//------------------------------//
// A Beautiful Day 
// Story: Hauntings 
// by NightInk 
//------------------------------//

	AppleJack trotted down the dusty path to her farm, humming tunelessly to herself. Today was a good day. The sun was warm and bright, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and the apples were almost ready for harvesting. It would only be another week now, and they would be just perfect for bucking: plump and brightly colored, full of sweet juice. Then she would be able to make all kinds of apple treats. Apple tarts, apple pie, apple crisp, sugared apples, and, once they had ripened a bit off the trees, apple cider. It made her mouth water jut thinking about it.
This year was looking to be a good year. The pegasus had really been on top of the weather and the trees had been grateful. They had grown lots more apples than usual this year, almost twice as many as last year. Last year had been a poor harvest, and though they hadn't lost a lot financially they were beginning to hurt for apples now. They needed a bumper crop this year, otherwise they would start to lose money.  Even now they were just beginning to dip into their stores. But they just had to hold out for another week. Just one more week.
AppleJack realized that she had stopped humming. She shrugged a bit, starting back up again. Those dark thoughts must have gotten to her more than she realized. But there was really nothing to worry about. They had plenty. She slowly veered off the path, approaching one of her trees. She looked up into the tree, inspecting the apples carefully. After a moment she positioned herself carefully underneath an apple and gave the tree a gentle kick with her foreleg. The apple she was watching shivered and fell down into her waiting mouth. Taking it in her hoof so it didn't fall, she took a bite. Mmm, she thought. Perfect. We could even begin harvesting now if we wanted. Maybe she would have to talk to Big Mac about that and see what he thought.
She began to trot happily again, the apple clenched firmly between her teeth. She was still a ways from the barn, and she still had to cross the little river. That was ok.  It was beautiful out today. There was no reason she couldn't stop at the bridge and watch the river for a bit too. Maybe watch the fish jump in the water. That was always fun. She hadn't done that in a while.
As she walked, she noticed the day again. It was rather warm out, maybe a little too warm. A single little cloud over the sun may have been nice, but there was no point in complaining. A warm sunny day was better than a cold gloomy one. A bird flew overhead, its beak turned to the sun as it flew up towards the sky. It jumped around in the air as it flew, bouncing merrily along the thermals in the air.
She must have been closer to home than she thought, because she was at the bridge within three minutes. From here it was only another six or seven minute walk to the barn. She leaned easily on the rail, looking at the fish. Taking another bite of the apple, she felt the juice run down her chin, matting her hair. This was an excellent apple. When she was done, she tossed the apple core into the river, smiling as she thought of some lucky fish getting some of the apple. She picked a piece of the apple's flesh out of her teeth with her tongue, enjoying every last little bit of the apple. She thoughtfully toyed with the nibble in her teeth as she watched the water flow and roll, but as she did something interesting caught her eye.
There was a dark figure floating in the water, just below the surface. At first she thought it may simply have been a bag that somepony had dropped into the river on accident, but as it bobbed along there appeared a hoof and what faintly looked like it could be a Cutie Mark. Springing to action, she hung her hat on the rail post and dove into the water, unceremoniously splashing water clear back up to the edge of the bridge. Kicking hard to catch up with the floating mass, she saw better and better that it was a pony.
Clamping her teeth on the back of the poor creatures neck, she began dragging it back to shore. She couldn't see the mystery pony's face through the rushing water, so she couldn't distinguish it as either a mare or a stallion, but judging by its weight she would guess stallion. Ahead she heard where the water ran a little fast, running over some sharper rocks in a miniature set of rapids. If she were on any kind of raft or little boat she would have been ok. In fact she had used to make rafts and navigate this river with relative ease as a filly. Of course she never made it far before Big Mac or Granny scooped her up somehow and took her home, but still. She never got hurt. But the rocks were sharp and would likely tear them to shreds, and with the dead weight of the pony in her teeth it would almost be a certainty.
She kicked with all her powerful legs had to offer, which was considerable, but the river was stronger. It pushed her downstream quickly, too quickly for her to get to shore before reaching the rocks. Thinking fast and acting faster, she stopped kicking so hard for a second and let herself and the stallion flow along with the water. Craning her head to see where she was going while still keeping hold of the stallion's neck, she used little kicks to move herself in little ways so that she would be sure to run into one of the larger, safer rocks. As soon as she felt her hoof touch solid rock, she pushed off powerfully from the rock, aiming for the close shore.
Her legs and luck didn't fail her, and she was able to make it close enough that she could feel the rough gravel of the shore beneath her hooves again. Gritting her teeth, she dug in until she had the footing to pull them onshore. Panting, she fell down next to the stallion, exhausted. She looked at him clearly for the first time, lying mostly drowned on the rocky ground.
He was a good looking pony, despite being fairly dirty and mangy. He was an earth pony, with a dark purple coat. Were he to walk in the shadows, he would blend in perfectly. His mane was another blend of dark, shadowy purple, matching his coat well. His Cutie Mark caught her eye as well. It depicted a ring with a couple of old keys on it. AppleJack made a mental note to ask him what his special skill was later. He was kind of scrawny, but looked like what flesh there was on him was mostly lean muscle. He was probably quite strong, despite his size. A small, loose fitting cape and a vest were draped around his body, the cape in shreds at the bottom and the vest covered with empty looking pockets.
She noticed all of this in a couple seconds, then remembered that she had just pulled him out of the river. Balancing him on his back, she put her hooves on his chest and began pushing down gently but forcefully. When nothing happened, she became desperate. She quickly put her mouth on his and blew air forcefully into his lungs a couple times. Finally, all the water came gushing out of his lungs and he began to cough. Unfortunately, he coughed while she was still trying to breathe into his lungs, and much of the water filled her own mouth. Quickly turning, she spat out a whole lungful of water onto the ground, silently swearing to herself.
Now that he was breathing, she carefully maneuvered underneath him and picked him up, balancing him on top of her. Slowly, she began to trot back to the barn, hoping that someone would be there to help her with her new, mysterious charge.


...


	All around, there was darkness. There was pain. There was nothing but that. He was used to tight spots, but this was different. He didn't know how he had gotten there. Usually if he was in trouble, it was his own damn fault and he had some sort of idea how to carry himself through. But this... This was different. He felt the slash of a set of claws across his flank. He cried out, and he heard the noise echo for what seemed like forever. What was this place? How did he get here? Where was the light?
As he thought this, a small light appeared in the distance. He ran toward it, hoping for some sort of salvation from this living hell. But as he ran, the light didn't grow at all. If anything, it grew more faint. Finally, it disappeared again, replaced by a haunting, taunting voice. "Oh. You didn't make it. That's too bad. But, fear not. There is hope in your future. If you do not grasp hold of if, you will meet with a terrible fate."
He snarled, looking around frantically. "Who are you? Show yourself! Or are you a coward?!"
A manic chuckle echoed all around him, filling him with fear. "Oh, the young. This truly is a most interesting generation. Please, amuse me further. Amuse me and live."
He tried to shout at the unseen antagonist again, but no noise came from his throat. Instead, a fierce growl came from behind him and he felt the claws rake through his flesh again. He screamed, successfully this time.


...


"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Even as he screamed in the dream, he woke screaming. He nearly head butted the mare leaning over him, a look of worry and fear plastered on her face.
"Whoa now, sugarcube," she said soothingly. "Your all right now. You don't have to be afraid here."
He was lying comfortable in what he guessed was a roomy barn. Backing up to the wall as best he could, he glared at the mare in suspicion. "Who are you? What have you done to me? Why am I here? Where am I?!"
Seeing he needed some space, she took a small, careful step back. "It's all right. Mah names AppleJack. Yer here in mah barn. I found you floating in the river and I pulled you out. You would have drowned."
AppleJack? Who is she, just some country bumpkin? He allowed himself to relax a little bit, pressing himself against the wall a little less forcefully. "How can I trust you?" he asked. Even if she was a country girl, she may know about the reward...
She shrugged, like she didn't mind if he did and didn't mind if he didn't. "You can trust me because I tell the truth. Plain an' simple. You can trust me, but Ah guess you get to choose if you will. I did save your life though, and you could probably use a friend. You obviously aren’t from here."
As he listened, he felt his head begin to spin and colors floated in his eyes. Maybe that swim took more out of him than he thought. "Yeah, well..." Oh, man, those colors aren't found in nature... "Well, you'll have to prove it to me... I don't trust anyone..."
The last thing he heard before falling unconscious again was AppleJack saying, "Ah'll remember that. Just rest a bit now."


...


	He was back again, floating. This was only the second time he had had this dream, but he cognized it right away. The snarl and bark of a timberwolf echoed all around him, making him flinch. He growled into the darkness, searching for another light. "Come on out!" he bellowed into the darkness. "I know your there! You don't frighten me!"
The devilish chuckle echoed from the darkness again. "Oh, but I do. I scare you quite a lot. You don't know who or what I am, and yet I know you. That frightens you so much it... Well, it scares you. What a wonderful cycle." He grit his teeth. The voice was right. He was afraid, and being afraid simply made him even more afraid. What end was there to it?
Cautiously stepping forward, he made himself speak much more calmly. "Then how about telling me what I want to know, like what's going on?"
"Ooh. Someone got brave. But I'm afraid that I cannot help you. You see, that may bring our game to its end faster than I would like, and that would cut our fun short."
He thought carefully for a moment. "And yet if you were to tell me it would make the time we have more interesting more quickly."
Again, a laugh. "Oh, we have a quick one this time! But no dice, my friend. You will have to do with what you know and have now. Remember what I said before, and I believe you will do splendidly."
As the echoes of the voice faded away, the timberwolves began to bark and snarl with a greater ferocity, until everything disappeared and his sleep became dreamless and peaceful again.