Linchpin Cycle: The Final Pillar

by Gpizano

Chapter 2

Hours had passed since they began to traverse the fields and while Applejack was still on high alert, Fluttershy had begun to relax. She even began to find the change in scenery enjoyable if she ignored the feeling of dread knowing that they were drawing closer towards the heart of the Shadow Pony's territory. Whenever the thought crept into her head, the pegasus would walk a little closer to Applejack, occasionally bumping into the other and muttering a quick apology before giving the earth pony space. After about the tenth time of this happening, Applejack stopped and turned suddenly to face her, causing Fluttershy to nearly bump into her again "S-Sorry!" she squeaked, stepping back as Applejack gave a light shake of her head.

"Ya' don't gotta' apologize. But if'n yer this nervous, ya' should probably head back to the forest." she suggested, which earned her a vigorous head shake from Fluttershy. "Ya' sure?" This time the answer was a nod. "Alright." said Applejack, turning around and continuing to trot with Fluttershy soon stepping in place next to her. After awhile more of walking, Applejack glanced over to Fluttershy and said "So, ya' were livin' in a cave with a bear fer awhile. What happened to yer parents?"

"... I'm not sure." said Fluttershy, voice soft as she looked up to the sky "It was a long time. Cloudsdale used to be in the skies over White Forest, I fell during an attack on the city." Angel crawled up from her back onto the top of her head, reaching down to pat her head comfortingly. "I waited for a long time, but no one ever came to get me."

"And ya' didn't try flyin' back up yerself?"

"I wasn't the best flier back then and I had no idea if the attack was still going. I was just... too scared." Another pat on the head from Angel made her continue "One day when I looked up to the sky, Cloudsdale was just gone and I had no idea where it went. I didn't think of anything else to do except... wait."

"An ya' jes' kept waitin' even after yer animal friends left?"

"Yes." Fluttershy fidgeted a moment before continuing "I still had some hope that maybe I'd be found. I really miss my family and just talking to ponies in general. But at some point... at some point I guess I figured I'd never see my family again." Fluttershy cast her gaze to the ground for awhile, saddened before looking up again "And I was alone again and worried about making the journey on my own. Then you came along and now I want to make sure we go west together."

"Ah'd never break a promise if Ah could help it. N' if'n Ah were in yer horseshoes, Ah'd of jes' taken a chance ta' get home or ta' someplace safer." However, upon seeing the other mare start to wilt, the blonde gave a small smile before saying "But Ah guess Ah can understand. Ah'd have as hard a time as you figurin' out what to do in that situation." Looking back ahead of her, Applejack added "Ah don't know much of what's goin' on with Cloudsdale mahself, but Ah'd put good bits on it still standin' since Ah hear it's got one heckuva fighting force."

"Mm-hm, I was always told a lot about Cloudsdale's military. I'm sure Cloudsdale is still fine." said Fluttershy, not just to confirm what Applejack thought but to mostly to stave off the fears that tried to creep into her mind every now and then. Clearing her throat, she followed up by asking "So um, who are we looking for exactly?" Curious teal eyes glanced over to see Applejack still looking ahead but a small frown was forming "Not that you have to tell me..." murmured Fluttershy, looking away as they continued to trot through the fields.

It would be a couple minutes later before Applejack spoke up "Nah, Ah s'pose it's only fair ya' know." The blonde mare rolled her jaw a moment, composing her thoughts before just finally saying "Ah'm lookin' fer mah father." Her next words easily carried over the small gasp from Fluttershy "Him n' a lotta' other folks wanted ta' join the fight proper, mah brother included. They wanted ta' head on to the Isle of Mane where they say the princess is but they ran inta' patrol round the swamp. Couple a ponies other than mah Pa was left behind too..."

"That's awful." murmured Fluttershy before perking up a bit "But at least your brother got away. Right?"

Applejack's features darkened some "Yeah. He did."

"... is that bad?" asked Fluttershy after a moment, her nerves starting to work up at seeing the bad mood Applejack was starting to get in.

"Y-No... no." Just as fast as the stormy mood had come on, it was replaced by a small look of guilt. "Ah'm happy mah brother came back but. But he shouldn't of jes' left Pa' there!" And the storm was rolling back in. "He shouldn't a jes' ran! He shoulda' tried ta' help him and now-!" she cut herself off before finishing the thought, instead looking off at some spot in the distance as she stewed in her thoughts. Naturally Fluttershy shrank back from this, not saying a word and glancing over every now and then to see if the mare's mood was getting any better. It took a couple minutes before Applejack seemed to go from a boil to a simmer and that was the time that Fluttershy chose to speak again.

"Well... what if he had gotten hurt?" she licked her lips and elaborated when Applejack shot her a questioning look "If your brother had tried to help, what if he had gotten hurt or worse? Maybe it was for the best that he got away."

"He still coulda' tried somethin'!" insisted Applejack.

"But what?"

Applejack opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, her mind turning over the possible solutions in her mind but each idea just seemed to come up short. It was like when Big Mac had practically asked her the same question. Except she found her anger waning since it wasn't her brother in front of her now but Fluttershy. It was hard to be made when it seemed like just a glare could make the mare curl up on the ground. "... could've done something." Applejack finally said, a tone of petulance in her voice as she looked away.

Fluttershy decided to just leave it at that.

For the rest of the day they would travel in silence, the tension giving away to awkward silence and then just silence. Fluttershy's nerves began to dissipate little by little as she enjoyed the view around her. Despite her fall from Cloudsdale having been on accident, she had quickly grown to love the ground and all that it provided. Not to say the sky didn't have it's own beauty of course, but down here... everything was just so colorful and there had been so much life! Life she'd get to see again when she went west. That thought alone helped to drive the pegasus onwards despite the gnawing feeling that grew in her stomach as they traveled in the direction of Canter mountain.

By the time night had fallen, they had reached the road that would lead to a bridge over the Everfree river. However, instead of taking it right now, they headed into a small patch of forest to rest. No fire would be lit lest it be seen by any and all that were about. Despite it being another warm night, Fluttershy slowly began to scoot closer and closer to Applejack. "Ah'll take first watch. " said the blonde, laying low to the ground, ears perked and listening for the slightest sound. Surprisingly, Angel bunny made an appearance from one of the baskets Fluttershy carried, standing tall atop Fluttershy's chest and beating a small paw against his chest. "Ya' wanna go next?" asked Applejack, raising a brow and then chuckling when the bunny nodded "Alright. Guess we got our shifts set then."

---

Did she just hear a twig snap?! A silent squeak came from Fluttershy as she pressed closer to Applejack's side, eyes wide and on alert as the dark night began to give way ever so slowly to an opaque gray. After being kicked awake by Angel she had been sitting in the darkness for awhile now, every shadow possibly hiding a soldier of Sombra's or a minion of Stygian's. Or perhaps even another ferocious wolf! At this point the poor mare was squeezed so tightly next to Applejack it was almost like they were fused together. But it was almost dawn now, things would be much better in the light... she hoped.

"... yer kinda close there sugarcube."

"Eep!" Fluttershy instantly hopped away, eyes wide as she looked over at Applejack. The mare had one eye open, looking at her and had one white bunny passed out on top of her head. It was kind of adorable seeing Angel like that actually. "S-Sorry!" said Fluttershy, fidgeting nervously as she watched Applejack give a good, big stretch of her forelegs, causing a couple pops to sound in her back before standing up and stretching her back legs one by one.

"Don't worry none, sugarcube. Ya' did good lookin' out." she assured, giving the other mare a smile before motioning in a direction of the forest. "This way should be the way to the river. Last Ah heard the bridge was bein' watched when mah brother n' his group came this way. We'll have a way to cross further up the river n' get to the Bogg through the forest." After receiving just a nod from Fluttershy, Applejack got to walking in the direction she had picked out. Angel slid down from her head, along her neck and hopped along her back before giving one big hop that landed him on top of Fluttershy's head.

The trek would be quiet, Fluttershy this time following behind Applejack and able to notice that the other was more tense than before, ears flicking this way and that, on alert. Fortunately they reached the Everfree river without any trouble, Applejack would take a peek beyond a tree, looking this way and that for any signs of trouble before giving a small nod and leaving the cover of the forest. When Fluttershy did so as well, she saw an uprooted tree a little ways up, laying across the wide and fast running river. She hesitated while Applejack climbed up the roots and onto the trunk, the blonde looking back at Fluttershy "Ya' comin'?" That was enough to get the pink maned mare to give a quick nod before scurrying over. A closer look showed the tree was fairly dead at this point but still solid, Fluttershy wrapped a hoof around a root and began to pull herself up when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Applejack had looked back to her to see how she was doing and her front right hoof slipped, the smooth trunk not offering a hold for her other hooves to gain purchase.

Fluttershy sprinted forward and almost fell in herself but out of instinct her wings sprang open, sending the makeshift saddle with all her herbs into the drink as she flew in to grab Applejack by her barrel. Having lived on the ground for many years and not using her wings as much was already a strain, but Applejack was heavy! Fluttershy took a deep breath and pumped her wings as hard as she could, edging them back to the tree so that Applejack could set her hooves back down on it. When that was done, the pegasus collapsed onto the tree, panting hard with Angel bunny still gripping tightly onto her mane from his perch on her head.

"T-Thanks Fluttershy." said Applejack, a slight waver in her voice as she recovered from the near spill. She turned around carefully so that she was facing the other mare, a small smile on her face as she admitted "Ah fergot ya' had them wings there."

"M-Me... me too." Fluttershy breathed out, the two looking at each other before they giggled softly.

"Sorry ya' lost yer stuff." Applejack said after a moment, looking down the river and seeing nothing, the baskets and blankets swept away by the current.

"It's fine. I can gather more." Though she would miss that blanket. The pegasus moved onto her hooves and, taking another breath, moved along with Applejack much more carefully than before until they hopped off at the other side. One hurdle down, another to go as the Everfree forest loomed on ahead of them. It certainly didn't look friendly, not compared to the one Fluttershy had lived in for many years. Her ears flattened back and her tail curled around her back leg as she looked upon the dark and foreboding trees before her.

"Ya' can always stay back across the river," offered Applejack, a gentle look on her face. "The Everfree is filled with all manner a' beasts. Ah hear they got manticores and strange wolves n' the like." Seeing the mare gulp softly, Applejack placed a hand on her shoulder "Jes' wait for me, Ah'll-"

"No!" Fluttershy suddenly said, giving a shake of her head that jostled the white bunny on top. "No. I-I'll be fine. I'm sure." The last part she spoke up before Applejack could interject.

"... alright then." said Applejack, looking back to the forest and taking a deep breath, tense once more but also determined as she made her way into Everfree Forest with Fluttershy trotting uneasily behind her. It turned out to be even darker inside the forest than she had thought, which caused the mare to pick up her pace so she could stick closer to Applejack's side. Every rustling sound and echoing howl worked the pegasus's nerves further into a frenzy, tying and untying themselves into knots whenever she saw a flicker of a shadow in the corner of her eye or when she heard a twig snap.

"... you're a might close again, Fluttershy."

Realizing she was almost fusing with Applejack's side, the pegasus backed up with a small blush "Sorry."

"Don't worry 'bout it." said the earth pony, giving the other a small smile as they continued walking "S'long as we keep headin' in this direction, we'll be there 'fore ya' know it."

"How do you know which is the right way?"

"Simple. Mah brother said they went 'long south-east like. If'n Ah feel we're off course Ah'll just climb a tree n' check the sky. Cause the sun 'n moon always go down on the east side of the land."

"I see." said Fluttershy, unsure but trusting that Applejack knew what she was talking about.

As they continued on, Fluttershy began to grow more relaxed. These woods were still spooky but without any sign of a fearsome creature, she was starting to think they would get through this just fine. Plus, despite how creepy it was, there were some pretty sights. Some trees were lovely, there were flowers she hadn't seen before, a pair of yellow-greenish eyes were looking at her from a bush.

... uh oh.

Out from the bush launched a - well it was like a wolf but made of wood and she really couldn't think about it much because she had immediately taken off! However the sound of something colliding against wood made her stop and look back, just barely catching sight of Applejack and the wooden wolf tumbling back through the bushes. "Oh no!" she hesitated for but a moment before following after them, seeing them roll through a small field of blue flowers before Applejack finally got the upper hand and brought her hoof down on the thing's head.

Only to be thrown off as the headless body lumbered to it's feet and took off. Once it was gone, Fluttershy quickly moved in, checking Applejack for injuries "Are you okay?"

"Fine, little mussed up." said the blonde, rubbing at a spot on her right foreleg where it looked like the thing's teeth had just started to sink in. That seemed to be the worst of it. She looked back up with a small smile as she added "Glad ya' didn't just keep on boltin'. Least while you were jes' headin' deeper in and not back the way we came. Dunno how long it would've taken me ta' find ya'." Standing up, she gave a nod back through the bushes "C'mon, let's keep goin'."

Giving a nod, Fluttershy was quiet as they left the clearing and it would be a couple minutes more before she spoke up "So... you're not angry that I didn't just run?"

"Naw." said Applejack, waving it off with one hoof. "Ya' saw me take on three wolves before, one made a wood ain't gonna bring me down. 'Sides, you'll know when Ah'm done fer when ya' see it. Ah ain't worried that ya' won't be able to make the call."

Even though she said that, Fluttershy still frowned and turned her gaze to some spot in the distance. Thinking back to her previous conversations with Applejack about her brother and her father, about why she was doing all of this. These thoughts were swirling about in her mind for the rest of the walk and thankfully no more wooden wolves had decided to take a shot at them. Things seemed to be getting lighter and up ahead the trees were starting to thin out a bit. Fluttershy felt the urge to just run the rest of the way into the late afternoon light but resisted, wanting to stay close to Applejack. Her happiness at the sunlight dulled some when she got a look at the Bogg. Not to say it was a bad Bogg, she was sure plenty of creatures liked it, but it seemed just about as welcoming as Everfree forest.

"Hang back sugarcube," said Applejack, giving a reassuring smile to Fluttershy, "Bogg ain't got much cover, Ah'll be quick." And with that, the blonde mare trotted out carefully into the open, ears twitching and eyes scanning for any sign of her father. Fluttershy for her part laid down low and watched, wondering if Applejack really thought her father was still in the Bogg. Maybe he was and he had been hiding somewhere? What if he'd gotten lost in the Everfree forest? Was Applejack looking for some sign of where her father had gone? It seemed so unlikely but Fluttershy hadn't wanted to say anything...

Time passed and the sun was starting to get lower and lower towards the horizon. A small snore coming from the top of her head alerted Fluttershy to the fact that Angel had effectively fallen asleep. How much longer was Applejack going to keep searching?

Her head picked up when she heard a noise, past the tree she was next to and to the right. When she got in a good enough position to see, she gasped, beginning to shake softly as she saw two griffons standing over Applejack. This wasn't good. This wasn't good! She cantered in place for a moment, knowing what Applejack had told her to do if things looked bad but...

She took a deep breath and charged in, splashing along one edge of one of the largest ponds in the Bogg, not noticing the bubbles that were starting to come up from the middle as she cleared it.

The sound was enough to gain the attention of the three, all surprised but Applejack was the first to recover fast and slammed an elbow into the chest of the griffon on her right. The one on her left was made to stumble a bit from Fluttershy running into him, making the griffon snarl before drawing razor sharp claws across the mare's cheek. Fluttershy stumbled back, shocked and bleeding as something small and white rocketed from the top of her head and into the griffon's eyes.

Tartarus truly hath no fury like an enraged rabbit as his teeth dug into the griffon's eye, gouging it out and making the griffon shout out in enraged pain! The griffon grabbed Angel, looking at the animal with his one eye, ready to strangle the life out of him, when a rib shattering blow came from his right. It sent him rolling across the ground, losing his grip on Angel as he stopped with a great splash in the largest pond of the Bogg. Applejack gave an angry snort after the buck, turning back around to see Angel hopping back to Fluttershy, frowning as he saw the deep cuts on her cheek. "Fluttershy..." began Applejack, almost not knowing where to start as she trotted up to the mare.

"I'm fine..." said Fluttershy, voice shaky as she raised a hoof to her cheek, eyes widening and knees knocking when she saw the amount of blood.

"Filthy... ponies." gasped the griffon that had been knocked to the pond, pained from his wounds and from seeing his comrade laying motionless on the ground not too far away. "You'll pay... you'll be taken to the Shadow Pony himself. You'll pay!" he declared, prepared to go on a tirade when he saw the pony's and rabbit's eyes widen, looking at something above him as they slowly began to back away. He quickly turned, screaming as the last thing he saw was a giant fanged maw crash down upon him like a wave.

"Hydra..." breathed Fluttershy, shaking more than ever as she gazed upon the four headed beast- it's third head rearing back and swallowing the lump of what used to be the griffon down it's throat and into the shared gullet.. She didn't even feel Angel scrabbling up her leg and back onto her head.

"Run!" ordered Applejack, turning and pushing Fluttershy with her head to get the pegasus jump started. Their pace quickened as a quintet of roars sounded behind them. The ground beneath their hooves began to tremble and shake with every thunderous step that the creature took. It's stride was great despite the hydra being a lumbering beast, whenever Applejack tried to veer to the left or right, the farthest of it's heads would come around and snap at them, forcing them to stay in the Bogg. "Fluttershy! Ya' gotta' fly n' get away! Now!"

"No!" replied Fluttershy, shaking her head. Applejack didn't have a chance to argue because they had to screech to a stop before they went over a waterfall. The blonde glanced down below, seeing it was quite a drop and beyond that was a gorge that ran under a great bridge in the distance, patrolled by more griffons. Applejack looked back and saw the hydra approaching closer. Scowling, Applejack turned and pawed the ground, her stance indicating she was readying a charge. "Applejack-!"

"No! Ah'll buy some time! You jes' get away!" said Applejack before she ran straight on towards the great beast. She barely managed to clear a jump to the left as one of the heads struck the ground where she had been. This left her unable to retreat with two more heads waiting ahead of her but she wouldn't stop moving. If she did she was done for sure! Instead she tried to roll further left to avoid them but the water made her come up just short as one of the heads lunged at her, it's jaws snapping shut around the earth pony!

"Applejack!" screamed Fluttershy, having refused to move from her spot by the fall, eyes beginning to mist over as she watched the head rear up to swallow her friend.

Only... it looked like it was having some trouble. The three other heads looked to it, confused as it's mouth seemed to be opening. It wasn't much but Applejack was able to crack open it's jaw, her form hunched over and breathing hard as she summoned every ounce of her strength to free herself. She could hear all of the heads hissing in displeasure and smell the acrid breath of the hydra. No way was she going to die here! She gagged when she felt it's forked tongue thwack against her, trying to dislodge her from her spot when an idea came to mind. She let go of her hold on the jaws, letting them snap shut as she grabbed the tongue and bit down so hard she nearly tore through it! The creature opened it's mouth from shock and pain, allowing her to jump out... and immediately have three heads waiting below to snap her up. Applejack began to flail, trying as hard as she could to try and avoid her fate but it was no use. She closed her eyes and waited for the end... only to feel herself suddenly jerked to the side, barely being missed by each of the three heads. "F-Fluttershy?" she asked before opening her eyes to confirm it was indeed the pegasus that had helped her once again.

However they soon had a crash landing back in the water by the fall, skidding to a stop and soaked. There was no time to celebrate the close call though since the hydra was back on them, all four heads lunging as one this time and Applejack barely able to pull them out of the way. The stone cracked and groaned from the force, the ground becoming unstable beneath them before it finally gave out, the two mares and rabbit plummeting down the falls! Fluttershy was still close to Applejack and furiously began beating her wings, trying to slow their descent as all three disappeared into the depths below.

---

The stars were clear and beautiful that night, the moon casting it's gentle glow on the strangely barren and plain land below it. The only sound breaking this gentle atmosphere was of splashing and gasping as an exhausted, banged up and sopping wet earth mare dragged her companion to shore. Applejack grunted as she pulled an unconscious Fluttershy up onto the bank, taking another glance to see that yes, Angel had somehow knotted himself up so tightly in her mane that he had managed to hang on. A quick look showed that they were both still breathing, a longer one and she got a good look at the pegasus's wings. One fine, the other bent at an odd angle. She winced but continued to carefully drag them onto land, having no idea where they were or what to do now. Well, outside of getting some rest.

She looked around before spotting a tree in the distance, deciding it was better than nothing as she carefully pulled Fluttershy onto her back and carried her over there. She set the mare down first before collapsing right next to her, falling into a deep slumber.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

So... I take it the Shadow Pony is related somehow to the Pony of Shadows?

[Gpizano]

8757145

Yup. I mean, I'm about as subtle as a brick here. XD