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// Chapter 4: Apple Underground// Story: Sunshine and Fire// by BornIn1142//------------------------------//

Chapter 4: Apple Underground

“Did you say 'the Griffon Kingdom?'” asked Twilight in astonishment.
“That I did,” said Glint.

It was another reminder not to take anything for granted. In Twilight's world, the Griffon Kingdom had fallen hundreds of years ago. Descendants of the original griffon refugees who had escaped the destruction of their homeland were still living in Equestria and other countries, but their culture was virtually extinguished. The Kingdom's existence would have been a staggering change, if this world hadn't already been so different. Twilight didn't know how similar it was to the civilization that had existed on her own world, but she would still have loved to visit it and study it. Of course, the nation wasn't exactly hale and hearty either since Daymare Sun had moved the sun over the Talon mountain range to scorch her old enemies a few years ago.

“Where was the sun before that?” asked Twilight.
“Right here in the crownlands. Above Everfree City.”
Spike shuddered. “That sounds horrible! How could ponies live like that?”
“I doubt we could. Thing is, it's not as hot in the cities as out in the desert. The Queen wants ponies to gather up where she can keep watch of us, so she lowers the temperature in some areas. That's why Everfree City is so big. Over a million ponies live there.”
“Is that why you stay on the move?” asked Twilight, “You don't want to be under her control?”
“That's one reason.”

The answer seemed a little evasive to Twilight, but that was all right. She had tried to find out as much about Equestria and the Queen from Glint as she could, and Glint had done his best to tell her, even though he wasn't a talkative pony by nature. Some of the questions she and Spike had bombarded him with were so naïve and ridiculous that their cover story of being new in the area must have sounded as fake as it truly was, but Glint had the courtesy to turn a blind eye to their fumbling. 

They were only a short distance away from Trottingham now.

Twilight had never been there in her own world, but she'd heard a little about the place. Ponies from Trottingham had a reputation of being welcoming and hospitable, since the town was located at a major crossroads and always full of visitors. It was supposed to be a picturesque and lively place. Twilight had always imagined it as basically a larger version of Ponyville – but not much larger. 

She had made a point of not expecting anything like that here, but even so, it shocked her to see Trottingham in the distance. It looked a bit like a giant fortress, or perhaps a very squat and ugly mountain. Once they got closer though, it became obvious that its walls had not been built for defense. Up close, it looked more ramshackle than threatening. The entire town had been hidden underneath a patchwork dome of rough stone slabs and ancient-looking lumber planks. It rose high above the ground.

“It seems like a... nice place,” lied Twilight, and let out an awkward chuckle.
“I don't know,” said Spike, cocking his head, “It looks kind of hovel-ish to me.”
Glint grunted. “It doesn't need to look pretty. A good, solid roof over your head – that's what's important.”

The journey had been difficult. They had steered away from the open desert and onto a road early on, and Twilight had been as thankful for the smooth white stone pathway underneath her hooves as she had ever been for anything, but the going was still tough. They stopped to rest often, but Twilight never stopped feeling tired. It was impossible to tell how long their journey took; it was all a single endless sunny day that passed in a daze. As she walked, she was uncomfortably aware of the sun behind her every step of the way. It was hard to shake the feeling that she was being watched, that the sun was glaring down at her.

Glint had carried ungodly amounts of water with him, but not enough for two ponies and a baby dragon to comfortably get by with, so he was merciless with his rationing. He had a lot of other supplies and equipment with him as well, stuffed into two enormous saddlebags. He carried most of them himself, only passing some lighter things on to Twilight. She was impressed that a pony of his age could still have so much strength. The folds of loose skin on him indicated that he'd recently lost some weight, but he still looked hardy, not to mention very tall. He would no doubt have marched twice as fast if Twilight and Spike hadn't been there to slow him down. His cutie mark was a horseshoe, though Glint claimed it symbolized his lucky nature rather than his hard hooves.

“So Applejack is here?” Twilight confirmed, “In this town?”
“I don't know where Applejack is,” said Glint with a shrug, “but this is the best place to find her.”
Twilight chewed on her lip. “Can you tell me more about her?”

There was a glimmer in Glint's eye, something he left unsaid. Twilight had told him Applejack was her friend, so why did it seem like she didn't really know her? Twilight must have looked so insanely suspicious that she wasn't even sure why he continued to help her. 

“Let me tell you a story, filly. Before Applejack took charge of the Apple Underground, they were led for twenty years by another pony. There was nothing he wanted more than to do away with Daymare Sun. He'd seen earth ponies build houses and then sent out to waste away under the sun. He'd seen earth ponies plant and harvest and then left to starve. He'd seen earth ponies take up arms and fight their own brethren because they dared to wonder why things are as they are. He'd seen all that and more. He'd even come face to face with the Queen herself, and she scared him so much like you wouldn't believe. He wanted to do something. But he didn't have it in him to take any real action. He was afraid to take risks, because he couldn't stand the thought of losing any of his compatriots. As he grew older, he became feeble and craven, and too stuck in his ways. He refused to involve pegasi and unicorns in the rebellion because he was afraid of them. In the end, he never accomplished much anything. 

“The other ponies in the Underground respected the old pony too much to argue with the way he ran things. Maybe they didn't even dare to dream that they could do more. Applejack was the only one who had the guts to speak up and say what was wrong and what needed to be done. She was very young back then. In truth, she should have been in school instead of hiding among criminals and plotting. The things she said made sense though. It just happens that Applejack's the great-granddaughter of Apple Baron, who started this rebellion in the first place when his apple trees withered and died. There was a lot of him in Applejack, hmmhm. She eventually rose up to become the leader of the rebellion. They've done some great things since then. Applejack took the rebellion out of the shadows. More and more ponies have been joining their cause, even pegasi and unicorns. She allied with Zebrican freedom fighters, and organized the first ever jailbreak from the Queen's dungeons. She's personally led attacks against government bureaus and barracks.

“Applejack's a fighter. Mind you, I mean that literally. She has a mean buck, and can brawl with the best of them. She's bold, but she's also smart enough to know when to break off and gallop away. She's evaded the Secret Police countless times. Of course, she can still be stubborn as a mule sometimes. She's a pony that just refuses to give up. She's a hard worker and a good leader. She's fair and straight with everypony. In short, she's the leader the Underground deserves.” 

Twilight took a moment to digest what she'd heard. For a while, the only sound around them was the clacking of their hooves. For the first time, Twilight had the feeling that Glint was giving her anything less than the honest truth. He spoke of Applejack almost reverently, and she couldn't help but notice that he didn't say a word about the failed assassination attempt in the city he'd mentioned to her earlier. It sounded almost like, well, propaganda. There was another thing as well...

“And the old pony leader?” she asked, “What happened to him?”
Glint pretended not to hear her. “We're almost there,” he said.

Before Twilight knew it, he'd slipped off his poncho and wrapped it around her. It was as large as a blanket, but very light and airy. 

“Um, what are you doing?” 
“Best if nopony recognizes you, I think.” He took off his hat as well and placed it on her head, right on her horn. It slid down so she could hardly see a thing. “Where we're going, a unicorn would draw too much attention anyway.”

That was true enough, supposed Twilight. Glint hardly sweated at all, but his things still smelled funny to her, very musky and masculine, very different from the smells she was used to. 

“Looking good, Twi!” laughed Spike. He paused for a moment and considered. “Hey, what about me? Won't people notice me in a crowd? What's the situation with dragons anyway?”
“Equestria is on fairly good terms with the Dragon Matriarch, but I've never known any dragons to be out and about in this land on their own. Your kind is always paired up with unicorns of the Secret Police. You're right, you would stand out. I was hoping you could do something about him, Miss Sparkle.”
“A spell, you mean?”
While she was pondering for ideas, Spike already came up with something. “Hey, you could turn me into a pony!”
“Are you sure, Spike?”
“Come on, it's the perfect way to make me unnoticeable! And I'm kind of curious what it's like.”
Twilight glanced at Glint. “An earth pony, right?”
“That'd be best, I think.”

Twilight closed her eyes. She reached out and found Spike's essence and set to work imagining a new shell for it. Spike had been the one she'd practiced bodily transformations with when they came up in her curriculum, so he knew to stay still. A little zap of magic and it was done. When she opened her eyes again, Spike was a runty purple colt. He looked a little similar to her, though his mane and tail were green and spiky.

“Whoa, this is weird!” he said, twisting his head around to look over his new form. “I'm so long. All this hair is so itchy, and why's it suddenly so hot here?  You know, you could have made me a little older.” He jerked and looked at Twilight. “Do I look handsome?” he asked with such a serious expression that it almost made Twilight laugh.
“If you think you're going to woo Rarity like this, forget it. It'll wear off eventually.”
“I know, I know!” He bent backwards to take a look at his flank. “Aw. No cutie mark?”
“Heh. You're too young. Give it time.”

It took effort on her part to keep the spell going, but only a little. The memory of it was like a post-it note in her mind, reminding her to concentrate, but she'd long since learned to hold a grip on her temporary magics. Another unicorn would have been able to tell that Spike was transformed, but if there were going somewhere unicorns weren't likely to be, that wouldn't be a problem. 

“I could just as well cast a spell on myself as well,” Twilight told Glint.
“You unicorns always want to over-complicate things, don't you? You've got a perfectly good disguise already.”
“Well, let's go then!” said Spike, “On to Trottingham!”

He set out and promptly fell on his face.

“Oh yeah. Four legs.”

Twilight watched Spike's struggle to get up on his new hooves with a mixture of amusement and excitement. He reminded her a little of a newborn foal, except Spike was a lot more talkative.

“Why would anybody need four legs? Two's the perfect number, I could understand three as well, but four? And they're way too high!”

He adapted quickly enough. Watching him push himself into a standing position with a victorious grin took Twilight's breath away, though she couldn't exactly say why. 

They continued on into Trottingham. Glint's hat kept sliding down over Twilight's eyes. 

The gate through which they passed was more akin to a modest door. It was big enough to allow a carriage to pass through, but no bigger. Just stepping into Trottingham reinvigorated Twilight. It had been a long way and she had no idea where she would go from there – but if everything worked out, she'd see one of her friends soon. Applejack may think her a stranger, true, but just seeing her would be something. It would be a reminder of home.

Even though the air in Trottingham was heavy and dry, the relief from the sun the dome offered was most welcome. The temperature was downright pleasant compared to the outside. It was, however, brighter than Twilight had expected, since there were cracks and openings in the dome. Whether they were there by design or as a result of wear and tear, she could not say, but they allowed light to flood inside and illuminate the buildings. Still, it was visibly not as bright on the inside, somewhat similar to daytime during a solar eclipse. It seemed that there was a limit to the sun's curious omnipresence.

Twilight had also thought there would be a lot of empty space inside the town. In fact, the buildings went all the way up. There were glasshouses of all sizes scattered throughout the city, and it made her smile to see the green of plants in them. She spotted a few reservoirs of water as well, probably there in case of fire breaking out. The dome was supported by several gigantic limestone pillars. Large houses were attached to each one, connected by a criss-cross of walkways and staircases. A few pegasi were flapping about up above. It looked exciting. Twilight was so focused on taking everything around her in that she hardly heard Glint explaining about the underground river that kept the ponies here supplied with water. She had judged too quickly, she decided. The town didn't look so bad on the inside.

And then she looked down. 

She'd been so caught up with what was above her head that she hadn't even noticed the things right in front of her. The buildings on the ground were packed tight and dingy. Some of them were made of stone, others of lumber, and yet others were little more than large tents. Many were in a state of disrepair. Some of the ponies who lived there had tried to brighten their homes with coats of paint, but the faded colors did little to disguise the rotting wood and collapsed corners. The streets were mere dirt roads, and a vaguely unpleasant smell permeated everything. There were really two towns in Trottingham, one on top of the other. The one down below was a slum, that was plain to see. 

Glint didn't waste any time in leading them away from open ground, off the main street and into the narrow and winding side alleys between the taller buildings. Twilight quickly lost her bearings as she and Spike trailed after him. After five minutes of twists and turns in Trottingham's labyrinthine streets, she no longer had any idea which way they were coming from and or they were headed. The area seemed like a good hiding place to her. Since Applejack was a wanted fugitive, she imagined her to have a hideout somewhere in the town. 

There were not a lot of ponies out and about. Most business and social interaction took place indoors, but there were some who did not have a choice about being outside. When Twilight spotted anypony, they were usually laborers – craftsmen replacing broken panes on one of the glasshouses, dirty miners climbing out from an underground shaft, street sweepers working to keep the sand from piling up. All of them were earth ponies. 

Their destination, a large indoor marketplace, was a little livelier. There were a few dozen ponies doing business – but the entire hall looked like it had space for half a hundred vendors and five times as many customers. All the empty space gave the place a desolate appearance. The wares – what little there was – were of low quality and priced steeply.

“You ought to wait here,” said Glint, “I've got some business to take care of.”
“Business?” asked Spike, “What business?”
“Trying to find somepony who knows Applejack's whereabouts,” explained Glint quietly.

They watched him trot off and enter one of the stalls near the middle of the hall. He had a few words with the vendor, after which they both stalked off to go somewhere else. Being separated from their guide, even temporarily, made Twilight a little anxious. She bit her lip and looked around, but nopony seemed to be paying them the slightest bit of attention. Rationally, she knew that her surroundings were relatively normal, but everything felt weird and alien nevertheless, and the ponies here were beyond mere strangers. 

Twilight warily sat down and leaned against a wall. Her legs were achey and stiff from the long journey, so she took every bit of rest she could. Spike awkwardly plopped down at her side.

“What do you think of Glint?” asked Spike. The old pony had always been within earshot out in the desert, so it had been difficult to have a frank talk. “Can we trust him?”
“Glint has been very open with us.”
“He's been open all right. That's what worries me. He's been a little too open towards somepony he has every right to be suspicious of.”
“He also saved our lives, and was kind enough to share his food and water. I think he deserves the benefit of a doubt, Spike.”
“I'm just saying, we don't really know whose side he's on.”
“You heard the way he was talking earlier. It sounded genuine to me. He's on the side of the rebellion. Actually... I sort of got the impression that he's trying to recruit me.”
“Good call, Twilight! He saw you take care of those freaky scorpion things in the desert so he knows you're powerful. He might really be trying to get you to join up. If we go by what he said, then Applejack seems to be her usual awesome self here – but who knows what she's really like?”
“You should always expect the best of your friends, and never the worst,” Twilight reminded him.
Spike cocked an eyebrow. “I don't know about that. We're in another universe, and it's a whole new ballpark. Even our friends might not be good people here.”
He wasn't wrong, but Twilight still found his attitude a little too cynical. “You're not just saying that because Daylight Sparkle is an amoral agent of a tyrannical government who hunts down political dissidents and freethinkers and makes them disappear, are you?”
“Er, sort of. It was to be expected, really. These alternate universes always have evil doubles of the heroes in my comic books. It's pretty much par for the course. I just hope this isn't a full-blown mirror universe where everything is reversed!” 

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Wait a minute,” continued Spike, “Glint said officers of the Secret Police have dragon companions! Does that mean there's an evil double of me running around too?”

He paused. If Twilight knew him at all, he was imagining how he would look like with a goatee.

“It wouldn't suit you,” she said, “Stick with a mustache.”

Twilight wished she hadn't brought up Daylight Sparkle. Her equal number had never been far from her mind on the way to Trottingham, and once she started thinking about her, it was hard to stop. Having a different name should have made it easier to think of Daylight as a completely different individual, but Twilight could never get it out of her mind, what a version of her was doing. It was guilt by association. A pony could conceivably lead a very different life if the circumstances were different enough, if their choices and consequences played out another way – Twilight understood that. But how could she ever be so... so evil? How could she serve such a morally bankrupt world order? The figure that rose up in her imagination was invariably brutal, unfeeling and above all, stupid. How could any person of intelligence not recognize how wrong this all was?

How things were in the Equestria she'd found herself in weighed heavily on her mind. A large part of that weight was anger and pity and disbelief, but another part – a tiny part – was guilt. She was still one of the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, even if she didn't have her element on hand. Was that fact meaningless in this universe, or did it mean more than ever before? Twilight could not conceive of anything so lacking in balance, so in need of harmony, as this world. She and her friends had defeated Nightmare Moon and saved a world, and yet here was another one, suffering under the hoof of Daymare Sun. Did she have a responsibility to do something? It was a disturbing thought, an unshakable thought, and ultimately, a futile one. She knew it wasn't in her power to do anything. Still, she had decided to talk to Celestia about it once they found each other again. Celestia would have an answer for her.

Glint's return broke Twilight out of her reverie. He was alone, and his expression was unreadable.

“Well?” wondered Twilight. 
“Got what we need,” said Glint, “Follow me.”

Twilight and Spike painfully struggled on their hooves and followed Glint back into the labyrinth. They walked longer than before, circling away towards the edge of town, twisting and turning until Twilight started to get impatient. It sounded childish, but she wanted to be there already. And she was tired. 

“Where exactly are we going?” she asked Glint. 
“To a meet with the rebels.” He hesitated, then continued. “They'll probably make it difficult. Doubt they'll allow you to know the path to their secret hideout. Just don't struggle.”

Don't struggle? Was he expecting a struggle?

Some of the alleys were so narrow they had to walk in single file. These parts were so empty they might as well have been in a ghost town. At some point, they had simply stopped coming across other ponies, and yet Twilight kept glancing behind her, expecting to find somepony following them. It was dusky in those tight spaces, though not quite dark. This was a pleasant change, but also a little sinister, and made Trottingham seem all the seedier. 

At last, they reached someplace more open again. Glint came to a halt at an intersection of several alleyways, but Twilight didn't think this was their final destination. There were no doors or entrances anywhere, nowhere to go but down another alley. 

“Now what?”
“They're here,” said Glint. He nodded, pointing to something behind Twilight.

There was a pony there, blocking off the way they had come from. The pony was wearing a light brownish cloak with a hood that covered their face, but Twilight could tell it wasn't a pegasus or a unicorn. 

When she swiveled around to face Glint again, another pony had appeared. This one was very big, almost a giant, but wearing a cloak similar to the first one's. Within moments, Twilight noticed two more reaching the intersection. The fact that she couldn't see their faces disturbed her. Glint seemed unconcerned, but Twilight's insides were tightening with fear. 

The ponies were coming closer. Twilight took a step back, but there was nowhere to retreat to.

“Twilight?” asked Spike nervously.
“Um, hi!” said Twilight, “I'm looking for Applejack. Would you happen to know where I might be able to find her?”

None of them answered her. Twilight swallowed, and peered towards Glint for guidance. 

“Now remember, Twilight, I'm on your side. Just relax, and we'll take you to Applejack.”

Was this really a good idea? She knew for a fact that some of her friends, like Rainbow Dash – or Applejack, for that matter – would have tried to fight them off. Should she? Was she going to trust Glint, or not? 

Twilight decided to trust him. She bent closer to Spike. “Do as they say,” she whispered to him.

One of the rebel ponies had some kind of black cloth in his mouth. Twilight recognized it as a bag just a moment before he leapt closer to her and slipped it over her head. It was as if she'd been struck blind. She couldn't see a thing. A yelp from Spike told her they'd done the same thing to him. 

She dearly hoped she hadn't just made a mistake.

For a moment, she feared they would tie her up as well, but they didn't. There was muttering she couldn't quite make out. She made out Glint's voice – and then she was heaved off the ground and thrown over somepony's back. 

“Hey, watch it!” she heard Spike say. She hoped he wouldn't try anything. A burst of dragonflame was the last thing they needed right now. She really hoped she hadn't made a mistake.

The pony carrying Twilight started moving. He – Twilight assumed it was a stallion – trotted stiffly, and for a moment, it seemed to her that she felt him shivering, as strange as that sounded. They walked for a few minutes and took a few turns. Eventually, Twilight heard the sound of rusted hinges turning. They entered a building. She assumed that was meant they were there, but she was wrong. She couldn't have been any more wrong. 

They passed through a few more doors, eventually reaching a staircase. After taking a few turns downwards, they continued on their way vertically. They traveled in a straight line for a while, then headed turned and headed downwards on a sloping walkway. On and on and on they went, at times down and then on even ground, sometimes even up again. 

It was impossible to tell how far they descended, but it quickly became obvious that they were headed deep underground. And even with her eyes covered, Twilight could tell that this was no paltry dungeon they had down here. The temperature decreased as they got further away from the sunshine, until it was almost chilly. The rebels were probably taking an extra long route to confuse her, but the complex must have been extensive even so. 

Trottingham wasn't two towns in one, but three. The third was a secret settlement right below everypony's hooves. Twilight thought of the underground river somewhere down below, and the mines built to reach it – mines built by earth ponies. She thought of how deserted Trottingham had seemed. Perhaps the heat wasn't the only reason for that? Twilight would have been willing to bet that a lot of Trottingham's earth ponies actually lived down here. It was an incredible ruse.

Eventually, Twilight was dumped on a stone floor and the bag on her head was removed. By then, the pony who had carried her had already high-tailed it out of there. Spike was there by her side, already relieved of his own bag. Twilight stood up and looked around. The room they were in was bare and empty, but it didn't look like a prison cell either. A burning oil lantern was hanging from the ceiling. There were a  total of five ponies present aside from her and Spike. Applejack was nowhere to be seen. 

It was Glint who had taken off the bag from her head. He was already wearing his hat, and used the opportunity to take back his poncho and fold it together. That done, he trotted off and laid down in a corner, taking a drink of something that might have been ice tea. He looked improbably relaxed considering the circumstances. Twilight wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing. 

An earth pony mare with a grass-green coat and long, golden locks was pacing around the room. Her cutie mark was a watering can. A large, long-wilted flower in her mane bobbed up and down as she muttered to herself.

“What am I going to tell Applejack?” she was saying, “This is awful, simply awful! Or is it the best thing ever? Oh, why me?”

A sleek and beautiful black and white pegasus mare that surely had zebra blood in her immediate family was standing watch to the side. She stood stone-still and never let her eyes leave Twilight. Her cutie mark was a tangle of black stripes that resembled a throwing glaive. 

There was even a unicorn there, a white colt with a blond mane only a little older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The symbol on his flank was a shooting star. He was smiling brightly, and winked at Twilight when he saw her looking at him.

The last pony in the room was a feminine-looking stallion with a tan coat and a lush brown mane. His cutie mark consisted of three blue horseshoes. He kept his gaze on the floor, but even so, Twilight recognized him right away.

“Caramel?” she blurted out, “Is that you?”
Caramel flinched when she spoke to him. “Ah, do I know you, miss?”
Twilight hesitated. “Heh heh, no. No, I guess not...”

Speaking up seemed to remind the grass-green mare of her presence. She whirled around to face her. 

“All right, Daylight Sparkle! We'll have none of your tricks here! You are now officially a prisoner and hostage of the Apple Underground!”
Spike blustered. “Ugh, you've got it all wrong, lady!”
“Yes, there's been a bit of a misunderstanding...” said Twilight warily.
Glint loudly cleared his throat. “I already told you, Emerald Hope, that's not Daylight Sparkle.”
“Could you please explain to me how that's not Daylight Sparkle?” asked Emerald Hope.
“I've met Daylight Sparkle,” said Glint, “This isn't her. Her cutie mark's all wrong.”
“Well, technically, you've only seen Daylight Sparkle,” offered out Caramel uncertainly, “You haven't met her. That's not quite the same.”
“Do you think I'm a idiot?” asked Glint harshly, causing Caramel to draw back. 
“If you're not Daylight Sparkle,” Emerald Hope asked Twilight, “then who are you?”

Twilight felt supremely silly. Indeed, she didn't think she could possibly feel any sillier.

“I'm, er, Twilight Sparkle.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in with Emerald Hope. She proceeded to give Glint a withering glare. Glint just shrugged. Twilight suddenly found the unicorn colt standing right in front of her, holding out his hoof to her with a winning smirk on his face. 

“It's such a pleasure to make the acquaintance, milady. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brightsmile.”

His words were mature, but his voice was a surprisingly squeaky reminder of his youth. When Twilight raised her hoof to his, he leaned down and kissed it. The way he wiggled his eyebrows when he looked up at her struck her as a bit forward.

“Hello,” she said, with hesitation.
“I'm actually a hostage here myself!” continued Brightsmile, “What are the odds, huh? Hey, if I said you had a great body-”

At this point, Emerald Hope unceremoniously pushed him out of her way.

“This is crazy!” she said, "Why oh why would you bring her here, Glint?”
“This Underground is supposed to accept anypony who seeks refuge here, isn't it?”
“You can't possibly be serious about that! Since when are you such a fan of unicorns?”
“Never mind about that, will you? She's not Daylight Sparkle, but she might be just as powerful. If you'd seen what I have, you'd know that she could be a great ally to us. She defeated a whole horde of scorpion muties out by the Scar all on her own. Filly's got a serious gift for magic.”
Emerald Hope's eye twitched. “That doesn't make me feel better at all!”

She turned towards Twilight and stared at her long and hard, as if she expected to pierce veil of time itself and gleam her entire history up until that point. She looked more afraid than suspicious. Was it because of her own neurotic nature, or was seeing the face of Daylight Sparkle up close just that frightening? Twilight tried to smile at her, but that only made the other pony narrow her eyes and scowl harder. 

“So you're here to join us or something, is that it?” asked Emerald Hope.
“Um, no, not exactly,” admitted Twilight. She sneaked a glance at Glint, but couldn't make out a reaction. “I'm actually just here looking for Applejack. Is she around here somewhere?”
“Hmh, well, you won't find her here!”
“Why, where is she?” asked Twilight.
“She hasn't gotten back to us since the assassination attempt on the Queen.” Emerald Hope's eyes bulged. “Wait, why am I telling you this?!”
Twilight looked from one pony to the next. “You mean... something might have happened to her?”
“No, no, of course not! Applejack can take care of herself better than anypony!”
“Most of the other ponies in her group have already made it to safehouses,” said Glint, “Applejack likes to take the longer routes to make sure she shakes off pursuers. I'm sure she'll be back soon.”
“Um, shouldn't we be careful about telling her stuff like that?” asked Caramel.
“Yes,” said the black and white pegasus.
“Yeah!” exclaimed Emerald Hope, “Yeah, we should! Even if she's not Daylight Sparkle herself, she could still be one of Sparkle's henchponies. In fact, she probably is! And who knows what kind of insidious motive she has?”
“I came across her out in the open desert,” said Glint, “It was sheer chance we met.”
“Perhaps you only think it was chance, hmm? Have you considered that possibility? That this is all a plot, carefully orchestrated to get an infiltrator into our hideout? Applejack left me in charge when she headed to Everfree, and I'll be damned if the Underground is exposed and destroyed on my watch! Goodness gracious, she might even be an assassin sent after sent after Applejack herself!”
“Use your head, Emerald. If she was a member of the Secret Police, there would have been a dozen better ways to find us. Not to mention, she'd have come to us in a proper disguise. Why would they send somepony looking like that? It's a straight-up guarantee that we'd be suspicious. That makes no sense, no ma'am. The Secret Police isn't so dumb.”

Emerald Hope was frantically chewing on her lower lip as she tried to deal with these contradictions. It seemed to Twilight that she was at least considering Glint's words. Finally, she turned to the others in the room with a pleading look.

“Thoughts, everypony?”
The pegasus was the first to speak. There was no trace of the peculiar Zebrican rhyming accent in her voice, but she sounded foreign nevertheless. “We mustn't take any chances,” she said, “If you get me ten hooflengths of bamboo, a spoon and a bucket of glue, I could have the truth out of her... dead or alive.”

The awkward silence that filled the room told Twilight she wasn't the only one who thought that sounded a little disconcerting. The pegasus looked confused when Brightsmile burst into laughter.

“Oh Chequy, you're such a kidder!”
“That was a joke?” muttered Spike incredulously.
“Okay then!” said Emerald Hope quickly, “Noted! Now, what do you think, Caramel?”
Caramel looked surprised at even being asked. “Um. I'm not really sure it's a good idea for us to decide anything on our own. We should wait for Applejack to get back.”
Emerald Hope enthusiastically nodded along to his words. “Brightsmile?”
“Oh, I'm sure such a lovely lady has nothing to hide. I would certainly be willing to put all my faith in her, if you know what I mean. By the way, can I just say that I really like your hair, Miss Sparkle? It's very stylish.”

Twilight hadn't gotten much chance for personal grooming recently and was all but certain that her hair looked much like a mummified bird's nest at the moment. She was starting to suspect the young pony had undue intentions towards her. Brightsmile wasn't done yet, however. 

“I'm not so sure about the other one though,” he said, turning up his nose towards Spike and sniffing, “There's something odd about him I can't place.”
Emerald Hope pounced on it right away. “What?? You mean like a spell or something?”
“Hey, could be!”

Brightsmile conjured up an expression of intense concentration. The members of the rebellion were paying attention to Spike for the first time now. Twilight caught sight of Glint and saw the old pony slamming a hoof into his forehead. 

“Now that you mention it, I think you might be right, Miss Hope! There is a definitive magical feel about him. It's almost as if, hmm, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Wait.”

Suddenly, his eyes turned as big as dinner plates.

“I think he's a dragon!”

It was as if an explosion had gone off in the room. 

Emerald Hope gasped so loud that Spike stumbled backwards in shock and rolled over. Caramel looked close to fainting, while Glint simply sighed. Chequy reared, and that was when Twilight first noticed the sharp little blades tied to her forelegs with leather straps. She hung low and folded out her wings, ready to jump, but the next moment, Brightsmile had sidled up so close to her that he was practically underneath her.

“Ooooh, protect me, Chequy!”
“Please don't touch me down there...”

Emerald Hope had to take several deep breaths until she could continue speaking.

“Aha!” she said, “Aha! This proves you're an enemy agent! Why else would you try to bring a dragon among our ranks covertly?”
Twilight sunk down to the floor and let her ears droop. “This isn't what it looks like! I only cast an appearance-changing spell on him because Glint said he would draw attention around town!”

All eyes turned to Glint.

“What were you thinking?” demanded Emerald Hope, “Why would you bring a weapon of mass destruction right to our doorstep? Do you not you understand how dangerous this is?”
“There's no need to get all bothered,” said Glint, but he couldn't stop himself from looking abashed. He turned away, his brow furrowed, and there was a defensive note in his voice when he continued. “I knew you people would react like this when there's really no reason for it. The dragon's a good kid. I don't think he's been trained like the others. He's nothing to be afraid of, I promise you. Just try to look  beyond it, will you?”
“I can't believe this,” moaned Emerald Hope.
“It's not like you to make such a gamble,” said Caramel pensively. 
“Shaddap, Caramel,” said Glint.
“What shall we do about the creature?” asked Chequy. Her voice was calm, but there was a burning intensity in her hawkish eyes.
“Hey, I resent that!” exclaimed Spike. He set down his hooves to get up, causing everypony but Twilight and Glint to take a step back, “Would you all please stop talking about me as if I'm not right here?”
“Shuuut uuup, Spiiike!” whispered Twilight through her teeth. She took up a position between Spike and pegasus, just to be on the safe side. “You don't have to worry,” she said “I mean, he's only a baby dragon.”

She laughed nervously, but the tension in the air refused to go anywhere. Nopony seemed to think this was a laughing matter. Twilight didn't understand the state of panic they were all in. Caramel was visibly quivering, and Emerald Hope looked at her as if she was crazy.

“I can turn him back if you want?” suggested Twilight.
“No!” burst out Emerald Hope, and then instantly changed her mind. “Okay, do it.”

Twilight didn't strictly need to do anything flashy to return Spike's original form to him, but she thought the rebel ponies would be more comfortable if they could see the magic at work. She lowered her horn towards Spike and let it glow on him. It took a single thought, and the shell she'd created disappeared. A collective gasp went through the room when the colt turned into a baby dragon in a flash. 

Spike plopped down on the ground, then calmly stood up and dusted himself off. “Hi there. I'm Spike.”
“He's so small,” said Caramel.
“He's small now,” said Emerald Hope, “The other ones in the Secret Police are small too, but... well, you know what they can do.”
Spike rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Deal with it, will you?” he said. 

Twilight bit her lip. The fear they were all showing Spike was making him a bit too bold.

“You really don't have to worry,” she repeated, “We don't mean you any harm.”

It didn't look like anypony was going to argue with her on that, at least for the moment, but she wasn't sure whether any of them really believed it either.

“So now what?” asked Glint loudly, “What are you going to do, Emerald?”
“What?” asked Emerald Hope.
“Applejack left you in charge, so make up your mind,” said Glint, “What do you want done with them? Should we give them a room or a cell? Or should we dump them out in the open desert like I found her? You don't mean to execute them, do you?”
“No, no, not that, but...” She cringed. “Ohhh, why me?”

She was running her front hooves over the sides of her head in a circular motion, trying to massage her temples. Doing so, she pulled loose the wilted flower in her mane, which fell to the floor and lost most of its remaining petals. Emerald Hope looked sad to see it come to pieces. It was a sunflower, as it happened. 

“I may not be the smartest pony around,” said Glint, “but I think I do know other ponies a bit. I can tell that Twilight's the okay sort. Just give her a chance. There's no harm in letting her speak to Applejack. If you don't trust her, then at least trust me.”

Emerald Hope sighed and looked at Glint unhappily. “I think...” she started.

But before she could finish her thought, somepony kicked open the door.

“Heya!” said Applejack. 

Twilight's heart jumped. For a moment, everypony seemed to forget about her. Chequy was the only one who kept an eye on Twilight and Spike, but even she seemed brighter somehow, less composed. Glint remained sitting in his corner, but the others flocked around their leader, all announcing how glad they were that she was back. Emerald Hope looked especially excited. An invisible weight seemed to have disappeared from her shoulders; she stood straighter and even smiled.

“I had a heck of a time getting out of Everfree City,” explained Applejack, “The whole place is on high alert, and the unicorns are dragging citizens off the street left and right, hoping they'll nail one of us. They followed me for days before I managed to shake them off. Thank grace we didn't make it to the citadel by the time they got wise.”
“What went wrong?” asked Chequy.
“We can talk about that later.”
Emerald Hope was frowning again. “Applejack, listen. Big Mac still hasn't made it back...”
“Shush, Emerald. I already know. I'm still hoping he managed to hide away somewhere.”

The twangy accent in her voice was familiar, but not much else. This was not the Applejack Twilight knew. This Applejack kept her blond mane cut in a short bobcut instead of tied up in a long tailstyle. She was still sturdy and muscled, but also had more than one scar on her body. Her distinctive hat was missing, and even her cutie mark was different. It was not three gleaming red apples, but a sharp stick with a three-pronged white cover – a parasol. This Applejack's special talent wasn't growing apples, it was standing against the sun. 

“So, where is this dead ringer of Daylight Sparkle everypony keeps telling me about?” she asked.

Twilight's breath caught in her throat when their gazes met. She didn't know what to say. Applejack stepped closer and did a full circle around Twilight, curiously regarding her from every angle. Even she jerked slightly when she saw Spike, but Twilight was the center of her attention. 

The scowl on her face was more perfunctory than unfriendly. Her mane was matted with sweat and sand, probably from several days of galloping in the desert. She looked horribly disheveled, but if she was tired at all, she hid it well. 

Finally, she stepped back and declared her judgment. 

“Naah, it ain't her.”

They accepted her word as fact right away. It was Glint himself who asked her how she knew.

“'Cause I saw Daylight Sparkle in Cow's Crossing not three turns ago. Only barely managed to lose her. I reckon she's somepony I would recognize by now, after all our run-ins. I have to admit though, they look darn similar. Almost identical.” She faced Twilight, and asked her in a much rougher voice: “Now, who are you and what do you want with me? Careful what you say; I'll know if you lie.”

Twilight had been waiting for her to ask. 

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm aware that you don't technically know me, but I came to you for help about, um, a thing.” She glanced around in the room. “I was actually hoping we could discuss things privately, away from the others?”
“Heh, fat chance of that. You can just go on and say what you want to say. This crew here's my most trusted lieutenants in Trottingham, and, well, Glint. But I'm sure you won't mind him, since you seem to be such good buddies and all.”
“Well, the thing is... How do I put this?” She cringed and laid it all out without drawing breath. “I'm actually a traveler from another universe and I came to you because you're one of my closest friends in my own world and I hoped you could help me find a way back home.”

There was a pause of absolute quiet – and then everypony in the room broke into laughter. Chequy snorted, Glint and Caramel chuckled, Brightsmile guffawed, Emerald Hope cackled, and Applejack herself was almost rolling on the floor, with tears of mirth in her eyes. Even Spike couldn't stop himself.

Twilight stomped her hooves in frustration. “I'm serious, you guys! Spike!”
“Sorry, Twi!” said the dragon, “But you have to admit, it sounds kind of ridiculous when you just say it out loud like that!”
Twilight pressed on. “I realize how this sounds, but I'm not crazy, I swear! I really am from another planet, another Equestria! They're both similar to yours, and yet very different in some crucial aspects.”
“Different how?” asked Applejack. Her face was scrunched up from trying not to grin.
“Well, for starters, my world isn't a desolate wasteland, and our Celestia isn't a tyrant.”

That wiped the smile from Applejack's face. 

“In my world, it was Princess Luna who was corrupted a thousand years ago and turned into Nightmare Moon. She tried to bring about an eternal night, but Celestia fought her and put a stop to her plans. The world was never ruined. Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon for a millennium. When she broke out, we two and our other friends defeated her for good and restored Luna.”
“The moon?” cut in Brightsmile, “What's that? And who's Luna?”
“I think I've heard of the moon before,” said Caramel hesitantly, “My grandmother used to tell me stories. The moon was where the night happened.”
“My people still pass on the legends of antiquity,” said Chequy quietly, “but... I never paid much attention to old stories. I remember hearing about the moon though, the dark twin of the sun.”
Twilight nodded. “Just as Celestia commands the sun, her sister Luna commands the moon. The natural order is an equal duality between the two, between day and night as well. You've all heard stories, haven't you? About how things were before?”

They had.

“You see, Applejack? I'm not Daylight Sparkle, but at the same time, I am. We are the same person, born in different universes. That's why we look the same, and that's why her cutie mark isn't the same as mine. She has grown to doing things I would never approve of.”
“And me?” asked Applejack, “You say you know me? So what am I like, in your world?”
“I... don't know what to tell you. I don't know you, so it's hard to compare you two, you know? You look different, but I see a lot of her in you, I think. You would like her if you met her. Does that make sense? Glint told me about Apple Baron, and how he had to stop growing apples because of the climate. Well, in my world, the Apple clan has orchards all over Equestria. You're renown for it!”

Applejack looked quite serious now, but Twilight still didn't think she believed her.

“So in that world of yours,” said Applejack, “are my parents still alive?”
Twilight hadn't expected that. “No,” she said, “No, they're not. I'm sorry. But the family you do have is wonderful! You all live in your parents' orchard together, you, your grandmother, your big brother and your little sister...”

Suddenly, Applejack's eyes were blazing fury. She whirled around to face Glint.

“Glint Hardhoof, you didn't!”
Glint looked confused for a moment. “Applejack, on my word, I never told her about Apple Bloom.”

And with that, Applejack was starting to believe. The anger disappeared and her mouth fell open. When she looked back at Twilight, there was a whole new sense of wonder in her eyes. 

“So she exists in this world as well?” said Twilight, “I'm glad to hear that. She's a sweet filly.”
“Apple Bloom, she...” started Applejack, and then fell silent. “Nopony is supposed to know about her. Nopony except some of my comrades. Apple Baron's line lost their trees, that's true, but some of my relatives are still growing apples, farther away from the crownlands. Apple Bloom and Granny are living with one of my cousins, so nopony can use them against me. I don't want them involved in this.”
“I promise I won't tell anypony,” said Twilight 
“Something strange,” said Glint, “She didn't know a thing about Equestria when I met her. I had to explain everything from A to B. She wasn't faking, I can tell you that much. I don't know if she's from another world or whatever, but I really don't think she's from these parts.”

Twilight wasn't the only one intently staring at Applejack. All of the others were watching her as well, waiting to hear what she had to say. Applejack was silent for a while before continuing.

“Your story is... interesting and all, Twilight, but assuming for a moment you're telling the truth, I'm not really sure what you expect from me, sugar.”

What options did Twilight have? Tell Applejack that she herself had no idea what to do? That she sought her out more out of sentimentality than any real reason? But then again, perhaps there was a way for her to help.

“Spike and I weren't the only ones thrown into this world. There were three other ponies aside from me, but we got separated during the crossing. One of them was the magical theorist who created the dimensional travel spell system in the first place, Brainy Bright. If you helped me find him, he might be able to build another portal and get us back to our own world.”

Twilight wasn't at all sure she should tell them who exactly her companions were. The ponies of the Apple Underground only knew Celestia as an age-old enemy, and Luna didn't mean anything to them at all. Not being straight with them grated on Twilight's conscience, but she didn't know how they would react if they found out. It was best to hold back that particular bit of information, at least for the moment. 

But Applejack's decision came swiftly and mercilessly anyway.

“I can't help you.”

Twilight's heart sank. Applejack read her disappointment from her expression and sighed. 

“Look, I understand that you're in a serious pickle here, but there's nothing I can do. Do you even have any inkling where this Brainy Bright might be? Trying to find one pony in the whole wide world is the next best thing to impossible. We're fighting a war here, and most everypony in the Underground is wanted by the law. I can't risk sending my people on some wild goose chase for somepony that hasn't yet conclusively proven she isn't crazy.” She smiled apologetically. “You're welcome to stay with us though, if you don't have anyplace to go! You don't have to fight for us or nothing. We take in anypony.”

No. Twilight couldn't let this be the end of it.

She thought about everything Glint had told her about this world, about the centuries of abuse the land and its inhabitants had gone through. She thought about Applejack's struggle, and all the others who must have tried to fight back before her. She thought about home, her friends, her Princess, and her star-shaped tiara. And she knew what she had to do.

“What if I told you I knew a way to defeat Daymare Sun?”

This caused some murmurs in the room, but Applejack looked skeptical. 

“And what would that be?” she asked.
“The Elements of Harmony! Magical artifacts infused with the essences of Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter and Magic. That's how we defeated Nightmare Moon in our world. We can do the same here, Applejack. You and I. If we find the rest of our friends, and the physical vessels that hold the Elements, then we can purge Celestia of the corruption inside her and return this world to normal!”
“Normal?” repeated Applejack, “You mean...”
“The end of the eternal day. No more constant light, no more constant heat. Imagine it, Applejack! Imagine an end to the oppression. In my world, all the pony races are equal and free, and we live in peace with our neighbors. Celestia, Princess Celestia, is meant to be a kind and benevolent ruler! She's not just a monarch, she's a mother to us all. If things hadn't gone wrong, if something hadn't happened to your Celestia, she would be like ours as well, I know it! But with the Elements, we could fix everything!”

They were all silent now, deep in thought. Nopony was laughing anymore. Twilight waited patiently as the rebels chewed over everything she had said and tried to look beyond the inherent insanity of it all. It was a long shot, certainly. She had no way of knowing whether the events a thousand years ago had played out anything like in her own world; she didn't know whether the Elements had been destroyed or whether they'd been forged at all. But it was the only chance she saw. She glanced at Spike and saw that the dragon had his fingers crossed. Glint looked particularly excited, but Emerald Hope was the first to speak.

“All the seeds I've gathered,” she said, almost reverently, “I could finally plant them! And they would grow!”
Caramel sighed. “I really don't mean to be so blunt, but we gave it our best shot at Everfree, and we still failed. I want to believe we're making a difference, but at this rate, it'll never come to anything. In a hundred years, we'll all be dead and Daymare Sun will still be Queen. So, what I mean to say is...”
“This could be our secret weapon,” finished Chequy for him, her face grim, “It could turn the tide. Magic, but not unicorn magic.”
Brightsmile was grinning from ear to ear again. “Aren't you curious what nighttime is like?”
“You can't pass something like this up,” said Glint, “No matter how small the odds are, you've got to try. There's no harm in trying. Good grace, Applejack, what if she's telling it true?”

Applejack desperately wanted to believe – Twilight could see that from her eyes. But it was also apparent that she was deeply conflicted. She looked Glint in the eye.

“She's not exactly asking for nothing,” she said, “There's a lot to do, and no real idea of how to do it. Going out to chase for some mythical artifacts would be a huge risk.”

Glint looked good for his age, but the years seemed to melt away from his back as he got to his hooves and stood up to his full height, which was tall indeed. At that moment, he seemed like a much younger pony.

“Everything the Underground does is a big risk,” he replied, “but think of the possible gains. This is exactly the chance you've been waiting for.”

The corners of Applejack's mouth twitched, and a moment later, she was chuckling.

“Boy, look at us! This feels familiar somehow, but shouldn't it go the other way around, with me proposing some wild plan and you cautioning me about it?”
“Heh. Well, I guess we've both learned a thing or two.”

Applejack looked back at Twilight.

“Okay. Supposing everything you've said is true and those Elements of Harmony are really out there – do you have any idea where we might find them?”
“Not really,” said Twilight honestly.
“And those friends of ours? How do you know they even exist in this world, or that they'd be willing to help us?”
Twilight smiled weakly. “I don't.”
“Taking you by your word and going on this quest has got to the craziest, most foolhardy idea in history.” But she was smiling as well.
“You'll do it though, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I reckon I will.”

She raised her hoof, and Twilight knocked her own against it.

“First things first,” said Twilight, “Do you know any of these ponies – Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie?”

Applejack looked surprised for a moment, and then nodded. 

“Which one?” Twilight asked her.
“Rarity. Or Lady Rarity if you want to be particular. She's a member of the unicorn nobility and – get this – she's not an evil bastard or an dumb pleasure-seeker. She- ah, she's been a good ally to the Underground.”

Their situation wasn't hopeless at all, oh no, far from it. After all, there was a special bond connecting Twilight and their friends. It was time to see how deep that bond really went. Twilight wanted to know whether to believe in destiny. 

“But, um, if you're thinking about seeking her out, that could prove a mite tricky.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, it's like this. Rarity lives in Everfree City.”


Notes:

- This chapter was spectacularly hard to write. I must have been averaging a hundred words a day or less for a while there, in the second half. The release of a little game called Deus Ex: Human Revolution put me on a dead stop for a week. And then? Then I wrote the last two thousand words in two days. Funny how these things work out. Still, I get the feeling it's apparent from the text that I was struggling. 

- I originally meant to make Mayor Mare a member of the Apple Underground as well, but I didn't have the slightest clue as to what to call her if she's not a mayor.


Next chapter: A Twinkle in the Mind's Eye