Humming a melody, a small light was moving through the darkness, marching forward on a dim pathway that led deeper and deeper into the forest. A branch broke under the weight of a hoof, a small animal moved through the bushes as it went to evade the intruder and an owl followed the small anomaly with keen interest. The light was surrounded by complete darkness and yet its bearer couldn’t help but feel that the eyes of the forest lingered upon her. Whatever had brought her here, she was unsure whether it was right to continue on her path. Yet, she had come too far as to turn back, just as it was far too dark to simply stop. All she could do was press on.
A red bow adorned her red mane and the yellow of her coat seemed ablaze in the light of the lantern she carried, but Apple Bloom’s eyes were wandering, looking around, searching for something unexpected. She didn’t even catch herself looking for some monstrosity to appear out of the shadows and snatch her away. Even if she would have noticed her irrational fear of the dark, it didn’t matter.
She had come here alone, a red, worn out cape slung across her back, the brave, last crusader. She felt herself shaking, unable to control her movement. She was walking forward out of instinct, nothing more. Not even a faint hope was remaining. Why had she even come here?
I’m sorry, Apple Bloom.
The voice rang through her head and the memory hurt her more than all the bullying that had come before. The filly couldn’t stand it, not after all she and the others had been through. Sweetie Belle and her singing, Scootaloo and her love for sports. . . Everypony had found their destiny, everypony except her. Babs, too, and her friends in Manehatten. Only one crusader remained and she only had one thing she hadn’t tried out yet: The impossible.
The darkness of the Everfree Forest seemed to move around her, the branches from the trees looked like they wanted to grab her and the howling of wolves in the distance left her with a cold shiver running down her spine. She wanted to go home, to her family, to Applejack, but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to be left without a mark and so she would stop at nothing. Not anymore.
You can’t, Apple Bloom.
Twilight Sparkle’s voice echoed within the confines of her head, as if the princess herself stood right here and told her that no matter what she’d do, she would remain with a blank flank forever. However, the filly wouldn’t have that. Everypony could make their mark on the world and she was no exception. So she stumbled forward, her mind focused on the things to come.
Old magicks could be found within the darkest corners of the world, she had once hear Granny Smith say and the very darkest corners were found in the Everfree Forest. She didn’t know if she would find what she searched, but that didn’t matter, a beggar couldn’t be a chooser. All that mattered was her mark, her very own mark.
A voice echoed across the dark, humming a sad melody, or maybe she only imagined that. She was alone and nothing was watching her. She told herself that and didn’t believe it for one moment. All that mattered was that she was here in the Everfree Forest and nothing could stop her from going deeper into it.
She’d be the first earth pony magician and the secrets to that just had to lie within the Everfree. She heard a roar, saw something flashing in the far distance, but chose to ignore it, letting her eyes linger on the way before her. She then focused on the feeling of the fabric around her neck, covering her back. The cape made her think of better days, when she and two, then three friends would tally around town, playing games and having fun, looking for something together. That couldn’t have been all there’d been to it, but after the others had found what they had searched for, all Apple Bloom had been able to feel had been an emptiness. Suddenly she had been alone again and it had felt so much worse than anything before.
Her eyes went to the ground as she remembered sitting on the lone hill in the middle of the orchards, crying her heart out when suddenly a voice had come up from behind her. “Apple Bloom?”, it had asked and she had turned to Apple Bloom.
She remembered asking the other filly: “What do you want? Oh, let me guess, make more fun of the blank flank who’s too stupid to get her Cutie Mark.”
There had come no answer at first, but then she had felt Diamond Tiaras hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Apple Bloom, but you shouldn’t give up. Everypony has a mark to make on the world.”
She didn’t know what to answer, but her anger had come through: “Who’d say something so stupid?”
“My dad said that when I thought I couldn’t get my Cutie Mark, and a friend of his told him that when he thought the very same.”
Why had she come? Apple Bloom had never asked. Why had she been the one to walk up to her and give her new strength, her teeth bit more into the handle of the lantern. She was seething with anger. Why not my friends?, she thought. My so-called friends with whom I could share my fun and sadness.
It wasn’t necessary, she’d get her mark soon enough and then they’d play together again, no even better: They’d be grown-ups together. She stopped in her tracks right at that point and immediately looked up.
“Why does that make me sad?”, she wondered aloud, with nopony there to answer. All she could do was move forward, towards the darkest corners of the world. Nothing else mattered anymore and soon she’d walk out of here with the sun at her back and a destiny to call her own.
A few meters farther she found a light appearing at the end of her path. She didn’t stop though and instead moved towards it. All that mattered was that she found something, no matter how implausible, no matter how illogical, by this point she had just stopped giving a damn. Her hooves went on, still the slight tremble in the bones, still unsure whether this was right.
Sis, she thought, looking back on how she’d told her to have a good night. She’d done that often, actually, but this time she really, really hoped her sister slept easy. One of them had to.
As Apple Bloom stepped closer to the lights she thought on what her parents would have thought about all this. Would they have disagreed with what she was about to do? Would they have stopped her? Probably, but as all the rest, she put it out of her mind, for it did not matter.
The lights were behind some weeds which hang from the trees, but were easily cast aside. She never hesitated, even if she should have. Apple Bloom knew as much, but desperation was something that could easily drive a pony to do things she would’ve never done before, and even grasping the impossible was something she was willing to do now.
Her hoof went forward and she pulled the green out of her sight as she stepped into what turned out to be a cave, dimly lit up by the pond within it. Ghostly lights flickered across the grey walls and an old tree, green and huge and twisted, watched over the water, from which a small stream went deeper into the earth. There was grass here, too, and she found Apple Bloom found flowers blooming between the blades. As she put down her lantern a smile grew on her face.
The faerie pond, one of the seven magical waters within the Everfree Forest. Some called them cursed waters, but Apple Bloom had never believed that, since magic was, in its rawest of forms the purest, whitest of energies. She stepped towards the water with that in mind. All that needed to be done, all that could be done, was held within there.
She looked at her reflection. A pony who was too old to be a blank flank stared right back at her, a pony who had searched every corner of her being for the truth behind herself, for the call of destiny, the mark that should change her for the future. She had never found it and by natural means she would never make her mark on the world. That she knew and thus decided to do it.
“Okay, Apple Bloom,” she told herself, trying to find the happy filly, the one who’d dreamt of a wonderful adulthood with her friends. “You can do this.”
The reflection in the mirror just looked back at her and then she closed her eyes, letting everything turn black as she figured out the spell.
“Truth or dare
Let me be the mare
to finally stare
Into the truth’s lair.”
She opened her eyes after she had recited the first stanza of the spell, just as Granny Smith’s old adventure diary had told her. The pony who looked back at her was. . . She. Apple Bloom frowned, not having expected that, but as she did that the reflection suddenly opened her mouth, saying something that got lost in the thin layer of water that cut her from her real self. Then she simply pointed in a direction, the stream? Apple Bloom looked up, saw the lights dancing up and down into the distance.
“Should I go there?”, she asked and looked back, but her reflection was back to normal – she knew, because it mirrored her again. The faerie pond wasn’t something easily understood, but if following the stream would help her, then so it should be. It was lit, so it was far better than going back into the Everfree Forest. So she marched on, past the pond, following the dance of the ghostly lights. Apple Bloom walked on the grass by the side of the stream, looking at the weird flowers that grew by its side. There was one that seemed to have hands instead of blossoms and another which appeared to have hair grow on it, another group seemed to glow with a hint of faint magic.
She went on and on, hearing seeing something at the edge, lying in the middle of the tunnel. It was distant, but as she stepped closer it became more and more apparent that it must’ve been a living thing, since its movements indicated breathing.
“Hello?”, Apple Bloom asked, not even remotely afraid in the first few seconds. Then, the thing opened a pair of eyes, then another and then a third, as its three heads stared into the pony’s direction, hunger in their eyes. Saliva started to drip from its mouth but moments later, as the young hydra took a first step towards the pony.
Apple Bloom stood there, looking at the predator. The shiver was gone, she couldn’t feel the air around her, couldn’t see the dancing lights. All she thought about now were her family and her friends. Big Macintosh silently listening to her worries, Applejack giving her a hug or two, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at the clubhouse, back then they were still all together. She heard the voice of her granny going through her head.
“I’ve been to the Everfree a few times in my life, it has never been not dangerous.” She remembered those words from Granny Smith, remembered how the elderly mare had spent her last days in the bed, looking out of the window and talking about every step of her life, like it had been the last thing she needed to do. “I remember that once I was backed into a corner, nowhere to go. I had woken cinderwolves, you see, rare beasts those are. They growled at me and even from a few meters distance I could feel their hot breath. I was scared to death, and then, out of nowhere-”
A pony grabbed her and Apple Bloom turned around, seeing Pinkie Pie smiling at her. “Run!”, she spoke both commanding and in the kind of voice she had when she was about to throw a party.
“Wha-”, Apple Bloom managed, but the beast roared up and suddenly they were galloping past the waters, as was the following the pink mare. Well, at least Apple Bloom was galloping, Pinkie was more like bouncing, actually. She saw the lights floating past them and shortly before they exited the cave she felt like they were watched, but couldn’t say. Instead, she simply followed Pinkie Pie, whatever she was doing here and the steps of the hydra echoed from behind them.
“What’s going on!”
“You ran~ into a sleeping hydra,” Pinkie sang, as if she was answering some child’s question why apples fall to the ground.
“Where are we going?”
“Through the forest!”
By that point Apple Bloom officially stopped caring and if handed any sort of paper, she would have gladly given her signature. However, they were busy running through the darkness and Apple Bloom did her best to follow Pinkie as they navigated through the dark. A branch snapped at her, once she almost tripped over a root, but she still carried on, following the pink pony through the Eigengrau. Another loud roar came from behind, so vicious it let her heart sink into her legs. It only made them go faster.
She wasn’t quite aware of what was happening, but she saw the trees they hurried past, as if they were on a path. Did Pinkie know where she was going? Apple Bloom could only hope, because right now hope was what made them stay alive. Hope and legs, but they did so in equal parts. They hurried over roots and rocks, past trees and shrubberies, the hydra closing up to them, quicker and quicker. Apple Bloom could hear its steps growing louder and she heard its jaws snapping only centimeters behind her, once but the second time and it would be over. She was completely sure of that and regretted even coming here. Now she would never get her Cutie Mark.
Then suddenly Pinkie shouted: “LEFT!”, and jumped to the side. Apple Bloom’s body reacted on its own, honed by being quite many dangerous situations. She jumped, landing in the mud as the beast rushed past them. She heard it running and then a moment later felt the earth shaking and its wild roar exchanged with at first an expression of utter disbelief, something along the lines of “Ugh?”, which then changed to an “Uargh!” as it apparently rolled down something.
“What happened?”
Pinkie smiled at her as she asked that question. “The hydra got separated from her family and the faeries wanted to get it back, and since they couldn’t handle a hydra they asked me to do it. So we just sent it downhill to its parents.”
Apple Bloom looked at the pink pony for a moment, not quite knowing what to say. “You saved me.”
“That’s what I’m here for, silly,” came the answer cheerful as ever. “How about some cake? I’m pretty sure we still got some at Sugarcube Corners?”
“No. . . I’m not really in the mood.”
Pinkie Pie gasped. “How can’t you be in the mood for cake? That’s scientifically impossible!”
Apple Bloom sighed, “I’ve still got something to do.”
“And what do you have to do that is more important than cake?”
“I’ve tried everything relating cake, Pinkie. I’m here to find my Cutie Mark and I don’t plan on going back until I find it.”
Pinkie looked at her. “You still haven’t found it?”
“No,” Apple Bloom shouted angrily, shaking her head as she made to stand up. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I’m the last out of my generation without one and I just need to find it.”
“You’re panicking,” Pinkie Pie said with a smile. “These things take their time.”
“You’ve been telling me that for years, even though Twilight told me a pony my age should’ve gotten her mark already.” Apple Bloom grunted. “Really, I’m not in the mood for this, I was just chased by a hydra, and it probably didn’t get me a Cutie Mark, either. I’m going to the pond again, try the whole ritual again and then. . . Something.”
Pinkie looked at her as she turned around. “Haven’t you tried magic rituals already?”
Apple Bloom halted. “Not this one.”
“I think Cutie Marks for specific magicks are unicorn specific.”
The smaller earth pony looked in front of herself, not really knowing what to answer. Except of course, that she knew what to answer. “I know,” Apple Bloom mumbled. “But what else can I do?”
“Look in places you haven’t looked before?”
“Like where?”
“The past, the future, some distant planet in a solar system that you can’t even see from here, maybe.”
Apple Bloom tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”, she asked curiously, but Pinkie merely shrugged.
“Well, if you want the long version: There existed a few ponies in history without Cutie Marks, turns out they were talented in things that weren’t invented at that point in time. There’s a ton of things to do in the world and you can’t figure out everything if you stay in one place. Basically, if you want to, I could help you find your talent.”
The darkness obscured Pinkie’s face totally, so Apple Bloom couldn’t really say whether this was a joke. She sounded sincere, at least. “Why?”
“Somepony’s asking a lot of questions. Well, I like doing fun things, fun is good, keeps you young, beautiful and supplied with candy. There’s nothing better in the world then being supplied with candy. So, anyway, would you want to come with me and explore the world a bit more?”
Apple Bloom sighed, “Yeah, sure,” she said, not really knowing where Pinkie was going with this. Some part of her was glad to have met the pink pony, and the same part hoped that, against all odds, this would turn her life upside down and help her be the pony she was meant to be, whoever that was.
“Come on, then,” Pinkie said and gestured Apple Bloom to follow her through the dark.
Now that they were two the Everfree only seemed half as scary, especially since Pinkie just had an air of fun around her. Her smile was just as wide as ever and her bouncing steps carried her on in that weird pinkamina way. It made her reflect on what her granny had said, about the stranger who had rescued her. Hadn’t that pony been similar to Pinkie, no that she thought about it. That and Pinkie’s speech just now. Something was going on, Apple Bloom thought.
As the dark made way for the lights of dawn they reached a lone shrubbery amidst a group of dead trees. It stood out because of how well-treated it seemed, even amidst the malnourished black and twisted things around it. Pinkie gave a smile.
“You can step right into it,” she said and gestured Apple Bloom to move.
The filly wondered for a moment, stepping towards the piece of flora, examining it carefully. There were a thousand things she could have said, but apparently this was going to be a prank. Apple Bloom sighed, but went on with it, hoping for some sort of surprise party that would end up in her mood finally hitting another high after all the rage, all the pain she had gone through.
She stepped into the shrubbery. Her hooves landed on the metal floor and she stared right at a hexagonal console, with some glowy thing in its middle. The room was large, with candycane-like spires, a ground of glass and, most importantly, she had just stepped from a shrubbery into some sort of room, a fairly large room.
Pinkie appeared beside her and gave her an expecting look.
Apple Bloom just stared at the pink pony. “It’s. . . bigger. . . on the inside.”
“Ah,” Pinkie exclaimed, “That made the wait worth it!”
She jumped across the room towards the console, leaning on it. “Welcome to my TARDIS, that’s short for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, and, yes, acronyms are fun. Don’t let anypony tell you any different.”
Apple Bloom simply stared. “What?”
“Lots of questions today, huh? Well, I guess the name doesn’t really explain anything, except it does when you think about it, except it doesn’t. What is a relative dimension anyway, isn’t a dimension already a relative space and why is time a separate entity. It should be more like: Time travelling shrubbery of space-thing, no. . . that just sounds stupid. Anyway, I can judge from your look-” Apple Bloom never changed her expression through the entire speech, “that you’re not quite aware what’s going on. Let me reiterate.”
The Pink Pony moved towards her and reached to shake her hoof. “Hello, Pinkie Pie’s just what I went by to get to know this world. In actuality I’m a Timelord from the planet Gallifrey. I’m the Doctor and when I said we’re going to look for your Cutie Mark across time and space, I meant it.”
Apple Bloom, not knowing what else to do, took the hoof. “Why?”
“Because I haven’t used this darn thing in the longest time, actually. New world, new rules, didn’t want to break anything. Well, it’s a bit more complicated actually, involves a dozen aliens, a demon sealed away ten thousand years ago and turnip-fishing. Also: Parties, lots of those,” Pinkie explained. “Not that it matters,” she said as she turned around. “We got a time machine.”
“A time machine.”
“That’s also a space ship, lest we forget.”
Apple Bloom looked at the other pony going up to the console. “So. . . We’re going on a time-travelling adventure? Just like that?”
“As said: My name’s the Doctor, I fix things. You haven’t gotten a Cutie Mark and I want to see why that is and how we can fix it, if it is necessary to fix it. We can visit Starswirl the bearded, the founding of Equestria. We can see how the first griffons took flight and how ponykind masters space travel. We can visit alien worlds and watch solar systems begin and end. Or we can go to sugarcube corner for a cake, your choice.”
Apple Bloom didn’t quite know what to say, but by this point she was ready to believe anything, if it would help her, so she decided to gun for the impossible: “I always did wonder where Starswirl got the idea for the time travel idea.”
Pinkie, no, the Doctor, grinned. “Excellent choice,” she said and turned to the mix-and-match console in the middle of the room. Apple Bloom moved closer as she watched the Doctor pull levers and hit buttons. The machine came alive, then.
Whooooosh! Whoooooosh!
Apple Bloom looked at her pink companion and the giddy smile made her smile, too. At least she didn’t regret coming into the Everfree Forest tonight.