//------------------------------//
// Arc I: The Village 
// Story: A Darkened Land 
// by Soundslikeponies 
//------------------------------//

Twilight and Rainbow Dash came across a sign on the forest path. Made of aged oak, it was littered with scratches, with most of the letters carved into it obscured by them. Where it looked like it had once said WELCOME TO, the only word still clear now was the name: PONYVILLE.

"Gee, seems charming enough," Dash said.

"Keep your weapon by your side," Twilight cautioned her. "We don’t know what to expect from this town’s inhabitants."

They continued down the trail past the sign. The woods lay in darkness around them, their leaves and branches blocking out the starlight and moonlight and leaving them guided solely by the light of Twilight’s magic.

"Are there a lot of settlements like this around?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Not many, no. Most of the remaining unicorns and earth ponies took refuge behind the Crystal Kingdom’s magic barrier. Those trapped south of the mountains have not fared so well. Of the settlements I’ve seen, most number ten or fewer."

"How many have you come across since travelling south of the mountains?" Rainbow Dash asked, peering at Twilight.

"Enough to have learned that staying in one for long is almost never a good idea," Twilight answered. "Ponies band together to survive, but numbers attract the darkened. It’s a bad idea to settle down in one area for too long."

Rainbow Dash stared at her hooves, a frown marring her lips. "How long usually before they have to abandon their homes?"

"Not long."

The trail lead them out of the forest to an open field with wheat grass shimmering silver under the moon’s rays. Up a hill ahead lay a farmhouse. The grey of aged wood bled through its original chipped and faded coat of red and white painted on years ago.

Twilight led as they made their way through the wheat fields to the farmhouse. They stopped on the dirt flat outside, tensed and glancing around. A pair of pitchforks sat on an empty hay cart by the house door. There wasn’t candlelight to be seen, nor any sound from within to be heard.

Rainbow Dash’s stance relaxed. "It looks abandoned. Should we poke around inside?"

Twilight nodded. "See if you can find yourself some food." As they walked inside, she glanced at the tools lying out in the open air. "It looks like whoever lived here left recently. They may have left behind some provisions they couldn’t take."

"I guess we should make sure it doesn’t go to waste," Rainbow Dash said with a cheeky grin.

They entered the farmhouse. Inside it was dark. The room’s only light came from between the cracks of a pair of boarded up windows. From it, they could see a wood counter lined with cupboards in a near corner. Spaced a short way from the counter was a dining table with a candle sitting on it. Twilight’s horn glowed as she lit the candle’s wick and brought more light into the room.

Rainbow Dash dove right into the cupboards. "I wonder if they have any jarred fruit, maybe some fruit leather—ooh, what if they have jams!" She let out a giddy chuckle, licking her lips as she flipped through empty cupboard after empty cupboard.

While Rainbow dug around for food, Twilight examined the room. Beside the candle were a pair of books. One looked like a fantasy book belonging to a foal, while the other seemed to be about cooking recipes. The fantasy book lay face down, saving what page the reader was on, yet its spine was unbroken.

"Behind you!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Twilight’s ears stood on end, her spine stiffening. She barely spun around in time to have the wind kicked out of her, a hoof planting itself firmly in her side. Her eyes clenched shut. The blow left her reeling, and she fell against the table, banging her head against its surface on her way to the floor.

She opened her eyes, blinking. The room swam all around her. She was faintly aware of her assailant standing overtop of her, pointing something long and sharp at her neck.

"What in tarnation do y’all think you’re doing rummaging through our cupboards?"

Twilight’s vision came back into focus. A pitchfork. It was a pitchfork that pointed at her neck. The room swam less. She glanced over to see Rainbow Dash being held against the floor by a massive red stallion. Her gaze drifted back to the pitchfork at her neck, and followed it to its owner. The pony who had her pinned was a mare, Twilight realized: a stranger with an orange coat and a cowpony hat.

"Don’t even think about usin’ your magic here, missy. That horn so much as glows, and you’re gonna find yourself with a new hole to breathe through." The mare inched her pitchfork towards Twilight’s neck. "Now, I believe I asked the two of you a question."

Twilight stared cross eyed at the tip of the pitchfork resting against her neck, swallowing, her lips held firmly shut.

"We were looking for food," Rainbow Dash managed to chew out, her face being pressed into the floor by the stallion’s hoof. "We didn’t think anypony was here!"

"Is that so?"

"I swear!" Rainbow Dash said as the stallion pushed her face into the floor harder.

"You think she’s lyin’?" the mare asked, never taking her eyes off Twilight.

The stallion snorted. "Eeyup."

"See, I can never tell whether a pegasus is lyin’ or not. They got coward’s blood runnin’ through their veins. Makes them natural born liars." The mare lifted Twilight’s chin with the tip of her pitchfork, its point scraping Twilight’s throat. "Now what would make a unicorn such as yourself want to keep such company?"

Twilight glared defiantly, her lips sealed shut. She glanced down at the weapon pointed at her neck. Between the prongs of the pitchfork was room enough for her head. It would keep the farm mare from killing her briefly—but briefly was all she needed.

"She’s just trying to help me find my friends!" Rainbow Dash shouted. The stallion pushed her into the floorboards harder, and she let out a cry of pain.

The mare on top of Twilight looked at Rainbow and sneered. "Now what did I tell you about lyin—"

Twilight forced her head forward in between the prongs of the pitchfork, escaping the pointed ends. The mare’s eyes widened as she started to pull the pitchfork back, but Twilight’s horn was already lit, and a great flash of fire burst from it.

The mare dropped her pitchfork, bringing her hooves up to shield her eyes as it fell to the side, away from Twilight’s neck. She stumbled away from the flame and fell over backwards.

Springing to her hooves, Twilight kicked the pitchfork across the floor and then pointed her glowing horn at the fallen mare.

Eyes wide, the mare stared up at her, making no sudden movements. The stallion, too, had given her his full attention, ignoring Rainbow Dash still pinned beneath his hooves.

Twilight glared at him, flaring her magic. "Release her or your friend will burn up in flames."

The stallion responded by immediately removing his hooves from Rainbow Dash at once, his eyes wide and terrified. Rainbow lay on the ground, alternating between coughing and gasping for air as she was finally able to breathe again.

The stallion moved away slowly, backing up until his rear bumped into the counter. He trembled, frightened as a mouse. "P-please don’t hurt her!"

Twilight looked back to the mare on the floor. She glared at the now-freed pegasus, and seemingly at the stallion for letting her go.

The glow surrounding Twilight’s horn faded. "Let’s go, Rainbow Dash."

The farm mare’s defiant glare vanished. She looked between Rainbow and Twilight with her brow knotted.

"Hold on," Rainbow Dash wheezed, one of her forehooves pressed against her chest. She turned to the mare that had assaulted Twilight. "Have you heard of any pegasi passing by here? I’m looking for a mare and a stallion wearing armor like mine."

The mare took off her hat, revealing a short, tousled blonde mane. She beat the dust out of her hat before putting it back on with a thin-lipped frown. "Afraid we haven’t seen any pegasi besides you in years. The last we saw was when a group of them raided the place that used to be our home." 

The stallion cast his eyes towards the ground as his companion spoke. His intimidating countenance had all but dropped. He shuffled his hooves nervously with his head hung, staring at the wood floor.

"This was only our first surface trip to the ground as a squad." Rainbow Dash stood, wobbling slightly. "We got split up a little over a cycle ago in the forest southeast of this village when a manticore attacked us."

The mare turned away from Rainbow Dash, her lips sealed tightly shut.

"Please," Rainbow Dash said, trying again. "I’m just trying to find my friends."

"So what?" the mare snapped. "Doesn’t it occur to you I might lie about seeing them, that I might lead you off someplace astray? I’ve got nothin’ but a fond dislike of you and your kind."

"Yeah, you could just make something up. Lead me on a wild goose chase." Rainbow Dash huffed. "But I still have to ask. If I don’t, I might never find them."

The mare folded her hooves in front of her chest. "You’re too darned honest for your own good, you know. That kind of honesty can get you killed here, maybe even worse." She chewed her lip, looking between Rainbow Dash and Twilight. After a moment spent examining them, she stood. "I’m Applejack," she said, finally. "This over here is my brother, Big Mac. I don’t know where your friends are, but I know of somepony who might."

Rainbow Dash let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you."

"Can’t believe I’m helpin’ a pegasus," Applejack mumbled. "Before, you said you came in here lookin’ for food, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I couldn’t ask—"

"If you’re about to refuse the offer, I might just take you up on it," Applejack interrupted. "It’d do you well to keep your mouth shut when gettin’ help, seeing as I’m sorely tempted not to give it."

She walked over to the cupboards beside Rainbow Dash. Reaching inside one, she moved a board aside, revealing a hidden compartment. "But if I went and did that, I suppose then I’d be no different than the pegasi cowerin’ up in their clouds."

She pulled her head out of the cupboard and handed Rainbow Dash a package wrapped with parchment and twine. After, she dove back in to retrieve a second parchment package, then two jars. "Fruit leather, staled bread, apple jam, and applesauce."

Rainbow Dash stared at the package in her hooves, then at the second one sitting next to a pair of jars on the counter. She wiped a spot of drool from her chin. "Wait, real apples? Oh man, we don’t get much fruit up in Cloudsdale."

"We don’t get much down here either. What little there takes hard work turnin’ into somethin’ edible," Applejack said. "The bread is dense. If you ration it well between the two of you, could last the pair of you a week, maybe two. That’s all we can spare. I give you this, and I don’t want to see the two of you ‘round this here farm again."

"We won’t disturb you again," Twilight said with a slight bow of her head. "Thank you for your help."

"I’ll try not to eat it all right away," Rainbow Dash said, grinning. "But no promises."

Applejack smirked for a second before quickly correcting her mouth back to a scowl. Shoving past Rainbow Dash, she walked towards the door. "Come on, I’ll show the two of you the way to Pinkie’s place." She paused to look over her shoulder at Big Mac. "Help Apple Bloom out of her hiding spot while I’m out. Let her know the danger’s gone and I’m just makin’ a round trip out to town."

Big Mac nodded. "Stay safe."

"I reckon if either of these two wanted to do me harm, the horned one over here would have already," Applejack said. "But I will."

Twilight and Rainbow followed her abreast, out of the farmhouse and into the open night air. They were led down a winding, overgrown trail opposite the side of the hill they came up. The wheat fields on either side of the trail were silent as the grave, their white ghostly stalks absent of insects or any other life. The sea of them leaned and rocked beneath a hollow wind.

The night seemed even more frigid here, out away from the forest’s shelter. It was hard to tell whether it truly was, or whether it was just the emptiness of the sky, the great expanse of stars above.

It wasn’t until they reached the bottom and the trail flattened out that they began to see houses. Their rooftops were what they saw first. Thatching, pale and white as the fields around them, sat atop the homes. As they drew closer still, it became apparent most of the houses had been long since abandoned. Many lay in near ruins—many more had broken down completely to rubbled heaps.

As they entered the town, a plain-colored mare with a white mane was there to greet them. "Applejack!" she said, walking over to them. "What brings you into town in the middle of the night?"

Applejack arched an eyebrow. "Not quite sure what you mean, Ms. Mayor Mare."

"Why, it should be sunrise any moment. You should go home and get some rest. Start early in the morning." Mayor Mare paused, taking notice of the two accompanying Applejack. "These two aren’t from around here—I should know, I am the Mayor after all."

"No, ma’am, they’re not," Applejack said, gritting her teeth.

"Are they tourists?"

Applejack sighed. She put on a fake smile. "Why yes, ma’am, yes they are. I was just showing them around our lovely, quaint little town." She cleared her throat. "If you could kindly let us get back to it, Ms. Mayor Mare? I’m sure somepony of your position has a lot to do."

"Why yes. Yes yes yes." Mayor Mare fidgeted. She turned and walked away, muttering loudly. "Always so much to do. So much. Paperwork, ceremonies, yes yes. Much to do."

The three of them watched her go until she had walked far out of earshot.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak once they had started walking again. "Uh, is there something wrong with her? Maybe a bit?"

Applejack wrinkled her nose. "Whaddya mean?"

"I mean she seems a bit… off, you know?"

"You may be right; anypony stuck believin’ in filly tales about the sun like that has got to have lost more than a fair share of their marbles. But so long as I’ve known her she’s seemed mostly harmless. Older folk need someone younger lookin’ out for them. In the end I reckon we’ve all got our own peculiarities. Just some folk more than others."

Rainbow Dash snorted. "I don’t think I have peculiarities in the same way she does."

"Why sure you do," Applejack said, nodding her head. "You got wings, dontcha? That’s a mighty big peculiarity in and of its own self."

"What?" Rainbow Dash refolded her wings. "How is that in any way the same thing?"

"I meet a whole lot more folk with peculiarities like hers than I meet with wings like yours. I’d say that makes them a mighty peculiar thing indeed." Applejack glanced at Twilight. "Your friend don’t talk much, do she?"

Twilight’s ear flicked at her name being brought up, but otherwise made no response.

Applejack wrinkled her nose. "She hasn’t spoke once since she threatened to have me all burnt up back at the farm. For some that might make them a tad uncomfortable."

"You had a skewer at my neck and at the time your ally was suffocating my travelling partner," Twilight said.

Applejack arched a brow. "‘Traveling partner,’ huh? I’m figuring you two aren’t so close. Seems like she’d be a real bundle of fun on the road, too."

"Eh, you get used to it," Rainbow Dash said, smiling. "She talks a bit more to me when other ponies aren’t around."

Applejack shook her head. "I’ll have to take your word for it."

The more they walked, the more deserted Ponyville seemed. One house they passed had a filly and her mother. The pair of them stared as Twilight and Rainbow walked by, the mother clutching her child closely. Their manes were dirty and haggard, their eyes wide and bloodshot, surrounded by the dark circles of many sleepless nights.

Rainbow Dash shivered, tearing her eyes away from their gaze. "So are there a lot of ponies living in Ponyville?"

"Only little more than a dozen, maybe two dozen." Applejack shrugged. "Most ponies in this town keep to themselves."

"Has the town ever been attacked? You know, by the darkened?"

"Once or twice. For the most part the darkness seems to steer clear of here," Applejack said, pushing her hat down on her head. "Can’t really say why it does, but it’s the reason why this town formed."

"Huh," Rainbow Dash said, wrinkling her nose. She glanced at Twilight briefly before turning back to Applejack to ask another question. "So where are we headed, anyway?"

"Pinkie Pie’s house. She can take the two of you to the White Witch. She’s the only pony in Ponyville who knows exactly how to get there."

"White Witch?"

"She’s a shamanic zebra livin’ out in the Everfree forest—the most unsettlin’ of the forests borderin’ Ponyville. I hear noises comin’ out of that forest I don’t ever want to know the cause of. It’s a darkened place full of wrath, I tell you. The trees themselves are alive, inhabited by the ghosts of the lost and tortured." Applejack paused to let out a shudder. "Personally I’d steer clear if I were you. I wouldn’t want nothin’ to do with nopony who calls that place home."

Rainbow Dash trotted up to Applejack and walked shoulder to shoulder with her. "But you think she might have seen my friends?"

"No, but she may have some way of findin’ them. If you’re truly desperate to find your friends, she’s the sort of answer a desperate pony might turn to."

"Come on, it’s not like she’s going to turn me into a newt or anything, right?" Rainbow Dash said, chuckling.

Without turning around, Applejack gave half a shrug, her eyes staying on the road ahead.

"Hey, wait, you don’t think she can actually—"

Applejack cleared her throat loudly. "We’re here," she announced. They stood before a house as large as any of the two near it put end to end. A chipped wooden sign hung from a post, spinning lazily on one chain, as the other was broken. Etched onto the sign was a loaf of bread.

Rainbow Dash wrinkled her nose at the sign. "A bakery?"

Applejack nodded. "According to Pinkie, bakin’ is not so different from brewin’ potions. She visits the White Witch for help with her recipes from time to time. She’s about the only one in Ponyville who’ll step near that cursed place." She leaned in close, pointing at the house and whispering in Rainbow Dash’s ear, "I wouldn’t eat anything here, either, if I was you." She ran her hoof across her throat, making a croaking noise.

Rainbow Dash shuffled away from her, rubbing a shoulder. "Uh, right. I’ll keep that in mind."

Applejack approached the door of the bakery. She stood on its steps and knocked. "Pinkie? It’s Applejack."

"Just a minute!" came a shout in reply. There was some shuffling around, what sounded like pots and pans. The sound of hoofsteps approached the door, then a mare opened it. Her mane was pink and curled and knotted, a rat’s nest sticking out from under her purple shawl. She greeted the three of them with a lip-splitting smile while a pungent, sour-smelling, and smoky odor come from inside the house and wafted over them.
"Oh, hello! New friends!" the mare said, shaking Twilight’s and Rainbow Dash’s hooves vigorously. "I’ve never seen you before, which means you must be new, because I know everyone in Ponyville!"

"So do I, Pinkie. There’s only a wagonful of us," Applejack muttered. "Look, this winged one here’s lookin’ to see the White Witch. She’s searchin’ for somepony she lost."

Pinkie snorted and giggled, covering her muzzle. "Well of course she is! If anypony lost somepony and wanted to know where that somepony was, then they’d look for anypony who’d know where that somepony is, and if anypony would know where somepony is, it’s surely the White Witch." She reached inside her bag. "Cookie?" she offered Rainbow Dash.

"Uh…" Rainbow Dash glanced at Applejack, then shook her head. "No thanks."

"Well, suit yourself." Pinkie tossed the cookie on the ground to their side. "Anyways, come on in. It wouldn’t do if you all stood around outside and caught gaptrout because of me." She turned and walked inside, leaving them an invitation to follow.

Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack once more. "Gaptrout?"

Applejack shook her head. "Ain’t the foggiest." She tipped the front of her hat down. "Well, I best be gettin’ back to the farm. Y’all don’t go dark out there."

"Wait, that’s it?" Rainbow Dash said.

"It’s outta my hooves from here," Applejack replied, then turned and left. Twilight and Rainbow Dash watched her go, until she steadily vanished into the night.

Twilight shrugged at Rainbow Dash. "I guess we go in," she said, and she stepped inside the bakery.

Rainbow Dash made to follow, but a flap of wings gave her pause. A crow had landed by the discarded cookie. It pecked it into crumbs with its beak, then picked up and swallowed them. Not a moment after it swallowed a second beakful, the crow began coughing. It flapped its wings and a series of panicked caws escaped from it.

Rainbow Dash approached it cautiously, her hoof extended out towards it. Just as her hoof was about to touch it, the crow exploded in a plume of green smoke and fire. 

Rainbow Dash leaped back, her eyes wide. As the smoke dispersed upward, a large, fat lizard stood where the crow had been, wriggling and twisting around in the dirt. In its state of panic, it managed to right itself to its feet, then turned and ran away into the forest.

Blinking, Rainbow Dash looked around, hoping to see that somepony else had seen the same thing, but Twilight had already entered the bakery.

Swallowing the newly formed lump in her throat, Rainbow Dash went inside.

In the kitchen, Pinkie and Twilight were both silently waiting for her--or at least mostly silently on Pinkie’s part. She hummed an upbeat tune while prancing across the kitchen area to a black wood stove, a pair of oven mitts on her front hooves.

She opened the stove and pulled out a tray of cookies, much like the one she had offered Rainbow Dash. She inhaled deeply their scent. Her lips pursed and nose wrinkled up as she stared at them.

"Wait, if these are…" Pinkie muttered. She turned to Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her head. "Woops. I guess it’s a good thing you weren’t feeling peckish earlier."

She slid the cookies off the tray onto a plate and placed the plate on the kitchen table next to where Twilight stood.

Twilight shook her head. "I’m not hungry."

"Suit yourself," Pinkie Pie said with a shrug. She picked one of the cookies off the plate and ate it in one large bite, licking her lips afterwards.

"So," she said, turning to Rainbow Dash. "How did you and your friend get separated?"

"Actually there were two friends. The three of us got attacked by a darkened manticore, but my wing was injured, so I couldn’t fly away. Soarin’ and Spitfire stayed to help me, but I don’t remember really what happened after that." Rainbow Dash picked up a cookie and gave it a test nibble. She took a seat and stared at it, turning it in her hooves.

"The manticore swiped at me. I think I remember diving into a cave or between some rocks or something to avoid it. I must have hit my head, because everything went black after that, and when I woke up, there was dried blood on my forehead. That was about a cycle ago.

"After we got separated, they probably just flew away. I know they must have come back looking for my body. When they didn’t find it, they probably started looking for me."

Turning to Twilight, Pinkie giggled. "Her optimism sure is refreshing, isn’t it?"

Rainbow Dash’s brow furrowed. "Spitfire and Soarin are the strongest, fastest Wonderbolts in Cloudsdale. They can handle themselves."

Pinkie Pie stifled her laughter and gave Rainbow Dash a warm smile. "Glad to hear that." She walked over to the table and slid the plate of cookies into a tin container. "Well! What say we head on over to Zecora’s place right away? We might as well, given there’s never really a good time to enter the Everfree. Even on the brightest phases of the moon, the forest is teeming with darkness." She giggled. "Besides, I feel like it’s the perfect hour to take a stroll through the woods, don’t you?"