An indeterminate amount of time had passed since Twilight's friends and Badwhiz had locked eyes. How long could it have been? Seconds? Minutes? Hours?! No one there knew—and no one was keeping count. The wall clock in the room, sole witness to that singular scene, marked with its false hands a moment frozen in time: a physical representation of the tense and prolonged reunion between those once-declared adversaries.
Yet, that balance could not last. Someone, sooner or later, would have to make the first move.
And the signs of that imminent rupture were clear: the sound of ragged breathing and the sharp grind of clenched teeth grew increasingly louder.
The air thickened even more… and then, someone finally moved.
And that someone was—
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Like lightning striking without warning, Rainbow Dash, seized by burning fury, lunged straight at Badwhiz.
A thunderous crash echoed through the room. A thin cloud of dust rose instantly. Fragments of the shattered wall scattered in every direction. At the same time, a larger body flew backward through the air.
Badwhiz, having dodged the powerful strike with a quick forward leap, landed with certain grace at the opposite end of the room.
However, in midair, a rope—moving even faster than his own descent—snaked toward him, coiling around his body like a serpent around its prey.
"Rarity!" shouted Applejack, holding the other end of the rope between her teeth. At once, her unicorn friend intensified the glow of her magic.
The rope binding Badwhiz flickered—and in less than a blink, it tightened around him with an unrelenting grip.
Immobile, the earth pony crashed to the ground like a sack of sand. Despite everything, he could still move and tried to crawl, rolling across the floor, but the rope tensed again, pulling him forcibly toward the center of the room.
After several jerks and a sudden shove from behind, Badwhiz—bound like a mummy—found himself tied upright before his captors.
It was then that the pony behind him stepped closer and spoke.
"Don't move…" ordered Fluttershy in a stern voice, uncharacteristic for her. She held a pillow in her hooves, ready to swing without hesitation should he try anything.
In front of him, Applejack and Rarity cast looks just as intense—or perhaps even more so.
Seeing his situation—surrounded and with no chance to escape—Badwhiz exhaled a long sigh and finally bowed his head, surrendering.
[---]
Crack!
The dry sound of a crack echoed through the room as Rainbow Dash's body finally came loose from the wall she'd been embedded in after her earlier charge. Without bothering to thank Pinkie Pie—who had helped her get free—the pegasus shot upward immediately, eyes darting around the room in frantic search.
"Where is he?! Where is he?! …Youuuuu!" she roared, spotting Badwhiz, and launched herself at him once again in a furious attack.
"Hold it right there, Rainbow!" cried Applejack, grabbing her tail with her teeth just inches before she could land a powerful blow to the stallion's head.
"Are you kidding me?! Give me one good reason not to smash this guy right now!" shouted the pegasus, furious, her wings still flaring as she glared daggers at Badwhiz.
"We don't know where we are, what happened here, or where Twilight is. We need answers, Rainbow."
"You want answers? Let me beat them out of him!" Rainbow snapped, her wings tensing.
"We're not doing things your way. Not this time."
"Not the time?! You weren't there when he attacked Twilight and Fluttershy!"
"No, I wasn't," replied Applejack firmly. "But Twilight was, Rainbow. And if she were here right now, do you think she'd be acting the way you are?"
Without another word, she released the pegasus's tail. Rainbow Dash turned toward Applejack, eyes blazing with anger. Their gazes locked.
It lasted an instant… or perhaps longer.
The silent clash between the two ponies was more than a mere standoff—it was an unspoken conversation. If it could be translated into words, it might have gone something like this:
["Why are you defending him?" Rainbow Dash would shout.]
["Why aren't you looking around you?" Applejack would calmly reply.]
Maybe that's exactly how it went.
Because when Rainbow looked toward her companions, she began to ease her fury.
The emotion in her friends' eyes was intense—and frighteningly similar to her own.
Anger. A lot of anger.
So much that, if they let it flow freely, things might end in tragedy—perhaps even worse than what had brought them here in the first place.
Realizing that—and the possible consequences of her own temper—Rainbow Dash finally restrained herself… more or less.
"Fine!" she snapped, snorting hard through her nose. She was still furious, but she'd decided to touch ground. Landing with a heavy thud, she stood behind Applejack, alongside the others.
Applejack showed no emotion, though inside she exhaled a long sigh of relief. She wasn't sure what would've happened if Rainbow hadn't held back—or what would've become of her if she hadn't.
With the situation somewhat calmer, Applejack decided to take the first step… though deep down, she didn't want to.
In front of her, Badwhiz—who had watched everything in silence—kept a cold, expressionless stare.
"Well then… Vainilla," Applejack began, trying to gather her thoughts. "No one's interrupted us so far, which is mighty strange—unless you're the only one here besides us. Is that right?"
The earth pony had no gag restraining him, yet he only answered with a faint nod.
"So… will you tell us what's going on here?"
Badwhiz's pupils began to dilate, but he still said nothing.
Applejack grew uneasy. More than she already was.
She didn't like that silence—and neither did her friends.
A tongue click echoed behind her. She ignored it.
"Are you going to answer, please… or would you rather someone else ask the questions?"
Until that moment, Applejack had kept her voice neutral, but now an edge of aggression began to creep into her words. The anger she'd been trying to contain was starting to leak out—visible to everyone, including herself.
Still, Badwhiz remained silent.
Another tongue click came from behind—this time, accompanied by a faint flutter of wings.
Applejack's patience was beginning to fray.
Just as she was about to say something she might regret, something changed: slowly, Badwhiz's eyes widened further, and his neutral expression crumbled, replaced by one of visible remorse.
That took everyone by surprise—even Rainbow Dash.
Applejack, standing close enough to notice the shift, caught it too. Yet she held her ground.
Then, the enemy—the one they'd known only as "Vainilla"—broke the silence.
"Badwhiz…" the pony whispered tensely. "…My name is Badwhiz."
"I don't want to hear that," replied Applejack coldly, never breaking eye contact. "Where are we?"
A strange grimace crossed Badwhiz's face. He turned his gaze toward the floor and, after a brief silence, murmured:
"I don't know."
Silence filled the room. Applejack narrowed her eyes.
"Where's Twilight?" she pressed.
"I don't know," he repeated in the same muted tone.
Behind her came a loud exhale of frustration. Applejack didn't need to turn to know who it was.
"Do you think this is some kind of game?" she said darkly. "What are you trying to pull?"
"No, no… I… I don't know… I just…" Badwhiz stammered, visibly shaken, unable to meet her gaze. "I was only trying to return the favor… to her."
"'Her'…" Applejack's mind echoed.
"Twilight?"
"Yes… her… the princess… she saved my life. I was trying to return the favor… by helping her…"
"What?" gasped Applejack, stunned. Behind her, the others reacted the same way.
Well—almost all of them…
"He's playing us!" exploded Rainbow Dash. "This is just another one of his tricks, Applejack. This guy's a—"
"Enough, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack cut her off sharply. Her gaze turned icy as she faced Badwhiz again. Without warning, she grabbed him by the neck, forcing him to meet her eyes directly.
Their stares met. Applejack froze.
There was no deceit in those sorrowful eyes.
Slowly, the farm pony released him and stepped back, unsettled. That's when she noticed something she'd overlooked before: bandages wrapped around parts of Badwhiz's head—the very same kind she'd seen on Rainbow Dash when they'd awakened.
Could it be? she thought. Stunned, a realization she hadn't dared consider struck her like a hammer.
"You! …You were taking care of us?" Her voice, though low, carried clearly through the tense silence.
Badwhiz, eyes glassy with emotion, nodded. The other ponies held their breath.
Applejack felt the world around her begin to spin. A question she'd asked herself upon waking resurfaced—this time with unbearable intensity.
"How long has it been?" she asked aloud, almost as if speaking to herself.
This time, the answer came quickly.
"Seven months," said Badwhiz in a renewed, chilling tone, making everything in the room freeze. "…The princess calculated the time, but she wasn't certain. You were all in bad shape… unconscious… for a long time."
No one spoke. Badwhiz continued.
"I don't know much else about what happened. She never told me. I woke up much later. It was the princess who found me. And it wasn't easy… for either of us…"
His voice began to tremble.
"I thought I'd died… I thought everyone had died. It was my fault. I didn't understand things the way I do now…"
Tears began to slide down his cheeks.
"The princess and I… we didn't know where to go. Wherever we went, we found nothing but confusion and danger. They deceived us… hunted us… captured us… but she never gave up. We escaped. And in the end, we finally found a safe place here."
The ponies watched him in silence, caught between awe and disbelief.
"She eventually found a way to heal you all. She taught me how and helped me prepare everything. Then… she simply disappeared…"
His final words broke into sobs, eyes heavy with grief—and fury.
"I don't know where she is! Do you understand?! I don't know! I don't know if they captured her or if she's lost somewhere else. I haven't stopped looking! But I can't find her! I don't understand!"
A deathly stillness took hold of the room—bleak and bitter, interrupted only by Badwhiz's crying.
Applejack stood motionless, her thoughts far away.
"Seven months…" the words echoed again and again in her head.
"Ahem…" Applejack startled at the sound of a voice behind her. Without her noticing, Pinkie Pie had stepped up beside her.
"Sorry to interrupt, but… Applejack, could we have a minute? The girls want to talk about something…" she said with a nervous little smile.
Applejack turned. In one corner of the room, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were already waiting, huddled together.
She hesitated for a moment, still dazed by the revelations, but finally decided and walked toward them quickly.
Pinkie followed, not without first leaving a small handkerchief on Badwhiz's face.
[---]
Gathered shoulder to shoulder in a circle, as far from Badwhiz as possible, the group of friends fell silent when Applejack and Pinkie joined them.
Rainbow Dash, the last to lean into the circle, stretched her neck cautiously, keeping an eye on Badwhiz to make sure he hadn't tried anything.
The young stallion with the pink mane was still crying quietly, his gaze hidden behind the cloth Pinkie had left for him.
Satisfied that he wasn't an immediate threat, Rainbow turned her attention back to the group, and the conversation began.
"So, setting aside this whole craziness—does anyone think he's lying?"
"No," they all replied in unison.
"Applejack?"
"No, Rainbow Dash. He's not lying," confirmed the farm pony gravely.
Rainbow clicked her tongue, nervousness visible in the erratic flutter of her wings. She wasn't the only one: unease was written across every face in the group. Badwhiz's revelations had been far more shocking than any of them could have imagined.
"So we're supposed to believe Vainilla's story? Uh-huh…" murmured Rainbow Dash, still skeptical.
"It's Badwhiz, Dashie," corrected Pinkie Pie.
"Whatever… So Twilight made him 'good'? How?" asked the pegasus aloud, frowning deeply.
"In the seven months they spent together… I suppose," answered Applejack.
Rainbow Dash let out an annoyed huff. For her, swallowing all of this was almost impossible. Just a few hours ago, in her mind, she'd been fighting Badwhiz to the death.
But time had passed. Even if it was hard to believe.
"Seven months…" Rarity repeated, feeling those words hit her heart like a blow. "How can that be possible?"
"Magic of friendship and a flash-forward?" suggested Pinkie Pie with a forced grin. The others didn't seem too convinced.
"Maybe…" murmured Applejack. "But one thing's for sure—we've missed a lot. Twilight must've suffered more for us than we could ever imagine."
"Far too much," Fluttershy added softly, eyes downcast. Beside her, Rarity tried to comfort her with a gentle touch of her hoof.
For a few seconds, silence fell over the group.
"But Twilight isn't here… what happened to her?" asked Rarity, carefully picking the conversation back up.
"That's something we still don't know," said Applejack. "We'll have to ask Vain—uh, Badwhiz—exactly what happened."
"Or we'll beat it out of him," added Rainbow Dash, pounding her hooves together threateningly.
"Rainboom!" Applejack shot her a severe glare.
"What?! He still hasn't earned my trust," retorted the pegasus, throwing another suspicious glance toward Badwhiz.
Then, a sudden rumbling—like pots clattering together—broke through the tension of their circle. All eyes turned toward the group's pink pony.
"Hehe… I think maybe we should also ask if he's got something to eat for us…"
"Pinkie Pie! This is not the moment to—" began Rarity, but another loud rumble interrupted her—this time coming from her own direction. Mortified, the unicorn covered her mouth with a hoof, shrinking under the others' stares.
"So next up is: where's Twilight… and food? Anything else? Besides all the other stuff we still don't know," declared Rainbow Dash, trying to close the discussion and resume the interrogation.
Applejack, still pondering just how lenient they should be with Badwhiz from now on, turned her gaze toward the pony who'd spoken the least. "Fluttershy? Is something bothering you?"
The pegasus, who had remained silent all this time, slowly lifted her eyes. They looked dim, shadowed with fear.
"Yes…" she murmured. "I'm really scared to find out more…"
The ponies looked at one another. It was clear to all of them that Fluttershy wasn't the only one afraid of what came next.
[---]
Badwhiz had been silent for quite a while. He had stopped crying and now simply watched, expressionless, as his captors spoke among themselves at the far side of the room.
"What am I doing?" he asked himself quietly, lowering his head and fixing his eyes on the fallen handkerchief Pinkie Pie had left him.
His life had become so tangled that describing it as a "roller coaster" seemed almost too kind.
Bound, at the mercy of the princess's friends, Badwhiz truly wondered what he had done to end up like this.
The memories didn't take long to surface.
He thought back to that first chapter of his life with his family in Silver Hollow… a time of happiness that ended in tragedy.
Then came his awakening at the end of the sisters' reign, and his eventual surrender to the cause of the Knights of Order.
And now—once again dragged by fate, lost in a world still foreign to him—he'd found himself captivated by the Princess of Friendship herself.
"I'm so weak… I've failed so many times… forgive me, Grandfather," he lamented inwardly.
To him, it was clear: it didn't matter if the world turned upside down, if ponies vanished or were replaced by other creatures—there was one thing that would never change, no matter where he was.
He would never fulfill his promises.
Fresh tears began to form in his eyes.
"I must be cursed… there's no other explanation…" he muttered shakily. "I can't go on like this… I just want to disappear…"
The tears rolled down his cheeks. Some fell directly onto the handkerchief on the floor; others trickled down his chest, sinking until they reached the circular gem hidden beneath the blanket that covered him.
The gem responded with a pulse of light—a faint glow that grew brighter and brighter until it became a white gleam.
"They'll never forgive me… but that's okay… I just have to tell them what happened and…"
In front of him, the group of ponies began to move. Their meeting had ended.
That was when a voice reached his ears.
A voice that, once upon a time, he never would've thought familiar—and yet now, it meant everything to him.
"Princess Twilight?" he whispered, shaken, at the call that seemed to come from beyond the nonlinear sky.
[---]
It happened too suddenly.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had been just a few steps away from resuming their talk with Badwhiz.
They had agreed to be gentler with him—to start over and introduce themselves without prejudice. Their goal was simple: earn his trust and learn more about what had happened.
Pinkie, ever the optimist, had volunteered to start the conversation this time—quite the contrast to Rainbow Dash's still-stubborn stance.
But those friendly plans would never come to pass.
Before their astonished eyes, Badwhiz's body began to glow—a white radiance, blinding and alive.
"Princess Twilight?" his voice echoed one last time through the room.
And, in a flash of light, he vanished.
The ropes that had held him prisoner unraveled into the air, falling uselessly to the floor.
No one reacted.
As suddenly as he had come, Badwhiz was gone.
Applejack, still dazed, was the first to move.
Cautiously, she approached the pile of ropes on the ground.
There wasn't a trace of him left.
"What the hay just happened?" she asked, completely baffled.
Silence was her only answer.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, a rainbow streak shot past her, accompanied by a strangled cry of fury. It was Rainbow Dash, who, enraged, flew upstairs in pursuit of Badwhiz.
Without a word, Applejack and the others bolted after her. Swept up by their friend's urgency, they galloped up the short staircase leading to what was supposed to be Princess Twilight's old bedroom.
But after climbing only a few steps, everything changed.
"What in tarnation…?" Applejack gasped as she crossed the doorway, halting abruptly along with the rest.
They had stepped from a wooden staircase into a hallway of vivid colors that ended abruptly at the frame of a green door—its surface uneven, gleaming as if wet.
It made no sense.
For starters, there shouldn't have been a door there at all. And what awaited beyond it… looked nothing like Twilight's old room.
The chamber, which once might have reflected Twilight's modest simplicity, was now the complete opposite.
Spacious and sophisticated, bathed in a gentle, warm light, it was filled with elegant furniture and meticulously arranged decorations. One look at the bed before them was enough to realize the place resembled a luxury hotel suite far more than the humble bedroom of their friend.
They advanced cautiously, unable to resist the strange allure of the room.
Each glance revealed more—everything around them was too perfect, disturbingly clean, unnervingly artificial. It felt as though it had just materialized seconds ago. So uncanny was the impression that the urgency of chasing after Rainbow Dash faded from their minds as effortlessly as an exhaled breath.
Even the very air of the room contributed to that disquieting calm, as though the atmosphere itself was trying to make them forget something strange was happening.
A soft, steady breeze drifted from nowhere in particular, carrying a neutral scent—impossible to identify.
"That's some impressive air conditioning…" murmured Rarity, sniffing delicately, as though she might distinguish among the layered neutral fragrances hanging in the air.
"Yeah, but… where's it coming from?" added Fluttershy, looking around nervously. There were no windows or vents through which air could possibly enter.
"Not from here," answered Pinkie Pie, who had started fiddling with a set of switches on the wall. Apart from a faint click each time she pressed one, nothing seemed to happen.
Leaving her friends to their discoveries, a distracted Applejack kept exploring. The strangeness of the place already occupied most of her thoughts—and as if that weren't enough, more and more details caught her eye, making her frown with growing unease.
Hats and boots—ones that could have easily come straight from her own closet—lay scattered here and there. The furniture, made of a wood that reminded her of the pieces back home, bore carvings of apples. The bookshelves were full of volumes on apple cultivation. The lamps were apple-shaped; the decorative trinkets, too. Even the rugs were woven with patterns of intertwined apples.
For a moment, Applejack stood still, overwhelmed by the repetition.
The atmosphere, which had first seemed warm, now began to feel oppressive.
"There sure are a lotta apples…" she murmured to herself, unable to hide the tremor in her voice.
Her head felt so full of information that, if not for the tension of the moment, she might have collapsed like an overripe fruit at any instant.
"Ahhhhuuu! Applejack, come here! You gotta see this!" Pinkie Pie called out excitedly from the far end of the room, standing before a portrait hanging on the wall.
Applejack, moving like a driverless tractor, turned toward her friend. She stopped, lifted her gaze… and saw it.
She swallowed hard.
Before her hung an image of Twilight—smiling, holding an apple in one hoof. If it had been only that, Applejack might have felt flattered. But no. There were far too many unsettling details in the painting to overlook.
The figure in the portrait… didn't look like Twilight.
The pony portrayed had a bright yellow mane and an orange coat—the color of fertile orchard soil. If not for the familiar hairstyle, the noble profile, the wings, the horn, and the royal crown resting upon her head, Applejack would've thought it was someone else entirely.
And if that image wasn't Twilight, then it could only mean one thing…
"'Princess of Apples, Lady Applejack Sparkle!?'" exclaimed Rarity, her voice rising in disbelief as she read the golden title engraved beneath the frame.
That was too much for the fashion-loving unicorn. Pushed past her emotional limit for the day, Rarity swooned with perfect theatrical flair, fainting straight into Pinkie Pie's forelegs, who carefully laid her on the nearest couch.
Applejack, still in shock and with her gaze unfocused, turned her attention toward the room's balcony.
There, Fluttershy was cautiously approaching a motionless Rainbow Dash, who stood gazing upward at the night sky.
When she reached her side, one look at the strange world stretching beyond the balcony was enough for the timid pegasus to understand how deep the trouble really went.
Assaulted by the anxiety born of the unknown, she asked in a low voice:
"Where are we, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash, eyes fixed on the view outside, answered without strength in her voice:
"I don't know…"—unknowingly echoing the same words Badwhiz had spoken only minutes earlier.