//------------------------------//
// Water 
// Story: Silverponies 
// by Scribblestick 
//------------------------------//

They decided against making a mad dash for the falls.

It certainly wasn't for lack of confidence on Firefly's part. The pegasus was sure she could outfly anything in the sky. Applejack, however, was just as certain she couldn't outrun them, and so the two resorted to a more subtle approach, one both agreed would probably be better in the long run.

Mostly because, as far as their collective memory recalled, no one had been crazy enough to try.

"You know, I could probably fly to the top of this thing in ten seconds," Firefly grunted as she grasped Applejack's hoof with her own. Applejack pulled the pegasus onto the ledge beside her, checking to make sure the barrels were still strapped securely to her sides.

"It's not about speed," Applejack reminded her, though she didn't resent Firefly's impatience. She looked back the way they'd come and as far as she could see. There were no Silverponies in sight, at least not yet. She could only hope that remained the case.

The dull grays of the world were beginning to lighten again. Since there was no light source, why this was remained a mystery, just another one of many in this world. Applejack hoped she wouldn't have to ponder them for much longer.

The two took a moment to catch their breaths and drink a little water from their supplies. Each carried two barrels, which were full of water when they left the hideout. Now they were each about a quarter full. Applejack's stomach was beginning to growl at her, but she and Firefly agreed water was far more important in their circumstances. If they rationed it, they could keep the brain fog at bay long enough to reach the falls. Besides, if they couldn't reach the falls in the time it took them to drink through four barrels, odds were they would be captured anyway.

"You ready to go?" Applejack asked.

Firefly nodded and turned her head upward. "I think I can see the next ledge," she said, placing her hooves against the steep slope. "I'll take the lead this time. Don't fall, okay?"

Applejack looked down they way they'd come and felt dizzy. "Ah wouldn't dream of it."





Firefly's hideout had no stairs leading above-ground. Given she could fly, there was no reason to add such a feature until Applejack came along, and Applejack didn't plan on staying long enough to make such an addition necessary. Unfortunately, this meant Firefly had to do all the heavy lifting to get Applejack and four water barrels out of her lair, a task that left her somewhat out of breath.

"You all right?" Applejack asked.

"I'm fine," Firefly said, a bit more snippy than necessary. The two secured the water barrels to their sides and set out toward the mountain. Applejack could see his mound in the distance. Her innards started to squirm at the thought that he might be watching them. Still, she didn't see any other option, and so held her peace. If Firefly had any misgivings, she similarly kept them to herself.

It was a long while before they spotted the first Silverpony, drifting rather far from the path. This the two had anticipated, and they altered course to keep themselves as far away from the creature as possible. "He's looking for you," Firefly whispered.

"He might be looking for you, too," Applejack replied.

Firefly shook her head. "I think he gave up on me a long time ago." Her words were confident, but her voice bore the slightest tremble.

The two fell into a rhythm that became more frustrating as time went on. Every time they tried to get closer to the waterfall, they spotted a Silverpony and had to retreat. At one point Applejack suggested they try digging underground, but this Firefly dismissed in an instant, saying their supplies would never last that long, and the longer they stayed, the more likely he would wise up to their activities and send his minions after them. Firefly suggested she take to the skies, and it was only with much persistence that Applejack persuaded her to stay on the ground. Despite Firefly's insistence to the contrary, Applejack was certain the Silverponies were faster than regular ponies on land and in the air.

"We need to come up with something," Firefly said at last, heaving a sigh that expressed the frustration they both felt. "This is getting us nowhere, and our water's already half-gone."

"Ah know, consarnit." Applejack struggled to push the fog from her brain and concentrate. Despite her best efforts, much of her memory still eluded her, which only added to her annoyance. "Maybe we should go back to your hideout until we think of something."

Firefly shook her head. "It's too exposed now. He'll find us. Besides, we're on the right track. Why else would the Creepers be all over, blocking us?"

Applejack tried to set her mind once again to the task at hand when she spotted something a short distance away, a dark gash in the endless plain. She nudged Firefly and pointed, and the two crept closer until they came to the edge of a large, square pit. It was as though a perfect cube of ground had been removed. A dark, semi-transparent surface of some sort covered the top of the pit, exactly where the ground should have been. Cages lined the sides of the pit, suspended on hooks that extended partway across the void.

What made Applejack's stomach turn was what lay in those cages and on the floor. She knew none of the faces, but there was no mistaking their pony forms, or what they were turning into.

"Sweet Celestia," she gasped. "Someone's making more."





Firefly tilted the barrel back and drank the last few drops before wiping her lips with a foreleg. "That's two down," she said.

They were nearing the peak now, and Applejack was able to get a glance at what was going on in the direction of his mound. She could see a lot of Silverpony activity near the pit, but it appeared many of them were beginning to fan out again. Worry started playing with her intestines again. "We're running out of time," she whispered to Firefly.

The pegasus poked her head over Applejack's shoulder. "They'll surround the mountain in a few minutes," she said. "There's no way we'll make it down to the falls."

The two ducked behind the little cover they had and once again began wracking their brains. Nothing immediately came to mind, and Applejack knew they didn't have long to come up with something. "It's no use," Firefly groaned, a hoof pressed against her forehead. "I can't think in this place."

Applejack's eyes fell on the two remaining barrels, still a quarter full of water, and an idea came to her. It wasn't a solution, but perhaps it would help them find one. "Here," she said, pushing one barrel toward Firefly while popping the lid off the other. "Drink up."

"What?" Firefly's widened in panic. "Once that's gone, that's it. It'll only get harder to think as we go."

"We need to do our best thinking now," Applejack replied. "If those Silverponies find us, it won't matter how much water we have left."

Firefly's eyes were still wide. "This is crazy," she muttered as she removed the lid from her own barrel.

"Consider it that mad dash you wanted earlier," Applejack said. Firefly shot her a look that was somewhere between a scowl and a smile, and the two drained the barrels as fast as their bodies would allow.

Applejack's mind was buzzing with new activity before she could wipe her lips clean. Memories of an orchard and rural town came flooding back, filling her with a confidence she didn't remember having before. As much as she wanted to examine the memories, she shoved them aside and focused on the present. "They're not in a hurry," she said as she peeked once again at the advancing Silverponies. "They don't know where we are, yet. Another distraction might buy us more time."

Firefly nodded. "Maybe I can draw them away, and—"

"No." Applejack didn't mean to be rude, but she wasn't going to waste time on this plan again. "Nopony's making any noble sacrifices. We're getting to them falls together."

The look on Firefly's face was definitely a scowl now, but she didn't argue. "All we have to work with are these barrels and the ropes we carried them with," she said. Her face suddenly lit up. "What if — and just hear me out on this — what if we brought them here on purpose?"

Applejack blinked a couple times before her mind found the appropriate word. "Pardon?"

"Look, the fall's on the other side of the mountain," Firefly explained. "If we try to go down while they're over there, they'll find us. We need them on the back side of the mountain so we can go down the front undetected."

Applejack had to agree the thought had merit, but it still didn't solve their predicament. "Great, but how do we get them back here?"

Firefly smiled as she tapped an empty barrel with a hoof. "What if something fell out of the sky?"

Applejack's confusion evaporated in what felt like a shaft of clear light in her brain. "Ah think Ah can arrange that."





For a moment they just stood there, looking down into what Applejack could only describe as the birthplace of nightmares. Pony bodies lay in cages and on the ground, unconscious and in various stages of mutation. Some appeared almost normal, save a few bare patches in their coats, while others' limbs were stretched and bent in grotesque angles, trickles of ooze beginning to leak out the corners of their slack jaws.

Beside her, Applejack could hear Firefly trying to speak. "Wh... why?"

Applejack stifled a shudder. "Your guess is as good as mine," she said at last.

Firefly flapped her wings and hovered over the pit, careful to avoid contact with that see-through surface. Applejack didn't blame her. "Where do they all come from?" Firefly asked.

"They're the ones who don't wake up."

Both mares squealed as they turned to face the new source of sound. There he stood, a grim smirk on his face. "You stay away from us," Applejack said.

If he'd heard her, he certainly didn't acknowledge it. "I try to recruit only the best, I really do," he said, looking down at the pit with a mix of longing and sadness. "Sometimes I go months, even years without a new Guardian." He shook his head. "These are the ones who couldn't withstand the power of the water — water, I might point out, you've both stolen from me."

"Like you're one to talk," Firefly shot back.

He looked at her with a sad smile and shook his head. "Oh, Firefly. You were the best recruit yet — it's my fault you're so upset," he said.

"Darn right it is!"

"I can help you," he continued. "You drank the water too soon, but that can be fixed. I've learned a lot since you ran away. Applejack here taught me so much, and I've really refined the process. It'll work. You'll see. You'll never have to worry about color or sound or anything again."

"What're you rambling about?" Applejack demanded. "You're saying your the one who's turning all these ponies into... into..."

He shook his head again.  "The guardians bring in anypony they find, and too often the water proves too strong. They mean well — they only want to help, but they don't know how. I merely guide them to the strongest — the ones who can truly thrive."

"Oh, shut your mouth," Firefly snapped. "I bet you're just building up an army to—"

"To what?" he interrupted. "Take over the world? Please. This vast expanse of nothing is all the world is."

"That's not true!" Firefly shouted. By now she had fluttered back to Applejack's side. "I've seen it in my dreams! There's way more than this, and it's way better, too!"

"Firefly, Firefly, when will you learn not to chase your dreams?" he asked. "All that will lead you to is trouble, and we don't want that, do we?"

"Are you threatening me?"

He stepped closer to them, and despite herself, Applejack took a step back. "You forget where you are, and to whom you are speaking," he said, a menacing edge creeping into his voice. "Here, the world is silent. It's time you remembered that."

He lunged at Firefly with speed Applejack hadn't anticipated. Firefly's mouth opened in a cry, but Applejack heard no sound. A translucent bubble surrounded Firefly's head, and she began to flail her limbs in an attempt to throw him off. He laughed at her, and in an instant her entire body was surrounded in that see-through field. For the first time, she noticed something sticking out of his forehead, a spike of some kind enveloped in that same field. The sight strained at the hidden parts of her memory, and with a flash, something broke through. Another pony with a similar protrusion surrounded in a similar aura, performing incredible feats she could not begin to understand now. She understood one thing, though, and it was this: If she didn't put a stop to this strange power, Firefly would be destroyed.

Firefly's body hung in the air, and no matter how she struggled, she could not break free of his power. His laughter grew louder as Firefly drifted over the pit. Frantically she flapped her wings, but he was dragging her slowly toward the see-through something that lined the top of the pit. Applejack had no intention of seeing what it would do to her friend, so she did the only thing she could.

She kicked.

His laughter was immediately cut short, replaced with a yelp and a scream. The aura around his horn vanished, and Firefly broke free of his power. His limbs flailed as he fell through the air, through the top of the pit and onto the ground below. Firefly steadied herself in the air and returned to Applejack's side. "Thanks," she gasped.

"Don't mention it." Applejack dared to peer into the pit below. She could see him lying there, then pushing himself to his hooves. "Come on. We have to get out of here."

The two turned their gaze toward the mountain. Already Applejack could see several Silverponies coming their way. Below them, she could hear more shapes moving, and strange cries coming from him — cries that were somehow even more unpleasant than before. "We should just make a straight shot for the falls," Firefly said. "I'm sure we can outpace them." Her tone suggested otherwise.

Applejack looked around. The Silverponies were closing in on them, but only from the direction of the path. "Too risky," she said. "Ah've tried to outrun them before. It didn't end so well."

"Well, what's your plan then?"

Applejack's gaze turned once again to the mountain. "If we can't go through them, we'll have to go around them," she said. "We can climb up the back of the mountain and down toward the falls."

"That's crazy! Nopony's ever climbed that mountain."

Applejack nodded. "Exactly."





For once, things were looking up for Applejack and Firefly.

The barrel distraction worked well — almost too well, as the sound that should not have existed caught the Silverponies' attention and drew them in. The two mares scrambled quickly around to the front of the mountain and began picking their way toward the falls. Applejack had to fight hard to keep excitement from overwhelming her good judgment. This last stretch could become a sprint at any moment if they weren't careful.

Despite her misgivings, none of the monsters came for them as they half-walked, half-slid, and in Firefly's case half-flew down the mountain. Hope rose in Applejack's chest, and it was all she could do to keep it in check and focus. They weren't out of this yet.

At last, the falls came into view. Applejack and Firefly scrambled down the last stretch of mountain, and Applejack couldn't help but sigh when her hooves met the cool water. The falls had a roar now, one that became louder as Applejack sucked in the misty air. She glanced at Firefly to find her taking deep breaths, eyes closed, lips turned in a half-smile.

For a moment they stood there, quietly enjoying the soothing sound of crashing water and, now, a curious scent Applejack hadn't noticed before. Like most things, the smell tugged at her memory insistently. She stepped toward the falls, her mouth almost watering in excitement. At last she could drink her fill and rid herself of her amnesia once and for all.

"Wait." A hoof on her shoulder stopped Applejack in her tracks. Firefly was looking at her with a wide-eyed expression.

"What?" Applejack asked.

Firefly looked uncertain. "It's just, remember what he said about the water? How it's too strong for some ponies?"

Applejack remembered. "Ah think he was just trying to spook us," she said. "We both know drinking it helps us remember..." Her voice trailed off. She wasn't entirely sure what she was remembering. 

Firefly frowned. "I don't know," she said.

"Neither do I," Applejack admitted. "But if it was something bad, why would he have us take it to him?"

Before Firefly could answer, a shape neither had noticed bolted across the pool and onto her back. Firefly cried out in pain as the twisted, semi-pony shape pinned her to the ground. He still resembled himself, but now his limbs were too stretchy, his mouth too wide. With a growl, he sank his jagged teeth into Firefly's shoulder, side, any exposed flesh he could find. Firefly screamed and twisted out from under him, causing him to tumble into the shallow pool. With a hiss, he lept to dry land.

Applejack helped Firefly to her hooves. She was hurt, but she could still limp her way away from him. The two backed toward the falls, watching him as he paced predator-like at the edge of the pool. Then, he spoke.

"Look what you've done," he said, a little ooze falling from his malformed lips. Applejack forced down the too-familiar panic as she looked for some kind of escape. Silverponies were drawing closer, surrounding them, backing them against the cliff face. They floated along the edges of the pool, their in-her-head voices demanding she come with them. "There'll be no stopping them now," he growled. "Without a master, they will run rampant and consume everypony in every world. Thanks to you, the universe is doomed!"

Applejack ignored this and focused on the Silverponies, which were beginning to look more like ponies by the second. Soon they were pacing the shore with their self-proclaimed master. "So you're saying there are other worlds?" she asked, mostly to keep him talking until she could think of a plan.

"Silence!" A black spray spewed from his maw and fell into the water, where it began to dissipate with a hiss and little puffs of smoke. An acrid scent reached Applejack's nose, which wrinkled in revulsion. "There are no other worlds! There is only silence!"

A retort brushed at the edge of Applejack's mind, but she ignored it. With the fall's mist filling her body, she began to realize a fatal flaw in their plan. They'd made it to the waterfall, but now what? Where would they go from here? In front of them, Silverponies stalked, mouths dripping. Behind them rose the mountain. Meanwhile, his body was losing its shape, becoming more gooey by the moment. Soon he would be one of them, and she had a feeling Silverpony-him would be much less restrained than normal-him.

"So make us," Firefly said. Blood was flowing from her shoulder and side, and dark slime clung to her fur, but she limped defiantly forward anyway. "Come here and make us silent!"

He growled again, a more feral growl this time, and lunged. Firefly was too slow to dodge, and his fluid body struck hers like lightning. The two struggled for a moment before he began to howl. He scrambled back to the shore and paced with his fellow Silverponies. Firefly righted herself and fixed him with a glare, a new set of bite marks on a foreleg.

"That's it?" she asked. "Is that all you got?"

"I will make you pay!" he screeched. The sound reverberated in Applejack's skull more than she liked. Much of his skin had been blackened during the tussle, and that acrid smell filled Applejack's nostrils again.

"Well, come on then." Firefly took up a defensive stance. "I'm waiting."

He was limping now, keeping weight off one of his darker limbs. He lept forward again, more cautiously this time. Applejack charged forward and hit him a second before his teeth found Firefly's flesh. He tumbled sideways and hit the water with a splash, and he scrambled back, howling louder than before.

Beside her, Firefly smirked. "That's what I thought."

"What?" Applejack tried not to gag as foul-smelling smoke surrounded her. It had come from him, but why?

"They can't touch the water," Firefly said. "It hurts them. That's why they don't come here."

Liar, he screamed, though his voice made no sound beyond their skulls. You lie!

"Do I?" Firefly splashed some water at the Silverponies with a hoof. The monsters hissed and backed away.

Applejack couldn't help but smile as relief flooded her body. "Sure looks like it to me," she said.

He hissed. He was almost entirely Silverpony now. You cannot leave, he said. No one leaves.

"Oh yeah? Now's your chance to stop us."

His body shuddered, and a high-pitched scream tore through Applejack's mind. She clutched her head until it subsided, and she could look what was left of him clearly. The other Silverponies stopped their pacing and began to move away, back from the falls, their pony forms fading as they did. He stood there with what Applejack could only assume was a glare for the longest time. Then, he too began to drift back into the vast emptiness of this place, impossible to distinguish from his fellow monsters.

"That was close," Applejack said. "Nice thinking."

"It's not over," Firefly replied. As she spoke, Applejack felt the ground begin to tremor. In the distance, she saw the mound collapse and melt into the ground. "We need to get out of here. Find a way into our dreams."

Applejack nodded and stepped into the waterfall, hoping it would help her think more clearly as it always did. To her surprise, she found not a solid wall behind the falls, but an opening that went deeper into the earth. "Hey, Ah found something," she said.

Firefly limped through the falls to stand in the empty space. "I guess the water does have to drain somewhere," she said. She flapped her wings and rose into the air. "Come on. It's as good a direction as any."

As the two traveled, the water's effect grew stronger. In a series of images, her memories began to return. She was a farm pony from Ponyville. Her family grew apples. She had many friends, and they had many adventures together. She even remembered finding the Silverponies for the first time, first in Twilight's castle and then in the Everfree Forest. The forest, combined with the smell that came from the water, reminded her of somepony else, somepony with a deep voice and striped coat. "Ah think we're on the right track," she said.

Firefly nodded, though she seemed a little tense. "You doing all right?" Applejack asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. "Just hurt is all."

"Maybe walking would be easier for you."

Firefly shook her head. "I'd rather be in the air, thanks."

Applejack didn't have a chance to argue, as the tunnel suddenly opened into a large cavern. The water was moving faster, and she moved to a spot of dry ground to avoid being swept away. Other streams poured into the room, creating a large whirlpool that swirled into some deeper level of this world. Applejack looked around at the other tunnels. "Now what?"

"I'm not sure." Firefly landed beside her, still keeping weight off her injured foreleg. "But we need to think of something quick."

Applejack frowned. "Ah don't think any Silverponies will be coming after us now," she said.

Firefly didn't answer but continued to look around. "It looks like the only way out is through the whirlpool," she said at last.

Applejack didn't like her conclusion, but she couldn't argue with it either. All the tunnels flowed here, and she wasn't about to return to the surface. "All right," she said. "We'll jump together."

Firefly shook her head. "I don't think that's possible."

"Why not?"

Firefly didn't answer, but as Applejack looked at her, she suddenly understood. Already Firefly's fur was beginning to fall out, and her legs were beginning to bend at wrong angles. Her hooves were blackened — burned was a more appropriate word, she realized — where they'd touched the water.

"Firefly..."

She nodded. "He must have infected me when he bit me," she said. "I didn't want to believe it, but..."

Applejack took a few breaths to steady herself. "Look, we'll get through this," she said. "Ah have a friend who knows about these things. Ah'm sure she can help turn you back to normal." As she said it, she remembered why the water smelled so familiar; it smelled exactly like the striped pony's potions, the ones that cleaned away the Silverponies' ooze.

"I won't make it through the water," she said. "Just being close to it hurts."

"We can do it," Applejack insisted. "Ah already told you, nopony's making a heroic sacrifice."

Firefly chuckled. "I know. But it's not really up to us anymore, is it?" She looked Applejack straight in the eye, fiery determination glowing behind her pupils. "Go on. You don't need to feel bad about leaving me behind."

"We can both go," Applejack insisted. "Ah can't leave you here."

Firefly's body tensed, and her wide eyes jerked back toward the tunnel. "They're coming," she said. "I can feel —" Her sentence was cut off with a gasp. Her eyes squeezed shut. "We don't have time to argue. I can distract them while you get home." Firefly tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. Her face was beginning to change. "I can handle them."

Applejack looked up the tunnel as far as she could. She could see nothing, but that didn't mean nothing was there. Firefly's body was convulsing now, her legs becoming more shapeless, her fur dropping out in clumps. Soon there'd be at least one Silverpony here, and that was one more than Applejack wanted to deal with.

"Listen," she said softly, not sure if Firefly could still hear hear. "Ah can leave you here, and you'll live the rest of your life a monster. Or we can try to get home together."

"I'll die if I try that." Her voice quavered, and small drops of water leaked from the corners of her eyes.

"As far as Ah'm concerned, you're about to die anyway. If you come with me, at least you have a chance." Applejack put a foreleg around her shoulders. "Don't worry," she said "Ah'll be right with you."

The two locked eyes, and that was enough. Firefly nodded. They approached the rapid, swirling water and jumped.

The water's chill shocked Applejack as it enveloped her, but she managed to keep a hold on Firefly. The pegasus was flailing, and Applejack could almost feel the water burning her half-transformed body. She held onto Firefly with all four legs as the two were swept faster and faster. Her lungs screamed for air, but she held her breath as her body was thrown about, until at last the current subsided and she felt a gentle breeze against her soaked fur.

She opened her eyes, and immediately squinted as a whirl of colors assaulted her. Blinking a few times, she saw she was in some kind of shallow pool in the middle of a forest. She could smell the flowers that lined the pool, hear birds and other animals skittering about their business, feel the warmth of the sun on her skin. A laugh escaped her, and then another until the area was filled with her joy. "Firefly!" she called. "We made it!"

It was only then she realized she was alone. The black ooze was already washed from her body.