-Aj-
"How many times do I have to tell all of you that I fought, I won, and I came straight home?" everyone was in my room as I laid on my bed in nothing more than a blue tank top and a pair of black and white checkered boxer shorts.
"I know we've been badgering you Applejack," Celestia spoke, "But we have to figure this all out. It just seems impossible that you only survived only out of sheer luck."
"What the hell Celestia?" I sat up, "You ordered for scientists to take my DNA in order to create monsters of death and chaos. You have done something to me that is unforgivable. You took the very essence of who I am to gain the upper hand in some kind of war that I don't think was going to happen anyway."
"Those countries were building weapons of mass destruction as well. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Gee, I dunno. Probably allow them too. Equestria was either still is or isn't the only one with weapons of mass destruction. Before all of this zombie shit started, Equestria was the only country with nuclear power. So what that the other countries wanted enough fire power to defend themselves. You could have made allies with them instead, but now look at where we are. All the countries are either dead or dying because of this disease. This disease is more negatively impacting the lives of millions worldwide and Equestria hasn't done a damn thing to try and correct the problem."
"This problem is affecting Equestria too much for it to just send troops to other countries. Like you, all I want is to protect my people."
"They are no longer you people anymore Celestia. They are mine; have you forgotten. You know that I can keep people alive a lot longer than you can."
"Look around you! Everyone is dead! There is only us and only a couple scores of troops within a multi-thousand populated town! If you were or are so much better, then how come so many people died?"
"Only because they didn't want to listen to me! And don't you even fucking think that they would have listened to you any better than they have listened to me!"
"Aj doesn't need any of this stress right now," Flutters cut into the conversation.
"Shut Up Fluttershy!" Celestia and I said in unison, "We need to go to the lab where all of this zombie shit started and find a cure," I growled at Celestia.
"Then that would mean going to Bio Tech Incorporated and trying to get their files. We can't go in there."
"And why is that?" I asked.
"Uh, hello! Wake up and smell the coffe Applejack. That is where all of this hell on earth started. The Z-Virus would kill us all before we even get passed the front door."
"Come with me Celestia," I got out of bed and slowly walked toward my door. My muscles were still sore and fatigued almost a week after I came back, "I want to show you something."
I led her to Granny Smith's room and walked up to the thermostat. I looked at Celestia and it she seemed like a little kid compared to everything else. She only stood at a whopping five foot, four inches. Everything here was built for people who were six and a half foot or taller. So it was apparent that she didn't belong here.
I turned the thermostat and that's when furniture began moving. The bed sank into the floor and flipped over, revealing a white table with large caliber guns on it. The dressers flipped around and there were other sorts of weapons. The closet sank like an elevator and another closet filled with differing kinds of suits appeared, "What is all of this?" Celestia asked.
"This is a room that my grandmother showed me a few years ago. She had all of this installed years ago. We Apples are more than just a pretty face and a good fighter. We also are very brilliant."
"Yes, I know. But the way she has all of this prepped makes it seem as though she knew that dark days were coming soon."
"Yeah," I felt sad just by talking about my grandmother, "She kept telling me that I was going to change the world. I believed her; I just didn't believe that to change the world, almost all of it would be the cost to change it. Now, I am not too sure on how I am supposed to change the world with all of humanity dying. Maybe the change I was supposed to make was to ensure the survival of the human race."
"How are we supposed to do that? There are only females left."
"There are a few male guards that could be good subjects for reproduction."
"So you plan on fucking one of them?" she scoffed as she looked around the room.
"Oh god no. I was thinking about extraction of their semen and then injecting them into a couple of us."
"Why not just use the Artificial Incubation Chamber Method?"
"We could, but that would mean to keep them maintained around the clock and I just don't have the patience to teach people to maintain them."
"I do," she picked up a black rectangular box from a podium and opened it. There was a cherry gold revolver resting inside of it, "Who's was this?"
"That belonged to Hiri," I walked over to Celestia's side, "Granny Smith says that the Old Era Dragon Republic made it for after getting back their lost white scales."
"Lost white scales?" Celestia questioned.
"Yeah. There's Dragon Folklore about how an ancient dragon being Kaen was defeated by an Elemental Titan. Afterwards, that Titan separated his scales across a multitude of dimensions. Seven of Kaen's scales reside within this universe at Dragon Republic Prime. Or that's what I've heard any way. I haven't ever studied the Dragon Republic's history enough to know. I'm surprised that you haven't heard of the tale."
"The people of Dragon Republic aren't too fond of sharing their stories," Celestia said as I pulled the revolver out of its box and into my hand. I opened the seven round chamber and there were seven black bullets inside of it, "Seven scales saved; seven dragon bullets made," I quoted, "That is all I remember about Granny Smith talk about every time she spoke of Gigi Hiri. 'Seven Scales saved; seven dragon bullets made; seven souls seared'," I closed my eyes and tried not to cry.
"How do you do it?" Celestia asked me.
"How do I do what?" I closed the chamber.
"How do you keep a level head out of all of this? You lost almost everything and yet you still stand. If I even lost a fraction of what you have lost, I don't think I would be as calm as you are now."
"I don't know really. I'm always angry all the time," I sighed, "And I hate it," I admitted, "It's just something in me keeps my rage fueled for some reason. There is no rest for me emotionally. The only time I have ever felt calm was when I was around Dashal. She kept my rage in check and that was one of the main reasons in why I loved her so much."
"When did you figure out that you were a lesbian?" she asked as I placed the gun back into the box and she placed the box back up onto the podium.
"I was around eleven when I started coming around to it. But it wasn't until I was twelve when I acted on it," I smiled when my mind drifted to that one day at the cabin site, "That's when Dashal and I truly fell in love. We went to Twilight's family's cabin for the weekend and that's where Dashal and I had our first time. It was just simply amazing."
"Oh really?" Celestia nodded as she continued looking around, "That sounds like you had an amazing moment with her."
"Why the sudden interest in my love life Celestia?" I crossed my arms, "Or my family for that matter."
"Just trying to make small talk is all."
"We can make small talk about the weather, or what we're going to do about food and water. There's a whole wide world of conversations we could explore; but you're focused on me and my family?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just that before I was born, the Apples have already settled here. The first Apples settled when my father was in power over Canterlot. At the time, Canterlot was all that existed in Equestria. Hell, Equestria didn't really even exist over eleven hundred years ago. The Apples were just simple fruit and vegetable farmers living within the city. Years later, Luna and one of the Apples grew close to each other and fell in love. At the time, because of our father, I was blinded to the fact that love holds no boundaries. After the stupid thing I had done, I had sentenced my sister to a thousand year banishment."
"So it was really your fault that she got banished? How come you didn't end the banishment?"
"Because there are things in magic where nothing that could be cast, said, nor done to reverse her banishment. But yes, it was my fault. I allowed my hatred at the time for same sex love turn me against my own sister. And in turn, the Mighty Princess Luna turned into the Deadly Nightmare Moon."
"So what are you trying to say?" Celestia looked up at me with saddened eyes.
"I truly am sorry for the loss of your great Grandmother Hiri, Applejack. The whole thing between Apples and Lunars was completely my fault."
"I forgive you, but all I ask is one question," I knelt down so I was eye level with her, "How did the Luna name continue?"
"In the transition of becoming Nightmare Moon; Princess Luna slept with an evil man. Almost a year later, Luna gave birth to Luna Bean. Luna Bean was the first of many descendants to continue to the rivalry between Apples."
"That doesn't make sense," I shook my head, "How did the rivalry start?"
"Luna Bean was jealous of the Apples because they were the perfect beings and killed a few of their young."
"Ah, now that makes sense. She started a chain reaction that has lasted for centuries."
"All the way up to your mother and Dashal's mother. They set aside their differences to become almost like sisters."
"So Dashal and I are like Luna and whoever she fell in love with."
"Yes," Celestia smiled, "It seems as though history has been doomed to repeat itself. Will you stand and fight, or will you lay at the way side to allow this threat to flourish?"