Fluttershy awoke, startled, to the mighty peal of thunder. Applejack awoke to a frightened pony squeezing her just a little too tight. The droning of rain against wood filled the room. Applejack stood and stretched, sighing with satisfaction as her joints popped. “Ah guess it rains here after all.” She said with a grin, grabbing her hat. Fluttershy jumped up and hurried to her side as thunder once more cracked through the air. Applejack leaned over to nuzzle her reassuringly before stepping outside. As hard as it was raining, it didn't seem to bother her as she went below deck and began trying to tackle the puzzle of how to collect water in a barrel that she couldn't get out of the hold without spilling.
“W-we could just take it upstairs when it's empty...Or take it to the pond we found if it's not raining...” Fluttershy offered from behind her. Applejack smiled, a little impressed at how she'd managed to sneak up behind her.
“Ah suppose. There's plenty down here, we've only gotten a little into a barrel...Maybe Ah can set somethin' up though...” She stared at the tools, thinking.
“W-well, maybe we shouldn't do much today...We'd be in a lot of trouble if we got sick from working in the rain...” Applejack considered this, and nodded.
“Well, at any rate, we oughta eat some breakfast.” She gathered a rather large amount of food and put it into a saddle bag with a lantern before they headed back to the cabin. They shook themselves as dry as they could, but the water still clung to their coats, a deep chill starting to penetrate them both. “...Ah've never wanted a fireplace so bad in my life.” She said, looking around the room at all the flammable material it was made out of. The lantern came to life with a little work, and a hook on the wall helped it fill the room with a pale light. She set out some of the food she'd brought and settled onto the floor, Fluttershy following suit.
Leaning forward, Fluttershy took a mouth full of hay, trying to keep her jaw steady as she shivered. She paused mid-chew, growing red as she felt pressure on her side. She didn't have to look. She knew what had happened, and she certainly appreciated it, leaning against Applejack eagerly. It wasn't a drastic improvement, both bodies soaked in the same cold water, but, no matter how little, it was helping. She finally swallowed.
“Thank you...” She said quietly, before going in for another bite. Water ran out of their fur slowly as they ate. They were still damp when they finished, but they decided to move to another spot on the floor, and Applejack pulled their blanket down off the bed, onto their bodies.
“If y'get hungry...Ah brought more food up. In case the storm don't stop before lunch...or dinner.”
“Alright...” Fluttershy replied quietly, adjusting herself. She nuzzled Applejack, then frowned as she pulled back, noticing her damp hair sticking to the farmer's cheek. She began to apologize, but didn't find a chance before Applejack returned her affection. They listened to the rain, the constant sound comforting, even in the dimly lit room, even with a chill in their bodies from the water. Silently, they watched the water gather against the small portholes, obscuring what little light there was in the storm. The day wore on as the rain continued. Eventually Applejack stood up, Fluttershy jumping up to join her.
“Oh, uh, Ah'm just stretchin' out. Been layin' on the floor too long...Startin' to get stiff.” She put her front legs on the bed and slid her rear hooves back behind her, giving a satisfied grunt as she stretched. Fluttershy observed until she noticed the thoughts this called to the back of her head, and quickly turned away, her cheeks tinged red. She didn't feel particularly stiff, but decided it couldn't hurt to do...well, anything. She trotted around the room a little, and then paused by the saddlebags full of food.
“Are you ready for lunch?” She asked, her small smile looking fragile as ever, belying the true strength of her will. Applejack nodded, staring at her face a little, an off-center smirk on her own lips. They ate their lunch together, and finally both felt dry enough to let themselves onto the bed. They lay under the covers, staring across the gentle light of the lantern on the floor and walls.
“Ah know we wanna get home as soon as we can, but...Ah gotta say...Ah don't mind wasting a day shut in with you.” Applejack said, blushing a little. There hadn't been much conversation, but they hadn't really felt like there needed to be any to begin with. Fluttershy rested her cheek on Applejack's neck.
“I...” She struggled to put her thoughts into words, to make the words come out. “I don't think we wasted it...” Applejack smiled, and pulled back a bit, Fluttershy blinking as she found two bright green eyes staring into her own.
It was gentle, tender, and it only lasted a moment, but the kiss still stole the breath from Fluttershy's lungs, and from the look of things, Applejack had been similarly stricken, even though she was the one doing the kissing. Maybe that was why it felt so different from the one on Sweet Apple Acres, that first day, when they became a couple. No, that wasn't it. It was because it wasn't spontaneous. It wasn't panicked. It was gentle, it was tender, and it only lasted for a moment, but something about the kiss felt so...real. The rain tapered off against the cabin as the minutes passed, both of them still reeling from such a simple expression of their affection.
“S-sounds like the storm's lettin' up...” Applejack said, looking toward a wall, trying to regain her composure and keep from doing something she'd regret if it happened too soon. Oddly, Fluttershy resting against her seemed to help her goals. She would've thought her mind would grow even more muddled from the contact, but it was so...soothing.
Fluttershy felt so safe. Even when she was happy she was usually at least a little scared, but Applejack was strong, and not just physically. There was nothing to be afraid of in this room after what Applejack told her last night...This pony loved her, and that wouldn't be easy to change. It may not have meant much if somepony else had told her, but Applejack was honest. More than that, Applejack was Honesty. Fluttershy felt there was nothing in her to doubt, and even in this strange land, she didn't have to worry about how she acted, about how she carried herself. Not anymore.
The rain stopped falling, and they headed outside, Fluttershy tying the blanket and sheets to a rope by their corners to let them dry a bit. Applejack seemed to be in a hurry to get down onto the island. “Where are we going?” Fluttershy asked, worrying.
“Ah just want to look around for a good spot ta get started buildin'.” Applejack answered, moving closer to the tree line and looking around.
“Building?”
“Nothin' too big, but...We've got enough tools...Why should we be stuck in a boat if Ah can build us a house?”
“You can build a house?”
“Well, Ah think so. Ah've built barns before. Chicken coops. Dog house for Winona...Anyway, if we bring our bed down, and it's got four walls, a roof, a firepit and a chimney, and a short walk to the ship, Ah'll be happy.” She gave a cocky grin and Fluttershy answered with a meek smile.
They wandered around, looking for a nice patch of ground. “It's nothing but sand all the way up to the trees...C-can you build a house on sand?”
“Uh...Ain't never tried it. Ah don't think so, though...”
“W-Well, we need wood anyway, right?”
“...Yeah. We could take some trees for lumber, set the house down right where they were.” Applejack headed inside and came out with an ax, a saw, and a shovel.
“C-can I help?” Fluttershy asked, smiling. Applejack nodded and held out the ax in her teeth. Fluttershy bit down on the handle, but when Applejack released it, she began to fall forward, the weight far more than she expected. She quickly steadied herself and followed Applejack to the edge of the forest. The earth pony nodded at a tree. The pegasus swung her neck back with the ax to take a swing, and found herself thrown to the ground by the weight and momentum.
“...Hang on.” Applejack replied, tail through the handle of the saw. She rapidly sawed at a tree, then stepped aside once she had gotten a good channel going. “Alright, you take over here, and Ah'll handle the ax, ok?” Fluttershy nodded, frowning. “Look, gettin' a saw goin' ain't easy if you ain't sawed nothin' before. Now we're each on a tree, and it'll go faster. Don't worry. You're pullin' your weight.” She told her with a tender smile. Fluttershy's face softened a bit as she relaxed. She looped her tail through the handle of the saw as Applejack had, and began pushing and pulling. “Long, slow strokes. Only gotta go fast at the beginnin'. Let me know when yer almost through, an' Ah'll kick it down.”
“I shouldn't just saw it down?”
“If Ah kick it down, we'll know exactly which way it's gonna fall.” Fluttershy took a moment to consider this. She then considered sawing a tree all the way through with no idea where it would land. With her right next to it. And Applejack right next to it. For one of only a hoof-full of times, she found a solution to a fear before the fear made itself known, and resumed sawing, thankful for her fillyfriend's foresight. Applejack sauntered over to the ax, tossed it up with her tail, caught it in mid air with the same appendage, and spun her body around, driving it deep into the wood.
The trees were thin, and fell easily. The sun fell from the sky, and they gathered up their tools and returned to the ship, putting them back in the hold, grabbing some dinner, cleaning themselves up, and heading up to the deck to take the sheets and blanket down from their makeshift clothesline. Applejack paused, looking up at the moon.
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, moving beside her.
“Oh, nothin'...Just wonderin'.” She dismissed the thoughts in her head, and gave Fluttershy a smile.
“Wondering about what?” Fluttershy pressed gently with the question.
“...Who's movin' that?” Applejack asked, pointing at the moon. “Who moved the sun down, who brought that moon out?”
“I don't know...” Fluttershy answered, staring up at the sky. “It's a beautiful moon, though.”
Applejack nodded, then leaned over and nuzzled Fluttershy's cheek. They spent a silent moment staring at the night sky, then headed back inside, made up the bed, and went to sleep.
They resumed their work in the morning, and continued for over a week, making occasional trips to the meadow to restock food. Somewhere in the midst of all of this, Applejack found time to make a funnel with a lid and some wooden piping from the deck to the hold to refill the water barrels.
In the end, heir house was small, but well crafted, and had everything Applejack had wanted. A place for a fire, a place for the smoke to go, their bed, and a short walk over to the ship for supplies.
Applejack opened the door, and paused half way inside.
“Applejack? What's wrong?” Fluttershy asked, frowning. Applejack turned around, blushing hard.
“Ain't WRONG, just...Ah didn't think we'd be doin' this so soon. Ah mean, it just kind of clicked...we got our own house together. And while that's somethin' I wanted down the road...” The contagious blush spread itself to Fluttershy's face. Applejack finally went inside, and Fluttershy followed. It was smaller than the ship's cabin, and it didn't have any windows, but it would certainly be more comfortable on cold nights and stormy days.
They settled in. They weren't about to stop trying to get out of this place, but there was something special about this little one room house, and they were going to spend this day enjoying it. They'd get back to work tomorrow, but today, they just wanted to rest, and appreciate the fruits of not only a job well done, but a job done well together.
In the morning, they began toward the meadow, but for the first time since discovering it, they didn't break off from the path that they'd found in the forest. They kept moving forward, feeling discomfort at the idea of changing their regular route. After a short while, the path stopped being straight. They followed it deeper and deeper into the woods, wondering if it ever went anywhere at all. As they continued onward, they heard the telltale signs of wild life, but as the twists and turns became more and more rapid, the sounds ceased, and they nearly tripped over themselves when they finally rounded the last corner.
“...What do you think?” Applejack asked, hesitantly staring out at the lack of trees, and the broken, worn down buildings that replaced them.
“I....I think this is what we're looking for...” Fluttershy replied. “R-Ruins and temples, right?” Applejack nodded. Fluttershy pulled out the inkwell.
“What's that for?” Applejack asked, confused.
“W-we want to check the buildings, right? I mean...if we're going to find a way out?”
“Can't think of what else we'd do with 'em... So?”
“There's not that many, but... I thought we could...um...nevermind...” She began to put the inkwell back into her saddlebag.
“Nuh uh. Tell me.” Applejack told her, a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, giving her a nuzzle. Fluttershy blushed in response, and felt all the more confident from the encouragement.
“We could mark the doorways we've been through...so we know we're not checking a room, or even a whole building, twice...”
“Good thinkin'!” Fluttershy beamed under the praise, and they began exploring, every door they passed through being stamped with ink applied to the bottom of a hoof. This place was clearly meant to be a town, and they almost felt guilty wandering around empty houses, but there were no ponies here beside the two of them, and there never had been. Discord had created this place to seem like it had been inhabited. That's all there was to it.
While Fluttershy kept her discerning eyes open for any sort of clue, Applejack began to fill her saddlebags with anything that might be useful to them. Among such items was a completed map of the island, and when she was shown this discovery, Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief that she didn't have to worry about cartography anymore, although it also dealt a small blow to her pride, showing her just how incredibly wrong she'd gotten so many things.
They'd nearly checked half the buildings when they finally came across one with a stark difference to all the others: the presence of a basement. They went down the stairs, and immediately returned to the surface, grabbing a candle to try again with a light source. The stairs ended just before a door, but it seemed to be locked. As Applejack kicked at it, she rattled dust loose from its surface, and Fluttershy stopped her from trying again. She blew the dust away, regretting it as she coughed. The door bore an inscription, and a line to write upon beneath it.
“'To find the target that you seek, hurry up to catch a peak.'” Fluttershy began reading. “'To great heights you must aspire, deep within, stone burns as fire.' I...uh...”
Applejack stared at the riddle with her. “Somethin' don't look right...” Fluttershy nodded. They read it over and over again, trying to come up with an answer. The candle burned down and Applejack went to get a new one.
“'Hurry up to catch a peak'...a peek at what?” She pondered as she waited for AJ's return. Then it hit her. “Peek's spelled wrong!” She said loudly, startling herself, and the pony right behind her, bringing their newer light source.“I mean, it's spelled right, but not like peeking at something!”
“...Like the peak of a mountain!” Applejack smiled widely. “That's gotta be it!”
“It's all there! If it's a volcano, there's melted rock in it, and we have to go to great heights!” She quickly wrote the word 'Mountain' on the door, and it swung open slowly, the hinges groaning in protest to their achievement.
The room they found themselves in was well lit, and Applejack set the candle aside. There were only two things inside, a large chest against the back wall, and a table in the middle of the room. As they approached the table, they found a model of their island on it.
“There's the mountain...Wait, there's this village. If we're so darn close to a mountain, shouldn't we be able to see it?” Applejack asked, furrowing her brow. They hadn't caught a glimpse of a mountain since they'd arrived, but by this model's scale, it was only a short distance from the ruins. Fluttershy looked around, and approached the chest.
“It's locked...” she said quietly, inspecting it. “There's a picture on the lock, but...no numbers...no key hole...”
“What's the picture?” Applejack asked, leaving Fluttershy a little surprised to learn that she'd been speaking loud enough to hear.
“A-a mountain...” she said, still recovering from the surprise, and feeling more than a little self conscious about her mumbling as she approached. They stared at the model of the island, and Fluttershy pulled out the map they found. There wasn't a mountain on it. Just more forest.
Applejack rubbed her chin. “Ah think you'd be better at figurin' out why this is down here...Ah'm gonna try to get that chest open.” She walked over to it, stared at it intently, then spun around and kicked it quick and hard. The lock broke apart, and she lifted the lid. “...All just keeps comin' back to the mountain...” She sighed, as she began gathering up the horse shoes with hooks on the bottoms, the harnesses, and all the gear they'd need to get up their nonexistant mountain.
Fluttershy stared at the model. “The map's of the island, but the island and the map don't have a mountain here...” She muttered to herself. “Maybe it's supposed to be somewhere else...” She reached in to grab the mountain, and try to find somewhere else to put it. The moment her hoof made contact, the whole island began to tremble. She stared, eyes wide as the map changed to match what happened outside, and the model faded out of existence. On the floor, a click was heard as the broken lock opened itself.
The ponies stared at each other for a moment before hurrying upstairs, outside, and into the shadow of a small but formidable mountain, steep inclines and cliffs all the way around, completely flat on the top.
“...So we just had to touch it? Why didn't we try that sooner?” Applejack wondered aloud. “Well, least now we know where to go. How's about it, Fluttershy?” She asked, smiling. “Climb a mountain together in a few days?” Fluttershy stared at her, eyes wide, blushing with humiliation.
“I'll try to do better this time...” She finally replied, casting her eyes down and frowning a little. Applejack watched her, the gears turning in her head. It didn't take long for it to click. She remembered their last trip up a mountain together, dragging her up by her tail while the others waited.
“Ah don't mind so much, long as we can make it up together.” She hugged her gently, and they began heading home. “Ah figure we'll come back tomorrow, pick up some more stuff, and then maybe try to head up the mountain the day after.”
“Alright...I hope it only takes one day...” She sighed as they headed back to their home. They unpacked in the hold of the ship, had something to eat, and headed back to their little home.
Fluttershy awoke in the darkness. Applejack snored softly beside her, and the morning light wasn't creeping in under the door. “Woke up so early...” She mumbled to herself, and nuzzled in closer to Applejack, listening to her snore and sighing happily. “Worth it...” She added, listening peacefully to the sounds until she finally dozed off again.
Two days later, Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut and curled her legs in against her body, whimpering, desperately wishing she were back in bed, warm and safe.
“Come on, sugarcube. We're goin' up together, right?” She asked. She wasn't sure if Fluttershy was nodding, or just shaking at the prospect of scaling the face of a mountain. “Y'gotta stick yer legs out. Y'know you'll be safer if we can get this harness on you. Here, Ah'll put your helmet on first.” Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut as she heard the chin strap click together. Slowly and shakily, one after another, her legs extended out and the harness slipped over them.
“H-how do you know how to do this?” She asked, trying desperately to keep her mind off of her terror.
“Me an' Rainbow go climbin' sometimes. We don't usually have enough free time, so it ain't often, but it's usually a good time. Least, better than Ah first thought it'd be.” She adjusted the tightness of the harness and ran a rope through it, tethering them together, and each of them wore a set of horse shoes. Finally, she began giving her a rundown of their equipment, and how they were going to get from the ground to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, this proved unnecessary, as she had to go to her fallback plan.
“I'm sorry!” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Sug, it's fine, but Ah kinda need to focus, and Ah'd be mighty grateful if'n you could stop apologizin'.” Fluttershy whimpered a bit as she dangled from her fillyfriend, unable to force her hooves to reach out to the face of the mountain. “Just focus on bein' careful about swingin' around. You're doin' great so far.”
Fluttershy flopped onto her side tiredly once they made their way up onto an outcropping. What confused her was her own exhaustion, when Applejack just looked...alive. Out of breath, but full of energy. The farmer sat down next to her, grinning. “Is...Is there anything I can do to help?” She asked, feeling so very weary.
“Sure!” Applejack smiled, prying off her shoes until they'd be needed again. “Open up yer saddlebag and pass me one of those bottles.” Fluttershy hurried to comply, understanding now why Applejack had brought so many empty glass bottles back from the village. Applejack bit down on the cork, yanked it out, and cradled it in her tail as she took several deep swigs of the water, letting out a satisfied gasp as she moved to plug the cork back in. She paused, however. “Y'want any?” She offered, grinning. Fluttershy accepted it and drank a little, a shy smile on her lips. She plugged the bottle back up, and set it in the saddlebag. When she looked up from this, she saw Applejack near the edge.
“A-Applejack?” She slowly sidled up to her. “What are you doing?” She nervously peered over the edge, then jumped back, clenching her eyes shut. Applejack moved over to her, put a hoof around her shoulders, and gently guided her back.
“Don't look down. Look out. Look at what's in front of ya, not what's under ya.” She told her, sweeping a foreleg in front of her in front of herself for emphasis. Fluttershy swallowed audibly, trembling a little. She slowly opened her eyes, staring out at the glorious view that the island provided for them.
“It's so beautiful...” She looked down at her hooves, blushing, before realizing she could see down the edge of the cliff and backing up a bit. “S-sorry...” With her guilt, she couldn't look up to meet Applejack's gentle smile.
“Not a problem. Let me know when you're ready to get back to climbin', ok?” She stepped away from the edge and nuzzled Fluttershy comfortingly, burrying her face in that soft, pink mane. Fluttershy sighed and leaned in against the nuzzling. She then slowly got to her hooves.
“I...I think I'm ready...” Applejack nodded firmly, checked their equipment, slipped her shoes back on, and began scaling the cliff face. She paused and looked down at Fluttershy, who seemed to be mumbling something over and over, staring away from the outcropping. After a moment, she made out the words as her own advice, being repeated. “Don't look down, look out... Don't look down, look out...” Applejack smiled at her with love in her eyes, then turned back upward, continuing their ascent, letting Fluttershy's new mantra keep her at a steady rhythm.
By the end of their climb, they were both tired, thirsty, and Applejack was aching. No additional outcroppings had been found, and no more rest was available on their way up. Fluttershy quickly supplied them both with some water, her own throat dry from her relentless chanting. Once they'd rehydrated, they turned their eyes to their goal. A large, foreboding structure stood on the flat surface before them.
“Reckon,” Applejack began, forcing herself up into a sitting position with a grunt, “That's one of them temples he mentioned...” Fluttershy nodded, frowning.
“I wonder what's in there...” The pegasus asked, trembling a little. Applejack stood up, stretching her muscles, and shaking the weariness out of her head.
“Doesn't matter. Whatever it is, we gotta deal with it.”