Applebloom cheered excitedly, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders came to a decision.
“That's a great idea!” Scootaloo cheered. “We'll be sure to get our cutie marks!”
“I agree,” Sweetie Belle added. “We'll obtain our cutie marks in no time!”
“Aww, shucks...” Applebloom dismissed their praise, blushing slightly. “It's no big deal. Now,” She started, “Let's get to it!” She sang, as the three sprang into action, leaving their treehouse behind.
*****
The thee foals stepped out into a clearing, one that held Fluttershy's cottage, her animal pen, and a chicken coop. They looked around, looking for the chicken coop, and walked over to it when they found it, ready to start the process of finally getting their marks.
“Are y'all ready?” Applebloom asked the other two, who both nodded their heads in response. “Alright,” She continued, creeping closer to the coop. “Let's get started! Cutie mark chicken chasers!” She cheered, opening the lock on the chicken coop, causing all the chickens to scramble out into the field in confusion and distraught. Meanwhile, a cyan Pegasus who happened to be in the vicinity of the area noticed the ruckus, and hurriedly flew off to get help.
As she landed down at Applejack's house, she knocked on the door, waiting for it to be opened. Shortly after, Applejack appeared, giving Rainbow Dash a look that said 'What's wrong?'; as Rainbow's face was harboring a panicked look. Rainbow responded by quickly yelling: “Those three troublemakers opened the door on Fluttershy's chicken coop and now they're all over the place and I knocked on Fluttershy's door but she wasn't home and I need your help to stop them before it gets out of hand!” She finished, taking in a deep breath afterward.
Luckily, Applejack actually understood what she was talking about; as the chickens wandering into the Everfree would be very hazardous, so they both raced off towards the scene, Rainbow Dash hovering in the air while Applejack ran as fast as she could.
As they arrived, they found chickens to be scattered all around the field, with the CMC chasing them frantically. Rainbow and Applejack quickly worked together to apprehend the situation, first scolding the three crusaders briefly and then gathering up all the chickens and putting them back in the coop. With this event accomplished, Rainbow and Applejack escorted the CMC back to their rightful homes, leaving the aftermath to be sorted out by their respectful guardians.
“Now Applebloom, I've told you a thousand times not ta get into trouble!” Applejack scolded, causing her to look down at the floor in shame.
“But-” Applebloom started, only to be rudely interrupted by Applejack.
“Ah've told you, I don't wanna hear it,” Applejack continued. Her tone softened a little afterwards, as she started to speak again. “Now please Applebloom, go to your room and just... be quiet, for awhile.” Applebloom just sighed as she started up the steps, leaving a distressed Applejack staring blankly at those stairs.
“What am ah gonna do with you?” Applejack sighed, starting up the stairs, deciding to go to bed herself.
*****
Applebloom woke up in her bed, momentarily forgetting the events of yesterday, before it all came rushing back to her after.
“Oh yeah...” Applebloom sighed, her mood dampened by the remembrance of yesterday's escapade. She silently wondered if AJ was still mad at her; deciding to apologize before things got out of hand. As she trotted across the hall over towards Applejack's room, she could hear sudden coughing fits, which was strange, considering as AJ just got up. Or so Applebloom thought, anyway.
Ah hope Applejack isn't crying, or anythin'. Applebloom silently thought, mildly distressed at the thought of her making such a big disaster. She reached the door and slowly began to open it, only to be greeted by a bed-ridden Applejack.
That's weird, Applebloom quickly thought to herself, again. Applejack is usually up earlier than this. She shrugged the thought off and walked over to the orange, still-in-bed, mare.
“Um,” Applebloom started, glancing down at the floor again. “Ah'm really sorry for what happened yesterday, Applejack. We shouldn't have done what we did.” She finished, tracing circles in the floor with her hoof. Applejack looked up from staring at her bed, not having noticed the door opening, or Applebloom walking in. She smiled weakly, until she started to cough again. Then she started to speak.
“It's alright, Applebloom...” Applejack replied, her voice very dry and hoarse, for some reason. Applebloom noticed and began to frown.
“Are you alright, AJ?” She asked. Applejack tried to respond, but was cut off by another harsh cough. Applebloom frowned more intensely, before grinning widely.
I know! Applebloom's thoughts echoed. Cutie mark doc-no, we shouldn't, 'specially after what happened yesterday... She concluded, her once happy grin now degrading back to a frown. She looked up at Applejack again, who just stared back at her.
“Applejack, ah think we need to get you to a doctor.” Applebloom stated. Applejack shook her head rapidly, not wanting to go, nor trusting the doctor. Applebloom put on her best pony face, looking up at her with giant eyes, and a quivering lip. Applejack just sighed and slowly began rising out of bed reluctantly.
“Fine,” She replied, with an irritable tinge to her voice. She begrudgingly began to place her hooves, one by one, on the floor. After steadying them, she began to walk follow Applebloom, who was already on her way out the bedroom door.
And then she passed out.
[30 Minute Mark]
*****
Applejack slowly opened her eyes, surrounded by white. She tried to sit up, but her muscles did not seem to want to comply, so she just slunk back down into something cushy. And white. She slowly twisted her head downwards to get a better idea of what she was laying on, before figuring out that it was a bed.
Wha-? Applejack thought, quietly wondering where she was. Why, ah must be in the hospital. She concluded. She looked up again, and was suddenly greeted by 9 faces worriedly staring back at her. Although her vision was a bit blurry, she was able to make out who they were. There was Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. The whole gang. Oh, and Spike, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo. Not to mention a doctor, who came strolling into the room, which was pretty much all white. The doctor was a brown stallion wearing a bunch of medical-type clothing, most of which was covering his seemingly-chocolate colored mane. He also had glasses, and was holding a clipboard.
Applejack looked side to side, and noticed she was surrounded by a whole bunch of medical equipment. There was also something sharp sticking out of her hoof.
“Uh, what're y'all doin' here?” Applejack hoarsely asked all the faces, feeling confused and disoriented.
The doctor replied first.
“Well, first of all, it's good to see you're awake. Although not entirely in perfect health.” The doctor chuckled, laughing at his own joke, before his face turned serious again. “Don't be alarmed, but you're here because you're sick. You've been diagnosed with the bird flu.” He confessed, nearly causing Applejack to scream. Not that she could, given her current state. So she just sighed, as the doctor handed over the clipboard. It read: “So, you've got bird flu, eh? Here are some pointers:
1). Stay in bed, for a at least a few days.
2). Don't perform any strenuous activities (in coordinance with advisement number one).
3). Eat plenty of healthy foods, like apples, salads and light soups.
Follow these tips, and you should be better in no time!”
Applejack looked up and sighed, her anger at Applebloom slightly restored. Glaring over at her, Applejack just sighed again before returning her gaze back towards all the faces.
“So,” Applejack stated again, “What're y'all doin' here, exactly?” She asked.
Twilight was the first to speak.
“Well, we decided that you could use some company, for a while. To help you get better.” She finished, with a small grin on her face. She stepped back and Fluttershy carefully stepped forward in her place, balancing a bowl on her back.
“Um, I made you some soup...” She told Applejack, trailing off. “I hope you like it, um, I hope you feel better, too.” Fluttershy turned around and slowly slid the soup off her back, into Applejack's lap, before stepping back into the group.
“Thanks, sugarcube.” Applejack replied, the smell of the food causing her stomach to rumble. Everyone there giggled except Applejack, as she couldn't since her throat was sore. Rarity stepped forward, towards the side of the bed.
“Oh darling, I do hope you get better soon. Illnesses aren't the most wonderful thing to deal with...” She finished, stepping back, allowing Rainbow Dash to step forward.
“Uh, yeah, what she said.” Rainbow muttered, staring at the floor. “Get better. And stuff.”
Rainbow Dash stepped backwards, causing Pinkie to jolt forward, who had been eagerly waiting for her turn. She too moved to the side of the bed, apparently carrying what looked like a big cake on her back.
“Welcome back, Applejack! Ooh, I've always wanted to say that! Anyway, I hope you get better 'cause being sick isn't fun at all and then we can't have fun and having fun is fun! Oh and I made you a cake, but of course you can't eat it now because you're sick and all so you'll just have to wait to eat the cake and eat it when you get better! Ooh, you know what I should do? I should throw a 'get-well' party! Wait, but you can't party either since you're sick and all, so what to do... oh! I know! I'll throw a 'Glad-you-got-better-at-getting-better' party! It'll be so much fun and there'll be cake, and punch, and gifts, and-” Pinkie was silenced by Rainbow Dash, who stuck a hoof in her mouth before she talked for the whole day. Applejack just smiled. After Pinkie stopped chewing on Rainbow's hoof due to her still speaking, the two stepped backwards, leaving the three cutie mark crusaders to step forward.
They all looked down towards the floor, still carrying a feeling of shame. They held cards in their mouths, which looked to contain various drawings of Applejack in bed. Applejack smiled again, noticing the cover of the cards and reached out to ruffle Applebloom's, Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's mane. The three said nothing but simply gave Applejack their own cards.
Applejack looked through the three cards, chuckling to herself. No noise came out, but you could tell by the movement of her body frame. After she closed the final card, the doctor began to speak again, causing Applejack to look back up.
“Well I'm sure Applejack appreciated all your visits, but now she needs to rest.” The doctor told the group, causing a big wave of 'Awww's. As the group departed Applejack sighed comfortably and shifted in her bed, starting to eat her soup.
Off in the distance, a pair of ponies could be heard arguing outside, right before the start of the hedge maze, and right before a marble statue of Discord. The two ponies didn't, however, notice their surroundings.
“It's my muffin!” Derpy Hooves argued, pulling backwards on a chocolate-chip muffin with her hooves.
“No, it's mine! I found it sitting on the ground!” Mayor Mare argued, pulling on the muffin as well.
“That's because I dropped it; I was holding it and it fell!” Derpy yelled, and pulled, back.
Unbeknownst to them, the statue behind them started to crack. As they continued to argue over the muffin the statue shattered, leaving behind a free Discord. He swiftly eyed his surroundings, smiling in glee, to himself, before teleporting away.
Princess Celestia was eying a particular piece of jewelery that was very dear to her. It was kept in a secret room in her castle, behind heavy glass paneling. She was so adsorbed in it that she didn't notice the cackle of magic behind her.
“Oh Celestia, it's so good to see you again!” Discord cheered with glee, causing Celestia to freeze. She slowly turned around, not believing her eyes when she saw Discord standing behind her.
“Wha.... what are you doing here?” Celestia replied, whispering to him in unbelief.
“Oh you know, the usual. I've just been set free by a nice, arguing pair of ponies, so you can thank them for that later. For now, I'm off to have some fun. Ta-ta!” He finished tapping her nose before quickly teleporting away once more. Celestia hastily got out a scroll and feather, and began writing an urgent message to her most faithful student.
“So, please bring all of your friends, as this is an urgent matter.” Spike spoke as he finished reading the letter, setting it back down on the floor. Twilight frowned and set out to gather all of her friends, hoping Celestia's plea wouldn't too difficult, as Applejack was still in bedridden. She quickly set off to gather all of her friends before realizing she could just teleport, which she then did.
Once all of Twilight's friends were in one place (excluding Applejack), Twilight asked them if they were ready to be transported.
“Transported? What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight, seeing as there was no visible mode of transportation around.
“Well, I'm going to attempt to teleport us all to the princess' location. It'll use a lot of magic and require intense concentration, so I hope it'll work.” Twilight responded, getting ready to begin the spell. As soon as she got conformation from everypony, they all huddled in a group together, and Twilight began to cast.
*****
As they arrived in the princess' chambers, the group of ponies tumbled onto the floor, most of them disoriented from the teleportation. They all stood up, excluding Twilight, who took a moment longer to rest. Finally, Twilight got up and looked for the princess before finding her in the act of pacing back and forth across the room. The mane five all walked over, jolting the princess out of her stupor. She immediately straightened her posture and calmed her nerves, preparing to speak.
“Greetings, my little ponies.” She greeted, eying the group up. She frowned, noticing one of the six was missing. “Why didn't Applejack come along with you?” Celestia questioned, the statement of which mostly directed towards Twilight, who answered promptly.
“I'm very sorry princess, but Applejack is in the hospital due to her having the bird flu.” Twilight confessed. Princess Celestia frowned more deeply at this, starting to pace back and forth again.
“Oh, this is bad...” She muttered to herself.
“Um, why is that?” Twilight asked, concerned.
“Oh, that's right, I didn't tell you girls yet...” Celestia trailed off, appearing to be going a little crazy, while having an strange edge to her voice. She stopped pacing, sighed, and faced back towards the group.
“Well, something... terrible has happened today.” Celestia paused, letting her words sink in for a moment. “One of our... enemies, has been... released.” She continued, choosing her words carefully as to not cause more distress than was necessary. “It was Discord.” She finally revealed, causing the five ponies to gasp in terror.
“But that's not the worst part.” Celestia continued on, her face carrying a very sad expression. “Since Applejack is in the hospital, we have no pony to control the element of honesty. So, essentially, we're powerless against him.” This caused the group to gasp again.
“But princess,” Twilight spoke up, “Surely you can control the element, can't you?”
“No, I'm afraid not. When the elements are used by the six ponies of choice, all ponies must be present for the elements to reach their full power. Full power is the only subsistence powerful enough to defeat Discord. Anything less, or any magic level less than so will not work.”
“So we have to wait until Applejack gets better?” Twilight questioned, feeling distressed, as with the others. Celestia nodded sadly. “But... but won't Discord extend her ailment?”
“He might. I am not certain as to if he can do that or not. He is the element of chaos; who knows?”
“Crap.”
The Calm Before the Storm
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.