• 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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Brian Wilson

Applejack headed east. While the memory of that first morning was a bit muddled, she clearly remembered seeing the sun rising over the ocean when she first woke up. That meant she'd awoken on the eastern edge of the island. She had left from the cave with the afternoon sun at her back, but now that she was once again in the thick of the jungle, the canopy blocked the celestial orb from vision completely. Fortunately, she was still able to confirm her direction by observing the angle of the occasional shafts of sunlight that pierced the heavy green ceiling far above her head.

After spending, in Applejack’s opinion, far too much time blazing a trail through the jungle, she came upon her own path. In her dazed and confused state on that first morning she had trampled and smashed a route through the underbrush that was nearly impossible to miss. Snapped branches and flattened plant life cut a haphazard, though mostly straight, line eastward towards the beach where she'd originally woken up, and in the opposite direction to where she had found that first spring of fresh water. She had, of course, taken a long drink from the river near the cave before heading out, so she followed the path in the direction of the beach.

When she spotted her path of destruction, a thought occurred to her and she glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, the jungle behind her looked nearly untouched without extremely close examination. She did actually have at least some rudimentary woodsmare skills, and ever since the first night she'd been far more careful to not leave a trail wherever she went. Seeing now just how easy her old trail was to follow, she felt a small sense of proud satisfaction. Whatever else was on the island, she wouldn't let it find her that easily.

She trekked through the jungle at a steady pace, a little faster than before now that she had a clear path to follow. As she walked, she tried to ignore the occasional rustling from the jungle around her. This island had too many oddities about it for Applejack's liking, the least of which was the rustling sound. Far more concerning, in fact, was the total lack of any other call or sound from whatever was out there. Applejack wasn't the most knowledgeable of her friends when it came to animals, but she knew that no living thing was that silent all the time. It just wasn't natural.

The path continued its winding course through the rain forest. Trees passed by on both sides, virtually indistinguishable from one another without close inspection. For a moment Applejack was worried about finding her way back to the cave. That thought was quickly defeated by the simple fact that her temporary home was located at the base of the largest mountain on the island. It really wouldn't be that hard to locate if she ever got turned around.

The thought of that place served to remind her of yet another of her concerns regarding the strange island. That concern was about the cave itself. The more she thought about it, the more it disturbed her. The walls were perfectly smooth, it was completely straight, and it went much too deep without deviating in either regard. The cave, like so much else lately, just didn't feel natural. In fact, it almost felt wrong to even call it a cave. The first word that came to mind was “tunnel.”

The thought made her shiver in spite of the damp afternoon heat.

Suddenly, she blinked as an idea occurred to her. Back at the cave she had all the materials for a fire, and actually planned on making one that very night. Once she had fire, it would be a simple matter to create a torch. Curiosity flooded her mind with the desire to see just how far the rabbit hole went, in literal sense of the expression.

The concept of a cave-dive certainly held more appeal than her current task. Her mane was sticking to her neck and shoulders, practically soaked through by the humidity of the jungle air combined with the sweat of her exertion. That was exactly why she normally kept it tied up tight in a ponytail. Having it loose only caused it to get in the way when she worked up a sweat, which she did every day back on the farm. Of course, her coat wasn't in much better condition. Filthy and matted, just as damp as her mane, she would probably make a homeless pony look good when compared to her current state. She didn't even want to check her tail. Weighted down by the humid air, she could feel the end of it dragging in the dirt behind her. No doubt it was a tangled, muddy mess by that point. Lucky for her, the jungle presented an abundance of scents from the smell of strange new plant life to the welcome aroma of soil, all of it working to overpower her own odor. Fortunately it was successful, in that Applejack had no idea what she smelled like under the overpowering scents of the jungle. She could still make an educated guess, and judging by her state she would guess that she smelled worse than a pig in summer.

In short, Applejack was sweaty, dirty, and smelly. She desperately needed a bath.

The jungle seemed to continue without end. Most of her energy had been drained that morning during her disastrous attempt at collecting some food. That debacle had ended with an impromptu swim against a raging river, and finally Applejack taking a nasty fall from a palm tree. Any remaining strength she had left after that abuse had been used later that morning moving rocks and firewood around. All in all, she was beginning to feel tuckered out, and the arduous trek through the thick jungle certainly wasn't helping.

After what felt like hours of trudging through the dense rainforest, Applejack caught sight of a bright spot of light ahead. She grinned, pausing for a moment to listen. It took a bit for her to hear anything other than her heavy breathing, but once she caught her breath another sound reached her ears: the distinctive splashing of waves upon a beach. She was once again reminded of how different it sounded from the lakes she was used to. There was just so much more, she felt a sense of awe simply at the sound of all that water in constant motion.

Applejack began to feel a slight sense of trepidation, and a worried look quickly crossed her face. She was going to see the ocean. Of course, she'd seen it when she woke up, but she hadn't exactly been in the best mental state at the time, and even then she'd still barely been able to handle the scale of it. Then she'd seen it for the second time from the top of the mountain, but that time had been from a great distance, and she'd become… distracted in her despair shortly afterwards, anyway. This time it was just her, and the single largest physical thing she had ever come into contact with in her entire life. A mass of water so great that to even imagine the volume it held was impossible. Something of untold depth, that contained countless unknown mysteries in its fathomless abyss. The one place on the planet that had never truly been explored by anypony, and could be hiding any kind of strange creature or monster. Her imagination unwillingly conjured images of sea-serpents and krakens just waiting to pull her under the endless blue waves and into the blackest deep of the ocean.

Nothing to worry about.

Applejack slowed down as the light approached, eventually stopping entirely still a good distance from the bright exit of the jungle. She mentally prepared herself, assuring herself that she was exaggerating. Really, she knew she was being silly. She had met, and spoken to, two literal goddesses with total control over the sun and moon, and a sea-serpent who was actually quite nice. She could handle some water. And if there was anything in there waiting to eat her, it would have done so. From what she could tell, she must have laid unconscious for at least a day on that beach before waking up, and nothing had grabbed her then. Besides, she was pretty sure the only monsters around were right there on the island with her.

Slowly but surely, her unease and nervousness was replaced with excitement. A defiant smile broke out on her face, and her eyes lit up with determination. She resumed her walk at a slightly increased pace, moving towards the light with a purposeful stride. She was going to see the ocean.

She burst through the treeline and out onto the beach. The bright sun blinded her momentarily, and when her vision cleared her breath left her in a gasp. It was beautiful. She froze, staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the crystal blue stretching to the horizon before her. Of all the words she'd expected to describe such the fearful body of water, 'beautiful' was not one that had come up. Now, with the ocean directly in front of her, that was the only word that she was capable of thinking.

What she had just moments ago thought to be a terrifying abyss of massive and unknown danger had in reality turned out to be a serene plane of calming blue. The ocean was almost completely still, with only small waves visible in the distance. The water gently rose and fell against the shore, rolling over the bright sand and creating a peaceful sound that soothed Applejack's nerves and made a nap seem like a wonderful idea. The sun shone down from behind her, warming her in a manner far more pleasant than the moist air in the jungle had, and even starting to dry her coat. The rays of Celestia's magnificent orb shone down upon the sand and sea alike, making the beach seem bright and friendly, and the waters seem to glint invitingly with a playful light as they calmly undulated over the warm sands.

A low chuckle broke free of Applejack's throat, followed by a snort. After a moment, she fell back to her haunches and laughed long and loud. The hearty sound radiated out across the beach, bouncing along the sapphire waters and into the distance. Applejack continued laughing until tears filled her eyes and she was out of breath, clutching her hat to her head as her mirth nearly caused it to dislodge from its place. Finally her guffaws quieted, fading to simple giggles, and eventually stopping altogether. She took a moment to wipe her eyes with a forehoof as the last of the tittering left her. She smiled bright and wide, and shook her head slowly as she looked out across the picturesque scene before her with barely suspended disbelief.

Eventually, after a minute or two of staring and enjoying the serenity of the moment, Applejack remembered that she had come to the beach for a reason. Immediately, she stood back up on her hooves and began scanning the area for anything suspicious. Her gaze was constantly drawn to the ocean, but she managed to tear it away after a brief moment each time. She knew that she had awoken somewhere nearby, since she had followed her own path back to the beach. Sure enough, after only a short search, she spotted a slight depression in the sand. It was barely visible, but luckily the tide hadn't been high enough to wash it away yet. She moved towards the imprint to investigate further.

She couldn't see anything overly strange about it. It seemed a little deep, making it very easy to find, but she simply attributed that as evidence of just how long she was unconscious for. She was unable to find anything to take note of, so she went back to examining the beach in general. In spite of the situation, she couldn't help but smile as she searched. The sun was already chasing away the humidity of the jungle and reinvigorating Applejack with its pleasing warmth on her coat. The sand beneath her hooves radiated a heat that soothed the muscles in her legs, and felt wonderful after so long trudging through muddy dirt and undergrowth. She almost forgot all about her search for clues as she basked in the beautiful day.

Then something caught her eye. She trotted down the beach a little way, towards a patch of sand that looked odd. Sure enough, upon reaching the area she found a small trench of sorts in the sand. It looked like something else had been laying on the beach as well, but had been dragged off. Applejack's mouth went dry, and her good mood vanished as fast as it had come. Something, or somepony.

She ran her gaze along the furrow in the beach. It ran in a mostly-straight line for about three meters before disappearing into the jungle. She briefly considered just leaving well enough alone, but that thought was quickly cast aside. She needed answers, and this was the only thing she'd found that had even a chance of giving her some. Besides, somepony could be hurt.

That last thought made her shiver, but she began slowly making her way towards the treeline nonetheless. The steady sounds of the ocean continued behind her, but they were pushed to the back of her mind until they became nothing but background noise, overpowered by the heavy beating of her own heart. As she neared the bushes at the edge of the forest, she could see a point where the undergrowth had been parted violently right where the trench in the sand led. Twigs and leaves were broken and smashed at the point of entry, but not enough for Applejack to see through to the other side. Her steps were slow and measured as she moved closer at an agonizing pace. She held her breath when she finally reached the bushes. Her forehoof shook slightly as she reached out to part the leaves. Visions of what, or who, she might find flashed through her head. A broken and bleeding pony, one that she could have saved if she'd thought to check the beach sooner. Or maybe she'd find whatever had dragged the object off of the beach, and it would take her next.

Realizing that she had frozen mere inches away from her objective, Applejack shook her head and set her gaze into a determined scowl. With one quick motion, she reached out and brushed the bushes aside, for better or for worse.

A heavy sigh of relief escaped her lips. There was no body decaying on the jungle floor, and no monster waiting to ambush her. Simply a pair of off-white saddlebags laying in a disheveled, but mostly undamaged, heap. As she looked more closely, details began to stand out. For instance, there was a colorful insignia on the flap of each bag. Strangely enough, they looked almost like—

No…

No, that wasn't possible.

Her mind had ceased all coherent thought, repeating one that one simple phrase as if the repetition would somehow make what she was seeing more believable. Visions of her horrible nightmare flashed before her eyes. Applejack didn't notice she had stopped breathing. In fact, she wouldn't have noticed if her heart up and stopped beating right there. Everything faded away completely, the sounds of the beach, the rustling in the jungle, even the feel of the coarse sand beneath her hooves was lost to her. Her entire world became tunnel vision, locked directly on the object in front of her. It was as if she was floating in a black void, with nothing but the familiar pair of saddlebags for company.

They simply sat there, seemingly innocently, partially hidden by the leaves of the bush they were embedded in. Nothing else was visible to her so she reached out to them, trying to decide if they were, in fact, real. She felt the rough texture beneath her hoof and recoiled as if burned. As much as she wanted to deny it, they were as real as anything.

She blinked hard, but they remained unchanged upon opening her eyes. She stared at the trio of blue and yellow party balloons adorning each side; recognizing them as the cutie mark of one of her closest friends. That wasn't even what had disturbed her though. No, what had shaken her to her very core was the stain across one of the large pouches. A small splash of red stood out harshly against the snow-white material of the saddlebag. She recognized it easily enough.

Blood.

Author's Note:

Edited by Pilate, a nifty dude.