Applejack cautiously sipped the coffee in her hooves, testing its temperature. Still too hot. She sat on one of the soft, red cushions, realising how hungry she had become. The delicious smell wafting from the back room wasn’t helping. The phoenix gave her an amused look, cooing softly, as if mocking her. Applejack shot it a glare.

“I suppose you’re findin’ this all sortsa amusing’?”

The bird nodded, cawing in affirmation. Rainbow Dash must have trained it well. In such a flammable room, it was being as well behaved as necessary. Speaking of Rainbow, the infuriating pony hadn’t given her a single nugget of information before returning to the back room with the promise of breakfast. In the meantime, Applejack had resisted the temptation to nose around the letters on the desk, and instead inspected the globe in the corner. Where the continent of Equestria should have been, the majority was a pale brown, which the globe indicated as Disputed Territory. A large blue rectangle in the centre was labelled Nova Equestria. The continent’s east coast, where Applejack remembered staying with her relatives in Manehatten , was shaded green. The globe indicated it as part of the Zebra Kingdom, vast distances from their native lands over the Antlertic Ocean. The west coast was shaded red, covering cities such as Los Pegasus and Vanhoover. The Griffon Empire. But the griffons were a nomadic race, weren’t they?

Rainbow had disturbed her musings, bringing her out the coffee, but once again retreated before answering her guest’s mountain of questions. Applejack had only the phoenix to keep her company until, minutes later, the pegasus emerged, balancing a couple of plates on her hoof, a big smile on her face.

“Okay, so nopony tries any of my cooking aside from myself, so I don’t know if you’ll like this. But I do, so it should be good.”

“Rainbow! Where are we? What happened to Twilight? How did I get here? Why are you-“

“Woah, yeah. I get it. Calm down,” Rainbow sighed, dropping the plates to the table. On each plate was a pile of mashed potatoes, or at least what vaguely looked like it. Applejack could feel her hunger retreating in fear. “I haven’t seen you in so long. I thought you were dead. Just give me a few happy moments before I have to explain all this crap.” She sat down on the cushion opposite. “I only really get to talk to Glen, and he’s-” She stalled, trying to find the politest words. “Not the best conversation partner.”

“Uh huh.” Applejack began picking at her food. Her suspicions were validated when the taste of cardboard met her tongue. Sensing her friend’s expectant eyes on her, she managed another few mouthfuls. “It’s, uh, real nice.”

“Thanks. It’s made with twenty percent real potatoes.” Applejack gagged. The pegasus didn’t notice. “I really like your mane now. It’s so, what’s the word, hip.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at the mocking smile she received from the other side of the table. “Don’t.”

“That country look never suited your cool city personality.”

“Yer askin’ for a hoof to the mouth.” Rainbow broke her act, laughing to herself. Applejack rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t ya just say it was you?”

“Oh, for the look on your face, obviously,” Rainbow answered matter-of-factly. “You should have seen it. You looked like you’d seen a ghost.” She continued laughing quietly. This was going to take all day if the pegasus was going to act like a foal.

Eventually she stopped, and her voice took a more serious tone. “I suppose I should explain what happened to you. Or, at least, what I assume happened to you.”

“Time travel, right?” Applejack had eventually put two and two together. “Twi was practicin’ time magic, and you tell me you haven’t seen me in- How long was it? Three hundred years?”

“Yeah. To the day. I just checked.” She began eating up her own breakfast, unaffected by the taste.

“Then how in Luna’s moon are ya still alive!?”

“It’s… complicated. You’ll need a little history lesson.” Rainbow cleared her throat. Applejack took that a cue to get comfortable. “Uh, after you disappeared, Twilight took it upon herself to get you back, no matter what. The rest of us couldn’t really do much else, so we supported her as well as we could. As time went on, we started,” she waved her hooves, trying to find the words. “Accepting you had gone. Died, I guess. Or at least to us you had. That’s what we ended up telling most people. Twilight, of course, refused to accept that, and shortly after moved to Canterlot. More books and research and whatnot. She’d asked the princesses, but they couldn’t help. Something about not being able to pluck ponies out of time indirectly. They, and Twi’s brother, tried to convince her to stop her frenzied research, but she was having none of it. Her guilt was… substantial.

“Back in Ponyville, things mostly returned to normal. Pinkie Pie carried on as usual. Rarity was less… sociable, but she too dealt with your disappearance. Big Mac took over the farm, as devastated as he was. It didn’t help when Granny Smith died the next year.” Applejack blinked the tears from her eyes. It was the future, it was to be expected. But she still wasn’t prepared to hear it. “Fluttershy helped out a lot, seeing as she had free time. I think it was mostly to give Big Mac and Apple Bloom the emotional support they needed. She and your brother actually ended up marrying. It was a really sweet service. Twilight never attended. As for myself, I spent time-”

“Wait. Hold up there for a sec. Mah brother? Fluttershy?” The two had never even spoken to each other, if Applejack recalled. “They married?”

“Oh yes. They had, like, this really sweet, innocent romance. Ended up having a bunch of kids, too. Continued on the Apple family, seeing as Apple Bloom never had any.”

The realisation hit Applejack fairly hard. “That… that means…”

“Yeah. You’ve met Idared, haven’t you?” Rainbow caught on to Applejack’s line of thought. “She’s your, uh, great great… great… something something niece.”

“You don’t say.” That’s why the filly seemed so familiar. She was actually related to Applejack. Big Mac’s descendent.

“I do. But anyway, as I was saying.” Rainbow seemed eager to continue the story, now that she had the ball rolling. “I was mostly travelling between Ponyville and Canterlot. I mean, somepony had to be there for Twilight to, y’know, be her friend. She spent half the time ignoring me, deep in her books. But maybe if I’d been around more for support, she wouldn’t have…” Rainbow trailed off, disgust creeping into her expression. “But anyway. The past’s in the past. What’s done is done.”

“What has been done?” Applejack prompted, noticing a pause in Rainbow’s explanation.

“Twilight…” Rainbow was having trouble finding her words. “Twilight ended up discovering, completely by accident, a forbidden spell. Not in a book, mind you, but with calculations and all that science stuff. Basically, it was theoretically possible, but it needed more power than Twilight could perform. She was still intent on bringing you back, of course, but she allowed herself this one little distraction. After all, it had been nearly ten years since you’d gone.” Another wave of sadness rolled over Applejack. Twilight had spent that long trying to fix things?

“She spoke to the princesses about this discovery,” her host continued. “But they forbid it. Twilight was furious. She spent the whole night ranting at me. About how the princesses were restraining her experimentation, how they were limiting the uses of magic, how they were missing out on such an opportunity. I tried to calm her down, but-”

“What was the spell?” Applejack interrupted.

“It was…” Rainbow stalled, rubbing her temple with a hoof. She looked exhausted. “It was a lifespan altering spell. It used magic to extend the life of ponies beyond what they naturally where.”

Applejack waited for more explanation, but none came. “So? That’s a good thing, right?”

“No!” The Pegasus slammed the table, shocking the life out of the earth pony. “Well, yes. At the time it seemed like it. I agreed with her initially. But the princesses forbid it, and they must have a reason, right? They never told us why, of course. Could have avoided all this bucking mess if they’d just- just- not been so bucking stubborn!” This last line was shouted.

Rainbow instantly sprung from her cushion and began pacing, her hooves slamming the floor as she walked. “Instead, they left it, and let Twilight wallow in her thoughts. After that night, she told me she needed some time alone. She’d send me a letter when she was okay. ‘Some time’ ended up being three months. When she finally contacted me, I was there as quickly as my wings would let me. But-” Rainbow dropped back onto the cushion, her shoulder facing Applejack.

“Sugercube?”

Rainbow quietly chuckled. “Been a while since I’ve heard that, AJ.” She turned her aged face back to her friend, her voice resolute. “She had changed. She was nothing like the Twilight I knew. She told me her plan. She was determined to perform this spell, and if that meant going behind the princesses’ backs, then so be it. She had convinced herself that they were poor leaders, that she could be a better leader than them, that she deserved to be.” Closing her eyes, Rainbow let out a sigh. “Sparkle was talking about treason. So I did the only thing I could think of. I went to tell the princesses.  They came to confront her, and explained exactly why the spell could never be performed.”

Opening her eyes again, Applejack could truly see the years behind them. “The spell used the natural magic from within the ponies themselves. But each species had a different amount of magic. The effect on earth ponies would be almost unnoticeable. Pegasi would live nearly nine times as long. And unicorns… Unicorns could potentially have lifespans of up to ten thousand years.”

The effects of the spell were obvious now. Such a segregation of the pony races would be created. “So that’s why ya still alive?” Applejack queried, breathlessly.

Rainbow nodded. “Taking in the normal years I lived before the spell was performed, plus the altered years after, I’d be about sixty three in earth pony years. Twilight is still thirty two.”

The question of how old her earth pony friends would have been was left unasked and unanswered. “How did Twilight perform the spell, then?”

“Sparkle, in some shape or form, had gained power beyond any of our understanding. I was there when the princesses confronted her. Their explanation meant nothing to her. It was like her brain was clouded to reason. When she instead threatened them, they asked her to surrender peacefully. No matter how mad she had become, Celestia still wanted to calmly talk with her student. This was breaking her apart. But Sparkle’s response- her response…” Rainbow gritted her teeth, determined to show anger through her grief.

“She turned Celestia to stone, AJ. Just like that. Like she was a damned cockatrice.” Applejack shuddered. It hadn’t been the murder Glen had described, but it was all the more horrifying now that she knew it was her Princess Celestia. “I couldn’t turn away. Luna, doing the smart thing, teleported away. I can’t even begin to imagine what she was thinking. I- I guess I just did the same. Flew out of Canterlot as fast as I could. I had no idea what to do. The only pony I could talk to about this was gone.” She gave Applejack a grim look. The earth pony, at a loss of words, weakly returned the stare.

“Things escalated after that,” Rainbow continued after a moment. “The official story was released, about how Luna slayed Celestia, Sparkle avenged her, and so on. With Luna missing, there were no witnesses, seeing as nopony was going to believe me. Sparkle appeared in the papers, now an alicorn, taking the role as princess. Cadence, next in line to the throne, had no objections and refused to speak about it.” She began rattling out the events like a list. “Sparkle performed her spell, extending the lifespan of pegasi and unicorns. Unicorns gained more power and authority. The inequality began. Sparkle fuelled it, claiming ponies will perform well in the roles better suited to their race. I spent the next fifty or so years in and out of prison, all for speaking out against Sparkle’s leadership. The lands around Canterlot and Ponyville begun building up, and industry spiked. Big Mac-” Rainbow catches herself before continuing, and looks away. “Big Mac had a stroke, and died shortly after. Fluttershy, broken with grief and still relatively young, just vanished one night.”

Applejack knew it was coming, but still wasn’t prepared to hear it. Rainbow let it sink in before carrying on. “Pinkie was getting old at this point. She was-” Her voice was failing, but she pushed on. “She was nothing like the Pinkie you knew, especially in the final years. Watching her friends break apart, unable to do anything about it, had taken their toll on her. The last time I ever saw her, I would never have guessed she had once been the element of laughter. She,” Rainbow paused, now looking anywhere but at Applejack. The earth pony herself was struggling to accept what her friend was about to say. “She told me that we had all failed. Not just Sparkle. I shouted at her, demanded to know what she would have done in my place. She just started crying. A pathetic tactic for pity, or so I thought, and I stormed out.

“She died two days later. Alone.”

Silence hung in the air like cobwebs. The warmth of the room had been completely sucked out. Rainbow carefully finished her story, her voice even. “Shortly after, the Griffons invaded. Cloudsdale was turned into the military base it is today. Apple Bloom eventually followed her brother. Most of Equestria fell. Shining Armour was killed in action. Cadence finally challenged Sparkle for the right to rule. From what I’ve heard, Sparkle ripped her apart limb from limb, though that may be an exaggeration. The war ended seventy years ago. And that’s,” Rainbow finished, without a shred of motivation, “where The Resistance begins.”

The breakfast had gone cold by this point. Applejack’s was mostly uneaten, but she couldn’t say she really had the appetite to eat anything anyway. The soft cooing of the phoenix in sleep matched her chocked breathing. She had tried not to cry, but hadn’t done a very good job about it. “That’s… I can’t even imagine…”

“You see why I wanted a moment of happiness with you before launching into this?” Rainbow’s voice was hoarser than it had been at the start. Applejack nodded mutely. Sighing once again, Rainbow got to her hooves, and made her way over to the phoenix. “I’m happy to see you, but at the same time saddened that you have to witness what we’ve become.”

None of it felt real. The different strands of information fought for dominance, none of them getting through. A small section of her brain was even happy. She had worked out the mystery of this place. That was a cause for celebration, wasn’t it?

Her family was dead. Pinkie was dead.

She could repeat it in her mind as much as she liked, but they weren’t being registered as fact. More a collection of words that, when joined together, made no sense at all. Pinkie would burst in the door any moment, shout surprise, and explain it was all a prank.

But no Pinkie came. The only surprise was when Rainbow nudged the bird awake, some birdfeed in her hoof. “You recognise Philomena, right? She fled Canterlot after Celestia was defeated. She’s been following me around ever since. No idea why.” The phoenix finished eating, and rubbed her head affectionately against the outstretched hoof. “Long lives, these birds have.”

“What happened to the rest of y’all? Rarity and Sweetie Belle? Spike? Scootaloo?”

“They’re around,” Rainbow answered enigmatically, giving Philomena a quick stroke before returning to the table. “Well, I actually have no idea where Spike is. Sparkle should know. You should ask her.”

Applejack nodded. “I plan on talkin’ to her. I wanna know what drove her to do this.”

“That was sarcasm, AJ.” Rainbow waved away the issue, then realised how serious Applejack had been. “No, really. You can’t talk to her. She’s insane. She did what she did because she’s an insane psychopath. And good luck getting close enough to her for a decent conversation.”

“So what? I sit around gettin’ used to mah new life here?” Rainbow may have explained to herself why things had turned out this way, but it wasn’t good enough for Applejack. As the element of honesty, she wanted the whole truth. “Too bad. It ain’t gonna happen.”

“Fine. I get it. There is something you can do for now, to help us. To help me, actually.” She picked up one of letters on the table, giving it a quick read over. “There’s a pony I’d like you to meet with. She used to be an agent of ours before we had a… disagreement a few years back. Any attempt to convince her to return has been met with rejection.” She slipped the letter into a draw, and turned her attention back to Applejack. “She’s invaluable to us, so we need her back no matter what.”

“If ya’ll have so much trouble convincin’ her, what makes ya think I’d be any better?”

“You’re a new face. Somepony she hasn’t seen here before. It may make her more inclined to listen to you.” Rainbow made her way round the table. “Glen’ll show you where she lives. I can’t leave this base, for obvious reasons.”

“Yer puttin’ me to work mighty quickly.” It felt right though, if it was Rainbow asking. A pony she could finally trust.

“Hey. This is you. Working’s where you shine. Besides, it wouldn’t be right having the strongest pony I know sitting around on her flank, taking up space.” There was a chillingly nostalgic quality to her words, and before Applejack new it, she was pulled in for a hug. “Celestia, I missed you, AJ.”

“Woah there, sugercube. I missed you too.” She returned the hug, realising how much weaker Rainbow’s forelegs had become.

“Not quite been as long for you.” Rainbow pulled back, her eyes tearing up, a weak attempt at a smile back on her face. “Seriously, three hundred years without a decent rival was pretty lame.”

“Girl, you gone soft with age.” At that, Rainbow gave her a light punch.

“Hah. Don’t start.” She turned to the door, her voice turning sombre. “If only you knew.”

~~~~~~~~

Handing Applejack back to Glen like she was the new puppy, Rainbow returned to her room. Glen, it seemed, had been waiting outside the door the whole time. He led her back through the base, out Whisky and Radios, and through the streets of The Mile. They looked a whole lot cheerier in the daylight. With the weaker smog, Applejack could clearly see Cloudsdale above her. From below it was hard to make out, but it seemed the open plan architecture had been replaced by walls and towers. Black dots swarmed around it like wasps. Just what Applejack needed, another thing to keep her awake at night.

Passing through the narrow alleyways, Glen led her to a wide avenue, filled with the pony carriages Applejack was used to. No fancy floating, just ponies pulling other ponies. While they could use a drop of paint, she admitted that their drab colours fitted in to the background. Armed pegasi, once again, watched silently from the side. Not one of them looked twice at Applejack, or so she assumed by their head movements. The disguise was working so far.

The conversation between the two of them was non-existent. Glen was presumably comfortable with the silence. Applejack had decided the best thing to do was avoid thinking about the difficult topics. It was the coward’s way out, but right now she felt justified. Instead, her mind was on her immediate future. Helping Rainbow for now was fine, but she needed to speak to Twilight. If what Rainbow had said was right, there was a way for her to return home.

They reached the end of the road after a good half hour of walking, mostly uphill, at a wall. An open gate, surrounded by pegasi, allowed passage through. Glen stopped her, finally breaking the silence. “The Mile began in a lake, drained by The Chancellor to build her city. You can get a pretty good idea of its size from up here.”

He indicated for her to turn around. The view that met her when she did so blew her mind. Stretching for miles, the rows and rows of shanty houses curved down into the bowl, before snaking upwards and continuing on. From this position, the left and far edges were closed in by huge, imposing walls, dotted with watchtowers and coated with barbed wire. At the right edge, behind a smaller wall like the one they had walked to, large black chimneys rose into the sky, spewing inky smoke into the air.

“That’s the Blueblood Industrial Park, where most earth ponies work their lives away. Named after some unicorn Member of Parliament, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before you’d ever see a unicorn actually enter those walls. I used to work there myself, before I woke up and joined The Resistance.” He shook his head sadly. “We technically don’t own the land, but we get all our fuel from outside the city. Government approved maps show the land belonging to us, of course. There’s a huge natural gas field a few miles east of here that we pump exclusively. To the west there are various coal mines, both owned by griffons and ponies, resulting in all kinds of tension and accidents. The Chancellor’s somewhat desperate to find new oil, after we depleted our nearby well to th-”

“I have no idea what yer goin’ on ‘bout.” She had lost the gist of the explanation shortly after the mention of ‘fuel’. “Idared told me y’all ain’t allowed out the city.”

“There are exceptions, of course.” He swiftly changed the conversation by pointing at a point on the nearer slope of The Mile. It seemed only a stone’s throw away. “That’s our base, where we just walked from. Gives you a pretty good idea of the scale of things. And I’m sure you’ll recognise,” he directed his hoof to his right, at the mountain looming over the city, “Canterlot.”

Applejack certainly did. The castle hung from the side of the mountain like it always did. But surrounding it, also clinging to the side of the mountain, were a large number of glass buildings. They covered the mountain like mould, dotted over its surface all the way to the base, just out of sight. “Yeah, Canterlot,” Applejack mumbled, unable to recollect how it had looked in her time.

“You okay, lass?” Applejack pulled her gaze from the mountain to Glen, who was looking at her with concerned eyes. “You seem a little out of it. Firefly too much for you?”

“No, no. She, uh, The Commander was jus’ fine.” She pressed her face into her hoof, trying to will a positive expression to her face. “Just a lot on mah mind, y’know?”

“I understand.” He patted her on the back. “Just take it easy today.” That was easy for him to say. He wasn’t meeting some mystery mare, and convincing her to return to an organisation she had left. Rainbow hadn’t even explained why she’d defected. People in the future were far too tight lipped for Applejack’s liking.

The two of them passed through the gate with ease. They were checked for possessions by the pegasi, but neither pony had even a scrap on them. Applejack had left her gift from her encounter the previous night in her bed, forgotten in the rush of the morning. While regretting leaving behind what could possibly be a useful tool, she was thankful she hadn’t given the guards a chance to repossess her of it. Eventually they were approved. Their pegasi hosts, satisfied they weren’t smuggling illicit items through the city, forcibly hurried them through the gates without so much as a second glance at Applejack.

Glen began giving her the walking tour of the city. The next district they passed through, The Central Emponium, looked like an infinitely massive version of Ponyville market. Outdoor stalls lined small brick houses, earth ponies flogging everything from fruits and vegetables, to bags and hats, to all sorts of trinkets Applejack had never seen before. The crowds barely parted to allow the huge stallion to pass, and Applejack felt herself pressed against far more ponies than was comfortable. The commotion of voices almost drowned out Glen’s geography lesson, and the younger pony only managed to pick up half of it. Apparently, stretching from the walls of The Mile all the way to Ponyville, The Central Emponium showcased the entire range of goods Nova Equestria had to offer. If you needed to buy something, this was the place to get it. Relations between the three races here remained mostly civil, as long as earth ponies understood that when a unicorn was browsing their wares, they were expecting a discount. It was an unspoken rule. The expression on Glen’s face said everything you needed to know about his opinion of this.

Cutting left, they left The Central Emponium before Applejack could see the full spectrum of wealth.  Another gate, another search. This new district held an entirely different atmosphere than the previous. While relatively lacking in pony life at the moment, Applejack was told that changed dramatically in the evening. Tower blocks pressed against each other as tight as possible, and neon lights hung in their hundreds, a direct contrast to the tinted glass hiding the building’s interiors. Signs advertising restaurants, bars, clubs, theatres, and everything in-between vied for Applejack’s attention. With the overload of words and pictures, she decided the floor was a better place to keep her eyes. Riverside, as Glen explained, was the city’s entertainment district. Where unicorns spent obnoxious amounts of money for cheap thrills, and earth ponies wasted what little they had for exactly the same. Disputes between the races, with the abundance of alcohol that flowed in these streets, were vastly less courteous than the rest of the city. Applejack didn’t see herself spending many a night here.

The reason for the district’s name became apparent when they reached a river. Or what had once been a river. Now it looked more like a slow moving swamp, rubbish bobbing up and down in brown water. The banks were ugly concrete walls, supporting promenades that the two ponies walked, benches dotted about for citizens to enjoy the pleasant view. It took her a few moments to realise this was the river that lead from Canterlot through Ponyville.

The other bank, however, made up for the state of the river. Behind the houses that lined the shore stood grand buildings and monuments, all with a Cloudsdale style of architecture. Applejack received a better view when they reached a bridge, crossed through another checkpoint, and stepped into the wide decorative streets. The buildings were huge, replacing the darker metal of Riverside with the bright colours of marble and limestone. Fancy names disguised the true nature of the structures, as Glen pointed out what were libraries, museums and research institutions. Over the tops of the buildings, an enormous marvel of architecture could be seen.

“Grand Ponyville Station,” Applejack’s guide noted. “The largest building in this district, Platea Academia. It’s the main transportation hub in and out of the city, and the only one for griffon and zebra tourists. You can probably understand why this section of the city is so impressive. Appearance is important for a dictatorship. Almost all these houses are bed and breakfasts, or student living for unicorns. Speaking of,” he veered her off down a large side road. “Our destination is The University of Equestria.”

Applejack felt eyes on her as they travelled. Earth ponies were evidently not a common sight here. They had been allowed in though, so their presence must be lawful. However, her attention was grabbed as soon as they reached their destination. An impressive domed building stood before her, with two wings stretching out each side. Sunlight glinted off the jade roof, and birds gathered in the shrubbery that lined the lawn. Huge, ornate, wooden doors stood open at the front, where unicorns around Applejack’s age were milling in and out the building.

“Here we are.” Glen was also looked uncomfortable at this point. His gaze shifted around, trying to catch an invisible fly. “I’ll be leaving you to it then.”

“The pony I’m meetin’ works here?” This was feeling a little out of Applejack’s league. Was this contact supposed to be some professor?

“Aye. She’s the head lecturer on history.” Glen answered her spoken question as well as her unspoken one. “Also known as the study of lies the government wants you to believe.” Seeing the nervous look on her face, he sighed and ruffled her mane. “You’ll be fine, trust me. She’s a bit in your face, but a sweetheart really. I’ll be glad to see her return, assuming she will. Just go in and talk to the receptionist. Say you’re speaking on behalf of a fellow professor. Any name will do, receptionists have no idea. Ask for Doctor Rarity.”

“Got it,” Applejack mumbled. But had she really? Nopony had said acting was to be involved. Lying to the receptionist wasn’t going to be easy, and without a trial run she wasn’t c-

Hold on.

Applejack spun on the spot, eyes wide. “Who’m I askin’ for!?”

Glen was gone. Swallowed up by the throng of students. Son of a pear farmer!

~~~~~~~~

Applejack was shaking slightly as she approached Rarity’s building. She’s almost failed completely at the reception. The unicorn behind the desk already suspected her due to her race, and the story she made up on the spot was worse than the stories she had told Pinkie on her birthday. No, don’t think about Pinkie.

She was here on behalf of Professor Desklamp, and needed to speak to Dr Rarity about the paper the professor was writing on the history of old buildings. How she had been let inside was anypony’s guess. The receptionist had pointed her through the expansive lobby, into the courtyard, filled with all its beautiful flowers and sparkling fountains, to the staff housing. A collection of small cottages, all within sight of the university building, had been her destination. The grounds were beautiful, which the students were taking full advantage of. They sat in groups, reading books or chatting amongst themselves. Applejack paid them no attention.

Now here, the faint sounds of birds in the trees and the distant murmur of conversation did little to calm her.  She had no idea if this was the Rarity she knew. If it wasn’t, she was faced with the impossible task of convincing a stranger to return to a ‘freedom fighter’ group. If this was her Rarity, would she have changed? Would she be as warped as this city? Probably not, considering Glen’s words, but it was still a possibility. Swallowing, she knocked.

“It’s open.” A singsong voice greeted her. “Come on in.”

If the voice hadn’t persuaded her, the sight that met her as she opened the door did. The room seemed to take up most of the small building. A quaint lounge made up the left side, with attractive sofas, a screen like those in Glen’s office, a fireplace, and other simple but pretty objects that just screamed ‘Rarity’. The back wall was made up of sliding glass doors, giving the room a very open, outdoors feel. Paintings, no doubt costing a fortune, lined the walls. The face of Sweetie Belle stared out from a couple. The other side of the room consisted of a kitchen, decorated in much the same way. It was a mess, but a very clean mess, almost as if it was intentionally that way. Crouching in front of the oven was a very familiar white unicorn.

“I…” Applejack’s voice caught in her throat. This was a perfect start. Good job, AJ.

“Hmm? I’ll be with you in a moment, dear.” Rarity opened the oven, bringing out a tray of perfectly designed cookies. She looked exactly as she always had. Elaborately styled hair, the faintest hint of makeup, sparklingly clean coat. She appeared to have aged a few years, but that only made her more regal. Grinning with glee, she levitated her creations to the countertop. “Perfect. Now, how can I help yoaaahh!” The yelp came as she turned to inspect her visitor. Time to explain why a dead friend had turned up at her door.

“Darling! Look at you!” Rarity trotted up, concerned. “You’re filthy! And you look famished! Quick, can I get you something to eat before you fade away?”

Well, that wasn’t exactly what Applejack had expected.  Not a second after their reunion, and Rarity was back to her criticising, pernickety self. She opened her mouth to answer, but Rarity hadn’t finished. “How can he treat you like this? I’ll have to have a few words with Desklamp. When we had dinner last month, he seemed to understand the plight of earth ponies perfectly well.”

What? Applejack didn’t seem to have a grasp of the one-sided conversation.

“Oh, no need to look so shocked. Reception gave me a call. I understand you’re here about his paper.” She tapped a hoof to her chin. “I have no idea why a palaeontologist would be writing about buildings, but I’m sure he has his reasons. However!” Suddenly Rarity was in Applejack’s face. The anger in her voice was a little intimidating. “There is no reason at all for how he’s looked after you! I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, darling, but the way earth ponies are regarded as objects in this city is, ugh, despicable.” She gave Applejack some space by returning to the kitchen. Applejack let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. Her disguise was working a little too well. “I’ll be writing a very angry letter to SIS, you mark my words.”

“Rarity!” Applejack found her voice, a lot weaker than she had intended it to be. “I ain’t here about the paper.”

Rarity paused in the middle of levitating Applejack a meal. “You’re… not? Then what are-” As if a bulb went off in her head, she lowered the food slowly to the counter. “Then you’re with The Resistance, aren’t you?” Her voice had gone very cold.

“I- I am,” Applejack managed. There was something in that voice that put her on edge. “But-”

“How dare you!” Applejack ducked just in time as a jar of jam flew past her head, smashing against the wall. “I made my intentions perfectly clear, unlike your mindless monster of a leader. I will never return, do you hear me!” Rarity’s wide eyes were locked onto Applejack, her raised voice digging directly into her ears.

What in Equestria had RD done to warrant this reaction? The earth pony prepared herself for more flying objects, but none came. “I have a new life now. I don’t need Firefly’s thugs breaking into this one, reminding me of what happened, and threating to ruin it!” The last few words cracked as they escaped her lips. Tears were trickling down her cheeks. Applejack needed to calm her down, fast.

“Rarity! Stop! It’s me!” Applejack took a step forward, driving past the glare she received. “It’s Applejack.”

“You think that’s funny?” Rarity’s voice was dangerous, passing through her gritted teeth. “Does Firefly think that’ll work? That tactic’s low, even for her.”

“Wait! Would Rainbow know anythin’ ‘bout the time we slept over at Twi’s?” Applejack was thinking fast here. “Together we fixed the tree in her window. We never told RD ‘cause we worried it’d make her jealous. Only I’d know that!”

For a moment it looked like it had work. There was a glimmer of hope in Rarity’s eyes, hidden behind the scepticism. “M- maybe. Twilight could have told her though.”

“Then that time you ran the Sisterhooves Social! Remember what I said ‘bout apple pie. Would she know that?”

Rarity spent a moment deep in thought, as if trying to find a lost memory. “I… I suppose not.” Her eyes glazed over as she pondered. “And that voice…” She staggered for a moment, her back legs giving out. “It really is you, isn’t it? Applejack?”

“It’s okay, Sugercube.” Applejack hurried forward, convinced the danger of blunt head trauma was gone. “I wouldn’ta believed it either.”

“You’re alive. You’re… you’re… ohh-” She raised a foreleg to her head. Applejack saw it coming from a mile away. Three hundred years wasn’t enough to change such a drama queen. The white unicorn fainted as elegantly as possible.

Perfect.