//------------------------------// // 10 – Quests // Story: Applied Starlight // by Unknownlight //------------------------------// The dirt path led her to a large patch of farmland. The vast majority of the farmland was covered in identical, very boring-looking trees that lacked any sort of decoration, whether it be flower of fruit. The regions of farmland not covered in trees were either bare or consisted of yet more windows into the sky-glass beneath them. She would bet everything she had that the forest of trees before her were all apple trees, but lacking the fruit. Life liked to play games with her like that. (And now she had Pinkie playing games with her as well. Oh, what joy. If this kept up, she would soon be little more than a playing piece in a bunch of other people’s games.) So, she had to figure out why the trees weren’t growing apples. Which may be difficult, since, you know, she knew absolutely nothing about apple farming. … Oh! Of course! She made Pinkie in the first place because she didn’t know how to bake. What was stopping her from making an apple farmer to tell her what to do? (Or, better yet, do it all themselves?) Yes, that was a great idea! I know that this is exactly what Pinkie wants me to do. Why am I purposefully letting her push me around like this? Why am I letting you push me around like this? Her worries were quickly forgotten. She focused; the stars swirled under the earth of the farmland; bright white light formed the shape of a pony before her; the shape dimmed and revealed a freckled orange-furred blonde-maned mare before her, wearing both a smile and a cowboy hat. She should have brought Pinkie along to set off fireworks and stuff whenever she did this. Creating life was so undramatic otherwise. “Howdy, Twi! What brings ya ’round these parts?” What brings me here? “What do you mean?” The orange pony grinned. “Well, Ah’m just used to ya always being cooped up reading a book or something this time a’ day. Though Ah’m always happy to see ya, of course.” “Applejack’s a waitin’!” Was Pinkie referring to this girl? “Applejack?” “Yeah?” Oh, good. She looked toward the apple trees again, confirming they were still bare before asking her next question. “You take care of the apples here, right?” Applejack gave her a strange look, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Uh, yes.” “How come the apple situation here seems so… not happening?” she asked as she gestured to the bare apple trees nearby. Applejack sighed and turned away, looking down and scraping the ground with a hoof. “We’ve had… a bad season. Everything that coulda went wrong… uh, did. Ah think we have enough money to get by until next year’s crops, but Ah’ve still been feeling mighty worried. Not even Granny Smith can remember havin’ an apple season this bad.” Well, this put a damper on the idea of getting the apples for Pinkie’s apple pie here. “Why’s it so bad this year? What what wrong?” The farmer sighed again. “Well, you know. There was the Cloudsdale drought and all, and apparently they got that all cleared up but Ah sure haven’t seen any rain clouds comin’ this way!” she said, gesturing angrily at the beautifully clear sunset-sky. “Ah don’t know what Rainbow Dash is doing, but whatever it is it ain’t resultin’ in any rain!” A mental checklist began to form. For some reason the act was comforting to her. 1. Figure out a way to get the weather working. “But as bad as the drought’s been, that’s not the only problem! What few apples we’ve grown have been eaten by legions of varmints. We’ve never had to deal with controlling the pests ’cause Fluttershy’s always taken care of ’em, but clearly that hasn’t been working out too well recently. Ah’m sure she’s having troubles of her own trying to feed all her animals with the drought and all, but still…” She trailed off. 2. Deal with the animals and this “Fluttershy” girl. Applejack was looking more and more depressed as she continued talking about her farm’s failure. “An’ not even that’s the end of it. Not even the sun seems to be on our side anymore…” That caught her attention. “What do you mean?” The farmer sighed. “Well… Ah’ve sure you’ve noticed how cold it’s been recently. But it’s not just that we’ve hit a cold snap, it’s like the sun itself isn’t as strong as it used to be. Ah haven’t felt the warmth of a noonday sun for a long time now. An’ I know my apples, and Ah can tell they haven’t been get the sunlight they need to grow… Ah know it sounds crazy, sayin’ the sun ain’t as strong as it used to be, but that’s really how Ah feel…” The mare frowned and looked away. She looked toward the setting sun, half-hidden below the sky of inky glass. She was confused by Applejack’s claim. “Well… yeah it hasn’t felt as strong. It’s been twilight for months now. That doesn’t mean the sun itself is less powerful.” Applejack looked at her oddly. “Uh, what do ya mean by that, Twi?” She looked oddly right back at Applejack. “What do you mean, ‘what do I mean?’ ” She waved a hoof in the direction of the sun. “You know, the sun there, in the middle of sunset. It hasn’t moved from that position in months.” Applejack looked toward the horizon, then looked up at the sky, then tilted her head back down and looked straight into the eyes of the pony in front of her. “Sugarcube… it’s mid-afternoon.” She didn’t understand, not at first. But before long a theory bubbled its way up to the forefront of her mind. She noticed Applejack staring at her with worry as she began to dig a hole in the dirt in front of the mare. Before long she had dug through the layer of earth and hit the sky-glass beneath it, clearly apparent both by the shining starlight pouring out of the ground and by the light ache she now felt in her hoof when her eager digging had resulted in accidentally banging her hoof into the glass. “Applejack, what is this?” she asked, pointing at the glass. Applejack looked apprehensive about answering, but eventually did so anyway. “It’s dirt, Twilight.” “Are you sure about that? Can you touch it and make sure?” Applejack stared, confusion and worry on her face. “…Why?” “Humor me.” Applejack sighed lightly. She stepped forward and placed a hoof in the hole, tapping the bottom a few times. A clink sound punctuated each tap of the glass. “It’s dirt, Twi.” Excellent! She made a hypothesis, and it was confirmed by experiment. Maybe she was a scientist after all! “You’re not like Pinkie Pie,” she announced proudly. “…No, Ah reckon I ain’t.” Applejack took a deep breath. “Twi… are you all right? You’re… Ah’m sorry, but yer not actin’ yourself. Ah know how stressed y’all can get when something’s bothering you. Ah’m here for you, y’know. You can always tell me anything if something’s wrong. You know that, right?” The worry in Applejack’s eyes almost made her feel guilty. She would have to be careful from now on when talking to ponies other than Pinkie Pie; she didn’t want to feel so self-conscious. “No, no, Applejack. Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine. Just haven’t slept for a while, that’s all.” Well that was true. She hadn’t bothered to sleep for a long time, just as she hadn’t bothered to eat. Then again, maybe it was a good idea to sleep sometime soon. After all, the only reason she was doing all this was to get apples for Pinkie’s apple pie. If she was starting to get hungry, it stood to reason she might start to get tired soon. “Maybe you should go home an’ get some rest then, Twi.” “Good idea! I’ll see you later then!” she said with fake cheer. “See you, Twi. Remember, Ah’m always here to help if you need me.” She left the farm as quickly as she could. Sticking around Applejack was affecting her conscience for reasons she didn’t understand, and she wanted to get away as soon as possible.