//------------------------------// // 15 // Story: Rúmcierr // by Matthais Unidostres //------------------------------// When Applejack reappeared, she was shocked to find herself face to face with a huge wall of ice towering above her. She quickly got over her shock when she noticed her hat hanging from a protrusion in the glacier a few yards above her. Applejack promptly trotted closer to the ice wall, and seeing that her hat was hanging far too high for her to reach, turned around and gave the wall a sharp buck with her left hindleg. The vibration that ran through the ice caused her hat to fall off from where it was hanging, and it landed safely back on Applejack’s head. Applejack closed her eyes and nodded, and took a step forward, only to be held back. She opened her eyes and turned her head to look behind her. She saw that the hoof she had used to buck the glacier was now stuck about an inch deep within the ice. Applejack rolled her eyes and remarked, “Well, this ain’t surprising, really.” She then pulled her left leg forward as she took several determined steps forward with her forelegs, lowering her head as she put all her strength in pulling free. Much to Applejack’s surprise, her left hind hoof popped out after a couple of seconds, and she fell down flat on her stomach onto the ice below her. Applejack blinked as she lay there, and said, “Huh? That it?” She then immediately felt icy water being poured onto her left flank. She cried out from the chill and got up to her hooves, turning around to see water pouring out of the hole her hoof had made in the glacier. “Uh. . . oops?” Applejack said as she stared at the leak warily. She then slowly turned towards the time machine, which was only a few steps away on the wide ledge sticking out from the glacier that she and it were currently standing on. She chuckled a bit as she took a careful step forward. “Well, Ah guess Ah’d best skedaddle-.” The moment Applejack took the step, a loud groaning echoed all around, and she could swear she felt the entire glacier shudder. Applejack cried out in fear and quickly turned and ran towards the wall of ice. She fell onto her rear and slid forward with her right hindleg extended. She slid into the wall, jamming her right hind hoof into the hole, stopping the flow of water. Applejack’s ears twitched as she heard the groaning slowly die down along with the shuddering. She gave a sigh of relief, only to be surprised a second spurt of water popped out of the glacier, making another hoof-sized hole to the left of the first one. Without really thinking, Applejack quickly jammed her left hind hoof into the second hole. Immediately after that, another hole squirted out water from a spot above the first two holes. Applejack immediately pushed her body upwards with her right foreleg and plugged that hole with her left forehoof. Then, another hole opened up to the right of that, and she quickly jammed her right forehoof into it. Throughout the whole business, Applejack had a look of stubborn determination on her face. However, after all her hooves were plugged into the ice, a look of foreboding replaced her determined look as she said, “Aw nuts, Ah plum didn’t think this dang thing through, did Ah?” The groaning from earlier returned, this time louder than ever. Applejack then felt a strong pressure building behind her hooves. Then, Applejack’s ears stood up when she heard the sound of cracking ice. After that, without any real warning, the entire section of glacier Applejack was plugged into exploded with a huge gush of water, sending Applejack flying out into the air. Applejack didn’t have time to scream before she was carried by the gush of water all the way down to the icy ground at the base of the glacier. The water flowed out in all directions to seek its level, leaving Applejack slightly chilled but no worse for wear. Applejack gasped for breath as she got back up on her hooves. She shook the water out of her coat and quickly wrung out her hat. After placing it back on her head, Applejack looked around and said slowly, “Okay. . .” Suddenly, she heard the sound of something smacking into the ground behind her. She turned around fast and saw that it was the time machine, which had also been washed off of the ledge by the water. The device had hit the ground with so much force that it actually punched itself a few inches into the ice. Then, with a loud snap, a crack snaked across the ground from the hole the device made, and then raced up the side of the glacier. Applejack watched owlishly as the crack went all the way to the top of the glacier, sending bits of ice flying up into the air. Then, a massive chunk of the glacier broke free and began to slide forward. Applejack stared with her mouth hanging open for a moment, then she ran towards the device and tried to hit the button. She quickly found that the machine was too deep in the ice for her to reach the button, so Applejack grabbed the top of the device with her mouth and pulled. She tugged as hard as she could, the approaching ice wall heavy on her mind. She kept pulling it while running backwards, trying to get traction with her hooves on the ice, until the machine finally popped out, sending Applejack sprawling on her back. Applejack cried out at the sight of the massive ice wall, and immediately grabbed the machine in her mouth again as she got up, turned, and ran. Massive ice spikes crashing down right behind her spurred her onward faster, and she quickly created distance between herself and the ice wall. However, Applejack was forced to skid to a halt when she saw a second ice wall approaching from the direction she was headed. She immediately turned right and ran at full speed. She could hear the two ice walls collide behind her, and they were quickly closing in on her. However, Applejack could see the end a few yards ahead of her, so she tossed the time machine out ahead of her, and then dove forward, propelling herself out from between the walls of ice and over the side of the mountain. “Woooah!” Applejack cried out as fell, waving her forelegs as she approached the mountainside underneath her. She made contact, and slid down the slope until she hit ramp-like rock. Applejack flipped once before bouncing down the mountain the rest of the way, eventually landing on her stomach after four bounces. Applejack laid still for a moment, and then closed her eyes and pressed her right cheek into the ground. She seemed to embrace the earth as she breathed in and out calmly. However, she was interrupted when the time machine suddenly fell down on her head and landed a few inches in front of her. Applejack opened her eyes slowly and saw that the machine’s antenna was starting to glow. “Can’t you let a gal catch her breath?” she moaned as she closed her eyes again, right before the machine zapped her, causing both of them to vanish.