Heart and Mind

by Quick Fix

Present Three - Shadows

The room went quiet again as Apple Bloom finished her latest round of memories, broken only by the sound of hoofsteps. Peace Walker was pacing round, starting to look agitated, her focus on the enchanted door to the outside. They didn't need words for the meaning to be clear enough; she was struggling with her own mind and it wasn't clear just how effective hearing somepony else's recollections was. If it was any consolation, Apple Bloom still felt like herself, aside from the infernal throbbing still running through her head like a filly on a sugar high.

"I'm okay, I'm okay..." Peace repeated to herself, eventually running a hoof down her muzzle and straightening up again. Apple Bloom could see that she needed something else to focus on beyond the room and what was happening in it though.

"Peace, you think that maybe you should take a turn? Sit down and find yourself again?"

Peace stopped at those words and looked back at Apple Bloom, almost as if she'd only just noticed she was there. Her eyes still held some of the same supportive look but behind that almost made Apple Bloom recoil in shock. Her pupils were constricted far beyond a normal level and quivering slightly, as if trying to hide just how bad things were behind them.

"Are you sure? I mean I can try but..." Peace Walker answered quietly, trailing off as she rubbed her head. Apple Bloom could hear the worry in her voice, the tension of believing that both their fates rested on her shoulders and how hard it was weighing her down. Kind as it was, Apple Bloom couldn't let her try to handle this alone and simply extended her hoof out, an invitation to let some of the pressure off and share the burden.

After a few seconds of hesitant thought, Peace slowly sat down next to Apple Bloom and closed her eyes, reaching a hoof out and gripping the extended one. A more spiritual pony might assume they had some kind of bond linking them in their time of need, in reality they were both simply trying to keep calm long enough to get anywhere. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Peace Walker opened her eyes again and looked back at Apple Bloom, looking a little more focused than before.

"Okay, I remember being further out in the desert," Peace started. "I was, investigating something, this place? I don't recall...I just remember setting up camp for the night and being approached by a unicorn, didn't see her coming since it was getting dark and her coat matched the sand. We talked, then I don't know, one minute everything was calm, the next I was out cold. When I woke up I was in a room like this."

Apple Bloom looked down, only half listening as the throbbing in her mind increased. There was an odd sense of familiarity in Peace Walker's words, as if they'd both been through something similar. She tried to shake the thought but the more her focus went off it, the worse the feeling got. After a few seconds it became full on blinding pain, threatening to overwhelm her senses, building to a zenith before reality seemed to blink out around her, giving way to a new memory, vivid as reality.

---

Apple Bloom inhaled sharply as she awoke, a sensation of numbness washing over her body only to fade away like a chill in the morning sun. That metaphor only felt more apt as a gentle warmness took it's place, tingling slightly all over her body. She glanced round but couldn't see much of anything, or even move her head round. Only then did it strike her that the tingle probably wasn't a good thing, possibly magic. She tried to move again, only to be met with the same resistance.

"Sorry, I know it's not exactly comfortable." A mare's voice said from behind her. Apple Bloom didn't recognise it, but from the mild Canterlot accent she could tell it was likely a unicorn, probably the one holding her like this. Hoofsteps echoed behind her, meaning it was likely a stone room, before somepony stepped through the shadows to her left. It took this for Apple Bloom to realise that she was being suspended off the ground, unable to move anything except her eyes. She tried to shake the thought for now and get a look at the unicorn.

Whoever they were, they weren't letting themselves be seen too clearly. It seemed to be night time and most of the room was cloaked in shadow, enough for the mystery mare to stay out of sight even as she stepped into Apple Bloom's view. It couldn't hide the cyan light emanating from her horn though, it's glow revealing hints of her identity, an amber horn and coat and what looked like a styled red mane. Everything else was obscured by the dark, which seemed odd, most unicorns using this much magic would be giving off enough light to show off their face. For that matter, how many unicorns were capable of levitating and restraining another pony for this long at once?

"I wish we could be meeting under better circumstances. Sometimes though, you have to be a little firm for the betterment of Equestria," She said, glancing back at Apple Bloom, her expression unreadable in the darkness. "What would you think if I said that Celestia needed help running this land?" A brief pause. "Oh, right." Her horn dimmed slightly and Apple Bloom felt the tingle dissapate from around her mouth and she gave her lower jaw a few test movements before replying.

"I'd say that she has Twilight, Luna and Cadance for that...Why am I even playing along? Who in Tartarus are you?!"

"Understandable answer, but wrong," The figure sighed and turned away, acting as if the latter half of the reply hadn't been heard. "You don't know Celestia like I do, how she works. Simply put, Equestria isn't going to survive if things stay as they are, everypony simply shunting their problems aside and hoping that it'll be fixed by her, or the defence force, or the Elements of Harmony."

"It's not as simple as th-"

"How would you know?" The figure swung round slightly, a brief flash of cyan eyes visible before they turned away again. "I spent nineteen years in the heart of the capital, right next to the princesses. Equestria needs to change into a land that it's ponies can control the future of for themselves."

"And, what, you think you should be in charge for that change?" Apple Bloom wasn't sure why she was playing along now, but she was likely learning more about whoever this was than if she'd kept asking directly.

"No...But I can be in a position to make it happen. I just need to get back into Celestia's good graces and this town will let it happen. You're gonna help me do some BIG things." The stranger grinned as she stepped back behind Apple Bloom, leaving her even more confused than when she woke up, if that was even possible.

"So, why are you telling me this? Where am I? Who even are you? Could you please talk some sense?"

"The only question I can answer right now, is the where. This town doesn't really have a name, but it will be known worldwide as holding the Spirit of Equestria once we've made our move. I wish you could have seen more than this room earlier but we've had so many ponies coming in that we had to wait a few weeks."

"A..A few weeks?" Apple Bloom tensed up, wondering just how long she'd been trapped here, wherever here was.

"Three and a half, to be proper. You're still the same as the day I met you thanks to an advanced stasis spell, magic induced hibernation if you will. I'm genuinely sorry I had to do that to you. As for the rest of your questions...I could tell you, but I'm afraid you wouldn't remember. Thank you for listening though."

Apple Bloom had approximately half a second to have those words sink in before a shot of magic hit her in the back of the neck, overwhelming her with the numbness again before her world blacked out once more.

---

"Whoa, whoa! I got you."

Peace Walker's voice seemed unnaturally loud as Apple Bloom snapped back to reality. She looked round wildly for several seconds before realising that she was back in the old room, still looking sparse but calm with Celestia's light streaming in the small windows. As her breathing slowly returned to normal, she looked back and realised she was on her back, being kept from hitting the floor by Peace Walker holding her up. For a moment, she wondered just how intense that memory must have been for her to be physically reacting, before working herself back onto her hooves.

"I...Don't know, what just happened to me?"

"I was still talking, then I noticed you were acting weird, sitting back and mumbling to yourself. You just kept leaning backwards with every word, to the point where you would have thrown yourself back into a wall if I hadn't caught you."

"I did? Oh...Sorry, something about your memories trigged one of mine. I couldn't see much of anything but what little I could, it seemed like I met the same unicorn as you."

Peace Walker nodded and stepped back, looking Apple Bloom over. She seemed more focused than before, her eyes back to their usual state, olive gold and determined. It was a little thing but one that Apple Bloom caught, one that made her realise something. Peace was putting a lot more effort into helping her than helping herself, as if she'd given up on making it out herself so her focus was now on Apple Bloom. While not ideal, she'd just have to keep going long enough for them to come up with a plan.

"Okay, you're okay, good...What now?"

"We keep helping each other out, time's starting to run down and I already know neither of us is willing to leave without the other now. You just have to stay focused on me, on how this helps me, while looking for ideas to slip out of here. We're gonna do this, I promise."

Apple Bloom extended her hoof again, this time as more than a simple invitation to keep going together. This was an offer of loyalty, that she was sticking this one out to the end. Peace Walker took it much more readily this time, sitting back against the wall and waiting in anticipation. Apple Bloom smiled, boosted by the sight of her feeling better, ready to give this another go.

"Just relax, I'm going to keep talking and we're going to figure something out along the way."