Nightwatch: An Itch to Scratch
“Alright, there’s the signpost. Which way do we go?”
Braeburn began to tense up. “Uh…”
After a few moments of nothing but that mutter, Applejack began to slowly look away from the road and to him. “…Braeburn?”
“Uh…um…”
She groaned. “Golldurnit, Braeburn! If ya’ wanna ride shotgun, ya’ got ta’ keep on the map!”
“I’ve never been ta’ Mount Eris, coz! I ain’t got a clue ‘bout this map! It’s older than dirt and it’s got applesauce stains all over it!”
“It ain’t like we’re goin’ so fast you can’t use the map, Applejack…”
“If ya’ ain’t drivin’ the wagon, keep yer mouth shut, Apple Tart! Braeburn, gimme that map…”
As Applejack moved her hands around to half-take, half-snatch the map from her cousin sitting alongside, the rest of the Apple family along for the trip either sighed or grimaced uneasily. The road since leaving home had been a rather long one and they still weren’t to their destination. They arrived just outside the port town of Seaquestria two days ago and had ended up held over longer than they wanted. In retrospect, it was a bad idea to try ferrying down the river and cutting through Mt. Eris; something Applejack hadn’t considered before leaving. Obviously, the remains of the neutral country didn’t like the idea of Appleloosans moving through it. Fortunately, as they weren’t enlisted, they were able to get by on a technicality after the layover.
Now they had to make up for lost time, and in their rush it was becoming increasingly likely that they had taken a wrong turn. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing but open fields and spotty forests as far as the eye could see on a dirt road that looked about as well-traveled and maintained as the common path to their homestead.
They had just passed a signpost after hours of traveling on a winding, unbranching path increasingly wondering if they should turn around. It was long-since faded, but it indicated a turn was up ahead at least. Of course, now it was a matter of which choice, if any, would get them to where they needed to go and which would get them more lost.
Applejack pointed at the map so hard she nearly put a hole through it. “There! Stay north! Clear as day!”
“But…but coz, are we even headin’ north now?”
“Sure we are! Sun’s on one side and not the other, ain’t it?”
“But that signpost only had two ways, east or west…”
She paused. “Well, uh…then, um…we’ll head east, of course. Back toward Appleloosa.”
“Ain’t that gonna take us back into the foothills?”
“Well we ain’t going west and inta’ Equestria!”
“The road kinda looks like it turns to the north, though…”
“Lemme see… I don’t see it.”
“Right there. We turn north at the next town.”
“Ya’ sure that ain’t a bit o’ apple core? Over there’s ah big road goin’ north.”
“Coz, I think that’s somethin’ one of the youngin’s scribbled on it…”
Applejack gave a cry of disgust and nearly ripped the map in half as she looked up, then paused.
The crossroads up ahead had a single person standing at them: a younger woman with lavender hair and a pastel pink streak, and a purple-and-green dog and traveling case at her side.
At once, Applejack smiled and crumpled the map up before tossing it over her shoulder into the wagon; hitting Apple Brioche right in the face. “Eh, who needs ah map? We’ll just get directions from that woman up ahead. She looks like she’s on the road, same as us. And from her duds she’s ah city folk, so I’ll bet she knows her way around.”
Braeburn didn’t look entirely convinced, as well as nervous at how Applejack damaged the already poor-conditioned map, but he held his tongue.
It didn’t take long for the procession to reach her. She looked up as soon as they neared, seeming as if they were the first people she had seen in hours. Applejack pulled the cart to a stop just as they reached the crossroads and tipped her hat to her.
“Howdy.”
The young woman looked a tad surprised that she was being addressed at all. “Oh, um…hello!”
“Ya’ happen ta’ know which way it is to get ta’ Fort Chestnut? We’re all in a hurry ta’ get there.”
“Did…you say Fort Chestnut? You mean, in Appleloosa?”
She nodded. “Yup. That’s the one.”
“Oh, what a coincidence! I’m actually trying to get there myself!”
She beamed. “Great! So, ya’ know how ta’ get there?”
The young woman was quiet momentarily before blushing. “…No, actually. I was kind of hoping, um…someone who came along could point me in the right direction.”
A chorus of groans came from both in the wagons and outside them. Applejack instantly pounded her fist against the canvas. “Pipe down back there, Apples!” The young woman herself recoiled slightly at the reaction before the farmer groaned loudly and turned back to her. “Alright…how ‘bout this? The road we’re on now leads ta’ Seaquestria. Which road did you come down?”
For a moment, all she did was blink. “Seaquestria? I ended up all the way in Mount Eris…?”
Applejack quirked her brow. “Eh? Come again?”
The young woman blanched as if she had just leaked a secret, and quickly shook her head. “I mean, uh…um…sure! Yes! I came from Seaquestria myself, so…I’m sorry, I don’t know which way to go!”
At once, Applejack leveled a hard stare against her. It was enough to make her actually shrink back a little.
“If there’s one thing ah can’t stand, it’s lyin’."
The young woman swallowed.
Soon after, however, the farmer shrugged. “But it ain’t none of my business, so I guess I can let it slide. Alright…” She looked up and to either road; sighing at last. “Now we all know if we were ta’ go on west we’d eventually run right smack into the ‘tail’ of Equestria, and there sure as Hell ain’t no more roads that go thataway. On the other hand, if we head east we’ll run into the mountains before we hit Appleloosa. So I reckon the road going west must be the one that turns up north at some point or it’d be closed, so we’ll take that one.”
There were a few mutters, but of ascent. That logic was as good to everyone else as any.
“Alright then.” She turned back to the young woman. “Ya’ can head west too if ya’ wanna, but in any case ya oughta head on back ta’ yer own caravan or whatnot. It’s gettin’ late.”
“Er…late?”
Applejack had begun to turn back to the reins, but paused to look back at her oddly. “Ain’t ya’ ever been in this part o’ Greater Everfree before?”
She looked uneasy. “Um, no…”
“This here is right in the ‘crook’ of the tail of Equestria. Equestria’s to the north and west. That’s why it fell so quick after the Lunar Fall. Ain’t nobody out here now except robbers, Nighttouched, and other unsavory types. Single city girl like you, runnin’ out by yerself on an abandoned road, all by her lonesome? Yer the first kinda mark one of ‘em would take.”
Now the young woman looked very uncomfortable and afraid. Even her dog seemed to whimper and cringe a little.
Applejack nearly turned to get the horses going again, but paused once more when she saw her reaction. She stared at her a while, her own face growing a little uneasy. After a moment more, she turned back.
“How’s about I give you one more chance?”
She blinked. “Huh?”
Her eyes leveled on her. “Ya’ didn’t really come from Seaquestria, did ya’?”
The young woman hesitated, looking uncomfortable again. However, she seemed to realize she was caught and bowed her head, grabbing one of her arms with the other. “…No.”
“Alright then. Where did ya’ come from?”
“I…” she half-stammered, “I…I can’t tell you that. And that’s the truth.”
Applejack sat silently and studied her a moment, seeming to assess if that was the case. After a time, however, she nodded back. “Alright then. Not tellin’ the truth ain’t quite the same as lyin’, ‘least not always, so that’s good enough. In that case…” She smiled. “Long as yer headin’ the same way we are, how ‘bout taggin’ along with us?”
The young woman looked up in surprise. However, probably the only thing that seemed to make her more surprised than Applejack’s offer was the fact that almost every member of the Apple family she could see appeared to agree with her. The only exception, unseen by Applejack at the moment, was Braeburn, who looked slightly hesitant. “You…I mean…really?”
“Why sure! Apples ain’t the type ta’ leave folks stranded, an’ travelers could always use a little more company.” She turned to the group. “Ain’t that right, Apples?”
A murmur of assents, some louder and more boisterous than others, sounded out. Braeburn leaned in a little. “Um, coz…”
The young woman didn’t seem to notice him. “I…I don’t know… I don’t want to impose…and, well…” She began to look even uneasier than before.
“Aw, shoot. We don’t mind more company. And it’ll be safer for ya’, ‘specially if ya’ don’t even know yer way ta’ the nearest town.”
“Coz…”
“Ya’ can hop right inta’ the wagon ol’ Great Uncle Apple Strudel’s drivin’. Give yer legs and yer dog’s legs a rest fer a bit. What d’ya say?”
“Cousin Applejack…”
Again, neither the young woman nor Applejack seemed to notice Braeburn’s mild protest. The traveler thought about her offer, looking around the countryside and seeming to silently evaluate her options. Finally, she looked back and took a deep breath. “Well, I…suppose it’d be faster and safer to get to Fort Chestnut like that…”
“That’s the spirit!” Applejack cheered back. She held out her hand. “Name’s Applejack.”
The young woman hesitated again before she tentatively reached out and shook. “Twilight Sparkle.”
“Welcome to the Apple family, Twilight! Just hop on inta’ the wagon and we’ll be on our way. Come along now, we gotta make apples while the sun shines!”
The cheery attitude and smiling, friendly faces seemed to be at least somewhat infectious, as the young woman finally managed a weak smile as her anxiety ebbed. “Alright. Thank you.” Taking up her case, she beckoned to her dog and started running toward the back of the second wagon.
“Give me a holler as soon as yer in!” Applejack shouted behind her.
“Cousin Applejack!”
At once, the farmer wheeled on Braeburn with a much angrier look. “Golldurnit, Braeburn! What was up with ya’ givin’ the cold shoulder back there? Ya’ know Apples don’t treat stranded folks like that!”
“But coz, how’d she get out here if she doesn’t know where the nearest town is?”
“She’s a city folk! They don’t know nothin’ ‘bout travelin’! You ain’t suggestin’ she’s a bandit and is trying to ambush us, are ya’? Her against twenty of us? She ain’t even got any meat on her bones!”
He sighed and looked forward again. “I know, but…but…”
“But what?”
“There’s…I dunno…somethin’ about her that just doesn’t sit right with me. I just got a gut feelin’…and one I’ve never felt before ‘bout anybody… It’s just not right deep down inside me…”
“Aw, maybe it’s just yer stomach actin’ up. There ain’t nothin’ to worry about. Just relax.”
“Well…alright…” he half-muttered. As he turned in his seat, his left hand absent-mindedly shifted to his right and scratched the back of it.
Applejack’s logic seemed to work out. The road did eventually turn north a bit later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, they never reached any other towns, houses, or other signs of civilization the rest of the day. And when the sun went low, even the party of twenty plus one had a harder time keeping noise and spirits up out in country none of them had ever been in. And as no one traveled in the dark anymore, they were forced to pitch a camp for the night.
They started early enough to get a fire going and then burned to coals before they cooked their meal, so that only the faintest glow was still visible by the time night finally fell. It was a warmer time of the year, but everyone huddled in around the coal pit they had made when suppertime came regardless. No one wanted to sleep that far apart. Even Twilight, who had been rather quiet and shy the entire trip, seemed to huddle in closer to the rest of the Apples along with her dog.
Fortunately, they had bowls to spare along with a bit of extra food, so Applejack served her up the same as the others, a bit to her surprise, by plopping one of those bowls with a wooden spoon in her lap. “There ya’ go. Apple family recipe’s own apple-maple flavored beans.”
Twilight looked a bit taken aback by the name, and by the time she tentatively took her spoon and began to pick at it the farmer had already taken a seat alongside her. Not nearly so shy, she began to dig right in.
Rather, she would have if, just as she was about to spoon some into her mouth, she didn’t frown.
“Braeburn, would ya’ stop itchin’ already?”
Applejack's younger cousin was seated across from her and sandwiched between two larger Apples. He hadn’t touched his own food yet and nearly dropped his spoon on being accosted. “Oh…oh, s-s-sorry coz… I just…just keep doin’ it.”
“Ya’ look like ya’ve had a ‘bout with poison oak, is what.”
He frowned but said nothing, before turning his eyes up and staring at Twilight again. Twilight herself was too preoccupied with her food to notice, but Applejack frowned at the gesture. He had been continuously staring back at the second wagon all afternoon, and ever since they stopped he kept looking at Twilight. Not the kind of look one would expect from infatuation either…
A distant wolf howled. Twilight dropped her spoon into her bowl and went rigid as her dog perked his head up. Applejack looked to her and smirked. “Sheesh, yer awful jittery. Ain’t ya’ ever been on the road before?”
“Uh…all the time, actually…” she hesitantly muttered as, shaking a little, she went back for her spoon. “Just usually the more well-traveled ones. Are…are we going to be safe out here if we can’t build a fire?”
“Aw, shoot,” she chuckled, “ain’t nothin’ out here, Nighttouched or otherwise, that can lick a team of Apples. Ain’t that right?”
A chorus of assents from around the fire.
“You ain’t got nothin’ ta’ worry about.” She spooned her first bite of beans in. Twilight calmed a bit more before looking to her own bowl. She stared a bit longer, before she finally took a much smaller spoonful and somewhat nervously put it in her mouth and swallowed.
Her eyes widened a little. “That was…pretty good. I don’t even normally eat beans.”
“Heh, ya’ don’t have to act so surprised, ya’ know,” Applejack joked as she elbowed her…perhaps a little too roughly as it almost knocked Twilight into the Apple on her other side. “Homemade with fresh Apple family apples. Granny Smith’s own recipe.”
Twilight smiled, a little weakly, back as she leaned up again and had another bite.
“So, now that we’re all hunkerin’ down for the evenin’, what’s takin’ ya’ to Fort Chestnut?”
The young woman paused momentarily in mid-bite, looking caught again. “Oh, um…well…uh…” She swallowed her current mouthful. “I’m…just moving on, I guess. I’m a street magician by trade, you see. Never stay in the same place twice.”
She snickered as she had another bite of her own bowl. “I can understand that, but why Fort Chestnut? Don’t imagine many folks there are interested in street magic.”
“Well, I don’t either. It’s more of what I’m getting away from. I was in Fillydelphia last.”
Applejack let out a whistle. “Say no more. I imagine a lot of folks wanna get the hell outta there. From what I’ve heard, they’re expectin’ the next big Nighttouched surge to come in ‘round there somewhere.”
“But you and your family are headed north to Fort Chestnut.”
“Durn straight, we are. We’re gonna link up with the Appleloosan Army and enlist. Soon as we join in the fightin’, our home’ll be put under the Home Soil Act and it’ll be ours. Then the government’ll let us stay on it ‘til Hell freezes over, just so long as someone in the family is still out there fightin’. And if we can lick any Nighttouched that come up on the farm, we can take anyone from Griffonstone.”
This seemed to confuse her. “Wait, Griffonstone?”
Applejack gave her a bit of a puzzled look in response. “Well, yeah. Maybe Trottingham, although they got their own problems to worry about and this ain’t gonna bother them. Somethin’ wrong with that?”
She still looked confused. “No, it’s just…I thought you were all getting together to fight the Nighttouched surge.”
“Well, we may be ‘fore this is all over,” she whistled. Seeing that Twilight still looked confused, she raised her eyebrow. “Ya’ don’t really know how things work on the borders nowadays, do ya’?”
“I, um…suppose I don’t…?”
“Don’t know where ya’ve been…” she muttered to herself. “Fact of the matter is once the Nighttouched come across it don’t matter if ya’ throw an army and every cannon in half of Greater Everfree at ‘em. Once the Light Eaters show up, there ain’t no way to fight ‘em so ya’ gotta pull back. They’ll end up takin’ more land, and so whoever lost land is gonna try and take it from somewhere else, and whoever lost land last time is gonna try and take it from whoever got the worst of it. So dependin’ on where that surge comes across, we gotta be ready to fight off whoever comes after it.”
“Oh…” She quietly answered, going back to her beans. “That makes sense, I guess…”
“Ya’ sound almost disappointed.”
“I mean…I thought it would make more sense to try and fight the Nighttouched, but what you said makes sense…”
She half-chuckled. “Well, don’t ya’ remember right after the Lunar Fall when all them folks did try takin’ back Equestria?”
She winced a little at that. “Well, the truth is the day of the Lunar Fall was…well…a really bad day for me. I’m guessing I’m probably the only person in Greater Equestria who was having such a miserable time she didn’t notice what was going on for a couple weeks.”
“Whoo-whee…that must’ve been some bad day,” Applejack whistled, turning back to her own beans. “Just the same, fightin’ back did no good. All it did was send a lot of folks to an early grave…” Her own upbeat and friendly demeanor waned a little as she said this. Her eyes flicked to one side. “A lot of Appleloosans among ‘em…”
Twilight looked up at Applejack, before wincing a little. “Oh…I’m sorry.”
“Ah, don’t be,” she waved off, her tone picking up again. “At this point there ain’t nobody who ain’t lost somethin’ ta’ what happened after the Lunar Fall. The way I reckon it’s like a twister. Ya’ can’t hate it…it just is what it is. Ya’ just gotta deal with it and move on as best ya’ can. ‘Sides…”
She turned to her.
“Ta’ be honest, I almost wish we were headed out to fight the Nighttouched too.”
“Really?”
“I can’t stand any onery Griffonstone or Mount Eris folk thinkin’ they can mosey on over our border, ‘specially when Mount Eris folk think they’re so high and mighty and Griffonstone folk are all mean sons-of-bitches, but I know they ain’t the real problem. This is all just a waste o’ time and kickin’ the can down the road. So long as Nighttouched keep comin’ out, we’re all just scramblin’. We’re stuck makin’ the best of a bad situation and…well, it stinks, ta’ be honest.”
She smirked once again as she set her bowl down, reached behind her, and pulled out her claw hammer. She showed it to Twilight. “See this?”
A bit confused as to what the significance was, she only tentatively answered. “Yes…”
“This was my pa’s. Day after the Lunar Fall we all saw our first Nighttouched come on the farm. He went right for it and buried the head of this right in its head. I know it ain’t much of a real weapon, but I kept it ever since to keep a bit of pa with me.” She shrugged. “And ta’ tell the truth, sometimes I daydream of what it’d be like to knock the block off a Light Eater with it.”
On hearing that, Twilight looked at the hammer with a bit more appreciation. There wasn’t much to it. It was, at the end of the day, just a sturdy work hammer worn around the handle. Yet Applejack handled it not only with an air of familiarity but even ease and comfort.
She shrugged and put it back. “Anyway, enough yappin’. If granny were here she’d be yellin’ that our food is gettin’ cold. Let’s eat up so we can sleep fer our watch.”
“Um…‘watch’?”
Twilight found out the hard way that one of the things expected of her if she was traveling with the Apple family was that she’d take a turn of her own staying awake to keep watch during the night. She didn’t complain and managed to stay up for it, but an hour before dawn she still ran into trouble when she was found still curled up near the coal pit with her arms around her dog like a big stuffed animal. Apparently she wasn’t used to early mornings nearly as much as the rest of them, considering everyone else was already alert and getting things ready to move.
Applejack, never being one for subtlety, used the toe of her boot to poke her in the middle. “Hey down there! Rise an’ shine!”
Her voice was so loud and resounding that, combined with the clamor of the rest of the family, she let out a moan and cracked her eyes open. “Wh…what?”
“Up an’ at ‘em! Yer gonna miss breakfast ‘fore we head out! Traditional favorite for travelin’ Apples: apple-flavored flapjacks!”
She let out another moan and rubbed at her eyes. “This…this early?”
“Early? Heh, why shoot. It’d still be dark back at the farm. We actually slept in a mite.”
Twilight let out a moan as she let Spike go, who was more than happy to run off. As for Applejack, she leaned back up and turned to the others, who were already getting fresh coals turning and setting up the hot plate to start churning out the flapjacks as fast as possible. “Apple Bumpkin, ya’ can drive the wagon today. I’ll walk alongside. Red Delicious, hurry up with that batter! We got time ta’ make!”
The Apple family member immediately doubled his whisking speed while the others quickly got about setting things up, but Applejack’s eyes soon drifted to one member in particular. Braeburn, who had been tasked with tending the horses, was off to one side scratching furiously at the top of his palm.
Applejack frowned as she walked up to him. “Landsakes, Braeburn, ya’ got chiggers or somethin’? Either go down to the creek and get that washed up or get back to feedin’ the horses. We got a long way ta’-”
Abruptly, Braeburn snapped up from his itching and moved forward and past Applejack toward the sack of oats they had brought. That alone wasn’t what cut Applejack off, though. It was how he not only did it without a word, and not only pushing past Applejack in such a way to nearly push her aside (something he hadn’t been bold enough to do since he was a youngster), but the look on his face. She only caught a glimpse of it, but his eyes were focused, his jaw was clenched, and his mouth was turned down.
He looked angry.
It was enough to make Applejack stand still for a few moments as she watched him silently go about feeding the horses; staring at him. Braeburn was one of the more good-natured Apples in the family. He rarely lost his temper over anything. Yet even if he wasn’t, what in the world would have gotten him so upset?
She soon pushed that away and began to get angry that he had just shoved by her without a word instead, but rather than try and chew him out about it she decided to let it slide for now. As much as they tried to deny it, the trip was a change for all of them. It made sense some of them wouldn’t be acting right.
“Sure wish he’d quit itchin’ himself…” she ended up muttering as she turned to her own chores.
Braeburn’s behavior hadn’t improved by the time they set out, or for the rest of the trip that morning. In spite of Applejack’s preoccupation on getting them to Fort Chestnut as soon as possible, she couldn’t help but fixate on that. Braeburn was easily one of the more talkative members of the Apple family. She often had to practically cover his mouth to get a word in edgewise. That day she didn’t hear a peep from him. He just sat in his corner of the wagon or walked silently.
The only time he registered anything was when Twilight got near him and he gave her a look. At this point, it was no longer just a benign stare but almost, to Applejack, a cold one.
Even a hateful one…
At any rate, they did eventually reach a town that morning. It was more of a village than anything, but it did have people living in it to ask for directions. They only went a short distance into it to find many were already making ready for a potential armed conflict by stockpiling and barricading their respective homes. Although Applejack was walking alongside the wagons, she still took the initiative to ask one passerby about their road. She was pleased to find that her intuition had been right—the road would indeed continue north and eventually turn off to the east back for Appleloosa once the hills broke, and from there to Fort Chestnut.
“Got any other news ‘bout what’s happenin’?”
“Not much,” the local answered. “Most of the news out here comes from train, horse, or occasionally carrier pigeon. Nearest telegraph is still all the way in Seaquestria. Been a lot of travelers like you on the road, though. They keep saying the next surge is going to happen around the tri-country area. That’ll drive three different nations wild at once.”
“I’ll say… Any idea where?”
“Not a clue. The last surge was in Fillydelphia, though.”
“Yeah, I heard that much.”
“There’s this real wild rumor going around though.”
“Oh?”
“A fistful of folks say they saw a Light Eater come across on this latest surge. There’s a rumor someone killed it.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ya’ mean some group of the Fillydelphia Army killed it?”
“No-no…the rumor is it was just one person. Had some kinda crazy new weapon. No one saw what but it made a bunch of light.”
She frowned. “Sounds like pig swallor ta’ me. The kind I don’t like. I lost too many family members to them bastards to have a taste fer it.”
The caravan moved along soon afterward, but in spite of Applejack’s dismissive reaction she couldn’t fully loose the idea from her mind. While she thought it was a load of nonsense, most people in Greater Everfree continued to entertain the idea that somehow, even after eight years of failure, some new weapon or science would come up with a way to hurt or even kill Light Eaters. She was no stranger to tall tales and she knew when to avoid most of them, but this particular one tickled her interest in a way few other stories had.
Enough to where, at last, she moved over to Twilight and Spike while they were walking along and fell in next to them. “Say Twlight?”
“Yes?”
“Ya’ said ya’ came from Fillydelphia, right?”
A pause, in which she looked slightly more uneasy. “Y-yes…”
“Did ya’ happen to hear any rumor ‘bout anyone actually killin’ a Light Eater by themselves?”
Two shades of color drained from Twilight’s face. The air seemed to catch in her throat for a moment. “Uh…I…that…that is…um…”
Applejack frowned. “Shoot, Twilight. What got inta’ ya’? I was just askin’ if ya’ heard ah rumor.”
“Y-y-yeah…yeah, I know, but…I mean…that is…no,” she stammered. “I mean…heard a rumor? No, I haven’t heard any rumors…”
Applejack reminded herself never to peg this traveler for a poker partner, because there was no way she wouldn’t give everything away from her facial expression. It was abundantly clear to her that asking Twilight had upset her in some way, although she had no idea why it would. What would it matter to her either way?
“Ya feelin’ alright?”
“Wh…what? Me? Sure! I feel fine!”
“Well, ya’ sure seem shook up over that.”
“It’s…well…it’s just…I…” She paused. “Um…it’s another one of those things I…don’t like to talk about.”
She shrugged. “Alright, I can appreciate that. A lot of folks don’t even wanna hear people joke ‘bout killin’ Light Eaters. Not after what they’ve seen…”
“Yeah…”
While the caravan did spot one other village in the distance in early afternoon, by the time the evening approached they were once again out in the middle of nowhere. It was a bit worse that day than the one before as the road took them through a stand of forest. Forests were, as a general rule, things to avoid. Aside from being hard for watches to look around in, they provided lots of shadows and crannies for potential Nighttouched to hide. Yet after riding an extra hour to try and get clear from it and only having it get darker faster as a result of being deeper in the forest, Applejack finally groaned and called the team to a halt.
“Alright, alright…might as well stop here fer the night.”
“You sure about that, cousin?”
“It’s gettin’ too dark, Apple Tart. We don’t set up camp now in half an hour we won’t be able ta’ see enough ta’ set up at all.”
Once again, the Apples began to dismount and start setting things up for the evening, including by bringing out their bits of gear and food for the night. Some of them went to tend to the horses while others tried to find a good spot for setting up the fire pit. Applejack herself took off her hat long enough to wipe her brow before putting it back on her head, then turned for the back wagons.
Twilight herself stood to one side with her dog, looking uncertainly from one way to another at the Apples moving around. “Um…excuse me?”
Applejack looked at her.
“You all have been nice enough to let us tag along and feed us, so…is there anything we can do to help?”
She smiled a little. “Sure thing. How’s about you grab yerself one of the lanterns and get it set, then ya’ can help Caramel Apple find us a creek bed to fetch some water.”
“Ok.” She began to get up from the side of the wagon.
“Be quick about it, now,” she called after her. “Once the sunlight starts goin’, we ain’t keepin’ any more lanterns lit, and we don’t want anyone breakin’ their legs comin’ back from the creek.”
As Twilight moved off to the back of the first wagon, one of the men, an uncomfortable look on his face, walked up to the farmer. “Hey cousin?”
“Red Delicious, what ya’ doin’ lollygaggin’ around here? It’s yer turn to chop up some bits for some coals!”
He winced, looking anxious, and gestured over his shoulder. “Braeburn’s got the axe right now.”
“Well, get it from ‘im!”
Now Red began to look afraid. “I…I couldn’t… Applejack,” He swallowed, his voice lowering. “Braeburn’s…actin’ real funny. Somethin’ ain’t right…”
That only made her frown. “Aw Hell, this bull has gone on long enough.” She half-growled, pushing her hat down and walking past Red. “I’m gonna set him straight like I shoulda this mornin’. Boy must have cat-scratch fever with the way he’s itchin’…”
“Ap…Applejack, I’m warnin’ ya’… He don’t look right…”
“I’ll handle it. Just go find us a dried log ta’ chop up.”
The axe was in the back of the second wagon, so Applejack didn’t have to go far. Yet even before reaching it, she soon noticed Red Delicious wasn’t alone in his reactions. All of the Apple family members, both younger and older, were shying away from the back of the wagon. Two of them looked nervously over their shoulders as they did. It didn’t help that, the way the sun was setting, the shadows were growing long in that direction. By the time Applejack reached the backside of the second wagon, she couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy herself.
Especially since the only Apple left standing there at that point was Braeburn, back to her and the others, and brandishing the double-bladed axe in his hands.
It was enough to render her mute for a moment, but only a moment. She frowned soon after. “Braeburn, I don’t know what’s gotten inta’ you today, but we’re settin’ up fer the night and we need some coals for supper, so hand over that axe.”
Silence. Braeburn didn’t move.
She frowned a bit more, pushing down a hint of unease rising in her own gut. “Braeburn, I’m gettin’ sick an’ tired of this. Quit messin’ ‘round and give me that axe.”
Finally, he turned his head. This time, Applejack couldn’t help it. Her own look became uncomfortable when he stared at her. That look in his eye was nothing she had ever seen before. Braeburn didn’t have a mean bone in his body, but this was something else. It was more than a reaction she had never seen out of him.
It was like there was someone else completely behind those eyes.
It was a full two seconds before she spoke: “Braeburn…”
His eyes suddenly looked to the side. At once, the pupils shrank and his eyelids narrowed. He looked like an animal zeroing in on prey.
“You…”
Even the voice didn’t sound like him. All of his normal softness and upbeat tone was gone. On realizing he was looking at someone, Applejack turned to see who.
There stood Twilight, lantern in one hand and rooted in her spot on seeing Braeburn staring at her.
A moment later, Braeburn turned fully around and began to advance on her.
“Braeburn!” Applejack called out. He didn’t stop or look at her. He fully focused on Twilight, and he hefted the axe as he did. “Braeburn, stop right now!” She shouted. While her voice remained firm and cross, inside she was now starting to feel scared. Braeburn was doing more than not acting like himself. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong. And with the look in his eye and the axe in his hand…
She reached out and seized the axe handle, meaning to yank it free. “Brae-”
She cut herself off with a cry a moment later as he twisted his arms sharply, actually wrenching her arm to tear the axe away from her. She stepped back a moment, but as she did her eyes glanced over and saw the hand he had been itching.
It looked like scratches had been made it into it at this point, only they weren’t from regular itches. It almost seemed like a symbol. Worst of all, though, was there was one spot on it that stood out.
It gleamed like a burning hot coal.
Seeing what was going on, the other Apples soon reacted. As Twilight began to nervously step back, Apple Brioche stepped forward in Braeburn’s path. “Now coz, what d’ya think her doin’ with-”
He was cut off as Braeburn, never looking away from Twilight, reached up and forcefully shoved him to one side. That was no small feat in itself as once Brioche planted his feet it was hard for anyone to push him around, but he was shoved away so fast that he was thrown to the ground. Quickly, Red Delicious stepped up next.
“Braeburn, would ya’ just-”
Without a word, Braeburn removed a hand from the axe, made a fist, and backhanded Red Delicious across the face with such violence that his head snapped one way and smacked into the side of the wagon. He instantly fell to the ground in a limp pile, and the surrounding Apples gasped in alarm. Twilight’s dog began to bark at Braeburn as she began to back off quicker. In response, Braeburn hefted the axe higher and picked up his pace.
This was the last straw everyone needed to know something was wrong, and Applejack quickly moved. In a flash, she ran up behind him and slipped her arms under his to put him into a full nelson. For a brief moment, she yanked back and pulled him off his feet, stopping him cold. “Someone get that damn axe away from him! And help me hold-”
Applejack was cut off as Braeburn swung his head back into her face so hard he nearly broke her nose. As it was, it felt like a mule had kicked her in the face, and her lip instantly split. If she wasn’t so dazed, she would have been stunned that Braeburn had managed to actually hit her that hard. Her grip loosened just as two of the other Apples reached him. One managed to grab the axe handle, but he twisted it free and smashed her in the face to knock her away, before, to everyone’s horror, he actually swung the blade out at the other. Thankfully, she managed to pull back, but even so the end of the blade sliced open her overalls. The other Apples quickly pulled back, seeing as he was now actually using his weapon, and now free he quickly barreled in a full charge to Twilight.
The young woman gasped and quickly turned and ran just as he reached her, swinging the axe out for where she had been. The blade whizzed past her fleeing body and sank into the ground instead. It took him a moment to pull it back up, and in that time Spike let out a snarl and seized him by the wrist, digging his teeth in. Braeburn’s face twisted, turning not only cold but angry now. Yet he didn’t even seem to notice the dog biting him hard enough to make him bleed. He simply removed a hand from the axe and punched him in the head. Spike was knocked off of him and sent for a slide and a whimper, and Braeburn quickly took up the axe in both hands again and charged for Twilight at a speed faster than any of the Apples had ever seen him move. He caught up to her as she was at the side of the first wagon and swung the axe out for her again.
This time, there was nowhere for her to run, and she cried out as she dropped to the ground. The axe whizzed over her head and embedded in the side of the wagon so hard it sank in to the shaft, but as a result it was wedged there a moment, and he struggled to yank it free.
The Apples leapt on him again. Three were brave enough to try and dogpile on him, reaching over to seize his arms to try and wrench them off of the axe and pin him down. For a moment, they seemed to have the upper hand, as he couldn’t pry the axe loose and fight them off. Then, giving an angry grunt, he swung his head around and smashed into the head of one of them, knocking them limp, before lashing out with his boot to kick another one off and elbowing another aside. Twilight tried to scramble back in the meantime, but when her eyes caught a glimpse of Braeburn’s hand she froze--staring at it in wide-eyed, immobilized shock.
Braeburn just began to pry part of the blade free, however, when Applejack, lip bleeding down her chin, charged in and swung her fist out for the side of her cousin’s head. It connected solidly enough to jar it right into the side of the wagon, smacking it a second time after the first impact. At last, it was enough for him to loosen his grip on his axe, giving Applejack the moment she needed to wheel around and seize him by his collar.
“Alright, ya’ sonnuvabitch! Ya’ wanna lickin’? I’ll give ya’ one!”
Applejack’s fist smashed into Braeburn’s face with three resounding cracks. The first two barely moved his head back, but the third had all of her might put into it and finally dislodged his grip off of the axe handle and sent him falling back onto his rear end. By now, there weren’t any Apples around to try and jump on him, though. They were either injured from previously or too afraid to get on him. At any rate, he got back on his feet in a snap—his eyes now locked on Applejack.
The farmer’s look stayed hard and fearsome, but inside she couldn’t help but feel increasingly nervous. There wasn’t a member of the family she couldn’t drop with one punch. Even Big Macintosh. Braeburn was from the side of the family that tended to yell “uncle” as soon as she made a fist. She had just hit him with the kind of force she reserved for Nighttouched boars or bears and other than knock him off balance a moment it only seemed to tick him off…
“It’s happening at last…”
Hearing Twilight say that, Applejack turned her head. “What now?”
That was a bad move. Braeburn charged her a moment later bare handed, which was more than bad enough. She felt the air get knocked out of her as he smashed into her gut and ripped her off of her feet, then continued to carry her and tackle her by smashing her into the nearest tree. Strong as Applejack was, that was pushing it even for her. She coughed violently from the impact as pain radiated throughout her back. The trauma was nearly enough to render her limp, yet somehow she forced herself to let her dangling arms go over Braeburn’s body. Gritting her teeth, she laced her fingers together and tightened to form a double-fist, then raised it and smashed it down on Braeburn’s back. It was much weaker than her last blow, but she hoped it let him know she was still a threat.
Somehow through the struggle, she saw Twilight slowly getting back up to her feet, but her eyes were to the ground and a hand was at her temple. “She told me this would happen… She said to use it…”
“Ugh…” Applejack growled. “Just run, will ya’?”
Braeburn surged forward, smashing her into the tree again. It wasn’t as hard as before, but she wasn’t as strong either and this time she went flaccid. Her arms slid off of his body, and he began to peel away from her.
“That spell…what was that spell?” Suddenly, Twilight’s head snapped up to her. “Keep him busy!”
“What in tarnation ya’ goin’ on about…?” she groaned through clenched teeth. Just as Braeburn was about to pull himself free, she took in a deep breath and forced her body to life; throwing herself back on top of him. As he turned around, she put her arms over his back again, and this time brought one arm around his neck. She grasped it with her other and tightened while her legs went up and laced around his middle. She pulled as hard as she could, trying to put him into a sleeper hold.
“I can stop this but I’ve got to remember how! I need to think!”
Applejack had no idea what Twilight was babbling about, but at the moment stopping Braeburn was first on her mind anyway. She kept pulling tight, hoping that it would be enough to knock him out. Unfortunately, it was a simple matter for Braeburn to swing his body backward and against the same tree. The farmer managed to hold on for the first blow, but the second one made her cry out as she felt her ribs bruise. After that, she went limp and second time and fell off of Braeburn all together.
Twilight was backing off and away from the axe, but Braeburn was no longer bothering with it. He tightened his own hands into fists and walked straight toward her. One of the remaining bold Apples took up one of their cast iron skillets and ran up to the side of him. Using both of her own hands, she swung it about and smashed it into the side of his head. He actually did bend over a little at the hit, but unfortunately that was all. A moment later, he snapped up, reached out to seize her by the face, and half-flung her away and into another tree trunk before snapping back to Twilight.
She wasn’t running off, but rather was trying to move around in a circle in the general area; trying to remember something based on the look on her face while she did. Braeburn again moved toward her, but was stopped again as Spike once more got up and this time went for his ankle. Rather than seize his pant leg, he was digging in to try and bite down on the tendon. He seemed to work for a moment, as that made Braeburn falter on his initial bite. Yet he hardly had time to dig in before he wrenched his leg out of the dog’s mouth and kicked him even harder than he had struck him last time. The dog let out an even louder yelp when he went flying after this strike, and on landing he didn’t get up immediately. As for Braeburn, he now had a limp in his walk, but as a result of that he only went a few steps before he stopped trying to walk after Twilight. Instead, as soon as she didn’t look where she was going and got herself stuck in a position between a fallen Apple and a tree, he broke into a charge and reached out to seize her.
Applejack, through her own spinning senses, saw that no one else was available to get up and try and stop him. As a result, she once again bit back her own pain and soreness and forced herself up to her feet. Half-staggering and half-lunging, she forced herself into Braeburn’s path and reached out to seize him by the wrists just as he reached Twilight, then used her own momentum and unbalance to yank him off of his feet. Both went to the ground and into a sideways tumble, rolling over each other several times before stopping with the worst position Applejack wanted: her on the bottom and him on top.
Whatever had gotten ahold of him was again focused on her, and in an instant he wrenched his hands free of hers and seized her by the throat. They turned into iron vises as they crushed inward. Applejack didn’t even have time to gasp as he throttled her hard enough not only to cut off her air but her blood vessels. Her eyes widened in shock. Even if she was at her best she wouldn’t want to be in this position. She wasn’t strong enough to throw him off of her, and he could easily kill her like this. She tried to seize his hands and work her fingers underneath them, but it was no good. He was too strong for that. And in his position, there was no way to roll him either. He was already getting on top of her chest to make sure she couldn’t. She had to think fast. Things were already starting to get fuzzy…
Through it all, though, she felt the hard lump at her back side…
One of her hands left Braeburn’s hands and shot down to her hip. An instant later, she pulled up the claw hammer. For a brief instant, the idea went through her mind to use the head on Braeburn, before she swept it around and laced the claws underneath his fingers instead. With a prying motion, she ripped them off of her neck--letting a rush of blood and air come in. As soon as she had it, for lack of any better option, she swung the claws around and drove them into his upper forearm. It wasn’t meant to be a serious or crippling blow…just enough to wound him to let her get free. The prongs sliced through her shirt and tagged his arm on the other side, opening a gash. While Braeburn was barely reacting to pain, it seemed to be enough to loosen the arm's hand, and quickly she used the moment to raise both hands and brace the shaft of her hammer across his neck. With another cry, using up most of her remaining stamina, she shoved his head back and forced him up and to one side.
As his body rolled one way and she managed to get leverage over it, for a moment she thought she had him…
Suddenly, he let out an angry grunt of his own and kept rolling over, going with her motion all the way to fling her back to the ground and put himself back on top of her again. This time, however, he didn’t try to throttle her. One hand reached out and seized her by the skull in a clenching grasp while the other reached out and seized her hammer. Applejack’s eyes widened as she realized what he intended to do, especially when he tried to twist it free a moment later. She braced herself for it, but weakened as she was and with his strength it was almost too little. Her wrist felt like it nearly sprained from the first twist alone, and soon she had to bring her other hand up just to keep it from being pulled fully free. The two struggled for a moment, but he responded by pushing her head down harder and grinding it against the dirt as if he was trying to crush it. Her grip rapidly began to loosen as he pulled and twisted harder.
Finally, the hammer snapped free from her fingers and he raised it into the sky. His eyes focused on hers with a cold, murderous glare. Her air caught in her throat…
An instant before the hammer could fall, Twilight’s body came over hers. Her right hand was out, the first two index fingers extended and placed together, and they rapidly formed a pattern of straight lines, points, and curves in mid-air. It took the span of less than a second, before she drove both fingers forward and slammed them against Braeburn’s forehead.
To Applejack’s shock, light like purple electricity traced through the air. It was like Twilight had been drawing an invisible symbol in thin air, and now something had caused it to ignite like a match on kerosene. As it blazed forth, Braeburn’s own eyes went wide. The same purple light resonated within them as it lost all hardness and coldness, instead just staring blankly forward. The pupils enlarged; focusing on nothing and seeing beyond the sigil, Twilight, the forest, and everything else.
A moment later, the light died out, and with it so did Braeburn’s strength. His eyes glazed over as his muscles relaxed, and a moment later he moaned once before he simply collapsed and fell off of Applejack all together.
The grove was silent save for the sound of Applejack and Twilight’s heavy breathing. Spike gradually picked himself up and began to move over to his master, and the rest of the Apples slowly started to rise as well. Only about half had seen the actual incident take place, with the other half incapacitated for one or more reasons. Applejack herself stared at the space above her, replaying what had just happened in her mind a few times to determine if she had actually seen that. No one moved much for a full minute, at which point people didn’t know whether to stare at Braeburn or Twilight.
The lavender-haired woman herself finally leaned back and off of Applejack, allowing the farmer to lean up. She stared at her, but Twilight showed nothing. Her hand lowered and she bowed her head. Her face was like someone caught in the act of stealing, but she showed nothing else and said nothing else. At last, Apple Brioche came over to Braeburn’s side. He leaned down next to him for a moment.
“He’s breathing, but he’s out cold.”
“He’ll be fine.”
Everyone looked up to Twilight when she spoke. On realizing all eyes were on her, she shrank back a little more. “He…he just needs some time to wake up…at least he should…”
“What did you do to him just now?” Apple Tart called; her tone slightly accusatory.
She nervously exhaled and ran a hand through her hair. “You won’t believe me if I tell you… Just…know that he won’t act crazy like that again.”
“What d’ya mean he won’t act crazy like that again? What in tarnation just happened anyway? And how did-”
“She’s right,” Applejack suddenly spoke up. “He won’t act like that again.”
The Apples turned to her next, even more confused. However, Applejack’s eyes were now resting on the top of Braeburn’s hand. She could clearly see the markings on it now. Just as she had thought earlier, there was some sort of symbol on top of it etched in his skin. She doubted he had done that by scratching, though. Even carving it in with a knife wouldn’t have been that precise. However, the one marking that had gleamed like a red coal was gone.
A moment later, Applejack turned back to Twiilght. “What just happened?”
“I…I don’t know…”
“Bull,” she spat. “I heard ya’ back there. Ya’ said ‘it’s happenin’ at last’. What’s happenin’?”
She looked twice as nervous on realizing Applejack had heard her. “I…I can’t…”
“What just happened to my cousin? Come on, spit it out!”
“Look…I don’t know why Braeburn suddenly started to act like that. All I know is someone once taught me something to make someone ‘sane’ again.”
She frowned. “Now that don’t make no sense. How’s about-”
“Listen, I’m serious about this!” Twilight suddenly spoke up, in a rare show of force that was enough to make Applejack back down. “The less you know about this the better off you’ll all be, but I’m telling the truth when I say I don’t know why he started to act like that. Look…” She paused to take in a deep breath. “The same person who taught me how to do what you just saw told me one day lots of people everywhere around the world were going to start acting like he just did. One of the last things she taught me to do was how to stop them using that binding sign. She also told me the more people know about how this can happen, the more people it will happen to.”
“Say what? Are you tellin’-”
“Look!” Twilight cut off. She paused to stabilize herself again. “If…if you all don’t trust me or you’re suspicious of me, just say so and Spike and I will leave, but that’s all I’m going to say about it.”
The family was quiet for a moment. Applejack herself kept her glare leveled at Twilight. It didn’t sit well with her that she knew more about this than she was letting on, even if it wouldn’t explain exactly what had happened to Braeburn.
She finally straightened a bit and looked around. “Alright…let’s get everyone bound up and get this camp back in order.”
More than a few surprised looks turned to her. “Say what, coz?”
“Yer just gonna leave it at that?”
“Twilight says she don’t know why Braeburn started actin’ like that an’ I can’t do nothin’ but take her word. Reckon my head would look like a smashed apple now if she hadn’t done what she jus’ did, so I’m willin’ ta’ give her the benefit of the doubt fer now. At least ‘til Braeburn comes to and tells us his side o’ the story. The way I figure, ain’t none of us were gonna stop ‘im if it weren’t for whatever Twilight did jus’ now, so that means we all owe her.”
While everyone may not have liked it, Applejack’s logic did make sense. Twilight herself looked rather surprised that the farmer was backing her up so easily. However, she had another reason for doing so. Twilight did know more than she was letting on, and Applejack had never seen or heard of anything like what had just happened happen before. The only way she was going to find more about it was by sticking with the traveler; not driving her off.
“Come on now, it’s gettin’ dark. We still gotta find a creek.”
Somewhat reluctantly, and with no small number of uneasy looks toward both Braeburn as well as Twilight Sparkle, the group began to pick themselves up. Caramel Apple herself made sure Red Delicious was starting to come around, and not long after Apple Brioche started to get under Braeburn. Twilight herself gave a nod of thanks to Applejack before she started to get up; no longer worrying about helping with chores as she went for Spike. The farmer continued to watch her for a moment from her own spot on the ground.
She finally frowned and got up as well; not noticing that she began to absent-mindedly itch the top of her hand.
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Some nice, classic zombie troubles. Theres' still some nice comitment to looking at these fantastical things from the perspective of the mundane, though it's a little weird for it to keep going after we've already seen Twilight in action. I guess she still has some secrets to carry.
Hmm. I can't help but think Twilight misunderstood the "the more people know about this, the more it can happen" issue. That or I just don't understand the mechanism at work.
In any case, good to see that the continent did try a coordinated assault. It just, you know, didn't actually do anything. A shame they couldn't maintain that kind of solidarity. The more Equestria expands, the more they all lose.
In any case, Twilight's definitely on shaky ground right now. AJ will lokely get the truth out of her one way or another. I just hope it doesn't involve literally hammering it out of her.