//------------------------------// // ~Evanescence // Story: Hexagons: Part l // by Wand3r3r3 //------------------------------// -------------- Apple Bloom felt very uncomfortable leaving Rose behind the way she did. But as with Sweetie Belle, a lack of information led to a sense of urgency. She needed to protect Rose from any danger that her worried mind could possibly dread. She would be back for her soon, however. The secret she was trying to protect was the one that would save Rose's life, she believed: she had faith that another mistake could be prevented. But uncertainty guided that faith as she hurried around the same corner that Sweetie Belle took, but taking less caution. "I should be able to phase through walls," she joked, partly cursing the situation. It would be quite a while before she would reach her destination, at the top of the mountain; at the very end of the path. "Gotta hurry up." _______-------*******------_______ *******-------_______-------******* Rainbow Dash had long since released Rarity from questioning. She couldn't imagine any theory presented to her to be true, as they all wove their fabric from the existence of magic. She was not a Unicorn, and she would not slumber this night. "She couldn't have just...appeared out of thin air, you know?" she argued with herself. Rainbow Dash would find justice for not only the mare but for the rattled community of Ponyville as well. She felt pity for both of those things, and her own wall of fidelity was quickly collapsing upon itself, having no answers. She could not do this on her own. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dearly Departed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---Evanescence--- *** ** * "Applejack? Are you here? Applejack?" "Who wants to know?" Dash heard a voice call out from inside, questioning her intentions. She had faith she would find help here at Sweet Apple Acres, no matter how uncomfortable a confrontation might be. "It's Rainbow Dash," she started. "From the town?" Whichever Apple family member was inside recognized her name immediately, but still questioned her intent. Dash delayed a detailed explanation. "It's not . . . Look, it is important. Can you tell her I'm here and maybe, you know, get her?" The building in which the family lived as well as its siblings were still in as good of shape as she remembered back then, just months ago. Save for heavy tarps on the rooftops and all the absence of all farm animals, keeping warm inside the insulated barn to the right, they were all necessary precautions to counter the cold weather the town had been recently experiencing. It felt like snow could flake down at any given moment: the barren fields absent of crops and but plentiful of cold decayed trees would surely die. Dash briefly remembered hearing the news from Cloudsdale, news about the difficulty the ponies at the Rainbow factory were having, trying to keep freezing winds from sweeping the land. They don't know where it came from at all. "I can tell her, but I really don't think she's too fond of you anymore." Dash wouldn't let this female voice trip her with guilt, as she knew exactly what was being brought up, and immediately elaborated upon. "Tell me, Dash. Why'd you have to break her heart?" "If you're gonna take my place and interrogate me, at least let me in. It's getting to be freezing." Dash's jaw trembled. She clamped it tight, breathing through her nose; she saw the air she breathed expelled upon the wide door, pushing off of it. "Please?" A few miserable seconds passed, and she finally heard the door unlock: she didn't wait for many instructions, but only an invitation to come inside. "Just go get her," the voice added. Rainbow Dash pushed the door open and started walking into the building when she was first greeted by a small filly walking away from her. The immediate scene was hardly lit but for a weak fire burning in a stove, and a glass lantern a few feet in front of it, in the path she walked. The filly then walked toward a noose tied upon the beams supporting the second story of the house. She put the pieces together instantaneously and dashed toward the little filly, but she was too late to stop her from leaping up at the noose. "Scootaloo!" she called. "No!" But the filly fell to the ground in failure, hard on her protruding hip bones firstly. She was truly a sad sight as Rainbow Dash looked her over. The name slipped from Dash's lips just like it used to so often before. It was the filly's lack of flight that gave her away, despite having wings; Dash knew who this filly was. The poor, sad thing... "Go away!" Scootaloo ordered Dash with hostility, but she watched her approach regardless. It was not in defiance, but instead of care. Fear, perhaps. The vulnerable filly beckoned her protection all over again. "Scootaloo," she said, "what are you doing here?? Of all places, here? What the hell were you trying to do?!" "This wasn't supposed to happen!" The little orange filly got louder. "I was supposed to die! Before you could stop me!" "Scootaloo, I'm..." She chose to catch a bit more breath. "Well...I saw this coming." Dash was both confused and upset, the latter washing over her all of a sudden. "You shouldn't ever want to think like that. You know better. You've been through so much, we both know that!" Dash was upset because she looked Scootaloo over and saw that she was in terrible condition, a great deal of life looking visibly drained from her, with her slow and feeble movements, pulling herself back along the floor in a fluster of emotions. And she was also confused for the same reasons, but that confusion turned into a need for answers from her. She knew her and still cared deeply for her, after a long period apart. "And I didn't stop you, Scootaloo," Dash added, sounding sorrowful before she discovered something much more mystifying. "Wait, where are your wings...?" Dash looked her over, again and again, kneeling down to her side now. Her sight met with the filly's, who was now suddenly whining from what she initially thought was physical pain. Her eyes were now far accustomed to the dim lighting in the room, and she soon saw that Scootaloo was...looking to be transparent. The dark, unrefined wooden floor was seeping through her, or maybe she was sinking into it? Dash knew she was very tired, but when the filly's panic was rising, so did hers. They both remained unmoving: Dash was frozen in place watching Scootaloo stay the same, only suffering. She didn't know what she could possibly do for her. "Dash, Applejack needs your help more than me," said Scootaloo, starting to slur her words through. Dash obviously refused and didn't believe her. "She's looking for Applebloom like I was," she added. That seemed to have gotten Dash's attention, however. "So, Scootaloo . . . Where did she go? Come with me, we'll find her together. We'll find both of them together!" As hopeful as Rainbow Dash could be at the concept, the filly could hardly move off the floor. The light from the fire was now looking to illuminate her entire body, like a light from inside. When she tried to touch her...if was as if her body was so much softer than what it must have been for her to take the awkward fall that she did. "She's not that fond of me either, Dash. You have to bring her to me. She'd never..." "You don't know that, Scoots. Where are they?" "I didn't check their rooms yet. You should... I have something important to tell them." Now Scootaloo's words sounded choked, painfully forced out. Dash wanted to stay, but it was getting more and more stressful to stay and not even be able to carry the filly. Her heart raced; her mind fluttered; she felt the strongest constraints squeeze the essence from her heart as she abandoned the filly, from the thought just a few seconds to a single minute. She was assured that she would be alright on her own, as the Scootaloo led her to believe. She turned away from the filly's figure and approached the hallway to her right, curved from a wall parallel to the building's entrance. The following hall was immediately divided into two paths by a stairway leading up to the second floor, but she knew where to go from the start. She took the staircase, climbing up with the assistance of the banister at the side. Her head still felt heavy, but she swore it came to be worse alongside an uninvited shaking in her steps. She worried about Scootaloo, but she came here for Applejack, after all. And so, with heartache throughout, she opened Applejack's bedroom door. The last time she visited was months ago when the two mares were on good terms. Very good terms, in fact. ---------:- Sweetie Belle still saw nothing but stars in the sky, looking down on her and lighting the path. She imagined that they were growing bigger the higher she ascended up the mountain trail. As she progressed, the path became more rugged and precarious, but she traversed every natural obstacle in her own path. The higher she climbed, the higher the amount of snow flew around and down the cliffside and onto her body. It wasn't as frigid as it appeared to be, however, to warrant a cold that looked to be blistering but wasn't. "There have definitely been a few visitors here," she said. She was so high up in the sky, but she could still see the tip of the country's central and mountainous spire. Where the area absent of stars laid, the outline of its pinnacle was visible from atop the height of the very peaks around her. "What would ponies be doing all the way up here? It's freezing." But she soon found her answer out. She could see where the ground was becoming nearly leveled, meters ahead. "This looks like . . . Some kind of a shrine? I don't know." From around the curvature of the next hill, strange architecture began to appear. Sweetie Belle approached with caution, scanning the area just as such. There were no traces of physical operation, but she did see unnatural glowing markings in the snow and trudged through it to investigate promptly. As she set more approached upon the area, she saw a shallow cave within the mountain with wooden scaffolding sheltering its entrance. It was battered by the heavy snow but was supported well enough not to collapse. The inside of the cave was dark and offered little to attract her inside. But given the wooden structure above, she would investigate nonetheless. However, the markings in the snow were proved to be more curious. She was conscious of the tracks she made with each step, but more so about the hole she dug, unveiling the mark that seeped through the snow. When she reached the bottom, she saw the glowing mark with much more clarity and much more brilliance — more brilliant than the sunlight that would pierce its way through the dark clouds above. Moments were truly defined each time the sun shined upon the snow, which became so bright that it threatened to blind her. "What are these?" she asked herself. Looking at each other symbol etched into the snow, she magically pulled out her parchment paper again, but this time, she was without the desire to write, etching the image onto the paper instead. She shook, perhaps in anticipation or anxiousness, or perhaps something deeper. "Will this get me closer to the truth I've forgotten?" ---------:- Rose didn't remember when she woke, or when she opened her eyes at all. She knew Applebloom was gone, and she was worried, yes, but with the cold weather having only grown worse as she slept, she felt frozen. Not due to the cold, however — even though the morning sun brought her clear sight and particular warmth, she felt frozen in fear. "She could have gone anywhere," she said to herself, pleading that Apple Bloom was merely playing another game with her, being the silly filly that she was. "Applebloom, come on, where did you go?? You must be freezing!" Typical Rose, always thinking of others' well-being far before her own. It could soon be the very death of her. "Come back!" she kept calling. The cold bitter air had only gotten worse from what Rose remembered: it came to dampen her endurance and make her shake uncontrollably. She looked up above and saw snow beginning to fall. She'd never seen anything like it — she had never seen snow just...appear, undulating its way down onto the earth. Every second that passed, the situation seemed to get worse. "Nnng . . . Applebloom!!" Her teeth were chattering and she swore her lips were doing the same, and so she pursed them. when a sudden scream caused them to drop, along with her jaw. Rose's senses didn't have to take time to sift through the mountains to know that it was AppleBloom's voice. "Applebloom, I'm coming!" She knew the general direction in which she needed to go to find the little filly. In her rushing desire to reunite, she discovered the very same path Sweetie Belle and her own partner took. She took caution as she sped along the cliffside trail, curving her way around the mountain. "Oh god, I hope you're okay. Oh, I hope she's okay..." ---------:- Rainbow Dash creaked Applejack's bedroom door open just a little bit. She hesitated as she thought Scootaloo may have been following her, and when she looked behind her, and even down the stairs she called, she didn't see or hear the filly. She didn't hear her either, but a few sudden thuds from Applejack's room once again tore Dash's harshly divided attention to it. She called the mare's name and swung her sight to the door, where she pushed it wide open. But she saw no one inside the room, empty as it was; it was cluttered, but there were signs of life just having inhabited this space. Something had to cause objects to crash down onto the floor. Dash walked inside and then experienced several flashbacks at once. Some of her memories were of loss and sorrow, examining the room's walls and decor with a deep longing, as there were so little of each. The walls felt suffocating and claustrophobic with how there was nothing at all to adorn them, and not even the curtain rod held over the window featured the beautiful green drapes she so fondly remembered. She looked out the wide and open window and quickly realized that Applejack was gone, that she was the one who opened it; that she was the one who hurried out of the room before Dash could catch her. She had very little doubt, but when she made out the shape of AppleJack's iconic Stetson hat swaying in the cold morning air, she could no longer hope that it wasn't her who left the note under her right foreleg. She reared back two steps and picked it up with the cleft of her hoof. But when she brought the note in front of her face and started reading, the memories that were of joy and comfort quickly flourished forth. Although the time may not have been appropriate, they brought a smile to Dash's face: one memory of note was of her spending a few nights with Applejack after her grandmother Smith passed. Those were the nights where Dash developed the delicate feelings for the mare, where they were both at their weakest. "I'm gonna get you back, Applejack." The note read hardly two paragraphs long, giving her a strange albeit invited hope: I have a lot of regrets that I don't talk about, and while I don't know who will find this note first, big bro or little sis, just understand that I've gotta leave for now. I gotta make things right with Rainbow Dash. It's not that I feel alone with either of you, but Rainbow Dash was there for me when granny passed, and you two are just as devastated as I am, I know that. While you've both shown signs of moving on, I think it's about time I do the same. The note went on a few more sentences, but Dash couldn't help the feeling that she was wasting time not going after her, in whatever direction she took off in. But the next few sentences also made her study the words within them, taking that extra time to do so. But when I found out that Dash was dead, it woke something reckless inside me. I found a way to bring her back, bother her and granny, too. Neither of them is more important than the other, but I'll get them back. Then we can all be happy. I'll be up in the mountains. You know where. "Oh my god. She thinks I'm dead . . ?" She lowered the note onto the empty platform to her right, seeing it as the empty bed frame that it was. Her mind had to wander to great lengths as to why her former marefriend could have thought the way she did — not just about Rainbow Dash, but about her own family. She clearly wasn't okay and Dash knew that for a fact all those months ago, but it was highly doubtful that either of them anticipated her to disappear. "Well, either way, AJ, I'm still gonna get you back. You're up to something, too, and I'm gonna find out what." There was little more Dash could do to suspect any specific location she could have gone, but with one more look out the open window, she abandoned the already derelict room and headed downstairs again, following closely to the simple wooden banister and along its rails. Her head was in such a blur now, and she was dead set on finding leads to where Applejack could have run off to. What kind of goal could she seek that would bring both her grandmother and Dash's presumed-dead self back from death? Was death really even the end? She pondered the question. With her visual leverage from the stairs, she was embarrassed that she had to be reminded of Scootaloo's presence on the first floor. First, she saw her gorgeous violet mane, and then her quilted mane, some fluff visible with help from the dying fire. "Scootaloo?" Dash said gently in the filly's direction. "Come with me, I'll take you to a doctor." Dash approached her, hoping she'd see some movement, as she desperately wanted to help her on her way back to Ponyville, but she saw no movement from her own bobbing sight. Scootaloo could have passed out, and Dash even tried to pick her up — yes, she could fly back to Ponyville a little slower, she could afford the clean conscience. She raced to Scootaloo's side where she set her mind on grasping her in her hooves and taking the flight back to town. She hesitated, though, when she heard her crying softly, and with how long she found herself hesitating, it was the only sound that filled the room with the fire having nearly died, its ashes merely shifting. Laying a hoof on the filly's back, she likewise found the feeling a bit hesitant; it was almost ethereal but less so, but she could still touch her. Hastily and firmly she tried grasping her, but this time her hooves came clumsily crashing down to the floor. She still heard the weeping cries, and it sent her into a panic; her mind doing most of the racing as she could do no more than attempt to touch her, to feel her, to make any kind of correlation — any at all — to any kind of magic. But eventually, silence and stagnation came to reign over Dash's mind. "Dash," Scootalooo spoke, her voice ringing in the mare's ears. She lifted her head from the floor to see Scootaloo's body getting up from the floor as well. She wasn't struggling, even considering the state dash knew she was in. But once her their gazes connected, Scootaloo gave her an innocent smile, while Dash was left gasping for words, all of which never failed to ask for an explanation. "I didn't mean to hold you up, you know," Scootaloo said without consideration for Dash's obvious pain, blatantly shown. "Sorry about that." Rainbow Dash just looked her over: the filly's ghostly figure was hardly visible, but the more she focused, the more she was apparent. "I... I wouldn't just leave you." Now her voice quivered as it took on a higher, trembling octave. "You look so pale. If you can't move too much, I'll bring someone here." "I can move just fine," said Scootaloo, still seeming as though she had. "I guess...I just died." "So you're a ghost now?" Dash asked relatively calmly, seeing how Scootaloo was speaking the same way. How'd you die??" "I don't know...but I think I need to see my friends. My time must be close." "Close? But you . . . You already died!" Dash was still truly speechless, playing her words like a broken record. "I don't want you to be totally erased or anything. I didn't even know you were about to die!" "It's just how things go, I guess." Scootaloo met the mare's side and looked at her expression; Dash's sad and mournful expression was brought up a little when she was given a composed smile. "I'm not gone yet, Dash. We can spend a little more time together." Despite the lack of enthusiasm Scootaloo's voice would normally have, Dash, no matter how she hesitated, was unclear in acting upon the resolve to just accept reality. "Yeah, maybe we can find answers together, then." Dash's conscience gleamed at the thought, just past all the haze. "Maybe I'll find Applejack, too." Thereafter, Scootaloo gave her a look that represented total disappointment as they started heading out of the building. Dash failed to make sure she was keeping up; she missed that wretched expression upon the filly's face. ---------:- Applebloom's cries rang in Roseluck's ears but had far ceased in reality. She knew she would reach her eventually if she just followed the trail. The snow had pelted her body enough as she came to a weary trot from exhaustion; she shook it from her eyes and her muzzle. She found the path to be long and tiresome, but whereas Sweetie Belle traversed the entire length, Roseluck found a path perpendicular that led down below the cliffside and inside of it. She muttered to herself as she followed the path down, slightly more slim and requiring only mere conscience not to slip. But Rose's attention was far divided -- three quarters for the Applebloom's safety and one quarter for her own. "Rose, no! Don't go down there!" Roseluck's legs stammered when she heard the filly's voice once again, but she quickly recovered. However, she made the mistake of looking down at the sky below, and she brought her rear to the rocky wall and her forehooves to her side. She then looked to the sky above and saw the filly's face; wrought with emotion; tears in the lids of her eyes; reaching a foreleg out to Rose in desperation. "Rose," she cried, "I know the truth! Come on!" Applebloom visibly leaned a little closer and extended her reach a little more, and Rose would immediately take hold if doing so wouldn't put the filly in danger. She knew what Applebloom was, a Crystal Pony; a spirit from the past. Even if she had a corporeal form, she would be too small to support Rose's weight. Not lithe, but small. "Rose, you'll freeze if you don't take my hoof! Just try! Trust me!" And so Rose reached for Applebloom with a lacking faith, but she felt a physical warmth she wasn't at all expecting. It was so real, and as she reached for her for both forelegs now, she felt her hind legs being lifted from the ground. The filly was struggling up above to pull her up, and Roseluck making every effort possible to push herself up on any rocks. The struggle ended sooner than she dreaded, however. The storm that had been brewing became so unpredictable and violent that it started tearing at the mountains and likely any ponies that would be on its cliffs. If the howling of the cliffs were any indication of danger, then the threat to literally tear at the mountain was the storm's resolve. A sharp boulder was cut overhead Rose and Applebloom, from the high rocky wall next to them. It plunged to the ground and then immediately headed for the two girls, with the thrashing winds at its back. Fortunately for them, it had already gained so much momentum and force that it flew upwards and barely grazed at the hairs on Applebloom's mane. It flew down the precipice behind Rose, whose heart could afford to calm down. She heard the filly call behind her as she gripped Rose tighter: "No! Get away from her! Get away, I hate you!!" Her heart racing faster, she strained to pull herself up again. A hefty stone sank into her hooves with a seemingly unfitting reason before she yelled out; she wasn't a very strong or toned mare and was left frail. She lost her grip easily and scratched at the surface of the rocky wall before the winds took violent hold of her. But as she screamed now, knowing she would die when she'd reach the earth, Applebloom's head popped out from atop the cliffside followed by the sight of her hoof. She also caught a second-long, shrinking sight of her struggling with a pony that must have been trying to restrain her. But she heard no cries; she was much below the cloud's surface as soon as she completed her thought. What could she do? Applebloom could hardly protect herself in a physical situation. One more thought that crossed her mind concerned the 'truth' that her dear filly was speaking of. Could it have to do with her sudden ability to physically touch Rose, and struggle with whoever it was that she claimed she hated? Rose had no ideas. She could only fall; only reminisce; only mourn. She could only feel gravity grip her body tighter and tighter . . . ---------:- The wandering mare Sweetie Belle stood there, now knee-deep in the snow. She was met by two Earth Ponies that she had never seen. "Are you . . ? she started, "Are you the ones doing all this?" She had to continuously combat the snow that was battering her face. The two ponies only stood there, disregarding the question entirely. Their bodies shook underneath their raggedy clothing while they just studied Sweetie Belle's presence. She concluded that these ponies must have something to do with the disastrous weather because they had to be here for a reason... "You need to help us," said the taller pony, his thick red coat smothered in patches of snow. His mane was evidently thick, and above his upper lip, it acted as a mustache. His deep orange mane was lifting the hood above his head, and what was revealed was a brave but pained expression. "Please, my little girl needs her sister." He ceased speech for a second. "I know you can help her. You the only one who's here." The little filly took a few steps forward and looked up at Sweetie, unveiling an adorable freckled face from underneath the flowing hood she slid down. "Big sister?" She reached for Sweetie Belle. "That's . . . you? All of an abrupt flash, authentic memories flashed before Sweetie Belle's weary mind. She instantly felt a connection to this filly that was near the same for Applebloom. She knew they were all real. More and more feelings for her filled her distracted mind with hopes of happiness and dreams of love. She closed her eyes tightly as this was all happening. But why was it happening? "Okay," she said, a half-lidded expression lasting only two seconds. When she fully opened her eyes, she noticed a new face among the ponies, a new body. The new orange mare was also of Earth-dwelling. She must have been related to these others, as she nuzzled their similarly freckled faces. In doing so she revealed the side of her face that held these freckles. Her Cutie Mark was also visible unlike the other ponies'; it was as simple as a three-apple pattern that formed no real shape in their placement. Her blonde mane undulated and flowed in the storming winds and was also braided just like the filly's hair was. And then she spoke. "Is she-" "What do I need to do? I'll do anything . . ." Sweetie Belle stopped the mare before she finished her first three words. She took a moment to finish gazing into the young one's eyes and move her sight to the others. "Listen," the stallion pushed his voice through the howling winds. "We know all about you and your kind. We've been working to bring 'em back. You must know about our baby sister Applebloom and how much we wanna bring her back." Sweetie listened well, as her deep desire resonated with their own. "I don't care how you know me, but must realize how much I want her back, too." "You're an Apple, ain'tcha?" The grown mare seemed to expect a particular answer with the tone of voice she used. She trudged through the snow to walk up to Sweetie, whose face was smiling despite looking down. "Help us, then. Please, Sweetie. We're all family here." Sweetie's form felt like thin-woven fabric, but she put forth her entire heart into a hug she thrust upon her. Sweetie choked as if she tried to draw breath and failed; she struggled to find the right words to say. ". . alright," She felt strong, brave; she could bring her back. "Applebloom," she muttered, "welcome back, sister." And so, Sweetie returned to the first glowing spot she recalled seeing as per the siblings' orders. She firmly planted her hind hooves into the ground, all the way through the thick foot of snow and soon did the same for her front legs. Her tail rippled violently in the ripping winds and her body started to rattle, as the cold air that allowed her physical form equated to a soul-sucking endeavor to endure. She had no soul to own, but she would so selflessly give it to Applebloom if she did.