Always connected- Aftermath- Chapter 8

Applejack sat back and watched the show, eating an apple as Twilight and DuskDrift practiced magic together. She could see that Twilight was trying to prove her superiority over DuskDrift, simply by one-upping DuskDrift whenever she used a difficult spell. Applejack marvel as she studied how a Pegasus such as DuskDrift used magic. Because she didn't have a horn, DuskDrift had to actually say these strange words in a language that Applejack didn't understand to make the spell work. When she did, her eyes glowed white and the intended effect occurred. Applejack could notice DuskDrift tiring out, but knew that she was trying to prove her abilities to Twilight. DuskDrift's mouth opened, ready to say the words necessary to copy Twilight's spell. But she closed it, and looked at the ground.
"I… I can't" She said, her voice broken as she started to cry. DuskDrift looked into Twilight's eyes.
"I'm sorry; I tried so hard to live up to your standards. I just wanted you to see me as a friend, as an equal. But…. Maybe I'm not cut out to be Princess of the moon." DuskDrift cried louder, before galloping out of the tent and taking off. Applejack looked at Twilight angrily.
"What is your problem? Look at what you did to that poor filly. You crushed her." Applejack said, scolding Twilight on her behaviour. Twilight looked to the ground, ashamed at what she had done. A loud crash made Applejack jump. Making her way out of the tent, she found an exhausted Applethunder, the water barrels she crashed into were broken, and the clear fluid went everywhere. Applejack helped her up, laughing to herself.
"You okay Cuz" she asked, trying not to laugh in her face. Applethunder nodded, and smiled.
"Ah'm fine, but ah do have a message for you. Big Mac wants to see us both in the main tent. He got a letter addressed to the apple family earlier and wants us to be there when he reads it." Applethunder explained, and together they walked to the main tent. Big Mac was inside, as well as Fluttershy, Luna and crying into Luna's embrace was DuskDrift. Big Mac looked sombre, and Applejack could sense there was a problem.

"Is everything alright Big Mac" asked Applethunder and Big Mac shook his head, holding up a letter that had a black border around the edge. Applejack's eyes widened, the black border signifying death. Big Mac opened the envelope and took a deep breath before reading aloud;
"To Big Mackintosh, Applejack and Applethunder, I write to you from Ponyville with a heavy heart. I regret to inform you of the passing of your grandmother. She died of natural causes a few days ago at Sweet Apple Acres. The funeral shall be at ten in the morning in a week's time. Your sister, Applebloom has been taken in by the dragon known as Spike, and is residing in the library at the present date. With deepest sympathies; Doctor Neuron." Big Mac finished the letter with tears in his eyes. Applethunder hugged Applejack and cried into her shoulder. Applejack let the tears flow, not caring if they activated her powers or not. Luna walked over and hugged each of them.
"I hereby give you all leave of absence to attend the funeral." Luna told them. Big Mac hugged her tightly, his stoic demeanour gone as he mourned the mare that had raised them all. Even Applethunder, who had learnt how to fly while on Sweet Apple Acres, and cared for Granny Smith dearly.

"Thank you Princess, ah think we shall." Said Big Mac. The three apple family members hugged each other, needing the contact of family.
"When you are ready, pack up what you need and I will teleport you all directly to Ponyville." Said Luna, the sympathy in her voice comforted Applejack slightly. Big Mac shook his head.
"Thank you Princess, but ah think that we need to go the old fashioned way, like we used to before the war. What do you think girls, are you okay to walk?" Big Mac asked them. Applejack and Applethunder both nodded. They split off, going to get packed for the long journey back to Ponyville. Applejack didn't stop crying the entire time she packed. At one point, DuskDrift walked up to her and hugged her.
"I'm sorry, I really am. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you." DuskDrift told her, but Applejack didn't feel much like talking. But then she remembered how much DuskDrift had helped her in understanding her powers. Applejack looked up at her.
"DuskDrift, would y'all be so nice as to accompany us. I think that you need to get away from here as much as us?" Applejack asked, smiling weakly. DuskDrift nodded once and smiled, hugging Applejack again.
"Will Rainbow be coming as well?" DuskDrift asked. Applejack stopped packing for a moment and had to think about the question. Eventually he shook her head.
"No, I don't think so. She needs to stay here in case of another dragon attack. If that happens, Rainbow Dark and Luna should have no problem taking it down.  Besides, I just don't know if I can be strong for my family when I have somepony to lean on." Applejack told her. DuskDrift nodded once, before turning at getting herself ready to leave. It was the middle of the afternoon when they were all finally ready to leave. Applejack had told her friends that she was leaving for a while. And they all consoled her when she told them why. Applejack told Rainbow last. Rainbow was shocked to hear that Applejack didn't want her to go, but relented when Applejack explained why. Applejack gave her one final, passionate kiss before she turned and followed the other ponies along the dusty road to Ponyville.

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Rainbow watched Applejack leave with tears blurring her vision. Turning away, Rainbow walked back to the main tent with the others, who sat around in silence. It was Twilight who finally spoke.
"Princess, why did DuskDrift accompany them back to Ponyville?" Twilight asked Luna.
"Applejack asked her too, as I believe." Luna replied. Rainbow's expression turned to one of puzzlement.
"What? She'll ask some pony she hardly knows to go to her grandmother's funeral, but not her marefriend! What is up with that?" She yelled to nopony in particular. Luna put up a hoof to stop her outburst.
"And if Rainbow had let me finish, I also set her a task; To find out about friendship and since she told me that she considered Applejack a good friend, I thought it a good place to start. Although I had intended on DuskDrift and Twilight bonding, that does not seem to be the case. Twilight, would you like to explain your actions earlier?" Luna said, her voice rising slightly as she addressed Twilight.

"I'm sorry Princess, it's just that I don't think that she is the pony for the job." Twilight said, and The Doctor suddenly appeared at Rainbow's side.
"Twilight! I'm surprised at you. I did not expect such discrimination coming from you. Just because she's a Pegasus you instantly assume that she's not good at magic." The Doctor said, and Rainbow looked at her shocked.
"Wait, what? You have something against pegasi, why didn't you tell me?" Rainbow said, hurt that her friend would do such a thing.
"It's not like that at all. I don't have an issue with pegasi." Twilight argued, stammering her speech as she did.
"Then how come you have been treating DuskDrift like you have been. You've only known her for about two months now and you made her cry today. Why Twilight, Why?" Luna asked angrily. The three ponies closed in on Twilight, boxing her in, not letting her run away before she told them the truth.
"Because I'm jealous!" Twilight finally screamed. The ponies backed away, as Twilight looked at the ground, ashamed.
"Why would you be jealous?" Luna asked, confused. Twilight scuffed the floor of the tent, obviously embarrassed with the answer. She took a deep breath, letting it out in a sad sigh.
"I'm jealous because DuskDrift has got you Luna. She actually has somepony to teach her the ins and outs of magic and I don't anymore. For some reason I thought that if she gave up, then you would turn to me to teach." Twilight explained. Luna sighed, bending down to look Twilight in the eye.
"I'm sorry that I have been neglecting you, it's just that Celestia told me to take on an apprentice when she believed I was ready. I believe that I am. Twilight, please don't feel threatened by DuskDrift. The magic's I teach her are very specific for use by pegasi only. I want to make sure that DuskDrift is capable before I can leave her on her own to study. So please just have some patience." Luna told her. Twilight hugged Luna, and Rainbow could hear her whispering apologies into her ear. Rainbow turned to the Doctor.
"Do you have any idea what just happened?" she asked him and the Doctor shook his head. Rainbow though it best to leave everypony to their own business, flying out of the tent and into the air. She spotted Derpy on a cloud and headed toward her, not having talked to Derpy much in a while.

"Hi Derpy, she said happily, and Derpy looked at her angrily, putting her hoof to her lips and shushing Rainbow. Derpy pointed to the bundled foal that she held in her arms, tiny snores coming from her mouth. Rainbow sat next to Derpy.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. Derpy smiled, shaking her head.
"It's okay Rainbow, It just that Sparkler is a bit sick at the moment, so I'm trying to savour the times that she can sleep." Derpy replied, rocking the foal back and forth slowly. Rainbow looked at the foal, the tiny pink unicorn and smiled.
"Have you thought about foals yourself?" Derpy asked and Rainbow paled, not expecting a question like that.
"Uh…. Well no to be honest. Besides, I'm a fillyfooler; there aren't too many options for me." Rainbow whispered. Derpy looked at her with puzzlement.
"What are you talking about? If you know a powerful enough unicorn, two mares can have a child together." Derpy told her.
"Really!" Rainbow exclaimed quietly, surprising herself at her eagerness. Derpy nodded.
"Well yeah, both of my parents were mares, and here I am today." Derpy said. Rainbow smiled, thoughts foals drifted in her mind. She looked down at the ground below and could only see the blood red sea of poppies below her.
'I couldn't bring a foal into this world. What with the war and the prophecy, and…. Rainbow Dark.' Rainbow thought, sighing.

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Applejack and the others walked in silence through the night, not wanting to stop and risk missing the funeral. It wasn't until dawn that they finally decided to rest. Applethunder and DuskDrift had promised not to use their wings on the pilgrimage back to Ponyville, and as a result, were a lot more exhausted that Applejack or Big Mac. The two pegasi fell asleep quickly, but Applejack couldn't sleep, she just wanted to see Ponyville again, to see Applebloom and hug her sister with all her might and to see Granny Smith one last time. She sat next to Big Mac, his tired expression betraying his body language.
"Get some sleep big brother; I'm gunna keep a watch for a while." Applejack said. Big Mac nodded and laid his head down on his saddlebag, using it as a pillow. Applejack smiled, glad to see that nothing had changed between her and Big Mac, but she thought of Applebloom and how she might look now. Would she have her cutie mark, a coltfriend, what? Applejack shook her head loose of the thoughts and looked out into the open plain, letting herself daydream about the old days.

A few hours later, the group continued on their quest. The road seemed endless, but Applejack could make out a town in the distance.
"That must be Maneflow Springs." She said, and the groups pace quickened, now with a goal in sight to focus on. Upon entering the town, Applethunder suggested some food, and the idea was greeted with enthusiastic nods. They found themselves a restaurant near the harbour that had a view of the sea. The ponies ate their food with gusto, devouring the first lot in a heartbeat and ordering more. A sudden commotion made Applejack turn and she could see a young mare being harassed by some sailors. She stood up quickly as one of the largest one hit her across the face. Ponies walking by turned, but kept walking, as though they didn't care. Big Mac grabbed her arm.
"This isn't our fight AJ." He said, and Applejack pulled her arm away sharply.
"Ah don't care. Somepony has to do something." She told him, making her way over. The large pony hit the mare again.
"Hey, what do y'all think you're doin, leave the poor girl alone." She shouted, and the sailors looked at her.
"Mind your own business hick. Otherwise we might knock that stupid look off your face." Said the large one. Applejack kept advancing toward them, feeling the need to let her pent up emotions out. The large one hit the mare again and turned to Applejack.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into." He said and Applejack smiled.
"Ah don't care. I just want to hit something."