• Published 29th Dec 2012
  • 12,586 Views, 1,189 Comments

Mother of Invention - zaponator



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

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Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground

Standing just outside the tunnel, Applejack gave the contents of Pinkie's saddlebags one last check in the sparkling light of dawn. She had carefully folded and repacked the pink blanket into the bottom of one pouch. It had proved quite comfortable, providing her with her best sleep since waking on the island, and she wasn't about to risk anything happening to it.

She had eaten one of the coconuts for breakfast, leaving the other three safely nestled within the saddlebags. With the aid of the thick-bladed camping knife, removing the green outer husk had been far easier, making it a simple matter of smashing the hard, brown shell on a rock. The ease that the tool provided in opening the fruit had been something of a relief to Applejack, as she had been slightly worried about the difficulty of her previous attempt if she was going to be eating them fairly often.

In addition to the coconuts, Applejack had packed the flint rock she'd found, and enough firewood to make one good-sized fire. It was really a shame that she would have to leave behind all the wood she'd collected, but there was really no easy way for her to transport all of it. Besides, it wasn't like there was a shortage of wood on the island. At worst, having to collect more was a minor inconvenience.

The last thing Applejack managed to fit into the stuffed saddlebags was the rubber chicken that she'd found in them. She honestly wasn't sure why, but it felt like something she should hang on to. Maybe it was the manufactured nature of the chicken that compelled her to keep it. As much as she was a country mare, having one little piece of civilisation felt good. Perhaps it calmed her a bit to have even a small reminder of home in something that could only have been made by ponies. Something synthetic, unnatural, just to provide a contrast to the intense lack of anything else of the sort now present in her daily life. In addition, the chicken was a reminder of her friends; an item that almost always indicated the nearby presence of a certain party pony, which, in turn, usually indicated the presence of several more close friends and occasionally cake. The chicken was something more personal, more closely tied to her over-energetic friend, than something as simple as a pair of saddlebags. Happy memories, though not associated with the chicken directly, flowed forth simply at its presence, bringing to mind parties and laughter and singing, and in turn, inevitably causing Applejack to smile simply by looking at it.

Then again, maybe she kept it simply because it looked kind of cute.

Applejack shrugged off her meandering train of thought, returning to the task at hoof. The tattered remnants of the pillow had been used up for her torch the day before, so those didn't need to be packed. Lastly, she had the freshly filled canteen hanging from her neck, the knife strapped to her left foreleg, and of course, her familiar stetson placed securely atop her loose-hanging mane.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Applejack turned back to look at the tunnel that had sheltered her for the past four nights. In a way, she was almost sad to see it go. It had seen her through the first night, when that… thing had chased her through the jungle. It had sheltered her as she slept off her pain after falling out of a tree. She had only stayed there for a few days, but the little cave had been growing on her.

Then she thought of what she'd found within. Shuddering slightly, Applejack suddenly found the prospect of a new living situation much more appealing. She gave the tunnel one last look-over, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, not that there was much to forget. After confirming that she had, in fact, packed everything, Applejack tipped her hat to the cave. For some strange reason, it seemed only right that she bade it farewell.

With that, she turned around and marched down the slope, into the jungle that lay at the bottom.

She didn't have much in the way of a plan when she set out. She was going inland, that much was certain. Applejack had decided, after finding signs of an equine presence in the tunnel, that more exploration of the island was needed. So far, she had only been to the beach, the mountain, which was fairly close to the beach anyway, and the immediate surrounding area. Her new shelter would be a little more inland, and would hopefully bring her one step closer to actually finding something useful.

Applejack kept very careful track of where she was going though, just in case she did need to return to the mountain after all. She always did have a good sense of direction, and was confident that as long as she paid attention she'd be able to remember the way back to her old shelter with ease.

She paused and uncapped her canteen, sitting down on her haunches and taking a long gulp of refreshing water. Applejack cast her eyes over her surroundings as she wiped the sweat from her brow with a forehoof. There were still plenty of palm trees about, but Applejack could now pick out leafier trees interspersed with them. Thick undergrowth was present everywhere, more so than it had been closer to the beach. Looking over her shoulder, Applejack could see a jagged path cut straight through the brush leading back to where she'd come from. That certainly would make finding her way back easier, should her quest for a new camp fail.

Her ears pricked as an ever-familiar rustling made itself known from somewhere out in the jungle. Whatever was out there apparently existed inland just as much as it had closer to the beach. Surprisingly, the thought was somehow comforting to Applejack. Eerie silence would have been a whole lot more concerning than a sound she heard regularly without anything bad happening.

Deciding that her break had lasted long enough, Applejack once more hung the canteen in place around her neck, stood up, and continued her trek through the jungle. The trees grew more and more thickly as she continued inland. The ever present palms were soon all but replaced by large rainforest trees, growing close enough to create an unbroken ceiling of green far above Applejack's head. The forest farther from the ocean felt fairly different from what Applejack had experienced. It was still teeming with green life, practically a living, breathing entity in and of itself, which was similar to the feeling she'd gotten in the forest nearer the beach. This area, however, felt more… close. The whole place felt like it was holding her tight, wrapped in its embrace like a warm, soft, suffocating blanket. It was a strange sensation, being nearly engulfed in forest, and Applejack was once again glad that she wasn't claustrophobic.

The journey was mostly uneventful. Light did manage to filter down through the canopy, but not a lot, creating a sort of dim twilight beneath the trees, and making it hard for Applejack to accurately judge the time of day. The undergrowth left small scratches every so often as she forced her way through the tangle of plant life, but Applejack was able to lessen this by relaxing her pace slightly. She felt like she'd been walking for a couple hours at least, leaving a jagged, but fairly straight path through the merciless press of brush that grew from the forest floor, when her surroundings finally began to change.

The trees spread out a little bit more, enough so that beams of sunlight poured unhindered through gaps in the forest canopy. The undergrowth thinned out until it was little more than scattered patches of low growing plant life, easily avoided. Applejack could even see various wildflowers growing in patches and clusters where the sunlight shone directly upon them. Applejack's stomach voiced its hunger at the sight. The low rumbling came as a surprise, nearly making her jump, and Applejack realized that it must've been past lunch time. Considering that she'd left so early, and accounting for her slow pace, she reasoned that she was quite far inland at that point.

She decided that a quick snack break wouldn't hurt. Setting down the saddlebags, Applejack sighed with relief briefly before making her way over to a patch of wildflowers that caught her eye. She sat on her haunches before the burst of colour and looked it over. The vibrant blues, reds, and yellows were a nice change from the ever-present press of green and brown that surrounded her on all sides. She even spotted bright orange and purple popping out from against the green backdrop of the undergrowth. The display was like a burst of living colour in the lonely jungle. For a moment, Applejack became lost in the beauty of the wondrous display of colour. She stared, unblinking, as the multitude of hues reflected in her bright green eyes like the most beautiful rainbow.

She swallowed a dry lump in her throat, and raised a hoof to wipe sudden moisture from her eyes. Closing her eyes tightly in an attempt to stem the flow before it started, Applejack took several deep, shuddering breaths.

Flowers. They were just a bunch of flowers.

Finally, Applejack's breathing evened out. She hesitantly opened her eyes, focusing on anything but the abundant display of colour before her. The earth beneath the plant was dry, layered with the dead plant matter that sacrificed itself so that others might grow in their stead. Tree roots snaked along the ground, long brown serpents extending far and wide in search of moisture and nutrients. When Applejack at last worked up the courage to look back at the flowers, the light seemed to dim slightly. They no longer popped out to her eyes. The bright blast of prismatic beauty had been replaced by a cheap facsimile of colour; painted petals that looked cold, dull, and lifeless. For some reason, this sight almost bothered her more.

Applejack glanced up through the gap in the canopy above, and noticed that a small wisp of cloud had drifted in front of the sun, blocking a small amount of its rays. She really had no idea how to predict weather patterns when they weren't controlled by pegasi, but the cloud looked small and thin enough not to worry about.

Applejack quickly leaned down and devoured several of the wildflowers, eager to be away from there. Her mind calmed, and her thoughts turned to happier things as she munched on the petals. They were delicious, nothing she hadn't had before, but pleasing nonetheless. Applejack had always preferred the slightly earthy taste of wildflowers over the more refined taste of mass-produced flowers. She closed her eyes, and chewed slowly, thoughtfully. For a moment, listening to the gentle rustling of the leaves in the wind, tasting the sweet wildflowers in her mouth, Applejack could almost pretend she was back on the farm, and that when she opened her eyes, she would be greeted not by an unfamiliar forest of unfamiliar trees, but by endless lines of perfectly maintained fruit bearing trees and the cool breeze running along her coat.

Then a rustling sounded from somewhere to her left, and the illusion shattered. The humid air rushed back to embrace her, and the smell of the rainforest once more filled her nostrils; dirt, and sweat, and decaying plant life. She swallowed the suddenly tasteless petals in her mouth, and stood back up. She briefly considered taking some of the wildflowers with her, but at a quick glance around decided that harvesting them as needed would not be a problem.

Applejack still wasn't exactly full, but she no longer felt like eating. She once more set off at a walk through the jungle. The slightly greater space between trees and the less prevalent presence of undergrowth made that leg of her journey much less arduous. Her trek through dense jungle with barely enough space to move between trees had transformed into a peaceful trot through a beautiful forest. The walk didn't last long however, as Applejack noticed that the trees ended shortly ahead. She gasped, and picked up her pace, bursting out of the treeline in a matter of seconds.

She found herself in a large, circular clearing, surrounded by leafy jungle trees and underbrush, with not a palm in sight. The sunlight shone brightly with the whole area open to the sky. Looking up, Applejack was finally able to gauge the time. It appeared to be early afternoon, meaning that she had been fairly accurate in her earlier guess as to how long she'd been walking.

A crystalline river flowed gently along one side of the clearing. It was about two pony lengths across, emerging from the treeline and running parallel to it all the way across one side of the large circular space before disappearing once more into the jungle. The other major feature to catch Applejack's eye was a large boulder that stood imposingly on the edge of the clearing opposite from the river. The mass of gray stone was partially buried in the ground, but even just the visible portion stood nearly as tall as the trees next to it. It was about as wide as it was tall; looking like some angry god had snapped off the top of a mountain and placed it at the edge of the clearing, allowing the erosion of time to grind it down to a rounded shape. The entire thing was free of the treeline, but only just, with the closest trees nearly touching the back of the rock. Scraggly green moss adorned the lowest visible part of the boulder like a beard, connecting nearly seamlessly to the grass around it. A few more patches of moss hung from several places higher up, indicating that the landmark had been there for some time.

The ground of the clearing itself was flat and even for the most part, other than the sloped riverbank. Being a meadow, the grass was pleasantly short. It didn't have the precise look of cut and maintained grass, it was simply naturally short. For some reason, this was both a relief and a disappointment to Applejack. In any case, the grass was soft, at least, and if worst came to worst, meadow grass was at least palatable, even if it still wasn't exactly tasty.

"Yeah," she muttered, smirking slightly, "that'll do."

Applejack slowly made her way into the clearing, glancing around carefully. The bright afternoon sun glinted off the surface of the peaceful river and illuminated the unmoving, green grass. The river provided quiet background noise, burbling soothingly at the edge of hearing. Wildflowers dotted the jungle around the clearing in scattered patches of varying size. Applejack nodded, deciding then and there that she'd found her new camp.

Applejack made her way over to the massive rock, setting down Pinkie's saddlebags in the short grass and looking up at the mostly smooth stone. The boulder would make a good site for some sort of shelter, providing a solid wall at her back.

Shelter could wait, however. Turning away from the boulder, Applejack began walking towards the river at the other side of the clearing. She stopped momentarily out of reflex when she realized that she'd left the saddlebags unattended. That thought only lasted a moment, quickly driven away by a humourless snort when she remembered that she was completely alone. That would take some getting used to.

Applejack blinked at the strange thought as she continued on her way towards the river. She wasn't sure that she wanted to get used to being alone. She wasn't used to it already because she didn't enjoy it. Small town life had the great benefit of being within walking distance from everypony. For as long as Applejack had been alive, there had always been ponies nearby. Even if she was busy, or otherwise not visiting anypony, they were always there. Now she was completely cut off, and it was really starting to sink in how different that was. Applejack didn't want to, but she was going to have to get used to it.

Only for a while though. She was sure of that, at least. It was only a matter of time, and when she got back home she'd be sure to visit everypony in Ponyville at least once. She certainly wouldn't take their presence for granted ever again.

Applejack's thoughts were cut off by the river appearing before her. The clearing wasn't overly large, and it only took a few seconds to walk over to the river. Lost in her thoughts, however, it had felt like longer. Applejack shook her head, focusing on what she was doing.

She was going to need drinking water. Finding a new spring was definitely an option, but having a source of water flowing right through her camp would be even better. Of course, that simply depended on if it was drinkable.

Applejack walked down the few feet of gently sloping riverbank, stopping just at the edge of the water. The ground was softer there, and she was careful not to slip in. That was an experience she'd rather not repeat.

Leaning out over the water, Applejack once more caught sight of her reflection. Dirty, sweaty, and with small cuts covering her, she certainly looked the worse for wear. Her mane hung loosely, framing her face and hanging down until the tips of her hair touched the water. It might have looked nice if it wasn't dirty and filled with small twigs and bits of plant life.

Applejack simply cracked a smile. At least there was nopony around to tell her to clean up. Still smirking slightly, she leaned a little closer and gave the water a tentative sniff. It smelled fine to her, which is to say it didn't have any scent at all. Looking past her reflection, she couldn't see anything out of place in the river. The bottom was made of smooth, roundish stones, sand visible in the gaps between them. The water was crystal clear, lacking any algae or mud to murk it up. There was not a single sign of any living thing, either. Not even the smallest fish was visible in the flowing waters before her. For some reason, that didn't even surprise Applejack.

Deciding that it probably wouldn't kill her, Applejack leaned down and took a large gulp of water. The liquid was pleasantly cool, and remarkably fresh, doing wonders to quench her thirst. Applejack smiled brightly, shaking her now mostly-wet mane as she raised her head from the surface of the river.

She uncapped the canteen around her neck and quickly filled it up with some of the river water. Applejack sat on the riverbank for a few moments, pondering the waters before her. She had to wonder where, exactly, the river flowed from. It was considerably wider and deeper than the previous one she'd encountered, but that one had been flowing from an underground spring. Applejack decided that investigating this new river's source would be a good idea, but it would have to wait for some other time. Afternoon was wearing on, and she had a camp to make.

Applejack trotted back over to the large rock and her saddlebags that she'd left there. She opened both pouches on the bags, and set to unpacking. First she withdrew the rubber chicken from the top of one pouch. She held it in her forehooves for several moments, looking it over with a thoughtful expression. She still wasn't quite sure why she had it, but she wasn't about to waste any more time musing about it. She set it down carefully in a sitting position in the grass, its back leaning against the rock, cracking a little smile at the action before going back to the bags without another thought on the matter.

Next, she pulled out her flint rock, and set it off to the side, followed by the firewood from both pouches, which she piled neatly a few feet away from the boulder. This effectively left her with a wall at her back, and a fire in front of her. It wasn't exactly shelter, but it would do for now. Looking at the pile of wood, Applejack realized that simply lighting it there in the grass would probably end badly. Unlike the gravel and dirt location in front of the cave, there was plenty of grass at her new camp for the fire to spread to. She would need something to contain the fire, but she could worry about that after unpacking.

Next came her remaining three coconuts. The sight of them made her stomach growl, reminding her that she'd only eaten a mouthful of flowers outside of breakfast that morning. She pushed aside her hunger for the moment, instead placing the coconuts off to one side.

Lastly, she pulled out the folded pink blanket. Applejack couldn't help but smile as she carefully placed it with the rest of her paltry possessions. It may not have been the most important for survival, but Applejack appreciated the comfortable blanket immensely. Her smile almost turned to a frown as the thought crossed her mind of Pinkie Pie being somewhere on the island, without a blanket, without a fire, possibly without food, but that frown never quite managed to manifest itself. She wasn't sure how, but Applejack was sure that wherever her energetic friend was, she was just fine. Like so many other things that Applejack couldn't explain about that mare, she just accepted the feeling and moved on. Giving it too much thought only ever brought trouble, or worse, doubt. She had enough to deal with at the moment.

So it was that Applejack smilingly discarded her worries about Pinkie, thinking instead about exactly how she could light a fire without lighting up the whole meadow, surrounding forest, and likely herself. She figured that would defeat the whole purpose of lighting a fire in the first place.

Applejack decided she could simply make a ring of stones, as she'd done back at the cave. The problem this time was that there were no fallen or broken rocks anywhere that she could see. After a minute of considering leaving to find rocks, Applejack suddenly remembered all the smooth stones she'd seen at the bottom of the river. Mentally slapping herself for not thinking of it earlier, she strapped on Pinkie's empty saddlebags and made her way over to the riverbank.

Once there, she set the saddlebags down next to the water and made sure to put her hat with them. She wasn't about to nearly lose it again, and she didn't exactly feel like a swim anyway. She went over to the edge of the water, and began removing the stones that she could reach with her forelegs. There were plenty of stones to choose from, and Applejack took the roundest ones she could find. In a short time, she'd managed to gather up plenty of vaguely spherical stones and place them in Pinkie's saddlebags.

She hummed a tune as she trotted across the clearing back over to the boulder, resetting her hat into its position atop her loose, golden mane. Applejack was glad to have things going her way, at least in some small way. She wasn't in any mortal danger of any kind as far as she could see. She had food, water, and all in all a pretty nice campsite. Her smile stayed firmly in place as she formed a ring of stones around her firewood. The bright sun shining directly into her little clearing quickly dried her forelegs as she worked.

She left her firewood unlit for the time being, opting to save her supply of wood for as long as possible. Quite frankly, she was tired after a long day of walking and setting up camp. Afternoon had by now worn into evening, and hauling a pair of saddlebags full of rocks had left her unwilling to go gather more firewood at the moment.

Placing the once again empty saddlebags off with her other organized goods, Applejack took a seat facing the fire ring, and leaned back against the boulder with a sigh. The solid wall at her back brought at least some sense of security. With the fire in front of her, though unlit at the moment, she felt like she was safe and contained from anyone or anything that might be out there. It wasn't even a false feeling for the most part. Sure, she was still fairly open to the elements, but sneaking up behind her would be all but impossible, and her fire would likely scare off any wild animals. Of course, it was the less wild ones that she was even more worried about.

Casting aside any thoughts of unknown ponies and shrieking horrors, Applejack reached to the side and picked up a coconut. Her lunch of a single mouthful of flowers had left her somewhat unsatisfied, and she opted for an early supper to compensate. She drew the knife from its holster on her left foreleg, and made short work of the green husk. She threw the husk onto the pile of firewood once she'd removed it all, not wanting anything to go to waste. That done, Applejack sheathed the knife once more, and took the smaller, brown coconut up in her hooves. One quick and hard strike against the boulder was all it took to break open the delicious, brown fruit.

Applejack smiled, and tilted her hat back from where it had fallen forward with her swing. Once again, she leaned back against the boulder, contentedly chewing on the delectable white insides of the coconut. She took her time in eating, casting her gaze across the clearing before her. It really was a beautiful spot. The river glinted in the evening sun, its crystal clear waters flowing calm and smooth. The grass waved ever so slightly in the lightest of breezes, greener than anything she'd ever seen in the wild. The trees enclosing the clearing were a living wall, and yet didn't feel confining or stifling. The wildflowers dotting the forest around the clearing added little bursts of brilliant colour, each one as terrifically eye-catching as the last.

Really, it was the perfect campsite. Had the situation been different, Applejack would have done anything to find a site like this to camp at with her friends. One friend in particular. Sure she'd call it 'boring nature stuff', maybe admitting that the flowers were 'a little awesome', but Applejack knew that the smile on her face would say what she'd never voice aloud. Words too 'girly' and 'sappy' to ever be considered 'cool' enough to admit to the world, but words that could be communicated just fine with nothing more than a smile and a sparkle in her wide, magenta eyes.

Finished with her supper, Applejack pulled her hat down over her eyes. Visions of sparkling eyes and a carefree smile filled her thoughts, leaving her completely helpless against the massive grin that formed on her face as she drifted into a semi-conscious nap of sorts.

Applejack wasn't quite sure how long she stayed like that. Sleep eluded her, but the rest was relaxing nonetheless. She opened her eyes and pushed back her hat to its normal angle, looking up to find darkness descending over the jungle around her. The sun was setting, and the woods were quiet. Not even the slightest rustling could be heard. It put Applejack on edge.

She stood warily, stretching out the stiffness that came with a few hours of sitting still. A few satisfying pops sounded from her joints, prompting a sigh of relief, and a reduction in the tension she was feeling.

Once again calm and smiling softly, Applejack set about making a fire. She took the flint over to the pile of wood, and ran the back of the knife along it, casting sparks or glowing hot metal onto the dry wood. In a matter of minutes, a crackling blaze was warming her cozy little campsite.

Applejack laid out Pinkie Pie's blanket between the fire and the rock, careful to keep the edge away from the open flames, and lay down on her side. The popping and crackling of the fire kept her mind off of the eerily silent night-time jungle. Applejack took off her hat, gently setting it next to her on the blanket.

She lay back down for a moment, before blinking as a thought came to her. Sitting back up, she scooped up her hat in a forehoof. She then set the hat on top of the rubber chicken, who was still sitting up against the boulder. The hat swallowed the entire upper half of the toy, leaving just its lower body and a pair of legs sticking out comically.

Applejack stared for a moment, her face expressionless as the fire flickered in her eyes, before bursting out laughing. She fell to the soft blanket, clutching her sides as her rambunctious laughter filled the air of the clearing.

When she was finally able to catch her breath, she sat back up, wiping merry tears from her eyes with a forehoof as she let out the last few chuckles. Heaving a heavy sigh of contentment, Applejack shook her head amusedly at the inexplicable toy.

"Heh heh… Thanks, Pinkie," she muttered quietly. "I really needed that."

With that, Applejack lay back down with a tired exhale. In the warmth of the fire, and the softness of the grass and blanket, she slowly felt consciousness drifting away.

The first inkling she got that something was off was a twitching of her ears. She strained her hearing, but was answered by only silence. Her ears twitched again. Applejack shifted uneasily, suddenly finding the blanket less than comfortable. She could feel her heart rate increase. Her ears twitched. Applejack's breathing sped up; she could feel that something was wrong. She tried in vain to steady her breathing and ease her beating heart. Her ears twitched. She could feel a cold sweat beginning to form all over her coat. Her stomach roiled, feeling as if something had seeped into her, corrupting her from her very core. She felt afraid, terrified even. Her ears twitched.

Applejack shot to her hooves in a flash. Her eyes were wide, and her pupils had dilated to the point that the green of her eyes was all but invisible. Her breathing became panicked gasps, her heart felt like it was beating out if her chest, and worst of all, her entire being simply felt inexplicably wrong. She had felt this before.

She had barely come to that realization when an ear-rending shriek split the still night air. The all-too-familiar cry continued for several seconds, working painfully into Applejack's head and nearly bringing her to her knees with a pained grunt. She managed to stay upright until the hideous screech finally tapered off. Applejack raised a forehoof to rub at her ringing ears, surprised to find they weren't bleeding.

Applejack looked around frantically, her wide eyes flicking rapidly over the treeline for any sign of movement. Her fire cast a ring of orange light in the pitch-black night, but everything outside of that was completely invisible. It was there, though. Applejack could feel it, twisting in her gut, trying to make her run.

She wasn't going to run this time. Applejack stood her ground, gulping and attempting to force her quivering legs to stillness. She reached down to her left foreleg and gripped the knife handle in her mouth, fumbling a few times before managing to draw the blade. The weapon felt small and useless, and Applejack briefly considered simply tossing it away, running, and hoping for the best. She quickly squashed that thought, glaring into the surrounding darkness. That wasn't her. She wasn't thinking right at the moment. The wrongness permeated her bones, driving them to shaking, filling her with the urge to flee from her waking nightmare.

She knew better than to leave the safety of the fire though, and so Applejack waited. For a second or two, nothing happened. The silence of the jungle seemed amplified tenfold by the absence of the obscene shrieking that had filled it moments ago.

Finally, after what felt like hours of clutching the knife shakily, but was in fact barely a couple seconds, it moved. The sickly feeling began to grow. The darkness around her campfire seemed to blacken even further, encroaching inwards and shrinking her circle of protective light. Sweat ran in rivulets down Applejack's body, and her heartbeat was an audible thumping in her ears. She grunted and clutched her stomach as the feeling of wrongness spiked, worsening to the point that she felt like something was living inside of her; twisting, writhing, worming its way into her heart.

With a cry, Applejack fell to her knees. The knife clattered to the ground uselessly, and she felt like she was about to throw up. Tears ran down from her eyes as she whimpered. This was it. She was going to die; she was sure of it. Applejack steeled herself, attempting to stop her shaking and face death with dignity.

Something rustled in the treeline to her right, and Applejack heard a low hiss. Something inside her flared up. Some spark of determination, one last bit of survival instinct. The rustling sounded again, and Applejack shakily pushed herself to her hooves, primal rage burning behind her fierce glare. She fought through the sickness, the pain, and the overpowering urge to simply give up or run away, and slowly raised her head in the direction the sound and ever-increasing wrong feeling were coming from.

Her eyes glinted in the firelight, and she let loose her fury. Applejack roared a challenge into the darkness, screaming her defiance until her throat burned. Finally her shout ceased. For a moment, all was total silence. Her skin still crawled and her stomach turned with the sickly wrong feeling, but every sound, even her breathing, had stopped altogether.

She blinked, and the world started moving again. Applejack heard something rustle through the jungle. The wrong feeling in her gut lessened a bit, but never truly went away. The light of her fire seemed to brighten, pushing out further than it had a moment ago. She had managed to drive it off, but not away completely.

She could feel it out there, watching her. That, combined with the constant twisting of her insides by wrongness, meant that it was going to be a long night.

Applejack collapsed back to the ground, openly sobbing as tears streamed down her face. She wasn't even sure if she was relieved, terrified, or simply seeking an outlet after her ordeal. She didn't particularly care, crying pitifully for several minutes.

It didn't return while she broke down, and for that she was grateful. She wouldn't have been able to scare it off again, if that was even what she'd done. She couldn't even summon the ability to stand at the moment.

When she was finally able to move again, Applejack picked up the knife from where it had fallen. She scooted back against the rock, pressing herself against its cold, hard surface. Her breathing and heartbeat relented a little, though still not at normal levels.

As a last attempt at some sort of security, Applejack wrapped the pink blanket tightly around herself. Her shaking stopped then, and the cold brought on by her copious sweating diminished a bit. Somehow, the simple blanket wrapped about her like a bright pink cocoon eased her mind more than the knife she was still holding in her mouth.

She laid there in silence. The wrong feeling never lessened any more for the whole night, but it never got any worse either. Applejack kept her eyes and ears trained on the jungle around her, but detected not another sign of it besides the ever-present feeling. Whatever that thing was, it stayed exactly where it was until the sun came up.

Applejack didn't sleep a wink that night.

Author's Note:

Edited by Pilate. Slow and steady wins the race. :rainbowwild: