//------------------------------// // A Little Hurt // Story: A Dream of Dawn // by Starsong //------------------------------// Applejack As much as Applejack trusted Twilight, leaving her to find Apple Bloom alone left a pit of guilt in her stomach. There shouldn't have been such a thing as a loved one beyond helping. She couldn't stop thinking of it, though, even as she dragged a rope-bound Caramel through the Everfree Forest. It had already been several days since the last meeting with her pegasus friends and she wouldn't break her promise to return. Yet there was another motivation to her trip. Caramel never quite recovered from Discord's corruption, and there wasn't a pony around that knew what to do about it. The gray-toned colt behind her alternated between hanging at the end of the rope like dead weight, and trotting beside her with a sneer. At the moment he was doing the latter, laughing at every odd thing they passed. “Dragging a stallion off into the woods, lasso and all,” he said. “Ponies are going to talk, you know.” “Go ahead and lettem,” deadpanned Applejack. “Just shut your yap and keep moving. Unless you want to be stuck all roped up with a bunch of timberwolves.” The threat kept him from being too stubborn. Applejack was more worried about attracting predators than stringing the poor colt up, but the forest was, compared to her previous sojourns, eerily quiet. Caramel did not know that the forest should have been filled with moving shadows and a constant rustling just out of sight, nor did he notice the absence of bird song and buzzing insects. Only the occasional trickle of water or far-off warble caught Applejack's ear. She walked soft and breathed softer, counting the steps until she reached Zecora's hut. Fresh ruts and trampled patches of greenery surrounded the home where Fluttershy's critter friends lived not too long ago. She must have moved them, but their fences and poles still remained, as well as the less-than-faint musky smell that came with a menagerie of critters. The absence began to ebb, though, because she could hear her friends chattering behind the door of the hut. Through the window she caught their shapes and colors. It warmed her so quick that she gave only a brief rap on the front door before admitting herself. “Hey, AJ!” called Rainbow Dash. “What took you so long?” “Sorry,” muttered Applejack, cocking her head towards Caramel. “Got myself into some trouble.” “Ah, Applejack, we were expecting you,” said Zecora, who had just sat down a tray of freshly cooked biscuits. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash tore in with gusto. She looked at Caramel and pursed her lips. “Though only one more pony, not two.” Applejack tugged her hat down and pulled the colt inside. “Yeah, sorry to impose and all that, but Discord did something funny to him. Thought I'd see if you could set him right before he got himself hurt.” She glared over her shoulder at Caramel. “Or before I decide to do it myself.” “That sounds like quite a problem,” said the zebra. Caramel's strange state and magical discoloration seemed to intrigue her, though, and she left her pot boiling to approach and study him. “Let's see what I can do for him.” Applejack kept his hooves steady, practically pinning him down with the rope. “You're one weird lady,” clicked Caramel, tilting his head. “But I totally dig the stripes. Hey, if you wanna just tie me up out front, that'd be fine by me.” Zecora seemed not to hear him at all as she lifted his head, squeezed his cheeks, and looked deep into his eyes. She investigated his cutiemarks and plucked a gray strand of hair from his tail. He yelped and snorted. “All these years and I never knew Ponyville mares were so rough,” he said. “I could get used to that...” “Please tell me there's something you can do,” said Applejack. “He used to be a sweet old thing. Kind of thick in the head, but he never acted like he belonged out in the mud pens.” Zecora took the plucked hair and dropped it into a small bottle. Then she poured in something clear and as soon as it hit the piece of Caramel's tail, it sparked like tiny purple fireworks and dissolved into a silvery goop. “An enchantment most elementary,” she mused, “although the power is immense. A certain cure is necessary to give him back his sense.” “And what would that be?” asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash gulped down a pastry and flicked her wings back. “Hah, are you sure you have to change him back? He's kind of funny like this.” Applejack glared at Rainbow Dash. “Oh yeah? If you like him so much why don't you keep him then?” “Sounds like a plan,” said Caramel, who began to twist and tug at his bonds. Fortunately, Applejack's rope work was unparallelled. “Wild and free. That's the kind of mare for me, right there. C'mon, AJ, you're to dull for a colt like me anyway.” “Zecora,” said Applejack, forcing herself away from the colt. “The cure?” “A powerful cure for a powerful sick,” said Zecora. She removed one of her carved staves from the wall and offered it out to Applejack. “Hit him on the head with this stick.” Applejack felt the heft of the wood in her hooves and glanced over at Caramel. “I, uh, don't know if I can do that...” The colt laughed and waggled his roped flanks at her. “Oh, yeah, go ahead and give it a whack, Applejack! I've been a bad, bad colt.” His words twisted in her like worms in an apple. Too dull for a colt like you, huh? She thought, and wasn't even sure why it bothered her so much. The Caramel she knew never acted like that. But he made her so mad she had to hold it in just to not knock his block clean off. Instead she lifted the stick up and brought it down swiftly between his ears, clunking him on the skull. Caramel fell to the ground with a squeak and looked up with wide eyes. The startled pony looked like he'd just crawled back to the barn after losing half a field's worth of grass seeds. “What did you go and do that for?” Applejack sighed and put the stick down. “Because you've been acting all rude and hurtful to all sorts of other ponies and I don't want to see you do that anymore. You say you want to be like this but I don't think you really do. I sure don't.” With each word she spoke he seemed a little more lucid. “Did I hurt you?” “Well, yes,” Applejack said, looking down. “You did.” Bit by bit, from tail to snout, the creamy yellow and brown crept back into Caramel. Even his stance and tone seemed more familiar to Applejack now, as if some fog had finally begun to lift from his mind. “I didn't mean anything bad about what I said,” he said. “You're really dependable and...” “Wasn't really you speaking,” said Applejack. She unwound the ropes from Caramel. “More like the opposite of you, 'cause of something Discord did.” Though she wasn't certain if Discord's spell had turned him bad, or simply brought out his worst thoughts and compulsions and allowed them to take over. I don't really care as long as he's back to normal, she thought. “Whoa,” said Rainbow Dash. “How did you know that would work?” Zecora chuckled and put her staff away. “It is not the blow that knocks it out, but being hit by one you care about. A stern remark may have been enough, but I've had it up to here with that 'striped mare' stuff.” Caramel shrunk back apologetically, but none of the mares seemed to hold it against him. Still he made himself rather small, in no small part, Applejack imagined, due to being suddenly aware of being in the Everfree Forest, in a strange zebra's home. “That's what I've been up to,” said Applejack, grabbing up a biscuit. “Discord went a bit nuts...” “And then decided to head off with Twilight,” finished Rainbow Dash. “After turning Ponyville upside down, anyway.” Applejack stared. “How do you know all that?” “Anypony with a pegasus' eye view could've figured it out,” said Rainbow Dash, puffing up with pride. “But now that we're scouting we've got an eye in every window and an ear on every door.” “Sounds exciting,” said Applejack. “More than I'd like,” said Rainbow Dash, laying her head across her hooves. “Spitfire has most of us on frontier duty. Mostly see a few ponies trying to escape the chaos... but there's been an odd number of disappearances. Out of Ponyville, Canterlot... we're even missing a couple pegasi.” Applejack shuddered. “Nightmare Moon back to kidnapping folks?” “I don't think so,” said Rainbow Dash. “Hasn't been a sign of her since her disappearance. Plus she doesn't snatch ponies in broad daylight. And it gets stranger. The ship that Twilight was supposed to be on just vanished into thin air, too. Hopefully because they're on the right track.” Fluttershy unfolded a wing, which had been covering half her face and a snacking Angel. “I hope none of them come back,” she said, and then waved her hooves apologetically. “I mean Discord! And Nightmare Moon. Oh, I'm so worried about Twilight. But the rest... we'd be so better off without them.” “I can agree with you there, Fluttershy,” said Applejack. “We've got our hooves full without those two tyrants breathing down our necks. Bad enough tryin' to put our lives back together without having to worry about vanishing into thin air. And Caramel there was just the tip of Discord's little rampage.” The earth pony settled in between her two friends and tried to relax, but it felt like her head was spinning. Caramel wasn't the only one who'd seen the worst of Discord's magic, and it'd take more than running around Ponyville beaning ponies over the head to see them fixed. Still, Zecora had pointed her in the right direction, and she could share that knowledge. She could organize the ponies again and help them figure out what to do in case of threats. If she had her way, the Ponyville that Discord and Nightmare Moon returned to would be ready for them. “Do you think you'll come back to town now that Discord's all gone?” Applejack leaned over to Fluttershy, who flinched at the question. “It's still a magical mess,” she said. “I have to stay with the animals and keep them safe.” Rainbow Dash's wings jutted up. “Is that why you're hiding in the woods? I thought you were just too scared to stand up for yourself. While real pegasi are running themselves ragged trying to protect Equestria, you're just sitting--” “Rainbow, that's enough,” interrupted Applejack. “There's more to Equestria than just us ponies. And somepony's gotta look out for all the other critters. Can't think of a better one myself.” Rainbow Dash's wings drooped down. “I know,” she said, looking over at Fluttershy. “I'm sorry, 'shy, I'm just so overwhelmed. I didn't mean it.” Fluttershy smiled, although she looked like she was just a breath from crying. “It's okay,” she said. The blue pegasus wouldn't let it go, though. “You're always welcome in Cloudsdale,” she said. “I'd love to see you come back home. You don't have to join in any of this crazy secret mission stuff.” “And you'll always have a home in Ponyville,” added Applejack. Fluttershy seemed a little more at ease and settled back against the cushions. The three of them soaked in the comfort and quiet of that space. Zecora seemed content to leave them alone while working on her own tinctures and concoctions. We need each other, thought Applejack. I need this. Need to know there's a home to come back to. And for everypony, there's so much to fight for still... and it's time we stood up. No more tyrants. No more ponies disappearing.