Just Got To Be
Applejack allowed herself to break down for a short time. All the emotions that she had been burying since waking up finally found their release as she bawled like a foal atop the lonely mountain. After only a few minutes though, she forced herself back to her hooves. The emotional release had felt good, and was nowhere near over, but Applejack hadn't forgotten what was out there in the jungle, waiting for night to fall.
Besides that, she needed to set up a more permanent living space. She started to sniffle at the thought of living on the accursed island indefinitely, but she stopped herself before the tears welling in her eyes could truly begin to flow. There was no time for that now. Before leaving, Applejack decided to get a good look at the island itself, learning the lay of the land could prove infinitely useful in the future. She wiped the tears from her eyes with a forehoof, before gazing out over the island to get a better idea of the landscape.
The sight of the ocean on all sides only compounded her feelings of hopelessness, so she turned her eyes inland. The island wasn't large, though it was longer than it was wide, extending east to west in a shape slightly resembling a stretched oval. Applejack estimated that it would take an entire day of walking to get from one end to the other length-wise, but width-wise would only take a few hours if she set a good pace. In terms of the actual land, there were very few notable hills, though the land was hardly flat, sloping up and down gently here and there. Of course, she was only making these judgments based on the solid green jungle canopy that blocked any actual land from view. Said canopy covered the entire island, except on the beaches that encircled it completely. From what Applejack could tell, she had awoken somewhere on the south beach.
A startling realization struck her then; she hadn’t searched the area around her when she had woken up on the beach. In her disoriented state, she had merely taken brief note of the environment before beginning her trek into the jungle. Hoof met face in a gesture of utter disbelief. For all she knew, there was something on that beach that would reveal how she had ended up there. It was too late that day, and tomorrow would certainly be busy with gathering the essentials for survival, but Applejack resolved then and there to investigate the south beach as soon as possible.
Nodding her head at her plan, she returned to her nearly finished examination of the island. The mountain she was standing on was situated on the east side of the island. Another mountain was visible all the way on the west edge of the island, a bit shorter than the one she had climbed, but less steep. It was covered in trees nearly to the top, leaving just the peak bare and rocky.
Applejack sighed, sounding almost like a whimper. This was her entire world now. One island, two mountains, some beaches, and a jungle. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the fatalistic thoughts. Instead, she focused on what she would need to do now to survive long enough for a chance at somepony finding her.
First, find water. That didn't seem to be much of a problem, though she still needed to find a source closer to the cave. Which brought her to the next step, find shelter. The cave might not actually be the best option for a living space, seeing as it went back incredibly far, and she had no idea what lay in its depths. A better plan would be to use the cave only as a temporary shelter, while she found something more suitable, or simply constructed something in the event no better solution presented itself. Applejack knew a bit about building, it came with growing up on a farm, but without any tools it would be quite the task. Not an impossible one, however.
Of course, she would need a source of food. She wasn't entirely sure which plants in the jungle were edible, but if she could find some sort of fruit she could eat those at least. There were coconuts everywhere, so that was a start, but hopefully she would be able to find a few other kinds of fruit, too. Living off nothing but coconuts would be neither healthy nor enjoyable. If worst came to worst, there was plenty of grass on the island. Applejack had never liked eating grass, but she liked being alive, so it balanced out.
Applejack glanced up at the sky. The sun was getting on into the afternoon now, and she would need to head back down this instant if she wanted to get back to the cave before dark. She made her way over to the edge carefully, before lowering herself slowly, and beginning the journey down. As she made the descent, she remembered something else. She would need a fire. She felt like slapping herself for forgetting such a vital thing, but her hooves were occupied with keeping her from falling to her death, so she settled for a mental slap. Making fire from scratch was definitely something she could do, having done it many times while camping. Not tonight though, she would need to gather a few things first. Which meant just one more task to do tomorrow then. The trip down the mountain gave her no trouble, but the whole thing, including the gravel hill, did take a couple hours. Finally, she arrived back at the jungle, exhausted, sweating, and panting for breath.
Evening had fallen, meaning she couldn't waste any time. She stopped for a quick drink, before starting off along the side of the mountain, keeping the mass of stone on her left. The sun was still up, shining its rays at a sharp slant through the canopy overhead. The ever present, occasional rustling sounds of the jungle barely registered anymore, partly because Applejack was simply far too tired to care about them. The rigorous climb and and descent had been draining, to be sure, but what had really sapped her strength was the revelation of just how lost she truly was. As long as she had hope, she could push through any amount of physical exhaustion. Now that her hope was fading, so was her will to fight the exhaustion. The reality of her recent intense physical activity, combined with not eating for a couple days, was catching up with the poor mare.
She made it all the way back to the cave in a sort of daze. On her arrival, she shuffled inside, dragging her hooves along the stone. The sun was casting its final breath on the world outside. She had made it back just in time, and by now she was about ready to collapse. A pang hit her unexpectedly in the stomach, bringing her to her knees, and reminding her again that she hadn’t eaten since the day before yesterday at least, depending on how long she had been unconscious. The pain subsided quickly, leaving behind a hollow feeling she had been ignoring until now. She attempted to stand back up, but found herself too weak for even that simple act. Instead, she simply lay down right where she was kneeling. She was far enough from the cave entrance to be safe, so she figured it was as good a place as any to sleep. Her hat was placed carefully on the ground next to her, in itself a small comforting presence.
As she lay there, her breathing returned to normal, and her heart rate became more relaxed. After a few minutes of calming down, she began to think things over more carefully. Of course, there was nothing she could do now to get herself home, but that didn't necessarily mean she was stuck there forever. Her friends would never give up looking for her. In fact Rainbow Dash, with all her loyalty, was probably somewhere out there right now, flying all over the land in a search for her farmer friend. Sure, it might take them a little while to realize she wasn't even in Equestria, but they would realize it eventually. A soft, small smile worked its way onto her lips. She no longer felt like crying. All she had to do was hold out until she was found by her friends. It was only a matter of time, and time was the one thing she had plenty of.
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I'm still curious to see where this story will go...
1910946
The next few chapters should have actual stuff happening in them.
I just had to set everything up, and get a full description of the island in there first.
I wonder what's ruslting in that grass...
1913354
Minty, we need to talk. Have a seat.
There's... someone else.
1911083
Thanks for doing the past few titles, but if it's alright with you, I'd like to take over from here and get to feel useful again.
(There can only be one Minty, Buahaha!)
Subject: Applejack
Suffix Title Obtained: "The Hopeful"
Preview: "Applejack, the Hopeful"
-Ghost Minty
1913412
I wanna do one!
Subject: Mintelle
Suffix Title Obtained: "The Highlander"
Preview: "Mintelle, the Highlander"
1913429
Indeed.
-Ghost Minty
1957753
Hope twilight has some sort of scrying spell.
Poor AJ. I hope she can find some duck tape on that island. That's all you need to survive on an island. Sounds crazy, but it is true.
...Suicide?
Side note: Moar please?
2017603
I will definitely write more, but I haven't updated my other fic in a thousand years so I'm going to focus on that first.
Still, I'm glad you like it so far. Trust me when I say that I'm not done with this fic. Not by a long shot.
2017640 URA!
i instantly think... Minecraft
Congrats on EqD, fine sir!
2059443
Thank you very much, old chap!
1915957
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/34211593.jpg
Let's hope this doesn't get too close to Bear Grylls.
In other news, I'm loving it so far :D
I can't wait till she finds the volleyball!
"WIIILLLLSOOOOONNNNN!!!"
i love that part
2060813
Will there be a volleyball called Wilson? Pleeeeeeaaase?
Of course it was going to be an island. Islands are the ultimate in depressing, lonely, hopeless, and unbearable survivor situations. I loved survival books when I was a kid. This fic is bring back all sorts of memories from that series "Hatchet". I can't wait until the next addition for this fic.
2059388
How? In minecraft your fight for your life ends after five minutes and you become more concerned with accumulating valuables.
2061323
Of course not, she is going to name her hat
Is it just me, or do a lot of big fics focus on the theme of being alone? Background Pony, End of Ponies, A lot of Fallout Equestria's stories...
Nice and interesting story. I wonder how Applejack ended up there, and can't wait for the next part. While I'm worried about the shriek and the nightmare, I'm sure the farmpony will be strong enough to stay alive and keep faith in being reunited with her family and friends, back home.
On a sidenote, there is also another good fic in which a purple mare finds herself lost in a wild island, there:
Quantum Castaways
very awesome story. I grew up on an island, but I was facinated by 'castaway' stories as a kid. The idea of someone having to Make It without modern conviniences and no one but themselves. This is wonderful :) and i'm also, of course, very curious about how poor applejack got here and what's up with this island :)
Keep up the good work! :D
2061264
I'll let you in on a secret.
Every chapter title in this story (including future chapters) is the title of a song.
Also, I agree. That is a great song.
2059792
Because you have good taste in stories.
2060429
And then I planned a chapter titled "Far From Home"
2061781
That is an extremely good fic.
Like, seriously. Everyone should go read that.
2061399
Implying that Applejack's hat doesn't already have a name.
s019.radikal.ru/i629/1204/d0/ba5918c8664a.png
...still no idea what it's name would be though.
2064247
Charlemagne.
(Joke) Alt. Title: Freak Out!
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/FreakOut%21.jpg
2064432
2064437
One question: Was it intentional? Did you intentionally reference The Mothers Of Inventions?
2064449
I actually didn't know that band existed.
I was just playing off of the phrase 'necessity is the mother of invention.'
2064515
You know why they're called The Mothers Of Invention? Their name was changed to that after the record company that released Freak Out! said they wouldn't release an album by a band called "The Mothers". And "mothers" meant "motherfuckers".
2064551
Cool!
Now I'm gonna have to look up some of their music so I can use the song titles as chapter names...
2064247
I think we are jumping the gun with this whole naming thing, first AJ's got to get a bloody hoof print on it.
2063498
Ha, I figured you had something like that going...is "awoken" a references to that song by WoodenToaster?
BTW, thanks for introducing me to The Mountain Goats!
2064788
Yeah, "awoken" is from the WoodenToaster song.
And you're very welcome!
The Mountain Goats are a great band.
2061556
I believe the reason for that is because the theme of "Friendship is Magic" is that, well, having friends around is good. Twilight gets friends when she starts being too antisocial, Pinkie becomes Pinkamena when she's alone too long (To the point of inventing new friends so that she isn't), and Discord turns good when he gets a friend. (Seriously, this is my theory about the Elements of harmony. Even Luna gets Redemption through Friendship in the first episode.)
To take that away and place one of the characters in a situation where not only are none of their friends with them,but it's next to impossible to make new friends, is an excellent topic that the show either cannot cover due to the intended audience, has not covered yet, or is slowly but surely covering throughout its run.
Also, it makes a good story, and one that's easy to write. No disrespect intended to Zaponator, as it's marvelously well-written to boot.
rlv.zcache.com/youve_got_me_hooked_poster-rc99c777b17ac4066a67afc2f4a9e1eb0_jl9_210.jpg?bg=0xFFFFFF
I LOVE the wildlife/survival genre. Combine it with my absolute favorite pony just makes it all the better.
Adding it to favorites, but gonna wait until I knock out a few more chapters before I give a like.
2068808
I hop you like it.
I've seen a few survival fics out there, but not one with Applejack.
That's actually the original reason why I started this. It's about time that Applejack got lost.
2064247 Stetson, obviously.
I am loving this story. Do quite a lot of camping myself so this is a great read for me =)
Keep it up
Why do I detect a very strong Lord of the Flies reference in the form of the geography of the island?
Besides the second mountain of course!
UNGRATEFUL B
H!
So far, I'm detecting a very strong Lord of the Flies vibe, what with the mountain, the island and the slightly disturbing mental images in the dream sequence. So far, I'm loving it. Also, I like how you haven't made it unrealistically easy for AJ- while you can't just kill your characters, the fact you've given her some major difficulty is great and probably why LotF was so much more popular than other books of its genre. I mean, it seems like a necessity, but so few books actually do it.
I'm liking this story so far, but one thing is bothering me. When she was climbing up the mountain, you describe a type of "ladder" that she had to launch herself through the air to reach. So how in the heck did she get back down from there? Did she hang from the bottom "rung" and do some crazy gymnastic swinging jump thing?
Anyway, good story so far. Can't wait to get back to this and see what her second night will be like.
2063521
Sucks that it seems to have been forgotten by the author...