• 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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Down Today

Applejack slowly opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her head. She immediately froze, staring with genuine surprise at the thick jungle around her. Confusion gripped her freshly woken mind for several seconds as she wondered how exactly she had ended up in a clearing surrounded by tall trees. Expected images of a peaceful hilltop and a quiet town flashed through her mind, not matching at all with what she saw before her. Eventually, memories of where she was and of the previous night began to return. She blearily remembered staying vigilant in her watch through the whole night. The monster had never returned, though it had never quite left until the sun finally came up. Applejack recalled feeling immense relief at sunrise as the feeling of the creature was banished with the dawn's rays. She had collapsed shortly after that out of sheer exhaustion, though most of it had little to do with any actual physical exertion.

It was strange. The last part of her dream had seemed so real. Applejack could still feel the short-cut grass beneath her hooves, still smell the scent of lawn work on the wind, and still hear Fluttershy's kind words of encouragement. Within moments, however, the details of the dream were already fading from her mind. Only Fluttershy's voice remained loud and clear in her head, still bringing a smile to Applejack's face.

Unlike her previous dreams, this one had left her feeling better than when she'd gone to sleep. Fluttershy's words sparked confidence inside her. She stood up, and carefully adjusted her hat on her head, having slept with it on, before glancing up to the open sky of the clearing.

A cloud obscured the sun for a moment, casting her in shadow, but moved on quickly, allowing sunlight to saturate the meadow. From what Applejack could tell, it was already mid-morning. She had only gotten a couple hours of sleep, but it would have to do.

There was work to be done that day, and it had to be done before nightfall. Applejack had no intention of running away again like she had that first night. She had found a good campsite, and she wasn't about to let some monster scare her away from it.

A glint from the grass at her hooves caught Applejack's eye, and she looked down to see the unsheathed knife lying where it had fallen when she passed out. She picked it up with a determined expression, and slid it back into the sheath on her left foreleg.

She was still scared of the unknown creature that haunted her nights—terrified by the thought that it might return—but she was through with running. It was time to be brave.

A loud rumbling echoed through the clearing, and her fiery expression evaporated instantly. Applejack chuckled quietly, rubbing her belly with a forehoof. She lowered her head sheepishly, and her determined stance slacked slightly. Fighting the righteous fight for survival could wait; she needed breakfast first.

Applejack stumbled over to the edge of the clearing, pausing for a moment at the treeline. She stood there, the sun at her back, and closed her eyes. The smell of earth and green growth met her in the ensuing darkness. Her breathing slowed, fading away until the sound of a light wind moving through the leaves above became clear, punctuated occasionally by a familiar rustling somewhere off in the jungle. Calm; that was the only word that came to mind. Everything felt… fine.

Applejack's eyes snapped open, twin green irises flashing as they took in the empty jungle. Time started up once again, and a wide smile split Applejack's features. It was a new day, and she fully intended to make the most of it.

A scant few minutes later found Applejack returning to camp with a couple hooffulls of wildflowers in the crook of one foreleg. She hobbled on three legs back to her fire pit next to the large rock, the smoldering embers within reminding her to gather more firewood, and sat down in the soft grass.

She idly munched on the crude bouquet of multi-coloured petals, washing them down with an occasional swig from her canteen. As she ate, her mind began to wander. Inevitably, her thoughts turned to darker places. A small cloud drifted across the sun overhead, momentarily casting the clearing into shade as the smile on her face faltered.

As much as she wanted to deny it, as much as she had been able to deny it for the past several days, Applejack was out of her element. Sure, she had gone camping more than most of her friends, but only now was she beginning to realize just how poorly that had really prepared her.

For a moment, panic crept up and threatened to overwhelm Applejack as she realized the scope of just how very out of her element she was. She could die at any time, and nopony would ever find her body.

It only lasted a moment, however. The sun came out once more, casting its light across the meadow. Memories of her dream came back to her in hazy half-thoughts and snippets like remnants of a song would return days after hearing it; a melody that you just couldn't get out of your head, nor would you want to.

Applejack's smile began to return, and just how hard she was breathing became apparent to her. After a few more calming breaths, she scooped up the rest of the flowers from where they had fallen in her brief panic attack. She stared blankly at the flowers, the memories of soothing words and encouragement threatening to absorb her thoughts completely. Finally, she shook her head, clearing it of the dream for now.

As much as she was out of her element, she really had no choice but to go on. Giving up just wasn't something Applejack did, and she sure wasn't about to start. No matter what happened, she would pull through. No matter how difficult things would become, she would find some way to get past them. As long as she lived, she could see her family and friends again, and that was all that mattered.

With that thought in mind, Applejack made short work of the remaining wildflowers, ready to start the day in earnest.

Once finished, Applejack paused to consider her meagre breakfast. It was considerably smaller than what she was used to—hard farm work required big meals—but she would have to get used to smaller portions. The more she ate, the further she would have to travel to find new food, and it was all limited. Applejack had to make the closest sources last as long as possible; rescue was coming, she was sure of that, but it could take a while.

There was no sense in waiting around though. She smirked as she pushed back up to her hooves. The day was still young, and Applejack had work to do.

She strapped on the empty saddlebags and, after a quick stop at the river to refill her canteen, left the clearing once again, plunging into the thick undergrowth of the surrounding jungle with the first inklings of a plan in mind. First and foremost, Applejack knew she would need more firewood. The last night's fire had consumed all that she'd brought from the supply at the cave. Fortunately, if there was one thing she had plenty of on the island, it was wood. Of course, a lot of it was too green to use unless she had no other option. Ideally, she hoped to find plenty of fallen and dead branches, though she would need to gather some of the greener wood later. That could wait though, fire had to come first.

It didn't take long for Applejack to fill both sides of the saddlebags with some of the drier timber available. The full bags weren't light, but weighed a lot less than a whole cart full of apples, and were nothing Applejack couldn't handle. Usually, finding firewood could be difficult when camping, as the dead branches were quickly snatched up by any other campers that saw them. Applejack chuckled mirthlessly at the thought that her complete and utter solitude actually did have some benefits.

She made her way back to the camp, noting with some satisfaction that her path out to where she'd gathered the wood was mostly unnoticeable unless one was already looking for it. She may have been out of her element, but earth ponies were known for being adaptable, and she was already getting better at moving through the jungle carefully.

She entered the clearing and quickly marched over to her little camp by the rock, placing the first load of wood directly in the fire pit. It was a much greater amount than she'd been able to gather before she had the saddlebags. At this rate, it would only be a few trips before she had enough wood for several nights' worth of fires. Of course, it was also a good deal harder to find dead wood in the thicker undergrowth of the dense jungle this far inland. Either way, Applejack knew she had a couple hours' work ahead of her. Sighing in resignation, she turned around and dove back into the jungle. No sense in wasting time, after all.

After several more trips, Applejack was feeling the familiar burn that came with hard work. This actually brought a small frown to her face. She picked up the last piece of dead wood she needed and, after placing it in the saddlebags, began the trip back towards her camp. All in all, it had taken her just over two hours to gather up a sufficient stockpile of wood.

Applejack always prided herself on her strength, but that was hard to maintain with little sleep or food. As much as she wanted to keep working, Applejack had long since learned the dangers of overworking herself.

Her canteen had nearly been emptied over the course of gathering firewood, so Applejack left Pinkie's saddlebags by the fire pit and made her way over to the river at the opposite edge of the clearing. She filled the canteen to the brim from the clear, flowing waters and drank a large gulp of the cool liquid.

Not for the first time, Applejack felt a desire to find out exactly where the stream came from. Unfortunately, even though she had gathered a decent amount of firewood, Applejack still had a lot of work ahead of her. There would be no time for idle exploring that day.

She spent a few minutes on the riverbank, simply resting up. The soft grass after a few hours’ work felt better than any bed. Once or twice she idly dipped her hooves in the water, feeling it flow around her leg. The sensation was relaxing, at least. The rest and cool waters did wonders for her aching hooves, and her mind relaxed along with her body. For a moment, all thoughts of monsters and mysteries fled her mind. For a moment, she was able to truly relax.

Of course it was as she was lying there on the riverbank, her features set in a small smile, that Applejack caught the sun's reflection in the flowing river. She glanced up, past the one or two small clouds that floated lazily above the island, and took in the position of Celestia's charge. The sun had passed its zenith, apparently, and had begun the slow descent into afternoon. She still had enough daylight left to accomplish what she needed to, but getting up late had eaten up too much of her time to allow for lazing about by the river.

With a groan to show her annoyance to nopony in particular, Applejack pushed back up to her hooves. "Well fine then," she muttered under her breath as she reluctantly departed her comfortable resting place. She made her way back to her little campsite, stopping briefly to consider bringing the saddlebags before shaking her head and moving on.

Equipped with nothing but her knife, canteen, and hat, Applejack trotted out of the clearing and back into the thick jungle. She cast her gaze over her surroundings, tilting her hat back a little with a forehoof and glancing upwards. Massive trees formed a green ceiling high overhead, the bright afternoon sun gleaming through the holes and cracks in the enormous canopy. It really was beautiful.

Turning her gaze downward once more, and focusing on the task at hoof, Applejack continued walking through the jungle. She spotted more dead wood on the forest floor, but passed over it without a second glance.

Finally, she caught sight of what she was looking for. A younger tree, still taller than a pyramid of ponies, but not even half way as tall as the canopy, was growing in a patch of sunlight just ahead of Applejack. The bark of the tree was thinner, smoother, and its leaves were a bright green. It seemed to be stretching its branches upwards in an attempt to glean as much nourishing sunlight as possible from the gap in the cover above it, the very same gap that it would be filling in a few years.

Most importantly to Applejack, however, were the lower branches of the tree. Unlike its fully grown brethren, this tree had several branches growing within easy reach of the ground. Applejack grinned and quickly trotted over to inspect her find.

Applejack slowly circled the tree, scrutinizing the branches at her level. Each one was about half as thick as one of Applejack's legs, and a couple pony lengths long, tapering to a thin point at the end. Small twigs sprouted from the branches at random intervals, green leaves on the ends seeming to almost glow in the rays of the afternoon sun.

The wood was green, though not in colour. That is, it was still infused with the strength and life of the living tree. This made it flexible and fairly easy to bend a bit, but hard to actually break. Unfortunately, green wood makes terrible firewood, doing little more than producing large quantities of white smoke. Of course, Applejack had plenty of firewood already.

With a smile and a nod of approval, Applejack drew her knife and got to work. She began cutting at the base of the branch, right where it connected to the tree, intent not to let any go to waste. It was hard going, making it through the wood with a tool that was clearly never designed for such a task. She would've given her left ear for a hatchet right about then, but a knife was better than her bare hooves at least.

Eventually, she managed to detach the branch from the tree, stepping back and allowing it to fall to the ground. Next, she cut off all the twigs along the branch, making it as smooth as possible. Finally, Applejack removed the smaller, tapered end of the branch, leaving her with a mostly straight stick of basically uniform width that was a little under twice Applejack's height when it was stood upright.

Happy with her efforts, Applejack placed the stick off to one side carefully. Glancing back at the tree, and after a quick mental estimate of how many she would need, Applejack sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Hours passed. Applejack continued undaunted in her quest. Her search brought her all over the surrounding area with no particular pattern or plan. Fortunately, this wasn't much of a problem, since finding suitable trees to harvest branches from was going well so far. As well as could be expected, at least. She still spent upwards of an hour between finding each tree with low enough branches.

It was endlessly infuriating when she would come across a tree with branches just barely out of her reach, but she wasn't about to try climbing again anytime soon. Her back still gave a twinge of pain occasionally ever since her ill-fated ascent up a coconut tree, and that had been three days ago.

So far, she had managed to collect 15 sticks of about the same length as the first one she'd cut. It wasn't quite enough, if her educated guess was right, but it was a good start.

Carrying the sticks had become a problem after only a couple. They were all far too long for the saddlebag to be of any use, which was exactly why she’d left it behind, and she could only really carry one at a time in her mouth. Collecting the amount she needed would be nigh impossible one at a time. In the end, Applejack was actually glad that a certain pegasus had forced her to read a couple Daring Do books. Taking a cue from book three, she had cut a length of vine from a nearby tree for use as an improvised rope. The first attempt, much to Applejack's chagrin, had snapped uselessly within a couple minutes. Fortunately, she had found a slightly stronger vine shortly after. Her new rope had held, and while it certainly wasn't high quality compared to what she used on the farm, did a fine job of keeping her gathered sticks bundled together on her back.

Even so, the day's tedious work was taking its toll. Applejack was beginning to drag her hooves, and hang her head low as she trudged through the undergrowth. She glanced upwards, gauging the time. The sun's light had transitioned from the bright yellow rays of midday to the subdued orange of evening, the shafts of light coming at a steeper angle than before. She would have to head back to camp soon.

Unfortunately, Applejack was unable to find another tree, and the evening was wearing on. With a huff of frustration, she stomped off back towards the camp with what she had managed to collect so far.

The slowly lengthening shadows around her served as a reminder that she needed to hurry and make a fire. Memories of the last night's ordeal brought a shiver down her spine and quickened her hoofsteps.

Finally, the sound of running water reached her twitching ears. Her frustrated frown morphed into a small smile as she saw the trees thinning out ahead of her. She broke into the clearing at last, the open sky above her and short grass below feeling absolutely amazing after spending the past few hours in the stifling jungle.

As much as she wanted to stand there and let the cool air wash over her, the tied up sticks on her back were getting heavier by the minute. She trotted over to the fire pit and dropped her prize to the ground with a clatter.

For the moment, she ignored the newly harvested wood and instead focused on creating a fire. She quickly gathered some old, dry leaves from the jungle floor, and set it in the fire pit with some of the dead, dry firewood she'd gotten that morning. Drawing her knife and grabbing the flint rock she'd brought from the cave, Applejack wasted no time in getting a fire burning.

Nodding in satisfaction and adjusting her hat slightly with a forehoof, Applejack sat down in front of the fire, allowing herself a moment's rest after a harrowing night and a long day. The moment was shattered when a slight twinge in her midsection reminded Applejack that she hadn't eaten since her paltry breakfast. As late as she had awoken, she had still technically skipped lunch.

Applejack glanced around her tiny camp, quickly locating her remaining stash of coconuts. She noted with a slight frown that there were only two left. She would need to harvest more soon, unless she was willing to simply live off wildflowers alone for a while.

She gave the idea some thought as she set about removing the green outer husk of the coconut with the knife. Her back was feeling mostly better by that point, aside from the occasional twinge, so she figured she could give another attempt at bucking some coconuts down. Failing that, she would have to climb again. Very carefully this time.

With one last tear, the husk of the coconut came free and Applejack tossed it unceremoniously onto the fire. The crackling flames quickly began to consume the dead shell, but Applejack paid them no mind as she continued in preparing her dinner. With a single, swift smack against the boulder forming the back wall of her camp, Applejack cracked open the coconut and revealed her meal within.

Smiling briefly in anticipation, Applejack dug in hungrily. As always, the fruit was delicious, and it didn't take long before she had finished the entire thing. With a sigh of contentment, Applejack leaned back against the boulder. The heat of the fire was just distant enough to be pleasantly warm without being overbearing. Applejack could have fallen asleep then and there, but the day would be ending before long, and she intended to take advantage of what little sunlight she had.

With one last forlorn glance at the solitary coconut left in her possession, Applejack resolved to harvest more as soon as possible. Then, quickly tilting her hat back on her head, she set to work. Gripping the knife once more, Applejack walked over to the bundle of long, straight branches she had collected, having left them a safe distance from the fire pit. She cut the vine holding them all together, and looked over the spoils of her afternoon as they collapsed into a loose pile.

She picked up one of the mostly uniform sticks at random, propped it against the boulder, and pressed on it with a foreleg. The green wood bent and creaked, but held strong. Applejack nodded in satisfaction, the first bits of a plan firmly in mind.

She had been using the cave for cover, but couldn't bring herself to stay there any more after her… disconcerting discovery deep within. Of course, Applejack was no stranger to sleeping under the stars, but that wouldn't always be an option. First off, there were things on the island. Applejack had decided without a doubt that she was not alone, and covering herself from easy view and attack seemed like a good idea. Secondly, she wasn't entirely sure how weather worked out in the wild with no pegasi to manage it, but it had to rain sometime for all the plant life she'd seen around the island. Having something to keep the rain off of her would be absolutely necessary if rescue didn't come before rain.

All of that culminated in one simple fact: Applejack needed to build a shelter. Fifteen sticks wouldn’t be enough for much, but it was a start. Applejack considered herself a do it yourself mare, it was kind of a necessity when living on a farm. She wouldn't exactly be building herself a house with a couple chopped up branches, but she was confident she could cobble together something with a few days of hard work.

For now, however, Applejack was tired, and she really just wanted to get to sleep. The sun was still barely peeking above the horizon, but she had plenty of missed rest to catch up on. With that in mind, she set about completing her task as quickly as possible. One by one, Applejack picked up the sticks and dragged them over to the boulder. She leaned them up against the large stone at about a 45 degree angle from the ground, placing them as close to each other as possible and creating a slanted cover of sorts.

By the time she finished, the sun had well and truly set. The light of Applejack's fire cast her pitiful lean-to in a flickering orange glow. It really wasn't very big. She would have to watch her head underneath it, and she would be exposed if she sprawled out even a little, but it wasn't bad for a first attempt.

The fire hissed and popped as Applejack plodded over to where she'd slept the night before. She gathered up the pink blanket and brought it under the lean-to, flattening it out carefully on the grass.

"It ain't exactly a bed…" Applejack muttered under her breath.

She blinked, one ear flicked. Applejack looked around the clearing quickly. She wasn't sure, but something was bothering her. She couldn’t help but feel like she was missing something. The light of her fire extended around her little camp in a warm, orange bubble across the grass. The stars overhead twinkled with the kind of brightness only seen if one gets far enough away from civilization.

Applejack stood there, unmoving, unbreathing, for nearly a full minute. Finally, a tiny rustling reached her ears from somewhere off in the jungle. That was when it struck her. Everything felt fine. Normally, such a realisation would be far from a revelation, but after the events of the last night it meant everything.

Applejack's face split in a wide grin as she sat back on her haunches in disbelief. She sat still for a few more minutes, but another distant rustling confirmed it. She barked a laugh that echoed through the trees and out into the wild, untamed rainforest around her.

The sun had set, night had fallen, and she had yet to feel the tell-tale signs of the unknown thing's approach. Whatever it was, it had left her alone. Another loud pop from the fire snapped Applejack out of her relief-fuelled daze, and she shook her head to clear it.

Now was not the time to let her guard down. Still, without the oppressive terror and feeling of wrongness that seemed to tear apart her insides and eat away at her soul, her night was looking pretty good so far.

Raising a hoof to cover her mouth on reflex, Applejack yawned widely. With the relief of finding herself alone for the night came the remembrance that she had only managed to catch a couple hours of sleep in the wee hours of that morning. That, combined with spending the whole day wandering the jungle while carrying a load of wood on her back, meant that Applejack was pretty much ready to collapse. She just hadn’t realized it until just then.

Releasing another massive yawn, Applejack turned away from the open clearing once more and moved to crawl under her little lean-to. At the last second, she hesitated. She stood still for a second or two, before turning around and heading over to her tiny pile of neatly organized supplies a couple steps away.

Nestled between her last coconut and her flint rock, Applejack spotted the rubber chicken she'd found in Pinkie's saddlebags. With a quiet chuckle at just how out of place the object was, she quickly picked it up and headed back to the lean-to.

Applejack crawled under the roof of sticks and carefully set the rubber chicken down against the rock in a sitting position with its back to the cold stone. Another chuckle escaped her lips as she left the chicken there, unstrapping the knife from her left foreleg. She placed the knife and sheath off to the side. After a moment of deliberation, Applejack pulled the knife out of the sheath, baring its razor sharp edge to the night's air. She looked over the dangerous tool for a moment, before setting it carefully within reach next to the sheath. She could never be too careful, after all.

Careful to watch the low clearance of the lean-to, Applejack stretched out the day's hard work. Her back gave a satisfying pop, and her limbs all relaxed greatly. Smiling one last tired smile, Applejack turned around in a circle several times, before curling up with a sigh on the soft blanket. She removed her hat, placing it with extreme care next to the knife and its sheath.

A bit of loose mane fell down in front of Applejack's forehead, and her eyes crossed momentarily trying to look at it. She blinked several times, and blew the offending lock of mane out of her vision.

The light of the crackling fire shone in through the cracks between the sticks making up her little shelter. Applejack idly added fixing that to her mental to-do list. Allowing gaps everywhere for rain to get through kind of defeated the whole purpose of the thing in the first place.

Of course, it didn't take long for fatigue to crowd out any thoughts and plans on the future. Within a few minutes, Applejack was already straddling the hazy line between wakefulness and sleep. The fire was burning down lower, and while the jungle nights were still warm, the lack of heat coming from the fire made the night seem slightly chilly by comparison.

Applejack curled up a little tighter, subconsciously pulling her tail tight against her chest in her forehooves. The new position, or perhaps just acclimating to the jungle air, once again brought her a comfortable warmth.

Her mind blanked, her breathing slowed, and any and all worries ceased to matter. Applejack's fire slowly burned away, leaving behind nothing but softly glowing coals that would, by morning, have lost even the memory of the heat they once held.

Farther from home that she'd ever been, lost with no certainty of ever seeing her friends and family again, and almost entirely out of her element, Applejack drifted off into blissful, uninterrupted slumber. She'd never slept so peacefully in her life.

Author's Note:

Many thanks to Pilate for editing! He's one swell zebra.