Twilight Sparkle put down her book when she heard the knock at the door. She smiled, knowing who it was without even checking. There was only one pony in Ponyville who could somehow make a knock sound apologetic. So it was no surprise at all when she opened the door and saw Fluttershy standing there, peering meekly from behind her long, pink mane.
“Hi, Fluttershy! What’s going on?”
“Oh, um, hi Twilight,” the butter-yellow pegasus said in a whisper. “I hope I’m not disturbing you?”
“Of course you’re not, Fluttershy! Why don’t you come in, and I’ll make us some tea.”
“Oh, thank you, but no, I don’t know if we have time for tea.”
“What do you mean? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, seeing that her friend was clearly more upset than she had realized.
“The animals… they’re afraid. Something is wrong. Something… in the Everfree forest. I’ve never seen them this agitated!”
“Oh? Is there any indication of what it may be?”
“No, but it seems to be coming this way, whatever it is. It all just started this morning.”
Twilight considered this for a moment. When she had first come to Ponyville, she would have dismissed Fluttershy’s concerns out-of-hoof, simply because of a lack of evidence. Experience, however, had taught her to be wiser than that and to trust her friends.
“Okay, then, this is what I think we should do. I want you to go find Rainbow Dash, and have her get Applejack. Then I want you to round up Pinkie and Rarity, and meet me at town hall. I’m going to go talk to the mayor.”
Twilight saw some of the tension fade from the pegasus’s eyes.
“You mean… you believe me?” she asked. Twilight smiled in reply.
“If there’s anything I’ve learned in my time in Ponyville, it’s that I should believe Rarity when it comes to fashion, Applejack when it comes to apples, and Fluttershy when it comes to small animals. I trust you, Fluttershy. And if you’re worried, then I believe that there is something to worry about.”
“B-but... What if I’m wrong? What if there is no danger?”
“Well, then,” Twilight responded with a smile, “we can just use that as an excuse to all have lunch together! But it’s always better to be safe than sorry, Fluttershy. You should never be afraid of telling me when something has you worried, okay?”
Fluttershy smiled with obvious relief and renewed confidence.
“Okay, Twilight. And thank you. I’ll go find Dash.”
With that, Fluttershy took off, flying in her cautious way towards Rainbow’s cloud-house. Twilight scrawled a quick note to Spike to let him know where she was, since the baby dragon was still asleep. Then she left the library herself, heading towards the town square.
~~*~~
Applejack was just returning from leaving another load of apples in her apple cellar when she noticed Rainbow Dash winging her way towards her. She sighed, knowing that whatever it her rainbow-maned friend wanted, it was almost definitely going to stop her from getting her work done.
Sometimes, Applejack felt out of place with the rest of her friends. When it came to the responsibilities and planning involved in running an operation like Sweet Apple Acres, only Rarity came close, running her own dress shop. And it was hard for Applejack to imagine a pony more different from her than the fashion-conscious, prissy unicorn.
Rainbow Dash herself never worked harder than she had to, getting her jobs done as quickly as possible so she could get back to practicing some new trick, or taking a nap. Twilight studied all the time, and Applejack had to admit that she sometimes felt... well, a little like a hick around her brainy friend. Fluttershy was meek and demure, something Applejack could never be. And Pinkie Pie was, well, Pinkie Pie.
She sighed, and waited while Rainbow Dash flew in, and then hovered in front of her.
"What's goin' on, Rainbow Dash?"
"Twilight says you gotta come to town hall," her pegasus friend said. "Something's going on with the Everfree Forest, and it looks like it's coming this way."
Applejack groaned. It looked like her premonition was right. Something was coming up that would further delay the harvest, which was already behind thanks to bad weather the week before, caused by a miscommunication amongst the weather pegasi.
"It can't wait? I got a lot o' work to do..."
Rainbow had started shaking her head almost before Applejack began talking.
"I don't think so, AJ. Fluttershy's animals were all upset, so when she told me that, I flew way up above the treeline to see if I could see what's going on. There's... I don't know, it looks like something is shaking the trees, and tons of birds are flying up out of the forest. And, whatever it is, it's heading straight towards Ponyville."
"Well, I reckon' that counts as important enough," Applejack said with a sigh. "Does it seem like it's headin' towards the farm at all?"
"No, as near as I can tell. But it's going to go straight through Ponyville. Unless it changes course, that is."
"All right, then. You head on back and tell 'em I'm on my way. I gotta find Big Mac and let him know what's goin' on, and then I'll head to Town Hall as quick as I can."
"You got it, boss!" Rainbow Dash said, firing off a salute before speeding back to town.
Applejack watched her go, pulling the brim of her Pa's hat back down to shade her eyes. Then she turned and trotted off to find her brother.
~~*~~
Twilight Sparkle watched from a hot-air balloon as the population of Ponyville was evacuated. Whatever was coming from the Everfree was now about only about ten miles out, judging from what she could see through her binoculars. The trees were shaking fiercely, and birds were flying up to the sky in huge flocks.
In the basket with her was Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike. The fashionista unicorn was peering through a pair of gem-studded silver binoculars, and the pink one was taking various party supplies out of her saddlebags. Just in case whatever huge, slavering monster is about to attack Ponyville wants a party, I suppose, Twilight thought.
Spike was sucking on a ruby and staring soulfully at Rarity, who was oblivious to his attentions. Twilight had brought him along both to keep him safe, and just in case she had to send another message to the Princess. She had already sent one a few minutes earlier, informing her of Ponyville's evacuation.
Fluttershy was off with the mayor, helping to make sure that all the evacuated animals were suitably comfortable and cared for. She would be coming back just as soon as everyone was safely out of town.
Rainbow Dash had returned a few minutes earlier to say that Applejack was on her way, and Twilight had sent her off again at top speed, to try and get a closer look at the disturbance. She watched her friend apprehensively through the pair of binoculars she was levitating in front of her eyes. It looked like Rainbow Dash was on her way back. Twilight tried to judge her expression, but couldn't make it out at this distance. Just then, she heard Applejack's shout from down below.
"Howdy Twi! What's the situation?"
"Hey, Applejack!" she yelled back, putting her binoculars down and waving a hoof. "Hold on!"
She closed her eyes and concentrated her magic, pushing against the resistance that always seemed to form when she tried to cast a spell more complex than simple levitation. With a sudden rush, the magic surged into her. There was a bright flash, a quick lurch, and a moment of disorientation. When she opened her eyes again, Twilight was standing on the ground next to her orange friend, and able to converse without shouting.
"Here's the situation. The disturbance, whatever-it-is, is still a few miles out, but it's moving fast, very fast. At the pace it's going, it should be out of the forest within the next few minutes. We've got the mayor evacuating the town, since it seems like it's heading directly this way. I've got the others in the balloon, except for Fluttershy, who's helping the mayor, and Rainbow Dash, who's doing recon. She should be back in a minute to tell us what she's seen."
"Alrighty, that all sounds great. Did y'all have a plan for this, whatever it is?"
"Not yet, except to keep everypony safe. We can't really plan until we know what it is that's... hey, do you feel that?"
Twilight could feel the ground vibrating, ever so slightly, underneath her hooves.
"I feel it, Twi," Applejack said, sounding nervous. "Could that be whatever's comin' this way?"
"I can't think of it being anything else... Whatever is coming, it's big!" Twilight noticed something else, spilling out of the forest. "Is that... fog?"
It was then that Rainbow Dash reached her position. Twilight could see the look on her face, now. It was terror, sheer terror.
"Rainbow! What's-"
"Twilight, we've got to get out of here!" the cyan pegasus said frantically. "It's the Ghost Herd, and they're coming right at us!"
"The Ghost Herd?" Twilight replied, puzzled. "But that's just..."
The words "an old pony's tale" died on her lips as the first of the Herd burst from the trees of the Everfree, a few miles away. It was immediately followed by another, then more, and then they were swarming out of the trees by the dozens.
~~*~~
Applejack stared in disbelief as a bad dream from her fillyhood galloped out of the Everfree forest, shrouded in fog. She had heard stories about them from her Granny, which had caused the occasional nightmares. But when she got older, she'd assumed they were just old pony tales, like many of the stories her Granny told her.
She wished that she could believe it was still just a story, now. There were already over a hundred, galloping towards Ponyville, and there didn't seem to be any sign of the flood of them stopping any time soon. Dully, she heard Rainbow Dash say "They go back for over a mile! There have to be thousands of them! We have to go, now! You've heard what they do to ponies, haven't you?"
Applejack noticed that her normally brave friend was terrified, and she could see why. The creatures coming from the forest looked,at least at this distance, like ponies. But their coats were a uniform grey, like the grey of storm clouds. Like the grey of the fog that surrounded them. They almost blended in, the fog hiding most of their bodies, except for the glowing red eyes. Applejack could feel the chill of that fog from here. It was just like her Granny described them.
And if that part of the old stories were right, then maybe the rest of the stories were true, as well. Maybe they really did steal the lives of ponies. They sure did seem unearthly enough.
She glanced over at Twilight, and her heart sank when she saw that her friend looked completely stunned. She realized that she had been hoping the studious unicorn would have a plan, or some knowledge that would help out. Twilight looked just as much at a loss as she was.
"Twilight!" Applejack said sharply, and her friend jumped. "What do ya reckon' we should do?"
Twilight stared blankly at her for a long moment, while the ground rumbled underneath them from the impact of the Ghost Herd's hooves. Then she shook her head as if to clear it.
"Okay, this is what we do. First of all, Rainbow, you go up and tell Spike to send a letter to the Princesses, both of them. Tell them it's the Ghost Herd, or what appears to be the Ghost Herd, and that we will need help." Rainbow Dash nodded, and flew up to the basket. Twilight continued, "Applejack, you get close to me, and we'll both teleport up to the basket so we can stay safe. Once we're clear, we'll-"
Twilight was interrupted by a loud shriek from the town. Applejack looked towards Ponyville and saw that there were still ponies in there. They had seen what was coming for them. The evacuation wasn't complete, yet.
"Oh, no..." she heard Twilight say.
"Okay, new plan," Applejack said. "Twilight, you get yerself back up to that basket. I'm gonna see if I can turn those critters away from Ponyville."
"What?!" Twilight shrieked. "Applejack, no! It's not safe, you can't—"
But Applejack had already started to run. Twilight, panicked, ran after her, probably intending to convince her to reconsider. Applejack shouted over at her friend as she ran.
"Twilight, there's folks in town that are in a heap o' trouble, and I reckon I'm the only one with the speed and endurance ta keep up with them Ghost Ponies, or whatever they are, and the only one with the herdin' skills to try and turn 'em away from Ponyville. Or, at least slow 'em down enough to get everyone out o' the way!"
Twilight looked like she wanted to protest, and Applejack cut her off.
"There ain't no time, Twi! It's gotta be me, and I gotta go now! And I'm countin' on ya ta use yer fancy magic ta pull my tail outta trouble, if'n I can't do it myself! Ya got that?"
"I... I've got it, AJ. Just... stay safe, okay? Promise me that you'll stay safe." There were tears in Twilight's eyes when she said it.
"Aw, shoot, sugarcube, don't fret none! I'm the best cowpony y'all have ever seen! I promise, I'll be fine, just make sure that the ponyfolk are all safe!"
Twilight nodded, stopped, and disappeared in a flash of magic. Swallowing the lump of fear in her throat, Applejack galloped towards the Ghost Herd, pushing herself to run as fast as she could.
~~*~~
There was a flash of light as Twilight reappeared in the basket. Her friends all started asking what was going on, all at once, and the lavender unicorn raised a hoof to silence them.
"There are still ponies in town. Applejack is going to try and stop the Ghost Herd—"
"What? No way! Are you crazy?!"
"Rainbow, calm down! It wasn't my decision, she decided it all on her own! She wanted to buy the time needed to get all the ponies out of town before the Herd reaches it. At the rate they're moving, we've got less than a minute! Spike, did you get those letters sent?"
"Yes, Twilight, just a second ago," the little dragon said.
"Good. Now plug your ears, everypony, because this is going to get loud."
Twilight focused again on another spell, one to amplify her voice. She felt the resistance to the magic surge again, then fade as the spell took effect. She turned to face Ponyville.
"Attention, everypony!" she shouted, with a volume that rivaled the Royal Canterlot Voice, "You need to flee Ponyville immediately! You only have a few moments! The danger is coming from the west, flee north or south out of town, whichever is closest! Leave your valuables, there's no time, just run, NOW!"
She turned her attention back to her friends, who were cringing from the volume the spell had given her voice, with their hooves clapped over their ears. She dismissed the volume spell, and tossed a rope at Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow, do you think you can use this rope to tow this balloon?"
"Sure, but why?"
"Because we're going after Applejack, and we're going now".
~~*~~
The freezing fog curled around Applejack's hooves as she approached the Ghost Herd, angling in to run parallel to their course towards Ponyville. Several of the galloping pony-like creatures regarded her with their glowing red eyes, no expressions at all on their faces. Applejack felt terrified, but she had a job to do. She forced her fear aside.
"Excuse me!" she shouted at the nearest figure. "Can y'all understand me? Y'all need to change course, yer headed straight towards a town full o' ponies!"
There was no reply, at first, and she was about to try again when she heard something... no, heard isn't right. A voice came out of the air, and the words formed in her mind, but they didn't pass her ears to do so.
"We hear," a voice said, dry and emotionless. Applejack stared around her. She couldn't see who was talking.
"Good!" she said after a moment, unnerved but refusing to show it. "I reckon y'all will want to change course, then? Ya don't wanna hurt any ponies, do ya?"
"We run where we run," another voice said. AJ still couldn't see who was talking. None of the gray ponies were even looking at her, now. And this voice, like the other, seemed to just appear in her head.
"Well, ya can run in a different direction than Ponyville," she said.
"We run where we run," a third voice said. Or was it the first again?
"So, yer just gonna stampede through a town full o' ponies?" This time there was no reply. Applejack looked ahead and saw that they were less than a minute away from entering Ponyville proper. She didn't see any ponies around, thankfully. Maybe they had all gotten out? Still, the property damage from this many stampeding ponies, or pony-like creatures, would be immense, leaving many ponies homeless for days.
Nothing had happened to her yet, other than her hooves and legs being cold from the fog. That gave her some confidence. And Applejack's nerves, already frayed from the fear, snapped into anger.
"Ya can't just stampede through someone's home!" she shouted at the Herd. "Just who do you think you are?"
The response stunned her, made her stumble. Dozens, hundreds of voices, all at once, came from the Herd and slammed into her brain.
"We are what we are," they said in a chorus. "We run. From the beginning, to the end. We run."
"The beginning of what?" Applejack asked weakly, "The end of what?"
"They are the same. The land. The sea. Time. Existence. We run from the beginning until the end of all things."
"Ya can't... ya can't just ignore other ponies, though," she said, her concentration fragmenting under the assault of the voices. "Ponies could get hurt... 'cause of you."
"It is of no consequence. We run where we must."
Applejack was starting to stumble. Her hooves were numb, now, lined with frost. The cold was sapping the strength from her legs. She blinked and realized that they were stampeding through Ponyville now, the Herd crushing everything in their path. The gray ponies ran straight into buildings, punching through walls as easily as tissue paper. She looked behind her, seeing that several houses were already down, being trampled into dust by the thousands of hooves behind her.
She had to try again to make them understand. Her strength was failing, her breath was coming in sharp gasps, but she had to try.
"The ponies... they matter. They... live their lives, they make... things and... grow things... You can't just... you can't..."
"All that matters is that we run," a voice said. "And you run with us."
"What? No, I ain't with you, I'm tryin' to stop you!"
"You run with us. Join us, and we will run until the end," one said.
"There is no fear," another said.
"There is no pain," said a third.
"No, I got... I got family. Friends. No, I got to... I got to stop you..." She had to run, she knew. Her legs weren't working right, but she had to run or the Herd would trample her, too.
"You must join us."
"No. I won't."
"You will join us."
"I won't... I got to..."
"You must be free," one said.
"I ain't listnin' to you!" she gasped
"You must stop hurting," another said, and Applejack cried because everywhere that wasn't numb with cold was burning with pain.
"I got to..."
"You must be strong," said another.
"Yes, I do."
"You must be free of pain."
"You must..."
"I must..."
"You must..."
"Run," said Applejack, as suddenly the pain stopped.
~~*~~
Fluttershy had returned to the balloon to let her friends know that Ponyville was now abandoned, thanks in large part to Twilight's urgent warning to flee. The last few stragglers had given up trying to save a few family heirlooms, and had opted to run straight out of town instead.
There was nothing left for Applejack to do, now. It was time to get her out. Twilight levitated her binoculars up to her eyes, looking for her friend. She found her, finally, towards the front of the Ghost Herd. Applejack looked bad, stumbling and obviously exhausted.
"Rainbow! She's there, do you see her? Over by where Sugarcube corner used to be! Bring us to her!" Rainbow Dash didn't bother replying, she just altered course and flew as fast as she could. Twilight brought the binoculars back up to her eyes. What she saw next chilled her to the bone. She watched, horrified, as the color suddenly started draining from her friend's hide and hair, leaving it a uniform gray.
"No!" she screamed, flinging her binoculars away from her.
"What's going on?" Pinkie asked, afraid. Twilight didn't bother answering her. Her mind spun, thoughts flashing by almost too quickly to register. This balloon, even with Rainbow pulling it, was too slow. The Ghost Herd was moving too quickly, and the wind was against them. Wind resistance. The balloon was too hard to move through the air quickly. It had to go.
Twilight once again tapped into the magic that all unicorns could access. Other times that she tried to cast a spell, there was resistance. The more magic she tried to take, the harder the magic seemed to push back. It was a delicate coaxing, and a great deal of effort, typically, to pull any significant power through that resistance.
This time, though, she was terrified for the well-being of her friend. Her focus was single-minded, instinctual. The magic resisted her again, and she shattered that resistance without even noticing it. The power flooded into her. She was too focused on what she was doing to hear her friends gasp in shock, or to know that she was now glowing with a nimbus of power, which extended to envelop the large basket that held most of her friends.
A quick flick of her magic, and the ropes that held the basked to the balloon snapped free. Twilight held the basket up herself, not even noticing the weight of it. She pushed it through the air, faster than even Rainbow Dash could pull it. She wasn't paying attention to any of that. There was just a need. A need to reach her friend.
And a desperate hope that she would be in time to save her.
~~*~~
Her awareness of her tired body faded as her mind expanded. The members of the Herd around her were all separate, and at the same time they were all one. She felt her sense of self fading as she began to join them, and they welcomed her.
Her mind cast back along the path they had run. She could see, now. They had run for eons, through many different worlds, occasionally adding a new member like her. They would exist only for a short time on each world, and then vanish once again, only to reappear centuries later, still running where they must. For there was a drive, an imperative that they couldn’t deny. She wasn't sure where it came from, but she couldn't resist it. They existed, so they ran. They existed to run. And they were vast, more so than she could imagine.
They weren't always ponies, she now knew. They were whatever the world they were in called for. And they had run through so many worlds. They had run through worlds that were new, worlds that were old, worlds that were dying. She saw it all through their eyes as she ran with them. She watched as stars were born, watched them spin overhead, whirling in an incomprehensible dance, and then one by one, die out. Time flowed by like a river, carrying the Ghost Herd with it. She was becoming one of them. The parts of her that didn't fit began slipping away. She was no longer—
"...applejack..."
She shook her head. That voice wasn't from the others. It disturbed her.
"applejack... please"
She didn't know the voice, but it was familiar somehow. It was annoying. She didn't want to listen... she couldn't help herself.
"come back to us"
Back? Where? It didn't make any sense. She could feel the the others around her, urging her to ignore the voice, to keep running.
"you promised you'd come back!"
A promise? She'd promised? She could almost remember...
"Your friends need you."
Why couldn't she remember?
She could feel the disapproval of the Herd, and that scared her. She wanted to block out the voices, but something in her made her listen.
"Your family needs you! Come back to us!"
Family? She looked around, and she saw the Ghost Herd.
And she saw them for what they really were.
"You are not ready," one of them told her.
"Perhaps one day you will be," said another.
And then Applejack screamed in pain as her mind contracted back into her weary body. The cold in her hooves and legs no longer numbed her, but burned her. Her back ached, and her shoulders ground in their joints as she ran. She fell, and knew that death was coming; she'd be trampled by the thousands of creatures behind her.
But as she fell she was enveloped in a lavender glow and lifted into the air. She recognized Twilight's magic when she saw it. She smiled in spite of the pain, because she knew she was safe. She was lifted into the basket, which was hovering above the ground, also glowing with the unicorn's magic. As Twilight set her gently down, her friends all gathered close, hugging her, crying into her mane, as she cried back.
She'd never have the words to tell them what it was they had saved her from. And she would never be able to tell them what it was that she'd lost.
~~*~~
'Dear Princess Celestia,' the letter began. 'I almost lost one of my best friends today.'
Twilight stopped writing, surprised by the sudden tears in her eyes. Spike was there, number one assistant that he was, wiping her eyes with a clean cloth.
"Thank you, Spike."
"Of course, Twilight. But are you okay? Maybe you should finish writing this tomorrow. The Princess already knows what happened, she can wait a day or two for your friendship report."
Celestia had shown up just moments after they had rescued Applejack, teleporting in suddenly, her features a mask of anxiety. She had looked down at the Ghost Herd briefly, and then asked if they had managed to clear everypony out of its path. When Twilight had assured her that they had, the Princess turned her attention to Applejack. Horn glowing, she had cast spells faster than Twilight could even see, healing all the hurts that her friend had suffered. The physical ones, at least.
It only took minutes for Celestia to heal the damage that had been done to Applejack. During that time, the fog surrounding the Ghost Herd had risen up, fully encompassing the pony-like creatures. Then it had quickly dispersed, and the Ghost Herd was gone. Twilight had asked Celestia where they had gone. Her teacher had looked at her somberly and said, "They went where they always go, 'where they must'. That's all the answer I've ever gotten from them, I'm afraid."
Ponyville would take weeks to repair. Half the town had been flattened, including the often-damaged town hall. Twilight's library had miraculously escaped harm, as had Rarity's Carousel Boutique, located as it was on the outskirts of town. But Sugarcube Corner was gone, much to Pinkie's dismay. But buildings could be rebuilt, and lost items could be replaced. The important thing is that nopony had been seriously hurt.
Nopony but Applejack. Even with all the healing Celestia had thrown at her, the farm pony was going to need at least a week of rest before she was even close to being able to work on the farm again. When she had protested about being out of action that long, her friends had assured her that she would receive plenty of help getting the farm in order. Applejack had seemed surprised, but gratified, and tried to pretend that there weren't any tears in her eyes from her friend's unanimous show of support.
Celestia had met with the mayor, getting a full report of the damage. Then, promising to send help and supplies to rebuild the town, she had taken her leave, disappearing with a flash of magic.
All in all, it had been a very busy and exhausting day, physically, magically and emotionally. Twilight realized that she just couldn't face writing this letter right now.
"I suppose you're right, Spike. Let's go to bed."
~~*~~
Dear Princess Celestia,
I almost lost one of my best friends the other day. But you know that, you were here. The Ghost Herd almost took Applejack away from us. I watched as the life was draining out of my friend, and I felt a fear I'd never realized that I could feel, a depth of emotion that frankly shocked me.
I realize now that such loss is inevitable, and it scares me, more than I ever could have believed possible. And therefore, I'm faced with a decision. Do I stay with my friends, knowing that one day, one by one, they'll die and leave me behind? Is it worth the pain, the fear?
I've been thinking about it since it happened. I haven't been able to think of much else, and I'm afraid my studies have suffered for it. But I finally came to a conclusion.
The pain that I felt when I thought that I was going to lose Applejack, that was only so intense because of the love I feel for her, the same as the love I feel for all my friends. If I didn't love them so much, the thought of losing them wouldn't hurt me so badly. It's with that realization that I came to the conclusion that, yes, friendship is worth it.
Every day, my friends bring me warmth, happiness and companionship. They love me, and I love them. And, yes, the cost of that is that one day they will be gone, and I will miss them terribly. But that's one day. And between this day and that one are many days. Days of joy and laughter, fun and friendship.
I'm reminded of last fall, the Running of the Leaves, and how lovely that was. How each individual tree was a riot of color, caused not by life but by the ending of it. And in their frailty, those leaves showed a beauty that is unmatched the rest of the year.
Life may be short for us ponies, but love will last forever. There may be pain and loss some time ahead, I know. But it is worth it to feel the joy that I feel today.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.