Nothing to Say

by DuncanR

Chapter 3

Pinkie Pie and Flicker Flash walked along the main dirt road that led away from school. The sky was clear and blue, and the sun shone brightly through the leaves and branches above. It was unseasonably warm, but there was still a cool breeze in the air.

They turned a corner and Flicker Flash waved at a young pegasus further up the road. "There she is! See? I told you she wouldn't let us down!"

They ran ahead. The pegasus, Razzle Dazzle, spread her wings and glided over at a leisurely pace. She was two whole years older than them, and moved with grace and balance. She nodded to them both.

"Afternoon, Flicker Flash. And this is your new friend, right?"

"Yeah," Flicker said. She nudged Pinkie's shoulder. "Go on!"

"Right. Yeah." Pinkie Pie took a breath, then cleared her throat. "Hey. I'm, uh, Pinkie Pie. 'Sup?"

"I've heard a lot about you," said Razzle. "Pretty good things, too."

Pinkie's ears perked up. "You did? I thought I was a terrible singer. Everyone hated me."

"Your singing recital was atrocious, yes. But I also listened in on the presentation you gave to your history class. You had good volume and excellent control. I could hear you just fine, all the way from the back of the room. All you have to do is build your confidence and you'll be an excellent singer."

"Really? No way!"

Razzle nodded. "Way. You have a real talent for it."

Flicker Flash nudged Pinkie Pie. "See? I told you she was cool!"

"So, does that mean...?"

Razzle nodded. "Yes. I've spoken with the others, and we've all agreed: we'd love to have you be a part of our music club."

Pinkie Pie hopped in place. "Woo!"

Razzle Dazzle stamped her hoof. "But! We can't let you in just like that. There are traditions to think about."

Pinkie Pie frowned at her. "Traditions?"

"Totally. Before anypony joins our club, they must pass a test..." Razzle Dazzle began pacing back and forth in front of them. "A test of courage. A test of wits. And, above all, a test of loyalty."

"There's three tests?"

"It's just the one. It's for all three of those things."

"You made that up, didn't you?" said Pinkie.

"Nope. It's totally real."

"It's true," said Flicker Flash, "they gave me a test when I joined up. Everypony does it."

Pinkie frowned at Emberleaf. "What kind of test?"

"I had to push a baseball all the way up the road with just my nose, from my home to the school. The whole way!"

Razzle Dazzle nodded. "Her test was meant to teach her about patience and determination and not giving up no matter what." She pointed at Pinkie Pie. "Your test, however, will be different."

Pinkie shrugged. "Well bring it on, then. How hard could it be?"

Razzle Dazzle walked a little further down the road and stopped next to a large driveway. She pointed up at the sign over the gate. Pinkie Pie and Flicker Flash followed after her and stared up at the sign.

"Bramble Bush Estates?!" Pinkie stared at Razzle Dazzle in shock. "What're we doing here?!"

"That's the test," said Razzle Dazzle. "You gotta go all the way up the driveway and ring the bell. If nopony answers, you gotta wait for at least one minute."

Pinkie glared at her, furious. "Don't you dare ask me to pull a prank like that! That's the worst thing I've ever heard!"

"Prank? Are you crazy? You can get in serious trouble for that." Razzle Dazzle lifted up a tin can and a homemade pamphlet, both decorated with crayon markings and sparkly stickers. "I'm asking you to help with fundraising."

Pinkie Pie blinked at her. "Wha?"

"Go up there and ask if they want to make a donation to the school music club. Seriously. We're saving up for a new clarinet."

"Oh. Kay."

Pinkie Pie stared at the tin can.

"Can't we ask somepony else?"

"Nope." Razzle Dazzle passed her the tin can and pointed down the driveway. "You've gotta overcome your fear of introducing yourself to strangers. Otherwise, you'll never be able to sing in front of an audience."

Pinkie Pie stared at the gate for awhile.

"Do I hafta?"

Emberleaf stepped forward. "Don't worry. I'll go with you!"

Razzle Dazzle shook her head. "Nope. The loyalty test has to be done alone. It's tradition."

Emberleaf frowned at her. "Don't you remember what teacher said about going to strange places and talking to strangers?"

"Hey yeah," said Pinkie Pie, "she said to never go anywhere alone. Always bring a friend."

Razzle Dazzle pawed at the ground. "Well... I guess that is a pretty important rule. Okay then: Just this once, you can go in together. But Pinkie has to ring the bell herself, and do all the talking."

Pinkie Pie and Emberleaf nodded to each other, then turned towards the gate. They stared at it for awhile.

Emberleaf leaned close and whispered "Are you scared?"

"Course not," said Pinkie. "Why would I be?" She looked past the gate and down the road beyond. "So, are you scared?"

Emberleaf shook her head. "Nuh uh."

"Well, okay then. But if you do get scared, lemme know."

"Sure."

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and took a step forward. They walked ahead together, ducked under the gate, and continued on down the path. The trees loomed over them, and the sunlight filtered through the leaves above.

"So what's Missus Bramble like?" said Emberleaf.

Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Dunno. Never been here before."

"You gotta know something about her. Anything at all."

"Well, she... hates trespassers."

"We're not trespassers, right? We're just walkin' up the front path to say hello. Right?"

"Yeah."

The thick forest by the road came to an end, and they saw the farm itself at last. Bramble Estates was much smaller than Pinkie Pie's rock farm and was shaped like a circle: the fields were divided up into pie-shaped pieces, with hard dirt roads leading to the very center like the spokes of a wheel. The fields were packed with giant vines that curled up into tight spirals: they were thick around as a pony's neck and covered all over with curved thorns. The thorny brambles formed a solid wall to either side of the road, well over three yards tall.

Emberleaf stared up at brambles as they walked down the path. "D'ya think they're good eats?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head. "Couldn't tell ya."

Emberleaf pointed town the perfectly straight road. "At least we can't get lost."

Pinkie Pie continued on towards the buildings. She glanced to each side now and then but saw nothing out of the ordinary. There were no animal noises here... just the faint whistle of wind.

Emberleaf stopped to look up at the cloudy grey sky above.

"Whassa matter?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Wasn't it sunny before?"

"She prolly has custom weather-work done to help the crops grow. Pegasus do it all the time."

"Yeah. Prolly. D'you think—"'

Pinkie Pie froze in place and glanced to the left. Her eyes flitted over the wall of brambles for several seconds.

Emberleaf glanced between Pinkie and the brambles. "What?"

Pinkie slowly resumed walking. "Just... nothing. Thought I saw something move. It's nothing."

"Nothing!?"

"Just a mouse or something. Probably."

"Probably!?" Emberleaf hopped towards her. "Stop tryin' to make this even scarier than it already is!"

Pinkie frowned at her. "I'm not! And besides, this isn't scary at all. We're just... sayin' hello. That's all."

Emberleaf's lower lip trembled. "Saying hello."

They continued walking. They reached the center of the estate and saw three buildings around a main yard: a warehouse and a common bunkhouse to each side and a mansion in the middle, directly ahead. It was an honest-to-goodness mansion, three stories high, with a great big covered porch and fancy-looking shuttered windows. There was even a small concrete fountain out front—a pool with a statue of two unicorns rearing up. The water was dark and brackish, and the fountain wasn't spraying water.

They stopped beside the fountain and stared up at the mansion. Eventually, Emberleaf pointed at the porch. "There's the bell."

Pinkie Pie continued to stare.

"Pinkie?"

"I can't hear any birds," she said. "What kinda farm has no birds at all?"

Emberleaf nudged her shoulder. "Come on. The sooner you ring that bell..."

"Right."

Pinkie walked up to the porch, but paused to look back. She could see all the way down the perfectly straight road, back the way they'd came. No matter where she looked, Emberleaf was the only other pony in sight. Pinkie swallowed a lump in her throat and set her hoof on the first step of the porch. It creaked as she put her weight on it. She looked up at the bell... a faded silver bell with a braided cord hanging from the clapper. It was covered in grime, and there was a dusty, abandoned spiderweb between it and the wall.

You can do this, she thought. You've made lots of friends now. You can make just one more.

She climbed up the last of the steps and stood on the porch proper. She stared at the bell. She glanced to the left and saw a heap of large farmer's tools stacked against the wall. Spades, rakes, scythes...a huge, heavy firewood axe covered with rust-brown stains.

Just do it!

She darted forward and bit down on the cord, giving it a frantic pull. The bell clanged like a lead can, loud and dull. Pinkie Pie turned and scrambled down the steps. "There I did it let's go!!"

"But the donation!"

"Forget it! I rang the bell so we're done!"

Pinkie Pie grabbed Emberleaf and pulled her back towards the exit. As soon as they turned around, they both slammed headfirst into something solid. They fell backwards and stared up at the obstacle.

She was the tallest pony either of them had ever seen. Dressed all in black, with a narrow wasp-waist corset and a huge, multi-tiered bustle dress made of lace. She was wearing a fancy wide-brimmed sun hat, but with a dark veil that hung down from the brim and was tucked tight under her collar. They could see the silhouette of her head and neck, but her face was obscured and shadowy.

Pinkie Pie stared up at the mare. "S-s-sorry...!"

Old Mare Bramble's eyes lit up under the veil, casting an aura of light that glimmered like satin. There was a loud hissing sound, like a cherry-red iron being quenched in water, and a sheath of ice-white fire spread over the old mare's horn. The stack of farm tools sitting on the porch burst to life with the same white fire and leapt into the air and flew overhead. Spades. Rakes. Scythes. Pinkie stared at the heavy firewood axe, transfixed. The tools whirled in a ring around the mare in black.

Pinkie Pie and Emberleaf shrieked at the top of their lungs. Neither of them could tell who'd screamed first. They bolted across the yard at an all out sprint, towards the side road that cut between the western fields.

The farm tools whirled and danced through the air, leaving behind trails of ghostly fire. They slipped ahead of them and formed a wall across the road, like toy soldiers standing at attention. There was a blinding flash of light, and the two fillies skidded to a halt. When their vision cleared, the tall, skinny mare was standing before them. She walked towards them quickly, despite a pronounced limp. Her hoofbeats were loud and heavy.

Emberleaf grabbed Pinkie Pie and darted towards the wall of giant vines. Despite their size, there was just barely enough space between the roots for the young fillies to squeeze through. They burrowed deeper into the brambles, pressing themselves against the hard ground to avoid the sharp thorns and prickles.

Pinkie Pie took several deep breaths. She looked back the way they'd came, but couldn't see any trace of the road. Despite how dense the brambles had looked from outside, the lowest roots were spaced apart and raised off the ground. She stood up, carefully, and walked a few steps.

"Whoa... are you seeing this, Emberleaf?"

There was no response. She looked all around, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay. Okay. Just... stay calm." She took another deep breath. "There's roads around every field. I can't get lost."

Pinkie Pie slowly made her way through the bramble maze. No matter how careful she was, the thorns constantly caught on her mane and tail. She had to duck down under several low vines and her legs were soon covered in scrapes and bruises. She kept an eye out for Emberleaf.

After what felt like an eternity, she caught a flash of sunlight just out of the corner of her eye. She crawled faster and saw a patch of open road ahead: it was only a few yards away, and yet she'd nearly missed it. She let out a sigh of relief and hurried towards freedom.

Something snatched her from behind and clamped her mouth shut before she could scream. She struggled for a moment, but froze still as she heard hoofbeats ahead... heavy, irregular steps. She watched as Old Mare Bramble limped down the road in front of her, not three yards away. She could only see her from the knees down: her black, billowy dress brushed the ground as she walked and her feet poked out in front with every step. Her hooves were shod in rough iron horseshoes covered with rugged spiked cleats.

Pinkie Pie watched as she slowly walked past. She stayed still as her footsteps faded into the distance.

Emberleaf let go of Pinkie Pie's mouth and crawled up beside her. "This way, before she comes back."

Pinkie Pie nodded without a sound. They crept up to the road and carefully peeked to each side. The elderly mare was nowhere to be seen. They could see the mansion not far away.

They climbed out and ran down the road to the edge of the farm, then followed the outer border to the main entrance. They reached the main gate and saw Razzle Dazzle standing by the main road up ahead, just where they'd left her.

Pinkie Pie wiped the tears from her eyes and made a pitiful attempt to brush her mane back into order. "Are we gonna tell her what happened?"

Emberleaf shook her head. "We're not telling anypony."