Risen Earth

by PonyTom

Chapter 10: Broken Ponies

A pony was found lying dead in the streets today.

Don't get me wrong; murder is not unheard of. Sad as it is, ponies will kill other ponies sometimes. It's been that way since the begining of time, and might remain that way until one of the last two ponies die. But this murder was particularly unusual; a unicorn was discovered with a large chunk of flesh missing and shrapnel embedded in his body. Ponies living in the area reported hearing what sounded like thunder during the night, which has left many confused.

The current belief is that it was a unicorn; the way the shrapnel was in the body suggested high velocity impact, but something doesn't seem right about this theory in my opinion. Why would a unicorn blast somepony with shards of metal? With the kind of telekinetic strength it would take to launch such a thing at such a speed, certainly they could lift the pony up and throw them? Maybe even use an offensive spell? Something just doesn't feel right about this.

I'm tired of this. I'm going to do something. I'm a Princess for Celestia's sake! I've been waiting for the princesses of Canterlot to help, or for the authorities to do something, but no more. Now, I make a move. I may not have the royal authority Celestia has at her disposal, but ponies still look up to me, and are counting on me to do something!

I'm going to formulate a plan. We're going to figure out why these things are happening, find the vandal(s), find the killer(s), and return Ponyville's peace of mind.

From the journal of former princess, Twilight Sparkle
One week, three days before the Ponyville Incident

***

Pain.

My right, hind leg was in searing pain.

I was laying on my side, having fallen over after a loud crack resounded in a deafening roar. I had already just been struck before to that noise, the damage burning my back fiercely as bandages tried to keep my wounds in check. Reluctantly, I looked down at my leg, and saw a hole, and precious life pouring from the wound. It was like fire burning my limb, and I could barely think of anything else, my mind torn between the pain in my leg and in my back. I looked up to see several ponies approaching me, murder gleaming in their eyes. Desperate, I readied to try to teleport away, focusing my magic to my horn, envisioning the form of the spell, feeling the energy twist, ready to have magic pass through it, but my efforts ended when a sudden... hum... or buzz... I'm not sure which... invaded my senses, and I felt all the power dissipate. What... what had happened? Why couldn't I use magic? I looked to the ponies to see one of them was carrying a box - no, it was carrying him. It had wheels jutting down from the bottom of it, and a crystal embedded in the front, stuck between two electric coils that charged it with electricity, while the stallion using the device's hoof turned a crank. Was that what was killing my magic? I could almost feel the waves coming from it...

Slowly, I tried to stand, but the pain was too great, and I was forced back to the ground by my body's own lack of desire to endure. I was tired, wounded, and scared... but mostly scared, as the group approached me. "Stay down, princess" said a stallion. "Just lay there and make this easy for everypony." I looked to his side to see a pony wearing a getup with two barrels; one on either side, and on one side it had a shaft with a hole in the end. It was much like the one that had damaged my wing, but it seemed different; slimmer, maybe? The stallion wearing the device aimed it at me, and took the bit into his mouth. This was it. I was going to die.

As the thought hit me, the stallion in question was knocked to the side, and the device let out a loud crack, it's spent bullet pelting into the dirt a few feet away from me. A blur of red had tackled him; I could barely see at this point due to a mix of tears and I'm certain a small case of blood loss. I watched as ponies were thrown aside, knocked down, and the pony with the crystal bucked over, his device smashed unceremoniously. Then I heard a deep voice call out.

"Twilight!"

I knew that voice.

"Twilight? We've got to move!"

I know, I know.

"You just gonna stand there like a rock or are we going to go to Sweet Apple Acres?"

Wait, isn't that a terrible place to... wait a minute...

***

I shook my head, blinking away the memory as I looked around, trying to regather the situation, and noticed that where the red blur had been standing over me, now stood familiar pink face. Pinkie stared at me with a hint of concern. "You okay Twilight? You sort of conked out there and I was afraid you might have had a stroke or something!"

"N-no, I'm fine Pinkie..."

Pinkie smiled. "Okie Dokie Lokie!" She cleared her throat, and her expression became more serious and she stood straight. "Right. Well, Twilight, you ready for this?" I looked to the side, down the path, and I could see the familiar house at the end; a house I admit to having a sense of dread in approaching. I gulped nervously, turned to Pinkie, and nodded. She smiled, although there was a hint of uncertainty there that didn't help my own nervousness, and then the three of us began our trot down the path.

As we walked towards the house, I looked around the acres to take in any changes I might notice. The apple trees seemed healthy as ever, although it was clear by vines and a few dead trees (as well as some decidedly not-apple trees) that the Everfree was trying to spread here as well, although the plants were different from what had happened years ago, right after my coronation... the plant-life seemed rather... gentle, abundant in pinks and blues, and did not seem to be harming the apple trees at all. It was curious to say the least.

Eventually, my observations were cut short as we finally reached the house, stepping onto the porch. Pinkie reeled her head back ready to knock in typical Pinkie Pie fashion, but was stopped short by Trixie. "Allow me" said the show-mare as she pressed Pinkie aside and gently rapped on the door. We stood and waited a few minutes before Trixie knocked again.

"Hold yer horses, I'ma comin'! Dern kids..."

We heard a number of clicks and locks, and then, the door opened, revealing a familiar elderly green mare. "Huh? Who're you? Whatcha want? If this is about property tax, I told you dern fools already that my gran-daughter takes care of that!"

"Granny Smith!" Pinkie chirped. "It's us!"

Granny looked to Pinkie Pie, squinted a bit, then smiled. "Well if it idn't Pinkie Pie! I shoulda known it'd be you girl! Say, you still writin' them fancy books?"

"Yep!" shouted Pinkie with a bounce. "I'm working on the next book already! Carrot thinks it's gonna be my best one yet!"

Granny Smith chuckled. "Well, that's great Pinkie Pie! Hopefully you'll be able to come visit me a bit more? Applejack's mayoral duties keep 'er too tied up ta come by here much anymore, an' Applebloom's schoolin' keeps her awful busy as of late, so visitors'd be nice."

"Can do, Granny!" Pinkie gave a nod, and the older mare smiled and returned the gesture. That's when Granny turned to face me and Trixie, eying us questioningly, but with no shortage of friendliness in her features.

"Don't keep me in suspense Pinkie, who're yer friends?"

Pinkie gasped. "Oh yeah! This is Trixie - who is in disguise - and..." she stopped and rolled her hoof around a bit. "... Sunset Shimmer!"

... Really?

Granny Smith looked us over. "Well, nice to meet y'all. Any friend of Pinkie Pie's is a friend-o-mine." She smiled a bit with a nod. "But where are my manners? Y'all come on in! I was just about to whip up some stew!" Granny turned and slowly moved back into her house with the aid of her walker, and we followed suit, filing in one at a time.

As we stepped inside, I found that the house didn't seem to have changed one bit over the years. Everything looked almost exactly as it had the last time I had been here years ago, staying with Applejack after my library was attacked. Sure, there was a new photo of Applejack hanging on the wall, wearing a sash that read 'mayor', but that aside, everything looked almost as if it had frozen in time.

"Hey, Granny?" said Pinkie.

"Yeah, darlin'?"

"Would you mind if we said hi to Big Mac?"

Granny gave a nod. "Mmhmm. He's where he always is. Make sure ta give 'em my regards." Pinkie gestured towards the back door, and began to make her way in that direction. I followed her, Trixie tagging behind now, as we made our way out of the house, through the garden, and into the fields, and we walked for about ten minutes until reaching a hill. I looked to the top and saw a post, with something hanging from it. As we made our way up, what was there became more obvious, and when I realized what it was, I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

On the wooden post, not unlike where one might hang a scarecrow, hanged a familiar yoke; dirty from age and exposure to the elements.

My legs trembled a bit. My breath left me at first, but then I started hyperventilating. I couldn't look away.

"No... no no no no no..."

"Twilight?" Pinkie looked to me with some concern. I admit I barely paid attention. This was wrong... horrible. Big Mac had saved my life. He had come to my rescue when death would have otherwise been inevitable for me. And this was his fate? No wonder Applebloom hated me. No wonder nopony wanted to talk about it.

"I... I killed Big McIntosh..."

"Twilight?"

"I'm so sorry..." I whimpered. "Oh I'm so, so sorry... if... if he hadn't have... if..." I choked a bit, squeezing my eyes shut. I had known this stallion. I had gone to him a number of times for a hoof, but I never really got to know him until a short while before the massacre. Before his death. He was a good stallion, his simple exterior belying a bright individual, kind, caring, and a good friend, and I had lured him to his death.

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie said as she quirked a brow and tilted her head. "Big McIntosh isn't dead. He's right over there, see?" Pinkie pointed a hoof past a tree, and I followed it. On another hill, a short distance away, I could see what looked almost like a rock or a tree or something... but upon closer inspection, I realized it was, in fact, a pony.

Well, this was certainly embarrassing.

I cleared my throat, ignoring the burning in my face from how red I must have been. "Uh... oh. Okay. Good. That's great. Uh... yeah! Let's go say hi?" Pinkie nodded, and she began to walk down the hill, Trixie and I in tow once more. I think I might need to start waiting for ponies to talk before I jump to conclusions from now on.

It wasn't a long walk, fortunately, although I became aware just how out of shape I had become in the past few years as I had been winded by the time we finally reached our destination; one red stallion with an orange mane, staring out into the sunset. Pinkie approached him first. "Big Mac?"

The large stallion seemed to jump a bit, and turned to face us. I noticed he wasn't wearing his yoke anymore; rather, he seemed to have replaced it with a simple green bandanna hanging from his neck; just a bit below his jaw, rather than around the base as one might expect. He smiled at Pinkie and nodded. "How are you doing today big guy?" He wordlessly raised a hoof and waggled it around a bit; a common gesture for 'not good, not bad'. "Ah! Well, I guess that's how lots of ponies are as of late! Say, Macky, I brought somepony that I think you need to talk to, and she needs to talk to you too!" Big Mac turned to look at Trixie and I. For a moment he didn't seem to understand, but then his eyes shot open for a moment. He squinted and walked towards me, cautiously. I smiled nervously, not sure if I should be surprised if he recognized me or not with my admittedly unimpressive illusion - I still looked like myself.

"Hi, Big Mac. Remember me?"

His eyes became wide as saucers again, he drew back a bit, dumbfounded. His mouth moved around wordlessly, and he looked to Pinkie Pie, Trixie, then myself, then back to Pinkie, who simply smiled and nodded to him, before she frowned. "And no, we didn't use a black magic resurrection spell! This is for real!" Big Mac turned to stare at me for several long seconds. He reached a hoof out, pressing it against my nose. He looked up to where my horn was and reached a horn out, prodding at an invisible appendage, surprising himself when he felt something he could not see.

"I-illusion spell..." I said, with a nervous smile on my face. He stared at me for a few seconds, his expression one of confusion. I saw him furrow his brow a bit, and then reflexively, I pulled back some, squeezing my eyes shut, admittedly expecting to be hit again. Not that I thought Big Mac would hit a mare, but I'd never thought Applebloom or Rainbow would either. When nothing happened, I opened my eyes to see Big Mac walking away from us.

"Big Mac?" Pinkie seemed a bit surprised as well. I'm just happy he didn't hit me; I was fairly certain with his size and build, if he did, I wouldn't get back up for a bit. She turned to look at me, biting her lip, seeming uncertain of what to do ass he looked back to Big Mac then us once more.

"Should we... follow him?" said Trixie, at a loss herself.

"I don't know..." Pinkie trotted in place, looking at Big Mac and back to me. "He... I thought he'd be happy! I really did! I can't think of any reason why he wouldn't be!"

"Give him a moment to let it sink in" said a familiar voice. We all jumped around to see Applebloom walking towards us. "This is one of those things. He's had this on his mind for a while now, and I reckon he's trying to figure out how he's supposed to take it. After all, it's not every day somepony comes back from the dead."

Pinkie frowned. "How he's supposed to take it? Shouldn't he be happy? He saved her life!"

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Applebloom shook her head. "He's suffered a lot for that little piece of action though. You know this Pinkie, but Twilight doesn't, so I'll tell her what I think she deserves to know." Applebloom turned to face me, her expression hard as I'd expect it to be by this point. "He's not allowed to go into New Ponyville, otherwise he's to be shot on sight." She frowned bitterly. "Technically, if he's recognized anywhere in Equestria, it's the same thing, though I don't think they got the means of keepin' him truly trapped here. Still, he never leaves. He barely even goes into Old Ponyville anymore unless he and Granny need anything an' I'm not present to help." Applebloom turned around, and began to make her way back towards the house, only pausing for a parting word. "Funny thing is? He says he never regretted what he did. What hurt him the most was that for the longest time, he thought that it meant nothing in the end." With that, she continued down the hill.

"Well... " said Trixie, "What do we do now, ladies? Twilight knows the stallion is okay, so should we leave? Stay for dinner?"

Pinkie gasped. "Trixie, Granny invited us for din din! No way we're missing out! Unless you have something super important to get to, there's no excuse for missing out on a meal offered by somepony in kindness!"

"I'm not going to argue against free food" replied Trixie, raising her nose. "Besides, it's not like I've anyplace better to be. I'm just wondering what we should do right now?"

"Well..." Pinkie hummed, tapping a hoof to her chin. "I guess we just wait? Maybe gab it up with Granny Smith." She turned to face me. "Hey, Twilight? Don't worry about Big Mac. I'm sure this is all just a shock to him right now. Give him a little time, I'm sure he'll come around." I shook my head a bit; I certainly hoped so. While I had never really known Big Mac too well, I owed him my life. What do you do if the pony who saves your life despises you? We headed back down the hill, towards the house, and I took one last glance back to the direction Big McIntosh had wandered.

***

We had talked with Granny Smith for about an hour, telling her bits and pieces about current events. Well, technically, Pinkie Pie did all the talking, and Applebloom occasionally piped up, but for the most part, Trixie and I were silent. Eventually, the stew she was cooking had been finished, and she stuck her head out the door, shouting out 'soup's on'. After several minutes, Big Mac stepped inside the house - he seemed to be avoiding looking at me. Truth be told, I started to avoid looking at him as well. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't look at the stallion whose life I had single-hoofedly destroyed. He had lost everything saving me.

We all sat at the table, I'm certain all plenty hungry enough for a bit. For each of us was a heaping bowl of delicious-looking stew, filled with vegetables and steaming hot. "Alright everypony" said Granny, "Let's give our thanks." We all bowed our heads at her insistence, and she spoke up. "Thank ya for this meal we're about to receive, for the good health we're blessed with, an' for the little kindnesses we may take for granted. May we see many days ahead-a us, an' may we know happier days. Amen." With the prayer out of the way, Pinkie didn't hesitate to push her face down into the bowl in front of her, gorging herself on the meal. Trixie was using magic to levitate her spoon, much to the surprise of Granny, who needed to be reminded that the unsuspecting earth pony was, indeed, a unicorn as she took dainty sips from her spoon that was more for show than anything. I was eating with my hooves; not to hide, so much as from practice. Old habits die hard.

"So, Trixie, Sunset, tell us 'bout yerselves." said Granny between bites of her meal.

Trixie was quick to put a hoof to her chest. "Trixie is a well-respected magician, master arcanist, and a font of knowledge on all things mystical." She grinned. "Trixie dares to say Trixie's natural talent in magic has proven useful in quite many situations."

"An' what about this here girl?" Granny pointed to me. "Speak up, you been quieter than a cat in a room full-a wolves!"

I swallowed what I had been eating, trying to think up a story. "Oh, I-I'm nothing special..."

"I'll say" replied Applebloom. I didn't respond. I probably deserve that.

"Now Applebloom, that ain't no way ta treat our guests!" said Granny sternly, giving her grand-foal the stink eye.

"Yes Granny..."

"Sorry 'bout that" said the elder Apple with a smile as she shook her head. "I think Applebloom's goin' through poo-berty an' gettin' a wee bit testy." Applebloom snorted and blushed, but continued eating without a word. "But y'all're prolly more special than you realize." She smirked. "Reminds me of how Applebloom an' 'er friends used to run aroun' tryin' to find their special talents." She smiled fondly. "Such nice foals, those two girls. I sure hope they're okay wherever they are." The room seemed to fall quiet then, and I noticed that Applebloom didn't seem bothered in the least. Did she not care? I couldn't tell. We all continued to eat, but not with quite as much conversation, aside Applebloom describing her day.

Eventually, we all finished our meals, and Granny and Applebloom went to work on cleaning the dishes and the table. Trixie and Pinkie started chatting up a storm with each other in the living room, and Big Mac stepped out of the house. I made my way towards a window, watching as he made his way towards the barn and stepped inside. It just felt so wrong; such a kind stallion being forced to live like he does, when all he did was save the life of a pony in need. I knew the world was cruel as of late, but this seemed like it was too much.

"Ya should go talk to 'em."

I almost jumped, turning to see Granny Smith behind me, staring out the window. Was their entire family sneaky? "Oh... h-hi Granny Smith... I... I don't know what I'd talk to him about though..."

She smiled an honest smile. "Oh come on there deary. I maybe old but I ain't half as crazy as I like to make myself look. It took me a bit but I recognized ya eventually, Princess." I suppose I never had a reason to believe Granny couldn't have figured it out. Still, hiding it from her wasn't really important. She looked back out the window. "He blamed himself a lot fer thinkin' you died. He needs ya to talk to 'em, even if he don't rightly know it. So, go talk to 'em. If not for him, then do it for me. If not for me, then do it for him. If not for neither, then do it jus' for the sake of bein' a good pony." She sighed, shaking her head. "It'd mean the world to all of us Apples fer him to finally have peace in 'is soul.

"But what do I say?"

She shrugged. "I can't say. That's somethin' y'all gotta figure out for yourselves." Well, that's not very helpful, but I guess it made sense that I should speak more from the heart than from some pre-planned script. I took a deep breath.

"Alright."

I mustered up my courage as best as I could, and made my way to the door. I pressed it open, and carried myself towards the barn. As I neared, I could see a faint light through the windows, and heard the sound of hammering. Slowly, I pushed the door open slowly and peaked inside, seeing Big Mac banging a hammer against a cart; I guess replacing nails, or repairing some damage. I steeled my nerves, readying myself for this next step as I pushed myself to open the door, which made a painful creaking as it did. Big Mac stopped hammering and continued to sit there, not looking back at me.

"B-Big McIntosh...?" He just continued to stand there in silence, the night air blowing lightly through the cracks in the barn's walls. "... H... hi.... how are you?" He didn't speak, simply shaking his head and lowering it. This was already seeming to go badly. "... I.... well, I...." This was so painful on so many levels; I had no idea what to say, and I was likely making him more upset. I had hoped it would flow or something, and that all the words would come to me, but here I was, speechless. So... I said what I truly felt, even if it was more self-blame.

"... Big McIntosh... I'm sorry...."

That caught his attention. He turned around, looking at me wide-eyed as if I had just told him his dog had died. "I'm really, really sorry" I said again. "... I... I know... I know what happened, and I know that... that I ruined your life... that saving me destroyed you, and... and I wanted to say that you don't deserve this. Any of it." He simply frowned, his expression saddening as he shook his head more. "Big Mac, please, say something to me?" He stared silently, seeming unsure of himself. "Please? Talk to me. I don't care if it's just one word..." He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head again, grimacing hard. I felt my eyes wet up. "Please... just... say something... even if it's angry, say something..."

"He can't."

I jumped and turned around to see Applebloom in the doorway. Somepony needs to put bells on her and her grandmother both. "You can talk n' talk an' talk until yer blue in the face, and you'll never get a response. I'm sure he'd tell you why if he could. Heck, I'm sure he'd be thrilled just to tell you the time." I turned to see Big Mac biting his lip, shaking his head at his sister, his eyes desperate and pleading. I turned to Applebloom, who seemed to disregard him entirely.

"When he saved yer life, he had fought off nearly twenty ponies at once" she said. "While you ran into the forest, he was fightin' a bunch of ponies with chains and knives, an' all things considered, he was doin' pretty good for a bit, but they eventually overwhelmed him. When they did, the cowards held him down, and beat and cut him somethin' fierce." She gave me a bitter, angry look. "Then one of them brought a knife to his throat."

What?

"They left 'em to die, cut up, bruised, broken bones all over, and ran off to continue their lil' killin' spree. Applejack went out to find 'em... an' when she did, she was quick to find help. All she could get was Nurse Redheart, an' the good nurse used what little she had available to 'er to do the best she could in helpin' my brother get well." She looked towards Big Mac, her expression shifted from anger to sadness and pity. "... The cuts mostly healed, and his bones were set and knitted together well enough, but the damage to 'is neck had almost utterly destroyed his vocals. He can't speak very well, an' when he does talk, it hurts 'em." I stared at Applebloom, wide-eyed, and turned to face Big Mac, whose head hung in shame. "He was brave. He did the right thing. His reward? Nearly dyin' an' bein' scarred for life. Big Mac, show 'er the scar."

I turned to the stallion, and then I could see in his eyes; a fear I knew all too well. A deep, burning shame. Slowly, he closed his eyes and bowed his head, seeming to accept defeat, and then Big Mac reached his head down to bite onto his bandana, and gave it a tug, pulling it away.

What I saw surprised me, all things considered; a jagged scar running down his neck, one I'm certain was nothing short of excrutiating in it's execution. It certainly would explain why he wore his bandana so high, though I tried to ignore that thought. He frowned, and once more hung his head in shame; his wound exposed.

That's when I felt it. A sensation that I had barely known in a while - a strange sense of kinship with this stallion. With certainty I had not felt before in doing so, I wrapped my magic about my shirt, and pulled it away from my body, much to Big Mac's surprise. Slowly, I turned myself about, showing him my back, my scars, the loss I had suffered, and then I turned my head back to face him. His jaw hung open, eyes wide, and he moved his mouth around wordlessly, holding his hooves up. Eventually, he stopped, and gave me an apologetic look, hanging his head once more, squeezing his eyes shut. I could swear I saw tears.

Suddenly... my loss didn't seem to matter so much. I simply smiled and turned back around fully to stare at this stallion who stood before me, his soul bared, and the truth revealed. I put a hoof under his chin and drew his head up so that I could meet his gaze, and he opened his eyes, looking at me with such an apologetic stare. Even now, he was blaming himself. This was wrong. I simply shook my head. "Big Mac... do you... do you really feel so bad...?" Ever silent now that his voice had been taken, he simply nodded slowly, not taking his eyes from mine. I shook my head, unable to stop a small chuckle. "Big Mac... why blame yourself, when it's because of you I'm even alive?" His eyes seemed to widen a bit. "... They took my wings, yes... but they had come for my life. They had come to kill me. You denied them that... because of you, I'm here today." I smirked a bit, tilting my head. "Besides... even if I had been killed... I would have been more than thankful that you had tried..."

He seemed to mull this over as he looked into my eyes, closing his and nodding a bit, though I could still tell that he wasn't fully accepting of it just yet. I gently held up my hooves, and wrapped my forelegs around him, drawing him into a gentle hug, much to his surprise. As I held him, I noticed his body was littered with various little scars that he seemed to have been fortunate to have his coat grow back over; but they were there, and I could feel them. What had this stallion endured saving me? He wrapped his own hooves around me, and hugged back. For once, I didn't feel uneasy in receiving a hug. As he hugged me, I was a bit shocked when I felt him shake a bit as he took in a deep breath; was he crying? The mere thought brought tears to my own eyes, and I tightened my hug on him, then I heard a strained whisper in my ear.

"I'm sorry I didn't do better."

I bit my lip, my eyes burning. "D-don't be..." I said. "You did your best... and I owe you my life, Big McIntosh." I heard him choke a bit, hugging me tighter, though not too tight, and I returned the gesture in kind, stroking his back. We stood there in each other's embrace, shedding tears together.

Two broken, damaged ponies, sharing in our suffering. The world didn't matter at this moment in time; we both found something to help offer us some comfort, even if temporary.

TO BE CONTINUED...