Ashen Apples

by ErraticOverlord

Sleep of the damned

"Twi, why exactly do you want me here? I don’t know what you’re looking for and I don’t see how I could help if I did."

Twilight keeps trotting down the damp corridor. The smell of the cave is like fresh rain, with touches of ash and volcanic rock. Lyra Heartstrings trots several meters ahead, almost giggling and trotting with a slight spring in every step.

Lyra turns around to look at me. “We’re looking for signs they were here. Anything from a cave marking to an old shoe can help.”

I sigh. “Fine, it’s important. Still don’t see why you’d need me. I don’t know anything about this ancient civilization you’re looking for.”

Twilight doesn’t turn around. "Oh, Applejack, just because you might not know everything about it, doesn't mean you can't appreciate it. Hay, I don't know much about it. I think Lyra's the only one who's studied it. Besides, she wanted you around in case we had to fight something."

Lyra starts to hum 'Morning In Ponyville Shimmers' and rocking her head from side to side.

I gesture to her. "Yeah, Twi. She seems real worried."

Twilight rolls her eyes and keeps trotting.

After a while, the cave walls appear less rocky and more constructed until the three of us arrive on a decrepit castle.

The stone walls not covered in volcanic rock were brittle as the dust surrounding them. No sounds of life were evident on the castle and not a single molecule of dust seems to have been disturbed. It’s still, like a void between worlds or a space between words. I look around.
It’s also creepy. Very very creepy.

Lyra trots excitedly forward and touches her horn to one of the rocks. "Can you feel it, Twilight? No traces of magic on any of these stones."

Twilight does the same and scrunches her eyes shut. "Well, you're right about the magic. Though, I'm still skeptical. Even if there's no evidence of unicorns lifting the blocks, it could have easily been done by pegasi or earth ponies."

Lyra shakes her head. "Pegasi only work with cloud matter. Even if they for no reason decided to construct a castle out of stone, we would have found evidence of cloud matter from where they were born. Earth ponies have no reason to build under a mountain."

I raise my head from examining one of the castle bricks which came loose from the top. "This 'mountain' is made up of volcanic rock. Earth ponies probably came here for the rich volcanic soil - my cousin Breadfruit does the same thing. The volcano erupted and covered the castle. They probably didn't build it underground, but it was made that way."

Lyra looks uncertain, then shakes her head again and trots forward. "Fine. So maybe it isn't humans who made this. It could still be. I'm not turning back because there's a possibility of failure or I’d never have gotten this far."

Twilight shrugs and follows. I smile.

Gotta admire her spunk.

I sweep my gaze across the room before I leave – Twilight and Lyra already start moving inside the castle – and an odd shape catches my eye.
A face?

I move closer and examine what looks like a pony face coming out of the stone. The imprint is odd and a bit hard to follow but it looks like it could have been a mare’s face, screaming.
Did some of the ponies not make it out before the volcano erupted?

I touch the side of the pony face and a crack appears. I only just manage to utter a yelp as the crack spreads across the rock and over the embedded pony's face. The cracks touch the edge of the volcanic rock and give way before I can move more than an inch.

The room fills with dust. I can dimly hear Twilight and Lyra gallop back when they hear the wall crumble through the ringing in my head. I can feel myself falling over and something passing over my foreleg before I hit the floor.

The dust settles and I feel Twilight using her magic to life the stone on top of me. After a few moments of lying there, I gather the strength to stand, my hooves shaking and my head ringing.

My head clears somewhat and Twilight and Lyra come more into focus.

I see in Twilight’s telekinetic grasp a mummified corpse, perfectly preserved by the ash coating it. The pony seems to be an earth pony, lacking any kind of wings or horn and is much too small for a wendigo.

“Horrible thing, ain’t it?” I ask Twilight.

Twilight shakes her head, lifting the body with her magic and inspecting it. "More confusing, it looks like an earth pony. But if that's right, what are these?"

The body rotates and its mouth opens to reveal two elongated canines, very sharp and in excellent condition.

Lyra gasps. "Oh, Celestia. Applejack, you're bleeding."

I look down to see a gash, blood welling up from it. The wound isn't very thick or deep but runs a long cut down my foreleg. "It's fine. I get worse from my own trees. I'll take care of it when we get back to the farm."

Twilight shakes her head. "No. Any number of things could be down here and I don't want you getting an infection. We're leaving."

Lyra looks away and pretends to examine a piece of the crumbled wall.

I set my stetson back onto my head, pulling it out of the pieces of rock. "Fine. I'll go and treat it. You two keep going, ah'm not much help here anyways."

Lyra looks back, beaming. "Thank you, Applejack."

Twilight looks to Lyra then back to me. "If you're sure you're okay and promise to head straight back."

I nod. "I promise, Twi."

Twilight sighs. "Alright. I'll see you later, Applejack."

Lyra trots back down the hall a few steps before turning back and waving. "Bye, Applejack."

I wave goodbye before heading back through the tunnel. It seems odd, going back in the other direction. I could have sworn the tunnel was darker than it was. I emerge out the other side.

And longer.

Rain pelts down on me, pooling around my stetson and dripping off the side. The rain sticks to my coat and washes the blood from my throbbing cut. I trot home, pushing through the rain.

I get to Sweet Apple Acres in what feels like minutes from the cave. In the heavy rain, I can’t tell when I pass what so I only barely get to Sweet Apple Acres from muscle memory.

I come through the door, sopping wet, and dry off with a towel inside.

I reach up to our kitchen cabinet and extract some bandages before trying to feel where the cut on my leg is. "Where did that cut go?"

"Cut?" Big Macintosh trots downstairs, evidently after hearing me enter. The sounds enter my head like a lance, shooting through me.

I cover my ears. "Goshdarnit, Big Macintosh. Could ya try not ta clomp down the stairs like that? They can probably hear ya in Manehatten."

Big Macintosh raises an eyebrow. "Nope."

A peal of lightning tears through the sky, followed by a surge of thunder. My brain pulses like and sags like a squashed apple. I can’t think through the ringing in my ears.

I crumple to the floor, futilely trying to cover my ears again.

I can hear Big Macintosh close the curtain on the window with a crash and I can feel him carry my shaking form to the couch. "I thought you'd still be in the caves by now," he bellows.

I slowly uncover my ears, wincing at every peal of thunder. "I would be, but I scratched my leg and Twilight made me come back."

Big Macintosh eyes me, carefully. "I don’t see a scratch," he bellows again.

I grit my teeth. "Are you calling me a liar?"

Big Macintosh doesn't move. "Nope."

I unclench my teeth and sigh. "I couldn't find it when I came back either and that rain got rid of the blood, it's been pelting down ever since I got out of the cave."

I can hear the rain crashing to the ground even with the curtain closed. It sounds like the raindrops weigh a pound each by the way they’re hitting the ground with such a racket.

Big Macintosh raises his eyebrow again but says nothing.

I stand up. "I'm going to bed. Maybe it'll start bleeding again in the morning."

I can feel Big Macintosh watch me trot up the stairs, then I hear him stand up, knocking the chair aside with a screech that makes me shiver and open the door, sliding the bolt back with a sound like a million apples hitting the ground. He trots out into the rain and closes the door behind him. I slide to the ground, my back leaning against the wall and sob with every sound until I can finally fall asleep.

Comments

[Sea_Swirl]

Is Mac mad?