To Change a Heart, Chapter 2

Chapter 2: “Revelation”


Most ponies don’t spend much time dwelling upon the race of other ponies. In a world where a unicorn can have a pegasus foal with an earth pony, or any such combination, race shrinks to a matter of course.

Still, to have two night ponies, or thestrals, as those whom wish to sound more intelligent than they truly are call them, appear at a formal gathering is something not often seen.

That they were dressed in Luna’s full armor, and appeared in the middle of the day, only added to the bewilderment of those at the party.

“Oh, Celestia,” sighed Applejack, nodding to Twilight, “they’re comin’ this way, aren’t they?”

Twilight’s face scrunched up. “Yup,” she answered. It seemed, she guessed, that her number one assistant had been unable to keep the Crusaders from their antics. Too bad, if it had happened sooner, before dessert was served, she could have tried to talk him out of that.

“Oh, do not come ‘round this way…” Applejack sighed under her breath.

“Yeah, they’re coming this way,” said Twilight. “I guess our tour plan didn’t work out well.”

As Twilight looked up the thestrals, the night guard ponies, found her. As they stood blinking in the sun, attempting to shield their eyes, they stood before her, bowing slightly.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle, Miss Applejack,” spoke one of the guards in a chilling voice. “You’re presence is requested at the palace. There has been an incident.”

Twilight snorted as she and Applejack fell in behind the two thestrals.

“I wonder how long the Crusaders are going to have to wash dishes to fix whatever they broke,” Twilight giggled, looking to Applejack with a roll of her eyes.

“Buckwheat and powdered milk!” cursed Applejack under her breath. “C’mon now, you two, tell a mare what her sister got into… ah’ll have to start thinkin’ ‘bout way o’ repaying whatever got broken.”

The two night guards slowed. They lifted their heads to one another, and then back to the two mares.

“I’m… we’re sorry, Miss Applejack,” replied the other of the two in an ephemeral voice. “We had thought that we’d imparted our meaning.”

“What… well, what do ya’ll mean?” asked the earth pony, her voice dropping as a realization seemed to sweep through her.

“Perhaps… perhaps ‘incident’,” answered the first thestral as he blinked in the sun, “wasn’t the right word. I think that perhaps… yes, ‘accident’, would have better conveyed our meaning.”

Twilight gasped as the color fell out of Applejack.

“There’s… there’s been an accident,” repeated the second thestral.

At once Applejack began to move, parting the night ponies and gaining speed as she began to pelt towards the palace.

Soon she had reached her gallop, the long strides of the earth pony speeding her across the cobblestones.

Behind her the wings of the thestrals came open, and only through flight were they able to keep up with her. Soon Twilight herself was flashing with her magic, leaping forward in wafts of her own aura to try to keep up with her friend.

Applejack was not aware of any of this.

All that she knew, as she pelted on, was that a name was escaping her lips with every exhaled breath. All that she knew as she sped past the ancient channels of water and past imposing towers to the palace beyond was that tears were in her eyes, and a name was falling from her mouth…

… that she was calling for her baby sister, and that her worry was only growing as she thundered across the cobblestones.


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The song leapt from the lips of the princess
And as she lay there with her body against the rock
Her sweet voice carried on the winds
And all of the ponies nearby lifted at the song
Their hearts were filled both with joy at her tone
And the sense of longing that lifted in the words
And hovered did the words and melody above the water

Sweet was the music that rose from the lips of the alicorn
And even the army across the way
With the witch at their lead
Listened as it fell across the river, the woods, and the dale
The words carried on the night air
They flowed forth freely
And past sleeping homes untouched by the war

And yet the words and melody
Had a purpose in their cadence
And of its own accord and on her magic
Did the song seek a set of ears
That belonged to one
That had made her a sweet promise
In apology for his sins against her

In the very moment he heard the voice of the Nightbringer
Did he lift from the his self-imposed tomb
And rejoin the waking word
And with a flash of power, magic, and might
Did he speed across Equestria fair
And down the River Running
To where the voice lifted

Soon he was among them, and his power over them
And the ponies of Luna’s army
Were filled with wonder and fear at once
And many bowed before him
And others whispered Invokes of protection
For as he approached the alicorn
Most there gathered saw for the first time a draconequus


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Applejack sped through the courtyard, her hooves not slowing even as she gained the grand staircase that lead to the apartments of the Younger Sister Sovereign.

The sounds of the fountains barely caught in Twilight’s ears as she watched her friend take the stairs in bounds of two and three steps at a time.

“Which way!?” she heard her call, and as she too made her way up the stairs she saw the deep concern that sat on Applejack’s face as she called to the night guards.

“We are but nigh, Honesty,” answered a voice that lifted around them. “And you should come hither.”

Applejack spun towards a room at the top of the stairs, just beyond the great alabaster doors. Luna’s voice had come from that room, and for the first time since they had been summoned apprehension seated itself across Applejack’s face. Twilight and the guards approached her, and as the unicorn stood with Applejack, Twilight saw the fear in her eyes.

Twilight ran her hoof up and down Applejack’s foreleg, giving her as much reassurance as she could. “A.J.,” Twilight said, resting her head to that of the earth pony, “whatever’s happened… I’m here. We’ll find out together, and I’m here…”

Applejack nodded without looking back to the unicorn. Her breaths were small, and it seemed to Twilight that the earth pony was preparing herself for any number of possibilities.

With Twilight next to her, and the guards following behind, Applejack stepped forward into the room.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Applejack searched the confines of the sitting room. There were little voices nearby, and her head spun in that direction.

The eyes of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo lifted to her from some cushioned pillows nearby, the fillies looking withdrawn and with an air of distress hanging over them.

Her sister was not with them…

Applejack’s voice grew ragged, and her eyes swept the room. They did not have far to go, and very near the fillies a dark form moved, and pinpricks of light soon stood out upon a splendid mane.

“P-Princess?” Applejack spoke, bowing to the Nightbringer before advancing on trembling hooves. “Mah’ sister? Mah, sister, Princess? Please, please tell me that…”

Beyond the princess the familiar eyes of Spike lifted from a pile of cushions, and he looked first to Applejack, and then to Twilight, and then back down to the cushions. Twilight tried to gauge his expression as he looked down at something that lay upon the cushions, resting between himself and the fillies.

As he put his hands over his mouth Twilight sucked in a deep breath.

“Silence your fears, Applejack, you who are Honesty,” spoke the princess in a whispered tone. “Your sister is here. Alas, she has trespassed against a magic, and there is a price to be paid…”

“Applejack?” came a weak voice, lifting with a croak.

“Apple Bloom?” whispered Applejack, her voice drifting out into the room.

The fillies and little boy shifted, looking deeper into the cushions upon which they and the princess had been resting.

There, as Applejack looked on, something unraveled.

Shimmering scales caught in what little light there was in the room, and a tail whipped above the mattresses as something spun about upon the cushions.

As the young creatures stepped back a glint of light caught across reptilian eyes, and they caught Applejack in their stare.

Applejack fell to the floor as the fillies tried to come nearer the… thing, but as it slid down the cushions and upon the floor it seemed to bounce away from them.

Applejack’s mouth hung open as the creature tumbled, fell, and let out a mewling sound that was at once heartbreaking and terrifying.

“A-Ah feel so sick,” whimpered the creature, hidden as it was in the darkness at the base of the pillows. As it spun around on itself Twilight’s hoof came up to her mouth, and she recognized the tone of the voice.

“Hey… hey, don’t try to walk on your rear legs yet. Try to walk on all fours, like a pony would,” Spike called, sliding down the pillows. He lifted the creature, but it soon once more elevated itself, looking him in the eye.

“Or, okay, stand up and lean on me, then, I guess…” he said, motioning for Sweetie and Scootaloo to come help him.

Slowly they helped it forward into the shaft of light that fell from the open doorway.

There they stood with the creature, and it looked up to Applejack as it steadied itself.

“Applejack?” came the voice again.

Applejack rose to her hooves in a single breath. It was a dragon, slightly smaller than Spike… and speaking in the voice of her little sister.

“A-Applejack, it’s me, Apple Bloom,” said the little whelp, wrapping something around her clawed hands before staring to the floor once again.

“Oh, please, ya’ gotta believe me!” the dragon called aloud, spinning to where Applejack had begun to circle. Pain, confusion, and fear lifted from the little whelp in a child’s voice.

Applejack startled and took a step backwards as the creature fell forward onto all fours, seeming to scramble towards her.

It lifted itself again, tears now evident in its eyes. “Please, Sis, ya’ gotta believe me! Ah’m me! Please, Sis…”

It unwrapped its claws, lifting them up to the face of the earth pony.

Applejack gasped. There in its hands stood a familiar red ribbon.

Applejack looked upon the ribbon as it hung limp in the dragon’s claws. Her eyes lifted to the eyes of the whelp, and she looked deep into them as she sat before the creature.

There, in those tearful eyes, reflected the first time that that Applejack’s mother had brought a filly home. In those eyes were the games they had played together, and there were the times that had spent together in the orchards.

Applejack saw in those eyes the little girl whose knees she had bandaged, who she had held close while she explained why mother and father weren’t coming home…

Twilight felt the familiar brush of Spike’s clawed hand against her leg. She looked down as he rested his head against her, and together they awaited Applejack’s next move.

Applejack lifted the ribbon from the trembling hands of the girl with her teeth, placing it in her one hoof while reaching to the dragon with the other. She spun the whelp around, and with that she laid the ribbon gently around its neck.

“It-It’ll be okay, Apple Bloom. It’ll be okay, now, ya’ hear,” she said softly as she tied the ribbon into a bow. “Ah’m sure that the princess and Twilight can… Ah’m right sure they can find some way tah, to set ya’ back to normal.”

The ribbon folded and knotted, becoming the bow once more.  With that Applejack marked the dragon as her little sister. She spun her gently, and laid her head over her, pulling her deeper into her embrace.

Spike, of course, had given her his happy hugs in the past. Still, it felt foreign, the touch of these scales, and the way that the hands pulled beneath her, trying to come closer to her body.

It did not feel like her sister. She couldn’t feel her little sister.

“Oh, Apple Bloom. Oh, Apple Bloom,” began the older Apple, and with that she began to cry. As her little sister whimpered beneath her Applejack simply sat in the darkened room and cried, and cried, and cried…


“Forgive me, Majesty,” Twilight said in confusion, “but isn’t onyx usually black?”

“Indeed, for this was a shade darker than black,” Luna said, nodding over the gorget as it sat upon a stand, “a mere twenty minutes ago…”

Luna’s implication was clear.

The jewel that sat upon the gorget had been black, but now it shone there in the room with an ebony flair, the jewel drained entirely of its color.

“Princess,” Twilight asked in a whisper, “what has happened? I don’t quite get…”

“A promise was kept, Twilight Sparkle,” the Nightbringer said, not bothering to drop her voice, “one upon which I made no oath. Now the magic of that promise has draped across the filly and your summoner, the dragon Spike.”

Twilight’s eyes quickly panned back to where Spike sat with Applejack and the girls. She watched as he handed Apple Bloom off to Sweetie, the children helping their friend adjust to her new form.

Spike had been caught in the magic? What, what could that mean? Was he cursed? Enchanted? Oh, oh no!

Twilight had barely lifted her hooves towards Spike, began to prance to where her little baby dragon stood, before Luna’s powerful words drew her back.

“I pray thee, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “fear not for your charge. His magic, the magic of his kind, has shielded him from any harm. The magic of the jewel was not dark, but it was deep, and it has already used him as it was meant to.”

“Used him?” Twilight gulped.

“Fear not, for I shall explain what I may in a moment. Here,” the princess said with a long sigh, “attend me, Twilight Sparkle. I have not worn this gorget since before most of the cities that you know were even a few houses of thatch and rough timbers…”

Luna’s magic elevated the gorget from the stand, and her magic mixed with Twilight’s as she passed it to the unicorn. Even though Luna was seated, Twilight still had to look up the long, graceful reach of her back and neck, and lift the starlit hair to place the gorget upon her sovereign.

“Come,” said Luna as she stood, her voice seeming a touch weaker. As Twilight followed, she could not help but reflect that the princess, always cold and distant, was that much moreso, as though the gorget around her neck was dragging her down not only with its weight and the memories that accompanied it.

As the unicorn and the alicorn rejoined the group Apple Bloom attempted to seat herself, but in the end had to drop first to all fours, and then upon the cushions.

“Ah’m, heh, ah’m getting’ better at it,” she said, looking upon them all with a blush. “Still a bit queasy, though.”

To everyone’s surprise the princess smiled upon her briefly, but the usual austere expression soon returned to her face.

“Child,” she spoke, “I beg that you should not have long to inhabit that form, as accustomed to it as you may be becoming. Our thoughts now turn to your actual body, for we must recover it before it dies…”

The entire assemblage looked up to her in shock.

“P-Princess,” stammered Applejack, “w-what do ya’ mean? Ain’t… ain’t that her body? She’s, she’s been turned into a dragon, right? And you… yer’ gonna turn her back, ain’t ya’?”

The princess blinked. After a moment she sighed, and placed her hoof upon Apple Bloom.

“What rests here,” she said, “is but your sister’s intellect, mind, spirit, and soul. These were moved here by a spell that was meant to give a gift.”

They all looked upon her with confusion holding court over their perceptions. With another long sigh the princess stood. She continued her explanation as she slowly circled the group, the shimmering sparks of her mane dancing behind her as they turned to watch.

“The jewel t’was but portal,” she began, “one that linked the world of the living… to the one of those who are not yet dead.”

“Zombies?!” arose Spike’s voice in a high pitch of worry. As Luna’s cold countenance fell over him he shrank back down against Twilight, and the unicorn put her foreleg over him.

“Something far more divine, young master Spike” spoke the alicorn. “In the end, what has happened is that she has gained a copy of your body, though feminine in composition, to match her soul. Her real body now awaits the inhabiting of a spirit, and if not inhabited by the break of my sister’s dawn tomorrow, then it shall die…”

There was a silence, the implications of the princess’s statement hanging around the room. Before long there was a single plaintive whine, one that grew louder as Apple Bloom stood, paced back and forth before their eyes, and then fell forward into her sister’s outstretched forelegs.

“Beg yer’ pardon, Princess,” Applejack interrupted, “but… if someone, or somethin’, does scoop up…”

Applejacks caught herself, and reeled a touch at what she was about to say.

“… if whoever it is on that side, takes on up her body, or… or you and Twi can’t find it in time… they what’ll happen to Apple Bloom?”

“The filly then shall have to stay in that form for the rest of her mortal days… the mortal days of a dragon, in fact, as long as they are.” The assembly watched as Luna walked forward, her mane flying out behind her on the moonlight of her hidden charge. With a little motion she drew her hoof across the unhappy form of Apple Bloom, the little dragon looking up to her with a wobble.

“This body, it is not the one that was meant for her at her birth,” Luna said, trying her best to smile to the filly. “Nay, your earth pony magic is lost in this form, and it mixes unwell with the dragon’s magic. Are you still ill? Yes, you will be, I am afraid. I fear that you will only ever be a guest in this house… a ship traversing an ocean with no shore.”

Confusion fell over Apple Bloom’s face, and tears began to form again.

These were washed away, and a feeling of a starlit meadow and the quiet of a summer’s night washed over the little girl. Apple Bloom took an easy breath, and then looked up to realize that the princess had places a small kiss to her cheek.

“Fear not, for I will not have my children put to fear, even though the cost will be great,” Luna said, turning towards the open space of the sitting room. “We must leave at once…”

Twilight stood, forgetting that Spike was resting against her. As he tumbled to the floor she stretched and then ignited her horn, ready to come to the aide of the Younger Sister Sovereign.

“Are you ready to leave, Honesty? Are you prepared for the journey, Applejack?” Luna spoke, the princess not turning back to the group.

Twilight froze in mid-stride. Applejack blinked, looked down to her sister, and then gently rose.

“Me, Ma’am? Ah-Ah course I’ll go, Majesty, but… well, wouldn’t Twilight be better, what with her magic and all?” asked Applejack as she began to trot to where Luna stood, a swirl of magic already enveloping her.

“Nay, for my magic alone is all that is required. We go not to a battle, but to face ancient promises and unhappy truths. He promised me, once, that there was nothing he would not do for me, and that promise I must now call upon,” Luna said as the magic became more visible.

“And besides,” Luna added, her eyes coming alight, “you are her sister… and this will require the blood of a mare.”

Applejacks steps hesitated only slightly at the revelation, but wordlessly she continued right up to the side of the princess.

The magic increased, and soon Applejack felt it all around her.

“My guards,” Luna called, alerting all in the room that the thestrals still stood nearby, their imposing forms somehow forgotten in the conversation. “Inform my sister and her courts as to what is transpiring.”

“Majesty,” asked the icy one, “what would you have us tell her?”

Luna’s magic hung heavy in the room, but at once it cast itself outward, encircling the pair. Twilight gasped as she recognized the spell. It was the very same one that the changeling queen had used on her. This was the color of Luna’s magic though, and the princess certainly seemed more saddened than afraid.

The princess’s head hung in repose as she and Applejack began to sink into the floor, presumably into the chambers of crystal far below.

“Tell her,” Luna finally answered, “that I go to murder someone who loves me.”

With that the duo swept through the marbled floor, and the spell crackled away. As the night guards bowed and departed they left two fillies, two dragons, and a confused mare looking on in wonder and horror at the statement.


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The broken stones of the bridge
Reflected the moonlight
As the draconequus stood among
The army of the Nightbringer
Many where there who looked on in wonder
Among the ponies who bowed to him
For not in their lifetimes had one been seen

“My Lord Chance,” spoke Luna, her eyes lifting to him
“You did come, and I am so happy for it.”
And as she moved to bow to him
He laughed, and as the assembly gasped
He scooped her up and spun her around
And called aloud
“How could I not come at my godchild’s call?”

Luna though seemed unhappy at his touch
And as he placed her on the ground
Something of the joy came out of him
“Tell me, my Luna,” Chance asked
“Why have you called me out of my slumber?
For I have promised you anything
And you know that there is nothing you can not ask of me.”

“Godfather,” she said, “My ponies here
My children, have fought for seven long days
And I thought that I had delivered them to safety
Yet, now across the river, past the bridge I crushed
Prepares the earth mother Draggle
The witch and her army preparing boats
And pontoons for to cross the river.”

“Come the morning,” she implored
“They will come across, and the witch shields them
And my magic cannot break hers, for I am spent
I pray you, godfather, my uncle, and my lord…
My dear Chance whom I have long loved
And who sheltered my sister and me in our childhoods
Please, save my ponies, my children.”

The draconequus placed his hand beside her face
And stared into her eyes
The Nightbringer held his gaze until she no longer could
And a tear ran down her face
“My dear Luna,” spoke Chance
I did not wake after all of these centuries
To bring a tear to the face of one whom I cherish.”

“Tell me, my Moonbeam,” he said with a chuckle
Recalling the small name he called her by
“Is it the knowledge that you are awakening me just to die
Asking me to give my life to save your children
That makes you cry,
Or the memory of the admission that I made to you
The last time we were so close?”

“It is by far the former, my lord” she spoke,
“But it is not my will to lie to you
And the latter as well
That draws my tears
For though I love you, my godfather, my uncle
I still cannot love you
As you love me.”

The draconequus took a sharp breath
And then rose up
And looked across the scene
The power of the witch hung heavily across the waters
And it was equal to his own
And Chance knew that it would cost him all
To save the children of this one he loved

The incarnation of possibility and probability
Was Chance the draconequus, and among his kind
He was not nearly as powerful as Discord or Law
Or many others of his kind who had left the world
Both for good and for ill
But in the world his power had stayed
And now he used it to her gain

Lifted the draconequus a handful of grass
And into it he whispered his magic
Set into motion his power
And it drifted on the wind
And flew away
All of his power of random chances
Wafted through it and over it

The grasses disturbed a buffalo shaman far away
For he felt the magic in them
And so he lifted a signal fire
Which sent that race into a dance upon dusty fields
That lifted high into the sky
And caught around vapor
And became clouds

Those clouds raced on random gusts of wind
And they towered high, massive and grey
With their multitudes
Filling the Equestrian sky
As the magic of Chance shifted the winds his life
He poured into the clouds so that they would break
And with that began a deluge unseen since

The waters came crashing down from the sky
Sending foals scampering to the beds of their parents
For shelter in far away villages
In moments these had become massive waves
That roared down the River Running
Scouring the banks and wiping away great trees
And soon came the calamity upon the two armies

Yet, even as the torrent seemed ready to wash all away
The final drops of magic fell from the draconequus
And together with what magic remained in Luna
The two directed the waves
Upon the army of the witch
And their boats and pontoons
And these were overcome

Draggle’s magic lifted
And as a red arc it seemed to hold
But after a moment it failed her
And as the fiery haired Witch
Flashed herself and her retinue to safety
Her boats were dashed to pieces
And those in them were swept to their deaths

Cheers rose from the army that Luna had saved
And among them the moon shone brightly
And they danced and rejoiced
But soon they stopped
And approached the weeping form
Of their princess
And the dying draconequus she cradled


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Applejack had never really become accustomed to magic. At least, not the visible form that her unicorn friends used so easily.

She was fine with seeing it, and was always glad for the help they offered with it, but she preferred her own earth pony magic. To have noticeable magic move through her, to have it possess her body so visibly and completely, that never really became one of her favorite pastimes.

These were the types of things she had time to ponder as she slid through the stone. As she drifted down she found herself oddly sympathetic to what being basalt felt like, what basalt wanted from its existence, and a sudden interest in basalt related issues.

Almost too soon she felt nothing beneath her, and she went crashing to her hooves.

She felt the magic of Princess Luna passing through her, lifting her back to standing.

“Mighty obliged, Majes… oh, wow, would ya’ look at that…” she said with no small surprise.

Applejack lifted her head to see all of the beautiful crystals that surrounded her, and she could see herself and the princess reflected in their myriad surfaces.

“That there is right pretty, a right pretty thing indeed,” she said as she fell in alongside Luna. As she did she brushed up against the alicorn, attempting to hide the gesture as she attempted to discern if it was the real princess or a reflection that stood there.

“Ah… Twilight told me all ‘bout these here caverns, after the weddin’ and such,” she said, hoping to break the odd look the princess was giving her. “It’s right sad to think that changelin’ knew about this here place, but that ponies seem to have gone an’ forgot about it…”

“That the heretic knew of these chambers disturbs us greatly,” said the princess as they began to walk, Applejack pondering why the princess had chosen that word to describe the changeling queen. She fell in a half step behind her sovereign as Luna completed her thought. “But, it seems, she knew not half of the wonders hidden here.”

As they went the princess became wordless, and her head seemed to droop.

The two walked the shimmering paths until finally turning a corner amid the bejeweled corridors.

There before Applejack rose a great brass cylinder, one that was immense in its diameter… one that rose up both high above her and plunged into the very stone at her hooves.

She was amazed that something so immense could be in a place so deep and forgotten. She studied it as they walked, trying to make heads of tails of it and why it could be there.

She stopped and placed her hoof upon the brass. To her amazement words illuminated at her touch, wafting around in a blue highlights and coming alive with accent marks that she didn’t recognize.

“What in tarnation?” she whispered under her breath, and with that she lifted her hoof once again and placed it upon the words.

At once Applejack’s mind filled with voices. Into her vision came wafting clouds, and she felt herself falling…

“My sister’s designate,” Luna began, lifting Applejack from the brass with her magic, “could not fathom what transpires beyond that brass, in the heart of the mountain, and great is her magic. I suggest you leave it be, Honesty.”

The princess turned away again, and as Applejack’s head swam she followed along, all the more confused.

The two went on silently, and as they did the mining cars and random crystalline structures were replaced with hewn rock and arches. Applejack attempted to take it all in, and wondered what it could all mean.

“Applejack,” came Luna’s voice, as cold and distant as ever, “I would like you to know that I am glad that you are here, as you are Honesty.”

As they came to a particularly large blue crystal, one with a great flat surface set into the living stone of the mountain, the two stopped and looked upon it.

“You alone among all living ponies can testify beyond doubt as to what transpires here this day, and we place our trust in you that you will keep hidden what must be hidden,” Luna said with a great long sigh, “but that you will reveal all in time.”

Luna leaned closer to the earth pony, locking her in her sight.

“When we pass through here, we will still be alive, just lesser. What would be death out here cannot harm you within, but what would be harmless out here, would be death within. I require you to listen to every one of my instructions, no matter if they scare you or not,” she said without emotion. “Do you understand me, Honesty?”

“No,” answered Applejack. “I’m as confused as all get out. I don’t get a lick o’ what’s goin’ on here and I am more than a sight scared…”

Applejack blanched, but then looked back to the alicorn with determination standing out sharply upon her.

“… but I will do whatever you ask of me, Princess, if it’s what’ll set mah’ sister back to herself.”

Luna studied Applejack for a long moment. A small smile went across her ancient face, and with that she lifted her hoof to the smaller pony.

“Come,” she said, “you must take hold of us as we cross through. Fear not. It will pass well, and you need not understand it all. It does not matter. Nothing truly matters…”

Applejack placed her hoof in that of the princess. The gorget upon Luna’s neck came alive, the jewel seeming to bounce in its setting. With that the two walked forward into the smooth surface of the crystal.


Applejack felt as though she had walked through a waterfall and had emerged behind it. As she lifted her hoof from Luna’s she ran her hoof through her mane reflexively, almost anticipating the feeling of water standing upon it.

There was none, and she lifted her head to follow the progress of the alicorn’s hooves.

It was a room, a chamber of some kind. It was stately but sparse, grand yet cold and without charm. It was a parody of a palace… it was as though it was abandoned, yet the lights had never been put out and the fires left burning.

“Luna?”

A male voice lifted from an alcove nearby, and the two ponies spun toward where it had lifted. Luna looked to Applejack, and with a nod the earth pony fell in beside her sovereign.

Together the two walked towards the alcove, and there a tall figure sat with its back to them. Before him a small fire lay in a fireplace that stood framed by windows that looked out over nothing from beyond frayed curtains.

There was a gasp, a wheeze that lifted from where the figure sat, but not from himself.

Applejack waited as her eyes adjusted to the light, and when they finally did surprise fell over her.

It was a draconequus.

Her body tensed, and a part of her leapt into memories of what Discord had done to her, how he had snuck his will into her and shadowed her true self. She bristled at the memory and a hard expression went over her face…

“It is not whom you believe it to be,” whispered Luna, and in a motion she began to walk forward.

Applejack looked up once more, and realizations began to fall around her. This draconequus seemed much smaller than she recalled Discord being and, from behind at least, he seemed to not be made of many different parts like the other she’d seen.

No, if his silhouette didn’t hide much more, then he simply had the head of a horse and the body of a dragon, though covered with a coat of hair.

There were more whispers, and as Applejack walked forward she saw him turn to Luna.

There, in the outline of the fireplace, she saw him wrap his arms around the alicorn gently, and gather her to him.

“Come,” said Luna. “Come closer, Honesty, meet my godfather… meet Lord Chance.”

Applejack blinked a few times. She waited for the creature to lower the princess to the floor once more before trotting forward. Her hooves slowed as she passed around his side, and she removed her hat to look up to him.

The eyes of the draconequus fell over her, and his smile was deep and sincere.

At once Applejack felt the apprehension drop out of her, and she lifted her hoof as he lowered his clawed hand to her, seeming to about to kiss it in the old style of gentle creatures of old.

As he did, though, there was a wheeze, and then a gasp.

Applejack looked down into the lap of the creature, and what she saw there stole out her breath.

There, held close to his body, sat the familiar form of her baby sister. There was a rattling sound, and the body seemed to deflate some more, the ribs showing starkly as the air passed out of it.

Applejack’s hooves went to her mouth, muffling her cry.