The Earth Ponies

by RomanCandle

Chapter 6 -- Borderlands

The sun rose lazily over the eastern horizon, casting warm tendrils of light across the canopy of the Everfree Forest. The leaves eagerly soaked up the golden rays, and creatures within began to stir and call out to each other.

It was these noises, rather than the rays of the sun, that woke a pile of sleeping fillies, curled up beside the railroad tracks and a dying fire. Half Note opened bleary eyes and tried to pull the pile of blankets closer to her, but found them tightly in the grip of Firelock and Tornado Bolt--there would be no curling up and going back to sleep this morning.

Instead, she slipped her way out, trying not to disturb her friends as she shook herself off and walked to the small creek that wound out of the dangerous forest. The little Earth Pony smacked her mouth with distaste as she looked for a clear spot in the water. Plunging her head into the first one she found, she took a long drink, curing her mouth of the taste of a night's sleep.

Shuffling around, she saw her friends still sleeping, and couldn't blame them--the mornings had gotten chilly again with a resurgence of winter's breath, and she'd much rather be sleeping right now, too. But once she woke up, it took her forever to fall asleep again--so here she was. Half Note craned her neck up and about, scanning for anything dangerous, as well as anything delicious--to which she found neither. She bit her lip and looked back at her sleeping friends before lowering her head and nibbling at the grass.

Grass was a nothing-special food for all ponies. It filled most nutritional necessities and a pony could subsist on it plain for a very long time--could even live off of it provided other fruits and vegetables occasionally wound up in their stomach as well--but you'd be hard pressed to find a civilized pony who still grazed. Ponies had a long history of food preparation, to the point that grazing was considered a sign of poverty at best.

But Half Note honestly didn't mind it.

It wasn't that it didn't seem unusual--the plainest food she could remember having eaten in her short life was a salad of mixed greens--but that it didn't really feel weird. For the first few days on their way out of Ponyville they had found a wide variety of flora to gather and snack on, but as they progressed southward the flowers and bushes of berries pulled closer and closer to the Everfree until they were too close for safety--most dangerous animals stayed well inside the brush, but even Timberwolves would break cover for a meal as easy as three unattended Pony fillies.

Tornado and Firelock had been in tears after a whole day with nothing to eat before Half Note realized they hadn't thought to eat the grass--and when she'd suggested the idea initially the two had recoiled as though she suggested they eat her leg.

"What? Eat the grass? Right off the ground?!? But...but there's dirt and germs and parasites and we could get infected and sick and there are no doctors out here to get the tapeworm eggs out of our legs..."

Half Note rolled her eyes at the memory as she munched on a spot that seemed particularly tasty--well, for grass anyway. It had taken grumbling tummies and many a facehoof from Half Note before the Pegasus and Unicorn had given it a shot--and it had been so hard to not laugh at their initial attempts. Tornado had grabbed at the ground with her face and yanked back with her neck and wings, ripping out roots and chunks of dirt, while Firelock made a lot of faces before nibbling just the very tippy-tops off. Nopony had taught Half Note how to graze, but she made a point of making loud clipping noises with her teeth as she had walked by them until they caught on and took solid, confident bites that actually put food in their stomachs.

Having sufficiently broken her fast, she took one last mouthful and laid down in the field. She felt each blade in her mouth as she chewed and let her mind wander. It had been about a week now--was it six, seven, eight days? She'd ask Firelock when she woke up. She stared at the clouds and wondered if anypony in town had caught on yet--their story had been they'd be gone for a month and a half, but they'd all known it'd bust before then. She wondered if her friends resented her at all, for being the reason they were out so far from home and all alone. They'd be in trouble when they got back, and they all knew it--they were just waiting for trouble to catch them, and hoping they got what they came for first.

Half Note was just a filly, too small even to worry about her Cutie Mark, but she felt too old for a moment.

She sighed and bent her neck to nibble some more on the grass--this patch really was a little sweeter than the rest.

"Nyrgh. You couldn't wait to see if we found any flowers or fruit today?" Firelock grumbled and made a face as she slumped her way to the river and dunked her head in it. She pulled it out and tossed her head back with a gasp and a shiver, to which Half Note hid a smirk--the river wasn't that cold. "I still think it's kinda icky."

Half Note shrugged and chewed, not wanting to bother arguing this early in the morning. She instead let the surly orange Unicorn go and poke their Pegasus awake. She did hope her friends got something to eat before too long, though--the Everfree was starting to curl back towards the East and, if she was reading her map right, that meant they were gonna have to either cross Ghastly Gorge or skirt along it's edge through the San Palomino Desert--and she was sure there weren't going to be lots of flowers in there. She regretted not taking a train, but what could they do? They were fillies, they couldn't have bought train tickets by themselves even if they had the bits. Ponies would ask questions.

She continued to enjoy the sun on her back as her friends begrudgingly put plain, unadorned blades of grass into their stomachs for the morning, double checking and making sure everything was packed and the canteens they had brought were all filled with the clear spring water. The morning faded quickly and with little comment from the sleepy trio, as they had gotten used to--not a one of them was a morning pony without the niceties of home--save maybe Half Note, who had been handling everything fairly well.

The Everfree curled back and left itself behind them as they followed the railroad tracks and approached a gaping chasm--Ghastly Gorge. A strain of swampwater spilled over into the crack in the earth and sent up a chilling mist. The tracks were elevated and crossed the gorge at a relatively narrow point but the tracks themselves were narrow. Half Note bit her lip as she looked at their options--duck into the Everfree and risk the dangers of the forest and bog, skirt the edge of the Gorge and take a long, long detour through the desert, or cross on the tracks--and risk being stranded if a train chose that moment to cross.

Looking south, she could see the change in climate already--the flat land made it easy to see the vegetation thin and turn yellow on the horizon. A breeze of cool air from the forest made her shiver, and she thought of tales of hydras and cockatrices. She joined her friends gathering stalks of cattails and bunches of leaves and buds from plants that were growing around the edge.

"So, uh, guys...where do we go from here?" Tornado asked nervously.

"Well, we either cross, keep heading south, or loop around through the Everfree." Firelock shrugged off the question. "I figured you'd have figured it out by now."

"You don't have to be rude, she was just asking which one we were gonna take. Besides, we've got something to eat other than grass for a few days." Half Note tried very hard to not think about the long trek through the desert.

"I figured you'd pick, Half Note."

The pink Earth Pony stopped what she was doing and stared over the gaping pit. She set the stalks she had gathered down carefully and rubbed her temples with her hooves.

"Well, up till now I've been thinking we'd just walk along the Gorge until it faded away, but it looks a lot bigger here than it does on the map and I'm worried about water and food in the desert and everypony knows the Everfree is full of dangers and the Gorge goes into it and I can't see where it ends and then--" She was bumped by a purple mane.

Tornado smiled at her. "Calm down. You're starting to sound like Firelock." The orange unicorn huffed at the jab, but couldn't hide a smirk. "Just relax and say what you think we should do now."

Half Note took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, the desert could be really long, and while it'd be easier to just walk along it, it might be more risky. I don't wanna dive into the Everfree Forest, either...So I was thinking it'd be better to cross right here with the train tracks. But I'm not sure if that's safe either, if a train comes while we're out there..."

Firelock popped a flowerbud into her mouth and chewed it loudly. "Why don't we just have Tornado Bolt keep watch? I mean, she could fly over anyway, so she flies up to make sure no trains are coming before we start to cross, and keeps an eye out in case one does?"

Tornado nodded. "I could do that. The weather today looks to be good, and I'd love a chance to really stretch my wings again."

Half Note gulped. "Okay, then. No point in waiting--you wanna go up and take a look right now?"

The little Pegasus nodded and buzzed her wings into action, spiraling up into the air. The sun glared in her eyes and the air pulled on her mane, but she spun upward with a smile on her face. She didn't want to make her friends feel bad, but having to walk to keep pace with them had gotten really frustrating. Every step was one less wingbeat, and she reveled in the open sky embracing her. She spent a minute just gliding in a circle, enjoying the sun on her back before really taking a look around.

She could see for miles with her keen eyes at this height, but a certain degree of her vision was taken up by a mass of greenery. She could see the tracks up and until they curled around the massive forest--after which point everything blurred together except the scenery. She could find the towering peak Canterlot was situated on and see the expansive valley Ponyville sat in, but couldn't make out castle nor villa. Seeing no sign of a train, though, she spiraled back down until she was close enough to yell at her friends again.

"Hey! It's all clear! Get moving, huphuphup!" Once she saw them start across the path, she let herself back into the aether, both to keep a persistent eye in the sky and to relieve underused muscles from their tension. She wondered briefly if they should've had some sort of emergency signal, before her thoughts were distracted by the gentle lull of the thermals.

Below, Half Note gauged each step carefully. The tracks were sturdy, sure, but there were gaps between the planks of wood big enough for a filly's hoof to fall through. Firelock was easily taking the lead, walking with a swift, even pace--Half Note envied her balance. She didn't have to look down and see the gaping chasm below in order to make sure she didn't fall into it.

Firelock was thinking on other things, watching her friend spiral through the sky and looking with longing at the flora on the side of the chasm she approached. That was clover, wasn't it? She imagined she could smell it. She skipped a little and kept herself from running ahead--Half Note seemed to be having difficulty navigating the planks, and it'd be rude to leave her too far behind. She sighed and closed her eyes, wondering on what they would find at their destination. There had to be something, she knew it. She remembered her mother telling her about the inherent magic in everything, and she was convinced that she was right--her mother had been in Princess Celestia's school as well, if not a private student. She just had to find proof, to convince her friends as well. She turned her green eyes back up to the sky, her heart flopping with thoughts of home. She missed her bed, warm breakfasts, goodnights from her mother...

She focused on Tornado Bolt for a minute, and tilted her head with confusion. Her friend was flying funny--she wondered if maybe she was out of practice, and getting sore--she snorted. Heck, she was sore from walking this much. Her legs felt wobbly every time she stood still. She kept walking, trying to not think about it. Half Note was doing fine, and so would she.

She made a face as she continued though--the wobbles weren't going away; it felt like the whole bridge was wiggling.

Her eyes went wide with realization. She looked back up at the erratic pegasus--who was now low enough for her to see her forehooves waving frantically--then back to her friend who was still nearer the middle of the bridge than the edge. She felt the tremors in her legs redouble and caught the most terrifying sound on the wind.

The whistle of an approaching train.

Author's Note:

DUN DUN DUNNNN

Pacing, pacing, pacing, pacing....the eternal struggle between getting to the point not too fast and not too slow, either.

Comments

[ferret]

TRAAAAAIN

[DualKitsune]

Well, that sucks.

[Emperor]

I find it rather funny that Half Note should have an easy time eating grass, while the other two are initially reluctant about grazing. It seems they'll continue to find more cultural differences between Earth Ponies and Pegasi and Unicorns before the end of their journey.

She'd ask Firelock when she woke up. She stared at the clouds and wondered if anypony in town had caught on yet--their story had been they'd be gone for a month and a half, but they'd all known it'd bust before then

Wait, a month and a half?! By themselves? Damn, their parents are either irresponsible or the most naive parents ever.

While it's nice and all to use geographical spots of interest from the show in your story, you really should make a mention in the author's note about any changes you make. Case in point here, Ghastly Gorge: in May The Best Pet Win!, it's apparently close enough that they can drag all the pets out there for a race, so either Ghastly Gorge spans eight days worth of travel or you're changing geography around a little bit.