//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Golem // Story: A Head Full of Clay // by Squinty Mudmane //------------------------------// “Are you sure nopony saw us go into the forest?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and Scootaloo made their way back to the clearing. She was carrying a rucksack with a thick blanket, while the pegasus filly had saddlebags filled with food. “Yeah, I took a detour after talking to Applejack. She couldn’t have followed unless she was as fast as me, and probably invisible, too,” Scootaloo replied. They hurried down the stairs and into the cellar, which was still as eerie as when they had first arrived. “Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle called down the tunnel. “We’re back!” There was an indistinct reply. The two fillies looked at each other, before heading down to the crafting chamber. “Apple Bloom?” the unicorn repeated cautiously. In the time that she and Scootaloo had been gone, Apple Bloom had been able to fashion a large pony-like figure out of the clay, though it was still missing neck, head and tail. The filly’s coat was more brown than yellow, matted and full of dust, dirt and clay. She did not even look up as her two friends entered the room. “Hey, girls,” she replied absently, working on the right foreleg of the pony. “Wow, you’ve been busy,” Scootaloo commented dryly. “I can almost convince myself that it looks like a pony.” Apple Bloom let out a non-committal grunt in response. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo put down their bags and began to unpack. The blanket that Sweetie Belle had brought was large enough to accommodate all three of them, and she was confident that it would keep them warm even in the chilly cellar. “So what kind of food did you bring, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked, feeling her own stomach growl slightly. She realized it had been a long time since she had last eaten. Scootaloo passed her some sort of scone filled with fruit bits. It looked a bit more crude than what one would normally see at Sugarcube Corner, but it tasted good, and more importantly, it was very filling. “Knock yourself out. I got a bag full of those.” Scootaloo looked over at Apple Bloom. “Hey, AB, you hungry?” Apple Bloom shook her head, moving on to a lump of clay on the floor, which Sweetie Belle realized after a moment was supposed to be the head. “Nah, not yet. Ah’ll have some later,” she murmured. “Suit yourself,” Scootaloo said with a shrug and chomped down on her food. “Where’d you get these, then?” Sweetie Belle asked while munching on the pastry. “They taste delicious.” Scootaloo let out a belch and reached for another scone. “My dad. He’d made some earlier today. When I told him we were having a sleepover, he insisted that I bring them all.” It occurred to Sweetie Belle that she knew next to nothing about Scootaloo’s family. The pegasus filly hardly ever mentioned them, nor had Sweetie Belle ever seen them in Ponyville, at least not that she knew of. “That’s very kind of him. He sounds like a really nice pony.” Scootaloo nodded a bit. “Yeah, he’s all right. Pretty good at fixing stuff, too.” “So hey, do you think we could visit your place sometime? I don’t think Apple Bloom and I have seen your home yet.” Scootaloo coughed as she almost choked on crumbs. “Visit? Ah, no. I mean, maybe. I mean, no, not really. I mean, it’s really far away from Ponyville and all.” Sweetie Belle looked at her friend curiously. It was rare to see Scootaloo become frantic like this. “That’s… not really a problem. I mean, I’m sure Apple Bloom and I can find some way to get there and back home again.” “But it’s really very boring! It’s just a house, like one you’d see anywhere in Ponyville. Nothing special at all,” Scootaloo replied evasively. “Is something wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked, feeling just a little concerned by her friend’s erratic behaviour. “I mean, I’m not going to press the issue if you don’t want us around, but you seem a bit… bothered.” “Bothered? I’m not bothered. Why do you say that?” “You’ve squished that scone in your hooves flat.” “Oh.” Scootaloo looked down at her front hooves and the flat pastry pressed between them. After a moment’s thought, she gobbled it up before speaking in a somewhat nervous tone. “Look, it’s just—My dad is—He’s not like other pegasi.” “If it’s because you think your family is odd, I’ll point out Rarity and my parents,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile. “You’ve seen them, right?” “It’s not that,” Scootaloo muttered. “My dad’s not—Look, he can’t fly, all right? He’s crippled. He’s only got one wing, and three legs.” Sweetie Belle blinked. That was not what she had expected. “Why, what happened?” “An accident, back when I was not even a year old,” Scootaloo replied glumly. “And… what about your mom?” Sweetie Belle asked cautiously. “Not here anymore,” Scootaloo murmured in a thin voice, now looking down at her hooves. “Oh. Where is she now, then?” Sweetie Belle asked before she registered the voice at the back of her head screaming at her to be quiet. She bit her lip hard and her ears flopped when Scootaloo looked at her. “Can’t we talk about something else?” the pegasus filly asked in a carefully composed voice. “Right. Of course. Uhm…” Sweetie Belle looked around frantically for something to divert the conversation. “Hey, uh, Apple Bloom, do you need help with anything at all?” “Nope,” came the short reply from the earth pony, who had made her way on top of the clay horse’s back. In the brief time span that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been talking, she had somehow managed to attach both neck and head to the golem. Although calling it a head might be exaggerating, seeing as it was little more than just a rough oval shape. “Well, uh, maybe I missed some important notes back in the other room when I looked through it earlier. Should we go have a look?” Sweetie Belle suggested desperately. To her relief, Scootaloo nodded and followed her back upstairs. An awkward silence reigned between the two fillies; Scootaloo either refused to speak with Sweetie Belle, or she was lost in her own thoughts. Sweetie Belle, for her part, was still mentally kicking herself for her blunder, and could not think of a way to start a conversation that did not feel incredibly forced. As a result, for a while the only sounds were the shuffling of papers being turned and the muted noises from the forest above. Looking through every piece of scattered paper in the room took some time, but after systematically going through each and every burned scrap, Sweetie Belle concluded with a slight tinge of satisfaction that she had found all the useful pieces the first time she looked through the room. A distant, shrill cry, like that of a bird of sorts, made both fillies look up in alert. Sweetie Belle swallowed, glancing towards the stone door leading back up to the forest above. “Maybe we should close the door for the night? Just to be safe,” she suggested. “That’s not a bad idea,” Scootaloo agreed rather quickly. The two fillies pushed the heavy stone door almost completely shut, leaving just enough so that they could find purchase to open it again later and avoid trapping themselves in the cellar. Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief, immediately feeling a lot safer with a big slab of stone between her and whatever nasties roamed the forest at night. If she had a choice between spending the night in the creepy cellar and spending it in the creepy, creature-infested, dark, incredibly dangerous forest, she would take the cellar any day of the week. “Maybe we should just try and get some sleep?” Sweetie Belle suggested and stifled a yawn, feeling a sense of exhaustion creeping up on her from all the work they had done, not least the lengthy excavation of the cellar entrance. “I don’t think there’s a lot else left for us to do here.” Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, guess you’re right. If AB can pull herself from her work, that is. She’s really keen on making that golem, isn’t she?” “Do you think it’ll actually work?” The pegasus shrugged. “Who knows? Apple Bloom sure seems to think so. I guess that’s enough reason to give it a shot. It’s not like I’ve got any better ideas right now.” When they reentered the clay chamber, they found Apple Bloom in the middle of brushing the neck of the unfinished golem with her tail, balancing precariously on the back of the construct. “Hey, AB, we’re going to catch some sleep. You coming?” Scootaloo asked. Apple Bloom paused and looked at them. Sweetie Belle was a little shocked to see how fatigued the earth pony looked. She seemed barely able to keep her eyes open, swaying lightly on the spot. “Myeah, Ah’m a’comin’, jus’… let me finish… this here…” she slurred. “Have you even eaten yet?” Sweetie Belle asked with concern. “Apple Bloom, I’m not sure it’s healthy working that much without rest. Come on down. You can finish it tomorrow.” “Ah’m not…” Apple Bloom murmured, wobbling on the spot. Her voice trailed off into an indistinct mumble, before she slumped onto the golem’s back, slowly sliding off it. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo caught their friend before she could fall to the floor. “Hold on a moment, I’ll get the blanket ready,” Sweetie Belle said. She spread out the large, warm fabric on the ground before helping Scootaloo drag Apple Bloom onto it. They lay down on either side of their exhausted friend and wrapped the blanket around themselves like a cocoon. The ground was still somewhat hard beneath them, but between the warm blanket and each other, it was at least warm enough. A light snoring between the fillies told them that Apple Bloom had already fallen asleep. “Goodnight, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said. “And, uhm, sorry about earlier,” she added in a more quiet tone. “Night, Sweetie Belle,” the pegasus murmured in reply. The first thing Sweetie Belle noticed when she awoke was a mess of fuchsia-coloured mane obscuring most of her view. The second was that she was pressed close against Scootaloo, who still appeared to be asleep. The third thing was that Apple Bloom was missing. The fourth thing was that Apple Bloom was, in fact, not missing, but was working on the golem again, which had gained mane, tail, ears and rough indentions that were presumably supposed to mimic eyes since Sweetie Belle had last looked at it. It also occurred to her for the first time just how large the clay pony actually was; easily as tall and broad as Big Macintosh. “Apple Bloom?” she mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “You up already? Have you slept at all?” “Almost finished,” Apple Bloom replied, looking over at Sweetie Belle with almost feverish intensity. Her eyes were dark-rimmed and bloodshot. “Did ya get a gem from Rarity? Where’s it at?” “It’s in my bag, but—” “Great!” The filly rushed over to rummage through Sweetie Belle’s rucksack. After a moment, she pulled out a large crimson ruby. “Apple Bloom, wait,” Sweetie Belle began. “Mmhfh, what’s going on?” Scootaloo mumbled sleepily, looking up for the first time. Before Sweetie Belle could reply, Apple Bloom pushed the gemstone into the golem’s chest, pounding it several times in rapid succession with a hoof. “It’s done!” she cried triumphantly. “We did it! We made a golem!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged looks as the earth pony bounced joyously in circles around the clay pony, before getting up and walking over to their friend. Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Uhm, AB? Nothing’s actually happening.” Apple Bloom paused mid-bounce and looked up at the golem. It was still as immobile and inanimate as ever. “But how? Ah did everythin’ they said!” Apple Bloom protested, rushing over to look at the notes and instructions scattered across the floor. “Everything that what said? The notes?” Scootaloo asked, furrowing her brow. “I’m not sure I like its mane,” Sweetie Belle said hesitantly. The ‘mane’ mostly resembled a Mohawk, with emphasis on mostly. “What did Ah miss? How can it—” Apple Bloom muttered as she frantically leafed through the papers, then suddenly looked up. “Oh.” “Oh? Oh what?” Scootaloo asked with growing impatience. Apple Bloom did not reply, instead walking over to the clay pony and punching the ruby in its chest one more time. “Ah only did it four times,” Apple Bloom smiled as she stepped away from the figure again, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Scootaloo was about to say something, but before she could, something happened to the clay pony. Before their astonished eyes, the clay that made up the figure began to smooth itself out, filling gaps and roughness in the surface. Mane and tail seemed to attach to the body, as did the limbs at the joints where they had previously been only crudely jammed on. The head folded and shaped itself into that of a pony, though the only visible features remained the eyeless sockets, lacking both mouth and nostrils. Impossibly, the mane and tail took on the texture of real hair, while still remaining stiff and inflexible. Slowly, very slowly, the golem turned its head to regard the three fillies with an eyeless stare. It raised its right hoof, the clay of its leg contorting slightly in an imitation of muscle and sinew, and took a ponderous step towards them. “Oh dear,” Sweetie Belle squeaked. A voice, deep and slow, issued from the golem’s head, even though it had no mouth. It was both masculine and feminine, yet at the same time neither of those two. “Thank you,” it said. “For what?” Scootaloo asked, somehow managing to sound defiant despite looking as scared as Sweetie Belle felt. “You heard their plea and gave shape to me. They have waited long for a pony who could hear them to come by,” it stated in an emotionless tone. Sweetie Belle looked from her friends to the golem in puzzlement. “Hear who? What? We didn’t hear anything.” “The earth kin. She is like the Shaper. They found her open to their calling.” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Wait, you’re talking about Apple Bloom? You’re the reason she’s been working like a pony possessed?” She looked at Apple Bloom, who in turn was staring up at the golem with a vacant, almost delirious grin. “What have you done to her? Whatever it is, stop it right now or we’ll turn you right back into pieces!” Scootaloo said heatedly, even though her threat seemed laughably feeble in the face of the towering construct. “They have done her no harm. They only strengthened her resolve and aided her in my shaping. Now that they are all in me, she no longer hears their call. She will wake up soon,” the golem replied. “Who are ‘they’? And what do you mean they’re in you?” Sweetie Belle asked while glancing at the dopey-faced Apple Bloom with concern. “The ones who were before me. The earth kin used their remains in my shaping, so that their memories would me my memories too.” Before anyone could say anything else, Apple Bloom suddenly fell over nose first. She pushed herself up groggily, blinking rapidly several times. “Ow, mah head,” she complained, before looking up at the golem. “Oh. So Ah guess it really did work, huh?” “What, you don’t remember jumping around and shouting your triumph a few moments ago?” Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow. Apple Bloom scrunched her face in puzzlement. “That was real, then? It seemed all dream-like. An’ there were these voices tellin’ me what to do.” Sweetie Belle looked back up at the golem. “So, uh, you’re saying you wanted to be created?” “I had to be. The message was clear.” “How about you try and make a little more sense and start at the beginning, maybe?” Sweetie Belle suggested. The golem regarded her for a moment—at least, Sweetie Belle assumed it was regarding her—before speaking. “There were six, like me but not me, made by the Shaper, waiting for their purpose. The Shaper never came back to them. Instead, the Architect did. She destroyed five and commanded the last one to follow her. Before the Architect left, the Sixth called to the Five and bade them remember a single word: Follow. The Five remembered, and have since been calling out for one to help them fulfill their purpose. I am the result.” “Ah remember the voices said to put the pieces of the old golems together in the shapin’, so that this one would know what the other golems knew, too,” Apple Bloom chimed in, before raising a hoof to her forehead. “Ow,” she complained again. “So those pieces on the floor... they were the remains of the old golems, right?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Yes. The Sixth was given its heart by the Architect. The Five were brought to ruin instead,” the golem said. “So Tincoat was the Architect. Does that mean Amber was the Shaper?” “I do not know those names.” “It’s got to be. Amber was an earth pony too, right? And only earth ponies can make the golems,” Scootaloo commented. “But why bring one golem and destroy the others? Seems like a strange thing to do,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “I do not know. But I must follow the Sixth. The Five demand it,” came the reply from the clay pony. “Why? And how do you know which way to go?” the unicorn filly asked. “Because it is the purpose of the Five to find the Sixth. Perhaps when they have fulfilled their purpose, I can find my own,” the golem stated in the same flat monotone. “The trail of the Sixth is faint, worn by time, but it is there. I can follow it. I must follow it.” Scootaloo looked from the doorway to the clay pony. “So why aren’t you going?” The golem was still standing where it had been the whole time. “The earth kin must follow me. If she does not, my body will falter and crumble, and both my own purpose and that of the Five will go unfulfilled.” “Now hold on, Apple Bloom doesn’t have to do anything you—” “Ah’ll go,” Apple Bloom interrupted the pegasus. Both fillies turned to look at her. “You serious, AB? You’re going to follow this block of clay just because it says so?” Scootaloo asked incredulously. “Ah made it. Ah kinda feel responsible for it, too,” the earth pony said with a look at the golem. “Besides, can’t y’all relate to wantin’ to find yer purpose?” “What do you mean you’ll falter without Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked the golem. “The earth kin is my creator. I am tied to her. Apart, I will weaken and fail. The earth kin must come.” Even though its voice had not changed a single note since it had first spoken, Sweetie Belle almost felt she could detect a trace of urgency, or even desperation in its voice. “You’ve got to be kidding…” Scootaloo muttered. “Well, that settles it for me. Ah’m goin’,” Apple Bloom said firmly. “Besides, it also sounds like our best way of gettin’ to the bottom about Tincoat.” “And let me guess, we’ve got to go about this without telling anypony else where we’re going?” Sweetie Belle asked in a deadpan voice. “Of course! D’ya think Rarity’d let ya go off like this?” “I’m sure it can’t be much worse than going off without telling her,” the unicorn filly replied. “How ’bout we send ’em a letter from the first town we reach? That way we can tell ’em we’re all right, but we’ll be far enough ahead that they won’t catch up with us until we’re done,” Apple Bloom suggested. “I suppose…” Sweetie Belle said hesitantly. She could imagine several ways in which her sister would react to the news that she had run off chasing a thousand-year-old pony in the company of a golem. None of them were positive. “Well, we aren’t going to let you wander off on your own, AB, that’s for sure. I guess that means we’re going, too,” Scootaloo said grudgingly. “Then it’s settled! Cutie Mark Crusader Golem Wardens, yay!” Apple Bloom cheered. “Yay,” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said in unison with considerably less enthusiasm than their friend displayed.