Equestria Girls: Cataclysm

Dear Princess Celestia,

I found Rarity and her sister Sweetie Belle. Rarity was gravely wounded and was under attack from some kind of monster. Her neck is injured and she can’t speak, and she can barely swallow, but she’s alive, and I think she will recover. She even recognized me! I’m really happy to have found one of my friends, I was beginning to worry I wouldn’t be able to find them. I miss her voice, and I wish she could talk, but I’m sure she does too. Time will take care of that. I’m just happy she’s here.

Right now, I need to focus on getting her to safety. She was on her way to a refugee center when she was attacked, and that’s where she and Sweetie Belle both need to be, now more than ever. While I would prefer to stay here and let her rest for longer than the day we’ve had, we’re only a few miles from the center, and this farm house we’ve taken shelter in doesn’t have much food in it, and I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but despite having been one for several days in the past, I don’t really know what humans eat. It doesn’t seem like they can graze, which would make this food situation much more serious.

I need to figure out where Canterlot is, but ensuring the safety of my friends seems a lot more important and a lot more difficult to ascertain. They could be anywhere at this point if everyone ended up scattered, and after what I was almost too late to save Rarity from, I am scared for them. I’m going to have to really stretch the limits of what I’m capable of to get us all back together again, assuming they’re alive. I desperately hope they’re alive. What I wouldn’t give for some spell books...

The main goal right now is to get Rarity and Sweetie Belle to the refugee center and go from there. I don’t know how to deal with the ‘an alicorn to a bunch of humans’ thing, but with some humans with me, that should be a lot easier now. Maybe someone we recognize will be there. It’s a long shot, but if they could be anywhere, here is as likely a place as anywhere else, right?

I missed the portal deadline for this lunar cycle, but I’m sure you noticed that. There wasn’t much I could have done. Hopefully the next full moon will give better luck, but I have this sinking feeling that it’s going to be a very, very long month.

I hope to have these letters sent to you soon. I’ll keep you up to date as best I can.

Your little pony,
Twilight Sparkle

As Twilight inspected the letter she had just written, her eyes drifted up to the top of the page, finding the pale green eyes staring at her from over the edge of the paper. She stared back, blinking once, then slowly lowered the paper where it hovered in front of her. That was apparently enough to short out the telekinesis, which sputtered out, and Twilight winced as the paper and pen both fluttered and clattered to the floor respectively. “Ow…um, yes, Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle was laying on her belly to be on Twilight’s level on the floor, chin in her hands, eyes twinkling like they always seemed to when she looked at the alicorn for long. “What’re you doing?”

You’ve been staring at me for how long, and you only just now ask this? “Writing a letter,” Twilight replied, hooves finding the paper and folding it in half a few times. “To someone very important to me back home.”

“Are you married?”

It was fortunate that Twilight wasn’t drinking something at the time, because if she was, she would have spat it all over Sweetie Belle’s face. ”No! No, nonono, no not l- not like that kind of important! Oh my goodness! She’s my-“

“Girlfriend?” The impish grin was unmistakable. At that moment, however, a cushion sailed through the air and smacked Sweetie Belle in the back of the head, which cut off the grin with a squawk. “Hey!” She snapped Rarity a glare where she sat on the bed, whose expression had a reprimand written all over it. “I’m just asking!”

“She’s my tutor,” Twilight finally managed, given a few seconds to salvage her composure. “Or ex-tutor, I guess. I’ve been writing to Princess Celestia ever since I was a filly, and while I can’t send the letters right now, I still want her to know what’s going on as soon as possible.”

Sweetie Belle was mid-windup with the pillow to throw back at her sister when she stopped, and looked back at Twilight blankly. “What’s a filly?”

Twilight gave her an equally blank look for a moment or two. “…uh…a juvenile girl pony. When I was younger, growing up, I was a filly.”

“Oh.” Sweetie just kind of looked at her for a second or two more, then remembered she was holding a pillow, which she then casually tossed up onto Rarity’s legs, rather than complete the retaliatory throw she was about to make. Rarity re-collected the cushion, gripping one corner with her left hand and visibly preparing to chuck it back at her sister if she said something else that warranted it.

Twilight pulled the small bag she had found in the dresser in this room over with her horn glow, slotting the folded letter in her hooves there a moment later, along with what little else she had to her name. Books, some letters to Princess Celestia, and a tool she had cobbled together in a flash of necessity-driven inspiration to accomplish her goals, tossed together in the ill-fitting but only available bag that suited her purposes…a suitable metaphor for her whole life.

“So, girls,” Twilight began, standing as she cleared her throat. The bedroom was well lit with the curtains opened, which made it a lot easier to read the expressions of the two humans looking at her. “Like I just wrote to Princess Celestia, I want to try and get you two to where you were going before I found you. I think it’s important to move you into that refugee center as soon as possible, so I wanted to head out now, rather than stay here much longer.”

Rarity’s expression bore the start of a grimace, but not necessarily disagreement.

Sweetie Belle was a very different story, who frowned openly at this proposition. “Rarity’s hurt.”

“I realize that, and I want her to get some rest,” Twilight explained, “but you’re already most of the way there, aren’t you? And Rarity can still walk.” Twilight looked to Rarity now, uncertainly, but the ‘Yes’ mouthed at her answered the unspoken question of whether she actually could or not. That, or she was agreeing with her. Either way, it was encouragement.

“Well I don’t agree. Rarity’s hurt really bad, and whenever I got hurt, nobody would ever let me get out of bed or do anything, and I was never hurt anywhere near as bad as Rarity is!”

“You also had food and water at the time, I’m guessing,” Twilight pointed out. “You also had more people around, and medicine, and society still functioned. We don’t have any of those things. My biggest worry is that something might actually be wrong, but I don't know enough about humans to be able to tell. I want her to be around more humans that could look for those signs and deal with them before they turn into something a lot worse.”

Sweetie Belle didn’t say anything, but her scowl said plenty.

“I will keep you both safe,” Twilight said gently. “I saved Rarity before, didn’t I? I’ll do it again, too. Right now, keeping her safe means getting you both to more humans, where they can take care of her better and treat her injuries better than I can. After that, she doesn’t have to move an inch until she’s back to one hundred percent health.”

Sweetie’s expression of indignity and injustice slowly faded as Twilight spoke, replaced by the worry that she wore openly now. She mulled over what was said, then looked at Twilight again. Her pale green eyes found Twilight’s wings, where they remained transfixed for some time - the prolonged gaze made Twilight's wing unconsciously unfurl once, then close back up. After several seconds of deliberation and staring, Sweetie finally said, “Okay.”

Twilight tried to hide her confusion at this. She wasn’t entirely sure what about her wings that had given Sweetie such cause for thought, but she let it slide for now - she was just glad the girl wouldn’t fight this. “Are you feeling up to walking right now, Rarity, or do you want to wait?”

Rarity considered this uncertainly. After some deliberation, she began to stir. She sat upright, cringing and wincing as she pulled herself forward, then began the painstaking process of carefully, slowly swiveling sideways where she sat, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed - her expression spelled out every pain she felt, and more than once she jolted from a sudden stab, at one point tipping over and nearly leaning onto her broken arm if not for Sweetie Belle there to keep her upright. The bruising on her neck was particularly visible now, and the thick wire of blood clinging to the line around her neck where the skin had been cut made it look as though her head was completely detached and only balancing on the end of her severed neck; the care she took not to disturb it in any way added to this.

For a moment, Twilight regretted suggesting she be disturbed, but once Rarity was on her feet, she did alright. She was clearly dizzy and had an awful limp, but her younger sibling glued herself to Rarity’s side immediately, serving as a faithful and eager crutch to help her get around.

She would need new clothes, though. That wasn’t up for debate; the bloodstained skirt rolled straight of her hips when she stood up, and much to Rarity’s horror, her top was both sliced wide open on the left and completely ruined with blood, especially in the back, where she’d been laying in a pool of the stuff. Twilight didn’t entirely understand the whole “clothes” thing, but Rarity had felt pretty cold before, and it was a little cool outside for creatures bald as humans. Fortunately there were 4 dressers in this house, each in a different bedroom, and surely something would be good enough. She had two helpers assisting her where her bad arm would get in the way, and telekinesis proved extremely useful to precisely slide fabric where it needed to go so she wouldn’t have to struggle or aggravate her injuries. Not only was it precise, it’d make this go fast.

That was the idea, anyway. Unfortunately, it was Rarity. She saw she had helpers to make this efficient, and thus she insisted on trying on everything that was vaguely presentable from whoever had lived in this farmhouse, examining herself in front of a mirror diligently from every angle to make sure that whatever she wore was up to snuff and matched. She then wanted to do her makeup, and no amount of protest from either Twilight or Sweetie Belle made that stubborn frown or that determined look in her ice-blue eyes budge an inch. She didn’t have to speak for Twilight to be able to hear her deeply offended voice informing her that she was not going anywhere without looking her absolute best, and that was final.

She’d been mauled within an inch of her life by a demon crab in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and Rarity still refused to set foot where she might possibly be observed without her eye liner perfect and her outfit matching. What’s worse, despite clearly having not had a chance to bathe in weeks, being ghostly pale from all of the blood she’d lost, being a completely different race from Twilight with radically different anatomy, and was actively infuriating Twilight, she still managed to look utterly gorgeous to the alicorn. It was like there was some universal law that said no matter what condition Rarity was in, what world she was from, or how insufferable she was being, she’d look pretty while doing it, and also find some way to look prettier still if if given a chance…which she’d get, because she’d dig in her heels and refuse to cooperate or spare you a moment of peace until you gave it to her.

Twilight could never decide whether she loved Rarity or wanted to strangle her, and today was no different. She was just lucky that the demon crab had beaten her to the punch on the attempt. And, you know, that Twilight loved her. A lot.

Twilight only actively resisted for the first 10 minutes, then surrendered, allowing Rarity to be where she deserved: at the center of attention, doing her best to look fabulous, and stealing the admiration straight from the eyes of the alicorn that thought now more than ever that a complete pain in the ass had never looked so beautiful.

“Applejack, Applejack!”

Applejack’s head jerked up, stirred from her thoughts - Apple Bloom was rushing towards her from up the road, the sight of which immediately caused her to push off of the SUV she’d been leaning again, which was lifted off the ground several inches by a jack beneath the front most end of it. She took a step forward, then realized the younger Apple had a big grin on her face, and the farmer relaxed, heaving out a sigh. There was annoyance, but she tried to set it aside for the sake of whatever she was so excited about.

Apple Bloom arrived, and the first thing she did was thrust something at her sibling. “Look at what I found!”

Applejack half-expected it to be a frog, but no, it was a rock. Immediately upon seeing it, however, she understood what had fascinated Apple Bloom so much about it: it was a pale beige rock about the size of Applejack’s fist, roughly circular with one side which was almost perfectly flat, while the rest of its relatively uneven surface was rounded, almost to the point of seeming polished. On the flat side was a large spiral, almost looking painted on from how perfectly even the line was, until you realized that it was indeed part of the stone.

After a few moments, Applejack let out a, “Huh.” She’d been expecting this to be underwhelming, like many of the other discoveries that Apple Bloom had found and blew entirely out of proportion, but this was not one of those, it seemed. “Well that’s quite somethin’, actually. Where’dja find this at?”

“Off the side of the road back there!” Apple Bloom threw an arm back the way she’d come running, her eyes practically shining with energy. “Ain’t it the coolest?!”

“It is! That’s a pretty good find, sugarcube. How far out was it?”

“It-“ Apple Bloom froze, staring at her sister for a second or so. In that moment of silence, she realized that she’d made a mistake, and her lips closed, then sucked inward, like she had bitten into a lemon. Applejack’s smile suddenly didn't seem so safe. She hadn’t actually said anything incriminating until she basically spelled it out just now, because even Apple Bloom knew better than to openly lie to her sister - yet she had been considering it. And why would she do that? Because she fucked up.

“Now, see,” she said, the smile steadily dissolving into a much more serious expression, “I coulda sworn I told you not to wander off while there was stuff like the living dead prowlin’ around. You remember anything like that? It might just be me, me ‘n my silly memory bein’ silly like that. Whachu know 'bout that, sugarcube? Anything?”

Apple Bloom was as still as a statue. She stared at her sister with big, wide bronze eyes.

Applejack stared back with hard eyes and an equally hard expression. She stood there silently, waiting for the anger to bubble up, or her voice to raise, or the words for a lecture to begin, but the longer she stood there, the more it sputtered in her chest, like an engine that wouldn’t start. After a while Applejack brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, letting slip a long, quiet breath. “Later,” came the begrudging mutter. Her voice raised a bit to its normal volume as she said, “We’ll talk about this later. Do not wander off again, you understand me?”

Apple Bloom’s nod was small, less proper nodding so much as a vertical vibration of her head.

“Go find Fluttershy.” Applejack nudged her chin in the direction of the refugee center down the ridge, and Apple Bloom took off in that direction like Hell was on her heels. The elder Apple watched her go for a while, then let her head hang, letting slip a second, much more weary sigh. Her eyes caught the pair of brown boots and jeaned legs sticking out from under the car she leaned against, remembering her guest’s presence, and she emitted a haggard, “Kids.”

It was then and only then that the second person here moved. They shifted and shimmied their way across the pavement, and when she had space to, she sat up. She couldn't have been past her mid-twenties, hair short-cut and raven black, a slightly oversized green long sleeve shirt bearing the insignia of Linux alongside all manner of grease stains that had not been there before, though plenty that already were. Jenny Forcette was her name, and she gave a small but sympathetic smile up to Applejack. “Can’t say I envy you.”

“She’s a good girl, she really is.” Applejack offered a hand down to the engineer, who took it and was pulled up to her feet with little effort - woman barely had any meat on her. “But sometimes I wish a few more things would go through that pretty lil’ head a’ hers besides the sound of the ocean.”

Jenny chuckled and gave a helpless shrug, dusting herself with her least dirty hand a moment later. “Guess that’s kids for you.”

“Eeeyup…”

A brief, somewhat awkward silence followed. It lasted until Jenny had completed dusting herself off, then presented Applejack’s smartphone. “Found it, by the way.”

“Aw yeah?” Applejack leaned over to to view the phone.

Jenny swiped the screen again to access the photos she’d just taken of the electric SUV’s underbelly, tapping one and zooming in. “That’s the cable right there, any car or truck battery is going to have one just like that. Pluck that off the alternator if you take something a battery out of something. Then take that part there, and plug it into this part here; you might have to splice some wires to do it. You uninstall the battery itself by unscrewing these here. A wrench will give you an easier time, but the way most of these bolts are designed, a sufficiently broad flathead screwdriver will also do the trick. Depends on the make. I suggest a wrench if you've got one.”

Applejack nodded along, studying the images. “And they ain’t all gonna be that big, right? That thing's a real chonker of a car battery if I ever seen one.”

“It’s because it’s electric, they’re designed to have big storage capacity compared to a vehicle with a combustion engine. An entire standard car battery could probably be shoved back into this area back here, right behind it. See? Bit of a squeeze, but they’re supposed to have compatibility with other makes of battery in mind, so you can use that. If all else fails, you can carve out a couple spots in the back to make room for it, a lot of this is hollow. It’s aluminum, too, so that make it easier, if you get a hacksaw or something. I mean hell, half of this is so thin you could probably just beat on it with a hammer to catch a lip and peel the whole plate back, if it doesn’t just break off.”

Applejack listened on, a small frown beginning on her lips. “Not a very sturdy thing, huh?”

Jenny shook her head. “That’s electric models for you. They’ve got to be light because their engines are so much weaker than combustion engines. I hated working on these things back when I did auto repair, there’s always so much plastic in them. If you hit anything hard enough, I’m pretty sure the whole thing would shatter like glass.”

Applejack crossed her arms, shaking her head with a sigh. “I’m gettin’ real sick of this thing, to be honest with ya.” She reached out with the end of her shoe and shoved the latch locking the jack in place, bringing the whole vehicle back to ground level with a small jolt to its shocks. “It got us out here, but it’s gonna take days for this thing to get us anywhere else. We really ain’t in a place to be sittin’ around waitin’ for those dinky solar panels. Never mind how much rougher it’s gonna be drivin’ now, roads fallin’ apart ‘n monsters beatin’ on the doors…”

“Or you making roadkill out of them.”

Applejack nodded. “Guess electric ain’t really for the apocalypse, huh?”

“It’s great if you don't want to be reliant on fuel all the time. Not so great if you're stuck with something not really designed to be self-sufficient. Could wire a bunch of them together in a big power grid if you had a fleet of them.”

“I barely got th’ patience for this one, don’t need more of ‘em.”

Jenny could only shrug. "Honestly, I'd suggest you go straight for trying to get a new car, rather than trying to daisy chain a bunch of existing car batteries that may or may not actually be charged up. Like, this thing's a working car, sure, but you don't sound at all happy with it."

"Cuz I ain't." Applejack cast a gaze over the ridge down towards the refugee center, and its many vehicles that surrounded it in the parking lot. "Would love one 'a them trucks they got down there."

"The old pickup?"

Applejack nodded. "That'd be handy. Throw a tarp over the back o' that, we'd be sittin' mighty pretty for haulin' stuff. Wouldn't ever have to worry 'bout storage space."

"I doubt that anyone's going to pawn that off to you, though."

"Yeah...'n it's probly better off with the refugee center than me 'n the girls. One of the regular cars in there would be real nice, though. Fill up a tank 'o gas, cruise fer days at a time on that..." Applejack looked at Jenny again. "Ya think they'd be up for a trade like that?"

"Uhh..." Jenny rubbed the back of her neck. "Maybe? I kinda doubt it. They're probably not going to be super thrilled about this SUV for the same reason you aren't. It's flimsy, it's going to be hard to repair because it's aluminum and plastic, and most cars are steel...there's a bunch of RTGs in the center itself, so the solar panels aren't going to be a huge deal for power or anything, and there's batteries galore downstairs."

"It's still a car."

"It is still a car, but it's not a great one. I think you're gonna have to sweeten that pot to get in on any of the vehicles that aren't getting used."

Applejack threw one hand up, letting it slap lightly back down against her other crossed arm with a frustrated huff. "Well, then I'm stuck. I need a better car to get more stuff to trade for, but I can't get better stuff cuz this van's junk and keepin' me from gettin' stuff to trade. Meanwhile I'm sittin' around blastin' stinkin' raccoons 'n squirrels tryin' to get by, and my best friend's over here's dyin' a little inside every time cuz she loves animals more than anythin'. I think I'd rather be puttin' rounds in my own foot at this point."

There was a silence, for a time. "You did say you were a farmer, right?" Jenny began, carefully.

Applejack cast a glance at her now, vexation in her gaze waning somewhat to cautious curiosity. She could just feel Jenny wasn’t necessarily supposed to say what she was considering well before anything was said. "Yeah, my family used to own Sweet Apple Acres. Mostly orchard, but I helped out on the farmland we did have. Had some animals, couple fields. Why?"

"Right. So first off, I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you about this, because you're not like, part of the group-“ Knew it. “-but your little band seems like it's in a tight spot where you're at, and I think this could help you."

Applejack's eyes narrowed a slight, and she turned fully towards Jenny as she listened. “Aight…shoot.”

"So I've been hearing about a plan that some of the others have been throwing around. There's a ranch out there somewhere, I don't know where exactly. Food is a big problem in the refugee center, and obviously they want to take care of that as soon as possible, so there's plans to move in on that old ranch and turn it into like, a farming community to help feed some mouths, because right now all we've got is trade and bartering, and that's not going to last forever. We need actual infrastructure, and people who are involved in farming and setting up one are not the most plentiful anymore. I think that an actual, established career farmer would be incredibly helpful."

"Erm...well, I mean, I dunno about career," Applejack admitted. "I grew up on a farm and I've been doin' farm work for as long as I can remember, but I'm only just outta high school."

Jenny blinked. "...shit, seriously? I never would have guessed you're that young, the way you hold yourself. I thought you were my age."

"Heh." Applejack needlessly adjusted her hat on her head, then re-adjusted it to undo it. "Well...I appreciate that, I guess?"

"My point still stands though. If you promised to pitch in with that ranch project, I think that would be a pretty good pot sweetener to get a vehicle you can actually use to support yourself, if that was something you were willing to do. Your skills and experience would be really valuable there, and I know for sure that people would feel better about a prospective farm with, y'know, an actual farmer on site. It'd make the future seem a little more optimistic, too, and God only knows there's not a lot of optimism floating around the refugee center right now."

Applejack's fingers slowly tapped on her arm, one after the other, as her gaze drifted thoughtfully. That did sound like something that she'd be good for...it was almost best-case scenario. Almost, of course, because it was unlikely that she would be getting support from the refugee group, so it'd likely still be up to herself and Fluttershy to keep their group fed and sheltered, but if she was bumping elbows with the men and women pitching in to make the ranch livable...it was hard to imagine that they'd insist on making her sleep outside, if she helped to put a roof over their heads. Times were hard, but these people weren't heartless, and folk that toiled over a cause like this were gonna end up tight-knit. People that struggle together band together.

After a good long while, Applejack said, "I appreciate you tellin' me 'bout this, Jenny." She looked to Jenny and gave the engineer a warm smile. "That's definitely somethin' to think about, but right now there's other stuff I gotta think about, too. Like repayin' you."

Jenny hesitated for a moment, then rubbed the back of her neck with the cleanest of her two hands. Not that it really mattered, that spot on her neck was slowly becoming the same shade as her hair. “Well, I didn’t really do much. All I did was walk out here, take a look at your SUV, and shine a light around for a little while.”

"An' gave me some much-needed advice. An' clued me in on somethin' to help me support my friend 'n family where I been strugglin'. An' gave me somethin' to work on that I'm actually good at."

“I mean, I don't know if I was even allowed to tell you any of that. Besides, it's not that big of a deal. This is the sort of thing you'd probably hear about anyway, if you stick around long enough."

"Aw c'mon now," Applejack laughed a bit. "You're tryin' to sell all this off as nothin'? I don't buy that one bit, sugarcube. You been real good to me just now, an' that means a lot to me."

Jenny attempted to deflect it again, hands up as though to shove the credit away from her, but she never managed to put up any coherent protest beyond that.

"Tell ya what, why don't ya stop by our camp for dinner tonight? It ain't gonna be the best food ya ever ate, er the biggest meal ya ever had, but it'll be hot 'n fresh, an' it beats the heck outta year-old cans of beets."

Jenny gave a sigh, and her arms flopped back down to her sides in resignation. "I guess I'd be stupid to pass up free food these days." Despite the reluctance in her tone, she was smiling.

So was Applejack, brighter than she had in what felt like a lifetime. This was the most hope she'd had for the future since the world ended, and even while nothing else was known and nothing had been decided, just this once, Applejack dared to tease the thought that maybe things were going to turn out alright after all.

It took about an hour and a half after announcing her intent to leave before Rarity had found something that satisfied her enough to be seen in it. The jeans were a bit tighter than necessary on her legs, but apparently she liked that. Meanwhile, she couldn’t find a shirt to cover her bare torso, so a hoodie had been thrown over it, colored black with a pair of blue triangles on the front. It was oversized, which kind of flew in the face of how much of a scene was made over other clothes that didn’t fit, but Twilight didn’t question it. Rarity was the fashionista here, not her, and while Rarity was only barely satisfied with the look, good enough was, evidently, good enough.

Finally.

Two humans and an alicorn stepped out of the farmhouse they’d entered the day prior, and slowly made their way across the field as the afternoon sun shone down on them where it peaked past scattered clouds. Rarity was unsteady on her feet, but Sweetie Belle was at her side, Twilight on the other. If she ever stumbled (and stumble she did, as clumsy as she was on the uneven earth of the partially plowed corn fields they cut through), Sweetie would leap into motion at around the same time Twilight’s horn would flash and cause Rarity to freeze in mid-movement. Twilight already had a headache going before they even made it back to the road - no doubt because of all the clothes she’d been putting on and taking off Rarity for the best part of…she checked her watch…an hour and a half.

…was it really that long? It didn’t feel like it. Anyway…

Rarity, not being able to speak, obviously did not do so, simply focusing on maintaining a steady gait while occasionally looking around and commentating loftily on her surroundings with expression alone. Twilight, for one, didn’t mind the silence. She was alert and keeping an eye out on their surroundings, mindful and wary of anything that might potentially cut through the trees that now flanked both sides of the road. Occasionally her gaze found Rarity, and the two of them shared brief but pleasant wordless exchanges, typically composed of mutual smiles and occasional gestures at something nearby, which Twilight may or may not vocalize about, typically not. While she definitely would have preferred conversation after spending three stressful, fearful days alone with no one around to confide or converse with, it was a comfortable silence, and she liked it enough to not want to fill it with noise if it wasn’t necessary.

And then there was Sweetie Belle.

“Where do you live?”

Twilight blinked and looked at Sweetie Belle, whose wide pale green eyes were focused on her again. “Uh…”

“Do you live in the clouds?”

“N- no.” Come on, Twilight, don’t make it sound weird, she’s just a filly. Child. Whatever. She doesn’t know anything about ponies, and she’s just curious. “I have some friends that do, but I live in Ponyville.”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes narrowed unexpectedly. It almost seemed to Twilight like she didn’t believe her for a moment. “Is that where all ponies live?”

“Well, some of us do, certainly. The name is pretty on the nose, I know,” Twilight chuckled. “It’s just one town though, ponies live in all kinds of places back in Equestria.”

“Equestria?”

Twilight nodded. “It’s the country where I’m from. Ponyville is actually not that far from the capitol city of Canterlot, which is-“

“Is that in the clouds?” Sweetie cut in.

“Uh…no, it’s on a mountain.”

“Which goes up to the clouds?”

“No.” What’s with the clouds? “There’s Cloudsdale, though. It’s right in the name.”

“That’s in the clouds?”

“It’s made out of clouds, too.”

Sweetie’s big eyes got even bigger. “The whole city?”

“Every single part of it.” Twilight smiled as she began to draw up a mini-seminar all about Cloudsdale, but for a filly. “It’s the biggest population center of pegasi in Equestria, and it’s where all the-“

“How come you’re purple?” Sweetie interrupted again.

Twilight stumbled a bit. “Th- erm, I mean…I’m just- that’s my color.”

“Is everyone purple like you?”

“No, everyone is their own color. They’re all differ-“

“Is anyone rainbow colored?”

“Yes, actually. I have a friend who has a rainbow-colored mane.”

“Does it get all melty when they bathe?”

Twilight furrowed her brow a little. “What?”

“How come you have a tattoo on your butt?”

Rude. “Um, that’s not a tattoo. It’s a cutie mark.”

Sweetie Belle stared blankly, and blinked once.

Right…human. Twilight paused to consider how to describe this to someone with no context of what a cutie mark was, which was in itself a bit alien to her. There was so much to them to be able to explain concisely - or at least, it was for Twilight, who felt at home giving detailed speeches about a subject. “It’s like…it represents me, and what I do. They’re unique to everypony who has one. It’s like-“

“It’s your symbol,” Sweetie interrupted again, helpfully this time.

“Yes- yes, exactly! It’s my special symbol that represents me.”

Sweetie Belle didn’t respond immediately, and when she did, her voice was quieter and sincere. “I really like your symbol.”

Twilight gave the human filly a warm smile. “Thank you. It came to me on one of the most important days of my life, and I wouldn’t be who I am today without it. It means a lot to me.”

Sweetie Belle didn't ask any more questions after that. Twilight slipped into a warm nostalgic haze, too caught up in memories of the past to notice the way Sweetie Belle continued to openly stare at that symbol on her rump. She eventually looked ahead, eyes forward but too lost in thought to watch where she was going.

Meanwhile, Rarity gazed ahead in something of a daze, the slightly wobbly world passing her by as she limped along, leaning against her younger sibling for support. She had been trying to hide it for a while now, but her energy had been expended shortly after they left the house, and Rarity was currently doing all she could just to keep moving and make it to this refugee center. They just had to make it, and everything would be okay. Just a little further.

A silence moved in among the three of them and made itself comfortable.

The road continued on ahead, and the tunnel of woods it went down the center of demonstrated no ill will towards them, nor did it seem to harbor anything that might. The sun left them for the screen of clouds that shifted in front of it, though it stayed long enough to ensure that the distant bend in the road ahead was barely visible. As the right wall of forest thinned and eventually peeled back, it became more clear that the road also went straight, but likewise forked off, splitting just over the edge of a small slope down that snaked its way down a series of shallow cliffs and ridges before going straight into a field, where it ended directly in front of a structure.

The structure was large and colored a dull red, either painted that way or made of brick. It was square and vaguely X-shaped, surrounded on all sides but the front with a parking area that was haphazardly filled with vehicles in various conditions and different sizes, though the largest and most numerous among them were long yellow rectangular vehicles that all present recognized as school busses. A wide area around the lot was dotted with trees and what appeared to be small pools of water, which was itself encapsulated on all sides by a decrepit chain link fence that served only to mark the edges of the plot of land.

The way that it was laid out from this elevated position made it seem as though it was presenting itself to whoever managed to get this far. If that wasn’t indicative of its purpose enough, then there was always the two shapes just barely visible from this distance - humanoid, and walking with a gait that no undead could. The two shaped entered the front of the building and disappeared from sight.

“Is this it?” Twilight asked, feeling her pulse quicken. “Is this the place?”

Rarity had her map out from her own bag, and though she could not speak the words, they were all over her face, which suddenly shone with something that had been lacking before. Energy. Hope.

This was it. It had to be.

“I can’t go with you.”

Two sets of eyes snapped to Twilight immediately. Only one had the voice to express her panic. “What?!”

“I’m not leaving!” Twilight said quickly. “I’d never leave you like this. I’m not going anywhere, it’s just…I don’t know how to explain myself, or like- like, I’m a pony. If humans were just minding their own business and then boom, suddenly pony princess strolls in, somepony is going to freak out, and I don’t want that. There’s been enough scares about zombies and monsters and…whatever is out there. Tension is probably high enough for me to go scaring everyone.”

Rarity was trying to convey something - she waved her arms in a way that indicated ‘no,’ but she was mouthing too quickly for Twilight to follow along.

Twilight raised her own hooves, indicating pause. “Look, I’m going to stick around, but I want this to be as simple for everypony involved as it can be. You guys go ahead and get yourselves settled in there, and then…” She paused uncertainly, trying to think of a next step.

“Do you…” Sweetie Belle looked at her sister’s face, trying to follow along with what was being mouthed. “‘Inter…int-‘ Oh, introduce? Introduce her?”

Rarity smiled and gave a thumbs-up with her hand on her non-splinted arm, waving along for Twilight.

Twilight considered this briefly, then nodded, smiling. “Yeah…yeah, if you two can just tell people I’m here, and um- yeah, that’s perfect. I want to help, but I don’t want to scare anypony.” A beat. “Body. Anybody.” Stupid human phrases…

“Yeah, don’t worry about it at all! We can introduce you to everyone! Cuz you’re not scary at all. You’re pretty and purple! And fuzzy. And really nice!” Sweetie Belle grabbed hold of Rarity and and moved like she wanted to pull her, but instead just kind of raised her arm repeatedly in excitement, not wanting to yank her wounded sibling off her feet. “Rarity, c’mon, let’s go!”

Rarity did not move right away, eyes remaining locked on Twilight. There was a question in them, one dying to be expressed, if only she had the words.

Twilight didn’t know exactly what Rarity wanted to say, so she made a guess. “I’ll be watching. Don’t worry, I’ll find you. I promise.”

It was hard to say whether that was it or not, but it seemed to satisfy enough for a small smile. She opened up one arm invitingly, and Twilight did her best to partake in the hug, though combined with the fact that she only came up to Rarity’s stomach, said stomach had a massive gash in the middle of it, and the side of the arm being used also had injuries beneath the clothes and right under it, it ended up being quite awkward and a bit arm’s length…or, in Twilight’s case, wing’s length. They fumbled with it for a moment, though Rarity was grinning widely about how hard a time they were having. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle as well. Good enough.

Though it pained her a little to remain there at the top of the ridge while the other two followed the road, she knew that this was for the best, and that this would not be the last time she saw either of them. Twilight took a few steps closer to the edge of the cliff and sat on her haunches, overlooking the refugee center and remaining vigilant as her friends made their way to their new home, growing smaller and smaller as they made their way closer and closer.

She didn’t know how long it would take for them to be back. Hopefully not too long, but maybe a little time to herself wouldn’t go amiss. She still had to figure out what she would say to the humans she would inevitably meet who were going to see a pony for the first time. In a way, she was like a representative for all of Equestria, and also all of ponydom, here to forge a relationship with the realms of mankind.

If this were absolutely any other circumstance, even only slightly less dire and desperate, this would an incredibly exciting occasion. As it was, Twilight could only hope that her presence here wouldn’t just make things worse.

The lobby of the refugee center was quiet as ever, save only for the discussion that Applejack was having with the merchant Smokes up at his window. Fluttershy heard only bits and pieces, something about a project and repeated mentions of a car. She could listen in, but she was sure Applejack would let her know the results of it and what it meant when they talked later, if not immediately afterwards. She seemed enthusiastic about it, moreso than Fluttershy had seen her since they finally reached the refugee center. Hopefully it wouldn't end how that enthusiasm did about half an hour later.

Fluttershy let out a small, faint sigh. She sat beside Apple Bloom in one of the corners of the room, who leaned up into her side. It wasn’t quite privacy, but none of the beggars here paid them attention here, and that was close enough. Her hand moved slowly where it rest atop the head of the Apple Bloom tucked beneath her arm, stroking her strawberry-red hair. She never actually explained what was wrong when she'd sought out Fluttershy's company like this. Fluttershy had asked, but she didn't want to talk about it. And that was okay - she told her as much. Just sitting here was okay too. She was always glad for Apple Bloom’s company.

It felt late, and Fluttershy wasn’t sure why. Her mind kept trying to convince her that it had to be getting dark out soon, but when the door opened up and someone stepped in, she saw midday sunlight out there. Strange.

“So um, where do we sign in?” came a young, squeaky voice that cracked midway through.

Fluttershy was spacing out where she cuddled up against the youngest Apple sister. She probably wouldn’t have noticed the newcomers until a little while later, if at all, if Apple Bloom’s head hadn’t kicked as hard as it did against her hand when it shot up. It startled Fluttershy from her daydream. She blinked once and looked at the two figures in the door.

The one that spoke was a young girl, not much older or taller than Apple Bloom, who had an off-white jacket on that had clearly seen better days. She had wide, expressive pale green eyes, and her slightly curly hair was both pink and purple, split down the middle and reminding of certain kids’ yogurts, back when those were a thing that existed. Definitely Canterlotan, just like the other girl with her.

She was helping to hold up an older girl that leaned on her, who appeared to be in pretty rough shape by comparison. Her neck bore horrible bruising all the way around, and there was a splint on her arm made up of a white sheet and a tree branch, and she was very pale-looking. She wore a black hoodie with some blue triangles on it, and for some reason that and the jeans reminded of Rarity. She had long, straight purple hair set in big curls that reminded a lot of Rarity, and a pair of blue eyes the color of the sky that reminded an awful lot of Rarity and was looking at her now in a way that reminded a lot of a very surprised looking Rarity and oh my god.

Fluttershy barely heard herself when she spoke, and for once, it wasn’t because of her volume. “Applejack.”

Applejack paused for a moment from her conversation with Smokes, glancing back at Fluttershy as she leaned on one arm against the counter to the reception window. Her eyes found the same place that Fluttershy’s currently enormous eyes were pointed, and she immediately stood up straight when Rarity met her gaze.

There was a full second of silence.

Sweetie Belle broke it, plus her voice, practically shrieking: “Apple Bloom!”

Apple Bloom was on her feet like a rocket and blasted across the room. She and Sweetie Belle collided in the middle, slamming together with arms knotting themselves around each other as tight as they possibly could. It had been months since either of them had beamed so brightly, and tears glistened in both of their eyes as they laughed.

Applejack and Fluttershy both swiftly made their way across the room, the one and only thing stopping either of them from immediately hugging their friend being the physical condition she was in. Rarity took an uneven step towards the girl closest to her - Applejack in this case, she was already standing when she started coming over - and put her shaking left arm around her shoulder. Applejack, hesitating at first, put her own arms around Rarity in turn, locking her in an embracing yet very physically light hug. Fluttershy was close behind, joining in on the embrace that filled the refugee center’s doorway. There weren’t words, just joyous reunion.

Apple Bloom’s eyes were so full of tears she could barely see straight. “Holy HECK Sweetie Belle, it’s been ages!” She was blubbering as she spoke, and she did not care. She didn’t care who saw her crying. “I thought you was a goner fer sure! I been so scared I was never gonna see you again! Where the heck’ve y’all been?!”

Sweetie Belle grinned so wide it threatened a split her face in half, her own face painted with long wet streaks all the way down to her chin. “We’ve been all over the place! Traveling lots- there’s been zombies, and monsters, and, and, and- OH, Apple Bloom, I gotta show you the other friend we found!”

”More?! There’s more?! Who else ya got with ya?!”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and as she spoke, her tearful eyes practically glowed with how much they glittered and shone: “We met an angel, Apple Bloom. An angel named Twilight Sparkle.”