Chapter Three: Bad Moon Rising
Applejack wasn't particularly sure what she should do. No thoughts came to break through her state of paralysis, which refused to release her from it's snare. Her gaze teetered back and forth between the unrecognizable ruins of the Apple family home, and the countless uprooted apple trees strewn about the nearly barren fields.
Applejack wanted to cry, and from the soft whimpers coming from behind her, she knew a red-bowed filly was doing just that. She choked back a tear. “Mah...mah farm...” She didn’t know what else to say. It was gone, all gone, her home, her trees, and with them, her livelihood. It had all been swept away by the wind. Just like that, they were gone.
A deep croaking noise festered in the depths of Applejack’s throat, struggling its way to escape her and soothe its aching burn. She was able to silence her voice, but her eyes shook and watered as though she was caught in a raging sandstorm.
Despite her tough as iron legs, Applejack’s hips hobbled and shook uncontrollably under the stress that climbed on her back. She fell to her haunches, unblinking and still staring out into the empty field that once housed her beautiful apple orchard. Then she began to sob.
It was a sort of quiet sobbing, but she had become painfully aware of the burning eyes all focused on her. She didn’t look up, but she knew they were watching. Her brother, her sister, Granny Smith, and of course the cyan pegasus that she had been berating no less than two minutes ago. She knew those eyes would all look the same; concerned, sympathetic, and maybe even a little bit confused at her sudden shift in demeanor.
But quite frankly, Applejack couldn’t care less. Her home; the place she thought was an unbreakable fortress of family value, of compassion, and of love, was torn from the hard ground it was rooted in. She felt like wallowing in her muddy field out in the middle of nowhere. She felt defeated.
“Applejack?” Rainbow Dash called. “Are you alright?” Applejack wanted to turn around and buck her in the mouth for asking that. Does it look like Ah’m alright Rainbow? For goodness sake, Ah’m practically bawling my eyes out in front of ponies that have never even heard me so much as complain about a single thing in my life.
Her voice was strained, but Applejack managed to force a reply. “Yea-... S-Sugarcube. Ah...” She tried her hardest to coerce words out of her muzzle, but try as she might, it only came out a crackled mess. “...Ah’ll be fine.” She saw the a light blue shape come toward her in her peripheral vision, and quickly spun her muzzle away in an effort to hide her bloodshot eyes and dripping nose.
Applejack had expected a careful tap on the shoulder or a gentle prod of the side to get her to face her friend. What she didn’t expect was a full on embrace made by the pegasus, wrapping her around with her forelegs. Get offa me you... you... She moved her hooves up to push off the unwanted consolation, then moved them up to hold onto her loyal friend instead.
The farm mare felt worse than she had in a long time. Worse than what she felt after her longest day of applebucking, and worse than after a disappointing day selling her wares to the ponies in town. No matter how much life threw at her, she was always able to handle it through determination and an unmatchable work ethic.
But this was different.
Applejack felt the sting of uncertainty coupled with the pain of loss. Though this feeling was something she rarely dealt with in her line of work, she undoubtedly recognized it. Nothing she could do would ever brace her for it, and she hated it with a passion.
Applejack pulled in Rainbow Dash harder as she silently sobbed into her coat. She felt naked.
More than that, she felt vulnerable.
Ah- Ah... No, Ah can’t act like this in front of Applebloom. Pull yourself together, Applejack! Her mind told her body to cease its shameful activity, but she remained clung to the pegasus. Oh, come on! This is ridiculous.
Suddenly, Applejack felt the comfortable leaning position she had grown accustomed to falter, and Dash beginning to move away. It was all she could do just to catch herself and awkwardly slink down into a hunched position, glass eyed and sniffling. Ah must look like a big foal right now...
“I’m sorry I was too late...” Rainbow Dash confessed to her. “If I had been here with a few dozen pegasi, we might have stood a chance at saving your farm... It’s just the weather lately has become so... and just... look, I didn’t mean to-”
Applejack raised a hoof. “Quit it, sugarcube. I-It ain’t your fault, I get that now.” Her voice continued to stutter despite it's smoother tone. “It’s nopony’s fault. This was...” She rubbed her soggy eyes with a foreleg. “But thank you, Rainbow... You saved mah life, and mah little sister’s too.” She grinned at the weather mare.
“...You're welcome.” Rainbow didn’t return the smile, instead, her face hardened further. “Applejack... We have to go now... it’s bad.”
The farm-less pony’s face contorted in confusion. She snorted in the wet slime trying to escape her nostrils, and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. “What do ya mean? Where could we possibly have to go right now?” Applejack stared incredulously at the element of loyalty.
“I-I can’t explain it right now... Actually, I take it back. Look after your family, take what you can carry down to Twilight’s. I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can. Just...know that it’s serious, I only came here to get you to help me, but I’ll handle it for now.” The pegasus crouched down and opened her wings spread to their fullest.
Applejack raised a hoof to protest, but she stopped herself. Just what are you not tellin’ me, Rainbow Dash? She lowered it and gave her a serious look. “Thank you then, we will.”
The pegasus nodded, and in a flash, she was into the sky and heading toward Ponyville at breakneck speed.
Applejack turned around to face her family, a dour expression marring each of their usually gleeful faces with a sullen frown. She realized she wasn’t the only one with trouble keeping her emotions under control.
Applebloom was curled up into a ball underneath Big Mac, who was gently caressing her soaked fur with his hoof.
Tears rolled down Granny Smith’s wrinkled old cheeks, and Big Mac, well, he remained stoic, but he was clearly in pain. Applejack knew her brother, and that meant she knew when he was upset.
Rising to her hooves, Applejack turned her attention to the wreckage of the home she grew up in. “Alright, wait here for a minute and we can head on over to the library. I gotta get something first...” She didn’t get a reply, but she knew that her statement was understood.
Shakily, Applejack trotted over to the remains of her porch, and expertly walked around various debris strewn about the ground of cracked floorboards. She carefully stepped onto the larger pile of refuse as she climbed up onto the remaining foundation that had once supported her home. Orienting herself at the front door, she hung a left and walked to the center of her old living room. Casually, she began digging at the pile underneath her with a hoof, searching amidst the mountain of wood, broken furniture, and the occasional smashed apple.
Every couple minutes, Applejack would hit the wooden floor and begin searching in a different area. She refused to waver in her hunt, yielding only when she thought she had found the object she was searching for.
Finally, after ten minutes of searching and ready to give up, Applejack looked down at her prize. Underneath her hoof rested a medium sized wooden frame that had a spiderweb crack splayed across the center. Sighing, Applejack picked it up in her teeth and lowered it onto her back.
Sweet Apple Acres was destroyed, but the Apples would survive.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed in a desperate manner, gaining speed as she zoomed toward Ponyville. The feeling she loved most in the world: that rush of adrenaline pumping through her body when trying a new daring, dangerous stunt, was for once unwelcome. She often found that its familiar euphoria was something of an addiction, but after narrowly escaping a grisly fate twice in the length of two hours, she had become sick to death of it. It made her nervous and hastened the growing presence of dread associated with the urgency of the matter at hoof.
Rainbow’s wings burned from the strenuous pace she refused to mollify, and her speed only increased once she made it to the outskirts of Ponyville. She glanced down below at the frantic ponies galloping every which way and gatheringat large around city hall. An older looking, sand colored mare stood on a stage, pointing towards different ponies who would immediately dart in a random direction.
Over the thatched roofs of a few ponyville houses rose her destination. With one final push, she sped towards Ponyville Pond, the one which she and Pinkie had donned to take a dip in earlier.
She noticed the looks on everypony’s faces ranged from confused to downright terrified. They didn't have much to go on; just what she had told them in very few, frantic shouts no less than one hour ago. Since they were first rounded up, they had managed to gather the local pegasi of Ponyville around the lake. However, the townsponies were still at a loss for what was going on.
First, two ponies being dragged under a pond by a current. Adding to that news, a freak storm had just passed incredibly close to the town; one that hadn’t been crafted by the weather team. Missing ponies, wrecked countryside; it wouldn’t have been so out of the ordinary if the news that Pinkie and Rarity may have drowned wasn’t also in the mix.
Their loud conversations about the strange happenings were interrupted when the leader of the Ponyville weather team crashed in the center of the hulking mass, trying to catch her breath and stretch her wings. A few ponies tried to see what was wrong with the mare as she bent over and huffed into the soil, but she waved them off with a hoof.
Once able to speak, Rainbow Dash stood erect and looked into the crowd. “Alright everypony!” She took in a few more pained breaths. “I want all of you to follow my lead! We’re... we’re going to need all of you to do this!” Some of the pegasi raised an eyebrow, but most of them acknowledged the command and unfolded their wings in preparation. “Now, everypony get ready, cause we’re going to have to suck the water out of the pond...with a pegasus powered tornado!” There were a few audible gasps, but from the serious expressions dotting the crowd, most were ready. “Two ponies could be trapped, and it’s up to us to rescue them!” This seemed to solidify the groups intentions as a few ponies had already begun to circle the lake.
Tired, fatigued, and sore, Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings and took off into the air. Multiple pegasi joined her as they began gliding around the lake in a clockwise fashion. It wasn’t long before everypony had joined in, and a visible funnel began to form from the combined wingpower of all Ponyville’s pegasi.
Rainbow Dash felt that rush of endorphins return to her, accompanied by a stale queasiness in her gut. It was a feeling that hours upon hours of stunts and dangerous feats beat out of her system, or so she thought. She felt afraid. Not only of creating a monster like she had just escaped from, even if it wasn’t the same, but also because of what she might find. Pinkie and Rarity had been underwater for far too long...
Rainbow grew timid in her gliding, and slowed her movement to keep an eye on how the tornado was forming. If they succeeded and pulled the water from the lake, would there be two bodies slumped together in the mud, having run out of breath before being taken into the great beyond? The question was the only thing that hung in her mind besides fear.
The wind howled as the funnel gained speed. Little droplets of water began to smack Rainbow Dash in the muzzle. Almost there... Just a little bit more. She broke her trance and flapped her searing wings harder. The water underneath pooled into the air as the rotating wind ripped it from the lake. The stream of water became a fast current as it shot up and into the waiting sky. Most of it either went up higher than the thin layer of overcast above them, or it dissipated into tiny raindrops that lazily sprinkled back onto the grassy ground.
Seeing the final bit of water drain from the lake, Rainbow Dash allowed herself to be flung from the tornado, which was beginning to lose its form as other pegasi followed suit. Orienting herself to the ground, she blazed through the air down to the muddy lakebed. It seemed to go deeper than she imagined, but nevertheless, she could see the bottom.
“Rainbow Dash, I thought you said that Pinkie Pie and Rarity were pulled under,” a silver coated pegasus mare with a blonde mane called out. “Nopony is down there...”
The excited eyes and fascinated grin across her face came with the realization that her friends were still missing, and that meant, they could still be alive. Thank Celestia! She wanted to jump for joy and shout to the skies that her failure to rescue her friends had caused them death, but now, she was focused on the million thoughts scratching at her brain, but most importantly: If they’re not here, then where in the hay are they?
Rainbow Dash shrugged it off, maintaining a cheeky grin. Whatever did this, I’m sure Twilight will figure it out. Egghead probably has already... She laughed a bit and noticed the gathering crowd of pegasi all whispering to each other and looking out into the lakebed.
Rainbow Dash beamed a goofy grin. Despite her positive outlook, many pegasi began to shoot curious glances, and even glaring at the rainbow maned mare. She noticed their stares, and her expression returned to its determined look. “I need you all to start combing the skies. Keep a low altitude and look for anything pink and white. My friends are still out there, and they need help.” A few ponies began dispersing, and others formed search groups to cover more ground faster.
Now, to go find Twilight and... Rainbow Dash facehoofed. How could I forget about Fluttershy? Lackadaisically, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and rose into the air. She steadily gained altitude until she had a clear view of the rest of the waning search parties. Her eyes scanned the crowd as she searched for her target. “Fluttershy!” she called out to no response. Ugh, of course she doesn’t come when we round up all the pegasi...
Three sharp bangs rapt on the heavy wooden door of Ponyville’s public library, eliciting a pained groan from a certain purple scaled assistant on the other side. Applejack shifted uncomfortably in the night time setting with the heavy saddlebags perched over her back, each side containing pretty much the last remaining possessions the Apple family had. It was sad that they could only save a few perishable food items from the cellar, and a single cracked picture frame.
The door slowly creaked open and the drowsy-looking dragon poked his head out. His eyes were bloodshot and he hardly looked like he even knew where he was. He narrowed his eyes and tiredly studied Applejack. “Applejack?” His mouth widened as he let out a yawn, eyes widening as he looked past the pony. “Applejack’s family?”
Applejack gave a halfhearted chuckle. She couldn’t help but think that the dragon’s attempts to secure masculinity often went unnoticed due to his baby-like tendencies. Yawning only made him look cute. “Sugarcube, you mind if we come in before Ah start explainin’ things?”
Applejack, Applebloom, Big Mac, and finally Granny Smith trotted into the library, taking care not to step on any of the random mountains of books that still took residence on the floor. Applejack looked around the main room. Geez, Spike. Good job cleanin’ this mess up. She carefully removed her saddlebags. Ah’m sure Twi’ would be so proud that you listened to her.
Applejack turned to the small, purple reptile. “Spike, have you left the library today? Have you talked to anypony?”
Spike rubbed his eyes and answered her. “Only you, just now... and maybe earlier today, but honestly it’s all a bit fuzzy. Hey... am I missing a tooth?” His forked tongue began to feel around the small gap as his eyes widened.
“Ah’d reckon so.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Listen sugarcube, Ah don’t know how to ask this, but could mah family stay here? Possibly for tonight? At least until we can figure things out.”
“Uhm, sure, wait why?” Spike scratched the side of his head, a bewildered look painted on his face.
“Well, a few reasons, chief among them is the fact we don’t have a house right now.” Applejack waited for Spike to respond, then held up a hoof to stop him anyway. “I know it sounds crazy Spike but I don’t got time to explain, maybe Granny can a little. Me and Big Mac gotta go, I think... There’s something going on in town and I need to find out what.”
Spike blinked, perhaps finally catching on that something was wrong. “I guess that’s alright, but I don’t own the library. Have you talked to Twilight yet?”
“Sugarcube, we were there when she left for Canterlot... er, well you might’ve been asleep, but you were definitely there.” I think this dragon’s been hangin’ around with Green Leaf again...
Spike shrugged. “Ooh yeah... I’m sure she doesn’t care anyway. Wait, why don’t you have a house right now? Is your farm being fumigated or something?” He chuckled a bit in his loopy state.
“No... it was, um... it was leveled by a tornado...” Spike’s silly grin was replaced by a surprised look, that became wide eyed disbelief a second after. If he wasn’t awake before, he certainly was then. “Tornado!? Like the weather kind? How is that even possible? I- I...” He paused for a moment, finally making sense of the sullen expressions across every Apple’s face. “I’m sorry, I just...”
“It’s alright, sugarcube. Ya’ll couldn’t have known. Now, has Rainbow Dash come around here just yet-”
Suddenly, the wooden door behind the four ponies and baby dragon banged open as a light blue pegasus flew in low. She tried to halt her momentum but she failed, crashing into a dense pile of books stacked in a disorderly fashion on the floor.
“Speak of the devil.” Applejack said, trotting over to her friend.
Rainbow Dash dizzily sat on her haunches until she shook her head and got a grasp on her surroundings. She looked up at Applejack with a nervous expression splayed across her muzzle. “Where’s Twilight,” was the first and only thing to come out of her mouth.
Applejack blinked. “She uhh, she left for Canterlot this mornin’. Say would you mind tellin’ me why the ponies in town were so frantic? Or you for that matter? I get the feeling something else is the matter Rainbow. I thought it was the storm, but I coulda swore I heard something about Pinkie Pie. What exactly happened today?”
Everything Applejack said seemed to go straight over Rainbow Dash’s head after she heard the words ‘Twilight’ and ‘Canterlot’. By the time the blonde earth pony had finished her line of questioning, Rainbow was already an inch and a half away from Spike’s nose, eyeing him desperately.
“Hey, you can send letters to the princess, right? I’ve seen you do it before for Twilight.” The dragon nodded. “Well I need you to send something for me, right now.” Spike raised a claw to argue, but after making eye contact with the extremely close pegasus who was now hovering over him, he simply sighed and fetched a clean parchment and quill.
Applejack interrupted the two. “Umm, Dash, you mind explainin’ what’s going on already?” Instead of an answer, she got a hoof raised up to silence her. Why that little...
“Spike, listen to me carefully, because this is important.” The look Rainbow gave the little dragon was hard and determined.
“Yeah of course, ready when you are, Dash.” The dragon responded by signaling that he was ready to proceed.
“Dear Princess Celestia; this is one of your loyal subjects, and one of your personal pupil’s close friends, Rainbow Dash. Two of the other Elements of Harmony are missing, and we have no idea where they could be. We’ve had the town scramble and form search parties, but we still haven't found them.” She sighed. “We’re running out of options and probably time, we need your’s and Twilight’s help right away.” Rainbow Dash made a gesture and ceased her speaking. Spike signed the bottom, then rolled up the scroll and lit it with his green fire.
Applejack spoke up. “Rainbow Dash...what happened?”
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.
Rainbow’s determined look shattered immediately. The mare shuffled her hooves, looking for all her worth to be incredibly nervous. Maybe even a little scared. “I-I don’t know. Pinkie and I were swimming with Rarity down at the lake, but then it was like we started getting sucked to the bottom. I was able to fly out...but Rarity went under before I had a chance to...and Pinkie Pie... went after her.”
Applejack was having trouble getting out the specifics, but she realized it would be pointless to push something out that painful.
“I looked, but there was nopony in the pond, it's small, too! I didn't understand, I still don't! I went into town and got as many ponies as I could to go rescue them... and that’s when I saw the storm cloud over your farm.” Rainbow sat back on her haunches, nervously rubbing a foreleg with the other.
Applejack cringed, she knew everything there was to know about that part of the story all too well. “Alright,” the farm mare interrupted hesitantly, “well, are they...were they alright?”
Rainbow Dash looked up, her eyes wide and emotionless, then she continued. “After I rescued you, I flew back and helped the other pegasi drain the lake. We...we didn’t find Rarity or Pinkie Pie down there, AJ...”
Applejack drew her head back and furrowed her eyebrows, swallowing before asking heatedly, “What? Well where the hay are they?”
“I’m not sure, but something’s definitely wrong here. Since when do ponies get pulled into lakes for no reason? There was nothing strange at the bottom, like a cave. Nothing that could make a rip current like that; it just doesn’t make any sense.” Rainbow Dash shook her head in disbelief, letting out a depressed sigh, her wings drooping at her sides.
Applejack felt just as perplexed. To her, something smelled fishy, but whatever happened was beyond her. From what she could see or make sense of the ways everything happened all at once, this was no accident. Dangit, this could be bad. Her thoughts were too tired to figure things out right then. She instead turned around to inform her family that it was time to unpack.
Not a moment later did a lewd belching sound, accompanied by the increased heat of the fire from a dragon’s gut barge into the room. As well as the faint smell of blueberries.
Applejack flipped around to see a new letter already in the hooves of her flying rainbow friend, who had zoomed through the air to catch it immediately. The pegasus’ eyes darted back and forth across the letter as her gaze narrowed as she read.
AJ took a hesitant step closer. “What- What’s it say?”
Rainbow Dash put down the letter and locked eyes with Applejack, shaking her head. “I- Hm, that's weird. She says Twilight hasn’t made it to Canterlot yet.” She flapped her wings and flew into the air, huffing in frustration. “We can’t deal with this right now! The town’s been searching for hours and we haven’t even gotten close to finding them. Not to mention the weird weather that we still have no idea where it came from... Where the hay is Twilight? We need her!”
Applejack held up a hoof. “Hold it right there.” Her voice matched the surprise she felt. “What do you mean Twilight hasn’t made it to Canterlot yet?”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “I mean the letter, Celestia wrote that she hasn’t been to the palace yet. I think her train may have been delayed or something...” The pegasus trailed off, worry and speculation etching around her eyes.
“That don’t make no sense at all; she didn’t even take the train...” Applejack swallowed after sharing what she knew of Twilight’s last appearance.
“So she took a pegasus chariot?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“No, she teleported from right over there.” Applejack pointed a hoof to a burnt circle on the floor. “Uh...”
Rainbow looked down at the scorch marks with a worried look, but quickly shook her head in surprise. “Teleported!?” She exclaimed in amazement. “All the way to- Wow, great, she probably missed then. If not...I’m sure she’s alright. This is Twilight we’re talking about here; She probably stopped by her parents house... or maybe went shopping. For all we know, she forgot her invitation and they won’t let her into the castle.”
Applejack was about to rebuke the last thing Rainbow had said, such as pointing out something like the fact that Twilight would never in a million years forget her invitation, and even if she did, the guards knew who she was. She wanted to say that she would put the princess’ summons ahead of her family and take care of that after she was done with her visit. But all she could muster up the courage to say was: “Yeah, Rainbow... you’re probably right.”
The sound of a sleepy filly yawning interrupted their conversation. Applejack let out a weak laugh to ease the tenseness of the atmosphere.
“Ah think Ah better put the little one to bed... and probably Spike too.” Applejack looked around for the dragon and let out a giggle to see him already fast asleep on a pile of books. “Come on Applebloom, you need to get some rest.” With that, she ducked down and scooped her sister up on her back before making her way to the stairs.
The deep throated yawn of Big Mac shook the room too, and Applejack turned towards her brother. “Y'all might want to get some sleep too...” She muttered quietly back to him.
Without so much as a groan in protest, the stallion mumbled: “Eeyup,” and trotted over to the couch.
Applejack continued up the set of stairs and went into Twilight’s room, knowing her friend wouldn’t mind if she used it under the circumstances. She’d make it up to her all the same, anyway. Carefully, she rolled the filly onto the bed and tucked her under the covers, the little pony already fast asleep.
“G’night Applebloom, and don’t you worry about nothing. Everythin’ is gonna be just fine...” Applejack nuzzled her younger kin, whispering the words in a soothing voice, not much unlike her mother used to for her. She tip-hoofed out of the room, flipped the lights off, and closed the door, leaving her little sister to a night that was hopefully filled with pleasant dreams.