//------------------------------// // The Encounter // Story: The Man of Lost Time // by Shroomkin //------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Encounter "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." - Confucius It was a beautiful autumn afternoon in the land of Equestria, and for the Apple Family, a beautiful afternoon after a hard day's work. With a well-earned rest, and a bushel of apples to their name, the orange mare yawned as she stretched her hooves, popping her joints as she made a content sigh. Seeing that most of the apples have been harvested made her smile, pride ever present in the mare's green eyes. After all, what is the life of a farmer if not for her crops? Applejack thought so, and so does her family, her grandmother especially. She glanced around the orchard as she walked past the beautiful autumn leaves that scattered amongst the ground, in search of a placed to simply relax. Not long after she found her resting spot, she saw her brother Big Mac, a red-coated stallion pulling a cart filled to the brim. Staring on, she watched him unhitch the cart from his harness as he went inside the house. It was the end of their work after all. She chuckled and sighed, smiling as she leaned in the tree, content enough to let her hat fall unto her face. Yet peaceful times often turn into chaos. As she closed her eyes and embraced the need for slumber, an audible noise can be heard. It whirred loudly, ringing in her delicate ears. She opened her eyes and all of a sudden, a bright blinding light can be seen in the distance of her own home. Startled, she stood fast and glanced back at her house. Nobody seemed to notice, since nobody went outside to check what was happening. Seeing that her family wasn't in any danger, she mustered up all her courage and decided to track down this mysterious light. The sun was setting at the distant horizon, yet she walked towards where the light was last seen. She walked and walked and walked, the ringing still present in her ear. All of a sudden, the ringing was replaced by the sound of a voice. "Please," it muttered. A part of her wanted to go back, especially since she knows what happens in horror movies, yet at the same time, she couldn't. She couldn't just leave somebody in danger. She heard the voice, she heard it plead, begging for something, and if that voice needed her help, then she must heed that call. And so she made haste. Clip clop, clip clop, something was off. All she could hear were the clopping of her hooves and the sounds of breaking twigs and crunching leaves. She could no longer hear the loud whirring noise. No chirping of birds nor squeaking of rodents, not even the usual buzzing of the insects. There was mere silence. A horrid and dreadful silence, to the point where she wanted the whirring noise to be back. Clip clop... clip clop... Her heart was pounding out of her chest as she saw what was in front of her, no, what laid in front of her. Clip clop... clip clop... Blood was splattered along the grass. Clip clop... clip clop... There, lying on the ground was a colt. A colt in his teens with a coat as auburn as the autumn leaves and a long deep black mane tied into a ponytail. He was wearing some sort of clothing as white as snow mixed with the gray hue of rock, their sleeves were long and covered their hooves. He had, in Applejack's eyes, a sword of unknown origin clutched tightly as if it was more important than his life. What shocked her the most were the broken arrows on the colt's sides, deep crimson blood flowing from the gaping wound on his chest. Petrified, she tried to shake that fear away to get close to the injured colt. By some miracle, the colt opened their eyes and looked at her. For a moment, they stared. She was trapped in his deep gaze. Such light brown eyes, yet why does it speak of such desolation and sorrow? She tried once more to get close, yet he spoke, one that shook her to her own core. "I never imagined... death's steed to... be so... colorful," the colt spoke with such tiredness, yet, he smiled. She couldn't take it anymore, especially when he closed his eyes once more. "H-hold on! A-A-Ah'll get you to safety!" Applejack said as she ran towards the injured colt, pure terror in her voice. She checked for more injuries, to which she noticed deep scratches on his forearms and body. Not having anything to stop the bleeding, she proceeded to check on the arrows buried on the poor colt's body. She wanted to pull them out, but she knows that pulling them out would only lead to more blood loss. Distraught at what to do, she slapped herself. "No m-more wastin' precious time!" Determination quickly replaced fear, and she quickly and carefully placed the teen on her back as she ran. It made it harder for her to carry the colt as he was clutching the sword with all his strength. Nevertheless, she braved the frontier. There was a life on the line, and she had no time for distractions, even if the said distractions were her big brother and her little sister, who were walking around the orchard calling her name. Big Mac saw her running across the field and began to trot towards her, disappointed at her sister for worrying them like that. However, as soon as she came close, he noticed that she was carrying a colt on her back, blood dripping as she ran. He wanted to stop her, but seeing her terror-filled yet determined gaze, he stopped himself from asking questions. "Apple Bloom," he said in a calm voice as not to alarm his little sister, "go back inside and tell Granny that we ain't comin' back in a while." The filly beside him looked up, a confused expression ever present in the filly's eyes. "It's an emergency," he continued. The filly nodded and rushed back to their house, not even bothering to ask what was wrong as Big Mac ran to catch up with his sister. "B-Big Mac!" Applejack simply shouted as she continued to run. Big Mac simply gazed at the injured foal and nodded, concern still present at his eyes. It was a silent trek towards the hospital, questions and answers later. Their run, however, garnered the attention of the others as they gazed at the duo running, only for them to gasp in shock as they saw the condition of the colt carried by their local apple farmer. She didn't even notice them as her attention was simply placed on the trouble at hand. Suddenly, the colt spoke, startling the two. "I don't... want to... go..." he said. With such words, the two rushed to the hospital with renewed vigor. They had to. They have managed to reach the hospital in the early evening, the twilight skies ever looming as the graceful moon slowly rose in the horizon. Tired and scared, she shouted at the nurse, urgency in her voice. The nurse saw why and immediately instructed them to bring the colt to the ICU. Finally, as if the world had caught up with her, she stumbled and fell. Her hooves were shaking, her stomach twisting and churning, daring her to expel her previous lunch. She panted, gasping for air that she desperately needed. Was she really that tired, or was she merely longing for breath? Whatever happens now, it would be because of her. Suddenly, a hoof gently pressed itself on her withers. It was her brother. "Wanna talk 'bout it?" he asked in a calm tone, looking at his agitated sister. She sighed, longing for the relaxed state she had a while ago. "Yeah..." As time went on, she became a bit more agitated. What if the colt dies? What if she didn't hesitate? Was she even fast enough? All of these things lingered in her mind as time continued on normally, even if she wasn't exactly there. All she could do was hope. Hope and pray, and calm down. It was after a few breaths that she finally noticed her friends right in front of her. Looking at them, she could no longer hold it in. Once the tough mare that held her tears, now lay before them a crying mess. "It's mah fault! Ah-Ah couldn't-" she said as guilt overcame her. Her thoughts lingered on the memory. She couldn't even continue as she was hugged by her friends. Silence followed as she hugged them back. A deafening, dreadful, and unsure sort of silence. It was merely a while ago when the doctor came out to give them an update on the colt. He said that the colt would live, surprisingly, despite such injuries. The surgery was a success! The arrows were removed, the wounds have been patched up, and the giant gash has been stitched. Applejack, who was sleeping at the time due to the behest of her friends, didn't have the energy to move nor listen. "Miss Twilight, am I correct to assume that Miss Applejack was the one who brought him here?" The doctor asked the lavender unicorn, who simply glanced at her sleeping friend. "Yes, but, can you please not wake her up at the moment? She needs some rest after... well... what happened." The doctor sighed as he shook his head. "No can do, I need the details to file a report." The doctor then trotted to the sleeping apple farmer as he gently nudged her awake. "Huh, what?" Applejack muttered as she slowly woke up to the blinding lights of the hospital. She got up and rubbed her tired and puffy eyes as she focused on the doctor in front of her. Suddenly, the dread that she hid at the back of her mind crept ever so quickly as the doctor stood in front of her, a stoic expression with a dash of weariness upon his face. She, of course, told him everything, on how she found him laying on the ground, of what the colt said, of why the colt had a sword (of which the lavender unicorn and the cyan pegasus were most curious of), and how the colt got there. Needless to say, she can't say everything is for certain. All she hopes now is the safety of the colt. She also had to thank Big Mac for bringing her friends here at such an hour. The doctor sighed and told them to go back to their homes and visit tomorrow. After such a hectic day, Applejack agreed, though she hesitated for a bit. "What about him? Will he be okay here, doc?" She asked, trying to find the right words to say in the hopes of staying by the injured colt's side. "Right, you didn't hear," the doctor said as he began to explain that the colt is okay and that she should rest. Defeated by her muddled wits and the doctor's sound logic, she decided that it would be best to go home. Dawn came and she decided to visit the injured colt. She did not have the heart to explain what happened to a curious Apple Bloom who woke up to see her eating breakfast. When she got to the hospital, she didn't realize that her friends followed. They were equally anxious about what would happen. The nurse showed them the room where he lay, resting in the comfortable pillow as if nothing ever happened. "The poor dear, I hope he's alright," the white unicorn said as she glanced worriedly at the colt lying down on the bed, peacefully sleeping. Applejack simply sighed in relief, he was okay. He was alive. The peace and calm did not last, though, as Rainbow decided to "investigate" the sword that came with the colt. "Hey, check this out!" she said ecstatically as she motioned sword thrusts and slashes. "Hiya! Hiya! Woooyah!" the pink mare laughed at this as she excitedly grabbed the sword from her. "This sword sure is curvy AND long!" The rest simply groaned at their antics but decided not to scold the two. However, when Twilight tried to check what the blade looks like, she noticed that the sword would not leave the sheath, no matter how much she pulled with her magic. "What the?" she muttered. "Bwahaha! Seriously, Twi? You can't even pull it out?" said the cyan pegasus as she smirked and rolled her eyes. She grabbed it herself, only to find that she, too, could not remove the blade from the sheath. "Hey, what gives?" She bit and tugged, yet nothing happened. The pink one, too, tried, only to fail horribly as she bounced up and down towards the ceiling. "It doesn't even have magic, so how?" Twilight said as she tried once more. "Well, I for one would not want to ruin my hooves in trying to pry that thing open," the white unicorn said, repulsed by the idea of exerting energy to open such a barbaric thing. "Still, the golden part looks absolutely divine!" Twilight rolled her eyes on the antics of her friends. "I may not understand much, but I think it's somehow important to the colt, so we should put it down for the time being," she said as she looked at the two ponies trying to pull the sword out of its sheathe. "Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie! Put that thing down! You might hurt yourself," the white unicorn scolded, startling the yellow pegasus. "Aww, oki Rarity," Pinkie Pie said as she let go of the sword, causing Rainbow Dash to fly backwards. The loud noise of the crash made everyone cringe in the room. "Augh, my head," she muttered. "Oh, I just can't imagine what did this," the timid yellow pegasus squeaked. "Relax Fluttershy! Whoever or whatever did this, they won't escape from me!" Rainbow said as she landed on the ground, her wings sore after the crash. She then left the sword to lean on the wall. As she walked back to the group, she noticed something peculiar. It was the colt. He was simply staring at them. "Uhh, guys?" she said as she pointed at the colt. Everyone stared back as silence filled the room. The colt tried to speak, only for him to cough. He coughed and coughed, a bit of blood coming out from his mouth. His bandages were present for everyone to see. Blood was still present at his patched chest. Applejack rushed towards the colt's side, mustering her strength as she came closer to the colt. His eyes speak of such sadness, one that everyone noticed. They also noticed that he wasn't even crying. The pain must have been terrible, yet the colt simply looked on like it was normal. He flinched at his own coughs, but that's all the emotion that he was showing. They were all worried. Applejack, after mustering her courage, gently caressed the back of the coughing colt and asked in a gentle tone, "Are ya alright, sugarcube?" The colt simply nodded and, surprisingly, decided to lay back down. "Oh my," muttered Fluttershy. And once again, silence overtook the brightly lit room. Questions upon their minds, with not a single answer to follow.