Chapter Nine – Aftermath

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Applejack

The orange farm pony wasn't sure what to do.

She was standing in the middle of a field of ash, contemplating the events of the previous night. It had been brutal. Beyond brutal, even.

Most of the bodies had been cleared away, sans changelings of course. Nopony wanted to touch them, even if they were charred crisps of the monsters they once were. The lush grass had been singed black and the ground was scorched.

"He sure did a lotta damage," she mumbled, kicking a forlorn rock back and forth between her hooves.

Part of her knew she should be happy. They had just survived a surprise attack and come out victorious after all. But she couldn't be for a number of reasons, primarily her friends.

"What happened ta us?" Applejack asked the rock as she knocked over to the side again. "Ah mean, Rainbow 'nd Rarity are practically at eachother's throats. Fluttershy's been actin' all shifty and lyin' to us, and Twilight… well, she's barely talkin' ta me anymore."

She kicked the rock slightly to hard and it flew out of her reach, hitting a changeling corpse in the head.

"This stupid war's makin' us drift apart," she lamented. Turning to leave the depressing fields, AJ looked at what remained of the camp.

The remaining couple hundred soldiers were gloomily digging more graves for their fallen comrades. The tents that had survived were being packed up. Everpony was preparing to move on to the Crystal Empire. Applejack hoped it would be their last stop. But with so few guards, they would undoubtedly need the Elements of Harmony to have a hope of winning.

Assuming of course that the Elements would even work given the current state of everypony's friendship.

Applejack began walking drolly back to the camp with that thought weighing on her mind. If the Elements failed them then even having Princess Luna on their side wouldn't be enough.

I've got ta try ta patch up our friendship before we get ta the Empire. She decided.

Her gloomy walk turned into a trot as she arrived at the camp. She immediately began searching for her friends. She found Rarity first.

"Hey, Rare," she called out. The white unicorn was in the midst of wrapping up her tent and folding it as neatly as physically possible.

"Oh," she replied. "Hello Applejack, what can I do for you?"

"Ah need ya ta apologize ta Rainbow Dash," AJ told her.

"Excuse me?" Rarity asked, her voice filling with mirth. "I have absolutely nothing to apologize for."

"You two have bin nothin' but rotten towards each other fer days now," Applejack pointed out. "Besides, if the two of ya don't make-up then the Elements-"

"I went to see Frostburn," Rarity cut her off. "I tried to get into the medical tent to make sure he was all right, but I wasn't able to. Rainbow Dash" – she practically spat out the name – "stopped me at the entrance. She looked me dead in the eye and told me to get lost." She gritted her teeth. "And before I could say anything else, that insufferable pegasus had the gall to tell me to shove a cactus up an unmentionable part of my body."

Applejack was silent for a moment. "Look," she said. "Ah get that yer feelings fer Frostburn have bin drivin' a wedge in between ya, but you should still apologize."

"Apologize for what?" Rarity screamed in frustration. "When Rainbow was upset about Frostburn running away, I was the one who comforted her despite the fact that I felt just as bad. When we got into a fight at Canterlot, I was the one who reached out and made amends first. When that blowhard Swift Sword forced us to work together, I at least tried to make it easier on Dash while she refused to meet my gaze. So tell me, Applejack, what exactly should I apologize for?"

The farmpony didn't know how to respond to that.

"Unless you mean I should apologize for having feelings toward him," Rarity continued. Her horn ignited and one of her bags opened up. A familiar cloak floated out and she immediately latched onto it. Pulling it close to her body, a tear ran down her cheek. "Because I can't do that, Applejack."

"… Ah'm sorry Rarity," AJ finally managed. "But our friendship can't survive if this keeps up. And if our friendship don't survive, then what hope do we have to use the Elements?" Her tone softened. "One of ya is going ta have ta be the bigger mare and fix this, and let's face it, it won't be Dash."

Rarity was silent for a moment. "I'll try,"

"Thank you," Applejack responded. "By the way, do you know where I might find Fluttershy?"

"Anywhere Smoking Dagger is," Rarity replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Excuse me?" she replied. That was new. "Why is she anywhere near 'im? If Ah remember right he was a might rude."

"I don't for the life of me know," Rarity admitted.

Applejack waved goodbye and trotted out to find the rest of their friends. It was a confusing mess to fix, but she knew she had to try.

---

Spike

"Hang on guys," Spike urged. He got a grunt and a wheeze as a response.

It had been pure luck that he had stumbled upon the resting area of Princess Cadence, and it was even luckier that Shining Armor was alive and nearby as well.

They were both bruised and battered, but miraculously breathing. After an overjoyed reunion, Spike mentioned there was help not too far from here, and that sent everypony into a walking mood.

Now he, Cadence, Shining, and another pony by the name of Swift Sword were approaching the edge of the Gemstone forest.

It wasn't going well though. With Shining barely able to walk and Cadence all but incapacitated, any progress they made was minimal. Spike had tried to keep moral up or at the very least lighten the mood with some conversation, but it seemed that every time he opened his mouth a series of angry grunts from Swift Sword cut him off.

He wasn't entirely sure how to size up Swift Sword. The brown stallion was the least injured out of the three ponies he had found, but by far the biggest stick in the mud. Though considering what they had been through, and the fact that Swift Sword was carrying Cadence on his back and acting as a crutch for Shining Armor, Spike could understand his stick-in-the-mud mentality.

The young dragon glanced over at the other two ponies, whom he was especially worried about. Shining and Cadence were Twilight's family, and by extension his own.

Even though he was trying to hide it, Shining was hurt badly. One of his hind legs had a horribly deep gash on it. Spike assumed that puss had leaked out as well as blood, but it was discolored that he couldn't tell. It was definitely infected though.

Cadence was even worse. From what he could gather, several of her ribs were crushed, and one of them punctured a lung in the process. She had various other cuts along her body, one on her hips that appeared to be infected with gangrene.

Calling her situation bad was the understatement of the year.

The edge of the forest was at least within view now

"There it is guys!" Spike called out. "Hurry we're almost there."

"Awesome," Shining Armor wearily replied.

"Thanks, Spike," Princess Cadence croaked out. "Y… you... are…"

"Save your breath Princess," Spike pleaded. Though it would be nice to receive a compliment, now was certainly not the time for it.

They exited the forest slowly, only to find a much more daunting task ahead of them. The five hundred yards to the campsite.

"Oh dang," Shining said lowly.

"Don't worry guys," Spike told them. "I'll go and get help, you just wait right here."

"Please hurry…" Cadence whispered hoarsely.

He nodded, then took off running.

---

Pinkie Pie

Frostburn was asleep. There were several bandages wrapped around his neck, tightly. They were wet and sticky with his blood, and had already been changed multiple times. Luckily the bleeding had stopped, which was good because the doctors had many other patients that needed tending to. Many burned patients.

Rainbow Dash was asleep. There were several dark circles rimmed below her eyes. She had been up for twenty-three hours doing everything from digging graves to fighting in a war, but refused to rest until she knew Frostburn was okay. She still passed out after a few minutes anyways.

That left just Pinkie, awake and alert, waiting for her friends to wake up. They had been in the med tent for almost an hour now with no change. There was only the constant low drone of the military doctors hard at work.

There was an attempted change. Rarity had shown up, but Dash had chased her off. Pinkie knew it was rude, but she didn't try to stop the cyan pegasus. Nopony could stop Dash when she was being so protective. Frostburn wheezed slightly.

Her blue eyes were staring directly at her closed eyelids, patiently staring. A mere second ago her knees involuntarily wiggled along with a shiver that ran down her spine. He was going to wake up soon.

The pegasus next to her shifted in her sleep and mumbled something incoherently. Despite how much rest she needed, Dash was unconsciously being stubborn and sleeping very, very lightly.

The corner of her eye caught different movement, and Frostburn became awake. His bronze eyes sluggishly opened, and he blinked with the surprise of being face to face with Pinkie.

"Hi, Frosty," she whispered with some cheerfulness.

"Hey, Pinkie," he croak-whispered back. "My neck hurts."

"I'm not surprised," she replied. "A changeling took a big bite out of you, as if you were a huge slice of cake." She laughed slightly at the thought.

Turning his head, and wincing at the inevitable pain it caused, Frostburn saw Rainbow Dash to his side. He fought against the blankets on his cot and moved his hoof out.

One of Dash's hooves was limply hanging right off her lap. He took it in his own. The action didn't surprise Pinkie in the slightest. Her special sense knew what was up… though lately it was being finicky between Rainbow and Rarity.

"How is everypony doing?" he asked, squeezing Dash's hoof. "How's Rarity? How's–?"

"We're all okay, Frosty," Pinkie told him. He relaxed slightly. "Except for maybe a few dozen guards."

"What?" he choked out.

"Lets just say you were more Burny than Frosty last night." Pinkie Pie finally stopped trying to smile and let the full sadness of the scenario sink in to the both of them. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," he said, gripping Dash's hoof. "It's mine."

"Not all of it," she said. "You were only trying to help."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," he remarked with monotone.

…

"That's dark, Frosty," she said with some concern.

"It's the truth," he replied. "You know I used to keep track of the faces of all the ponies I… you know… I thought that maybe if I could remember what they looked like, then I would always feel the guilt. And if I always felt the guilt, then I was still a pony, and not some kind of monster." Frostburn shifted, sitting up now. "But after this… that faceless mass of soldiers and changelings? What if I stop caring, Pinkie?"

Her eyes darted to his hoof, tightly clutching Rainbow's in an embrace that would be hard to separate. "I don't think you will."

Frostburn forced a smile. "Thank you," he whispered. His hind legs began moving more beneath his blankets.

"Shouldn't you sleep?" Pinkie asked. "You're so tired, Frosty."

"I'll be fine," he said, standing. "But please let Rainbow sleep some more. She needs it."

"Okay," Pinkie said slowly. It was clear to her that Frostburn wasn't planning on staying in the medical tent. She drifted toward the exit, prepared to block him if necessary. He noticed.

"You know I have to go. I have to get it under control," he murmured. "My powers are too unstable even for war."

"Come on Frosty, we can work this out. You don't have to run off anymore. You have friends now."

"I do," Frostburn replied, stepping closer. "But you guys can't help me with this."

"We could try."

"And if you fail?"

Pinkie bit her lip. "What if Rainbow wakes up while you're gone? She'll be devastated to know you left again."

"I'll be back," Frostburn promised. "The second I get my powers under control, I will be back. And I'll end this damnable war and then there will be no more death."

Pinkie blinked. She knew he was serious, but she also couldn't understand his decision.

"But even if we can't help you, how will you get your power under control?"

"There are ways," he said vaguely. "I'll figure it out."

"You're being too secretive, Frosty. Friends shouldn't be like that." She got up in his face, staring him down and clearly making him uncomfortable. "I'm going to throw you the biggest party ever when we get back, and you'll drink so much punch, and bob for so many apples that you'll feel guilty and then you'll have to tell me that secret."

He smiled genuinely. "I look forward to it, Pinkie." Sidestepping her quickly, he rushed for the tent flap. "Goodbye!" he called out.

"Bye," she whispered, her hair deflating noticeably at the realization that she may have just lost her friend.

---

Hello again. My, it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I'm sorry for the wait. I'm also sorry for the bad news I have to deliver.

Frostburn 2 is on hiatus.

It was a difficult decision to make to say the least. If you read Shattered Glass, then you already know what the plan is, but if you don't, I'll reiterate for you. For likely months at a time this story will not be updated. This is because I have a lot of stuff to work on besides it, and these projects have really taken hold. During these month long breaks, I will try to write at least two chapters or more of this story, and then release them for you around the same time. Hopefully you'll hate me a little less for that.

As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a review. I always like hearing praise, but if you have and criticisms and suggestions, I am willing to listen.

In Bronyhood,

Fire Gazer the Alchemist.