The Back Forty

by Snooj

Chapter One - A Midnight Stroll

The branch came out of the darkness and caught Twilight square across the face, delivering a sting as painful as it was aggravating. She could barely suppress an annoyed grunt before focusing her anger on the pony storming ahead in the underbrush, the cause of this and several other unminded branches snapping back to assault Twilight as she attempted to keep up with her friend in the moonlit woods.

The chill in the air didn’t help, either. The days were still warm, but as the sun disappeared behind the distant hills, the brisk night offered a reminder that winter was soon approaching. It also reminded Twilight of precisely why, not too long ago, she had been curled up in a nice soft bed instead of forging through the darkened woods.

“Pinkie! Y’know, I love trotting through thick forest in the middle of the night just as much as anypony…”

“Great! I’m glad you love this part, but you gotta be careful, the next part is going to be scary. I promise!”

“But,” continued Twilight, “the new Daring Do just came out and that’s not a book you simply set down halfway through Chapter 4 to go take a midnight stroll.”

“Oh, don’t be silly Twilight! You couldn’t read it out here, it’s too dark! And it’s not midnight yet, that’s a whole hour from now. C’mon, we’re just about to the hill. I think I recognize this spot, there was definitely a tree here.”

“Pinkie, we’re in a forest. There are trees everywhere.”

“Yeah, but this is more of a tree-y tree than the other trees. See?”

Twilight didn’t see. It wasn’t just the extra tree-y nature of the tree she didn’t see, it was the reason she was out at night, deep in the forest behind Apple Acres, following Pinkie on an adventure that was apparently worth a late night visit and an excited story told in the only the way Pinkie could relay a tale: a broken narrative, delivered with unbridled excitement, peppered with promising adjectives and completely without cohesion. Not spun like a tale of Daring Do, a pony who currently happened to be suspended above a pit of spikes back on Twilight’s bed. That was a tale Twilight hoped to get back to very soon.

“Hmmmm,” Pinkie paused mid-step, “hold on a second, I have to think.”

Twilight trotted up next to Pinkie, thankful for the small patches of moonlight shining through the dense canopy of leaves overhead. Most of the grounds of Apple Acres were neatly groomed, tight rows of apple trees, rolling fields of flowers, corn, and celery stalks, and open pastures of lush grass for grazing. Beyond the well manicured farmlands lay this parcel, still owned by the Apple Family farm but untamed. Trees grew in random patches, weeds choked the ground, there wasn’t even a well traveled path to facilitate their late-night jaunt. It wasn’t the Everfree Forest, but it was equally intimidating in the dark.

Twilight's impatience began chipping away at her normally gracious manner. “So have you thought of where we’re going yet?”

“What? Oh, no, I was just thinking of cake. I wish I had picked one up when I got back to town. I’ve been working with Applejack all day and I’m starving! Okay, I’m done thinking of cake. Let’s go!”

Twilight was all out of frustrated sighs but managed to roll her eyes as Pinkie trotted off into a nearby copse of trees. The sound of crunching leaves provided a beacon for Twilight to follow, although she was careful to stay far enough back to avoid any wayward branches flipping back and smacking her face. Pinkie’s mouth was mercifully closed as they trotted in the crisp night air. Whatever mystery lie at the end of their walk seemed to finally be diminishing her exuberant spirit. When first presenting her case, she had been unwilling to leave Twilight alone to read, acting like a mix of lost puppy and hungry foal. Whatever the payoff, it had better transcend confections, which were typically the only things Pinkie got excited about.

“Took y’all long enough.”

Twilight let out a squeak and almost jumped out of her skin. Nestled in the shadow of a particularly large pine tree was Applejack. She slowly rose to her hooves and, despite the darkness, Twilight noticed a forlorn grimace shadowing her face. Despair was out of place on Applejack, even hard work made her grin. What was this look? Was it concern? Worry? It couldn’t be fear. Applejack wasn’t afraid of anything. Well, nothing unless it deserved being afraid of.

“Applejack! What are you doing here? This isn’t the…”

“I know, Pinkie, I just couldn’t stay there any longer. It was too…well, you know. Did you ask Twilight what she thought?”

“No, I didn’t tell her. It’s a surprise!”

“Pinkie! This ain’t a surprise! A surprise is like a birthday party. This is…is…well, I don’t know what it is.” Applejack was unable to suppress a shudder. Twilight noted that when the shudder calmed down, Applejack was still slightly trembling, unable to calm herself. What had she found on her own land that could be so terrifying? Apple Acres had been in the Apple family for generations, Applejack had grown up here. She should know all its secrets. “C’mon, Twilight. You need t’see this.”

Applejack slowly turned around, took a deep breath, and brought them over the top of a small hill. Past the small summit the land sloped sharply and opened into a few acres of flat, dead earth punctuated by twisted, misshapen trees. The trees were thinner than those in the surrounding forest, with uneven limbs and jagged slivers of bark pulling away from the gnarled trunks. If it weren’t for leaves sparsely populating the fractured branches, the trees would have looked dead. Twilight couldn’t see how far this section of the forest went on, but it was as far as she could see in the dim moonlight. Unlike the rest of the forest, there were also large white rocks scattered about and an unusually high concentration of broken branches, all of them barkless and white in the moonlight. Strange piles of loose earth littered the landscape around the rocks and branches. No wonder the trees here looked so awful, it was a wonder they could survive at all in this unfriendly soil.

The three ponies stood for a moment, listening to the quiet sounds of the forest. Applejack was breathing faster and louder, as if just having run a race, her breath ticking off the otherwise silent seconds. Pinkie swallowed. So quietly that she could have been talking to herself, she whispered, “you’re right. It’s not a surprise.”

“I just had to leave this place Pinkie. There was something I noticed, something we somehow didn’t see all day. They … they’re all alike. I don’t know how we didn’t catch it, but they … they’re all …” she cast a disturbing sidelong glance at Twilight and then leaned over to Pinkie and whispered something in her ear.

Pinkie’s eyes became unnaturally wide. “Well, that’s a surprise.”

Twilight waited patiently, but it didn’t look like either of her friends were about to push forward. A single crow cawed loudly overhead. Strange, thought Twilight, weren’t crows diurnal? What an odd omen.

Omen? What was she thinking? There was no scientific evidence of omens! It was just a crow up late. In a spooky forest. Waiting until they had arrived at this place so it could caw directly over their heads. And her friends hadn’t seemed to hear it.

“All right!” shouted Twilight, causing both her friends to scream and look around for some unimaginable terror in the wilderness.

“Twilight!” reprimanded Applejack, “don’t do that!”

In a slightly quieter, but still irritated voice, Twilight stated, “All right. So what is this thing you guys wanted to show me? It’s midnight…”

“Nearly midnight!”

“And I’ve been walking through the forest for an hour and I’m tired and I have a book waiting for me and quite frankly, I’m ready to see whatever it is you wanted to show me so I can go back home, curl up in bed, and find out what happens to Daring Do before daylight breaks because I have a big list of tasks to accomplish tomorrow.” She ended her tirade with a quick snort and almost immediately regretted it. Now her friends seemed more afraid of her than their mystery destination. She softened, “I mean, just, please. Can we please just get moving?”

“Uh, Twilight, you didn’t notice, hon? We’re here.”

“Yeah Twilight, this is it.”

“This. This? A part of the forest with weird looking trees? Littered with rocks and sticks and dirt? Okay, it’s really scary! Whoa, terrifying. Look at those trees, they’re pretty darn frightening! I’m ready to go now.”

Applejack shook her head slowly, her eyes widening. “No, sugar, take a closer look. I know it’s dark, but, just look.”

Twilight squinted in the darkness. “What am I looking for?”

“Twilight,” said Applejack slowly, “those aren’t rocks and branches. They’re bones. Bones from ponies.”

Twilight’s nimble mind wasn’t even given a second to process this before a streak of lightening tore across the sky. With a thunderous crash it struck a tree only a few feet away, splitting the trunk into two. Each half hit the ground with a splintering thud, sending dirt and dry leaves swirling into the air.

Standing on the charred stump, fire blazing in her eyes, was Luna. Her anger wasn’t directed at the three hastily bowing ponies before her, but instead she was surveying the landscape at the base of the hill.

“My little ponies,” she commanded, “what have you unleashed?”

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