Twilight awoke in the morning to odd smells coming from in front of her, her eyes adjusting to the early morning light after a few moments and she stood, bringing a hoof to her eyes to rub them, “Applejack what are you doing…?” The farm pony looked over to her, Applejack having found a frying pan within one of Luna’s bags and was cooking a chunk of cactus over the small fire in front of her,
“Ah didn‘t wanna disturb ya to see what ya had in your bag fer food so I just took a chunk off that there cactus that Rainbow punched.” Twilight walked over to the fire, looking down at the cactus that had been somewhat shredded into smaller chunks before she looked up and around a bit,
“Well it smells kind of good though… where‘d Rainbow disappear to? I told her we were supposed to be able to see her at all times…” Applejack simply points up as she took the pan off of the fire,
“Actually she‘s just a bit above us on one of those clouds. Suppose even she‘d go crazy if she couldn‘t find some normalcy in all of this. Speaking of which…” Applejack said as she looked over to the unicorn, “How‘re you holding up Twilight? I‘m sure so much back to back has been hard on you. You okay?” Twilight went into a laying position and took a piece of cactus from the pan, inhaling the scent for a moment and examined it for spines before eating it,
“To be honest, if I were alone during this I probably would have lost it a long time ago. It hurt pretty bad losing Trixie so soon after our reunion but having Luna with me for so long really helped. I‘m really… grateful… that Discord gave me the ability to not have to continue on by myself but…” Twilight looked down with a sigh and stamped her hoof, “I hate that he‘s getting so much joy out of seeing us all suffering.” Rainbow Dash slid off of a small cloud above them, her wings steadily beating as she descended to the ground before her hooves touched down and she folded her wings laying next to Twilight and helping herself to a bit of cactus,
“So he‘s got full control of Canterlot and Ponyville now and he‘s remaining in the castle which is where I‘m guessing all of the other statues are.” Twilight nodded as she looked over to Rainbow Dash seeing the pegasus bringing a hoof to her own chin as she looks up, “So… if you could learn a spell to reverse the effects on them then we could save them?”
“We could, but they‘re under the power of the Elements of Harmony so we would need something with a stronger magic then them… which is what I‘m hoping the Quill of Eternity is able to have.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued to eat along with Twilight, the country pony tilting her hat a little as she looked over to the unicorn and tilted her head a bit,
“But Twilight somethin‘s been bugging me. The princess sent us after that feller Written Dreams so why are we so hell-bent on finding this quill? I know you said it‘s because he‘s lookin‘ for it but still… shouldn‘t our focus be on finding‘ him?” Twilight paused as she took in Applejack’s words of concern before she shook her head,
“I thought about that too and what I think is that the princess knew that initially I would think to only look for him, which I did but that led me to the trail of clues for the quill. Also Luna was the one who requested Trixie and I to go get the book from the tower room which I doubt she would have done if the quill itself wasn‘t what we really needed to find. Also I‘ve been thinking of one more thing… Written Dreams is also in this world of chaos and he‘s still looking for the quill. I have faith that if he wouldn‘t abandon his own quest for it then it must have the power to beat the elements and Discord.” Rainbow had her eyes closed as she tossed a piece of cactus into her mouth before slowly opening her eyes giving Twilight an odd look,
“So basically we‘re running on hope and faith.”
“Princess Celestia told me to find Written Dreams and Princess Luna told me to find the Quill of Eternity. And… I have nothing else to go on that can possibly overcome Discord‘s powers when he has the elements.” Both earth pony and pegasus were contented by Twilight’s explanation and Applejack stood a few minutes later after they had finished the cactus in the pan and she slid it back into the bag on her side,
“Alrighty so by Twilight‘s math we should be able to get most of the way there today if we run for about six hours out of the day.” Twilight smiled in response as she stood us dusting herself off a bit with her hoof before nodded to Applejack,
“Right, and we‘ll rest periodically along the way and by doing that we should be able to get to Appaloosa by around noon tomorrow.” A few more minutes passed, Applejack stamping out the fire before turning to the others with a nod, Rainbow hovering next to Twilight before the three of them began running, with the exception of Rainbow Dash who flew next to the two as they all continued across the dry landscape.
“So Rainbow I‘ve been wonderin‘ ‘bout somethin‘ from last night.” Applejack said as she looked past Twilight to the rainbow pegasus who seemed to pause for a moment before looking over to her with a wary gaze, “After Twilight mentioned that feller Written Dreams ya‘ll went all dreamy eyed. What was all that about?” Rainbow looked back ahead for a few moments before looking back to the farm pony and bringing one of her front hooves to her ear she gave Applejack an odd look,
“Sorry Applejack I can‘t really hear ya, wind in my ears ya know?”
“Ah said--!” Rainbow Dash soared up far above the two and continued flying along with them casually and Applejack cut herself off before sighing and looked over to Twilight hearing her giggle catching her gaze,
“You know the more you bug her about it the less willing she‘ll be to talk about it. But I‘ve got to say I‘m a bit curious myself.” Neither of the three had much to talk about during the time they ran, occasional chatting here or there but nothing exceptional.
Running for a good three hours the three slowed down, finding a semi-large alcove of rocks where they could rest out of the heat of the sun blazing above them. The inside of the cave but still fairly warm but as they walked a bit deeper it cooled down significantly. Applejack nudging Twilight before pointing a bit deeper into the cave, Twilight’s horn glowing and illuminating a small pond of water deep within the cave. They took a bit of time, filling up a few canteens before Rainbow Dash walked over to them and smiled a bit, “Anything I can do to help you guys?” Applejack turned to her as Twilight’s aura was covering the canteens and water, filling them rather quickly and the farm pony nodded to her,
“Sure thing Rainbow. Hows about ya get us a decent amount of cactus meat and put it in here.” Rainbow nodded with a salute as she took a small sealed container from Applejack and flew out of the cave leaving a brief trail of rainbow behind her as she did so. Applejack trotted a bit away from the water, looking at the cave around them curiously and laid her hoof on one of the walls, sliding it downwards slowly before letting it rest again on the ground, “Somethin‘s odd Twi. This cave looks hoof-made. Like the rocks were stacked up like this…” Applejack’s eyes shifted down for a moment before she looked over to Twilight seeing her sliding a canteen into her own bag before two floated over and slid into Applejack’s, “Twi, come over here for a sec.” Twilight gave her a quizzical look, walking over to her and tilted her head, watching as the farm pony started moving few of the smaller rocks out of the way with her nose and hoof,
“Applejack what are you doing…?” Applejack pushed a final rock out of the way and brought her hoof up, holding an ancient-looking scroll in her hoof. Twilight’s eyes widened greatly as she stared at it, her horn raising the scroll from her friend’s hoof over to her, “This is amazing, it must be nearly a thousand years old or maybe even older!” Applejack followed Twilight to the edge of the cave where the unicorn used her magic to very slowly unfurl the scroll, “Careful… careful…” Applejack simply watched silently, seeing Rainbow Dash fly back over to them and the pegasus walked over to the two, tilting her head as she moved behind Twilight seeing the unicorn’s eyes sliding back and forth very slowly, “Rainbow can you get a quill and parchment from my bag and copy down everything I read from this?” Rainbow Dash did as instructed, taking a quill and a small ink well from Twilight’s bag along with a roll of parchment, rolling a bit out and laid down before looking up at Twilight,
“Ready!” Twilight nodded before returning her gaze to the top of the scroll and began reading, this time, aloud for the two of them.
February 12th, unreadable year,
It saddens me that I feel as though I must make this entire journey alone. Companionship would, as I see it, keep my strength from waning as I feel it has been during my travels. There is still much life left in these old bones though and because the responsibilities have been passed to me by the passing of my master I feel that the rest I shall find once I am finished will be the truest of rewards. Perhaps I will catalog this journey… no I suppose I should not given that these entries could be considered a trail in finding the location of the quill. I wish I could describe the scene in front of me as I lay at the edge of this massive cave. It is truly a magnificent sight to behold.
Right then. My hooves are tired as I’ve just finished both a very large carving and descending this mountain and as I look up at it I feel a sense of accomplishment, like I am truly doing something I feel I must.
February 15th, no year written,
Three days since my first entry I have made my way into this harsh and dry plain, though water is scarce I have manage to construct myself a shelter against the heat. There is even a small amount of water here as well, leading me to think there may be an underground spring somewhere around here. I mustn’t wait too long as I fear my body will want me to remain here for longer then
Sorry for cutting off there. I noticed one of the herds of buffalo running across the plains off in the distance, truly a beautiful sight to behold although I wish I could have been closer. Soon, body, soon you will be able to rest but not till the quill is safe from those who would abuse its power.
Perhaps I shall try my hoof once again at carving given how beautifully my previous works have come out although I am unsure what to do. As of now I feel like I may be making this trail too easy to follow although my first clue seemed to get a few odd looks from the sisters themselves. If neither of them would be able to work it out then perhaps I am thinking too hard on the matter.
I suppose I should pack up as I’ve been here for a few hours already and the sun has set. Maybe I should simply spend the night here but traveling through that sunlight is so hard on my body. I shall travel through the night and rest during the day. That seems like it may be the better decision.
I shall be writing again soon when I find the urge.
“Did you get all of that Rainbow?” The pegasus paused for a moment as her eyes scanned over the last few lines she had written before she looked up at Twilight and nodded to her. Twilight looked over and smiled lightly as she examined what Rainbow Dash had written then blinks as she looks back at the scroll seeing the ancient parchment disintegrate in the aura of her magic,
“So what exactly was that, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said as Twilight rolled up the scroll Rainbow Dash had written on before cutting off the access with her magic and slid it into her bag,
“That was a diary entry written by the very pony who set up all of the clues we are now following. I‘m truly surprised that it was able to withstand this environment for as long as it did although I sensed a bit of magical properties in the parchment itself so perhaps that explains it.” Applejack smiled lightly at hearing Twilight’s words and tilted her head slightly,
“Ya think there might be more of them diary entries around?” Twilight looks back to her with an unsure look, shaking her head slowly before looking towards the mouth of the cave,
“I really doubt it but it‘s possible. I think that he may have just lost this one and it was pure luck that we happened to find it. But the diary entries would be invaluable in adding to the legend of the quill so if we manage to find any more then we need to make sure we copy them down immediately.” Twilight gave a bit of a happy trot as she turned back to her friends, “Oh this is so exciting! I really want to read the rest of that pony‘s diary now!” Rainbow Dash let out a laugh as the three of them walked to the mouth of the cave and she looked over to the unicorn,
“We‘ll all keep our eyes open along the way but don‘t get disappointed if we don‘t find them Twilight.” Twilight only gave her a happy smile before the three of them left the cave and started running across the savanna once again. They spent the rest of the day running, spending an hour here or there to rest but as the sun started to set the three set their sites on Appaloosa in the distance, deciding to get into the western town before sundown.
The three mares trotted into town a few minutes later, Twilight looking from left to right slowly as she and her friends examined the buildings, “Appaloosa…” The three said in unison. The town itself was relatively unchanged although every building looked as though it was made from apples. Applejack let out a bit of a sigh as she looked around and approached one of the houses, placing her hoof against it for a moment before looking back to her friends and nodding,
“It‘s apple alright. That‘s no s‘bad.” Twilight slowly nodded to her but the small unicorn continued scanning the area silently,
“It‘s not but something is bothering me about this place… where are all the ponies…?”
“Pretty sure I can answer that Twilight, cousin Applejack, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight turned and saw Braeburn as Applejack ran over and embraced him closely, the colt unchanged in appearance as he hugged Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash walking over to him and they looked at him curiously before Applejack let him go, Braeburn sighing as he looks down, “Things have been… bad since all of this chaos started happening. We received a letter from the princess when it started telling us that it was only temporary but… I‘m sure you three know more then I do.” Twilight stepped forward as she nodded to Braeburn in response,
“Me and the girls all got the Elements of Harmony and confronted Discord but… things went badly… really badly.” Braeburn took this in and paused before shaking his head,
“You don‘t need to go into details. I can tell it was a horrible experience by the look on your face but things haven‘t been much better here either you see… I‘m the last one left.” Braeburn took the three mares into the inn, giving them each some apples to eat as he sat down, looking across at them all as he sighed sadly, “To be honest I don‘t know what has happened to them all. After this happened to the town we resumed life normally but after a few days the buffalo came into town and were able to take over in just a matter of hours because of how much we trusted them… something was off about them though, it was like their color had drained and they were all grey.”
“Why did they leave you here?” Braeburn gave another sad sigh as he shook his head,
“They didn‘t leave me here. There were a few ponies I was doing my best to hide from the buffalo, mares and fillies while the fighting was going on but when one of the buffalo rammed into the building we were in, I was buried under a huge pile of wood and knocked out. When I woke up everyone was gone and it was quiet… I haven‘t dared leave the town to go search for them but what‘s brought the three of you here? Seems really far out of your way.” Braeburn turned his head to Twilight expecting her to give a response but Applejack piped up instead and the colt turned to her,
“We‘re actually here ‘cause we need to be findin‘ somethin‘ in the middle of the buffalo‘s stampedin‘ grounds.” Braeburn paused as he simply stared at Applejack for a few moments,
“Well you three know that the apple orchard was build right on top of the stampedin‘ grounds so whatever you‘re looking for should be in the middle of the trail that runs through the middle of it. I would suggest heading out to get it either in an hour or so or in the early morning when the buffalo are asleep. They haven‘t come back into town since that day so you should all be safe here.” Rainbow Dash was silent, staring out the window next to them with a contemplative look on her fact as she listened to Braeburn and the girl’s words, Twilight looking from Applejack to Rainbow Dash before looking back to Braeburn,
“I think we‘ll stay here and rest for a few hours before we do anything.”
“Then I‘ll wake ya‘ll up then. There‘s beds upstairs ya‘ll can use if ya wanna sleep. Also there‘s a lot of supplies I can give ya when you get ready to leave Appaloosa after you‘ve all found what you‘re lookin‘ for.” Twilight sat down with Braeburn, telling him about what they had been through and about their quest for the Quill of Eternity. Applejack retired upstairs and promptly fell asleep, followed by Twilight once she had finished talking with Braeburn. Rainbow Dash had left during the story, flying away from the town and up to the top of the cliffs that overlooked the stampeding grounds,
“Strongheart‘s always been a voice of reason… no way she‘d let things get this bad.”