The Green Angel

Chapters

Prologue -
Chapter 1-Apple Bloom
Chapter 2 - Apple Bloom
Chapter 3 - Apple Bloom
Chapter 4 - Diamond Tiara
Chapter 5 - Diamond Tiara
Chapter 6 - Apple Bloom
Chapter 7 - Apple Bloom
Chapter 8 - Diamond Tiara
Chapter 9 - Apple Bloom
Chapter 10 - Callum
Part Two: A New World
Chapter 11 - Diamond Tiara
Chapter 12 - Apple Bloom
Part One: The Girl in the Wind

Prologue -

Ash fell from the sky, and the world burned. Once, only this morning, this place was beautiful. Sweet Apple Acres has been in my family for generations. And for many decades my ancestors tended to the great apple trees that gave our family its name. Now it was in flames. The trees were like torches. The ground hissed with steam slithering out of the ground.

I take a breath and begin coughing from the thick smoke. It’s like breathing in sand. The smell is nauseating and rough and I immediately regret doing so.

I hold one of my arms close to my mouth in a vain attempt to keep out the smoke. My eyes sting, my throat is as dry as a desert. Even through my arm, I can smell the soot that surrounds me as I trudge through the ruined orchard towards my home. I am barely able to walk, the ground is too hot, the air too thick. But I keep going. I need to protect my family, my friends.

I stumble forward step by step. Using anything I can as a crutch. Trees, buckets, a cart, anything. It takes all my willpower to keep going. I take a look at the sky to try and get my bearings. The site of it shocks me despite everything that has already happened. Instead of the deep blue colour it normally is, all I see through the wisps of smoke is a fiery deep red overtop everything. The world truly is on fire. And I have no idea why.

I continue forward, moving to any tree not yet caught up in the blaze. Big Mac was out here with me doing the day's harvest. I need to find him. I searched the area he was supposed to be in by now but have no luck finding my brother. By now many trees have been damaged to the point that they have started to fall.

I hear a loud Crack to my left and see one collapsing on me. It’s blazing branches reach out towards me like glowing serpents coming in for the kill. I roll to the side and singe my arm as it brushes against one of the branches before it crashes to the ground.

I avoid a few more falling trees. The smoke keeps getting thicker and thicker. My coughs become more frequent. But through all of it, I have one thought on my mind. Where was Big Mac?

As if to answer my question I hear a faint cry in the distance. I scan the trees looking for the source of it. I slowly make my way through the smoke and flames. I navigate over a few fallen trees. I have to jump over cautiously as they are hot to the touch. Eventually, the cry becomes louder and I recognize Big Mac’s voice.

Relief floods through me before I notice him pinned beneath a fallen tree. I rush over to him. He notices my approach.

“Thank...God, Applejack.” He is able to force out. He wheezes and coughs from the smoke even more than me. I need to get the tree off him. Otherwise...I will get the tree off him.

“Don’t worry brother. I’ve got this.” I touch my geode neckless hanging around my neck. Its power surges through me and I feel my strength return and increase. I exhale deeply, spit on my hands, and grab ahold of the tree pinning Big Mac.

I am able to lift the thing easily with the assistance of my magic. I pick it up and in once swift motion I hurl the truck over a few feet. It instantly begins to catch fire. By now the smoke was so thick I could barely see anything at all. But I reach down to help up Big Mac anyway.

“Thanks, Applejack.” He says in between coughs. I merely nod in acknowledgement and lead him through the orchard. We have to avoid several more falling trees before finally exiting it. I turn one last time to look at the orchard. The place is utterly destroyed. A forest of black, burning dreams. The pride of my family is gone. With a sigh, I turn around again and guide my brother towards the farmhouse.

Thankfully, it seems to still be intact. Its red walls look cracked and part of the triangular roof has caught fire. Otherwise, it looks ok. I only hope Apple Bloom and Granny Smith are fine in there. Me and Big Mac keep moving as fast as we dare towards the farmhouse, my geode helping to support my big brother’s weight.

But right when we are close to the farmhouse’s porch, things get even worse. I feel the shockwave of a massive explosion whip me and Big Mac across the back, forcing both of us to the ground. Thankfully the ground is cooler here, so it doesn’t burn me. I stand up and turn around again to look at what just happened behind me.

The sky had changed colour again to a brilliant orange. It is as if the sky itself was on fire. If not for the circumstances I would think it was a beautiful sight, but then I saw something even worse. Far in the distance, high above streaking towards me were hundreds of black specs and an accompanying humming noise. I stand there paralyzed in exasperation wondering what they were.

A question that is soon answered when the first small bolder slams into the orchard, utterly destroying its corpse. I have to shield my face from the volley of splinters that fling at me in its wake. More and more, larger and larger projectiles continue to fall towards me. They hit the ground with a murderous thwack. None hit close to me thankfully, for now. Finally, I snap myself back to action, I have people to protect.

“Big Mac, to the house. I don’t know where to go but it can’t be here. We need to get our family to safety.”

“Yup.” Is the only answer I need from him. We both move forward again with determination. I see Apple Bloom at the doorway, she screams something about Granny falling, but right before I reach the porch, a medium-sized boulder slams into the farmhouse sending me and Big Mac flying backwards once again. The humming noise gets even louder, but I dismiss it for now.

I recover and stand back up, I sprint towards the now wrecked farmhouse ignoring the pain from my many burns and cuts. I reach the rubble of my home and begin desperately digging through it to find Apple Bloom. The hum has now become a roar, but I continue to ignore it. I continue digging, using my geode’s power to assist me.

Finally, I find Apple Bloom’s scarlet red hair sticking out of some bricks. I shovel away the last of them to free her unmoving body. An icy feeling of fear pulses through me as I quickly check her pulse. Thankfully my sister is alive, her heart yet beating strongly, but she is not conscious. The roar around me becomes deafening in my ears and I think I hear Big Mac shout something beside me.

I look over to him and I see him pointing at something in the air behind us, and I turn around to see a giant metal aircraft hovering above the field in between the orchard and the farmhouse. It has a silver exterior and two massive rocket engines jutting out from the sides, spewing out a purple looking energy from their bottom. The whole thing appears to be about the size of a large trolly car. I am truly shocked at the utterly unexpected sight.

It lands, the engines swivel downwards and turn off and doors on the side slide open to reveal a passenger bay. I hear a man from the craft shouting at us to get in. I pick up Apple Bloom and hand her over to Big Mac. I don’t know who these people from the sky are, but they appear to be here to help.

“Get in, I’m going to find Granny!” I yell at Big Mac. He looks concerned but does what he is told. I return to the rubble and again begin frantically digging. Tears begin streaming down my face as I continue to not find my grandmother. The men from the craft keep shouting at me to get in, and they rev their engines back up.

I am practically shovelling bricks and wood at this point trying to find granny, to no avail. Finally, I realize with a pang of utter sadness that I won’t find her. So I turn to get up and go. But then a huge shadow casts overhead and I look to see a massive mountain-sized boulder barreling towards me. The craft begins hovering and the men there keep yelling at me to get over to them. The mountain gets closer by the second.

I run at the craft as it continues to rise. One of the men lets out his hand for me to grab. I sprint over and jump with all of my might.

I miss.

And I crash to the ground. The craft can’t come back for another pass without being caught by the mountain, so it takes off. I look up at my impending doom. But strangely I don’t feel despair. I was able to save two of my family, and that would have to be enough. I close my eyes and embrace oblivion.

Chapter 1-Apple Bloom

I wake up in a void. An incomprehensible blackness surrounds me. Fear washes through my mind. A chilling feeling in this cold place. I have no idea where I am. I breathe in and out slowly in an attempt to calm myself down. I take note of each of my body parts.

Two arms. Five fingers. Two legs. So on and so forth. I count everything to make sure I am all there. And I am. Green skin, red hair and all. I sigh in relief, then resolve to figure out where I am, exactly.

Last thing I remember the world had gotten really hot all of a sudden and Granny had collapsed and fallen to the floor. I had run out to find my siblings to get them to help. But then...nothing.

I look around again to make sense of my surroundings. And sure enough, there was no change, just an endless black void. The ground seems solid enough though and I stand up cautiously. I begin walking forward out of a lack of anything else to do. I can hear my footsteps, though they make an echoey sound.

“I don’t think I’m dead, so that’s a good thing at least….” I say to myself. Unease fills me like water rushing into a bottle. Where was everybody? And how did I get here? I am not answered but I keep compulsively moving forward. To where I have no idea.

I continue on with one foot in front of the other.. Step by step through the ink. Utterly alone. My mind begins to wonder. I was never much of a singer, but no one is here to judge me. So I sing the songs my family taught me. Songs of the country and the farm. The melody pours out into the void and is drunken up by its embrace.

My unease is replaced with a deep sadness. One I can’t explain right now. My pace slows and I stop singing.

“Where am I and where are you…” I say about my family.

Just as a tear escapes down my face I am suddenly jolted from my thoughts as I begin to fall. The floor disappeared beneath me. I fall fast and my surroundings begin to change. Black becomes blue as I plummet from the sky towards... CHS?

I am not left in my confusion for long as I hit the ground beside the horse statue with a surprisingly small amount of force. I pick myself up and dust myself off. Perhaps the void and burning world from before was some sort of bizarre daydream? I don’t think I had a lot of sugar last night…

“Hey Apple Bloom!” a familiar voice says behind me, “You ok?”

“Ya, I just tripped a little,” I say without wanting to. My body moves without my input and I swing around to see Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle standing there. My body walks over to them with a skip in its step. I am not in control of myself at all.

“So AB, did you do the thing last night like you said?” Sweetie Belle says excitedly.

“Ya I made the account and posted the Piggly Wiggly thing, just as planned. I hope this works.” as soon as my body says that a jolt of realization courses through me. I remember this. This is when I made a Mystable account called Anon-A-Miss to try and frame Sunset Shimmer for posting everyone’s secrets. It was not my proudest moment…

But that happened over a year ago now. This had to be a memory. One this...whatever it was...was forcing me to relive. I am powerless as my body flows through the motions and enters Canterlot High School. Like last time my body leaves my two friends and runs towards my sister to tell her about the post.
"Sis! SIS!" my body shouts, getting her attention. "You gotta see this!" My body then shoves my phone towards Applejack. "LOOK!"

Applejack takes my phone and reads the recent post from the Anon-A-Miss page. As she reads the text, Applejack's expression changes from confusion to shock. I know how this will end. I know the pain and misery I will inflict upon not just my sister, but everyone at CHS.

And I am forced to watch every moment of it. Unable to change anything from inside my own meat suit of a body. From when I watch Sunset get rejected by the Rainbooms. To when Sunset breaks down and cries from all the teasing and harassment. I can only look on and hear my past self tell my friends how well their plan is going. It makes me sick to my stomach.

It takes a week of reliving the greatest mistake of my life until my body finally approaches the Cafe where it all ended last year. My body, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gather outside to discuss what they were about to do.

“It’s time guys...we’ve gone way too far,” Scootaloo says. My body agrees wholeheartedly. But Sweetie Belle isn’t so sure.

“We don’t have to say anything...we can just delete the account and act like nothing happened.”

“No Sweetie. This was our mistake and we need to fess up to it. Besides, it looks like Sunset is in there right now anyway…” My body says. And with that, the three of them enter the Cafe to confess.

The place is just as I remember it, that is probably the point. But I remember this event like it was yesterday. The door is as green as a forest. The walls are a bizarre but homely off white. I drink in every inch my body lets me see. We approach the Rainbooms, seated at one of the tables. Sunset is there like before trying one last time to convince her former friends that she was innocent of being Anon-A-Miss. And just as she is about to reveal that she thinks me and my friends are the true culprits, we beat her to the punch.

“It was us.” we all say. Shame dripping from our voices. I can’t help but feel a bit of pride in my past self for fessing up finally, if a week late. And as this plays out the Cafe dissolves around me. The walls melt back into the ink. The floor disappears from under me again. But now, this time, I accept the void. It is a nice change from the pain of my past. And I fall into the emptiness below.

I fall for what seems an eternity and a second. I try and take the opportunity to think about what just happened to me. But before I can complete the thought I hit a solid surface again. This time, it really does hurt.

“Ow…” I exclaim to the void. I get up and shake myself off. I seem to once again be in control of my actions, good. That is an experience I do not want to repeat any time soon…

I begin to walk forward again. This time however I can see a small light in the distance. I am drawn toward it like a moth to a lamp. Like a river to an ocean. A soul to heaven. With each step, the light grows in intensity. But it seems almost familiar. Warm in a way. As if it was something inside me all along.

In this stupor, I almost don’t notice images appear beside me on both sides. But when I do look over to them I see that they are also memories, played out to me almost like TV. There are good ones. There are bad ones. Times I lied or cheated to get my way. But I also see other times where I helped people in need. But then I see Anon-A-Miss again and I stumble and shudder at the sight. However, something keeps me going upon the path towards the Light.

I want to move forward. I want to see this through. Whatever kind of test this is. Whatever further trials I face I will power through them. Like my sister would, a pang of sadness returns at the thought of her. One I suppress quickly. I am close enough to the light now that it almost blinds me.

I put a hand up to shield my vision. But as I get closer it dims again. Almost like it adjusted to me. Like it was commanded by me in some primordial way. I move my hand away again and look at the source of this light.

It is a small orb. No larger than a golf ball. It floats in the void peacefully. In a serene state. The closer I get the warmer I feel in the presence of this thing. This...spark.

I am only a few steps from the orb now. A mere arm’s length from it. I am unsure of what to do next. But then something asks the unspoken question for me.

“Do you accept the Burden?” a voice from the void asks. It sounds like the first dew of spring. A breeze of contentment. Kind and overwhelming. I do not know what this Burden is, but I know somehow that this is the reason I was forced to watch Anon-A-Miss again. Why I was forced to relive that horrible mistake. This is what the voice was testing me for.

“Do you accept the Burden?” the voice asks again. No less kind than before, though I can distinguish it as a distinctly female voice this time. I mull over this choice set out before me. Whatever this Burden was, it was worth putting me through that test. And for a moment I am unsure still. But then my subconscious moves for me. And my arm reaches for the orb. The spark.

I have it hovering right above my hand, its energy seems almost alive. I have made my decision.

“I do. Winds of Change.” I say, not knowing how I know that name.

I grasp the orb and squeeze. Its power overwhelming me. Like a thousand suns and a million storms. I can’t help but let out a scream as my world is consumed in Light.

Chapter 2 - Apple Bloom

I snap awake like a flash of lightning, like a whip slashing at the air around me. I bolt upright from my apparent lying position. Panic surges through every inch of my body, and I begin panting like I had just run a marathon after breakfast. I put my hands over my face in exasperation, not willing to take a look at my surroundings for fear of the void again.

I feel soft sheets beneath me and a warm blanket to accompany them over me, now ruffled with my sudden movement. The air smells fresh and cool. Nothing like the soot-filled furnace my farmhouse had become. With this in mind, I begin to calm down and control my breathing. It slowly returns to normal. The panic does not leave me, however. For all I know this could be another dream. Another cruel test. But then I hear footsteps and a kind but unfamiliar voice beside me.

“Apple Bloom, miss, you’re awake,” the female voice says, concern evident in her tone. “Are you ok? Your vitals just had a huge spike…” I remove my hands and breathe in and out deeply one last time. I open my eyes and brush my scarlet red hair from my face, then turn to my left to see whoever is speaking.

I let out a small grunt of surprise and do a double-take from the sight. There standing beside the bed I am on, is a middle-aged looking woman. She wears blue scrubs and has a semi-serious attitude about her. A nurse by the look of it. But that isn’t what caught my attention. She has a strange off white tanned skin colour. Black hair. And piercing blue eyes. Nothing like the pascal colored people I know. She is probably the strangest looking person I have ever seen.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry,” She says putting a hand out in apology, “I forget how people from your Verse react to us…” She flashes an apologetic smile and steps forward to offer her hand to shake. I awkwardly take it and do so cautiously.

“Um...who exactly are you?” I say, taking the time to look around the room I’m in. It is a small square room, a bit smaller than my bedroom. It has navy blue walls and a clean white tiled floor. And at the far wall in front of me, there is a large window with a white blind pulled down over it.

The bed I am on appears to be a typical hospital bed. All white and standard. Though it does seem to be far more comfortable than any other hospital bed I have ever been on, which is more than a few do to my...adventurous nature.

“I am Sarah, I am the nurse that was assigned to you,” she says in a friendly tone. And then I realize something, something I should have already.

“Ok...why am I in a hospital, and where am I?” I say lifting the covers off me so I can get up, noticing that I am also wearing a light blue hospital gown. As I attempt to lift myself, pain shoots through me like fire. My legs ache something nasty but I am determined to get up. Sarah moves a few steps over to try and stop me.

“Miss, I don’t think that is such a good idea,” she says with concern again. She lifts a hand and with a swift motion with her pointer finger, swipes downward. This, somehow, causes several blue symbols to float in the air. With a closer look, I can tell that they are my vitals, being displayed by some kind of ..hologram. Just who is this person?

“Your heart rate is still through the roof. You experienced a lot of trauma to the head and legs. Please lay down.” She still sounds friendly, but a bit of steal was added into the mixture. This only makes me more determined.

I stand up despite Sarah’s protests and force myself to walk to the window. I use the wall as a crutch. Each step is agonizing but finally, after a struggle, I make it and look past the blind. And I see nothing but the blackness of space.

I collapse on the floor, utterly surprised and confused. Sarah looking weird was one thing, but being in space was too much.

“I told you not to move…” Sarah says sternly. She comes over and helps me to my feet, she dusts off my gown and helps me back to my bed. I curl up, unsure of what is going on. I just want to go home. Go to my family, my friends. But here I am, in space, in a hospital no less. The rapid flow of events is overwhelming. I lift my head and look Sarah straight in the eye.

“Where. Am. I. I want a straight answer.” I say bluntly, my confusion and fear turning to anger. I want to know what is happening. I want my family back.

Sarah sighs deeply. She looks at me again with a sympathetic look in her eyes, one I don’t really understand.

“You are on the UCS Navigator, on route to Albion.”

“Albion? Where is that? Why are we on a spaceship?”

“Albion is… let’s just say it’s another Planet. The Navigator is transporting you and the other survivors there.” an icy feeling courses through me the moment Sarah says the word ‘survivors’. I think I know the answer, but I ask the question anyway, hoping against hope to be wrong.

“Survivors of what?” I say slowly. Forcing each word out as if they were made of lead. Sarah’s expression changes to one of guilt. For several moments she appears to be grappling with telling me something, but in the end she answers anyway.

“Your planet has been destroyed, Apple Bloom. I’m so sorry.” She can hardly meet my gaze now. The news crushes me like a mountain. I don’t want to believe what she is saying. I can’t. But the evidence around me is so overwhelming that I can’t ignore it. My world is gone. I have so many more questions. But among them one takes full priority.

“Where is my family,” I say quietly. The fight having gone out of me for now.

“Your brother is close by. He’s been around here a lot waiting for you to wake up. Do you want me to get him now?”

My only answer is a nod as I sit up and bring my knees into my chest. Sarah nods back and leaves me alone. I try to keep myself calm in the face of all this bedlam. I try and compress what I know so far to make sense of it all. My planet is gone. I am on a spaceship. And I was knocked unconscious before I was rescued. I wonder how long I was out for. A day? A week? Maybe even a month? Just another question to add to my growing pile.

Minutes pass and finally I hear someone big enter my room. I look over to see my tall orange haired brother walking inside. I let out a little smile at the sight of him. One he does not return, his face is a mixture of sadness and relief. He then lunges forward, and before I can do anything, he has me in a big hug.

“Apple Bloom..I’m so glad you’re ok.” He embraces me tightly for a few moments before slowly letting me go.

“Big Mac...where is everyone else?” I ask, afraid of the answer. Big Mac takes a seat on the edge of the bed. He looks down at the floor. Tears well up in his eyes and begin to flow like a small river down his cheek. I realize that I know the answer to my own question, and feel tears form in my own eyes. But I still have to know for sure.

“Did...Granny make it out?”

“Nope.” Big Mac sobs out. I move out of my position at the back of the bed and move to go sit beside my brother. I huddle in close to him in an embrace. His sadness infects me, and my tears flow freely like his. But I still must know more.

“And Applejack?” I am able to say in between sobs. Big Mac pulls me in for another hug and once again holds me tightly as if he would lose me.

“Nope.” He says after a little while. He lets go of me again and calms himself down. He tries to put on the stoic demeanour he is so famous for but is only partially successful.

“She was able to save both of us. Remember that Apple Bloom, your sister is a hero. Never forget.”

A moment of silence passes and I regain control of myself, And I feel a small hint of anger peak its ugly head once Sarah returns to my room.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me my family was dead!” I shout, letting in all out. Something within me lashes out and something courses its way through my body, before dissipating as soon as it came. I feel refreshed and stronger than before, the pain gone but my anger is no less satisfied. I stare at Sarah with daggers in my eyes.

She looks taken aback, and more than a little ashamed. But before I can do anything else, Big Mac places a hand on my shoulder.

“She said it would be better coming from me, Apple Bloom. She was only trying to help.”
I contemplate this for a moment and realize that was probably a good idea.
“Sorry...That was outta line mam. You are only doing your job after all..” Sarah sighs again and looks at me apologetically.
“I’m sorry too, there is just so much to explain to you and all of your people. What happened to you was horrible,” Sarah takes a moment to centre herself before continuing “I swear to you that the Light and Universal Congress will do whatever it can to right this wrong.”
For a moment, I forget my sadness. I bury it inside me to process later, it is clear I have other things to worry about now. I silently apologize to Applejack before speaking up again.
“What is the Universal Congress?”

Chapter 3 - Apple Bloom

“It’s hard to explain to Newversers like you and your people,” Sarah begins “but I suppose you are owed some kind of explanation, you would have been told sooner or later anyway.” Sarah looks more like she is trying to convince herself more than anything, her hand rests on her chin as she weighs through the pros and cons of telling us there and now. The pros seem to win out and she continues. “Did your world have any kind of multiverse theory?” Sarah asks.

“Well...yes. I think I remember seeing that on some science show one time. I didn’t believe it though. It seemed far fetched to me,” I say, still a little unsure of my answer.

“Yep,” Big Mac adds in, still holding me closely unwilling to let go.

“I should have guessed. Your world seemed to be developed enough to have made such a milestone. In any case, that theory is true. The Multiverse does indeed exist,” She pauses to gauge our reaction.

Honestly, it isn’t that surprising given everything else that has happened recently. And with the Nurse’s habit of consistently referring to my home as a ‘Verse’ and the fact that we’re on a spaceship, it’s not that big a leap to the Multiverse. My brother, on the other hand, is much more shocked.

“You mean to tell me that the Multiverse is real? That there is more than one Universe? Why that is the most outrageous thing I have heard in my life,” He says angrily.

“Is it any more outrageous then our planet being destroyed or us being on a spaceship right now?” I counter in a daringly sassy tone, in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit. Big Mac loosens his grip on me a bit and his expression softens a little bit.

“No, I suppose not. Sorry, mam, I think we’re all a bit distraught right about now. Please continue.”

“I know this is a lot to take in right now, but it’s the truth. The Multiverse is real and most of it is governed by the Universal Congress...uh.” Sarah pauses again, unsure of what to say next. It’s clearly not her job to explain this to people. I take pity on her and ask another question to help.

“You said this ship was going to someplace called Albion, where is that and why are you guys taking us there?” This doesn’t help as I intended and Sarah lets out a deep sigh before answering.

“I am not authorized to tell you about that yet. The higher-ups here want to tell all of you together soon. What I can say is that this ship, the Navigator, was purposely built to house refugees such as your people. And that Albion is a nice place for resettlement. I wish I could say more,” She puts on that apologetic smile again. I have so many more questions, so many other things I want to know. But I suppose I am going to have to be patient for now.

But as I keep thinking another much more pressing question seeps into my head, along with a spike of worry. I already knew the fate of my family, but what about my friends?

“Mam, I just have one more question. I need to know if Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are alright,” I say, the sadness starting to return again.

“I don’t know off the top of my head, but I can look through the ship’s database to see if they made it on board,” She says, taking out an odd device from her pocket. It is a long piece of metal, about the length of a ruler. She holds the top and bottom of it in a different hand and pulls the two halves apart. Instead of ripping in two, a blue film-like screen forms between the now separated pieces of metal. Sarah must have noticed me looking at the thing curiously, so she answers my question before I ask it.

“This is a Holopad, it’s a very common device here in the Megaverse,” She says in an almost distracting tone, probably an attempt to keep me and Big Mac calm for the time being. And there is another term, Megaverse, probably something I should know before too long. I dismiss it for now. I need to know if my friends are ok.

“ Now Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo…,” Sarah says as she pokes and prods at the screen to flick through the database, though I can’t see anything on the screen from my position on the other side. Big Mac begins to hold me closer again after her search lasts for several moments.

The minute she takes to look for my friends lasts an eternity. And when she’s done she looks at me with a distraught and sympathetic look. “It’s not good news Apple Bloom. Scootaloo never made it on the ship, and Sweetie Belle almost didn’t. She’s in a coma right now,” Sarah probably made another apology, but I don’t hear her. For the second time in half an hour, I feel crushed. One of my best friends dead and the other one on the verge of it. I had already lost so much, this was almost too much to bear. But I must remain strong, if only for my own sanity.

“Can I see her...Can I see Sweetie?” I ask as I let tears flow freely down my face.

“I’m sorry but you’re far too injured...wait a moment,” as she was in the middle of speaking Sarah had flicked her finger to view my vitals again. “That’s quite odd…,” she checks again and then looks at me with an odd stare “Your heart rate is normal, as appears is everything else. So I suppose you can go after all,” She says, clearly baffled.

“Thanks, mam...where would Sweetie be?” I say as I force myself to stop crying.

“Oh, right. Down the hall and to the right, third door on the left. Be careful, I don’t want you to overexert yourself for the time being,” she pivots to look at Big Mac “Go with her and make sure she’s ok. I’ll let Sweetie’s Nurse know that you’re coming,”

And with that, I get up off the bed and begin walking out the door. It is much easier this time. The agonizing pain from before is almost completely gone, though there is still a small ache. It really is weird, but that is the last thing on my mind as me and Big Mac traverse the hallway to Sweetie Belle’s room.

I don’t even pay attention to how the hallway looks as I speedwalk down it towards my destination. I follow Sarah’s instructions and I soon find my way to where the Nurse said my friend would be. I pause before entering the room The door looks friendly enough, just a typical wooded barrier. But I know I won’t like what I see beyond it. My hesitation lets Big Mac catch up to me.

“You don’t have to do this Apple Bloom,” He says to me kindly.

“But I do, I really do,” I say solemnly, taking a deep breath before opening the door and moving inside. What I see does not shock me, but it deepens my sadness nonetheless.

Sweetie Belle is laying on a bed the same as my own in a room identical to mine, her pink and purple hair splayed out on her pillow. She does not move or even appear to breathe. If it weren’t for the condensation appearing and disappearing upon the inside of the oxygen mask she wears, I would think she was already dead.

Beside her bed on the opposite side from me, Sweetie Bell’s older sister Rarity stands with her head down, clearly crying. After a few moments, she finally notices me and my brother and she lifts her head to look at us. And she takes a moment to compose herself.

“Hello Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh. Thank you for coming,” She says in her normal dignified British accent “I know how difficult this must have been for the both of you, considering what happened to,” Her voice falters and her newfound composure collapses “Applejack…,” She once again starts crying hysterically, for once she does not come off as dramatic

I can’t bring myself to say anything. And seeing my friend’s sister like this makes my own sadness grow ever stronger. I huddle closer to Big Mac and tears well up once again in my eyes. My brother, on the other hand, grips me close and speaks.

“Rarity,” He says with a confidence that he rarely shows “I know this is a trying time, for all of us. Just know that the Apples are here for you, now and always.”

My brother’s words give me the courage to say something as well. “Ya, Sweetie Belle is my best friend...my only friend now. I will try to help her in any way I can,”

It takes a few breaths and moment or two, but Rarity is once again able to calm herself down.

“Thank you for your kind words darlings. I might not need any physical help, but any support is greatly appreciated,” She pauses to wipe the tears from her face “I, of course, extend the same support to you two. Applejack and I were great friends as you well know. It’s nice to know her family is here now that she and my sister are gone.” This statement makes me slightly confused, and a little angry.

“Sweetie Belle isn’t gone. She’s right there!”

“Apple Bloom…,” Big Mac tries to interrupt

“So what exactly did you mean by that?” I ask, adding an edge to my angry voice.

Rarity is slightly shaken but is able to keep her dignity intact for now. “She had the house collapse on her darling, only my Geode powers were able to keep her from dying then and there. But...,” She chokes up for a second before continuing, “The Nurse said she still took intense trama to the head. I’m just trying to be realistic.”

I look once again down at the broken form of Sweetie Belle. I am at a loss for words. Today I lost my sister, my grandmother, and one of my friends. Now it looks like I will lose the other as well. I can’t be here. I want to be alone, by myself.

So suddenly I move away from the bed. I wiggle out of Mig Mac’s grip and practically run out of the room before either he or Rarity could stop me. I slink down the hallway to find a place of solitude. A place to think.

Chapter 4 - Diamond Tiara

This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. The very thought was impossible. It went against every strain of logic I had been taught. I was almost insulted that the universe was playing such a cruel joke on me. Or I would be if I wasn’t bawling my eyes out at the moment.
I am sitting upon a springy cot in a massive room the ship’s crew called the Habitation Area. A name I quickly put together meant that I was going to be staying here for a while. But I pay little attention to my surroundings for the time being, no matter how dreadful they might be. I am too busy trying to think about what brought me into this situation.

This very morning I had been sitting in my room going about my business and enjoying my weekend. And the next thing I knew the world was on fire. I had to run fast and run far to escape my burning house, only to discover everything else around was also in flames.

Thankfully rescue had come swiftly in the form of strange-looking planes from the sky which had carried me and many others into the stars. I hadn’t given much thought to the means of my survival, after all, it does no good to look a gift horse in the mouth. But it all seems rather silly now. A spaceship taking us away from our planet which is on fire. If I hadn’t already pinched myself several times already I would think myself to be dreaming.

I don’t know what to think. So I do the only logical thing I can think of. I cry. I sob into my hands like I usually do when facing stressful situations like this.

In the past crying like that had gotten me lots of things that were normally out of reach. Before with daddy, all I had to do was let the waterworks flow and I could get anything. Jewelry, a new phone, any outfit I could think of. Name it and I could get it.

But daddy was not here. I don’t think he made it. Nor mother. The thought saddens me more then I thought it would. The idea of never seeing them again hurts like a bad bout of food poisoning.

In their place, I am left with Randolph. My family’s butler. He never gave into my crying like daddy did. He was always there, in the background, serving me. Honestly, I don’t know much about the man. He is sort of strange in his mysterious old man kind of way.

The old butler sits beside me now on the cot, doing whatever butlers are supposed to do in this kind of situation. Which apparently was just to sit there doing nothing. I suppose this location was not the best place to do his job, so I let it slide. I let myself peek through my hands to look at the old man. His grey face is as stern as it always was, though he has an inquisitive look on his face. He was thinking about something, odd for a butler I decide.

I finally run out of tears and let my hands fall into my lap. I stare at them. Crying didn’t work, not that I expected to get much. I didn’t know what I expected really. Seems like it was a waste of time.

And at that moment I feel someone’s hand on my shoulder. I turn my head again and see that it is Randolf. He appears to be trying to comfort me. Quite odd of him indeed.

“Diamond, it’s alright... everything is going to be ok, I am here for you.” His voice is ragged with age but seems firm enough in conviction even though he clearly doesn’t know what to say. And to be quite honest I don’t know what to think about the gesture either. It is very strange of him. Before now I had never had any moment of intimacy with him. So I say the first thing that comes to mind.

“That’s miss to you,” I say in as authoritative a tone as I can. I can instantly tell by the butler’s reaction that it was the wrong thing to say. But I can’t back down, he is my servant after all.

“Yes, miss,” he says appearing to relent to me, though I don’t miss the emphasis he puts on the title “I apologize, I realize now that it will take time for you to get used to our new arrangement.” Sadness and uncertainty are hidden behind his stern tone. Curiosity takes the better of me and I ask the obvious question.

“What new arrangement?” I say with a bit of caution, retreating a little from my assertiveness from before. I need him to answer me after all.

“Well…,” he pauses to gather his thoughts, leaving me anxious about what his answer might end up being. “Mr. and Mrs. Ritch were both is Manhatten during the...event, as you know. And they appear to not have made it,” The butler pauses again, he clearly does seem legitimately sad about his employers passing, I begin to feel a tinge of empathy for the man. A feeling that is completely undermined by what he says next. “And, as instructed to me by them, that makes me your legal guardian.”

I am stunned. I can’t bring myself to say anything for several moments. Why him? The butler. Of all people. I know daddy didn’t have many other close relatives, and he clearly trusted his servant. But to the point of making him my Godfather? Absurd.

I stare into his elderly green eyes, hoping to find a lie there. I do not. “Do you have any proof? I don’t believe you.” I say sharply, more harshly then I intended.

“I don’t have the documentation on hand miss,” he admits, furrowing his brow as he does so. So there is no proof. “But I am the only adult capable of taking care of you at the moment. And as I said, I’m here for you.” He uses a more tender voice now. I won’t work.

“Only. One. Capable?” I say, anger building up inside me before I can control it “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself thank you, and besides, my parents are going to come back! So know your place, servent!” I can’t help the tears from falling again, this time unintentionally. Daddy and mother would come back. They had to.

I begin sobbing uncontrollably, the rush of emotions too strong for me to direct this time. And once again I felt the butler’s hand on my shoulder. I can’t help but be soothed by it. Someone did care about me, not that I would let it show.

After a few moments, I calm down again and the butler speaks up quietly. “I know this will take some getting used to, but I am your guardian now. And I will protect you as best I can in these circumstances. Understand?” His tone leaves little room for argument, but I still have a bit of defiance in me yet.

“It’s not fair.” is all I can say.

“I know miss. But take a look around, you aren’t alone.” I do as he asks. The layout of the Habitation Area is familiar to me. The room has about the square footage of three football fields and is about as tall as my walk-in closet, half a dozen feet by my estimate. It has plain white walls all around. But it is the cots that take my attention. There is row upon row of them, hundreds. Some of them are double, unlike the one we are sitting on. And each one has at least one occupant, most have two or more.

The atmosphere in the place is sombre but loud, louder now that I am paying attention to the noise. No wonder no one appeared to notice my outburst from before.

“There are so many of them,” I say, my voice barely a whisper. The butler hears it anyway, his ears work just fine at least. I file that away for later as he replies.

“So you see, there are many of us. All with our own problems. All united in our shared experience today But none of them know you better than me,” save one, I realize with a jolt. Silver Spoon, my best friend, where was she. I suddenly feel the need to go look for the silver girl. I need to get away from the butler.

“Whatever, I’m leaving,” I get up. The butler doesn’t stop me and I only hear him sigh as I move down my row of cots.

I search for my friend amongst the crowd of people. Many of them I recognize from my hometown. Many more I do not. I realize that the Navigator had been able to evacuate people from all over the world, though from concentrated areas. Whatever had happened to my planet affected all of it, not just my home. I didn’t know what to think of that.

I kept looking in vain for Silver Spoon. Several times I thought I had spotted her, only to be mistaken and embarrassed. Eventually, I give up. Sadness, real sadness, hits me again. Not only are my parents gone, but my best friend is too. I feel another wave of tears welling up. But this time I don’t want an audience, least of all the butler.

I move off, the ship crew attendants not appearing to try to stop me as I leave the Habitation Area. I try to find a place to cry.

Chapter 5 - Diamond Tiara

It took me ages of walking around the maze that was the interior of this ship before I found any place that might give me any sort of privacy. And even then it was simply a small crevice in the wall, the kind of structural decision that is made for no good reason at all. But I suppose it serves me well at the moment. Just being a place to get away from that godforsaken butler was good enough for me, for now at least.
I lean against the wall, using it to support myself in my weakened state. It is painted in the plain light white colour of the Habitation Area, though this small indent is cast in shadow slightly giving the area a more ghostly feel than anywhere else close by.
I had been crying since I had gotten there a scant few minutes ago. With no audience in the form of the butler or the other common people from my world, these tears felt more real and more genuine than before.
Today has been one of the worst days of my life. I still have to remind myself that this is my reality now. It is not some horrible nightmare brought on by late-night snacks and a broken sleep schedule. This was real.
It takes a few more moments before my catharsis is complete at last. Another few deep breaths and at last I think I am ok. I am back in control. Just in time for me to hear footsteps coming from down the hallway. I don’t really want to be discovered, even though I am pretty sure I am allowed to be here. Nonetheless, I stand perfectly still, silently cursing that my coat happens to be bright yellow.

The two people walking by don’t appear to notice me through. They are members of the ship crew, I can tell by their blue sleek uniforms. The way these people look still surprises me, with their few combinations of hair and eye colour. Not to mention their utterly strange skin tones. But whatever, the few I have talked to so far seemed nice and helpful enough. So I can forgive their strange appearance.

The two walking past me appear to be in a conversation, and I can clearly hear what they are saying.

“...We’re going to take a pitstop soon,” One of them says, a male by the sounds of it “We gotta refuel the VerseDrives sooner or later, should have been done already if you ask me.”
“We took so long because the Shinycape is in the next system,” His companion says in reply. I have no idea what a Shinycape is, though it does seem to be some kind of nickname for something. He continues “The Captain apparently wants to kill two birds with one stone.”

“Really? Which one is it? Anyone, I know?

“High Arbiter Shields of course, who else would it be you dolt,” He says teasingly.

“Of course. He did lead the engagement that started this mess I suppose, poor people.”

“True true, very unlucky of them…,” Their voices fade and I can no longer pick out what they are saying, but I think I get the gist of it.

Someone important is coming aboard this ship soon. Someone who was involved with whatever happened to my world.

I need to know more, I need to get information. But I don’t currently have any means of acquiring it. Perhaps later I could explore the ship more and try and find a way of accessing whatever form of internet these people have, which they must. There is no way they are this technologically advanced without something like it.

Before I can go further down that train of thought I hear more footsteps. This time it sounds like a single individual moving frantically down the hall. Out of curiosity more than anything else, I dare to take a peek out of my indentation to have a look at the newcomer.

And then I see none other than Apple Bloom coming toward me. Great. Wonderful. Out of all the people to run into, the farmgirl is probably the one I want to see the least. I sigh in frustration.

Apple Bloom notices the wall indent and speeds inside, failing to notice me in her tunnel vision. She slumps against the back wall and sinks to the floor. She sobs there quietly and tearlessly as I look on awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

This continues for several moments before the farmgirl finally notices someone else in her corner of solitude. She stops sobbing and turns her head towards me, recognition lighting in her amber eyes like a bushfire. They narrow, as do my own. I still don’t like her.

“You…,” She says to me simply, giving me only one word to reply back with

“You…”

We stare at each other for a few more moments. The weight of our mutual loathing pushing up against each other like two windstorms meeting and crashing together.

What is the farmgirl thinking? Why is she out here? What does she want? I can’t tell, even though Apple Bloom is normally very easy to read. Circumstances have made that become difficult.

“So...you survived too,” She finally says, her head turning away again to stare at her lap. Familiar. “And in much better shape than me by the looks of it. Typical,” Only then do I notice that she is not wearing her usual outfit of a green shirt and jeans. But instead wearing simple hospital garb. She must have been in the emergency area of the ship, I know the more severely injured people were taken there after the evacuation.

A small tinge of sympathy pricks at me before I suppress it. The farmgirl looked perfectly fine now, the peasant must have had a few scrapes or something.

“It’s not my fault that I’m more graceful and important than you,” I say, before crossing my arms “what did you do? Trip and have a little fall or something?” I didn’t really want to come across this scathing, but I can’t help it around her. She just irritates me by existing.

Apple Bloom then rises from the floor and points an angry finger in my face. “For your information I…,” She pauses to think “Well...my Nurse said I took severe head trauma or something, so no, it was not just ‘a trip and fall.’”

That could mean anything of course, not that I care. Getting under the farmgirl’s skin was familiar and normal. A temporary escape. One I seize with both hands eagerly.

“Aww, did little Apple Bloom bump her head? Ha, I bet your sister came and kissed it all better too,” I say, a wicked grin widening upon my face.

But at the mention of her sister Apple Bloom’s expression once again morphs into one of despair. This is not what I expected. Normally she would get madder and that would be funny to watch. For some reason, this wasn’t the same.

“Applejack saved me...and died in the process,” Her demeanour changes again in an instant back to anger, that’s more like it. Still feels different somehow. “I bet your family is just fine and dandy. Isn’t it Diamond Tiara? I bet they ran at the first sign of trouble and barely got a scratch on them. Like you.”

For some reason, this hits me hard. My parents were no cowards. I am no coward. Who is this peasant to say such a thing to me? “How dare you? My parents were very brave…,” My rage runs out. I can’t really deal with this right now “Or...I hope they were…”

I look down for a moment before Apple Bloom speaks up again. “They’re gone too?” She says, a bit too sympathetically for my liking. But I can’t bring myself to lash at her.

“Ya,” I answer.

The two of us simply stand there for a few moments in silence awkwardly. Neither one is willing to say anything else for the time being. I thought I could relive my old life a bit by messing with her like before. But it didn’t really work how it used to. I don’t know what to think of that. Eventually, Apple Bloom takes a leap and extends a hand towards me.

“This tragedy has hurt both of us. Can we let bygones be bygones, at least for a little while?” Her expression looks so hopeful, and for a moment I consider taking her hand. It seems logical, but for some reason, I can’t do it. Not yet. Apple Bloom is too irritating for that. I smack her hand away like a spider and cross my arms again.

“Just...go away,” I say annoyed with her presence. Apple Bloom stares at me angrily again for a moment longer, her amber eyes blazing into me like a laser beam, before she turns away with a huff and storms off.

“You’re impossible,” She says as she leaves, leaving me there in the indent, alone again.

The exchange really puts things into perspective for me. Everyone who survived has lost someone, even my enemies. I think of Silver Spoon, and how I had no one to enjoy messing with Apple Bloom with anymore. I think of my parents, and how no one would be there to tuck me in at night. Or reassure me that things would be ok. No one.

Exempt one person.

The butler. Randolf. Perhaps it’s time I went back to him. The old man must be wondering where I am.

With that, I move and walk down the hall back to the habitation area. I had a lot to think about.

Chapter 6 - Apple Bloom

Sweat rolls down my face. My breath comes out in heavy breaths as I pause for a quick rest. Soon the frustration I feel takes over once again and I propel my bare fists forward into the punching bag in front of me. It hardly moves despite my effort. I might be determined, but I am still a thirteen-year-old girl recovering from a load of physical trauma.
It has been a couple of days since my confrontation with Diamond Tiara. My brother had found me soon after weeping my eyes out again. He was mad at me for running, but not for long. He was the forgiving sort. Nurse Sarah was far more cross and had given me a stinging lecture about it.

But soon after she had no choice but to give me a clean bill of health and discharge me. My recovery was ahead of schedule by months apparently, but for some reason, the medical staff didn’t seem to think it was odd. Or if they did they didn’t say anything. They probably had other patients to worry about.

In any case, I moved to the Habitation area with my brother. It’s...not a place I want to spend much time in. Too many people in too small a space. Too much concentrated depression for me.

Fortunately for me, the Navigator was quite a massive ship and had many other areas that I could explore. I was in one of these right now, the ship’s Gym. Or the Recreation area as the Crew called it.

It was a large room, with about the same square footage as the Habitation area. But instead of beds, there was an assortment of exercise equipment that circled most of the room’s walls. In the middle were exercise mats and other equipment I don’t recognize. And off to one end of the room, there was a very small soccer field. Weird, I would have thought it would be a basketball court.

I’m on the other end of the room right now beating the snot out of a punching bag suspended from the ceiling. It is one of five in a row near the back wall.

I am alone in the room. I seem to be the only one among my people willing to leave the Habitation area for something other than food. They’re probably waiting for that big announcement from some high ranking Crew member tonight.

I wash the thought out of my mind and concentrate on the task at hand. I launch another salvo of punches at the bag, my fists once again bouncing harmlessly off its black surface. I thought doing this would help ease my frustration. But it wasn’t having the effect I wanted.

On the farm, I had an endless well of chores to lose myself in when I was feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes it was annoying having to do that many tasks, but honestly, it helped a lot. But that option was gone forever. The mere thought of it sending a new snap of anger through me and into my fist. I lash it out once again at the bag. It feels that one and it buckles a slight bit before becoming still once again. The damn thing is mocking me.

I pull back to readjust. I fix the ponytail that holds back my scarlet hair and gets back in a reasonable fighting stance. Applejack abhorred violence, but she had taught me how to fight a bit just in case.

There I go again...thinking about my family. I can’t help it. It’s like second nature to me. My family had once been everything to me, and with half of it gone I felt like I lost part of myself too.

I pull on something deep within myself. The same something I felt after I woke up and was faced with this new reality. I tug at my very soul in a way I couldn’t before. Something slithers its way through my body, a familiar warm feeling courses its way through me. And then after a moment, it is gone as fast as it came. I hardly notice my fatigue drain away as I continue pounding the bag. Over and over again.

The bag takes the blows in stride, buckling and waving in defiance of my assault. For some reason, this pisses me off. I imagine Diamond Tiara’s face on the bag. How dare she survive and not Applejack. How many times had she tormented me? How many times did she and her demon spawn of a friend harass and make fun of me and mine? How dare she live.

I tug harder. The punches move faster from me. How dare she be awake and fine while my friend lies with her life on the edge. It’s not fair. None of this was fair. This entire situation was utterly insane. How does a planet get destroyed anyway? This wasn’t Star Wars.

I tug harder. The bag sways more violently, the chain keeping it tethered to the ceiling rattles with the kinetics. My fists howl in pain from the friction between them and the fabric. I ignore it and keep going. Letting it all out. All my anger. All my sorrow. All the horrible emotions I have been feeling since my awakening. Since the Ash fell from the sky.

I tug harder and harder. I don’t even know why. I don’t even care to know. My fists flicker like fire. The bag is not getting rest between blows as I hammer against it. The heat inside me grows the more I pull at whatever it is inside me. As if it demanded to be released. To be let out into the world to further my wrath.

I keep tugging, keep pulling, keep releasing, keep purging myself. Keep moving forward in this new world. The heat inside me rises, and internal pressure along with it. The bag keeps taking more and more punishment. I can’t believe I can keep going, I should have tired out ages ago. But the more I tug the more powerful I feel.

The heat and pressure now feel like a pot of boiling water inside my body. As if I was a microwave cooking metal. I can feel the energy rushing to my fist as I attempt to channel it outward.

Time seems to freeze as I notice sparks begin to shoot out of me all over my body, colourless and empirical they slither and slash around me. Before I can process this my last punch connects with the punching bag.

All at once the heat and pressure vanish at the connection point, resulting in a blinding flash of light. The chain above shatters sending the bag free from its restraints and flying away at the wall. It hits the exercising equipment there with some force and comes to rest upon it, a huge tear in its side.

I stare at my still closed fist in utter shock. I slump to the ground and look at the mess I have created.

“Did I...just use magic?” I ask myself aloud, still too stunned to stand back up. I know my sister and her friends also did extraordinary things and had their own powers. But they had to use a magical Geode. Or be around Princess Twilight for them to work. What I had just done came from within, and was nothing like the Equestrian Magic I had seen before.

“I think I just did magic,” I say with self-satisfaction, the shock of the moment wearing off. I get up and dust myself off. I look around to make sure I am still alone, and sure enough, I am.

I realize with a flash of worry and panic that someone will have to clean up the mess I just made. I move over to the fallen punching bag and attempt to pick it up. It is far too heavy to pick up right now. Whatever burst of strength had allowed me to send it flying was long gone with the flash of light and the sparks.

It takes a minute of dragging, but I am able to move the thing back to its former position beside the other punching bags. But with the chain broken and my strength gone, there is no way for me to put it back to its former state.

I try tugging again but feel nothing but a slim slither of power come. So I guess that’s out for now. I suppose I will just have to leave the bag on the floor and hope no one notices.

On that note, I gather my few things and quickly head for the showers. I let the warm waters flow over me and I let myself think about what just happened. I had lost myself. My emotions got the better of me and it caused something possibly dangerous to happen. Whatever this power was within me, I needed to figure control it before it hurt anyone.

But at the same time, it felt pretty good. Sending that much power into that punching bag felt exhilarating and cathartic. It also really did help. A small burden felt lifted from my shoulders.

It is with these thoughts that I turn the water off. I put my clothes back on and slowly make my way back to the Habitation area still thinking about the day’s events. I had a lot to think about.

Chapter 7 - Apple Bloom

Several hours later me and Big Mac are walking as part of a crowd through the halls of the Navigator making our way to the so-called Gathering Area. We’re going to hear a speech from one of the higher-ups from the Crew, though I don’t know the full details myself. It is within this crowd that I fully realize just how many people the Navigator was able to save from my world. Hundreds of them surround us, so much so that they lightly press up against us as we try and push our way through the ship.

Many faces I don’t recognize, they are almost certainly from other areas of the planet. However, among the sea of people, I do recognize a few of them. Several kids from my school other than me survived as well. I already knew Diamond Tiara made it out, but I see others did as well, including a few members of my sister’s friend group. Other than Rarity, I spotted Fluttershy along with her brother earlier when we were exiting the Habitation area. I also saw Rainbow Dash soon after that. All three of them looked as sullen as the rest of our people.

Then as I walk down the hall beside my brother I spot, poking out of the crowd, the distinctive fiery orange and yellow hair of Sunset Shimmer. Out of all the survivors from my world, she is the one that might know the most about multiverses and magic. Seeing as she was from another world herself.

I haven’t been able to fully process what had happened earlier. Not quite yet. The feeling of raw power coursing its way through me. The storm inside begging to break out, the fact t had let it, to destructive results. It had felt powerful, empowering, intoxicating even. And that scared me to the bone. I know that Sunset had experience with that kind of thing in the past. Perhaps she could help me before I hurt anyone. This wasn’t something I could keep hidden forever.

No one from the Crew had appeared to notice my feat. Or they didn’t say anything if they did. None of them approached me or even announced that something had been broken in the Recreation area, even though it had been hours since the incident. That gave me time, for now at least.

At that moment a prod on my shoulder rouses me from my thoughts and I turn my head to see my brother trying to get my attention.

“Apple Bloom, did you hear anything of what I just said?” he asks me with an amused expression. He had apparently been trying to talk to me for a little while now.

“Sorry, Big Mac,” embarrassed, I run my hand through my hair “I was just thinking as all, about what this meeting could be about,” I wasn’t. But I’m not about to let anyone in on my secret. Not yet.

“Well, as a matter of fact, that’s what I was just asking you,” a grin spreads across his face. It’s nice to see him try and act like this, even if it was only a front for me. I smile in return.

“Well, I imagine it will be about the Crew finally telling us what happened to us and what they’re going to do with us when the Navigator, well, navigates us to our destination,” I keep my tone light hearted though I don’t really feel it. If it helps him help me, then that works.

“Well, I imagine you’re right. About time too. We can’t stay on this ship forever,” The mask slips for a moment and for a second I can see that my brother is still very much worried about our future. But then the crowd moves forward and he smiles at me again. “But, I suppose we’re about to find out right?”

“Right,” The crowd keeps moving until we eventually move through two large red doors. The entrance to the Gathering area I presume.

When I set eyes on the Gathering area my jaw drops in shock. It is far different from the other areas on the ship I have been to so far. It is larger by far than both the Habitation area and the Recreation area, and the architecture is far more extravagant than the plain whites and greys everywhere else. The floor is carpeted red, the walls are made of carved wood with depictions of space travel and other scenes of places I don’t recognize. A large window adorns one side and I can see the black ink of space outside. The ceiling stretches up easily a dozen or more feet above my head and from it hangs several chandeliers. And, on the far side from me, is a stage like the one my school gym had, curtains and all.

This is a place for parties and social events I realize. The Gathering area, it makes sense.

After several minutes everyone arrives in the room. There is much more breathing room for everyone since the room is so big. I lose sight of Sunset in the reshuffling, I’ll have to see if I can talk to her later. Sound reverberates around the room as everyone chatters among themselves. They all feel anxious and scared, as they had been since I woke up. I turn to Big Mac to comment on this, but then I feel something else. Something familiar, a warm happy feeling inside.

It gets stronger and I can almost pinpoint the source of it when the big furled red curtains part to reveal it. A tall man with the pale tan skin of the Crew members and with slightly ragged yellow hair and almost playful blue eyes. He wears a strange uniform, very unlike the others. It’s black with a high white collar that fits snuggly around his neck. But most strangely of all, a long yellow cape flows down from his shoulders and stops at his heels.

He emanates power, and the Crew members in the room look at him with reverence. This is no mere higher up on the ship, he is something else entirely.

The murmurs from the crowd extinguish the moment he enters and the room becomes stone silent. He scans the crowd. I swear he lingers on me for a few moments before he stops to begin his address.

“Gathered refugees of the Navigator,” his voice booms out across the room. He needs no microphone to be heard. “It is a tragedy that brings me here today to speak with you all. A tragedy to your Planet and your people. And I know you all have a thousand questions about where this ship is taking all of you. I speak here today to put those questions to rest.” He pauses to let that sink in. Me and the crowd are drawn to his words like a moth to a flame. The man is good at this. “My name is Callum Shields, High Arbiter of the Seventh Storm Bearers Legion.” He pauses again, he must know we don’t know what that means but he figures we’ll know eventually.

“I know you have heard rumours and snippets of the truth. I will tell you now that they are true. Your world was destroyed. Your home is gone.” He takes a breath before continuing “Your Planet was, tragically, caught in the crossfire of a battle in the space around it.”

He steps back and a Holoprojector on the floor displays an image of my homeworld. Depictions of a fleet action above it appear, above Africa. I would not have been able to see it from where I was. “The enemy had made a random jump to your Verse in the hopes of escape, but they were defeated,” The Holoimage changes to show one fleet surrounding the other on three sides, pressed against the planet.

“But then,” He takes another breath, his expression remains stoic and calm, but I can’t help but sense a hint of something else. Guilt? “Rather than surrendering and ending the fight. They decided to throw themselves against your world,” The image changes again to show the surrounded fleet doing exactly that. Instead of anguish at the sight, I feel white-hot rage. Before my world’s destruction was an abstract thing of nightmares. Now I knew someone was responsible. This enemy, whoever it was.

The simulation ends after the crash. But I know what would have happened next. I have to breathe in and out deeply several times to calm myself down. The rest of my people have a similar reaction.

“This enemy is one all under Congress face. And you will get to know them well. But for now, it suffices to say where we are going, you will be more than safe from them,” A new image projects itself into view. It is Earth, but different. For one thing, a giant ring-like space station surrounds it. And I can see several cities from orbit, they are many times bigger than any city on my world.

“Fortunately for all of you, the Verse of Albion has accepted you for resettlement. This is where the Navigator will take you,” Albion. I recognize the name. My nurse mentioned the name after I woke up. My anger fades into the background. Dimed but not gone, instead my interest is instead on where we were going. What was this Albion like?

“I’m sure you all have lots of questions. So in the interest of efficiency and transparency, I will be opening up the Hypernet to you all starting right now. This will be a hard transition for all of you and I hope the best for you,” He looks like he wants to say more, but can’t find the words. It’s an odd look for someone so dignified “That will be all for now, thank you.”

Callum turns and walks off leaving my people unsure of what to do now. Slowly, but by but, they begin to file out of the Gathering area. The atmosphere seems different somehow. As if seeing where we were going somehow gave them hope. But I was just confused. Many questions circle around my brain, but none of them have answers yet.

“Well. That was something,” Big Mac mutters to himself. He turns to leave and I follow. But before we make our exit I spot a person I didn’t want to see again. Diamond Tiara. She is looking at me with a strange almost guilty expression, but she turns away and leaves with her Butler.

Whatever she wanted appears to be something I have to deal with later. So I leave the Gathering area, my mind heavy with questions. I take them with me all the way back to the Habitation area. All the way to sleep.

Chapter 8 - Diamond Tiara

My father always said that knowledge was power. It was one of the few things he said to me without my mother present, so I took it to heart. It turns out I was right, these people did have their own internet, or Hypernet as they called it. With access to it, I now had privy to as much knowledge as I could possibly need.

I sit on my cot in the Habitation Area with a Holotablit sifting and sorting through the Hypernet at my leisure. The user interface didn’t have much of a learning curve, it was quite similar to what I was used to, but the vastness of it astounded me. So many places, people, and groups. It was like the depth of my own world’s history was but a mere drop in the ocean in comparison.
It was fascinating.

But try as I might I know I can’t possibly look at everything in a reasonable amount of time. So I focus my attention on the place High Arbiter Shields showed to us in his speech. Albion, my new home.

It was apparently a very important place, a wealthy and powerful ‘Core Verse’ as they called it. But I didn’t care about that now, I can leave Geo-Politics until I actually get there. No, I study her culture instead. I’ll need to fit in after all.
Fortunately for me, I find that it isn’t too far off from my own. The people of Albion, called Brittanics, are very British-like. I wouldn’t even have to learn a new language to communicate with them.

Which made sense, every Crew member I had spoken to so far had spoken perfect English. Several of them even had British accents. So that was good.
It wasn’t one to one British through. From what I can see there were many small differences.

Many were small and inconsequential but others were far larger. Such as well as a very strong reverence for a man named Jose Manrose, a great leader from their past. He was an Arbiter of Light, just like Callum Shields. I suspect that I will be hearing a lot about that particular group of people in the near future.

Before I can get too deep into my research, however, I hear footsteps approach me. I recognize the steps immediately as Randolph’s. I look up from my Holotablit and see him approaching. I can’t help but sigh inwardly.

He has been giving me space for the last couple of days, probably an attempt to win me over. And while the idea of acknowledging him as my guardian now seemed more appealing, I still didn’t want to give in.

He sits down beside me, his hat in his hands. He notices me looking at him and smiles warmly. It was a new expression for him, though one he seemed to take to naturally. A strange thing to think about. I look away quickly back to the Holotablit, though I don’t read any more on it, hoping that he would go away.

“It’s far more lively around here. Why don’t you go looking around?” he says in his deep voice. He was right. Ever since High Arbiter Shield’s speech people had started to move around the ship more. In fact, at most times of the day, the Habitation Area was nearly deserted. A nice change of pace.

All the same, I don’t answer him. So much for giving me space.

“Come on. You’ve had your nose in that thing for hours,” I can feel his smile grow broader “Why don’t you move around more?”

I squirm and adjust myself to get more comfortable. He wasn’t going to leave me alone was he. Perhaps if I ask he will.

“Please go away,” I say, respectfully this time.

“Is there something bothering you?” he says, dashing my hopes of a quick resolution “If there is then you shouldn’t keep it bottled up.”

Something bothering me? Other than all the other crap that’s been happening I was perfectly fine. Nothing was bothering me at all. Absolutely nothing.

“It’s the Apple girl, isn’t it. I saw the way you looked at her earlier,” He states. I breathe in sharply and look back at him, discarding the Holotablit. That would have to wait. He was right, the way my...conversation, with Apple Bloom, went the other day did not sit well with me. Not at all. He looks at me with a knowing gaze “I see, do you want to tell me why?”

No. But I don’t really have any choice, do I? And before I know it I can’t stop myself from saying everything.

“I was...too mean to her. Before with Silvy, it was fine. Almost fun, in a way. But now with Mother gone, it doesn’t feel the same. I don’t like doing it. Not anymore...I don’t think I ever really liked doing it.” It felt strange to admit that after so long. Like a massive boulder had been lifted from my shoulders. Randolph sighs, and scoots closer to me.

“I thought as much. Your mother always did encourage that kind of behaviour,” He says with a very slight sliver of disgust in his voice. I should be mad at him for talking about her like that, but strangely I’m not. Because, once again, he’s right. As much as I love her and as much as I miss her I cannot deny that Spoiled Ritch encouraged me to do many things that, in hindsight, I regret.

“Ya, she did.”

“So, what are you going to do about it?” I pause, not knowing what to say. I tuck a stray strand of my hair around my ear. I decide telling the truth would be the best option.

“I don’t know if I can do something. It’s been so long, and I have made fun of Apple Bloom so much that she might never forgive me,” I quiet down and pull my legs to my chest. I had kept these emotions deep inside me until now, I even lied to myself about them over and over again. I had hurt Apple Bloom and her friends so many times and received full retaliation only once during Anon-A-Miss. Every other time I had gotten off with zero repercussions.

“It’s never too late to make a change,” Randolph says knowingly “You’re both young yet. Wounds heal, people grow.”

Right again. I sigh. “But do I actually do...just walk up to her and apologize?”

“That’s going to have to be up to you. Take the reins of your own life.” I suppose I should. I can be the person I want to be. Perhaps something good can come from this tragedy, I can remake myself in this new world. But first I need to fix my old one.

A smile spreads across my face. I know what I have to do now. And before I can think, I lean across the bed and embrace Randalf in a hug.

“Thank you,” Is all I have to say. I’m still not quite ready to embrace his new role fully, but I am willing to give it a try. New world, new me.

“You’re welcome,” he says with a kindhearted laugh. He peels me away and puts his hands on my shoulders. “Now go do what you have to do,” he smiles again and releases me. I move quickly out of the mostly empty Habitation area and through the winding halls of the Navigator.

My conviction grows with each passing step. I would be a bully no longer. It was an almost easy choice now that I saw my path before me. Straight as an arrow towards the future.

I both bless and damn my mother’s memory as I continue. She would want me to continue as I had been before, but I cannot do that. Randolph said it best, people grow. People change, and I must if I am to get through this transition. I must be better. Not only for myself but for my father as well. He tried the best he could.

I search the ship looking for my former enemy not knowing where she might be. It really was a lot more lively than before. I pass several computer rooms, small libraries, and lounges. All were full of people from my world interacting with their new one. The High Arbiter had brought them hope, just as Randolph had brought it to me.

It truly was amazing. But I have little time to think of that now, I still have to find her. At last, I search the Recreation Area and I see her red hair from across the room, contrasted clearly against the white walls.

At the sight of her, I pause and hesitate one last time. She’s punching a punching bag, that’s not a good sign. I had mocked and scorned her so much over the years for little reason at all. What if she didn’t accept my apology? What if she didn’t believe me? What if something bad happened? But no. That no longer matters. The act of change itself was enough motivation for me. I had to believe that.

I take a deep breath and step cautiously towards her, moving through the semi-crowded gym past scores of people working out, paying me no mind.

As I make my final approach Apple Bloom seems to sense my presence and turns around, her amber eyes blazing into my soul. I swallow my fear and speak the only logical words that come to mind.

“We need to talk.”

Chapter 9 - Apple Bloom

“We need to talk,” Diamond Tiara said as she approached me. The shock of her sudden appearance froze me in place for a moment before my anger towards her returned. What did she want other than to mock me again? To humiliate me again. What other possible motives could she have? I would lash out at her as she did to me before. But there are too many people here now. I can’t afford to make a scene.

So I quickly take a breath and calm myself down and take a closer look at her. She seemed different somehow, lighter, more at peace with herself. It was a strange sight indeed.

“What would you and I talk about,” I say directly “You made it abundantly clear last time,” I narrow my eyes at her. She bites her lip before continuing.

“I know, I was wrong before. And I have a few things to say to you now. We could go somewhere else if you want.” Every fibre of my being screams for me to reject her and turn her away to where she came from. But for some reason, I can’t bring myself to do so. I need to hear her out. Besides, I can always walk away later if this turns out to be a trap.

“Fine, I’ll bite. Let’s go,” Diamond Tiara lets out a sigh of relief, strange. And I grab my towel and leave

We both walk beside each other in silence until we reach the place we last spoke. That dent in the wall. It seemed as good a place as any.

“So,” I face her and cross my arms “what did you want to say to me,” I try to keep my tone calm, but Diamond can clearly hear the contempt dripping from my voice. She seems...nervous about this, she really is acting strange. Very different from the stuck up person I knew and talked to just days before.

“Well,” she began, her nervousness melting away as she started “I wanted to say that how I acted to you earlier here was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have snapped at you the way I did,”

I can’t hide my surprise, but that isn’t the end.

“And..,” she grips one of her arms and looks at the ground in apparent shame “And I’m sorry that I have been treating you so poorly these past few years. I’m sorry about everything…”

Impossible. The Diamond Tiara I know would never say anything like this. This must be a trick, some sort of sick joke to fool me into a false sense of security.
“You can’t seriously think that I would fall for this do you? That I would be that stupid?” in my rage I pull a little on my inside energy, only to dissipate it instantly. A trick I learned after some practice on the bag.

“No, I didn’t,” she says firmly, her confidence returning. That’s more like it “But I still needed to say it. Our world is gone...our families are gone. If there was ever a time to make peace it would be now.”

“So that’s it? You’re only apologizing because our planet blew up? Typical. That’s so like you.” At that remark, Diamond takes a sharp breath as if to keep herself from getting mad.

“Look. All I can say is that I promise not to bother you anymore. We don’t have to see each other ever again,” with that she turned to leave. She seemed so sincere and honest. In a way, I had never seen before. What had changed?

My anger fades. This wasn’t right. I wasn’t blameless. and I think back to my dream, the one right before my magic manifested. Back to my greatest sin. With Anon-A-Miss I had masterminded a bullying scheme worse then anything Diamond had ever done. She was even one of the victims herself. I had accepted the Burden, and though I still didn’t understand what that meant, I knew it had something to do with doing the right thing.

Despite everything she has done to me and my friends over the years Diamond is still as much a victim of this tragedy as I am. And I at least still have my brother to look after me. I can’t let her stand alone.

“Diamond wait,” she stops in her tracks and turns again, a look of hope adorns her face. She wanted this to happen. “I have a few things to say as well,” I take a deep breath and prepare myself before continuing “I’m sorry too.”

“You? For what?”

“For Anon-A-Miss. You and Silver Spoon almost broke off your friendship because of that, not to mention the other terrible things I did when using that stupid blog. So yes, I’m sorry for doing that to you.

“Well then, I forgive you. Honestly I kind of deserved it for all the crap I put you Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo through.”

She extends a hand forward, probably hoping to seize the initiative with her own forgiveness. I am reluctant to take it. But in the end, she’s right. Our world is gone, it’s time to start getting used to that. Time to start letting the past be the past.

I take her hand and shake it firmly. I can’t help but let out a small smile, one Diamond returns. Wordlessly years of strife come to an end.

With that I lean against the back wall of the dent and gently sit on the floor, I’m still tired from punching earlier. We sit in silence for a few moments. What would we talk about now?

“Where is Silver Spoon by the way?” It was a fair question, Diamond went practically everywhere with her.

“Do I need to say?” She replies, her voice cracking.

“No, I suppose not...I lost Scootaloo too, and Sweetiebell might as well be gone as well.”

More awkward silence ensues as we both realize that every one of our close friends is gone and that, barring family, we were the closest people to each other on the entire ship. It’s a strange thought. One Diamond can’t dwell on for long apparently as she gets up.

“Come on. This place is depressing. I know somewhere better.” With nothing better to do I follow her through the ship. It takes a while and we pass scores of rooms and take an elevator up at one point. But eventually, we enter a place I didn’t even know was on this ship.

It was a massive room, almost as big as the Gathering area. But the ceiling and round walls were entirely made of glass. Other then that nothing much was there. The place was almost entirely deserted.

“The Observation area,” Diamond explains “I found out about it earlier when I was on a Holotablit, the Crew put a map of the whole ship it. I’m surprised more people haven’t come to this place,” she says after looking around.

“It’s beautiful,” I exclaim. And it was, where once there had been the vacuum of space, there was now a brilliant spread of colours right outside the glass. I walk towards the glass wall to get a better look,

“It really is, I honestly was just expecting a starscape,” Diamond says, just as amazed as I am.

“The Source really is something to look at, isn’t it. I had the same reaction when I first saw it,” says an amused voice from behind us. I nearly jump in surprise before turning around to see the amused figure of Callum Shields standing there, still wearing his formal uniform from hours ago.

“High Arbiter Shields, what an unexpected honour,” Diamond says, reverting to her formal tone of address. She bows slightly, but the tall man waves her off.

“Please young one, none of that. I get enough of it from this civilian Crew let alone teenage Newversers,” he says with a laugh. Diamond is surprised at his levity, but I decide to take full advantage, and maybe get some context as to where this ship was at the moment.

“The Source? What is that?” I ask Callum turns his gaze upon me. The amusement is still there but now there is something else I can’t quite make out.

“A fine question young lady. The Source is the energy between Universes. The thing that allows Universal Drives to travel in between worlds. It is also the thing that gives power to Casters, such as myself.”

Casters? Could it be? Maybe, but I don’t want to bring that up, not to him. I don’t know him after all.

“That sounds...interesting.”

“I can see you are very interested,” Callum says deadpanned before chuckling again. I look at Diamond Tiara who looks back at me with an equally perplexed expression. The High Arbiter was clearly not what either of us had expected, especially after his speech.

“I can see that I am unwanted here,” he says, breaking the silence “as you were Apple Bloom and company,” how did he know my name?

He walks away without another word.

“Well that was weird,” Diamond says as we face the glass once again.

“I’ll say,” I reply before bursting out laughing, Diamond quickly follows suit. We laugh for a few moments before looking once more to the glass, and the Source beyond.

And when I look into its swirling hues and brilliant colours, I can’t help but feel more at peace then I have been in a long time. I know the future is still uncertain, but whatever challenges I might face I will meet them. Perhaps with Diamond Tiara of all people by my side.

It was a new world after all.

Chapter 10 - Callum

I look back at the two children one last time before leaving the Observation area, I can feel their wonder drip off them like water from the walls of a sauna. It is a reminder of my mission, the burden that I and all Lightbearers share. The need to protect the innocent and preserve their right to choose.

In all my many millennia of life, I have tried to fulfil that mission, with a smile on my face of course. Someone had to laugh when no one else could. But sometimes the work got to me. I couldn’t save everyone or protect everything, not even the Hooded Knight himself could do that. But it was sad when it did happen, and these refugees were a living reminder of my most recent failure.

Why the Shadeling Master leading the horde I smashed against their world thought it was better to die than surrender is probably something I will never understand, but it happened. And billions of people were dead because of it. I can’t smile in the face of such numbers.
These thoughts continue to course through my mind as I make my way towards the bridge of the Navigator. I had asked for a temporary leave from my Legion to deal with this relocation personally.

Thankfully my superior, Grand Arbiter Aurelian, was more than sympathetic to my request. And with the Great Raid crushed and things more or less returned to normal along the Outer Reaches, he happily granted it, along with this top of the line Passenger Ship to see the matter done.

I’ll probably buy the man a drink when I return to the Warhost.

Return to the Warhost. That might not be for a while. I had planned to do exactly that right after this mission, but another unforeseen event has made it more complicated then I anticipated.

One of the refugees had awakened her Spark.

Newversers becoming Lightbearers wasn’t unusual, but the awakening of someone so young certainly was, despite the massive increase in Awakenings recently.

I need to approach this carefully and subtly. She had already discovered her new powers, so demonstrated when she Cast enough strength to punch a heavy punching bag off its chain. An impressive feat for someone who had only been a Lightbearer for a few days.

Despite that, I didn’t want to just come right out and tell her everything, she has already gone through so much so fast, it would be too much for her right now.

With that thought, I reach the bridge. For a civilian ship, its design was remarkably similar to the bridge on my flagship, the Tempest Wind. It had the large front-facing viewing window, the circular Holotable and the grey walls that were so familiar to me.

The Captain, a slender man in the uniform of the Storm Armada, stands around the Holotable and greets me with a firm salute when he sees me enter.

“How far out are we from our destination Captain.”

“Lord High Arbiter,” he says using the former address for my rank. I hold back a scoff at the title. Even after all this time I hate being called a lord “we are about a week’s Drive Travel from Albion. Right on schedule.”

“Good to hear, good to hear indeed. Reduce staff rotations and put some of the double shifters on break. They’ve earned a rest.”

“Yes, Lord High Arbiter,” He salutes me again and walks off, a slight barley susceptible skip in his step.

A week. Good, just enough time to make arrangements. The Brittanic Government had already agreed to settle the refugees in a new section of Greater London, but now I knew how to approach my Lightbearer problem.

It would be better to observe her from a distance for now and wait until she was settled into her new life before I approached her again.

Yes. Let her grow into her powers. Let her find her own path to the Light, as the ancient Arbiters of the Liberation once did.

Only then would she find out what she was.

End of Part One

Part Two: A New World

Part Two:

A New World

He was the greatest son of Albion. Kind and gentle with those he swore to protect, ruthless with his enemies. A naval commander without peer, he tore through the Core and conquered it for the Light. Also a great General, it was he who devised the Warhost system that the army uses to this day. It was he who led the final charge at Desolation and broke the power of the Tyrants forever. But when the Great Betrayal happened and the Dark Rebellion began he couldn’t rationalize it. And in good time, our unconquered hero, the Father of the Universal Army, the first Grand Arbiter, was slain as his fleet burned around him. Let this be a lesson to us all. Even the greatest of men can fall.

On Jose Manrose

Chapter 11 - Diamond Tiara

I awake in a void. A sea of ink is all that greet my eyes as they flutter open. The darkness stretches around me in all directions with no end in sight. The air, if it could be called that, chills my skin as I stand up. But I am not afraid, solitude has ever been my friend over the years. The precious minutes I get alone are small comfort against the pressure my life normally grants me.
I quickly realize I must be dreaming, the last thing I remember is me going to bed after all. It was an annoying time to be having such a lucid dream. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. But whatever my mind was trying to tell me was quite strange indeed, the darkness around me remained unchanged and unmoving.
As I take this in I slowly begin to walk forward, something driving me to walk through this mysterious place. I don’t bother fighting it. Wherever my body takes me I am ready for it. I shuffle along alone in the darkness for what seems like ages, the solid ground beneath my feet feeling as smooth as glass as I glide upon it to wherever my subconscious deems to take me.
On and on I walk, the dream never changing no matter how far I go. What a weird dream this is, aren’t they supposed to show or prepare you for something that you didn’t know or something? Now that I think about it, I don’t remember having a lucid dream before.
“Great, this is just wonderful. Awesome,” I say to myself in exasperation. The silence and darkness continue, but through it, I can almost feel a sense of something more touching my mind. And it feels...amused?
Then, almost as if that thing was placating me I see a soft warm glow far away in the distance. The thing my dreaming self wants to travel towards.
I continue towards it, it’s not like I have anything better to do. Whatever it is or represents in my life must be important enough to have this very weird dream about.
The darkness around me slowly gives way to light, it grows until my surroundings resemble golden mists that embrace me warmly. Like I had known them for my entire life instead of that one moment.
As I keep walking I begin to notice many glowing panels of light form beside me on either side. They shine even brighter than the mist. And as I take a closer look at them I see images dance across them, like a magical movie screen inside my head. These images begin to look more and more familiar as I keep looking at them.
And as I do, the weight of my life and all the choices I have made hit me. They look familiar because I know them, I experienced them for myself. They are my memories.
Recent memories, memories from when I was young. They stretch on further then I can see, past whatever horizon exists in this dreamscape. And all of them, in one way or another, are about me causing someone else pain.
From smaller things like an indecent comment here or a rude gesture there. To bigger stunts like teasing a disabled person for being unable to walk. It was honestly hard to look at now, but for some reason, I cannot look away. Like something is forcing me to watch myself terrorize my peers.
“So much pain. So much fear. You have much to atone for,” a deep indistinguishable voice says from the void. I turn around sharply. Panic grips me as I frantically try to locate the source of it.
“Who was that! Show yourself,” The void does not answer. Then, slowly, my surroundings fade again back to darkness and I am left once again utterly alone. The ground vanishes beneath me and I begin falling downward, another distant light appearing below me.
I plummet towards it, screaming all the way. I almost don’t notice my body shifting and changing into a younger state as I fall. It takes several minutes of crashing through the air before the light grows into something recognizable, the ground, by then I’m calm enough to identify the area as being my old hometown.
I narrow that down further to my old school. Not CHS, no, the building below me looked to be like a smaller version of my high school. I had to be falling towards my elementary school instead.
When I finally make ground fall the impact is much smaller than I thought it would be, the power of dreams I suppose. I get up to dust myself off and look around. Sure enough, it was just as I remembered it, a miniature version of CHS, made for the much smaller population of an elementary school.
“Diamond! Are you ok?” a familiar voice says from behind me. I turn and find myself looking at my best friend, Silver Spoon. Several years younger than when I last saw her, but she was there. It was all I could do to not burst into tears. Even I knew this was a dream seeing her again overwhelmed me with emotion.
Thankfully, my memory takes over and my body speaks for me.
“Ya Silvs. I just tripped. No biggie.”
“Well then, come on. We’re going to be late!” She takes off. My past self rolls her eyes but follows her all the same. I can’t quite place when this memory took place, but it had to be at least five years ago from how old Silver and my body were.
From there the memory plays out like a normal school day. It was almost nostalgic to see through the eyes of my past self going through those simple classes from a different time. It was..refreshing after what I had been going through these past couple weeks.

That was until recess. When my body and Silver went onto the playground to have some fun. Even back then I didn’t partake in sports. Mother never approved, she preferred me getting into dance instead. But that’s not something kids normally did at recess. So me and Silver would just talk to each other. We didn’t tease people yet as far as I can recall.

“My dance recital went spectacularly last night, as I knew it would,” my body boasts more or less confirming my recollection.

“Awesome, great as always. My Piano recital was also spectacular. It’s a shame they were on the same day, otherwise, we could have watched each other.”

We went back and forth like this, laughing and giggling about some topic or another. The conversation got more and more familiar as it went. And the more I heard, the more a sense of dread grew within me. I knew why my dream took me here, to this day.

After a while Silver started looking at the soccer game most of our peers were playing.

“You know? That looks fun. Why don’t we ever join in?” she asks me.

“Because my mommy says that those kids are beneath people like us. We’re too good to be playing with them.”

“Really? But they seem so nice…”

“I said that to my mommy too, and she said that lowlifes might appear nice, but are only trying to mooch up to us and take out wealth.” I cringe at this. I’ve known this to be a lie for years now.

“Really? All of them?”

“Yes. All of them. So if any dare try and approach us, we just tell them off,” I feel sick by how determined my younger voice sounds. Just then a soccer ball lands near us, and a younger-looking Apple Bloom comes running to retrieve it.

“Hey! Silver Spoon,” the ball had landed nearest to her “do you mind tossing that to me?”

Silver looks unsure for a second before straightening her back. “Why don’t you get it yourself you...lowlife,” she looks to my body for approval, which she receives in the form of a nod and grin. My cringe becomes an internal wail. This was the day it all began.

“Is this what you most regret? Corrupting her?” The booming voice of the void says, filling my existence as the world dissolves around me.

Eventually. I am able to whimper out a barely audible “yes.”

I did. Even during the worst of my bullying I always regretted bringing Silver along with me. Perhaps it was because having someone beside me made it feel better, or lessened the guilt as it was shared between us. Or perhaps deep down I knew what I was doing was wrong and hoped one day she’d stop me. I don’t know the reason, but now my choice could never be undone. Silver Spoon had died a bully, and it was all my fault.

I was on the verge of tears before I saw the golden mist appear around me again, and further into it I can see them grow brighter. The source of their light. I feel once again drawn towards it, so I choke down my tears and begin walking again.

The mist grew brighter and brighter before I could see the source of it. A glowing orb suspended in the air. I am captivated by the sight, and quickly draw in close. And as I do I hear the void speak one last time.

“Do you accept the Burden?” And I knew at once what it meant. It was a way to redeem myself. Make myself better. Become the person I wanted to be.

And so, with no hesitation I reach forward and grab the orb, its light absorbing into me and becoming one with my very soul.

“I do accept this Burden.”

Power grows in me until an overwhelming sense of strength overcomes me and my world vanishes into blinding light.

I wake up with a jolt, breathing heavily from my ordeal. As I calm myself down I look around my new room, the walls black as the nighttime it was. I sink back into my bed and stare at the ceiling. Breathing heavily as I suddenly realize that my life might never be the same again.

Chapter 12 - Apple Bloom

Cereal clatters into the bowl as I pour it out of the box. It is a modest breakfast, but it will more than do for now. It was similar to what I had on the farm, though the milk was not as fresh. I’m just thankful that my new home even has such familiar food, in fact, many things were quite similar to my old world here.
It had been two weeks since I had decided not to be Diamond Tiara’s enemy anymore. And in those two weeks, a lot had happened. For one thing, our journey to Albion ended and we were finally resettled into a district in the capital of Greater London, the new Lemonbrook Burrow. For two, me and my brother were assigned a small house near the local High School. It was much smaller than the farmhouse but it was quite comfortable.
And for three, the local school year was about to begin. It was very convenient timing that my people arrived just in time for it. I think it will make the transition much easier.

A new school. The very thought both excites and terrifies me as I take a bite of the cereal, taking in the much richer but less sweet flavour. My first day was today, it would be an interesting day, to say the least.

A few minutes later, just as I was scooping up the last bite of my cereal, Big Mac came into the Kitchen. He was just about to get out the door himself to start a shift at his new job working the Docks on the Gates of Albion, the name for the massive orbital space station that encircles the planet.

Big Mac approaches me with a smile on his face, the first real one I have seen on him in a long time.

“You have a good first day now, I probably won’t be back until late so you’ll have to make dinner for yourself.”

“I know, I know, I plan to. Don’t you worry about me.”

“Somebody has to,” he leans in closer and lightly noogies the top of my head “Otherwise you might get into trouble...again,” I swat his hand away like a spider. We both chuckle.

“I’ll be fine Big Mac, trust me. Now go get to your space station. Speaking of which, you’ll have to bring me up there one day!”

He chuckles again at that, “One day Apple Bloom. I promise.”

With that, he says his final goodbye and gets out the door leaving me alone in the house. The rounded walls of which still look all too strange to me. It was like most things in this new world I found myself in, all too familiar with a coating of the unknown. Like my new powers for example. I had known magic existed for over two years now, ever since the time Sunset Shimmer turned into a raging she-demon at that year’s Fall Formal. But the way my powers worked was clearly very different from how Equestrian Magic did. And for that reason, I didn’t dare experiment with it until I had my bearings here.

I finish drinking the leftover milk in my cereal bowl and quickly wash it in the sink. I need to get ready for school.

I get a simple lunch together, making a sandwich for myself along with an apple and some small carrots. I put that into my backpack along with my necessary school supplies and the letter I received from the school a few days ago detailing where to go and who to meet with when I got there for my first day.

With all that done I take a deep breath, slip my backpack over my shoulder, and go on my way.

The walk to the school is pretty uneventful, though I continue to marvel at the strange-looking rounded houses and buildings that seem to be the norm on Albion. And when I look at the sky I can’t help but stare in wonder at the massive Gates of Albion casting their shadow upon me from orbit. The massive space elevators to the station seem like small strings that hold it to the ground. My brother was probably in one of those right now. It makes me feel very small as the world I’m in gets bigger and bigger.

But other than that the architecture of the street resembled a typical city suburb from home. There were no flying cars dancing through the sky and no casual holograms floating about. This was the future, but a different, more normal one than I ever anticipated.

It was a nice day out too. I was apparently in this world’s version of England but there was no stereotypical rainstorm going on at the moment. The air was crisp and the sky was bright and cloudless. It was a perfect day to start school.

It takes me all of ten minutes of navigating through the neighbourhood to get to my destination, Lemonbrook Highschool. And when I finally lay my eyes upon it I can’t help but let it finally sink in that I’m on another planet.

The building looks nothing like any school building I’ve ever seen. Its tall circular appearance contrasts as much as the shining white walls do from Canterlot High’s look. And the small spires that line the roof make the building look almost like a crown. It looks kinda cool actually.

With the building in view, I take off my backpack and find the letter the school had sent me and take it out, included upon it is a map of the school and directions to where I need to go to start my day.

With that in hand, I put back on my backpack and cross one final street to get to the campus grounds, where already several students are milling about even though school doesn’t start for another hour or so.

I nervously navigate my way around them, avoiding them for now. A couple of them see me anyway as I make my way close to the giant black wooden doors that are the school’s front entrance. They look at me curiously for a second before getting back to whatever conversation they were having before, content with my presence.

Without any more second thoughts, I open the front doors and walk inside. The interior of the building is much more familiar looking to me. The walls are lined with lockers just like Canterlot, though upon closer inspection they appear larger and more electronic than the lockers I knew, which makes sense I suppose.

I continue following the map through the straight halls, taking a few turns before coming to a larger open area the map labels as the Main Foyer. The letter said to meet my student guide here, and sure enough, lined up along one of the walls are several students holding large pieces of paper with their names upon them.

These were apparently volunteer students that wanted to show us around and help us through our few days here. The dozen-odd kids from my world that were coming here are going to be broken up into small groups or pairs and be assigned to one of these students. It seemed like a sensible idea, it was similar to how new grade nines were oriented at Canterlot High.

I scan the group for the name of my guide and after a moment I spy the name I was looking for, Shelbie Cured. The girl holding it is a petite looking blonde about the same height as me. She gives me a wide smile as I approach her.

“Hello there, I can tell by your red hair and green skin that you must be Apple Bloom. And you’re the first one here. Which means,” she turns to one of the other guides with a mischievous grin on her face “You owe me five credits, Lucus.”

“Dammit,” a dark-haired boy near us says in frustration before coughing up the apparently owed money. Sheltie turns back to me as I scratch the back of my head in embarrassment wondering just what I was getting myself into.

“Uh, ya. That’s me,” I say slowly.

“And I’m Shelbie..but you knew that already,” she folds up her sign and extends a hand towards me, which I reluctantly shake. She seemed to be quite the personality that’s for sure.

“Nice to meet you,” I say, just trying to be polite. This was the first Britannic person my age that I’ve met, after all, I need to make a good impression.

“Likewise. I only have one more assigned to me, hopefully, they’ll show up soon.”

“Don’t tell me you have a bet about that too…”

“I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t,” she says, completely serious. Unfortunately for her as several more of my fellow refugee students filed into the Foyer the other student assigned to us didn’t show. Shelbie was forced to give up her newly acquired credits because of this, much to her chagrin.

Then about twenty minutes after I arrived, Diamond Tiara walked in. She scans the signs and spots Shelbie’s newly unfolded nametag and walks over to us.

“Hi, my name is Diamond Tiara. I believe I was assigned to you?” she says to Shelbie.

“Ah yes, you’re the other one,” she says happily. Of course, it had to be her, while we could somewhat get along now, we didn’t exactly love being around each other yet. Diamond, well, let’s just say she wasn’t exactly my favorite human. Oh well.

“Come on,” Shelbie shouts, thrusting a triumphant fist into the air, “the school awaits!”

Part One: The Girl in the Wind

Part One:

The Girl in The Wind

At the beginning the Spark of life shawn through us.

And we cried out for the world

We cried out for its endless bounty and beauty

But in their stead, we were given chains

Chains of shadow and servitude

And we cried

We cried for our salvation

For our Dawn

But the world forsook us and continued on without care

We thought ourselves alone in the Dark

And we cried

Until at last our heads looked up to the sky and beheld them

Gold with wrath and vengeance, the Angels fell upon us

They broke our chains and lifted us from the Dark

And we cried

For we thought new masters had come to claim us

New tyrants

But we were wrong,

for the Angels only fought against them

They gave us choice, the gift of Light

And we cried

Crying of the Nuli