Applejack Gets Lost

by MagicS

Hoof of the Earth II

Applejack had been on many journeys. She had fought the greatest of villains, she had dealt with the smallest of problems. She had seen many strange things, she had had many more normal days. She had been as far north as the Crystal Empire and as far south as Mount Aris. From one side of Equestria to the other, from her farm to Twilight’s castle. Applejack was a traveled pony. She had seen, heard, smelt, and tasted a greater variety of things than most ponies ever would. Quite the contrast for being a “simple” farmer as she liked to think of herself. There was probably nothing stranger she’d been through than the time Discord first got free, although fighting the Tantabus was a doozy too. She’d been out of her element more than once, why Rarity asked her to be that judge she’d never understand.

All in all, Applejack had been through a lot. All of her experiences led her to respond to these new ponies in the most appropriate way someone who had fought unparalleled monsters and been through unparalleled strangeness could.

“Huh?”

Applejack, even with all her experiences, was a pretty no-nonsense pony who wanted things to be simpler. So when she heard something weird, even though she’d been through far weirder, there was no more appropriate way for Applejack to respond.

“As I said, we are the last disciples of the Hoof of the Earth fighting art.” Quartz replied to her confused statement.

“Yeah, uh, you’re gonna need to go into a little bit more detail on that for me.” Applejack said, rubbing her head.

The black mare then stepped forward to try and explain things better. “Hoof of the Earth is a technique created ages ago by wise and great earth pony warriors to give them a way to fight against the dangerous creatures of the world, and against unicorns and pegasi. They saw how outmatched we simple earth ponies were and sought to even the playing field, so to speak.”

Applejack didn’t know how to react to all this, ancient martial arts for earth ponies? Her befuddlement was clear on her face as Quartz sighed and attempted to make things more clear.

“You see, Hoof of the Earth started back when the three tribes of ponies were still enemies. Ever since they made peace the art has been in decline. We’re the last ones left due to… a variety of reasons, and we’ve been going around offering our services to anyone who needs them. Anyone who needs help.” He continued on as Obsidian and the other two nodded along. “All of us were raised in the monastery, which is pretty much nothing more than a ruin now, it’s to the northeast of here.”

“Uh, that’s all fine and dandy but this is all stuff a bit unusual for me, I didn’t know earth ponies tried to invent a way to better fight other ponies.” Applejack said, frowning at the thought.

“Well think about it.” Marble spoke up. “Pegasi can fly, giving them a huge advantage in normal combat, and unicorns have magic. What is anyone supposed to do about that? Hoof of the Earth is something only earth ponies can do, it draws on the natural strength and ability of an earth pony. It doesn’t let us do what other ponies can do but it gives us unique strengths just like them.”

“I guess that makes sense back for that age. But what does your Earth Hoof thing even do? I felt a really crazy shaking going on in my leg, like I had my own personal earthquake. Oh, and, uh… why do you keep saying ‘"anyone" instead of anypony?” Applejack asked.

“We lived around many different creatures when we were younger, it’s just something we picked up.” Quartz answered. “As for your other question, I think I’ll show you.”

Quartz walked to a large boulder next to them. Closing his eyes and inhaling, he lightly pressed his hoof to the surface of the rock.

For a second it was like nothing had happened. But then the boulder began to tremble and Applejack could feel mild vibrations coming from it, suddenly the top of the boulder exploded, sending smaller chunks of rock flying in all directions. Applejack just stared in shock, how in the hay did they do that just by touching the boulder?

“Hoof of the Earth is a technique for sending tremors into something and destroying it from the inside out. My attack against you was meant to break the bones in your leg.” Quartz explained. “I could have made the whole boulder crumble as well but I wanted to show you something else.” Quartz pulled back his hoof and then this time slammed it forward with far greater speed and strength. “A skilled user can also direct tremors wherever they want...”

Quartz trailed off as instead of the boulder he struck exploding a smaller one ten feet away in the sand did.

“It doesn’t matter where I initially strike, I can send the power anywhere there’s a solid connection. This time it was through the ground, but one could also touch a pony and send the tremors to anywhere in their body.”

“That’s really something...” Applejack said, a bit put off at the thought of somepony’s body being mangled from the inside out. “But uh, you all seem to take this pretty seriously. Is this really something you should be telling me?”

Quartz looked at her with his scarred face and deep blue eyes. “You, without any training or knowledge, nullified my attack. You instinctually sent the tremors into the ground and dissipated them. Such a thing should be impossible, not every earth pony can even use Hoof of the Earth, the fact that you were able to do such a thing means you must have a natural aptitude for the art unlike any other.”

“Um, okay?” Again, there was no other way for Applejack to respond.

“What Quartz is saying.” Obsidian started up. “Is that we would like to teach you how to use Hoof of the Earth.”

“What!” Applejack’s eyes flew wide open. “Look, this is all… interesting I suppose but I really don’t have the time for this. And I can’t say I’ve ever given much thought to learning how to fight to begin with. I’ve gotten along just fine the way I am.”

“You may not have the time but we have all the time in the world.” Quartz said. “We essentially do nothing but travel around nowadays and you have apparently already solved the problem we had come out here to fix. Now we have nothing else to do. We may as well travel with and teach you, and besides, someone with your natural affinity should be able to pick up Hoof of the Earth easily enough.”

“You said you had to fight those raiders too didn’t you?” Marble asked her. “Would it really hurt to learn how to be a better fighter?”

“Well, I suppose not no.” Applejack allowed.

“Please, since a while ago we’ve just been drifting through life, and we’re the last who have been taught Hoof of the Earth. If we can at least give that knowledge to someone else, especially someone as worthy as you, I feel like it will have given my life real meaning.” Quartz pleaded with her, stepping forward to clasp his hooves with hers and staring into her eyes.

Applejack bit her lip, on one hoof this was all kind of strange to her. Four ponies she just met, from somewhere she’d never been, who could do things she never knew earth ponies could do, now wanted to teach her those things. Kind of an odd side hobby for an apple farmer. She felt like Rainbow Dash would jump at the opportunity for something like this. Twilight might too just because it would be something new to learn. On the other hoof if they traveled while they taught her it’s not like she’d really lose any time, she still didn’t know if anyone in the Twin Towns would have directions to Ponyville.

What’s the harm, I guess…

“Look, I’d be willing to learn this Hoof of the Earth stuff but only if we keep traveling, I’m not gonna sit down for days or weeks or however long it took you to learn it. I’m going back home to Ponyville. Okay?” Applejack told them.

“That is acceptable.” Quartz said, nodding to her. “We can easily teach you as we journey, I suspect that with your natural ability in the art already you shall make a quick learner.”

“Whatever you say pal.” Applejack shrugged. “I’m heading to the Twin Towns first of all, you been there?”

“We have been by it, it’s about a day away from here.” Quartz answered.

“Good, I want to get back to walking then.” Applejack said, turning her back to them and starting back through the desert like she was before they attacked her, letting them catch up.

The four ponies trotted along beside her, keeping their hoods down, Bedrock still hadn’t spoken once since he told Applejack his name but at least he wasn’t staring at her like at first anymore. Obsidian was happily smiling at the turn of events, flipping her long sparkly mane back over her shoulder, for the first time revealing the right side of her face to Applejack. Upon seeing it Applejack bit back a gasp, a long scar went from her forehead and over her eye, the eye itself was clouded over and clearly blind. Applejack figured it must not bother her though if she was so casual in revealing it to someone she just met. Quartz just stared ahead, face as impassive as a rock, all the numerous scars across it weren’t as nauseating as Obisidian’s single one. With so many there it was even less noticeable in a way than a single large scar. And Marble-

“Huh, so your name is Marble?” Applejack started wondering aloud. “I’ve got a distant cousin named Marble.” She figured it best not to mention that that cousin was a mare.

“Small world.” Marble replied.

Applejack just frowned, looking far ahead into the desert where the Twin Towns lied beyond.

A lot bigger than I thought it was.

---

The five earth ponies made good headway into the desert, the rocky area well behind them and now back to simple waves of sand. The heat of the sun wasn’t as bad as Applejack expected it to be anymore but the sand was still a bit hotter than she liked to step on. No more cacti or other plants around, no critters scurrying through the sand and only the occasional vulture high in the sky. Just sand and sand and sand for the ponies to look around at.

In short, it was the perfect time for Applejack’s new companions to tell her more about Hoof of the Earth.

“Since you are completely new to this I will try to explain things as simply as possible. Now, from the beginning,” Quartz began to tell her. “The Hoof of the Earth fighting art is used by-”

“Wait.” Bedrock suddenly said, coming to a stop and holding his large foreleg out in front of Applejack and Quartz.

Alright, guess it wasn’t the perfect time for Applejack to learn more about Hoof of the Earth.

“I can feel something coming.” Bedrock said to the others.

Applejack looked all out in front of them but saw nothing but the rolling hills of sand.

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing out there.” She told him.

“It’s under the sand.” He replied, eyes narrowing and face constricting in a frown. “Sand worm.”

Quartz and the others stepped in front of Applejack, defending her. “A sand worm on the outskirts of the desert?” Quartz said. “Unusual, someone must have been eating carrots nearby.”

Applejack wisely chose to not question that statement. Instead just gulping nervously as she thought of the numerous other carrots still tucked away in her saddlebag. The other four stood sharp at attention, not moving a muscle or making a sound at the threat of this invisible foe. Applejack wasn’t sure if she should try to stay as steady and quiet as well but that all became a moot point as soon enough she could feel the ground shaking beneath her. Bedrock was right, something was coming.

“There! Look!” Obisidian shouted and pointed her hoof forward.

Applejack’s eyes followed to see a quickly approaching bulge in the sand, whatever the hay this sand worm was it looked like its body was thicker than a cider barrel.

“Get ready!” Quartz shouted to them all.

I wish I could relax for just one second. Applejack thought, sighing to herself.

The ground shook violently as the sand erupted in front of the group, the worms pink body shooting into the air until its head was looming far over them. Judging by how much had come out Applejack figured the thing must be at least a hundred feet long all the way. It looked down on them, well looked was the wrong word since it didn’t have any eyes, and opened up its gaping maw. Six huge hooked teeth on each side of its mouth dripped saliva onto the ground, the worm let out a shrill shriek and lunged at the ponies.

“Jump!” Quartz said, somewhat unnecessarily if you were to ask Applejack.

Still, the five ponies jumped out of the way as the worm crashed into the sand right where they were just before. Applejack rolled to her right and quickly shot back to her feet, the huge writhing sand worm turned to her while Obsidian and Marble jumped at it from behind. However the worm could sense them coming and its tail darted out of the sand at the two, Obsidian and Marble deftly shifted in midair, avoiding the strike and pushing off the tail to safety.

The worm charged at Applejack, moving quicker than a cat dunked in water, she hunkered down getting ready to turn and buck it when Bedrock came shooting into its side. His left hindleg struck it hard and knocked the worm hard out onto the sand. She noticed the area where he hit was vibrating just like her leg was earlier and the sand worm started spasming on top of the sand, wriggling around for a second before sliding back under to safety.

“Worms don’t have bones.” Applejack said as she came up to Bedrock. “How did your Hoof of the Earth hurt it?”

“It may not have bones to break but I can still use my tremors to rupture its muscles and internal organs.” He replied.

Yuck. She winced, thinking about what something like that would feel like.

“And it’s not over yet, it’s still circling us a little farther below. Can you feel it?” He asked her.

Applejack looked down at the sand beneath her hooves, forehead wrinkling in concentration. She tried closing her eyes for a bit to see if that could make her focus better on just what she was feeling from the ground.

And she did feel it.

She could feel something moving around in the sand down there, all of its movements sending vibrations up to her. She could “hear” it too as the vibrations carried up to her ears, but it was mostly still just a bunch of noise to her. She didn’t know where it was exactly, just that something big was definitely down there and moving around. She opened her eyes again and nodded to Bedrock.

“You really are something special...” He trailed off, biting his lip.

Quartz and the others then came over. “Get ready, a sand worm is very persistent, it’ll come up again soon.”

Applejack didn’t need to be told twice, she could feel the heavier rumbling under her hooves moments before the tail of the huge worm shot up in-between all of them. Quartz jumped away as it tried to slam down on him, the other ponies forced to jump in the air as the tail spun around trying to knock them off their hooves.

Pinkie would play around with this like she was jumping rope.

They landed out of the tails range so it slunk back beneath the sand. Applejack thought they had another momentary reprieve but she was quickly proven wrong as the desert began to shift. The sand they were standing on sunk downwards as if being pulled, the whole area turning and sinking. Applejack and the others were caught in it and she realized she knew what was going on, like the water in a bathtub right as the drain is unplugged, the sand worm was spinning around to suck them all in to the center of the pit. It was creating a sand whirlpool.

“You’re kidding me!” Applejack yelled as her body was stuck waist deep in the rotating sand, being pulled deeper into the pit. Quartz and the others were in a similar state although they didn’t seem worried.

A low rasping noise made Applejack look to the bottom of the pit. The head of the worm was poking out, its horrifying mouth opened wide and waiting for the ponies to inevitably come to it.

“Yagh!” Applejack yelped, trying to scramble up out of the pit but being unable to due to the loose, ever moving, sand.

“It’s okay Applejack!” Quartz yelled to her. “We’re in no danger.” Quartz let out a single breath and tapped his hooves on the surface of the sand.

Applejack could see the sand rippling even as it constantly rotated down in the pit, the ripples reached the sand worm itself causing the beast to shriek wildly, Applejack saw its teeth shattering and mouth spasm as it sunk back below the sand.

The next thing she knew she was being lifted by Bedrock out of the sand as the pit collapsed on itself, leaving no trace of its existence aside from some rearranged sand dunes.

“Sorry things got a little troubling for you.” Quartz said to her as they all shook their bodies free of any remaining sand. “Although I can send tremors through the ground they still naturally dissipate over distance, I needed the worm to be close enough and not moving.”

“Fine, fine. Just glad that’s all over. I’d really like to get to the Twin Towns as soon as possible now.” She looked up, the sun much closer to the horizon now. “Looks like that’ll be tomorrow though.” She sighed, shaking her tail one last time before starting her walk forward, the four disciples of Hoof of the Earth following behind her.

Comments

[Lieral]

The concept of this martial art is extremely interesting. Like you wrote yourself, in terms of battle the earth ponies always seemed a little in disadvantage, but the simple concept behind it is enough to level the battlefield.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Exciting chapter.

[Luna-my-favorite-pony]

All I can say is; huh, cool!

[MagicS]

10320635
Glad you're enjoying the story so far!

[redmar]

I think that Maud Pie would be even better at it if she decided to study it, which she might if it helps her to study rocks.