The Fated Ones: Ripples in Time
The sun had finally set over the Everfree Forest, spreading a thick layer of glimmering stars over the gleaming green canopy. The beauty of the situation was lost, however, on Applebloom as she slowly trotted her way through the woods. She could see quite clearly due to the starlight blazing through the trees, but every movement just pronounced her fear more. The combination of the Nightmare's lingering will, combined with the filly's natural fear of the dark, made her steps shaky and uneven. Every so often, she would bump into a boulder or tree, and jump at the sudden contact.
This place is way too scary, she thought with a frown. Sweat beaded down her neck from the effort of trotting for several hours. Why couldn't ah be stuck with Blossom Fall Woods instead?
A sudden rustling of the trees made her stop. Her heart pulsed rapidly as she scanned the area for threats. After several seconds, she allowed herself a small sigh. She thought of her family and began to cry as she wandered through the trees.
Scootaloo and Sweetie burst forth into the cool night air as they ran out of the Everfree Forest. The moment they exited the perimeter of the forest, their thoughts cleared, and nothing seemed so bleak as their current predicament.
"We gotta find Applejack!" Sweetie Belle said hurriedly. Scootaloo nodded and the two of them raced off towards the farm. as they approached the town, they realized just how late it had actually become. The town of Ponyville, which both of the fillies currently called home, was often bustling with life. Only in the latest hours of the evening did the rural town ever stop moving. The marketplace was devoid of any life, save the occasional bunny or raccoon, when the girls dashed past. A light flickered on in an extravagant-looking shop, and the silhouette of a styled mane poked through the window.
"Sweetie Belle!" it shouted most unceremoniously. "Where have you been? I want you in this house and ready to explain yourself this instant!"
Sweetie Belle's sister, Rarity Belle, was a figure that Sweetie both liked and disliked. For the most part, she idolized her sister, and was willing to do most anything if it meant being able to help her. At certain times such as this one, however, she found her sister to be a mild annoyance; a distraction from the task at hand.
"Sorry, Rarity!" she called over her shoulder. "I can't talk right now!"
"Can't talk?!" Rarity hissed in anger. "CAN'T TALK!" She was now fuming, almost literally steaming at the ears. The fact that her sister had just disobeyed a direct order without even explaining herself turned the valve that released the rest of her anger.
"SWEETIE AMELIA BELLE! GET YOUR FLANK IN HERE RIGHT NOW OR YOU ARE GROUNDED!"
Sweetie Belle, for her credit, did stop for a moment to admire the situation, but the shock and awe soon passed and she dragged Scootaloo farther along the lane. I'm in so much trouble when I get home, she thought.
The two fillies continued their race through Ponyville, the stars giving them the light to avoid any obstacles. Occasionally, a candle would flicker to life and the shadow of a pony would peek out a window, but for the most part, they stayed silent. Ponyville's long, twisting roads didn't hinder them nearly as much as they thought with the adrenaline and determination pouring through their system. The apple orchard soon came into view, a single light burning in a window and illuminating the courtyard beneath. A mare with a brown stetson was wheezing and leaning on a fence post.
"Applebloom, is that you?!" the mare asked worriedly.
"No, Applejack," Scootaloo said breathlessly, "But Applebloom's in trouble!"
the mare named Applejack immediately began panicking once more. "What kinda trouble are we talkin' bout here?" she asked in a worried, yet skeptical tone.
"Well, the three of us had just left school, and we were gonna go Crusading again!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Then we got into a little argument about which one of you guys was better. We accidentally wandered into the Everfree Forest. Applebloom finally got fed up with the two of us, and she stormed off the path!" There were noticeable tears in both of the fillies' eyes by that point.
"Oh, ponyfeathers!" Applejack cursed. She knew that her sister had been entering her slightly self-centered phase, where everything she believed to be important, she thought should be the law of the land. Applejack realized that with the combined stress of school, farmwork, and that bully Diamond Tiara, Applebloom must have finally snapped when she had the chance to relieve herself of her discomforts. "This is bad! You gals run along now and wake up mah friends. Sweetie Belle, get Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Scootaloo, ah'd appreciate it if you could tell Rainbow and Fluttershy." The two fillies nodded, and the three of them raced off into different parts of the town.
Sweetie Belle took the time to avoid her sister's boutique,mostly due to the fact that she wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise. Rarity could be very aggressive when she was angry. This in mind, she immediately headed towards the closest establishment: the Golden Oaks library. When she got there, she shakily knocked on the door. She cursed at the time it was taking for somepony to wake up. She realized for the first time that Applebloom could truly be in danger. The Everfree Forest was a deadly place during the day, and she shuddered to think what kind of monstrosities would be prowling about at night. As tears threatened to spill over her eyes, the door finally opened, revealing a very frazzled lavender unicorn.
"Hello?" she asked, yawning tiredly. She then looked down and saw Sweetie Belle. "Oh, hello, Sweetie! Your sister has been looking all over for you. Have you told her you're here?"
"We don't have time for my sister, Twilight! Applebloom could be in some serious trouble!" At this, Twilight's tired face was replaced with one of concern. She wasn't especially worried about Applebloom; the filly was unnaturally mature and determined for her age, even if she was... lacking in some departments. What she was truly concerned about was Applebloom's family.
Applejack's parents had died in an orchard fire ten years before, when Applebloom was literally days old. It had devastated the Apple family, and Twilight didn't want to see her friend go through any more losses. What was more, Granny Smith was getting on in her years, and the way Big Macintosh was accidentally overworking himself, she estimated he would drop dead from exhaustion in the next fifteen years. no one, she thought, should have to have that much loss in so little time, especially not Applejack.
"Alright, Sweetie Belle. Why don't you tell me what's going on, and we'll figure it out from there." Sweetie Belle ran through the details in under a minute; no small feat, given the fact that she had several hours of experience to tell. By the end, she was shivering from fright again and Twilight had an almost absent look in her eye.
"Well, that isn't good at all," she calculated. "With this time, Applebloom could already be a good ways into the forest. Sweetie Belle, let's hurry. Even with Pinkie on our side, I don't know if we can find her in time." Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. Pinkie Pie was renowned throughout Equestria for her ability to defy not only logic, but physics. If Twilight was suggesting that Pinkie couldn't find a pony, then the odds that they were still alive were very slim.
"Well, Sweetie Belle, hold on tight. We need to get the girls, and fast." Sweetie Belle pressed against Twilight's side as the mare teleported, her horn blazing with violet light. The two flared into existence in a neighboring shop named Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie was currently renting room and board. The flash of illumination was all that was needed to wake the... well, pink pony upstairs. With an almost impossible agility, she jumped off the balcony from her room, landed outside on the first story window, and swung to the door. She stood on her hind legs and bowed as the two stared.
"Pinkie Pie... how did you do that?" asked Twilight disbelievingly. Pinkie giggled.
"Silly Twilight," Pinkie giggled out. "I jumped!"
Deciding not to question Pinkie's odd behavior, Sweetie and Twilight hurriedly explained the situation to Pinkie. As she heard more, her smile faded into an odd frown.
"Uh-oh," she said cautiously. "This is bad. I can't feel her with my Pinkie Sense at all. Either she's really far into the forest, or..." she trailed off as Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. Twilight ground her teeth together with impatience.
"Well, if she's in that much trouble, then we need to get going!" she almost shouted. Pinkie gave her a sheepish grin and held on to Twilight as she teleported once again.
Applebloom was by no means a fearless filly, but she had an unnatural resistance to her own reason. Right now, that reason was telling her that she should be running as far away from the forest as she possibly could. Only two things were keeping her from this solution, however: the fact that she had no idea which direction Ponyville was, and the small, barely noticeable trail she was following. Due to her brief time in Wilderness Survival School, she knew that something that made a trail this obvious was either trying to be found, or very big.
Or it simply didn't know what kind of forest this was.
Applebloom squeaked as a rose thorn got tangled in her side. If she wouldn't already be dead after her excursion into the forest, her sister would surely kill her for coming back home in such a mess. Sweetie Belle's sister was worse, but Applejack did take pride in her sister's cleanliness. another branch swiped at her as she passed, drawing a thin line of blood on her forehead. she tried to stay on even the least visible paths, hopefully heading in the direction of Ponyville. She knew that the sun set west of the entrance to the Everfree, but in the part of the forest she had just entered, the leaves only parted for moments. through the almost impenetrable darkness, the only light came from a soft, luminescent moss she had never seen before. She assumed that it was part of the 99.73% of the species of plants and animals that hadn't been discovered yet.
Navigating through the mossy trees, Applebloom walked for another hour before coming to her next surprise. A small clearing opened the deep foliage and cast a starry glow onto the grass. There was a carefully constructed ring of stones in the center, filled with blackened wood and ashes. As she explored it, she found a pile of crusted over fluid that smelled absolutely foul. She wondered why someone would have vomited in this place before she saw a dark red glint by the edge of the encampment. She wandered over to get a better look, and nearly retched when she saw it.
A manticore was cleanly gutted, its entrails spilling everywhere. half-congealed blood spurted from a slack heart. Applebloom's vision spun as she took in more of the sight.
"What the hay did this?" she whispered. Suddenly her jaw set, and she turned away from the grisly corpse. Whatever had done this, it was dangerous.
And she was going to catch it.