Appleilment

The sun rose softly in the distance, seen by few, but cherished by many, if not all beings. The sun was a universe symbol of warmth and peace. If they couldn't have the sun, what could they have? If the sun didn't rise, it instantly signaled something was very, very wrong. Of course, everypony knew the sun was raised by princess Celestia. Wouldn't be funny if it could move of it's own accord?

Accord. Heh, that's a fitting word. At least, to one who knows it's bounds.

Discord, of all others, was that one. He was just waiting to make his move.

Back at the hospital, things were the same as what could be considered usual. Applejack's condition neither improved, nor worsened. It seemed as if life itself was at a stalemate. Or maybe fate.

Of course, that didn't mean life was undecided everywhere. The flowers still bloomed, the sun and moon still rose and descended; it was as if Discord was never mentioned - in word, nor in thought.

That was not true of course – Applejack was still in bed, and the community of Ponyville was on the edge of it's seat. Not the whole community, that'd be disastrous. Only a few knew of the impending doom that was to come.

Impeding, yes, but when?

Since Celestia's letter arrived, there had been no sighting of Discord. As crafty as he was, the denizens of Ponyville were smart enough to know that they had not gotten off that easily. Which, maybe was why the atmosphere had been so tense. Not just in Ponyville - it seemed as if all of Equestria, the world itself, was waiting for something to happen.

In fact, the waiting was tearing away at minds, making everypony tense. As if this was a new thing.

It was not all bad, the time had given the resources needed to put together a plan. Of course, it had to be crafty, craftier than Discord himself, preferably.

Unkownst to them, however, as to if Discord had grown immune to the elements – not that they could've been used anyway, or if he had some new tricks up his sleeve. Not that they could figure out what was new and what was old. It was impossible to know all of his tricks; which is why they needed a plan.

So plans were made. However, you can't plan the unpredictable, can you? Plans would make a downfall. This was soon realized, so a new plan was made.

A plan to be sporadic.

But wait, that plan is a plan within itself. Won't that plan fail? Is the unpredictable predictable? A fortune teller would certainly come in handy here. Per say, Trixie? But, alas, she was no where to be found, and even though they had time, it was not enough to go on a trek.

Celestia, being the royal divinity she is, could have just hired the 'greatest physician of all time', or what was presumed to be, but was it worth it? Would it work? Is it better to take a chance? What did they have to lose?

No, there wasn't enough time for that. The plan was to be sporadic, and knowing the future wouldn't help, even if it would've worked. Not with Discord, anyway.

So, the waiting continued. Without anything to prepare for, the ponies went back to their - what could be considered - daily lives. Reading books, shifting clouds, baking treats, designing outfits, caring for animals; the usual.

The crusaders went back to life as it was, except ideas were futile, much as they were before. And Applejack's sickness wasn't helping, in their morals nor in other endeavors.

Still, they did what they could. Much like everypony else, if they didn't do anything at all, they would go insane; such are the effects of waiting for war. Busying yourself, trying to forget about it. Before, and after the events of one.

Could it be called a war? As far as they knew, Discord didn't have an army; one that took form, anyway. That was the only term they could think of, but one slip up and the whole community would suffer. Word would spread like wildfire, that the peaceful designation of Equestria was being disturbed once more.

Nopony else seemed to notice the feelings of the elements of harmony, so they had gotten off pretty easily. It was disconcerning to know that it could all break with a sentence or two. It was very fragile, which is why things resumed as normal.

The thing to wonder was whether it was all part of Discord's plan, or just a coincidence. Worried foes would certainly be easier to overcome. Especially when they were already weak in the first place.

That brings up another query, of which how far Discord's knowledge spans. Does he even know of Applejack's inability to fight? Making them wait for the battle was a cruel thing; he might have figured it out.

How could he have if he was so far away? One might even wonder as if it was all a dream. Too bad they couldn't dwell long in that fantasy world. Discord's statue was still gone, that shattered the vision instantly.

If it weren't for that breaking fact, it could've been passed off as a dream quite easily. Applejack's state doesn't have to be connected to the foresight of Discord, ponies get sick from time to time. Even the elements of harmony, and the alicorns.

At least Celestia isn't sick, that would be even worse. But it's wrong to inflict one's pain on another isn't it? So don't think that.

As if to set the mood, the last few days of most of Equestria were gloomy, shrouded by dark clouds and harsh storms. Caused by Discord himself, or was the weather team trying to play their card? A bright, happy and sunny day wouldn't have fit the raging emotions.

Not that the weather team knows. The whole of them, as is. Then, of course, the responsibility to the gloomy weather would fall to the rainbow-mane pegasus. Unless it was merely a coincidence.

There seemed to be a lot of those recently. Was the world trying to tell them something? As if they didn't already know.