//------------------------------// // A Bump In The Night // Story: Fallen From The Vine // by omnom19 //------------------------------// “I maintain and preserve over ten thousand books here at the library. Each one, a different tale or genre, though all waiting to be read by another eager mind. I am one who believes that books are alive, waiting for their story to be told. I will faithfully house them until we are both dust and stories forgotten. Luckily sister, we have forever to wait.” ---Princess Luna at the Canterlot Library, 584 years before The Nightmare Knock….knock Applejack blearily cracked her eyes open. She laid heavily on her strangely comfortable hay mattress, sleep made everything luxurious. Moving this early should be outlawed. Applejack wearily rolled over and peered out her window. Pitch black. Now she knew early. Early was waking before Celestia even thought about painting the sky, before her first cup of royal coffee was even brewed, to tend to the many tasks that filled a farmer’s day. But this!? Applejack hoped it wasn’t some crazy friendship emergency adventure Twilight had cooked up again. Her group of friends had just returned from some hoof-forsaken place to go save yet another pony race and Applejack just wanted to sleep. Knock…knock…knock Like she was going to get it. But…it probably wasn’t Twilight. Twilight was always accompanied by violent, violet flashes of teleportation magic and usually dragged a loud, complaining Spike. These were just…knocks. So definitely not Twilight. ' Applejack huffed angrily and rolled out of bed. Dog darn it, she was the Element of Honesty, not Kindness, and she was going to honestly give this sleep wrecker a piece of her mind! Applejack met a groggy Big Mac on the way down the stairs. “You gonna deal with that? Or am I?” “Nnnope.” Applejack sighed and trotted briskly down the rest of the stairs. She wrenched open the front door and squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. “Whoever this is better give me a good reason just why they saw fit to wake mah whole family this early, no! Late! At night. Or I will give ‘em the waking up of ther’ life!” “Hi Applejack.” A small voice ventured from the darkness of the porch. Applejack internally cursed and opened her eyes. It was Fluttershy, the actual Element of Kindness. “Sorry, ‘Shy. It’s just so…early. What’s wrong, darlin’?” “I was out watching the night with the baby bats? And, uh, something crashed into the forest near my cottage, very loud, scared the babies away, and I found…a pony.” Applejack then looked beyond the yellow pegasus to see a crumpled heap of white next to her. She then saw ‘Shy was close to tears. Fluttershy bit her lip and started rambling, words rushing together. “I just didn’t know what to do and the hospital was too far away and it’s dark and she’s just not moving and-“ Applejack stopped her with a determined smile. “Ya did well, ‘Shy. We’ll look after “her”. Howabout you go run and find Nurse Redheart and might as well Twi' This one here might need to be magicked some.” Applejack had seen her fair share of hurt animals and if Fluttershy had come to the same conclusion…. “MAC!” Big Mac half fell down the stairs at his sister’s holler and tumbled out onto the now crowded porch. “You be gentle like and pick her up and take her-“ “Fluttershy! Stop starin’ at the poor thing and go! She needs somepony with better skills than we got! Hop to it, Sugar Cube!” Suddenly, the injured pony gasped. Fluttershy anxiously hovered around the white heap. “Can you hear me, miss? We’re here to help you, you’ve crashed and you’ve seem to have been hurt badly.” “Daddy?” The word came out as a strangled sob. The white pony tried to stand, and in the light from the porch lights they could see the number of red angry scratches tearing at the once white coat, branches sticking awkwardly through a purple mane. The distraught mare futilely flared out twisted wings for balance and fell heavily against Fluttershy. Fluttershy gaped in horror and pity at the wing lying limply against the mare’s right side. Applejack whispered a swift prayer then straightened herself all the way up to her Stetson that never left her head, even during sleep. “We’d better get a move on.” The broken mare was carefully placed in the back of a sturdy applecart. The Apples hitched themselves to the cart and took off for Ponyville as fast as they dared. In the back of the rattling cart, Fluttershy lay next to her, softly stroking the weeping pegasus. “Daddy…”