25. Weather Station?
The Tale of Lord Barleycorn
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Chapter 25: Weather Station?
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Idle banter had been the main source of entertainment for the Elements of Harmony as they traversed the old eastern road toward Hollow Shades. The brightly colored leaves on the trees were a wonderful backdrop for their trip, but the sight quickly lost its splendor when it was the only thing to see for miles.
The Everfree itself was edging closer and closer by a matter of inches as the road ran more or less parallel with it, but it was still far enough to not bother the traveling mares.
Rarity nearly stumbled as she walked beside her friends, "Fluttershy, you left Derpy in charge of your animals?"
"She said she needed a few extra bits for something, so I offered her some money if she fed my animals for me." Fluttershy tilted her head, "Do you think it was a mistake?"
"Not... a mistake really..." Rarity said through clenched teeth, "Derpy's a nice mare, would do anything for you, but... how should I put this?"
"Unless you had your cottage reinforced with dragon-forged steel you might not have a place to go back to." Rainbow deadpanned as she walked beside her friend.
Fluttershy only giggled at Rainbow's off-collar comment, "Oh, Derpy's not as clumsy as ponies think she is."
Rainbow merely rolled her eyes as she felt a fleeting ache in her back from the time Derpy helped her set up some decorations. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."
"On an unrelated note, how long have we been walking?" Rarity asked, "If I had known this little hamlet was this far I could have splurged and paid for a carriage."
"About three hours." Applejack said as she looked up at the sun, "An' like Ah told'ya, there ain't no normal carriage routes to Hollow Shades. You'd prolly bankrupt yerself getting' some private carriage to come all the way out there an' back."
"I've been curious about that since you mentioned it yesterday." Twilight said, "I did a little research about Hollow Shades before going to bed, but there's nothing really special about it. The one thing that I think would make ponies apprehensive about going there is the Everfree Forest, since it sits so close to it."
"Sits in it Twi." Rainbow corrected, "And I told you, it's got every type of weird that the Everfree does."
Pinkie stared up at the clouds and hummed a happy tune as she happily skipped alongside of her friends. "Hee, that one looks like cotton candy."
Applejack sent a strange look to Rainbow, "You ever been there, Rainbow?"
"Well.... no." Rainbow admitted, "But it's a perfect ghost story for foals back in Cloudsdale. The pegasi in Hollow Shades had their own weather factory, but it was condemned since they couldn't use it."
Twilight blinked, this wasn't in any of her books. "Why was it condemned?"
"Since the weather's all screwy in the Everfree, managing the weather's impossible." Rainbow then shot a serious look to Twilight, "And if you think I'm making this up, I know ponies who work as clerks at the Cloudsdale factory. Hollow Shades never gets a single shipment of anything, no storm clouds, no snow, no nothing."
Fluttershy pulled her wings tight against her back, her head stooped in worry, "I always heard there were no need for the Running of the Leaves here, or any other seasonal care. It always just changes on its own."
Rarity shuddered, "What ponies would live in such an unnatural place?"
Applejack frowned, "My kin, for one. Ah dunno why they would, but farmin' out here's gotta be one heckuva chore..."
"And that looks like a sign!" Exclaimed Pinkie.
"What weather pony would make a cloud that looks like a sign?" Fluttershy blinked, raising her head to look up at the clouds.
"No, I mean there's a sign over there!" Pinkie pointed down the road.
Six pairs of eyes quickly locked onto what Pinkie was gesturing to. The edges of the bare and battered wood were rounded and showed the pin prick-sized holes of insect habitation, termites perhaps. The words 'Welcome to Hollow Shades' were the only bit of paint on this decrepit sign's face, lazily painted with a wide brush by somepony who really didn't care. The lowest plank of the sign had fallen off and was laying in the grass like a fallen branch from a dead tree.
"I'm starting to wonder if anypony still lives here." Twilight's horn lit up as she brought the fallen plank up for her to look at, "'Population's... zero?'"
Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, then we can go back to Ponyville."
"Yeah, if nopony's here there's nopony to question, right?" Rainbow's wings unfurled, looking ready to bolt back to Ponyville.
Applejack walked up beside Twilight to look at the wood, "You sure it says zero, Twi?"
"That's what it says," Twilight tilted the board to the side, "I think. Whoever painted this sign this needs to take another whack at it."
"Please don't say it like that..." Fluttershy whimpered.
Applejack squinted at the sign, "I mean, you're sure that's an 'S?' It looks like a five to me."
Rainbow's wings fell down, as well as her hopes for going back to Ponyville.
"It could be a five, which would make it fifty ponies living here." Twilight rolled her eyes, "At the very least I should talk to whoever's in charge around here about the sign. Who would write 'population's' anyway?"
"And if it's a ghost town?" Rainbow asked.
"It won't be a ghost town," Applejack stated firmly, "Mah cousin wouldn't have sent a letter from Hollow Shades if he didn't live here."
"What if it is a ghost town and Applejack's cousin is a ghost too?" Pinkie blurted out.
"Don't be silly." Rarity said in a reassuring tone, "I'm sure it's a... charming, rustic little town. Just like Appleoosa."
Applejack blinked, a small amount of familial pride welling up at the praise Rarity offered. Considering their very different outlooks on life, Applejack hadn't known Rarity to speak highly of farm-living often. It was the, well, rarity of such compliments that made this instance seem so genuine.
Applejack smiled as she took the lead, "Come on y'all, when we get there Ah'll treat you ta lunch at whatever place they got in town. Mah treat."
The promise of food raised everypony's spirits, but Applejack couldn't help but notice that Rainbow had been walking the entire trip. Normally she would be hovering over their heads whenever the other five of them walked around Ponyville, heck Rainbow even did it during their trips to Canterlot.
Applejack had never really considered the impact of growing up in a place like Cloudsdale before. She had only been there once, and only because of Twilight's magic, but Applejack had marveled at how the pegasi had built everything out of clouds. Applejack hadn't thought about it then, but Rainbow's sudden timidness had her wondering; were wild clouds really that scary?
When Rainbow had told Applejack about the oddities of Hollow Shades' weather back at the library, she had simply blown it off. They had been in the Everfree before and had come out fine. No big deal. Applejack admitted that a town with the Everfree's weather patterns sounded very unnatural, but she didn't think that it would effect the future Wonderbolt so much.
"If Ah had been born a pegasus, would Ah be all nervous like Rainbow is right now?" Applejack thought as she walked, "They live in clouds, move clouds, build clouds... Ah guess seein' clouds that don't behave is like if all the wood in mah barn came apart an' started crawlin' around like caterpillars. Maybe Ah can get Rainbow to open up about it come time to eat..."
A few shallow hills dotted the landscape as the grass quickly became dotted with tall weeds and other wild flora that typically grew on the fringes of the forest. It wasn't long before these open fields were replaced with wide expanses of wheat, corn, and hay.
To Fluttershy's relief, ponies were occasionally spotted in the fields, harvesting what they had sown earlier that year. Nopony waved to them, but it was more due to the massive undertaking of picking an entire field by hoof rather than any lack of manners.
It was when the Elements passed a truly impressive corn field and beheld the center of town that they stopped dead in the middle of the road. Twilight and her friends had been to many different locations throughout Equestria, Manehatten, Appleoosa, the Crystal Empire, Canterlot of course, and each had been a strong and vibrant city (or town in Appleoosa's case).
The size and scope of the town was even smaller than Appleoosa, but where that western town had been clean and new, the buildings in Hollow Shades were neglected and falling apart. No building was given to fantastical architecture like in Ponyville, each one was a wooden crate, left in the woods to molder in seclusion.
These two lines of stores that lined the road looked like they were salvaged from an earlier age, but ponies were still using them despite their condition. The Everfree was so close that the scent of decaying leaves gave the whole town a subtly sweet yet musty smell that made the newcomers feel a bit uneasy just standing and breathing in the air.
Rainbow's voice caught in her throat, "Girls... the clouds..."
The other five glanced over to Rainbow, who was fighting to control the tremble in her legs as she stared up at the sky.
Just as Rainbow had described back in Ponyville, the clouds over the town were moving on their own accord, drifting lazily overhead just like the clouds over the rest of the Everfree Forest. There was no rhyme or reason to their movement, the air in the town was so still that it felt almost stagnate with that smell.
One pegasus was in the sky, a simple sun hat on her head as she batted one of the wild clouds with her hoof. She called out something to another pegasus that flew out from behind another cloud, who was holding up a anemometer, a device used to measure wind speeds.
"I didn't think a town could have a weather team without a weather factory." Twilight wondered aloud.
"They don't, or, at least I don't think they do." Rainbow rubbed her head, "It just goes against everything they taught us back in Cloudsdale."
"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked.
"With the Everfree's weather just doing whatever it wants, how the heck do these ponies get enough rain, or not too much? What keeps it from snowing in summer? It could start hailing any second now if it wanted." The more Rainbow talked the more her tail tucked between her legs, "I just... I don't know what these clouds are going to do."
"Rainbow, Ah don't think you have anything to worry about." Applejack stated, "How old ya think those buildings are?"
Rainbow shot a confused look at Applejack, "What does that have to do with the clouds?"
"Eh, just humor me." Applejack nodded her head toward the quiet main street of Hollow Shades.
Twilight smiled, already seeing where Applejack was going with this.
"Well, I dunno about buildings, but they look like they're about as old as the founding Equestria." Rainbow stated bluntly.
Applejack made sure that Fluttershy could also see how calm she was trying to be, "So, if they've been standin' all this time under these wild skies, then Ah think we can handle one afternoon, right?"
"Maybe..." Rainbow still sounded apprehensive, but she continued to stare up at the sky.
Applejack smirked, "An' besides, those ponies up there aren't 'fraid of them. Maybe they'd make better Wonderbolts than you."
Rainbow stood up straight and flared her nostrils, "You made your point, don't push it too far."
"I, on the otherhoof can't get over how... dreadful this town is." Rarity shook her head, "Don't these ponies care about keeping a good home?"
"I'm not sure it's by choice Rarity," Fluttershy pointed out, still half-hiding behind her bangs, "If they could fix things up, I'm sure they would."
"Do you think this is related to the scarecrow thing?" Rainbow asked, already sounding more confident than before.
Twilight shrugged, "I don't see how it could be, but while we're here I don't see why we couldn't learn about this place."
The pegasi who had been above them fluttered down to the street ahead of the mares from Ponyville, and both seemed to be very pleased with whatever they had discovered.
Their conversation wasn't very loud, but in the half-dead streets their conversation carried further than it should have. The fact that the six had to approach them to continue didn't help to keep their conversation private either.
"Do you think there's going to be a frost?" Asked the mauve colored pegasus with the sun hat.
Her compatriot with the pale blue coat, pink hair, and watermelon slice cutie mark shook her head, "Not for another few days. The dewpoint's been too low for it, and the wind's still out of the south. I think warm weather will be with us for a week after Nightmare Night, but don't hold me to that."
"You're right, I'll go to the weather station and make our report." The mauve pegasus spread her wings and began to fly away, but she took time to call out; "See you tomorrow Fizz!"
"Same time same place!" 'Fizz' waved to her friend before the other pegasus flew over one of the shops, out of sight.
"Weather station?" Rainbow cocked her head to the side, "What's that?"
Fizz looked back at Rainbow with surprise, but a smile quickly formed on her face, "Oh cool, new faces! We don't see those around here very often."
The pegasus trotted up to Rainbow and held out her hoof, "I'm Melon Fizz, my family owns the general store and I'm with the Hollow Shades weather team. Nice to meet'cha."
"Um, Rainbow Dash," Rainbow was still trying to process what Fizz had said, but she did remember her manners enough to shake Fizz's hoof, "And these are my friends, Pinkie, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity. I'm with the Ponyville team."
"Oh the same one that did the sonic rainboom at the Cloudsdale's Junior Flier's competition?" Melon beamed, shaking Rainbow's hoof with even more intensity.
Fizz blinked, suddenly dropping Rainbow's hoof as she stared at Twilight, "Oh my, you're Princess Twilight!"
Rainbow frowned, she was just about to talk about how awesome that day had been.
Before Twilight could open her mouth, Fizz was already bowing down in the middle of the dirt road with a worried twitch in her wings. "Sorry princess, I didn't mean to be disrespectful!"
Twilight glanced around, wishing for the first time that the town really was abandoned so nopony could see this. "Hey, please get up, you don't have to do that for me. I'm... really not comfortable with ponies bowing to me."
Melon Fizz slowly got back to her hooves, but she was visibly relieved that she hadn't offended Twilight. "Well, a-alright, but what are you doing all the way out here in the sticks?"
"We're investigating a little rumor we heard flying around. It might be nothing really." Twilight said, "I'm a little curious too... what's this 'weather station' I heard you talk about?"
Fizz knocked the dirt off her forelegs, a proud smile rising up as she spoke, "Hee, the princess wants to hear about the station! Well, if- um, Rainbow was it? You said you're on the Ponyville weather team?"
"The best pony on the weather team." Rainbow boasted.
"Good, then you can fill everypony in if I skip anything." Fizz cleared her throat, "Hollow Shades has ambient weather from the Everfree Forest. We don't have a weather factory because the wild winds kept moving everything out of place, so for a long time we just had to deal with whatever came our way. We can't really alter the weather like you can in Ponyville, but we can make little course corrections to this cloud or that cloud, and despite what everypony thinks, Everfree weather isn't completely random. The 'weather station' is where we write down each day's wind speeds, air pressure, high and low temperatures, humidity, all that kinda stuff. We've found that a lot of it's connected to the weather that pops up."
Now it was Twilight's turn to gush, "You mean you and your fellow pegasi have been studying the Everfree's weather patterns? How long have you been doing this?"
"Two years and counting, princess." Fizz said proudly.
"You have to show me this, it sounds like something that will end up in the Canterlot library someday." Twilight shook her head, she was getting a little too excited. "Ahem, and you can just call me Twilight. Everypony else does."
"A down to earth princess, I like that." Fizz looked around, "If you like I can lead you to the station, it's really just an old shed we commandeered but it fits our needs."
Rarity cleared her throat, "While this all sounds riviting... could you make a recommendation for someplace we can stop and eat? We haven't had anything since breakfast."
The local pegasus rubbed her chin, "Well there's the Rusty Nail, but that's only got bar food. Tablecloth's is the only restaurant that's left in town, although it's nothing special. Of course, even if you weren't a princess they'd treat the six of you like royalty."
"So they have good service." Rarity smiled. "That's wonderful to hear."
"Actually it'd be because you're from out of town, that means you have money." Fizz then looked over her shoulder, "If you could treat me to lunch I could tell you a lot more about the town."
Applejack could feel the bag of bits in her own saddlebags getting lighter by the second, "Er, sorry. Melon, but Ah did promise all the girls to treat them... and Ah'm not exactly made of money."
Instead of getting upset, Melon Fizz simply smiled. "Nopony here is, so we have something in common."
"Is that why the whole town looks like this?" Rainbow asked.
Fizz's ears splayed back as she looked around at the decrepit buildings with a shamed look on her face. Rainbow thought she had really stuck her hoof in her mouth until Fizz smiled at something down the road.
Two strong stallions were pulling a pair of carts full of wood up to the base of the water tower, right where the road came to a dead stop.
"Well, hopefully it won't be long until things start to turn around." Fizz turned her head back to the six newcomers, a fresh, optimistic grin on her muzzle. "Hey, I hope you see around, but I have to get going. I gotta put in my time at my family's store or I'll be minding it when the festival starts."
Melon Fizz lifted herself into the air, "It was very nice meeting all of you. Stop by the store if you need anything! Station's down the road, to the right!"
"Wait, there's something... ya could have told us." Applejack sighed as the pegasus took off over one of the buildings and disappeared, "Like which way it is to mah cousin's farm."
"Applejack, no need to fret." Rarity comforted, "If my intuition is correct, this is a very close-knit community. I'm sure there's somepony else who could point us in that direction."
Applejack nodded, "Ah reckon yer right. Come on, let's see how good the grub is here."
Five empty stomachs answered Applejack's suggestion.
Luckily the restaurant wasn't difficult to find, seeing as how Tablecloth's was just a little further up the street, inside another half-dilapidated shack that creaked terribly when the door opened.
The sound of a school bell was heard ringing as the Elements closed the door, but any thoughts about it were wiped away by the smell of freshly baked pie...
---
Cherry Nova was miserable.
He had spent the entire night going over his dust-covered encyclopedias and neglected medical books to discover some clue to what had disappeared into the corn field last night. All Cherry got for his effort was sleep deprivation and frustration. Now, instead of settling down in his clinic for his post-noon nap he was sitting outside watching the loggers setting timbers out for the charlatan's rehearsal, or whatever it was planning.
Cherry was still barely able to believe that he'd been suckered into playing nanny to the foals and this... thing, whatever it was. The worst part was he couldn't refuse, he knew better. Ponies tended to remember if the pony who was supposed to be watching their foals never came out, and Cherry did not want that stigma following him when he got a real practice in a real town.
The loggers waved goodbye to Cherry as they took their emptied carts away. Cherry made the attempt to look friendly and wave, but the second the loggers looked away Cherry's hoof and smile dropped.
The schoolbell rang, and it wasn't long before a stampede of excited foals came charging up the street. Cherry had been hoping that some of the parents of Hollow Shades would actually think about this situation and tell their children to stay away. Instead, every foal he had come to know was here, eagerly searching the entire area around the water tower for a sign of their scarecrow hero.
One of the foals craned her neck up, "Is he on the water tower again?"
Another foal looked toward the field, "Maybe he's in the corn field."
"He did say he was going to be here after school, right?"
"Maybe he went to go get more wood?"
"Oh the naïvety of children." Cherry rolled his eyes, "They bought that story so bad they can't even consider that he won't show up. I still don't see what the heck he's got in store for these yokels."
Cherry trotted over to a soft spot in the grass and laid down. "If I can't have my nap in my clinic I might be able to get a few winks before the foals get bored and decide to head home."
"Wait, there's something coming up the road!" One of the foals shouted.
Cherry Nova kept his eyes shut, "Another cart full of vegetables, whoop-dee-doo, kid."
"It's him! He's got a cart behind him!" The foals quickly began to cheer and stamp their hooves in their excitement.
Both of Cherry Nova's eyes snapped open as he whimpered over his lost opportunity for a little extra shut eye.
The foals were blocking his view of the road, forcing Cherry to get up in order to see what was approaching. The scarecrow was indeed headed towards them, the harness of the cart was awkwardly centered over the scarecrow's head as he pulled a cart behind him, half-filled with large but very damaged pumpkins.
The cart was brought off the road and into the grass where the scarecrow carefully set the harness down, but a few pumpkins still rolled out into the grass.
"Hello everypony, pleasant dreams were had by all?" Lord Barleycorn asked in a merry tone.
The foals all answered with emphatic nods and bright smiles.
"Excellent, I would have been here before you but I had a few stops to make. Deals to make, ponies to see, spirits to talk to, you understand. But I'm here now and I hope you're all ready to help me put on the best Halloween ever." The scarecrow clasped his sleeves together, "The first thing anypony needs to know about Halloween is its symbol, the Jack o'lantern."
The foals blinked and looked between Lord Barleycorn and the cart full of pumpkins. Cherry himself was as perplexed as the children were, unable to draw the connection between the pumpkins and these supposed 'lanterns.'
"If we're making lanterns, why'd you bring pumpkins?" One of the foals said, as if sensing Cherry's own confusion.
Another foal stepped closer to the scarecrow, one Cherry recognized as the Sprout brat, "Does this have something to do with being the Lord of Pumpkins?"
"Hm, that's for you to decide young master Wind Row," Lord Barleycorn reached into the cart and selected a terribly scarred pumpkin from the stack and set it in front of the foals. "But the reason I have all these pumpkins is because each of you are going to make a Jack o'lantern of your very own."
With that said, Lord Barleycorn turned the pumpkin around, revealing a goofy face carved into the pumpkin's orange flesh.
The foals quickly began to gush about how 'cool' this was, but Lord Barleycorn quickly shushed them by clearing his throat. "I have a pumpkin for each of you, they're cleaned out and ready for you to carve your own goofy or scary face into them. Then we'll see if we can scrounge up some candles and set them out tonight to light up the main street. Normally Will-o-the-wisps make their light, but we can't trouble that many of them. They get bored very easily and an entire night in one pumpkin would make them cry."
Corn Crib tilted her head, "Why are they called Jack o'lanterns?"
Lord Barleycorn sat down in the grass, his legs twisting underneath him an awkward pretzel shape that made Cherry Nova wince, "That requires me to tell you a story, but while I'm doing that you can pick your pumpkin from the cart."
The foals, so eager to follow the professed King's decree, gathered around the cart and began to pull the gashed, hollow gourds out of the cart. They had a little trouble managing their size, but a few clever foals figured out they could balance the empty shells on their backs.
"This story takes place a long, long time ago. So long ago that even the princesses might not know it in detail." Lord Barleycorn thumped his chest lightly and cleared his throat, "It begins with a particularly clever, but selfish thief on the run from the authorities. The full name of this stallion has sadly been lost to time, we only know that he had the word 'Jack' incorporated into his name somehow. This 'Jack,' had stolen some goods from a local store and was nearly caught before was able to flee into the Everfree and lost his pursuers among the ferns and brambles."
"Jack laid down to rest under a tree and idly chewed a length of grass, celebrating his victory when a dark and mischievous spirit called Pitch appeared and told Jack that it was his time to die. Jack, however, quickly stalled Pitch with a proposition; that Pitch should turn himself into a rare coin for which he could pay for the goods he had stolen, and when Jack left town Pitch and the coin would disappear and the ponies would fight over who had stolen the money."
"Pitch, unable to resist such an opportunity to bedevil innocent ponies, gladly hopped into Jack's bag, where he kept his bits. What Pitch didn't know was that Jack had stolen silver coins, which robbed the evil spirit of all his power. Pitch begged Jack to release him, and Jack said he would, if Pitch would make it so that no spirit would ever trouble him again. Having no other choice, Pitch agreed and was released. Jack took to celebrating at his triumph in the next town he visited, thinking that he no longer had to fear death."
"The years rolled by and Pitch's promise was seemingly kept, Jack never saw Pitch again, or any other spirit. But despite what Jack believed he did eventually die, as all living things do. Now a spirit himself, Jack found himself invisible to the living, and unable to find any other spirit to guide him in this new existence. He searched the world over, but could only find one spirit, Pitch, whom he found stoking a campfire. Jack begged Pitch to undo his vow, so that he could feel the warmth of companionship again. But instead Pitch laughed in contempt, but agreed to give him a fire as warm as all the love and compassion he inspired in the world. With a mocking grin, Pitch threw a small, weak ember of the fire at Jack and enchanted it so that it would never go out before he disappeared, laughing at his own cruelty. Defeated, Jack took the ember and stole a pumpkin, in which he carved a face to not feel lonely and placed the ember inside to light his way. Now he roams the world as a lost soul, searching for some way to finally rest in peace. That's how he came to be known as Jack of Lanterns."
By now the cart was nearly empty, and every foal had a pumpkin of his or her own sitting next to them in the grass. The foals waited in silence after Lord Barleycorn's story was finished, many had ears splayed back, hoping in vain for some happy ending he had yet to impart.
After a minute or so one of these foals rubbed her eye and spoke up, "That's a pretty sad story..."
"Yes, but suppose if Jack had gotten what he wanted," Lord Barleycorn's leaned close to the filly and gently ruffled her mane, "He would have kept robbing ponies until the princesses caught him, and the worst they could do is lock him up for a few years. It would have been only a matter of time before he became as bad as Pitch."
"Do you know Pitch?" A young colt asked.
"Mostly by reputation, but we have met and I am not a fan." Lord Barleycorn snorted, "His pranks go too far, if you ask me."
"If that's the story about Jack o'lanterns, why do you carve them for Halloween?" Cherry blinked, had he actually said that out loud?
The scarecrow chuckled, "Simple really. No spirit can see Jack and he's beyond our help, so we carve our own version of his lantern. It's a proxy for the real Jack, and a show that we would include him if we could."
A nearby foal tilted his head, "What's a proxy?"
"It's a stand-in, something that represents somepony else. Like how the princess might send an envoy to speak for her in certain matters." Lord Barleycorn leaned back, resting on his forelegs, "Now, I have a few paring knives that the local dinner was kind enough to let me borrow. Who'd like to put a happy face on these pumpkins and show Jack that he's not alone?"
Cherry was about to state how trusting foals with knives was an obviously bad idea, but he was cut off by the sheer volume of a few dozen cheering foals.
"Okay, now, who here has helped their folks cook before?" Lord Barleycorn asked, and a few foals raised their hooves. "Excellent, then you can help the others as I explain a few basic rules so you don't hurt yourselves..."
Cherry wasn't sure if the thing in the scarecrow costume had noticed his complaint or he had actually planned his little safety lecture. He clearly could improvise quite well as evidenced by Cherry's unintentional questioning of this faux Nightmare Night. The opportunity to observe the creature's habits was not lost on Cherry, however embarrassing his earlier lapse in control had been.
The scarecrow also seemed to understand cutlery and the safety therein. Its quick lecture involved such obvious tips such as 'don't cut toward yourself,' 'don't hold the blade with your mouth,' and 'never point the blade at anypony no matter what.' Cherry had rolled his eyes at each remedial lesson, believing that anypony with a lukewarm temperature IQ should have been able to figure them out.
Regardless of Cherry Nova's derisive attitude, the foals listened earnestly as they watched Lord Barleycorn demonstrate how to cut the orange rind without injuring himself. Soon the knives were passed around and the foals began to take turns with the paring knives, which made keeping an eye on them an easy task. Advice on what sort of face to carve was thrown about, but big goofy grins and triangular eyes were common features, showing that the foals were taking after Lord Barleycorn's example.
Lord Barleycorn watched the foals for a while, but when it looked like things were going smoothly he stood and looked around. Curious, Cherry did the same. A few store owners and their customers were watching the foals as they pretended to be busy, but what they were obviously here to see was Lord Barleycorn. The loggers who had brought the wood were sitting outside the Rusty Nail, sipping what looked like cool, refreshing glasses of...
Cherry shook his head, if he didn't see their drinks, they didn't exist.
"Doctor, I was wondering," Cherry looked back at the scarecrow, "Do you have experience in carpentry?"
"No, I'm no logger!" Cherry snapped, but he quickly lowered his volume in case the loggers heard him.
"Then I suppose I can't ask you to help me assemble the stage then... and the foals are busy carving pumpkins." Lord Barleycorn shrugged, "Then I guess I'll have to do it."
Cherry snorted, "What's wrong, can't just magic the stage together, or get a few ghosts to do it for you?"
"I could, but there's a certain satisfaction of doing something yourself." Lord Barleycorn chuckled, seemingly impervious to Cherry's foul mood, "I don't like things done for me. Relying on servants make life boring."
Cherry watched at the scarecrow walked over to the pile of wood set next to the timbers. A bucket of nails and a hammer were left for the stage's construction, which Lord Barleycorn took and set next to the timbers as he began to measure the boards, nudging the heavy beams with his lower legs to get the board to sit level before he began to hammer them into place.
Lord Barleycorn then tried to pull the board out of place, but it didn't budge an inch. "It's not going to be the best stage, but it should be good enough for a play or two."
Cherry snorted, not wanting to engage the scarecrow in idle banter about something as banal as carpentry. Cherry turned his head back toward the foals, but watching them mutilate pumpkins was hardly interesting either.
---
Applejack rubbed her swollen stomach as she exited Tablecloth's, "Ah've never seen so much pumpkin pie in mah life..."
"Second most for me," Pinkie thought for a moment, "Wait, I forgot about last year's Pie-palooza. Third most, at best."
Rainbow licked her lips, looking far more collected than when she and her friends had gone inside. "Whatever you say Pinkie, that was almost worth the trip."
"I'm just happy to see you're acting like your old self." Said Rarity, "But did you really have to eat three whole pies?"
Rainbow frowned, "What? They just kept bringin' them and you had three pieces yourself."
"Yes, but Rarity had pieces, not whole pies." Twilight chimed in, "You made a pig of yourself, and at Applejack's expense."
"I've never heard of cinnamon dusted pumpkin seeds, but they were good!" Pinkie beamed, "I gotta tell the Cakes to make some for Nightmare night!"
"I'm not gonna leave AJ holding the bill just like that." Rainbow faced Applejack, "When we get back to Ponyville I'll pay you back."
Applejack narrowed her eyes to a serious glare, "You better, Ah didn't figure on spendin' that much on lunch."
"So um, what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked, "Do we head to the farm?"
"That's part of the plan, but we don't have to head there right away." Twilight shrugged, "Since none of us have ever been here before, we could familiarize ourselves with the town before meeting up at the farm."
"I wouldn't mind seeing that that store Ms. Fizz mentioned. You never know, maybe it has some hidden local treasure that's yet to be discovered." Rarity smiled, "Would you like to come with me Pinkie, maybe they have some candy you've never seen there."
"Ooo! That's a good idea!" Pinkie shouted, "If the restaurant could surprise me, maybe the store can too!"
"Let me know if you see any books on the shelves." Twilight said, "While you're doing that I'm heading to the weather station. I've got to see what these pegasi have been doing. This could be the foundation of a major scientific breakthrough in meteorology!"
Pinkie blinked, "Meteors? I thought they were studying clouds an' stuff..."
"She means the weather Pinkie," Rainbow said, "I'll go with you Twi."
Twilight blinked, "I didn't think you'd be interested."
"I'm not an egghead like you are Twi, but I know weather. I was freaked out before, it still weirds me out a little, but... if I'm going to be a Wonderbolt I can't be afraid of anything, especially not of a few rogue clouds!" Rainbow stamped a defiant hoof. "Maybe if I can learn a trick or two from these ponies maybe I'll feel better."
"That's the spirit!" Applejack would have said she was proud of Rainbow taking to steps to conquer her fears, but Rainbow would just claim she wasn't afraid of anything. "Then Ah guess Ah'll ask around an' see if I can get pointed toward mah cousin's farm. It'll be nice to get all caught up with them."
"I'll go with Applejack," Said Fluttershy.
"Any particular reason Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
Fluttershy shook her head, "I just want to get those directions to your cousin's farm so I don't get lost."
Applejack shrugged, "Alrighty then, ah wouldn't mind some company along the way. See you girls later!"
And with that, the six went their separate ways on the streets of Hollow Shades.
"Ah gotta say, yer takin' all this weird weather stuff a lot better than Rainbow is." Applejack said once they were away from the others.
"Oh, it did scare me a little, and it still does." Fluttershy thought for a moment, "Back when I lived in Cloudsdale the other fillies used to scare me with stories about Hollow Shades. I was a big 'fraidy cat back then."
"Back then?" Applejack mentally commented.
Fluttershy continued, "But I know Hollow Shades is more than just the weather. When I look at the buildings they don't look scary at all, and the ponies who live here look like normal ponies, not monsters. I'm sure with a little tender, loving care this could be a lovely little town to live in."
Fluttershy then added quietly, "...if it was moved a few miles away from the Everfree..."
Applejack smiled, "Ah gotta say Fluttershy, that's... pretty sharp thinkin'. Ah'm proud of ya."
"Aw, thanks." Fluttershy said, a twinge of pink crossing her cheeks as they continued to walk toward the water tower.
Applejack hadn't really taken the time to notice the number of ponies that were situated outside the shops that sat at the end of the street. While most were going about their business, every one of them seemed very interested in the group of foals sitting at the foot of the rusting water tower.
Each of these foals had a pretty awful-looking pumpkin that they seemed oddly proud of. Applejack supposed that maybe they were all growing pumpkins as some school competition, which sounded like something to bring up to Cheerilee as a fun lesson in agriculture.
The partially constructed stage was probably where Hollow Shades was going to gather for their Harvest Festival, but why was it left half done? There was still plenty of wood, and between the ponies watching and the one sitting with the foals they could have gotten it done in the time it took Applejack and her friends to eat lunch. After all this was just a stage, Applejack and her family could raise an entire barn in a day, and that included shaping and cutting the boards.
That's when Applejack noticed what the foals were passing around.
Applejack's first reaction was to call this out, that the foals could easily hurt themselves with those knives. Her second thought was why nopony on the streets seemed to be concerned about this. That's when she noticed the white coat that the stallion was wearing. Applejack didn't know how she had overlooked it, but she did feel better now that she knew a doctor was overseeing these foals.
Fluttershy gently prodded Applejack on the shoulder, "Applejack, are those foals-"
"I see 'em. Not sure what they're doin' but we could go up an' see fer ourselves." Applejack offered, "Can't hurt to ask, cannit?."
"No, and I'd feel better knowing." Fluttershy said, just as concerned as Applejack was.
Some of the foals looked up at the two approaching mares, but their attention quickly drifted away to be on the half-finished stage or the pumpkins they were cutting. The doctor who was sitting nearby yawned, but didn't seem to be really paying attention to anything, and that included the foals.
"I think mine needs bigger teeth." One of the colts said as he showed his pumpkin to his friends, which had a large, predatory grin on it.
"I tried giving mine one big eye, but I don't think it came out well." A filly said, her pumpkin's 'face' was little more than a giant circle with a lopsided smirk near the bottom.
Deciding to let the stallion rest, Applejack walked up to the foals, "Hey, whatcha doin'?"
"Makin' Jack o'lanterns!" A filly with the corn-yellow mane said as she bobbed up and down on her hooves, eyes locked on the knife. "Come on Tremble, you don't have to cut it that slow!"
The colt with the knife in his mouth snorted, but he cut a little faster.
"What's a Jack o'lantern?" Fluttershy asked as she stepped up beside Applejack.
"They're pumpkin lanterns!" One of the foals said, looking pretty proud of her own creation, "We're gonna put candles in them and light them when it gets dark!"
Fluttershy looked to Applejack, but all she got was a confused shrug, "Is this a local thing?"
"No, we just learned all about them." The corn-yellow filly said, still eying the knife in Tremble's mouth.
"Oh, well, you just be careful then." Applejack said, "Um, would one of you know which way it is to the Harvest family farm?"
The corn colored filly narrowed her eyes at Applejack. "You aren't with the bank, are you?"
It took a moment, but Fluttershy began to snicker.
Applejack raised an eyebrow, "An' what's so funny?"
"Sorry," Fluttershy wiped her eye, "I dunno why, but I just had this thought of you as a bank teller."
Applejack shook her head, deciding to ignore her friend's joke. It wasn't often that Fluttershy told a joke, and Applejack didn't want to discourage her. "No, Ah'm no banker. Ah'm, er, we're from Ponyville, Ah got kin there."
The corn colored filly smiled, "Kin? You mean we're related?"
Applejack smirked, "Depends, are ya related to the Harvests?"
The filly nodded, "Uh-huh, I'm Corn Crib."
"Ah'm Applejack, and this is mah friend Fluttershy, Ah'd sure like to see... yer farm..." Applejack trailed off. She didn't know why, but Corn Crib's smile had been replaced with a look of pure dread. "Y'okay sugar cube?"
"Um, did you say Harvests? I thought you mean... Sharvests..." Corn Crib lied, no longer looking at either mare.
Applejack blinked, "Did Ah say somethin' I shouldn't have?"
Corn Crib shuffled in place, uncomfortable being under the stare of two older mares, "Um... oh look, Tremble's done with his pumpkin!"
Tremble snorted and dropped the knife in front of Corn Crib, which she took and started cutting, trying her best to look more busy that she really was.
The way the filly was purposely trying to shut herself off from Applejack left the apple farmer at a loss for words. Applebloom would lie like this once in a while to keep herself from getting in trouble, but Corn Crib had just met her, it didn't make sense to get this kind of reaction. Was she not supposed to be here? Applejack rubbed her forehead, this was the only thing she could think of that made sense.
Sensing Applejack's trepidation, Fluttershy decided to moved onto another topic. "Alright, well, maybe one of you could help us with something else. It might sound a little strange, but have you heard anything about... scarecrows?"
The stallion, who had been silent all this time, smacked his lips as he seemed to wake up from his stupor, "What... do YOU know about scarecrows?"
Fluttershy nearly jumped at hearing the rasp in his voice, "No-nothing... we just heard a few rumors that-"
"Ummph, okay, new rule when it comes to building a stage," Came a groan from behind the stage, "Don't knock your bucket of nails over. You'll spend all day picking them up."
Both Applejack and Fluttershy's mouths fell open. A scarecrow was standing behind the stage, letting out a satisfied groan as it stretched its back.
---
To be continued...
---
YAY chapter made in 2 weeks! Haven't done that in a long time. =3
If Melon Fizz doesn't seem to fit with my usual naming scheme for the ponies of Hollow Shades, you're right. I needed an OC pegasus and instead of making my own for this chapter I decided to use my friend Owlsome's. It's just a small cameo, but I doubt I'll be using any other OCs. Owlsome does good work, so if you want someone to draw your OC, give her a commission. =3
Edited by Courage Fire and Jack Kellar
EDIT: I removed the last line for the sake of the next chapter.
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DUN DUN DUN!
Also, minor correction:
5277624 Fixed. =3
Aaaaaaahhhhh I need MOAR!!!
Cliffhanger, my mortal enemy, we meet again!
Please don't wait too long for the continuation! D:
5277733 I started writing the next chapter two days ago. It's under construction.
Awwwww yeah! I've been waiting for this! I'm pumped!
5277642 Has anyone ever told you your thumbnail pony looks like Hale from Hale+Guu?
SUSPENSE.
It begins.
Applejack...Whatever you do, don't buck him in the stomach...
5277860 Not before now. Never heard of either character. Its just my OC pony in Alpha Legion Chaos Space Mare-ine armor. =3
aww you dick haha but for real good job keep it up
Woo! Good chapter. It's getting real.
I'm actually very surprised that you didn't have a scene where AJ introduced herself to the kids and they shouted about her being the thief from the story or something since she has "jack" incorporated into her name. But I guess if I of all people expected that to happen, then that means it would've been way too predictable. And honestly I wouldn't have liked it if AJ went super defensive and accused our friend Barneyporn of spreading lies about her specifically. Now I hope none of that happens or I'll feel like a jerk.
5278313 Actually you nailed it. I actually started that very scene and deleted it for that very reason. I didn't want AJ jumping down Jack's throat from the get-go.
5278356 Ha! I could write this entire story myself I bet!
ar2830.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/joker-here-we-go.jpg
5278405 Mmmmmmaaaybe
Wow, quick update.
As always, I will simply repeat that I adore this story. Only thing new I have to say is that I am pleased to see that you have just as good a handle on the Mane Six as you have on your OC's. I expected it but it is nice to be confirmed in it, some people are great at OC's but have a hard time making canon characters act like they should or the other way around. Good job.
Time for nitpicks:
"About three hours," Applejack reckoned as he looked up at the sun, "An' like Ah told'ya, there ain't no normal carriage routes to Hollow Shades." First, "reckon" is a weird synonym for "said" as it is kinda a synonym for "believe" or "thought". And I would never write "Speech," someone thought", if it was supposed to be something they actually said. I suggest changing it. Second, I think it should be a full stop after "sun", because you start the next "speech" with a capital letter and because there isn't any kind of "continue" verb before that speech. Third, AJ is female last I checked and you missed the "s" in "she".
Now here are couple of examples of what I found weird. When it comes to speech, it seems you have commas and fulls stops the opposite way round to what I'm used to seeing. Looks weird. More specifically:
"I've been curious about that since you mentioned it yesterday." Twilight said," Pretty sure it should be a comma when it is followed by any variant of "someone said".
"Twilight blinked, this wasn't in any of her books, "Why was it condemned?" And here it should be a full stop after "books".
"Rainbow asked, already sounding more confidant than before." It's "confident". With an "e" it's an adjective, with an "a" it's a noun.
"I don't see how it could be, but while we're here I don't see why we couldn't ask a learn about this place." "Is "ask a learn" an expression or did you accidentally combine "ask about" and "learn about"?
"weather from the Everfree Forest. We don't have a weather factory because the wild winds kept moving everything out of place, so for a long time we just had to deal with whatever came our way."
"We can't really alter the weather like you can in Ponyville, but we can make little course corrections to this cloud or that cloud, and despite what everypony thinks, Everfree weather isn't completely random." Fizz grinned, " First off, only put a citation mark (") after the speaker is done speaking, unless you put in some narrative. Second, I think it should be a full stop after "grinned" because unless there is some variation of "continued speaking", that bit is just "speech." Narrative. "Speech." I hope that makes sense.
"Ponies tended to remember if the pony who was supposed to be watching their foals never came out, and if Cherry didn't want that stigma following him when he got a real practice in a real town." I think you should lose the "if" just before "Cherry" because you don't follow up on it.
"Cherry trotted over to a soft spot in the grass and layed down." It's "laid down". Pretty sure at least.
"Rainbow stamped a defiant hoof, "Maybe if I can learn a trick or two from these ponies maybe I'll feel better." Again, unless you have some kind of "she added" or something before speech, it should be a full stop after "hoof". Also, I think you have one too many "maybe" in that comment, unless you mean it as a speech quirk.
"And with that, the six broke down and went their separate ways up and down the streets of Hollow Shades." "What do you mean with "broke down"? My only understanding of that phrase is something breaking, and people breaking down is normally people getting into a terrible emotional state. Suggest changing that.
"When I look at the buildings they doesn't look scary at all," Should be "don't".
"When it gets dark we're gonna put candles in them and light them when it gets dark!" Suggest losing one of the "when it get's dark", you have two. Though in this case I can understand if you keep it, because that sentence looks like something an overeager child would say, repeating itself from eagerness.
Great chapter. My biggest point, just to mention it again, is that my understanding of writing speech is as follows:
"Speech," someone said (or variation of said). "Speech."
"Speech." Someone acts. "Speech."
"Speech," someone says. Someone acts and then someone adds: "Speech."
Of course, I might be wrong, and I have the nagging feeling that there is some variation of "...something, "speech." But the above three variations are correct at least, there just might be another variant or two. The way you wrote in this chapter looked odd. By the way, if we have had this discussion already, I apologize.
More please, really looking forward to the next chapter, I complain 'cause I care. Happy writing.
5280466 I hurried to get this chapter moving, hence the plethora of mistakes. Much of the dialogue was written in a script style with only the speaker's name beside it for the sake of speed, and when I went back I didn't bother to add much variety. A dip in quality, but expediency outweighed originality for the sake of trying to give my readers more chapters. It's a trade off, for sure, but hearing people happy for the chapter is worth the mistakes, I think.
Nevertheless, I'll work here and there on fixing as much as I can. Already trying to get #26 written at the same time.
Congratulations! You were featured last night .
This has to have been one of the most relaxed chapters in the last half dozen or so. Previously it felt like there was this growing threat to Jack, mostly from Cherry Nova and the upcoming arrival of the mane6. The suspense was building up, finally Jack showed himself in front of the populance of Hollow Shades, Cherry Nova is present too, the mane6 made it to Hollow Shades aaaaand... nothing catastrophic has happened yet, not even a chase scene. I'm very much surprised here but I guess that only goes to show how common certain vehicles of story telling have become. Same applies to the missed confrontation between Applejack and the foals over the Jack o'lantern tale discussed in the comments before. You really do go out of your way to surprise your audience, don't you? A small mention of the Jack story in the presence of Applejack would have been nice, though, especially if the foals instantly discarded it because Applejack is obviously alive while leaving her throughoutly confused.
How did Corn Crib make the connection? Applejack didn't say anything about being related to the Harvest family while Corn Crib was present.
Some small typos:
5280544
I was wondering what was up with that. The loss in quality is minor, really, and it did help to speed the many dialogues along. Your regular approach might have blown the chapter further up and slowed the pace down.
5281296 Fixed.
But yes, that's what I'm aiming for, to surprise my readers by bowing to as few tropes as possible (HiE in itself not withstanding). It's why Jack hasn't run from monsters from the Everfree, protected foals from said monsters, fled from ponies (yet at least.), or relied on one of the mane 6 for help back home or fallen in love with one. I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones off the top of my head.
I'm sure if I embraced these tropes I might get more views, I might get more attention, but I'm not writing this to be popular. I have always wanted to stand apart from the crowd in fan fiction communities, to try and do something different.
But in response to the comment about AJ being thought of as the Jack from the story: that scene's not exactly finished. It carries over into the next chapter. That was the plan.
5280775 For a while anyway, I saw.
5280544 I have no issue with rapid fire dialogue, it can be great and is here. It is mostly the formalities that look wrong here. Not enough to ruin anything but enough that I go "this is great, but, just, why those small things." Of course I get the reason but I guess you know the feeling. Like a stone in my shoe, just in terms of reading.
Wow that sounds weird to my ears. Still, I'm happy with the update. More soon?
5280466 Fixed, most of them at least. Most of these mistakes are simply due to me trying to speed things up, but with speed comes sloppy mistakes.
5281966 It's under construction. Although, last night I couldn't do anything due to my tinnitus acting up, both from the weather change where I live, and from a lifetime of loud music. Seriously, it's like a migraine so bad I felt like I was drunk, except it was all pain induced since Tinnitus doesn't go away.
... which the more I think about it might be why I space out and mash sentences together like I do.
Nice story so far, there is just one tiny nitpick. Fluttershy being afraid of being close to the Everfree... when she lives right next to it...
5281844
Don't bet on it. Besides, the ratio of likes to dislikes a story gets is far more important when it comes to judging quality. 1.8% negative opinions is damn good.
Oh, Cliffhanger.
5281844
As it stands, something different works. Prize the originality you have.
5282186 She lived next to it, but she was still terrified of going in it. and Hollow Shades acts like the Everfree.
5282337 I always got the sense that she was afraid of going inside because of the creatures that live inside it(and with the forest cut back the chance of one of the creatures showing up would be about the same as ponyville/her house.), not because of the weather. In fact, because she lives right next to it for quite a while wouldn't she notice that the forest still follows the four season just at a different pace than what the ponies would have it?
5282593 Maybe, but if you look at it from the viewpoint of a highly regimented society that always has a season start on the same day (presuming that winter wrap up happens on the same day every year), the natural progression from one season to the next would look random, uncontrolled. Fluttershy's also a former resident of Cloudsdale, and would have grown up around stable clouds and likely sees them as static an object as Rainbow does. Much of this is presumption, although you are right about her being scared of the monsters in the forest first and foremost. The weather just werids her out (as I would any pegasus).
Ahhh.... Another amazing chapter!
This is by far my favorite story... I dont know what it is but the jaunty humor and the extensive fun/fokelore combination makes me smile. :)
Right and done! Keep working strong and Have a good Thanksgiving!
(Do we get a little something special for thanksgiving? Nothin' bout' it just a' wondering.)
5282077 Awesome.
Well, the update, not the tinnitus, sorry to hear that.
5283617 Hm, I hadn't planned on anything, although I would love to do a Hearth's Warming eve scene for christmas. It would be a stand alone chapter, and likely non-canon to the story.
5295706 I love pancakes! thank you for having them in this story!
5337441 Actually, no. Wizard of Oz never entered my mind when I started this.
5337455 Decimation is useful for extermination purposes.
5338975 By decimation, I meant the old Marshall method of torturing to death one out of every ten men in a brigade or legion by way of being tied to a tripod and being beaten to death with a mallet on front of your comrades.
5341785 But... that's not sexy at all!
This should be replaced with death by snu-snu at once!
You forgot the ending line in this chapter:
'And Fluttershy promptly passed out.'
5343391 True dat.
I think you mean she.
5370701 Eeyup. fixed it.
This should be very interesting. I eagerly await the next chapter!
love the story keep up the good work.
"see... you're farm..." --> your / yer ?
5393234 Fixed, thanks for catching that.