The Back Forty

by Snooj

Chapter Three - Sisters

“Twilight Sparkle! What are you doing here? What have you done?” Luna’s voice jerked Applejack back to the present, back to the dark, miserable night, where all she could do was stare at the ground and replay that one pivotal part of her day over and over again.

“No, Pinkie, we can’t go. Ever. No, Pinkie, I’m not going with you. Okay Pinkie, you’ve seen the forest, now let’s go. I’m sorry Pinkie, I have to work hard, I can’t go with you. Big Mac needs these trees bucked, we can’t go off alone.” There were a thousand excuses she could have used to stay away from this land, a thousand ways to avoid this. Pinkie wasn’t especially persuasive, why had it been so easy to follow her? Why couldn’t she have just shut it down, kept working, stayed at the orchard? She would be in bed right now. Over the last few hours, she hadn’t even considered what was going on back at the farm. Big Mac would be looking for her. Granny and Apple Bloom would be home, wondering where she was. She had simply walked off the job!

Her chest started to seize up, this whole situation was so avoidable, so painfully preventable. Why was she here?

“Y-your highness,” stammered a crackly voice next to her. It sounded like Twilight was about to start crying. “I, I was just, um…”

Say something! Applejack knew this was her fault, not Pinkie, not Twilight, only she could have stopped this. Say something, save Twilight!

“We found these, there were, I mean, I haven’t studied them, but it appears that on Applejack’s land here, well…”

Twilight trailed off again. Applejack took a deep breath. If she didn’t say anything, Twilight would take all the blame. She couldn’t let that happen. But it was so easy to be quiet. Perhaps nothing bad would happen. They would apologize, go home.

“Save your breath, Twilight, I know you just got here. A good thing, too. We need to stop this before it goes any further. I need you to fetch a book for me, a book that will explain all this. Can you do that for me?”

“Of course, your highness! Oh, yes, of course! Which book? I probably know right where it’s filed.” Twilights tone conveyed relief beyond measure.

“It’s an ancient book, one you may know by a different name. It was originally called Scribblefeather’s Brief History of Three. Do you know it?”

“Um…”

Applejack could hear Twilight scuffing one hoof on the ground. Once addressed, Twilight had risen up but Applejack and Pinkie were still crouched in a deep bow, hoping to sink directly into the earth. It might be more comforting to be one of those unearthed piles of bones right now.

“The name may have been changed over the years, but I can tell you how it begins,” Luna cleared her throat and spoke in a metered, oratory tone, “’I tell you this, my children, if you recall nothing else to the end of your days, be mindful of this one fact. There are three, and only three, and will always be three, and you shall never know what it is that drives them.’ Does that passage sound familiar to you?”

Applejack could tell that Twilight’s brief affair with confidence was already waning, “N-no. Your highness.”

“Very well. You must look for it. Either in History or in Science. You will find it. Now go!”

Twilight did not wait another second, didn’t say goodbye, didn’t promise to be back quickly. Her hoof beats were fading in the distance before the echo of Luna’s mandate had faded from Applejack’s ears.

When not even the slightest tremble of those furiously galloping hooves could be felt on the ground, Luna looked back at the two ponies cowering before her.

“Who did this?”

Applejack seized her chance, “I did, your highness. It was me who dug up these here bones.”

“I see. And what was your intent?”

“That’s a … hard question to answer. Your highness.”

“How did you come to know about the existence of these bones?”

“Oh, me! Me!” chimed in Pinkie, as cheerfully as if the question had been “Who like cookies?”

For the first time, Luna regarded the small pink pony. “Oh yes, the chicken. How did you come to know of these bones?”

“They smell awful. See, sometimes, when I can’t see something, or feel something or smell something, I end up seeing it or feeling it or smelling it when it’s not around, and that reminds me that it’s there and I need to go see it or feel it or smell it. Unless it’s that cheap frosting that tastes bad, then I don’t need to taste it at all, I just trust my feelings.”

Luna stared at Pinkie for a few seconds, trying to digest this. “And you, Applejack, is it?”

“Yes. Uh, yes ma’am. Your highness. Ma’am.”

“Are you equally as confusing as this pony?”

“No ma’am. Pinkie is a little strange,” at this she gave her friend a sidelong grin to assure her she meant “strange” in the best possible way, “but she’s never wrong! If her tail is a twitchin’, you’d best hide under something. And today, she could smell this weird smell and whenever she did, it meant we were over a skeleton.”

“And what caused you to come to this part of your property? You are part of the Apple family, are you not?”

“Adventure!” helped Pinkie.

“Yes ma’am, I’m Granny Smith’s grand-daughter. Born and raised this land. Been in my family for generations and I’ve never set hoof out here. Never.”

“My little ponies, we have a problem. And we need to find resolution before Twilight comes back.”

“Um, if I may, how is that book you sent her for going to help us?”

Luna tilted her head to the heavens and for a brief second, Applejack could swear there was a hint of sadness on her face. Luna was always so well guarded, even better than Celestia; it was rare to see so powerful an emotion overcome her.

“It won’t. She will not find it. That book hasn’t existed for nearly a thousand years.”

“Beg pardon?”

“When excavating these bones, did you notice anything unusual about them?” as she asked, Luna stepped down off the remains of the stump and started down the hill. She did not have to indicate that she was to be followed, both Pinkie and Applejack immediately fell in step on either side of her. It felt strange, mused Applejack, it was a feeling of belonging. Like she was Luna’s own personal guard, suddenly far more important than just a country farmer pony caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.

“Well, there was one thing I noticed after we dug them all up.”

“Oh, I know, I know!” Pinkie jumped up and down in excitement, “Applejack told me. Every single one we’ve dug up is an Earth Pony.”

Luna stopped short as if she had suddenly noticed she was at the brink of a deep, endless chasm. It was a moment before she spoke again, and when she did, Applejack noticed a slight waver in her voice.

“That is correct, they are all Earth Ponies. No pegasi, no unicorns. Every single pony buried here is an Earth Pony. I suspect there is one exception. You haven’t found anything else, have you?”

“No ma’am, just the bones and dirt.”

Luna turned on Applejack, her eyes once more ablaze, her lips curled up in a snarl, “You wouldn’t ever LIE to me, would you?”

Applejack once again resumed the submissive crouch, “No Princess Luna, absolutely not!”

“It’s true! Applejack’s Element of Harmony is Honesty. She couldn’t lie even if she wanted to. And if she did want to, which she doesn’t, but if she did, she’s a TERRIBLE liar. You could tell in a heartbeat,” added Pinkie helpfully.

“This will be put to the test often in the coming days,” said Luna cryptically.

“I think she’s bad at tests, too.”

“Pinkie, can you jus’ be quiet for two minutes? Princess, what … what is all this? This isn’t just a graveyard, is it? It’s somethin’ worse.”

Luna betrayed no acknowledgement of the question. She had turned her gaze back to the mounds of dirt, the bleached white bones shining in the moonlight, and said softly, “so many. So very many.”

Neither of the small ponies dared so much as shuffle a hoof and destroy the ominous silence that hung over them. Luna was fiercely studying the remains, her jaw clenched, and Applejack noticed both sadness and anger struggling for dominion over her face.

“Do you guys like hide and seek?” as Pinkie asked a typical Pinkie question, Applejack felt like giving her a swift kick in the flank. Did she understand nothing? This was a solemn moment, ultimately confusing, but Luna could very well be close to…

“So many,” asserted Luna. “So many dead. This is not how it was supposed to be. You!” she addressed Applejack, “you dug these up. How did you find them? I see one pile of remains next to each of the backfilled holes. You knew exactly where to dig. Explain this.”

“Uh, well, it wasn’t actually me. I did the diggin’ alright, but it was Pinkie there who found them. She’s got this sense, you see, her Pinkie sense, and it’s never wrong about stuff! Just ask Twilight, even she believes!”

“Pinkie Pie. Laughter. That is your element, but this is not a time for amusement. What was it that caused you to search for and find these poor, brave ponies?”

Applejack shuddered. You never asked Pinkie Pie to relay a story, especially one describing her actions and motives. The saga that followed was thankfully short, as far as Pinkie stories were concerned, and Luna listened intently to every sentence of the adventure, not once asking her to stay on topic or get to the point. Even the tangential mentions of cake were treated as if the information was a necessary instrument to properly unfold the epic yarn. Promptly, Pinkie brought the story to a close, “and then I told you the whole story of how we got here, and now I’m here in front of you finishing the story. And that’s it until more happens.”

“So you smell them.”

“Yes!”

“But, I smell nothing, how is it you smell them?”

“Well, my Pinkie sense is different than your nose. Usually I feel something happen, like a shiver or a twitch, but this time it was a smell. Only I can smell it, so don’t feel bad. Even Applejack couldn’t smell anything.”

“And you dug up every one you could find?”

“Oh no, of course not!”

“Why not?”

“Well, there are so many! I ran all around here earlier, look at how far this tree graveyard goes! They’re everywhere. Like hundreds. Maybe hundreds of hundreds! Maybe tens of hundreds of hundreds.”

Luna didn’t look well, and if it wasn’t so dark, or if the patches of moonlight weren’t so mottled, Applejack might have thought that there were tears in her eyes. In fact, Luna nearly convinced her of this fact when she attempted to speak, made a desperate choke, and fell silent. Applejack surveyed the bones, then looked out in the darkness, her eyes tracing the boundary of the decaying trees. Hundreds. Maybe hundreds of hundreds. This couldn’t be a graveyard, this was enormous. She wanted desperately to ask what all this meant to Luna but she couldn’t bring the words to her lips.

Mercifully, the night seemed to be showing the first signs of giving way to morning. Applejack was always up before the crack of dawn, it was her most favorite time of day to be alive, with the sun just starting to dig its warm rays in from the north, the…

North? Wait, sun? No no no, this was all wrong, it couldn’t be morning. It was barely midnight! The sun didn’t rise from the north, either. What was going on? It still seemed to be dark as night if Applejack looked straight up into the starry sky.

Whatever fear or sadness had been plaguing Luna was gone in an instant. “No! She knows, she’s coming! Quick, my little ponies, we must hide!”

Luna galloped to the edge of the trees to the south, in the opposite direction from where the light was coming from, Pinkie right behind her with a completely out of place grin on her face. Luna stopped between two thick gnarled trees, far from any area where remains had been exhumed. She turned, opened her wings, Pinkie galloped underneath, and they were gone.

Applejack blinked. This wasn’t a trick of light, they hadn’t disappeared into a shadow, they were simply gone. As Applejack stared helplessly at the void between the trees, a black, disembodied wing rose up, revealing an absolutely thrilled Pinkie Pie and part of Luna’s terrified face. “Quickly!” she hissed, “Get under my wing, you’ll be safe!”

What the hay, thought Applejack, nothing else had been under her control today. As she took off for the mysterious comfort of the wing, she promised herself that tomorrow, when this was all over, she’d buck twice as hard and help Big Mac carry in the apples and never go on any crazy forest exploring adventure again. Home, that’s where she belonged. With Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac. That was her family and those ponies were her responsibility.

The wing lowered over her just as she skidded to a stop underneath it, and then she was gone. She was still there, she could feel her four hooves planted firmly on the ground, she felt the familiar tightness of the hat on her head, she could even vaguely smell sugar, which she assumed was due to her Pinkie proximity.

“Well?” inquired Pinkie. “Do you?”

Applejack blinked, and noticed that even when her eyes were closed, she could see plainly. It was a very disorienting feeling. “Do I what?”

“Do you like hide and seek? Because this hiding place is the best!”

“No, Pinkie. No I do not.”

“Well you should, because if you did, you’d…”

A soft thud stopped Pinkie mid-sentence and Luna hissed “Quiet!” Applejack guessed that Luna’s wing was still extended over them. This was strong magic. Something that made them completely invisible. Twilight didn’t know this spell, that was for sure. “My little ponies, whatever you do, whatever you see, do not make any noise until I tell you it is safe. Do you understand?”

“Mmmm hmmm,” they said in unison.

Everything was silent, even the wind and the leaves seemed to obey Luna’s mandate. The dim light from the north that Applejack had mistaken for the rising sun seemed to brighten only slightly, but it was a strange, focused light. The rest of the sky was still as black as it should have been. What was happening?

The light approached like a whisper, gliding over the trees, and just as it seemed they would see the source, it snuffed out, as if sucked into the forest.

“Remain quiet. It is not over yet.”

Applejack began counting her heartbeats. What could be coming through the woods so terrifying that even Luna would cower in fear? And what if that thing could see them? Applejack couldn’t even see herself, but most predators hunted by their sense of smell. She smelled like fresh dirt and dry sweat, this had been a vigorous day. What would she do then? Would Luna protect them?

“Not one word. Not one breath. No matter what.”

A faint glow became visible through the forest to the north. Applejack couldn’t even hear the others breathing, although it was comfortingly warm underneath Luna’s wing.

Celestia stepped out from the woods. Applejack nearly gasped and she heard Pinkie stifle some type of noise.

“Not a sound,” whispered Luna so quietly that it might have been a gentle breeze, “what’s happening now goes beyond what you know.”

The warm glow of sun emanating from Celestia’s wings cast faint sunlight over the burial ground. The gnarled trees laid long, faint shadows. Instinctively, Applejack looked down to ensure she wasn’t making a shadow. It was dizzying to look down and not see your hooves, but she noted with some relief that there was no shadow, nor any other hint that she was standing there, not more than 100 feet from Celestia.

Celestia was grimly surveying the grounds. She slowly picked her way among the bones, occasionally kicking one aside with what looked like, but certainly couldn’t be, a casual indifference. This Celestia seemed cold and uncaring, not the Celestia that Applejack was familiar with at all.

The imposter Celestia looked skyward, toward the moon, for a long contemplative moment, then back down at the grounds. “Luna!” she commanded.

Applejack felt Luna shift. Celestia couldn’t possibly have detected the noise, but she suddenly held her head up, tilted ever so slightly to the side, as if listening for something. Had she heard them? Applejack could hear her own heart beating, could feel the intense pounding strong enough to escape her ribcage. It felt as if the noise were moving through her entire body, so loud that Celestia could certainly hear it. The beats grew louder, she could feel them in her hooves, it was so loud it sounded like it was coming from outside her body.

And it was. The noise wasn’t her heart at all, it was hoof beats. Somepony was approaching quickly.

Applejack’s blood turned to ice. Twilight! From over the hill came a familiar face, one Applejack would have been relieved to see on any occasion but now. Celestia turned her back on the three invisible figures under the tree to greet the new visitor, who stopped short, out of breath, obviously confused. Applejack’s senses abandoned her and she leapt out from under the safety of Luna’s wing, unsurprised to find Pinkie running along side her. “Twilight!” she yelled, and suddenly realized she had no idea what to say. Only a moment ago, she had been gripped with a need to save her friend, but from what?

Celestia spun around to face the other two ponies, he face suddenly as soft as Applejack remembered. What was there to be afraid of, anyway? Obviously Luna still had resentment for her sister, their history wasn’t as short and blissful as what Applejack shared with her own sister.

Celestia turned back to Twilight, “Twilight Sparkle! Why, what are you doing out here on such a dark, foreboding night. And in such a dreadful part of the forest! And you have two of your earth… uh, your friends with you. What is this place?”

Twilight was speechless, her confusion over the replacement princess still playing across her face. As Luna predicted, she did not have a book with her.

Applejack immediately took over, quickly telling a watered down version of their tale, leaving out some key events like Pinkie being able to detect the skeletons, instead insisting that they were digging just because the soil looked odd. It was a terrible lie told poorly, and she could tell Celestia didn’t believe her. Mercifully, nothing she said was questioned. At the end, she was careful to omit any mention of Luna.

“Well, this sounds like quite an adventure. I’d like to hear more about it back at my castle. Twilight, would you please accompany your friends back to my chariot? You’ll find it waiting in the woods, only a few hundred paces past those trees. My guards will take you. Also,” she put her head very low to Twilight and spoke in a firm tone, “I need you, as my trusted student, to help them to their rooms. I will explain it all to you later.”

“Yes your highness, of course. What rooms?”

Celestia touched her horn to Twilight’s head and a soft golden glow passed between them. “That memory spell should show you the way. You are my most trusted student, you know. I am greatly anticipating the time we’ll spend together in the next few days.”

Twilight looked as if she had just been struck. Her mouth moved but no words came out. She looked over at her friends but Applejack couldn’t catch her eye, it was as if she was looking through them, not at them. Could she see Luna?

“Go now. Do not wait for me. We can meet in my chambers tomorrow.”

Twilight’s voice cracked as she said, “Come on girls, you heard the Princess. Let’s go.”

Pinkie obliged without hesitation. Applejack took a moment, forcing herself not to look back at the spot where Luna was watching events play out. An encouraging nod from Twilight helped Applejack to move forward although every bone in her body was holding her back. It was difficult to walk, it felt like the shadows of her ancestors and the spirits of these countless ponies where reaching from the ground and holding her fast. Briefly she thought of Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and how very, very far away they all suddenly felt. A simple trot was impossible, merely walking felt like foraging through mud. Everything she knew was telling her to stop, to run, to get away.

Everything except for Twilight Sparkle. She looked into Twilight’s eyes. This was her friend. Her friend forever. If her friend was telling her to go, she would do it. She tore her hooves free from the soil and followed Twilight into the woods.

Within minutes they were in sight of the majestic white chariot where Celestia’s guards, tethered to the front, waited patiently. A few words to them from Twilight, all the ponies climbed aboard, and before they knew it, they were sailing over the tops of the trees to Canterlot.

Applejack took a long look at Sweet Apple Acres as it disappeared in the distance, just in case it was the last time she’d ever see it.

Comments

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Whoa Crepy I LIKE IT!!! media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7iiezqYoa1r13yt6.gif