Applejack awakens to find her parents are alive! She finds it difficult to connect with the folks she has never grown up with, but as AJ digs into her own memories, she uncovers a mystery that leads her to the origin of her parents’ tragedy.
Applejack awakens after a terrible injury and finds that her parents have never died. Was her orphaned life just a fevered dream? As AJ tries to cope with her new reality, old memories begin to haunt her nightmares. These shadows begin to follow her and AJ’s family begins to worry about her sanity. Determined to find the truth, AJ retraces the events prior to her injury and uncovers a secret that her parents hid years ago. She embarks on a quest to right a wrong left unfinished and her journey puts the relationships with her siblings to the test. Can this second chance truly bring a happy ending, or is it just another shot to set things right?
Applejack ran up the porch steps of her home, her breath visible in the cold rain. The recent burn marks on her drenched body ached more so than the older bite wounds, but AJ refused to let the pain slow her down. Thunder rolled over the farm as Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh arrived a moment later, winded from their race through the Everfree Forest together. The icy rain dripped slowly off the faces of the siblings.
Applejack spun around and kicked in the front door with a hard blow. Big Mac lifted a large gilded hammer off his back and presented it to AJ.
“Here, you ought to do it,” the eldest sibling stated.
The orange pony took the weapon and slung it over her shoulder. “Thank you both for believing in me,” AJ replied. She gave both siblings a quick hug and then stepped into their home. She searched around the living room for its occupants.
“Zecora, are you still around?!” she called out. “Where’s granny?!” AJ looked around the living room and noticed a chipped teacup on the floor. It sat in a pool of black tea. A scuffle had taken place here recently, but AJ couldn’t tell who the victor was. She couldn’t even tell who was involved and her fragile mind was too scattered to remember the names of everyone who should be here.
She looked at the old grandfather clock in the corner. There was a dried stain of blood upon the jagged edge of the broken glass door. AJ knew what had happened to have caused the scuffle in this house.
Big Mac and Apple Bloom stepped inside from the rain. A crack of thunder rattled the windows and startled Bloom. She scurried closer to her big sister. The siblings heard hoof-steps approach from the second floor and Applejack kept her grip on the hammer tight.
“Alright varmint,” AJ stated loudly, “What did you do with Zecora?!”
The white and black stripped Zecora stumbled onto the second floor landing from the darkened upstairs hallway. Her mane was disheveled, and there was blood caked on her cheeks and right foreleg. A much older green pony with a pinned-up gray-white mane stepped out behind the zebra. She had a hoof leaned on Zecora’s backside as if the two were good friends.
It couldn’t have been much farther from the truth.
“Well if it isn’t the little peasant Applejack and her siblings,” Granny Smith hissed. “So, what do you plan on doing with that hammer, girl?”
“I aim to nail you good with it,” Applejack stated angrily.
Granny snorted. “Why couldn’t you all just accept your new lives? You would have all been happy together!”
“Because it was all a lie!” Applejack snapped back. “Life is full of pain and loss, but that’s just part of the deal! It’s what brings about hope and dreams, strengthenin’ family and friendships. A candle has got no purpose with a shadow to illuminate.”
“I refuse to lose him again!!” Granny Smith screamed out.
Zecora shoved the distracted old mare away and shouted down to AJ. “You must move like quicksilver! Use the hammer and strike-”
Granny kicked the zebra down the flight of stairs. Zecora tumbled down like a rag doll and hit the bottom with a weak groan. Apple Bloom screamed with fright, but Big Mac rushed to aid the zebra. Applejack rushed forward to the couch that sat by the staircase.
With a mighty leap, AJ stepped off the cushion and headrest of the sofa, scaled over the stair railing, and landed next to Granny smith. She brought the hammer to bear and swung at the old green mare. Granny darted back as the huge weapon smashed through the stair railings.
“You missed,” the old mare taunted. She grabbed AJ around a foreleg and threw her off the landing. Applejack crashed into the coffee table below and broke it in two. The hammer landed with a heavy thud near Apple Bloom. A flash of lighting illuminated the little filly’s frightened face.
“Sis, get up!” Bloom shouted. She grabbed the massive hammer with her teeth and dragged it over to her sister.
AJ rolled to her hooves as Granny jumped down to the ground floor. The old mare threw several punches with her fore-hooves, but Applejack covered her face and shrugged off each blow. The orange pony tumbled onto her back and kicked out at Granny with incredible force. The old mare flew backwards off the ground and collided with the nearby wall of framed photos.
Granny landed on all four hooves as several picture frames crashed around her.
Big Mac charged at the old mare, but Granny stepped out of his path. She stuck out a leg and tripped the red stallion. Big Mac stumbled and rolled into the adjoining wall. Granny lifted a plush chair and smashed it over the stallion. The wooden chair shattered into several pieces over the stallion’s back.
Big Mac grunted and shrugged off the cushions and splintered wood.
“Oh, you want another?” Granny said with a sinister grin. She reached for another chair.
“You leave my brother alone!” Applejack shouted as she grabbed the hammer from Apple Bloom. AJ came down on Granny with the weapon in mid swing and crushed the old mare’s left foreleg. The sound of snapping bone echoed in the air as Granny screamed with pain.
“Insolent little filly!” the old mare growled.
Black shadows oozed out of her broken leg and grabbed onto AJ’s neck. The orange pony struggled to breathe and hold the hammer at the same time. The shadows lifted Applejack off the floor and threw her into the grandfather clock at the other end of the living room.
AJ’s body hit the glass door with a resounding crash. She fell to the floor among a shower of broken glass. AJ didn’t give in to the pain and tried to stand up.
The shadows slithered and wrapped themselves around Granny’s crushed leg like a cast. She ripped a large board of wood off the floor and smashed it on AJ’s back. The orange pony held in cries of pain and tried to remain standing.
“I will unmake you!” the old mare yelled. She brought the plank of wood down a second time on Applejack, then a third. Apple Bloom began to cry out for help as her older sister was pummeled by Granny. Big McIntosh stumbled over to the old mare, but she swung the wooden board at him and struck him backwards into the wall.
Applejack staggered and fell to the floor. Her strength was sapped and pain gnashed at her head. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. Her body had given up on her, her mind had given up on her, and the darkness slowly consumed her consciousness. Applejack began to tear up as her vision faded away.
“No… it just can’t end like this,” AJ thought to herself. “Big Mac… Apple Bloom… forgive me…”
Applejack slowly awoke to the sound of a small clock ticking on the wall. The scent of rubbing alcohol and bleached linens filled her nostrils with their strong odors as she regained her senses.
AJ looked around the unfamiliar room. She was lying in a hospital bed, her right shoulder and fore-leg wrapped in several bandages. There was also a band aid over a cut on her left cheek. Her mane was unkempt and hung over her face haphazardly and the hospital gown she wore felt moist with her own sweat. Her muscles ached and demanded to be stretched.
“Good afternoon,” Nurse Redheart said as she walked into the room. “Did you sleep well?” The white-coated earth pony opened the curtains to let the sunlight into the room. She then walked over to AJ and took her temperature.
“Ah, the fever broke. Looks like you’re a quick healer.”
Applejack blinked with confusion. What exactly did she quickly heal from? Was she in an accident? She tried to sit up and was met by sharp pains in her shoulder. Redheart put a hoof on her chest.
“Stop, you’ll hurt yourself,” the nurse warned.
“The pain just tells me I’m still alive,” Applejack countered stubbornly. She forced herself to stand up off the bed and stretch her legs. The soreness eased off and became bearable after she paced around for a minute. AJ noticed a calendar on the nearby wall. There was a serene image of a lake with four tiny pony fairies sitting at the water’s edge. However, what took her attention was the date below the picture. It read ‘Friday’.
For some reason she thought that wasn’t right.
A group of four ponies walked into the room from the hallway. AJ recognized two of them as Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh, her siblings. Bloom ran up and hugged her sister tight. The shoulder pains returned as AJ struggled to return the affection of her pale-yellow coated sister. AJ also recognized the other two ponies that had entered the room, but the problem was that they shouldn’t exist.
One was a muscular green-yellow stallion with a disheveled brown mane and dark-blue eyes. The other was a burnt-orange coated mare with soft green eyes. She wore an elegant cream-colored blouse and a matching bonnet over her blond mane.
They were her parents, Apple Bramley and Cara Orange.
“H-How is that even possible?” Applejack stuttered. “AB, who are they?”
“Sis!” Bloom scolded. “Don’t you remember mom and dad? Did you hit your head extra hard on the ground or something?”
Applejack turned to her brother, but Big Mac only shrugged and looked away. AJ stood there in shock as the very parents that had passed away all those years ago were standing right there in the same room she was.
Cara stepped forward and put a hoof on AJ’s good shoulder. “Sweetie, of course it’s us,” she said with great concern. “You have been acting strangely since you ran off screaming this morning. Are you feeling alright?”
“I-I…” AJ stuttered. She couldn’t remember this morning, at all.
Bramley snorted. “Bah, kid’s just addle-minded, Cara,” he said dismissively. “She didn’t lose that much blood in the fight. I’m sure your home cookin’ will set her straight.” Bramley turned to Nurse Redheart and pointed to Applejack nonchalantly.
“You reckon we can take her home now? She don’t seem so bad if she can stand up.”
Nurse Redheart nodded. “Of course you can, Mister Apple. I’ll bring you the discharge papers.” The nurse walked out of the room to fetch a form.
“Let us take you home, sweetie,” Cara said happily to AJ. “I’m sure your friends will be happy to know that you’re doing well.”
The shock hadn’t completely worn off AJ. She limped towards the door. “I… I want to go see my friends,” she said weakly. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Where you off to?” Bramley asked.
“I need some fresh air!” AJ replied hastily.
The orange pony picked up her pace and walked quickly out of the hospital. Despite the overcast sky, the sunlight managed to dazzle AJ’s eyes. She reached for the brim of her Stetson, but soon realized that her hat was missing. She descended the steps and turned down the dusty road toward the town square. Applejack kept to the shaded paths as her mind flooded with questions over what she just saw. Were those two ponies actually her parents? If they were, then how are they alive now?
Her chest started to tighten as she stumbled down a side street. Applejack managed to limp around the corner for half a block before a lightheaded feeling fell upon her. Her breath was labored and she began to sweat. AJ’s legs finally gave up and she collapsed on the ground under a tree.
Her head hurt and the thought of her parents made her dizzy… or maybe it was her injuries. Was it hunger? AJ couldn’t think straight. Shock returned and her body felt numb.
A set of white hooves crossed her faded vision. AJ looked up at a pair of beautiful azure eyes under a dazzling purple mane. It was her friend Rarity.
“Applejack?” Rarity said confusedly. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing out here?” She helped AJ sit up on the ground. A look of worry spread across her face.
“You don’t look so well. Here, let me help you back to the hospital.”
Applejack desperately latched around one of Rarity’s legs. “No,” AJ weakly replied. “Please, not there. Your place?” She concentrated hard to remain conscious, but her body wanted to let go.
Rarity fidgeted as she hoisted AJ up. “You really should go back and see a doctor.”
Applejack looked wearily into Rarity’s eyes. “Please, no,” AJ whispered. She didn’t want to go back. There were two ponies that looked just like her parents and that made no sense. Her parents couldn’t be alive! Those figures had to be imposters or illusions of her disturbed mind. They were not real!
Rarity sighed as she led her friend to the nearest door. Applejack heard a bell ring as the door opened. A wave of freshly baked goods wafted through her nostrils. AJ’s stomach growled for a taste of the sweet scents that surrounded her.
“Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner!” shouted a cheery voice behind the counter. The voice quickly changed to a concerned tone. “Oh my gosh! Rarity, is Applejack okay?!”
“Pinkie, I think Applejack escaped from the hospital,” Rarity explained. “She seems positively frightened over something.”
Applejack saw the pink earth pony jump over the counter and reach her in two hops. Pinkie helped Rarity carry Applejack into the kitchen where Applejack was reclined on a pile of flour bags. The aroma of baked cupcakes in the oven made AJ drool with hunger.
“Food?” Applejack asked weakly. Her stomach growled loudly in agreement and AJ felt sure her two friends heard the rumbles.
“Ah, you must be hungry!” Pinkie said. “I bet you haven’t eaten anything since the tea this morning. Well, that’s more of a ‘drink’ than an ‘eat’, isn’t it?”
“Pinkie,” Rarity politely interrupted. “Could you please just fetch Applejack something?”
“Oh, sorry!” the pink pony interjected. She rushed over to the kitchen counter and retrieved a glass of water and some slices of fresh bread. Pinkie returned and helped AJ take a gulp.
Applejack swallowed the water quickly and then reached out for the bread. She ravenously gobbled the slices down before she took another long drink of water. Her stomach gurgled in praise. After a moment to catch her breath, AJ’s sight and mind sharpened once more. She also felt a pleasant aftertaste of banana on her tongue.
“There, don’t you feel better now?” Pinkie asked. “Mrs. Cake’s banana nut bread is the best!”
AJ nodded slowly. Rarity tugged at a knot in AJ’s hair and the orange pony gently swatted her friend’s hoof. “You don’t need to fuss over my mane,” she said.
“How can I not fuss over you after everything you’ve been through today?!” Rarity countered angrily. “You came to me this morning pale as a ghost, you picked a fight with a dreadful creature in the marketplace, and now I find you half-unconscious on the street!”
“Yeah, something’s not right about you today,” Pinkie added. “You didn’t eat one of those red-swirled flowers in the Everfree, did you? Last time I ate one I was hallucinating about a turtle that chased me all day throwing hammers!”
Rarity rolled her eyes at the absurdity of Pinkie’s statement. “Anyway,” she said casually, “Could you indulge us as to why you escaped the hospital, Applejack?”
AJ thought for a moment to collect her thoughts. “Well, when I awoke at the hospital, I saw my parents show up to take me home. My actual parents were right there in front of my eyes!”
“Uh, isn’t that what parents do?” a confused Pinkie asked.
“But my parents had passed away years ago!” AJ loudly proclaimed.
“Are you still going on about your parents being dead?” Rarity interrupted. “I thought you said you were going to talk to them this morning.”
Applejack sat there with a confused stare.
Rarity sighed. “Honestly, did you hit your head in that fight?” she scolded. “Darling, you came to me this morning spouting nonsense about your parents being deceased. Rainbow Dash guessed that you had a nasty falling out with them, but you said you were having problems with your memory. Last I saw, you left for home to talk with your parents about getting your head examined. Why didn’t you talk to them when they visited you at the hospital? Don’t tell me you forgot about that memory too.”
The white unicorn put both fore-hooves on AJ’s shoulders. “Talk to your parents, Applejack. After the marketplace incident, they must be terribly worried about you. I’m terribly worried about you.”
Applejack started to consider the possibility that she did hit her head in a fight. What had she fought with anyway? It must have been a nasty creature to have put her in the hospital. AJ opened her mouth to ask what the creature was, but she decided to stop asking more questions that her friends expected her to already know.
She slowly sat up and simply nodded.
“Yeah, that fight must of addled my mind,” AJ said. “I reckon I bit off more than I can chew.”
“Actually, it was the timberwolf that did most of the chewing,” Pinkie corrected. “I didn’t see it, but a friend of a friend told me that you were like ‘Pow! Bam!’ in its face, but then it got you and it was ‘Rawr! Snarl!’ as it shook you like a chew toy!” The pink pony mimed a fight with her shadow to illustrate her story.
“Then your dad came to the rescue and snapped that timberwolf like a twig, in front of every pony at the marketplace! Wow, I wish I could have seen it!”
AJ had fought a timberwolf in the town marketplace? That explained the injuries she currently had, but timberwolves had never ventured into Ponyville before. She wondered how such a large creature reached the town market without being spotted before by a guard.
“Well, maybe I should get home and thank my pa for saving me,” AJ said.
“Please do talk to them,” Rarity added encouragingly. “Tell them that you’re having memory problems. Don’t push them away and leave us all worried about you.”
Pinkie nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re acting stranger than me, and that’s saying something!”
Applejack gave a fake smile as she stood up. “Alright then, I’ll go home and straighten out my problems. Thank you both kindly for helping me. You two are really good friends.” She gave both ponies a gentle hug as the kitchen cuckoo clock struck two. Was it already midafternoon?
“Oh my, time sure flies like the wind,” AJ said.
“And fruit flies like a banana!” Pinkie happily added.
Applejack and Rarity exchanged a confused glance at each other. After a silent moment, AJ removed the hospital gown and tossed it into a nearby trash can. Her right shoulder and foreleg were still dressed in bandages, but AJ decided to leave them on for a while longer. She reached up to adjust her hat, but her hoof only met air. She had forgotten that her hat was missing.
“I need to go find my effect,” AJ muttered. “Alright, I’ll see y’all later. Thanks again you two. I’ll repay you both in spades.”
“Aww, it’s nothing,” Pinkie replied. “We’d do anything for a friend!”
AJ stepped outside the bakery shop and let her eyes adjust to the light. She limped down the dusty road towards her home, but AJ wanted to make one quick stop before confronting those ponies that looked like her parents. She wanted to know why she was missing a chunk of her memory, and there was one friend who might help her recover her thoughts.
She headed towards the Everfree Forest to seek Zecora.
~ ~ ~
Applejack stopped at the forest tree line on the far side of the farm. The weather was still gray with clouds, but there was light enough to travel through the forest. The Everfree was a dangerous place, even for a fully grown and healthy pony. So why was she about to walk into it with her injuries? AJ told herself that she needed to figure out why her mind was all mixed up. Rarity had mentioned her memory was bad and AJ needed to correct that before it got worse.
This assumed that the problem was with Applejack’s head and not everything around her.
“Alright, my parents are alive and no pony remembers that they died years ago,” she thought to herself. “So, either I’m havin’ a bad dream or half my memories are big, fat lies. Now, I’m pretty sure I ain’t crazy.”
AJ wanted to believe she was dreaming, but she reassured herself that if it was her memory that had gone bad, Zecora could help figure out what caused the problem and then fix her mind. She had thought to ask Twilight first on her way here, but AJ didn’t want the princess to worry about her.
When Twilight worried about something, she obsessed about it until it was figured out. The other reason that AJ didn’t want to ask Twilight was because the princess liked to use fancy science to solve strange problems. AJ just didn’t have the head to understand anything more complicated than basic math.
Applejack knew the way to Zecora’s hut fairly well. She believed that she could be there and back before the sun set or a storm arrived. AJ ventured forth into the forest and kept to an animal trail she spotted. The path winded far into the woods and the thick canopy of trees made the woods appear very gloomy. Applejack crept along carefully with a limp in her stride.
The forest somehow felt different to her on this trip. No birds chirped from the trees and no insects scurried about. She felt alone, and that began to scare her.
A rustle sounded from ahead on the trail. AJ slowly stepped behind a tree and watched what approached her. It wasn’t too big, about pony-sized, but it had a wobbling gait and breathed heavily. Behind the figure appeared a pair of green eyes. It followed the first figure like a predator. AJ knew in an instant what the second creature was.
It was a timberwolf.
The first figure collapsed to its knees and AJ made out the white and black striped legs of a zebra. The orange pony grabbed a rock and jumped out from behind the tree. She tossed the rock up into the air and then turned to kick the stone at the timberwolf.
The predator was taken by surprise as the rock struck and chipped a piece of bark from its wooden shoulders.
“Zecora, over here!” AJ shouted.
The timberwolf barked at AJ, but the orange pony kicked a second stone at the creature from off the ground. The wooden wolf backed off and AJ darted forward to seize its prey away. Zecora reached out to Applejack and latched on to the orange pony weakly. AJ hobbled quickly with the zebra out of the woods.
She led Zecora through the wheat field and under a shady apple tree near the house before they stopped running. The two friends collapsed under the tree and caught their breath. The timberwolf had not given them chase.
AJ turned to her battered friend. Zecora’s body was covered in bruises and small cuts. The brown cloak she wore had multiple tears in it as well. It was if the zebra had been attacked before the timberwolf stalked her.
“Zecora, are you alright?” AJ asked her. “You look like the hind legs of bad luck.”
“I was attacked at my home by a force I could not see,” she replied in her whimsical rhyming voice, “I fled for my life when it tried to kill me. Thank you though, you saved me dear friend, but why are you bandaged and now on the mend?”
Applejack glanced down at her wrappings. They were soiled and began to come undone from her exertions. She brushed off some dirt that clung to the bandages.
“Well, I apparently had a tussle with a timberwolf in town earlier today,” AJ explained, “But I can’t say I remember any of it. My pa came to my rescue and I woke up in the hospital.” She noticed Zecora didn’t react to the mention of her father, so AJ assumed that Zecora also believed her parents to be alive.
The zebra sighed as she looked over her own legs. “A timberwolf in Ponyville square?” she asked. “I wonder how it managed to find its way there?”
Applejack shrugged. She had no answers about her timberwolf attack, but something about Zecora’s story caused a tingle of pain in the back of her mind. This ‘unseen force’ seemed familiar to her, but AJ couldn’t recall why it did. The harder she thought about it, the more her head began to hurt. She let go of the thought and decided to help her friend recover from her own traumatic fight.
“Like I said,” AJ reiterated, “I don’t remember anything about the timberwolf. In fact, I don’t remember a lot of things. I was comin’ to see you about fixin’ my addled mind. Well, I reckon that’s out of the question for now, but why don’t you stay over my house tonight? I can help you in the morning to chase off whatever attacked you.”
“I would be ever so grateful to spend the night,” Zecora replied, “But won’t your father disapprove of my sight?”
“Uh, why would he?” AJ said with interest. “The Apple family hospitality is second to none and I don’t see my pa being any different. Come with me, I’ll make sure you get patched up and fed.” She tugged on Zecora to follow and the two friends walked the short distance to AJ’s house.
Applejack climbed up the porch steps and put a hoof on the front doorknob. She took in a deep breath as she wondered what she would find inside. She slowly pushed the door open and was greeted with the aromatic smells of vegetable stew and apple pie from the kitchen.
The house appeared to be just as AJ remembered it. The green felt couches sat in their respective positions and the old grandfather clock ticked softly in the corner of the living room.
AJ’s heart skipped a beat when her mother peered out of the kitchen.
“Sweetie, oh come here!” Cara shouted joyfully. She quickly trotted over and hugged her daughter tight. “You’ve had me fretting all day! Just look at you, absolutely dreadful with those dirty bandages.”
Applejack tried to act casual as she hugged the affectionate burnt-orange mare in return. However, something about this stranger’s scent made AJ’s mind doubt that she was strange at all. This mare smelled familiar to Applejack. She smelled… like mom.
Zecora walked up behind Applejack and cleared her throat. The burnt-orange mare jumped back from AJ with a startle.
“Uh, Sweetie,” Cara said apprehensively, “Not to judge your choice in friends, but you know your father isn’t fond of… of her.”
“What?!” AJ snapped back. “That’s a lot of hooey! Zecora here is my friend and I invited her to stay the night. How can pa not trust my friends?” AJ caught herself calling the other strange pony her father. She reminded herself not to get too comfortable with them in case they really were strangers that posed as her parents.
Cara fidgeted. “Well, you know your father and his old fashioned ways,” she said, “He simply doesn’t trust ponies that use magical voodoo.”
“Zecora don’t use voodoo,” AJ countered. “She brews potions. Yeah, it’s like cookin’ with spells, but there ain’t any ill intent with her magic.”
“You mean ‘isn’t’,” Cara corrected. “The word ‘ain’t’ is not a proper word.”
AJ opened her mouth to rebuke her mom, but she realized Cara was arguing over grammar now, not Zecora. The orange pony huffed and glanced at her friend. Zecora stood there perfectly silent. AJ now had trouble forming words in her mouth. This burnt-orange mare seemed familiar enough to be her mom, but that only bothered AJ even more.
“Look, ma,” AJ pleaded. “Zecora was chased out of her home. She’s hurt and she’s got no money. It’ll just be the one night, I promise.”
“Oh alright, sweetie,” Cara said with a sigh, “Your friend can use the spare room upstairs.” The burnt-orange mare gave AJ a second hug.
“I just worry a lot about your safety,” she assured AJ. “Magic can be very dangerous and you’ve dealt with a lot of it since making friends with Twilight and Zecora. Now then, why don’t the two of you go upstairs and wash up? Dinner won’t be ready for another two hours, but I disapprove of you both looking like street urchins.”
Applejack thought about that statement. Not the one about getting cleaned up, but about how Cara worried about her. It sounded so… sincere. AJ gave Cara a half-hearted smile and then led Zecora upstairs.
The spare room was at the end of the hall, just across from the bathroom. It was small, but kept very clean. A modest-sized bed sat in a corner with a night stand and there was a simple dressing mirror opposite the bed. AJ rummaged through the night stand’s drawer. She located a brush and towel for Zecora to use.
“Why don’t you go and get cleaned up first?” AJ said as she handed the items over. “The water ain’t hot, but if you want I can boil you up a pot.”
Zecora smiled. “Thank you again, but for my muscles’ sake, a cold water soak will relieve their ache.”
Applejack nodded and left Zecora to her bath. The orange pony walked back up the hall and entered her own room. It appeared to be as she remembered it, except that she didn’t see her hat anywhere on her dresser or on the bed post. She scrunched her nose with annoyance before she lay down on the bed.
She loved that hat.
AJ stared at the ceiling as her mind picked back up on the runaway train of thoughts. “Alright, in the morning I’ll help Zecora get her home back and then she can help me to straighten all this out,” she thought to herself. “Maybe I’ll even wake up and find this was all just a bad fairy tale. Then again, Cara’s hug felt exactly as I remembered her. What if I just lost all these years of memories this entire time? No, that can’t be right. You can’t just forget that many memories… can you?”
Applejack perused through her mind again, but the colossal holes in them remained. She swore her parents died when she was little, but these two ponies didn’t seem like imposters or illusions. Apple Bloom certainly acted as though they were their parents and even AJ’s friends said that her parents were alive and well.
If every pony said the sky was green, but she said it was blue, then who was right?
The more Applejack thought about it, the more she began to realize that perhaps her mind was broken. Had she made up a lifetime of lies for some reason she couldn’t understand? What if she couldn’t get those precious memories back? AJ didn’t want her mind to be forever addled. What if she lost her memories of her siblings next?
Applejack’s eyes began to water at the thought of losing more memories. It scared her to the point she felt her heart beating hard in her chest. She wiped her eyes as the scar on her left check began to burn. Darkness crept over AJ’s sight as she felt faint again. The sound of Apple bloom’s soft laughter outside filled her ears.
She held on to the laughter tightly and refused to lose any more memories as she passed out.
Applejack awoke with a startle as her alarm clock buzzed loudly. The vibration caused it to move toward the edge of the nightstand and AJ hit the button on top before it fell over. The little windup clock ceased its ruckus and resumed a soft ticking sound.
AJ sat up and caught her breath from the fright. It was morning, her bedroom window was open and let in a gentle breeze, and the birds were happily chirping from the white-washed fence in the yard. She thought she had slept through the evening, but upon a second look at her clock, the day displayed on the face read ‘Thursday’.
Furthermore, AJ’s bandages were gone and there were no signs of injury upon her. She saw that her Stetson hat hung quietly from the bed’s headboard post, where it wasn’t there the night before… or would that be tomorrow night?
This was weirdness on a Pinkie Pie level.
The sound of AJ’s grandmother rang clear from downstairs in the kitchen. “Applejack!” Granny Smith shouted. “Get your lazy legs up and down here for breakfast!”
AJ got out of bed and noticed no soreness in her body. Was everything from the past several hours just a bad dream? She looked herself in the mirror, but AJ only saw the familiar face she was born with. Even the cut on her cheek was not there. She smiled at her reflection. It was all just a dream!
AJ donned her hat over her messy mane and walked out the door. Apple Bloom raced by her and slid down the stair railing.
“Morning, sis!” Bloom shouted.
“Uh, morning,” AJ replied slowly. She followed her little sister into the dining room.
Big McIntosh was already at the table with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. Applejack sat down as Granny Smith put down another plate in front of the orange pony. There was no burnt-orange mare or green-yellow stallion in sight, just granny, her big brother, and her little sis.
“Thank you kindly, granny,” AJ said with a warm smile. She embraced the familiarity around her.
“Don’t mention it,” Granny Smith replied with a smile. “I figure you youngins should get one last good meal out of me before I skedaddle out to visit Apple Strudel on my vacation.”
Applejack nearly tipped over the carafe of apple juice. “Wait, vacation?” she asked.
“Don’t you remember, sis?” Apple Bloom said as she received her own plate of eggs. “Granny and Strudel have a big, week-long vacation they been planning all winter. We’re taking granny out to the train station today.”
AJ’s mind suddenly recalled the vacation plans her grandmother had made. This was the first time AJ’s memory filled in the blank spot with accurate recollection. She was very thankful for it.
“That’s right!” Applejack exclaimed happily. “Granny’s off to have fun while we three have to rough it on our own.” AJ put on a sarcastic smile to punctuate her joke as she poured a glass of apple juice for herself.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said in between bites.
Applejack took a deep swing of her drink. She felt at ease again and her memory was now solid. Her family acted in the exact way she remembered them. She saw the reflection of a tiny fairy wave at her from the bottom of the glass.
Applejack spat out her juice all over her scrambled eggs.
“You know, I usually just put ketchup on mine,” an oblivious Granny Smith stated.
AJ looked over her shoulder, and then she looked into her glass. There was no sign of the fairy or its reflection. Was it just some stray jitters from her strange dream?
“Is something the matter?” Apple Bloom asked her sister.
AJ turned to the little yellow filly. “Uh, I think there was a… an apple seed in my drink. I’ll just get another glass.” She got up and walked into the kitchen with the drinking glass.
A strange feeling came over AJ that she had seen that fairy before, but where? She put the glass in the sink and retrieved a wooden mug from the cabinet. Wood didn’t give off reflections. Applejack returned to the table and fished out the dry parts of her breakfast.
“Now then,” Granny Smith said, “Applejack is in charge while I’m gone, but no charging through the living room. I think you three will be just fine for the week. Maybe Big Mac will even learn how to cook something more than oat flakes when he’s on his own, eh?”
“And maybe Applejack will become the next alicorn,” Apple Bloom teased.
Big Mac blushed, but took the joke in stride as everyone else laughed. AJ enjoyed the company of her family so much that she nearly failed to see a shadow walk by the dining room window. She did a double take at the window and scanned the yard for the shadow.
Applejack saw nothing unusual outside her home. However, she felt a chill run down her back that told her it was still there, and it was waiting for her.
~ ~ ~
The train station clock rang four times in the distance behind the siblings. Doubt had reared its ugly head in Applejack’s mind as she walked home from the station with her siblings. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but she still felt the presence of the shadow that watched her this morning. It agitated her all day to the point that she was unable to concentrate on any of her chores.
AJ regained her memories, but now she was losing her sanity.
Apple Bloom’s question snapped AJ out of her thought. “Hey sis! Since you’re in charge, can I go spend the night at Sweetie Belle’s house? She’s having a sleepover with Scootaloo and they’re going to plan out some activities that’ll sure get us our cutie marks!”
AJ gave her little sister a disapproving look. There was some kind of danger in the back of her mind and she wanted to keep her little sister safe from it. Then again, maybe AJ was just being paranoid? She turned to her older brother for his opinion, but the stoic stallion looked away.
AJ shook her head. “No, you can’t go runnin’ off with your friends, Apple Bloom,” she explained. “With granny gone a week, I need you to pick up the slack with her farm chores.”
“But there aren’t any chores to do,” Apple Bloom countered. “Granny doesn’t do any of the heavy lifting or harvesting, and she cleaned up the house yesterday.”
“I can use your help with the cookin’,” AJ said. “It’ll be dinner time soon and I reckon we don’t want to eat PB n’ Js all week long for every meal.” She glanced at her older brother accusingly.
“Come on, sis, please?” Apple Bloom implored. “I don’t want to miss any chances to earn my cutie mark!”
“Granny put me in charge for the week,” AJ stated. “I don’t want any problems while she’s gone, so the answer is no. I’m sorry, but I want you with me so that I can keep you safe.”
“Safe from what?” Bloom questioned.
“I don’t know, timberwolves or something,” AJ grumbled. Her memory of the vicious injuries she had with the timberwolf sprang up in her mind. What if that dream was a warning of some kind? If there was a danger lurking near, AJ wished to keep her little sister safe from it.
She looked down and saw Apple Bloom was wearing a sad pout. AJ looked away with a sigh. She hated to argue with her little sister, but whenever Bloom brought out the pouty face, that just made AJ feel worse inside.
Big McIntosh didn’t help the situation either. The older brother never joined any sibling argument that didn’t directly involve him. Though if it did, he was always short on words and shrugged more often than a hovering pegasus flapped its wings.
AJ was tired of taking the role of the bad pony in these arguments and her mind was already shaky as it was with strange visions that weren’t real.
The siblings passed the outskirts of Ponyville on their way home. The townsfolk busied themselves with their afternoon chores and preparations for the evening. The weather was gentle and the scent of baked apple pie was unmistakable in AJ’s nostrils. The aroma made her think of home.
As the Apples turned up the road toward their farm, AJ noticed the town's school teacher, Cheerilee, trotted down their way from the farmhouse. AJ wondered why she came out to their home.
“Big Mac!” Cheerilee shouted as she trotted up to the crimson red stallion.
Applejack glanced at her older brother. She swore that he blushed deep at hearing the teacher’s sweet voice call his name. Cheerilee was quick to meet up with the siblings.
“Good afternoon Big Mac, Applejack, and Apple Bloom,” Cheerilee politely said.
“Afternoon,” AJ replied with a half-hearted smile.
“Hey, Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom said with renewed vigor, “What brings you to our place?”
“I just wanted to ask your brother if he would like to join me for dinner,” the teacher answered. “What do you say, Big Mac? It’ll be a nice evening and I’m cooking a nice eggplant casserole.”
The stallion glanced away for a moment. “Err, nope. Sorry, but I got apples to buck all day.”
AJ poked her brother in the ribs. “That’s just a bunch of pony feathers,” she chided him. “You ain’t goin’ to get much work done before the sun goes down. Besides, Apple Bloom won’t set the north field on fire again while you’re gone.”
“For the record,” Apple Bloom interrupted, “That was Sweetie Belle’s fault and it was only one tree.”
“Nope, I got things to do,” Big Mac said firmly. “Sorry, but not today.”
Cheerilee nodded. “It’s alright then,” she said. “Perhaps we’ll get together some other time. Take care, you three!”
The teacher happily walked down the road into town. AJ watched Cheerilee disappear among the townsfolk before she poked her bother again. This time, she put more force behind it.
“You really ought to talk to her more often,” AJ scolded. “You know that she takes a shine to you.”
“Hey!” Apple Bloom angrily interjected. “Why are you encouraging him to go run off, but you won’t let me hang out with my friends? It ain’t fair!”
“AB, don’t start this again,” Applejack warned her.
“Well I have a valid point!” Apple Bloom countered.
AJ snorted. “But you’re just a youngin’. You have a lot of growin’ up to do before you can make your own decisions. Until then, I want you safe at home helpin’ me cook dinner.”
“Can we hang out after dinner, then?” Bloom asked. “We could play cards or something.”
“I have to wash out the baskets for tomorrow’s harvest,” AJ explained. “I don’t want them to get all full of bugs.”
Apple Bloom saw her brother open his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. “If you’re going to take Applejack’s side,” Bloom said, “Then you can just forget it!”
Big Mac closed him mouth and looked away.
“What is your problem, missy?” AJ sternly asked her little sister.
Apple Bloom growled. “Well I guess it’s you, sis! We got a whole week together and you want to spend it working on chores instead of spending time together or letting me hang out with my friends!”
“You know, I hate feeling like I'm the donkey-downer around here,” AJ angrily stated. “Sometimes I wish our mama were around to explain a thing or two to you about responsibility instead of me arguin’ with you!”
“Then why don’t you stop acting like my mom and act more like my sister?!” Bloom snapped back.
“Because our mama is dead!!” AJ screamed.
Big Mac went wide-eyed at his sister’s statement. Applejack’s mouth hung open. Her blood grew cold as the words that left her lips cut deep into Apple Bloom’s heart. The little filly stared back in shock as her eyes watered. AJ lowered her hat over her mouth. She felt tears well up as well and she couldn’t stop them.
“Oh sis,” AJ whispered as her little sister began to cry,” I-I didn’t mean to say that.”
Apple Bloom broke into a wailing sob and ran toward the house. AJ tried to say something, but no comforting words came out of her lips. Her mouth went completely dry. Applejack threw her hat on the ground in frustration as a tear streaked down her left cheek.
“Why did I just yell out that our mama was dead?” she asked her brother.
Big Mac rubbed his sister’s back to comfort her. “Because it’s true?”
“Well, yeah, but,” AJ stuttered. “I mean, I have never yelled at AB like that before.” She looked down at her hat on the ground. It was her father’s hat, given to her the night before he… well, he was gone, wasn’t he?
“Big Mac,” AJ said weakly. “I-I think I’m going crazy.”
“AJ, I reckon you’re just stressing over our little sis growing up,” Big Mac said. “Do you remember when you was Apple Bloom’s age? When you had wanderlust and decided to spend that summer with Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehattan? We had a whale of a fight the night before you left.”
“Yeah, I guess,” AJ admitted. “I recall we were both in tears all night from that argument. Granny still let me go take that trip though.”
Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup. Granny let you go because you needed to find your own path and learn from your own choices. I weren’t your pa so I had no right to stop you. Apple Bloom is just growing up in the same way. You ain’t her ma, but you are her sister. That’s who you should be in her life and no pony else.”
Applejack wiped away another tear from her eye. “Confound it, Big Mac,” she said with a small smile, “How is it you got to be so smart?”
“I ain’t all that smart,” Big Mac said humbly. “I just have the most experience among the three of us.” He gestured to walk back to the farm house.
“Let’s get home and have dinner. I’ll cook and you apologize to Apple Bloom.”
Applejack nodded as she picked up her hat off the dusty road. She walked home with her brother, but kept her mind blank. Thinking was emotionally painful lately.
A few clouds drifted over to the farm from the nearby Everfree forest. Applejack saw two grayish-blue pegasi corral the errant clouds together and push them back over the forest. AJ wished she was able to do the same with her own mental storm clouds.
~ ~ ~
Applejack took a small bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was the silliest dinner she remembered eating, but this was the extent of her brother’s ‘cooking’ skills. To AJ’s right, Big Mac was scarfing down his sandwich hungrily as if nothing was wrong.
Apple Bloom finally came down the stairs from her own room. AJ had earlier apologized to her profusely through Bloom’s bedroom door, but the youngest sibling locked herself in the room for a good fifteen minutes. Apple Bloom sat quietly across from AJ and stared at her own untouched meal.
Applejack chased her food down with a gulp of milk. “Hey sis,” AJ said softly. “Again, I’m sorry for snappin’ at you earlier. You’re right. I know you always help me out around the farm, and lately I’ve been neglectin’ to spend some time with you as a sister. Therefore, I’ll leave the baskets for tomorrow and we can do whatever you like tonight.”
Apple Bloom took her first bite of the sandwich and quickly swallowed it. However, the little filly did not respond to her sister. AJ sighed and chewed on another bite of her sandwich.
“How about we play charades?” AJ asked. “You like that game, don’t you?”
Bloom continued to quietly eat her sandwich, but she finally gave a non-committal shrug to Applejack. Big Mac finished his dinner and gave both his sisters a wide grin. AJ and Bloom gave him inquisitive looks. The eldest sibling nonchalantly walked over to the grandfather clock in the living room.
It was a six-foot tall clock with a beautiful stained oak case and thick glass door. Big Mac stepped to the side and reached behind the old clock. The stallion pulled out a small cardboard box labeled ‘nothing’.
“Uh, tell me that there box is mislabeled,” AJ stated.
Big Mac happily smiled as he opened the lid and showed the contents to his sisters. The box contained a batch of Filly Scout cookies.
Apple Bloom perked up. “Are those… thin mints?”
“Eeyup!” Big Mac replied. “Got them just the other day.”
“Well wallop my withers!” AJ said excitedly. “I’m amazed that granny didn’t sniff out your stash and gobble them all down herself. We never get to enjoy a batch to ourselves.”
Big McIntosh pranced back towards the dining room, but his work horse collar caught the edge of the grandfather clock and pulled it off balance. Big Mac instinctively covered the box of cookies to protect them as the big clock tipped forward and fell.
It hit the ground with a resounding ‘clang!’, but miraculously the glass face and door did not shatter.
Applejack got up and scurried into the living room. “Are you alright, Big Mac?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied hesitantly, “Don’t know about the old clock though. Granny is going to be mighty upset if I broke it.”
“You know,” AJ said as her mind recalled an old memory, “I reckon that old clock originally belonged to our papa.”
Apple Bloom took interest in her sister’s comment. “Really? How come granny never mentioned that before?” she asked.
AJ scratched her head. “I don’t know, maybe she doesn’t remember? I seem to recall pa always took interest in keeping this old thing running.” Applejack hoisted the broken clock upright and inspected it for damage. It survived the fall, but AJ noticed that four gears and a clock hand had popped loose and fell down to the base of the clock’s casing. AJ looked at the clock face, but both the hour and minute hands were still there.
“Huh, that’s mighty odd,” AJ muttered. “There was a spare hand in there.”
Apple Bloom shoved the remainder of her sandwich into her mouth. She pushed an ottoman up to the tall clock and opened the glass door. The little filly jumped on the ottoman and reached up to poke at the clock’s inner working.
“Maybe you shouldn’t mess with that,” AJ said apprehensively.
Apple Boom swallowed her food hard. “You said we could do something together, right? So why don’t we fix this here old clock? It looks like this is a 'seconds' hand and it might make Granny happy to get that piece working again.”
“I don’t know,” AJ said thoughtfully. “Granny never wanted us to touch this clock, and I don’t have steady hooves for this kind of work anyway.”
“I do,” Bloom countered. “Big Mac, could you get me a screwdriver from the junk drawer?”
The elder brother came out of the kitchen with a small screwdriver. He handed it to Apple Bloom and the little filly used it to snap the fallen gears back into place. AJ carefully removed the glass cover to the clock face and Bloom set the third hand into position. She removed a bent spring and asked AJ to flatten it back into shape. Big Mac held the clock steady as Apple Bloom replaced the spring back.
Applejack lifted the glass face covering up to put it back on the clock, but it slipped in her unsteady hooves. AJ fumbled and caught the glass plate along its edge, with her face. She pulled the plate away and felt a hot stinging pain across her left cheek. She wiped at it and AJ saw her own blood smeared across the back of her hoof.
“Sis, are you okay?!” Apple Bloom shouted.
AJ nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright. It only smarts a bit.” She handed the glass to her brother and went into the kitchen to wash her face. The cut stung under the cold water. Applejack applied pressure to the wound until the bleeding stopped. She returned to see that Apple Bloom had just finished winding up the clock.
Big Mac closed the glass door and the siblings stood back with bated breaths.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
The ‘seconds’ hand on the clock moved clockwise by one notch, then another, and then another after that. The ticking noise was steady as the gears moved in their slow, circular motions. The clock was complete and working once more.
Apple Bloom glanced down at her blank hip. “Darn, no cutie mark in clock repair,” she mumbled.
AJ smiled at her. “That was still a pretty good show of skill though,” she said. “However, this is the first time I recall a grandfather clock with all three hands.”
“Maybe it’s a rare collectable?” Big Mac suggested.
Applejack’s dog Winona began to bark angrily outside. AJ noticed through a window that the outdoor sky was gloomier than it should be. She went to the front door and opened it wide. AJ stepped out onto the porch carefully as a gust of wind nearly took her Stetson hat away. The sky was dark with storm clouds and the breeze that blew across the farm was strong and unusually cold.
The strange storm came from the direction of the Everfree Forest.
“Heavens to Betsy!” AJ shouted. “What are the pegasi doin’ up there?”
AJ stepped out to find her dog. She heard Winona’s barking from the forest. The orange pony broke out into a gallop for the tree line. Big Mac and Apple Bloom were quick to follow her.
“Winona!” Applejack shouted. “Where are you, girl?”
“Why is she barking at the forest?” Bloom asked. “You reckon she spotted something?”
“I don’t honestly know,” AJ responded. She led her siblings to the Everfree Forest as she searched for their beloved pet. Several paces into the woods, AJ saw Winona. Her dog barked madly at something unseen.
“Winona, get your little furry behind over here!” AJ shouted.
As the siblings approached, Winona began to whine at whatever it was she barked at only moments earlier. The dog nervously skittered behind AJ for shelter. The three young ponies looked at each other with confused expressions.
“I don’t get it,” Apple Bloom said. “What did Winona see in there?”
AJ looked deep into the forest. The wind slowly rustled the trees, but there were no creatures in sight. AJ took a step closer and focused on her ears. She began to hear ominous whispers among the trees. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it felt like they were talking amongst themselves. The sound caused a familiar chill to run down AJ’s spine. It was that same sense of fear the shadows instilled earlier.
“Gang, I reckon we outta get back inside,” AJ said.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac acknowledged with concern.
The siblings trotted back to the house with their dog. AJ went behind the house to ensure the storm cellar doors were locked. She saw a group of pegasi fly away from the forest and their expressions appeared to be panicky. Concerned, AJ called out to them.
“Hey, what’s goin’ on with this here storm?” she shouted. Her question went unanswered, but AJ stubbornly tried to get their attention.
“Hey, I’m askin’ y’all a question!”
The wind changed directions and grabbed AJ’s hat. It carried it back towards the Everfree Forest. AJ raced after her personal effect as it fluttered toward the trees. She leaped into the air and snatched her hat back with her teeth. AJ firmly placed her hat back on her head.
Sinister voices whispered from within the forest.
AJ took a step back. She couldn’t see anything within the forest, but she felt a presence there. The whispers continued and AJ got a sense that she had felt this presence before. As she slowly stepped back, the dark murmurs died down and a lone child-like voice spoke out a single, clear word into her ears.
“Run.”
Applejack bolted back for the house. The presence from the forest burst out between the trees and chased her. AJ galloped as fast as she could. The unseen presence gained on her and displaced leaves in its wake. The air around AJ felt colder the closer the invisible entity got. AJ stumbled over the front porch as she grabbed the door handle. She jumped inside the house and slammed the door shut.
Something large hit the door with a hard crash. Applejack let out a yelp of fright as she propped herself against the door and locked it. The invisible force pounded on the door several times with immense strength. AJ pushed hard against the unseen presence. The door began to warp and buckle from the force outside.
“Quit it!!” Applejack shouted.
The presence smashed against the house with enough force to crack the wooden door… and then it stopped. AJ remained propped against the door. Her heart raced in her chest as she tried to listen for the whispers. Only the gentle howl of the storm’s wind and the panting of her breath met her ears.
A warm trickle of blood slowly oozed out of her cheek’s wound.
Her siblings raced down the stairs from the second floor. They galloped to Applejack with looks of fearful concern upon their faces.
“Sis, what happened?” Apple Bloom asked worriedly. “What was all that banging and screaming?”
AJ slowly stepped away from the door. She was still shaking from the fear in her nerves. “I-I saw somethin’ out there. Well, I didn’t see it so… I reckon more like I felt somethin’?” Words failed AJ to describe the experience she just had.
Apple Bloom and Big Mac gave her skeptical looks. The stoic brother went to the kitchen while Bloom walked AJ to a chair and had her sister sit down. Big Mac returned with a wet cloth and an adhesive bandage for AJ’s bleeding wound.
“You sure you didn’t just get chased by a timberwolf?” Apple Bloom asked as she pressed the wet cloth hard against her sister’s cheek.
“Ouch! No this critter was… bigger,” AJ said slowly. She started to feel stupid that she couldn’t describe what it was that chased her inside the house. AJ changed the subject abruptly.
“I saw a few Pegasi flee from the forest. Somethin’ in the weather spooked them.”
Apple Bloom patted her sister’s cheek dry. “The Ponyville weather team got spooked by their own storm?” she asked curiously.
AJ slowly shook her head. “I reckon this isn’t one of theirs. It’s comin’ out of the forest so it might be a wayward storm.”
“Aww, Winona!” Big McIntosh shouted angrily.
Apple Bloom was startled be her brother’s shout and stuck the bandage lopsided on her sister’s cheek. AJ and Bloom saw Big Mac move the couch. Winona huddled underneath it. The dog whimpered with so much fear that she peed on the floor. Applejack got up and picked Winona off the floor.
“Oh girl, what’s the matter?” AJ asked her dog. She patted Winona on the head calmly, but the dog only continued to whine.
AJ took her pet upstairs to the bathroom while her brother fetched the mop. Applejack sat Winona on the bathroom rug. She moistened a facecloth under the sink and wiped the dog down. AJ wrapped her pet in a towel afterwards, but kept the dog on the rug. Winona continued to lie there, but she seemed much calmer now. AJ tossed the cloth in the sink and then noticed how her bandaged cut looked in the mirror.
Just like from her dream. That is… if it was a dream.
Apple Bloom walked to the bathroom doorway. “Is she going to be alright?”
“Yeah, just spooked is all,” AJ assured her sister. “Go fetch Winona’s water dish. It’ll be best that she waits out the storm here in case she has another accident.”
Apple Bloom left to retrieve Winona’s dish while AJ returned downstairs to the kitchen. Big Mac already cleaned the floor under the couch and was working on the dinner dishes. AJ watched him work as she leaned against the kitchen counter. She heard the rain come down heavily against the house.
“Not even one day and I’m already fallin’ off my rocker,” AJ said to her brother.
Big Mac let off a non-committed shrug.
“I snapped at Apple Bloom, my imagination got the better of me, and I ain’t sure what exactly spooked Winona,” AJ explained. She nudged a tin of saltines away from the splattering dish soap.
“Honestly, had Winona ever been that frightened before?”
Big Mac shrugged again.
“Well, I wish I had your problem,” AJ said. “I reckon the jitters over a pretty face are quite trivial compared to what’s been going on in my head today.”
Another shrug.
Applejack was bothered by the one-sidedness of the conversation. “You want I invite Cheerilee over for breakfast tomorrow?”
Shrug.
Applejack sighed. “You’re less responsive than a bucket of potatoes, you know that?” she said, “At least the potatoes have the gumption to look me in the eye.” She left the kitchen in frustration. AJ wanted a wise pony to talk to about her problems, but it seemed that Big Mac’s one rare moment earlier was it for the day.
Her only remaining choices were either her inexperienced little sister or her unintelligible dog. The orange pony decided to just turn in early and sleep through the storm.
AJ ascended the wooden stairs and entered her darkened room on the right side of the hallway. The rain continued to rattle softly off the roof as she tossed her hat in the direction of her dresser, but it hit the floor with a soft thump. AJ walked over to her bed and dropped down over the covers like a stone.
The rain’s patter on the roof lulled the orange pony to sleep. Her mind let go of all the strange thoughts of shadows, whispers, and eerie storms. Her mind slowed down to just the one thought of the rain until her eyes grew too heavy to keep open. AJ rolled to her side and finally succumbed to the exhaustion.
Applejack bolted upright with a gasp from the cacophony of her alarm clock. She rolled over to strike the clock, but the edge of the bed rushed past her. AJ hit the floor with a hard thud and the vibrating clock swan-dived off the nightstand at her. The timepiece painfully bounced off AJ’s head and clattered onto the floor. The incessant ringing burned in the orange pony’s ears.
AJ fumbled with her clock and struck the little button on top with a hard blow. The ringing immediately ceased and the clock resumed its peaceful ticking sound.
“I hate you,” AJ muttered to the clock.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
AJ sighed and sat up. She rubbed the light bump that the clock gave her and looked around. The birds sung their morning songs outside on the fence again. Applejack stood up and placed her clock back on her nightstand. She noticed that the day displayed on the face was Friday.
This wasn’t unusual since yesterday was Thursday, but time for AJ was jumbled up like a ball of yarn in her mind. The band aid on her check was there, but not the gauze around her shoulder. This gave her hope that she was remembering events correctly again.
AJ reached out for her hat, but it wasn’t on her bedpost. Instead, there was a fancy red bow that hung quietly off the headboard.
Now that was unusual.
Applejack’s hope was dealt a major blow. She quietly exited her room and listened to the sounds downstairs. She heard her little sister whistling an off-key tune in the dining room and plates being shuffled in the kitchen. AJ cautiously walked downstairs with her mind mentally braced for what she might see in the dining room. She turned the corner into the dining room and abruptly stopped.
The muscular green-yellow stallion was there at the table with the newspaper open in his hooves. Winona sat on the floor by his side and contently chewed on a wooden bone.
“No,” AJ whispered to herself. “No, no, no…”
The burnt-orange coated mare stepped out of the kitchen with tall stack of waffles on a large plate. She set the waffles down on the table and gave Applejack a concerned look.
“Sweetie, is something the matter?” Cara asked her older daughter.
“What in the name of all things cinnamon-swirl is going on?!” Applejack shouted.
“Breakfast,” Bramley said sarcastically without looking up from the paper. “Or is that too old-school for you kids nowadays?”
“No, you two can’t be here!” AJ shouted angrily. “Why do y’all keep hauntin’ me?!”
Apple Bloom looked utterly stunned that her big sister was yelling. “Sis, why are you so upset?” Bloom asked. “Mama made us waffles. You love waffles!”
“No, t-this ain’t right and I can’t accept it!” AJ stuttered. She turned and bolted for the front door. The orange pony threw the door open and nearly collided with her brother. AJ pushed her way past him and ran out into the fields.
“AJ, you alright?” Big Mac asked.
“No, I’m not!” Applejack cried. She fled through the fields and continued to gallop with no direction in mind. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stumbled out of the far side of the field and onto the dusty road that led into Ponyville. AJ slowed her pace to a trot and caught her breath.
Applejack questioned her own sanity and whether her parents were dead or not. Was she dreaming again, or was yesterday the dream?
She walked through Ponyville and her hooves pointed AJ in the direction of Rarity’s home. Applejack had a gut feeling to visit her again. Although Rarity tended to be dramatic, the white unicorn had an eye for detail and perhaps she could pick out something with AJ’s problem that might help explain the things AJ saw lately.
In any case, Rarity was a close friend and would not think that AJ was making up a bad joke about what was happening to her mind.
~ ~ ~
“You’re joking, right?” Rarity asked as she set down her tea cup.
This was not the response Applejack expected. She came to her best friend’s home and told her about the two ponies that looked like her parents, the strange shadows she couldn’t quite see, and the voices that whispered to her from the Everfree Forest.
However, Rarity accused her of making up a tall tale. AJ sighed as she pushed away her own empty tea cup. She tried to start her story over.
“Alright,” AJ began anew, “My mind keeps tellin’ me that my parents have been dead a long time.”
Rarity interrupted AJ with a gasp. “How could you say such a thing!” the white unicorn scolded. “Why, your dear sweet mother was in my boutique just the other day. She wanted to purchase one of my newest summer line hats.”
“I beg your pardon?” AJ asked with a confused look.
Rarity used her magical horn to levitate a beautiful cream hat over to the dining room table they sat at. The orange jewels on the wide brim still sparkled under the window’s diffuse overcast light. AJ noticed that the red bow on top looked similar in style to Apple Bloom’s hairpiece.
“Cara came in and purchased this beautiful hat,” Rarity explained. “Your mother has an exquisite Manehatten taste, by the way. She wanted a lighter bow, of course, so that she could match better with Apple Bloom’s accessory.”
AJ looked over the hat and nodded in agreement that it was fancy. In fact, it did have a certain style that reminded her of Aunt and Uncle Orange from Manehattan. AJ sighed. “Alright, but then why are all my memories muddied?” she asked. “What would cause that to happen?”
Rarity gave her a clueless shrug. This conversation was less productive than the last one which… didn’t happen yet? Applejack had hit an epiphany that this was the conversation Rarity mentioned at Sugar Cube Corner after she left the hospital. Was that event really a prophetic dream?
The front door to Rarity’s boutique opened and rang a bell over the doorframe. Rainbow Dash flew in, followed closely by Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom. The group raced over to Applejack.
“Sis, here you are!” Bloom shouted. She jumped at her sister and delivered a big hug. “What happened to you this morning? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Dash added, “Your brother told me that you ran out of the house crying. What was that all about?”
“Uh, well I’m mighty confused here,” AJ said. “Over the past few days I keep seeing my parents and then not seeing them. My mind says they ain’t supposed to be here, but every pony tells me they’re alive and well.”
“Uh, is there supposed something wrong with your folks?” the cerulean pegasus asked.
“Of course not!” Apple Bloom interjected.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Applejack came to me this morning looking very confused,” the unicorn explained. “She said that her parents were dead and that she was seeing strange things around the town.”
Rainbow Dash raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Wait, AJ said that her parents are dead? As in, Apple Bramley and Cara Orange are dead?”
“Yeah,” an annoyed AJ answered, “Because all my memories say that they are.”
“Why would you think that?” a worried Apple Bloom asked.
The pegasus landed with a curious expression upon her face. Applejack watched Dash study her face as if the pegasus was trying to read a book. “What did you cut yourself on?” Dash asked as she pointed to the fresh scar on AJ’s cheek.
“Oh, this?” AJ asked. “I was just helpin’ Apple Bloom fix the old grandfather clock last night. I dropped a plate of glass on my face.”
Dash chuckled, but continued to study Applejack. She looked up at AJ’s messy mane and pointed. “Oh, I get it now,” Dash finally said. “You got into a fight with your old dad, didn’t you? Pretending they’re ‘dead’ because you don’t want to talk to him, right?”
“What? No!” AJ exclaimed. “Gals, don’t you all get it?! All the memories in my head keep tellin’ me that my folks died years ago, but every pony here is tellin’ me otherwise! I’m questionin’ half my life here, and if I’m wrong… then why are all my memories of them missin’?” Applejack pressed her head against the table. She thought she was sure that her parents were dead, but everything around her told her otherwise.
“I just don’t know what to believe anymore! I can’t tell if I’m dreamin’ or awake. What if I forget my best friends, or worse, my own siblings?”
“How much tea did you give her?” Dash asked Rarity.
“Just the one cup,” Rarity answered. The white unicorn reached over and put a gentle hoof on Applejack’s head. She stroked through AJ’s blonde mane.
“Oh, Applejack, you’re serious about this, aren’t you?” Rarity asked softly. “If you feel this strongly about it, why don’t we get you over to a doctor? Dash can even go fetch Twilight. I’m sure they can help you sort out your problem. Perhaps you’re simply stressed out over something and your mind made up your bad memories?”
Applejack looked up from the table and sniffled. “What if they can’t help me?” she asked her friends. “What if I lose all my memories? I don’t want to live my life as a vegetable.”
“Applejack,” Bloom squeaked sadly, “No matter what happens, you’re my big sister. Even if you forget your own name, I’m going to be right here beside you. I’ll take care of you, and Big Mac will feed Winona for you. We’ll remind you every day of who you are and that we all love you.”
Applejack broke down into tears as she hugged her sister tight. Big McIntosh joined in the hug as Rarity patted AJ softly on the head. Rainbow Dash looked away before the sappy moment got to her too. After nearly a minute, AJ wiped her tears and stood up.
“Thank you all,” AJ said. “I-I guess if I only remember one thing, it’s that I can count on you all to help me through this.” Applejack stopped fighting the evidence. Her siblings and friends had to be right. She had to accept that her parents were alive and that her mind was broken. No sane pony would ever fake their parents’ passing.
“You should tell your parents about your problem too,” Rarity said. “You shouldn’t let them worry about you any longer.”
AJ nodded, but she quickly remembered something. Rarity told her this already at Sugar Cube Corner, or was it that she will tell her this at Sugar Cube Corner? Pain surfaced in her head as AJ tried to sort out the timing of her memories. There was something else too, a fight she had with a timberwolf that left her hospitalized. Yes, she remembered now, it happened at the marketplace. Rather, it will happen?
The pain flared in her mind. AJ nearly lost her balance from the intense migraine, but as she let her mind go blank, the pain subsided. It was like a storm of jumbled memories passed through her head whenever she tried to remember details.
“A storm of jumbled memories,” AJ thought to herself. “What was up with that storm from the Everfree Forest?” She turned to the cerulean pegasus with a curious question.
“Hey Dash,” she said out loud, “You’re on the weather team. What was up with that big storm last evening?”
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Well, it wasn’t one of ours. It came from the Everfree Forest, so we just assumed that it was a wild storm system.”
“How come the weather team didn’t break it up, then?” AJ questioned.
“Well, we tried to,” Dash said defensively, “But that storm was too big to even move. We had to give up and let it pass through Ponyville. I can’t believe it’s still cloudy up there this morning.”
“Did that storm give you any problems, Applejack?” Rarity asked.
“Well, Winona was actin’ mighty scared of somethin’,” AJ said. She pondered the best choice of words to describe the ‘something’ so that she didn’t sound any crazier to her friends.
“I think there was a big critter from the forest that wandered out to the farm just before the rain hit. I don’t know what it was though.”
“My guess was that it was a timberwolf,” Apple Bloom added.
“Why don’t you ask Fluttershy?” Rarity suggested. “She might identify that creature for you since she lives by the forest.”
“Yeah, she’s with Twilight at the library right now,” Dash said. “A lot of animals acted weird last night, so they’re studying that storm. I’m sure they’d love to hear what you saw.”
“Nah,” AJ said dismissively. “I’d rather not be subjected to more of Twi’s weird testin’ in that basement of hers. My fanny is still wary after Pinkie Pie told Twilight this crazy theory about me. Said that I might be made of something called dark matter, whatever that is.”
AJ pondered over Dash’s story about last night’s storm. Maybe that storm caused her memory loss and made her think of events out of order? It was a very weak idea, but then again, the Everfree worked in unnatural ways that AJ never understood. If Twilight was studying it, then there might be a chance that it was strange enough to have caused her memory issues.
The thought of a possible explanation gave Applejack renewed hope.
Apple Bloom tugged at her sister’s shoulder. “Can we go home now?” Bloom asked. “Our folks are waiting for us to get back after we found you.”
AJ took in a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s go talk to our… folks.” She looked up at Rarity and Dash. Her two friends had approving smiles on their faces. Applejack led her sibling outside and back towards their farm home. As she exited Rarity’s home, AJ glanced back at them.
“Thanks for listenin’,” AJ said honestly, “And no matter what happens, you’re both good friends.”
“Good luck, Applejack!” Rarity shouted back.
Applejack stepped outside the boutique and looked up at the overcast sky. Several pegasi attempted to sweep away the gloomy weather, but the clouds continued to drift in from the Everfree Forest at a steady pace. The citizens of Ponyville were not discouraged, however, as they continued about their daily routine unabated.
The three siblings walked through the town’s open market, but AJ was lost in thought over what to say to her… parents. A familiar stallion snapped her out of the trance.
“Hey, Applejack!” shouted Mr. Cake from the porch of his bakery, Sugar Cube Corner. “Could you tell your father I’d like to buy another four bushels of apples today? I got a big order this afternoon.”
“Sure thing!” AJ replied with a half-hearted smile.
Her smile wasn’t completely false, however. The idea that she had living parents appealed to Applejack. Assuming that Twilight or the town doctor was able to prevent any further memory loss, she could relearn every experience she had lost. Furthermore, she’d have a complete family again for many years to come.
Among the crowds of ponies around her, AJ heard the same whispers again that spoke from within the Everfree Forest. She stopped in her tracks. AJ just realized that she was walking through the market. She looked around apprehensively, but it appeared that only she heard these voices.
“Sis?” Apple Bloom asked her.
Something caught AJ’s attention from between two produce stalls in the market. She had that feeling of danger again, the one from the unseen presence yesterday. AJ narrowed her eyes to try and find something that stood between the stalls, but there was simply nothing there.
“AJ?” Big Mac asked with concern.
“I can feel it again,” Applejack said quietly to her siblings. “You know that critter I said that chased me into the house yesterday? I think it’s watchin’ us from between those blue stalls over there.”
“I don’t see anything,” Apple Bloom said.
The ground between the two stalls rose up into a small mound of dirt and scurried at the three Apple children. It moved like a hamster under a rug and left no tracks. AJ glanced around. No pony noticed the moving lump, not even her siblings. The lump darted for Apple Bloom.
AJ shoved his brother aside and lifted a large rock off the ground.
“What in tarnation?” Big Mac muttered as he stumbled backwards.
Apple Bloom screamed in a panic as AJ lifted huge stone in her little sister’s direction. The orange pony brought down the large stone and smashed the mound flat before it reached Apple Bloom. The ground made no noise and showed no sign that it was ever there.
A curious crowed gathered around the siblings in response to Bloom’s scream.
“You alright, sis?” AJ asked her little sister.
Apple Bloom looked up with anger and confusion. “No, I’m not alright!” she yelled. “You scared me half to death with that rock! What were you trying to do with that?”
The ground exploded under the rock and showered nearby ponies with dirt. A large canine creature made of tree limbs and leaves climbed out of the earth. It scanned the crowed of ponies with a pair of glowing green eyes.
"Timberwolf!" several ponies shouted.
The creature howled angrily and the crowd scattered in a panic. The wolf snarled at Apple Bloom as saliva dripped from its sharp teeth. The little filly sat there frozen with fear.
Applejack jumped at the creature as Big Mac yanked Apple Bloom away. The orange pony socked the timberwolf with her fore-hooves and broke several of its wooden teeth. The creature lashed back with its jaw wide open. Applejack grabbed the wolf by a wooden ear and yanked the creature to the ground. The creature snarled and kicked into the air, but AJ twisted its ear harder. The wooden lobe tore off in the orange pony's hoof and she stumbled forward unbalanced.
The timberwolf lunged up at Applejack and bit her hard in the right shoulder. She cried out in pain as she pushed back on the creature, but it held on tight. The creature violently shook her and then pinned the pony against the ground. The pain in AJ’s shoulder seared like a hot iron against her flesh. She saw her own blood ooze out between the timberwolf’s teeth.
“Leave my daughter alone!” shouted a muscular yellow-green stallion. He jumped onto the wolf and wrapped his forelegs around its throat.
The timberwolf released Applejack and flailed to break free of the chokehold, but Apple Bramley held on strong. He continued to squeeze hard on the creature and its wooden neck began to splinter under the stallion’s mighty grip. The wolf lashed out, but it was unable to overcome the stallion’s strength. With a violent wrench, Bramley ripped the timberwolf’s head off with a wood-splintering crack. The creature let out a high-pitched squeal as its body broke down into a mass of inert branches and twigs.
The crowd cheered Bramley’s bravery and stomped their hooves in admiration. The stallion dropped the mass of branches that was once the creature's head. He dismissed the cheering crowd away with a wave.
“Bah, don’t you ponies have jobs?” Bramley said in an annoyed tone.
Applejack sat up as the bleeding wound on her shoulder stung hard. Apple Bloom rushed to her sister’s side, followed by a frantic burnt-orange mare.
“AJ, sweetie!” Cara Orange shouted as she hugged her daughter tight. “Oh, my dear girl, are you alright?”
AJ was in shock. Was she just saved by her father? She couldn’t tell with her blurry vision. Applejack’s mind swam with conflicting emotions, pain, and possibly dizziness from the blood loss.
Meanwhile, Bramley sounded like he had one definite emotion to show. “Celestia damn it, Mac!” he scolded his son. “How could you just idle there while your sister is gettin’ chewed up by a timberwolf?!”
Big Mac’s bit his lower lip in shame. The crowd around him looked on with dismay.
“Son, you have to protect your little sisters,” Bramley said with a calmer voice. “They look up to you for safety. When danger rounds the bend, you got to pony up and fight back.” He turned to Applejack’s wound and poked it a few times, despite that AJ visibly flinched from the pain.
“Eh, it ain’t deep. Come on Cara, let’s take AJ to the hospital and get her cleaned up.”
Applejack grabbed a hold of Cara’s cream blouse. “M-mama…?” she asked as her eyesight began to fade.
The burnt-orange mare continued to hold AJ in a warm embrace. “I’m here, sweetie,” Cara assured. “Please don’t ever run from me again. You scared me this morning.”
“I…” Applejack’s head continued to swim with vertigo. She staggered to get up and fell over again. Bramley caught AJ before she hit the ground. Applejack could hear her father mumble something about girls and the sight of blood, but she couldn’t understand the words in between.
AJ’s world grew hazy. Her surroundings faded to shadows, and she passed out.
~ ~ ~
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Applejack slowly opened her eyes as the little windup clock on her night stand ticked loudly in her ears. She was lying on her bed, in her own room. The curtains were pulled apart to let in the early evening sunlight, but despite the familiarity of her surrounding, she felt like something wasn’t right.
AJ slowly sat up. Her right shoulder was bandaged up with dirty dressings and the pain still ached. She looked at the clock and it read twenty-three minutes after four, on a Friday.
Applejack had to wonder which Friday it was.
She heard Apple Bloom’s laughter outside in the yard, as well as Winona’s barking. AJ leaned over to the window beside her bed and looked outside. Down below in the yard, Apple Bloom and Bramley played fetch with Winona. AJ’s little sister appeared to be having a good time with her father.
Applejack rifled through her memories. Apple Bloom was only a few weeks old when their parents passed away… except that they didn’t die. No, they were here now. They were always here, weren’t they? Well, it appeared that ‘here’ was at some point after rescuing Zecora and bringing her home.
AJ’s thoughts were interrupted when Cara walked into her room. The burnt-orange mare approached her daughter with a sad smile upon her face.
“Afternoon, AJ,” Cara said warmly. “Did you rest well?”
“Uh, yeah, I reckon I did,” Applejack muttered falsely in return.
Cara appeared to be worried. “How is your shoulder doing?” she asked. Cara picked at the soiled bandages to remove them. She relented when AJ leaned away from her.
The burnt-orange mare pointed at the door. “Dinner is ready, sweetie. I’m sure you’re absolutely famished after all you’ve been through today.”
“It’s alright,” AJ said flatly. “I’m really not all that hungry right now. Um, but thanks for offerin’.”
Cara fidgeted again, this time with AJ’s hair. “Well then come here if you’re not going to eat,” she commanded. Cara gently pulled Applejack over to the dresser and sat her daughter in front of the large oval mirror. “At least let me fix up that messy mane of yours.”
“My mane don’t need fixin’,” AJ said defensively.
“‘Doesn’t’ dear,” Cara corrected. “As in, ‘does not’. I swear your drawl is as bad as your father’s. However, I also don’t approve of my little girls looking all tom-coltish. You are a lady, and you should carry yourself with the refinement of one.”
AJ fought back half-heartedly with her mother. Cara grabbed a hairbrush and pulled roughly on AJ’s hair until all the knots were removed. Cara stroked the locks into place like an artist with a paintbrush. AJ gave up the fuss and let her mom finish with a quick braid of her mane’s lower half.
Cara stepped back and marveled at her handiwork. “There now, don’t you just look beautiful?” she said happily.
Applejack looked at her reflection in the mirror. She noticed how similar her eyes were to her mother’s and how they both had fine and long hair. AJ never cared much to look fancy, but she only remembered now why she thought that way for so long. The first couple years after she lost her mother, AJ’s own face brought only painful memories of her loss.
She had thrown out her brushes and bows since then, but now she was ashamed that she had forgotten where her beautiful green eyes came from.
“Is something wrong, AJ?” Cara asked.
AJ slowly stood up and turned around. Tears welled up in her eyes as she latched onto her mother and held her tight. It didn’t matter anymore if her memories were real or jumbled. Some miracle had given Applejack one more moment to hug her mother, and by Celestia, she embraced it. She held her mom and cried for every hour of every day that she had grown up without the warm breath of her mother on her brow.
“I missed you so much, mama,” AJ whispered.
Cara strokes her daughter’s head. “Oh, my dear sweet Applejack,” she said warmly. “I’ve always been here for you. Well, I did have that spa appointment with Rarity yesterday, but other than that, I’ve always been here for you.”
AJ chuckled softly at her mother’s odd sense of humor. “Thank you, mama. I’m sorry I was actin’ so addled today. My mind just hasn’t been right lately.”
Cara wiped her daughter’s tears. “Shh, don’t worry yourself about that. The experience of every pretty filly growing up into a beautiful mare is always confusing. Why, I should tell you the story of when your Aunt Orange’s voice cracked so much, that she thought she had swallowed a bullfrog.”
AJ’s stomach made a low rumble. “Well, maybe later,” she said. “I reckon I’m feelin’ mighty peckish after all. Give me a moment and I’ll come down to dinner.”
“Alright then,” Cara said, “I’ll see you down stairs.” AJ’s mother kissed her gently on the forehead and then gracefully left the room. Cara closed the door silently behind her.
The room became eerily quiet as Applejack stood there in front of the mirror for another minute. It was like she didn't recognize the reflection that looked back with those same green eyes. Her thought was interrupted by a strange noise from the clock on the night stand.
Click, click…
Applejack picked up her alarm clock and shoved it into the nightstand drawer. “No more shenanigans for you,” she muttered. She looked around the room for her hat, but it was still missing. Not wearing it for so long bugged her and she at least wanted to find her personal effect before she moved on.
AJ thought back to the last memory she had of her hat. It was on the night of the storm and she had tossed her Stetson toward her dresser in the dark and missed. AJ walked over to the dresser and looked under it. She found her hat underneath; the Stetson had slid all the way towards the wall. She reached under the dresser to grab it, but the hat skittered away from her.
This was the first time her hat had ever performed such a trick.
Applejack reached under the dresser again for her personal effect, but the hat bolted out from its hiding spot and zigzagged across the room until it zipped under her bed.
“Alright, now that’s just plum weird,” she thought.
AJ grabbed her hairbrush and slowly crept to the bed. Her first thought was that there was a rodent under her hat that was playing a joke with her. She leaned down and slowly reached for her hat with one hoof as the other held the hairbrush tightly.
With a quick swipe, AJ grabbed the hat and pulled it back. The hat pulled apart into shadows and a small doll dropped out. The darkness evaporated from AJ’s hoof and left a cold feeling in her leg. She didn’t understand what happened, but she did recognize the fabric doll as Big Mac’s possession, Smarty Pants.
AJ was pretty sure that her hat was a solid object and that the doll had never been in her room before. Then again, she remembered that Big Mac got that doll from Twilight several months ago. Perhaps in her youth, Twilight had hexed it a few times and some of that magic still resided in the doll.
Applejack would have to ask Twilight about it later. The orange pony simply did not know much about unicorn magic to make a good guess. She got up and went for her room’s door before something else unexplained happened to her.
“Applejack…” a tiny male voice under the bed whispered.
AJ sighed that the weirdness refused to quit her. She should have been surprised, but after the past couple of days, she felt more frustrated than anything else. AJ bent down and looked under the bed again. The doll was there, but it had no mouth to speak with. Then again, dolls don’t talk.
She felt silly and gave up on the odd toy. AJ got up to leave, but the whispers cried out to her.
“Applejack, please help me,” the tiny voice pleaded.
The orange pony felt a presence under the bed, but, it wasn’t the sinister one she felt from the forest yesterday. This one felt… small and fragile. She didn’t understand why she felt things that weren’t there.
“I’m losin’ my mind, aren’t I?” AJ asked to nothing in particular.
“No, you’re not,” the little voice stated. “You are losing time.”
Applejack slowly crept back towards her bed, but dared not look under it. “I don’t understand,” she said aloud. “What do you mean by me losing time?”
“Find your father’s diary,” the whisper replied. “He hid it in the barn before he died.”
“My pa never had no diary that I can recollect,” AJ stated, although that didn’t say much given how little of her memory she was able to rely upon.
“The barn, Applejack,” the voice weakly pleaded. “You must fix the mistake before the shadows of sunrise…”
AJ took a deep breath and ducked down under the bed. The doll had still not moved at all. AJ picked it up and looked over the raggedy toy. “What did you mean by all that? What mistake?”
The doll said nothing.
“You ain’t Big Mac’s doll, are you?” AJ asked. “You’re something else entirely, right?”
The doll remained silent.
Applejack threw the doll against the wall. “If I have to hear voices in my head for my entire life,” she muttered, “They could at least be more verbal than my brother.”
There was a knock at the door and AJ nearly jumped to the ceiling with a startle. She opened the door carefully and saw that Zecora stood in the hallway. The zebra had bandages around the major cuts she received from her attacker earlier.
Zecora shifted in place. “I came to check up on you,” she started to say.
“I’m fine, actually,” AJ interrupted. “Let’s just get some dinner.”
She led Zecora down stairs into the dining room where Cara and Big McIntosh had set the table. The warm scents of vegetable stew and baked potatoes filled the air. A sweet aroma of apple pie teased AJ’s nostrils from the kitchen. She pulled up a seat for Zecora before AJ sat beside her.
“Say, ma,” AJ began, “Where’s granny?”
“Your grandmother is on that vacation with Apple Strudel,” Cara responded. “You don’t remember? You took her to the train station yesterday with your siblings.”
“Oh, right,” Applejack quickly corrected. “Must of slipped my mind.” She let out a mental sigh of relief that granny had not changed since she last remembered her.
Apple Bloom entered the house with Winona, and the filly took a seat by her big sister. Bramley walked in last, but he approached the table much more cautiously.
“Cara, who invited her here?” Bramley asked as he pointed to Zecora.
“I did,” AJ stated. “She’s my guest here for the night.”
Bramley finally sat down at the table with Cara. “Applejack, you know you should ask me about these things first,” he said firmly. “I don’t like surprises.”
“Don’t like surprises, or don’t like zebras?” AJ countered accusingly.
Apple Bloom mimed out an ‘Oh snap’ from her lips as Applejack passed Zecora a biscuit. The orange pony was resolved that if she was going to accept her father as being alive, he had to accept her choice in friends. She glanced at Zecora, who appeared to have sunk down in her chair several inches.
Bramley gave AJ a good, hard stare. Cara put a gentle hoof on her husband’s shoulder. The father looked into his wife’s concerned eyes and took a deep breath. He surrendered the argument. “You’re right AJ,” he said calmly. “You’re right. We Apples are nothing if not hospitable to all folks regardless of what they are. I reckon I’m just bein’ an old-fashioned, stubborn workhorse. Your friend can stay the night.”
“Thanks, pa,” AJ said with a smile. She continued to pass the biscuits around as the family filled their bows with stew. AJ was happy that there were no whispers or shadows that interrupted her meal. She paid attention to as many details as she could to remember this moment with clarity.
Apple Bramley spoke up after quickly gobbling a spoonful of stew. “Hey son,” he said casually, “How’s that pretty lass of a school teacher doin’? What’s her name, Cheerilee?”
Big Mac’s usual red-coated face reached a new record in blush. “Uh, she’s fine,” the eldest sibling said.
“More like mighty fine, am I right?” Bramley teased.
“Oh Bramley,” Cara said. “Don’t fluster our Little Mac like that.”
Applejack let out snort of laughter upon hearing the nickname ‘Little Mac’. Her younger sister joined in with a giggle as well, until Big Mac threw both siblings a disapproving glance.
Bramley shrugged. “I’m just sayin’,” the green-yellow stallion stated defensively, “That our son here has a real nice gal and he should pay her more attention.” He leaned closer to Big Mac.
“Trust me son, a smart and pretty lass like that don’t come around every day. Now, I ain’t sayin’ you ought to bed her tomorrow, but I don’t want you to think that a fancy pony like her will wait for you. You have to take a chance and open your heart to her. Otherwise she’ll find another stallion that will. Why, Cara here nearly walked out on me on the account that I spent all my time workin’ the apple orchard instead of takin’ her out on a date.”
Cara smirked. “I recall that Granny Smith threatened to kick you off the farm if you stood me up one more night.”
“Hey, mama don’t make much sense nowadays,” Bramley said, “But that was the best threat she ever did give me. I took it to heart, and now look at us. I got the best darned family in Ponyville.”
Applejack nudged her brother and gave him a wink when he glanced back. “Should I get Fluttershy to give you some assertive lessons?” she whispered to her brother.
Big Mac shook his head. “You trying to make it worse?” he replied. “I get his point, I’m just no good with words around the mares is all.”
“Let your actions speak for you then,” Cara said. “Listen to what your heart tells you and follow that.”
Applejack stopped in mid-bite after she heard her mother’s words. ‘Listen to what your heart tells you.’ AJ’s heart skipped a beat as it told her that Bramley and Cara died years ago.
It was a tragic day, one so long ago that she barely remembered the exact date. Her parents had left early in the morning to venture into the Everfree Forest for a reason she was never told. They never came back and their bodies were not found for several days, killed by a creature she overheard as a… ‘Tree Ant’ if she remembered it correctly. Applejack remembered the weeks of tears and loneliness, the days that she would refuse to get up in the morning or even eat.
Then she remembered her brother and sister. How sad they were too, but when the three were together, their friendship helped them survive. They learned to run the farm together and took care of each other. Time healed the wound in their hearts, but their friendship was what filled the empty void left behind when their parents were no longer with them.
Applejack realized that she was only given this one moment with her parents, but she could not have it forever. It was a mistake to simply live this lie and just because every pony said the sky was green, it didn’t make it so. She was the Element of Honesty, and that meant accepting the truth no matter how painful.
Applejack resolved to listen to the meek voice from her room and find her father’s diary. She was unsure what she would find within the pages, or how it could help the voice, but there was something about it that felt friendly. It was the same meek voice that warned her to run from the presence in the forest the other day.
AJ glanced over at the quiet zebra next to her and saw an ally. Zecora had said that she too felt the invisible presence when it attacked her earlier. Zecora knew things about magic and the supernatural world that AJ didn’t. It only made sense to convince her to join AJ’s quest and fix whatever the mistake was. If anyone would believe AJ’s strange tales of shadows and voices, it was Zecora.
Although it couldn’t hurt to bring Smarty Pants along, just in case the doll decided to strike up another conversation.
A warm bath did wonders for the body, but what cleansed the mind? Applejack pondered this question on her bed. She scratched at the fresh bandages wrapped over her healing bite wounds. The Apple family had gone to bed shortly after AJ bathed, but she refused to rest.
Sleep brought out nightmares.
The darkness was a predator that watched patiently. It hungered to consume Applejack’s memories. She sorted through her thoughts and found the bite marks that the darkness left behind. There was a pattern to the damage within her mind. Somehow, whenever she fell asleep, the darkness took another piece of her. AJ would then awaken with a lost sense of time, and her mind would be further broken.
There was no escape from the darkness. No way to fight it.
The only defense she had was to remain awake.
AJ opened her nightstand drawer and checked her clock. It was four minutes after ten. She slowly rose from her bed, picked up the Smarty Pants doll from the floor, and crept out of her room quietly. The house interior was pitch-dark, for the moon was concealed behind thick ominous storm clouds. However, AJ lived here long enough that she could find her way to any room without sight.
She recalled how she used to sneak down into the kitchen for a late night snack when she was a filly.
The darkness watched silently as Applejack snuck across the creaking floorboards. She walked to the guest room at the end of the hall with soft steps so as not to awaken her family. AJ wasn’t sure if either of her parents were light sleepers, but then again, she wasn’t sure which room they were sleeping in. She carefully opened the guest room door and slipped inside. Once the door was closed, she made her way toward the bed.
AJ’s eyes had adjusted enough in the dark to make out a figure on the bed. “Psst, Zecora,” she whispered as she poked the form with the doll. “I need you to get up.”
The body stirred. “Hmm? Applejack?” she asked. “Is that you sneaking up on my back?”
“Keep it down,” AJ said softly. She was glad Zecora was easy to awaken. “I’m sorry, but I need a huge favor from you, like right now.”
Zecora slowly sat up on the bed. “A favor at this hour?” she asked. “What strange request has you so dour?”
“I need you to accompany me to the barn,” AJ explained. “There’s somethin’ I have to find and it might be related to the invisible thing that attacked you earlier today. I know it sounds weird, but there was a voice that told me to do this. I have a hunch it knows what’s going on.”
Zecora remained silent for a long moment. She then uttered the only response AJ had ever heard from her that wasn’t in the form of a rhyme. “Okay,” Zecora whispered with curiosity.
Applejack fumbled around the nightstand drawer for matches. She found a book of them and picked one out with her teeth. The orange pony struck the match against the drawer and lit the candle that sat on the nightstand. The candle’s soft yellow glow illuminated the room.
“Follow me,” AJ urged her friend. “I’ll explain more outside.” She put Smarty Pants on her back and grabbed the candle’s base by the handle with her teeth. She slowly crept back out of the guest room.
The candle’s light created eerie shadows off the hallway picture frames as AJ led Zecora down the hallway. The orange pony tried not to think about the dark forms that danced around her and focused on the ground in front of her hooves.
The two friends slowly descended the creaky stairs to the living room. The only noises heard were the creaks of wooden floor beneath them and the grandfather clock in the corner.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Applejack opened the front door carefully to keep the squeaky hinges quiet. Once outside, they walked together over to the nearby barn. Once they were a good distance from the house, Zecora leaned to Applejack and whispered a question.
“What is this voice that came to light,” the zebra asked with a yawn, “That would have us out at this time of night?”
AJ put the candle down before she motioned to the doll she carried on her back. “Please don’t think me weird for sayin’, but I heard an itty-bitty voice before dinner, like, from this here doll,” she explained. “It said somethin’ akin to me runnin’ out of time to fix a mistake.”
Zecora gave the doll a hard look. “What mistake did it ask you to undo, before your time was completely through?”
“It didn’t say,” AJ answered, “But it told me to get a diary of my papa from the barn. I don’t reckon my papa ever did have a diary, but I think this voice knows what’s going on.” AJ took in a deep breath.
“Look, my parents died years ago. I know that you saw them right there in the house, and every pony says they’re just swell, but I remember differently. Yes, it’s crazy and I can’t explain why, but… I honestly believe that my mind is right about this.”
The zebra pondered AJ’s explanation for a moment. “I admit it’s a strange tale for me to conceive,” Zecora said, “But my instincts as well want to believe. Spirits are not ghosts, they are real folk. If this one is sincere, then this is no joke. I will help you on this quest, this I promise you. Together we’ll uncover which memory is true.”
AJ nodded with a smile. “Thanks, Zecora.” She picked up the candle and resumed her pace.
The two friends reached the barn and Applejack opened one of the large doors that led inside. She put the candle down and handed the doll off to Zecora. AJ picked up a small lantern that sat just inside the barn doorway. AJ opened it up and caught several fireflies that slowly hovered around the nearby bushes.
“Alright, four ought to be enough,” AJ said as she closed the lantern lid. The fireflies lit up brighter and gave of a light comparable to the candle.
“Watch my back from down here while I go up to the rafters. There are a few boxes of old keepsakes up there, so it’s a good place as any to start.”
Zecora nodded and stepped inside the barn to watch for trouble. Applejack climbed up the ladder with the lantern held between her teeth. It was still quite dark and AJ was not as familiar with the layout of the floor up here. She crept carefully along the narrow walkway to avoid falling from this height.
The shadows slowly moved along with the light from the fireflies. Applejack reached a stack of boxes and put the lantern down to rummage through the items within. She found some old farm tools, a few toys that were hers as a filly, and an old family photo album she didn’t recognize. AJ decided to look at the photos to satisfy her curiosity.
The pictures inside were not of the Apple family, but of the various livestock that lived on the farm. AJ flipped through the faded images within the book. There was a sepia photo of when Bramley first purchased the cows Daisy Jo and Mooriella, an event AJ vaguely remembered as a filly. Another old photo showed the birth of Piggington, the farm sow, during a county fair.
The next page had sketches of the Everfree Forest and notes written by both Bramley and Cara that described some kind of clock key.
Applejack had just stumbled upon something she never knew about her parents.
The description read that the key was made of silver and had a square-shaped bow at the end. AJ was unable to read the next part as the light from the fireflies faded. She looked over at the lantern and saw a thin sheet of frost that crept up the glass casing.
The fireflies froze to death.
The cold chill rose from the lantern and brushed up against AJ’s leg. She recoiled from the icy touch as frost poured out and slithered toward the orange pony like a sidewinder pursuing a mouse. AJ grabbed the album and fumbled her way through the dark. The cold presence followed her and nipped at her heels. The frost gained on Applejack as it froze each step in her gallop for the ladder. She tried to follow Zecora’s candle light, but it was not enough to see the floor’s layout.
AJ’s left fore-hoof failed to find the next floorboard and the orange pony tumbled downwards. She reached out into the shadows and caught an unseen hanging rope with her hooves, but in the sudden jolt that stopped her fall, the book fell out of her grasp. The album hit the hay-covered floor below with an unnaturally loud thud.
“Zecora! Grab the book!” AJ yelled out.
The zebra ran to the book and lifted it up. “I have the book near, let us escape from here!”
Applejack felt the air grow cold as the chill slithered down the rope towards her. She swung from the rope in the direction she hoped the ladder was. There a moment of free-fall as her hoofs cut through the empty darkness. She collided abruptly with the ladder and several rungs slapped her legs as she tumbled downward. AJ reached out to the ladder, but her grip was fleeting. She met the ground back-first and sharp pain jolted across her body. AJ staggered to her hooves and raced out the barn door with a painful limp.
The icy form leaped down and splattered on the ground like a wet snowball. AJ heard it slither behind her like a snake.
Applejack and Zecora threw their items to the ground outside. With a mighty shove they slammed the barn door closed. The frost hit the door with the force of a charging bull. The two friends braced for a second hit, but it never came. The cold presence had vanished as if it was never there. The air was empty of any ambient sound.
Zecora slowly stepped back from the barn door. “Oh mama roho," she whispered in her native tongue. "What a terrible chilling bite. That was a spirit filled with burning spite.”
“Sure was awfully cold for burnin’ spite,” Applejack replied weakly. “I reckon that was our strange invisible force though.” She stretched her sore back and grunted as the stabbing pain in her bite wounds flared up and then eased off to a dull ache. A few of the wounds had opened again and bled into the bandages. AJ sat down and caught her breath.
“Did you get the book?” she asked Zecora.
Zecora picked the book up off the ground and gave it to her friend. AJ wiped the dust off the cover and opened the album to the page of notations and sketches. There were quite a few pages like it, but many of the pages appeared to be about other places. This album was some kind of adventuring journal. AJ had to doubt if this book even belonged to her father. Ma and pa had never spoken of any of these stories.
However, what if they retired from adventuring before they had children? Was there more to her parents than she knew?
Tap, tap.
Zecora struck her hoof against the candle twice. Sparks jumped out of the candle’s wick and the flame lit up once more.
“Well there’s a hoofy spell to know,” AJ muttered as she scanned the pages. “Alright, this book is what that voice asked me to find. Unfortunately, I don’t know what it is I’m supposed to look for.”
“Find the key,” a small voice whispered.
Applejack nudged Zecora. “There, that’s the voice!” AJ said excitedly. “You heard it, right?”
The zebra nodded as she looked around for the source of the voice, but there was no one around except for her and Applejack. The two friends looked back down at the book. Fresh ink appeared on the page in the form of words as if written by some unseen quill.
AJ read the words aloud. “Find the key with the square bow and you shall unlock the door of time.”
“A door of time, unlocked by a key?” Zecora asked the book quietly, “What key unlocks time, could you please tell me?”
The magical ink disappeared from the page and then the book flipped itself over to the drawing of the small key AJ saw earlier. Zecora’s eyes grew wide.
“I found a key like this some time ago,” the zebra whispered to AJ. “It’s made of silver and has a square bow.”
Applejack looked up at Zecora with a surprised expression. “You found this key right here?”
“Yes, it was dropped on the forest floor,” the zebra responded, “And I took it home in case I found its door.”
“Well then there’s no time to waste,” AJ said eagerly as she got up. “Let’s get that key, lickity split!”
Zecora hesitated. “Shouldn’t we wait for the morning’s light?” she questioned. “The Everfree is most dangerous during the night.”
“No can do, sugar cube,” Applejack replied. “Like this voice said, I’m runnin’ out of time. I can feel my mind slippin’ every time I try and think. I don’t dare even sleep anymore or I might find myself in another day of the week.” She looked down at the page and had one more thought cross her mind.
“I got a good question for you,” she said to the book. “Just who are you anyway? You got a name?”
The book came to life and flipped the pages toward the end. Each page flew faster and faster than the last until finally the book’s back cover slammed shut. AJ and Zecora silently leaned closer to the album. The back cover slowly opened up again, and glued to the book’s last page was an old torn piece of parchment.
Zecora moved the candlelight closer for AJ to read it aloud.
“I regret building that infernal contraption! No mortal was meant to rend the anchor that roots him to the flow of time. To remove one’s self from the anchor will only drown the fool under the crashing waves of causality. The mind simply cannot survive in the flow, and I fear it is too late to save your Prince Horos.”
“I have burned all my notes on this matter, and at dawn I shall return to my tower and retrieve Spell Driver to undo my creation. Do not attempt to stop me.”
“Sincerely, Starswirl”
While the word ‘causality’ sounded like gibberish, the name in the signature sounded very familiar to Applejack. Where did she hear that name before? AJ dug deep into her scattered memories for the answer, but was met by pain and blank thoughts. She refused to give up and continued to ponder the name until Zecora shook her out of the trance.
“Didn’t Twilight dress as Starswirl on Nightmare Night?” the zebra asked. “Her dress was very detailed and quite a sight.”
“Of course!” AJ responded with clarity. “Starswirl the Bearded! Twilight dressed up as him two years ago. He was one of them powerful wizards Twilight admired.” Applejack just realized that if Starswirl was involved, then she dealt with magic that was very old and complex.
“We might need to get Twilight involved in this later, but first let’s rustle up that key.”
AJ and Zecora hobbled over to the farm’s tool shed. They were about to embark through the Everfree Forest late at night, noticeably injured, and with a possible unseen force that awaited them at Zecora’s home. It was a fool’s errand, but Applejack was stubborn enough to defy the odds.
She also had a few sharp tools in that shed that defied odds better than her stubbornness.
~ ~ ~
The lantern’s light struggled to illuminate the forest as it ran low on fuel. Applejack stopped by a fallen tree to set it down. She retrieved a small flask of oil from the saddlebag she wore and refilled her only light source. The small flame quickly perked up with renewed brightness.
Zecora watched the area for movement, but saw nothing around them. The trip through the Everfree was deathly quiet. Something malevolent in the woods had driven away the wildlife from this area. The zebra brushed a hoof against the pommel of the dagger Applejack gave her. The blade showed signs of rust, but it was still as sharp as the day it was forged.
“How close do you reckon we are to your place?” AJ asked as she put the oil flask away.
Zecora looked down the dark trail. “We should be very close to my front door,” she responded, “Past these bushes and another fifty steps more.”
“Then we best be on our way,” AJ said. She gave Zecora a grateful smile. “Thanks again for coming along with me. I really hope that this doesn’t all turn out to be a disappointment.”
“I saw the ice and I heard the voice,” the zebra responded, “So believing in you is my own clear choice.”
Applejack picked up the lantern and resumed walking. She had a visible limp in her stride, but it did not bother her much. She and Zecora pushed past a patch of thick bushes and crossed a short clearing to a large, hollow tree. It had carved windows and an oak door as if it were a cabin. It was Zecora’s home, but the place was overrun by thick green vines. There appeared to be no source for the vines. They wrapped around from all directions like a mysterious dark green web. AJ smelled a faint copper scent in the area, but couldn’t place it.
The two friends pulled apart the vines to free the door. The sap-covered entrance creaked loudly as Zecora pushed it open. AJ put down the lantern and looked inside with the zebra. The round interior room was also covered in vines. The plants choked the furniture and wrapped around handles and knobs throughout the home. Even the bed up on the overhang was covered in vines. Zecora led the way in as she lit a set of four white candles on a nearby table.
“I’ll fetch the key and you watch my back,” the zebra said. “Be on the lookout for a chilly attack.” She smirked at the slight joke in her statement, but AJ could only sigh.
They walked over to a large wooden chest at the foot of a bookshelf. Zecora brushed the vines aside and opened the old chest. As she rummaged through the pile of knick-knacks, AJ looked at the vials that sat on the bookshelf. The labels on the vials were in a strange language, possibly Zecora’s native tongue.
AJ rubbed her sore shoulder as she looked around for signs of movement.
Drip, drip, drip, drip…
Something wet dribbled on the floor to AJ’s right. She brought the lantern closer and saw a puddle that was slightly thicker and murkier than water. As the substance continued to drip, the consistency reminded AJ of wet snot. It wasn’t raining outside, which meant that something lurked above her.
She looked up at the ceiling.
Applejack really, really wished she hadn’t looked up.
A colossal leafy bulb on the ceiling opened its maw and exposed rows of sharp thorns around its gum-line. AJ couldn’t form words from the fear that struck her in the throat. She swung a hoof at Zecora and slapped the zebra’s flank hard.
“What is the matter?” Zecora asked with concern as she turned around. “Is it the cold chill…” Zecora’s words trailed off as she looked up at the immense plant creature on her ceiling.
“Ni nini hii, sijui hata?!” she yelled out in her native tongue.
The gargantuan creature snapped at them hungrily. Applejack kicked the creature’s lips and backed up with Zecora. Vines along the nearby wall crawled forth and wrapped around their legs. The zebra struggled to break free as the vines dragged her closer to the plant creature, but AJ tore herself out of their grasp with her raw strength. The destroyed vines bled a black ichor as they quivered on the floor.
The orange pony ripped into the vines that held Zecora. Freed from the plants, the two galloped for the front door. The vines around the doorway covered the exit like a giant spider’s web. The zebra pulled out the knife and swung at the vines. Ichor splattered about as Zecora cut her way out.
The gargantuan creature reached out to snatch Applejack, but the orange pony kicked out a thorny tooth. The plant slammed its bulbous body against AJ. She tumbled backwards into a wall. Her mind was a haze of pain and blurry eyesight from the impact.
Zecora turned around and stabbed the colossal plant in the jaw. It shoved the zebra into the bleeding web of vines. The plants wrapped around Zecora’s legs and prevented her from swinging the dagger. She yanked at the vines to rip herself free, but the plants held her tightly. The gargantuan creature snatched Zecora in its mouth. The sharp thorns pierced the zebra’s body like steel needles. She let out a harrowing scream of pain which snapped Applejack out of the haze.
The orange pony grabbed a hatchet out of her saddlebag and ran for the ladder that led up the overhang. Vines slithered along the ground at her, but she leapt over their leafy grasps. AJ climbed up the ladder to the top of the overhang. The vines around the bed came to life and seized Applejack by her hind legs. She picked up the hatchet in her hooves and chopped at the vines. The plants squealed in pain and retreated as a black ichor splattered all over the walls and the orange pony. AJ cut her way to the end of the overhang.
She jumped off the edge and thrust the hatchet against the neck of the colossal plant creature. The blade struck deep and ichor oozed out of the plant as AJ hung from the handle. The gargantuan plant opened its maw and let out a gurgling shriek.
Zecora’s fore-legs were now free. She grabbed the dagger tightly and shoved it into the roof of the plant’s mouth. The creature retched the zebra out of its mouth along with a glob of snot-like substance. Zecora crashed against the table with the lit candles. The table fell over, zebra and all, and the dagger clattered loudly on the wooden floor beside Zecora’s head. The candles rolled around as their flames clung desperately to remain lit.
The colossal plant shook itself violently to throw Applejack off its neck. AJ’s shoulders burned with fatigue as she held on to the bucking creature, but her grip weakened. She slipped off the handle and flew through the air across the room. AJ collided with a wooden chair that shattered upon her impact.
The gargantuan plant snapped at the orange pony, but AJ rolled just out of its reach. She stumbled towards the lantern by the entrance and picked it up with both fore-hooves.
“You want a piece of me?!” AJ yelled out.
The colossal plant opened its maw to strike again and Applejack smashed the lamp against its thorny teeth. The lantern’s casing shattered open and the oil spilled out over the flame. The plant creature’s mouth burst into a hot blaze and it shrieked loudly. The fire illuminated the house brightly with jagged shadows. Flames hungrily consumed the bulbous creature and burned away its leafy flesh. The colossal plant wilted away to a blackened husk before AJ’s eyes and died with a final gasp of breath.
The last vestiges of black ichor and ash dripped from its neck-like stem as the room grew dark. The only light remaining were the four candles Zecora had lit earlier.
AJ scrambled over to her friend. The zebra bled upon the floor in immense pain. Her legs were badly punctured and twitched uncontrollably. Applejack rolled Zecora onto her back and wiped some of the snot-like substance off her face. The orange pony waved a hoof over the zebra’s eyes for her attention.
“Zecora, please tell me you got some medicine around here to heal you,” AJ said anxiously.
The zebra strained to reply. “Uponyaji dawa,” she gasped with a nod to a nearby shelf.
AJ hobbled over to the collection of jars and bottles that sat on a bookcase. The containers were all labeled in Zecora’s fancy language. The orange pony focused hard to read the writing in the dark. She made out the words ‘pony ai dawa’ among the scribbles on a small clay bottle and grabbed it eagerly.
“Well, it’s got ‘AJ’ in there,” she remarked to herself. Applejack limped back quickly to the zebra and pulled the cork off the bottle. A putrid stench of raw egg hit her nostrils. She nearly threw up, but AJ held in her stomach’s contents.
Zecora grabbed a nearby candle with her shaking hooves and shoved it into her own mouth as AJ poured the milky-white liquid over the wounds. The medicine bubbled upon the zebra’s wounds like batter on a hot skillet. Zecora bit hard into the candle, her eyes covered in tears from the searing pain of the liquid.
The fizzling medicine worked fast and in a few seconds the wounds were covered in hard scabs.
Zecora spat out the candle as she wheezed for breath. “Thank… you…” she faintly whispered.
AJ put the bottle down and pressed the cork back in to stem the awful smell. She nodded back to her friend. “Yeah, likewise,” she whispered back. “You goin’ to be alright?”
“Yes, I will survive this night,” the zebra weakly replied. “Now find your key, and we can make things right.”
Applejack limped over to the chest Zecora had searched earlier before the attack. She rummaged through the trinkets within and found the small silver key. It was tiny and quite tarnished with age. AJ pondered over this seemingly insignificant object and how it would help them.
She walked back over to Zecora and showed the key.
“You reckon this is the thing?” AJ asked.
Zecora slowly succumbed to exhaustion. She nodded wearily as her eyelids slowly crept down. AJ rolled up a nearby rug and placed the zebra’s head on it for support.
“Get some rest,” AJ whispered. “I’ll get us home safely.”
Applejack placed the key inside her saddlebag and then rummaged through the house. Her idea was to build a sled and use it to drag Zecora back to the farmhouse. The lantern was destroyed, but Zecora had plenty of candles around the home to bundle together and use to light their way home.
“Now, I just need something to cut a couple poles with,” AJ pondered.
The hatchet up on the wilted stem fell and struck blade-down into a nearby wooden floorboard. Applejack jumped back in fright from the sharp tool.
“Don’t do that!” she hissed at the hatchet.
~ ~ ~
The darkness that surrounded the woods parted from the path of Applejack and the bright cluster of a dozen lit candles. She had glued the candles to a tin plate and then used string to wear the whole thing like a hat. She was content with her idea, although the occasional drip of hot wax upon her scalp reminded her that it was far from perfect.
Applejack slowly limped her way home through a trail in the Everfree. She dragged along a makeshift sled that carried Zecora and the healing medicine upon it. The shadows danced around the trees as the orange pony passed them, almost as if the dark figures celebrated AJ’s victory over the colossal plant creature. She was tired, cold, and in pain, but as long as she was awake, the darkness could not take her mind.
The woods remained eerily silent. There was not a single chirp, hoot, or croak in the air. The only noises were from the dragged sled and the rolling thunder in the distance. A storm was coming, and it sounded massive.
As AJ pulled the sled along by the rein in her mouth, she thought about what the ‘door of time’ was that the spirit mentioned earlier. The key for it was a physical object, so logically the door should also be physical. Otherwise AJ didn’t know how to interact with it. she wished that vocal spirit would speak to her again, but it had not contacted her after it revealed what the key looked like, and that worried AJ.
There was a rustle in the trees behind Applejack. She turned around and felt that something watched her, but there was nothing visible among the many branches above. The rustling moved again and AJ caught the glimpse of a shadow that fell to the ground with a soft thud. She spat out the reins and drew out the dagger.
AJ moved to stand over Zecora’s body protectively.
The fact that AJ hoped that it was just a timberwolf proved how dire the situation was in her mind. There were worse things in the Everfree, and she was in no condition to fight them.
The unseen shadow circled around as AJ tried to follow it. Her breath became visible as the very air she breathed grew cold. Zecora stirred awake from the chill, but was too groggy to see anything but blurry shapes.
“Applejack, are we in danger?” she asked. “I can sense the presence of that cold stranger.”
“Shh!” AJ interrupted. “It’s circling us.” The dagger quivered in her hooves as she strained her eyes to see something in the darkness.
A force collided with her from behind and shoved AJ to the ground. She dropped the dagger, but kept her head up so that she wouldn’t lose the candle lights too. Applejack scrambled to get up, but the unseen attacker struck her again in the ribs. Applejack fumbled around to remain standing and a third blow hit her in the hip. She was unable to fight against the invisible force. She reached for the dagger on the ground, but the weapon bolted away from her and landed in a bush.
AJ grabbed a fallen branch and scurried over to Zecora. The orange pony lit the stick with the candle flames and stubbornly tried to locate the invisible force again.
“This is making me all beer and skittles,” AJ grumbled as something rustled to her left. “How am I supposed to fight something I can’t see?”
“You must center your focus, and block those fears,” Zecora whispered to her. “Now close your eyes and use those ears.”
“Close my eyes?” AJ questioned the zebra. “How is that going to help?” The force struck her in the face and AJ staged backwards into a tree. Four of the candles went out as she collided with the hard wooden trunk. Applejack dropped the lit branch on the ground before her.
“If it’s invisible,” Zecora explained, “Then discard your sight. You have four other senses with which to fight!”
AJ took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and her mouth tasted like dry sand. The burning smell of the branch in front of her filled the air, but AJ’s ears… her ears heard the fire go out in a sizzle as if something smothered it.
She snatched at the branch and pulled it out from under a small weight. Something fell backwards onto the ground. Applejack spun the heavy branch around like a bat and swung with all her might. The branch shattered against an unseen object, the wind cried out in pain, and a chunk of ground in the distance burst into the air from an impact.
AJ opened her eyes. The invisible force crawled away from the small crater it made on the ground. The orange pony dropped the remains of the branch and grabbed the reins of the sled. She pulled hard and hobbled down the trail back home as fast as her tired legs could carry her.
The farmhouse front door drove off the silence with its loud creaking sound. Applejack helped a weakened Zecora limp into the living room and onto the couch. AJ placed the candle-hat on the coffee table and then sat down beside her friend. The candlelight cast slow, waving shadows off the living room furniture. For a long moment the two sat there in silence, stunned from their perilous adventure.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
The grandfather clock read four minutes after one in the morning. The night was silent, save for a few faint cricket chirps outside.
AJ fought the urge to fall asleep. She slowly sat up and stretched. “I need some coffee,” she remarked. “Would you like something, Zecora? Coffee? Tea?”
“A cup of tea would be alright,” the shaken zebra replied. “It’ll help me forget what I saw tonight.”
Heavy hoof steps thumped down the stairs from the second floor. The orange pony and zebra turned and saw both Bramley and Cara descending the staircase. AJ’s father had a furled brow as the candlelight gave his face an ominous dark shadow.
“What’s goin’ on down here?” Bramley asked angrily. “You two practicin’ witchcraft?” He pointed at the candles on the low table.
“N-No, we… that is,” AJ stuttered. She took in a deep breath. “Look, I need to tell you folks somethin’ important. It’ll sound mighty peculiar, but please listen to me. There’s a spirit leadin’ me on some kind of quest.” AJ pulled out the old album and turned to the pages of notes in the back.
Bramley slapped the book out of her hooves before she could utter another word. “Don’t you bring that voodoo magic into my house!” he shouted.
“Pa, it ain’t voodoo!” AJ pleaded, “You have to listen to me! There is something dangerous out there-”
“There’s somethin’ dangerous in here!” Bramley interrupted. “Me!”
Zecora braved a few words of her own. “Mister Apple, please listen to us,” she said. “There is a force outside causing quite a fuss.”
“We think Starswirl had made some kind of mistake in the past,” Applejack added. “This bad weather might be connected to it, but we need to fix the mistake before whatever it is out there comes and attacks us here at home.”
“Sweetie, be reasonable,” Cara said worriedly to her daughter. “You know such old magic is dangerous. Don’t risk your life to find Spell Driver.” She gasped, but was unable to catch the words that escaped her lips.
Applejack’s eyes went wide as she pointed at her mother. “You know…” she whispered.
“What the hay is going on?” Apple Bloom asked as she appeared at the top of the stairs.
Bramley seized AJ by the shoulder. “Nothin’! All you kids get back to bed!” he shouted angrily. “And as for you, Zenora or whatever your name is, don’t overstay your welcome by puttin’ such magical nonsense in my daughter’s head!” He yanked AJ upstairs forcefully.
“Wait, you know somethin’!” AJ argued as she fought her father’s grip. “Tell me what you know!” She was unable to oppose her dad’s strength. Pain shot through her injured shoulder and her legs began to buckle.
Cara covered her face and stifled a sob as Bramley corralled everyone back into their rooms. The father threw AJ into her own bedroom and slammed the door shut. Applejack threw herself at the door and fought to get out, but the door was shut tight.
“Listen to me!” AJ cried out as she banged on the door with her hooves. “Somethin’ evil is lurkin’ out there and we have to stop it! It’s killin’ my mind! Don’t make the mistake of just ignorin’ the evidence!” Applejack ran out of breath, but she tried to speak without air. All that came out was a soft wheeze.
“Don’t… make the mistake…” she whispered between gasps. “Please…”
Tears streaked down her cheeks in droves. She slowly sat down and leaned against her bedroom door. Salty drops fell against the wooden floor with soft patters. Should Applejack give up?
No, it was out of the question. Her mother said Spell Driver by name and that was only possible if the album really did belong to her parents. They had to know something about the shadows that came out of the woods. Did her parents also know they were supposed to be dead? Was AJ’s quest ultimately going to condemn her parents?
The orange pony shivered with fear.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Applejack sat alone in the dark room. The only sound was of her small windup clock on the nightstand. She stared listlessly at the floor for ideas, but nothing came to her. The pain in her wounds prevented clear thoughts in her mind. AJ wondered if this was purgatory.
Something in her saddlebag shifted noisily. She took off the bag and opened the flap. Inside was Zecora’s bottle of medicine, but AJ didn’t remember putting it there. However, now that she had the bottle, an idea came to the orange pony. She could heal her wounds and then be strong enough to escape through the bedroom window.
AJ trotted over to her dresser and searched for a pair of socks and a clothespin. She jammed the clothespin over her nose and then tore off the bandages around her bite wound. AJ pulled the cork off the medicine jar with her teeth and spat it out. She wadded the socks into a ball, stuffed them into her mouth, and braced herself against the bed. AJ poured the milky substance all over her wounds.
Intense searing pain chewed through her flesh as the liquid sizzled on her injuries. She bit into the socks hard and concentrated on tuning out the pain. The medicine bubbled and hissed intensely as if she had poured acid on herself. Applejack’s lungs seized up and she collapsed on the floor. The pain tore the consciousness from her body and she passed out.
~ ~ ~
The smell of burned hair filled AJ’s nostrils. She slowly opened her eyes and found that she was not within her room, but at the base of an old ivy-covered tower. Her muscles ached when she sat up, but that pain was trivial compared to the welts and burn marks that now covered her body.
Applejack scanned her surroundings. The ruins of a great castle stretched out in all directions. Her memory found this place familiar, and it wasn’t long before she realized that this was the old Castle of the Sisters deep within the Everfree Forest. She was here once before, nearly two years ago, on the day Nightmare Moon returned.
Why was Applejack here now?
Her siblings rushed over from behind a broken wall. They were both covered in bruises and bandaged cuts as if they had recently fought some timberwolves. AJ received a hug from her little sister so tightly that she had to push back just to breathe.
“Applejack, are you alright?!” Bloom asked worriedly. “That was a nasty fall!”
Big Mac sighed. “You should of held onto the hammer, sis,” he said.
AJ noticed her brother held a large gilded hammer on his back. There were strange runes carved into the handle and head piece. She couldn’t read them, but she guessed that the symbols were magical in nature. Something about the hammer seemed familiar to her, as if it was from a dream she had.
“What were we doin’?” AJ asked weakly.
Apple Bloom wiped a tear from her eyes. “W-We got the hammer, just like you said we would,” the little filly stated, “But… mom and dad, they…” Bloom choked up and was unable to speak further.
“They didn’t make it out,” Big Mac continued. “I reckon that shadow got them.”
AJ looked back up at the tower. The sky rumbled with thunder as the first drops of rain came down. Her parents were here too? Were they killed by the evil force that stalked her over the past few days? She began to feel that the world was playing a cruel game with her.
“D-Do you both know what’s going on?” AJ asked as she wiped away some tears. “I mean, that there's a strange force stalking us and that...?" She stumbled for words to complete her question.
Bloom gave her sister a hug. “It's okay Applejack, we know," she said. "I saw part of the story when I went into the grandfather clock with you. Then there was the proof back in the clearing... we all saw that.” Bloom weakly sniffled.
Applejack touched the scar on her cheek. The grandfather clock was the door of time! That was the answer to the voice’s riddle. Now she knew where the key went to, but how to get back to the house? She was deep in the Everfree Forest and time was running out. Her parents were lost again and...
Wait, AJ wasn’t running out of time. Her little sister had already entered the clock with her, which meant that right now she had skipped ahead in time. AJ came to the realization that she must have been skipping through time whenever she fell asleep or passed out. She experienced the past few days out of order. That’s why events made no sense!
Pinkie Pie had nothing on this level of weirdness.
AJ lay on her back against the forest floor. She closed her eyes and emptied her mind. If she was somehow able to control the skipping, she could return to her room just after her father locked her inside. Maybe she could even change events around and stop her parents from coming here.
“What are you doing?” Big Mac asked.
“I need to rest a sec,” AJ responded. “Just watch over me for a spell.” She tried to get comfortable despite the pinch of rocks against her back.
Applejack focused on her room. She remembered the intense pain of the medicine upon her wounds, the cold wooden floor against her body. She tuned out the world around her and embraced the serene darkness. She drifted to sleep as the thought of her room became a blur.
~ ~ ~
The bed made a loud thud as Applejack’s legs kicked against it with a startle. Her lungs inhaled the foul stench of the medicine in her nostrils and the bitter scent of the socks in her mouth. She coughed the socks out violently as she gasped for breath.
AJ found herself on the floor of her bedroom. She had not expected to pass out from the pain of the medicine, but because she did, she had gained insight on what the Door of Time was and that her parents were in danger. AJ first had to escape her room and get to the grandfather clock downstairs.
The orange pony fumbled for the medicine jar’s cork. She found it nearby and plugged what little was left of the awful smelling liquid. Beside the jar sat the doll Smarty Pants. AJ picked up the doll gently and held it close.
“I reckon you know a lot about what’s goin’ on, don’t you?” AJ asked the doll. “Tell me, can events be changed? Do you know what’ll happen to us at the end of all this?”
“We will be freed,” a small voice whispered.
Applejack apprehensively squeezed the doll in her hooves. “What do you mean by that?” she inquired. “We’ll be freed? Freed from what?”
“From the flow,” the voice responded. “Your parents are trapped within the flow, just as I have been before them, and just as you are now. I wish I could explain, but my knowledge of his magic is limited. Please, use the key and unlock the door of time.”
“Then what?” AJ asked. “What am I goin’ to find inside that clock?”
“Find the handle,” the voice gasped.
“The handle? What handle?” Applejack demanded. “Darn it, give me some details!”
AJ’s hooves trembled as she waited for a reply, but the voice was gone. She put the doll down and pondered its words. Freed from the flow? Was this the same flow mentioned in Starswirl’s torn letter? She hated that there were more questions than answers.
Dong! Dong!
The grandfather clock downstairs struck two. Applejack lifted her head as a thought came to light. Apple Bloom had inserted the extra gears and the third clock hand that AJ found last Thursday night. Friday morning was the first time AJ saw her parents alive again. The old grandfather was possibly the cause of the change in history, but was it solely because they had fixed the clock? If so, did that mean the clock was broken on purpose?
AJ stopped thinking about questions as a headache came over her. She needed to get out of the room and reach the grandfather clock quickly. She could fit through the bedroom window, and with many of her wounds healed, she felt confident that she could climb outside to Zecora’s room.
A gentle breeze flowed into the room as AJ opened her window. She tightened the saddle bag around her waist and ensured that she had the key, the medicine bottle, and Smarty Pants with her.
The air outside was cold and moist. AJ couldn’t see the clouds in the black sky above, but she felt that it would rain at a moment’s notice. She carefully inched her way out onto the roof. The wind blew her mane around her face, but sight was of little use in the darkness. She felt her way across the slanted roof to the next window. This was her brother’s window and AJ heard him snore softly inside.
The wind picked up and the sound of tumbling leaves met AJ’s ears. AJ looked down and saw tiny dark shapes gathered together into a miniature tornado. The funnel of debris began to rise taller from the ground. AJ hastened her crawl and reached the next window. She tapped on the glass to awaken Zecora inside.
The funnel of dark leaves reached up and tugged on the orange pony’s tail. AJ kicked at the air, but found nothing solid to hit. She rapped on the glass harder and hoped the zebra heard her.
A second rush of air met the first and scattered the leaves about. AJ held on as the opposing winds buffeted her around. The window lifted open and the orange pony darted inside. She slammed the window closed on the twisting wind. Leaves rustled against the glass for several seconds before it died down. AJ collapsed on the bedroom floor.
Zecora stood over her with a lit candle in her hoof. “You gave me such a fright, AJ,” the zebra said softly. “Why are you outside my window anyway?”
Applejack shook the leaves out of her tail. “My door was stuck,” she responded flatly. “Look, the doll talked to me again. It wants me to enter the grandfather clock and find some kind of handle.”
“A handle attached to a pot or a door?” Zecora asked. “Or did it not tell you what it was for?”
“Definitely the latter,” AJ stated. “The voice went silent on me before givin’ me any details. I-I reckon my parents are goin' to be in danger soon. I have to get through this Door of Time and then figure out how to save them from those shadows.”
The zebra nodded. “Then let us not waste a moment more,” she said. “We’ll check out the clock and see what’s behind its door.”
Applejack took in a deep breath and led the way out into the dark hall. Zecora expertly balanced the candle on her head as she followed closely. The two walked quietly past AJ’s room. A chair had been jammed under the door knob. They reached the stairs unopposed and slowly descended down into the living room.
The candles on the coffee table were still lit, but there was no sign of the photo album. AJ assumed that her father had taken it after he ordered everyone back to bed. It did not matter, the grandfather clock was here and that was the current goal. Zecora gently placed her candle down on the table and watched AJ approach the clock.
The pendulum slowly swung back and forth as if there was nothing unusual about this clock. The gears rotated smoothly and continued to tick as time was kept. Everything was there, except Applejack found no apparent keyhole to place the small key. The glass door to the pendulum had no lock, nor did she find any apparent hole on the clock’s wooden backside.
A key without a keyhole was as useless as barking at a knot.
“You got any ideas, Zecora?” AJ whispered.
“No, I don’t see where this key fits,” the zebra responded as she approached. “This puzzle requires some very sharp wits.”
Applejack yawned. “Thinking ain’t exactly my strong suit right now.” She stared at the key and thought of where else a keyhole might be found on the clock. No ideas came to her mind, but she heard soft hoof steps approach from the stairs.
The two friends turned around and met eyes with Apple Bloom. The little filly had a disappointed frown upon her face.
“What are you two doing down here?” Bloom asked them quietly.
“I’d ask you the same thing,” AJ countered softly. “Zecora and I are doing something important. Now go on back to bed before pa catches you down here.”
“No,” Apple Bloom stated defiantly. The little filly stood her ground. “You’ve been acting nuttier than a squirrel’s nest lately. Now you got Zecora in on it and you both got cuts and bruises like you been wrestling gators all evening. I want to know what’s really going on with you.”
Applejack sighed with frustration. She remembered that her little sister went with her into the clock, but that didn't mean there wasn't danger lurking inside. “You ain’t goin’ to believe me if I told you the truth,” AJ warned.
“Try me,” the little filly said daringly.
“Alright, remember when we added those extra gears to this clock?” AJ asked. “Well, apparently this ain’t no ordinary clock. It changed history for every pony in town except me. I don’t know why, but instead I’m findin’ myself jumpin’ around through time.”
Apple Bloom looked completely confused. “You haven’t disappeared anywhere that I reckon.”
“Well, I’m travelin’ in my head,” AJ explained, “If that makes any sense. The reason I kept thinkin’ our parents were dead was because they are. They died when we were all just little foals. Somehow that day got undone. I don’t know how, but since then the weather has been actin’ peculiar, there’s shadows tryin’ to harm us, and Smarty Pants started tellin’ me what to do so I can fix things.”
“No, you can’t be serious,” Bloom said. “That story is just a bucket of lies!”
“Nothin’ about the past few days has felt real,” AJ stated. “However, we have to make things right before they get worse. You saw that timberwolf appear out of the ground at the market, right? What about that book I showed pa that he slapped out of my hooves? Did you see the strange scribbles in it?”
“Well that… b-but,” the little filly stuttered. It appeared that Bloom began to see the holes in her own memory as well. “What about ma and pa? They’re real and they’ve been here our whole lives. How can you be sure it’s not just your memory that’s changed?”
AJ held up the small key in her hoof. “I'm not sure. However, help me find where this key goes, and we’ll find out the truth together.” She looked deep into her little sister’s eyes with hope that Bloom would trust her. AJ watched as the filly put a hoof on her own, the key firmly between them.
“Okay, together,” Apple Bloom said softly.
The little filly picked up the key and studied it for a minute. She paced around the clock until it appeared that an idea struck her. She motioned to her big sister.
“Hey, this is a wind-up key. Lift me up, sis,” Bloom said.
Applejack walked over and lifted her little sister onto her back. “A wind-up key?” she muttered. “Huh, why didn’t I think of that?”
The filly opened the glass door and placed the square bow-end of the key over the square nut that winded up the clock's springs. She gave it a few turns until the pendulum stopped in mid-swing and the panel behind it clicked loose. Apple Bloom slid the panel to the side like a door.
Behind it was a staircase winding down into a dark room.
“No way…” the little filly whispered. She looked behind the clock to ensure that this wasn’t just a trick. The clock’s backing was unchanged. This staircase was real and it defied the physical space inside the wooden case. Apple Bloom had never seen magic like this before.
“Alright, I reckon we now go down and find ourselves a handle,” AJ stated. She turned to Zecora who nodded in agreement. Her sister was unresponsive however. AJ put a hoof on her shoulder.
“AB, you still wanting to go with us?”
“Yeah,” Bloom finally said, still mesmerized by the impossible passage. “I ain’t leaving your side.”
The three descended the staircase to a small room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of layers of interconnected metal gears. Opposite the staircase was an iron door with light peeking underneath the crack. They made their way up to the door quietly. The door was unlocked, so AJ slowly turned the handle and opened it.
Light poured out onto their faces. Before them was a grand bedroom with all the flair of royalty. The bed was covered in fine purple silks and the floor was a polished white marble. Above them was a silver chandelier that glowed with a magical yellow light. The walls were decorated with hundreds of clocks that varied in design and displayed time. A gilded clock in the likeness of a tree hung over the bed.
What stood out eerily was that none of the clocks made any noise at all even though they were moving. Not one time piece clicked, ticked, or cuckooed a sound.
Applejack approached the regal bed cautiously. The quilted blanket partly concealed the skeleton of a stallion. The red and purple robe over its body and the small golden crown upon its head was a sign that this body was a king or prince at one time. It lay peacefully upon the bed, but the sight of the bleached white bones gave AJ a chill.
“Where are we?” Apple Bloom asked. She looked at her reflection in one of the clocks and saw an older version of herself. The reflection was tall and strong with her mane done up in a bun.
“You mean besides inside our pa’s clock?” AJ responded. “Not a clue.” This room had no other doors in or out. She looked at the different clocks around the walls. One reflected herself as a filly of Bloom’s age. Another as a more mature mare that cradled a baby pegasus.
AJ turned to Zecora. “Well, anythin’ around here that looks like a handle?”
Zecora peered into the reflection of a large oval clock. She suddenly darted away as if something had frightened her. The zebra recomposed herself and shook her head. “There are no handles that I can find,” she said softly, “But don’t let these reflections distract your mind.”
“Hey, maybe this means something,” Apple Bloom said as she pointed to the clock above the bed. “This is the only clock here that isn’t moving.”
Applejack took a second look and indeed, this tree-styled clock had wound down. She carefully reached up and turned the small key. Once the spring was rewound, the clock began to move, but this one made an audible ticking noise.
Tick, tick…
Several apparitions drifted out from the clock and formed a scene above the bed. A young cream-colored prince walked along the bank of a river and met up with a beautiful unicorn fairy with dazzling translucent wings. The two embraced and danced together along the riverbank.
The clock ticked louder as its pendulum sped up.
The scene changed and now the prince stood before a large throne. It was a wedding, and the fairy walked down the center aisle with a tiara that proclaimed her a princess. The two appeared to be married and dozens of ghostly spectators cheered mutely around the happy couple.
“I reckon that might be Prince Horos from the letter,” Applejack whispered to Zecora.
The zebra nodded as the clock’s ticking continued to intensify in volume and speed. The ghostly images changed to a third scene where the prince appeared ill and he lay upon the same bed as the one the skeleton rested on. The fairy sobbed quietly by his side as caretakers murmured without sound.
A wizened gray stallion with bells upon his pointed hat appeared by the bed. He produced a small square plate of glass from his blue robes. The caretakers stepped away and the gray stallion cut the prince’s leg with the glass’ razor edge. One drop of blood was shed, and the prince slowly sat up as his health improved.
“Hey,” AJ said with a surprised tone. “I think I know what this story is tryin’ to tell us!”
The clock abruptly stopped with a loud ‘Crack!’ The pendulum snapped off and clattered loudly onto the floor. Apple Bloom jumped up in fright from the noise as the apparitions disappeared like a blown out candle.
Applejack picked up the pendulum from the floor. It wasn’t a straight rod or a hanging weight like all the other pendulums here. This had tapered curves and a molded grip. It appeared to be a handle for a large tool. In fact, it looked quite familiar to her. AJ saw runes carved along the handle. These letters began to glow and align themselves for her to read the object’s given name aloud.
Spell Driver.
“Gang, I think this is it,” AJ said with wonderment. “This is the handle we’re looking for.”
“Okay,” Apple Bloom slowly responded, “But what were you saying about that ghostly show above the bed?”
“Well, did you see how the prince was cut with that glass?” AJ responded. “I was cut by the glass from the grandfather clock. What if it’s the same glass plate?”
“A sound theory, but what does the cut do?” Zecora asked. “The prince was ill, but there was nothing wrong with you.”
Applejack touched the scar on her cheek. “I… don’t know,” she answered sadly. “Maybe that’s why I’m experiencing things out of order?” Her head began to ache from thoughts on how to explain what was happening. She looked down at the skeleton on the bed.
Against her better judgment, AJ slowly pulled the bed sheet off. However, there was nothing unusual underneath, only the lower half of the skeleton. She wasn’t sure what she expected to find.
“I reckon we should just go,” Applejack muttered.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Bloom agreed.
The trio turned for the door. The quilted sheet slowly rose up and folded its corners into spindly legs. The blanket’s center tore open like a mouth and blood stains began to ooze from the tear. It skittered over to Applejack and tried to grab her.
Apple Bloom shrieked with fright. Zecora yanked AJ away from the blanket monster and the three galloped to the door. It was locked tight.
“Consarn it!” Applejack cursed. “Why is everythin’ got to be tryin’ to kill us?!” As the fabric creature drew near, she swung the handle like a bat.
“Get back, you cotton-knitted sweater!” she yelled out.
Zecora threw herself at the door, but the iron exit held fast. She backed up to try again, but Apple Bloom stopped her.
“I got a better way!” the filly shouted. She grabbed one of the clocks on the wall and smashed it against the floor. Bloom removed the clock hands and used them as picks against the door’s lock.
“Wonderful idea and it inspired me too,” Zecora said. “I’ll help your sister and leave the lock to you.” The zebra grabbed another clock off the wall and smashed it on the ground. She carefully picked up a large shard of glass from the pieces and hurried back to Applejack.
AJ came down with the handle and hit it hard. The fabric creature easily absorbed the blow and jumped at the orange pony. AJ kicked the creature, but it was like hitting a towel that hung over a clothesline. It wrapped around her neck and began to squeeze tightly.
“Let…” AJ wheezed, “Go… ” She dropped the handle and pulled hard on the blanket monster to breathe. Each gasp of air was a labored fight.
Zecora galloped up to AJ’s side, but hesitated to use the glass to stab the creature.
“Hit it already!” AJ shouted as she wrestled for air.
Zecora held the glass shard in her fore-hooves nervously. “I may miss and cut you too,” she said. “I want my blow to strike it true.”
With teeth bared, Applejack bit into the creature and pulled on the fabric. Strands began to snap and tear in her mouth. The monster loosened its grip and AJ pushed it at leg's length. Zecora darted in and struck the creature with the shard, cutting a long gash into its body. AJ yanked the creature off her neck. It lashed and flailed to grab AJ again.
Zecora reached through the gash she made and pulled hard on the creature. AJ held on and yanked in the other direction. The fabric began to tear as the creature shrieked like a bat. The two friends rend the monster in two and it ceased flailing. They tossed the two halves away and stepped back.
The iron door’s lock clicked and Apple Bloom opened it up. “I got it!” she shouted happily. “Maybe I’ll get a cutie mark as a locksmith?” she pondered aloud.
“Come on, let’s skedaddle!” AJ said hastily as she grabbed the handle off the floor.
Apple Bloom threw the door open and the three ran down the hallway to the stairs. The walls groaned and the gears began to turn in place. As the teeth meshed the hallway began to stretch out like a machine unfolding itself. The stairs began to recede away from them at the far end of the growing hall.
They galloped faster to keep up with the stretching hallway. Behind them, the torn halves of the fabric creature began to crawl through the doorway like giant worms. The pieces pursued them relentlessly down the elongating passage.
“We’re not going to make it!” Apple Bloom cried as the stairs continued to move away from them.
“I had about enough of these shenanigans!” AJ snarled angrily. She held the handle firmly and rammed it in between two large gears in the wall.
The machine came to a jarring stop as metal ground against metal. Gears popped off the walls violently, followed by shattering metal teeth. Zecora got struck in the shoulder with the flying shrapnel and she tumbled to the floor. Thick black oil began to ooze out from between the teeth of the machine around them. The hall stopped growing and Apple Bloom made it to the stairs first. She quickly climbed up to the wooden door of the grandfather clock, but found it shut tight.
“Sis, the door closed on us!” Bloom yelled out as she pushed hard against it.
Zecora ignorned her wound and scrambled up the stairs. She helped push against the door, but it still would not budge. The two halves of the monster approached AJ menacingly. The orange pony pulled the handle out and swung it at the monstrosities behind her. The pieces tumbled backwards, but easily rose up.
Applejack raced up the stairs with the handle and threw herself at the door. The wooden exit splintered, but still held on. The three banged loudly on the door for help.
The wormy halves reached the stairs, but the wooden door finally opened. A pair of strong yellow-green hooves reached in and yanked all three friends out of the strange world and back into AJ’s living room.
AJ, Zecora, and Bloom tumbled onto the familiar wooden floor as Cara slammed the clock’s secret door closed. She turned the key counter-clockwise and the pendulum swung back into working order. Bramley stood over the three troublemakers with an angry glare.
“They frown upon the belt nowadays,” the father said, “But I can still ground you lot until next spring.”
“But pa!” Apple Bloom pleaded as she jumped to her hooves. “Don’t you see that Applejack might be right about something weird going on? There’s a bedroom in your clock with a monster in it!”
“I know there’s a monster in it!” Bramley snapped. “That’s why I didn’t want you kids messin’ around with old magic. You all could have been killed in there!”
AJ and Zecora sat up slowly as they glanced at each other. The orange pony held out the handle to her father while the zebra applied pressure to the cut on her shoulder.
“Here, I reckon this is what you’ve been lookin’ for,” Applejack said with a teary frown.
Bramley lifted the handle up as Cara walked closer to get a good look. The parents were in awe of the object in the same way Bloom was of the clock’s magical passageway.
“The handle to Spell Driver,” the father muttered softly.
Cara put a hoof on her husband’s shoulder. “Honey, we could retrieve the other piece now,” she said in a happier tone. “We could end the nightmares once and for all.”
Apple Bloom looked around with a confused expression. “Wait, you mean my sister has been right all along?”
Cara looked down sadly at her daughter, but didn’t respond. Big McIntosh and Granny Smith wandered in from upstairs. AJ was surprised to see her granny here. She rubbed her tired eyes to ensure this was not a hallucination.
“Granny?” AJ asked. “What are you doing back here so soon?”
“Well, your father wrote me about you having a mental breakdown,” Granny Smith explained. “I came home early to help you straighten things out.”
“What is going on here anyway?” Big Mac questioned the room. “Why is every pony talking about AJ going nuts, nightmares, and all sorts of weird things lately?”
All eyes turned to the Apple parents. The two ponies glanced at the handle for a moment before they responded.
“I’ll go boil a pot of water,” Cara stated. “I think we owe everyone an explanation over some tea.”
“Muziki na masikio yangu!” Zecora cheerfully stated as she got up. “I would love a cup of relaxing tea, before another creature comes to attack me.”
“Wait, attack you?” Big Mac asked. “What have you all been tangling with?”
Applejack limped behind Cara and Zecora into the kitchen. “Gardenin’ and laundry,” she responded sarcastically to her brother.
Applejack stared at the warm cup of tea before her, but her stomach twisted at the thought of drinking it. She sighed and pushed the cup away. Her two siblings and father also did not partake in the tea, but Zecora, Granny Smith, and Cara drank their cups with all the reverence of a ceremony.
Another thing that bothered AJ was the presence of Granny Smith. The old mare was very quiet and had come home from her vacation awfully quick. The timing didn’t add up in AJ’s mind and it gave her another headache.
The handle rested on the table in front of Bramley. He tapped it with a hoof thoughtfully. “That clock is… complicated,” he said with a huff. “The Everfree Forest is full of strange things, including a few artifacts from ages long forgotten. In our youth, Cara and I explored those woods. We mapped a great deal of it and even recovered a few interesting relics. Museums are always interested in things that have been touched by old magic. However, this clock is more than just a fancy timepiece.”
Cara put her cup down to explain. “Starswirl the Bearded was commissioned by a prince of a faraway kingdom to build this clock,” she said softly. “We don’t know what it does, but from the stories we pieced together, the clock somehow healed the prince of an illness. However, he only lived a few weeks before he was overcome by madness and took his own life.”
A cold shiver shot down Applejack’s spine. The prince killed himself in madness? She didn’t want to suffer the same gruesome fate. AJ hoped there was a way to save her own mind before she lost it completely.
“Starswirl wanted to destroy the clock,” Cara continued, “But all accounts end without mention if he had succeeded or not. When we found it, the clock caused us terrible troubles; Animals gone mad, errant weather, malevolent apparitions. We felt it was right to honor Starswirl’s wish by destroying the clock ourselves.”
“Thus you need Spell Driver, but what does it do?” Zecora asked. “Starswirl had mentioned this tool in a clue.”
“Ah,” Bramley said with an interested expression. “Spell Driver was a hammer that Starswirl built. It was one of his first magical tools. See, a smart stallion like Starswirl knew that there are risks when you experiment with magic. This hammer had the sole purpose of destroying errant objects that came about from a bad experiment. We thought that if we found Spell Driver, we could use it to destroy the clock.”
“Why not just take a regular big old hammer to it?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Be my guest,” Bramley said casually. “Just don’t come crying to me when you’re picking out bits of hammer from your mane.”
Cara elbowed her husband with a disapproving glance. “Apple Bloom, the clock’s magic protects it from harm,” she explained to her youngest daughter. “We tried to destroy it by other means, but nothing would break it. The best we came up with was to remove some pieces that made the clock’s magic go dormant.”
The three siblings sank in their chairs. AJ knew exactly what those ‘pieces’ were that Cara referred to. All this trouble began because they ignored granny’s warnings and fixed what they thought was a mundane grandfather clock. Good intentions were often found to be excellent paving material.
“So, what do we all do now?” AJ asked.
“We do nothing,” Bramley corrected. “Cara and I will retrieve the head of Spell Driver, destroy the clock, and put this mess behind us. You kids stay here where it’s safe. Granny is in charge until we return.” He stood up and took AJ’s saddlebag for himself.
Cara ran upstairs and retrieved an oil lamp, a map, and Bramley’s Stetson. As her father put on the hat, Applejack remembered the night her father gave her the Stetson. She loved it and happily wore the hat everywhere. Sadly, two nights after that event she was told that her father was never coming home.
AJ felt dread as old memories began to replay themselves before her. Bramley and Cara were about to venture into the Everfree alone and at night. History was repeating that tragic night for the Apple family.
“Wait,” Applejack said to her parents as she stood up. “Are you sure you don’t want us to come along? At least wait until mornin’ so you can see your way.”
“We’ll be fine, AJ,” Bramley assured them. “We’ve traveled through the Everfree for years. Your friend Zenora lives there without a fuss, right?”
“Zecora,” Bloom quietly corrected.
“I know, but,” AJ replied, “I just have a real bad feeling that there’s somethin’ dangerous roaming around in the woods tonight.”
Granny Smith waved away AJ’s concerns. “Don’t fret about it,” she assured. “There ain’t nothing out in those woods. Bramley and Cara will be just fine, child.”
The parents gave their children a wave goodbye as they stepped outside. Cara quietly shut the door behind them. Applejack looked worriedly to Zecora for support, but the zebra could only shrug with equal apprehension.
Granny smith stood up and walked out to the living room. “It would be best if you all went back to bed,” she said on her way out of the room.
As the old mare left Zecora and the siblings alone, AJ caught sight of something unusual. Granny’s shadow cast from the candles in the living room had a pair of butterfly wings. The orange pony quickly pointed out the unusual shadow to everyone before it left the room.
“I’m confused,” Apple Bloom whispered. “Is that not our Granny Smith?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, she is, right?” Big Mac said hesitantly.
“Of course she ain’t,” AJ explained. “Think about it. She said pa wrote her a letter to come home because I was going crazy. Even if he wrote it first thing Friday mornin’ and sent it by spell, it would still take Granny at least a day to take the next train home. She came back way too quickly and I know she don’t teleport.”
Big Mac frowned. “Right, but didn’t she, you know?” The red stallion stumbled over his words. He stared at his sisters for a long moment before continuing. “How did I not question Granny suddenly showing up before? I didn’t even hear her come in the door.”
“I don’t know,” AJ admitted. “Maybe this mare has some magic to muddy up your thoughts. Whatever it is, it seems to have worked on our parents too. I reckon we ought to take her down and find out for ourselves who she really is.”
“How do we do that?” Bloom inquired.
AJ thought for a moment, but the pain in her mind quickly drowned out her ideas. She sighed and stood up. “Let’s just confront her. It’s four against one.”
“Are you sure we could take her?” Big Mac asked. “I reckon if she’s a magical critter and not an old mare…”
“Pony up like pa told you!” AJ snapped.
The group got up and marched into the living room. Granny Smith stood silently in front of the grandfather clock. The shadows waved softly in time with the clock’s pendulum swings. Applejack stood in front as the group approached the old mare.
“Listen you,” she began.
The old mare struck AJ down to the floor. “Do not stop me!” she hissed angrily. “I have waited far too long for this night!”
Big Mac lunged at her, but the old pony ducked away from his grasp. She grabbed him and threw him against the couch. Apple Bloom charged at the granny imposter, but the old mare was too fast to be caught. The fake granny darted around Bloom and lifted the little filly off the ground.
Zecora snuck up on the distracted imposter and swung a chair at her back. The furniture hit hard and stunned the old mare long enough for Bloom to break free. Zecora lifted the chair again for a second blow, but the imposter grabbed the chair and shoved the zebra away.
Applejack charged and met the business end of the chair as the imposter shoved the furniture hard into AJ’s chest. Big Mac jumped off the couch and landed on the fake granny. The chair tumbled away as the red stallion flattened the old mare with his hefty weight.
The zebra picked up the chair and set it over the imposter. She sat down to keep the old mare pinned.
“Alright then,” Applejack said loudly, “Just who are you?”
The old mare said nothing. AJ studied her face and saw a pair of very old and weary eyes look back at her. She began to understand who this creature was.
“You’re the fairy that Prince Horos loved, aren’t you?” AJ asked in a calmer tone. “Why are you so angry at us?”
The old mare remained silent.
“Hey now,” AJ said softly. “Maybe we could work this out if you just explain what’s going on.” She still received the silent treatment from the old mare. Either this creature refused to help, or it wasn’t who AJ guessed her to be. The orange pony wished she had Smarty Pants for the spirit’s advice, but her dad took the bag that the doll was in.
“What do you reckon we do now?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Perhaps now we should call upon our friend Twilight,” Zecora said, “To help us out in this supernatural fight?”
AJ took in a deep breath. “No, we don’t have the time to explain all this to her,” she stated. “I have a bad feelin’ our parents are going to be attacked in the woods. We have to hurry and catch up with them before those cold shadows do.”
“Fine, but where in the Everfree did they go?” questioned Big Mac. “The forest ain’t exactly an easy place to go searching for anything short of danger.”
Applejack braved the pain to think. Memories flashed randomly in her mind. Among them were images of trees and large stones in all directions. It was an old castle that was forgotten in the forest. Applejack fell over from the pain, but she recalled where the hammer’s other piece was.
“Ma and pa went to the Castle of the Sisters!” AJ exclaimed as she sat up. “Zecora, you stay and watch over this critter just in case our parents come back first. Come on siblings, we got to get to that old castle!”
“Deep in the Everfree at this hour?” Apple Bloom asked apprehensively.
“I know it seems dangerous, sis, but trust me,” AJ responded. “Our parents are in grave danger if they get to the castle alone.”
“The creatures of the night aren’t through with you,” Zecora said ominously. “Do you have a plan on what to do?”
“Yeah,” AJ said boldly. “I aim to rewrite a little history of my own.”
~ ~ ~
The three Apple siblings galloped through the dark forest with only a single hanging lantern to guide them. Shadowy forms surrounded them and the eerie silence of the local creatures only heightened their fears. AJ concentrated on keeping the lantern steady as she led her brother and sister down the path. Upon her brother’s back was another saddlebag with bandages, matches, and a pint of oil to help get them through the woods safely.
The trail widened to a small clearing by a calm riverbank. There was no bridge to cross, but the rocks that jutted out gave the appearance that the river was shallow. Applejack held the lantern high as she carefully stepped into the cold water.
Two timberwolves in the bushes behind them growled hungrily. Apple Bloom jumped onto Big Mac’s back as the stallion hurried into the water. The trotted quickly through the river, but the depth was greater than AJ originally thought. Halfway across the water, they had to swim.
The timberwolves slowly approached the river, but they hesitated. The Apples reached the shallows of the far side and galloped away from the two predators. Up ahead on the trail they saw a lone yellow light from a lantern and two familiar ponies.
“Pa! Ma!” AJ called out. “Wait up for us!”
“What in tarnation are you kids doin’ out here?!” Bramley shouted angrily. “I ought to ground you three so hard that the Filly Scouts will mistake y’all for tent pegs!”
Cara nudged her husband. “Honey, don’t be so hard on our children,” she said. “If they are this serious about the ordeal, then we shouldn’t turn them away.”
“Maybe,” Bramley muttered, “But Apple Bloom is much too young to trek into these woods.”
Bloom stood tall on her brother’s back. “I’m a big pony just like my sis!” she said defiantly.
AJ nearly butted her head against her father. “Pa, that clock has messed up my mind,” she said. “I’m just as invested in this quest as you two are.”
“Same with us,” Big Mac added. “The Apple family never leaves a member behind! If one Apple is in trouble, then we’re all banding together through it whether you like it or not.”
Bramley appeared impressed with his son’s sudden discovery of a backbone. “Well… I reckon there ain’t no convincin’ you kids otherwise. Alright, y’all can tag along. Just know this ain’t no place for the ladies.”
“Ahem,” Cara stated loudly. “Mind pulling your hoof out of your mouth, honey?”
Bramley flinched. “Sorry dear,” he apologized. He adjusted his hat and took the lead. “Alright, we’re goin’ to the old castle. I reckon we’ll stick to the main trail since you kids are comin’ along.”
“That’s the long way around,” Cara stated as she looked over the map. “Besides, there are icky brambles all over that path. We should take this side path further up the river. It is shorter and we have a landmark to guide us.”
“Alright then,” Bramley said as he adjusted the handle to Spell Driver in his bag, “As long as there’s progress.”
The family trekked through the smaller trail that followed the river. Cara and Applejack kept the lanterns focused on the path. The dark storm clouds above churned with low rumbles of thunder. The Apple family stayed close together and watched their backs for danger.
The trail turned away from the river and through an area of extremely gnarled trees. They twisted in very unusual knots as if they had not naturally grown this way. The darkness made it hard to tell where one tree ended and another began.
“Weird looking trees,” Apple Bloom commented.
“Eeyup,” Bramley said. “Knotted wood I reckon. Supposedly it grows that way to prevent ponies from using them as lumber.”
“Well, they could still be made into firewood,” Bloom said jokingly.
Thud! Thud Thud! Thud!
Multiple creatures dropped from the trees above. Bramley stopped the family from walking into them. Several insects, each the size of a fully grown sheep dog, skittered toward them. Their bodies were made of moss and woven grass. The mossy insects snapped their mandibles at the family.
“W-What are they?!” Bloom asked her father.
“Tree ants!” Bramley replied worriedly.
Cara grabbed Apple Bloom as Big Mac and Bramley kicked at the tree ants. AJ rushed the two nearest Cara and shoved them both away. Bramley stomped the tree ants with his full weight, crushing them against the ground. The insects began to bleed amber sap out of their broken bodies.
Applejack wrestled one of the tree ants to the ground, but the other moved around her and attacked Cara. The burnt orange mare swung a rear leg and kicked the mossy insect in the face. Apple Bloom held on to her mother tightly as Cara continued to deliver a series of spinning kicks at the tree ant.
“Get away from my little girls!” Cara yelled.
Several tree ants converged on Applejack and grappled her with their sharp mandibles. She struggled to get above the insect pileup as they cut into her flesh. She swung the lantern and crushed it over the head of one of the insects, killing the ant, but losing her light. Big Mac galloped over and grabbed his sister by the forelegs. The tree ants bit into his legs to wrestle him away from AJ, but Big Mac shrugged off the insects with his incredible strength.
“Hold on, sis!” Big Mac shouted. “We’re going to crack the whip!” The red stallion pulled his sister out of the tree ants’ grasps and swung her around like a bat. Applejack kicked out her legs as she arced around her brother. Her hooves collided with the mossy insects and knocked them away.
Cara stopped her spin kicks and grabbed a dizzy Apple Bloom before the filly fell off her back. The tree ant she attacked doubled over from the force of her blows. Bramley came over to her as two more tree ants jumped down from the trees.
“Honey, we need to get away from their nest!” Cara said to her husband.
“Yeah, sure,” Bramley replied sarcastically. “Let me ask them to point us in the right direction.” He snapped off the mandible of the tree ant that darted at his head and then impaled the insect with it.
“Does any pony have oil or spirits?” Cara asked her children.
“Big Mac does,” AJ replied. She and her brother retreated back toward their parents as the tree ants gathered around them.
Cara grabbed Big Mac by the saddlebag and retrieved his flask of oil. “Bloom, take out the lantern’s wick and hold it up at the ants!” Cara commanded.
Apple Bloom carefully removed the burning wick by its housing and held it up. Cara took a gulp of lantern oil in her mouth and then spat it out as a stream at the flame. The oil ignited into a wave of flames as it soaked the tree ants. The insects scurried away from the fire and left a path for the family to escape.
“This way!” Bramley commanded.
Cara nearly collapsed as she wretched out the remaining oil from her mouth. Bramley and Big Mac supported her while Applejack carried Bloom. They jumped over the bushes and fled off the path. The tree ants clicked angrily, but were not as fast as the ponies were.
Bramley plowed through the foliage as the family continued to run blindly. Tree branches slapped them in the faces and shoulders repeatedly until they reached a small clearing. Applejack listened for the chatter of the tree ants, but she did not hear them. They had eluded the insects.
Bramley gave Cara a canteen of water to wash her mouth out while AJ and Bloom relit the remaining lantern they had. Big Mac retrieved some bandages from his bag for the cuts that he, AJ, and Bramley received in the fight. They rested for a few minutes to give Cara time to recover.
“Where did you learn a trick like that?” Apple Bloom asked her mother.
“It was something I saw Manehattan gypsies perform when I was younger,” Cara explained. “Just… it works better with alcohol.” She clutched her aching stomach after a sudden burp of foul gas.
“Where do you reckon we are?” AJ asked her father.
Bramley took out the map and studied it while Big Mac held the lantern. “We ain’t far from an animal trail here,” he said as he pointed out the area that they were located at. “We could follow it back to the main path.”
Apple Bloom let off a sudden shriek as she tripped over backwards. Everyone turned their attention to her with worry. Bloom pointed to a ragged cloth wrapped around a soiled white object.
AJ walked up and carefully brushed off the dirt. As she turned it over in her hooves, she recognized it as the decayed remains of a saddlebag and what might have been a pony leg. The gory sight caused Applejack to drop the object and shiver.
Bramley approached and poked at the bag until he found a scrap of paper inside. He held it under the lantern’s light. Although it was very faded, they could make out that it was a piece of a map.
“Another explorer, you reckon?” Big Mac asked.
“Maybe,” Bramley replied softly, “But… no, this can’t be.” His voice sounded agitated.
“Oh my,” AJ muttered as a horrifying thought came to her. She took Bramley’s map and compared the pieces under the lantern light. AJ moved the scrap around until it matched up perfectly with a section of her father’s map.
“I think we know this explorer,” she said with a frightful expression. Applejack picked up the tattered bag and turned it inside out. Bramley’s name was embroidered on the hem. It was the very same bag her father was wearing right now.
A dead silence came over the family as they stared at the decayed impossible duplicates.
“N-No, that can’t be,” Apple Bloom squeaked with tears. “H-How is that even possible?”
Cara hugged her youngest daughter tightly to comfort her. She was at a loss for words. Applejack dug at the ground and recovered two more bones and part of a comb that had the same orange cutie mark as her mother.
Big Mac angrily stomped his hoof. “That has to be an illusion! It ain’t real!”
“It feels pretty real,” Bramley said as he examined the comb. “Then again, no pony really knows how the Everfree Forest works. This could all just be a trick from some older magic we don’t understand.”
“Like, from the clock?” Bloom asked weakly.
Bramley nodded. “It’s possible. Perhaps that clock is tryin’ to scare us away from reachin' the castle.” He put the map away and grabbed the lantern from his son. “I admit I don’t know everythin’, but what I do know is that we got a job to do. Let’s get that other piece of Spell Driver and put this mess to bed.”
The family nodded nervously. AJ put the map back in Bramley’s saddlebag, but she quietly removed Smarty Pants without being noticed. Her father led the way out of the clearing. Applejack hesitated before she followed. She looked back at the remains on the ground.
“This isn’t a trick of that old clock, is it?” AJ whispered to the doll. “I reckon this was where they died the first time. Killed by… tree ants I guess.” She waited for a reply, but the doll remained silent. Crestfallen, AJ quickly reburied the remains before she limped away to rejoin her family.
Her heart pounded loudly from the fear that she was going to lose her parents again. They still had a tower to traverse when they reached the ruins, and the cold shadows awaited them inside.
~ ~ ~
The castle ruins stood silently in a clearing untouched by time. Its moat, long since dried out, was an impressively deep trench filled with fog. Bramley inspected an old rope bridge that hung over the trench before he led the way across. The wooden boards creaked under the weight of each pony, but they held up and allowed them to cross. The Apples looked around the ruins for signs of danger.
Applejack’s head began to ache as the memory of her only time here came to mind. It was a couple of years ago, but the ruins appeared to have not aged at all since. She watched her father read through the notes in the back of his photo album.
“I can’t imagine living here,” Apple Bloom said, “In the middle of the Everfree away from every pony.”
Cara patted her daughter lovingly on the head. “I read a legend that said this forest might have been nothing more than a little garden when the castle was first built.”
“This forest was a garden?” Bloom asked with surprise. “I sure won’t skirt weeding duties ever again.” She shared a soft chuckle with Cara.
Bramley put away his map and pointed to a nearby tower. “Alright Apples, that should be Starswirl’s private lab. There might still be some traps lingerin’ about, so keep close and don’t touch anythin’ unless I tell you to.” He ensured he still had Spell Driver’s handle secured to his bag before he led the way over.
The tower didn’t appear very impressive. It was the second widest tower here, but hardly the tallest. It was only three stories high, and it appeared no different than the other towers; the windows were completely covered in a thick layer of grime, large masses of ivy grew off its walls, and the entry door was warped and decayed.
Bramley carefully pulled the door open. It rested on just one hinge and threatened to fall off. Beyond the entrance was a dark spiraling staircase going up the tower. He motioned to Big Mac to bring the lantern light closer. There were no decorations or furniture inside, only a few rotten piles of wood and rocks.
“It don’t seem like much is here,” AJ commented.
“That’s usually the point with traps,” Bramley retorted. He picked up a stone and threw it inside the tower. The rock skipped around the dusty floor, but came to a stop without harm. Satisfied, Bramley walked inside.
The family slowly ascended the stairs. The stone steps were gritty with years of dust upon them. AJ noted the small mounds if tiny insect husks that littered the corners of each windowsill. As the family ascended, Bramley checked every few steps to ensure there were no hidden dangers. He tapped the stairs several times, tested his weight, and then moved on when he was satisfied that it was safe. At the top of the staircase the family found an old wooden door. Something was written over the door knob in an ancient script.
Bramley waved his wife forward. “Think you could read this, hon?”
“If I can read your chicken-scratch,” Cara playfully replied, “I can read just about anything.” She stepped forward and studied the old writing for just a moment before she recited it to her family.
“Mind the gap.”
Apple Bloom snorted with a smile. “That’s it?” she asked. “Just watch out for a little gap beyond the door? That would be easy as pie to mind.”
“I wouldn’t mind some pie right now,” Bramley muttered.
“Yes,” Cara mused aloud. “I suppose I should mind that gap of yours with some apple turnovers in the morning.”
Bramley happily stepped forward and leaned against the door to test its strength. “You always know how to make me happy,” he said to Cara.
“Well,” the burnt-orange pony replied, “You are easier to read than your chicken-scratch.”
The two exchanged a quick, happy kiss as the children looked on with varying expressions. Bramley turned around and then kicked the door wide open. The old wood shattered and tumbled down a wide pit into the darkness. After a long moment the family heard a faint splash of water.
“Ah, I see,” Bramley said with slight concern. “That… that’s quite a gap.”
The other side of the pit was about ten feet away. Bramley picked up Apple Bloom and backed away for a running start. He adjusted his Stetson and then galloped toward the wide gap. Bloom held on tight to her father’s back as they cleared the pit in a long jump. Big Mac went next and jumped the pit with the lantern, but stumbled on his landing. Bramley caught the light before it hit the floor. The red stallion retrieved a coil of rope from his saddle bag and tossed one end to Cara.
“Hang on to that end just in case,” Big Mac stated.
Cara held the rope in her mouth as she made a running leap. Cara gracefully sailed over the pit and Bramley caught her to ensure she didn’t slip backwards. Big Mac tossed the rope next to Applejack.
AJ held up Smarty Pants. “You’ll want to hold onto this first.” She threw the doll across the pit to her brother.
Big Mac caught the doll and turned it over to Apple Bloom. AJ backed up and ran for the pit. She jumped and sailed through the air, but a gust of icy cold air rose out of the pit and caused her to shiver. AJ tumbled onto the stone floor on the other side with her rear legs hanging over the edge.
“You alright?” Bramley asked as he helped her stand up.
“Yeah,” Applejack replied, “but that breeze felt like there’s somethin’ down in there.”
Bramley nodded. “Let’s find the hammer head and then we can skedaddle.”
The family backed away from the pit and scanned the room eagerly for the head of Spell Driver. Among the scattered debris around the room there were two wooden tables covered in glass, a rusted metal chest under one of the tables, and a significant pile of rotten books in the room’s center.
“This seems obvious,” Bloom remarked as she pointed to the rusted chest. “You reckon it’s a trap?”
Bramley grabbed one of the rotten books and threw it at the chest. It collided hard with the container and broke apart. Several iron spikes popped out from the box and pointed menacingly at Apple Bloom.
“Yup, definitely a trap,” Bramley stated as he patted his youngest daughter. “I reckon you might make a pretty good adventurer when you put a few more years behind you.”
Big Mac and AJ sifted through the ruined books and found another large chest beneath the pile. They stepped back quickly. Bramley pulled out the handle and nudged the chest. The container didn’t react. However, there was a significant padlock on it to prevent access to its contents.
“Allow me,” Cara said as she pulled a pair of mane-pins from her hair. Her hooves and lips were steady as she worked the lock with the pins. In quick succession, the tumblers fell into place.
Click, click, click, click…
After only seconds of work, Cara unlocked the chest and lifted the lid. Inside was the gilded head of Spell Driver. Bramley inserted the handle into a small slot and the two halves locked to each other with a loud click. He passed the lantern off to Big Mac as he carefully lifted up the completed tool. The family looked on with great interest.
“Seems strange,” AJ remarked, “That it was just sittin’ here all this time with no magic wards or nothin’ to keep it safe.”
“That is a curious observation,” Cara said in agreement. “Perhaps Starswirl did not hide the item here personally?”
A black cloud of smoke and shadow crawled out of the nearby pit. It hissed loudly at the Apple family as it churned and formed the shape of a large dragon. Bramley and Cara instinctively pushed their children behind them for protection.
“See, this is what I’m talkin’ about,” Bramley complained as he pushed his kids away from the creature. “A big impossible monster thing always guardin’ the treasure.”
“Oh hush,” Cara interrupted. “You say that on every adventure!”
The smoky dragon slammed four large tendrils of shadow on the ground like legs. Thick clouds of dust billowed off the floor from its pounding. The Apples scattered to keep away from the monster as a pair of golden eyes tracked them.
“I’m just sayin’,” the annoyed Bramley said as he swung the magical hammer at the creature. “Where do these dunderheaded ancient unicorns get their guardian monsters from? Were there forgotten summonin’ spells for them? Maybe there was an ancient monster ranch they raised them in?” His swings met smoke and went through the smoky dragon with ease.
The monster hissed and struck back. Bramley tumbled backwards as he dropped Spell Driver on the ground. The weapon clattered around and caught the dragon’s attention. The monster reared up and came down with its forelegs to crush the hammer.
Big Mac dove for the weapon and rolled away with it before the monster could stomp the magical tool flat. He stood up and swung the hammer, but Big Mac also had no solid hit against the creature.
“Honey,” Cara stated loudly, “Now is not the time to argue the origins of magical beasts when one is attacking us!” She threw several ruined books at the creature. The first flew through its body unhindered, but the second and third books bounced off the smoky dragon’s head.
“Aha! I have found a weakness!” she cheerfully exclaimed. “Little Mac, aim for its head!”
Big McIntosh swung upwards and the hammer connected with the dragon’s jaw. The creature reeled back in pain from the blow and swiped a smoky tendril at the red stallion. It struck Big Mac hard and toppled him over. Bramley got up and grabbed his son, but the hammer dropped out of their grasp.
Applejack and Apple Bloom raced toward the dragon. The monster swiped at them, but the two sisters quickly dodged the attack. Bloom rolled under the creature and grabbed the hammer while AJ leaped up and kicked the dragon in the right eye. Her hooves collided with a solid mass and crushed it like a hammer against a hot iron.
“Yee-haw!” Applejack exclaimed. “Bet you didn’t see that one comin’!”
The monster reared back and hissed loudly from the pain of its lost eye. Apple Bloom dropped Smarty Pants on the ground as she dragged the magical hammer away from the dragon. Big Mac picked up both the hammer and his little sister, raced past the monster, and jumped over the pit to the doorway. He turned to throw the rope for the others to follow.
“Escape with the hammer!” Bramley shouted. “We’ll be right behind you!”
Big Mac hesitated to leave without the rest of his family. Applejack was about to reiterate her father’s command when a thought struck her. She remembered something her brother said in a dream… or was it a vision of the future? Her brother’s words echoed loudly in her ears.
‘You should of held onto the hammer, sis.’
AJ ran up to the edge of the pit. “Throw me the hammer!!” she yelled at her brother.
The dragon dove down at the little orange pony as Big Mac threw the hammer over the pit. Applejack jumped up and snatched the magical weapon with her teeth. The smoky monster collided with her and the two skidded across the ground until they met the solid impact of one of the tower’s big glass windows.
The two crashed through the dirty window with a resounding shatter. Shards of glass sailed around Applejack as she lifted the hammer up in her hooves. The monster clenched its hold around her as they fell down toward the ground. Its grip was so cold that AJ felt it burn against her body. She closed her eyes and swung the hammer downward against the dragon’s head.
There was a loud ‘crack!’ in the air as a heavy force knocked all the air out of Applejack’s lungs. Something jerked her upwards for a moment before she felt the ground strike her hard in the back. She tried to open her eyes, but stars swam around her blackened vision. Her lungs gasped for air, but she could not breathe.
She felt a warm touch against her chest just before she passed out.
Cold drops of rain stung Applejack’s face. She slowly opened her eyes and saw her family looking down at her. AJ groaned as her sore lungs took in fresh air. There was a sharp pain in the back of her head that rivaled the terrible burn marks upon her skin.
Cara lifted AJ up and held her tight. “Sweetie, please talk to me!” she cried out.
“Are those turnovers done, ma?” AJ joked weakly.
“Well now you’re just teasin’,” Bramley scoffed.
Big Mac and Bloom helped their sister stand up. AJ felt her legs wobble, but she managed to hold her balance. Bramley picked up the hammer and placed it over his back. The drizzle that fell around them was cold and relentless. Cara wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Are you alright, ma?” Applejack asked.
“I’m fine, just, I was so scared that I lost you,” Cara said.
Apple Bloom nudged her big sister. “We were all real worried about you,” she explained. “You did fall three stories with that monster on top of you.”
AJ looked up at the window she crashed out of. It looked fairly high from down here. She was amazed that she had not broken any bones. More amazing was that Applejack had changed events. Her parents survived the creature in the tower this time. With their help, she felt confident that she could finish this quest.
“What happened to the monster?” AJ asked her little sister.
Apple Bloom shrugged. “I don’t know,” she replied. “We only found you down here. I guess it’s gone now. Big Mac didn’t see it in the tower either when he went back for Smarty Pants.”
“Eeyup,” her brother chimed in with a pat against his saddle bag.
Bramley began to walk towards the rope bridge. “If we’re done squackin’, let’s get going. We got some furniture to disassemble.”
A cold shiver ran down Applejack’s back. She just remembered that Zecora was left alone at home to watch the stranger disguised as Granny Smith. The Apples might have another fight on their hooves if the stranger overpowered Zecora.
“We need to hurry,” AJ stated with urgency. “I have a bad feeling Zecora could be in trouble.”
“Your granny ain’t that big a pain,” Bramley commented. “Sure she babbles a bit, but that’s harmless.”
AJ shook her head. “That ain’t Granny Smith, pa,” she said, “But I think I know who it is. Come on!” She galloped ahead and led the Apples toward home. The drizzle intensified into a full downpour as the family raced through the Everfree Forest.
~ ~ ~
Applejack ran up the porch steps of her home, her breath visible in the cold rain. The recent burn marks on her drenched body ached more so than the older bite wounds, but AJ refused to let the pain slow her down. Thunder rolled over the farm as Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh arrived a moment later, winded from their race through the Everfree Forest together. Cara and Bramley arrived last as the large magical hammer slowed them down.
The icy rain dripped slowly off their faces as they looked toward AJ for guidance. Applejack spun around with the intent to kick open the door, but she stopped as a sense of fear hit her again. It was the fear of the unknown, of what she may lose once they stepped inside this house.
“Something wrong?” Apple Bloom asked.
Applejack took in a deep breath despite her sore body’s protest. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “I guess, whatever happens in here, I just want you all to know that I love you all.”
“Hey now,” Bramley interrupted. “Don’t sound like this is the end. We’re all doin’ this thing together, no matter what that clock does to us.”
“That’s right!” Bloom added.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.
Cara lifted the magical hammer and handed it to AJ. “Use this, sweetie,” she said. “Since you seem to have a deep connection with what has transpired, I think you should wield it. We’ll always be right behind you.”
AJ took the weapon and slung it over her shoulder. “Thank you all for believing in me,” she said with a tearful smile. She held the hammer tight as she swung it at the front door. The entrance splintered in two and clattered on the floor. Without a moment wasted, AJ stepped inside the house.
“Zecora, are you still around?!” she called out. “Where’s that imposter granny?!” AJ looked around the living room and noticed a chipped teacup on the floor beside a broken chair. A scuffle had taken place here recently, but AJ couldn’t tell who the victor was.
She turned to the old grandfather clock in the corner. There was a dried stain of blood upon the jagged edge of the broken glass door. She wondered whose blood it was.
The rest of the family stepped inside from the rain. A crack of thunder rattled the windows and startled Bloom. She scurried closer to her big sister. The family heard hoof-steps approach from the second floor and Applejack kept her grip on the hammer tight.
“Alright varmint,” AJ stated loudly, “What did you do with Zecora?!”
The white and black stripped Zecora stumbled onto the second floor landing from the darkened upstairs hallway. Her mane was disheveled, and there was blood caked on her cheeks and right foreleg. The imposter stepped out behind the zebra. She had a hoof that leaned on Zecora’s backside as if the two were good friends.
It couldn’t have been much farther from the truth.
“Well if it isn’t the… wait,” Granny Smith hissed. “What are you two doing here?” She pointed at Cara and Bramley angrily.
AJ saw a moment of confusion in the imposter’s eyes. “I figured out that I could rearrange events a bit,” Applejack explained. “I reckon you wanted to do the same, but some events can’t be changed, can they?”
The imposter snorted. “Everything can be changed! Why couldn’t you all just accept your new lives? You would have all been happy together!”
“Because it was all a lie!” Applejack snapped back. “Life is full of pain and loss, but that’s just part of the deal! It’s what brings about hope and dreams, strengthenin’ family and friendships. A candle has got no purpose without a shadow to illuminate.”
“I refuse to lose him again!!” the imposter screamed out.
Zecora shoved the distracted old mare away and shouted down to AJ. “You must move like quicksilver! Use the hammer and strike-”
The fake granny kicked Zecora down the flight of stairs and Big Mac raced over to catch her. Applejack lifted the hammer and backed away.
“Ma, Pa, keep her distracted,” AJ shouted. “I know what I got to do! AB, you’re with me!” She hobbled quickly with her little sister toward the clock.
Bramley charged the couch in front of the upper-story landing and used it as a step to jump up and over the railing. Big Mac dragged the injured Zecora away from the stairs as Cara scurried up the steps two at a time.
“No! Stop!” the imposter yelled.
Bramley reached for the fake granny and grabbed her foreleg. The imposter pulled back hard and her leg’s skin peeled off like a banana. The wrinkled flesh crumbled in Bramley’s hooves as the imposter’s leg was replaced with a dark shadowy tendril. She swung the black appendage and struck Bramley in the face. The stallion fell backwards toward the stairs. Cara dove under her husband and caught him before he tumbled down the steps.
Applejack lifted the heavy hammer and swung it at the clock. The wooden frame cracked under the blow, but managed to hold together. The imposter ripped the railing off its foundation and leaped at Applejack. AJ turned and raised the hammer up to block the imposter’s swing as the old mare landed in front of her. The orange pony thrust the hammer into the imposter’s chest and shoved her back.
Apple Bloom rushed the old mare from behind and jumped at her back. The filly grabbed the imposter by the face and pulled hard. The skin peeled back off the old mare with a sickening rip and exposed a dark, shadowy face with two yellow eyes.
“The clock is mine!” the imposter shouted. She grabbed Apple Bloom by the hind-leg and threw the filly across the room. Bloom bounced off the coffee table and collided with the couch.
Applejack turned her attention back to the grandfather clock and began a second swing at it. The monstrous imposter lashed out with her tendril leg and grabbed AJ around the forelegs. The orange pony was yanked hard to the floor and the hammer dropped out of her grasp. She crawled to the hammer, but the imposter granny pressed a hoof against her to keep her pinned.
Big Mac charged the monster from behind and grabbed her around the waist. The imposter reached behind with her tendril and wrapped it around the red stallion’s neck. She squeezed hard and choked the red stallion. Big Mac let the old mare go and wrestled the black tentacle off his neck. The monster kicked out at his chest and Big Mac stumbled backwards into the coffee table. His weight crushed it flat.
The monster reached down and grabbed at the wooden floorboards with her tendril leg. She pulled up a board with impossible strength and swung it down on the orange pony. AJ was flattened from the blow, but she gritted her teeth against the pain and tried to stand up once more. The monster swung down on her back a second time, then a third. Applejack buckled and fell flat on her chest. A fourth swing came down and the pain pierced her head like a knife.
“Stop it!!” Cara cried out as she raced down the stairs. “You’re killing her!!”
Sound and light blurred in AJ’s head as her body gave up the fight. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe. All she could do was cry. All her efforts to make things right had failed.
“I just… I’m sorry,” Applejack whispered to herself. The blurs faded away and she was embraced by silent darkness.
~ ~ ~
“Get up,” whispered a small voice. “Get up and fight!”
AJ opened her eyes, but she only saw a haze of shadow in all directions. Her body lay on a cold invisible floor, wracked with pain from her injuries. She moved her head slightly and saw a blurry white light approach.
“Come on Applejack,” the familiar voice said encouragingly. “I know you can do this!”
“No, I-I failed,” she whispered back.
As the light drew near, Applejack felt its warm presence. Her eyes focused on the light and she saw the young stallion prince appear within it. He brushed his regal purple robes aside and sat down beside her as the light dimmed to a softer glow.
“Am I… dead?” AJ asked him.
The prince shook his head. “No, I don’t think you are,” he said. “Otherwise you would be somewhere else.”
“Then where are we?”
The prince pondered the question for a moment. “I’m not sure,” he finally responded. “I never fully understood the magic of the clock. I apologize that because of my ignorance, I have caused you so much pain.” He put a gentle hoof on AJ’s shoulder.
“See, I was once very sick and the fair lady I loved feared losing me. She convinced me to commission Starswirl to create a magical device that would grant me a second chance at life. It worked, for a time, but not even magic can cheat death for long.”
Applejack nodded. “You had trouble thinkin’, right?” she asked. “Time jumped around, things stopped making any sense?”
The prince sighed. “Indeed, those were troubling days for me. That is why we must destroy that clock, Applejack. We must end the cycle before it repeats, before others fall victim to it.”
“My parents,” AJ said, “They must be caught in this cycle too. What will happen to them, to us, when the clock is destroyed?”
“If Starswirl was as brilliant as I remembered him,” the prince replied, “Then everything should return to its proper time. I know it must break your heart to lose your parents so soon after your reunion. I can only hope that someday you may forgive me.”
AJ slowly shook her head. “No, it’s alright,” she weakly said. “I… I kind of figured it was too good to last. At least I got to have a couple more days with my folks, to tell them how much I loved and missed them.”
“Then hurry,” the prince urged, “You must get up and rend that infernal time piece!”
Applejack tried to stand, but her body refused to move. “I… I don’t think that I can move.”
The prince took her hoof and squeezed it tight. “You can! I’m right here beside you. I know you can feel it. Use the last of my strength as yours and stand up!”
The light grew bright and enveloped AJ. She felt the warmness nurse her aching body. She closed her eyes and focused on the prince’s hand. She concentrated on standing up. Her legs began to heed her commands and she slowly rose from the ground. Pain was no longer her master as she stood up for one more chance.
Reality snapped back into place around Applejack like a bright flash from a camera. Everyone in the room stared with amazement as she straightened up, raised her clenched hoof, and parried the monster’s next swing of the floorboard with Smarty Pants. The wooden board fell and clattered on the floor.
“H-How…?” the monster stuttered in shock.
Applejack pulled back her other foreleg and punched the monster between the eyes. The imposter fell backwards and landed on her butt. AJ spun around and reached down for Spell Driver. She hoisted the hammer up and aimed it at the grandfather clock.
“No, please!” the monster cried out. “I don’t want to lose my prince again!”
“We never lose our loved ones,” AJ firmly replied. “They’re always with us in our hearts.”
With a mighty swing and all her remaining strength, Applejack drove the hammer down upon the clock. The timepiece shattered and ejected glass, splinters, and gears in all directions. The hammer continued to plow through the magical artifact until it struck the living room floor with a resounding impact. Applejack collapsed on the floor, her body utterly exhausted.
The monster fell to her knees as the dark shadows upon her body evaporated. Underneath the fears and darkness appeared a small and frail pony with beautiful translucent wings. She looked at her beautiful legs and then up at Applejack.
“I-I’m so sorry,” the fairy sobbed. “I just didn’t know what to do. I loved him so much.”
The Apple family gathered around the fairy and comforted her. As tears rolled down her cheeks, the bright and ghostly apparition of Prince Horos rose from the doll on the ground.
“It’s the prince,” Apple Bloom whispered.
Zecora had found enough strength to sit up. “Indeed, he had helped us through this arduous quest. AJ has freed him now so that he may finally rest.”
The fairy curled up in fear, but the prince smiled and held out his hoof. “I’ve missed you, my flower.”
“Horos, oh please forgive me!” the fairy replied. She jumped into his arms and took on the same ghostly appearance as they embraced. “I’m so sorry!”
“Do not cry, my love,” the prince said happily, “We are together again, thanks to this brave lady here.” He gestured to AJ, who was only able to smile in return.
“Thank you, Applejack. Thank you for freeing us of the clock’s magic and… for your forgiveness.”
“You’re welcome,” AJ replied. She watched the two spirits fade away in each other’s arms.
Bramley and Cara sat down on the floor with Applejack. They both began to glow with the same ghostly shimmer. The whole family, save Applejack, was perplexed about the light.
“Ma? Pa?” Big Mac asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?”
“I-I think it’s our turn to go now,” Cara said weakly.
“Go?!” Apple Bloom shouted. The little filly appeared to be in shock. “No, not you too! Applejack can’t be right about you being dead. She’s got to be wrong! You just can’t be dead!” She rushed at her mother and hugged her tight. Tears began to fall from her eyes.
“Applejack, isn’t there another way?!” the filly cried.
AJ shook her head sadly. “I wish there was, sis.”
“My little darling,” Cara whispered to Bloom. “I know you’re scared and confused, but… but I remember now what happened to us. We died years ago in the forest.” She held onto her youngest daughter tightly.
“Ma, please don’t go!” Bloom whimpered.
“Shh, be brave my little one,” Cara replied. “You’re as strong as your siblings. I know you will be alright. Just… don’t grow up too fast… and never give up on finding your cutie mark. Follow your dreams and you’ll find that special talent of yours.”
Bramley hugged Apple Bloom as well. He then turned to Big Mac and firmly shook his hoof. “Watch over your sisters, son,” he said sadly. “I-I know I was never good at showin’ my feelings, but know that I’ve always been proud of you.” He gave his son a manly hug.
“And take good care of Cherilee too,” Bramley added. “Always treat her proper, you hear?”
Big Mac nodded and sniffled. “Thanks pa, I’ll remember that.”
Applejack limped over to sit between her parents. Cara gave her a big hug as she tried to hold back tears. AJ hugged her back with what little strength she had. Bramley helped hold her up.
“I’m sorry it’s got to end this way,” AJ said.
“You did what was right,” Bramley interrupted. “Ain’t that what honesty is about? Don’t ever hate yourself for what you did here. Instead, know that you brought closure to us all.”
AJ nodded. “I’ll try.”
“Remember to comb your mane every morning, AJ,” Cara instructed. “And spend some time with your siblings. Make as many memories as you can with them!” She pulled the family together for a tight group hug.
“And take care of granny too,” Bramley added. “I know she’s a hoof-full, but she means well.” The yellow-green stallion saw that Zecora sat off by herself. He reached over and pulled the zebra into the group without hesitation.
“I want to thank you for being a good friend to my daughter, Zecora.”
The zebra smiled as she joined the hug. Applejack was happy that her father accepted her, and had even gotten her name right this time. They all held on as the white light intensified and engulfed them all. Applejack closed her eyes and braced for whatever awaited her, be it her memories, another life, or oblivion. This time, however, she was no longer scared.
~ ~ ~
Tick, tick…
The soft ticking noise of the clock awoke Applejack from what felt like a dream. She was in a hospital bed, completely bandaged up from all the injuries she had sustained in her recent quest. However, the adventures of the past few days were vague memories in her mind. AJ touched her cheek and felt the scar that had started the whole ordeal. She knew right there that it all had happened.
AJ slowly sat up and looked around. She shared the room with another patient that was hidden away behind a curtain, but she saw the familiar face of Apple Bloom asleep on a nearby chair. On the table beside her sister was a ‘Get Well Soon’ card with signatures from all her friends. The calendar on the wall above indicated that today was Sunday.
Above the calendar date was the serene image of a lake, but this time there was only one tiny pony fairy sitting at the water’s edge. Beside her was a prince in a purple robe. The two held hooves as they watched the sky. Applejack couldn’t help but smile at the image.
Bloom stirred in the chair and yawned. She opened her eyes wide when she caught sight of AJ sitting up. “Sis, you’re finally awake!” Apple Bloom shouted excitedly as she jumped out of the chair. Bloom ran up to her big sister’s side and gave her a hug with all her strength.
“I’ve been so worried about you that I stayed here all night!”
Applejack returned the hug. “Thank you, AB. I appreciate that,” she said happily. AJ was glad Bloom was okay, but did her little sister remember anything from the alternate history? She was curious to know if anything was left changed.
“So what exactly happened?” Applejack asked to start her little white lie. “I don’t remember how I ended up here.”
“Well, I’m not exactly sure either,” Bloom explained, “On Thursday night we were fixing the old grandfather clock in the living room. The next morning you were plum gone all day! No pony saw where you went, but Big Mac and I found you Saturday morning on the living floor with Zecora. You both were badly injured and the clock was completely destroyed and there was this huge hammer sitting on top of the pieces!”
Apple Bloom paused to catch her breath from the run-on sentence. “You sure you don’t remember what happened?”
AJ didn’t know how to answer her sister’s question. “Well, this is going to sound mighty weird, but it’s the truth. The clock had some real powerful magic inside that changed history. Our parents were still alive and I was losing my mind. I had to get that hammer to smash the clock and fix history back to the way it needed to be.”
The little filly was dumbstruck. “So you did see ma and pa again,” she said curiously.
“Yeah,” AJ replied. “I... wait, you know what happened? How?”
Zecora chuckled from behind the curtain. She pulled it back to reveal that she was the other patient. The zebra was also wrapped in bandages from several injuries, which included a neck brace. She pointed to a specific scar on her foreleg.
“I had cut myself on the clock, just to see if my theory was true,” Zecora said with a smile. “It was then that I saw time in the same way as you.”
Apple Bloom interrupted the zebra’s explanation with her own. “When I asked Zecora why the two of you were half-dead on the living room floor, she told me this strange tale about you questing for that magical hammer to destroy the clock. I didn’t believe it at first, but when you just told me the same thing, I knew it wasn’t just a tall tale.”
“So, you remember everything that happened to us?” AJ asked the zebra.
Zecora nodded. “I do indeed, our adventures were quite scary. However, your sister remembers nothing about your parents, so do be wary.”
Applejack turned to her sister. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t have us stay in that other life. I reckon you would have wanted to have our folks still alive.”
“It's alright, sis,” Bloom said. “As far as I can tell, it was you that disappeared from my life here. I’ve grown up with you as my big sister and… and I’m just happy that you came back.” She began to cry tears of relief as she hugged her big sister a second time.
“Just promise me that you’ll tell me everything about your adventure, okay?” Bloom requested. “Zecora only knew a few parts about our parents and I would like to really know more about them.”
“I will, sis. I promise,” AJ said happily.
There was a knock on the room’s door. Big McIntosh, Cheerilee, and Rarity walked in with several gifts. Cheerilee had a small bouquet of flowers and a dozen balloons for the room, while Rarity had brought AJ’s hat and a thermos of tea for Zecora. Big mac gave AJ a hug so strong that the orange pony couldn’t breathe.
“We were all so worried about you two!” Rarity said fearfully. “I just couldn’t believe that you were missing for a whole day! Where have you and Zecora been, AJ?”
“It’s a long story,” Applejack replied, “But give me a day to recover and I’ll tell you the whole tale.”
Rarity gave Zecora the thermos of tea while Cheerilee set the flowers and balloons down on the table. Applejack put her Stetson on, but she felt that something was missing. She removed her hat and looked it over. There was nothing wrong with it that AJ could see.
Cheerilee gave friendly hugs to Applejack and Zecora. “The school children have been asking about you two,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to know you are both alright now.” She looked at the clock and gave it a half-hearted frown.
“I wish I could stay,” Cheerilee stated, “But I have to do a little cleaning at the school house for Monday. I hope you don’t mind.”
AJ shook her head. “Not at all,” she replied. “In fact, I’m sure Big Mac could help you out if you be needin’ it.” She glanced at her brother who appeared shocked at her statement.
“What about you,” Big Mac asked AJ.
“I’ll be fine, you big lug,” Applejack taunted playfully. She leaned in closer and whispered her next statement privately to him.
“You go spend some time with her. I don’t want you missing out on your life on the account of your cold hooves or your sister. It’s what pa would of said if he were still here, so pony up and get going!”
Big Mac gave her a confused look, but he didn’t ask any questions. Instead he simply nodded and trotted off behind Cheerilee with a smile.
Rarity stood nearby and fidgeted with her mane awkwardly. Applejack thought about what to say to her and came up with an idea for the unicorn to try.
“Say, Rarity,” AJ began. “You plannin’ a summer fashion line any time soon?”
“Well, yes,” Rarity replied hesitantly. “I have been brainstorming some ideas, though I’m not sure why you would show any interest in fashion.”
“Well, let’s just say my experience has inspired me,” AJ explained. “I’d love it if you could design for me a cream hat with a wide brim. Maybe throw on some orange jewels and a pink bow like Bloom’s? I’d like it to feel Manehattan in style.”
Applejack’s description caused the next minute to be held in silent puzzlement, interrupted only by Zecora’s soft slurping of her tea.
“A-Are you serious?” Rarity asked with a curious expression.
“Yeah,” AJ said with a nod. “I know, it’s totally left field of me to ask for anything fancy, but I thought maybe once in a while… you know, it might not be so bad to look nice?”
Rarity’s eyes lit up with joy. “Applejack, you’re embracing your own beauty?!”
“Well now, don’t expect to see me goin' off to the spa every week,” AJ corrected. “This is just a ‘sometimes’ thing I wanted to try out. Baby steps and all that.”
“Yes, of course,” Rarity agreed. “We should start with just the basics for now. I would be delighted to design that sunhat for you. I will start on it right away!”
“Actually,” AJ interrupted, “Before you do that, I do have one more request if you’ll humor me.”
“Anything for you, my dear,” Rarity said happily.
Applejack put her hat down and brushed a hoof through her blonde bangs. “Could you maybe spruce up my mane a bit? Nothing too fancy, I’d just like to have it braided in the back to keep it together.”
Rarity gave a wide smile as she left to retrieve a comb and brush. Zecora gave AJ a little chuckle and the orange pony winked in return.
“Why the sudden change of style?” Apple Bloom asked. “You normally don’t like that fancy stuff.”
AJ lifted her little sister onto her lap. “Well, durin' my recent ordeals, I was reminded that I got our ma’s eyes. I reckon I don’t want to forget the kind and lovin' pony that she was.”
Bloom studied her sister’s eyes. “Ma had green eyes like yours?” she inquired. “What do I got that’s like mama?”
“Well, for one thing, you have her imagination,” AJ began. She pictured both their parents in her mind and began to relate them to her little sister.
Apple Bloom listened carefully as AJ described the two ponies that were the most adventurous parents Equestria had ever seen, and how they saved Ponyville from a dangerous clock made long ago. In fact, AJ told the whole story about her adventure to Bloom and Rarity. Sharing her tale made the loss of her parents hurt less as the good memories filled her heart. She missed them dearly, but she would never forget their memory.
Later that night, Applejack had the best sleep she experienced in days.
