The Island

Applejack climbed to the top of her barn and looked to the south. She'd been hearing rumbling noises the entire morning and after four hours, enough is enough. She grumbled something about monsters breaking out Tartarus again or some other Celestia blessed or forsaken event that she didn't hear about or forgot. She looked up, over the orchard that made the Apple's livelihood, over the town of Ponyville, over the land beyond.

"Ah don't see...well, ain't that odd. Ah swear those mountains are new." Applejack squinted at the supposed 'mountains' that crested over the horizon. It was odd considering she should just be able to see Appleloosa in the distance, except, now there were mountains. She tilted her head, perhaps she's been working too hard and the light's playing tricks on her. That must be it. She frowned. Ain't nothing playing tricks on her. "Ah better go to Twi's then."

She shimmied down the ladder and went down to Ponyville proper. She explained a little of the predicament to Big Mac as she passed him, making sure he knew about her absence. He just nodded and went back to work like nothing was wrong. To be fair, she had trotted out of work many a time because of some random shenanigans.

She strolled through the now busy streets of Ponyville, deftly bypassing her way through crowds of Friendship students, Ponyvillians, tourists, royal ambassadors, and even dignitaries. Ever since Twilight took to the crown, Ponyville has been swamped. Ain't no surprise there, Applejack mused, but she would like it if it went back to normal, back to the peaceful little town. It wasn't sightly, seeing all these random folk out and about.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and kept her head high. She marched with purpose, only diverting her attention on occasion to say hello with her students or friends. She soon came up to the crystal doors of Twilight's castle. On a normal day, she would be in Canterlot ruling the nation, but today she was visiting little ol' Ponyville for a meeting with some scruffy dignitaries. By Applejack's reckon, the meeting should be over.

"Hey Twi? Can ah talk to ya about somethin'?" She asked, opening the door.

"Of course Applejack!" Twilight teleported into view with an overeager grin. "How can I help?"

"...Twi. Did ya just teleport out of yer meetin'?"

"Whaaaat. No." Twilight gave her best smile. "Okay, fine. Yes. I did. It was booooring, all they talked about paperwork, and you know how much I love paperwork! It was like, they were trying to suck out my soul..." Twilight let the sentence hang for a moment, staring, haunted, into the distance. "Anyhoo, what do you want help with?"

"...right. Well, over yonder, mountains have sprung up. 'Fore Appleloosa too, couldn't see the town from mah roof."

"Mountains?" Twilight perked up. "What do you mean sprung up?"

"Like, they wasn't there yesterday and now they are."

"THat's weird..."

"Ya don't say."

"Well, time to hit the books!" Twilight exclaimed and tried to head straight to her library, but a strong hoof stopped her. "What is it?"

"Why don't ya just, ah dunno, actually go up to the thing? Suppose it actually ain't a mountain?" Applejack asked with a weary smile.

"That's a pretty good point. Alright, time to go on an adventure, you and me! A long trek to these mountains and we'll investigate thoroughly." Twilight nodded confidently, still sporting a very unconvincing smile.

"Twi, it ain't healthy to run away from yer problems."

"I can and I will. I'm the Princess of Equestria!" Twilight snorted, then paused, as if, frightened. "...I promise I'm not shirking my duties, though."

"Ah never doubted ya for a sec, Twi." Applejack tried for a reassuring smile, it seemed to work as Twilight visibly calmed down. "Now, what's got ya in a tizzy? Somethin' 'bout paperwork?"

"Yeaaaah." Twilight sighed. "They want me to read 40 different copies of a single document, they want to see which version is better. The problem is, is that all they've changed is a word, three at most! And they've done this with me for the past five documents, meaning, I've read at least 200 copies that all look the same. Even I have limits, Applejack!" She wailed. "Please! Let me go with you, I don't want to read anymore paperwork!"

Applejack chuckled and hugged Twilight. "Of course, anythin' for a friend. Now, ya said ya wanted to trot?"

"Yep. It'll take my mind off of those annoying stallions."

"Sounds good, yer Highness."

"Oh, stoooop!" Applejack just laughed.

***

"Say, didn't you say that it was just in front of Appleloosa?"

"Yeah. Why? Did ya find anything?"

"Yeaaah." Twilight stopped trotting and looked at her surroundings intently. Applejack stopped too and inspected the mountain. Now that they were closer, there was something weird about them. It was as if...it were moving. "Applejack. I don't think that's a mountain."

"Ah don't think so too."

"We should head back."

"Yes, yes we should."

The two mares took off as fast as they could with the 'mountain' slowly closing in behind them. As they painfully slowly closed in on Ponyville, the dread crept on just as fast. Panic started flaring in their chests and instinctively moved their ligaments faster and faster. It was then did Twilight remember her teleporting spell and quickly flashed, bringing the two friends crashing into the Mayor's building. There were a couple of surprised exclamations.

Applejack popped back up immediately and glanced around her frantically. Too many ponies were here! She nudged Twilight roughly, desperate. "Twi! Twi! Get up! We need to get these folks out!"

"I'm up!" Twilight stood up so fast she fell back onto the ground. She scrambled to her hooves again and looked at the 'mountain' in horror. "I need to contact Celestia and Luna. Applejack, you get everycreature. Gather them...here! Yes, here."

"Ya got it, Twi." Applejack turned and faced the confused crowd while Twilight teleported away. She frowned at the sheer amount of creatures that wasn't here. Ponyville had gotten way too big. "EVERYCREATURE! Find yer friends, yer colleagues, yer neighbours, everycreature and bring em here. We need everycreature in this square, Princess Twilight has somethin' to say. And quickly!"

After that speech, Applejack took off. She bounded through the streets, calling out to creatures of all sizes to meet at the square. Pinkie Pie was the first one she found, and thank Celestia it was Pinkie. Applejack needn't explain, Pinkie simply saluted and zoomed off. Applejack continued.

Rainbow Dash was next, then Rarity. Applejack left Fluttershy to Rarity, so she turned and galloped with all her might to Sweet Apple Acres. She burst through the orchard, hollering at the top of her lungs. She gave her thanks to Celestia once again as they all appeared within minutes. She quickly explained that they needed to head over to the Ponyville square. Big Mac nodded and ushered Granny Smith and Apple Bloom down the road. Applejack tipped her stetson in thanks before taking off once again.

By her reckon, it took an hour and a half for the entire population of Ponyville to be gathered in the center. Twilight was already there when Applejack led the last few to the square. She was explaining that everycreature needed to head to Canterlot with haste. Twilight and Starlight were providing teleportation spells for the young, weak, and old. The rest needed to take the Friendship Express or gallop.

The next three hours was a blur. Applejack barely remembered anything, but by the end of it, her muscles were hurting in ways she didn't know could hurt.

"Everypony." Twilight said wearily with a smile. She could barely stand, her horn was even smoking. But everycreature had been evacuated. "Celestia and Luna, as well as a few other leaders and mages, are taking care of the other villages and cities."

The others nodded in appreciation. Spike raised a claw with a concerned look. "Twilight, why did we need to evacuate everybody?"

Twilight grimaced. Fluttershy whimpered and was immediately comforted by Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash growled and was looking around like she was looking for a fight. Starlight was barely awake, collapsed on the ground. Applejack pulled her stetson over her head, not wanting to see her friends.

"A giant wave is coming straight towards us."

There was a shocked silence.

"Right, so what can we do?" Rainbow was the first to pull herself together. She stared determinedly at Twilight. "I mean, there has to be something, right? We can still save the town!"

"No Dash." Applejack trotted over a put a hoof on her shoulder. "There ain't nothin' we can do."

Rainbow attempted to push here away angrily, but failed. "THERE HAS TO BE! We can't just leave Ponyville behind! We can't!"

"Rainbow, dear." Rarity trotted up as well with a pained smile. "Ponyville is a people. And we saved them. We did our best, but there are times when even our best can't move mountains." She put a hoof under Rainbow's chin and lifted her face. "Smile, darling. We are role models, are we not?"

Pinkie bounced forwards with a big grin. "Yeah! Rarity's right! We can just rebuild everything with everycreature anyways, we'll make new memories! And we'll have fun doing it. So smile."

Fluttershy appeared behind them and wrapped them all in a hug. "It's okay to feel sad." She all but whispered.

It was as if a dam was destroyed. Everypony in the room started crying, wailing about the things they'd leave behind, the memories, the good times. They even mentioned the little things, how that wall had that funny looking dent when Tirek rose to power. Or even that flowerpot that had survived all the disasters no matter what.

They had no idea how long they were there for, but it was Starlight Glimmer who broke them out of their misery. "Girls! We need to go!"

Applejack looked up and through her hazy gaze, she saw that the 'mountain' had gotten extremely close. "She's right. We need to git."

"I'm out of magic!" Twilight exclaimed, looking frantic. "What should we do?"

"Twilight. Breathe." Starlight shook her mentor slightly. "I have a plan. At the castle, there's a magic artifact I've been investigating. From what I could gather, it appears it's a portal to Canterlot. There are a few runes that I haven't been able to decipher, but I'm a hundred percent sure that we can go to Canterlot from there."

"You're a lifesaver, Starlight!" Twilight turned around with a triumphant smile. "Everypony, to the castle!"

It was a mad gallop. There was no time for elegance, no time for hesitation. The wave was behind them, the edges had already reached the edge of Ponyville and was slowly lapping up buildings. It was when Applejack was nearing the castle did she hear a soft roar. It was that type of roar you hear near a waterfall but it was ten times louder. It was so loud that it dulled her senses into a constant humming in the back of her head.

Together, they burst through the doors and galloped through the hallways. Starlight crashed through a set, stumbled slightly, and then continued her gallop. There, in the center of the room, lay a fountain of intricate design. She skidded to a halt and Twilight slipped next to her. They held a conversation through some weird magic spell. While they were doing that, it was enough time for the rest of them to catch up.

Alright everypony, we need to go one by one otherwise the fountain short circuits. Starlight's horn was glimmering, her indecipherable words somehow entering their brains. With that, she was the first one to dive in. The water in the fountain barely rippled. Twilight nodded then looked back at them, mouthing something. Rainbow Dash dove in next. And so it went. Fluttershy was next, then Spike, then Pinkie Pie. Rarity had just entered, when the ground shook. Applejack glanced back fearfully and saw down the hall that the water was dangerously close. She wasted no time and grabbed Twilight and threw her in. She waited a few seconds and then dove in after her, the water drenching her tail.

***

Applejack groaned as she pushed herself off the ground. Her head ached mightily as she put a hoof to her forehead. She stumbled around, blind-like, as she tried to get her bearings. The ground beneath her felt grassy, lush, good for planting. There were foliage around as well, bushes, trees. Her ears twitched from the sound of waves. So she was near a shore. Then she froze and listened more carefully. After a moment, she relaxed again, they were calm waves. Ones that lapped softly.

She navigated slowly through the dense foliage without her sight. She wanted to be in a safe environment before she rested properly. It took a moment, but Applejack eventually found a cove of some sort. She laid against the wall and waited for her sight to return all the while straining her ears just in case.

Time passed. Applejack rested. Her thoughts were in turmoil. Starlight had said that the fountain would drop them off in Canterlot, yet this clearly wasn't Canterlot. And what about her friends? Where were they? Also blind and confused? There was one thing of comfort, Applejack decided. It was that the giant wave was gone.

By her count, an hour had passed and her sight was returning. Darkness became smudges, smudges became details, details became an entire picture. Applejack stood up and looked around, thankful that her headache also faded away. The place where she was staying turned out to be a shallow cave. She exited and took in her surroundings. She froze and looked around in despair. The trees suggested that this area was tropical, the water lapping at the beach was a bright turquoise, and there was sea as far as the eye could see.

Applejack shook her head and skirted the edge for a bit, get her bearings. Maybe she's been here before, Las Pegasus or something like that. They've got beaches. The further she went, the more she was convinced she was alone on this island, in the middle of nowhere. Applejack fell to her haunches and looked out.

"Where am ah?"