A 'Findin' Spell'
Apple Bloom paced back and forth inside the Apple Family barn, keeping her eyes locked on the door expectantly. The little filly’s heart pounded in her chest, and though she attempted to control the surge of excited energy in her breath and hoofsteps, it proved more difficult than she anticipated. Impatiently, Apple Bloom pried her eyes from the door to check the small pile of ingredients and equipment she had gathered earlier that day. To keep her mind occupied, she ran over the list in her head again.
Dragon’s Claw, Swamp water, Phoenix feather, Heart’s Desire, Bramble Berries, and of course: Lightnin’ in a bottle. It’s all here except--
“Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle called out, opening the barn door with her magic.
Apple Bloom whipped her head around with a giant grin on her face; her friends were here at last.
“Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! Get inside, quick!” Apple Bloom said as she raced to the door, pushing through her friends in the process. She poked her head outside cautiously, her eyes darting around and hoping to find no other pony in her sights. When she was satisfied, she shut the door and exhaled in relief.
“What’s with all the secrecy?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yeah, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Wait… ‘right’ as in we ARE doing something wrong or we AREN’T doing something wrong?” Scootaloo asked in confusion.
“Both! Or rather, neither… it’s… complicated.” Apple Bloom said, leading her friends back to the pile of ingredients and the potion vials nearby. “Did ya get what I asked for?” she asked, her eyes widening in excitement.
“One drop of rainbow; check!” Scootaloo said, rummaging in her saddle bag for a moment before producing a small jar with extract of rainbow. She held it out proudly to Apple Bloom.
“That looks more like a jar than a drop.” Sweetie Belle corrected.
“Well, I didn’t know exactly how much was in a ‘drop’, and besides, Rainbow Dash moves really fast… when I asked to borrow a Daring Do book she was only gone for like 10 seconds! I had to dip the jar in her rainbow fountain while she wasn’t looking, I couldn’t even get the lid on in time. The whole inside of my bag is rainbow-ed now.” Scootaloo said, showing the damage in her saddlebag to her friends.
“So long as you got it, that’s what matters.” Apple Bloom said, plopping herself down in front of her potion-making supplies. She barely listened to Scootaloo’s story, as she started to mix the ingredients.
“If you think THAT was bad, try borrowing a gemstone from Rarity when she’s in the middle of her ‘Gem Spring Collection’!” Sweetie Belle said in exasperation.
Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “Woah… did you do it?” she asked, keenly interested in the story while Apple Bloom busied herself with her work.
“It wasn’t easy… and I’m sure she’s going to figure out one of the gemstones for her ‘signature couture’ is missing and blame me for it. I’m always blamed when things like that go missing.” Sweetie Belle said bitterly as she retrieved the gemstone from her own saddlebag.
“Well, you DID take it.” Scootaloo pointed out.
“This time! But it wasn’t my fault when Opal made off with her ‘fabulous faux fur’ fabric and I STILL got blamed!” Sweetie Belle said, holding out the gemstone for a moment before Apple Bloom swiped it away. “You’re welcome.” She added, a tinge of bitterness in her tone for Apple Bloom’s blatant ignorance of her struggle.
“Uh… yeah, thanks. And this was the biggest one you could find?” Apple Bloom asked, pouring the contents of one potion vial into another. She didn’t look up or even acknowledge Sweetie Belle’s answer of nodding her head.
“What’s so important that you had to have these TODAY and without anypony else knowing?” Scootaloo echoed, realizing that was something they probably should have discussed before agreeing to retrieve said items for their friend.
“Because the potion I’m makin’ can only work at night, and I read somewhere that a full moon helps make spells stronger, and that’s tonight!” Apple Bloom replied distractedly. She held the jar of rainbow over the potion bottle and gingerly tilted it just enough for a single drop to fall. The potion reacted by bubbling in different colors and emitting a smell like rotten week-old eggs.
“Ugh! What is this, Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle demanded, holding her snout in her hooves along with Scootaloo to avoid smelling the rancid odor in the air.
“Hang on… it’s almost done…” Apple Bloom said, stirring the strange color-changing liquid with a wooden spoon she held in her mouth. The potion continued changing colors, bubbling, and emitting the stench for a few more seconds. When it finally stopped, it turned clear with the viscosity and appearance of water. Scootaloo slowly lifted one hoof from her nose to check the scent in the air; the odor had vanished.
“So are you going to tell us what this is, or not?” Scootaloo asked, crossing her hooves and glaring down at her friend, unappreciative of her secrecy.
“It’s a findin’ spell.” Apple Bloom said proudly, holding the bottle of liquid in the light coming from a window.
“What’s a ‘findin’ spell’?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I read it in one of the potion books Twilight gave me to help me study. I pour it on this here gemstone when it’s dark out, and it lights up prettier than a star in the sky! It leads ya to whatever ya lost!” Apple Bloom said, her eyes wide and her voice quivering with excitement.
“What’d you lose?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s not exactly… a ‘what’ it’s more of a ‘who’.” Apple Bloom said, her voice much quieter than it had been moments before. She set the potion down and stared at some other ‘ingredients’ she had amidst her potion-making supplies. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle tilted their heads to get a good look at what she was seeing.
“Is that Applejack’s hat? IS APPLEJACK MISSING?!” Sweetie Belle gasped in horror, reaching for the hat only to have Apple Bloom block her and scoop it into her own hooves.
“No! This ain’t Applejack’s hat this is… was… my pa’s hat. And this was my ma’s.” Apple Bloom said, picking up an old notebook with various songs scribbled in its pages. She flipped through the book to a specific page where a dried and pressed Buttercup flower had been preserved.
“Apple Bloom, I thought your parents were…” Scootaloo started.
“It’s not true!” Apple Bloom shouted, slamming the book shut and dropping it on the ground with her father’s hat. “Granny said they were makin’ a delivery to Hoofington and… and they just weren’t heard from again! Maybe they’re lost! Maybe they’ve been trying to find me… us… and they can’t remember how to get here. They’re missing; and I’m gonna find them!” Apple Bloom shouted, tears stinging her eyes and threatening to drop.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cast their eyes downward, unsure what to say.
“It’s possible, right?” Apple Bloom said, sniffling and furiously wiping at her eyes. “RIGHT?”
“I-it’s possible.” Scootaloo muttered.
“When did… Granny tell you…” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yesterday. And that’s when I got this here idea. No pony’s even tried it yet. We have to at least TRY.” Apple Bloom said. “Come nightfall, I'll add this piece of the hat and a petal of the flower in the potion and then pour it on the gemstone. The book doesn’t say how long it’ll take but… I’ll stay up all night if I have to.”
“Ohhh, so that’s why you planned the last minute sleepover. Well then, we’ll stay up with you!” Scootaloo said confidently.
“We will-- WE WILL?” Sweetie Belle asked, catching herself agreeing before she comprehended what she was being volunteered for.
“Of course we will! Cutie Mark Crusaders stick together, right?” Scootaloo exclaimed, putting her hoof forward for their typical three-hoof-bump.
“Right! Cutie Mark Crusaders: Lost Pony Finders!” Apple Bloom said with a smile, putting her hoof out to meet Scootaloo’s.
Sweetie Belle hesitated, looking from the hat and flower to the potion to her friends.
“I don’t know guys, magic isn’t really supposed to work like that, I think this spell was for things, not ponies.” she said, holding her hoof in front of her like she wasn’t convinced to let it meet her friends’ hooves.
“I know Sweetie Belle, it’s probably just a stupid idea, but… I can’t not know. I’ve spent my whole life wondering what happened to ‘em and I just… I have to try.” Apple Bloom said, pleading her case.
“O-okay. I guess it can’t hurt to try.” Sweetie Belle said, still unsure, but buckling under the pressure she felt from Apple Bloom’s sheer determination and hope. The three ponies hoof-bumped and shouted their motto:
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Forever! YAY!”
---
The three fillies crept along the corridors of Apple Bloom’s house, keeping a close eye on where her family was. Big Mac and Applejack were in the kitchen, and Granny was sleeping in the living room. They sneaked out the front door; knowing it was better to take their chances with Granny then with the Apple siblings. Once they were clear of the house, they trotted to the other side of the barn and started unpacking the remaining ingredients of the spell.
“Do you think they’ll see it?” Scootaloo asked in a whisper, giving Apple Bloom the sealed potion vial.
“The book said it wasn’t really a bright light, just a magical one. Either way, the kitchen’s facing the other way and Granny’ll never wake up.” Apple Bloom said confidently.
“Can we hurry, please?” Sweetie Belle asked, still nervous and uneasy with the plan.
“Almost ready.” Apple Bloom answered, having already dropped in the strip of hat and the flower petal into the potion. It made little streaks of brown and yellow appear on the liquid’s surface. “Sweetie Belle, use your magic and pour it on the gemstone.”
Sweetie Belle obeyed, eager to get it over with. All three fillies stared in bewilderment as the liquid splashed on its surface, then disappeared as the gem soaked it in like a sponge. In its wake, a small light began glowing from within. The more Sweetie Belle poured onto the gemstone, the stronger the glow became. As the last drop hit its surface, it levitated into the air, coming to a stop at about the fillys’ eye level. Slowly at first, but with increasing speed, the gem spun around generating a tan and yellow light at either point.
“Apple Bloom, are you sure this is how its supposed to work? You said it wasn't supposed to be this bright!?” Sweetie Belle squeaked as the gemstone’s whirling hit a fever pitch and let off a slight whirring noise, the light growing ever stronger and brighter.
“Well, no but…” Apple Bloom began. The gem made a small cracking noise in mid-air and twin bursts of light erupted from it, one pale yellow and the other a warm tan, speeding away faster than the eye could follow. The gem traveled over the main pasture and fields towards the furthest reaches of the farm that bordered the Everfree Forest, leaving behind its trail of light like breadcrumbs to follow. The three fillies were transfixed, marveling its beauty.
“It’s workin’! Let’s go!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, trotting after the gem with her friends in tow.
The little fillies followed the gem as it wove between neat rows of apple trees towards the far fields. Sweet Apple Acres was usually a bright and cheerful place, but in the cover of night, it could be just as frightening as the Everfree forest. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo didn’t want to let on how nervous they were, being this far from the barn, or Ponyville for that matter, but they knew better than to deter Apple Bloom when she was on a mission.
“Where exactly did Granny Smith say they disappeared, again?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“She didn’t say, or rather, she WOULDN’T say. Won’t she feel so silly when we bring ‘em home?” Apple Bloom said, still as confident as ever. She pulled up short as the gem went sailing over an imposing barrier that appeared from the shadows in the gem’s faint light. She and the crusaders approached cautiously to find a large wooden fence stretching beyond sight.
“Now what?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, it’s mighty tall, but the slats aren’t close enough together to keep a few fillies out, come on!” Apple Bloom said, squeezing herself through the wooden beams.
“I don’t know about this…” Sweetie Belle muttered.
“Aw, don’t be scared Sweetie! Usually Applejack puts up these fences to keep things organized. We haven’t actually left Sweet Apple Acres.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged worried glances before following Apple Bloom through the fence.
On the other side of the barrier, the fillies found themselves in what looked to be a wild forest but was in fact just an orchard in decline. Tree rows were uneven and broken with downed deadwood scattered here and there among the roots of their twisted and sickly ken. Strange grasses and weeds grew among the dead and dying apple trees and a thick layer of rotting foliage covered the forest floor.
“Are you sure about that, Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked.
“I think so, I’ve never been to this part of the orchard, but I've heard Sis speak of it once or twice. This is the far Eastern fields; they stretch all the way up to the Everfree forest, or at least they did before the landslide.” Apple Bloom noted.
“Landslide? What Landslide?” Sweetie Belle asked as she pinned her ears reflexively against her head.
“And why would Applejack just fence it all off?” Scootaloo added.
“Ah don’t know.” Applebloom said carefully as she began picking her way through the deadwood and empty patches left by missing trees in the sickly orchard rows. “Like I said, she only talked about it a couple times, and never to me. Last year, I overheard her tellin’ Rainbow Dash that there was a huge flash flood that came out of the Everfree around the time I was born. It caused a whole heap of damage, like ripping out trees and formin’ a landslide that went on for miles. I bet they figured it’d be better to fence it off and leave it for the animals then waste time fixin’ it.”
In the bright moonlight, the fillies could just make out a large crescent of rocky soil and broken trees ahead of them. A huge scar of earth, rock, and death encompassed them on three sides.
“Let’s get out of here.” Sweetie Belle whispered, as she scanned across the wall of debris. “This place doesn't feel… right.”
“We can't! We just gotta keep goin’! We’ve gone this far, how can we turn back now?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she stared defiantly at her two friends. The other crusaders looked at her awkwardly then down at their hooves, neither wanting to be the first to challenge their friend’s resolve.
Snap!
“Did you girls hear that?” Scootaloo asked, whirling her head around looking for the source of the sound.
“Hear what? I don’t hear anything.” Apple Bloom replied tersely. “Don’t try to change the subject Scoots.”
“I wasn’t--” Scootaloo began before being cut off abruptly as a howl pierced the night. The fillies turned slowly to see green eyes glowing faintly through the brush.
“A… Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle whispered as a chord of terror ran through her. “Do you think maybe that fence wasn’t just for ‘organizing’?”
Apple Bloom tried to swallow, but her throat had gone bone dry. A chorus of replying howls could be heard in the distance, growing louder by the moment. “W-well, sometimes she uses ‘em to keep the critters from the Everfree away...”
“Critters like… t-timberwolves?” Scootaloo whispered back, huddling closely to Sweetie Belle. “What do we do now?”
“Run!” Apple Bloom screamed, turning tail and racing away from the howls, and towards the wall of rubble and stone with the faint light of the gem ahead to guide her.
“Apple Bloom! Are you crazy? We have to go back!” Scootaloo screamed, trailing after her with a sobbing Sweetie Belle in tow.
“It’s too late! This is the only way out!” Apple Bloom shouted, her heart pounding as fast as her hooves against the ground. The clacking of the timberwolves’ wooden limbs against the brush and scree were now audible amongst their yowling cries. Sweetie Belle screamed, and the crusaders surged into a gallop, tears of fear stinging their eyes. They reached the base of the old landslide and began climbing the rubble in the faint magical light.
As Apple Bloom pulled herself over a particularly large rock, she was surprised to see the gem hovering ahead, mere inches from her face. “What the--?” She reached forward to grab it, losing her balance and tumbling forward. She could have sworn she caught a glimpse of hay colored-mane in the pale light before falling head over tail and landing hard on her back. The impact drove the air from her lungs and she struggled to pull in a breath against the searing pain.
“Apple Bloom? Where did you gooOOOOO?!” Scootaloo’s voice came from above before the orange pegasus landed with a thud atop the yellow earth pony.
“Scootaloo! Apple Bloom! Are you two okay?” Came Sweetie Belle’s panicked voice. Their surroundings brightened and came into focus as Sweetie grasped the gem in her magic and levitated it down into the hole with them. In the soft illumination, the sore fillies righted themselves and took in their surroundings.
The hole was in the shape of an hourglass, like two explosions had recently gone off right next to each other. The twin craters were around ten feet deep and nearly as wide. Applebloom and Scootaloo had fallen in at the center where the bowls of the pits overlapped.
“What could’ve made this?” Applebloom mumbled as she took in the fresh burn marks that scored the sides of the pit.
“They’re here!” Sweetie Belle said in a panicked whisper. She carefully slid down the slope, coming to a skittering stop in front of her friends, huddling against them on shaking hooves as the Timberwolves stalked nearer. The crusaders sucked in a collective breath as the sounds of scrapes and leaps echoed around them.
“Shh!” Apple Bloom whispered, pushing herself up against the side of the pit and urging her friends to do the same. From above, they could see the first Timberwolf. He slowly stalked onto a boulder, sniffing the air. From what it seemed, he had lost their scent, and was trying to find it again. He was soon joined by a chorus of disgruntled grunts and growls from wolves out of their line of sight. Somehow, the wolves had lost them, and the crusaders waited with bated breath for the wolves to search elsewhere for their midnight snack. However, their hope for survival was short-lived when the gem they had been following, the one Sweetie Belle had brilliantly pulled down into the hole with them, suddenly flared and coalesced with magical energy. It shot into the sky, hovering above them and glowed brighter than it had before, blinding them and bathing the crater in bright, white light.
The panicked and angry sounds of the timberwolves above grew with the intensity of the light. Then, without warning, a ear-piercing bestial shriek came from above, followed by a series of sickening crunches and snaps. Some thing else was up there with the wolves. It moved with a limp: a step and then a drag. The noises it made were guttural, almost primal, though unlike any animal or beast the fillies had heard before. Another wolf cried out from the other side of the pit, followed by more crunching and snapping. A deeper, more drawn out moan came from that direction, but this creature’s steps fell louder and faster than the first.
What Timberwolves remained weren’t foolish enough to take on this new adversary. They collectively bound over the crater, tripping over themselves to flee their new adversary. One of the wolves took a misstep, colliding into another wolf before tumbling to the base of the pit in pieces.
Sweetie Belle tried to scream, but Apple Bloom covered her mouth. The crusaders could do nothing but watch in silent horror as the Timberwolf re-assembled itself before their very eyes. Its heaving breath gusted into their faces as it glared them down. It opened its mouth, ready to strike, but paused when it heard the groan of the monsters above them.
Its ears rustled, flattening against the bark of its head. It turned away from the fillies, leapt out of the pit, and followed the other wolves into the orchard before the crusaders could properly process what they’d just seen. The only sounds that remained were of gurgling and moaning from above.
“I-it’s gotta be them! They saved us! Mah! Pah!” Apple Bloom cried out, pulling away from the others to try and climb out of the pit. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, though relieved to see the wolves retreat, weren’t as blindly optimistic as their friend.
“If it were your parents who saved us… why haven’t they said anything?” Sweetie Belle asked frightened.
“Maybe they can’t hear us? MAH! PAH! WE’RE DOWN HERE! HELP!” Apple Bloom called out.
The noise above them slowed to a stop, the silence was deafening in their ears as their hearts raced.
“Uh… I don’t think that’s your parents!” Scootaloo cautioned.
“They scared the Timberwolves away, didn’t they?!” Apple Bloom insisted, a little less hopeful in her intonation.
“Yeah, because THEY were SCARIER!” Scootaloo shouted.
“I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!” Sweetie Belle chanted, curling into a little ball against Scootaloo.
“Ah ha!” Apple Bloom announced happily, having found a solid object to help pull her upwards. Scootaloo’s eyes widened when she recognized a bone jetting from the gravel.
“Apple Bloom, don’t!”
“Do something!” Sweetie Belle screamed as Apple Bloom neared the mouth of the crater.
Scootaloo looked up at the gem, which still hovered above their soon-to-be grave. She picked up some rocks in her hooves and started throwing them at it.
“Hey! Watch it! What’re you doing?!” Apple Bloom cried, ducking away from Scootaloo’s shot.
“Come on Sweetie Belle, help me!” Scootaloo shouted.
“No! You can’t! I just got them back!” Apple Bloom screamed, fighting harder to make it out of the crater.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo didn’t listen, setting their sights on the beacon of light and refusing to deter from their task.
At last, Apple Bloom hoisted herself up out of the pit and out of eyesight of the other two crusaders.
“Mah! Pah! I did it, I’m he--”
Sweetie Belle looked to Scootaloo and perked up her ears, trying to hear above her. The pair had unintentionally stopped in their tracks when Apple Bloom fell silent.
“Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle called out, to which there was no reply.
“APPLE BLOOM!” She screamed again in vain.
“HURRY!” Scootaloo shouted, taking drastic action by climbing on top of Sweetie Belle to get better aim. She struggled as she launched herself off her friend to get better aim. The rock in her hoof successfully made contact with the gem, knocking it from the sky and down into the crater with the two of them.
The gem shattered on impact, the sound reverberating around them as if it were much larger than it was. The glow from within slowly dissipated and in its absence, the fillies could only hear soft sobbing from above.
“Hang on Apple Bloom, we’re coming!” Sweetie Belle called out while she and Scootaloo scaled the unhewn walls, helping each other out of the crater. They saw a curled up, quivering Apple Bloom and raced to her side.
“What is it?! Are you okay? What happened?!” Scootaloo asked.
“She lied…” Apple Bloom whispered bitterly.
“Huh?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s eyes adjusted to the moonlight to see two crumpled masses flanking the crusaders. One was turned upright towards the moon, its deep eye-less sockets staring back at the fillies. Strains of brittle red hair cascaded along the sides of the snout, concealing the missing lower jaw underneath. The rest of the body was a well-preserved, gaunt, muscle-less figure. The other figure remained turned away from them, but within the faint light, they could see taut, wretched skin stretched over what remained of the incomplete body. Limbs jutted out in unnatural angles, like a rag doll, exposing dried mangled carnage from within. A single red ribbon pulled what remained of a sickly orange mane to the side, displaying a crooked, disfigured neck, its head nearly severed.
The crusaders stood dumbfounded until Apple Bloom stirred, pointing her hoof at the ground just beyond them. Two old wooden crosses laid in splintered pieces on the ground, newly shattered. Though they were hard to read in the dim moonlight, the crusaders could still make out the carvings reading: ‘Pear Butter’ and ‘Bright Mac’. Sweetie Belle turned her head to the craters they had taken refuge in as the pieces slowly sank into place.
Apple Bloom’s breathing turned haggard as her eyes stung with tears. In anger and anguish, she cried into the night.