The Shadows the Past Leaves
Chapter 1: It is Brightest before Dusk
In the earliest times of Equestria, so far back that the Princesses Celestia and Luna did not exist, the lands were not a place as anypony could understand. The world was chaos and there was no life to be found. All that existed was a darkness that reached out forever.
From this darkness came the first beings to exist. They were the creators; the masters of all that lived. When they awakened to the darkness, they were appalled by its lack of color and decided to fill the darkness with their power. There were three of them, one for the three great powers in Equestria.
Stone Pound was the strongest of the three, and from the darkness he made land and earth. With every step he made valleys and raised the hills and mountains. Yet he was patient and well tempered, so his earth teamed with raw life waiting for his care so that it could grow.
Soar Eye was the fastest and lightest of the three. She made the sky and freedom that Stone Pound’s earth needed to grow. She brought tears from clouds that they could drink and refresh with power. With her wings, she carved away the darkness so that life would have space to call its own.
Single Breath was the wisest of the three and brought knowledge to what his two friends had made. It was a plan, a blueprint, and a way. Knowledge said things like how things would fall down, or how plants would grow. Knowledge allowed the land to work all on its own.
And these three were not the last great masters. Others appeared amazed at the world they were blessed to see. Each brought a gift to the world to share with one another, to share with life. A master of fire, a master of light, a master of time, a master of sound, and many, many more. In this same way, Celestia and Luna were born and brought with them the gifts of the sun and the moon. All of these masters together created Equestria, and together they created life for all to have.
The masters took pride in their work, but were divided on one issue. Some of them believed it was their duty to watch the land and control it, guiding it to where it would be safe from harm. Others thought that the world should be allowed to run free, that all living things should face life on their own. Others still wanted it to be that it was the inhabitants themselves who controlled the world, as it was their domain and not truly made for the Masters. No way could be decided on, so there was a compromise. Some Masters remained -some hidden and some in plain view- and kept watch over the world and intervened when needed. Others went back to the darkness to observe the ponies in their lives and be free. And some gave the ponies the power to manipulate the land so that they could guide their own fate.
And, thus, Equestria was made.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Twilight closed the tarnished book with a satisfied smile. “So, what did you think Applebloom?”
Applebloom, for her part, scratched her head in thought. “Ah don’t get it.”
Twilight sighed in an exasperated sort of way. She had the same problem with Applejack. “Okay, what don’t you get?”
The little filly thought for a moment, resting her elbows on the table provided. “Now don’t get all twisted, Twi. It was a great story, jus’ like Grandpappy would tell. But… Ah guess Ah jus’ don’t get it. What’s the point?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. Just like Applejack. It ran in the family, as it were. “The point is in its history. The story is as old as some of the world’s most ancient relics. And you can always learn a thing or two from the past.”
Applebloom stuck her tongue out as Twilight turned to put the huge book back. These sessions with Twilight were a real waste of time, in Applebloom’s modest opinion. She could be out Cutie Mark Crusading with her friends right now, but instead she was stuck in the library being lectured by Twilight as punishment for putting a hole in the side of the barn (though Applejack didn’t admit that to Applebloom’s face).
Time wasn’t something Applebloom had a lot of to waste, and she was going to let everypony she could know that. “Who cares about musty old history? It didn’t happen tah me, and it’s never helped me with what Ah do now.”
“That’s not true,” Twilight said as her horn glowed with the magic needed to put the book on a high shelf. “The past holds information, secrets, and knowledge ponies use to make their lives better.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me somethin’.”
“Well… magic research has advanced because we’ve learned from ponies in the past and how they did it.”
Applebloom huffed and pointed a hoof at herself. “Earth pony.”
“Oh, right.” Twilight blushed as she felt her unicorn horn. “No magic. Okay, from history we understand where our culture came from. All our architecture evolved from what was made in the past. Our insulated buildings, our technology, our medicine-”
“Apple farmer. Most of that stuff doesn’t exactly apply tah me.” Applebloom bobbed her bow with a hoof, remembering the couple of times when she went over to a friend’s house on a hot day to take advantage of the wondrous device known as an “air conditioner”.
“Um… alright, old stories teach us about past mistakes, and we learn what worked and what didn’t.”
“Morals, schmorals. Ah never needed tah know how Nightmoon Mare was stuck on the moon fer a thousand years.”
“Nightmare Moon.”
“Whatever. ‘Sides, that stuff is jus’ stories. Filly Tales. Ah know you hate stuff that ain’t true, Twi.”
Twilight shook her head. “Even Filly Tales have something we can gleam from them. A lesson to learn.”
“Oh really?” Applebloom scoffed. “And jus’ what was Ah supposed to learn from ‘How Equestria was Made’?”
“That’s what you’re supposed to figure out,” Twilight said with a smile. “In the story, Equestria wasn’t made by just one being or even just three. Lots of great beings brought things to the world. So you could say that when a whole lot of ponies work together, something amazing happens.”
Applebloom yawned. “Well, duh. Ah can’t exactly lift a wall by mahself, now can Ah?”
“Okay, fine, I give up,” Twilight said as she packed some books into a saddlebag. Applebloom noticed with some joy that it was a couple of books on herbs and plants. There was only one reason Twilight would be packing plant life books into a pack.
“So, we still goin’ to Zecora’s house later?” Applebloom asked, noticeably more chipper.
“Yep. Don’t get too excited, though. We won’t be staying for long.”
“Yay!” Applebloom shouted with a jump. Twilight flinched at the sound. “Ah’ll go get Applejack right now! Ah can’t wait!” With that, the little filly threw her saddle pack on and bounded out the door away from the library.
“Don’t forget your chores,” Twilight called after her.
Applebloom’s bounce slowed to a surprised trot. She completely forgot that stuff. Oh well. The sooner she got it done, the sooner she would get to go visit Zecora in her hut.
Now, what did she need to do today? Applebloom looked around at all the rustic buildings of Ponyville. Oh yeah, the boutique! She needed to get Granny’s Smith’s scarf from Sweetie Belle’s sister. And then she needed to pick up Big Mac’s clock from Mr. Whooves, and pick up Applejack’s order of caramel apples from Sugarcube Corner.
That made Applebloom smile. Pinkie always had some cupcakes to share. First things first, though: Sweetie Belle’s place was the closest.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom knocked on the door of the aptly named Carousal Boutique and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
“Sorry, just a minute~,” a voice sang from the other side. Applebloom sighed. Just like Rarity…
The purple doors opened and a white unicorn popped her head out.
“Aah, Applebloom,” Rarity greeted with a warm smile. “How good to see you. You’re here for the scarf, right? Come in, come in, I just need to check something real quick.” Rarity hurried back inside and Applebloom followed.
The young filly was always slightly amazed when she went inside Sweetie Belle’s home. Her sister was such a great designer. The gentle colors of the dresses Rarity made were so appealing. Said unicorn was over at a table where a black suit (a rare order, according to Sweetie) was nearly finished, as far as Applebloom could tell. Rarity sometimes said things weren’t done when they looked great to Appleblom.
Rarity’s horn lit up with magic and she telekinetically brought Granny Smith’s favorite scarf down from a shelf and around to Applebloom. She gave the old scarf a once over. It was absolutely seamless; if there had been a tear or it had been as old as Granny Smith claimed it was, it was impossible to tell by the eye alone.
The tan earth filly was amazed. The white unicorn much less so. “Does your grandmother really want to keep this old thing?” Rarity asked, giving the scarf a once over as it hung by her magic in front of her. “I’m not trying to be rude, but surely a scarf of better quality wouldn’t be so much trouble to get. I could very easily make one just like this if she wanted. It would be my pleasure.”
Applebloom took the scarf and placed it in her pack. She looked around the boutique and wished she could take the owner up on the offer. The many fancy fresh dresses and clothing articles on the dummies appealed to Applebloom in a way she didn’t quite understand. But Applejack and Granny would never get something as girly as the things Rarity made. Applebloom really didn’t get why.
“Thanks, Miss Rarity, but Granny likes her scarf a whole lot. Ah don’t think you’d even get her to consider the idea.” Applebloom crossed her eyes and laid her apploosian accent on thick. “Git mahself a new scarf? Yer a fixin’s fer a whoopin’s, ain’t yah, yah no good pompous city filly!”
Rarity giggled at Applebloom’s imitation, her violet mane bouncing slightly. “Now, now, you should respect your elders little miss.”
Applebloom rolled her eyes back to normal. “Ah’m just foolin’ around. Anyway, thanks for fixin’ this. Granny will be real happy to get this for sure.”
“Why though?” a different voice asked. Applebloom smiled at Sweetie Belle as she stepped down the stairs. The younger unicorn looked thoughtful. “Why does your grandma care so much about that silly old scarf?”
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said warningly.
“What? You called it old too.”
Rarity gaped at that. She did, didn’t she?
Applebloom scratched her head and scrunched her face. “Huh. Ya know, Ah never really thought about it before. She’s always had this thing as long as Ah can remember.” She shrugged. “Aw well. If Granny wants her scarf, she’s gonna get her scarf. Thanks again, Miss Rarity. See ya’ll later, Sweetie Belle.”
“Are we still going to meet Zecora later?” Sweetie Belle asked her sister way too sweetly.
Rarity shook her head in amusement at her sister’s overly adorable stare. “Yes, yes, we shall.” Rarity glanced at her clock. “You’d better get your galashes and the like ready. We’ll be leaving in about two hours.”
Applebloom waved goodbye to her friends, deciding not to ask why it would take two hours to get rain gear ready in the middle of summer. Once outside the Carousal Boutique, Applebloom began to ponder her Grandma’s scarf. Why did she care so much about it? Like both Rarity and Sweetie Belle said, it was old. When something was old, you needed to get a new one. That’s the way it was on a farm. They needed a new plow, and a new roof, and a new well, but Granny wouldn’t get a new scarf.
Hmm…
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom thought the Time Winder’s was the oddest store in Ponyville. Not because of how it looked. It looked extremely plain. Maybe even too plain. If Applebloom could share her opinion, Sugarcube Corner looked the strangest. No other building advertized what it made as well as that place did. The fact remained, however, that Time Winder’s was strange beyond comprehension to Applebloom. As she stepped inside, the reason became apparent.
While true that Applebloom had only ever seen this particular clock shop in her short life, she knew this place was different from any other clock shop in Equestria. It was to be expected that a clock shop would sell clocks, but here…
There were just so many!
Clocks littered the walls of shapes and sizes Applebloom didn’t quite understand. There were square clocks and round clocks, diamond shaped clocks, clocks that looked like cats, clocks that seemed to run backwards, clocks with so many hands (hooves?) than could ever really be used. But more amazing than anything else in the store was the cuckoo clocks that received a wall all to themselves. The automatic machines were more like toys than anything else, with tiny ponies that danced, and birds that sang, and bells that rang, and trains that seemed to move all on their own. Their choppy and twitchy movements did little to hinder the amazement of their motions. Every tick and every tock was punctuated with wooden sounding mechanical clanks as the robotic creations moved about.
Applebloom was so fixated by the clocks that she didn’t notice Mr. Whooves admiring the décor with her. “Isn’t the way they move just marvelous?”
The filly leaped practically three feet in the air from surprise. “Holy moley! Ya’ll scared the bajeebers out a me!”
“I tend to do that.” Mr. Whooves stepped over to his hoof-made automatomic clocks and smiled warmly. “Quite a collection I have here. My favorite part about clocks is the way the gears all just seem to fit together and mesh and just keep going while making something happen. Just like how our lives are sometimes, wouldn’t you say?”
“Uh…”
The brown earth pony sighed wistfully, eyes closed in remembrance. “Yes, I learned that the day I got this cutie mark of mine. Funny that it’s an hourglass when I make clocks mostly, but I dabble in hourglasses now and then. Anyway, our lives are a bunch of gears mashing together to get us to this moment in time, just like in a clock. Goodness, can you imagine how different the world be if you went back in time and shifted gears even a little bit? It’s absolutely terrifying, and so very exciting!”
Applebloom shook her head slightly. Contrary to what might be expected, Mr. Whooves did not operate like clockwork. His moods were as varying as the colors of the rainbow. The last time Applebloom had been here, he had been a perfect gentlecolt like somepony straight out of Canterlot. Last time Applejack had to meet him, he was surly and barely said a word.
“Mr. Whooves-”
“Please, call me Sand Whooves, little miss. No need to be formal.” Which was the exact opposite of what he had said last time.
“Ahright, Sand Whooves, that’s all very nice, but Ah’m here for mah brother’s clock, and Ah’m kind of in-”
Sand Whooves put a hoof up in Applebloom’s face. “Wait, wait, don’t tell me. Brother, brother… big red fellow, right? And that would make the little cutie before me Applebloom, correct?”
Amused, Applebloom nodded. Sand Whooves quickly retreated into the back of his shop and returned with a simple wind up clock in his mouth, which he promptly put into Applebloom’s saddle pack.
“Thanks Mr.- uh, Sand Whooves.”
“Oh, no trouble at all. Why, a clock as old is so easy to fix it’s a wonder I needed to charge anything. In fact, here.” Sand Whooves shoved a small pile of bits into Applebloom’s hooves and just kept going. “Have a refund. And my respect. I love my overly complicated cuckoo clocks, but it’s a practical stallion that can work with something as simple as a wind up. I’d imagine that ringing is annoying as could be, but on a farm you’d need that, what with being tired and everything.”
Applebloom chuckled as he kept on going, despite the fact she had turned around and walked out the store.
“… and wind ups need to be wound up. That’s some dedication- oh! Goodbye little flower! See you next time. Heh, heh, time… that’s a good one.”
Yep, that store was odd.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
While Time Winder’s was definitely the oddest store in town, Applebloom knew that Sugarcube Corner came in second. The way they advertised was hilariously inviting, and made Applebloom crave sugar just from the sight alone. It was like that story… what was it called? The one with the house made out of gingerbread? Oh well. Sugarcube Corner was just like that, sitting all by itself in the middle of the road. It looked like it was made out of candy: Candy canes for support beams, cookies for walls, and frosting to hold everything together. If it wasn’t for the fact that she knew better than to be fooled by the decorations, she’d start chewing immediately.
The smells that came out as she opened the door, though, could easily fool anypony into thinking they were surrounded by sugary delights. Well, technically she was, but it simply smelled like everything around her was edible. Applebloom took in a large whiff and sighed. There was a caramel apple with her name on it.
Applebloom rang the bell at the desk for service. Mrs. Cake wasn’t at her usual post, which could only mean one thing. Whether this was a good or bad thing was dependent on opinion.
No response. Hmm, that’s peculiar. Usually she appears immedia-
“Hiya, Applebloomy!” Pinkie Pie shouted from right beside Applebloom’s ear. With a yelp, she bucked up and fell onto her back. Two times in a row, man!
“Ugh… hiya Pinkie” Applebloom greeted from the floor. She looked up at the pink pony and tried her best to give her a dirty look. “Ah didn’t notice ya come in.”
Pinkie nodded furiously in agreement and grabbed Applebloom by her bow, flipping her back onto her hooves. “Yeah, that’s super duper weird, cuz lotsa ponies tell me that whenever I answer the bell. So, are you excited about going to visit Zecora tonight? Are ya, are ya, are ya? Cuz I am! When we get there, I’m gonna bring Zecora a batch of cupcakes! And I heard from Twilight that the place where Zebra’s come from doesn’t have cupcakes, and I was like ‘Whaaaat!? Ya gotta have cupcakes, what’s life without cupcakes?’ So I’m making Zecora a batch right now with all sorts of different flavors and frostings and decorations and, oh I’m sorry, you rang the bell, which means you’re here to shop! Give me a second.” Pinkie Pie jumped behind the counter and smiled at Applebloom. Applebloom laughed at the tiny hat resting on her cotton candy like mane. “Hi, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How may I help you today?”
Applebloom rolled her eyes in amusement. “Ya’ll are so funny, Pinkie Pie.”
“And that’s what makes me a great Element of Laughter,” Pinkie retorted with a sincere but unnecessarily huge smile.
“Ah came tah pick up mah sister’s order of candy apples, iffin’ ya don’t mind.”
“Ooh, right, candy apples!” Pinkie yelled, ducking under the counter. “I know I put those here somewhere…” There were various crashes and loud noises that Applebloom could not figure out. How did rummaging through anything produce the sound of a tuba? After a few more seconds, meows, and metallic booms, Pinkie Pie popped back up with a colorfully wrapped and neatly tied box that smelled just a yummy as the rest of the place. “Here we are. Complete with the discount given to the family that brings us the tastiest apples. Well, your family is the only family that brings us apples, but they’re still pretty darn tasty!”
“Thanks Pinkie. I don’t suppose you could sneak me a couple a them thar peanut butter balls, now could ya?”
Pinkie Pie looked around. “Since nopony’s looking… a special gift from your Auntie Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie immediately pulled out a bag of treats and Applebloom blinked. How did she have those ready instantly, but not the candy apples?
“Thank ya kindly,” Applebloom said, hiding her confusion and placing the bag in her pack. “Well, Ah’ll meet with ya later, Pinkie Pie. See ya at Fluttershy’s.”
“See you later, Applebloomy! And don’t forget your lamps and flashlights.”
Applebloom raised a brow at that. “Flashlights? Why? We’re not staying that late, are we?”
“I don’t think we are, but you never can be too careful when it comes to ghosties, creepies, and boogies, now can you?”
“Ya’ll believe in that stuff? Twi’ says that there’s no such thing as ghosts.” Applebloom tried to think if her sister ever said anything about spirits before. Nothing came to mind.
“Of course I believe in them! You gotta laugh at the ghosts to make them go away. How else could you laugh at them if ghosties didn’t exist? Grandma Pie gave me that advice, why would she tell me to laugh at something that wasn’t there?”
As young as Applebloom was, even she understood that’s not exactly what Pinkie’s grandma must have meant. Still… “Why ya telling me tah bring lights if ya know how to laugh ‘em off?”
“Because, silly filly willy, ghosties don’t like light. Have you ever been scared by a ghost when the happy go lucky sun is shining?”
Applebloom scratched her head. There was some strange logic to that. “Ahright, Ah’ll bring all the light Ah can find then.”
Pinkie waved goodbye. “See you later! Oh my gosh! I forgot I left Gummy in the tub! I’ve got to make sure he doesn’t drown!” With that, the pink pony zipped away so fast that Applebloom couldn’t tell which way she went.
Well, that was Pinkie for you.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
The sweet smell of apples in Sweet Apple Acres was not an aroma Applebloom appreciated as much as she knew she should. It was a scent she had spent her whole life growing up with and most of the time didn’t even notice was there. She was just that used to it.
Sometimes, she didn’t want to be an Apple. Apples were bland, simple, and predictable. She wished she could be something more complicated. Like Scootaloo. It was hard to guess what Scootaloo would do.
“Big sis,” Applebloom called as she entered the barn. “Ah got yer candy apples.”
“Hot tar!” Applejack shouted, a couple of the nails that were in her mouth falling to the floor beneath her. She dropped her hammer and leapt from the second level onto the first floor. She quickly trotted over to Applebloom with a silly smile, then suddenly frowned. “Don’t ever do that.”
Applebloom giggled. “Now why would Ah ever be dumb enough tah jump from the second floor of a building?”
“That’s mah girl,” Applejack said as her sister gave her a candy apple. The orange pony licked her lips at the confectionery in her hooves and prepared to take a bite, but froze. “Heeeey…” Applejack drawled out, giving Applebloom a dirty look. Applebloom smiled innocently.
“Aw, come on, Ah’m jus’ funnin’ with ya.”
Applejack sighed and gave her sister a quick noogie. “Ah guess ya are.” She took a bite and chewed with relish.
“Hey, big sis, where do we keep the candles n’ stuff like that?”
Applejack choked on her apple, imagining the horrible things the Cutie Mark Crusaders could do with fire, and only about a third involved actual burning. “Now, uh, why do ya want things like that? It ain’t exactly dark out.”
“While Ah was at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie told me Ah should get some.”
Sweet Celestia, that was even worse. “Again, Ah got tah ask; why?”
“Pinkie says you need light tah fight back the ghosts in the Everfree Forest.”
Applejack sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from her brow. “Well, shoot, ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. But, you know, we aren’t gonna stay that long. Why’s Pinkie telling ya to bring stuff we don’t need?”
“Just tah be safe, she said. Ah… Ah kinda would like ‘em, ya know… just to be safe.” Applebloom looked over her shoulder as if afraid a ghost was behind her right then. “Twilight says ghosts aren’t real, but Pinkie believes in ‘em. Are they real, Applejack?”
The elder sister closed her eyes in thought for a moment. “I don’t believe in the ghosts Pinkie believes in… but Ah think Twilights wrong about there bein’ no such thing. There are spirits, Applebloom, just not the scary kind.”
“Really? Then… what are they like?”
“Real ghosts… well… gosh, how do Ah put this. Ah guess real ghosts are the kind that want to help you, have something important tah say. And ya can’t see ‘em easy, neither. I tell ya what, I got a spirit right in this hat of mine.”
Applebloom blinked at her sister’s hat. It had been on Applejacks head as long as Applebloom could remember, but that wasn’t saying much. “Whose spirit is there?”
“Our pappy.” Applejack took off her hat and stared at it nostalgically. “He gave me this hat the… the last time Ah saw him.”
Applebloom desperately wished she knew what the ‘pappy’ her older siblings sometimes spoke of was like. She hadn’t a memory to spare on the subject.
“Every time Ah see this hat, or feel it bounce on mah head, Ah can hear him sayin’ a nice thing’r two.”
Applebloom rubbed the bow that kept her mane in a pony tail (ha!... sorry), and remembered vaguely that Granny said it had belonged to their mother. She never heard a voice when she looked at it.
Applejack realized what Applebloom was thinking and frowned. She placed her hat on her head. “Ah’m sorry Applebloom. Ah guess there’s a bit more to it than that. Jus’ think of it like this: real ghosties won’t hurt you. Anything that can certainly ain’t no ghost.”
“Will Ah ever get tah see ma ‘n pa if they’re spirits?”
Applejack looked at her hooves, unsure how to answer. “Ah’m not the pony tah tell ya that. Let’s jus’ drop this, sugar cube. Go give Big Macintosh ‘n Granny their stuff an’ get ready tah go if ya want tah see Zecora. An the candles are in the kitchen drawer. The one without the sharp things.”
Applebloom became silent and slowly trotted to the main house. That conversation went in a direction she didn’t really expect. She couldn’t figure out what she was feeling. On one hoof, she never knew her parents. It never made a difference. On the other hoof, she wished she had gotten to know them. Sweetie talked about how great her parents in Manehatten were. Scootaloo never talked about it, but others did.
She decided to just stop thinking about it. Her bow was just a bow, Applebloom decided. Applejack’s hat was a hat, Big Mac’s clock was a clock, and Granny Smith’s scarf was a scarf. Everything was as it was. As it was, she needed to get ready.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
The Everfree forest was terrifying place for most everyone in Ponyville. Applebloom had only ever been to it a couple of times, and fewer times so deep as Zecora’s hut. During the day, the monsters that roamed were asleep as if the sun were their moon. There was a strange wonder to this place, Applebloom thought as she and her friends walked through the woods.
“Ugh, it rained weeks ago!” Rarity complained. Loudly. “How is it that the ground can still be so muddy? My galoshes are getting ruined.”
Sweetie Belle looked like she had something snarky to say to that, but decided to simply keep that look and not to talk about what goulashes were made for.
Instead, Applejack did. “Ain’t boots made fer getting muddy?” The deadpan in her voice wasn’t exactly startling, mostly because it was the same amount she always used. Which was a lot.
“They are not boots, they are galoshes. They are fashionable. They are made to get wet and keep your hooves dry. Now I’ll have to pay for heavy duty cleaning to get the stains out.”
“And then ya’ll wearin’ rain gear. Ya know it ain’t rainin’, and ya know it’s dirty out here. Why didn’t ya wear somethin’ that would’a kept ya cleaner?”
Applebloom tried not to snicker at Rarity’s and Sweetie Belle’s ensembles of rain protection that the former pony had obviously not made.
Rarity had her mouth open to retort, but couldn’t think of anything smart to say. “Fine, your point is made. I’ll stop complaining.”
“Thank goodness,” Twilight moaned quietly.
Pinkie was happily hopping along, oblivious to the greatest of quarrels. “You know, I’ve always wondered, why don’t they ever make paths through the forests? After all, there are all sorts of neato plants and herbs and things ponies use that I don’t even know about, and Everfree Forest is the best place to get them, so why don’t we make a safe path there, but then I think ‘Pinkie, you silly willy, there isn’t any safe path, there’s all sorts of monsters-”
“Pinkie,” Twilight said over the pink pony’s din.
“-and tear you to bits, so of course you wouldn’t come out here, but then I wonder why Zecora lives out here, and I think it can’t be that bad, but we almost got eaten by a Hydra once-”
“Pinkie,” Applejack tried to interrupt.
“-and then I told him about the time we all were climbing up that mountain to get that big ol’ dragon to go somewhere else and how scary he was and how crazy it was that he didn’t like parties and how Fluttershy totally told him what a meanie pants he was-”
“Pinkie” Applebloom just about begged.
“-so then he was like ‘grrr’ and I was like ‘for serious?’ and he was like ‘blarg’ and I was like ‘holy gasp!’ and he was all like ‘derp’ and I was like ‘burp’ and we-”
“Pinkie,” Sweetie Belle moaned.
“-they had ice cream and chili cheese fries with extra marshmallows and all the tin cans you could ever hope to stack, which was crazy because of how wacky Mr. Dust acted at the masquerade-”
“Pinkie,” Rarity practically threatened.
“-all those insane birds! You’d think they’d never tried mustard before! But that was okay, because I found the relish in the hoof locker in the chest of drawers in the mailroom in the deepest jungle in the-”
“Pinkie!” Everypony shouted.
“Yes?” Pinkie replied as though she hadn’t just been screamed at.
“We’re here.” Twilight said, pointing to the large and rather creepy hut in which Zecora lived and did her work.
“Well why didn’t you say so? Cupcake time~” Pinkie Pie bounded towards the door. There was a collective eye rolling. That was Pinkie Pie for you.
“Hey Zecora!” Pinkie cried out as she knocked on the door. “We’re here to deliver books and have lunch and give you baked goods!”
The zebra that lived in the hut opened the door to get several hoofs to the face. “My friends-oof- how nice to see you’ve-erg- come around, but why is it-gerg-my face you must pound?”
Pinkie immediately stopped and gave a tremendous grin. “Hi-dy ho, Zecora! It’s been so long since we’ve gotten together and had lunch and I’m just soooo super duper happy to see you.”
Zecora rubbed her head and stepped aside to allow her friends to come inside. The cauldron bubbled with a sickly yellow colored soup, and the ponies present (except Pinkie) wondered if it was possible for something so vile looking to smell as good as they thought it did.
Zecora gave a chuckle as she looked at Rarity and Sweetie Belle, her large earrings rattling. “My friends, we are well met, but tell me, did someone lose a bet?”
The white unicorn huffed as Applejack snorted. “Yes, yes, laugh at the only pony that cares about staying clean.” With an expert flourish, Rarity pulled off her outfit and had all the pieces hanging off of one of the many masks lining the walls.
“Hello Zecora,” Twilight greeted, placing a stack of books on the incredibly wide yet stout rock that served as a table. “I brought those books you wanted.”
“Equestrian literature on medical herbs. Your kindness has almost left me without words. Not many ponies would brave these wood. It touches me deeply that you should.”
“Hey, Zecora,” Applebloom said as she gave the Zebra a hug. Zecora returned it with a smile.
“Applebloom, my dearest of friends. I’m so happy you could come and see me again. I understand it is a long trip from your farm to my place, so please come and put food in your face.”
“Mighty nice of you, Zecora.” Applejack sat down at the small table along with everyone else(except Pinkie), and took her hat off. “Haven’t got the slightest idea what ya got there, but it sure smells nice.”
Zecora opened her mouth to respond, but Pinkie jumped at the chance to stuff a chocolate cupcake into in her mouth. Zecora choked.
“Aren’t they just great Zecora?” Pinkie asked as she bounced up and down. Zecora struggled to swallow the baked good. “I bet they don’t have anything like that where you come from. It’s the bestest, most tastiest thing you can get in a cup, except maybe Gummy’s favorite punch, because that stuff is really good. Ooh, ooh, I know! I could combine them! It would be super extra tasty, then it would be the bestest thing you could get in a cup!”
At some point, Applejack had jumped up and performed the Heimlich maneuver and forced Zecora to hack it up. “Whoa, you okay there, partner?”
Zecora breathed in relief. “Thank you Applejack, that was a bother.” She then blushed and smiled sheepishly. “Might I… trouble you for another?”
Sweetie Belle snorted. “I guess Zecora’s proof that Pinkie’s Cupcakes are to die for.”
Ignoring the mild laughter, Zecora grabbed a cupcake and relished in a real bite. “I believe I’ve never tasted a thing so sweet. Truly, this is a marvelous treat.” This made Pinkie Pie smile the smile reserved for when she made someone else smile.
“I hope you do not think me rude to pry, but where are Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?”
“Rainbow Dash has weather duty,” Twilight said. “A huge storm is going to blow in from Fillydelphia, and Ponyville needs all the help they can get to divert it away. Fluttershy’s helping another pony whose dog is about to have pups.”
“Unfortunate that they could not attend. Sometime, I’ll have to make amends.” Zecora took a large whiff of her grotesque looking stew. “Our meal is nearly ready, we’ll need food ware. Applebloom, could you help me, if you care?”
Applebloom nodded eagerly and followed Zecora into another room where bowls of many sizes were stacked in rather disheveled piles. “In my home, spoons are not anywhere used. The idea makes me quite confused. I hope you ponies will not mind, that acquiring some, I had not the time.”
“It’s soup, right? Ah might as well just drink it.” Applebloom watched as Zecora looked around for the perfectly sized bowls. “Why do ya have so many bowls, anyway.”
“With plants and natural herbs I work, I take it all the way and do not shirk. A special texture, a special size, to get it just right and receive my prize. I could take a root and mix it in one; put it in another and get something different when I’m done.”
“Gee, this sounds complicated. Is that what yer cutie mark represents? It looks like a sun, though. What’s that got to do with medicine?”
Zecora fumbled the bowl she was carrying, a small gasp escaping her. She steadied herself and sighed. “I… it has been so long since I have been asked this. Though, all considered, it is not a twist. It is true, medicine is a gift of mine to some extent, but that is not quite what for my sun is meant.”
“What is it then? Is this a cutie mark story? I love those.”
Zecora looked thoughtful as if weighing options that Applebloom couldn’t see. “You trusted me when no one else tried. You saw me for me when others had lied. The story that I will relate is indeed what you say, but in this land it should be secret and stay that way.
“Little filly, like a flower so small, the shortened story I tell you is not tall. In Equestria with your light so bright, you do not have to fear a truly dark night. There are creatures, you know, that could eat you in one bite so quick, but that is a fate that some would easily pick.”
Applebloom guffawed at that. Who would want to get eaten by a hydra or something?
“The alternative is a place betwixt and between, a night that pales your silly Halloween. There are those that have not died, but who are no longer alive, and would give anything to no longer thrive. You might know these creatures as ghosts or living dead; but have you really thought about them, have you any idea in your head? They are not evil, and in fact so sad. The things they do, however, are terribly bad. They are cursed to walk the world forever, to leave this plane they might never. Something in life terrible had to unfold, and now in death they are in a pitiful hold.
“Imagine it, Applebloom, to not feel at all, but to be aware and be able to call, to the living they see and very much resent, and will always less they repent. When young, creatures like these I did not believe to be true, but I understand it now, I do, I do. A night I went out to play with the shadows of the falling sun, and it was not until dark that I decided I was done. It was then that I met such a creature, a terrible ghoul, a zebra that knew he had been a fool. He stole the knowledge his master had created, but even then his greed was not sated. He poisoned him with the most horrid of drinks, and his life was out in a blink. But the student’s greed had taken its own shape, and devoured his soul to leave him in his well deserved fate. When I found him, he tried to destroy me as well, and I had resigned myself to my fate and prayed a sweet farewell. It was then that I looked straight into the beast’s eyes, and saw a sorrow that touched me inside. He had come to resent what he had done, not what he had become. So I sat there and told him it would bring him no joy, to devour me or torment me as a toy. A sincere apology came from him, and a friend was what I did win. Every night, he would teach me the things his master knew, and I marveled at the world as around me it grew.
“Then the day came I received my mark, both on my flank and in my heart. His master had been trapped in the same terrible state, all because of his unbridled hate. When he saw his student had been kind to me, his heart softened and they both were set free. It was at that moment, with my eyes filled with tears, my mark finally appears. I brought light to those gloomy lost souls, I was the one that made them whole. I found my talent, the thing I loved most was to bring that light others desperately need, be it knowledge, a helping hoof, or an ear that would heed. I miss him dearly, he was a good friend, but I am glad I helped him reach life’s final end.”
Applebloom had been enraptured by the story, at some point laying down on her stomach. “Wow, Zecora, ya’ll knew a real live-uh, half live ghost? And he was yer friend tah boot?”
Zecora nodded with melancholy. “He was vile, but not bad. For him now, I still am sad.”
The young filly tried to imagine that ‘betwixt and between’ place. She had never thought about ghosts being ‘stuck’ as Zecora described. “It sounds real bad. Being a ghost, Ah mean. But why are you only telling me? Why’s it such a secret?”
“I have been mocked many a time, because to them there is no reason or even a rhyme.” There was an odd beat between the two of them at that. “Well, Twilight is proof enough. You could not convince her of this ‘mumbo jumbo’ stuff. I did not come to this land just to help pony, but the real reason makes me sound phony. In these woods, there is something worse, then a hydra or a dragon, some terrible curse. A darkness presides over the Everfree, a dark magic that only I can see. I have come here to see this wrong made right, to bring to it my special light. I want to help the spirits of the dead, but to tell others this would hinder me instead. So Applebloom, whom I’d trust with my life, tell no one of this and save me from strife.”
Applebloom nodded. “Ah Pinkie Pie promise not to tell. Cross mah heart, hope tah fly, stick a cupcake in mah-ouch!” She rubbed the eye she had just poked. Zecora laughed.
“Yes, a promise that shan’t quiver. Just remember-” the two of the took a deep breath and were about to say something when Pinkie Pie popped her head out of a cupboard and practically yelled-
“Forever!” As quickly as she appeared, she had left, and Zecora immediately shifted things aside to look for her.
“In the name of all things magic and Applejack’s hat… how does she do that?”
“Don’t think too hard on it, it’ll jus’ make yer head explode.”
Applejack stuck her head through the doorway, looking a bit worried. “Ya’ll been gone a while. Everythin’ okay in here?”
Applebloom nodded. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong. We jus’ got tah talkin’. We’ll be right there.”
Applejack shrugged and moved back into the other room. “By the way, did ya’ll see where Pinkie went?”
Applebloom and Zecora grinned.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
The little get together at Zecora’s remained simple (much to one pink colored pony’s disappointment). The Ponyville ponies related recent adventures they had, including, but not limited to, Fluttershy’s dealings with a Phoenix, Twilight’s discovery of the ‘Pinkie Sense’ and her new pet owl, Rainbow Dash discovering the meaning of life and then forgetting where she wrote it down, and the Grand Galloping Gala disaster.
Zecora shared a few tales of her homeland and childhood, much to Applebloom’s delight. The giraffes and hippos and other things sounded so exotic and bizarre. Places where the clouds moved all by themselves? Trees that could grow all on their own? It was unbelievable. And, before moving to the Everfree Forest, Zecora had never seen snow. How unbelievable was that?
Rarity was fascinated by the golden bangles and things Zecora wore. Then she was mortified (along with everypony else) when the fashion statement was revealed to be a bit more risky than first imagined. She couldn’t take it off, less her neck noodled and… well, it was a sickening image.
When questions were asked about Zecora’s herbal skills, the story she told was vastly different from the one Applebloom had heard. Instead of a zombie zebra teaching her, it was a wise old chieftain of her tribal land. Applebloom felt special knowing that the truth was something Zecora decided to only let the little filly know.
And so it went for hours with stories swapped and bits of culture exchanged. Pinkie happened to have more culture to share than anypony else.
“I doesn’t seem like I can survive… G-5.”
“Missed~” Pinkie grinned ridiculously. “E-2.”
Zecora sighed in defeat, but smiled. “I hate to say that we must quit, but it seems you sunk my battleship.”
“Yay!” Pinkie clapped excitedly. Sweetie Belle pat Zecora on the back.
“Don’t feel bad. Pinkie’s been practicing these for, like, years or something. I don’t think anyone can beat her.”
Twilight giggled at a memory of a past party. “You should see her at Pin the Tail on the Pony. Sometimes she has to sit out just so everypony else can get a turn.”
“Twenty different games, some you’ve never played,” Zecora said, “and yet somehow victory towards you was swayed. I demand we play again.” She froze suddenly, her pupils shrinking. Ignoring the ponies in her home, she ran over and stuck her head out a window. “Oh no… it is already then?”
“Zecora, dear, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked worriedly.
Zecora turned back to her friends, her expression rather grave. “You have been here for a long while. The sun will soon no longer grace you with its smile. Night is approaching, so is danger, the Everfree grows angry towards strangers.”
Twilight looked out the window as well, noticing that what little light could get through the dense canopy of the trees was no longer shining. “Oh my gosh… we weren’t supposed to be out this long. Hurry, pack up girls. We need to get home as fast as possible.”
Applebloom was mildly disappointed at hearing that, but complied none the less. She learned the hard way that the forest was dangerous. Fluttershy would have been useful to have at the time, but they had to work with what they got. Zecora seemed for more flustered than she should have been. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but Zecora was rushing to get everypony out much more frantically than ever before. No one else seemed to notice but Applebloom. In the light confusion, the young filly walked up to Zecora.
“Is somethin’ wrong, Zecora?” Applebloom asked with obvious concern.
“Little pony, I strongly urge you to hurry, do not waste time, you must scurry. This night I smell something foul in the air, The Everfree Forest for you has no care. Head straight home, do not derail, less you find the horrors that my talents entail.”
Applebloom looked worried.
“Go with you I would to protect you from harm, but your sister shall be enough to take you to your farm. I must prepare my enchantments to protect us all, a feat that is in no way small.” Zecora quickly glanced around the room at the others almost done packing, much to Sweetie Belle’s annoyance as her useless rain gear was put back on. “Just go, go on home. I must consult with my new tomes.”
Applebloom was rather confused by that and wanted to press for more, but a call of, “C’mon, sis’, we gotta mosey on home,” prevented her from doing so. With a simple goodbye, Applebloom and company left Zecora’s hut and began to traverse the forest.
If it were not for Zecora’s warning, Applebloom would have thought she imagined the forest being particularly scary this evening. Something about the Everfree felt much different than the time with the cockatrice.
Darker.
Quieter…
Nicer smelling?
Twilight suddenly stopped and looked around. “This can’t be right…”
“What is it, Twi… oh my.” Rarity looked at the fallen tree that was in the way of the sole path. It was much too large to climb over, and the trees around them were too dense to make it around.
“Ah can’t believe we didn’t hear that,” Applejack mused.
“It must have happened while Pinkie was having her karaoke moment.” Rarity shook her head. “This doesn’t bode well.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Twilight said as her horn began to glow, along with the tree. With a grunt, Twilight used her magic to fling the tree into the air to who knew where. A large crash could be heard off in the distance. “Whoo… that wasn’t (wheeze) so bad…”
Sweetie Belle poked Twilight’s leg. “Um, Twilight.” She pointed ahead, and everyone groaned. A stack up of about five trees, just as large as the first, were in their way.
“Now ain’t that jus’ the dardest thing…” Applejack thought aloud. “That doesn’t seem natural.”
Pinkie Pie gasped loudly and pulled a flashlight out of her pack and held it in her mouth. “The ghosties are trying to get us!” She yelled in a muffled tone.
Twilight sighed in aggravation. “Of course. Ghosts.” Twilight turned to Pinkie and shielded her eyes from the light with a hoof. “There aren’t any ghosts here.”
“Well, duh, of course there aren’t any here or else I would laugh at them.”
Rarity placed a hoof of Twilight’s shoulders, seeing her eye twitch. “It’s best not to argue with her logic. Your head will explode.”
Applebloom had taken this opportunity to pull out some candles (she would have brought a flashlight, but when you’re a farm pony…). She was getting ready to strike a match and light one…
And paused.
That pleasant smell got stronger…
Was that a pony? A filly…?
“Uh, girls…”
“Applejack, ramming it is not going to help.”
“Erg, just hold on, Twi’, iffin’ you can move it with magic, Ah can move it with mah strength.”
“Darling, I don’t think that’s what they mean by ‘use your head.’”
“Everypony!” Applebloom shouted. This got Sweetie’s and Pinkie’s attention at least. They looked back down the path they came and saw…
“Is that Ditzy?” Sweetie asked. At the sound of a familiar name, the others perked up and turned their heads.
“That’s not Ditzy,” Pinkie declared around her light. “I know every pony in Ponyville, and unless Ditzy got younger then that is not her. Ooh, maybe she got younger and we’ll get to throw her birthday parties all over again! That would be supper to have, like two of every birthday party you ever-”
“That isn’t our mailmare…” Rarity agreed, though with much fewer words. “That’s just a young filly.”
“Just a young filly in the middle of the Everfree forest,” Twilight interjected.
The gray filly glanced their way, then immediately hastened away into a small opening in the trees.
“Wait!” Twilight called and began running after her. Without hesitation or question, the others followed, though there were quite a few ‘ew’s from Rarity as they ran through the moisture and sap covered trees.
Applebloom could not help but notice the trees around them part as they ran. It seemed like a path, more so than the one they took to get to Zecora’s hut. The dirt became flatter like the roads ponies normally walked on to her family’s farm. The path was wide as if ponies had deliberately cleared the way.
Cleared the way to what? And that smell was getting stronger.
“Where’d she get to?” Applejack asked as she looked every which way for the filly.
“Little filly?” Twilight called out. “Little filly?”
“There!” Rarity cried out as a light came into view. An opening, almost like a doorway, became visible.
Light? Here? But what could…
Everypony guffawed and slowed to a trot as they walked into the well lit and finely decorated town. Wooden buildings were here and there, along with tables with snacks that were obviously for-
“A party!” Pinkie Pie yelled, dashing off to meet the many ponies hanging around and chatting about who knew what. A gray stallion trotted up to them and nodded.
“Hello, and welcome to Sunny Town,” he greeted with a slight nod. “We don’t get many visitors out here.”
“There’s a town out here?” Rarity asked, astonished at the very idea.
“Well, you are standing in it aren’t you?” the stallion chuckled. “Still, you aren’t the first to ask. There’s no need to worry, though. The light keeps the monsters at bay. I am Grey Hoof, party planner extraordinaire. Glad to meet a new face, miss…?”
“Oh, uh, Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight introduced. “And my friends, Rarity, Applejack, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom. We were on our way home when-”
“You got lost?” Grey Hoof interrupted with a chuckle. “That’s what every visitor says, it seems.”
“Actually-”
“Since you’re here, please enjoy and help yourselves to food and drinks. There’s enough party for everypony.” Grey Hoof looked over at Pinkie Pie bouncing around wildly, blowing on a party whistle. “Looks like somepony’s already grabbing some.”
Applebloom and the others walked into the town, a little apprehensive. Table filled with baked goods were everywhere.
That explained that wonderful scent. That didn’t explain how it reached so far.
Ponies all around them were chatting it up and having drinks and snacks, while a few were playing games. Slowly they all began to relax. Except Applejack.
“Something ain’t right here,” Applejack murmured to Twilight, though Applebloom heard. “Ah can’t quite put mah hoof on it, but Ah think there’s somethin’ wrong with these ponies. I don’t know what jus’ yet…”
Twilight glanced around, noticing that Rarity and Sweetie Belle had began conversing with the Ponies of Sunny Town. “It’s strange that there’s a town here that no one’s ever heard of, but they seem nice. Let’s mingle, make some friends, and ask for directions to Ponyville. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a friendship report out of this.” Twilight stepped over to a mare looking dreamily in a rather vague direction.
Applebloom glanced around for the gray pony they had seen in the forest, unsure of what to think about all this. “Ah don’t know what’s happening, AJ, but Ah think we should jus’ have some fun. It’s a party, ain’t it?”
Applejack still looked apprehensive, but nodded. “I want to find that filly we saw before. Come on.”
Applebloom and Applejack walked through the quaint village. Nothing seemed out of place, at first glance. But something was wrong.
What was it?
“Hey, mister,” Applebloom said to a stallion sitting in front of a rather large warehouse kind of building. Applejack simply watched as her sister communed with the townsfolk.
The stallion looked over at Applebloom, surprised. “Oh, hello. May I help you?”
“Ah could be asking ya’ll the same thing. Yer lookin’ a bit troubled.”
“Oh, it’s nothing… actually it’s something… I mean, well, do you see that mare over there, talking to your friend?”
Applebloom glanced over at Twilight who was, as guessed, talking to a mare.
The stallion sighed. “I wanted to give her something tonight, to say that I loved her. But I lost my gift, and I can’t find it anywhere. I’m too nervous to talk to her without it.”
Applebloom grinned like a fool. “Ooh, ooh, Ah can help, Ah’ll find it! Cutie Mark Crusader Gift Finder, yay!” The stallion and Applejack gritted their teeth from the shriek. “Can Ah look for it, sis, can Ah, can Ah?”
“Ah’m not sure about-” Applejack began, but it was futile.
“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-”
“Whoo, boy, here we go…”
“-eeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-”
“Ahright, ahright, ya can go lookin’ fer it, jus’ don’t-”
“Yay!” Apllebloom shouted, and was off.
The stallion scratched his head. “She doesn’t even know what’s she’s looking for.”
Applejack rubbed her head in an attempt to get rid of the migraine she was feeling. “Ah know.”
“Say… what’s with those apples on your flank?”
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
It was some time later that Applebloom returned to the stallion, a ruby in her mouth. She felt like an idiot. She had run all about Sunny town looking for… well, that was the problem. She had no idea what she was looking for. Ponies gave her strange looks as she stuck her head in bushes and looked between homes. And she did it for nothing.
“Ah’m sorry, sir,” Applebloom said, setting the stone down. “Ah found this rock, but it was all Ah could find.”
“My ruby!” The stallion shouted, grabbing the stone. “Oh, thank you so much!”
Applebloom blinked. “Ah found it? Uh, I mean, Ah found it! Yeah! Glad to be of service.” Applebloom turned around, then paused.
They were gone.
“Excuse me,” Applebloom said before the stallion could walk away. “Where’d mah sister go?”
The stallion smiled. “Oh, the orange pony? She went off with her pink friend to play some games. They went further north of the village, I think.” With that, he hurriedly ran towards his fillyfriend.
With nothing better to do, Applebloom went back to the center of town where the music and games were, and looked around. Ponies were dancing to the festive music, cakes were sliced, cheers were made as someone pulled an apple out of a tub of water.
But there were no signs of her friends.
She asked a few ponies if they’d been seen. Some said yes. Most said no. All of them gave the strangest look at Applebloom whenever she used her friends’ cutie marks as identification.
And then, as she walked away from the twelfth mare, it hit her. How had she not noticed? It was right in front of her. Then again, it was so commonplace it was a given. But it was there.
Or rather, wasn’t there.
Nopony around had a cutie mark.
Everypony here was a blank flank.
Applebloom gulped. She had never heard of a pony that had never found their special talent, let alone a whole town full of them! She needed to find everypony and figure this out.
But where?
“Excuse me.”
Applebloom jumped. She was so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn’t realized…
… A filly had come up to her.
“I know where your friends are.”
Applebloom looked at the gray filly, noticing her blonde mane hiding her eyes.
“Ya… ya do?”
Slowly, as if maple syrup was in her neck, she motioned towards a lonely path that led out of town. “Your friends’ fate can be found in there.”
“Their… fate?”
The filly smiled. “You don’t know what that means, do you? Fate… it’s something that can’t be changed… just like the past.”
Applebloom looked pointedly at the filly. “Are mah friends there or not?”
“They are… and they aren’t. Go find them. It’ll be just like… hide and seek.” The filly turned to walk away.
“Wait! What’s your name?”
She turned back and smiled such a disarming smile. “Ruby.” And she vanished into the crowd.
Applebloom gulped.
The path was dark, though not as dark as one might expect. The light from Sunny Town was enough to illuminate the way. A short walk and she found herself in front of a humble abode, a warm light shining from the windows. Nothing too terrifying, but not necessarily welcoming.
Why would they be here?
“Applejack?” Applebloom called out to both the house and the darkness. “Sweetie Belle? Twi’? Anypony here?” Cautiously, she pushed on the door and found it unlocked.
It was just a single room house with a fireplace. There wasn’t even anything in the room. What a rip.
Applebloom sighed and decided to get closer to the fire. Stay close to the light, she thought. No ghosts in the light.
“Stupid filly,” Applebloom grumbled. “There ain’t anythin’ here. Just a house. Just a fireplace. Just… a…”
There wasn’t any wood in the fire. It was burning off of… something else.
She got closer. And froze.
Bones.
There was a skeleton in the fire.
A pony skeleton.
A young pony skeleton.
“No…”
Appleblooms heart was beating slow, but hard. It hurt her ears. She felt like her chest was going to explode.
“No, no, no, No, NO, NO, NOOOO!” Applebloom screamed, turning and running. The room had suddenly become darker, and for a split second she thought she was trapped because she couldn’t see the door. She rushed through to the outside, frantic and panting. The dark was everywhere. So many shadows.
She didn’t stop until she reached the town.
Or, at least, what was left of it.
All the buildings were destroyed, blackened, and hole ridden. Ruins of what once was. The grass beneath her was a sickly color stuck somewhere between green and blue. Whatever the grass was, it was dead.
Like everything else around Applebloom.
The air had become cold and stale and she shivered. Or maybe that was the fear. The fear of acknowledging what she already knew.
Careful steps. That what she needed to do. Careful steps. No pony was here.
She was alone.
THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY.
Maybe not.
SHE WOULD HAVE SPOILED THE PARTY.
Applebloom’s careful steps became unbalanced and disheaveled. That voice… by Celestia, that voice. There was no describing the…
The evil.
She quickened her pace, she needed to run. She needed to leave. Get back to Ponyville, get some help, get anypony, get Celestia for the love of everything good and wonderful.
Then one of them rose. It rose out of the ground. A horrifying mass of-
Sweet mercy.
-rotting flesh and disjointed bones that came together to form a vague pony shape.
But it wasn’t pony. Not anymore. One look from those horrible red eyes were enough proof.
Oh… Applebloom could smell it. She immediately puked.
SHE GOT THE MARK... SHE HAD BEEN CURSED.
IT HAD BEFALLEN HER THIS VERY NIGHT. SHE HAD TO GO.
Applebloom tried her best to keep her body stable, to keep her mind focused. The thing didn’t move. Giving no thought to this-
No time to think. I need to stay alive.
-she ran further. What was this place? What was happening?
Where were her friends?
Your friends’ fate…
No…
Another one crawled out of the ground and Applebloom fought the urge to hurl again. This one’s organs were… beating.
PLEASE... STAY WITH US. WE WON'T LET THE SAME HAPPEN TO YOU. YOU'LL BE SAFE... LIKE YOUR FRIENDS.
Friends. They knew of her friends. That was not very promising.
Another came out, except it walked out from behind a crumbled well.
This one was still one solid piece. But black. And… familiar…
Oh no…
Oh, Celestia, no.
Twilight.
IT"LL BE FINE. WE'LL BE SAFE HERE. THEY PURIFIED THE CURSE. WE ARE FREE NOW. COME HERE...
They began to walk towards her.
LET ME TOUCH YOU.
“Stay away!” Applebloom screamed, running from the things.
What did she do to deserve this?
She crashed through wood and debris, bee lining for the entrance to the no longer Sunny Town. More popped up from the ground, eyes burning an unholy red, guts dripping, bones cracking. They just kept coming. More and more.
How many had they taken?
The exit, the path! It was there! Almost there…
PLEASE...
Applebloom stopped and turned. How could Sweetie’s voice be twisted so?
ALL WE WANT IS FRIENDSHIP. DON'T LEAVE... THE OTHERS WON'T LIKE IT.
Applebloom was suddenly surrounded. Why did she stop? This was it. This was the end…
“Yaaaarrr!” Pinkie Pie screamed, jumping in front of Applebloom as she waved her flashlight around like the maniac she was. “You want her!? You’ll have to go through me!”
“Pinkie!” Applebloom shouted, a spurt of relief washing over her. The things hissed in fury as the beam from the light hit them. What was left of their skin sizzled and burned.
The light actually worked!?
Furiously, Applebloom tore open her saddle pack and lit the candles as fast as she could. Without warning, Applejack placed a metallic headset on her.
“Applejack!” Applebloom yelled, tears streaming down her eyes.
“No time…” Applejack said, sounding like she was in terrible pain. She placed a few candles in the impromptu helmet. “We gotta run. The candles will protect you. Come on.”
“What about Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie swung her neck, and thus her light, around a few more times before looking back at the apple sisters sadly. “It’s too late for me. They bit me.” Applebloom gasped at Pinkie’s back leg. It had turned completely black.
“I’ll hold them back as long as I can,” Pinkie said through her tears. “Get out of here, go back home. Please, remember to live for me. Make sure my funeral is as happy as all my parties were.”
“Let’s go…” Applejack wheezed, shoving Applebloom into a run. With one last glance for a goodbye, the two sisters left pinkie in the middle of the mass of things.
Pinkie sniffed and growled. “Come and get me, you zombies! You think you can shake Pinkamena Diane Pie? I’m a rock farmer. I don’t shake easy.”
And then the light went out.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
They ran for a straight ten minutes, not daring to look back. Some wax from the candles fell on Applebloom’s face, but she didn’t care. Couldn’t care.
The pain was nothing. What she just saw would hurt more than anything that could ever touch her.
“Applebloom…” Applejack called out weakly, falling to her knees. “Ah… Ah can’t run anymore.”
“Yes you can, sis. Yer an Apple. Apples are tough. We got to get back to Ponyville. Maybe we can get Celestia here. Ah bet she can fix this…” There wasn’t even false hop in her voice.
“No… Ah can’t go with you. Ah’m sorry, sugar cube… Ah love you. Ah don’t think Ah told you that enough, but Ah love you with every little bit of mah heart.” Applejack shuddered and began to softly cry.
Applebloom knew her sister well. She knew there wasn’t much to get her talking like this. That meant only one thing.
Her voice cracked and squeaked. “They got yah… didn’t they?”
Applejack shoved her mane out of the way, revealing a blackened part of her neck where a chunk of flesh was missing. “Ah can’t feel it anymore, and the light’s startin’ tah hurt. I just had tah see ya’ll off, one last time. I had tah make sure you was safe.”
This was it. This was goodbye. And Applebloom couldn’t say a thing.
“You gotta run. Get away from me, from the forest. Get back tah Big Macintosh and Granny and tell ‘em I love ‘em. Even when Ah… Ah’m one of them, some part of me will love you all.”
Applejack began to contort and twist, the blackness spreading. Applebloom backed away in terror.
“Get away from me, Applebloom. Run, run away…”
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!
Applebloom screamed and ran, ran away from her sister’s cries, away from the awful sight. Just run, run, run.
Running for her life.
What life? What life would she have now? Could she even get out of the forest? How long would these candles last?
It wasn’t fair. They were good ponies, all of them. They didn’t deserve this. Nopony did.
As she ran, she prayed with all her might. To Celestia, to Luna, to the ponies of myth, to the sun, to the moon, to the earth, to the creators of the world.
Someone… anyone… help…
She stopped and just cried like the little filly she was. Lost, confused, terrified… who wouldn’t cry at a time like this?
Then the air froze. The wind stopped. Noise vanished without a trace. Applebloom shot up. The darkness began to creep in. The ground and the trees became white as marble. What was happening now?
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
She heard a clock. A clock of all things. This must be what madness felt like. Her mind had left her after everything it… had…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Applebloom gapped at the Alicorn-if it could be called that-coming towards her. It was white as the trees and ground had become, or at least it’s nearly full body armor was. It’s horn and joints were black as the dark.
Joints. Gears like a machine. Like a clock. With every slow, mechanical step it took-
Tick…
Tock…
A clock was in its chest, and also on its flanks. Its cold black eyes were as lifeless as its face. It had no mane, but a tail made out of black swirling sand. Wings were folded at its side, held down by spring loaded hooks.
It was a machine. It was huge. And it was coming right at her.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
It stopped in front of her. And sat down with a heavy ‘thud’.
And then it was… something. It wasn’t silent or still. The gears and cogs churned within it. But it did not move towards her.
Applebloom shivered and looked around the frozen forest. Leaves hung in midair that were stuck falling. What was this thing? What did it want?
“Uh… H-hi there…” Applebloom shivered. “Mah n-name is App-p-plebloom. W-who are you?”
The mechanical thing raised its head high in short jerks.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Raised a hoof.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
And pointed at an ornate necklace like bit of its armor where its chest clock was. Applebloom noticed the hands weren’t ticking. Fancy writing was carved above the clock.
Time Dancer Ver. 687.4.9
Time Dancer? That sounded like a name, but what was with the numbers?
Wait a second.
Oh. Looking around, she realized she already was.
“Y-yer an alicorn, aren’t ya?” Applebloom asked, her voice gaining a little strength. “Yer like those ‘masters’ in that story Twilight read tah me.
“Yer the Pony of Time.”
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Up, down, up, down. A nod.
“Can you save my friends? Can you stop this?”
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Left, right, left, right. A shake. No.
“But… but why are ya here? What do yah want from me?”
The tip of Time Dancer’s horn glowed, and a golden watch on a silver chain appeared. It levitated itself around Applebloom’s neck and the filly immediately opened it. The watch’s face had those weird letters that Twilight used when she made lists in place of familiar numbers. However, there was a single number, a three, large and very noticeable in the center.
Applebloom furrowed her brow. “A watch? Ah don’t understand.”
Time Dancer raised its hooves-
Tick…
Tock…
-Over a tarnished tribal drum like Applebloom saw in history class. Where did that come from?
And then it played. A steady beat. One pound per… second?
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
What the? Applebloom’s head ached as she tried to understand what she was hearing. How did you play a drum backwards?
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Applebloom swayed and the white and black around her blurred into gray. The watch on her neck became hot and burned her. What was happening? What was the pulling she felt?
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
And then Applebloom woke up.