The morning was off to an abysmal start. Having been forced from her distraught slumber after what felt like less than an hour, and dragged out into the crisp morning air, Applejack now found herself surrounded by a throng of earth ponies preparing for  the day’s  work. A cacophony of sound from horns whistling, and alarms ringing, to the constant clop of hooves on cobblestone, and  boisterous ponies loudly greeting friends assaulted her ears in an unrelenting barrage. The constantly moving crowd swam before her vision in a sickeningly blurry mess as she followed the charcoal stallion leading her, and any glance to the east was met with the blasting light of the morning sun, forcing her sensitive eyes to retreat back under cover. Her fur stood on end, doing its best to protect her skin from the day’s early chill; skin that cried out for the warmth of her bed. Securely sitting on her forehead sat a dirty pair of metal goggles that Glen had insisted she wear, accompanied by a faded red bandana around her neck, irritating her oversensitive skin. Her stomach too, urged her to cease her unsteady, stumbling march though Blueblood Industrial Park, lest it expel the contents of her hurried breakfast.

To put it simply, Applejack had a hangover, and a fierce one at that.

“Buck up, lass. We’re almost there.” Glen had slowed down to Applejack’s side, his pace matching hers. A similar pair of goggles on his head caught the sun, flashing into Applejack’s eyes in what felt like an intentional jibe. “You’ve only got yourself to blame, you know.” Why did he have to shout?

Raising her head as little as she could, she shot Glen what she hoped was a glare so harsh that his face would melt in horror. Glen chuckled. Feeling her motivation for the day sinking away, she replied with an eloquent “Yeah, well… don’t matter. Jus’ keep walkin’.”

Glen’s voice lost its playful tone. “Oh boy, I can tell you’ll be a barrel of laughs today.” He glanced around, his eyesight easily clearing the sea of pony heads. “Before we get to our destination, there’s something I wanted to show you. It may make you more … amiable.”

Grumbling, Applejack returned her head to its low, dejected position. Somewhere nearby, she could hear Idared. While Applejack had volunteered to join Glen, Idared was here against her will. But, as Glen figured, if he was showing Applejack the areas outside the city, he may as well take Idared, killing two birds with one stone. The filly had been as loud and boisterous as ever since she woke up, either excited or apprehensive, and had run off as soon as they entered the industrial section of the city. Unlike the barriers between the other city districts, the gates from The Mile, and Blueblood were unguarded and open. Maybe that’s why Idared seemed to know her way around this intimidating area. Glen wasn’t concerned, so Applejack ignored her nagging worries. Worries for the filly’s safety, worries for where their mission would take them today, worries over a certain white unicorn. The less she had to think about right now, the better. Oh how she missed her bed.

But her bed was miles away, and this mess of a district was the last place Applejack wanted to sleep. She, and hundreds of other ponies hurrying to work, were crowded on a raised catwalk, wide enough for at least thirty ponies abreast. Below them, stretching far below the natural level of the city, were deep, dark chasms surrounded by metal walls, and dotted with the faint glow of windows. More catwalks ran from openings in the walls, made visible in the dark by the flashing red lights that lined their precarious edges. These walls were the lower floors of black, metal towers, rising far above her head, the highest levels looking like the skeletons of real buildings. Huge cranes hung over her head, already steadily working. Applejack cringed as they precariously moved their heavy loads far overhead. While she didn’t spot anything but earth ponies at street level, the occasional flash of metal in the sky told of the constant pegasus surveillance. Pipes crisscrossed the spaces between the buildings, the odd crack in their surface blasting steam into the already grimy air, or dripping water on unsuspecting ponies below. At least Applejack hoped it was water, especially when one such droplet hit her square in the muzzle. She shuddered as she wiped it off, discovering it to be far greasier than water. Occasionally she would pass a large vent that connected to the buildings, the air around her increasing in temperature suddenly. She learnt after the first time to hold her breath whenever this happened.

“It’s just over here,” murmured Glen, his voice now mercifully quiet. He was scanning the sky as he effortlessly drove through the crowd, Applejack following as best she could. In brief glances through the pony bodies she saw the catwalk brush against two mammoth towers, the shadowy gap between them large enough to fit a single pony though. Glen, heading straight for that opening, did just that, disappearing in a blink of an eye into the darkness. Fearful of becoming lost, Applejack dove after him, the rumble of voices and hooves cutting off almost immediately.

Hurrying after the steadily swaying copper tail, Applejack noticed a faint orange glow ahead, barely visible on the black walls either side of her. Then, all at once, the passage widened into an eruption of space, a huge chamber hidden in the darkness of the two buildings. From the high ceiling hung crude metal chandeliers, wax dripping from the old fashioned candles they held, giving the hall a faint smouldering smell. The buildings had combined overhead, completely enclosing the room. The flickering light lit up the few dozen earth ponies standing around, muttering quietly amongst themselves as they viewed the various plinths that dotted the floor. None of them even glanced up at Glen’s entrance. Applejack’s eyes could faintly make out the far end, distant as it was. This cathedral like place, which must have taken up the entire bottom few floors of the buildings it occupied, seemed miles away from the chaotic bustle Applejack had just left.

“Where are we?” Applejack dared to ask, her voice echoing faintly in the gloom. She flinched at the sound, afraid she had disturbed the almost unreal serenity of the hall. However, so deep was the concentration of the other ponies present, not even an annoyed flick of the ear could be seen.

“It’s been a while since I’ve visited here,” Glen replied, his voice soft and respectful. “Nopony’s quite sure why this area was built into these buildings. There are no earth pony records kept on the construction of the city, and it’s completely unknown to the other races, which is thankful considering its current role.” Glen began to slowly trot further into the chamber, his hooffalls a strange soundtrack to the scene. “Mementos are kept here. Mementos that the unicorns would rather we forget. This museum is the last place in Nova Equestria that holds the legacy of earth ponies.”

Applejack’s eyes glances at the plinths with a new admiration as they passed them. Some held objects, great inventions by the earth ponies of old. Some displayed pictures, the flag of the ancient earth pony tribe. Some were simply busts, outspoken leaders of Applejack’s race. Glen paused at a wall of names, bowing his head before quickly carrying on. As Applejack passed she glanced at the same spot, catching a familiar name among the hundreds craved into the metal. Laphroaig.

“This is what I wanted to show you.” Glen’s voice broke Applejack out of her thoughts, his words emotionless. Following his gaze, she found herself faced with a larger than life statue of a pony, an earth mare, made from what looked like smaller chunks of metal melted together. The detail, despite the crude material used, was incredible. The mare, depicted as middle aged, was rearing up on her back legs, a wide grin on her face. Applejack couldn’t tell if her tail was supposed to look a mess, or if it had been an error in the artwork. Her mane looked like it was pulled up into a bun, but it was rather hard to tell considering the large metal Stetson that rested on her head.

Realisation dawned on Applejack as her mouth slowly opened to ask, but no sound came. Glen supplied the answer for her. “Your sister, Apple Bloom.” Applejack could feel his eyes on her, looking for a reaction maybe. “Firefly told me everything. About where you came from.” The statue swam before her. “I’m … sorry.” His tone was understanding.

“Her-” Applejack’s voice cracked as she started to speak. She hadn’t noticed the tears falling from her eyes. “Her cutie mark?”

“Records don’t say,” Glen replied. “but we do know she was an amazing inventor. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for her. Some of her greatest creations are still used today, though …” He paused, the rest of the sentence hung in the air. He eventually continued, his volume lower, barely audible above Applejack’s choking sobs. “Though this is the only place in the city you will read her name.”

Applejack finally noticed the plaque at the statue’s base. Apple Bloom – The Forgotten Pioneer.

~~~~~~~~

“You’re an ass, y’know?”

“I’m sure,” Glen absentmindedly replied, ignoring the furious filly opposite him. The three of them sat in the filthy train’s caboose, Applejack and Idared having taken two opposite window seats, with Glen sitting next to the orange mare, his concerned eyes on her. The carriage was mostly empty, and all the carriages excluding the caboose and engine were empty hopper cars for transporting coal back to the city. It was bound for a single destination, Salt Lick City, situated next to the largest coal mine on the continent. The mine was shared by the griffons, and the ponies, meaning it was also the prime spot for any cross species diplomacy to take place, a necessity ever since the war ended seventy years ago. This made it, by far, the most dangerous place to work on the planet. Needless to say, the scant few miners that lived in the city would have taken a far earlier commuter train to Salt Lick, before the sun had even begun to illuminate the sky.

As Glen had explained before they left, Rainbow Dash had secured a meeting with the griffon ambassador. Through what means, Applejack hadn’t been told, but Idared suspected The Specialist had been involved. These kinds of things usually went through that mysterious benefactor.

“No, really. A total ass,” the filly whined. “How was I supposed to know where you’d gone?” Her voice was beginning to irritate Applejack. Not only was the sharp tone doing awful things to her head, but they cut down any internal thoughts Applejack was trying to have. She stared intently out the window, at the city slowly rolling past. The small industrial station had looked similar in design to the rest of the district, and as she watched the buildings flashing through her view, she concluded that aesthetics were not the most important thing for Blueblood Industrial Park. This seemed to be a recurring theme for primarily earth pony populated areas.

“You knew we were coming to the station, Idared,” Glen groaned. He had obviously noticed Applejack’s annoyance, and dropped from the chair to his hooves. “Come on, let’s go to the balcony.” Her jerked his head to the rear door. “You can bellyache all you like out there, and not even I will give two shits.”

“Why would I-” Her voice cut off as she noticed Applejack for the first time, her tearstained eyes and clenched jaw. “Right. Yeah.” She gave Glen a long, confused look while she slipped off her seat. “Balcony.”

As the caboose door slammed shut, the rushing wind cutting off instantly, Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared that the stale, dusty air had been circulated out of the carriage. More important however, was the tranquil quiet that followed. The steady clacking of the train the only sound to break the peaceful silence. She could feel her tension slowly slipping away. Tension that had been eating away at her since Glen had led her from the secret museum. The anger, the unbridled resentment directed towards those who ran this hellish sprawl of mismatched buildings they called a city, had infected her thoughts. Her tears, like her sister, were long gone. Why cry for one who was long since dead, and, Applejack narrowed her eyes at the thought, forgotten?

Twilight would have to answer to this.  Applejack would see to that. The questions she had were piling up. Questions she would want answered before even thinking of asking for a way home. Applejack’s excuses for Twilight’s actions were beginning to dwindle, and a disturbing theory was clouding her judgement. She had known Twilight for a little over two years. Who was she to say she knew the unicorn better than any other? That short a time couldn’t have revealed whatever darker motives lay in her mind, which time and greed would feed, blossoming into the twisted alicorn that now ruled this city. But that was an outlandish theory that Applejack was quick to dismiss. Twilight would have the answers, she was positive. There was surely some explanation for all of this.

There had to be.

As her thoughts returned to her sister, a friend of hers once again grew to dominate her mind. A friend that, like her, had also lost a sister. Rarity’s face, tears in her eyes, was reluctantly pulled to the forefront of her memory yet again. She dropped her head to the cool glass, squeezing her eyes tight as the goggles pressed into her forehead. Yes, she knew she’d messed up. Why did she have to constantly remind herself? Was this her own punishment she thought she deserved, for hurting the kindest pony she knew in this world? Every time she saw that face guilt swelled up inside her. She could always blame the alcohol, but she knew that excuse wouldn’t sit well. No, the fault lay with her own actions. She wasn’t about to start lying to herself.

Feeling the light on her eyelids dramatically change, she pried them open, squinting at the glare. It did a wonderful job of making her headache ten times worse. Thankfully, with the sun behind her, her eyes accustomed quickly to the light, and she realised what she was seeing. The train had left the city.

Facing forward, the city behind her, the rolling, red wasteland stretched out as far as the eye could see. The rocky, dry ground had a haphazard, broken feel to it, with large crevasses in some places, and tall mounds of dust and broken bricks in others. Dead trees dotted the landscape, standing in groups like statues, silently watching the train pass. Mountains could be vaguely seen on the horizon, tinted a deep orange by the swirling, choking dust that hung in the air. The constant orange glow of the Nova Equestrian sky now made complete sense to Applejack. The foundations of buildings zipped past the train, either the signs of abandoned construction, or razed homes. Adding credibility to the latter theory, skeletons littered the ground, half buried by the sands. Both griffon and pony skeletons, earth, unicorn, and pegasus, all a variety of gender and age. A number of pegasi had died in their armour, their skeletal wings protruding from the rusted carapaces. Carriages, too, lay buried in the sands, and other more advanced vehicles Applejack didn’t recognise. A large bunker, long metal cannons peering out, had become a home for the only sign of life Applejack cold see, a pair of vultures. In the distance, Applejack could see buildings still standing, though dilapidated and lifeless as the rest of the scene. A broken, lonely barn passed, similar in size to Sweet Apple Acres’ barn. Its roof was caved in, the walls black from fire.

A wave of horror rolling over her, Applejack shut her eyes once more, curling up in her seat. As foreign and cruel as the city seemed, it was nothing to the desolate, dead scene outside the train window.  This seemed like the perfect time to catch up on her much needed sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Stepping out of the train onto the dusty platform of Salt Lick City station, Applejack felt herself hitting a wall of heat. She had been getting used to the cool, yet musty air of the train in the four hours they had been traveling. The moisture on her lips seemed to instantly evaporate, and she furiously blinked her eyes in pain. The midmorning sun, now far from the horizon in its steady journey through the sky, assaulted the earth pony with its unrelenting force.

“Woah, okay.” Idared stumbled as she dropped to the platform. “Nopony told me we were traveling to the world’s largest oven.”

“It’s only a little hotter than the city,” Glen noted, following her off the train. “But it’s dryer.” He glanced up and down the platform. Having departed from the last carriage, they stood the furthest from the station. Behind them the station disappeared, and the endless expanse of desert began. “Much dryer.”

“Right, right.” While Applejack was lazily cracking her back, having just woken up, Idared was scanning her surroundings apprehensively. “It’s really… well, it’s really open, isn’t it?”

“Good eyes.” Glen’s tone was sarcastic as he started down the platform. “Don’t worry, past the station is the town.” Casting one last glance behind her, Idared scampered to catch up with Glen.

Applejack had almost forgotten this was the filly’s first time outside the city. For the older mare, this environment was nothing new. Sure, it was hotter and more lifeless than she was used to, but overall it was quite similar to the lands that surrounded Appleloosa. When it came to Idared, who had presumably never left the city, she could understand where the nervousness came from. Not only was it significantly emptier, but also quieter. In the city, the distant sound of voices and hooves could always be heard, but once the train quietened down, the three ponies were plunged into eerie silence. Only their hooves could be heard on the wooden platform.

They passed through the station, and entered the town proper. Applejack’s first thoughts were of Appleloosa once again, only larger in size, and more drab in colour. Dull wooden houses, devoid of paint, lined small streets that stretched through the desert. The roads were simple dirt tracks, not a flower or tree to be seen. From what she could see, the town stretched a few miles in each direction. To the west, directly in front of her as she exited the station, stood a small mountain, the last few houses clinging to its base. Not a soul appeared to be out, aside from a single brown earth stallion standing meters from the station, watching the group carefully. He had deep navy hair that fell about his head like a dirty mop.

“And here I was thinkin’ the city was the most depressin’ place I’d laid eyes on,” Applejack mumbled.

“Careful,” Glen whispered back as the stallion approached. “That kind of thinking’ll have you seeing The Mile in a positive light.” Breaking out into a crooked smile, Glen raised his voice. “Girls, this is our contact, Dusty Hooves.” He raised a hoof, which Dusty cordially bumped his own on. “While not an official member of our group, he’s a valuable aid.”

“Sup,” Idared greeted him, casually saluting. “I’m Idared.”

“Name’s Honeycrisp.” Applejack tipped her head as she supplied her pseudonym. “Pleasure t’meet ya.” Upon rising, she was met with a shocked face. Dusty took a slight step back, his eyes widening in surprise.

Glen’s eyes narrowed. “Dusty?”

“Oh, sorry.” The stallion blinked, his expression returning to normal. “I thought I recognised your friends. My mistake.” That voice. Applejack recognised it from somewhere. “Anyway, as Glen said, I’m Dusty Hooves.”

Ugh, this was going to bug her until she re... oh.

“It’s good to meet the two of you.”

Oh!

“Right,” Glen slowly continued, jerking his head towards the mountain, his suspicious eyes not leaving Dusty. “How about we get moving then. Day’s getting on.”

“Yes, yes. Of course.” The party began their march through the dead town, Dusty leading. Applejack kicked herself into a stumbling start, her mind reeling in astonishment. “Diamond sent me to escort you, after I recommended myself.” His eyes kept flicking to Applejack as he turned to talk. Her surprise must have been apparent on her face. “Why are you here anyway, Glen? Something big happening?”

“Hah, no. I wish.” He sighed dramatically. “Just a little clean up after what happened when Firefly was here last.” Applejack had asked about what Rainbow had done since she had overheard it. Nopony had been willing to explain.

“Oh, geez.” Dusty winced. “I’d tried to forget about that incident.”

“Well, the griffons sure haven’t. They’re refusing to co-operate with us, blocking all communication. Playing with old war wounds only got them so far on our side, it seemed. And then Firefly had to go and-” Glen shut his eyes, shaking his head. “Needless to say, I’m here to fix that.”

“What are the chances of it working?”

“The Specialist couldn’t win them over.” There was a name that seemed to pop up all over the place. “I have no idea what Firefly thinks I can achieve.” He kicked at the ground as he walked, a cloud of dust bursting from his hoof. “She seemed sure though, so here I am.”

“Can’t say no to her, huh?” Dusty laughed dryly, glancing back at Applejack once again. “And the other two?”

Idared loudly tutted at the question. Glen chuckled “Well, this is their first time outside the city, and I’d rather they go sightseeing on a relatively quiet mission like this, especially in the little annoying one’s case.” Glen raised an eyebrow, giving Idared a teasing grin. “Knowing her, she’d jump head first into any dangerous situation, and need me to save her hide.”

“I hope you remember where you’re taking these mares then,” Dusty enigmatically said, ignoring Idared’s raspberry she blew in Glen’s direction. “Danger has a way of finding these mines, one way or another. Be it the working conditions, the close proximity of the griffons, or…” He trailed off as his pace slowed, his head on the northern horizon. Whatever he had planned to say, Applejack was sure she didn’t want to hear it.

“Or what, Dusty?” It would seem Glen did, however.

“We’ve had some… complications recently.” He slowly turned his head down, resting his gaze on the ground, eyes following the dirt road. “Security’s pretty tight at the moment.” He glanced up, remembering his company. “Not that it’ll be a problem for you. Diamond will have that covered, if she’s willing to play along.”

Glen looked confused. “It isn’t the separatists, is it? Are they still a problem?”

“A problem is putting it lightly. Their attacks have been increasing over the last year. It almost became a weekly occurrence for a while. Then, a month ago, it stopped. No more raids, no more abductions, nothing. Not a single sign of their presence.” Applejack felt a shiver run down her spine at Dusty’s tone. “They’re up to something. It’s got the entire mine on edge.”

“This sounds like paranoia,” Glen dismissed. “They’ve probably realised their attempts were in vain.”

Dusty sighed dejectedly. “I wish it was paranoia, honestly, but both the griffons and Diamond have sent teams to where we believe their camps lie. Simply to see what’s going on. Neither returned.”

Splendid. Just what Applejack wanted to hear.

“Hey, uh-” Idared coughed loudly. “Sorry to cut in, but mind filling us in? I have no Luna-damned idea what you’re talking about.” Applejack had started working it out, but some confirmation would be nice.

“Idared!” Glen snapped. He didn’t like her using Luna’s name like that outside of the base. It was a sure-fire way of getting yourself arrested.

It did the job though. Dusty smiled warmly. “Where are my manners? I completely forgot that it’s your first time out here.” Applejack didn’t doubt that. Like her, he probably had more important things on his mind. “The separatists are a group of griffons that, unlike their leaders, disagree with the peace between them and us. It’s common knowledge that while the ceasefire was agreed upon by both nations, it was The Chancellor that pushed for the end of the war. I’m sure you know what griffons can be like though. If they think the end to the war was a pony idea, they’ll be eager to prolong it. There’s a lot of tension between us, on top of that.” He paused to scratch his forehead. “Unlike some of us, these griffons refuse to forget the atrocities of the war.”

“The tricky part is that their view isn’t wildly radical,” Glen continued. “The mainstream griffon view is still very anti-pony. A favour we’re known to return when we’re momentarily distracted from the internal hate. But that’s how they strike. By focussing entirely on the ponies at Salt Lick, they hope to drive the two species even further apart.”

“But still, Salt Lick City isn’t all bad.” Dusty seemed eager to drop the topic. “Everypony’s at the mine right now, but the nightlife can be fun.” There was a pause after this. Applejack had been expecting a list of positive features, but it seemed there was only one.

“Between the griffons, the mine, and the droughts, I’m surprised they have the energy,” Glen noted. “This is pretty much the worst place you can find yourself living.” It was worth volunteering, Applejack reminded herself. She needed to speak to Twilight. “And I haven’t even mentioned the damn dust storms.”

“Oh?” Applejack flicked her eyes up, making a failed attempt to view her forehead. “I’m guessin’ that’s why we’re wearin’ these fancy goggles and scarves?”

“No, no. They’re for the mine,” Glen answered. “I have no intention of taking you down there, but it’s just a precaution in case we need to take shelter, or if the little one gets annoyingly curious.” Idared grinned, approving of the unintended suggestion. “The conditions down there are, as you can imagine, abysmal. The amount of miners that die every year from lung diseases alone are… well, I’m not taking any chances, let’s put it that way.” His head turned to the sky, eyeing the looming clouds to the south. “Trust me; if a dust storm starts, you find cover. A little piece of cloth and eye protection won’t be of use then.” Applejack’s eyes widened, a new fear creeping through her.

“Don’t worry,” Dusty assured them. “Dust storms aren’t common, so I’d be surprised if we had one today.” There was a subtly doubtful tone to his voice, and Applejack noted his eyes following Glen’s to the distant clouds. “We should be fine.”

By this point they had reached the edge of the town, and the path began to climb the mountain. Applejack was now fully regretting coming here. Her guilt with Rarity subsided a little, the unicorn being the entire reason she was at this appalling mine in the first place. There had to be safer ways to get a tiger’s eye jewel. In fact, considering the situation with the griffons, would she be able to secure the jewel here at all? As they terrain steepened, and the town fell behind her, she felt exposed. To her left, the rolling clouds, sweeping in the threat of a storm. To her right, a distant threat, their plans unknown. And before her was the mine, their destination.

However, there was another, much closer issue that she intended to deal with first. Dusty Hooves.

As the incline increased, the path begin to wind from side to side. Idared, in her impatience, shot past Glen and dashed ahead. With a resigned sigh, Glen made to catch up, his quickened trot catching up to her mad scramble. Applejack stayed behind, slowing her own pace even, and was pleased to notice Dusty do the same. There was a tense, understanding silence between them. Applejack focused on the crunch of hooves on gravel, and as soon as Glen left their hearing range, she immediately felt Dusty turn to face her.

“Applejack.” It wasn’t a question. His voice was dangerously tense. “I didn’t recognise you.”

“Right back at’cha,” she gave the stallion a meaningful look, her eyes flickering over his forehead. “Shinin’ Armor.”

Their pace continued for a moment, silence returning. Then Shining chuckled, a nervous laugh. “You don’t sound too surprised.”

“I reckon I’ve become desensitised to surprise, if ya consider mah past week.” Applejack could feel the questions ready to spill from Shining’s lips, so she interrupted with her own. “They’ve all been sayin’ yer dead. Killed in the war.”

He laughed again. “I may as well be. I was captured by the griffons.” He moved a hoof to uncover his forehead. An ugly scar cut across it, his coat doing little to cover. “Tortured.” He let the hair drop again, hiding the scar from view. “And then I escaped.”

Applejack found her voice gone. What do you say to somepony after hearing news like that? She settled on “Sorry t’hear that.”

“It was around ninety years ago. I’ve adapted.”

“And …” Applejack struggled to find the words to the question on her mind, so instead settled on a roundabout route. “You haven’t thought of returnin’?”

“Why would I want to?” His reply was filled with bitterness. “Cadence is dead. My own wife was killed by my sister. Why the hell would I want to return to that?”

Silence hung for a moment as Applejack tried to come up with a reply. She still doubted Twilight could do such a thing, that there was some other explanation. It seemed far too tactless to voice these thoughts however. “What was she like? Twilight, I mean.”

It took a while before Shining replied. The path was now curving quite violently to compensate for the mountain slope. The view behind Applejack, while vast, was filled with nothing but the town, and the vast, empty plains of dust, ruins and the long dead. “Before the war, she … she was …” Silence returned for a few moments. Applejack slowly ascended patiently. “She was different. Colder. I know, I know what she was doing was wrong. I saw as well as anypony, but … I don’t … .

“She just seemed bored. Sad. Before the war there was never any racial inequality like there is today. It was there, but it was just the result of neglect. Ponies worked together. The city grew, but she just didn’t care.” His voice grew softer, as if he was talking about a friend long dead. “She was still my sister. There were moments that shone through. I remember one night she came to my bedroom in the palace, curled up next to me like we would do when we were kids, and just cried. She cried all night. The next morning she was on her throne once more, the same blank, uninterested face.

“Then I went to fight. Around eighty-something bitter, blood-stained years I fought. What little news I could get from the city told me little about my sister, and nothing about my wife. When I escaped capture, my unit was eager to send the news home. But after hearing what happened to Cadence, I refused. I would have to face Twilight again if I did that, and I couldn’t. The war ended shortly after, and the news that followed just got worse. The increasing divide between unicorns and earth ponies, the pegasi used against their own ponies, I wasn’t going to return to any of that.

“And so, here I am. Dusty Hooves.” There was a drawn out, emotional sigh from the stallion. “I will aid The Resistance as well I can from here, but I refuse to act against my sister, no matter what she’s become. That won’t change.”

Applejack nodded, the only reply she could find for the moment. She understood his reasoning. She herself doubted some of the stories she was hearing of Twilight, and there was no way she would be able to raise a hoof against Apple Bloom, in whatever situation. “It’s good to see you again, Shinin’.”

He smiled weakly, which was quickly replaced with confusion. “Wait, you haven’t even explained how you’re he-”

His question was cut off by a shout from above. “Hey! Crisp! Get up here and check this out!” Idared was a little further along the path, peering down at them. From the looks of it, the path cut round the mountain, missing the peak.

“Later then,” Shining murmured. “For now, I’m Dusty Hooves, and nopony else. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Reaching the top, the path levelled out, navigating along the northern edge of the mountain. From her view up here, Applejack could see nothing to the north. Idared skipped forward to where Glen was standing, the filly as impatient as usual. As they approached, Applejack noticed the path cutting to the left again, taking them to the side of the mountain opposite the town. Glen jerked his head, indicating the view behind him. “You can get a pretty good idea of the mine from here.” Applejack came to the corner, and stepped past him, seeing for herself. She gasped, her breath leaving her. Glen hadn’t been joking.

The west side of the mountain, unlike the steady incline of the east, was a sharp drop. This gave Applejack an amazing view of Salt Lick mine. A large brick wall surrounded the massive facility. Buildings of all sort filled the grounds, interspersed with the distant specks of machinery, and vehicles moving between them. Some sections were taken up by large pits. From her viewpoint, Applejack could see ponies moving around near the closest buildings. Cutting the facility in half was another large wall, its peak topped by multiple layers of barbed wire. This wall continued on either side of the mine, passing on far into the distance. On this side of the wall stood a tall flag post, a light blue flag rippling slightly in the building wind, a yellow sun in one corner, and a purple star in the other. On the other side of the wall rose a similar flagpole, a bright red flag featuring the yellow silhouette of a griffon.

In the very centre of the base, cutting the wall in two, sat the largest building. Its wall made entirely of darkened glass, its roof a slow curve of the same. “That building’s the Armistice Hall,” Glen pointed out. “All griffon pony diplomacy takes place there. Technically the mine, and that building are two separate facilities, but they’re both run by Diamond Pick.”

Two wide, raised roads ran through each side of the mine. The far road, passing through griffon territory, ended at a large red gate, barely visible to Applejack’s eyes. This separated the mine from the city that spread out beyond it, far larger than Salt Lick. Great glass towers stood at the centre, and modern, clean buildings spread out in a regular pattern. The difference between this city, and Salt Lick was staggering. “That’s Macaw.” Glen was quick to explain again. “It sprung up in a matter of years when we found coal here. That was a long time after the war was over.” Applejack’s eyes were drawn from the city to the sky above it. There, tinted orange by the vast distance from the mountain, floated a giant, elongated balloon. Hanging from that, dwarfed by the colossal envelope that it was attached to, was what looked like the body of a sailing ship, complete with deck. The lower ship was a rich brown, while the balloon was a bright red with the yellow symbol of the griffons emblazoned on the side. “And that monstrosity is the griffon airship, Níng Jìng. Pray you never face it in battle. The amount of ponies that died to that beast during the war …” Glen shook his head, a motion that paled in impact next to the harrowed look in Shining’s eyes as he looked out over the mine at the ship.

“This is insane,” Idared concluded. “And we’re going down there?”

“Only to the Armistice Hall. Griffon lands are closed to ponies. But first,” he motioned back to the path. It continued along the mountainside for a way, the left side a sheer wall of rock, the right a deep drop to certain death. The path ended at a building clinging tenaciously to the cliff side, an elevator dropping from its bowels to the mine far below. “First we pay a little visit to Salt Lick headquarters, and pray Diamond Pick doesn’t decide to execute us today.”