The Trials of Supermare: Feeding Time

“Ah got to come with you this time, sis!”

Applejack stopped before she could cross the entrance of the barn, turning to looking back at the desperate face of Apple Bloom, who lingered inside. There was hurt in those big orange eyes; Applejack didn’t need x-ray vision to see that some of that hurt was pure frustration. Applejack knew that feeling very well when she had been Apple Bloom’s age, and wished her sister wasn’t in such a hurry to follow in her hoof-steps.

“We talked about this already. I don’t know how long it will take me to find Rainbow Dash, but while I’m gone, I need some pony to stay behind should trouble come calling. You’re the only pony I can depend on to pick up my workload, and we both know it.”

Apple Bloom looked torn, and Applejack felt guilty—both sisters knew that wasn’t the whole truth.

“Ya still don’t think ah’m ready-”

“There ain’t a lick of truth in that, so stop while you’re ahead,” Applejack spoke sharply, and Apple Bloom quickly shut her mouth as if she had been hit.

Tension lingered inside the barn.

Applejack sighed as she struggled with an internal conflict to protect her little sister, while at the same time not undermining her sense of self-worth. Applejack knew it wasn’t easy for Apple Bloom to sit back and do nothing, not when she had so much power inside her to do the things that Applejack did almost everyday.

“Apple Bloom, I got to do this alone,” Applejack said softly, walking up to her sister, who couldn’t look her in the eye. AJ lightly lifted Apple Bloom’s head to look at her, placing her trademark hat on her little sister’s head. The gesture caught Apple Bloom by surprise. It was too big for her of course, but like so many other things, it would be something Applejack knew Apple Bloom would grow into.

“Now, you listen here missy. I waited three days to see if Dash would come back on her own and have a laugh at us for we all worried about her. I ain’t about to wait one hour more to see if that stubborn pony is coming back from the Everfree Forest. There are things in that place that no pony rightfully understands, things that I think might even give me a run for my bits. I could be there for a day, maybe a little longer, but I reckon not by much. If any of my enemies know I’m stuck in the Everfree though, or if some other disaster rears its ugly head—and we both know Ponyville is a magnet for that kind of trouble—then I’ll need to rely on you, little sister. You’re almost ready, I don’t doubt that one bit. I know it’s hard, always holding back, afraid you’ll slip up and crush a desk or buck a tree clean off the ground. I did that once, back when I was still trying to learn about all the things that make us different.”

Apple Bloom chuckled at that statement, trying to imagine Applejack’s face at bucking a tree so hard that she uprooted it. She’d imagine Granny Smith’s face would be even funnier.

“If something happens, you know where to go.” Applejack broke eye contact with Apple Bloom and looked passed her. Apple Bloom followed her sister’s gaze to the barn floor, covered in a thick layer of hay, hiding two doors in the floor that lead to a secret storage room where the rocketship Granny Smith found her would-be granddaughters in was kept. Apple Bloom knew what was waiting for her inside that ship, and just the thought of it made her heart race.

Apple Bloom didn’t turn back to face her sister.

“But… Ah still worry about you. I just know something mighty bad is in that forest.”

“You mean besides the manticores, hydras, and packs of timber wolves?” Applejack gave her little sister a smirk.

“Rainbow Dash can fly circles ‘round those things and laugh all the while. What scares me are the things in that forest she can’t fly around; the things you, me, Dash, and even Twilight don’t know about.”

Applejack’s smirk faded, and solemn understanding crept over her face. Rainbow Dash was a lot of things, but a superpony wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t handle everything on her own.

Applejack on the other hoof…

“Well, I reckon she did find something and that’s what’s been holding her up. But you know me,” Once more, Applejack brought Apple Bloom’s gaze back on herself, where the young filly could see the honesty in her sister’s eyes. “It’s going to take an awful lot to hold me up. There ain’t nothing in that forest I can’t fix with a good kick.”

Apple Bloom nodded slowly. Applejack seemed pleased and gave Apple Bloom a quick, tight hug. When she pulled away, her hat slid down to cover Apple Bloom’s eyes.

“Remember, two days at most. I’ll find Rainbow Dash; you just keep Ponyville safe. Remember, it’s our home, and home to the ponies we love.”

Apple Bloom nodded again, pushing up Applejack’s hat over her eyes to see that her sister was off the ground already, floating a few feet in the air, already in costume.

Not a costume, Apple Bloom corrected herself as she took in the sight of the pony in the blue body suit, bright red cape, shinning red boots, and the symbol on her chest that filled Apple Bloom with a sense of hope.

It’s who she really is, Apple Bloom reminded herself, even though the pony she saw didn’t look quite like Applejack anymore. “Yah be careful, Supermare! Ah mean it!”

Applejack smiled big for Apple Bloom and gave her a wink. “I promise. You don’t have to worry about this Mare of Steel.”

With those parting words, Applejack flew out of the barn. Apple Bloom trotted out to see her sister fly away, but she was already gone. A nagging feeling of doubt still lingered despite Applejack’s promise. All the confidence in the world couldn’t change the fact that the Everfree Forest was a dangerous and unpredictable place, even for a pony like Supermare.

Applejack had to fly slow as she navigated between the thick tower trees and dense foliage of the Everfree Forest, looking any sign of Rainbow Dash.

I’m not even sure I know what to look for. Confound it, what was that feather-brain thinking? Of all the stupid, careless things to do! If she’s hurt… no, she won’t be hurt. I’m going to save her, then I’m finally going to tell her the truth about me.

When Applejack’s hidden powers first started to manifest, flying like a pegasus had been the one thing she quickly grew to love. She could appreciate now why Dash liked to go fast when she was airborne. The thrill of soaring through the sky and bursting through clouds was a thrill unlike anything Applejack had known. It was also something she fantasized doing with Dash, among other things.

She still could remember Rainbow Dash’s exact words once Applejack made her public debut as Supermare a year ago, “It’s freaky! No pony without wings should be able to fly! I don’t trust her; I bet she’s some kind of alien.”

The memory of Dash’s instant dislike over the new hero in town had cut Applejack deeper than she would have expected. Even recalling it made Applejack’s eyes warm, threatening tears. Bad memories of the Mare-Do-Well incident had also come rushing back, and AJ quickly decided to keep the truth about herself a secret from not just her friends but from the pony she wanted to share it with the most. The friendly rivalry between her and Dash over who was strongest, fastest, more daring pony had helped strengthened their friendship, but there was the ever present fear that revealing herself as the ‘alien’ would risk cracking the very foundation of their relationship.

Applejack couldn’t lie to herself—it also meant she simply didn’t trust her friends, or more importantly Dash, with the truth, and that hurt a lot more.

This time, I swear I’m going to tell Rainbow Dash the truth about me. I don’t care how mad she gets with me, just so long as she’s alive and in one piece when I find her.

She was prepared to see Dash plenty mad once ‘Supermare’ came to her rescue, and madder still once she removed her costume in front of Dash to prove that one of her closest friends was really the annoying costumed freak stealing all her supposed spotlight.

As Applejack flew over a large lake in the forest, she looked down to see her reflection in the clear water. She recognized herself just fine in the red and blue costume, but why other ponies who knew her couldn’t recognize her with the costume on was still a mystery to her, something she simply accepted as her costume having it’s own kind of superpower. Even Apple Bloom hadn’t recognized Applejack with her costume on until she had taken it off in front of her.

Thoughts of her little sister made her fly faster into the heart of the wild forest, careful to stay clear of the areas where wild animals and other strange creatures called home. Finding Rainbow Dash was her top priority, followed by getting back home before Apple Bloom took up her own costume and crossed a line that would change her young life forever. Applejack’s powers hadn’t started to develop until a couple of years ago, but Apple Bloom’s powers had made themselves known after the cutie-pox incident, five months ago. She knew it made life extra hard, adding strange powers like random heat vision when staring at something for too long, or freezing anything in front of her when she sneezed, for a pony still trying to discover her special talent.

Weaving through trees the way Rarity could weave through fabric, Applejack put even more speed into flying. Though she believed Apple Bloom was ready to really learn what the yellow sun could do for her, the big sister in her still wanted to hold Apple Bloom back from the dangers that came with a life of defending those who couldn’t defend themselves. Powers or no powers, being a superhero wasn’t a game. She had to find Dash soon and get back to Ponyville—before something could happen that would make Apple Bloom put on a costume that she could never truly take off.

A spot of blue in a nearby tree caught Applejack’s eye at that moment, breaking her train of thought. She flew right for it, coming to a stop by a thick branch of a tree with leaves so big that the sun had trouble getting through to this part of the Everfree.

Applejack smiled as she recognized what she had found.

“Feathers… did you stop to nap here, partner?” Applejack muttered to herself as she looked around at the trees surrounding her and the tall grass on the forest floor. She had never been this deep in the Everfree Forest. Closing her eyes, she cleared her mind and listened for the sounds of life around her.

Super-hearing might not have been the fanciest power she had, but it was one of the most crucial for saving other ponies. She could hear a flock of birds singing a mile to the west. Ahead of her, a few hundred feet away, she heard the rumbling of a mother manticore and the squeaks of its three kits roughhousing around her. Behind her, she heard rumblings of a different kind of animal, a whole pack it seemed.

Applejack opened her eyes and looked behind her. Her super-vision saw past the thick foliage of the forest floor, counting seven timber wolves staring back at her; they looked at her like they weren’t sure if she was prey, or a predator, like them.

“Guess it ain’t too hard to see me. I’m the only blue and red thing in this dreary place.”

The wolves weren’t a problem for her. Their teeth, though enchanted with strange Everfree magic, couldn’t bite through her skin. A manticore’s stinger tail would break if it struck her, and its unique venom would roll off her like water on a duck, not even leaving a mark on her costume despite being just as poisonous on the surface of one’s skin. Applejack didn’t fully understand if her superpowers were magical or something else, but as long as the sun shined, she was close to invincible. No animals in the Everfree Forest had yet to prove a challenge for her.

The plants were a different matter though. She hadn’t forgotten how a patch of Poison Joke once made her shrink to the size of an apple. Thankfully there weren’t a lot of flowers in this part of the forest, where the sun barely shined.

“This would be so much easier if I knew what made Dash come here in the first place. I swear that pony puts herself in dangerous situations just to tick me off.”

Even with all her superpowers, she could only guess at the direction Dash had taken. She couldn’t be sure of where in the forest she even was. Deciding to break the forest ceiling, Applejack flew directly up, then stopped short at the sight of the last thing she expected to see.

The forest was said to be a lot of things, but for certain it was unpredictable. The trees had thinner branches on top, but they sported countless hook thorns. The entire ceiling of the Everfree Forest was a jagged roof that no pegasus dare try to break. Applejack was sure those thorns couldn’t cut her, but the thought of another incident like with the Poison Joke kept her floating in the air, rather than breaking through the forest ceiling.

Dash wouldn’t have gone up that way.

Applejack folded her front legs over her chest, cape billowing gently behind her as she tried to make out her next course of action, until she spotted a break in the tall grass.

She reasoned a predator wouldn’t have left such an obvious trail, and as Applejack touched down to the ground, she found that the grass parted just enough for a pony her size to walk through it.

“Did you stop flying here?” she asked, talking out loud as she started following the trail of bent grass that was just high enough to brush against the symbol on her chest. As she walked further, she spotted more and more vines above her in the trees, until they became too numerous to ignore. There was no way Dash, or any pegasus could fly through the network of vines and not get tangled up. Applejack could see that most of those vines were actually snakes, waiting to wrap around and strangle anything that got too close to them.

Just what was Rainbow Dash thinking, coming all the way out here where she can’t even fly? This ain’t like her at all.

As Applejack walked, she spotted a hill in the distance, and a cave inside it. It was part of a clearing in the forest, and looked like the ideal place for a stray pony to hole up for a day. Applejack flew a little off the ground towards the clearing, where the tall grass ended and solid dirt ran beneath her booted hooves. The sun shone a little brighter in this area. Bright enough that Applejack noticed a single blue feather on the ground, dirty and nearly hidden from sight.

Applejack couldn’t help but smile at her good fortune. She was closer to finding Rainbow Dash, she could feel it.

Stepping closer to the entrance of the cave, Applejack stepped on a dead leaf. The sudden crunch made her pause. The sound it made was so loud, that it made her realize there were no other sounds around her. The animals had gotten silent. Looking behind her, she could see the timber wolves lingering, keeping a respectful distance as they pawed the ground and whimpered. Unwilling, or perhaps afraid, to follow her any further.

The forest felt like it was holding its breath.

Applejack was unnerved, but still approached the cave. If the animals were afraid of this place it meant that they wouldn’t bother her, but also that something worse than timber wolves could be waiting for her inside.

She remembered Apple Blooms words of warning at that moment, “What scares me are the things in that forest she can’t fly around; the things you, me, Dash, and even Twilight don’t know about.”

Applejack stared into the darkness of the cave, feeling more afraid for Rainbow Dash than she was for her own safety. If Dash was inside there, she could be trapped or hurt; lost in the dark.

“If she’s there…” Applejack told herself as she stood at the mouth of the cave, her eyes looking past the rock and earth, x-ray vision revealing a network of caves too dark for her to truly see, but all of which seemed to go deeper underground. It was rare that her vision couldn’t show her what she needed to see, but it wasn’t the only super sense she had. Stepping into the entrance of the cave, Applejack closed her eyes and listened.

There was a heartbeat deep inside the cave, soft and steady… and sporadic?

She stepped further into the cave. Wait… there’s two heartbeats… three… six…?

Applejack opened her eyes, concern written all over her face. There were ponies in the cave: a lot of them.

“Just what in the hay is going on in there?”

Without a second thought, Supermare disappeared into the cave.