> XCOM 2, Applejack's Story
>  by badassgrunt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My name's Applejack. If you're a pony, you probably heard of me. If you're a human, you probably heard of me too. I did help save their world, after all. Guess that makes me savior of two worlds. I wonder how Ma and Pa would react to that. To what I did over there. I'll tell you what, some of it ain't pretty. My first few months were a living Tartarus. But I lived. And made some new friends on the way. Even found myself a marefriend. 

...I'm different now, though. Changed. Going through what the humans call Hell can do that to a pony. I'm not the same carefree, naive pony I once was. I know now that the dark of space hides some evil things. My worst fear is that they'll come to Equis. If they do, though, I won't let 'em touch my friends and family. Enough worrying. I've got a story to tell.

My name is Applejack, and this is my story.



badassgrunt presents

A My Little Pony and XCOM crossover

XCOM 2: Applejack's Story

> The Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Applebloom yawned as she got out of bed. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and smacked her lips. She stumbled, drowsy, to her closet. Opening it she picked out her bow. She glanced to the side. Hanging on a hook was her sister's hat. She sighed. It had been more than a year and a half since Applejack went missing, leaving only her hat. She still remembered that dreadful day clearly. 

Applejack didn't show up for breakfast one day. Thinking she somehow slept through her alarm, Applebloom was sent to wake her up. Much to her surprise and horror, she found and empty bed with Applejack's hat on the pillow. She would never leave without her hat. The day quickly turned into a panicky search for the missing pony, which eventually involved the entire town. After month of searching the surrounding area of Ponyville with no sign of her, the search turned country-wide. After another month of searching with no clues of her whereabouts, in turned into a world wide search. All the countries of Equis searched for the lost hero to no avail. Even Discord helped. After a half a year of following all possible leads, from kidnapping to being lost on a deserted island, Applejack was sadly declared dead by the Princesses. Her closest friends and family were devastated. A modest memorial was constructed in Ponyville. 

Applebloom didn't believe Applejack was dead. She knew deep down in her heart that her sister was alive somewhere. For a while, at least. After a year and a half, her faith started to waver. Maybe Applejack really was dead. Today was the day her faith broke. She promised herself that she wouldn't wear her sister's hat as long as she believed Applejack was alive. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she traded her bow for Applejack's hat. 

Numbly she went through her morning routine, just as she had during the first few weeks of Applejack's disappearance. As she went down the stairs for breakfast, her remaining family noticed Applebloom wearing the hat. They knew what this meant. Big Mac and Granny Smith hugged her, but she didn't cry. She was too tired for that. They ate their meal in silence. Big Mac and Applebloom then went out to do their duties to the farm. It was near lunch when Applebloom found herself not focusing. She turned away from her job and wandered around the apple orchard.

As she walked in silence a loud bang made her jump. This was followed by a swirling-swishing noise behind her. She turned around and blinked at what she saw. She knew a portal when she saw one, and one was before her. It was a purple vortex that glowed. Applebloom trotted and hid behind a tree. She stared at it for a while before seeing something she couldn't believe. The tip of an orange, armor-clad hoof poked out near the bottom. More and more of the hooves owner came through the portal. Applebloom's jaw dropped as Applejack stepped out of the portal. She looked around with a small smile on her face. She raised a hoof near her ear.

"This is th' place. Ah'm home. Y'all can close th' portal now," Applebloom shuddered at the voice that she didn't hear for almost two years. Her sister had returned.

There was a sucking sound as the portal disappeared with a pop. Applejack looked around once more and turned to leave.  Applebloom, not wanting to loose sight of her sister stepped out from behind the tree. "A-Applejack?"

Applejack spun around. When she saw Applebloom and huge smile broke out on her face, "Applebloom!"  she dashed and scooped up Applebloom in her fore legs in a hug.  Applebloom stared blankly ahead before the waterworks started. She let out choked sobs as she hugged Applejack tightly. Applejack rubbed her little sister's back, "Shh, it's okay. A'hm here. A'hm back."

Applebloom somehow hugged her sister even tighter, "Ah m-missed ya so much!" she said between sobs.

"Don't worry ya pretty little head. Ah ain't planning on disappearin' again," Applejack replied.  

They sat there hugging each other for a while before Applebloom sniffled, "Ah...Ah think A'hm okay now," 

They broke the hug. Applejack looked down at Applebloom with a smile, "Ah missed ya too. Ah missed everyone,"

Applebloom tilted her head, "'Everyone'?"

Applejack chuckled and looked away, "Oops, heh heh. Guessed Ah picked up a few things while Ah was away,"

Applebloom wiped her eyes and sniffled again, "Where were ya?"

Applejack froze and had a faraway look in her eyes for a moment, "Ah'll tell ya' when everyone- everypony is here,"

It was this moment she took a better look at Applejack.  She wore what looked like armor. It was orange like her fur. Her Cutie Marks was painted on her armored flanks. There was an insignia on the chest plate. It was a polygon with stars and a globe. The words "Semper Veritatem"was at the top. She had no idea what they meant. The emblem had her Cutie Mark on it.

Only her head and tail were uncovered. The joints were covered in a rubber-like sleeve. Applebloom's engineering side also noted with interest that there was what looked like structural support beams for her legs that connected to Applejack's back. They whirred with the sound of machinery whenever she moved her limbs. Attached to her side was what looked like a crossbow, but the two prongs were vertical rather than horizontal. There didn't looking to be any thing resembling a crossbow bolt in it, so she guessed it was unloaded. Oddly, there didn't appear to be a string. On one of her fore legs was a series of buttons, their purposes unknown.  What looked like a helmet was clipped to her side. The helmet covered her entire head leaving only a see-through visor and holes for her ears. Applebloom glanced at her ears. One of them had a hole in it.

As Applebloom looked at her sister's face, she noticed with mild horror there was a horrible scar on her cheek. The skin there was so thin looking that Applebloom could easily see her cheekbone. The flesh looked molted and bumpy, not one would see if it was a bladed weapon was the cause. It had a pink tint to it. There was another one, jagged, that ran across her nose and mouth. She drew her eyes away to see Applejack looking at her sadly.

"Ah see ya noticed mah scars," Applejack's ears folded back and she looked down at the ground, "Tygan said th' fur on mah cheek can't grow back 'cause th' wound is too deep."

"Ho-how'd ya get it?" asked Applebloom.

"Ah'll tell ya later, but th' story ain't pretty," 

Silence reigned between them for a moment.  Applejack suddenly turned away from Applebloom, but beckoned her to follow her, "We better go an' tell everyb- pony that Ah'm back," Applejack stopped and turned her head to look at Applebloom, "Is Granny Smith...is she still alive?"

Applebloom nodded, "She's jus' sad. We all are,"

Applejack winced, "...sorry. Ah tried to get home as soon as Ah could, but Ah had to help some folks who helped me,"

The two stayed silent as they walked home. Applebloom guessed it was about lunch time so she suggested that they go to the house first. Applejack agreed.





When they got there, Applebloom ran ahead. Just as she reached the front porch, the door opened. Big Mac walked out with a frown an his face. 

"Applebloom, where ya'll been? Ah was just about to search for ya. Ya scared Granny. We thought we lost another family member,"

"Now don't ya'll be too hard on th' filly,"

Big Mac's heart stopped when he heard that voice. He knew that voice and who it belonged to, but that was impossible. She was gone, they had looked everywhere for her. He slowly lifted his head to see a pony trotting up the road. His heart resumed beating as the pony drew closer, "A-Applejack?"

Applejack stopped a few paces from the porch, "Th' one an' only,"

Big Mac shook his head, "No...Applejack is gone," he slid into a fighting position, "You must be a changeling,"

Applejack frowned and raised an eyebrow. "No, Ah'm not a changeling. Ah'm no Faceless either,"

Big Mac didn't know what a 'Faceless' was and he couldn't worry about it now, "Ah'm giving ya one last chance to get off mah property,"

Applejack stared impassively at her brother for a moment before speaking, "Ya still have Twilight's doll?"

Big Mac's eyes widened and he stepped back, "W-what?"

"Ya'll still have her doll, don't ya? Th' one where you sleep with sometimes?"

Big Mac blanched and Applebloom suppressed a giggle. He shook his head. While not as good as Applejack, he could still easily spot lies, "Look me in th' eyes and say you're her,"

Applejack took a step forward and looked him in the eyes. "Ah. Am. Applejack."

He saw no lie in her eyes. What he saw was the truth. Applejack's truth. Along with it he saw the familiarity in her eyes. Either she was an extremely good liar or...it really was Applejack. "Y-yer back..."

Applejack smiled, "Ah'm back," 

Big Mac shakily came down the porch stairs and hugged her. Even her hugs were the same. "Ya really her,"

"'course Ah am. No one could keep me from my family," 

The porch door opened and Granny Smith hobbled out, "Whut's all th' ruckus about? Who's that?" Granny squinted her eyes then had they grew large, "Applejack...is that you?" 

Big Mac and Applejack pulled away from their hug and Applejack took a step forward with tears in her eyes. She ascended the stairs slowly and came to Granny, "It's really me," they hugged and Applejack let out a sob, "Ah thought Ah'd never see ya again,"

Granny was crying also, "An' Ah thought Ah'd never see YOU again," eventually they pulled away and Granny opened the door, "Ya'll must be starving. Come on in an eat. Ya can tell us what happened,"

Applejack stopped, "Can Ah have mah friends here? Ah really miss them,"

Granny nodded, "Of 'course ya can. Applebloom, can ya go and gather Applejack's friends? Applejack'll likely get swarmed as soon as she steps into town. Tell 'em we have a surprise for them,"

Applebloom nodded and rushed down the road. The rest of the Apple family went inside. Granny Smith eyed Applejack, "That's some fancy lookin' clothes ya got there,"

Applejack looked down at her, suddenly self conscious, "This? This is mah armor,"

"Armor? What in th' heavens would ya'll need armor for?"

"To protect me when Ah'd go on field operations,"

Granny tilted her head, "'Field operations'? Whut's that?"

Applejack blinked, "Let's say Ah had a job while Ah was away..."

Granny nodded and smiled, "Well, it's nice ya had some farmin' work for ya. Still don't know why ya had to have armor to farm,"

Applejack chuckled nervously, "Heh heh, yeah..." A sideways glance showed Big Mac looking at her with a eyebrow raised. 

It was then Applejack realized something: they were all so innocent. None of her friends and family had killed or even saw something else kill another living thing. Killing was unheard of in Equestria, not even the lowest of criminals would do that horrible deed. Applejack, though, had. Applejack knew she should still feel remorse for killing another thing. But with the things she fought, she found no remorse inside her. Applejack looked to her bolt caster. Her biggest fear was being cast out after they learned what she did. She prayed to Celestia and God that they didn't.

Granny went into the kitchen. Big Mac cleared his throat, "Why don't ya take that armor off?"

Applejack chuckled, this time she wasn't nervous. "Ah kinda wanted to show Rainbow Dash. Plus it takes a while to put it on," 

Applejack didn't exactly know how her friends would react to seeing her again after so long. They could either be hostile and distrustful like Big Mac had been, or they could be accepting like Applebloom and Granny Smith.  She moved to the window and waited. It wasn't too long before she could see a group of ponies coming up the path.  She moved away from the window double and double checked to see if her weapon system was offline. After seeing that it was, she turned to the door just to see it open.

Applebloom was the first through the door, and quickly made her way to her big sister. The first one was Twilight Sparkle. Almost immediately she saw Applejack and just stopped. Her eyes grew large and her jaw dropped. Behind her the hoof steps stopped. "Uh, Twi? You're kind of holding up the road," Rainbow Dash, her voice unmistakable.

"Apuljak," Twilight mumbled.

"What was that?" said Rainbow Dash.

Louder, Twilight stuttered, "A-A-Applejack,"

"Huh?" Rainbow peered over Twilight's shoulder and she too had her jaw drop and eyes grow large. 

"Whoisit? Whoisit?" Pinkie Pie's head appeared over Rainbow Dash's somehow and the smile that adorned her face threatened to split it in two. She squealed and slid around Twilight, who was still standing dumbstruck, and zoomed towards Applejack.

 The Sectopod fired its cannon at her, obliterating anything that it hit. Applejack dove to the side with a yell and Pinkie Pie zoomed past her, hitting the wall with a loud smack. 

Applejack blinked as she remembered that she was home now. There was no Sectopod. As Pinkie literally peeled herself off the wall, Applejack scratched the back of her head and chuckled. "Sorry 'bout that. Reflex, heh heh,"

Pinkie Pie shook her head and giggled, "I knew you came back! My Pinkie Sense told my that someone I knew would arrive here,"

Pinkie Pie hugged her so tightly that Applejack could feel it through her armor. As they broke the hug Twilight gained some of her cognitive functions back and spoke, "H-how?"

"Hmm?" Applejack turned toward Twilight with a smile.

"H-how are you back? We searched everywhere on the planet. I couldn't find you. Celestia an Luna couldn't find you. Discord couldn't find you!"

"...it's because Ah wasn't on Equis." 

Twilight's eyes bugged out, "N-not on Equis..."

"Uh, Twi? Ah think ya should let th' others in."

Twilight moved to the side of the door way, never taking her eyes off of Applejack. This would've been creepy under normal circumstances. The ponies outside slowly filed inside of the house, all staring at Applejack. Spike had joined them. An uncomfortable silence reigned and Applejack struggle for something to say. But what could you say to your friends after being missing for a year and a half?

Pinkie Pie solved this problem, "GROUP HUG!" 

Almost like a light being turned on they all swarmed Applejack in what would have been a bone-crushing hug if not for her armor. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy all cried. Even Rainbow Dash had tears in her eyes, though she wouldn't let them fall. After a tender moment they broke away. 

Rainbow Dash spoke first, "What's that you're wearing? Some sort of robo-suit?"

Applejack laughed, "Yeah, ya could say it is,"

"Where'd ya get it?"

"She can tell ya over lunch; it's ready," said Granny Smith.

At that Applejack's stomach grumbled, "Oops, heh heh, Ah didn't have breakfast,"

"All th' more reason to come eat!"

They all started to move to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. 

"Ah'll get it," said Applebloom. She trotted to the door and opened it. She was greeted with the white furred chest of none other than Princess Celestia. Princess Luna was behind her, as where two of their each respected guards. Applebloom stepped back and shakily bowed.

Princess Celestia smiled, "Please, rise," 

That was when Princess Luna strode into the room, making a beeline towards Applejack. Luna's commanding presence reminded Applejack of staring down a Berserker. The Berserker roared as it punched Applejack. Even with her armor, her ribs shattered as the pony was sent flying back.

Applejack blinked and shook that memory away. She swallowed as Luna's horn glowed. A ray of dark blue light washed over her for a few moment. Her horn stopped glowing and the light vanished. Luna was seemingly satisfied with what ever she had done.

"Uh, yer majesty, if Ah may ask, what was that?" 

"I wanted to confirm that you were indeed the real Applejack. You are." said Luna. 

Applejack nodded, understanding. "Um, why are y'all here?"

Princess Celestia decided to answer that question, "We came her because we both sensed a piercing of the Veil Between Worlds,"

Luna continued Celestia's line of thought, "At first we thought it was an opening leading to the Golden Fields, but realized it led somewhere we did not recognized,"

"It only opened for only a few moment, but we were able to tell its location. I'm guessing that was you arriving back home?"

Applejack nodded, "Ya'll don' seem too surprised of me suddenly being back home,"

Celestia smiled, "We've had a lot of surprises in our life time. It's good to have you back, Applejack,"

"It's good to be back, your Highness. If ya'll excuse me, Ah'm gonna take off my armor," with that said, Applejack pressed one of the buttons on her leg twice. 

The armatures let out a click and disengaged from each other. First came the removal of her fore leg armor. With a hiss of air being released the back of the armor plating came apart. She removed the coverings and placed them next to her sword and helmet. She repeated this process for the back legs. She then removed the joint coverings. Her body armor came next. With more hisses the underside of it came apart, "Uh, can one of ya'll give me a hand?"

A violet glow surround the body armor and was gently lifted off of Applejack. Twilight almost dropped the armor at what laid underneath. Her chest area was covered in indentations in the flesh. Some were worryingly deep, others were barely noticeable depressions in her skin. The flesh around them was warped and pink. No fur grew where she had the scars.  The rest of her body was covered in numerous scars of cuts and scrapes.

Her friends and family reactions were varied. Her friends gasped, some of them putting of hoof to their mouths. Big Mac had a grimace on his face, and Applebloom's eyes were wide. Granny Smith was greener than usual. Princess Luna raised an eyebrow, and Princess Celestia and a small frown on her face. Spike fainted. 

Applejack shrunk back at the reactions. Looking down she said, "Oh yeah...those..." an uncomfortable silence prevailed for a few moments before Applejack spoke again, tears in her eyes. "G-guys, it's still me...Ah'm still Applejack..." No you're not.

Pinkie Pie moved first. She wrapped her legs around Applejack, "Bad things happened to you, didn't they?" she said softly. Visions of gunfire and screams. Visions of horrible monsters and horrible deeds. Visions of violent deaths and the loss of friends. Applejack broke down. She wailed into Pinkie's shoulder, scarred shoulders heaving with each sob. Applebloom went up and hugged Applejack. Big Mac and Granny Smith joined next. One by one her friends joined in, trying the comfort the crying pony. 

Applejack eventually recovered enough to speak, "Ah think A'm okay now guys. Thanks for that," they parted as Applejack's stomach rumbled, "Don't know about y'all, but Ah'm starving." 

They meandered to the kitchen, where the food was already set up. They all sat down and began to eat. Applejack and Rainbow Dash wolfed their meals down. They ate in relative silence before Princess Celestia broke it, "I'm curious to where you went, Applejack. And how you received such...wounds,"

Applejack swallowed her bite before speaking, "Okay. Don't know where else to start but at the beginning,"

And then Applejack told her story...
> Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What do you think it is?" A fillies voice cut through the fog that was her sleepiness. It didn't sound like Applebloom or any other filly she knew. Plus, why was there a filly in her room?

"I dunno. An animal, definitely," another voice, this time belonging to a colt. And what was this talk about an animal? Her senses started to return to her.

"I think I know what it is. My grandpa once showed me this book that showed a different bunch of animals before ADVENT showed up," another colt's voice. Applejack was more awake now. What was an ADVENT? The voice continued, "I think it's called a horse," 

That definitely started to wake Applejack up. No colt should know the word whorse. She wanted to say "Where did you learn that word?" though it came out jumbled and mumbled. 

Hoof steps crunched on leaves as the three young ones moved, "D-did that thing just talk?" Wait, leaves? Applejack opened her eyes. She was not in bed. She was not in her room. She was not in her house. She wasn't even on her farm. Adrenaline pumped through her veins at this discovery, waking her up sharply. She scrambled to her hooves. There was the sound of something moving behind her. She turned around.

Before her were, for lack of a better word, aliens. They were taller than the average filly or colt. They were standing on two narrow limbs and wore clothing. They looked oddly familiar. With a start she realized why they were so familiar. She guessed these were the "humans" Twilight once told them about when she traveled through the magic mirror. That explained why she wasn't home. She was in human land. 

She also noted that the two colts- was that the right word?- stood in front of the shaking filly protectively, though she could tell they were scared also. 

Scared of her. That thought tripped up Applejack. If anyone was supposed to be scared, it should've been Applejack. She was on their world, after all. 

"P-please don't hurt us Mr. horsey," whimpered the filly.

Applejack reflexively winced at that word, although she knew their definition of "whorse" was probably different than hers.

"Ah'm not gonna hurt ya," The three young ones flinched at her voice but the two colts recovered quickly. The smaller one of the two colts stared at her quizzically, almost like Twilight. The other bigger one glared at her, though she could see traces of fear in his small eyes, "And Ah'm not a whorse either. Ah'm a pony."

The filly, who had been crouched on the ground hugging herself, shakily stood up to her full height, "A pony?"

The taller colt was still glaring at her when he spoke, "Are you an alien?"

Applejack hesitated at the venom in the colt's voice, "Ah guess Ah am,"

The colt's glare seemed to intensify even further before the smaller colt tapped him on his shoulder. The taller one bent down a little, never taking his eyes off of her, as the smaller one whispered into his ear. Once the smaller one was done, he straightened back up. His glare seemed less harsh when he spoke, "Are you with ADVENT?" 

Applejack tilted her head, "Whut's an ADVENT?"




"Yeah, what is an ADVENT?" interrupted Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy shrank in her seat, "It sounds scary,"

"Ah'll get to that in a minute," Applejack, slightly annoyed at the interruption, replied.




The smaller colt elbowed the larger one, "See, I told you!"

The taller one still seemed unconvinced, "She could be lying,"

The smaller one noticed the orange "pony" stood straighter and her- he guessed it was a her from the pony's voice- expression turned serious, "Ah don't lie," she said that with so much conviction that he couldn't help but believe her.

Even the taller one seemed to believe her as he said, "Okay, so maybe it's not lying. What's it doing here, then?"

Applejack leveled a light glare at the taller one, which he matched, "Now look here, youngun, Ah am a mare named Applejack an' would prefer not bein' referred as an 'it',"

Their little stare down was interrupted by the smaller colt. "Well I'm Paul. It's nice to meet you, miss Applejack,"

Applejack turned to Paul, "Ya don't have to call me miss. Just Applejack will do. It's nice to meet ya too," 

Seeing that they were at the point of exchanging names, the little filly piped up, "I'm Emily!"

The tall one stayed silent for a moment, "Jack. Name's Jack,"

Applejack looked at all of them, "It's nice to meet ya'll. If ya don't mind me asking, how old are ya'll?"

"Emily is 5, I'm 10, Jake's 14," said Paul. 

"An' whut's ADVENT?"

At this the children grew quiet and shifted uneasily. Paul spoke again, "They're...bad people," 

"Mommy says they look like people but aren't," said Emily. 

Something about what Emily said made Applejack uneasy. 

"They're monsters," spat Jack. 

"Ah'll...Ah'll take yer word for it," said Applejack. 

Jack nodded, "It's time we left. Don't try to follow us,"

"But Jacky," whined Emily," Miss pony will get lonely!"

"Emily is right. Applejack won't last long without our help," said Paul.

Jack threw his arms up, "Fine, you try to convince them to take her in. I don't wan't anything to do with her,"




"Wow, Jack's kind of a jerk," said Rainbow Dash. 

To Rainbow Dash's surprise, Applejack glared at her, "Ya'll see why Jack was so bitter,"




"Please, Jacky?"

"No!"

"Pleeease?"

"I said no!"

Emily took in a large breath, "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaassssssssssseeee?"

"Guh, fine! I'll tell the guards we found a non hostile alien when we get home,"

Paul, who had been silent during this exchange, spoke up, "I'll stay with Applejack,"

They soon reached the tree line and Applejack could see huts in the distance made out of various materials. There were more humans moving about, who were bigger than the ones she had met. Jack and Emily went off to the haven about what they had found. A few minutes later Applejack spied two humans running towards them. Both seemed to be carrying something.

Paul spied this too, "Uh oh,"

Applejack turned her head to Paul, "What's wrong?"

"They have weapons,"

"Oh," she turned back to see them much closer than before. Close enough she could that they both had angry expressions. 

One of them crouched, "Don't move! Kid get away from it!"

"But she's friendly!" protested Paul.

"And you would believe it?" said the other. 

Paul reluctantly obeyed his elders and stepped away. "What should we do with it?" said the first one.

"Kill it," 

Applejack's eye's widened as they readied their weapons, "W-wait!"




"And did they?" asked Pinkie.

"Uh, Ah wouldn't be here if Ah was..."

Pinkie narrowed her eyes, "You could be a ghost..."

"Ghosts don't exist, Pinkie," said Twilight.

"Ah think we're getting off topic here,"


 

"Lower your weapons," 

One of the humans turned to see another human, this one a girl. His eyes widened, "Denmother! What are you doing here?"

"I said lower your weapons,"

The other one spoke, "But ma'am, it's an alien. We kill aliens,"

"But she's not bad! She doesn't even know what ADVENT is!"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Is this true?"

Applejack nervously pawed the ground, "Ah know they're bad..."

"...what country are we in?"

Applejack started to sweat, "Ah don't know,"

"Planet?"

"...Equis?"

The woman stayed silent for a moment, "And what is your purpose here?"

Applejack looked down, "Ah jus' want to get back home,"

"How'd you get here then?"

"Ah...Ah don't rightly know,"

"You don't even know how you got here?"

"Ah went ta sleep and woke up in this here forest,"

The woman pursed her lips before speaking, "I don't believe she has any affiliation with ADVENT. She can stay here until the next report with Central. We can decide what to do with her in the mean time,"

The two male humans were clearly unhappy with this decision but knew better to question superiors, especially one as seasoned as Sarah "Denmother" Whitmore. 

The group made their way back to the haven. On the way there Applejack asked a question, "Do ya know why Jack is so...angry?"

Paul looked down at his feet as he walked, "Jack's parents were arrested by ADVENT,"

"Okay, Ah guess that explains his...dislike with ADVENT, but won't his parents eventually be released?"

Paul shook his head, "Once you get arrested by ADVENT, you're never heard from again,"

"Oh. But why where they arrested?" The thought of never seeing your parent was horrible.

"ADVENT rules the Earth. They don't need a reason,"

"But--that's-- That's jus' not fair!"

"Of course it isn't," Denmother spoke up, "but we're fighting to change that."

The rest of the trip was in silence. As they neared, the guards looked at Applejack with barely disguised hatred. She received more glares in the haven than she had received in her entire life in Equestria. She realized they truly hated aliens. She couldn't even begin to imagine what had happened to them to warrant this much hatred.

By this time the Sun was beginning to set. Applejack was shown a room where she could sleep. Applejack didn't realized how tired she was when she hit her head on the dirty pillow. She fell asleep quickly.

Tomorrow, however, would forever change her life...
> Retaliation Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack yawned as she woke up. She had the weirdest dream. She dreamt that she was in another world. She met aliens, some were nice while others were not. She smacked her lips and sat up. She looked around the room sleepily. Her eyes widened after a while as she realized something.

She wasn't home. It wasn't a dream. Her friends were gone. Her family was gone. She was stuck in a world where almost everyone hated her. She felt like she was going to cry. She sniffled, but held back the tears that threatened to to spill. She sat there for a while before eventually getting out of bed. She peeked out of the window and saw the humans going about their business.

A knock at the door made her jump. "Time to wake up," a voice rumbled.

"Ah'm awake," Applejack replied.

The door knocker stayed silent for a moment before speaking again, "Denmother wants to see you."

Applejack grew nervous, recalling how they were going to decide what to do with her with 'Central', what ever that was, "Where is she?"

"At the communications center in the middle of town."

Applejack nodded to herself and replied, "Ah'll be there."

Footsteps moved away from the door and when Applejack opened it, no one was there. She came out of the hut and walked down one of the roads, trying to ignore the glares sent her way. Denmother must have made an announcement to not to harm her. She walked silently before hearing Denmother's voice and followed it. Eventually she saw Denmother. She appeared to be talking to a glowing box, it's purpose unknown.

"...nothing on the local comms. ADVENT's been quiet lately. I'm guessing we have you to thank for that."

Much to Applejack's surprise, a gruff voice came out of the box, "Our pleasure, Denmother. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"We plan to. Our water purification system..." Denmother stopped mid-sentence, apparently noticing something wrong with the box. Denmother hit the box, seemingly frustrated with it. Applejack suddenly got an uneasy feeling, like something bad was about to happen.

Suddenly the gruff voice was back, but this time it was seemingly incomplete. "-ou -t -proach,"

"Your signal's breaking up," said Denmother as she fidgeted with the box.

"-on -ou,"

"Loosing you, Avenger,"

Suddenly Applejack started to hear something in the air. Her ears twitched as she made out a low rumbling sound. Applejack turned her head towards the sound and saw three black shapes in the air on the horizon. Another shape caught her eye, this one much, much closer. She stared at it with wide eyes. It was long and black, with four fins near the ends. Its sides were open and Applejack saw more humans with weapons. They were mostly dressed in black and Applejack couldn't see their faces.

The box near Denmother exploded. Applejack turned back just in time to see the dust clear. Denmother's right side was badly burned, the sick smell of burnt flesh wafting through her nose. She was missing half of her face, what was left was black and red. Her left eye had popped out of its socket from the force of the blast.

Applejack felt like she was going to vomit. Red lines danced around her, puffing up dirt as they hit it. Her next thought prevailed all others: run. She looked around desperately. She spied a little girl, Emily, running away with another female human. Jack was with them. She galloped after them, easily catching up with them. The mother, Applejack guessed, only gave her a sideways glance before bursting through the door of a hut. They piled in and Applejack shut the door. She turned around to see Emily and her mother hiding in the corner.

Emily was crying, "Mommy, I'm scared,"

The mother hugged her close, "Shh, shh. It's alright. Everything is going to be okay," the mother tried to sound brave for her child, but Applejack could tell she was just as terrified as her daughter. Jack sat next to them hugging his legs close to his chest, tears streaming down his face. Applejack sat next to them. Applejack didn't know how long they sat like that, quiet except for Emily's occasional sobs.  Applejack thought she heard a roar of something screaming overhead, but it was hard to tell through the explosions and screams. Each scream made Applejack sick to her stomach. A new sound started among the cacophony of sounds, a faint 'rata-ta-tat'. Applejack inched toward the door. She didn't know what that was but for some reason it gave her hope. A hope that they would make it out of this alive.

That hope was shattered as the door burst open and what could be described as a monster came in. It was tall and skinny, almost malnourished looking. It had holes for ears and no lips, forever plastered on its face was an angry grin. It was a light pink in color with big black eyes in its oddly shaped head. When she stared into those eyes, she felt cold. There was no love or happiness in those eyes. There was no free will in those terrible eyes. Only orders.



"If ya'll have a paper and pencil wit' ya, Ah could draw it," Very little ponies knew Applejack could draw. Sure, she couldn't design a dress to save her life, but she could draw fairly well.

Pinkie handed her pencil and paper and Applejack took them, ignoring the fact that Pinkie pulled them from behind her back. She drew the monster.

After she was done Pinkie spoke, "Ewww."

Rarity agreed, "It does look horrid."

Twilight looked at it in interest, "It doesn't have any reproductive organs. How can it reproduce?"

"Ah'll tell ya later on in th' story."

Rainbow Dash was on the edge of her seat, "What'd you do? Didya beat the tar out of it?"

Applejack hesitated before speaking, "Ah killed it."

Everypony recoiled, "Wh-what?" squeaked Fluttershy.

Applejack looked at everypony. Princess Luna's face was impassive, though she could detect Luna was slightly impressed in her eyes. Princess Celestia looked disappointed. Applebloom squirmed in her seat. Everypony else stared at her in shock. And disgust.

"...I'm out," said Rainbow Dash.

"Me too," said Pinkie Pie. They both stood up and started to leave.

Applejack panicked, "W-wait! Let meh explain!"

"There's not an excuse in the world that justifies killing another being," said Rarity. She too stood up, guiding the near catatonic Fluttershy.

"P-please!"

Celestia stood up too, "...the only reason you are not banished on the spot is that you just returned. And you did this...horrific deed somewhere else. You will not, however, gain anymore support from me. Come Luna. We have duties to attend to."

Applejack felt like she was being pounded to the ground by a group of Beserkers. She turned to Twilight in desperation, "P-please...don't leave...Ah dun-"

"I don't want to hear it. Really? Killing? Is that what you were turned into...you're not my friend. No friend of mine would ever kill another being."

And just like that, Applejack's worst fear came true as Twilight left. Silence reigned, Applejack not daring to look at her family. She was, though, the first to speak, "Ah know whut ya'll are thinking. Ah guess...Ah guess Ah understand. An' Ah'll...Ah'll respect yer wishes. Ah'll leave."

Her voice was hollow. Utterly hollow. Applejack stood up and made her way out of the room.

"Why?"

Applejack stopped at Applebloom's voice. Applejack turned to what was once her family, "Whut?"

Applebloom looked like she was about to cry, "Wh-why did you kill?"

"...ya wouldn't understand."

"Then make meh understand! Ah dun wanna believe that mah sister is a...a monster."

Applejack stared at her little sister, "Do ya know whut genocide means?"

Applebloom tilted her head. Applejack turned to look at the rest of her family. To great pain, she noticed Big Macintosh was standing in front of Granny Smith protectively, "Do any o' ya'll know whut genocide is?"

Big Macintosh slowly shook his head. Applejack looked down for a moment before looking at Granny, "It means the murder o' an entire race or species," Granny's eyes widened. Applejack continued, "There are six billion humans on earth. Th' aliens woulda killed every last one if we didn't stop 'em."

Applejack turned to the now pale Apple family, "Six billion. Every last stallion, mare, and foal would be dead if it weren't fer XCOM. Earth would be empty, 'cuz ADVENT got rid of almost all th' animals on Earth. Those are th' kinda thangs Ah killed."

Applejack turned around and started to walk away, "Wait! Where are you going?" asked Applebloom.

"Ta mah other family. Th' one's who actually understand why we did whut we did. Th' ones who love meh regardless."

"But...we love you..."

"Do ya really? After I killed? Whut happened to that disgust Ah saw earlier? 'sides...it'd be best if Ah jus' left. Better fer th' Apple family."

"No," Applejack and the rest of the Apple family jumped at Luna's voice. The lunar princess appeared from the shadows, staring down Applejack, "It would not be better if you left."

"Why?"

Luna stared deep into Applejack's eyes, "What my sister seems to have forgotten is that sometimes it is necessary to kill. To defend others, to defend your home, sometimes you must do what is needed to prevent more deaths. I understand why you did it."

"Maybe you do. That doesn't change that mah 'friends' hate meh now. That th' town is likely ta turn on meh."

"Do not tread down this path, dear Applejack. It only leads to the ruin of yourself. And others..."

Applejack winced and looked down, "Sorry. Fergot ya were Nightmare Moon once."

"We have both been changed by the tides of battle, Applejack. Though, I will admit that most of your battles have been...more intense than Equestria's."

Luna bent down and lifted Applejack's chin for the orange mare to look into her eyes, "Applejack, if you leave, it will be worse than when you disappeared. You would break your family. Do you really want that?"

"But...th' others..."

"Ignore the others for now. If they are truly your friends, which I know is true, they will understand if you explain why you did what you did."

"Ah...thank you, Princess Luna. Ah needed to hear that," Applejack turned to her family, "Alright. Ah'll stay."

Applejack's family broke into smiles and they rushed to hug her. Applejack hugged back, trying not to cry.

After a few moments, Luna spoke, "If you would please continue your tale, I would be most interested to hear it."

"But...Princess Celestia-"

"I have created a decoy. She will no doubt figure it out, but by the time she does, hopefully I can explain your reasons better."

Applejack stared at her before nodding, "Alright," she said before sitting down and resuming her story.






Applejack didn't really know exactly why she did what she did. Maybe it was the narrowing of its eyes as it looked at the family hiding in the hut. Maybe it was when it raised it's arm at the family and the bracelet it had on started to glow an ominous green. Maybe it was the terror on the family's face, the look one would get when they knew they were going to die. Maybe she just didn't like its ugly face. What ever the reason, the result was the same. She dashed forward, pivoted on her front legs, and bucked. Hard. Her powerful legs met one of the monster's kneecaps with a sickening crunch. The force of the blow bent the leg joint the wrong way and it fell flat on its face.

At this point Applejack stopped. Maybe the creature learned its lesson. Maybe it would crawl away. Maybe it was unconscious. What Applejack did not expect, however, was the monster to turn its head towards her and hissed. Almost as if it didn't feel the pain, the monster raised its bracelet towards her. Applejack didn't know what the bracelet does, and she didn't want to find out. She turned around again and bucked, this time striking it in the head. She broke through the bone easily and disgustingly found out its brain was firmer than she would expect. Her hind leg still sank deeply in the cranium, though. She shuddered and pulled her leg out with a sickening squelch. She turned to see what she did.

The creature had a hole in its head. Its brain had disconnected from the inside of its skull and was squashed near the back, leaving an mostly empty cavity.

Applejack did vomit this time. She lowered her head to the ground and upchucked the contents of her stomach on the floor. She wiped her mouth and lifted her head, feeling dizzy. She looked at the monster's corpse lying in a growing pool of yellow blood and dry heaved. She sat down and stared blankly ahead.

She heard footsteps and another thing entered the door way. It was a human. Or at least she assumed it was a human. It was covered head to toe in what looked like armor.

The human looked around the room, first spying the dead creature on the floor, then the family, and finally Applejack. She raised her weapon at Applejack and was about to fire when Jack, of all people, yelled, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Emily piped up, "Yeah, don't hurt Miss Pony!"

The human relieved her finger off of the trigger but still had her weapon pointed at the pony. In accented English she spoke, "What happened?"

The mother spoke in a shaky voice, "Th-the pony saved us."

The woman stayed still for a moment before slowly lowering her weapon, "Commander, are you seeing this, Sir?"

Applejack barely heard that line, and wasn't in the best of state of mind to wonder who the "Commander" was.

"Can you speak?"

She barely heard that line too, but Jack nudged her. Her eyes met the golden visor, "Wh-whuhuh?"

"English. Can you speak it?"

Applejack may be a farmer, but she wasn't a dumb pony. She knew that "English" probably meant "Equish." She nodded.

The human soldier drummed her fingers along the side of her weapon, the sound of battle getting quieter, "Do...do you have a name?"

"Ah...A-Applejack...Mah name's Applejack..."

The soldier knelt down and took her helmet off. She was darker skinned than some of the other humans Applejack saw. The human female smiled at her, "My name's Amiyah Malik."

Applejack nodded before her eyes trailed down. She saw that the human, Amiyah, carried a weapon. Applejack took a step back, causing Amiyah to look at her in confusion, "D-don't hurt meh..."

Amiyah blinked, "I won't hurt you."

"...P-promise?"

"What?"

"Do ya promise not ta hurt meh?"

Amiyah looked at her before slowly putting her weapon on the ground. All of her training told her not to do that, but she had a feeling she needed the alien's trust in order to move, "I promise."

"O-Okay..."

Amiyah glanced Applejack's hooves and at the dead Sectoid, "So...you were the one who did this?"

Applejack's frayed mind read that wrong. It sounded like an accusation to her. The guilt, combined with adrenaline withdraw and being attacked by an monster, broke her cracking state of mind. Applejack burst into tears, "Ah'm sorry! Ah'm sorry! Ah didn't mean ta! It jus'..." Applejack stopped speaking to fully cry now.

Amiyah stared at the crying alien with wide eyes. The India-born woman had been in 3 previous missions before this one, and never had she seen an alien or ADVENT soldier cry. They simply didn't, no matter how badly they were hurt.

And right in front of her was one that was crying. Like a human. Amiyah pursed her lips before scooching towards the bawling alien. Amiyah put a hand on her heaving shoulder, "Hey. Hey, it's alright. You did the right thing."

Applejack stopped her crying and looked at her, stupefied, "How?! How?! Ah killed it! I-it's dead because of meh! Ah'm a monster! Ah murdered it!" Applejack said hysterically.

"I...uh..." Amiyah wasn't sure how to respond to that. She'd never met a thing that felt regret from killing a Sectoid.

Arthur Wood, meanwhile, had his hand on his chin, thinking of how best to deal with this situation. The alien clearly wasn't in the best of state, and could possibly turn violent. With the apparent ease in killing the Sectoid, Amiyah wouldn't stand a chance.

Arthur keyed the radio, "Amiayh. Tell Applejack what the Sectoid would've done. I don't think it knows."

Amiyah nodded and spoke, "Applejack, that thing over there is called a Sectoid. Do you know what it would've done if you hadn't killed it?"

Applejack shook her head and Amiyah continued, "It would've mind-controlled you and made you killed the family behind you."

Applejack's face lost all color, literally. Amiyah briefly wondered if Applejack's species were related to chameleons as Applejack looked at the dead Sectoid in utter horror, "Wh-why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Wh-why would i-it do that?"

"...because it was made to. That's its job. To kill people. And our job is to stop them from doing that."

Applejack didn't know how to respond to that. Of all the villains she faced, Nightmare Moon was the one who attempted to kill anything. And none of them would be so evil as to mind control somepony into killing another pony. Magic that affects the mind directly was strictly forbidden except for the most dire of circumstances.







"I have never heard a creature so...vile..." said Luna, "These...Sectoids are an affront to life."

"They ain't natural, that's fer sure," said Granny, somehow managing to put on a brave face.

"A-Applejack?"

The ones at the table turned to see Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle standing there with looks of horror on their face.

Applejack's eyes narrowed and snorted, "Whut do ya'll want? Ah thought ya'll hated meh..."

"I...did...w-was that true?" Twilight spoke.

Applejack raised an eyebrow, "'bout whut?"

"Th-those things that you said," said Pinkie Pie.

Applejack huffed, "Whut does it matter ta ya'll? Like Ah said, dun ya'll hate meh? Seriously, why're ya here?"

"We...we wanted to say were sorry. That we left too soon," said Fluttershy.

"We...didn't know about that..thingy...would they really do that?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Oh, they'd do more than jus' that."

The three mares paled at the concept that such a monster could do worse.

"So, ya'll here ta say yer sorry? Well, let's hear it."

The three mares glanced at each other, "We're...we're sorry?" said Fluttershy.

"Yer ain't fergivin."

"But-" started Twilight.

"Friends dun leave friends. Real friends stand by each other by th' end."

"But...we came back..." said Pinkie Pie, hair starting to deflate.

"Uh, sis?" started Apple Bloom, "They did come back. Maybe y'should-"

"Ah'm not forgivin' 'em, 'Bloom, an' that's that!"

"But-" started Fluttershy before Applejack interrupted her.

"Iffin ya'll dun leave in th' next ten seconds, Ah'm gonna hafta make ya leave."

The three stared at the other ponies in desperation. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith actively avoided their gaze, while Princess Luna looked sad. "L-Luna? Aren't you gonna tell her to give us another chance?" said Twilight.

"Ten."

"I...I cannot. It is her choice. I can suggest her to forgive you for..." Luna paused before continuing, "leaving, but ultimately it is her choice."

"Five."

"Hey! You didn't count down!" said Pinkie.

"TWO,"

"G-girls...maybe we should go..." said Fluttershy, backing away from Applejack's glare.

Applejack stood up, and that caused the girls to wince. They gave her one last pleading look before walking away.

As soon as they were out of sight, Applejack sagged, "Ah...Ah wanted ta fergive 'em...but...Ah couldn't," Applejack closed her eyes, "It...hurt too much ta even look at 'em..."

The other ponies didn't say anything. Luna suddenly sat up, "My sister has found out it was a decoy. I must go and talk to her. Hopefully you will gain her support if I tell her what these monsters do."

Don't really care about her support, "Okay."

Luna seemed to read Applejack's thoughts and grimaced, "...good night, Applejack."

"'night," replied the orange pony as she yawned. 

Granny Smith noticed this, "Maybe we should all get some shut eye. We'll have clearer heads in th' morning."

Applejack just nodded and went to her room. She didn't notice Applebloom follow her until she went to close her bedroom door, "AB? Whut's wrong?"

"Ah brought ya yer hat."

Applejack stared at the stetson given to her by her father. Sure, she had many like it. But this one...this one was special. It was the first. The only time she wore it, though, was when she was working on the farm. She didn't dare wear it during her former friends' adventures for fear of losing or damaging it.

But now? She had gone without it for so long, that it didn't have as much sentimental value it previously had. In fact, it was more valuable to Applebloom than Applejack.

And she held onto it for me. As a reminder. It was then Applejack made a decision, "You keep it."

Applebloom blinked and looked back and forth from her sister to the hat, "Huh?"

"Ya held on ta it all this time, right?" Applebloom nodded, "Then keep it. It means more ta you than it does ta meh now."

"But..." Applebloom looked down at the stetson, "It's yer father's..."

"Ah know. But it has a new value to it now. Ya held onta it ta remember meh, right? Then ya deserve ta have it. 'sides, he was yer father too."

"..." Applebloom looked at the hat, then up at her sister, "Thank you, AJ."

"Yer very welcome."

"Can...Can Ah sleep wit' ya. Jus' fer tonight?"

Applejack blinked at the unexpected question before smiling, "'course ya can. Go get ready fer bed then."

Applebloom quickly did her afternoon toiletries and hopped into bed with her sister. Applejack stared at the ceiling as Applebloom made herself comfortable. Finally she spoke, "Hey, Applebloom?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you..."

"Fer what?"

"Fer not abandonin' meh."

"...we're family, sis. We should always stick tagether."

"Thank you..."

"Ah love ya, AJ."

"Ah love ya too, AB..."
> The Day After
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy were silent as they walked from Sweet Apple Acres, each thinking. Finally, Pinkie Pie spoke, "...we really messed up this time, huh?"

Twilight sighed, "We...we shouldn't have left. We should've listened," she said before hitting herself in the head, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"W-we're never going to be friends with her again, a-are we?" choked out Fluttershy.

Pinkie gave a smile that didn't really reach her eyes, "Aw, don't say that, Fluttershy! I'm sure we'll be friends again!"

"Yeah. In ten years," said Twilight somberly, "Some Princess of Friendship I am."

Pinkie grimaced before trying on a grin again, "Don't worry. All we need is somepony who'll she'll listen to!"

"Who? She hates all of us!" cried Twilight.

Fluttershy, meanwhile was thinking about how things led them here.





The five mares hurried away from Applejack's house. As soon as they passed the front gate Rainbow Dash huffed, "Guh, I can't believe this!"

"I agree, I can't believe Applejack would do such a vile deed," said Rarity. The others voiced their agreements.

All except Fluttershy. She couldn't get Applejack's heartbroken face out of her head.  W-wait! Let meh explain! 

Explain. They all had left so fast that they didn't hear Applejack's reasoning. Explain!	

What reason had Applejack had? Was it justified? Was killing really justifiable? None of them had killed before, even at Sombra's defeat. His horn was found, and a part of his soul was still in it, so Sombra was still technically alive. The horn was even starting to grow. They theorized that it was slowly remaking his body.The growth was exponential, too, regrowing faster and faster. Granted, that was moot, as they had it locked up with some of the most powerful spells, so when Sombra did come back, he couldn't escape without outside help.

Applejack's face came back, but it wasn't the crying one. It was before she dropped that bombshell. 

Applejack had bags under her eyes, and the eyes themselves looked...tired. Worn out. Her body posture had been slouching, like it was barely holding up her weight.

But what struck Fluttershy the most was Applejack's voice. At first, it sounded just like hers, but the more Fluttershy thought and remembered, the more it sounded like something was wrong. It felt hollow. Dead. Sure, there were emotions, but they were...dull.

"Fluttershy?" Pinkies voice jolted the Pegasus out of her thoughts. Pinkie was staring at her worriedly, "Are you okay? Is it about Applejack?"

Fluttershy nodded. Rainbow Dash huffed again, "We should just forget her. Can't believe I was friends with a murderer."

"..." Fluttershy couldn't stop wondering about Applejack's excuse, "Maybe...maybe we should go back..."

"What? To like, arrest her?" said Rainbow Dash.

"No. To let her explain."

The other mares stared at her. Finally Rarity spoke, "You're kidding."

Fluttershy shook her head. Rarity moved to her and put a hoof around her shoulder, "Fluttershy, darling, there is not an excuse in the world that justifies taking another's life."

"Maybe...but we should've listened to her first. Isn't that what friends do?"

"She's not my friend," said Rainbow Dash.

"Neither is she mine," agreed Rarity.

Twilight was about to agree but Fluttershy's words caught her. "Isn't that what friends do?"

Friends...Applejack had been away from them for so long. Granted, she had clearly changed, but she was still the apple-loving pony, right? They should have at least, now that Twilight realized it, listened to what Applejack had to say before passing judgement.

Twilight glanced at the others. Rainbow Dash and Rarity didn't seem to have these thoughts. Pinkie, though, had a look of regret. Twilight bit her lip, "Maybe Fluttershy's right. We should go back and find the truth."

"You guys can do that. I'm done with her," said Rainbow Dash, flying off.

"For the few times in my life, I agree with her. It is best if we ignore and avoid her," said Rarity.

"C'mon Rarity," said Pinkie Pie, "We should at least hear her out. I mean, killing is really, really, really, really, bad, but we're her friends."

Rarity shook her head, "Not this time. Killing is simply unjustifiable."

Rarity walked off, leaving the three wondering what to do. Fluttershy moved first. Pinkie followed her with her head, "Where're you going, Fluttershy?"

"Back to Applejack. I need to know."

"Agreed," said Twilight, following her. Pinkie bounded after them.





Fluttershy sighed, "Should...should we just give up? Maybe Rarity's right. We should just avoid her. She doesn't want to see us."

Pinkie Pie stomped her hoof, "No! I will not lose a friend who just came back!"

"But how? She won't listen to us."

"Maybe not," said Twilight, a hoof on her chin, "But she clearly made friends while away. If we talk to them..."

"But...how? They're not here. They'd have to come here," said Fluttershy.

Twilight sagged and sighed, "I know...I know......."





Apple Bloom woke up as she felt her sister get out of bed. She laid still, wondering why Applejack was getting up at three in the morning, according to the clock. Once Applejack went out of the room, Apple Bloom sat up. Quietly as she could with hooves, she followed Applejack downstairs.

Applejack went out onto the porch. There was a flick and light blossomed in front of her face. Applebloom quietly crept closer, making out peculiar smell. It was then that her sister blew out a breath. Smoke came out instead of clean air, "Applejack?"

Applejack jumped and threw the cigarette to the ground, stomping it out, "A-Apple Bloom! Wh-whut're you doin'?!"

"Whut are you doin'? Whut's with th' smoke?"

Applejack blanched, "I-it's nothin'!"

Apple Bloom went up to her sister, "AJ...we're family. An' family talk ta each other, right?"

"Ah..." Applejack sighed and sagged, "Ah...picked up a trait while Ah was away. It was a real bad mission. Needed somethin' ta help meh relax. Markus offered onna his cigarettes...." Applejack looked down.

"Is...is it onna them drugs Miss Cheerilee was talkin' about?"

"Yeah...b-but it's fine! Tygan said he could get rid o' th' negative effects it causes."

"Why dun ya jus' quit?"

Applejack glanced to the side, "Ah...Ah have nightmares. Real bad nightmares. These help meh deal wit' 'em."

"Can't Luna help?"

"Luna already tried, but Ah told her Ah wanna do this on mah own. Ah wanna heal on mah own."

"...okay..." Apple Bloom was truly starting to worry about her sister now. Especially when Applejack pulled out another cigarette and lit it. She also noted that Applejack had bags under her eyes. There were strands of gray in her mane. 

Applejack didn't seem to notice Applebloom's worrying stare. Instead, after taking another drag, spoke, "'sides, Ah like gettin' up early. Like ta watch th' sun rise."

Apple Bloom stayed silent before turning and going back inside. Applejack waited until she couldn't hear her sister before sighing. She looked down and saw the cigarette she threw to the ground and picked it up. She put it in the bag she was wearing and sat down, waiting for the sun to rise.





Applejack finished her smoke and cleaned up. She yawned and started to make coffee. While she did that, she looked at the calendar. Monday. She assumed Applebloom was still in school.

As soon as she thought about that, Applebloom herself came downstairs, "Mornin', 'Bloom!"

Apple Bloom paused, albeit only for a second, before responding, "'Mornin', AJ."

Apple Bloom sat down at the table as Applejack moved on from making coffee to creating breakfast. Big Macintosh helped Granny Smith down the stairs and both sat at the table. Applejack whistled with no particular tune while she made the pancakes.

"Y'seem ta be gettin' back into th' swing o' thangs," noted Granny.

"Ah made mah own food once they let meh in th' kitchen."

"'Once'?" asked Big Macintosh.

Applejack stopped what she was doing before speaking, "Th' humans that Ah worked wit' didn't...like meh at first."

"Why didn't they like ya?" asked Apple Bloom.

"...'cause they fought aliens. An' Ah was an alien."

"Ah jus' dun understand why them 'humans' fought th' aliens in th' first place," said Granny.

"..." Applejack stayed silent for a moment, "...th' aliens were th' first ta attack. They'd abduct humans, experiment on 'em, kill civilians, raze cities, th' list goes on..."

Applejack glanced back at the wide-eyed Apple family, "XCOM was made up o' people who hated th' aliens fer that. An' at first, Ah was jus' another alien ta 'em."

"But..." Big Macintosh started, "Iffin they did all that, why'd didn't the planet keep resistin'?"

"'cause o' ADVENT. ADVENT was th' 'global government'. They rebuilt cities, cured nearly all diseases, there were plenty o' food in the city centers. Th' aliens put up propaganda all 'round ta convince Earth that they had originally come in peace."

"But...why?" asked Apple Bloom.

"'cuz to them, humans were jus' a resource ta be used," Applejack said before serving her family. Applejack sat down herself and began to eat, "So, Apple Bloom...y'have school?"

Apple Bloom's eyes flicked to the side, "Nnnoooo..."

"Apple Bloom...."

"But...you jus' got here!"

"Ah know. An' Ah'm not goin' anywhere."

"Promise?"

"Promise?" asked the shivering pony to the human. "Ah promise."

Apple Bloom still looked upset. Applejack got up and hugged, "Ah'm not goin' anywhere. Dun know whut sent meh ta Earth, but Ah'll never let it do it again."

"O-okay..."

"Ah love you, y'know that?" Applejack said before looking at Granny and Big Macintosh, "Ah love ya'll so much. Every night while Ah was away, Ah thought of ya'll and mah friends..."

Applejack trailed off before giving a sigh. Apple Bloom hugged a little bit tighter, "Ah'm sorry 'bout yer friends..."

"...Ah'll live. Ah'll manage. Somehow."

Applejack parted from her sister after a kiss on the head before returning to her seat. The Apple Family told Applejack what had happened in Equestria while she was away. This made time seem to pass by, and before Apple Bloom knew it, it was time to go.

Applejack gave her one last hug and Apple Bloom set off. She entered the town and spotted Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle up ahead, "Girls!"

Scootaloo's and Sweetie Belle's ears folded back and avoided Apple Bloom's gaze, "Girls?"

Still no answer, "Whut's wrong?"

"...we're not supposed to talk to you," said Scootaloo.

"Whut??"

"Rainbow Dash says Applejack is a...murderer."

"I-Is that true??" asked Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom chewed on the inside of her cheek before speaking, "...she didn't kill anypony."

"Then why did Rainbow Dash say the was a killer?" asked Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle voiced her agreement.

Apple Bloom frowned, "'cuz none 'o 'em stayed around ta find out."

"So she did kill something!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"Yeah. Bad...things."

The two fillies stepped away from Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom saw this and spoke quickly, "She saved an entire world, though...so Ah think that...excuses it. Especially whut she fought."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stopped, "She saved a world?" asked Scootaloo. Apple Bloom nodded.

"Wh-what did she...kill?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"...monsters." 

"But...Equestria has monsters and we don't kill them!"

"...these thangs are worse a manticore or a hydra."

"How?" said Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom thought about this. Kill civilians, raise cities ta th' ground. Apple Bloom had and answer after remembering that tidbit, "Ah dun think they have a conscience."

The other two fillies tilted their heads. Apple Bloom looked around and motioned them closer. They did so and Apple Bloom whispered, "They'd mind control ya."

Sweetie Belle looked genuinely sick, having been told by other Unicorns to never attempt to mind control another being. Scootaloo, on the other hand, didn't, "That still doesn't make it okay."

Apple Bloom grimaced, "Alright...y'asked fer it...They'd mind control ya an' make ya kill yer friends an' family."

The Pegasus grew white in the face while Sweetie Belle looked like she was about to vomit, "That's th' kind o' thangs she killed."

"O-okay," started Scootaloo, "That's really bad...but-"

"They'd do it ta anypony. Dun matter whut they look like."

"W-would they do it to us?" stammered Sweetie Belle.

"...yeah. Ah think they would."

"I-I don't want to hear any more of this," said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom winced, "Sorry...Are...are ya'll still gonna avoid meh?"

"M-maybe Applejack," started Scootaloo, "But not you."

"Y-yeah," said Sweetie Belle, giving a shaky smile, "You're still our best friend."

They hugged each other. Apple Bloom sighed. Crisis averted.




Applejack was putting her armor away in her room when a faint bang erupted from outside. She froze, flashes of combat invading her mind. She shook her head. You're done with that, Applejack.

Still, Applejack had no idea what caused the bang. That would require investigation. Don't really have time to put on my armor...

Applejack decided she would not put on her and hurried downstairs. That's when the door knocked. Big Macintosh was moving to the door, but Applejack said she would get it.

She opened the door, and saw something that she missed dearly.

Her human friends. Well, most of them were human. A smile grew on her face, "Ami!"

Amiyah Malik had her armor on, but had no weapons on her. He helmet was off and she was grinning widely too, "AJ!"

They hugged, ignoring the snickering of Jarle Nilsen. They parted and Applejack looked at the other people, "Jarle! Mox! Whut're ya'll doin' here?"

Mox had his helmet and armor on and was looking around. Jarle had his armor on too, but brought his psi amp with him. Jarle grinned, "Well, we were in the galactic neighborhood and thought we'd stop by."

"I thought Dr Tygan said to observe this world?" said Mox, "And to make contact with the rulers?"

Jarle shushed him when Granny Smith hobbled out of the kitchen, "Whut's all th' ruckess?"

Applejack looked back, "Mah human friends are here!" She turned back to the three humanoids, "C'mon in! Make yerself at home!"

"You're invitation is much appreciated, Applejack," said Mox, "Would it be alright to remove my helmet?"

"Oh...uh...gotta warn mah family first. Y'know...'cuz...yer uh..."

Mox held up a hand, "It is alright, Applejack."

Applejack turned to the two ponies in the house, "Alright...onna mah friend's name is Pratal Mox. He's...different. Y'know th' ADVENT Ah mentioned? He's a defector...he looks...uhm..."

"ADVENT soldiers on active deployment have their helmets grafted onto their face. Thus, the freed ADVENT were forced to remove them as best as they could. We are...scarred."

"Yeah...whut he said. Jus'...dun freak out, 'kay? He's really nice."

Mox stepped inside along with the others and took his helmet off. The reactions were immediate. Big Mac's eyes widened, while Granny Smith looked ready to faint. Applejack saw this and rushed over to steady her, "Ah know how they look. Ah had th' same reaction. But like Ah said, Mox is really nice."

Big Macintosh was the first to recover, "Why're yer eyes like that?"

"ADVENT are humans mixed with alien DNA. We are not human, yet not fully alien. We are...in between."

"Whut's DNA?"

"Blueprints. For your body," started Amiyah as she noted all the decorations in the house, "They tell it what to make and how you look like."

"Oh."

"Well..." started Granny Smith, "Ah'd reckon th' other folks in town take won't kindly ta yer face...they're a skittish bunch. Panic way to easily if ya ask meh."

"Noted. I will not show my face in town."

Jarle snickered, "'Panic'? Like, run around like chickens with their heads cut off?"

Applejack didn't react to that phrase. The others did, folding their ears back, "Why would ya cut off a chicken's head off?"

"Uh..."

Amiyah sighed, "Kinda hoped we could avoid our diets, Jarle. Not even Applejack is comfortable about that."

"...sorry."

"Whut do ya mean by 'diet'?" asked Granny Smith, "Yer not a carnivore, are ya?"

"We're omnivores. We eat both plants and other non sentient animals. We won't eat you, I promise."

Granny Smith and Big Macintosh still looked a bit weary. Mox spoke, "ADVENT does not eat 'food'. We are given protein mixtures intravenously."

"Come again?" said Big Macintosh.

"They inject 'food' into their veins," said Amiyah, "They don't really eat like we do."

"So ya never had an apple befer?" said Granny Smith.

"No."

"He tried human food, but didn't like the chewing part," said Jarle.

"Why?" asked Granny.

"I am not...used to it."

"Well, by golly, we gotta get some grub in ya! Y'haven't really ate 'till ya ate an Apple Family pie!"

"That is not ness-"

"Dun be ridiculous. Everypony should have pie in their life!"

Jarle snickered at the 'everypony', but the others ignored him. Granny hobbled away to make the pie. Jarle looked at the couch, "Yo, can we sit down?"

"Sure," said Applejack. The orange pony plopped down on a chair, "So, how's Lilly an' Richard?"

"They're doing fine," said Amiyah, "Shen said she'd come over. The Commander is coming too."

"Whut's Arthur doin' now?"

"He's 'cleaning house', so to speak. We're disabling most of the ADVENT troops we come across to free them."

"So we're winnin'?"

"We won, Applejack. A lot of it is thanks to you."

Applejack blushed, "Aw, it was nothin'. Ya'll did a lot more than meh."

"AJ," said Jarle, "You saved our skins more times than I can count. You're the best thing to ever come to Earth. If it weren't for you, I'm not sure we woulda won."

Applejack avoided looking at them, blushing, "I-it was nothin'. Really."

"You are revered among the Skirmishers, Applejack," said Mox, "You are one of our heroes."

Applejack didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't think she was being heroic. She was just doing what was right. What was needed.

The door knocked. Applejack jumped on the chance to get away from the praise that felt undeserved. There are other people who deserved it more...

Applejack reached the door and opened it. It was Twilight Sparkle. Applejack's mood went down the tubes immediately. The Earth Pony's eyes narrowed, "Whut do you want?"

"I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't stay and listen, and that was the worst thing I could have done. But...can we be friends? Again?" Twilight's apology felt weak to the purple Alicorn.

"Yep."

Twilight blinked, "Really?"

"Nope," the farmer said before slamming the door shut.

Twilight banged on the door, "Applejack, please! Give me another chance! Give us another chance."

"Ah am givin' ya another chance. Th' chance ta leave peacefully. Are ya gonna take it, or am Ah gonna hafta make ya leave?" Applejack yelled through the door.

Applejack turned her attention to the others. They were all staring at her, "Jus ignore her. Ah'm done wit' her."

A flash of pink erupted from the room as Twilight teleported in, "Please! I'll do any...thing...uh..."

The humans and Mox had already stood up, ready to fight. Twilight's eyes lingered and widened on Mox before shaking her head. She would have to deal with them later. She turned to Applejack, "Applejack...I-I know what I did. What wedid. And we hate ourselves for it. For leaving you...please...at least talk to us again..."

"Ah said no! Ah dun want anythang ta do wit' ya'll anymore! Just leave!

Tears appeared in the corner of the Alicorn's eyes, "Please! I'm so sorry!!! It won't happen again! Please!...you're my best friend..."

"We're not friends anymore, Twilight. You best accept that. And it'd be best if ya jus' left...Jus'...leave meh alone..."

Twilight's heart visibly broke. She slowly looked down at the floor, "I'm...okay...I won't bother you anymore...G-goodbye, Applejack."

Applejack didn't say a thing as Twilight slowly went out of the house. Silence reigned before Amiyah spoke, "AJ....are you sure that was the right thing to do?"

"She left meh. Ah dun want anythang ta do with her or her friends. The friendship we had...is dead."

"C'mon, AJ..." said Jarle, "That Twilight pony seemed really sorry."

"It's too late fer her ta apologize...she abandoned meh."

"I do not believe this is abandonment," started Mox, "I believe this is a mistake."

"We're done talkin' 'bout this! Now if ya'll excuse meh, Ah gotta finish putting away mah armor," Applejack said before storming up the stairs.

Silence reigned again. Amiyah spoke first, "We gotta fix this."

"'course we do," said Jarle, "But AJ is really stubborn. Nothing short of the Commander....oh..."

Mox got up, "I will contact Shen and try to get him to come here early."

"You do that...Jarle, go find Twilight again. Tell her to bring AJ's friends over. I'll try to get AJ to reconsider, but I don't think I'll do much."

Jarle and Mox nodded. Amiyah stood up, "Alright. Let's fix Applejack's friendship."

They split up, leaving Big Macintosh wondering what he was going to do. Granny Smith hobbled out of the kitchen, "Pie's in th' oven...where'd everypony go?"




Jarle traveled down the street of Sweet Apple Acres, thinking of where best to find her. Didn't AJ say she lives in a crystal castle? Just gotta find that...

He left the farm, adjusting his beret. He almost made it to the outskirts of the town, when he heard a sound. Jarle blinked and looked around before spying something in the sky.

Huh. That looks like a pony...that's angry...flying at me at break-neck speeds...oh...

Jarle hurled himself to the side, the pony speeding past him, "Ya missed!"

The pony skidded to a stop. It was cyan in color, with a rainbow mane. She was currently glaring at him. Jarle adjusted his beret, "'Sup?"

"What are you doing here? You're onna those humans, aren't you?"

"I'd prefer to be called 'Jarle', but yes, I am a human. You're Rainbow Dash, right?"

Rainbow Dash blinked before snorting, "Lemmie guess...That murderer, Applejack, told you about us. Well, we don't want you here. Just leave."

"Hmmm....nah. Gotta do some things first."

"Like what?"

"Like repairing that friendship of yours."

"You think I wanna be friends with her after what she did?"

"...do you even know who she killed?"

"Doesn't matter. Now, leave Equestria. Or else."

Jarle kept his face straight for a whopping second before bursting into laughter, "Lady, I've seen things that shit stuff more threatening than you."

Rainbow Dash lunged at him. Jarle simply sidestepped her, "Seriously? What is your malfunction?"

"You!"

"I barely know you!"

"It doesn't matter! You're violent, and don't belong in Equestria!"

Like talking to a brick wall, "Whatever. Don't really have time for this. Off to see Twilight."

"You're not going anywhere near her!"

Rainbow Dash move to lunge at him again. Jarle pulled his psi amp out and cast Stasis on her. Rainbow Dash was surrounded with a purple glow and stopped in mid air, "Wh-what did you do to me?!"

"Stasis. Don't worry, it's perfectly harmless. It'll wear off in a few minutes. But by then, I'll be long gone. See ya!"

"Come back here! I mean it! When I get out of here..."

Jarle tuned her out as he walked away.




Jarle hummed as he continued to walk, Rainbow Dash's screams fading away. He was close to Twilight's Castle now, and the ponies that did see him scampered away. Except for two. And those two were the guards at Twilight's door.

The two Unicorns readied their spears, "H-halt!"

Jarle stopped, adjusting his beret again, "Yo, can I see Twilight?"

The two guards gawked at him before one of them growled, "Like we'd let...whatever you are...near a Princess."

"...please?"

The guards looked at each other before both of them shook their heads. Jarle sighed, "Wished you said yes. Welp, one way or another, I'm getting to Twilight."

Jarle's eyes widened as one of the guards threw his spear at him. Those eyes filled with mirth as the spear bounced harmlessly off his armor, "Wow....I almost felt that."

What Jarle did feel was the spell one of them slung down range at him. While not doing any real damage, it still knocked him on his back, "Oof...alright...taunting the magic ponies is a bad idea..."

Jarle suddenly felt tingling around his ankles and wrists, and found them bound together, "Huh..."

"You're coming with us you...thing."

"Yeahhh, no," while psi amps were extremely helpful, psi soldiers could use their abilities without them. It just took more work. Jarle sent out his Insanity attack at one of the guards. The guard suddenly grew green and upchucked the contents of his stomach. He fell, groaning.

"Wh-what did you do to him?!" The guard yelled as the binds on Jarle disappeared. 

"Same thing that I'm gonna do to you," Jarle said as he pulled out his psi amp. He sent out another Insanity attack, a migraine blossoming through his head. The other guard let out a panicked scream and ran off. 

Jarle got up with a groan, "Oof...gonna feel that in the morning..."

He went inside.





"Twilight...c'mon...you gotta come out..." said Spike.

"Th-there's no point!" wailed Twilight from behind the door to her room, "We ruined everything!"

"Twilight..." started Starlight Glimmer, "You taught me a lot about friendship. And friends don't give up on each other. She'll come around, I'm sure of it."

"Friends don't leave other friends behind," said a voice behind the two.

Starlight and Spike jumped and whirled around to see Jarle leaning against the hallway wall.  He grinned and waved, "Hello!"

Starlight's horn lit up, "Wh-what... What are you?"

"A human."

There was a thud and the sound of hooves scampering. The door opened a crack, and Twilight's eye could be seen. Jarle inwardly grimaced at how red and teary it was. He adjusted his hat and gave a wave, "What's up?"

The iris and pupil shrank before drawing back. The door slowly opened. Twilight stepped out. 

This time, Jarle did grimace. Twilight's mane was a mess. Her fur was matted. She had been clearly crying. She stared up at him with wide eyes, "Wh-what are you d-doing here?"

"Onna life great mysteries, innit?" Twilight blinked in confusion. Jarle continued, "I'm here to get you and AJ back together as friends."

Twilight slouched, "That...that's impossible. It's over..."

"Not until the fat lady sings. Or at least the Commander comes over."

Twilight shook her head, "It doesn't matter who comes over. It's hopeless," she said, bowing her head.

"Nothing is hopeless, Twilight," Twilight looked up to see Jarle deadly serious, "It may seem hopeless, but if there's one thing that my time with XCOM has told me, it's that no matter how bad it looks, there's always a way. If the Commander could get through all the shit that was thrown at him, then he can definitely fix this friendship."

"But-"

"Just trust me on this, 'kay? Once the Commander gets here, everything will be better."

Twilight opened her mouth to argue further when something on Jarle's armor beeped. Jarle blinked and held his arm up to his face, "Yeah?"

"Jarle. The Commander has arrived."

Jarle's eyebrows raised, "Really? That was fast." 

"You know how much he cares about Applejack."

"Got it. We'll be there shortly," he said before looking back at Twilight, "Alright. Step one is done. All we need is AJ's friends. Any idea where they are?"

"I...I could get Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy easily...Rarity and Rainbow Dash, though..."

"I'll take care of that. Just go get the others."

"Wait! What are you-"

"No time! Gotta go! Bye!" he said before taking off down the hallway.




Jarle quietly entered the town outskirts. Since he was actively trying to stay hidden, and due to the fact that the ponies were oblivious, he easily sneaked in. Alright...Rainbow's easy. Rarity, though...

A school bell rang, reminding him that he was near Ponyville's School House. Foals of various ages filed out the front door. Hey...that looks like the Sweetie Belle AJ mentioned sometimes. Jarle grinned as an idea formed in his head. 

He silently followed them until they were out of sight of other ponies, "Hey, Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle turned and her eyes grew the size of dinner plates. Jarle waved as the two other foals turned to him, "I need to ask you something."

The three just stared with wide eyes. The yellow one spoke first, "A-Are ya a human?"

"Yessiree, ma'am. I need to speak with Sweetie Belle, though."

"Wh-why me?" the Unicorn squeaked.

"Rarity is AJ's friend, right?"

Sweetie Belle looked to the side, "Not...not anymore..."

"What would you say I can get them back together?"

"Y'can?!" exclaimed Applebloom.

"Yeah...I just need Sweetie Belle's help."

Scootaloo's eyes narrowed, "What kind of help?"

"I need her to allow me to carry her."

The trio blinked in confusion, "Uh...come again?" said Applebloom.

"I need to draw Rarity to AJ's farm. And I got the perfect plan for that. I just need to have SB here allow me to carry her."

"Okay," said Sweetie Belle.

All the rest present blinked, "Well," started Jarle, "That was easy. May I ask why?"

"I want Rarity and Applejack to be friends again. Those two were best friends and now......it just seems wrong for the two to hate each other..."

Jarle's grinned returned, "Excellent. Just lead me to Rarity's house, and I'll take care of the rest."





Sweetie Belle led Jarle to the Carousel Boutique. The came from the back. Jarle knelt down next to Sweetie Belle, "Alright. Go up to your room. I'll handle the rest."

"What are you going to do?"

Jarle grinned, "I'mma gonna 'kidnap' you. Foalnap. Whatever."

"Are you sure this is the best thing to do?"

"Well, we can't very well go up and ask her to come to AJ's farm."

"Oh."

"Trust me. It'll all turn out fine."

Sweetie Belle gave a hesitant nod before going in side. Jarle waited until Sweetie Belle appeared in her window. She mouthed 'Now what?'

Jarle scaled the side of the building, reaching the window. He reared back an armored fist and punched through the window. He quickly climbed in and scooped up the foal. He kicked her door open and hurried down stairs.

Rarity was just starting to investigate the noise when Jarle sped past her, "HiRarityseeyouatAJ'sbye!"

It took the Unicorn mare a while to comprehend what just happened. When she did, she let out a gasp, "Sweetie Belle!!!"

Rarity sped after the retreating human. Ponies stopped and stared at the running human. They were too stunned to follow. Jarle was gasping for breath when Sweet Apple Acres came into view. He looked back to see Rarity in hot pursuit.	

Jarle suddenly tripped and started to fall. He threw Sweetie Belle forward so he didn't fall on her. Sweetie Belle sailed through the air, only to be caught by another human. Or something human-like, as Mox was the one who caught her. 

Twilight looked from Mox and Sweetie Belle to Jarle, "Why in Equestria would you capture Sweetie Belle?!"

Through gasping breaths, Jarle wheezed out his words, "Should...be...here...any...moment!"

"Where is she?!"

Rarity skidded to a stop at the scene. Another monster held Sweetie Belle.  Jarle was laying on his belly, gasping for air. Another monster was at the side, looking worried.

"Whut in Equestria is goin' on here?!" said Applejack, who just came out of the house. Her face soured at her once-friends, "Whut are ya'll doin' here?"

Jarle gave a wheezing laugh, "T-told ya I'd get them to come over here."

Amiyah facepalmed, "For all that is holy, Jarle, you don't kidnap a foal!"

Jarle got on his knees, "Didn't kidnap her. She was totally in on it, right SB?"

The attention shifted to the foal in Mox's arms. She gave a sheepish grin, "Uh...maybe?"

"Give her back!" yelled Rarity.

Mox nodded and gently put her down. Sweetie Belle found herself floating back to her sister. When she got there, she was crushed by her sister's hugs, "Sweetie Belle! Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine, really. Jarle is right. I let him carry me."

Rarity stared at her little sister, "But...why?"

"Ah'd like that answered too. Why are ya'll here on mah farm? Yer not welcome here," said Applejack as she came closer, "Gimmie one good reason why Ah shouldn't buck ya'll out of here."

"Because that's not what friends do to each other."

Applejack, Amiyah, and Mox straightened at the voice of their Commander. Jarle just stood up, "Gang's all here now."

Fluttershy and Pinkie were walking with Arthur Wood, having come from the orchard itself. 

Rarity grimaced, "Twilight, dear, why are we letting them in Equestria?"

"Rarity," started Twilight, "We...we were wrong. About Applejack. She's no killer. The...things she fought...they're utterly different than anything we had to face. Ever."

"Twilight, darling," started Rarity, "Are you defending killing?"

"No," said Arthur, "She's defending the act of protecting others."

"By killing?" said Rarity in disbelief.

"A-Arthur told us about the things the humans fought," started Twilight, "They...they're worse than Sombra. Worse than Tirek. Worse than Nightmare Moon."

"Worse than Nightmare Moon? Twilight, darling, nothing can be compared to her."

"True," said Arthur, "But from what I can tell from the stories I've been told, Nightmare Moon did not intend to kill all life on the planet. The things we fought and killed, however, did."

"What...what do you mean by that?" asked Rarity.

Arthur stayed silent for a moment, "I do not believe Sweetie Belle should hear this. Mox, can you take her inside?"

Rarity hugged Sweetie Belle tighter, but the filly squirmed out of her grasp, "I'm fine, Rarity. They're nice. I just know it. They only 'foalnapped' me to get you to come to Applejack. They want you to be friends again."

Applejack rolled her eyes while Rarity bit her lip, "I...I don't know...How can I know what they say is true?"

"I have no intention in hurting your sister," Mox said, "I will protect her with my life. Nothing bad will come to her. You have my word."

"I don't..."

"Rarity," said Sweetie Belle, "Jarle told me about Mox while we were coming home. He's...he's like Zecora! He looks different, but he's just like us! I'm fine, really..."

"I...I guess...just for a little while. When they're done 'explaining', I want you right back here, okay?"

Sweetie Belle nodded and went with Mox inside. Once they were inside, Arthur looked at the worried Rarity, "She's in good hands, I promise."

Rarity found herself believing that. Arthur continued, "Like I said, the things we fought intended to kill us."

"How so?" asked Rarity. 

"They nearly committed genocide."

"Genocide?" asked Rarity, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that word."

"It means to kill an entire race."

Rarity gaped at him. She suddenly shook her head, "You must think me stupid. Nothing in its right mind would kill an entire race. What about their conscience?"

"They do not have a conscience," said Arthur.

"That's simply preposterous! Nopony is born without a conscience!"

"Who said anything about them being born?"

Rarity stopped, "So," she slowly said, "You expect me to believe that not only are these things not born, they are 'made' without a conscience?"

Arthur simply nodded.

Rarity scoffed, "Twilight, dear, I think it would be best if we have them go away."

"Rarity, please...just listen to them."

"Why are you defending them?!"

"B-because if they were here, they'd kill Spike! And Sweetie Belle! And Rainbow Dash. Any everypony else!"

"That's what they do, Rarity," said Arthur quietly, "Their only purpose is to kill for their Elders. That's what they were made to do. To oppress and eventually exterminate us."

Arthur slowly walked to Rarity, who was silent now. He knelt down in front of her, "Tell me, Rarity, would you ever kill Sweetie Belle?"

"Of course not!"

"What if you were forced beyond your will to?"

"Against my will? You can't be saying..."

"That they'd mind control you? Yes, they would. And they wouldn't feel a thing."

"But..." Rarity couldn't think of a being that would mind control to do something as hideous as killing kin, "But that's simply wrong..."

"It is. And those are the kind of things we fought and killed."

"I...I cannot condone the act of killing," Arthur pursed his lips, "But I...I can understand why you do so now...and...."

Rarity sighed, "And I realize my mistake. Our mistake," she looked at Applejack, "Oh, Applejack...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you had to fight things like these...and I'm sorry for leaving. I was horrible for leaving you. I shouldn't have left. I should've had let you explain yourself. I...I cannot forgive myself for that. Please, Applejack...will you accept my apology?"

"..." Applejack stared at her, "No."

Rarity's eyes widened, as did others present, "But...I said I'm sorry..."

"An' ya think that fixes everythang?!" yelled Applejack, "A year an' a half! That's how long Ah was away from ya'll! An' whut did ya'll do? Ya turned yer backs on meh! Left meh! Right when Ah was home again, Ah was abandoned by mah closest 'friends'!"

"But-"

"Ah dun wanna hear it! We're done, An' Ah dun wanna see any o' ya'll ever again!"

Applejack turned around and stomped away. She went into the house, slamming the door shut. Amiyah sighed, "Oh AJ..."

"So that's it?" said Pinkie Pie, mane flat, "O-our friendship is over?"

"No," said Arthur, "I will not accept that," he turned to Twilight, "I will fix things. I promise."

Twilight looked at the house and sighed, "I wish I had your optimism. But I'll stay here for a little while..."

Arthur nodded and went inside the house.




Applejack slammed the door shut and stomped up to her room, ignoring the looks Sweetie Belle and Mox gave her. She slammed her bedroom door shut and flopped down on the bed.

A single thought repeated in Applejack's head. They're not sorry. They're not sorry. They're not sorry. They're not sorry. They're not sorry.

"They're sorry, you know that, right?" said Arthur.

Applejack started to see Arthur standing in the doorway, looking sadly at her. Applejack looked away, "No, they're not."

"Applejack, I know they hurt you. Badly. But they realized their mistake."

"That doesn't matter. They still left."

Arthur sighed, "Applejack, think back on all the great things you did together. Do you really want all those memories to be for nothing?"

"Ah...Ah dun care..."

Arthur went to the bed and sat down, "Would they want you to let this friendship die?"

"D-don't bring them inta this..."

"But you know it's true, don't you? They would have wanted you to give them another chance. Like you did for so many of them."

"Ah...but..." Applejack realized Arthur was right.

Arthur continued, "They wanted to see you reunited with your friends, remember? They all did. Even Jonna, near the end."

"Ah...Ah..." Applejack gave a choked sob as she remembered her fallen friends faces. She reached into her bag that she wore constantly now. She pulled out a photograph. It had all of her human friends there. Yoko Nakagawa. Yuri Levin. Artyom Sokolov. Markus Neumann. Jarle, Amiyah, and Mox was there as well. Tygan and Shen, as well. She remembered that Bradford was the one who took the picture. They all surrounded Applejack. They all were smiling.

"Ah...Ah'm sorry..." Applejack gave another sob, "Ah'm so sorry, Arthur...Ah was jus' so angry..."

Arthur laid a hand on Applejack's withers, "Twilight and the rest of them are truly sorry. You know what you have to do."

"But...is it too late? Ah jus' said that Ah didn't wanta see any o' 'em again..."

"They're outside, waiting for you, AJ."

Applejack's eyes widened, "They...they didn't leave?"

"No."

"Ah...Oh dear Celestia, whut have Ah done?" Applejack quickly put the picture away and got off the bed. She rushed out of the room, down the stairs, and onto the patio. They were still there, waiting for her. Arthur had been right.

Applejack froze, a thought occurring to her. Do I deserve them? After all I said, do I really deserve to have their friendship?

"...Applejack?" said Twilight.

Applejack lifted a hoof hesitatingly, before taking a step forward. And another, "Ah..."

They all stared at her. Applejack's gaze shifted from each one, "Ah...Ah dun deserve it..."

The ponies looked at each other. Pinkie Pie spoke, "Don't deserve what?"

"Ah dun deserve yer friendship. Any o' ya'lls. Ah was such a...bitch..." Applejack sat down and buried her head in her forelegs.

Fluttershy was the first to move to her, "Applejack..." she said, sitting next to the farmer pony.

Applejack didn't respond until Fluttershy hugged her. She looked at the Pegasus, bewildered. Fluttershy gave her a small smile, "I still want to be your friend."

Rarity moved second, hugging Applejack too, "We all made mistakes. What matters is that we learn from them."

Pinkie bounded to Applejack, hugging her, "We won't leave you again. I Pinkie Promise."

Twilight stared at the group before smiling. She flew to the four, "We missed you...And we're so sorry for leaving."

Applejack couldn't believe it. After how she acted, what she said to them, they still wanted to be friends? She realized then that friends, true friends, stick by each other. They may disagree. They may go away from each other for a while. But with these types of bonds, they will always come back. I'm...I'm home...

Applejack shed tears of joy. 

She was home.
> Forgiveness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash stared at the ceiling in her bedroom, mind abuzz. It wasn't on the purple alien she saw, but on Applejack. Still can't believe it. I can't believe that she killed.

You didn't listen.

Rainbow Dash blinked at that sudden thought before shaking her head. She turned over on her side, closing her eyes in an attempt to take a nap.

You didn't listen.

Rainbow Dash ignored that thought, but more came.

You're not the Element of Loyalty; you left her. You abandoned her.

She killed. That's bad.

She was your closest friend.

There's no excuse.

She was gone for one and a half years. All alone from any of you.

She...she killed though.

And you left her at a drop of a hat.

There...there's still no excuse.

The voice went silent. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and tried to sleep, "Is that all that concerns you? The lack of sleep?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes bugged out at Princess Luna's voice. She bolted up, "P-Princess Luna?!"

Princess Luna stood in the corner of the room were there were the most shadows present, "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"You tell me, Rainbow Dash."

"Uh...to give me good dreams?"

Luna sighed, "...I am here to talk about Applejack."

"Are you gonna arrest her?"

"No," said Luna, frowning. 

"Why the hay not...uh, your majesty?"

"Because that pony does not deserve to be put in jail."

"Uh, Princess Luna? You do know what she did, right?"

"Yes. And I can understand why she did it."

Rainbow Dash blinked, "Are...you defending killing, your majesty?"

Luna took a few steps forward, "What you and so many other ponies seem to forget is what Equestria was like. It was not nearly as peaceful as today. Monsters roamed freely. Many ponies were...ill tempered. Enough so to commit what is considered today to be the most vile act possible. Daily. In the thousands. We were just like humans, Rainbow Dash. We let our emotions get the better of us."

"But we're better than them now. And Applejack should have known that! She shouldn't have killed!"

Luna tilted her head, "Tell me, if a chimera came running into town, what would you do?"

"I'd beat the tar outta it, 'course. But I wouldn't kill it, if that's what you mean."

"The beast is inconsolable."

Rainbow Dash blinked, "Huh?"

"It will not back down. It is in a rage. It will kill every last stallion, mare, and foal. Unless you or somepony else puts it down."

"I-"

"These are the things Applejack 'killed'. I couldn't even begin to consider actual killing. That would imply these monsters have a soul. I would put it more akin to...pest control."

"That's horrible."

"Yes. It is."

"No, it's horrible that you would say things like that!"

Luna pursed her lips. Her horn glowed and an apparition of...an alien appeared. It was different than the one Applejack showed them. It looked like a spider and a crab mated, "This...thing is an affront of life. Its...mating habits are simply barbaric. Do you know what they do?"

"U-Uh...n-no..." The alien had no...soul in its beady eyes.

"It lays an egg in your corpse, turning it into a revenant. That...what's the word you ponies today use?

"Z-zombie?"

"Yes. This...zombie turns on your friends before bursting into another fully grown monster. Can you imagine that, Rainbow Dash? Can you imagine being force to turn on your friend's corpse, to deface it, so the egg never reaches maturity?"

"N-n-no..."

"Well do, Rainbow Dash. Then imagine that your so-called 'murderer' of a friend, had to deal with things of this caliber day. After day. After day. She lost so many friends over there. I'm surprise she's not a nervous wreck."

"H-how do you k-know this?"

"While Applejack may decline my offer to help her get rid of these nightmares, I still observe them. And let me tell you, Rainbow Dash, they are not pretty. The battles Applejack partook in are by far more violent than any battle Equestria has ever fought."

"I-I'm sorry..."

Princess Luna tilted her head, "Why are you sorry? Applejack is a 'murderer', is she not?"

"M-maybe...maybe I should have stayed..."

"Maybe you should have...You have no idea how disappointed I am in you. In all of you. You taught me so much about friendship, and yet you fail to show it. What is the saying nowadays? 'Practice what you teach'?"

Rainbow Dash felt like dirt. Luna was right. She did make a mistake. They all made a mistake, "I-I gotta go."

Rainbow rushed past Luna, missing the small smile on her face.




"Do you want anything? A snack? A blanket maybe?"

"Ah'm fine, Rares." 

"What about coffee? I can make a cup really quick."

"Really, Twi, it's okay."

"What about chocolate milk?! I can get some really quick!"

"Pinkie, seriously. Ah'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you really sure?"

"Yes!"

"Are you surely sure?"

"Don't call me Shirley," said Jarle, a cheeky grin on his face.

"But..." said Fluttershy, "she wasn't talking to you."

"It was a reference. To an old movie."

"Oh."

They were in the family room. Arthur was absent, instead talking to Granny in the kitchen. Mox had his helmet off, standing by the window. His large eyes scanned the outside. He frowned, "Is it a normal occurrence for a circular rainbow appear in Equestria?"

Sweetie Belle stood up on her hind legs to get a better view, "Uh oh."

"What?" asked Amiyah.

"I think that's Rainbow Dash."

Applejack suddenly got very uncomfortable, "Is, uh, is she commin' this way?"

"Yeah."

Applejack sighed, "Might as well git it over wit'."

She got up and went out the door. Sure enough, Rainbow Dash flew down in front of the house. Applejack stopped at Rainbow Dash's face. Rainbow Dash wouldn't look at her, and had mild frown on her face, "Hey...AJ..."

"..."

Rainbow Dash clearly didn't like Applejack's silence. She grimaced, "Hey, uh...just wanted to tell that I probably shoulda stayed and listen to you. I'm sorry."

"..."

Rainbow Dash sighed, "I was a jerk, and I understand if you don't want to see me again."

"Y'hurt meh real bad, RD."

"I-I know."

"But Ah fergive ya."

Rainbow Dash blinked and finally looked at Applejack, "Huh?"

"...it's whut mah friends woulda wanted."

"Are you sure? I can leave, really."

"...no, Rainbow. Dun leave. Please. Ah..." Applejack sighed, "Mah friends gave all that they had ta git meh home. Their pain woulda be fer nothin' if Ah kicked all o' ya'll from mah life ferever."

Princess Luna's words came back to Rainbow Dash, "...I'm sorry, AJ...about your friends."

Applejack smiled sadly, "They woulda loved ta meet ya'll. Especially Yoko. She was pretty fast."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Saved a lotta us from th' Assassin. She would zip 'round and help us back on our feet. Or hooves."

"Who's the Assassin?"

Applejack's smile faded and she looked down, "Ah'll tell ya later. Y'wanna come inside?"

"Yeah."

Applejack turned around and led her inside. Rainbow Dash froze when she saw Jarle, "On second thought, I should probably leave..."

"Why?" said Applejack.

"Uh..."

"Rainbow Dash here and I had a little confrontation," said Jarle.

"Dash, you fought Jarle?!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Uh..."

Jarle waved his hand, "It's fine. Only thing that was hurt was her pride," he grinned, "Totally woulda smoked you if I wanted to."

"I dunno!" said Pinkie, "Dashie's pretty fast!"

"Jarle is psionic," said Mox.

Dash glanced at his face and did a double take, "Whoa, what's wrong with your face?"

Twilight winced and turned to Mox, "I'm sorry. Some times she speaks before she thinks about it."

Mox noted that Twilight wouldn't look at his face for too long, either, "It is alright," he turned to Rainbow Dash, "We are ADVENT, freed. This is how the Elders made us."

"O-oh."

Arthur came into the room, Granny Smith following. The Commander smiled, "You have a very interesting family, Applejack."

"Thanks. Uh, whut do ya'll wanna do now?"

"Ah wanna hear more 'bout yer story!" said Applebloom.

"...alright...uh, Amiyah, y'wanna take over fer now? So they all get 'nother point o' view?"

Amiyah nodded, "Okay."

Amiyah resumed the story.
> A XCOM Kind of Christmas
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack’s eyes snapped open as something jumped on her bed, “Wake up, AJ! It’s Hearth’s Warming Day!” exclaimed Applebloom.

After getting over her shock, she cracked a smile and chuckled, “Ah’m up. Ah’m up. Is Amiyah?”

“Yeah! She’s in th’ kitchen helpin’ Granny.”

“Well, let’s go!” Applejack hopped out of bed. She followed the bouncing Applebloom, giggling softly. She arrived downstairs and went into the kitchen. Amiyah was indeed helping Granny Smith with cooking, “Mornin’, Amiyah!”

Amiyah turned partly to her, still focusing on prepping the potatoes she was working on, “Good morning, AJ. How are you this morning?”

Applejack smiled at her, “Ah’m doin’ jus’ fine, thanks. Need any help?”

“We could always use some help!” said Granny Smith, “Y’can help by startin’ by making th’ pecan pie.”

“Alrighty.”

Applebloom helped Applejack making the pie. It took most of the morning, but they eventually prepared all of the Hearth’s Warming dinner.

And not a moment too soon, as the first of the guests arrived. It was Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Jarle. Pinkie was bouncing up and down, “Happy Hearth’s Warming, AJ!”

Jarle, grinning, looked at Amiayh, “Merry Christmas, Amiyah.”

“Merry Christmas, Jarle. The others are coming, right?”

“Yeah. Mox and Shen were working on something with Rarity. They said they’ll be a bit late.”

“Okay.”

“Well c’mon on in! It’s mighty cold outside,” said Applejack.

They came inside, wiping their boots. Jarle sniffed, “Is that...sweet potato?”

“Yep,” said Applejack, “It’s a pie. There’s also pecan pie. Y’can thank Applebloom fer th’ sweet potato pie. She did most o’ th’ work.”

“It smells great,” Jarle grinned at her.

“Aw, it was nothin’,” said Applebloom.

The door knocked again as the previous arrivals put their presents under the tree. Arthur, Tygan, Bradford, and the rest of the Element bearers, Spike included, arrived. Tygan, after taking off his coat and putting his presents under the tree noticed it was bare, “Why is the tree not decorated? Do ponies not decorate trees for Christ- Hearth’s Warming?”

“It’s a pony tradition to decorate the tree together with friends and family,” said Twilight, “We’ll decorate it when Rarity, Shen, and Mox arrive. Speaking of which....where are they?”

“They said they’d be late,” said Amiyah.

“Well,” started Applejack, “Ah got somethin’ fer ya’ll while we wait.”

She trotted to a cabinet in the family room. She opened it and pulled out a box. She opened it, “It’s pony tradition ta hang dolls o’er th’ fireplace.”

“Dolls?” said Bradford.

She pulled out a crocheted doll, which resembled Bradford, “Usually ya make yer own dolls, but since ya’ll weren’t familiar wit’ Hearth’s Warmin’ tradition, Ah made ‘em mahself.”

“They’re lovely,” said Fluttershy.

“How’d you do it with hooves?” asked Jarle.

“Dunno. Ah jus’ do it.”

Applejack pushed box to the group. She hoofed Bradford his doll as the others retrieved theirs. Tygan adjusted his glasses, “They are very detailed. I’m surprised hooves could accomplish this.”

“Ah may not be able ta make dresses, but Ah can sew when it counts.”

“Soo,” said Jarle, fiddling with his doll, “What do we do with them again?”

“We hang ‘em on the fireplace mantel. Dun really know why or how it started…”

“I know,” said Twilight. Everyone gave her attention, “It’s figurative. The fireplace represents the warmth of Friendship, connecting friends and family alike. Which is why we put them over the fireplace so they’ll get warm. Don’t know when it started, though.”

“Huh,” said Jarle, looking down at his doll, “The more you know…”

Applejack went over to the fireplace and put her doll on the mantel. She stared at it. It was clean, free of scars. She sighed inwardly before stepping aside to let others do the same.

After the last one, Fluttershy’s, was placed, the door knocked. Applejack brightened, “That must be Shen an’ th’ others.”

Applejack trotted to the door and opened it with a beaming smile, “Howdy ya’ll! C’mon in!”

The three latecomers eagerly accepted the invitation. Rarity held up a gift-wrapped box in the magical grasp. She took off her scarf and coat and smile at Applejack, “I’m terribly sorry for us being late.”

Applejack waved off the apology, “Aw, ya dun hafta apologize, Rares. It’s meh who should apologize. Ah put up yer doll up fer ya.”

“That’s quite alright, Applejack.”

“Dolls?” asked Shen.

Applejack pointed at the fireplace. Amiyah and Shen moved to the mantel, staring at their own dolls, “These are really detailed, AJ. How’d you do it?”

“Funny, Tygan jus’ asked that,” Applejack shrugged, “Dunno. Jus’ do it.”

Applebloom tugged on Rarity’s leg, “Where’s Sweetie Belle?”

Rarity smiled down at her, “She’s at our parents house. I believe Scootaloo is doing the same.”

Applebloom frowned before Applejack’s hoof ruffled the filly’s mane, “Ah know whut’ll cheer ya up. Let’s decorate th’ tree!”

“I call the star!” said Jarle, “You guys put stars on the top, right?”

Applejack nodded, “Yep. Dunno how you’ll get it on, though. Th’ tree’s kinda tall.”

Jarle grinned, “I’ve been practicing.”

“Practicing what?” asked Fluttershy.

Jarle’s hand glowed and everybody stepped back. Jarle’s face scrunched up in concentration as as the star was unsteadily lifted into the air. Jarle opened his eyes, “Surprise! I’m a Jedi now!”

Amiyah crossed her arms and whistled, “Nice trick, Jarle.”

Jarle let the star down, “Spent the last two weeks practicing that.”

Pinkie Pie, who had been bouncing up and down in anticipation, “C’mon! Let’s decorate the tree!”

A set of boxes were pulled out by the Apple family, each containing ornaments. Many laughs were had as they decorated the tree.

“Alright everybody,” said Applejack as they finished admiring the tree, “We still have some time befer dinner, so let’s go sleddin’!”

Mox tilted his head, “Sledding?”

“Ya’ll dun go sleddin’?”

“We do,” said Jarle, “But it’s mostly kids who do that,”

“So you should feel right at home, Jarle,” said Amiyah with a grin. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash snickered. Amiyah turned to Applejack, “What Jarle said, though, is somewhat true. Most adults don’t go sledding unless their kids are with them. But…” Amiyah shifted, “I’ve haven’t actually gone sledding before. I’m kinda curious what it’s like.”

Applejack smiled, “Then Ah’ll be glad ta show ya!”

“I-I’d like to pass...please,” said Fluttershy.

“I’ll keep her company,” said Rarity.

“Alright. Alright, ya’ll. Ah have th’ sleds in th’ back.”

“I do not know what ‘sledding’ is,” said Mox as they moved through the house.

“It’s when ya ride on somethin’ down a hill covered in snow!” said Applebloom.

“And it is enjoyable?”

“Yep! Get’s ya blood pumpin’!”

She started to leave. Most of them immediately followed them. Only Tygan and Bradford hesitated before moving to catch up. Applejack showed them the sleds, a couple of wooden Toboggans.

“Alright, we don’t have a lot so ya’ll need ta pair up. Once ya do, Ah’ll show you th’ hill.”

They paired up in twos: Tygan and Twilight, Bradford and Arthur, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Amiyah, Mox and Jarle, Big Macintosh and Applebloom, and Shen and Spike.

They followed Applejack for a few minutes before coming to a hill, “That’s the hill?” asked Jarle. It wasn’t very big.

“Nope,” replied Applejack, the corners of her mouth turning up.

“Ooh, I know what hill she’s talkin’ about,” said Applebloom. Applejack put a hoof to her lips, smirking. Applebloom giggled and nodded.

They walked for a few more minutes before another hill came into view. Applejack stopped and pointed at it, “That’s th’ hill.”

The humans and ex-ADVENT stared wide-eyed at it. It was easily the largest hill around, and very steep. Jarle gulped, “A-are you sure?”

Applejack glanced back at him, a smile on her face, “What? Ah thought y’said mostly kids sled. Ah’m jus’ tryin’ ta make it more adult-like.”

“O-oh…”

Applejack turned to Twilight, “Y’think ya can teleport us up there?”

Twilight nodded, “Yep. I’ve been practicing teleporting.”

Everybody stepped closer to each other per instructions from Twilight. She closed her eyes and her horn glowed. With a loud pop, they disappeared and reappeared a yard off the ground. They all landed with a thud, with the exception of those who had wings. Twilight laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of her head, “S-sorry. Looks like I need to tweak the spell some more.”

Applejack spat out snow, chuckling, “That’s fine, Twi. No harm done.”

Applejack got up along with the others. She turned to Mox, “Y’wanna go first?”

Mox glanced down the hill, “I’m still unsure...but I will defer to your choice.”

“Woah, wait a minute!” said Jarle, “Why us first?”

“Well, Ah thought Ah’d show ya how fun sleddin’ can be.”

“...this is because I made that ‘sledding is for kids’ remark, isn’t it?”

“It might be.”

Amiyah elbowed Jarle lightly, “C’mon. I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

Jarle stared down the hill, “Fun...yeah…”

The got into position, Mox in the front, and a nervous Jarle in the back. Amiyah grinned at him, “Are you ready?”

“No. I really thiIIIIIIINNNNKKK!!!”

Applejack shoved the sled forward, and they sped down the hill. Jarle let out a girlish scream. Mox’s already large eyes were huge.

“TOO FAST! TOO FAST! AAAAAHH!!!” screamed Jarle, holding onto Mox for dear life.

Meanwhile, Applejack smirked while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie laughed at Jarle girly screams. Applejack turned to Twilight, “You an’ Tygan should probably go next so ya can teleport ‘em back up.”

Twilight wasn’t feeling all that nervous; she had wings. She looked to Tygan, “You up for it?”

“I-I suppose we will find out,” They got on the sled and Applejack helped push them down.

Meanwhile, Jarle was still screaming like a girl. Mox, on the other hand, was smiling. Applebloom had been right. This was fun.

The sled hit a bump, sending both of them flying. Jarle managed to scream even louder and in a higher pitch. They were both filled with a weightless feeling before gravity came back. They slammed back into the ground, somehow managing not to wipe out.

The end of the hill drew closer and closer until they finally reached the base. They slid a couple more feet before Mox slowed them down with his arms. They stopped. Mox was all smiles, “That was enjoyable!”

Jarle, meanwhile, was holding onto the sled with a death grip, “eeeeeeeeeee,”

Twilight and Tygan arrived and stopped near them. Tygan was slightly shaken at going at such speeds. Twilight noticed Jarle, “Is Jarle okay?”

“Eeeeeeeeeeee,”

“I believe Jarle will recover.”

“If you say so…”

“Eeeeeeeee”

“weeeeEEEEEEEEE!!!” Pinkie and Rainbow Dash slid past them, narrowly missing Twilight who flew into the air on reflex. Neither Pinkie nor Rainbow Dash attempted to slow down, happy enough to let the sled to do it by itself.

Twilight landed as Shen and Spike arrived. Shen’s eyes were wide, but had a smile on her face, “That...was a rush.”

Applebloom and Big Macintosh arrived, Applebloom latched onto the red stallion’s neck giggling.

Meanwhile, Arthur got into position. He looked back, “Coming, John?”

Bradford stiffened, “Yes, Sir.”

Arthur smiled sadly, “We’re off duty, John. You don’t have to call me that.”

“...right...sorry.”

Bradford got on the sled. Arthur pushed back, moving them forward. They quickly gained speed, both holding onto each other for dear life, “I’m too old for this!” yelled Bradford over the wind.

“You’re never too old to have fun, John!” replied Arthur.

Applejack smiled as she saw her friends enjoying themselves. She looked to Amiyah, “Y’ready fer yer first time sleddin’?”

Amiyah nervously nodded. Applejack trotted to her sled, Amiyah following behind her. Sitting in the front, she glanced back at her, “Y’ready?”

Amiyah looked over her shoulder and down the hill. She gulped, “I-I guess”

Applejack grinned, and shoved forward, sending them sliding down hill, “YEEHAW!!!”

Amiyah held onto the Earth Pony as if her life depended on it. Applejack glanced back at her, “Ya alright, sugarcube?!”

“Yeah!-Watch out!”

A tree was up ahead and Applejack reacted by leaning to the side. Amiyah did the same and they swerved around the tree. This led them pointing at the ramp Mox and Jarle jumped. Applejack decided that Amiyah wasn’t ready for that yet, and leaned the other way to avoid it.

Applejack glanced back at her fillyfriend. Amiyah was squinting in the cold wind but grinning widely. Their journey ended when the toboggan dipped a bit to low, sending them both flying forward.

The two grunted as they rolled down the hill, sending snow flying. They quickly stopped, dazed. Applejack recovered, “Y-Ya alright, Ami?”

Amiyah sat up, shaking her head free of snow, “Y-yeah...got snow in my coat, though.”

Applejack spotted Rainbow Dash flying to them and got an idea, “Hey, Amiyah...y’know whut a snowball fight is?”

“Yeah. Why-oh…” she said, quickly catching on and grinning.

Rainbow Dash flew to them, worry on her face. Amiyah and Applejack grinned each other and nodded. Rainbow squawked as two snowballs hit her in the face. She wiped her face, eyes narrowing, “So...it’s gonna be like that…”

She threw her head back, “SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!”

“Wait, what?” said Jarle, who had recovered. Not enough, it seemed, as he was beaned in the head by Pinkie.

Things quickly spun into chaos. Twilight barely got up a magical shield before Pinkie set her sights on her, “Tygan! Help!”

“I…!” Tygan got hit in the head with a ‘biff!’. He narrowed his eyes at the grinning Shen.

Tygan bent down and started to form a snowball as perfectly round as he could. Unfortunately, Shen did not care in the same level of quality. She hit him two more times before Tygan abandoned the notion of quality as well and just started slugging snowballs down range.

Meanwhile, a snowball whizzed by Arthur’s ear. He turned to see who had threw it. Spike held his arms spread eagle, “Try it, Arthur!”

“I...don’t want to hurt-oof!” Spike threw another snowball, hitting Arthur in the chest. On reflex, Bradford slugged one at the dragon. Spike grinned and breathed in. He timed it perfectly, his fire breath melting the snowball.

Meanwhile, Celestia was having an early dinner with her sister when Spike’s magical breath came into play. Celestia spluttered as water splashed against her face. Luna giggled, earning a half-hearted glare from the elder sister.

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Big Macintosh and Applebloom gently threw snowballs together. The force of their throws were dwarfed compared to the rest of the snowball fight.  Twilight and Rainbow Dash had taken to the air. In a reminiscence of an aerial dogfight, they circled around each other, throwing snowballs whenever they weren’t dodging.

Applejack had retreated up the hill up to the tree. Taking cover and her time, she assembled a mass of snowballs. After she was happy with the amount she stepped out from the tree, eyes scanning and filled with mirth.

Jarle recovered from Pinkie’s shot and turned around. His eyes widened as Pinkie’s forelegs became pinwheels, launching a flurry of snowballs at him. He dove to the ground, avoiding the most of them.

His eyes narrowed and his hand glowed. Pinkie saw that and took a step back in nervousness. He launched a Soulfire beam out from his hand. Instead of hitting Pinkie, he aimed at the ground before her. When the beam hit the snow, it sent a wave of it flying forward. Pinkie was covered in snow as a result.

Jarle stood up with his hands on his hips, admiring his work. That’s when a mound came from the pile, burrowing its way through the snow at him, “Oh shit.”

Jarle turned and ran as best he could before Pinkie erupted from the lump into the air. She twirled around midair, using one of her hind legs to kick a snowball at high speed. It impacted Jarle’s back with enough force to send him tumbling down in the snow.

Up at the tree, Applejack had picked her target. Applejack grinned and threw up a snowball up into the air. She made it in a way that it would survive her kick and travel through the air, but just barely in order for it to not cause pain when it hit its target. She had learned to do that last winter.

She kicked it, sending the snowball flying straight and true at the target. Rainbow Dash squaked when she was hit in the back of the head. She moved her head around wildly, scanning for anyone who threw it.

Moments later, another snowball came out of the blue. Twilight spluttered as it impacted her face. Rainbow felt another one hit her flank, and using that hit to tell where it was coming from. She squinted in attempt to find the source. A snowball whizzed by her ear, but it told her all that she need to know.

She pointed at Applejack, “Over there!”

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight, who nodded. They then zoomed to the orange pony, trying to dodge as best they could. Applejack increased the rate of her fire, but noticed she was running low on ammo.

Mox was staring at the chaos in befuddlement. Spike ran by him, catching his attention., “Mooox! Heeelllp!”

Mox blinked and looked back as Arthur and Bradford pursued the young dragon. A random phrase came into his head. Protect the weak.

Mox grabbed a handful of snow, packing it quickly. He threw it with stunning accuracy, hitting Bradford in the chest. The older man stumbled and tripped onto the snow.

Arthur dove to the side on reflex, slinging a poorly aimed snowball at the hybrid. Mox shifted his attention, vaguely aware that Bradford starting to get up.

Mox threw one at Bradford to keep him down, and throwing another at the retreating Arthur. Arthur, to Mox’s surprise, ducked just in time. He retaliated, and Mox felt a snowball strike his chest.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight reached Applejack, laying down a ‘bombing run’ on the farmer. Applejack moved away, creating more snowballs and throwing them as fast as she could. Twilight activated her magic while Rainbow Dash kept Applejack busy.

The area around Applejack suddenly darkened, causing the mare to look up. Her eyes bugged out as she stared at her impending doom in the form of a giant pile of snow held up by Twilight’s magic, “Aw shoot-”

THUMP!

Twilight let go of her magic, sending the mass of snow onto Applejack. It covered her completely out of sight, and Twilight started to worry if she overdid it.

Applejack’s head burst out from the top of the pile, spitting out snow. Rainbow Dash and Twilight waited, unsure how she would react.

Applejack started to chuckle lightly, that chuckle turning into a full-blown belly laugh. Rainbow Dash and Twilight joined her.

The snowball fight started to wind down as the cold started to get to them all. They all gathered together, laughing and smiling. Together they went back to the house, Twilight levitating the sleds for them.

The sun was starting to set as they reached the house and stamped their feet and hooves. Applejack looked at Jarle, “So...did ya enjoy sledding?”

“I’m probably gonna have nightmares.”

Applebloom and her big sister giggled at that. Granny Smith came towards them, “Ya’ll jus’ in time. It’s dinner time!”

The group took off their snow gear and went into the dining room. Another table was moved to the original in order to accommodate the whole party. Small talk erupted as dinner was served. The only exception was Mox, who declined to eat.

Once everybody was satisfied in what they were getting to eat, Applejack tingled her glass with her utensil, quieting everyone, “It’s an Apple family tradition ta sing a song befer dinner. Every human don’t need ta worry none, we won’t make ya sing. Yer welcome ta join, though.”

Applejack cleared her throat and closed her eyes,

“When family cannot be here
Havin' journeyed far and wide
We sing a song to honor them
To remember days gone by,”

The Apple family joined in, “So take your cup and raise it high
Just as surely I'll do mine
And laugh we will at stories told
As we smile at days gone by
As we smile at days gone by,”

The humans glanced at each other, amused. Twilight and the other Elements joined the next chorus, “For family not here, my dears
Havin' journeyed far and wide
For loyalty and kindness both
We smile at days gone by,”

They quieted down, with the exception of Applejack who had started to hum. She thought of all her fallen friends, and bit back tears. Her voice had a slight waver to it as she continued, “Our paths will cross again one day
In time to reunite
For family is always near
Even when the seas are wide,”

This time, Amiyah and Shen joined in, “So take your cup and raise it high
Just as surely I'll do mine
And make a toast for family
And the tales of days gone by,”

Mox and the rest of the humans joined in, “For family not here, my dears
Havin' journeyed far and wide
For loyalty and kindness both
Take joy at days gone by
For loyalty and kindness both
We smile at days gone by,”

Applejack smiled warmly at everybody, “Thanks, ya’ll. Y’don’t know how much that means ta me.”

“I’m surprised that I could sing the song in the first place,” started Jarle, “I couldn’t sing to save my life before.”

“I think it’s the magic here,” said Shen.

“I heard music,” said Bradford, “Did anyone else hear music?”

“Probably the magic too,” said Shen.

“Can we eat now? I’m starving,” said Jarle.

"Me too," said Rainbow Dash, "We forgot to eat lunch."

Applejack nodded, “Dig in, everybody!”

They ate, telling stories and jokes. Applejack ran her eyes over the party. She was happy. The happiest she felt in a long while. She was surrounded by friends and family. And nothing could ever hope to beat that wonderful, wonderful feeling.

~~~

“Ooooh god…” moaned Jarle as he clutched his stomach, “I ate too much.”

Amiyah was full as well, but wasn’t as foolish as Jarle, “You did kind of pig out.”

“That was wonderful, Granny Smith,” said Shen.

Granny waved the compliment off with a hoof, “No need ta thank meh. ‘S th’ least Ah could do fer ya’ll protectin’ Applejack.”

Pinkie was bouncing up and down in her seat, “When do we open the presents?!”

“That isn’t such a bad idea,” said Arthur.

Applejack nodded, agreeing, “Alright. Let’s go an open th’ presents!”

They got out of their seats and moved to the living room. Applejack looked back as she led the way, “So, who wants ta go first?”

Pinkie shot her hoof up high, “Ooh! Ooh! Me!”

Applejack chuckled, “Alright, Pinkie. Y’geta go first.”

Pinkie squealed and rushed to the tree. She grabbed one of hers and shoved into Jarle’s arms, “Open it!”

Jarle blinked, “Okay…”

He opened his present and pulled out a box of candy. He opened it and his eyes widened, “Is...is that saltwater taffy? Cotton Candy taffy?!”

Pinkie nodded her head vigorously, “Yeperoonie!”

“I...how did you know that was my favorite?”

Pinkie leaned into him and whispered, “It’s a secret.”

Pinkie’s presents continued in this vein, somehow getting everybody what they wanted. One of Rarity’s presents was a sweater to Bradford. Arthur had told her what his old sweater looked like, and she remade it to a T.

Arthur received a book from Twilight on pony history. Shen received a diagram for ROV-R that could use a magic crystal that would allow the Gremlin to manipulate objects telekinetically from Twilight.

Mox received a bouncy ball from Applebloom, who would be later seen trying it out. He was also given a glowing gem from Spike, who told him it would change its glow based on the current weather.  Tygan received a new pair of glasses from Twilight that could zoom in and out with a simple tap on the frame. Rainbow Dash had been the one to give Twilight the idea to do that, who was also thanked by Tygan. Presents were received, and thanks were sent out over the course of the next few minutes.

Finally, Shen, Mox, and Rarity came to Applejack with a small box of a present. Shen spoke, “Hey, AJ. The three of us made a present for you.”

Applejack smile, “Aw shucks, guys. Thank ya kindly!”

She opened the box and pulled out a type of necklace. She blinked as she studied it. The chain was silver in color, and could easily be put on. There was another part of the necklace. A pentagon, the shape of the XCOM emblem, was attached. It was etched with her Cutie Mark, the words Semper Veritatem above it. She noticed a seam in it, and figured it was a locket of some sort.

She opened it by pushing a button on the side. Almost immediately a small hologram, barely two inches in height, appeared. Applejack’s eyes widened as an image of her fallen friend Yoko stood smiling at her. There was another button next to the one that opened the locket.

She pressed it, and her breath got caught in her throat as the image changed to Yuri. She pressed the button more, cycling through the small figures of her friends. Artyom, Markus, Jonna, and others made their appearance. Even her alive friends were in the locket.

Applejack’s eyes watered, “Ah...Ah…” she looked up at them, “Th-Thank you! This...this is the best present Ah could ever ask fer! Thank you!”

Rarity, Shen, and even Mox smiled at her. Rarity spoke, “Mox here had the idea of this. I designed it, and Lilly built it.”

Applejack rushed forward, hugging them. She tried her best from just openly sobbing there, but tears still fell, “Ah can’t...it’s...jus’...thank you…”

After a few moments, they broke away. Applejack sniffed and rubbed her eyes, “I jus’...wish they were here…”

“We all do,” said Arthur, walking up to them, “And I’m sure where ever they are now, they’re watching over you and happy you’re home.”

Applejack sniffed again and sat down next to Amiyah on the couch. She stared at the fireplace, feeling the warmth of it. Home. She thought to herself. Yeah...I’m home.

She looked down at the locket and smiled, “Home.”