• 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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Melancholy Hill

Applejack sputtered as she woke, coughing up a mouthful of salt water and gasping to refill her lungs with air. She was lying on a hard floor, a thin layer of water soaking the side of her body and face. Her eyes fluttered open, the left one quickly closing as it came in contact with icy water. Her sight was immediately greeted with all-encompassing blackness. For a moment, she wondered if she had really opened her eyes, and blinked rapidly. She spat, expelling the rest of the salty brine that had gotten into her mouth, before attempting to rise to her hooves.

At first, she only rose a few inches before flopping back down with a small splash. She coughed again, wincing as her head bounced off the floor. Her breathing quickly devolved to panting. She couldn't get up. A bit more saltwater found its way into her mouth, and she coughed violently. The total darkness seemed to encroach on her very being as she lay there shivering.

Once her coughing fit had finally subsided, she tried again to push to her hooves. Her legs shook, and she gritted her teeth at the effort, but she was able to slowly rise. By the time she was standing up straight, her breath was coming in ragged pants.

She took a moment to steady herself and catch her breath. In that time, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. There was still nothing but endless black around her, but she could now at least see the shallow water at her hooves. Something brushed against her hind leg, and she nearly jumped out of her skin as she spun around with a yelp. She snapped her gaze down, only to find her old stetson lying pitifully in the water.

Applejack gasped, quickly snatching up her hat and placing it on her head. As she attempted to adjust the soaked headgear into something resembling a comfortable position, movement at the bottom of Applejack's vision caught her eye. She looked down at the waters in front of her, and her reflection looked back. Applejack blinked.

Her reflection's eyes were sunken and hollow, a result of not nearly enough rest over the past several days. Her mane and tail, lacking the hairbands that normally kept them neat and in place, had become a rat's nest of clumps and tangles. Her ever-present stetson was dripping with water, and sat slightly askew atop her messy mane. Her coat was matted down with dirt and sweat, one side soaked through with salty water. Little cuts and bits of visible blood dotted her form all over, accumulated over days of bushwhacking through the thick jungle. Lastly, after nearly a week with little to no proper food, Applejack was beginning to show slight signs of malnutrition, looking overall weaker and frailer than she’d ever seen herself, if only by a little bit.

Applejack tore her gaze from her reflection at a sound. A scuffling echoed from somewhere in the darkness, accompanied by the sound of disturbed water. The scuffling stopped, and Applejack spun in place, trying to locate the source of the noise, but unable to see more than a foot or two in front of her eyes. The sound hadn't seemed to come from any specific direction, not that it would have helped if she couldn't see anything.

Another noise, a low, throaty gurgling sound, emitted from somewhere behind Applejack. She quickly spun about, but was greeted with nothing but more darkness. Her heart hammering, she reached for the knife strapped to her left foreleg. A cold weight settled in the pit of her stomach as she found nothing but an empty sheath there.

She was beginning to panic now. Her heart hammered in her chest, her breath came in rapid gasps, and her eyes darted frantically about the darkness, searching for any sign of movement. Silence reigned for a few minutes, but Applejack stayed on high alert the whole time. Her ears flicked, straining for any sound from out in the black. Her legs remained tensed, ready to fight or flee at the slightest provocation.

Finally, something reached her ears. A distant rumbling sound, interspersed with slightly louder booms. It wasn't much, barely detectable on the edge of hearing, but for some reason it unsettled Applejack more than anything else. Her ears twitched, she slowed her breathing to near silence and listened. The rumbling appeared to be getting closer, albeit extremely slowly.

Applejack's heart was no longer racing, and her breathing was calm and steady, but she was more afraid than ever. Something about the strange rumbling disconcerted her on a deep level. It tickled something in the back of her mind that outright terrified her, and the worst part was that she had no idea why. She wanted to leave, to be as far away from whatever was making that sound as possible. She wasn't outright panicking anymore, but she was disturbed at the core level of her being. She felt like she didn't want to find out whatever it was that was coming. Whatever it was, she knew deep down that it wasn't good.

She couldn't get away though. She couldn't see far enough to run. Applejack wasn't just afraid, she was terrified.

Suddenly, Applejack staggered backwards as she was hit head-on with a merciless blast of howling wind. She quickly reached up and clamped a forehoof down on top of her hat, narrowly preventing it from being blown away. The winds felt like they were tearing at her skin, battering her fiercely and constantly. She stumbled back a few steps, but managed to stay upright and eventually plant her hooves enough to stand her ground.

Her eyes were scrunched closed in the high-speed blasts of air, and her sense of hearing drowned out by constant howling and whooshing gales. In spite of it all, the rumbling remained. It continued growing inexorably closer, still moving infinitesimally slowly. Droplets of water picked up by the wind spattered against Applejack, soaking her thoroughly and chilling her to the bone. All the while, the rumbling sound remained just as audible at the edge of her hearing.

The rumbling was abruptly joined by another, far more jarring noise. An all too familiar, unearthly shriek sounded from everywhere around Applejack. It seemed to pierce her soul in a way that no other sound ever could. Her skin crawled merely at the sound of the inequine screeching. It was not the cold that made Applejack begin to shiver uncontrollably.

The shriek was all Applejack could take. Sheer terror coursing through her veins, she turned and ran as fast as she could. The wind seemed to shift with her, always blowing directly in her face, but Applejack paid it no heed. She sprinted as quickly as her legs could carry her, and it still wasn't enough. The screech sounded again, closer this time, and the deep rumbling became ever closer along with it.

Applejack would have screamed, if pure fear hadn't locked her jaw shut. Adrenaline coursed through her, pushing her to speeds she'd never managed before. One second she was galloping at incredible speed, kicking up splashes of shallow water, the next second there was simply nothing beneath her hooves. Applejack fell.

This time, she did scream.

After several seconds of desperate, screaming free-fall, Applejack impacted the water with a sizable splash. She disappeared beneath the surface, swallowed up by the fathomless waters. She was tossed and turned, violent currents throwing her in every direction. Her lungs burned for much needed oxygen. Finally, the relentless tossing about ceased and Applejack was left floating alone in the depths. She frantically looked around, searching desperately for some sight of the surface.

After too many seconds that felt like hours, Applejack spotted a light in the distance. She made for it, kicking all four legs as hard as she could. The light grew closer, but not fast enough. Her lungs felt like they were collapsing in on themselves, and her vision began to blacken at the edges. Even the ever-present rumbling was fading in her ears.

Her swimming slowed, and eventually stopped. She attempted to kick her legs, only to find that they wouldn't respond. Her vision shrunk further, practically down to nothing but a point focused on the distant light; the surface that she would never reach.

A sense of serene calmness overcame her. Her fear hadn't left. If anything, it was only increased, but it didn't bother her so much anymore. Nothing seemed to bother her anymore. The shriek sounded again, sounding even closer despite how muffled it had become, and Applejack couldn't bring herself to care about it. Her vision was nearly gone by this point. She could feel herself slipping away. For some reason, she held on. The urge to simply let go, to open her mouth and accept her fate, grew stronger by the second.

Then, another new sound reached her ears. It sounded like a voice, too distant and too muffled to make out. Again, it repeated itself, slightly more clear now. It was familiar to Applejack; she knew with absolute certainty that she had heard it somewhere before. Finally, the voice's words became audible. It was calling her name.

"Applejack…"

Her ears twitched. The voice held the surest sense of familiarity to Applejack. It brought with it a further sense of calmness. She just knew that if she could reach the owner of the voice, everything would be perfectly fine. It simply sounded… nice. There was really no better way to describe it. Unfortunately, Applejack was having an ever harder time fighting against the watery abyss as her vision faded to a mere pinprick.

"Applejack…"

There was no use fighting it anymore. The voice would never reach her in time, and Applejack had held on too long as it was. She could no longer feel her extremities at all, and her vision had faded to complete darkness. Her lungs didn't even burn anymore; she was simply numb. Applejack had tried her best, but everypony has their limits. She let go.

"Applejack."

The farmer blinked several times. Her vision swam, colours blurring before her eyes as she nearly staggered on her hooves before catching herself. Her head throbbed violently, the pounding sensation of pain thwarting all efforts at coherent thought. She wondered where she was. She felt grass beneath her hooves, and the bright sun shining on her coat. A light breeze ran over her, bringing with it the scent of springtime and grass clippings.

"Applejack, are you alright?"

Applejack turned her head, her vision clearing enough to make out the bright blue eyes of a light yellow pegasus, and all the concern within her friend's gaze. She was standing atop a grassy hill, the quiet village of Ponyville spread out beneath her. The morning sun shone out over the thatched roofs of the town, glinting off the water of the fountain in the main square. She turned away from the scenery, and stared blankly at the pegasus next to her. Applejack's mouth hung slightly open as she tried and failed to figure out something to say. Her head throbbed, and any words she had formed were instantly lost as she lowered her head in pain.

Fluttershy's look softened at the wince that crossed Applejack's features. "Applejack, it's okay to be afraid."

Applejack quickly glanced back up, shaking her head slightly.

Fluttershy smiled gently. "I can tell when a pony's afraid, Applejack. I, um, I go through it enough myself to easily recognize it in others." She shrunk back slightly. "Not that I was just watching you or anything…"

Applejack was about to attempt a response, but Fluttershy continued anyway. "I, uh, I just wanted to tell you about how it's not so bad to be afraid. You're still one of the bravest ponies I know."

Applejack tilted her head slightly, blinking at Fluttershy's seemingly contradictory statement.

Fluttershy picked up on her friend's confusion quickly. "Oh, um, well you see…" She cleared her throat, and her voice grew ever so slightly in volume and strength. "A pony doesn't have to be fearless to be brave. In fact, that's just the opposite of what bravery is. Being brave means doing something when you are afraid; overcoming that terror because you have a reason to, a reason that outshines any amount of fear."

Applejack smirked, holding back a chuckle at the uncharacteristically fierce and determined look that had dominated Fluttershy's features. Fluttershy held her stance for a moment, eyes burning and wings flared, before blushing brightly and shrinking back down to her usual self.

"Oh, um, I mean, that's what my father used to tell me, at least," Fluttershy practically whispered as she hid half her face behind her flowing, pink mane. "I, um, I used to be scared of everything. Well, I still am scared of most things, but I used to be even worse." She smiled and closed her eyes, wrapping her wings about herself as a look of nostalgia washed over her. "My daddy always supported me, though. He told me what I just told you, and explained that every time I went to flight school, or tried making a new friend that I was being so brave."

After a few moments, Fluttershy snapped out of her reverie. "Um, anyways, I actually just came to tell you that the girls are waiting. If you want, I think you'll feel even better with all of us around."

As Fluttershy finished, she looked straight at Applejack. Their gazes met, and Applejack caught a clear sight of her reflection in her friend's wide, blue eyes. The mare she saw there was strong. Her immaculate orange coat practically shone with the spring sun upon it. Her eyes sparkled with life, her cheeks bore a bright smile, and her hat was firmly set in its familiar place atop her head. Her blond mane and tail were both done up with hairbands, looking just as freshly groomed as her coat.

Applejack smiled, and the mare in Fluttershy's eyes smiled back. Fluttershy blinked, and the moment was lost. Applejack didn't mind though. Seeing her reflection had comforted her deeply for some reason.

Just as Fluttershy was turning to leave, she stopped and looked back at Applejack. "I'm, um, I'm really proud of you, well, for…" She sighed lightly. "I know how hard it can be to be brave, especially when you're… when you're really scared. So I just wanted to tell you that, um, if you don't mind."

Applejack grinned appreciatively, nodding her head in thanks.

Fluttershy beamed back. "Well, the girls are probably wondering why I took so long in getting you. Um, would you mind, uh, heading over now?"

Applejack smirked, stepping up beside Fluttershy, her headache nothing but a memory at that point. "Sounds good to me."

With that, the two mares turned as one, and trotted in companionable silence towards the bottom of the hill.

Author's Note:

Many thanks to Pilate for the editing. Zebra is credit to team.