//------------------------------// // Time and Shadows // Story: The Nightmare Tree // by TopWanted //------------------------------// Ice and snow, one flutters, one flows. The cold of winter that comes in force after fall, does not care for the yellowed leaves or green grass at all. A sheet of white that washes away the warmth. Memories disappear as the sun too conforms. --- Apple Bloom trudged deeper and deeper into the wintery landscape, her black costume a juxtaposition against the sea of white around her. She was freezing, her knees knocking together and her head shaking from the cold. Yet she still pushed on, calling her cousin’s name. “BABS! BABS!” She saw the figures in the snow as they formed and reformed before dying again, but she paid them no heed. So what if they were lost souls. There was only one soul she was worried about right now. Still, her friends slipped into mind. She didn’t want to leave them. She wanted them to stay together, but she also wanted to find Babs. She couldn’t leave a friend behind, she just couldn’t. “BABS!!” After what felt like hours, she dropped to a knee and began to rub her shoulders. “S-So c-cold.” Her eyes were barely open but she was sure she saw a flickering pale pink light through the snow. “B-b-babs.” All around, figures in the storm writhed and twisted toward her. She felt their icy touch as they blew across her back and face, but she was too tired to do anything. Right now, she just wanted to go to sleep… to go to sleep… to go to… A burst of wind caught her off guard, slapping her in the face with a warm air and seeming to bat away the curious spirits. She blinked tiredly as she looked up to see a massive black robed figure flourish her cloak back and forth, seemingly waving the cold away like a fan. “Zecora…” When she had finished, the tundra was bare. No snow, not even the slightest sign of cold. Instead the air felt… empty. It was the most barren feeling Apple Bloom had ever felt. She struggled to her hooves. “Thank you, Zecora.” But the zebra didn’t respond. She had her head pointing straight for the flickering pink light not too far off. Apple Bloom noticed as well and ran to it as fast as her legs could carry. She fell down by her cousin’s side, now close enough to see her. Babs was like a ghost, her body translucent to the point of almost being invisible. Her face was wracked with pain and fatigue, much like Apple Bloom’s. Still she clutched the small glowing pink orb in her hooves like her life depended on it. “Babs! Talk to me, Babs!” “She will not answer, for she cannot.” Zecora walked over to them slowly, her form seeming to grow more and more dark and imposing as she came closer. “Ponies can’t run forever from me, this lesson must be taught.” Apple Bloom gulped and shoved herself in front of Babs to protect her. “You’re not Zecora.” The zebra narrowed her eyes before throwing up her hood and shading her face in darkness. “We had a deal, my child. You would dare for it to be defiled. That orb is mine by right. Would you seriously take it with a fight?” “Just tell me what’s goin’ on!” The zebra was silent for a moment before looking up at the sky. “The sun and moon may not seem to frighten, but they record a force to you I must enlighten.” Above the moon began to move at a supernatural speed and retreat over the horizon. Then the sun rose just as fast, then receded. This began to repeat, going faster and faster. “Time is ancient, there for better or worse. To some she is a gift and to others a curse.” Apple Bloom watched the dancing celestial bodies as they sped through night and day, faster and faster. And with them the landscape began to change. Growing plants and streams from seemingly nothing. Massive trees sprouted from rocks and seemed to scrape the skies. Meanwhile the mare’s body began to change, her striped fur growing longer and whiter until it simply fell out. Her cloak seemed to grow as well, wrapping around her body and enveloping her limbs in blackness. She dauntingly stood above Apple Bloom, all mannerisms of the zebra she knew stripped away. “I am far older than that. Before the very first pony counted the hours I was there at her back. A shadow on the wall.” The massive shadowy figure stood like a giant above the trees and plains. She seemed to take up the whole sky with her presence. “Your friend’s time is up. She delays the inevitable and strains her soul with her efforts. Give me the orb and let her pass on.” Apple Bloom felt her body tremble but she stood her ground. She set herself in dirt and narrowed her eyes at her. “Ah’m not doin’ anythin’ for you! Now if you’re so smart then I think you know how to help Babs!” The dark figure was quiet. “Please… Ah’ll do anythin’.” The figure lowered its head from the clouds and stared at her with pitch black eyes behind a shaded hood. “Tell me, little one. What are you most afraid of?” Apple Bloom was taken aback at the question. She considered everything she and her friends had been through tonight. They were all pretty scary but there was one thing that haunted her mind all night long. She looked down at Bab’s fading form, her eyes closed in concentration just trying to keep herself together. “Ah…” The figure cocked its massive head. “Ah’m afraid of losin’ this time Ah have left with mah friends. Ah don’t want any of them to miss a single moment. It’d just be too cruel to look back one day and suddenly find we’re grown up.” The figure stared at her for a few moments before a laugh echoed from its hood. The laughter grew and it threw its head back, reverberating into the sky like thunder. Apple Bloom shook at its force but still stood her ground. When it finally finished the figure lowered its head once more. She couldn’t see it through the darkness of its hood but Apple Bloom swore she saw a smile. “That’s certainly a fear to be lauded. Many think this night belongs to Nightmare Moon, but they are wrong. This is my night. A night to honor and celebrate a hidden emotion. Harmony brings ponies together but fear strengthens the self. Do not be afraid of the feeling. Embrace it and let it help you to grow.” Apple Bloom stared wide eyed. “So, can Ah go home with Babs?” The hooded figure peered past her and Apple Bloom turned to see that Babs was already gone. “Hey!” “Your friend awaits you back home.” The hood rushed up to her and she threw her hooves out as it swallowed her whole. It seemed to lift her off the ground and make her tumble through the air. Then her face hit something familiar. Grass. “Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle came running down the hill with Scootaloo and Tiara close behind with the rest. Apple Bloom got to her hooves and spit out the grass that got in her mouth. She looked around in confusion as her friends all circled her. “What happened?” she asked, rubbing her head. “You fell down the hill!” Tiara shouted in earnest, catching herself. “Um, not that I was worried.” Apple Bloom looked around. She was back on Sweet Apple Acres. And just beyond those couple hills was her house. A little to the other way was the edge of Everfree. The edge where they had entered searching for Babs. “Ah… Ah thought Ah… and we…” “Tarnation! You children slow down!” From around the corner came a familiar old green earth pony. “Just because you’re goin’ out on your own tonight doesn’t mean Ah’ll allow any tomfoolery.” “Granny!” Apple Bloom ran to greet her and hugged her close. Granny Smith raised an eyebrow but reciprocated the hug. “Aw, child, Ah just saw you ten minutes ago.” Apple Bloom pulled back. “What? But that can’t be! Me and everyone else chased after Babs into the Everfree and flew on a kite and met pirates and witches and timberwolves and windigoes and-” “You sure you didn’t hit your head?” Button asked. “What’s this about chasin’ Babs?” Granny asked. Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “BABS! Where is she?” “Calm down,” Granny waved her hooves at her. “Babs was moanin’ so Applejack and Big Mac took her to the hospital.” Everypony gasped. “Now calm down! She was moanin’ because she snuck a bunch of candy from the house.” “Huh?” Everyone uttered. “Gave her one massive stomach ache Ah’ll tell you that much.” “So… she’s alright then?” Apple Bloom asked. “She’ll be fine. If you want, you kids can visit her at the hospital later tonight.” Apple Bloom looked back at her friends then to her grandmother. “Ah think Ah have a better idea. Tiara?” Tiara looked up in surprise at her. “What?” --- “That was some dumb thinkin’, right there,” Applejack uttered from next to Babseed’s hospital bed. “Eeyup,” Big Mac responded. “I don’t need to hear it again… ugh,” Babs moaned as she writhed in bed. “Well now, the doctor says the stomach medicine should kick in in a little bit.” Applejack leaned back in her chair. “You want anythin’ to eat?” She gave her cousin a smirk. Babs simply moaned again. A knock came from the door and a nurse popped her head in. “Miss Babseed? You have some visitors.” Babs looked to the door as eight children walked in and ran over to her bed. “Argh, I can’t believe you guys are seeing me like this.” “You kidding?” Scootaloo asked with a smirk. “This is hilarious.” “My mom always says candy rots your brain,” Dinky spoke up. “Rots your stomach too apparently,” Spoon added. “What are y’all doin’ here?” Applejack asked. “Shouldn’t you be goin’ around town by now?” Apple Bloom looked over to Tiara with a smile. “We had a change in plans.” Tiara looked slightly sour, but sighed and cleared her throat. Immediately several ponies in butler and maid uniforms entered the hospital room and began to deck the place out with Nightmare Night decorations. Applejack and Big Mac looked on in puzzlement as they heard voices from outside and saw that there were more in the hallway and other rooms of the hospital wing. Ponies in bed watched in confusion as their rooms became decorated in cobwebs and bats and candy corn and cauldrons. Apple Bloom spread out her hooves, showing the decorated room off. “We didn’t want you to feel left out on Nightmare Night. So we brought it here for you!” The first set of servants left and a second set came in pushing a rack of costumes of every color and shade. There were spiders and scarecrows, monsters and manticores, every costume imaginable and they were being shown to everypony on the floor for them to pick out and choose. Babs looked at the scene agape. “You… you guys really didn’t need to do this.” “That’s what I said,” Tiara muttered. Spoon elbowed her and the filly rolled her eyes. “Just… consider it my own little apology.” Babs looked at them all, a smile growing across her face. “So what do you say? Wanna get dressed and get started?” Sweetie Belle asked. “You bet!” Babs picked a spider costume from the rack and joined her friends as they went from room to room, dropping in on the patients and doctors and asking for candy that Tiara’s servants had left in each room. Everypony they met smiled and laughed as they made their way through the hospital. When they made their way to the lobby Apple Bloom stopped as she noticed somepony out of the corner of her eye. “Is that Zecora?” Scootaloo looked where she was looking down the hall. “Yeah, I think so.” “Ah’m gonna go say hi. Be with you guys in a minute.” She waved to her friends and bid them continue as she walked over to the zebra. She was talking to a doctor, undressed for Nightmare Night and but looking bright. “Hi, Zecora.” The zebra finally noticed her. “Oh, Apple Bloom, so nice to see you so soon. I hear this Nightmare Night is your doing. You’ve certainly made the hospital worth viewing.” “It was all of us really. Especially Diamond. But what are you doin’ here?” “A late night call from a doctor friend. It seems he needed my potion’s special blend. I regretted not making this night’s festivities, but you have more than made up for it with your activities.” Apple Bloom smiled but looked around before asking her next question. “Um, Zecora, do you believe in ghosts?” Zecora laughed. “Ghosts are nothing to be afraid of. Even though nopony knows what they are made of. If you’ve had an experience you can’t comprehend, perhaps it’s best to look at it as a gift from a friend.” She winked at her and strolled down the hall. Apple Bloom frowned and scratched her head, more confused than ever. “Come on, Apple Bloom!” Pipsqueak shouted from the stairwell. “We’re bobbing for apples downstairs.” “Comin’!” She decided to let it go. After all, she had her entire childhood to figure it out. --- Past darkened forest and haunted bridge, rests a crumbling castle upon a ridge. Behind it rests a certain tree, that blooms one night per year by some decree. But as this night reaches its end, we see a mysterious figure come to tend. They stop to watch as each orb fades, a pink one resting by its neighbor red in shade. As all lights go dark and the sun begins to rise, they turn their hooded face to the skies. “Another year gone,” they utter aloud. “Best run along.” And back they go beneath their shroud. The cape flickers and flattens as the sound of trap doors moan. When the wind finally rests, no sign of life is shown. Just a massive black tree behind a crumbling castle wall. And there it will be, at least until next fall. Happy Halloween