TAll These Years (Set in Stone)
MLP: FiM
Sad
One day, Applejack was turned to stone by a cockatrice in the forest. It was a long time before she was revived. A story of moving through lives and the bonds forged in-between.
Alt. Universe
Applejack
Luna
OC
eLLen · 21k words · 667 24 · 20k views

Since I Can't Get Anymore Down, Here's a Sneak Peak · 12:28am Aug 21st, 2015

I don't have writer's block. I don't! I just can't get any writing done is all.

So the long-awaited next chapter of All These Years (Set in Stone) is somewhere between 50-75% done, but I've been having a hard time writing it this past week. I'm considering taking a break (ugh) just to clear my mind by writing a one-shot idea I've had.

So in the meantime, here's a preview of what I have written. Enjoy!

(Takes place as Applejack, Skylight, and Luna are walking through the forest on their way to Ponyville)
“Perhaps I could elaborate?” Luna said, catching up to them. “Through the efforts of many ponies, the Everfree’s become more… tame, you could say. It’s much more similar to most of Equestria’s other forests. Of course, this only applies to the areas close to towns. The Everfree spans whole provinces after all.”
Applejack nodded, taking a moment to glance around the gnarl of trees and shrubbery with a new outlook. “So ponies wanted to make it safer for the one’s living by it? Considering Ponyville’s track record, I think I can understand that. When did that all happen?”
“They were deemed successful about fifty years ago.”
“Yeah? How long did it take to get there?”
Luna didn’t answer right away, taking a second to draw out the answer. “…Twenty-five years?”
“So that was seventy-five years…” Applejack trailed off, eyes snapping up as she put two and two together. “…Years ago… Oh.” Stuck in her thoughts, she nearly missed a step. I caused that… didn’t I?
Her eyes met each of her companions for a second, but Applejack payed no mind to the interest they aimed at her. The forest’s safer now… At least I can say something good came out of this, right? For whatever reason, the sentiment didn’t brighten her mood.
“So how long ‘till we get to Ponyville?” she asked, shifting the subject back to the road ahead.
“Almost there,” Skylight chirped, voice returning to its usual cheery tone. “Just a few minutes.”
“Is that right…?” she mused.
“Right!”
Applejack shot her another look. “That was a rhetorical question.”
“So… I gave you a rhetorical answer,” she said, an innocent grin on her lips.
“…” She looked to Luna, but the Princess of the Night had nothing to give other than a smirk. “…Well alright then.”
In truth, Applejack already had an idea of how they had to go. As much as the scenery had changed, she could still make out the sights of an older time. As the trio marched her home, she’d counted a gorge that once held a rope bridge, now abridged by a sturdy, stone one; she’d counted a riverbed, now serene and calm, that once held a stylish serpent; and she’d counted sheer cliffs that marked the territories of the manticores… if there were any still there. She hadn’t spotted hide nor hair of one.
Like a trip down memory lane… in some ways, literally, she thought. If this was a trip, then Applejack knew she’d entered the final stretch. She took in a breath of air, letting it flow out in a shuddering sigh before steeling herself. A hill approached from ahead, and she knew Ponyville lay waiting for her on the other side; she didn’t know, however, what kind of greeting she’d receive.
“Okay…” she muttered under her breath, not letting either of the others hear her. “Here we go. I need to set things right… and this is the way I start.”
Pace quickening, not enough to be noticeable, Applejack strode for the mound of earth that kept her from her town. Reaching its base, she wasted not a second in trudging uphill, one hoof after the other. Let’s see…
“Now!” she called, teeth gritted as she stomped onto the crest, giving her a panorama of the traveling expanse on the other side, now uncovered with her eyes. Then she gasped.