Fifteen minutes later, Fuyu was in the cab of the red truck. A sleepy Applejack pulled away from the library tree, and they were off through the dormant, dark streets of Ponyville. The blonde had the interior light on, and she glanced over at her passenger repeatedly. The pale woman looked genuinely weary, and it made Applejack uncomfortable.
"Y'all look terrible," she blurted out, desperate to break the silence. A piece of paper rustled in the pocket of her orange t-shirt as she shifted around – this was the incantation, written down for her by Twilight. "What happened?"
Fuyu placed a hand on the side of her head and closed her eyes. "There are so many things I don't understand," she droned, opening them again and staring ahead out the windshield. "I don't feel well."
"Don't feel well?" The blonde's spine tingled at those words, and she suddenly felt an urge to abandon the woman and black and drive home. She scolded herself internally. "What's the matter, then?"
"Later. I have to eat first." She sighed and dropped that hand from her temple, resting it on her stomach. "Please be quiet..." she added, whispering so faintly Applejack couldn't pick up her words.
The blonde tightened her grip on the wheel, so much so her knuckles began to turn white. "Didn't y'all just eat a couple of days ago? Ya can't be hungry..."
"I know, I am just..." She was wont to voice the feeling, but the jumbled mess of thoughts in her brain was rolling about and weakening her will to keep quiet. "Afraid," she finally said, pinning an unhappy frown to the end of the word.
"Afraid?" Applejack gulped, trying to figure out what in the world could make Fuyu fearful. She got so lost in the possibilities that she nearly missed the turn for the highway that snaked into the woods. "Of what? Y'all ain't never been scared'a nothin'."
"Later!" Fuyu insisted, clenching her teeth. The tone was enough to make Applejack jump with surprise. She didn't open her mouth for several minutes, devoting all her energy to quelling the tidal wave of anxiety that was pounding her nerves. By the time they got to the end of the dirt road in the forest, she was trembling with panic.
"Ain't got any idea where this hole is," Applejack said, climbing out of the truck. "Y'all are gonna have ta..." She blinked as Fuyu started to move through the trees the moment she got out. "Wait! Fu!" The blonde took off after her, but found it was hard to keep up. "Fu, you're gonna leave me! Slow down!"
There was no time for patience, and she only looked back a few times to ensure Applejack hadn't lost sight of her. She beat her by several yards to the gray boulder, and disappeared down the hole just as soon as the blonde arrived. A beam of light cut jerky paths through the dark as she followed Fuyu down.
Once they arrived at the glowing pool, she couldn't help but stare into its depths with amazement. "Dang," she mumbled, scratching under her hat. "So this here is the mirror pool, huh? Freaky."
"Say it," Fuyu ordered, hugging herself tightly. She paid no attention to the incantation itself as the blonde drawled it out, only to the rippling of the pool as the clone began to form and rise to the surface. "Leave. I'll come out when I'm done."
"What am I supposed to do 'til then?" Applejack asked, hands on her hips.
"I don't care." Fuyu produced two black spikes from her palms just as the clone breached the water. Behind her, she heard the true Applejack's shoes scrape on the stone as she departed. The clone glanced around to get her bearings for a few seconds before seeing the pale woman and tipping her hat.
"Howdy!" she chirped with a smile.
That single word managed to stop Fuyu before she could even move; weakly, she dropped her arms by her sides and stared at the clone. A ray of lucidity pierced the roiling fog in her mind, and while she might have been grateful for the clarity under other circumstances, the thought that jammed itself into the forefront wasn't something she wanted to deal with at the moment. She flashed back to the first word Applejack ever said to her on the side of that road. Everything matched. The tone, the smile, the shining green eyes. All that image managed to do was throw uncertainty and sadness into her nervous mental stew.
The feeling was so bad, she had to admit it out loud in order to even begin steadying herself. "You're not real," she whispered, peering a hole into the blonde clone.
"Hey, that ain't very nice!" the double frowned, folding her arms and giving Fuyu a sour look. "Why, I'm just as real as you are!"
Now it was even worse, if somewhat different. It felt like a brick had just been bounced off her skull. She could only issue stunned blinks at the clone. "What did you say?"
"I'm just like ya!" Not-Applejack tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and started to smirk. "Hard of hearin'?"
Fuyu didn't hear that, but it wasn't for lack of functional ears. She was processing the statement slowly, thoroughly; almost by themselves, her hands turned over and she stared down at the black blades that protruded from her palms. The clone saw them and let out an unhappy noise, backing away, but Fuyu paid her no mind. Her mind was at last settled, simply because it was now dominated by a singular thought.
"Just like me..." she murmured, angling her hands so the ebony spikes reflected the dim, blue glow. "Is that right? Just like me?" She looked up and found the clone peeking out from behind an outcropping of crystal, wide-eyed and staring.
"What in tarnation happened to your hands?" she asked. Suddenly her face softened, and she emerged a little more from behind the formation. "Do...do they hurt ya? You're cryin'..."
Fuyu sent away the blade in her left hand and pressed those fingers to her cheek. Warm tears caressed her touch; until then, she hadn't even felt them.
"Whoa! How'd ya do that?!" The false blonde was hiding more fully again, pointing out and trembling faintly. "Are y'all one of them magic folks or somethin'?"
Her questions were ignored entirely. Fuyu was trying to figure out why she was crying. It wasn't the same sort of process she was used to, a chain of 'am I hurt' that was followed by 'no you're not, stop crying' that was comforting – if slightly cold. This time, she asked the question internally and got nothing in reply. Taking a sharp breath, she asked it again out loud. "Am I hurt?"
I am sorry.
Another metaphorical brick arrived, this time colliding with her squarely in the stomach. The feeling nearly dropped her to one knee with the impact. She ignored the frightened chatter of the clone as she mined her brain for a label. Not even her reading could help her with this one; no matter how hard she searched, a word would not attach itself. It made her angry. As she rose fully again, she glared at the clone with hateful blue eyes, but couldn't figure out why all her rage was flowing in that direction.
"I'm just like you?" she growled. That's when something in her mind popped. Stunned briefly, she peered down again at the awful thing rooted in her palm. Her teeth clenched. "No. I'm not like you," she said, hearkening back to the words she uttered to Rarity after their run-in with Connie. She stalked toward the clone, empty hand clenched into a tight fist. "I'm not anything like you." Her ire began to rush freely as she moved, and its proliferation clouded her mind. "I've never been like you." That fist unclenched to allow a dark blade to emerge. "And I will never be like you!"
Fuyu threw herself headlong at the clone, who ran from behind the crystal points and around the edge of the pool. She was fast; faster even than the pale woman for brief spurts, as she used her powerful legs to propel herself around the cave. The double spotted the rocky ramp and bolted toward it, only to have her ankle snagged by a black tentacle. She tumbled roughly to the floor, groaning as she tried to pick herself up. Fuyu fell upon her and prepared to end it, but the clone managed to roll over and plant a fist directly into her jaw. The force was surprising, enough to knock her off the clone. While both of them tried to shake out the cobwebs, Fuyu rubbed at her jaw. It was broken in at least four places, but the goo was already gluing it back together.
"You hit hard," she mumbled, watching as the clone finally got to her feet. She hopped up quickly and followed – a much easier task this time, as the false Applejack was limping around and grunting in pain.
"Why did y'all do that?!" she demanded, glaring back over her shoulder. "I ain't done nothin'!"
"No one ever does," Fuyu replied, teeth gnashed as she stormed closer. "I guess that isn't exactly correct. Some of them did something." She caught up to the clone a few seconds later. Another punch was hurled at her, but this one she caught with her right hand and stopped. The false Applejack's arm twitched as she tried to push through the grip, but her reserves of strength fell short.
"Let me go!" she squealed, trying to free her hand. She brought up her other arm and grabbed Fuyu's wrist, squeezing and clawing at it in an effort to make her release her grasp. It didn't work; she became exhausted and knelt down, her fist shaking in Fuyu's hand. "Pl-please...why are ya doin' this..." She became quiet when she felt her hand being released, and looked up just in time to see a set of pale knuckles arrive. The blow knocked her onto her back. As she laid there, hands pressed against her broken nose, Fuyu stood over her. "Please, no," the clone begged, raising her arms in defense.
That feeling was back again, the same one that had originally drawn out her anger. It only brought sadness with it in this instance, and it was so powerful it actually managed to quell Fuyu's appetite. She dismissed the black goo entirely and stared down at the terrified clone. "I have to."
"No ya don't!" the clone said, coughing lightly to clear her mouth of the blood. "Ju-just let me go, I ain't gonna try and hit ya again! I promise!"
"It isn't that simple." Fuyu raised her left hand, pointing her palm at the ceiling. She allowed her outstretched fingers to curl up until they resembled claws. "I have to do it because I'm different. I wish..." she paused, blinking at the depth of the unhappiness she now found in her mind, "I wish I didn't."
"Then don't!" the clone begged, moving her arms just enough to shoot a pleading look at her assailant.
It was too late; the pale woman's arm plummeted down with frightful speed. Her hand moved aside the defending arms and punched through the clone's chest, defeated her rib cage, and ended up buried in her right lung. The clone's speech faded into a warbling shriek of agony that stung Fuyu's ears. She began moving her hand around, pushing her fingers through the warm flesh until they wrapped around the clone's racing heart. Before she could fully grip it, a beam of light slammed into her face and drew her attention. It began to dance rapidly around, causing her eyes to have to constantly readjust until it fell away. She could hear the clatter of the flashlight on the stone, and sighed deeply.
"Wh-wh-wh-what are ya..." Applejack stuttered badly, backing away from the scene. She tripped with a yelp and landed on her rear, but never took her eyes off of the dying clone. No longer capable of words, she babbled out a broken string of terrified noises as she scooted away.
"I told you to wait for me," Fuyu grumbled, sympathy lost on her for the time being. She went back to work, wrapping her fingers around the heart and squeezing. After a few seconds, it burst with a loud, gooey pop. The noise drew a twisted squeal from Applejack's lips, and in the indirect light Fuyu could she she had fallen over onto her side and curled into a ball. "You should go back up."
The blonde was in no shape to go anywhere, sobbing so hard she had to force herself to gasp for air. Fuyu's lips curled with annoyance as she freed her hand and walked over, licking the blood off as she went. "Applejack," she said, kneeling down by her, "You have to leave." All she could get in reply was a rapid shaking of her head, and ceaseless crying. "It's not going to get any better. Just go back up." Again, the blonde didn't move.
Annoyance became frustration, and paired with the lingering mist of anger it exploded into rage. Fuyu stood up, teeth clenched. "I told you to get out, damn it!" she screamed. That was enough to snap Applejack out of her trauma; she shrieked and scrambled to her feet, leaving the flashlight behind as she tore out of the cave. Fuyu tracked her by virtue of her unending cries, and only when they faded totally away did she feel any relief. She also felt guilty about yelling, but that would have to wait. Quietly, she turned on her heel and walked back to her food.
It was still dark when Fuyu emerged from the cave. She had managed to keep the mess to a minimum, but the left sleeve of her black shirt was soaked through with blood. She rolled both of them up to her elbows as she walked around the boulder, expecting to find Applejack.
She didn't. The blonde was nowhere to be seen. Frowning anxiously, Fuyu began walking back toward the dirt path, eyes darting about as she searched for any sign of her. Only when she reached the truck did she find Applejack; the woman was already inside, and appeared to be asleep. Quietly, Fuyu opened the door and got in. Shutting it caused the blonde to startle and shriek. She leaned away from the pale woman upon seeing her, ending with her back pressed against the door.
The first words out of Fuyu's mouth were framed with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to yell at you, but it was the only way to make you move."
Applejack's mouth hung open slightly, but no sound came from it. She hugged herself and stared at the pale woman for a long while. "Ya...ya had your hand in her..." she finally sputtered, wrapping her arms tighter around herself as she spoke. "I don't..." Abruptly, she slammed a hand over her mouth and looked away.
"I'm sorry, again," Fuyu sighed, looking away herself. Applejack wretched a few times, but managed to keep her breakfast down. When she was silent again, Fuyu looked back over. "Are you all right?"
The blonde placed both hands on the steering wheel, closed her eyes, and took a series of deep breaths. "No," she admitted at length. She looked utterly spent; her eyes were sunk in and her face was pale. "I know y'all told me to stay above ground, but I heard screamin'. I heard...I heard me screamin'." She shuddered visibly and opened her eyes again. "I still hear it."
"I probably will too, for a while." The pale woman looked exhausted herself, but there was an undertone of resignation which the blonde's face lacked. She took great care to ensure her bloody sleeve didn't contact any of the upholstery. "She told me I was just like her. I'm not, and I..." In swept that feeling again, causing Fuyu's teeth to clench. "I never will be, will I?"
"Sugarcube, if anyone can help ya, it's Twilight." Applejack's voice was a little stronger than before as she mentally collected herself, but outwardly she was still a wreck. "Dang, now I know how Rainbow musta felt when she saw ya. No wonder she had nightmares."
"Yes. I don't know how Pinkie does it." That thought lead to another instantly, and Fuyu blinked at herself. "I want a hug. A Pinkie hug."
"I'll drop ya by there. I could use the extra time to get my wits 'fore I head home," Applejack said, starting up the truck. "Will Twilight mind?"
"I don't think so." Fuyu stared out the window as they began to move, noting the faintest blue light between the leaves. "Your clone was strong. She broke my jaw."
"Heh...uh...my apologies?" Applejack offered, her face scrunching up. "I guess I woulda fared about as well."
The pale woman folded her arms and frowned. "I never would have done that to you."
"Aw, I know that, I was just...hell, I don't know what I was doin'. Don't pay me no mind." Sighing, she focused on the drive for a while. Just as they crossed the town limits, she glanced over at Fuyu and cleared her throat. "What...what does it taste like?"
Fuyu couldn't believe the question she'd heard, and turned her head to stare at Applejack. "What?"
"I'm just tryin' ta get a sense of it," she explained, peering ahead at a traffic light as it changed to yellow. "If we're gonna be friends, then I wanna try and understand it as best I can."
Her sentiment drew a slight smile on Fuyu's face, but gathering the reply stomped that grin under a mighty scowl. "Everyone tastes different. I do not think you want to hear the details, do you?"
"Tell me," Applejack replied, glaring up as the light turned red. "I may as well get the whole story sometime, ya know? 'Sides...ain't no point in hidin' nothin' anymore. That's what we're here for, ta talk."
While she appreciated the sentiment, the contemplation of her meals still wouldn't allow Fuyu to smile. She moved around a bit in her seat, staring at her bare feet while she collected a deeper answer. "They taste like iron and heat. Beyond that, everyone is different. You – your clone – tasted like wood."
"Wood? Thought I'd taste like apples. That's what Rainbow always says." Outside, the light was green again, and they proceeded ahead. "Y'all might wanna change clothes 'fore I take ya over to see Pinkie. Twilight'll throw a fit."
Fuyu nodded idly. "Very well. By the way...it's never something anyone eats. As far as I know, it has more to do with their surroundings. Sometimes it's how they feel. Pinkie's clones taste like happiness."
"What the heck does that taste like?!" Applejack exclaimed, staring at Fuyu for as long as traffic would allow.
"I will never be able to explain." They could see the library tree now. "I should not wake Pinkie up. I'll see her later today."
"Ya sure? She wouldn't mind it none, I can almost guarantee ya." Fuyu nodded once again, and the blonde shrugged. "Okay. I'll drop ya here, then." They pulled in behind the great tree and sat there for just a moment. The blonde peeked through the windshield at the light that came from Twilight's bedroom window. "Well, guess I'll see ya later." Upon glancing over, she saw Fuyu wincing a little with her left hand on her head. "Ya all right?"
She didn't reply at first, being too busy rubbing at her skull, but she ceased grimacing. Something in her mind still felt wrong after that formless popping sensation in the cave. Many things seemed different, and she was silently inquiring of the voice within what had happened. It wouldn't talk to her, so she gave up for a moment and dropped her hand. "I'm fine. Are you?" she asked, finally looking over.
"I'll deal," the blonde smiled. "Just gotta wrap my head around it is all."
"Right." Fuyu waved a goodbye and slid out of the truck, watching Applejack drive off before entering the back door of the library. Twilight met her immediately.
"Everything okay?" she asked, frowning at the dark stain in the black fabric which was now visible in the interior lights. "Oh. You can borrow one my shirts for a while until I can get to the Boutique. Rarity said she had some more things made for-" The icy look in Fuyu's eyes cut her planning short. "What?"
"We need to talk," she stated flatly, walking past and toward the stairs that lead up to the loft. "Something happened to me in the cave." It was, in fact, happening as she spoke; never before had she been so willing to talk about something – anything – related to herself. A confused Twilight skittered after her. When they reached the top, Fuyu settled on her bed, but the librarian remained standing. "The goo isn't the only thing that's different about me."
That's when her mind started shrieking again, so loudly it made her wince and hunch over. It didn't speak with words so much as with a torrent of negative sensations, but the message was crystal clear regardless.
Twilight came over and sat beside her on the bed, hugging an arm around her. "Are you okay? What's going on?"
"It doesn't want me to tell you," she struggled, leaning up and clutching her head. "I don't care." She was able to focus her voice through the altered portion of her mind, circumventing the formless figure's ability to make her shut up. "There's a..." She stopped and grumbled; the figure was really screaming now, so loudly it gave her a pounding headache. "Shut up, I'm going to say this whether you want me to or not."
"Um..." An unsure Twilight released Fuyu and slid away, blinking. "Who are you talking to?"
"The figure that lives in my head." She doubled over even farther with the mental assault, but refused to yield. "When I first...when I first woke up, it guided me. It told me when I needed to eat. What I needed to eat. How to find shelter. Any time I had a question about something, it would give me answers. It's like a guide of some kind." Abruptly, the screaming ceased. The figure became quiet again, having failed its mission. "It's quiet now."
Twilight stared at Fuyu for a long time, but the look on her face was not quite what Fuyu expected. "Is it related to the black stuff?"
"I don't know. I don't think so," she replied, rubbing at her face. "Sometimes it feels like the two talk past each other. Whenever the sludge wants my attention, it usually gets it through my stomach."
Cautiously, the librarian scooted back over. "What else does it tell you? The figure, I mean."
The pale woman hung her head, feeling tears well up. "It tells me it's sorry."
A long while passed before either of them spoke again. They spent those minutes quietly crying, in Fuyu's case, or looking off in thought, in Twilight's. She was the one that eventually broke the silence, standing up and pacing around the loft. "I think I know where to start looking now."
Fuyu looked up, blinking away her tears. "You do?"
"Yes. But you shouldn't worry about that for the moment," Twilight replied, coming over and giving her a tight hug. "Do you feel better?"
"Sleepy. Eating too much makes me sleepy." She yawned out the last few words and sighed, stretching her arms. She watched as Twilight disappeared into her closet and came out with a gray sweatshirt, which she handed over. "What's this?"
"Put it on, I'll wash yours while you take a nap," she said, turning around as Fuyu undressed. She took the black shirt and peered at it more closely. "It's not too bad, I guess. Anyway, should I wake you?"
"No, I'll wake up myself." Fuyu shrugged her shoulders as she got used to the feeling of the new shirt, then proceeded to lie down. She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Twilight stared at her for a moment before sneaking away down the staircase. She first dropped the shirt in the washing machine and started it, then moved through the kitchen and toward Spike's bedroom. She pressed her ear against the door and listened until hearing a rough snore. Satisfied, she stepped away and went to another door farther back. This was a storage closet that held some of her personal book collection; mostly things she'd had forever that had been given to her by family as presents. Some of them, however, were things she'd been given for safe keeping. They were on the top shelf, and after she'd opened the door and turned on the light, that was the shelf for which she reached. After a few awkward seconds of feeling about, her hand settled on a heavy book with metal-clad corners. It took her a moment to even get the thing down. Once it was in her hands, she peered at the title.
"Never thought I'd have to be reading about banned magic," she sighed. "I hope I'm wrong about this."