• Published 29th Dec 2012
  • 12,587 Views, 1,189 Comments

Mother of Invention - zaponator



Awake and alone, Applejack will find a way to survive.

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Sticking It To Myself

Applejack winced as she added one more piece of brushwood to the pile on her back. It was only a fraction of what she could normally carry, but already her body was beginning to protest painfully. She let out a frustrated sigh, and stomped a forehoof. If there was one thing Applejack couldn't stand, it was being unable to work. There were certain kinds of pain that she could simply power through, but she knew better than to mess with a spinal injury. Already, she was slightly limited in what she could do with her injured back. If she hurt it any further she might not be able to perform tasks necessary to survival.

That thought didn't do much to alleviate her frustration, however. She managed to place one more small stick onto the pile of wood she was carrying before a twinge of pain told her she should drop off that small load. She sighed dejectedly, and dragged her hooves as she made her way back to the cave. She had been at it for hours, but her stash of wood was not even close to what she knew she would need. As she made her way back to the cave, she stole a glance at the sun. It seemed to have passed the midway point, and was now beginning the long descent into the west. This only came as a minor surprise. Applejack had realized not long ago that morning was coming to a close, but the fact that it was already afternoon made her decide that she would have to make do with whatever wood she'd gathered so far. After all, there were other things she wanted to get done. She unceremoniously tossed the latest batch onto the semi-neat stack of wood sitting just inside the cave, and stepped back to examine her supply.

It was a decent sized pile, to be sure, but she was going to need a lit fire all night every night. She was still rattled by the noise that had awoken her in the jungle on her first night. Whatever was out there, she only hoped that fire would stop it. She couldn't suppress a shudder at the memory. Not so much from the shriek, but more from the feeling that had accompanied it.

Applejack shook her head vigorously to clear her thoughts. While the motion succeeded in that regard, it also served to remind her of what she'd been doing that morning. She groaned and scrunched her eyes shut, clutching the sides of her head in her forehooves as her brain felt like it was trying to explode. After the headache subsided, Applejack realized she was lying on her belly on the cave floor. She pushed back to her hooves, adjusting her hat from where it had fallen over her eyes.

She quickly made a mental note not to do that again until her head was feeling better. In any case, she realized that she shouldn't have been wasting time sitting around in the cave anyway. There was more work to be done. As much as she wanted to move on to exploring the beach, she had one last task in front of her. Even though she fully intended to create a better shelter for herself, Applejack knew that she would be in the cave a while longer. To that end, she would need a fire pit. There were various rocks scattered around the base of the mountain. So finding the materials wouldn't be a problem, at least. Applejack sighed as she remembered that she could only carry a small amount at a time. Well, the quicker she got started the quicker she'd be done.

With that thought in mind, Applejack trotted out of the cave and down the slope to the jungle floor. Building the fire pit in the cave seemed like a pretty bad idea. It wasn't exactly spacious, and the smoke would quickly become unbearable anyway. With her fire outside she'd have to watch out for rain, but that was a minor concern. As long as she stored the wood pile safely in the cave she'd be fine.

She paused in her musing to lift a loose rock from the ground and place it on her back. It was about hoof-sized, so she figured she could get a few more before bringing the load back. As an earth pony, Applejack had become amazingly good at balancing things on her back. As a result, the slowly growing pile of rocks on her back was never even close to falling over.

As she worked, her previous train of thought returned to her. Thoughts of the cave brought an idea to mind. Once she had a decent fire going, she should be able to make some sort of torch. Whit that, she could finally find out what lay within the mysterious depths of her cave-home. There was definitely something off about that cave. It was far too deep, and far too straight to not lead anywhere. At the very least, if it ended up leading into some sort of wider cavern, she could maybe set up her more permanent living quarters down there. At the thought of having a secret lair like that, she couldn't help but remember the Batmare comic books a certain librarian had attempted to get her into, though she would no doubt insist that Applejack refer to them as 'graphic novels.' It wasn't that she had a problem with the series, it was interesting enough to be sure, but there were so many side-stories and supplementary reading that Applejack simply didn't have the time to read it all. At least that's what she told her friends.

In reality, she frowned as she remembered, things had really gone downhill after the death and eventual return of Supermare. That was a dark time indeed.

At that point, Applejack realized that she had gathered plenty of rocks to build a small fire pit. She headed up towards the cave, and looked around for a level area outside. A decent spot presented itself just a few feet out of the entrance to her temporary dwelling. Despite the slope that led down to the jungle, there was enough flat space at the top for her purposes. She set to work, and in short order had a neat ring of rocks set up a few feet directly in front of the entrance. From there, the light would shine into her cave at night, giving her at least a modicum of comfort.

Applejack was starting to work up a bit of a sweat after hauling wood and rocks all morning, but she only relished in the feeling of hard work. It certainly beat moping around all day and, aside from that, her options were fairly limited. She went to the wood pile in the cave, and retrieved several good-sized sticks from it. After placing the wood in the fire pit for later use, she decided to check the time. It was getting well into the afternoon now, meaning that it had actually taken her a couple hours to gather the rocks for the fire pit. Celestia's sun continued its descent, but was still high enough to be visible through the forest canopy.

Plenty of time, Applejack thought with a smirk, for a trip to the beach.

Author's Note:

Edited by Pilate, the swellest of the swell.