87 - Never Leave a Country Gal Alone
While the others were blazing a trail of victory across Equestria, Applejack made quick work of bringing the ponyvillians home. Once word went out that others had returned, the town was soon filled again with over delighted ponies. The farm had fared well, relatively. It seemed that the earth critters hadn't done much around it and the orchard grew much as it always had, though many of the lower crops, such as the carrots, were in extreme need of weeding and watering.
Even the farm residents, such as the cows and pigs, started to show up, eager to return to their homes. The ponies of the town were willing to lend in a helping hoof, to say nothing of displaced Apples that turned up on Applejack's doorstep, eager to get back to work on a real farm. Everything was working out well, but this didn't satisfy Applejack.
Her friends were out there, risking and giving their all to get things right, and there she was, just farming. No, that would not do. She shared her feelings with Big Mac, who nodded softly at her, "Yup." One word, and a knowing look, and Applejack left. There was somepony that needed her and she wasn't going to shirk her duties.
And that was how Applejack found herself slinking through the dirt, trying to avoid alarming the diamond dogs she was sneaking up on. She had spent most of the day tracking them this far and was certain they were near an entrance to their caves, a biggun she reckoned, considering how many dogs had come and gone. The varmints she was watching seemed to chat amongst themselves about nothing at all before one yawned in a display of carnivorous teeth. Applejack winced at the sight, but continued her slow advance. She scaled up a tree with hooves and strong teeth, perching on a branch thick enough to support her as she peered down at the two.
"Is time for next shift," said one with an irritated grunt, "I go find." Then it moved off, shuffling away from the other.
Applejack thanked Celestia for the chance, waiting for the one below her to be entirely alone. With a great war cry of 'Yeeeee Hawww!' she came crashing down on the dog, driving it into the ground beneath her heavy hooves. She brought up a forehoof quickly and struck the already dizzy creature across the brow, sending him into dreams. The way was clear, and she dashed forward into the cave the second had slunk off to. "Hold it togetha Zecora, I'mma comin' for ya."
She sprinted ahead from cover to cover. Thankfully it seemed the dogs needed light almost as much as ponies, and there were torches set regularly to allow her to see. She went stiff as a board as she heard something rolling towards her. Two huge dogs appeared, working together to draw a cart laden with gems along. A smaller one followed behind them, barking orders at a rapid clip and berating them for every step. She held her breath tightly as she watched them lumber past her. Why were they so slow? When they finally turned a corner and got out of sight, Applejack took a sweet gasp of air and slunk forward.
As she pressed deeper and deeper into the dog mines, a faint voice echoed out towards her. At first it was little more than a murmur, but slowly it resolved into a female voice speaking in singing rhyme. She sounded tired and sad, but at least she was strong enough to sing. There were other voices with her, singing chorus.
"Oh, my Lord!
Oh, my good Lord!
Keep me from sinkin' down.
I tell you what I mean to do
(Keep me from sinkin' down)
I mean to go to heaven too
(Keep me from sinkin' down)
I look up yonder and what do I see?
(Keep me from sinkin' down)
I see the angels beckonin' me
(Keep me from sinkin' down)"
Applejack didn't understand all the words. What was an angel, and where was heaven? Crazy Zebricans! She was quietly thankful for the singing, as she followed it closer and closer to its source. Other sounds began to become obvious. Picks against stone, scraping, and soft grunts of effort. When she emerged into a large cavern, she gasped and dived behind some rubble.
There were half a dozen ponies, Zecora included, working to excavate a wall with rusty and worn looking picks. Behind them at about ten paces were several dogs of varying sizes. "Faster, ponies! Put your backs into it!" shrieked the smallest dog with the biggest voice. "Faster or half rations for all of you!"
The enslaved equines moaned with misery and redoubled their efforts. It was too much for an older looking stallion, who collapsed beside his pick, wheezing for breath. A larger dog approached the fallen pony as the small one went into fits, "See! Lazy ponies! This one costs you half rations! No use for weak ponies, none!" Seemingly oblivious to the smaller one's screeching, the larger dog hefted up the fallen stallion and began hauling him towards a dark hole.
"No, please, no, I'll work harder! Please!" begged the stallion, squirming weakly in the great dog's grip, "I don't want to die."
"No use for weak ponies," screamed the little dog, "You should have thought that before stopping your work!"
Applejack couldn't bear to watch anymore. It wasn't the ideal time to attack, but letting somepony die in front of her was too much. She sprung from her cover and dashed at the big one. "Who is that?" asked the little dog, pointing at her. The other large dogs began to snarl at her, but the one carrying the stallion seemed oblivious. That was all that mattered to Applejack in that moment. She leaped forward at the canine and spun around mid-air. With a lightning-fast lashing of her hind legs, she brought her hooves into the side of his head with the full fury of an apple bucker. He had turned his head at the last moment, possibly having noticed her. This was just in time to catch those hooves into his snout. He collapsed backwards, knocked out cleanly by the brutal strike. The stallion he was holding flopped to the ground limpy, whimpering in fear.
The other enslaved ponies noticed the sudden attack and adopted hopeful expressions, but didn't move immediately to join. "Get her!" shrilly commanded the small dog. The two other large dogs surged forward, one drawing a heavy looking mace. Applejack spun on them and crouched. As that deadly weapon swung at her, she dived to the side and lashed out a hoof, catching one dog in the side of the leg with a satisfying thump. The other dog grabbed at her, plucking her from the ground and hurling her.
She bounced off the wall with an 'oof', but sprung back to her feet quickly, advancing on her enemies with a frown. The dog she'd kicked walked with a slight limp, but both were eager to rejoin the battle. They fanned out, moving to flank her. Applejack dashed towards the one with the mace, diving between his legs as she spun around and drove her legs upwards. The dog collapsed with a high pitched yelp, all will to battle removed.
The remaining large dog grabbed up the dropped mace and made a savage swing. Applejack tried to jump out of the way but it was too fast. Stars swam in her vision and ringing sounded in her ears as she staggered and collapsed. The large dog moved over her, bringing up its mace high to deliver a final blow. "What are you doing? Bad ponies! Bad!" came the voice of the small dog.
Two of the ponies had tackled the smaller dog and pinned him to the ground under their bulk. Three others, including Zecora, rushed the remaining large dog. They barreled into him from the side, knocking the finishing blow off mark as they drove him to the ground. Applejack struggled to her hooves as she watched them swarm over the dog, kicking and stomping for all they were worth. The battle was over as quickly as it had begun. "Shucks, and here Ah thought Ah was savin' y'all."
Zecora approached Applejack with a weary smile, helping her get upright. "Yours is a face I'm glad to see. Have you come to rescue me? Come, we should make all due haste. We haven't even a moment to waste."
They fled together, and soon all the ponies were back in Ponyville. The ponies went their separate ways after giving Applejack their thanks. Zecora remained with AJ. She had things to discuss.
Twilight frowned, a thing she did often in this accursedly bland place. She had tried using her magic, but it refused to come to her. She couldn't even use her natural unicorn gifts, and she was naked. The idea of being naked had never really occurred to her before going to Everglow, but she keenly felt the lack of her usual supplies. "Celestia, please! At least visit once in a while." She stuck a hoof against the unseen floor without a sound and sighed.
A new voice whispered from nowhere, "Have you been abandoned by your gods?"
"What? Who said that?" asked Twilight as she sprang up and began circling around, but she saw nothing but stars.
"I will never abandon you, lost child," came the whisper. Female, Twilight guessed, old. "Pony from another world, you carry the song of Everglow in your dead chest." Emerging from the stars came the vision of an elderly earth pony. Her eyes shone with red light and a glint of infinity. She radiated the power, that... uncertain majesty Twilight expected of Celestia and felt again when she encountered Luminace.
Twilight's ears flipped back, "Who are you? I didn't call you."
"Oh but you did," she spoke gently. "You are dead, are you not? You are now my responsibility. It took some time to find you, so far removed, but here I am."
"Who?" repeated Twilight, backing away from the goddess.
"How rude," she spoke, a smile overtaking her wrinkled form. "I am Soft Whisper, matron of death, and caretaker of the deceased." She raised a hoof to point at Twilight, "Like you."
Twilight shook her head quickly, "No! I still have things I need to do! My friends will fix this."
Soft Whisper shook her head slowly, "I've heard this all before. Don't be dramatic. Your soul has departed, but clings here in this half way place. It is time for you to pass on."
Shivering with fear, Twilight turned her tail and fled, running as fast as her legs would carry her through the starry plane.
Soft Whisper's voice reached Twilight as surely as if she were still standing beside her, but Twilight didn't look back. "You are defiant to the last, but death is inevitable. Even the mightiest Queens and Kings will find their rest with me eventually. Who are you, little hybrid, to defy the basic nature of the universe?"
Suddenly she was in front of Twilight. Twilight skidded to a halt as Soft Whisper drew the heavy pick from her side, "I don't wish to use this on you. I feel you were a good pony, who followed her destiny well and true. It is time to rest, little one."
Twilight's spectral eyes filled with tears as she quickly turned direction and fled anew, "No! Stay away from me! I don't want to go! They'll fix it! They always fix it! Stop trying to drag me away! I have to be here, I have to!" She could feel Soft Whisper's presence always one step behind her, keeping up without effort. Despite not having a body, she could feel her heart thundering in her chest and her breath coming in ragged gasps. Never before had she been this terrified as the promise of utter oblivion hung behind her. As she galloped through the stars, she saw a small tear, a tiny hole. She veered towards it and ran with every ounce of energy she could put into her legs, somehow growing pained and tired despite not even being true.
"Do not go there," spoke the voice that haunted her, "You will not like it. Lay down, little one. It is time to sleep. Accept your reward for a life well lived."
She didn't want a reward! She didn't want any of this! Twilight dove into that tiny hole, and everything came apart.
Stats
Page generated in 0.06 seconds
Total duration
1,081 users online
2,357,613 hits today, 2,571,732 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Gods! Can't live with them.
Twilight's in the diamond dog mine with Applejack?
5636807 Well, that's it. Half-rations for all!
dirt
A big cave, or a big entrance?
Applejack
Obviously, between Applejack and the Diamond dogs there were some other grammatical issues, but I suspect those were deliberate.
5636848 All fixed(even if somepony beat you to the teleporting Twilight).
But how does the chapter make you feel?
That was pretty easy. If AJ could take on the Diamond Dogs alone, why didn't Ponyville just send a posse when Zecora (or any of the other ponies) was first captured?
5636857 Ponyville was abandoned to earth elementals at that time. Zecora left her home shortly after Twilight returned to Equestria and got nabbed by the diamond dogs that had been pushed closer to her home due to those same elementals.
Applejack was one of the first Ponyville residents to be back, and was out shortly to go rescue Zecora.
5636851
Wherever Twilight went from that great waiting room in the sky, I'm sure it's a step in the right direction, story-wise. If it's a miserable place, that will just give her something to do while she waits.
Introducing Applejack, Level 7 Brawler.
Introducing Twilight Sparkle, Level 7 Arcanist and Zombie Lord... Princess?
5636979 I have been updating the character sheet pdf whenever I think about it and decide somepony's gained a level.
Huh. Well that's an interesting property of the world. Though apparently a fragile one.
As for Twilight... oh dear, what did she just get herself into? If it's what I think... well, depending on what Sombra was, she wouldn't necessarily be Equestria's first undead, but she'd certainly be a potent one. It'd take a full-blown resurrection to get her back to normal, and that's assuming she'd want to go back to normal. Negative energy doesn't do the mind any favors, but as the princess of friendship, Twilight might have an advantage in that regard.
At least Applejack got a moment of awesome out of this chapter.
5637068 Twilight still has/had the body of an Everglow pony, hence the 'song'. Just enough of a link for Soft Whisper to eventually find her lingering spirit. If only that efreeti had given her what she wished for. Stupid jerk.
And now I have to know..
Can Unicorns turn their own horns into Phylacteries? Because that would be awesome.
5637172 Maybe? Couldn't say for certain, but Twilight won't be needing that. (OMINOUS HINT HERE)
5637182
Twilight: "My ghost will be both angry and retain all of my spell casting powers."
Celestia: "... Fuck."
5637193 I have never been more tempted than in the last few days to get right into writing the next chapter. Too much is happening!
5636851
I'm probably the wrong person to ask about feels. I've read so many stories and watched so many movies that I can no longer separate myself from my trope-sense (sorry, I didn't even plan that joke). When I watch a mystery, I can pick out who did it before I even know what they did, just based on how they were introduced. When the grim reaper pony showed up, the first thing I thought was "please assume the party escort submission position" which kind of ruined all the work you put into making it scary.
Everyone's talking about zombies. Was there a hint I missed? All it said was that she jumped through a hole.
Twilight rolls a 20 to plane shift? Or what other nmethod was used, and come back next time to find which planar region she ended up.
If Zecora can brew, cast a send message at a trans planar level, roughly what stats does that give her? I think theres a desert based shamanistic tribe in Pathfinder, but I havent gone through the details for it.
Still trying to get used to the system, and how weak, strong such close levels are, I think the best example is that Pathfinder levels are lograrithmic, Like PH or db. Someone at level 10 isnt double the strength of level 5, but stupid times the strength?
I hope we can get some spotlight on Fluttershy's characterization when the story shifts back to her.
Given her personality, I suspect that she'll be suffering from emotional trauma that won't go away easily. She's the sort of pony for whom being tortured would leave a lasting scar (and I don't mean physically). Even worse would be the guilt that she came so close to saving Twilight, only to fail when that erinyes snatched her back (e.g. "If I was as fast as Rainbow Dash, I could have caught her in time!").
5637706 Fluttershy can be a tricky one to write for, but I'll try to squeeze her adorable little butter yellow butt in.
5637670 I wasn't aiming for scary, or any other emotion, just staying true to the characters doing what they should do in any given scene. Twilight was horrified, but the reader may/may not be? Soft Whisper was annoyed, but in a familiar way. 'Oh you silly recently deceased, why are you running? Why do they run so often? Silly dead people.'
Applejack was dizzy, then triumphant! Go AJ!
I do hope I did the Twilight scene well, for better or worse. It's the most screen time Soft Whisper ever had, so I felt I had to be careful in getting her 'right'.
5637977
Most? Did we see her before?
5637997 Exactly. She only really exists in the forgotten gods book (available now at DrivethruRPG!).
5638002
Haha, order now, while supplies last! (Only one pdf to a customer)
5641067 A lot, especially if she planned to ask for a resurrection instead of a quick blessing. Just keep piling the stuff.
Well, I actually had forgotten where AJ was. This answers that handily.
Yay, seeing Soft Whisper! Not-so-yay for the circumstances. This raises some questions, though. Do most equestrians fade away after death, or do they have some manner of afterlife? If they do have their own afterlife, wouldn't Soft Whisper be stealing Twilight from it? Whatever is in charge of that in Equestria might get annoyed at that.
5869798 Big questions with no satisfying answer offered just yet. Celestia, the closest they have to a divine being, has no knowledge of it. All she knows is they eventually fade from the astral realm, and she never sees them again. It's a terrible thing for her, watching her loved ones die through the ages, only to then eventually die, again, with nothing she can do about it either time.
It always annoys me when divine beings in an rpg setting treat death as an absolute. Especially in one like this which is based on D&D, where methods to raise the dead do exist to any decently leveled cleric.
6133686 depends on what killed you. There is pretty much no care for old age.
6133686
Yeah, but Twi didn't die of old age here. Heck, she didn't even die of something that causes permadeath in other ways like a Sphere of Annihilation. She got stabbed through the chest. For an adventurer, especially one with her connections, that's an inconvenience.
I love the Order of the Stick depiction of RPG heaven...with a literal revolving door.
Also, I hope Equestria doesn't already have a death deity. They tend to get cranky when thier competition from another pantheon tries to poach in their territory like Soft Whisper seems to be...
6134426 That's cool and all? But why exactly should death gods not keep spirits where they belong? Especially on some other world where there are zero(0) clerics of sufficient level. It is literally her job. Your friends raise you. You don't raise you.
Applejack! :flail:
Wow, those diamond dogs are lucky they weren't dealing with humans. A human slave revolt would have made sure not to leave any prone dogs breathing (and they had those wonderfully useful picks at the time).
6773803 This is Equestria, not earth.
The Diamond Dogs will be punished for this. Celestia wasn't asked to do anything about them after they kidnapped Rarity but now they clearly haven't learned their lesson and kidnapped even more ponies. The Diamond Dogs won't receive a third chance.
question : where goes the equestrian souls who didn't have made a trip to everglow ? Celestia don't seems to be the one who care for them
7930132 A question with no answer. Do you think Hasbro will ever address it? I wouldn't count on it.