluffed the pillow on his couch and smiled. "No thanks, kid. I'm fine with what I've got. Thanks for the offer, though."

Apple Bloom wrapped herself in her covers while Sonic laid down with his legs crossed over one another.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I... I'm really glad I met you today."

"Same here, kid."

With one final good night, Apple Bloom hit the lights in the room as the two drifted off into a deep sleep.