The next day, Twilight’s plans included going into town to see Rarity for lunch and a dress fitting. Her wings allowed her to get to town without a problem from her hoof, and after the fitting she and Rarity had an enjoyable meal. Twilight took the chance to ask Rarity if anything strange was going on in Ponyville, and Rarity mentioned that some sets of sheet had disappeared from her clothesline this morning, confirming Twilight’s suspicions that there must be a strange sort of prankster about.
Twilight was surprised that Spike wasn’t interested in tagging along, but she figured that hanging out with his own friends must have seemed like a better time. On her return to her house, when she heard the voices coming from inside, it occurred to her that she should have been more suspicious.
“What’s it say next, Spike?”
“Uh… it’s time to cast the spirits out.”
“Okay Sweetie Belle... now!”
“The power of Celestia compels you!”
“What is going on in here?” Twilight said as she stepped inside. She was greeted by a strange scene of three fillies and a baby dragon, wearing purple silk bed sheets as robes, standing in the middle of a chalk circle drawn on the hardwood floor. “Are those Rarity’s sheets? She said somepony took them off her clotheslines.”
“The power of Celestia compels you!” Sweetie Belle shouted at Twilight, the ‘hood’ of the robe falling over her eyes.
Twilight blinked. “Compels me to do what? What are you doing?”
“Spike found this book, so we’re getting rid of your ghosts for you!” Scootaloo explained.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: EXERCISERS!” all three shouted at once, at ear splitting volume.
Twilight’s eye twitched. “I think that word is—”
“The power of Celestia compels you!” Sweetie interrupted.
“Sweetie Belle, stop.” Twilight said, magically lifting the sheet off Sweetie’s face. “First, I’m not a ghost. Second, you can’t just compel somepony, you have to compel them to do something. And third, there are no ghosts!”
“Then what happened to the wreath?” Apple Bloom asked.
“And who put your winter clothes outside?” Scootaloo added.
“Spike told us all about it,” Sweetie explained. “So we thought maybe we could get our cutie marks, and chase your ghost away at the same time!”
“I don’t need you to chase away any ghosts. I need you guys to get this cleaned up now.” Twilight ordered. The fillies and dragon all blushed and turned to start cleaning up their ritual space.
Twilight grabbed Spike’s tail with her magic and pulled him over. “Not so fast, mister. I need to have a word with you.”
Spike turned around, “Oh, hey, Twilight!”
Twilight regarded Spike sternly. “I’ve had enough of this. You know ghosts aren’t real.”
“But—” Spike protested, before Twilight cut him off in a much more sympathetic tone.
“I know you’re scared, Spike. I’ll tell you what. I’ll check this house top to bottom, and if there’s anything weird going on, I’ll find out what it is and take care of it.” Twilight smiled as some of the worry fell from Spike’s face. “But if there isn’t anything weird going on, you need to sleep in your own room, and forget about all of this. Got it?”
“Yeah… okay,” Spike nodded.
Twilight hugged him. “Good. You make sure the place gets cleaned up, and I’ll start right now.”
Twilight flew into the kitchen. She cast a quick magic scan of the area, and the room lit up with colors. Throughout the room wove a delicate line of magenta, where she’d used her own magic to carry things. Over by the stove, a shot of bright green revealed that Spike had been roasting his own marshmallows again. And an orange brown static twinkled everywhere, the remnants of earth pony magic spread through the building over the years and reinforced by Applejack daily.
After finding everything exactly as she expected, she moved into the front room, where the foals had cleaned up quickly and vacated for parts unknown.
She cast the spell again, and the room looked much the same; whizzing lines and bursts of her magic, streaks of dragon fire where Spike had started the fire or sent letters, and the background of orange and brown. There were a few sparks of mint green in here where Sweetie must have tried to use magic to cast out the ghosts. But once again, everything seemed normal, even over the desk where the ink pot had moved.
Twilight considered stopping, but she had told Spike she’d check the whole house, so she flew upstairs to the bedrooms.
Casting the spell in the room she shared with Applejack, she was actually surprised. She had expected the earth pony magic to be thinner up here; farther from the source, and in a newly added part of the building. Instead it seemed thicker, a fog that made it hard to see even her own magic. Squinting at the room, she theorized that maybe it was because Applejack slept here. That didn’t seem likely, but it was the best she could come up with on the spot. She decided to test it by moving to Spike’s bedroom.
But Spike’s room was just the same. The traces of his flame and Twilight’s magic were barely visible through the fog of earth pony magic. Twilight landed, carefully avoiding her bad hoof, and just stared at the strange magical residue.
Why would earth pony magic be so strong on the second story of her house? The barn hadn’t even had a second story, just a small hay loft that had been unsafe for years. AJ’s magic wasn’t strong enough to cause this… she’d be surprised if the whole Apple family could cause magic this thick. She desperately wanted to pace while she thought about this, but limping wasn’t exactly the same as pacing, so she rose into the air and flapped up and down the hallway a few times.
On her third pass, she noticed the door to the attic. That was the logical next step. If the magic was getting thicker higher in the house, the attic should be full of magic. If it wasn’t, that would narrow her focus to the second floor and she could start looking there. Twilight grinned, glad that she had something weird will inevitably come up time scheduled for today.
She opened the door to the attic and flew up the stairs. As she approached the less insulated top floor, the air was colder and she felt a shiver up her spine. The room was dimly lit, and the low ceiling gave a claustrophobic feel to the room, even though it ran the length of the house and was more or less empty since they just moved in. There were only a few boxes full of things that didn’t really fit anywhere else, which were taking up space in a corner, and Applejack’s desk that she didn’t really need but didn’t want to part with. Twilight eyed the desk, wondering if the heirloom was somehow enchanted. She considered what kind of enchantment of earth pony magic somepony might use on a—
Twilight gasped and jumped at a sound from behind her. She turned, horn glowing, only to see Owlowiscious land at the top of the stairs. Relaxing, she shook her head with a wry smile. All she had to do was check the room for magic, and probably everything would be easily explained. Twilight looked back to the desk as she cast the spell.
She was glad, because as the room filled with a dense fog of earth pony magic, something in her peripheral vision flashed blindingly. Squinting, she carefully looked to see the roof beam glowing orange and brown, like a bright magical ember with golden symbols etched into it.
Twilight quickly dropped the spell and her eyes went wide. The solid piece of wood returned to its normal color and texture, the dull brown one would expect of a piece of an old barn. She carefully stepped closer and examined it.
The wood was roughly cut, hewn by an axe, but where she had seen the glowing symbols she found traces of etchings. They were nothing she recognized, whether because of age or because earth pony magic was admittedly a weak point in her studies. Given the massive amount of earth pony magic she seemed to be living under, she was beginning to regret that.
She was beginning to regret coming up here, in fact. Something was wrong. She glanced around, and everything seemed normal… exactly as it had been when she first came up, at least. She bit her lip, unable to think of anything else to do right now but leave. So she did that, gladly.
She flew down both sets of stairs to the front room and started gathering books, anything she had that might mention earth pony magic, and a few on farming and architecture, as well. Making a pile next to her pillow, she decided she needed some nice, warm tea to go with her reading. Knowing that magic was upstairs, and not knowing what it did, made the idea of sitting unappealing. Twilight flew into the kitchen, put on a pot of tea, and waited.
Whatever that magic was, could it be doing those things? Well, yes, that was powerful magic. It could easily move an ink pot or open a door and toss out a set of boots. The better question was why would it do those things? Did it have a will? Was it set to do something? It seemed more than a little odd that somepony had used some kind of magical ritual to put a pranking spell on the house, or on a barn.
Besides, Applejack’s family had used the barn for years. Sure, by the time she and AJ settled on it for their house, it had fallen into disrepair. But there were no family stories of strange goings on or curses. And if there was one thing the Apples had plenty of, besides fruit, it was family stories.
Twilight went over what she knew of the history of the place… it was built about eighty years ago, for the first regular apple harvest. The site of the first farmhouse built wasn’t far from here, a tiny place where Granny Smith had shared a room with several cousins, but that was abandoned and torn down when Granny Smith married and built the new house on the top of the hill. The barn was still in use when AJ and Mac were children, but they stopped using it as it deteriorated. New barns had been built by then and they had plenty of room for the apples elsewhere, and the warped boards and weather damage were making this place a never ending battle against small animals trying to get to the crops.
Twilight was startled by the whistle of the tea kettle. She took a breath to steady herself and poured herself a mug of tea, then carefully carried it back to the fireplace. Even landing on the pillows next to her books, ready to tuck in for a study session, Twilight couldn’t keep her wings from ruffling and twitching. She opened the books and scanned the tables of contents and indexes, but found it hard to focus on the information she was reading. Delving into any one book seemed impossible, so she flipped from book to book, finding nothing important. Even a section on magical construction spells didn’t seem to note anything like the runes she’d seen.
She was interrupted, or she would have been if she didn’t keep interrupting herself, when she heard the front door open. Glancing up quickly, she saw it was only AJ.
“Sorry to bother ya’, don’t mind me. Just grabbin’ my lasso,” Applejack said as she hurried through the room.
But Twilight was clearly bothered, and even if this wasn’t Applejack’s fault, it occurred to her that AJ must know something about this. And she’d never even mentioned it to her wife.
“Applejack, why is there a ridiculously magical beam holding up my roof?” Twilight snapped.
“Uh… I dunno? There is?” Applejack stopped just before climbing the stairs. “What’re you talkin’ bout, sugarcube?”
Twilight rose from her pillow and flew over to Applejack, eyes narrowed. “I checked the house for magical signatures today, to see if I could figure out what’s been causing all of the weird stuff that’s been going on. When I got to the attic, it nearly blinded me! The roof beam has something carved into it. It's carrying some very strong magic, Applejack, and I would like an explanation!”
Applejack’s stared in confusion. “I really dunno! My— my family built this place, and fixed it up ourselves! We didn’t have no unicorns helpin’ or nothin’!”
“It’s earth pony magic,” Twilight pointed out.
“Could it be left over from the family? I really got no idea, Twilight. We didn’t do nothin’ magic to the barn, you got my word,” Applejack said, looking Twilight right in the eye and raising a hoof to brush her scowling cheek.
Twilight’s anger melted. “I know. I’m sorry, AJ. I just… I was surprised. And I can’t find anything about what it is, or what the symbols carved on it mean. I know you would have told me if it was something you did, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” She hugged Applejack tight. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Applejack said, hugging back. “It’s okay, no harm done. You’re just awful edgy.”
“Whatever that is up there… I don’t like it. I don’t know what it is, maybe when I find out it’ll be okay.” Twilight smiled nervously. “I’m going to Canterlot this weekend. Maybe I can find something in the library there.”
Applejack held Twilight, and thought for a moment. “Twilight, sugar, you said there’s some carvin’s on it?”
Twilight nodded.
“So… how ‘bout if we ask Granny Smith? She watched this place get built the first time, so she’d know if folks carved somethin’ magic into it,” Applejack suggested.
Twilight gasped. “You’re a genius, AJ!”
“I knew ya’ kept me ‘round for somethin’.” Applejack smirked.
“Is she awake? Let’s go right now!” Twilight started to fly to the door without a second thought.
“I reckon she won’t mind wakin’ up to tell us a bit of history.” Applejack grinned, right behind her.
***
A little while later they were up at the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse. They had woken Granny Smith, helped her find her teeth, and brought her some tea, and soon Applejack and Twilight were settled in on the couch as Granny sat smiling in her rocking chair.
“Y’all needed to know somethin’ ‘bout the history of the place, eh?” Granny said, raising her eyebrows. “‘Bout time, too. A pony oughta know her history, or ‘fore ya’ know it she’s gone and got married with all them funny soundin’ words rather than a proper weddin’.”
Twilight and Applejack exchanged subtle smirks, neither had won the bit they had riding on when Granny would let them forget that they’d had a unicorn wedding ceremony. But despite that bump, and a few small misunderstandings, Granny had accepted Twilight into the family with open forelegs.
“Well now, that’s what Princess Celestia was used to. I reckon that however Princess Celestia says we’re married, it oughta work just as well,” Applejack said with a chuckle.
“I suppose so,” Granny said with a smile. “Now… what did you young’uns need to know again?”
Twilight smiled. “We were wondering if you knew about some carvings on the roof beam of the old barn. They seem to date to when it was built.”
“The ol’ barn, ya’ say?” Granny asked, leaning back in her chair.
“Yes, Granny,” Twilight confirmed.
She nodded. “Ya’ know we built it ourselves, with our own hooves.”
“Yup,” Applejack said. “Right after the first real apple harvest.”
Grammy smiled. “That was a bumper crop! Ya’ know, even after the zap apples, we had some neigh-sayers who didn’t think this was land for apples. But that crop, let me tell you gals, after that they clammed up faster than a politician who got caught. Yes, it was a fine crop of apples we had that year, and every year since. Why, I remember—”
“The, uh, carvings, Granny?” Twilight asked, still smiling sweetly.
“That’s what I’m tellin’ ya’ ‘bout, girly,” Granny said. “Now, where was I?”
“That first year we had a good crop,” Applejack reminded her.
“Right! We had a fine crop that year, and so we decided we’d be stayin’. We knew the land was gonna take care’a us, and we surely planned to take care’a the land. And so we built the old barn. ‘Cause we had so many apples, ya’ see, and we needed a fine place to put them. And that barn was a good, strong one. Built to last, that was. Why, when Applejack told me y’all were gonna turn it into a house, I knew that was a right good idea, because that’s a sturdy barn, and I told her so. Didn’t I, Applejack?”
“Ya’ sure did, Granny,” Applejack agreed.
“Yes, it’s a very strong building, but what about the carvings?” Twilight was leaning forward, hanging onto every word in case it contained the sought after information. But there were a lot of words.
“I’ma gettin’ there,” Granny assured her. “You city ponies always try to rush a story. This here’s a learnin’ experience, child. Why, in my day, if an old pony was tellin’ a story, everypony gathered ‘round to listen. ‘Course, there were no books ‘round, so that was the only way to find out anythin’. And sometimes they just made stuff up, like I remember a time my Auntie Seedlin’ told us that Princess Celestia gave us this land ‘cause she thought my pappy was so handsome… not that my pappy weren’t handsome, he was a fine lookin’ stallion, but a bit on the gangly side. Not like my husband, now there was a stallion built like a barn. He’da barely fit in the old farm house, which was where we were livin’ durin’ that first harvest.”
“Gra—” Twilight started, but Applejack’s hoof clapped over her mouth. She shot a look at Applejack, who just motioned to Granny. Granny was lost at some point in history and didn’t notice the exchange, continuing her winding tale.
“Of course, since we was livin’ there durin’ our first harvest, we couldn’t homestead the house properly. The land was ours, free and clear, so of course we were gonna homestead it when we knew we were stayin’. It ain’t right to homestead a place ya’ ain’t gonna stay, it’s a promise with the land, and if ya’ up and leave that’s breakin’ a promise. No, the Apples didn’t homestead this place ‘til we knew it was where we were stayin’. Lucky we needed that barn, so we did the homesteadin’ on that. Carved the roof beam with the ol’ promises, and built that barn up right. It’s a strong barn, ya’ know. Why, when Applejack told me—”
“So the carvings are from some kind of ritual?” Twilight asked, unable to help herself. “Homesteading?”
“That’s what I just said, child,” Granny nodded.
Twilight smiled, feeling like she was finally getting somewhere.“What is homesteading for? You said it was a promise to the land?”
“Well, it’s for luck. You make a promise to care for the land, and the land’ll care for you,” Granny said plainly.
“It seems to be a very strong magic, you know. It’s still there, and really powerful,” Twilight pointed out.
Granny chuckled. “‘Course it’s powerful! What good is luck that don’t hang ‘round?”
“How did you know about homesteadin’, Granny?” Applejack asked. “I mean, how did ponies know to do it.”
“Oh, it’s just passed down.” She waved a hoof. “When a pony sets off for new parts, another pony’ll tell them how to do it. We all been settled here so long there’s been no need, but I been meanin’ to tell Apple Bloom one of these days, when she figures out what she’s for. It’s a good thing for a pony who builds to know ‘bout.”
“Can you tell me?” Twilight bit her lip. This information might be just what she needed.
Granny raised an eyebrow and looked Twilight up and down, then smiled. “Well now, sure I could. This here’s earth pony magic, but I reckon a princess oughta know as much ‘bout that as anything else — ‘specially when she’s part of an earth pony family. You take a good strong board, and you carve it with these symbols.” Granny motioned to Applejack, who quickly retrieved a pencil and a piece of paper.
Granny took the pencil in her mouth and paused a moment, thinking. She drew the symbols Twilight had seen glowing in the attic, before spitting out the pencil and going on, “Then ya’ lay the board on the ground overnight, and everypony stands watch around it. That’s to keep other ponies away, only earth ponies can touch it once it’s been carved. After that, ya’ use it in a good, strong buildin’, one that’s made with care. Then the earth magic will keep the whole claim strong, long after the ponies that homesteaded are passed on.”
Twilight nodded, and stared at the symbols. Despite seeing them more clearly, they were still unfamiliar. She ran over the facts, and found herself muttering under her breath, “So, it absorbs magic from the earth, and magic from the ponies guarding it, and the symbols must both anchor and magnify. And then the magic is released for… luck? That’s not a quantifiable magical effect.”
“What in tarnation is she talkin’ ‘bout?” Granny asked Applejack.
Applejack chuckled. “Can’t rightly say, Granny. But any second now she’s gonna look up and say somethin’ smart. Or else she’s gonna say she—”
“I need to do more research!” Twilight announced.
“Yeah, that.” Applejack smirked. “Well, now she’s talkin’ ‘bout readin’ more books! So, thanks for your help, Granny.”
“Yes, thank you so much Granny Smith! You’ve given me a lot to think about!” Twilight rose into the air and flew over, giving her grandmother-in-law a kiss on her wrinkled cheek. Applejack rose and did the same.
“Anytime, you gals,” Granny said happily, as both girls wrapped up for their walk back home.
The sun was still in the sky as Twilight and Applejack made their way back to their house, so they had a clear view of the farm as they walked. In the distance, Spike and Apple Bloom were sledding on what looked to Twilight like a terrifyingly steep hill, with Winona chasing after them. Not much farther, after cresting another small hill, their home came into view. The yard looked peaceful, but the door to the house stood ajar. They both stopped and exchanged worried glances.
“The, er, wind?” Applejack suggested unconvincingly.
“Well, at least I’m wearing my boots now, so I know I won’t have to thaw them out,” Twilight said with a sigh.
“For magic that’s supposed to be lucky, this is awful annoyin’, if that’s what’s behind all this,” Applejack pointed out as the two started down the hill.
Twilight nodded, “Well, to be honest, I still have no idea what this magic actually does. ‘Luck’ isn’t really an effect magic can have… it could make the land more fertile, or attract money, or make ponies more healthy… basically, something specific. So whatever that spell does, it’s not exactly luck.” Twilight paused, and added. “And I don’t even know if our strange happenings have been because of this magic. But, if they aren’t, then there’s a perfectly mundane explanation. There were no other magical effects in the house.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it all out. Just as soon as you get some time to your books.”
As they neared the front door, Twilight got the same uneasy feeling she had in the attic. She wanted to hold back behind AJ; she had no idea what they might find inside, or who might be there, but this feeling made her want to hide from it. But she knew that was silly, this was her house, and whatever was inside it was as much her job to find out as it was Applejack’s. With a flap of her wings, she entered the house first.
She froze and felt her heart stop, as she took in the utter destruction of the beautiful room.
The front room had been torn apart. Books littered the floor, carelessly tossed from the shelves. Hearth’s Warming decorations had been torn down and scattered around the room. Her desk had been swept clear and she could see spilled ink pots laying among the books. The mantle was also empty, and on the floor in front of the fireplace shards of crystal and ceramic were all that remained of her Hearth’s Warming cave.
Twilight tried to speak, but all that came out was a strangled, pathetic cry.
She felt a foreleg softly and gently wrap around her from behind. Applejack turned her around and pulled her close.
“Twilight, I— It’s gonna be okay,” Applejack managed to say, clearly just as shaken. “It’s gonna be okay, sugarcube. It’s— it’s probably not as bad as it looks.”
Twilight swallowed, fighting back tears as she buried her face in Applejack’s shoulder. “I— I know. It’s just messy. And some— things are broken. We’re okay. And— where’s Spike?!”
“He’s fine. We passed him sleddin’ with Apple Bloom. I think it’s best he stays up the farmhouse tonight… maybe we oughta, too.”
“No. No, I have to get this cleaned up.” She turned back to the room, not even sure where to start.
“Okay, well… lemme check the rest of the house, first. Then I’ll come help.”
Twilight nodded, and considered asking if she could go with Applejack. This room was full of the same feeling as the attic. It was the feeling that she shouldn’t be here; she wasn’t welcome in her own house.
“You gonna be okay for a few minutes?” Applejack looked her in the eye, clearly as unsure about leaving her as Twilight was of being alone.
Twilight took a deep breath. “I’ll be fine. It’s only things. And like you said, I’m sure it’s not that bad.” It wasn’t that bad. It couldn’t be. This feeling was just nerves and disappointment, and the sooner she got this cleaned up, the sooner she’d feel normal again.
Applejack nodded, and carefully stepped through the wreckage. As she went into the kitchen, Twilight took a few shaky breaths and looked around.
She lifted a book with her magic and brought it to her. The spine was cracked, but Twilight just bit her lip. If a few battered books and a broken ornament were the worst of this, she could handle it.
She carefully placed the book on a shelf and lifted another. This time, removing the book revealed the broken remains of the glass snowpony Shining Armor had given her when she was just a foal. Tears came to her eyes, and while she couldn’t fight them back this time she quickly sniffed and wiped them away with her hoof. Setting the book aside, she carefully gathered the pieces of the snowpony and set them on her desk. Maybe it could be repaired. When things were safe.
Her face scrunched up, fighting something other than tears this time. When things were safe… things were supposed to be safe. This was her own home, this was where she was supposed to be safe! Things like this didn’t happen to ponies’ homes. What kind of magic was this? It had to be magic, nopony in Ponyville would do something like this. She couldn’t even think that less friendly ponies she had met around Equestria would do something like this. But why would magic that was supposed to be lucky destroy her home?
She sighed and calmed herself. She would find out, and she would fix it. She was a princess after all, and one of the brightest magical minds in Equestria. This was magic, and she could find the answers.
Picking up a shelf’s worth of books in her magic, she glanced at them all. Two or three had pages ripped, or covers falling off. She set those aside on one shelf to go through later, and returned the whole books to their shelves. Over and over she repeated the process. At some point, Applejack returned and started cleaning up the ink pots and gathering the evergreen boughs into a pile. They didn’t talk, Twilight didn’t know what to say without screaming or crying.
Twilight didn’t know how long it was before she heard Applejack give something that sounded like a cough. She looked up, and saw AJ by the fireplace, holding something and staring at it. Applejack made the same strange noise again, and Twilight saw her bite her lip hard. Applejack was trying not to cry.
Twilight flew over and saw what she was holding, a frame of shattered glass. The plaque she made for her mother. Twilight landed, and silently wrapped her wings around her wife.
“‘S okay.” Applejack swallowed hard. “It’s just the frame. The sewin’s probably fine… or, well, couldn’t get no worse than when I made it.” She gave a shaky laugh.
“This isn’t fair,” Twilight whispered.
“I know it ain’t. I’m sorry. Just— just don’t leave me, Twilight,” Applejack whispered.
The words hit Twilight like a buck to the chest. “Leave you?! Why would I leave you?”
“This is all my fault,” Applejack said, burying her face in Twilight’s mane. “I wanted to make you so happy, Twilight. I— I love this farm, and I thought you could love it, and I know a farm’s no place for a princess, but I figured we could make it a place for you. I didn’t know… I still don’t know what this is, or how to protect ya’, and I know you’re gonna think this is my fault. Maybe it is, I dunno, but all I know is I love ya’, and if you wanna go someplace else, even someplace far away, I wanna go too.”
“Applejack, the thought didn’t even cross my mind! This is not your fault, and it’s not going to chase me away! I do love Sweet Apple Acres, and I love you. And this is my home, no magic is going to keep me from it. I promise, I’m going to fight this with all the magic I have.” Twilight rested the tip of her horn on Applejack’s forehead and smiled. “And that’s a lot of magic.”
The two fell into a long, deep kiss. As they held each other, Twilight felt any uncertainty she might have had slip away. She relaxed against Applejack, and felt Applejack relaxing in turn. Twilight knew that things would be okay. She would find a way to make them okay.