Songs of Thunder

If there was one thing Twilight Sparkle hated, it was being unable to understand something. And try as she might, the bookish unicorn could make neither head nor tail of the cryptic message sent to her by Princess Celestia, and it aggravated her to no end. It refused to go into any further detail than to urge Twilight and her friends to hurry south to Appleloosa, and there to seek out Applejack’s cousin, Braeburn. Despite every contrived effort to pore over the wording of the letter and discover some hidden meaning, Twilight’s efforts were repeatedly frustrated by the simple fact that no such meaning existed. Twilight loved her mentor to pieces, but the princess could just be so inscrutable sometimes.

Regardless of her reservations, Twilight had rounded up the other Element Bearers and Spike, her six closest friends, and they had made haste to the train station for the long ride into Equestria’s southern borderlands. The lavender pony huffed quietly, stowing the letter back into her book pouch. If nothing else, she consoled herself, occupying herself with imagined secrets hidden in the princess’ summons had passed most of the long train ride by quickly. The plains and forests of Equestria had given way to the sparse scrubland of the western frontier. They couldn’t be far from Appleloosa now.

Twilight took a moment to glance around the train car which she and her friends had chosen to occupy for the duration of the journey, wondering how the remaining five bearers of the Elements of Harmony had been passing the time. Down by the far end, an excited Pinkie was chattering about something or another to a less-than-enthusiastic looking Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Fluttershy were glimpsing out the window, taking turns pointing out the scenery to one another, voices quiet so as not to awake Spike, who snoozed nearby. As Twilight’s eyes fell upon Applejack, she felt a slight, guilty twinge at the corner of her mouth for the obviously concerned expression her friend was sending in her direction. She hoped she hadn’t worried Applejack too much by her huffing, muttering, and glaring at the letter… well, almost as much as she hoped Applejack wasn’t going to head on over towards her to ask about Twilight’s strange behavior. It would be terribly awkward to have to explain herself to her friend.

Predictably, of course, the librarian’s hopes were ignored by fate, and the farm pony came trotting over.

“Twi,” Applejack began worriedly, “what’s eatin’ ya? Ya haven’t done anythin’ but try ta burn a hole through that letter with yer eyes since we got on the train.”

Twilight peered out the window, scuffing her hoof on the floor anxiously. Much as she cared for her worker pony friend, she felt rather cornered by Applejack’s questioning. After a moment’s silence, she reluctantly responded. “I was just… examining the typography. The Princess is using a different font for the header on her stationary lately.” Twilight put on her most unconvincing grin.

The deadpan stare she received in return for the brazen lie spoke volumes about just how much stock the Element of Honesty put in Twilight’s reply. The unicorn fidgeted, her attempts to wave off Applejack’s concerns foiled, and told the truth. “… Oh, fine… It’s the letter, Applejack. Doesn’t it seem strange that Princess Celestia would just send us off across the continent without any explanation why?” Twilight magicked the letter back out of her satchel, wiggling it in the air for emphasis.

Applejack arched a brow, following the erratic motion of the letter in Twilight’s magic with her eyes. “Ah reckon so. But Ah’m sure the Princess has her reasons for not tellin’ us everything. Don’t ya think yer overreactin’ a bit?”

“Overreacting?!” Twilight cried out, scandalized, drawing the stares of the rest of her friends. Spike snored slightly more loudly for a moment. Twilight felt her face heat bright red in embarrassment as it sunk in just how silly she was being. “… O-okay, maybe you’re right.” She sighed quietly, and her friends returned to what they had been doing after a few awkward moments’ silence. “But what possible reason could the Princess have for not telling us? It all seems very odd.”

Applejack, for her part, offered a shrug. “Can’t say Ah know. But she said to talk to my cousin once we get there.” Applejack glanced out the window, eyeing the landscape as it passed by. “Braeburn will know what’s goin’ on, Ah bet.”

Twilight looked skeptical. If her general impression from their last visit was any sort of indication, Braeburn probably didn’t even know what was going on inside his own head half the time, let alone with whatever problems had arisen in the plains around Appleloosa..

Applejack seemed to notice the look on Twilight’s face, and rolled her eyes. “Ah know what yer thinkin’. He ain’t as thick as ya probably think he is.”

The purple unicorn stammered, worried she had offended her friend by unintentionally insulting a family member. “A-Applejack, I didn’t mean-“

The cowpony waved a hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry about it Twi’.” She tilted her head, one ear pointing further upward than the other as she detected some sound. “The train’s stoppin’.” The other ponies all looked around as well, conversations ending. Spike awoke from his slumber, stretching his arms and showing off his fangs with an enormous yawn. Outside the windows, blurs took the more recognizable forms of yucca trees and cacti as the train began to slow down. All six ponies, and the young dragon, crowded to one side as Appleloosa came into view. The town had grown by leaps and bounds since the group’s last visit, sprawling out over a few more square miles than it had previously. Adobe and wooden buildings alike, some now a few stories high, still maintained the same rustic atmosphere as ever.

Finally, the locomotive ground to a halt at the train station and the seven friends hurried to the door, eager to finally get off the train. Each chattered amongst themselves, eager to see all that had changed in the town over the last few years, with the exception of Twilight and Applejack. “We’ll get it figured out soon, sugarcube,” she assured the librarian as they stepped onto the platform. “Jest enjoy yerself till then, all right?”

“Welcome to AAAAAPPLELOOSA!”

Twilight merely winced.