Pony Tailsby Jonah FunChaptersOneTwoThreeFourFiveSixOneIt was another sparkling day in Equestria. The sun had crawled over the horizon and now shone down, touching everything it saw. The sunlight offered glistened in the water of Horseshoe pond, a strange area named after the shape of the body of water that lay there. The patch of land that lay in the middle of horseshoe pond was inhabited by a great oak tree, whose many branches hung out over the water providing shade for the sea-bound creatures. Surrounding the forest clearing were a circle of fully bloomed roses, their luscious blood red colour providing a beautiful contrast to the green of the stems and grass. A single pathway went through the clearing, and down the pathway came two young girls, silently walking under the blazing heat. One was about ten and was carrying a backpack. She wore a t-shirt filled with flowers on it that contrasted well with the black background, and sea blue jeans that looked short and tight. She had a pale, spotty face with ivy green eyes that loomed in the sockets. On her feet she had white trainers with orange socks, and her hair was blond, wrapped in a pony tail. The other who followed was smaller, about seven, and wore a T-shirt that was Fire-red with purple stripes going at a thirty degree angle along with over-sized navy blue jeans. She had pink sandals as if she were on a beach, and her fat feet painfully pushed against the straps, protesting against it's confines. Her face was closer to a square then an oval, and her light blue eyes were inaccessible as they lay idly pointed at the ground. Her hair was also blond, but was instead split into two pony tails on either side of her head. The leader turned her head to notice the great oak, stopping for a moment to admire the beauty. She then turned to the girl who was following her and grasped both sides of her head softly. "Card time?" asked the 7-year old. Her voice was young and innocent, if not a bit grating on the ears. "Yes, card time. Sit down while i get the cards out." Replied the ten-year old. Her voice while speaking to the seven-year old was soft, trustworthy and stern. The youngest sat down while the oldest opened her bag and looked inside. She shook her head in confusion as to why she had the strange assortment of items, then reached inside and retrieved a packet of cards, a pen and a notebook. She opened the packet and turned to the younger girl. Her distant eyes flickered with expectation. The eldest passed to the youngest the pen and notebook. The youngest's eyes came into focus as she opened the notebook, revealing pages of tables, numbers and statistics that the seven-year old had put together over the time she couldn't remember. The eldest began to draw cards, taking long gaps in between the draw until the youngest said "Ready" when she would then draw another. All the meanwhile the youngest scribbled down more numbers into the notebook, never lifting her eyes to look at the deck of cards until the eldest had drawn the thirteenth card and she had finished writing. The youngest then finally looked up at the deck and said "Shuffle". She then stared at the deck, making sure it was shuffled well by the eldest, for if it wasn't then that would ruin her stats. "Stop" She said. The shuffler halted. "Ready" And thus they repeated this process a few times, until the eldest spoke: "Enough". The youngest, knowing she couldn't compete with such authority, made her last few notes and put the pen down. She flicked through the pages admiring what she had made. The eldest lay down and took a deep breath. It was a hot day and the long walk would've made her sweat if she hadn't have been shaded by the trees in the forest. She got up and walked over to the shade of the tree. She sat down against the bark and watched the youngest who was still looking at the notebook. She pitied the poor girl, but she didn't know exactly why. She sighed again and closed her eyes to visit fleeting memories... Running away She remembered the adrenaline... Holding her hand She remembered the fear... Don't look back. You've been shot. Your arm... She remembered collapsing. She opened her eyes. The youngest was standing above her, notebook, pen and cards in hand, waiting for instructions. For a moment they stared into one another's eyes. The eldest looked away. "Sit here," She said, patting the ground beside her. The youngest looked at the place she was patting, registering the instructions, before sitting beside the eldest. "Who am I?" she asked the wind. "You're Daisy" the youngest replied. "And who are you?" she asked the voice. "I'm Rose." the youngest replied "Why are we here?" she asked the skies. Silence. The eldest faced the youngest. "Rose, you must realize that where we're going could be a place with many dangers." Silence again. "So if anything bad happens, you're to come back here, to this weird pond. Got it?" Still silence. The eldest clasped the youngest's head again, as softly as she did before. "Rose, If you get into trouble, you head straight back here. Right? back to this pond, under this tree. Understand?" The youngest nodded. "Good." said the eldest. "Good..." she repeated, slumping back to her spot under the tree. A few more careless minutes passed. The youngest became more fidgety as time passed, and it was as she began to hum that the eldest took a final deep sigh and rose from the fleeting moment of rest. the youngest copied her, her eyes now stuck to the back of her head. Silently, the pair headed back on to the path they had temporarily strayed from. A Raven cawed and flew and dove close over the two hikers. They continued unfazed as he coldly glided and rose, flying away from the sun for reasons they would never care to guess. TwoThe two had walked out of the forest and on to the dirt track. Daisy was far more alert now, her step quickening slightly. Rose followed without complaints, as ever. They trekked along for awhile until they saw them. They were horses, but not the horses that Daisy inexplicably had in her mind. Their eyes were much bigger than that of normal horses, their fur and manes strikingly coloured. The genders of the creatures was obvious. The two had emerged from the top of the path, and were staring down in shock at the humans. One was purple furred with a darker, radiant purple in her mane. The other had orange fur and blonde mane and tail. She was wearing a hat, and was the first of the four to speak: "What in the name of Equestria are you?" She asked, fear evident underneath her strong western accent. Rose gripped Daisy's hand and stood beside her, viewing the two creatures with a nervous interest. " I am Daisy and this is Rose" said Daisy, frozen in place, The purple horse's expression changed from fright to enlightenment as she realized Daisy and Rose were just as scared as they were. She spoke with a timid, logical voice; "I'm Twilight... Twilight Sparkle" She took some small steps towards the humans, "Do... do you need anything?" "Twilight, get back!" The orange horse said, as Rose's eyes haunted her mind. "Don't you see? They're just as alien to us as we are to them!" Replied the purple horse to her friend. She faced the humans again. "That's Applejack, by the way." The orange horse once again looked at the odd creatures, Rose stared at her, her intrigue being mistaken for a thirst for blood. But, the orange horse trusted her friend, and her friend trusted these strangers. She trotted down to the purple horse and they both went down to the humans in an attempt to be friendly. The girls stood firmly, each squeezing the other's hand. The horses were about as tall as Daisy once they stood on equal ground. The two horses exchanged looks, then the purple one asked: "Where are you from?" "We've no idea" Daisy replied. "Can you remember anything about your past?" Daisy looked away from the purple horse. "Not exactly... It... It's weird. I..." The purple horse cut in; "Don't worry, you can explain later. We were just heading to Applejack's barn; would you like to come with us? It's just a short walk down the path." the orange horse added; "We can all sit down there and introduce ourselves to one another properly, eh?" she said to Rose. "Yeah, sure. Down the path?" Daisy began to turn, and released her hand from Rose's grip who returned to her place behind her leader. The two horses glanced at one another again, before trotting up beside Daisy. A few silent minutes later, the group had reached a house of sorts. The autumn months were near passing, so the trees behind the building were almost bare, the few brown leaves that remained being weak and shriveled. The farm land that the unlikely group were passing was nothing but bare fields of mud, it's crops having been picked a small while ago. The main building in which the horses lived was large and barn shaped, with red walls and flowers in the open windows. "There it is" said the orange horse, "Sweet Apple Acres. Me and three other ponies live there. There's ol Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and my little sister Applebloom. Look out for her, she small but she's a right troublemaker at times." "Oh yeah? What kind of trouble does she cause?" Daisy asked, concerned "Oh, just general nuisance stuff, you know. She's real nice though. Never does anythin to be mean. She'll probably jus see the two of you as new friends." "And what will the other two think of us?" "I dunno..." she thought for a while. "Big Mac'll probably not react at all. He don't say much, but he ain't stupid neither." She chuckled."And Granny Smith'll probably think your a pony!" "Heh" Daisy replied half-heartedly. Just then, A small horse galloped out of the front doors, and shouted for Applejack. She was yellow, with a small red mane and tail. On her mane she wore a cute pink bow. Her voice was accented like the orange horse's but was far less mature. "Applejack, Granny smith told me to come get ya for the,,,th..." She stuttered, noticing the humans for the first time. "Now don't you worry bout these two creatures, Applebloom, they're perfectly harmless. This is Daisy and this is Rose." Despite the words from her sister, the young foal still stood in shock at the 2 aliens. "Well then? Introduce yourself!" Applebloom took two reticent steps towards the strange creatures. "Uhhhhh... hi? I'm Applebloom... um" She nervously put her left forehoof out. "Please to meet you, Applebloom" Daisy stood still, her face an unreadable slate. The foal turned to rose, her forehoof still stuck out. Rose wasn't much taller than her, and when Applebloom turned to her Rose was looking into the sky, seeing what numbers she could remember from her notebook. "Hey, wanna be friends?" Rose just simply gazed into the sky, oblivious to her surroundings. Daisy cut in; "That's not a good idea. Rose likes to be alone." "Oh well... That's fine i guess..." Applebloom didn't bother to hide her dissapointment. "Well... I'll jus be gettin off then. See ya." She slowly began to trot the direction they had came, still staring at the humans, then turned and galloped down the path, not looking back. The unusual group continued towards the house. Applejack spoke; "I guess you two are gonna go live down in the barn. There ain't no space in our house. The hay'll make some fine comfy beds, though." Twilight continued; "Well, in the the mean time I'll get in contact with Princess Celestia about this." Daisy shot the purple horse a confused look. "She's the ruler of all of Equestria." "Oh" she turned her face back to her destination. They reached the front door of the house. "Actually... You may wanna get to the barn and make yourselves comfy." Said Applejack, "It's gonna be tough to break this to Granny and Big Mac and..." Daisy just gave a nod and headed towards the barn. Rose followed, as ever. Twilight made to follow. "Where d'you think you're goin?" Applejack whispered, urgency in her voice. "They're aliens, Applejack! A chance to study alien lifeforms doesn't exact come around everyday!" Twilight looked pleadingly at Applejack, as if she needed her permission to go. Applejack sighed. "I guess I can't stop ya. Good luck." with that, she turned and walked through the doors of the house, and Twilight followed the two girls who, against the simple colours of the barn, stuck out like sore hooves with their bright, uncomfortable looking clothing. In the scorching heat, a robin eagerly called for a mate, and Twilight realized it was the first joyous noise she heard since meeting the two. She hoped it wouldn't be the last. ThreeThe barn's purpose wasn't really that clear, as it all seemed to do was hold haystacks at the back. The ground was covered in hay, and the large entrance and windows at the side only cast their light so far into the empty space, most of which was refreshingly shaded from the bare heat of the sun. A single birds nest lay upon the wooden support beams, it eggs unhatched, their parents no-where to be seen. Daisy walked through the open front door, followed by Rose, followed by Twilight. Daisy walked to the back of the room, threw her backpack down and sat beside it. Rose sat down beside her and began to fiddle with the hay beneath her. Daisy's eyes stared beyond Twilight's head, her mind deep in thoughts of the past. Twilight knelt down, which caused Daisy to glance at her for a moment, if only to see how. She was resting on her belly, her hind legs on either side and her fore legs in front of her. She put her left foreleg over her right, and looked at Daisy in the eyes, trying to capture her gaze, but to no avail. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. She opened it again after some thought, but Daisy spoke first. "Do you know why you're here?" the question took Twilight back. Before she could come up with a reply, Daisy continued; "Because we don't. Do you remember who you are? Because we don't. We aren't called Daisy and Rose, Twilight." A pause. Twilight stayed silent, allowing Daisy to continue her train of thought. "I just remembered those names when we first woke up. But that means nothing. Humans have at least two names, sometimes three." Rose obsessively tampered with the hay now, grabbing multiple pieces of hay and dropping in front of her face. "Do you have any idea?!..." She was sobbing now, tears gently streaming down her face. "Any idea of what it's like to wake up and have nothing, Not even memories?" angst grew in her eyes, and distaste rose in her voice "Just a... a mentally challenged girl for company and a bag full of meaningless junk." Rose spat suddenly, and the two others turned to her. She had dropped hay on her mouth instead of in front of it, and had spat out some that had gotten in by accident. Daisy turned back to her distant spot, while Twilight stayed looking at the girl. She started to bob her head, then suddenly looked up, as if she had gotten an idea. She quickly turned to Daisy, and tugged her shirt asking; "Card time?" Daisy sniffed, and looked at Twilight with a sad grin on her face. "Yes Rose, Card time." She turned away from the purple horse, and opened the backpack that lay beside her. She pulled out a pack of cards a pen and a notebook, and shuffled a small space away from Rose. Then, after giving Rose the notebook and pen, then began the routine they had done at horseshoe pond, with Daisy drawing a card, Rose recording it, saying "Ready", Daisy drawing another card, Rose recording it, and so on and so forth. Around about the tenth card, Twilight went to kneel down beside Rose. Daisy shot her a questioning look, but Twilight simply smiled back. After Rose said "Shuffle" for the first time, Twilight did something neither of the two were expecting. Her horn began to glow, which was strange enough, but then, out of no-where, a quiver in an ink pot and a piece of yellow-brownish parchment appeared out of no-where. Daisy stopped shuffling to look at this display, but Rose couldn't care less about the magical horse sitting beside her; that didn't concern her. On the other hand, Daisy had stopped shuffling the cards. "Shuffle" She repeated. Daisy questioning look went from Twilight's smile to Rose's cold, expectant eyes. She continued to shuffle the cards, and looked down at the hay as she did, trying to accept what just happened. "Ready" Daisy jumped out of her trance and instinctively drew a card. She looked at Twilight, whose horn was glowing as the quiver drew on the parchment, surrounded by the same glow that encompassed her horn. "Ready" Daisy smiled, and continued to draw. The unlikely trio sat there for a while, as if nothing in the world could touch them. The moment was their's to share and enjoy, and no-one else's. It was the best memory Daisy had at the time. And it was over all too quickly. Applejack stood in the doorway to the barn, her figure casting out the light of the sun form the barn. She looked at the three unusual creatures, and gently sighed. "Hey Twilight?" Daisy and Twilight turned to face the orange horse. "It's time for bowling with the others, remember." Twilight reacted as if she was pulled back to reality. "Oh! Of course! I completely forgot!" She used her horn, and the parchment, quiver and ink pot all disappeared. Daisy looked hurt, she had just destroyed all her work from the last few minutes... or hours. She herself had lost track of the time. Twilight, spotting this, turned to Daisy and explained; "I just sent it back to my house, Don't worry." She thought for a second. "Hey... do you want to come with us?" "Twilight, I ain't so sure that's..." "Let Daisy have the choice, Applejack." The orange horse showed shock, but only for a second. Daisy's eyes seemed to brighten. "Come with you to what?" she asked. "Bowling." said Twilight, bluntly. Daisy hesitated for a moment, but slowly nodded, a grateful grin just visible on her face. She packed up her cards, even though she had only drawn five cards of thirteen in the shuffle. Rose started to complain, But Daisy gently grasped the sides of her face, silencing her. "Listen, I'm just going out for a short while. Look through you notebook, and fiddle with hay and do whatever you like, so long as you stay here until I come back, okay?" In Daisy's grasp, Rose simply nodded. Daisy kissed Roses forehead, before standing up and turning to Twilight. Rose Grabbed her notebook and began to read. Daisy left the bag there, and the pack of cards on the ground. "Come on then" said Twilight, heading towards the barn door. Applejack left the doorway, defeated. Twilight said on the way out; "I don't want to get your hopes up, but I've heard of a place - a pond to be exact - that restores memories if you drink the water." "You think i'll ever find that place?" "Haha, we'll see." FourGranny Smith was an old, wrinkly pony, Her fur was light green and creased everywhere imaginable, and most days she would spend forgetting how to bake delicious treats that only she had the ability to conjure, babbling on to herself about the most remote things until she remembered. In contrast, Big Macintosh was the complete opposite of Granny Smith. With his strong hooves apple red fur and he was a very quiet type and generally kept his opinions to himself unless he knew they were relevant. The untrained eye would see him as simple, but there was actually far more gears in this pony's head then anyone could expect at a glance. The 2 were in the living room of their house, sharing a small break from work besides a toasty fire place. It was small for a living room, with barely enough space to swing a cat. Drawers sat on the sides mounted by family photos and stairs at the back went up to the ponies original rooms. A sweet smell of apple pie drafted in from the doorway to the kitchen, of which Applejack seemed to sourly ignore as she stormed into the room. Granny noticed her impatience, and asked her of her well being. Applejack explained what had happened to her and Twilight, explaining the 2 human's questionable appearances and rose's cold glare in great detail. "They were like tombstones, I tell ya! Stone-like and ghostly. Sends me the shivers whenever I glance at er." "They sound like they're in an awful lotta stress, to me." said Granny Smith "They're in a awful lotta stress? They certain didn't show it if they were. They were jus blankin us the whole journey." "They just sound scared to me" said Big Mac in a low, simple voice. "Well I don't trust um. Specially not that small un. There's some-in not quite right bout her that I-" She cut off by her little sister Applebloom, who had entered the room with a large groan "Applebloom, ain't you sposed to off adventurin wit those cutie mark crusader pals of yours?" Applebloom shook her head in annoyance. "Nah, they're all busy. Sweetie Belle's helping her sister with her fashion stuff, and Scootaloo's busy practicin with her scooter. Ain't it possible that could-" Applejack caught her mid-sentence; "No, Applebloom. You are not gonna play with that young alien. You heard the big one, she likes bein alone." "But siiiis" "But nothin. No sister of mine's gonna be consorting with those creatures til I know i can trust um." As if to stop the on-coming arguement, Granny Smith made a rather good point; "Isn't it a doozy that they can speak our language?" The 3 siblings turned their head to the old horse, all questioned what she had just said in their minds. Applebloom shook her head again. "Ugh, whatever, I don't care anyways." she unconvincingly whined. With that, she made her way to the stairs and sulked off to her room. They waited in silence until Applebloom had slammed her door shut "Aw, she'll get over it. She'll bounce back just like a spring as she always does, you'll see" Applejack spoke to the stairs. She the turned to the clock that hung above the fireplace. "Oh my apple juice, is that the time? Me an the girls are goin bowlin tonight! I betta go an' get Twilight from the barn. Nice talkin to yas!" with that, she hurried out of the livin room before the other horses had a chance to reply. Bic Mac stated once she'd gone: "Haha, though it was her that did most of the talkin" Big Mac and Granny Smith both chuckled to one another. Granny sniffed the aroma coming from the kitchen. "Why, i think my pie's ready..." she said while hobbling off to the kitchen. Big Mac himself got up quietly and left the living room to get back to ploughing the fields. At the top of the staircase, Applebloom eavesdropped on the remainder of the conversation. After Big Mac had left, she waited for a couple of minutes before sneaking downstairs and heading to the barn. FiveThere was, for a small while, a contented silence in the barn. Leaning back on the haystacks, Rose was happy that she had been left alone here with her notebook. Earlier in the day, she had been left alone in the forest clearing under the intense heat of the sun. Rose hadn't liked that, it was too hot for her too enjoy her vast amount of recordings. In here in the barn. it was cool and yet still bright enough to see. Rose liked that. The fact the she couldn't remember anything in her past was also a plus, as it meant that she could rediscover all that stat the she had wrote down in her past . Indeed, it was looking to be a fine little afternoon for Rose. That was until the yellow horse appeared in the doorway. Applebloom looked onto the carefree alien as she used her questionably shaped hooves to flick through her book. She wanted attention, but quickly realized none would come if she stood around doing squat. She called out to the creature; "Hey!" Rose remained face down, her nuzzle fully immersed into her world of numbers. But Applebloom hadn't given up that easily. She trotted in to the barn, a seemingly innocent smile stretching between her 2 eyes. Once again she called out to the creature. "Hey! The one with the book. Ummm... er - Rose, wun it?" Rose realized she wouldn't escape this creature's company until she satisfied her demands and turned up to face her, Her face and cheeky grin directly covering any view of the outside. "Whatcha doin?" She asked, enthusiastically. "Just reading my book" Rose replied flatly. "What's it about?" She tried again. "Stats." Applebloom showed discomfort at the amount of effort she was putting into this conversation. Her face barely raised up enough for her eyes to glare through, The alien creature looked imposing despite how Applebloom was looking down on it. "Stats, huh? Bout what?" Applebloom made to sit beside her as Rose gave another simple answer. "Card time." Applebloom slumped down against the haystack, and for the first time caught sight of the mysterious bag the lay lifelessly on the hay. "Now what is this..." Applebloom said with greedy curiosity "That's Daisy's bag. You're not allowed to touch it. She said so." Rose anxiously said to Applebloom, catching her attention. "What, an you have to listen to her or somein?" "Daisy makes the rules" Rose said, regaining her normal, flat voice. "Well, you know what they say," Applebloom cheekily grinned, "Rules are made to be broken." With that, she picked up the bag, much to Rose's alarm. "N-n-no! Don't do that!" She sat forward now, the 7-year old clearly in her voice, with blatant fear in her small eyes. "Why? Will the wide,wide world of Equestria fall on me when i open it?" Rose stared back, confused by this logic. "B-but Daisy said-" "Daisy was probably jus being a tight ol meanie, a bit like my sister not lettin me see you. They're all like that." Rose was astounded. The girl seemed so calm, so casual, when she was breaking one of the most important rules of all. It was almost as if she were right, as if Daisy had been over-blowing the rules. She was too busy thinking about this to see Applebloom clench her teeth on the zip and undo the bag, and by the time she realized what she was hearing, Rose had turned back to the yellow horse after gazing to nothing and instinctively opened her mouth to object, but then closed it on second thought. "Now... Let's see what we ave here..." She had put one of her fore-hooves into the bag but looked to the east of it while doing so. She pulled out an object shaped like a mirrored L, it was green, translucent with a little trigger under the turning point and an orange nozzle at the end of the longer part. Applebloom chucked it to Rose, who failed to catch it. She picked it up off of the hay. "What's that?" The yellow horse asked. "I dunno..." replied Rose "well... try something with it.. shake it or pull part of it or..." Rose's index finger had almost naturally slid into the trigger, and when she pulled, little to her surprise, a fine line of water squirted out of the orange nozzle. "Hey!!! It's like a portable hose!" Applebloom laughed, joyous at the progress she was making. She then turned glum. "It ain't all that powerful though. What else we got in here..." She searched hungrily through the bag, eager for more adventure with the alien. This time, she pulled out a silver coil. It looked light but was very long; even though Applebloom was holding it as high as she could, it still reached the ground. She dropped it and it all fell down into one small compressed coil before bouncing over onto it's side. Rose watched the yellow horse with great interest, as she dug through the things Daisy, whom she had trusted, had pointlessly kept from her, trying to figure out why, or what she had done to deserve it. Applebloom spat a raspberry at the item. "What a waste of my time. Is there anythin left in-" What she then pulled out was much like the first object, but it was black and opaque, and slightly larger. Applebloom beamed at Rose. "Hey, i bet this here is a more powerful porta-hose." She chucked the object at Rose, and added; "Blast me with it, i'm boilin." This time Rose caught the object, and, upon command, expertly aimed it between Applebloom's eyes and fired. As she did so, the eggs in the nest simultaneously hatched, and the birds started to make a horrendous but quiet cry. She looked at the dead filly as blood slithered out of the bullet wound, and realized just what she had done. She dropped the gun. Applebloom's face showed shock, the expression unshifting and cold. Rose's face replicated this. Now she was in big trouble. She killed someone. That orange horse's sister. She was dead. It was her fault. No more card time. Maybe no more Daisy. Then, a memory flashed in Roses mind. So if anything bad happens, you're to come back here, to this weird pond. Got it? Daisy was always right. Daisy made the rules. She had to go back to the pond. If she did that, she might be forgiven. or at least, get a less severe punishment. Rose's eyes flashed back into reality, as she saw the pack of cards lying beside the dead horse. She hazily walked over to them and picked them up. She took one final look at the body. She was wrong. Daisy was right. She always had been. "It's your fault. You should've known. Daisy is always right!" She was unconsciously shouting at the corpse, her eyes secretly filling up with tears. With that, she ran from the barn, as the 3 newly hatched birds made desperate, hopeless caws for their mother. The bowling trip had been a great success. All of Twilight's friends had grown to like Daisy, and treated her as if she were a pony herself. Even Applejack was seemingly loosening up a bit. It was night-time, the sun finally ending another trek along the sky and the moon begining one of it's own. Twilight, Daisy and Applejack were still discussing the humorous events of the trip and laughing when they first entered the barn. Then Applejack saw her sister was dead. She ran over to the cold corpse, and she shook the body in some weak attempt to bring life back to it. Then she let out an awful, painful groan before sobbing over her sister's dead body. Twilight just stood there, shocked. She hadn't known Applebloom too well, but to see Applejack in this much pain was heart-wrenching: she couldn't hold back her tears. Daisy knew almost immediately what had happened. She walked aimlessly to the gun. She had told Rose that she wasn't allowed to open the bag; It must have that yellow horse who had convinced her to do so. She shouldn't have left the bag with Rose, she thought, this was all her own fault. She fumbled back to Twilight, who was silently staring at her poor friend, her body like a statue, her eyes distant and searching. She looked up to the entrance, which was now occupied by Granny smith and Big mac, who had come after hearing the moan. They both held the other for support. She turned back to Twilight. "What now" Daisy whimpered. Her question flickered in Twilight's eyes, and she replied; "Rottadamn," Daisy waited for an explanation "Rose will be sent to Rottadamn prison. It's the strictest, vilest place imaginable. The inmates are the worst of pony kind. And the guards are tough as nails." "Rottadamn prison?" The orange horse cut in. "That.. thing, is not likely to be gettin that far, i'm afraid," Twilight jerked her head towards the orange horse, who was now carrying her little sister on her back. "I'm gonna go to town, tell everyone bout that there demon, and get her hung." "Applejack sh-" "SHE KILLED MY SISTER!!" Twilight hung in shock at the pure rage in her friend's voice. Applejack's face softened, she had scared her friend and felt as if she needed to explain why. "She never got her cutie mark, you know." She said, wearily. "She used to git up every mornin and moan or sigh cus she's still bare. I was waiting so long for the day she'd git up and laugh, smile or grin or somethin. That mornin's never gonna come now, is it?" Twilight shook her head, defeated. "No it ain't. and whose fault is that?" Daisy shuffled uneasily. "I just wan a little justice. And i'm sure the townsfolk will too." She turned to Daisy, her look of contempt glaring at daisy's look of guilt. "An i'll come back fer you later." She added sourly. The orange horse then made her way to the barn entrance, slowly trotting with her dead sister on her back. When she got to the entrance she stopped and turned; "You comin, brother?" Big Mac shot a disapproving look before going back to comfort his grandmother. "Fine" hissed the orange horse, "Be that way." with that, she was gone. A couple of seconds stiffly passed. Daisy opened her mouth; "Do think that she'll really-" "She loved her sister. They were really close." Daisy turned towards Twilight. "Can you stop her?" "Not a chance." "Are we ever going to find that lake?" Twilight's face gave Daisy the answer she needed, but did not want. More stiff seconds came and went. "I know where Rose will be" She said, determinedly walking over to her bag. She picked up and saw the notebook just lying down on the hay. "Where?" asked Twilight. Daisy silently walked over to the notebook a put in her bag. She opened her mouth, hesitated for a bit, then said "Near a weird shaped pond to the east of here. The one with the big tree in the middle of it." "Go to her" Twilight said. "Escape if you must. Rottadamn prison is no place for a girl like that, Daisy." Daisy had zipped up her bag and put it on her back, and was now listening carefully to Twilight. "I'll go and try to slow Applejack down." She watched as Twilight ran after the orange horse, but stopped mid-gallop in thought. Without turning, she said "Maybe one day... when this all behind us-" "It'll never be behind her." Daisy replied flattly. Twilight sighed, knowing this was true. Her voice broke while saying goodbye as she left the barn. Daisy began to leave herself, but was interrupted by Granny Smith. She startled at the sound of her; she'd forgotten they were there at all. "What do you plan on doin with her?" Daisy hesitated, and choose her words; "Whatever's best for her." The old withered horse smiled sadly through her closed eyes and streaming tears, as she tiredly replied; "Then you have my blessings." Daisy lingered there for a moment, taking in the comment for what it really was. She then hurried out of the barn, and left the 2 horses to the tears. Up above, one bird lay dead and bloodied as the other 2 feasted on it for lack of anything else to eat. The 2 knew that tomorrow, one would kill the other for food. But that was then. For now, they simply gorged themselves on what had once been their sibling, oblivious to the conflict below them. SixDaisy approached Rose who sat in the clearing beside Horseshoe pond. The moonlight glistened off the water, and the great oak tree towered over all, looking formidable and unopposed. The night's air was clean, and silence was only averted by Rose's gentle sobbing. She was on her knees, hunched over the playing cards that she had taken with her. When Daisy saw them she realized why rose was crying; many of the cards were bent and torn in places, a couple of which had been fully ripped in two. "Rose?" though she said it softly, and had a warm smile on her face, Rose still snapped her head round to see Daisy and started to panic. "I-I did a-a bad thing and yo-you told to c-come here if i did-" "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, Calm down okay?" She once again had clasped the sides of Daisy's face. She wasn't trying to make her voice sound as motherly as it was, it just came out that way. " Now don't you worry about the cards. i can fix them." She lied. "Come over here, away from them." The pair moved closer to the tree, Rose being led by Daisy all the way. "Sit down" Said Daisy. Rose did so, eyes still sodden. Daisy looked at the glistening water. A thought popped into her brain. "Rose, look what i got for you." She unzipped her bag and pulled out the notebook. Rose's eyes lit up and she hungrily snatched the notebook off her, and she began scurrying through the pages to make things better. Daisy didn't mind the girl's rudeness. She got up, and walked to the water of the pond. She cupped her hands and submerged them, before bringing them back out again, She took a deep breath, and drank all the water that lay in her hands. And the memories came flooding back. The Space-country, the orphange, the men in black, being taken away, meeting Rose, her training, her briefing, The language lessons, her failed escape attempt, the memory loss serum... Everything that she wanted came to her except comfort. For, what did it matter that they were being surveyed along with five other children? What did it matter that human's needed a new home? What did it matter that she had tried to escape? Nothing could save Rose. Not anymore. Daisy heard voices in the distance. Her time was running out. She must have taken some time remembering everything. Rose sat quietly with her book, still sniffling every now and again. Daisy walked over to her bag, unzipped it, then hesitated before turning to Rose. "Rose, you understand everything I do is for your own good, right?" "Yes, Daisy." The voices began to get louder "And you understand that what you did at the barn was wrong, right?" "Yes, Daisy." "So you must never question my judgement again, right?" "Yes, Daisy." Daisy sighed, and got up. She put her right hand to her face, covering her eyes. The voices were right on top of them now "Okay... Okay." She took a deep a breath and hauled her left hand up, pointing the gun that she held to the back Rose's head. "Then I forgive you." She fired. Rose fell over her notebook and lay down on her belly, her leg's bent, her eyes closed. Dead, The crowd of horses appeared and collectively stared at her, and then at the killer. Daisy herself was frozen in place, in disbelief. The only part of her moved was her tears that trickled down her face. The orange horse looked at the frozen girl and realized how much the dead alien had meant to the other. Almost like her love for Applebloom. Because of this, for a single moment, the orange horse pitied the creature. The next moment she was in shock, as the girl had suddenly shot herself through the head. Blood pooled out of the two dead aliens, and a silent minute passed. The crowd eventually started disbanding and going back to their own respective homes, mumbling as they did so. Twilight and Applejack stood there alone with their thoughts as the moonlight glistened on the enchanted waters of horseshoe pond and ponies trotted past them tiredly. A raven who was here earlier in the day flew overhead, excited to feed her 3 young hatchlings of whom she had kept waiting. Applejack broke the trance; "So who in the name of Equestria is gonna bury these things?"
OneIt was another sparkling day in Equestria. The sun had crawled over the horizon and now shone down, touching everything it saw. The sunlight offered glistened in the water of Horseshoe pond, a strange area named after the shape of the body of water that lay there. The patch of land that lay in the middle of horseshoe pond was inhabited by a great oak tree, whose many branches hung out over the water providing shade for the sea-bound creatures. Surrounding the forest clearing were a circle of fully bloomed roses, their luscious blood red colour providing a beautiful contrast to the green of the stems and grass. A single pathway went through the clearing, and down the pathway came two young girls, silently walking under the blazing heat. One was about ten and was carrying a backpack. She wore a t-shirt filled with flowers on it that contrasted well with the black background, and sea blue jeans that looked short and tight. She had a pale, spotty face with ivy green eyes that loomed in the sockets. On her feet she had white trainers with orange socks, and her hair was blond, wrapped in a pony tail. The other who followed was smaller, about seven, and wore a T-shirt that was Fire-red with purple stripes going at a thirty degree angle along with over-sized navy blue jeans. She had pink sandals as if she were on a beach, and her fat feet painfully pushed against the straps, protesting against it's confines. Her face was closer to a square then an oval, and her light blue eyes were inaccessible as they lay idly pointed at the ground. Her hair was also blond, but was instead split into two pony tails on either side of her head. The leader turned her head to notice the great oak, stopping for a moment to admire the beauty. She then turned to the girl who was following her and grasped both sides of her head softly. "Card time?" asked the 7-year old. Her voice was young and innocent, if not a bit grating on the ears. "Yes, card time. Sit down while i get the cards out." Replied the ten-year old. Her voice while speaking to the seven-year old was soft, trustworthy and stern. The youngest sat down while the oldest opened her bag and looked inside. She shook her head in confusion as to why she had the strange assortment of items, then reached inside and retrieved a packet of cards, a pen and a notebook. She opened the packet and turned to the younger girl. Her distant eyes flickered with expectation. The eldest passed to the youngest the pen and notebook. The youngest's eyes came into focus as she opened the notebook, revealing pages of tables, numbers and statistics that the seven-year old had put together over the time she couldn't remember. The eldest began to draw cards, taking long gaps in between the draw until the youngest said "Ready" when she would then draw another. All the meanwhile the youngest scribbled down more numbers into the notebook, never lifting her eyes to look at the deck of cards until the eldest had drawn the thirteenth card and she had finished writing. The youngest then finally looked up at the deck and said "Shuffle". She then stared at the deck, making sure it was shuffled well by the eldest, for if it wasn't then that would ruin her stats. "Stop" She said. The shuffler halted. "Ready" And thus they repeated this process a few times, until the eldest spoke: "Enough". The youngest, knowing she couldn't compete with such authority, made her last few notes and put the pen down. She flicked through the pages admiring what she had made. The eldest lay down and took a deep breath. It was a hot day and the long walk would've made her sweat if she hadn't have been shaded by the trees in the forest. She got up and walked over to the shade of the tree. She sat down against the bark and watched the youngest who was still looking at the notebook. She pitied the poor girl, but she didn't know exactly why. She sighed again and closed her eyes to visit fleeting memories... Running away She remembered the adrenaline... Holding her hand She remembered the fear... Don't look back. You've been shot. Your arm... She remembered collapsing. She opened her eyes. The youngest was standing above her, notebook, pen and cards in hand, waiting for instructions. For a moment they stared into one another's eyes. The eldest looked away. "Sit here," She said, patting the ground beside her. The youngest looked at the place she was patting, registering the instructions, before sitting beside the eldest. "Who am I?" she asked the wind. "You're Daisy" the youngest replied. "And who are you?" she asked the voice. "I'm Rose." the youngest replied "Why are we here?" she asked the skies. Silence. The eldest faced the youngest. "Rose, you must realize that where we're going could be a place with many dangers." Silence again. "So if anything bad happens, you're to come back here, to this weird pond. Got it?" Still silence. The eldest clasped the youngest's head again, as softly as she did before. "Rose, If you get into trouble, you head straight back here. Right? back to this pond, under this tree. Understand?" The youngest nodded. "Good." said the eldest. "Good..." she repeated, slumping back to her spot under the tree. A few more careless minutes passed. The youngest became more fidgety as time passed, and it was as she began to hum that the eldest took a final deep sigh and rose from the fleeting moment of rest. the youngest copied her, her eyes now stuck to the back of her head. Silently, the pair headed back on to the path they had temporarily strayed from. A Raven cawed and flew and dove close over the two hikers. They continued unfazed as he coldly glided and rose, flying away from the sun for reasons they would never care to guess.
TwoThe two had walked out of the forest and on to the dirt track. Daisy was far more alert now, her step quickening slightly. Rose followed without complaints, as ever. They trekked along for awhile until they saw them. They were horses, but not the horses that Daisy inexplicably had in her mind. Their eyes were much bigger than that of normal horses, their fur and manes strikingly coloured. The genders of the creatures was obvious. The two had emerged from the top of the path, and were staring down in shock at the humans. One was purple furred with a darker, radiant purple in her mane. The other had orange fur and blonde mane and tail. She was wearing a hat, and was the first of the four to speak: "What in the name of Equestria are you?" She asked, fear evident underneath her strong western accent. Rose gripped Daisy's hand and stood beside her, viewing the two creatures with a nervous interest. " I am Daisy and this is Rose" said Daisy, frozen in place, The purple horse's expression changed from fright to enlightenment as she realized Daisy and Rose were just as scared as they were. She spoke with a timid, logical voice; "I'm Twilight... Twilight Sparkle" She took some small steps towards the humans, "Do... do you need anything?" "Twilight, get back!" The orange horse said, as Rose's eyes haunted her mind. "Don't you see? They're just as alien to us as we are to them!" Replied the purple horse to her friend. She faced the humans again. "That's Applejack, by the way." The orange horse once again looked at the odd creatures, Rose stared at her, her intrigue being mistaken for a thirst for blood. But, the orange horse trusted her friend, and her friend trusted these strangers. She trotted down to the purple horse and they both went down to the humans in an attempt to be friendly. The girls stood firmly, each squeezing the other's hand. The horses were about as tall as Daisy once they stood on equal ground. The two horses exchanged looks, then the purple one asked: "Where are you from?" "We've no idea" Daisy replied. "Can you remember anything about your past?" Daisy looked away from the purple horse. "Not exactly... It... It's weird. I..." The purple horse cut in; "Don't worry, you can explain later. We were just heading to Applejack's barn; would you like to come with us? It's just a short walk down the path." the orange horse added; "We can all sit down there and introduce ourselves to one another properly, eh?" she said to Rose. "Yeah, sure. Down the path?" Daisy began to turn, and released her hand from Rose's grip who returned to her place behind her leader. The two horses glanced at one another again, before trotting up beside Daisy. A few silent minutes later, the group had reached a house of sorts. The autumn months were near passing, so the trees behind the building were almost bare, the few brown leaves that remained being weak and shriveled. The farm land that the unlikely group were passing was nothing but bare fields of mud, it's crops having been picked a small while ago. The main building in which the horses lived was large and barn shaped, with red walls and flowers in the open windows. "There it is" said the orange horse, "Sweet Apple Acres. Me and three other ponies live there. There's ol Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and my little sister Applebloom. Look out for her, she small but she's a right troublemaker at times." "Oh yeah? What kind of trouble does she cause?" Daisy asked, concerned "Oh, just general nuisance stuff, you know. She's real nice though. Never does anythin to be mean. She'll probably jus see the two of you as new friends." "And what will the other two think of us?" "I dunno..." she thought for a while. "Big Mac'll probably not react at all. He don't say much, but he ain't stupid neither." She chuckled."And Granny Smith'll probably think your a pony!" "Heh" Daisy replied half-heartedly. Just then, A small horse galloped out of the front doors, and shouted for Applejack. She was yellow, with a small red mane and tail. On her mane she wore a cute pink bow. Her voice was accented like the orange horse's but was far less mature. "Applejack, Granny smith told me to come get ya for the,,,th..." She stuttered, noticing the humans for the first time. "Now don't you worry bout these two creatures, Applebloom, they're perfectly harmless. This is Daisy and this is Rose." Despite the words from her sister, the young foal still stood in shock at the 2 aliens. "Well then? Introduce yourself!" Applebloom took two reticent steps towards the strange creatures. "Uhhhhh... hi? I'm Applebloom... um" She nervously put her left forehoof out. "Please to meet you, Applebloom" Daisy stood still, her face an unreadable slate. The foal turned to rose, her forehoof still stuck out. Rose wasn't much taller than her, and when Applebloom turned to her Rose was looking into the sky, seeing what numbers she could remember from her notebook. "Hey, wanna be friends?" Rose just simply gazed into the sky, oblivious to her surroundings. Daisy cut in; "That's not a good idea. Rose likes to be alone." "Oh well... That's fine i guess..." Applebloom didn't bother to hide her dissapointment. "Well... I'll jus be gettin off then. See ya." She slowly began to trot the direction they had came, still staring at the humans, then turned and galloped down the path, not looking back. The unusual group continued towards the house. Applejack spoke; "I guess you two are gonna go live down in the barn. There ain't no space in our house. The hay'll make some fine comfy beds, though." Twilight continued; "Well, in the the mean time I'll get in contact with Princess Celestia about this." Daisy shot the purple horse a confused look. "She's the ruler of all of Equestria." "Oh" she turned her face back to her destination. They reached the front door of the house. "Actually... You may wanna get to the barn and make yourselves comfy." Said Applejack, "It's gonna be tough to break this to Granny and Big Mac and..." Daisy just gave a nod and headed towards the barn. Rose followed, as ever. Twilight made to follow. "Where d'you think you're goin?" Applejack whispered, urgency in her voice. "They're aliens, Applejack! A chance to study alien lifeforms doesn't exact come around everyday!" Twilight looked pleadingly at Applejack, as if she needed her permission to go. Applejack sighed. "I guess I can't stop ya. Good luck." with that, she turned and walked through the doors of the house, and Twilight followed the two girls who, against the simple colours of the barn, stuck out like sore hooves with their bright, uncomfortable looking clothing. In the scorching heat, a robin eagerly called for a mate, and Twilight realized it was the first joyous noise she heard since meeting the two. She hoped it wouldn't be the last.
ThreeThe barn's purpose wasn't really that clear, as it all seemed to do was hold haystacks at the back. The ground was covered in hay, and the large entrance and windows at the side only cast their light so far into the empty space, most of which was refreshingly shaded from the bare heat of the sun. A single birds nest lay upon the wooden support beams, it eggs unhatched, their parents no-where to be seen. Daisy walked through the open front door, followed by Rose, followed by Twilight. Daisy walked to the back of the room, threw her backpack down and sat beside it. Rose sat down beside her and began to fiddle with the hay beneath her. Daisy's eyes stared beyond Twilight's head, her mind deep in thoughts of the past. Twilight knelt down, which caused Daisy to glance at her for a moment, if only to see how. She was resting on her belly, her hind legs on either side and her fore legs in front of her. She put her left foreleg over her right, and looked at Daisy in the eyes, trying to capture her gaze, but to no avail. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. She opened it again after some thought, but Daisy spoke first. "Do you know why you're here?" the question took Twilight back. Before she could come up with a reply, Daisy continued; "Because we don't. Do you remember who you are? Because we don't. We aren't called Daisy and Rose, Twilight." A pause. Twilight stayed silent, allowing Daisy to continue her train of thought. "I just remembered those names when we first woke up. But that means nothing. Humans have at least two names, sometimes three." Rose obsessively tampered with the hay now, grabbing multiple pieces of hay and dropping in front of her face. "Do you have any idea?!..." She was sobbing now, tears gently streaming down her face. "Any idea of what it's like to wake up and have nothing, Not even memories?" angst grew in her eyes, and distaste rose in her voice "Just a... a mentally challenged girl for company and a bag full of meaningless junk." Rose spat suddenly, and the two others turned to her. She had dropped hay on her mouth instead of in front of it, and had spat out some that had gotten in by accident. Daisy turned back to her distant spot, while Twilight stayed looking at the girl. She started to bob her head, then suddenly looked up, as if she had gotten an idea. She quickly turned to Daisy, and tugged her shirt asking; "Card time?" Daisy sniffed, and looked at Twilight with a sad grin on her face. "Yes Rose, Card time." She turned away from the purple horse, and opened the backpack that lay beside her. She pulled out a pack of cards a pen and a notebook, and shuffled a small space away from Rose. Then, after giving Rose the notebook and pen, then began the routine they had done at horseshoe pond, with Daisy drawing a card, Rose recording it, saying "Ready", Daisy drawing another card, Rose recording it, and so on and so forth. Around about the tenth card, Twilight went to kneel down beside Rose. Daisy shot her a questioning look, but Twilight simply smiled back. After Rose said "Shuffle" for the first time, Twilight did something neither of the two were expecting. Her horn began to glow, which was strange enough, but then, out of no-where, a quiver in an ink pot and a piece of yellow-brownish parchment appeared out of no-where. Daisy stopped shuffling to look at this display, but Rose couldn't care less about the magical horse sitting beside her; that didn't concern her. On the other hand, Daisy had stopped shuffling the cards. "Shuffle" She repeated. Daisy questioning look went from Twilight's smile to Rose's cold, expectant eyes. She continued to shuffle the cards, and looked down at the hay as she did, trying to accept what just happened. "Ready" Daisy jumped out of her trance and instinctively drew a card. She looked at Twilight, whose horn was glowing as the quiver drew on the parchment, surrounded by the same glow that encompassed her horn. "Ready" Daisy smiled, and continued to draw. The unlikely trio sat there for a while, as if nothing in the world could touch them. The moment was their's to share and enjoy, and no-one else's. It was the best memory Daisy had at the time. And it was over all too quickly. Applejack stood in the doorway to the barn, her figure casting out the light of the sun form the barn. She looked at the three unusual creatures, and gently sighed. "Hey Twilight?" Daisy and Twilight turned to face the orange horse. "It's time for bowling with the others, remember." Twilight reacted as if she was pulled back to reality. "Oh! Of course! I completely forgot!" She used her horn, and the parchment, quiver and ink pot all disappeared. Daisy looked hurt, she had just destroyed all her work from the last few minutes... or hours. She herself had lost track of the time. Twilight, spotting this, turned to Daisy and explained; "I just sent it back to my house, Don't worry." She thought for a second. "Hey... do you want to come with us?" "Twilight, I ain't so sure that's..." "Let Daisy have the choice, Applejack." The orange horse showed shock, but only for a second. Daisy's eyes seemed to brighten. "Come with you to what?" she asked. "Bowling." said Twilight, bluntly. Daisy hesitated for a moment, but slowly nodded, a grateful grin just visible on her face. She packed up her cards, even though she had only drawn five cards of thirteen in the shuffle. Rose started to complain, But Daisy gently grasped the sides of her face, silencing her. "Listen, I'm just going out for a short while. Look through you notebook, and fiddle with hay and do whatever you like, so long as you stay here until I come back, okay?" In Daisy's grasp, Rose simply nodded. Daisy kissed Roses forehead, before standing up and turning to Twilight. Rose Grabbed her notebook and began to read. Daisy left the bag there, and the pack of cards on the ground. "Come on then" said Twilight, heading towards the barn door. Applejack left the doorway, defeated. Twilight said on the way out; "I don't want to get your hopes up, but I've heard of a place - a pond to be exact - that restores memories if you drink the water." "You think i'll ever find that place?" "Haha, we'll see."
FourGranny Smith was an old, wrinkly pony, Her fur was light green and creased everywhere imaginable, and most days she would spend forgetting how to bake delicious treats that only she had the ability to conjure, babbling on to herself about the most remote things until she remembered. In contrast, Big Macintosh was the complete opposite of Granny Smith. With his strong hooves apple red fur and he was a very quiet type and generally kept his opinions to himself unless he knew they were relevant. The untrained eye would see him as simple, but there was actually far more gears in this pony's head then anyone could expect at a glance. The 2 were in the living room of their house, sharing a small break from work besides a toasty fire place. It was small for a living room, with barely enough space to swing a cat. Drawers sat on the sides mounted by family photos and stairs at the back went up to the ponies original rooms. A sweet smell of apple pie drafted in from the doorway to the kitchen, of which Applejack seemed to sourly ignore as she stormed into the room. Granny noticed her impatience, and asked her of her well being. Applejack explained what had happened to her and Twilight, explaining the 2 human's questionable appearances and rose's cold glare in great detail. "They were like tombstones, I tell ya! Stone-like and ghostly. Sends me the shivers whenever I glance at er." "They sound like they're in an awful lotta stress, to me." said Granny Smith "They're in a awful lotta stress? They certain didn't show it if they were. They were jus blankin us the whole journey." "They just sound scared to me" said Big Mac in a low, simple voice. "Well I don't trust um. Specially not that small un. There's some-in not quite right bout her that I-" She cut off by her little sister Applebloom, who had entered the room with a large groan "Applebloom, ain't you sposed to off adventurin wit those cutie mark crusader pals of yours?" Applebloom shook her head in annoyance. "Nah, they're all busy. Sweetie Belle's helping her sister with her fashion stuff, and Scootaloo's busy practicin with her scooter. Ain't it possible that could-" Applejack caught her mid-sentence; "No, Applebloom. You are not gonna play with that young alien. You heard the big one, she likes bein alone." "But siiiis" "But nothin. No sister of mine's gonna be consorting with those creatures til I know i can trust um." As if to stop the on-coming arguement, Granny Smith made a rather good point; "Isn't it a doozy that they can speak our language?" The 3 siblings turned their head to the old horse, all questioned what she had just said in their minds. Applebloom shook her head again. "Ugh, whatever, I don't care anyways." she unconvincingly whined. With that, she made her way to the stairs and sulked off to her room. They waited in silence until Applebloom had slammed her door shut "Aw, she'll get over it. She'll bounce back just like a spring as she always does, you'll see" Applejack spoke to the stairs. She the turned to the clock that hung above the fireplace. "Oh my apple juice, is that the time? Me an the girls are goin bowlin tonight! I betta go an' get Twilight from the barn. Nice talkin to yas!" with that, she hurried out of the livin room before the other horses had a chance to reply. Bic Mac stated once she'd gone: "Haha, though it was her that did most of the talkin" Big Mac and Granny Smith both chuckled to one another. Granny sniffed the aroma coming from the kitchen. "Why, i think my pie's ready..." she said while hobbling off to the kitchen. Big Mac himself got up quietly and left the living room to get back to ploughing the fields. At the top of the staircase, Applebloom eavesdropped on the remainder of the conversation. After Big Mac had left, she waited for a couple of minutes before sneaking downstairs and heading to the barn.
FiveThere was, for a small while, a contented silence in the barn. Leaning back on the haystacks, Rose was happy that she had been left alone here with her notebook. Earlier in the day, she had been left alone in the forest clearing under the intense heat of the sun. Rose hadn't liked that, it was too hot for her too enjoy her vast amount of recordings. In here in the barn. it was cool and yet still bright enough to see. Rose liked that. The fact the she couldn't remember anything in her past was also a plus, as it meant that she could rediscover all that stat the she had wrote down in her past . Indeed, it was looking to be a fine little afternoon for Rose. That was until the yellow horse appeared in the doorway. Applebloom looked onto the carefree alien as she used her questionably shaped hooves to flick through her book. She wanted attention, but quickly realized none would come if she stood around doing squat. She called out to the creature; "Hey!" Rose remained face down, her nuzzle fully immersed into her world of numbers. But Applebloom hadn't given up that easily. She trotted in to the barn, a seemingly innocent smile stretching between her 2 eyes. Once again she called out to the creature. "Hey! The one with the book. Ummm... er - Rose, wun it?" Rose realized she wouldn't escape this creature's company until she satisfied her demands and turned up to face her, Her face and cheeky grin directly covering any view of the outside. "Whatcha doin?" She asked, enthusiastically. "Just reading my book" Rose replied flatly. "What's it about?" She tried again. "Stats." Applebloom showed discomfort at the amount of effort she was putting into this conversation. Her face barely raised up enough for her eyes to glare through, The alien creature looked imposing despite how Applebloom was looking down on it. "Stats, huh? Bout what?" Applebloom made to sit beside her as Rose gave another simple answer. "Card time." Applebloom slumped down against the haystack, and for the first time caught sight of the mysterious bag the lay lifelessly on the hay. "Now what is this..." Applebloom said with greedy curiosity "That's Daisy's bag. You're not allowed to touch it. She said so." Rose anxiously said to Applebloom, catching her attention. "What, an you have to listen to her or somein?" "Daisy makes the rules" Rose said, regaining her normal, flat voice. "Well, you know what they say," Applebloom cheekily grinned, "Rules are made to be broken." With that, she picked up the bag, much to Rose's alarm. "N-n-no! Don't do that!" She sat forward now, the 7-year old clearly in her voice, with blatant fear in her small eyes. "Why? Will the wide,wide world of Equestria fall on me when i open it?" Rose stared back, confused by this logic. "B-but Daisy said-" "Daisy was probably jus being a tight ol meanie, a bit like my sister not lettin me see you. They're all like that." Rose was astounded. The girl seemed so calm, so casual, when she was breaking one of the most important rules of all. It was almost as if she were right, as if Daisy had been over-blowing the rules. She was too busy thinking about this to see Applebloom clench her teeth on the zip and undo the bag, and by the time she realized what she was hearing, Rose had turned back to the yellow horse after gazing to nothing and instinctively opened her mouth to object, but then closed it on second thought. "Now... Let's see what we ave here..." She had put one of her fore-hooves into the bag but looked to the east of it while doing so. She pulled out an object shaped like a mirrored L, it was green, translucent with a little trigger under the turning point and an orange nozzle at the end of the longer part. Applebloom chucked it to Rose, who failed to catch it. She picked it up off of the hay. "What's that?" The yellow horse asked. "I dunno..." replied Rose "well... try something with it.. shake it or pull part of it or..." Rose's index finger had almost naturally slid into the trigger, and when she pulled, little to her surprise, a fine line of water squirted out of the orange nozzle. "Hey!!! It's like a portable hose!" Applebloom laughed, joyous at the progress she was making. She then turned glum. "It ain't all that powerful though. What else we got in here..." She searched hungrily through the bag, eager for more adventure with the alien. This time, she pulled out a silver coil. It looked light but was very long; even though Applebloom was holding it as high as she could, it still reached the ground. She dropped it and it all fell down into one small compressed coil before bouncing over onto it's side. Rose watched the yellow horse with great interest, as she dug through the things Daisy, whom she had trusted, had pointlessly kept from her, trying to figure out why, or what she had done to deserve it. Applebloom spat a raspberry at the item. "What a waste of my time. Is there anythin left in-" What she then pulled out was much like the first object, but it was black and opaque, and slightly larger. Applebloom beamed at Rose. "Hey, i bet this here is a more powerful porta-hose." She chucked the object at Rose, and added; "Blast me with it, i'm boilin." This time Rose caught the object, and, upon command, expertly aimed it between Applebloom's eyes and fired. As she did so, the eggs in the nest simultaneously hatched, and the birds started to make a horrendous but quiet cry. She looked at the dead filly as blood slithered out of the bullet wound, and realized just what she had done. She dropped the gun. Applebloom's face showed shock, the expression unshifting and cold. Rose's face replicated this. Now she was in big trouble. She killed someone. That orange horse's sister. She was dead. It was her fault. No more card time. Maybe no more Daisy. Then, a memory flashed in Roses mind. So if anything bad happens, you're to come back here, to this weird pond. Got it? Daisy was always right. Daisy made the rules. She had to go back to the pond. If she did that, she might be forgiven. or at least, get a less severe punishment. Rose's eyes flashed back into reality, as she saw the pack of cards lying beside the dead horse. She hazily walked over to them and picked them up. She took one final look at the body. She was wrong. Daisy was right. She always had been. "It's your fault. You should've known. Daisy is always right!" She was unconsciously shouting at the corpse, her eyes secretly filling up with tears. With that, she ran from the barn, as the 3 newly hatched birds made desperate, hopeless caws for their mother. The bowling trip had been a great success. All of Twilight's friends had grown to like Daisy, and treated her as if she were a pony herself. Even Applejack was seemingly loosening up a bit. It was night-time, the sun finally ending another trek along the sky and the moon begining one of it's own. Twilight, Daisy and Applejack were still discussing the humorous events of the trip and laughing when they first entered the barn. Then Applejack saw her sister was dead. She ran over to the cold corpse, and she shook the body in some weak attempt to bring life back to it. Then she let out an awful, painful groan before sobbing over her sister's dead body. Twilight just stood there, shocked. She hadn't known Applebloom too well, but to see Applejack in this much pain was heart-wrenching: she couldn't hold back her tears. Daisy knew almost immediately what had happened. She walked aimlessly to the gun. She had told Rose that she wasn't allowed to open the bag; It must have that yellow horse who had convinced her to do so. She shouldn't have left the bag with Rose, she thought, this was all her own fault. She fumbled back to Twilight, who was silently staring at her poor friend, her body like a statue, her eyes distant and searching. She looked up to the entrance, which was now occupied by Granny smith and Big mac, who had come after hearing the moan. They both held the other for support. She turned back to Twilight. "What now" Daisy whimpered. Her question flickered in Twilight's eyes, and she replied; "Rottadamn," Daisy waited for an explanation "Rose will be sent to Rottadamn prison. It's the strictest, vilest place imaginable. The inmates are the worst of pony kind. And the guards are tough as nails." "Rottadamn prison?" The orange horse cut in. "That.. thing, is not likely to be gettin that far, i'm afraid," Twilight jerked her head towards the orange horse, who was now carrying her little sister on her back. "I'm gonna go to town, tell everyone bout that there demon, and get her hung." "Applejack sh-" "SHE KILLED MY SISTER!!" Twilight hung in shock at the pure rage in her friend's voice. Applejack's face softened, she had scared her friend and felt as if she needed to explain why. "She never got her cutie mark, you know." She said, wearily. "She used to git up every mornin and moan or sigh cus she's still bare. I was waiting so long for the day she'd git up and laugh, smile or grin or somethin. That mornin's never gonna come now, is it?" Twilight shook her head, defeated. "No it ain't. and whose fault is that?" Daisy shuffled uneasily. "I just wan a little justice. And i'm sure the townsfolk will too." She turned to Daisy, her look of contempt glaring at daisy's look of guilt. "An i'll come back fer you later." She added sourly. The orange horse then made her way to the barn entrance, slowly trotting with her dead sister on her back. When she got to the entrance she stopped and turned; "You comin, brother?" Big Mac shot a disapproving look before going back to comfort his grandmother. "Fine" hissed the orange horse, "Be that way." with that, she was gone. A couple of seconds stiffly passed. Daisy opened her mouth; "Do think that she'll really-" "She loved her sister. They were really close." Daisy turned towards Twilight. "Can you stop her?" "Not a chance." "Are we ever going to find that lake?" Twilight's face gave Daisy the answer she needed, but did not want. More stiff seconds came and went. "I know where Rose will be" She said, determinedly walking over to her bag. She picked up and saw the notebook just lying down on the hay. "Where?" asked Twilight. Daisy silently walked over to the notebook a put in her bag. She opened her mouth, hesitated for a bit, then said "Near a weird shaped pond to the east of here. The one with the big tree in the middle of it." "Go to her" Twilight said. "Escape if you must. Rottadamn prison is no place for a girl like that, Daisy." Daisy had zipped up her bag and put it on her back, and was now listening carefully to Twilight. "I'll go and try to slow Applejack down." She watched as Twilight ran after the orange horse, but stopped mid-gallop in thought. Without turning, she said "Maybe one day... when this all behind us-" "It'll never be behind her." Daisy replied flattly. Twilight sighed, knowing this was true. Her voice broke while saying goodbye as she left the barn. Daisy began to leave herself, but was interrupted by Granny Smith. She startled at the sound of her; she'd forgotten they were there at all. "What do you plan on doin with her?" Daisy hesitated, and choose her words; "Whatever's best for her." The old withered horse smiled sadly through her closed eyes and streaming tears, as she tiredly replied; "Then you have my blessings." Daisy lingered there for a moment, taking in the comment for what it really was. She then hurried out of the barn, and left the 2 horses to the tears. Up above, one bird lay dead and bloodied as the other 2 feasted on it for lack of anything else to eat. The 2 knew that tomorrow, one would kill the other for food. But that was then. For now, they simply gorged themselves on what had once been their sibling, oblivious to the conflict below them.
SixDaisy approached Rose who sat in the clearing beside Horseshoe pond. The moonlight glistened off the water, and the great oak tree towered over all, looking formidable and unopposed. The night's air was clean, and silence was only averted by Rose's gentle sobbing. She was on her knees, hunched over the playing cards that she had taken with her. When Daisy saw them she realized why rose was crying; many of the cards were bent and torn in places, a couple of which had been fully ripped in two. "Rose?" though she said it softly, and had a warm smile on her face, Rose still snapped her head round to see Daisy and started to panic. "I-I did a-a bad thing and yo-you told to c-come here if i did-" "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, Calm down okay?" She once again had clasped the sides of Daisy's face. She wasn't trying to make her voice sound as motherly as it was, it just came out that way. " Now don't you worry about the cards. i can fix them." She lied. "Come over here, away from them." The pair moved closer to the tree, Rose being led by Daisy all the way. "Sit down" Said Daisy. Rose did so, eyes still sodden. Daisy looked at the glistening water. A thought popped into her brain. "Rose, look what i got for you." She unzipped her bag and pulled out the notebook. Rose's eyes lit up and she hungrily snatched the notebook off her, and she began scurrying through the pages to make things better. Daisy didn't mind the girl's rudeness. She got up, and walked to the water of the pond. She cupped her hands and submerged them, before bringing them back out again, She took a deep breath, and drank all the water that lay in her hands. And the memories came flooding back. The Space-country, the orphange, the men in black, being taken away, meeting Rose, her training, her briefing, The language lessons, her failed escape attempt, the memory loss serum... Everything that she wanted came to her except comfort. For, what did it matter that they were being surveyed along with five other children? What did it matter that human's needed a new home? What did it matter that she had tried to escape? Nothing could save Rose. Not anymore. Daisy heard voices in the distance. Her time was running out. She must have taken some time remembering everything. Rose sat quietly with her book, still sniffling every now and again. Daisy walked over to her bag, unzipped it, then hesitated before turning to Rose. "Rose, you understand everything I do is for your own good, right?" "Yes, Daisy." The voices began to get louder "And you understand that what you did at the barn was wrong, right?" "Yes, Daisy." "So you must never question my judgement again, right?" "Yes, Daisy." Daisy sighed, and got up. She put her right hand to her face, covering her eyes. The voices were right on top of them now "Okay... Okay." She took a deep a breath and hauled her left hand up, pointing the gun that she held to the back Rose's head. "Then I forgive you." She fired. Rose fell over her notebook and lay down on her belly, her leg's bent, her eyes closed. Dead, The crowd of horses appeared and collectively stared at her, and then at the killer. Daisy herself was frozen in place, in disbelief. The only part of her moved was her tears that trickled down her face. The orange horse looked at the frozen girl and realized how much the dead alien had meant to the other. Almost like her love for Applebloom. Because of this, for a single moment, the orange horse pitied the creature. The next moment she was in shock, as the girl had suddenly shot herself through the head. Blood pooled out of the two dead aliens, and a silent minute passed. The crowd eventually started disbanding and going back to their own respective homes, mumbling as they did so. Twilight and Applejack stood there alone with their thoughts as the moonlight glistened on the enchanted waters of horseshoe pond and ponies trotted past them tiredly. A raven who was here earlier in the day flew overhead, excited to feed her 3 young hatchlings of whom she had kept waiting. Applejack broke the trance; "So who in the name of Equestria is gonna bury these things?"
