• 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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Tangled Up In Blue

A few more days passed without much incident. Applejack had made a quick hike on the first day to resupply her stock of coconuts. By heading back in the direction of the beach, she had been able to quickly find a palm tree without any trouble. Just as last time, however, her applebucking technique had failed her, doing little more than rattling the fruits. Her back still gave her trouble when she tried kicking the tree, but not enough that it could be the cause of her failure. Either her strength was failing her like she suspected the first time, or she was simply doing it wrong. There was a good chance that the technique for bucking coconuts was slightly different, after all. She didn't bother trying to figure it out, and instead just climbed the tree once again. She managed to get a decent supply of coconuts this way without falling flat on her back, so it went better than the first time, at least.

Outside of that quick trip to stock up her food supply, most of her time over the last couple days was spent working on her little shelter. Finding suitable wood was time consuming, but the lean-to was coming along nicely. First she had gathered more sticks of about the same length as the ones she'd already gotten, a little less than twice her height. She used these to increase the total area covered until there was enough room for two ponies to lie down comfortably, if a good deal closer than they might have been used to.

After that, she had cut a few shorter sticks, approximately the same height as herself, and used these to increase the headspace in her shelter. She had sharpened one end of each, and made a ‘V’ shaped cut in the other. She used these shorter sticks to prop up the ends of the longer sticks that rested on the ground. It was a simple matter of driving the sharp ends into the earth, and wedging the ends of the longer sticks into the angular cuts in the shorter ones. In doing this, her shelter now had two walls, of sorts: the solid rock on one side and the wall of short sticks on the other. The long sticks now formed a more comfortable ceiling, though Applejack would still have to duck her head a little at the lowest part.

This left the problem that the roof was, in essence, full of holes. As close as they were, none of the sticks were perfectly straight, and the minor imperfections between them were plenty to let in weather, sunlight, and pretty much anything else that a roof was designed to keep out.

Fortunately, Applejack had made similar shelters before while camping—though on a much smaller and quicker scale—and knew exactly what to do. She gathered up as much debris as she could, mostly dead plant matter and moss from the forest floor, and brought it back to camp. There, she applied it to the roof of her shelter in a thick, even layer. The strong branches she had used were at no risk of breaking, even if the weather took a turn and caused the covering of debris to get wet and heavy.

With her additions done, she was left with what almost amounted to a small shack. It was still open on two sides, but the thick jungle around the clearing prevented wind from being any real problem. The pink blanket that made up the floor of the lean-to gave it a cozy atmosphere, though it was already beginning to fade and stain just a little from being stepped on constantly. The rubber chicken remained in its place sitting against the stone wall, silently brightening up the little makeshift room in its own little way.

In the end, Applejack was proud of it. It had taken three days of work, but it beat the old, dank cave by a mile. Whatever it was that stalked the jungle at night, it hadn't returned since the incident right before Applejack had begun work on the lean-to. She was certainly glad to be left alone, even if she knew it wouldn't be forever. Besides, the chance to catch up on her sleep had been a huge benefit in giving her the energy she needed for long days of work.

Still, the work had been a bit tiring, and Applejack was looking forward to a couple less busy days ahead of her. There was still a lot to do, but she could afford a day or two of less strenuous activity at least.

As Applejack awoke, three days after starting the lean-to and the first morning since finishing it the day before, she smiled. Her loud yawn split the morning silence, punctuated by the popping of her joints as she stretched out languidly on the soft, pink blanket.

The inside of her shelter was dimmed a bit, but the early morning sunshine could not be foiled completely by such simple means, and still managed to illuminate Applejack in a light yellow glow. She scratched her ear with a forehoof, barely holding back another yawn as she did so.

She may not have had a lot of work to do, but that was no reason to laze about. Applejack slowly picked up her hat from where it lay next to her. The weathered brown stetson was never far; even when she slept it was always within hoof's reach. She idly turned it over in her forehooves as she lay there. The old hat had certainly fared better than her over the last week and a half. Not a scratch marred the surface of her classic headgear, the only visible damage being a bit of fading that was years in the making.

For a moment, the jungle and the morning sun faded away. Applejack's mind wandered, flipping the hat in her grip repeatedly, but not really looking at it. Her thoughts turned to older, happier times. She thought of her friends, her family, her life in Ponyville. The memories went back further, back to Twilight Sparkle's first trip down to the little farming village, and further still to a certain rainbow-maned pegasus moving in from Cloudsdale. Still her mind delved even deeper into the past. Applejack saw herself, a young, blank-flanked filly, playing between the apple trees in the southern fields.

Her head was bare back then. Her golden mane and tail were allowed to flow freely behind her as she ran, laughing and tumbling between the trees. Other foals were with her, nameless, faceless ponies that she couldn’t recall entirely. Her coat was stained with grass and dirt, clear indicators of a good day to the rambunctious filly. She stopped, ears perked, when a voice called out to her, strong and comforting. She turned with a wide smile and broke into a gallop, shouting farewell over her shoulder. As the trees thinned out ahead, the old farmhouse began to take shape in the haze of her memory, and there, standing on the porch, the source of the voice—

Applejack shook her head sharply, and with that the vision dissipated as if it had never been. She glanced down at her forehooves, only then noticing that she was nearly crushing her hat in a death grip, and even more concerning, the scattered marks of fresh tears dotting the crumpled brown stetson. She blinked rapidly, wiping at her face with a forehoof.

Mentally cursing herself for allowing her thoughts to run away like that, Applejack reverently straightened out her hat to perfection, and placed it gently atop her head. She pushed to her hooves and quickly strapped the knife to her left foreleg in what was becoming a morning routine. A lock of mane fell in front of her eyes briefly, but she quickly swept it aside with a forehoof. Applejack knew that she must've looked like a mess, with her coat, mane, and tail all becoming more disheveled by the day, and now the new addition of tear stains that likely marred her cheeks.

Her eyes fell on the rubber chicken resting against the rock wall. It stared back, a silent witness to her shame. Both stayed locked in an unblinking staring contest for several moments, before Applejack reached out and knocked it over with a swipe from her forehoof. It bounced against the floor with a tiny squeak, before slowly rolling to a stop face up, still looking straight at Applejack. She pointed a hoof at the rubber poultry threateningly.

"Shut up."

With one last stern look, Applejack broke her gaze with the chicken and trotted out into the morning air, ready to greet the day. She quickly made her way over to the still-smoking fire pit a few feet from her lean-to, snatching a piece of barely-warm charcoal up in a forehoof and shambling back over to the large boulder.

There, next to her cozy little shelter, she used the charcoal to add another pitch-black tally mark to a mostly smooth section of stone. She wasn't entirely sure how long she had been unconscious before waking up on the beach, but after a bit of thinking she was confident that her count of the days that had passed since then was accurate, and she made sure to update it each morning.

Ten tally marks for ten days. Ten days of living, eating, and sleeping on that Celestia-forsaken island, and ten days without a single sign of rescue. She tried to tell herself that it was just taking them awhile to find her, but doubt niggled at the back of her mind. Twilight Sparkle was the most magical pony in all of Equestria, and the fact that she hadn't been able to simply locate Applejack herself was concerning. Applejack heaved a heavy sigh, but quickly repressed any feelings of hopelessness that cropped up. Even if Twilight had failed for some reason, it was only a matter of time before they found her by more conventional means. The thought brought a small smile to her face. Only a matter of time.

Applejack trotted back over to the fire pit and tossed the bit of coal back in, wiping her sooty forehoof off on the grass immediately afterwards. She had plenty of coconuts to eat, but having the same thing for three meals a day would get tiring quickly, and Applejack liked to mix it up. Survival was most important, but she would have a pretty poor time of it if she overindulged on her primary food source and drove herself to dislike it.

In the end, Applejack decided on a simple breakfast of wildflowers. She moved at a leisurely pace as she gathered up her multi-coloured meal. The day was pleasantly warm, if a bit humid, but Applejack had found that to be the norm for the deep jungle. At least it wasn't stifling hot. She wasn't sure if it had to do with the season or just the weather, but the Daring Do books she'd read had described the humid heat of the jungle like something straight out of Tartarus.

Thinking back on the book's description of the jungle, Applejack ground to a blinking halt in sudden realization. There was a key point, something always emphasized, with no small amount of contempt, by the novel's dauntless explorer, that was strangely absent from Applejack's own experience. She hadn't noticed it before, but there wasn't a single insect to be found.

Applejack had, of course, noticed the jungle's eerie silence in the past, but only now was she realizing the extent of it. There was no distant cacophony of cicadas, no incessant buzzing of swarms of flies, nor even the night time chirping of crickets. If the books she'd read were any indication, Applejack should have been fighting off bloodsucking bugs like a plague, yet she didn't have so much as a single bite on her.

Her moment of pondering passed quickly, before she broke into a smile and barked a quick laugh. "Ain't like I'm gonna complain about a lack of horseflies," she muttered with a shake of her head.

Whether the books had simply been embellishing the truth, or Applejack had just been fortunate enough to be in the wrong climate for creepy crawlies didn't matter much. It was one less thing to worry about, and Applejack wasn't going to bother herself over it.

Once she had picked enough flowers to constitute a meal, Applejack walked back to the clearing. Her sense of direction was improving, and she was able to find her way straight back without retracing her steps. Not that her sense of direction had been bad before, but she was in a totally new environment, and the fact that she was able to navigate it with some degree of ease was a bit comforting.

Arriving back at the clearing with her breakfast, Applejack glanced over to her little shelter. From the tiny wisps of smoke floating up from the remnants of last night's fire and dissipating into the air, to the neatly stack firewood and supplies against the outside wall of the lean-to, it managed to look fairly inviting.

Despite all her hard work, it wasn't home. With a heavy sigh, Applejack trotted away into the middle of the clearing. She wasn't going to let such thoughts dampen her spirits too much. She had worked hard the past few days, and she needed to relax if she was going to keep her energy up.

Forgoing the usual morning routine of a quick meal, Applejack decided to take her time for once. She flopped down onto the soft grass at the center of the clearing. She rolled over onto her back and smiled as the wide blue sky opened up before her. She lazily munched on her breakfast as a cloud or two drifted by far overhead.

The sight was still a novelty to Applejack, a cloud drifting all by itself. Weather without any pegasi to control or create it wasn't unheard of, especially living as close to the Everfree as Applejack did, but it was still freaky to see firsthoof.

She lay there for a good while, idly taking a bite of flower petals every so often. Her eyes settled on one cloud in particular, not that there were many to choose from. Pinkie Pie had once told Applejack that every cloud was shaped like something, be it a bird, a tree, or simply some fantastical thing that nopony even knew the name of. Pinkie was strange sometimes.

Yet, as Applejack watched the solitary puff of white glide over her peaceful little clearing, she couldn't help but note its formation. With one small pip of cloud on the end of a much larger oval shape, it looked almost like a balloon. If she squinted a little, and tilted her head slightly, and didn't look at it too carefully.

"Well ain't that a sight…"

Her smile grew, and her eyes remained on the balloon cloud until it had drifted on past the slightly limited view of the sky her clearing offered. It must have been at least an hour, but Applejack had gotten up early, and judging from the sunlight streaming through the canopy, and the fact that the sun was still not visible over the clearing, it was still only a little ways over the horizon.

As hard as she tried, Applejack couldn't relax. It just didn't feel right. Objectively, she knew that the best course of action was to simply await rescue, but something inside her simply wouldn't allow that. Really, it just wasn't in her nature. She needed to do something. It was an attitude cultivated from a lifetime of farm work, and it wasn’t something she could just ignore. As nice as a short break could be, wasting an entire day was inconceivable to a pony like Applejack. The day was still young, and laying about in the grass just wasn't going to cut it.

She still didn't want to overwork herself after being so busy the past several days, but there was at least one thing she could occupy herself with. There was still plenty of unknown island to investigate. She hopped up to her hooves, and quickly trotted over to her shelter. It was time for a little exploration. Applejack strapped on the saddlebags tightly, and slung the canteen over her neck. She checked that the knife on her left foreleg was secure, and lastly, adjusted her hat with the utmost of care.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Applejack made her way over to the other end of the clearing. Arriving at the edge of the river, she paused to top off the canteen. A glance up and down the river didn't reveal much, bends in the river and the thick jungle preventing Applejack from seeing where it went or where it came from. Its destination was no mystery; in all likelihood the river ran out into the ocean, as all rivers do eventually. The source, however, was another matter enitrely, and it was something Applejack considered worth looking in to.

With an anticipatory grin on her face, Applejack turned and trotted off along the riverbank, and out of the clearing. The river flowed by on her right, and the jungle created a wall of green to her left. There was a bit of a gap between the treeline and the water, enough for Applejack to walk comfortably, at least. Smaller bushes and undergrowth still appeared sparsely right up to the river’s edge, and a soft, short grass similar to what grew in the clearing was present underhoof.

The river widened quickly upon leaving the clearing. While back at her camp it had been about two pony-lengths across, it soon increased to more than three. Wherever it was coming from, there was a lot of water moving through it. The clear blue water moved fast enough that Applejack wouldn't confidently attempt to swim against it, but it didn't seem terribly dangerous due to the lack of large rocks or fallen logs.

As expected, the river always continued in the same general direction. There were twists and turns occasionally, but it never strayed too far from its ultimate path. Every step brought Applejack further inland. The thought crossed her mind that if there was anything worth finding, it would likely be somewhere in the heart of the island, but she didn't bother with the idea too much. Her goal was to find the source of the river. Attempting to search the entire island would just be ridiculous.

As time wore on and Applejack continued along the river's edge, she kept a careful eye on her surroundings. The jungle only ever got thicker, deeper inland, and Applejack was beginning to see plants and trees that she couldn’t even remotely recognize. At one point, she came across a wide-leafed bush growing just on the edge of the treeline. On closer inspection, tiny clusters of bright yellow berries were revealed under each leaf. Applejack took a hoofful of the berries, but knew enough not to eat a strange plant without knowing what it was. After a few sniffs of the berries failed to reveal anything about their nature, Applejack shook her head.

"Thanks, but no thanks," she mumbled, and with that, tossed them out into the river. The little berries disappeared under the water with a series of tiny plops, and Applejack moved on without a second glance.

The walk was mostly uneventful for a while. The solid wall of green to Applejack's left was broken up by the occasional interesting bit of plant life, while the burbling river to her right remained constant and consistent. Applejack barely even noticed the odd rustling from somewhere in the trees, though was still as present as ever. This deep in the jungle, vines hung from the trees like haphazardly applied green streamers at a party that encompassed the whole island. They appeared thick and strong, but Applejack knew there was no substitute for good rope, and just let them be.

It was as Applejack rounded a bend in the river that she finally encountered a change in scenery. She slowed to a stop, sitting down on her haunches and tilting her head back with a low whistle. Just ahead of her, the river thinned a bit, shrinking until it was small enough to leap across, if only just barely, and with a good running start. The river itself, however, was not what captivated Applejack's attention.

The trees that grew a little ways back from the water on either side of the river, normally completely separate, found themselves much closer as the river's width decreased. The result was breathtaking. A giant arching canopy of green was created by the tops of the two treelines leaning out over the water, reminiscent of the high-ceilinged halls of Canterlot Castle. The sunlight filtered down through the arched ceiling in shades of green, illuminating motes of dust that were caught in the slanting beams of light, floating in the stillness of the moment. Even the river, once burbling and churning seemed almost completely still. The flat surface of the water reflected the streaming rays of sunlight across ceiling in undulating patterns of luminescence.

For a moment, Applejack merely sat there. She didn't dare make a sound for fear that it would somehow violate the peace of the place she'd stumbled upon. Even the rustling in the jungle seemed to quiet slightly and fade into the background.

The sight alone had already made her little hike worth it in Applejack's opinion, but she couldn't just stop there. The river, though less wide than before, continued on through the natural tunnel until disappearing around a slight bend a little further on, and Applejack was still curious about the source.

With a resolute nod, Applejack stood once more. After a brief pause to adjust her hat, she was on the move again.

Entering the arched covering was a bit of a strange experience. Passing out of the sun's direct light, and into the dimmed interior, Applejack noticed a few things. The distant rustling in the jungle ceased entirely, though that didn't bother Applejack much; it seemed to come and go at times. Though she was no longer under the hot sun, the temperature only increased. The thick ceiling served to trap and contain the heat, and the air was far more thick and humid than before. The stifling atmosphere made for an unpleasant walk, and Applejack's pace slowed as a result.

Soon enough, Applejack was sweating heavily. The air felt like walking through soup, and her breathing became effort-laden panting after only 20 minutes or so of walking. She took her hat in a forehoof, and used it to fan herself while hobbling along on three legs.

Still Applejack trudged onward. The going was tough, but nothing that could stop the determined mare. The light dimmed further in, until Applejack almost worried that it would become pitch-black eventually, though it never did. It felt like she spent hours in the natural hall, but in reality she knew it was next to nothing compared to the distance she had already walked that day. Even so, Applejack was overjoyed when an exit finally presented itself.

A little ways upriver, Applejack spotted the bright gleam of open sky and sunlight. With a quick bark of relieved laughter, she slapped her hat back on to her head and quickened her pace.

In no time at all, Applejack had reached the end of the oven-like tunnel, and trotted forth into the open. She stopped just outside, letting a cool breeze wash over her and squinting against the seemingly blinding sun. The breeze felt amazing, though her sweat-covered body amplified the cooling effect almost enough to make her shiver.

It was at that moment that Applejack had a startling realization: there was never a breeze in the jungle. Her eyes widened instantly, though she quickly shielded them with a hiss of pain as the light assaulted her still-adjusting pupils.

After taking a few moments to adjust to the brightness, Applejack tentatively lowered her hoof. The river widened in front of her, quickly growing to the size it was back at the clearing, and increasing in size exponentially from there. It took a moment for Applejack to realize what she was looking at. She had found the river's source.

Applejack took a few steps forward, a wide grin slowly emerging on her face. The river wasn't actually widening, she realized, it simply connected to a lake. The lake itself was fairly large, a good deal bigger than the pony-made lake near Ponyville. It was big enough that Applejack estimated a pony standing on the other side would need to strain in order to hear her shouting at the top of her lungs.

It was mostly circular in shape, though it protruded a bit to connect with the river that was now behind Applejack as she continued towards the edge of the lake. Fine grained, light brown sand lined the shores of the still water. The surface was so pristine it could have been mistaken for glass. It was a rich blue colour, and though Applejack couldn't see the lakebed except near the shore, she knew it must have been pretty deep.

The treeline stopped a bit of a ways back from the shore all around the whole lake, and the grass was the same short meadow grass that grew back in the clearing. Applejack could see one or two more small streams running off of the serene lake, but nothing near as big as the river she had followed to get there.

The warm sand felt good against her hooves after a long hike, and Applejack paused upon stepping onto the beach for a moment. With a smile, she trotted over to the water's edge and peered down at the motionless surface.

Her smile faded a bit as her reflection stared back. Her coat was matted with sweat, some even dripping off her muzzle and sending tiny ripples across the lake's surface, and her mane was a complete disaster. Applejack wasn't one to care about style very much, but her mane was almost getting to the point of being a safety hazard.

Her once beautiful golden locks, normally clean and secure in her ever-present hairband, had become an overgrown rat's nest of tangles, spilling out from under her contrastingly well-kept stetson. Without being held back in a ponytail, and after too long without a manecut, her mane had dragged along the ground, staining the ends with dirt and grime. Above that it was messy and tangled, making Applejack look like some sort of crazed mountain mare that would never be left alone with foals.

All in all, Applejack wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the sight.

She had been in need of a manecut already, since before she'd even found herself on the island to begin with. What with all the surviving and whatnot, the thought had slipped her mind, but now that she was getting a good look at herself, she was beginning to regret putting off a visit to the Ponyville spa.

Applejack bit her lip, flicking her eyes repeatedly between her reflection and the knife strapped to her left foreleg. After a few moments of silent deliberation, she finally let out an exasperated groan. There was really only one thing to do if she didn't want to end up with more mane than mare.

"I'd better not lose an ear over this…" she grumbled as she drew the knife from its sheath, gripping it carefully in the crook of her right forehoof. Sitting down on her haunches, she took off her hat in her other forehoof and set it down gently next to her.

Leaning forward ever so slightly and peering into the still surface of the lake, Applejack's need of a manecut was only made more apparent by the lack of her stetson. Fortunately, the lake provided a much better mirror surface than the flowing river had, and Applejack's reflection stayed still and clear. No sense wasting time, then.

She stretched out a bit of mane with her left forehoof, and tentatively brought the knife up to it. With a slight wince, she held her breath and slowly slashed across the extended lock of mane. Applejack exhaled with relief as the blade failed to inadvertently chop off her head, or anything else important.

A brief, victorious smile spread across Applejack's face, lasting for almost three seconds before she glanced down at her hooves and spotted the pathetically tiny bundle of hairs she had managed to detach.

Applejack blushed, chuckling sheepishly at her reflection, and looking all but the same as before. She very nearly glanced around her, before remembering that there was nopony around to be embarrassed in front of. Though that thought banished her blush, it certainly didn’t cheer her up any.

With a small sigh, Applejack pushed aside her silly trepidation and set to work actually cutting her mane. It was still slow going. Applejack had cut her own mane before, but never with a knife of all things. At least it was sharp, and that saved any unpleasant hair-pulling, even on the most tangled segments.

Locks and bunches of blond mane fell loose, sometimes landing in the lake and disturbing Applejacks reflection momentarily. It had been years, longer than she could even remember, since Applejack had cut her hair short. For essentially all of her adult life she had styled it in the same ponytail every day simply out of practicality. In the same vein, her decision to cut it now was one born simply of practicality, and what resulted would have made certain fashion-conscious ponies faint at 100 paces.

Finally done, Applejack sheathed her knifed and gazed once more into her reflection. Her once proud mane was all but gone. Her head was far from shaved, but her hair length had been reduced to a couple inches at its longest, and just under an inch in a few places. It wasn't exactly even. Even her bangs had been cut, as they had been getting in her eyes recently anyway. Short-cropped manes weren't entirely uncommon, and Applejack would never disparage anypony that chose to wear one.

As she looked over her own new manecut, however, turning her head to the sides and observing all angles, one thought entered her mind. Applejack thought she looked silly.

Grumbling a bit under her breath, Applejack had to admit that at least there was nothing to get in the way now. She was just happy that her tail grew so much slower, and wouldn't have to be cut for a while yet, hopefully not until after she was safely back home where there were proper hairdressers. Applejack wanted to preserve at least some of her dignity, after all.

Now that her mane was no longer an issue, Applejack was able to note the still-concerning state of the rest of her. Her coat was still matted with sweat from her trip out to the lake, dirt from a week and a half on the island, and little spots of blood here and there from the numerous tiny cuts sustained when bushwhacking through the undergrowth. Several long blond hairs, once free from their attachment to her scalp, had stuck to her neck and upper back, and were itching rather unpleasantly.

All in all, she was in a pretty poor state, but at least now she would finally be able to alleviate that somewhat. Applejack allowed herself a small smile. A quick swim would do her wonders. She removed the saddlebags, and unstrapped the knife, setting them both down on the sand with her hat.

She reached out with a forehoof, carefully lowering it until just the edge prodded the calm lake water. Ripples spread out at her touch, cascading out and across the lake. The water was cool, but not unpleasantly so. It was a little warmer than the frigid river, having been sitting still in direct sunlight rather that constantly moving and partially shaded by a canopy.

Applejack's little smile quickly became a full on grin. It was perfect. She wasted no more time, quickly backing up from the water a few paces. The thought of strange, pony-eating lake creatures crossed her mind momentarily, almost causing Applejack to hesitate.

In that moment, the sun glinted off the surface of the water. The breeze off the lake rustled Applejack's coat slightly, and brought to her the scent of fresh, clean water. She breathed deep, and the itchy loose hairs only seemed to become more annoying at the prospect of sweet relief. She became acutely aware of every bit of dirt, sweat, and blood on her coat, feeling their presence directly against her skin. More than the annoyances, though, Applejack could imagine the cool water washing all of them away.

In that moment, Applejack decided it was worth the risk. A smile as wide as a mile split her face as she galloped full tilt for the water's edge. She sped across the short grass seemingly in slow motion, barely noticing the jubilant laugh that escaped her throat in the short sprint. The grass turned to sand, and the lake sprung up before her suddenly. Applejack took an eternity between steps to assess the situation, and her smile only grew. Still moving at a speed that would have outpaced all but one or two ponies, but still seeing it all in agonizingly brilliant slowness, Applejack took one more galloping step, planted her rear hooves hard in the soft sand, and leapt with all of her considerable ability.

She was only in the air for a brief moment, but her powerful leap propelled her far enough over the surface to make a pegasus jealous. Her tail waved behind her in the wind rushing by her ears, and she reveled in the feeling of the air gliding over her coat. She tucked her forelegs into her chest and drew in a deep breath.

"Yeehaw!"

She impacted the lake with a tremendous splash, and was quickly swallowed up by the clear blue water. Instantly the itching around her neck and back was relieved, and she felt the uncleanness rinsing from her previously-neglected coat. She floated weightlessly beneath the surface, the sun's rays refracting beautiful beams of light all around her. Making no move to surface, Applejack could feel the deeper stains being washed away. The stress and emotional trauma of the past week and a half, as well as the heart-clenching fear that came with it were slowly dissipating. She relaxed her muscles, letting herself go completely limp as the water continued to support her.

Of course, within only a minute or two her lungs were beginning to protest. Just as she was about to swim towards the surface, however, a searing pain shot through her skull. Applejack expelled the last tiny bit of air in her lungs in a pained gasp, gripping the sides of her head with both hooves. The pain passed quickly, but it left behind a strange, cold sense of dread in Applejack's stomach.

She quickly kicked her legs and brought herself back up towards the surface of the lake. She burst through the water with a heaving gasp, taking in massive breaths of glorious air as the burning in her chest faded. The feeling of dread left Applejack then as well. As she treaded water calmly, she was once again consumed by her previous good mood.

Applejack laughed lightly, all traces of a pain gone. With all she'd been going through, getting a headache was certainly nothing to be concerned about. Her smile returned quickly, and she started to move about the surface of the lake. She floated on her back, kicking with her hind legs and cruising along at a gentle pace. The cool waters did wonders to refresh her, and even soothed the aches and pains she had gathered up recently. Within a few minutes even her back injury felt like it had never happened.

As she floated there, another cloud drifted into view overhead. She lazily watched its path through half-squinted eyes, only half-heartedly noting its interesting formation. With one small pip of cloud on the end of a much larger oval shape, it looked almost like a balloon. If she squinted a little, and tilted her head slightly, and didn't look at it too carefully.

Applejack blinked as that thought registered. She was struck by the familiarity of the cloud, and for a moment was completely confused. After scratching her ear and giving it only a moment of thought, Applejack dismissed the coincidence with a laugh. Weather without pegasi was weird. The matter settled, she closed her eyes and drifted along contentedly through the water.

She lost track of time in the bliss provided by the lake. The sun moved through the sky, the afternoon wore on, and Applejack kept swimming. She dove under a couple more times, though only for brief moments. Applejack even took a bit of time to properly scrub herself clean. While a bar of soap would have been immensely appreciated, water and elbow grease did a suitable job, and it didn't take long before Applejack was once more presentable.

She sat in the shallows, looking over her reflection with a soft smile as the sun continued ever onwards into late-afternoon. With a satisfied sigh, Applejack gauged the time of day. She judged that she had time for a couple more hours of swimming before heading back, and dove back into the deep water with a splash.

She swam just below the surface all the way out to the middle of the lake, before breaking back into the open air with a loud bark of laughter. She shook her head, closing her eyes as droplets of water flying haphazardly in all directions. When she reopened her eyes, she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Surprise overwhelmed her, and for a second she forgot to tread water, dropping beneath the surface suddenly. She quickly resurfaced, sputtering and flailing as she expelled lakewater from her mouth and nose.

Shaking her head, she looked back towards the shore, paddling in the very same direction as she did. The strange sight only became more defined as Applejack neared the shore. There seemed to be a rectangle of hard-packed dirt just next to the treeline. It was perfectly flat, but the edges were jagged where grass had intruded into the dark earth. Finally, as she got still closer to the shore, Applejack spotted something else sitting adjacent to the inexplicable rectangle. Touching the edge of the packed earth, itself fighting off encroaching grass and plant life, was an old cellar door set into a stone frame, closed but not locked.

Applejack jolted to a sudden halt, blinking as she finally realized what she was looking at.

"Wait… what?"