• Published 29th Dec 2012
  • 12,588 Views, 1,189 Comments

Mother of Invention - zaponator



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

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Coconut

Applejack grunted with effort, pulling herself a few inches higher. She was almost there, her prize just out of reach. She felt herself beginning to grow tired, it was now or never. With a final heave, she used all four limbs to shimmy just a little further up the trunk of the palm tree. Finally, with a triumphant grin, she swung a forehoof out at one of the large green fruits growing there. A resounding 'thunk' of her hoof on the hard fruit marked her success, followed shortly by the dull thud of her prize striking the forest floor. Unfortunately, in her euphoric state of triumph at finally securing food, she allowed herself to relax. She quickly found out that this was a bad idea when clinging to the trunk of a palm tree ten feet in the air.

Applejack yelped as the tree fled from her grasp, flailing her hooves in a vain attempt to stave off the pull of gravity. For a moment she was completely unsupported in the air, a strange and not very pleasant feeling for the earth pony. She was gripped by the strangest feeling of déjà vu, before impacting the ground with a grunt. She landed on her back, forcing the air out of her lungs in a painful wheeze. Her head whipped back, slamming into the hard dirt with enough force to bounce. She blinked several times, her eyes unfocused, trying to remember what she was doing laying on the ground. Her mind swam about in a blurred mess, until her vision began to blacken around the edges and she realized that her lungs were still empty.

She gulped in a lungful of air, only to cough violently at the action. Her head throbbed mercilessly, radiating out from the back of her skull. Her back was exploding with pain that shot across her whole body, but the fact that she could feel her whole body at all meant that her spine was at least intact. After coughing a few more times, Applejack was finally able to breathe again, though a bit raspy at first. The first thing she did was inhale deeply, and expel the air in a scream of pain. Her agonized shout went on for a full ten seconds, echoing throughout the lonely jungle. Finally she quieted, left panting on her back with her energy spent.

She gasped heavily, her chest rising and falling with twinges of pain each time. The agony was still too much to get up, but she did manage to turn her head in the direction she thought the coconut to be. She spotted it a few feet away, luckily it hadn't rolled out of sight or into the nearby river. Applejack really didn't feel like getting another one. It would have been a lot simpler to buck the fruits down like a bunch of ripe apples, but after going a few days without eating, combined with so much physical exertion, she just didn't have the strength in her for a good apple buck.

Finally, her breathing steadied. However, she decided that laying there for a while longer was the best course of action; her brain was still incapable of coming up with anything more complex than that. An unknown amount of time passed with Applejack sprawled on her back at the base of the palm tree. The rustling sound returned six times—Applejack counted—before the fog had lifted from her brain, and the pain had subsided enough that she felt she could actually move again. She checked the angle of the sun's rays through the canopy, blinking in surprise at what she saw. Apparently she had been in a daze there for longer than she thought, because it appeared to be about mid-morning. Already she had wasted a couple hours of daylight.

Not wanting to waste any more, Applejack decided that she would attempt to roll over, only to yelp when the motion reignited the pain in her back. Still, it wasn't quite as sharp as before, and she was able to flop onto her side with a bit of effort. From that position, she tried all of her limbs, and found everything to be in working order, although extremely sore. Each leg movement caused a twinge of pain in her back, but Applejack was able to grit her teeth through the worst of it. Satisfied that probably wasn't too badly injured, the first thing she did was pick up her hat from where it had fallen next to her, and place it on her head. With her Stetson in place, she made an attempt to rise to her hooves. Just getting her hooves under her proved more difficult than anticipated, but after a minute or two of struggling, she ended up on her belly in a position she could theoretically stand up from. Of course, it wasn't quite that easy.

The instant she pushed off the ground, her legs turned to jelly and her vision blurred, forcing her back to her belly with a groan. After a few steadying breaths, Applejack tried again, albeit more carefully. Her legs still wobbled as she slowly eased herself to a standing position, but with a bit of doing she was eventually able to rise to all four hooves, looking like a baby deer standing for the first time.

Despite her unsteadiness, Applejack couldn't help but crack a large grin. She had done it. She was standing on her own hooves with the whole world at her command. Nothing could stop the inexorable force that was her all-powerful will. Her strength was the stuff of legends. Millennia from that day, ponies would write about—

Her self-congratulatory train of thought cut off the second she attempted to take a step forward, instead toppling forward with a cry of surprise. Her face ground into the dirt when she fell, almost enough to make her forget the pain in her back and head. Applejack groaned in frustration while she once again rose slowly to her hooves. She took a moment to wipe as much dirt from her face as she could, before trying again to walk. This time, she kept her guard up, not letting her small victory in standing go to her head. With wobbling steps, she zigzagged her way over to the coconut that she had gone through so much for. There was no force in the universe that would prevent Applejack from feasting on her prize after all of the pain she had endured for its sake.

Upon reaching the large, green fruit she remembered the one fact that everypony knows about coconuts; they are extremely hard to open.

"Oh that's jus' great." She muttered under her breath as she gave the offending fruit her harshest glare, almost hoping that it would simply crack open in its own when faced with the ferocity in her eyes. Needless to say, the coconut was not moved by her anger. The pain in the back of Applejack's head began to throb, transforming her fearsome glare into a pained grimace. She collapsed to the ground in defeat. The motion shot a lance of pain through her back, eliciting a pitiful whimper from the damaged mare. Applejack wallowed on the ground, trying desperately to ignore the pain she felt all over, and the hunger that was twisting in her gut. She knew then that she was going to die. There was nothing she could do about it. She would simply lay there in the dirt until starvation claimed her.

Applejack blinked. That was no way for an Apple to be thinking. She mentally berated herself for the pessimistic thoughts. Apparently, severe hunger combined with a head injury made for a fairly unstable emotional state. However, now that she was aware of the problem, Applejack could take steps to mitigate it. Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind, she instead tried to look at the situation rationally. Ponies had eaten coconuts before, so they obviously weren't impossible to open. Applejack had the strongest back legs of anypony she knew. All she needed to do was find a hard surface to brace the coconut against, and give it a good kick.

With her new plan in mind, Applejack felt energized. She rose to her hooves a little easier than before, feeling ready to get to work right away. After a moment of consideration, Applejack removed her hat. She flipped it upside down and placed the coconut inside before grabbing the rim in her mouth. Nodding in satisfaction, she began the trek back to the cave. It was slow going, as her back still hurt which in turn sent incremental bolts of pain to all her extremities. On top of that, her head was still throbbing with only a little less intensity than before. In spite of her beat-up state, Applejack was smiling and humming a happy tune as she followed the river upstream. The excitement of finally having something to eat overpowered virtually every other feeling. Even the occasional rustling in the bushes only caused her to giggle. She idly wondered if her good mood was really just brought on by food, or if she'd hit her head harder than she thought. Either way would be fine with her at the moment, because for the first time since waking on the beach, Applejack felt genuinely happy.

The walk back was easy enough. Applejack simply followed the river back to where it emerged from underground. From there, she moved downstream until she located where she had originally stopped to take a drink. After a brief search, she was easily able to spot her path through the undergrowth. Applejack set off down the path that would lead her back to her temporary cave home. Unfortunately, her excitement at finding something to eat could only ward off so much before the pain broke through. The ground away from the riverbank was quite a bit more rough, and her aching head didn't exactly make it easy to maintain her balance. She never fell down completely, but every little stumble brought a new lesson in pain from her protesting back. Before long, her eyes were watering as her back felt like knives were being driven into it and twisted every time she stepped on the uneven ground.

Finally, Applejack could see the ground gently slope upwards ahead of her. She quickened her pace ever so slightly, moving up the hill with a sigh of relief. At the top was the cave she was calling her home for the time being. At that moment it was the most beautiful thing Applejack had ever seen. She dumped the coconut onto the stone floor, and placed her hat back on her head. The green fruit hadn't weighed too much, but supporting that weight with her neck had not been kind to Applejack's injured back.

Still, the pain was technically less than it had been, so Applejack wasn't terribly worried. She'd been hurt one or two times on the farm, and had developed a sense of when she should be concerned about an injury. Her head was a little more troubling. There was a distinct possibility of a concussion, which wouldn't exactly kill her, but it certainly wouldn't be fun.

Applejack glanced out the cave entrance. Judging by the sun, it was still morning, and she wasn't one to waste a perfectly good day. Still, she wasn't exactly going to get much done if she was doubling over with hunger. She glanced over at the coconut she had placed on the cave floor. She didn't want to cause any more pain in her aching back by attempting to crack the hard fruit, but she needed to eat. As much as she wanted to curl up on the cave floor and go to sleep, there was work to be done.

She walked over to the coconut, stopping in front of it and sitting on her haunches. Applejack examined the fruit for a minute, trying to decide on the best course of action. She was in no shape to buck the thing open, and she seriously doubted she could break through with just her forehooves. Finally, she snatched the fruit up in her forehoof and quickly made toward the exit of the cave on three limbs.

She emerged into the sun outside, and instantly felt a little better. Her back was still aching, and she dared not move it too swiftly. Her head still throbbed, muddling her thoughts subtly. In spite of all her pain, the light of the mid-morning sun warmed her coat and brought a sense of calm to the earth pony. She breathed deeply, feeling the pain begin to fade a little as she pushed it as far as she could to the back of her mind.

Her stomach chose that moment to remind her just how badly it required some sustenance with a loud rumble and another cramp. She sighed, glancing at the coconut she held in a forehoof. There was a lot she had to do that day, from finding the materials for a fire to possibly checking the beach she'd awoken on for clues. But by Celestia she was going to eat something first!

With fierce determination, Applejack made her way down the slope outside the cave on three legs. She cast her gaze around quickly for a moment before spotting what she was looking for. A pony-sized rock was embedded halfway into the ground not far away, a gift from the nearby mountain.

She began to move toward the rock, her three-legged gait speed increasing in speed. She sped up until she was nearly running, the rock grew near, and with a ferocious battle cry Applejack swung the coconut in a downward arc with all her might.

"HYAAAUGH!"

There was a loud 'thwack' as the coconut impacted the rock with a force that only an earth pony could manage. The blow caused the coconut to bounce back with an equal force, taking Applejack's foreleg with it. She let out a surprised yelp as she flopped onto her back with the momentum of the treacherous fruit in her grasp. Even though she hadn't fallen hard, the sudden motion caused her back to explode once again with agonising pain. When the pain finally died down, she rose to unsteady hooves. Unlike her back, her head didn't cause her too much pain from the fall; though she did feel dizzy to the point of almost falling over.

Hoping that it had been worth it, she lifted the coconut to inspect the damage she'd done. Unfortunately, the green hide of the fruit was barely scuffed. Her full force attack had done virtually nothing to bring her any closer to the edible portion contained within.

"Oh come on!" She shouted loudly, throwing the coconut to the dirt in frustration. Her head throbbed as she seethed, looking around for some way to vent her anger. Suddenly, something about the rock next to her caught her eye. The topmost edge of it was rough and jagged, but most importantly, sharp. She stared at it for a moment, before breaking out into a large smile and picking the coconut back up.

With her anticipatory smile never faltered as she set the coconut against the sharp edge. She held it so that the edge of the rock ran lengthwise along the green fruit. After settling into place on her haunches, she pressed down as hard as she could and started moving the coconut back and forth along the improvised saw. The results were immediately more promising than her earlier attempt to simply smash it. The hard edge of broken stone cut into the coconut slowly but surely. It wasn't perfect, but it was definitely working. Applejack put everything she had into pushing the coconut back and forth with as much downward force as possible. The deeper the cut became, the more work it was to move it at all.

Finally, there was a grinding sound as the rock's edge reached the harder inner shell of the coconut. Applejack sighed in relief, happy to be done with the first part of her task. Without pausing for a breather, she shifted her grip on the coconut, and moved to sit to the side of the rock. From her new position, perpendicular to the sharp edge of the rock, she pulled on the coconut as hard as she could. It resisted her for a moment, but in the end earth pony strength won out. There was a ripping sound, and the green husk of the fruit finally tore away on one half. Applejack quickly flipped the coconut around, and performed the same action to remove the other half of its bright outer layer. When she was done, she was left with a smaller, brown coconut. The hard-shelled, brown orb was actually what most ponies thought coconuts looked like naturally. This was only due to the fact that it was how the stores sold them. Even Applejack had seen them a few times, though mostly in the supermarkets of Manehatten back when she was a filly. Fortunately, the brown inner shell was far easier to break through, especially for somepony with her strength.

With an almost casual air, she raised the brown fruit high and slammed it down on the rock. The sound it made as it cracked open was music to her ears, and almost made her giggle with excitement. She observed her hoofwork proudly. The coconut had split clean down the middle, revealing its delectable white core within. This particular fruit was almost completely filled with the edible white portion, with almost no room for the sugary water that filled up the rest of the space. Of course, Applejack only grinned wider at this. She was hungry, and no amount of juice would help with that.

Wasting no more time, she dove in with gusto. The fresh fruit was the best thing she had ever tasted, and not only because it was the first she'd eaten in days. The few times she had tried store-bought coconut didn't even come close to comparing. In fact, she would never call what they sold in stores 'coconuts' again. Doing so would be a direct insult to the piece of heaven she was currently consuming.

Before she knew it, she had cleaned out both halves of the coconut; even going so far as to lick up any remaining flavor from the inside. Applejack leaned her back against the rock, and heaved a contented sigh. She wasn't exactly full to bursting, but she had something in her stomach. The feeling was indescribable after it being empty for so long. On top of that, it was one of the best things she'd ever eaten. Most ponies assumed that her favourite fruit would be apples, but after living on an apple orchard all her life they did tend to get old, which was why she tended to use them in baking rather than eat them straight. Over the years, Applejack had taken to sampling the more exotic fruits available. She decided then that fresh coconut was her favorite. Better yet, she had an essentially endless supply on the island. As long as she could keep harvesting them, she knew she'd never grow tired of the sweet fruit.

She smiled to a little to herself, having completed one of her major goals for the day. After giving herself a moment to rest, Applejack stood up once more. Next, she would need the materials for a fire. The sun was already moving towards the end of what could be called morning, but if she hurried she might have time to explore the beach, too. The day certainly hadn't started well, as her still-sore back and slightly woozy head were constantly reminding her. Now though, with food in her belly and a plan in mind, it was looking up.

Author's Note:

Edited by Pilate. He's pretty neat.