It's A Magical Life

CRACK. A flash of lightning. KABOOM. A roar of thunder.

A fierce rainstorm swept the green fields and dark windows of the dark houses in Ponyville. Not a hoof was seen wandering about outside in this freak weather, a storm so menacing even the experienced weather ponies up in Cloudsdale were uneasy in their homes, high above the housetops of the town below. Somepony had created a monster. However, this monster was created by nopony in Cloudsdale, nor by any surrounding pegasus communities. The only course of action taken was to simply wait for the storm to blow over. Unfortunately, there was no sign in the skies of Equestria that this would come to be anytime soon.

CRACK. A lightning bolt rocketed toward the ground at unfathomable speeds, finally finding its victim and shattering it to pieces. The tree exploded with such force that all the leaves burned instantly, reducing the plant to a pile of burnt wood. Barely an acre away sat the cozy cottage of Fluttershy, who had been trying to sleep in her bed for hours. At the explosion of the tree, the poor pegasus let out a shrill scream that caused her snowy white rabbit, Angel, to shoot out of her bed and onto the floor. Disgruntled by just barely being able to doze off to sleep, she cast Fluttershy an annoyed look and picked up her blanket and pillow. She was going to sleep in the cellar that night, as far away as Fluttershy as possible.

“I’m t-t-terribly, terribly s-s-sorry, Angel!” said Fluttershy in a muffled voice underneath the covers of her bed. “Pl-pleeeeease forgive me for that...it’s just…”

She stuck her face out of her bed covers and crawled to the foot of her bed, expecting to see Angel still on the floor. Noticing that her bed was empty, she let out a worried sigh and got out of her bed to straighten the covers. Tangling herself up in her bed sheets, she instead let out a short scream and fell to the floor with a loud THUD.

Finally untangling herself from her bed, she winced as she got back on her hooves. She left the silk and cotton mess on the ground as she walked over to the waterfall that was flowing outside her window. The look on her face was nothing short of extreme worry. Although some of the unease had to do with the dangerous storm outside, most of her deepest concerns were lying with one of her best friends.

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Unlike Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle* was fast asleep in her study, her head rested sideways over a sprawling map of a local section of Equestria. Several red markings littered the map, such as Xs, circles, random notes, and arrows. Many of the arrows pointed off the map, or were lost underneath Twilight’s pink and purple mane. It looked much like a treasure map. But who would be willing to go hunting for valuables in a time like this?

The birdhouse clock on Twilight’s wall showed it was just after one in the morning. Her large tree house creaked gently as wind began to pick up speed beyond its walls. It was a miracle her house hadn’t been struck by lightning yet. Twilight had fallen asleep just after midnight, exhausted from her night’s work. Rarity and Pinkie Pie had been over earlier for a visit, but they left hours ago to walk back to their homes. Twilight offered both of them to stay the night with her due to the storm, but they insisted on returning home to their residences without a feasible reason why.

As late as it was, Twilight was nopony new to burning the midnight oil to accomplish an important task. Sleep was of the lowest priority when a haunting challenge was faced with her. It was also a miracle how she managed to fall asleep with the stress that was bearing down upon her like a thousand books. This was without a doubt the most pressing obstacle she had been faced with ever since the quest to obtain the Elements of Harmony.

Rain or snow, magic or not, this was a treasure she could not refuse. The large sheet of paper didn’t just look like a treasure map. It was one.

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    As dreary as the storm was, the grayness of the rainclouds were nothing compared to the greyness that was felt within the ponies back at Sweet Apple Acres. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were sitting close to each other, half asleep on Applejack’s vacant bed. The bedspread was wet in spots, but there was no leak in the roof. Even in the heaviest of rain and snowstorms, the roof remained as strong as steel. Big Macintosh made sure of that. No, this was the result of something not even a strong stallion like Macintosh could have stopped. It was like a gaping hole had been punched in all of their hearts, the happiness being drained through their bodies and out through their eyes, as wet and salty tears.

Applebloom was fast asleep between both of them, her head resting on Granny Smith’s lap while she absentmindedly stroked her hair. Granny Smith was lost in deep thought, with an empty ghost-like expression on her face. She simply stared towards the ground, eyeing the clock on Applejack’s nightstand every so often. Big Macintosh, sagging the bed slightly with his great weight, was keeping watch out the windows, looking for any sign of a certain pegasus traveling back to the front door of the house. His once bright green eyes were bloodshot and drooping a little. But he couldn’t rest his head even for a minute; there had to be hope somewhere out in those sprawling greens beyond the farm. There just had to be...

Big Macintosh stifled a yawn and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Upon opening, a ray of hope met his eyes. Emerging from behind some tall bushes way out on the ground by the hills, a four-legged figure was walking towards their barn at a slow speed. Even through the heavy rain and flashes of lighting he wasn’t mistaken. Big Macintosh followed the figure for a hundred feet or so until it was close enough to be recognized, then he gently nudged Granny Smith and pointed his head silently out the window. Granny Smith got the gist of his nod and tenderly arose off the bed onto her tired legs. Big Macintosh, taking great care not to wake Applebloom, put her on his back and walked to her room to put her in bed. When he got to her room, he pulled back the covers with his teeth and slid her neatly off his back onto her bed. Covering her up with the blankets as silently as he could, he gave her one last sympathetic look and started to walk out of the room when she spoke.

“But big sister...my turn...mumble...you did it last...time...” Applebloom was mumbling in her sleep, dreaming about who knew what. Macintosh was relieved to see her roll onto her side, her back facing him and continuing to breath peacefully. She had gone through enough trauma that night; a long night’s sleep was just what she needed. As Macintosh made his way out of her room and to the front room where Granny Smith stood nervously, he was just in time for a sharp rap on the door. At once, Macintosh opened the door to see a soaking wet and distraught Rainbow Dash. She shook off as much water as she could and stepped into the warm house. Granny Smith proceeded to cover her in many blankets, which Rainbow Dash didn’t object to as she sat down by the door. Normally she wasn’t too keen on unneeded hospitality, but given her current state, she just didn’t care much about anything except her mission.

It was a few long moments before Rainbow Dash could raise her head and speak. She didn’t even fight back the tears that were beginning to form again in her dark pink eyes. At last, she looked up at them with the same distraught look she had before entering the house.

“Applejack is long gone. I...tried to fly overhead and, you know, fly over the treetops and see if I could catch up to her by flying, but I never saw a single trace. Not even muddy footsteps...nothing... I mean I must have flown for twenty miles towards Manehattan, which was the way she ran off to in...” --she took a deep breath-- “...the first place.”

Granny Smith walked slowly on over to a chair and sat down. She mulled over what Dash told them and replied. “Dearest, you are a brave soul traversin’ that storm. Me and Mac were worried sick just as much for you as we were for AJ out in that terrible weather. We are relieved to see you back here unharmed.”

“Where do you think she could have gone?” Rainbow Dash said quietly, her head hung. So many questions were shooting around in her head like Pinkie Pie’s mouth that she couldn’t put her hoof on. Applejack and her had always been fierce competitors, yet they had been the best of friends and were able to talk about anything with each other. She shared secrets with AJ that didn’t share with anypony else, even Fluttershy or Twilight. Facing the possibility that AJ had run off forever just a few hours after she and her had a huge argument was the worst possible feeling she could possibly muster. It was like losing a twin brother or sister; the disconnection was impossible to think of. The feeling of emptiness and unsureness was something she would give her own two wings up just to make everything right again.

Granny Smith let out a long sigh and looked at Big Macintosh. “Ah really can’t say, Rainbow. She’s never done somethin’ silly like this before. She’s had her tantrums and we’ve had our disagreements in the past when we were strugglin’ to make ends meet here in ol’ Sweet Apple, but she has always got her mindset back on track and helped us get this place up and runnin’ successfully again.

“Eeyup,” mumbled Big Macintosh.

A long silence followed Macintosh’s utterance. The cursed storm raged on outside, just as violent as ever. Winona made her way timidly over towards Granny and put her paws up on the hand rest of the chair, looking into her face with concern. Winona was Applejack’s right hoof lady, her obedient companion. Even for a dog she was feeling exactly what every friend of Applejack had been feeling that night. They had lost one of the most cherished and celebrated souls that had ever set hoof in their lives. Nopony had the slightest tinge of annoyance or anger towards her anymore; that was a storm which had already blown over.

Over the course of the next few days, Ponyville experienced a time beyond the darkness the continuous monsoon was bearing down upon the land. A darkness so cruel and hellish, magic itself had ceased to have effect. Every night before they went to bed to attempt to sleep, each and every pony looked up at the black sky trying to find a star to wish upon. Ponyville needed a wish...no...a miracle. Ponyville needed Applejack.