“Well, sugarcube, that doesn’t seem to be the case… now does it?”

“Y-you’re… you’re Applejack.” I strained as I said those words, almost forcing them past my lips. I couldn’t believe it. “All the reports, the soldier statements, word of mouth… everything said the same exact thing.”

“And what was that? Ah bet they all said Ah’d kicked the bucket, died in the siege of Canterlot. Well you can see me, Ah’m right here in front of you. So tell me… do Ah look dead?”

I stumbled over my words, trying desperately to make sense of this all, when the answer came to me. “Kyorl areion kal'ythxal.” I spoke aloud.

She sat there, staring at the bar as she drank from her cider, her body engulfed in emerald flame. “You done?” She asked me, taking another drink.

I couldn’t believe it. I sat there speechless as I watched her. I had been taught that spell by Chrysalis personally, a spell that very few knew.

“So what is this anyway, one of your tricks?” Applejack asked, mocking me, not showing any genuine interest in my spell.

“Obviously it’s a spell, a spell intended to reveal changelings.”

“Now why would you need a spell to reveal changelings, you being their queens lapdog and all?”

I gritted my teeth at her words. I may have been many things, but a lapdog was not one of them. I breathed deeply, collecting myself, before offering her my reply. “I was Chrysalis’s student and she was an unforgiving teacher. She taught me many things, but the way she taught them was nothing short of madness.” I paused for a moment, recalling my time at Chrysalis’s side. “When she first accepted me as a pupil.” I began to explain. “She tested me. She wanted to see if I had the skill and resourcefulness to survive this new world she was creating.”

“Sounds like a load of shit to me.” Applejack replied, not bothering to look at me as she ordered another cider.

"Yes, well, be that as it may I was taught the very spell I used on you.”

“A spell to reveal changelings, huh? Now answer me this… why would your great and powerful ass need a spell like that?” She asked with a condescending tone.

“I needed it because, as I said, she tested me.”

“Did you make sure you had a number two pencil?” She chuckled, taking a drink of the cider she’d just received.

“I’m glad you’re having such a good time at my expense.” I scoffed. “She sent assassins after me. Elite changelings, disguised as everyday ponies. I was given thirty days to find them and reveal them… or die trying.”

“Sounds tough.” Applejack replied, before taking another drink. “Reminds me of the time I couldn’t get some apples to drop from a tree, no matter how many times I bucked it.”

“What in the name of hell does that have to do with any of this, you country hick?” I replied, rather insulted by her comments. “Despite my spell not showing your true form, you’re nothing but a pretender. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re nothing more than a shade, a shadow, clinging to this existence.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” She replied. She stared at me with a stern gaze, not allowing her eyes to drift from mine, before smacking me. “Ah’m the real thing, Ah promise.”

I swallowed hard, finding this all rather hard to take in. I turned from her, grabbing the remnants of my cider and downing it quickly. How? This question burned in my mind like a fire, with no sign of going out. How could she have survived and even made her way to this place? “So tell me, Applejack. How did you manage to survive?”

“Cutting straight to the nitty gritty, ain’t ya?” She replied, taking another drink of her cider. “Here Ah thought your first question would be why Ah’m here, or even what Ah want.”

“Those questions are waiting in the wings, but I’d first like to know how you’re here. I mean… none of the elements survived the siege of Canterlot. They all died.”

“How do you think Ah survived?” She asked me as she returned to her drink. She stared at the golden liquid in the glass, watching it intently as if she was watching her past play out on it’s surface. “Ah fought.” She simply replied.

“Well I would assume some fighting was involved.” I deadpanned.

“You’re just wanting to get smacked again, ain’t ya?” She shot me a glance, from the corner of her eyes, before returning her gaze to her drink. “Ah watched Pinkie, Rarity and Flutters all die.” She paused, sighing heavily. “Then Ah had to watch the one pony Ah loved more than every apple in my orchard, Rainbow Dash, fly into a fight against Chrysalis. She went to help Luna. Ah thought she’d be okay and then… Ah saw her getting tossed around like a rag doll.” She closed her eyes, a hoof moving to her head as she sat there in a somber silence. “Ah watched Luna get turned into stone and Ah watched Rainbow… Ah watched her get tossed from the edge of Canterlot.”

I couldn’t help but stare at her and have my mind fill with thoughts of Dash. The way in which Applejack recalled the battle, the pain she conveyed with every word. This symphony of war with hidden feelings of regret, remorse and complete hopelessness. It was the exact same as Rainbow. These two ponies, so very different and yet so strikingly the same.They shared a bond that I had never before encountered. They held within their hearts a bond forged by friendship and solidified by love. Be that as it may, I couldn’t let Applejack know Rainbow had survived the fall, the wilds of the Everfree, or any of the things she’d encountered. I couldn’t chance her taking Rainbow from me.

“Anyways, Ah fought on. During the chaos Ah found myself cornered on the edge of a cliff. Ah kept fighting though, but eventually those changelings overran me. Ah was knocked from the cliff, when Ah came to Ah was still alive… Ah had fallen into the river that ran between Canterlot and Foal Mountain. Once Ah’d figured that much out Ah made my way to Fillydelphia and the rest is history.” Once she’d finished she downed the rest of her cider, tired of the images it reflected into her green eyes.

“Well sounds like you’ve been through quite an ordeal.” I replied, a smirk playing at the corner of my lips. How was it even possible that two of the elements got tossed off of opposites sides of Canterlot and both survived? Apparently gravity isn’t as effective a killer as some would believe.

“Yeah, Ah’ve been through a lot. Ah’ve also seen and heard a lot.” She paused, turning back to me. “You wanna know one of the more interesting things Ah’ve heard?” She asked, her face serious, her eyes focused.

“Even if I were to say no, I’m sure you’d just force the information on me anyways. So please, do tell?”

“Ah heard that a certain rainbow maned pegasus had been seen… alive. Ah also heard she has a certain trickster traveling with her. Know anything about that, Sugarcube?” She asked, arching her brow in question.

I froze, my mind instantly going blank at her words. “That’s absurd,” I replied. “All of the elements were confirmed dead, you included.”

“You’re starting to sound like a broken record there, but this isn’t about that.” She snapped back at me. “This is about six years, six years!” She shouted. “Six years of unwavering sadness because everypony, everything Ah knew was taken. Six years of wishing the pony Ah loved was at my side. Years filled with a deep, dark, regret because Ah couldn’t save her.” She slammed her hoof onto the bar, drawing closer to me as she spoke. “So if you know something, you better tell me!”

I stared back at her and could feel a slight tremble spread through my body, a nervous tension I could not subside. “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Alright.” She sighed in reply.

She turned from me, ordering another cider. I could feel the tension that had gripped me moments ago, slowly fading as I let out my own sigh. I returned to my drink. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Applejack, but Rainbow Dash is de-” My sentence was cut short as she kicked my stool from beneath me. A loud sickening thud rang out as my jaw slammed down onto the bar, leaving me staring at the ceiling wondering if they ever clean that chanda… chanda... light fixture thingy.

“Ah don’t wanna hear your lies. She’s alive, Ah know she is.” She brought her hoof down onto my chest, pinning me to the ground. “Now Ah’ll ask you one more time and if you tell me the truth, this time. You might be able to walk again… at some point.”

“I told you she’s dead! They’re all dead! How you managed to survive was nothing more than a sheer fluke, because every other member of the precious ‘elements’ fell during the siege. Those rumors, the ponies you talked to… they lied!” I shouted back to her as the taste of blood spread through my mouth.

My eyes widened as the glimmer of metal whizzed passed my head, only managing to dodge her leg by sheer instinct. Her leg crashed through the wooden floor of the bar, others in the bar gasped, directing their attention towards us. “Y’all go back to what y’all were doing,” Applejack said aloud. “Ah’m just having a word with my friend here.” She added as she let me rise to my hooves.

As if nothing had happened the others did as she said, going back to their drinks and conversations, while I dusted myself off. How they managed to ignore us while we were basically having an all out brawl, well… I guess looking the other way is second nature to most by now. My musings were cut short, however, as I quickly found my legs buckling under the weight of a table. A table Applejack had conveniently grabbed and decided to use as a weapon.

The table splintered with a sickening crack before I found myself once more back on the ground. Applejack closed in quickly lifting the remnants of the table, preparing to finish me off. “All Ah wanted was the damned truth, but Ah guess that was too much to ask for… from somepony like you.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing to MY BAR!” A large stallion shouted, as he grabbed Applejack’s shoulder. She froze, looking rather sheepish as she dropped the broken table and turned to the stallion. “Ah’m real so-” She was cut off by a sudden hoof to the muzzle, sending her back a few steps. Her eyes gave off a sense of bewilderment as she stared at the stallion, but soon rage became evident.

“I hope you realize you’ll be paying for this.” The stallion smirked. A flash of light overtook the bar and there I stood, my illusion dispelled, revealing the ‘bar owner’ to be myself. It’s amazing how easy it is to fool a dimwitted farmer, like yourself.” I laughed, mocking the brutish farm pony. The illusionary version of myself that had taken my place on the bar floor vanished, leaving Applejack to simply stare at me with a newfound hatred.

“Now listen here ya two bit Las Pegasus reject!” Applejack shouted, enraged by my little display of illusionary perfection. Ah know all about what happened in Appleloosa! Ah even went there after Ah heard the rumors that Rainbow had passed through. Ah found a dead Blueblood hanging upside down from a gallow. The grave of my cousin Braeburn and at least a dozen bodies! Everypony left alive said it was Dash that did it!”

“I have no idea what you’re bucking talking about, you country buffoon.” I smiled. “All of them are dead! How many times must I tell you this, before your apple sized brain understands?” I could feel myself slipping back into old habits, habits I had abandoned long ago.

“So Ah’m guessing you don’t know nothing about Las Pegasus then? The riots that got started by a rainbow maned pegasus. Ah heard you were there too. In fact… Ah’m certain you two started that whole mess.”

“You really shouldn’t think so much, Applejack. You might hurt yourself.” I grinned, wickedly, as I spoke.

“You better come clean, or I’m gonna buck ya into next week.” She rolled her neck, eliciting several loud pops, as she walked towards me. “Where. Is. My. Dashie?”

“Your Dashie is dead, as are all of the others you cared for. Now, tell me, Applejack. What part of that simple little mind of yours decided it was a good idea to attack a unicorn? Especially me?” I asked, my horn becoming engulfed in the aura of my magic as I readied a blast of energy.

“Ah’ll tell you what part.” She replied. “The part that’s screaming for me to ring that scrawny neck of yours.”

“Well… that’s the part that’s going to get you killed.” I replied coldly. I fired the energy I had been storing. A light magenta ball of energy formed, erupting towards the earth pony farmer. She stared at the attack, digging her hooves into the floor of the bar. Just as the blast reached her, she threw up her metal foreleg and knocked the blast away, taking out one of the walls. I stood there in shock, disbelief evident as my jaw hung open. “How on earth did you do such a thing!?” I shouted.

“How do you think Ah’ve survived all this time? A pony has to have a couple tricks… up her sleeve.” She smiled as the dust from the explosion settled, revealing her metal leg still intact.

“What!? But, and you, that’s not, WHAT?” I stepped towards her, slamming my hoof down as I demanded an answer.

“It ain’t magic.” She smiled. “It’s a little thing called technology! Now I’m gonna end this!” She shouted, rushing me.

“Be my guest!” I shouted back as I charged ahead.

“ENOUGH!” A voice suddenly rang out, stopping both of us in our tracks. Applejack’s metal leg was pressed against my throat, as I held a broken bottle to hers with my magic.

“The two of you should be ashamed!” Redheart shouted as she walked towards us. “Here I am trying to hunt you down, Trixie. Trying to find you and give you news about Rainbow Dash and I find you fighting with Applejack.” She said, stopping just short of us. “It’s nice to see you’re alive, Applejack.” She offered, cutting off Applejack’s reply as she continued to berate us. “Now look at this mess you’ve made, the both of you.”

“Sorry.” We both replied, lowering our weapons.

“If you two are really sorry you’ll forget about this senseless nonsense and hurry back to Vinyl’s club. Rainbow Dash has just come out of surgery and before you ask… it was a success. Rainbow is perfectly fine.”

“So you mean… Dashie is alive!?” Applejack shouted, beaming as she stared at Redheart.

“Yes… did Trixie not tell you?” Redheart asked.

I simply wished to slink away and hide. I did not fear Applejack, changelings, or anything else I could have had thrown my way. Redheart, however. Now she was somepony I didn’t want to have angry at me.

“She told me Dash was dead, that’s why we were fighting. Ah knew she was alive, Ah just knew it.”

“Is that so?” Redheart replied, turning to me with an arched brow. “Well then, I suppose Trixie has a bit of explaining to do.”

I swallowed hard, letting out a nervous chuckle as I desperately tried to avoid her gaze. “I may have omitted a few things from what I told Applejack.”

“Well then, we’ll have to clear this all up… later. For now, however, Rainbow is waiting. Lets go to her, it’ll do her good to see you both there, when she wakes up.” Redheart turned from us as she spoke. “Now gather your things and let us be off. Oh and Trixie.”

I froze as she called my name, causing me to hang my head and slowly move to her side. “Y-yes?”

“I’m disappointed in you. If you truly loved Rainbow, as you say, then you wouldn’t have wanted to keep Applejack away from her. That is not Love, my dear. That is selfishness and it is a cruel, cruel thing.”

As Redheart spoke to me I caught site of Applejack moving to the bar. She grabbed her stetson, placing it back on her head, before moving to Redheart’s other side.

“And Applejack.”

“Yes ma’am.” She replied in an apologetic tone.

“I don’t know how you found out about Dash, or what lead you to come here, but if it was rumors… you should have known Trixie is not your enemy.” As she finished Applejack and I looked to each other and sighed. “Now I want you two to think about how your actions could affect Dash. She has love for you both and she will undoubtedly do all she can for both of you, but she can only be with one of you. It is a choice she will have to make, so no more fighting. If either of you decided you’d like to fight it out, or want to start acting like a complete ass and end up upsetting Dash.” She paused. “Then you will quickly find out just how sharp my scalpels are.” She smiled after she spoke, patting us both on the shoulder. “Shall we?”

Applejack and I followed after her, both our heads hung in shame. Redheart’s words hit us both fairly hard, causing us to drift off into thought. We knew she was right, or at least I did. I knew Rainbow would pick one of us and I was sure it wouldn’t be me. I couldn’t blame her though. Luna knows if Twilight were here, then I would undoubtedly chose her. Still I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread take hold of my heart, as the very real possibility of losing Dash sank in.