Beyond Her Tomb

by 2K Chrome

Prologue

Stormy Acacia lay wearily on his back atop rain clouds, quietly listening to the drops fall aimlessly to the ground below. He wasn’t physically tired, it was a mental fatigue. All of the ponies below demanded him and the other Pegasi to make it rain every day. Later, the same ponies would unappreciatively scold them, accusing the rain of being “tainted”. He and the others on the weather team retrieved the rain clouds from the same place as all the other towns in Equestria: the great city of Cloudsdale. The only way their rain would be “tainted” was if everywhere else in Equestria was experiencing the same problems as where he was, and he certainly hoped not. A famine that consumed all of Equestria? Acacia’s stomach grumbled just at the thought of it.

His stomach had been doing that a lot lately. The Earth ponies in his once fairly prosperous town of Marizona just couldn’t seem to grow their crops anymore. After generations upon generations of plentiful harvests, nopony expected this sudden famine. The farming ponies used their traditional family harvesting techniques year in and year out, nothing of that had changed. So why have the plants suddenly stopped growing?

Pests? No, the mayor had every pony search the fields. Whether it was high in the clouds, under rocks, or ten feet below the surface of the ground, if bugs were destroying this amount of crops, then they might as well have been invisible. Not a single pest was found, other than the common butterflies, bees, and insects that actually helped the crops.

Outside bacteria or disease? Marizona wasn’t exactly like a Las Pegasus hotspot, meaning not too many ponies came there, the town being several miles away from every other town. Apart from that, most of the fields were fenced to keep out any critters that wanted to enjoy a little snack. The Earth ponies regularly checked their crops for any signs of disease, not wanting anything harmful to spread to other farms. Plus, diseases normally took time to spread around the plants, meaning somepony would have noticed if something was wrong a long time ago.

Drought? Acacia rolled his eyes at the thought of this possibility. The weather team brought in so much rain that a lake had begun to form around the edge of the town. If he knew anything for sure, it was definitely not a drought.

So what changed? The planting techniques stayed. The dirt couldn’t simply decide to stop growing as far as he could tell.. The sun was raised everyday by Princess Celestia, and hopefully she hadn’t decided to start moving it around for a “change of scenery”. The seeds came from the plants that were grown during the last harvest, as it had been for as long as the town could remember. What else was there to leave the blame on other than the rain? The rain that came from the same clouds from the same factory in Cloudsdale for years. It didn’t make sense, but the Earth ponies didn't want to say they were wrong, and the Unicorns wouldn’t be so dumb as to starve themselves. Who else was there to blame than the Pegasi?

Why would Pegasi want to starve themselves? The Earth ponies didn’t really have an answer for that, but Acacia wouldn’t scold them for their illogical way of thinking. These times were hard for everypony, and he knew that. The hunger, stress about the future, the frustration of not knowing how to fix this, it was all building up inside them. The only way to channel it was by lashing out amongst each other.

Every day, Acacia saw the virus caused by the famine spread. Ponies were constantly bickering, blaming, and whining amongst themselves. Fights were becoming a common thing in Marizona’s day-to-day life. Acacia tried his best to keep the calm between everypony, to act like the cure, but it was useless. The spite already developed an immunity to kindness and compassion.

The townsponies didn’t simply let this all happen. There were some that tried all they could to find a solution. Several Earth ponies plowed the land ten times over, but to no avail. After trying every method they knew to try and solve it, they went to the Unicorns. The Unicorns threw as many spells as they believed would help, but not one single bud grew from the magical sparks.

Letters were sent to Canterlot seeking assistance and advice. With high hopes that their great princess would respond positively, the Marizonians patiently waited for a reply. However, as the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, their hopes withered. Perhaps she believed the situation would solve itself. Perhaps she did send help, but if she did, helping hooves never came. Or maybe, she never received one of their pleas for help.

Eventually, several of the townsponies were sent to Canterlot, but none of them returned. Whether it was them not surviving the journey, giving up on the town, or the inability to return to Marizona because they could get assistance from Celestia, the townsponies never knew. All they really knew was that they weren’t expecting help from the royal highness anytime soon.

Just a month ago, another blow was taken when they mayor bailed. To Stormy, it seemed like an overall reasonable decision. The reserved money was becoming threateningly low and being an agricultural town for a hundred years, no crops meant no money. Ponies were coming in daily, almost hourly, with complaints about the same thing: no crops. She was the one in charge, the one that was supposed to take initiative. The mayor did try; she was the one that sent the letters and organized several missions to Canterlot. But seeing as they failed, the townsponies believed she was doing nothing. What seemed to finally bring her over the edge and leave were rumors of a riot. Apparently, dozens of ponies were ready to take arms and storm city hall, foolishly believing it would induce the mayor to take action. The rumors may or may not have been true, but they did take an effect when one night the mayor could be seen galloping away as fast as she could with saddlebags of everything she owned.

Although her attempts to contact the Princess had failed, she did have an important role for the town simply by being there. When she left, whatever attempts to clean up and keep the peace disappeared as well. Nopony bothered to take on the mayor’s role with the fear of having the same kind of success the predecessor had. Thus, no further action was taken to contact Canterlot or another outside town. Everypony living in Marizona had to make the town’s decisions.

“Stormy! Stormy, get off your lazy flank now!” a burly voice yelled, breaking Acacia’s thoughts. Sitting back up, he looked around to find the voice coming from one of his fellow weather team members. “C’mon! The storm’s over, help us move these clouds. I don’t care how comfortable your nap was, just make yourself useful for once!”

Acacia let out a weary sigh. A few weeks ago, he might have retaliated against his team member for the rude wake-up call. However, that was pretty much how everypony was talking to their peers those days. It wouldn’t even be a normal conversation anymore without an insult or a curse word permeating every other sentence. The worst part was that they weren’t even trying to do it anymore; it was almost natural for them now.

Stifling a yawn, Acacia stretched out his beige-coated body. With a shake to get the water off his straight, powder blue mane, the Pegasus began to sluggishly drag the clouds away, making way for the golden rays of the sun to shine down to the land below. Somewhat satisfied with the progress, the other Pegasus glided away with only a grunt.

~~~~~~~~~

Half an hour later, the beige Pegasus found himself trudging his way back home. The sun was shining high in the afternoon sky, drying up the remnants of the shower. Normally, a large crowd of ponies would be outside enjoying the weather. Instead, only a few roamed the streets. Then again, Acacia reasoned, there wasn’t much of a reason to come out. Almost all of the flora had long since withered away, and the few that remained were turning sickeningly brown as they stooped lower and lower to the ground. The only things that stood were a few trees in town, but even they seemed listless and weakened from the famine. It wasn’t the optimal scenery for an afternoon stroll, even with the sun shining. With only a few crops to take care of, the farm ponies either took to their homes to anxiously think of their problems or to the bar to drown them away with liquor. And with all of the hostilities, the ponies preferred to stay away from each other.

Paying more attention to his thoughts than where he was going, Acacia didn’t notice he was walking straight at another stallion until he bumped right into him.

“Hay! Watch where you’re going!” yelled the stallion.

“Sorry miste-”

“I go out for two seconds to get some peace and quiet, and I can’t even get that. What’s wrong with you? You’re a Pegasus, aren’t you? Then again, you’re too stupid to see anything in front of you, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you forgot how to fly,” the stallion ranted, glaring at Stormy.

“I said I was sorry…” Acacia muttered through gritted teeth. He was used to the bad-mannered conversations around him, but any slights directed towards him still made his temper rise. In the back of his mind, a voice was telling him to lash back, but his morals told him to keep his cool.

“You’re sorry? Oh no, I’m sorry,” the stallion continued, “I’m sorry you get paid to move those heavy clouds all day, while I can’t make two bits anymore with the crops not growing. I’m sorry all you Pegasi fly around acting so high and mighty when the rain you get can’t even make a single sprout. It must be so hard for you guys.”

Not wanting to continue the conversation, Acacia turned to walk away, but the stallion stuck out his hoof to block him.

“Hay, I’m talking to you. Didn’t your parents ever teach you it was rude to leave while somepony is talking? I almost feel bad your parents were stuck with an idiotic foal like you. Then again, I guess there was nopony to get the smarts from.”

Acacia gave a little jerk as his body began to shake. He was fine with some ponies complaining about their lives and receiving hate for being a Pegasus, he was accustomed to it at that point. But that stallion hit Acacia’s soft spot when he mentioned his parents. Hovering above the ground to give himself height leverage, the Pegasus stared down the stallion right in the eyes and stated, “Listen buddy, I don’t give a rat’s flank who you are, but nopony, and I mean no pony talks about my parents like that. Now you go back to whatever slime hole you came from before I do something I might regret.” Acacia’s eyes shot daggers as the stallion stared right back. Breathing deeply, heart racing, he deeply wanted the stallion to retaliate so Acacia could could give him his just desserts. But after a long moment with tension thick enough to cut with a butterknife, the stallion simply turned with a huff and continued his way. Acacia glared at the stallion until he was out of sight, hoping that if he stared long enough, the stallion would spontaneously combust.

Taking a deep breath, Acacia closed his eyes and tried to calm back down. It was ridiculous getting so angry just for bumping into somepony. Sometimes he just wanted to give up all of his moralities and go hoof-to-hoof in a-—

“Fight!” a voice cried.

Turning his head towards the cry, he noticed a large crowd was beginning to form. The Pegasus took a step towards the group, but hesitated for a moment before unfurling his wings and taking off. Fights could be exciting to watch, but they helped nopony. Two or more fellow ponies got injured, yet the problem still persisted.

Biting his lip, Acacia uncertainly flew towards the brawl. Hovering above a circle of onlookers, Acacia looked in the center to see two ponies slugging it out. The pair was already breathing heavily, and one was limping severely, but it looked like they weren’t planning on stopping until one stayed down. The onlookers weren’t doing anything except making bets on who would win or giving an occasional gasp at a particularly powerful buck from one of the fighters. He landed near the circle of ponies to break up the fighting when a voice called from behind.

“Hiya Stormy. Come to enjoy the show too?” Turning around, Acacia saw one of the friendlier townsponies, Sky High, a Pegasus.

“Why isn’t anypony stopping them?!” inquired Acacia with a waver of worry in his voice, turning around in order to approach the fighting ponies and try to make them see reason.

“What, and stop all the fun?” Sky High said, placing a hoof on his shoulder as if she sensed Acacia wanted to ruin the only fun she was having that day. “C’mon, don’t be such a spoilsport, Stormy.”

“I’m not being a spoilsport, Sky. There’s a fight almost every day now, and no one ever steps in to stop them,” he said, swiping at Sky’s hoof and knocking it with perhaps a bit too much force, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Stormy, listen. This is the only excitement most of these ponies get in their miserable lives these days, why would anypony want to stop them?” Acacia opened his mouth to lecture her, but Sky interrupted him just as quickly. “Look! The fight’s over anyhow.”

Looking behind him, he saw that Sky was correct; the fight really had ended. One pony lay motionless on the ground, covered in bruises and bleeding profusely from a large cut underneath his eye. The other limped away, the circle of ponies separating to give him an exit. With the show over, the crowd began to disperse. Just as quickly as the streets were filled, they were emptied, the only ones left being stragglers exchanging their bets for picking the winning fighter.

“Well, that was fun. See ya later Stormy, I’m off to bed,” Sky said, already heading back to her home.

“Bed? It’s only three in the afternoon.”

“Stormy, I wouldn’t have gotten out of my bed at all today if I didn’t hear there was a fight. And I don’t think I’m the only one that decided to do this either,” explained Sky as she shrugged.

Acacia paused for a moment, pondering her statement. “Is that really what this has come to, Sky?”

The Pegasus halted mid-step. After a moment of deep thought, she muttered, “I don’t know Stormy, I just don’t know. These are hard times we’re going through. When it comes right down to it, I guess it’s equine nature.”

Acacia simply blinked in response. “I don’t quite get what you mean.”

“I...I guess it’s just equine nature to enjoy watching others suffer in a way that we almost feel better about ourselves. It seems the only reason to have friends is to take advantage of them, just so we get what we want. And there’s only three real things we want. Power, wealth, and fame,” Sky mused.

“No... no, it can’t be. There’s no way ponies can be like that!” Acacia retaliated, shocked to hear such a cruel thing from the pony he considered one of the friendliest in town.

“I see it every day now, and I know you see it too. It’s all around us, you know?” Acacia remained silent, unable to find any counterargument. “Well, I better go now, I hear my bed calling me. It was nice talking to you, I’ll be seeing you around.” With that, the Pegasus soared away.

Acacia drifted his way to his own home: a two-story house on the ground, instead of a cloud-made one. Clouds were cozier, but he was used to an Earth pony house, having lived in one for so long when he was growing up. Entering his house, the beige Pegasus frowned at the compounding dust on the floor, the pile of dishes in the kitchen, and the overall dreariness of the area. But worst of all for him was the torturing silence.

The conversation with Sky, although a bit dark, was the highlight of his day. There was no one around to have a friendly chat with anymore. All of his friends have turned bitter, just like every other townspony. He didn’t have any siblings either: the curse of an only foal. He wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, per se, but not having anyone at all to talk to would drive anyone insane.

Picking up a small photo, his thoughts wandered back to his childhood, back when everything was cheery most of the time. The photo was him as a foal. A wide smile was plastered across his face as he hugged his loving parents. It was the same day he received his cutie mark, a pure white daisy with raindrops falling on it. It was strange to wake up with a flower on his flank every morning, considering he hadn’t grown anything since his parents split.

~~~

“But Mom, do we have to go? Can’t you just make up with Dad?"

“I’m sorry Stormy, but this is just the way it has to be,” Mrs. Acacia replied. “I know it may be hard, but you’ll just have to accept it.”

“What about all of my friends I have here? I’m never going to see them again!” Acacia retaliated. However, he was thinking of one pony in particular.

“We might visit sometime later. But for now, pack your things. We’re leaving soon.”

The colt’s blue eyes lit up with hope. “Really? Where are we moving to?”

“To Marizona, back to my hometown,” responded his mother.

“M-Marizona?! Mom, that’s halfway across Equestria! It would take at least eight hours just to get here from all the way over there!”

“I said we might visit, Stormy. Now I don’t want to hear any more arguments, my mind is made up. Go upstairs and pack up.”

Her son just stood there, mouth agape. He looked to give one final stab to stay, but decided against it. Head hanging low in disappointment, the colt grudgingly began to make his way towards the staircase. Suddenly, his ears perked up, and he made a dash out the door.

“Stormy! Stormy Acacia! Where do you think you’re going?!” Mrs. Acacia yelled out. “You better get back here right now, mister!”

Acacia heard her, but he didn’t care. Only one thing mattered and that was getting one final moment with her again, at least to say goodbye. He could take any punishment his mother dealt, not that she was too harsh on him anyways.

Taking to the sky, the Pegasus flew the rest of the way to his destination. A large house coming into his sight, Acacia drifted his way to one of the windows and knocked.

“Oh please, oh please be home...” Acacia pleaded quietly. No response. Knocking once more, he pressed his face across the cool glass, trying to see any moving shadows through the curtains. Again, no response. He was leaving in a mere few hours, and he couldn’t even say farewell to his best friend. He bit down on his lip so hard to stop himself from screaming that it started to bleed, the red fluid flowing freely down his chin.

“Stormy? Is that you?” a familiar voice called out.

Peering below him, he could see a mane of bright amber. “Topsy!” Acacia squealed, being so relieved to see her. “I’m so glad you’re home!” He flew down in front of her, only to find her olive green eyes filled with concern rather than joy.

“You’re bleeding Stormy...” Carrot Top said worriedly, examining the cut from different angles.

“It’s just a tiny scratch. Listen, Topsy, we need to-—”

“Come on inside. I’ll have that fixed up in a jiffy,” interrupted the orange mare as she grabbed his hoof and dragged him inside.

Inside the Earth pony’s dining room, Stormy continued his conversation as Carrot Top took out the family medikit.

“Topsy, I don’t know how to say this...” started the beige Pegasus.

“Just go out with it, it can’t be all that bad,” Carrot replied, her hooves tenderly wiping off the blood with a wet tissue.

“O-Okay then.” Taking a deep breath, Acacia quickly uttered, “I’m moving to Marizona in a few hours.”

“What?!” the orange mare yelled, accidentally hitting the Pegasus square in the jaw in her surprise.

“Ow...” he whined in response.

“Sorry. I mean, why? Why are you leaving?”

“Ugh, my parents are having some issues, so now they’re splitting up. My mom wants to go out to Marizona, and I have to go with her.”

“But... but...” she stammered, unwilling to believe what the little colt was telling her. “But that means we won’t be able to see each other anymore!” she said, stomping a hoof to the ground before looking at him pleadingly. “I don’t want you to go, Stormy!”

“I don’t want to go either, but Mom seems pretty certain about her decision,” answered Acacia disappointedly. “It’s not fair! I mean, don’t they even care about me at all?”

“You know how parents can be, Storm. They can be selfish at times, not really thinking about their children,” she said, her face drooping.

“Yeah, I know what you mean... and the worst part is not being able to see anypony again.”

Carrot Top stopped, her eyes widening. “What?! You’re not even coming back to visit?”

“Topsy, you know how far away Marizona is from here. Do you really think my mom is going to let me visit?” Acacia said, annoyance prevalent in his voice.

“But.... but...” stuttered the orange filly. “That’s not right. She can’t just make you leave all your friends here.”

“Like I said, it’s not fair...” A moment of silence passed, the only noise coming from some rummaging through the medikit. Acacia took the time to gaze at Carrot Top, like he had done so many times in the past. Her mane and coat always reminded him of the morning sun, beautiful and something he always wanted to see. The best part about her was her mood; she was always so cheery, at least whenever he was around. Her eyes were so full of life and interest when the two spoke, and she smiled almost the entire time. This conversation, however, was different with the topic being so serious.

“You know, Topsy, I’m going to miss you the most.”

Carrot Top could feel the heat in her cheeks rise and was relieved to see some red showing clearly on Acacia’s beige cheeks as well. Unsure of how to respond, she complied with a “I’ll miss you too.”

“You are my best friend,” added Acacia.

“Stormy, stop it! You’re making me blush!” Carrot exclaimed. Acacia simply laughed in response, pressing his hooves on his cheeks to cool off his own redness. And the best part, he was able to see Carrot Top smile one more time.

But the smile soon faded as the mare muttered, “Umm... I think your lip is all cleaned up now.” Tilting her head upward, her olive green eyes met the intense blue ones of Stormy.

He flinched slightly from the sudden eye contact with the mare, but she didn’t notice. She just kept looking right at him, a small smile on her soft lips. He didn’t want to break the eye contact, but his eyes simply wouldn’t listen to him. They would just keep dropping to her smile, as if trying to tell him something.

All of a sudden, she seemed a lot closer than before. Did she lean forward or did I just imagine it? Acacia thought. Not only that, but there was a different expression on her face. It looked the same, her eyes open wide and a small smile, but there was something that made it different. Instead of a friendly look, now it just looked expectant, as if she was waiting. Waiting for him to make the first move. Look, she wants it too! a voice said in his mind. But if she does, then why doesn’t she do something first or say something?

His cheeks were on fire, heart was racing, thoughts becoming a blur as she simply sat there and smiled. His gaze kept switching between her beautiful green eyes and her tender lips. He barely even noticed he was inching closer to her until their noses were only a few centimeters apart.

Not wanting to turn back now that he was so close, the Pegasus willed himself through the last couple of inches until his warm lips finally met hers. He pulled back slightly, planning only for a small peck, but was surprised to have the mare’s lips follow. Quickly overcoming the shock, he pushed forward a second time, her lips pressing forward as well, locking them in a deep embrace. Acacia could feel her lips part slightly, allowing his tongue access into her mouth. She tasted sweet, like fresh blueberries in spring. After a long minute of passionate embrace, the two finally broke apart, gasping for air and cheeks as red as roses.

Breath returning to normal, Acacia looked at Carrot Top’s face once more. He couldn’t really tell what she was feeling at the moment. Happy, embarrassed, overjoyed? There was only one word that explained how he was feeling.

“Wow.”

~~~

“Carrot Top...” Acacia mumbled. “Carrot Top.” Scrambling upstairs, the Pegasus searched his room for a quill and some paper, all the while muttering, “Carrot Top”. After several minutes of searching, he sat down at his desk and began to write out a letter.

Dear Carrot Top,

It’s been a long time since we last saw...