//------------------------------// // ‎ // Story: Funeral Pyre // by VioletsInSpring //------------------------------// The ground stung her hooves. Sharp rocks, strewn haphazardly on the park lawn, dug deep into her. Soon, the grass brushing against her fetlocks turned to the dust of the main thoroughfare of Ponyville. Town Hall blurred past as ponies gawked at her gallop. She turned south, galloping along the long road to Sweet Apple Acres, past the schoolhouse, the Carrot farm, the Strawberry fields, her old treehouse. All throughout, the smoke loomed over her. As she drew closer, it moved from over the outline of the Everfree to directly over the east field of Sweet Apple Acres. Barreling between the trees, she silently thanked her father for convincing her to start training for the Running of the Leaves early this year. As she arrived at the fire, she started to look around for any water nearby. The blaze had already engulfed the trees in her vision, the smoke stretched far enough to suggest a tenth of an acre had already begun to go up in flames. Though she was still ten feet away, she could still feel the vibrant heat emanating from the funeral pyre. The cloudless sky gave no good omen. Once she had oriented herself, she realized the nearest water was by the— Somepony behind her gave a muffled shout. “Applejack!” She turned around and found Big Mac gallopping towards the fire holding a large wooden bucket. He splashed water onto one of the trees. The fire dimmed, leaving some charred leaves and wood. “Nearest water source is by the barn. Granny’s filling buckets and Apple Bloom’s bringing water too.” “Where’s ma’ and pa’?” “Haven’t seen them.” Rarity and Pinkie arrived. Rarity seemed drained; Pinkie was huffing, but energized. “Come on, gang, back to the barn for—” “Oh my gosh! Is that the Pyrewolf?” Pinkie shouted. Applejack saw the creature Pinkie pointed out. Apple Bloom had not said it was larger than a normal Timberwolf. It stood hooves taller than the apple trees, but two heads smaller than the trees of the Everfree. It’s long, woody limbs moved stiffly and left massive burning pawprints in the orchard. It turned into the swampy, wet trees of the Everfree; each resisted the fire the creature brought. Applejack’s hair stood on end and, for a moment, she couldn’t feel her own hooves. She found herself unable to turn away from the creature. It’s demanding and powerful presence captivated her. The creature turned toward her, wood snapping and fire popping as it did. Half its jaw drooped from its head, letting applejack see a glimpse of the dark inside of its mouth. The black, hollow eyes stared right at her, and Applejack thought it might charge her down. She lowered herself to try and stand her ground, but she was certain the creature could see her subtle shudders. The creature turned back away and retreated into the forest. “I told you it was real!” Apple Bloom’s voice pulled Applejack back to the fire and the farm. Apple Bloom tried to lift her water bucket high enough to splash one of the trees. Applejack grabbed the bucket and splashed it onto the tree. “Yes, we all believe you and were very proud of you standing your ground. Now, let’s—” A crack of wood, followed by a scream, echoed from inside the middle of the fire. “What was that?” Pinkie asked. “It sounded like a scream,” Applejack responded. “I didn’t hear a scream,” Big Mac responded. “Come on, we gotta go get more water if we’re gonna prevent any more damage to the farm. “I know that was a scream, Big Mac.” “Applejack—” But she had already jumped into the fire. She could hear Big Mac’s shouts for a few seconds before they stopped. She ran through the fire, turning left and right, looking for signs of life; wood cracked and splintered off, falling through the warm, suffocating air; already, dead trees littered the ground, some lucky enough to have lost only a few branches; Applejack found herself panting and coughing after a moment; a sickening crack from one of the nearby trees drew her attention and a massive branch fell beside her, barely missed her rear; it slammed down on her tail; she was stuck for a moment, and had to yank it out to free herself; it had caught fire; as she stomped on it, she heard a desperate squeak from nearby; a squirrel was agitatedly glancing around; she grabbed the squirrel and charged back in the direction she thought she came from; coughing all the way, the scurry in her mane annoyed her; she jumped out of the fire and back into the farm. She heard splashing and a cough. Somepony grabbed her shoulders. “What were you thinking, Applejack?” somepony shouted at her. Applejack couldn’t respond for the smoke in her throat. “You could’ve died in there!” It was Big Mac. “The squirrel,” she coughed. “What?” “It was the squirrel I heard.” “Darn foolhardy thing to do for a squirrel.” “I thought it was ma’.” “Can you run?” “Yea—” she coughed again, “yeah.” Big Mac stared at her, she saw him through watery eyes. “Alright, but don’t kill yourself.” Applejack nodded. She was slower than Big Mac, occasionally stumbling, more often coughing. She saw a Pink blob in her vision. “Applejack!” she said. “Keep going! The fire’s still hot.” She thought she might be misunderstood through her coughing. Apparently she was understood well enough, as, after just brief hesitation, pink left her vision. A small yellow and red splotch came into her moving vision. “You’re doing great, Apple Bloom!” “Sis!” But Applejack had already ran past. Unmistakable white and purple came from behind a tree. Huffing and puffing followed in her ears. “Apple—” Rarity eked out. “Applejack! You’re alright! Thank goodness.” She tried to catch Applejack in her hooves. Applejack stopped in her hooves. “Rarity, the fire’s still going.” “I’m… I’m just glad you’re alright, dear.” “Have you seen my parents?” “No, have you?” “No, I think the scream was a squirrel,” she coughed out. Rarity didn’t respond. “Get going, fire.” “Yes, yes. Right.” Applejack heard galloping as she too took off. Red ran past her. Applejack made it to the clearing near the barn. “There ya’ are! I was worried about’cha!” “Water.” “Drink.” Granny led her to the trough. She splashed her head into the water, drinking, coughing up a bit of the leftover food from the pigs. She rubbed her face and eyes and shook her head. Her vision was still a little blurry around the edges, but much clearer. “Have you seen ma and pa?” “I was hoping you had found them.” “They’ll turn up, right?” “Focus on the fire now, dear. We’ll worry about that later.” “But what if—” “You’re not going back into that fire, Missy! That was dangerous enough the first time. Take this back to the fire.” Granny put a bucket in her mouth. Applejack paused. She nodded her head and took off back towards the fire. She caught up to Apple Bloom, still dragging the water bucket behind her. “I’m picking you up!” Applejack said through the handle of the bucket. “What was that?” Applejack lowered her head and charged Apple Bloom. The filly flew up, holding tight to the bucket, landing on Applejack’s back with a grunt. “Hold on tight to that water. I’m gonna give you a warning before I stop and we’ll splash the water on the trees.” “I’m strong enough to carry the water.” Big Mac galloped past. “Yes, but this’ll be faster.” They rode in silence for a moment. “What was the sound you heard?” “A squirrel.” Applejack was glad Apple Bloom was too young to know when she was lying. Pinkie galloped and Rarity trotted past, both out of breath. “So it wasn’t ma?” “No.” Applejack replied. “Why did you think it was ma?” “I thought it sounded like her.” Applejack didn’t respond. “Was the squirrel okay?” “Yeah, I brought it out. Should be okay, I think. Not really a vet in town though, I suppose.” “What would’ve happened to the squirrel? If you hadn’t brought it out, I mean.” “Nothing good.” Apple Bloom didn’t respond. “Alright, we’re coming up on the fire now. Get ready to splash the water. Hold on tight to the bucket, but splash it forward when I say ‘now.’ I’m going to count down from three, ready?” “Ready!” Apple Bloom said excitedly. “Three, two, one, now.” Applejack stopped in her tracks, swinging her head towards the fire and letting the water splash. The water all splashed on one tree, dousing the fire in the large bought of water. “Nice work, Apple Bloom!” Applejack saw Apple Bloom beam with pride as she took off back to the barn. After a few moments of silence, Apple Bloom asked “what happens to the trees on fire?” “They’re probably already gone. We—” “Gone?” “They won’t be able to produce apples anymore. That’s why we’re bringing all the water. We have to make sure no other trees catch fire. That’s the most important thing right now.” Applejack saw the filled buckets in front of the trough granny had set up at. “Granny! Have you seen ma and pa?” Apple Bloom asked. “Not yet, deary.” Granny replied. “You’re doing a great job. Grab another bucket.” “But shouldn’t we go find them?” “They’ll be fine honey. They’re adults, they can handle themselves.” Applejack wasn’t sure if Granny believed herself or was just a better liar than Applejack herself. They grabbed buckets and started running back. Applejack counted each trip. She ran, splashed, ran, picked up water, and reassured Apple Bloom in sixteen loops. Eventually, the weather team came. The rain splashed down on the roaring blaze. The tenth of an acre was burnt to a crisp; but there wasn’t going to be any more damage to the farm. Unfortunately, Applejack still felt something ominous. She found Big Mac, Pinkie, and Rarity near the burnt out husk of the section of the orchard. “Well, I guess you were right, Pinkie. A whole lot happened today,” she said “Yeah…” Pinkie trailed off. “I don’t know that—” Pinkie vibrated again. Applejack’s stomach dropped. “What could be worse than this?” She asked herself. “What do you mean? Why did Pinkie vibrate?” Apple Bloom asked. “We don’t know, sis. All we know is Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense is acting up.” She and Big Mac shared a worried look. A weatherpony, Cloud Kicker, came down from the sky. “Applejack, Big Mac,” he said, nodding at each of them. “We found something in the wreckage of the fire. We think you’ll want to—well, we need you to take a look.” Applejack swallowed. “Alright, sir.” Big Mac replied. “What are we going to see?” Apple Bloom asked. “Uh, no Apple Bloom. Why don’t you stay with Rarity and Pinkie for now?” Applejack replied. “I’m a big filly! I wanna make sure the farm’s okay.” “And you will, Apple Bloom,” Big Mac replied. “We’ll come get your help as soon as it’s safe.” “I helped out with the fire! I can handle myself.” “Come on Apple Bloom,” Pinkie interjected. “I brought some cupcakes if you want.” “But I—” “You love Pinkie’s cupcakes, Apple Bloom.” Applejack said, a little harder than she intended. “I know something’s wrong and nopony’s telling me!” Apple Bloom shouted. In the silence that followed, nopony seemed to be able to respond. “We’ll tell you all about it when we know, Apple Bloom.” Rarity finally said. “We just don’t know yet.” Apple Bloom wasn’t satisfied, but didn’t protest when Pinkie and Rarity gently pulled her away. Applejack lingered on her as she left. “What are we gonna tell her?” Big Mac asked. “We don’t know anything yet.” Big Mac stayed silent. Cloud Kicker coughed. “Sorry, but we do need to get back to wrangling clouds in case there’s another fire today.” Applejack felt herself heat up. “Why didn’t y’all have clouds waiting by the weather station? Don’t y’all usually keep a stock of clouds in case there’s a fire?” “C-clerical error. No one was on duty for storing clouds, so we ended up without any.” Applejack went to say something else, but Big Mac put his hoof on her shoulder. “You had something we needed to see?” Cloud Kicker exhaled sharply. “Yeah, we found some… uh… well, a couple of ponies underneath a tree. The boys are trying to lift the dead wood off of them, but, well…” Applejack found her mouth drier than she expected. She almost thought she hadn’t had enough water after the fire. “I’ll come and help out.” Big Mac replied. Cloud Kicker nodded. “Go back and tell Granny what’s up. I can… I can lift the wood on my own.” Applejack paused. “No, I’m coming with.” “Applejack, we both know what we’re gonna find. You don’t need—” “They were my parents too, Big Mac.” Applejack said harshly. “I don’t need you coddlin’ me.” “Applejack, I didn’t—” “Let’s get going.” She set off into the dead wood and hollow branches. Cloud Kicker pulled in front of her and Big Mac trotted up beside her. They walked in silence, initially. “We… uh… might also need you to… identify… the bodies.” Neither Apple said anything. The burnt crisps of apple trees covered over them. Applejack found herself wishing the weather team had left the dark remains of rainclouds in the sky on their way to the corpses. Instead, she found herself blocking out the sun with her hoof. Cloud Kicker pointed to a tree on the ground. There were some charred hooves poking out. Applejack and Big Mac got onto either sides of the tree. Some pegasi were already trying to lift it. They quickly lifted the tree without much effort.