Dark Star

How would one describe life under a didactic system? Hard, violent, devoid of joy and kindness. Where the only kind gestures that greet you are soldiers coming to snatch your family away in the middle of the night for crimes as petty as speaking ill of your glorious leader. A life that Equestrians have known for ten long years. Starlight Glimmer, once a promising protegee to the late Princess Twilight Sparkle now rules over the kingdom that once belonged to the heavenly sisters Luna and Celestia with a might so absolute it chokes out the skies.

How did this come to pass? Equestria was a land of hope. A beacon of harmony, love, and friendship whose kindness could sway even the blackest of hearts. Yet it was exactly that what led to her ruin. Starlight was nothing less than a psychopathic mastermind who lied her way into the hearts of others to get what she wanted. And Twilight, that poor naive Twilight believed her when she begged for forgiveness after she tampered with the timeline of Equestria. She acted as if they were friends, eventually forging a sisterly bond with her.

But then, once she even won the hearts of the presiding princesses, she saw her chance to take that power for herself. Armed with the knowledge she gained from her studies under Twilight, and the ancient Alicorn Amulet she laid waste to the Princesses and the elements of harmony alike. They say that no one survived. Kindness Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, and Magic were slain on that day. Now the hope for the future of Equestria lays in the hands of those who hold to their memories of a time that was….

In the back of a prison transport wagon creatures of all shapes and sized with faces of despair, sorrow and anger anxiously awaited their fate. They knew all too well of the conditions enemies of the Goddess faced within her dungeons. This one was specially made for those whose treason would be rewarded with a slow torturous death, or a passing by exhaustion and starvation. Among them was a traveling magician, still dressed in her hat and cape. She had been performing in underground venues where some would go to try and remember the days of old, but an informant told the Eternal Guard of her business and she was shackled and tossed into this cart of unsavory criminals. She struggled against her chains, trying to pull them apart, and even gnawing on them. A guard jabbed her in the back of her head, barking, “Cut that out!”

Trixie whined mentally cursing that beefed up buffoon for having the gall to strike her. The gates to the prison opened. This was it. This is where she’d be spending the rest of her days. A slave to somepony she once called a friend. Then, explosions racked the carriage spooking the horses. The guards were talking amongst themselves. It seemed that they too didn’t know where that explosion came from. Then another one, after another, after another deafening explosion sounded all around them. Trixie clutched her ears, waiting for the next to hit her cart ending her life, but to her surprise, her shackles were undone and the cart was open.

In a mass of hurry, the prisoners escaped into a commotion of fighting with the guards. She had little time to react. Trying to make her way out, she was caught in the crowd as magic flew haphazardly along with punches, kick, and whatever weapons the rioting inmates could find. There was no clear way to go. Too much commotion, too much chaos, and confusion. Her mind was racked with fear and adrenaline, too much to make a coherent decision so she ran. In no particular direction, she just ran as fast as she could.

She was almost clear of the main point of conflict until she collided with another mare falling in a heap. “Watch where you’re going!” Trixie Spat. “Trixie has no time to be caught up in shenanigans!”

The young mare looked to be in her mid-twenties. This confounded Trixie for a moment, She couldn’t have harmed a fly. Her coat was a nicely kept cocoa brown, and her hair was done up in a bun held by a fake cinnamon stick. “S-Sorry! I-I-I don’t know where to go! There were these big explosions a-a-and everypony is losing their minds!” She was in a tizzy, gasping erratically amidst the chaos. As much as Trixie wanted to leave her, the weary old show mare did have an occasional moment of moral clarity.

“Don’t worry! The Great and Powerful Trixie will usher you to safety,” She proclaimed like a superhero of old. In a swift motion she grabbed the mares hand and dashed through the crowd weaving her way past guards being pummeled by prisoners, and prisoners being demolished by guards. That was until one of them grabbed the Mare by her hair. She shrieked in fear and agony, flailing and kicking her feet. Trixie did not know whether to flee or help the poor mare and be captured herself but in a stroke of luck an orange fist connected with the guard's jaw sending him to the ground with a solid thud.

“Are y’all alright?” Trixie recognized that voice.

Before her stood Applejack, but she looked different. Her hair was half the length it was when Trixie last saw it, and she wore something more akin to an outlaw.

The Mare looked up to Applejack in astonishment. “Thank you…”

“Applejack…?” Trixie couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Long time no see,” Applejack nodded. They started at each other for a moment. Trixie’s mind swam with questions and regrets that she’s had since the day Starlight rose to power. Just as she was about to ask Applejack how was she alive, a Griffin girl came flying at them with blood dribbling from her nostrils. Applejack immediately targeted the culprit. A large earth pony guard with an underbite.

“Now, that ain’t no way to treat a lady…” Applejack growled as she approached the hulking soldier. With a wipe of her nose, she turned her back to him. In one swift motion, she jumped with a twist, landing a devastating dropkick on the guard knocking him out cold instantly. She adjusted her Poncho and turned her attention back to the Griffin. “Hey… are y’all alright?”

She came too, fluttering her fiery red eyes a couple of times darting them around frantically. “Who are you? What happened?”

Applejack comforted her with a warm smile. “You’re alright sugarcube. We ain’t gon hurt ya. Can you stand?”

“Yah… I think so… That inbred bastard…” The Griffin kicked the downed guard in the head and spat on him. “I owe ya… really…”

“That’s all well and good, but can we get out of here?” The coffee brown mare whimpered with anxiety.

Applejack looked her up and down, “Who are ya exactly?”

“She’s with me,” Trixie chirped. “Now let’s get a move on!”

Applejack started clearing them a path through the crowd. Behind her Trixie kept her eyes fixed on the fallen element of honesty. Could that actually be her? She was so different. The scars, the dress, her demeanor were all different from the Applejack she knew. Then again that Applejack died almost a decade ago now. Just up ahead, a new platoon of guards was lining up to shoot down any and all offenders. Applejack searched around for any means of escape. Thanks to all of the chaos it was hard to see but she spotted it, an unattended carriage that had just been emptied of its prisoners. “Head for that wagon! I’ll cover ya!” Just as she directed the girls, a guard jumped on her back.

“Applejack!” Trixie cried as she came to s screeching halt.

“Go!” Applejack wrestled with the stallion, trying desperately to keep him from putting her in a headlock. Luckily, he had a glass jaw that one well placed headbut exposed. Stumbling backwards while he held his chin, Applejack buried her boot deep in his gut, watching with a satisfied smile as he fell over gasping for air.

As the others made their way through the chaos, the coffee brown mare collapsed to her knees in a sobbing heap. “What’s the matter with this lass?” The Griffin scolded while Trixie continued to push onward. She was crying loudly screaming about how she was afraid and how she couldn’t do it ended with how badly she wanted to go home. Not in any position to babysit, Applejack picked her up carrying her through the riot towards the wagon. Once they reached it, she placed the mare in the back, along with Trixie while the Griffin took the driver's seat.

They were surrounded on all sides and the horses were itching to get out of there as much as they were. Applejack saw an opening, an area where the fighting wasn’t as widespread. “Trixie! Think y’all can clear us a path?”

“Think?” Trixie huffed. “Behold the Power that is Trixie!” Fireworks erupted from her cape, spooking the horses and setting them off full speed. Trixie was thrown back while the mare held on to the bars screaming “we’re gonna die” over and over again. The wagon bumped and bounced about as they rolledthrough the thinning crowd. Applejack didn’t pay it any mind and told the Griffin to keep driving no matter what, and that’s just what she did. Pushing through rows of prisoners until they got to the firing line.

“Trixie?” Applejack called over the commotion.

“Huzzah!” Another flash of fireworks blinded the guards as they rolled past them.

“Yeehaw! That’s how it’s done!”

Trixie beamed with happiness. She wasn’t going to waste away working for that horrendous Starlight after all. That was until a bolt of Magic knocked her hat off. Behind them, Mage Commandos rode up on the wagon to impede their escape.

“Y’all got anything else?”

“Please, please, please, please I don’t wanna die!” The mare cried as she scrambled into the cart while bolt after bolt of magic narrowly missed her.

“Someone shut her up” The griffin cried as she snapped the reins.

Trixie, dug into her cape, releasing a flock of white doves disorienting the leading Mages who fell to the ground dragged by their horses to no end. “Uhh, that’s all I have right now!”

“Aren’t y’all a unicorn?”

“I’m a magician, Applejack. You must know the difference! Combat magic is beneath me!”

“They’re gonna be peelin’ our arses off their boots if we don’t get ‘em off of us!” The Griffin scowled. There were several barrels in the cart. It seemed like they were bringing in supplies for the prison, so Trixie used the most basic magic she could to throw them at the advancing guards. Try as she might, she missed with every throw.

“You have shite aim!” The Griffin chided yet again.

“How about Trixie drives, and you get these bozos off of us!”

Before they knew it the chase ducked into a town. The griffin narrowly cut a corner nearly running Applejack into a sign. “Are y’all tryna kill me?”

“Sorry ‘bout that!”

The guards however did not care that they were in a civilian area and rained Magical ordinance down upon them with malice until they struck a building causing the top section to collapse. “Everyone! Brace!” Applejack called as dust and debris rained down on them. The wagon was totaled but they walked away unharmed but not undetected.

“There!” A mage called as they clamoured from the rubble. The women had no choice but to duck into a granary. Applejack slid under a sheet that was hanging from the rafters while Trixie used a camouflaging spell to blend in with the wall. The Griffin ducked into a large barrel thanks to her small frame, leaving the coffee brown mare to pace around in a panic on where she would hide. She eventually chose to duck into a supply closet just as the Mages busted down the door.

The sounds of their boots against the floor sent chills of fear through the group. They could feel the bloodlust these stallions had like it was a thick funk hanging in the air. They began to break barrels and overturn crates on a determined mission to capture the escapees. That was, until, the owner came down in a fit of elderly rage. “What in tartarus do you goons think you’re doin’?”

“Sir, a group of escapees from the camp are hiding in here for cover. We need to--”

“What you all need to do is get out!” He began to shove against the guard in question.

“Sir, we need to search the premises!”

“I could give a Celestial damn about what you need! If Starlight’s not payin’ for my property! I do not consent to any searches!”

As the bickering continued, each of the four heard a sickening smack followed by a thud. Peeking out of the rafters, Applejack could see the frail old man on the ground, struggling to raise himself.

“Consider that a warning for using that name…” He growled, his hand still tightly balled in a fist.” We are going to conduct our search unless you want to answer to her yourself as to why you’re empeeding emperial operations!”

He didn’t respond, other than to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. They combed the room even more, coming close enough to Applejack to where she could hear the stallion’s breathing. But they seemed to be in the clear until the main guard spoke something truly evil. “Tie him to the supports. There are fugitives in here, and they’ll burn along with you, traitor!”

Everything in Applejack told her to lunge right now at this moment and knock that prick’s block clean off, but she couldn’t take on several trained guards by herself. There was nothing she could do until the chocolate mare with her light brown smiley face apron sprang from her hiding place. She took it off and threw it over one of the guards before dashing out of the door.

“You three, stay here and keep searching! The rest of you, on me!” He donned his helmet and took off after her with haste.

Three hapless guards? Applejack liked those odds. Once again, one drew close to the cloth she was hiding under. Just as he was about to move it Applejack landed a bone shattering punch directly to his jaw. The stallion spun around like a top before falling in a heap. She threw the tarp off, and presented herself with a tip of her hat, “Howdy.”

They looked to their fallen comrade then back to Applejack with fear. Just as they were about to turn tail and run, Maggie jumped from her barrel, latched on to one of them from behind, and began choking him. He stumbled around, knocking into everything around his as he fought for a swallow of air against the Griffon’s grip. Witnessing his partner being choked to death, the final one backed away, but he fell right Trixies trap. Uncovering herself she announced, “Trixie punch!” ramming her fist into his solid jaw, immediately wincing and waving around afterwards. Dazed and confused, he bumped into Applejack who put him down with a punch to the nose.

“Serves ya right…” She stepped on him as she lie on the ground, whining in pain. She helped the old stallion to his feet, but he yanked his arm away, grumbling to himself as he returned upstairs.

“Welp, that went better than expected,” The griffin girl cheerfully spoke while sitting on the guards back.

“I agree,” Trixie nodded.

“Where’d that gal run off to?”

“Who cares,” she shrugged. “She gave us an openin’. How’s about we take it?” She started towards the door.

Applejack crossed her arms and sneered at the callous griffin, “So y’all are just gon’ let that gal get caught again?”

“Whether or not that “Gal gets caught again” isn’t my problem. If ya wanna stay here and wait for more of these wank stains to show up, be my guest.”

Applejack rolled her eyes and looked over to Trixie.

“Don’t look at me! In a way that Griffon is right…”

“I beg yer pardon?” Applejack tried to hide her growl.

“Look, you’re still alive. If Starlight gets you, then there’s nothing we can do to stop her.” An awkward silence fell upon the two, before Applejack huffed and stormed towards the door.

“Y’all two do what y’all want, but I ain’t lettin’ that gal get hurt… or worse.” She shut the door behind her with a slam.

“Geez, who put itchin’ powder in her knickers?” The griffin scoffed to which Trixie just shrugged.

Applejack covered her eyes as she moved about the city, looking for clues as to where that mare could have gotten to. She hoped that it wasn’t too late to save her. As she rounded a corner, she could hear something coming from an alleyway. Applejack approached cautiously and peered around the corner. There was the mare, on the ground directly in front of two guards. They weren’t looking to take her in, so what were they doing? When the realization hit her, it made her blood boil. So, she did what any sensible pony would do.

“You sure about this man? What if we get court martialed?

“She’s a prisoner. No one will care,” He unzipped his pants and forced Macchi to her knees. He pulled a knife and placed it right on her throat. “I had better not feel a hint of teeth...” His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion. The poor girl didn’t want to die like this, and she definitely didn’t want to be used, but maybe they’d spare her if she didn’t put up a fight.

Suddenly, she could hear choking sounds as Applejack help both of them by their throats. “I don’t know about y’all, but I came from a time where a stallion knew how to treat a lady. You fellers are disappointingly lacking in home trainin’!” She kept squeezing their throats until they were rasping and gagging, then silence. Their bodies went limp, and she dropped them to the mud.

“Are y’all alright?” Applejack helped the frightened mare to her feet, and dusted the dirt off her as best as she could. She looked at the men laying face down in the mud, then back up at Applejack, nodding vigorously. “Good, come on.”

They exited the alleyway near the edge of town. Thanks to the riot every guard on duty was on high alert and probably given orders to kill on sight. As common folk tried to leave the town, the stallions would stop them, hassle them about identification, and even go as far as rip them off of their wagons. Seeing ponies treated in such a matter made Macchi’s stomach churn. Applejack on the other hand kept a stone hard resolve. She had to figure out how to get past them without stirring up any more commotion.

“Uh…”Applejack felt a tap on her shoulder. “Excuse me miss?”

“Hm?”

“How are we gonna get out of here?”

Applejack weighed her options heavily. Knock some heads. Make even more noise and get into yet another high speed chase while booking it towards the Everfree, or… well that was the only viable option she had. The longer they waited, the higher the risk of being captured again.

“Uh…” Applejack took off her hat and scratched her head. “Would ya excuse me if I said I ain’t think this far ahead?”

Macchi was visibly panicking now. Maybe if Applejack drew them near her Macchi would have maybe a minute chance to make a break for it. That was her only chance to get the poor mare out safely. Just as she was about to, a commotion of loud crackles, and pops akin to gunfire sounded over the sounds of screaming and crazed laughter.

“Onward my loyal griffin!” Trixie giggled as they plowed through the blockade.

“Ain’t that fortuitous… Grab on!” Applejack dropped to her knee.

“Huh?”

“Get on my back!”

“O-Oh!” She climbed on and held tight to Applejack as they broke out into a mad dash. Dazed, confuzed, and whatever other adjective you could use to describe chaos fell over the guards as they tried desperately to scramble an offensive against four hapless mares. Applejack ran as fast as she could with the extra baggage, huffing and chuffing after the wagon. Luckily Trixie saw her charging towards them with Macchi holding on for dear life. Applejack ran alongside the cart giving the girl a chance to jump on. She Shrieked as she flopped onto the back nearly losing her grip, but Trixie saved her from eating gravel.

Applejack jumped on to the side and climbed her way up to the driver’s seat, spitting and sputtering at the spray of rocks and dust being kicked up by the wheels. “Well, looks like ya worked it all out,” the griffin said with a snarky grin, one that Applejack promptly punched before tossing her in the back with Macchi and Trixie.

“Ah! Bloody fuckin hell! What’s wrong with you!” She held held her nose, finding fresh blood trickling out again.

“That’s for several things! Take a moment to think on what they are!” With a “hyah” Applejack snapped the horses into overdrive as three horseback mages gained on them once more. This time around they tried to grab Trixie from the back with their telekinetic grasp, but Macchi pinned her down before she could be carted away. Trixie threw a barrel at the mage, sending him and his horse to the ground in a dusty heap.

They were chased beyond the town limits, neither group giving the other so much as an inch of room. They exhausted every barrel they had and Trixie was all out of fireworks. To make matters worse the poor horses were almost spent, but Applejack kept pushing them as hard as they could go. With two Mages left and the Everfree in sight Trixie put two and two together as she rose to tap Applejack’s shoulder.

“You do know you’re driving directly into the Everfree, right?”

“That's the plan! Now get down before they take yer head off!”

“Ah, okay. Just making sure,” Trixie nodded before resuming cover.

As the forest’s edge loomed closer the Mages cut their pursuit. Applejack looked back to see if they were still trailing them, laughing as they sat at the forest edge watching as the girls disappeared into the woods hoping that the hazards of the Everfree would be their downfall. Applejack didn’t stop driving just yet though. She wanted to be sure that there was an ample amount of distance between them. As she continued on, her passengers looked at their surroundings each filling with fear and anxiety.

“Where are we?” The Griffin asked with a nasally drawl.

“The Everfree…” Trixie answered somberly while turning her attention to Applejack. “We’d have stood a better chance against those Mages!”

“I know someone who can help out…” Applejack was just speaking sweet nothings. It’s been nearly ten years since she came through these woods. If her Zebra friend was still here it would be nothing short of a miracle. Finally she let the horses catch their breath while she cooed at them for a job well done. The atmosphere around them thickened along with the void in between the trees. It seemed as if the only light coming through the canopy was on them like a point of light in a sea of vast inky black.

The other mare with them sunk into the wagon, shaking her head while muttering to herself. This wasn’t real. She was in her bed sleeping soundly waiting to hear her father’s voice in the morning. This was nothing but a terrible nightmare. A horrible horrible nightmare.

The Griffin,on the other hand, darted her large red eyes around, studying their spooky surroundings at it passed. Being native to the land of Griffons, this was entirely native to her yet she still felt as uneasy as the others. Except for Applejack who seemed at home in this place. “Hey, bruiser!” She called to Applejack, but the fallen apple paid her no mind. “Oi! Big girl!”

“Hm? Oh, y’all were talkin’ to me?”

“Where are ya tryin’ to take us? This place doesn’t look like a bastion to me.”

“Well, if ya had an understandin’ of what patience is in that bird brain of yers, y’all’d wait,” Applejack rolled her eyes. Shit, I shoulda thrown yer scrawny ass to the guards.”

“Who do ya think you are!” Maggie growled.

“Please can we not…?” The mare whined while rocking back and forth.

“I agree, bickering will get us nowhere. Just... trust Applejack for now.”

“So that’s your name, huh?”

“Yep…” Applejack rolled her eyes. They pressed on for a little bit longer until they came upon a hut carved into a tree. Applejack motioned for the others to wait as she went in to inspect it. Just as she suspected Zecora had long since vacated. Part of her hoped to reunite with one of the few ponies who could tie her to the life that she lost all of those years ago. She kicked around the leftover masks and leaves lining the floor. “Well, we can rest here for a while…” Applejack spoke to herself as she inspected one of the masks. She could remember the day they met Zecora so vividly.

How foolish they were to think that she was some kind of cannibal. She chuckled at how naive she was in her youth. So inexperienced, so gullible, yet she missed it with all of her heart. A tear rolled down her cheek that she swiftly wiped away. She returned to the others waiting patiently to hear the news.

Trixie climbed out of the cart, flaring her cape and fixing her hat. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Not exactly, but we have a place to rest for the night.”

“Wait, you’re suggestin’ we spend the night in this dark musty death trap?” The Griffin scoffed while Applejack helped Machhi from the wagon.

“Y’all are more than welcome to head about yer merry way. Ain’t no Mage got the stones to come in here to catch ya.”

She folded her arms and grumbled while weighing her options. The Griffin did eventually hop out of the cart and stomped into the hutt, plopping on the ground with a huff. Applejack groaned realizing that she’d have to deal with a child for the night. “Y’all go ahead and get settled. “I’m gonna go about gettin’ a fire started.”

“I-Is there any way I can help?” The mare asked.

“Y’all can see if we have anything to eat in the back of the cart, well, iffin Trixie and the Griffon didn’t use it all up,” Applejack removed her poncho revealing a black tank top underneath. “I’ll be back sooner than y’all can say apple pie.” She watched Applejack intently as she walked off into the forest, eventually being swallowed by the void.

The annoyed griffin girl sat inside going over a mental checklist of everything she hated about her current situation. She was stuck in Equestria with a muscled up meathead, a fucking stage magician who doesn’t know any real magic, and some random ass girl who got dragged along on top of the fact that they were chased into some creepy ass forest. She rolled her eyes and flopped on her back as Trixie and their extra mare entered with the supplies in hand. All they had were some cans of fruit like pineapples, peaches, and pears, and three cans of beans with bread that had long since gone to pot.

“I’m gonna make sure Applejack makes it back okay,”The mare nodded with a turn towards the door.

“Okay…?” Trixie had no idea why that was something that needed to be announced, but she started to set the cans out to see what they had to work with. Maggie watched her and sighed.

“Name’s Maggie…”

“Huh?”

“My name, it’s Maggie.”

“Ah, well it’s a pleasure for you to meet me, Maggie. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon! Equestria’s greatest showmare!” Trixie announced while holding sparklers in her magic.

Maggie instantly regretted trying to initiate small talk, so she turned to the mare sitting at the door. “Oi! What’s your name?”

She didn’t respond other than to look up to the sun setting through the canopy above. Well, that was until a discarded teacup collided with the back of her head. “Ow! What the?” She turned around to be met with the prying red eyes of the Griffon. “Why’d you throw that?”

“I was askin’ you a question,” Maggie replied curtly.

“What?”

“What’s your name?”

“Macchiato…” She turned back around before unladylike words came forth.

~

Out in the woods Applejack was collecting sticks and ripping down branches. Part of her wondered why she was out here in the middle of this cursed forest, but after what went down in that town, where else could she go? Ponyville was only a few miles away, but… There was nothing here for her anymore. Nothing but painful memories coursing through her troubled mind like a white water rapid. As she held the bundles in her arms, she looked up to the setting sun, thinking of Celestia and Luna flying gracefully over her head, watching over her in wait of the day she’d join them and the rest of her friends in peace. Then, her weary gaze turned to the forest, how it reminded her of the darkness Starlight casted over Equestria.

This was no world for her. Deep down she knew that every step she took led her closer to her fate. After a decade of torment at the hands of uncertainty, she was ready to join them in that good night. Slipping off the earth, leaving her pain to dissolve into the soils of the land. And before she would. The last she could do was see to it that her little band of fugitives made it out safely. Securing the bundles in her poncho, she tipped her hat to the sunset in respect to Celestia and headed back to the hut.

As she approached the girl who she saved from the stallions sat outside as if she were a puppy eagerly awaiting its owner. Inside Trixie was huddled up in her cape, while Maggie laid on the floor carving her name into the wood. Applejack, set the wood down and went back outside to gather rocks for the firepit. As she was setting it up, Maggie cut her eyes up at the fallen apple. “So… you’re an element of harmony?”

Applejack tensed so hard that the rather thick branch she held snapped in two. Her wrath instantly fell on Trixie who sunk into her cape. “W-Well it was going to come out sooner or later.”

Applejack reached for another one of similar size with a growling sigh, “Yes… I was an element. What’s it matter to ya?”

“Just curious is all, geez,” Maggie snorted while adding detail to her name. “What happened to you guys?”

“Sugarcube, yer already on thin ice with me. Now stop the questions before I literally throw y’allout!”

The room went silent a moment before Trixie slid out of her cape, peering directly at Applejack. “What’s wrong with her asking? You’re a hero…”

“Not anymore…”

“Ms. Applejack?” Macchi spoke up, scared that the blonde would lash out at her next. “What happened to the other elements?”

Applejack wanted desperately to tell her to shut up, but the innocent and curious look in her eye chipped away at the sour old mare’s worn soul . Then, she looked over at Trixie who avoided her gaze and fumbled around with her cape. She took out a knife and some flint, creating a spark over some dry grass a few times as a small kindling of flame flickered to life. She set it in the pit, and sighed as it grew.

“We were blind, and dumb…” Applejack stared at the flame clinging to the teepee like structure, climbing it like a rope. “We thought we could trust her… and when the time came. She stabbed us all in the back,” She took of her hat and fanned the flames. “As far as I know… I’m the only one left alive…”

“Oh…” Machhi scooted closer to Applejack and placed her hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Applejack shrugged with a sigh, “It is what it is…” Then her attention turned to Ms. Lulamoon, huddled under a window. “What have y’all been doin’ all this time?”

“Being the greatest showmare Equestria has ever seen! If you must know.” She grinned cockily with a flip of her hair. Then she sighed, sinking back into her cape. “But… I was caught…”

Applejack quirked a brow while picking up a stick. “How?”

“Failure to provide a magical license…” Trixie groaned. “Why does Trixie need a license to use magic! I was born able to to magic! Why do I need a piece of plastic to tell me that I can!”

“Sounds rough there, Sparkles,” Maggie tried to keep her laugh in but it slipped.

“How’d you get here, then?” Trixie huffed at the foreigner.

“Eh… it’s not important,” She shrugged and put a flower above the “i” in her name. “Just know it had somethin’ to do with knickin’ a few things off some Eternal Guards…” She sighed, and moved her hair to the side revealing a long scar under her eye leading to a crack in her beak. “My brother took the fall and… I got away. Didn’t sit right with me though, so I figured I’d come here, find ‘em, bust ‘em out and head back to Griffons.”

“And y’all thought that was actually gonna work?” Applejack snorted while poking the fire.

“I did get caught, didn’t I?”

With a roll of her eyes, Applejack’s attention came to the shy girl still perched a bit too close to her. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“How’d you get tossed into that wagon?”

“Oh… uh… I was just working at my coffee shop like always, then these guys kicked in the door and grabbed everyone. It happened just yesterday.”

Applejack didn’t say, but it must have been pretty severe if she was with the likes of an element of harmony, the eternal queen’s former best friend, and some random bird lady who stole some stuff from occupying guards. “Welp,” Applejack reached for a can of beans, opening it with her bare hands and setting it in the fire. “Welcome to our li’l gang of misfits…”

As they hunkered in for the night, they’d lay in silence as the stars danced overhead with the moon taking lead. Trixie would dream of being back in Ponyville with Starlight as it had been all those years ago. All of this didn’t seem to be real. The death, invasions, imprisonment and rumors of all three princesses meeting their end. But, dreams were a safe place to escape from reality. Often appearing so real themselves that reality feels like the dream.

Applejack would dream of being back on her farm, Applebloom running around with Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell, blossoming into strong independant and compassionate young mares. She dreamed of the sun setting over her distant orchard as she plucked away to the guitar with Big Mac humming in that soothing baritone voice of his, then granny would come with that siren like voice calling them to dinner. Just like Trixie, the dreams felt more tangible than the world they’re living in now. Though she would soon have to return to the waking nightmare. At least in her sleep, she felt at true peace.