A/N: Alright, another chapter.

To be honest, this past January was very much meh in general, as the big events for me don't happen until next month. In March, I will be going to see Disturbed and Within Temptation in concert, with Dream Theater a fourth time in April. I might go to the KISS show in March, but it is confirmed that I will go to their final Toronto show in August. For movies, next month will be reserved for Captain Marvel since I am preparing for Avengers: Endgame at the end of April.

I am still unsure if I am planning on going to the final BronyCon yet. But if something happens and I order a pass, I will let all of you know.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Apple Bloom's POV

Another boring day at school had finally ended, giving me quite a big relief to myself and the both of my two friends and crusaders, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The school bell had rung out loudly, ending the last school period for the day until tomorrow where we will have to do another additional mathematics that almost seem like it'll take forever to learn.

"Alright class," Our teacher Cheerilee calls out to all of us and the rest of our classmates as she trots towards the door where everypony both entered and exited. "Don't forget to rest up and remember everything for your History presentations tomorrow afternoon!"

"Seriously?!" Scootaloo says to us after having heard what Cheerilee had instructed us to do at home, a mild annoyed tone in her voice. "There's no way that I can even remember my parts for the tale of Somnambula!"

"Do ya have 'em written down?" I responded to her statement, getting down from the chair where I had been seated for the whole class.

She gets down from the chair at her desk, joining up with me and Sweetie Belle as we trot past our desks to leave. "Yes, I have them written down, but I am not sure that taking from the slips wil be of much help since Cheerilee expects us not to look at them during our presentation." She groans for a moment before continuing. "I knew we should have asked to have it done as a project instead."

"Don't feel that down," Sweetie Belle says to her. "Having this done as a presentation is much easier said than done, plus it doesn't take as long."

"Yeah," I agreed with her as we trot outside from the school, and down the steps onto the path back to Sweet Apple Acres. "Plus when we're speakin', it delivers a picture that can be painted in everypony's imaginations."

"But they haven't seen who Somnambula really is! How is that going to work?!" Scootaloo exclaimed in confusion on what I meant.

I turn my head to look at her as I was trotting. "Anypony can use their imagination to make up what they picture her to look like as a pony. When we were studyin' on Starswirl the Bearded, Ah recalled when Princess Twilight showed us a picture of him in one of her books. Though Ah admittedly pictured him without the white long beard." I explained to her.

"Why would you picture him without the beard?" Sweetie asked with a bit of curiosity. "Everypony knows what he looks like from the moment they saw him in the books and the descriptions the elders would tell in their stories."

"Just a funny way of me thinkin'." I told her, standing out from the rest of everypony on what I figured the famous wizard looked like. I had decided to change the topic before things would begin to go back and forth on what any famous figure looked like. "So what are ya'll doin'? Is it another Crusader day today?"

"I've got to get back home. My sister Rarity is wanting to do some sisterly stuff with me, and then expects me to go through my notes and lines of the presentation, and then bed-time. She has high expectations of me, and I am as eager as she is as well to make sure I do well for this."

"I'm heading back home as well. Not really feeling up to a Crusader day today," Scootaloo says, still with a bit of disappointment in the tone of her voice. "I'm hoping tomorrow will be better and can only hope that I will pass the presentation with both of you - in hope we will be great with flying colors."

"For me, Ah'm going to help mah big sister Applejack with what she might need from me to help. Alex, another human friend like Brayden, is gonna help us out as well with the apple gatherin'. That is if he don't slack off 'gain." I said to the both of them, sounding rather proud.

"We know Brayden, but I haven't met this Alex before," Scootaloo says to me, a little curious on who he was. "I know the two other humans in Ponyville, but mostly because they are living with Rarity and Pinkie Pie. You've only mentioned Alex many times."

I giggled for a moment. "Alex can be a little silly, but when Brayden first brought him here to Equestria with those other two, he was already very happy to meet me and the rest of mah family. He's always tryin' to flirt with Rainbow Dash, which explains why he can be a little bit lazy. He also loves his kind of music called..." I paused for a moment, letting the words that he told me come to mind. "...He called them rap and dubstep."

"I remember hearing music like that when I was coming in to head for the clubhouse, but it was way different from the music that Brayden or Rarity usually plays. Though the 'dubstep' sounds like something that Vinyl Scratch would play," Sweetie Belle says to me. "When it came to his world's music, Rarity has been playing something that sounds more 'Pop' in a way, and it's been going on for a while. It honestly got annoying to hear her playing those songs on repeat when she was working on a dress as part of her inspiration."

"So she was blasting it day and night?" Scootaloo asked.

"Until bedtime," She responds to her question. "When she goes for her beauty sleep, the music is off and I can rest peacefully. She's out and I can finally have a chance to listen to some of the music that Brayden brought along from Earth, like the classical music that he also provided my sister. Sometimes if I'm lucky she puts on some different tunes that are 'Pop' but aren't the same ones she listens to. At least she plays that jazz music sometimes."

"No wonder Brayden asked her to change the music when he came to visit yer sister a week ago." I said to her.

She giggles at the thought of Brayden asking Rarity to change the music. "She and Brayden might not get along music-wise, but outside of that, they are very close friends and I know she and Brayden will probably go to lunch together sometime this week."

"Okay, because ya were close to sayin' that in a different way, as if she n' Brayden were... ya know..."

"Oh! No no no!" Sweetie assures both me and Scootaloo with a smile, caught by surprise at what I was almost about to say. "They already know that they aren't close in that way, especially with Brayden married to Princess Twilight."

Scootaloo opens her mouth to speak. "There's a bit of word of mouth that Brayden has a... herd?"

"A herd?" I sound curious when I asked.

"Yeah," She responded to me, her expression not having changed. "The Manehattan trips and hearing Sweetie Belle's sister Rarity mentioning both him and a mare named Coco Pommel a few times... and the times where he goes to see Nightmare Moon or she goes to see him. A herd is basically him just showing love as he would to Twilight to the ones he visits."

"That's indeed a mystery, that even at our age..." Sweetie ponders for a moment, placing a hoof to her chin as she continues to trot, Sweet Apple Acres coming up in the distance. "But I think we should just leave it at that. It practically is none of our business there, and we could get in trouble if we raised questions about it."

"Maybe ya can ask yer sister about it?" I asked her.

"I'll have to see if I can, at best, last time asking ended up with me getting shooed out of the room because she was busy with one of her dresses to be made for Sassy Saddles at the Canterlot Boutique. Maybe this time Rarity will tell me something."

I can see our approach towards the arch into Sweet Apple Acres, now aware that I have finally returned home, even after a long day of hearing Cheerilee teach us. "So Ah guess Ah will see both of y'all tomorrow?" I said to them.

"For sure, hoping that we will do well for the project." Sweetie says to me with a smile.

A groan came from Scootaloo. "Don't even remind me!" She complained lightly, showing a smirk on her face after that to show that was only joking around, which I already knew judging by the sarcasm in her voice.

I giggled with a bit of a smile on my face while I say goodbye to them, giving the both of them a hug before they departed down the road. I turn and move underneath the arch into my home, where it seems like any other busy day when I wasn't at school.

There was my big sister Applejack, along with my big brother Big Macintosh working together out in that open field within a close eye range for the both of them to see me arriving home just in time. They were working on another couple of acres of apple trees that would grow over time, probably the next couple of years when I become older to about their age. Alex... I'm pretty sure is somewhere on the farm or out somewhere in Ponyville chasing Rainbow Dash again.

Applejack trots towards the nearby wagon, giving it a bit of a bucking which in turn had surprised a sleeping Alex from inside of there. He raises his head, rubbing it as if he had banged it against the side of the wagon inside. "Oww..." I can hear him saying, prompting a giggle from both me and my sister.

My brother saw me as I had arrived back on Sweet Apple Acres, placing down the bucket of collected apples on his back to say hello to me. With a smile, he waves and he shouts out to Applejack. "Apple Bloom is home!"

Applejack is surprised to hear that, turning her head to see me having come home. "Hey Apple Bloom, ya finished another day of school. How was it?"

"It was great, but tomorrow will be greater!" I said excitedly to her, thinking about my role in the school project. "Me and mah friends are workin' on a project about Somnambula, the mare who stood up to the sphinx!"

"That's great to hear, sis!" She responded to me with a bright and proud smile on her lips. "If ya can, ya got home in good time. Ya'll of us are workin' at plantin' some new trees here to grow over the new couple years to increase our inventory. Would ya like to help us before ya practice for yer project tomorrow?"

"Ah'd certainly like to!" I sound already bright and eager, even when I turn to look at Alex who has stopped rubbing his head. "Hey Alex!"

"Hey... Apple Bloom." He greets me, his voice still having a small bit of pain with a mixture of sounding tired, even after the surprise he got from Applejack. But hey, that's kind of what happens when you are lazy and are slacking off to think about Rainbow Dash from his point of view.

"Aren't ya supposed to be diggin' some holes in the ground for the seeds?" Applejack asked him with a stern, reminding tone of voice and a mild glare on her face.

He groans for a moment as he starts to move out from the wagon. "I'll get to it... not my fault I stayed up for the most of the night with Vinyl Scratch to jam out."

"Well, stayin' up all night doesn't get the work done on its own, Alex," Applejack said to him as his feet goes back on the soil. "Now are ya gonna quit thinkin' bout Rainbow Dash and grab that shovel?"

His own eyes have bags underneath them, and I can tell he might have gone a little far when it came to staying up. Seriously, I could hear him last night arriving back on the farm while I was trying to sleep. At least I don't pull all-nighters, especially on a school night.

"Yeah yeah..." He responds to her, moving to get the shovel and begin digging again, saving Big Macintosh all of the stress of doing extra work.

Applejack turns back to me, placing a smile on her face. "Why don't ya go inside n' place yer stuff upstairs in yer room, than ya can come help us." She asked of me, seeing that she would really appreciate the extra help from me.

"Will do big sis!" I told her proudly. I turn around and begin heading towards the farmhouse as I continued talking to her. "Ah'll be out in a moment!"

I didn't see Applejack's expression, but I could tell that she seemed quite both proud and happy that I was taking the initiative to show that I was willing to contribute to Equestria's society, even at my young age.

I moved forward towards the front door of the farmhouse, raising my right front hoof forward to touch the doorknob and twist it to open up the door. From what I would expect from the bright, and welcoming smell of home inside is still there, except the bright isn't so bright. It's as if the lights were turned off in both the kitchen to the right and the whole living room in general.

"Granny Smith? Braeburn?" I called out in the dark, thinking they might be inside and one of them forgot to leave the lights on. No answer though, as it seems all quiet from in there.

I trot into the dark living room. The only source of light is that of the sun's rays shining in through the windows. I knew where the light switch was thankfully, but still, being that neither Braeburn nor Granny were here, made it a little odd and there is a chill that I felt as if they were planning a prank on me.

"Okay, ha ha, ya got me Granny and Braeburn. Real funny, good one. Now Ah'm turnin' on the lights." I said in the empty room, knowing that they were probably there as my hoof reaches for the switch. "Seriously, it's not like 'em to do this."

My hoof hit the switch which in turn had brought the light back to life, brightening the room to that usual happy state again that I always remember it being whenever I came home at the end of a school day. Seeing the room like this again had brought a delightful smile to my face, even seeing that neither of them have come out, which made me think there is no prank on me after all.

I turn around to head upstairs to my room, and I can feel a strong force push me down towards the ground that I had felt. That didn't even once feel like somepony was pulling a prank on me when I felt a grip from around my neck, gripping tightly. I wasn't choking or anything, but only when I was forcefully turned around to see who had attacked.

This figure who grabbed me was human, but by the way they looked, I can tell that it wasn't Brayden at all because he would never do that to me. This figure looked almost a lot like Ann or Andrea, but the difference was the color of her eyes being that of hazel green and the color of her hair a fiery red. She was practically glaring at me, even as she was drawing a very short dagger and using it to point at me.

I wanted to scream, and I was going to. She seems to have made a pre-caution though as she covers my mouth with her hand, silencing me from trying to get anypony here to get her off from me.

"You'll scream in no time, but when I demand you to do so," The girl told me, not giving me at all any right to speak. "I knew it would be this easy to get at least one of your filthy ponies."

She noticed the scared look on my face, even with the dagger pointing at me. "I'll have use for you," She continues. "To get it through your small, simple mind; I am Rebecca... but you can call me the Dragon Queen. Of course I'll let you go, through dragonfire of course!"

My shouts at her were muffled when I felt that I was being threatened, but from there I can now feel the scorching iron touch my coat. "Ah ah ah... what did I say about speaking yet?" She says to me, feeling rather satisfied to see that she was holding me hostage, even with my sister and brother outside.

This must be the one that Brayden was telling Applejack about in a conversation that I had overheard them saying some time ago. I can see wings spreading out from behind her back, being that it was her own wings... in the form of what was dragon-like. No, they didn't even resemble the dragons from the dragon lands, this was straight out blood dragon like wings like she was from... that place.

"Scream for your sister Applejack," I can hear her demanding me to bring Applejack over here, and I was fearing that she was going to be killed by her judging by the blade in her hand pointed at me. "I want to make a deal with her that won't result in you getting killed. Do it, or I will have to show you how much the blade burns."

I wanted to protest against this since I still had no clue why somepony dangerous like her would want to talk to my sister. Even then, my sister would come to the rescue and have this menace chased away - even telling Brayden about it as he knows much more about her. But with the blade on my neck, I don't really have much of a choice.

She removed her hand to allow me to take a deep breath in order for me to scream for my sister to come inside and help.

Applejack's POV

"APPLEJACK! BIG MACINTOSH!"

Following the screams of our names was that of a terrified scream that was exactly Apple Bloom's voice calling us from the farmhouse, as if there was piece of furniture that came loose and had her trapped or she was hurt badly.

I began to panic, and even Big Macintosh started to worry as well when he placed down the plow and looked at me with the same expression that I had. Alex drops the shovel in his hands and turns to look at us. "That's Apple Bloom! She sounds like she is in danger!"

"Mah sister!" I was first to start galloping and almost screaming when I realized that something must be wrong because she never screamed like that before, other than when we were telling scary stories around a campfire on a trip. "Ah'm comin' Apple Bloom!"

Big Macintosh and Alex both were following right behind, practically running as fast as they could to get to the front door which was closed. I have no time to use my hooves to open it up, so I turned backwards, bucking the both of my back hooves on the door. It doesn't go down, so a second time bucking at the door, and the door was knocked down along with the hinges that kept it closed.

I practically turned around and entered in time, with a frightened gasp coming from my voice from what I was just seeing before me. I can hear Big Macintosh and Alex behind me as well with shock at who was here. It wasn't just Apple Bloom, but somepony else that Brayden has fought in order to protect us.

The Dragon Queen stood there, a firm grip on my sister as she glares at both me and the two others that were beside me and facing her. There is a blade directly on Apple Bloom's neck if I dare try anything to stop her from this standoff that she is daring to try. My sister looks scared, evne when I direct a glare at the enemy.

"Applej-" My sister tries to get out, but is silenced with another threat from that dagger in the Dragon Queen's hand.

I took one step forward, pointing directly at the Dragon Queen. "How dare ya step inside our home! Ya better not be thinkin' about hurtin' her!"

"Or what?" She smirked. "Brayden isn't here to challenge me. At least, not yet. It's just you and me, along with your family."

"You let her go, Rebecca!" Alex calls to her.

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh almost angrily agrees with him.

She turned to Alex, her teeth gritted for a moment. "You keep quiet Alex! Only me and the Apple family present here will deal with this matter! Not you!" She shouted at him with rage in the tone of her voice.

"If yer tryin' to bring harm to Brayden, Ah'm not lettin' that happen!" I shouted at her, knowing her intentions after last time.

She laughed for a moment, turning back towards me. "Give me a break, you're just a pony. Weak and pathetic like all of them are. Thank goodness that once I rid of your friend, there will be no chance to stop me from harvesting all of Equestria and not even the most powerful princess can stop me!"

"Don't hurt mah sister!" I warned her, stamping a hoof as I seemed ready to charge at her.

I can see Apple Bloom gulp, as the tension got much higher between me and the Dragon Queen. It held for a moment, and then there seems to be big relief when she removed the blade from the front of the filly's neck.

"Of course, I was only using her to bring you here anyway. I won't do anything to her... yet." She smirked for a moment as she was telling me this.

"If only Brayden was here right now-"

"Brayden is not fucking here."

Hearing the Dragon Queen curse at me was one step too far as I stamped a hoof again, charging directly towards her despite Big Macintosh trying to tell me not to do so. If she was going to hurt my family or friends, then she will be the first to learn not to try and hurt us.

I can see one of her hands light up with a bit of magic, and there is a burst of magic spent directly at me which knocks me off of my feet and onto my side, sliding backwards on the floor with gasps coming from both my sister and brother who gather around me as well as Alex.

"Are you alright, AJ?" I can hear Alex asking me, as I was a bit shaken up from that attack. But dangnabbit, it really did hurt. Thank goodness it was me who did so, and not Apple Bloom or I wouldn't known how I would be able to live with myself from the guilt of letting my sister get hurt.

"Ah'm fine sugarcube," I weakly said, seeing Alex's worried expression as I take his hand, letting him help me up off of the wooden planked floor. I turn around to face the Dragon Queen who looks ready for more if I tried to attack again. "Enough... Ah... Ah don't know what ya want, but please... no more harm."

"Brilliant," A cruel smile came upon her face as she approached me, placing her cruel left hand onto my chin. I glare at her as she is speaking to me. "I am willing to spare you and your family if you are willing to do something for me in return for your own freedom."

"What do ya mean?"

Her magic is channelled to her hands as the pendant around her neck was glowing an orange tint color upon removing her left hand from my chin. An orb that looks like fire is formed in her right hand as she prepares some kind of spell for what probably will not be that for hurting me, even by the cruel grin on her face. At first, I would think that she would want to bring harm to me, until I watched her slam it onto the wooden floor.

Clouds of smoke appeared before my own eyes, and I had to use my hoof to cover up a bit until the blinding warm yet stinging mists had cleared away. By that point me and everypony around me were not in the living room anymore, well, at least for now. There was an orange colored sky with no sun present nor moon.

This seemed very much like an astral realm of some sort. Something that Twilight would most likely go on about when it came to talking about magic. The clouds that we came through were right below us and it is as if we are standing on air above them. The Dragon Queen was still there with us, taking a few steps back. Her blade was still out if I even tried to make another move.

"I have quite a deal for you, and I will be willing to spare you and the rest of your family if you do exactly as I say." She says to me.

I slowly get back up onto all of my four hooves. "What deal? Why will ya spare us? Ah don't trust ya, even after what happened before on Earth." I said to her, my eyes glaring suspiciously at her.

Then I could see him... Brayden!

My close friend was standing there on a rock, having not seen us nor her... not even a single acknowledgement from him. The Dragon Queen slowly approached around him, making sure we still have him in good sight. She has a soft laugh for a moment, activating her magic again which seems to form chains from the rock which grip around both of his legs and arms, seeing the illusion of him struggling.

"Give him up to me," She says to us, her eyes not having turned away from us. She begins to approach me. "I know of a location within the Everfree Forest. The abandoned ruins where the old used to play thousands of years ago when that pig Celestia banished her own sister to the moon. It may be covered in moss and have plants growing throughout, but it'll be perfect. Lure him there, and in exchange for him, you will live to see your sister Apple Bloom succeed in school, watching her as she grows into a adult while you... will be like any other pony. Growing up and dying at old age."

"Applejack, no!" Apple Bloom says to me. "It ain't a good deal!"

"Why would you do this to your own friend Brayden?!" Alex shouts at her. "He was only doing what was right to protect everypony!"

She turns to him. "I didn't know you were especially soft too, Alex," She muttered with force to him, sticking the dagger in his face. "Leave this between me and the farm pony, or I'd prefer to put this in your eye!"

"Ah... Ah..." I was struggling to form words, especially with such a decision presented to me.

I didn't know what choice to make. Brayden was too close a friend for me to betray, and I cared about him like my other friends. If I decided to give him over to the Dragon Queen without his knowledge of her being here, I would never be able to forgive myself if anything bad happened to him - everypony would turn on me. If I didn't give him to her, I risk getting myself or any member of my own family or outside of them killed. This was a decision to a risk with no end. I... I don't know.

The Dragon Queen could tell that I was having a tough time trying to decide. "Can't decide right now?" She chuckled for a moment, exhaling a breath and continuing. "Very well. You need some time to think it over."

Her powers had cancelled the spell, reverting everything back to the way it was. We were back in the living room, as if we were never in the astral realm at all. The mists, gone. Nothing more than the same wooden floor that I remember all the way since birth. Everypony beside me was glaring at the Dragon Queen, as she seemed very untrustworthy to them.

"My patience is very limited, so I believe you can take as much as the evening to decide on this. If you cannot come up with a decision, or you do not deliver Brayden to the abandoned theater of stone in the Everfree, I will do the honor of making a worse decision for myself."

"Ya ain't goin' to do anythin'!" Apple Bloom spoke out.

She pointed the dagger right back at my young sister. "Of course I do, little worm. If your sister doesn't do what I tell her, I will have her killed, and then every other member of this family... one... by... one. I'll save you for last."

The young filly growls angrily at her, and my thoughts are plagued with fears of what she will do to Brayden if I give him to her, and what she will do to me, my friends and my family if I don't give him to her. Thankfully Big Macintosh was right there to block her from getting any closer towards Apple Bloom.

"Brayden has always been the smartest of the group and the happiest when he thought of you pathetic creatures," She continued. "He believed that this 'friendship' and this 'magic' would help us back on Earth, but honestly... why waste it something that stupid. I'm tired of him being the hero in the picture with that ridiculous smile."

"But he's our friend!" Alex protested.

"And it's all just fair game to getting what I want to get, in order to see that Equestria is in flames!" She continued. "So I'll rephrase this easily. You can listen to me, and give away your friend so I can punish him for his crimes of showing me all of you. Or... you can refuse and fight a battle you cannot possibly win at all. Which will it be, A or B? Time's up, the decision is..." She points at me as if to expect an answer.

I was completely speechless with the offer, with no way out. In my awe, I trotted towards the front door, opening it up for her with a glare on my face that could tell I wanted her to leave. "Ya... Ya need to get out and off mah farm."

She laughed for a moment, walking towards the front door, turning one last time to face me while walking backwards. "So you're considering my offer? Good. I'll be waiting for you with him, refuse... you're all dead."

Alex seemed very angry over this, walking quickly over to the door, grabbing it and almost slamming it in her face. "Oh, fuck you!" He said at the same time the door had slammed, ending that conversation and leaving me trapped between two decisions.

"Applejack! What are ya gonna do? We can't just give Brayden to her!" Big Macintosh says to me, a little alarmed at what is going on.

Apple Bloom has her hoof on my left front leg. "Please Applejack! Ya trust him too much, as if he were a member of our family. Don't give him away!"

Everything that had happened within those few minutes, were stuck in my own mind, as I felt trapped between two decisions. I could tell him, but I was afraid of one thing on my mind, and that I would have lost his trust completely if I told him what happened because I could end up killed by the Dragon Queen for telling him, with him getting angry at me in return. Though I know he would never get angry with me...

"Ah... Ah don't know... Ah really don't know..."