Chapter 1: Earth Pony Magic
Earth ponies are a common sight within Equestria accounting for approximately 57.42% of the population. They are well known for their physical strength and stamina as well as their affinity for nature. Nearly all earth ponies care for fauna or flora and it a rare occurrence to find other pony races involved in such tasks. Why then is the realms of agriculture and animal care so heavily dominated by this one race of pony? The answer to this question can be answered by looking at the magical powers all earth ponies possess.
At first glance earth ponies do not appear to hold any type of magical power. They do not have any special abilities, such as flight, nor can they actively control their magic as with unicorns. As such it is reasonable to assume that earth pony magic is a passive force that naturally exudes from their bodies. This exuded magic has a strong effect on living organisms in the near vicinity to earth ponies.
This can be seen easily be observing occurrences of famine that have occurred in Equestria’s history. At all such instances the famine proceeded a period of extended illness or absence of the main farming population. It could be argued that this in itself was solely the reason but that does not account for other reported events. Many reports speak of perfectly healthy crops withering away in minutes or of livestock simply keeling over dead.
Clearly there is more involved than would first appear. As such the researcher conducted experiments to analyse the exact nature of earth pony magic. The results were quite stunning! It was found that earth ponies do indeed exude a passive form of magical energy and in addition it was found that this expulsion of magical energy takes precedence even over the ponies own life. They expel raw magical particles that saturate the air around them and eventually are absorbed by plants and animals in the local area. This injection of magical energy causes crops to grow and wildlife to flourish.
However, once exposed to this magical energy the surrounding fauna and flora become reliant on it. Thus crops wither and animals perish. The magical energy of earth ponies may even have a bearing on other ponies around them! Further research is still required on this particular aspect of earth pony magic but the researcher predicts that much of the strength of other pony races in Equestria comes from the magic exuded by earth ponies.
Applejack battled to keep her eyes open, the steadfast farm pony finding it hard to keep herself conscious. Her body felt weak and frail and she could only just feel her legs. How long had she been here? Three days? Four? A week? She honestly couldn’t remember but she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer unless somepony came to rescue her.
Around her hooves hung heavy manacles, each one attached to a short length of chain that was then bolted securely to the stone floor. Whilst they had initially been required to keep her from escaping they now served no purpose at all other than to remind her of how helpless she was.
She tried to cough but her throat was so dry she barely managed a strangled gurgle. When she had woken up she had found a small supply of food and water to one side of her stone prison. After her initial attempts to escape she had settled down to eat it whilst she pondered her next move. Right now she wished she still had some of the water left, whoever was keeping her locked up hadn’t returned to replace the food and water supply.
She couldn’t understand what was going on. One moment she had been falling asleep in her own bed and the next she had woken up here, chained and imprisoned. What was even more confusing though was the small plant that sat across the room from her, a single red rose. Why was it there? What purpose was it serving other than to add a tiny splash of colour to the otherwise drab room?
“Somepony…anypony…please help me…” she thought to herself as she felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her.
She was supposed to be strong! She was supposed to help other! She wasn’t supposed to die like this!
Just then she heard something and her ears flicked into life. A gentle clopping of hooves on a stone floor was approaching, every step getting louder and louder. Who was coming? Was it her captor? What were they going to do? Or was it somepony coming to rescue her? She didn’t know which she wanted but what she saw was something she didn’t expect.
The hoof steps stopped outside the door and a moment later the bolt slid back. As the door opened Applejack found herself looking away as light flooded into the room causing her eyes to sting. It took her a short while to look back but gradually her eyes adjusted and locked on the purple coloured alicorn that stood in the doorway. She was smiling gleefully in the same way a young foal might when excited. Her mane was neatly presented and styled round her neck and on her head sat a small crown.
“Hello Applejack” she announced happily as she trotted over towards the flower at the far side of the room.
“…Twi-Twilight…?” replied Applejack hoarsely, her voice filled with uncertainty and confusion.
“Yes it’s me!” replied the alicorn as she surveyed the flower, seemingly not concerned about the earth pony behind her, “Fascinating…even though this flower hasn’t had any water or nutrients in a week it is still perfectly healthy! This really does bring up some interesting questions…but then again this is what I suspected might happen so it also proves me right! Yay I was right, uh I have to note this down!”
Twilight quickly levitated some paper and a quill from her saddlebag and began to scribble down notes frantically. Applejack remained still on the floor, what was going on? Why was her friend doing this?
“Uh!” chirped Twilight loudly as she spun round towards the earth pony, “I almost forgot!”
Before Applejack could say anything Twilight looked back towards the door. Her magic lit up and a moment later two dishes floated into the room and were quickly deposited in front of the floor bound earth pony. In reality the contents was nothing but some oats and water but to Applejack it could have been the finest meal on the planet. She knew she shouldn’t eat quickly or too much given her condition but her desire for food quickly overwhelmed her better judgement.
She threw her head into the bowl of water, drops spraying everywhere as her tongue lapped at the cool liquid. She coughed harshly a moment later, her throat sore and raw from the lack of water up until now. She hardly seemed to care, taking another big mouthful of water before swinging her head to the oats and taking a large mouthful. She hadn’t even swallowed her water and most of it leaked out of her mouth turning the oats into a watery mush. Even this didn’t seem to bother her though and she didn’t look up again until both bowls had been completely emptied.
She was about to say thank you but stopped short as the rational part of her mind finally regained control of her body. Why should she express gratitude? Indeed Twilight could have just left her to die but then why was she doing this in the first place? What was going on? She looked up at the alicorn with a building sense of rage.
Twilight for her part simply stood and observed, every so often flashing her attention to her note book to make a few scribbles before looking back at Applejack with interest. Something wasn’t right; the way Twilight was looking at her, it wasn’t normal. None of this was normal.
“W-Why?” asked Applejack after a moment.
“An excellent question!” replied Twilight with a grin, “I’ve been asking myself that question for a few days now. Why, why, why?”
Twilight began skipping round in a circle much like a young foal chanting a song.
“Well I guess I can tell you can’t I Applejack, we’re such GOOD friends after all aren’t we?”
Twilight grinned broadly, so broadly that the corners of her mouth began to twitch involuntarily due to the strain they were being placed under. Applejack didn’t reply, her earlier anger was quickly changing…something was definitely not right and it was beginning to frighten her.
“Twilight…” began the farm pony before being quickly cut off by the alicorn.
“Yes we’re such good friends! You’ve always helped me out whenever I’ve needed it and now you get to help me out again! Isn’t that exciting?! Yay!”
Her smile twitched again this time her eye also twitching causing Twilight to rub it out of irritation. The movement put Twilight firmly in the light coming in from the door Applejack finally getting a proper look at her friend. She was a mess! Her eyes were bloodshot with large black bags under them. Her mane was frizzed up in all directions and didn’t look like it had been brushed in days, a condition that her tail also shared. Tiny specs of dirt and blood were speckled across her coat and her wings looked to be folded awkwardly as if one of them was broken.
“Twilight…what happened to you?” asked Applejack in shock.
“Me? Oh don’t worry about me, I’m fine! Really I’m fine, totally fine! Just a little fight that’s all, just a fight. I’m fine though, no problems!” replied Twilight in haste before going back to her notebook.
“A…fight?”
“Just a misunderstanding that’s all! I really didn’t mean any harm but then other ponies never seem to understand what I say sometimes. They were going to lock me up you know! Can you imagine that?” Twilight flung her notes across the room and gestured to herself, “Me! Twilight Sparkle! Hero and saviour of Equestria more times over than I can count! They said my idea was barbaric, that they couldn’t let anypony do it, that I was to be committed just for thinking of it!”
Twilight spun towards Applejack and leaned in close. Applejack couldn’t look away as her bloodshot eyes drilled into her and her ever present grin continued to twitch.
“Do I look like a crazy pony to you Applejack? Do I? Are you going to say I’m crazy like everypony else?” she asked slowly.
Applejack didn’t know what to say, from where she sat Twilight did indeed look like a crazy pony and yet was that the right answer to give in this situation? Slowly she shook her head twice, a lie…deep down in her stomach she could feel herself roll over and die. She was the element of honesty, the ponyification of all that was true and just…not a liar.
“Good I’m glad to hear that Applejack, you were always such a good friend,” continued Twilight as she stood back up again, “The Princesses may have ruled over Equestria for longer than we can imagine but they were definitely not right about me! They still don’t think I’m right you know but that doesn’t matter, I dealt with them and they won’t be causing a problem any more!”
Applejack gasped, what was Twilight talking about? She was about to ask when a sudden stabbing pain coursed through her body. She cried out, curling up as if somepony had just kicked her square in the chest.
“Ooooooooh! It’s starting!” chirped Twilight her earlier light tone returning as she looked across the room at the rose plant.
The plant was beginning to glow as faint magical particles began to gather around its leaves and stem. Even as Twilight watched she could see the plant starting to grow, its stems lengthening and thickening as new thorns sprouted along their lengths. Applejack didn’t notice, she was still doubled up in pain on the floor as the feeling in her gut intensified. Slowly she managed to look up slightly and almost immediately wished she hadn’t. All across her body small magical particles were leaking out of her fur and fizzling into the air around her.
“Twilight…w-what is…happening to…me…?” she managed to croak between her grunts of pain.
“Oh don’t worry about that,” replied the alicorn, “I laced your food with a new chemical compound I developed after having a chat with our old friend Tirek.”
“Tirek?”
“Yes yes, he wasn’t very talkative as you might imagine after our recent encounter with him but I eventually managed to extract the information from him. Anyway, the compound is loosely based on Tirek’s own magical ability to absorb magic. This is what the Princesses said was a crazy idea you know. I was just suggesting that if we know more about the magic of Equestria then we can better defend ourselves in future years. The compound doesn’t steal magic anyway, I don’t know what the Princesses were so afraid of, it just releases it…although I will admit it can be a little uncomfortable.”
“Please…Twilight…make it stop…” moaned Applejack, the earth pony curling up again as she bit a hoof to stop herself from crying out.
“I can’t do that Applejack, I never thought to create an antidote,” Twilight’s voice almost seemed apologetic for a moment but in the way an owner might speak to their pet, “But look what your released magic is doing! I knew earth ponies had an affinity for plantlife but this is incredible!”
The rose plant was now filling half of the room. This tendril like vines snakes out in all directions, some of them having already punctured holes in the brickwork as the continued to grow. The roots had long since overflown the small pot and had now dug deep into the brickwork as they sought out new earth to hold the plant steady in its search for light.
“I wonder how big it will grow; uh I’ll have to put up an observational dome so I can watch!”
With that Twilight cast her spell the alicorn quickly enveloped in a small dome of light. As the tendrils crept towards her they glanced harmlessly off the barrier and continued on their way, Twilight soon finding herself observing the growing plant from within a green bubble as the vines grew all around her.
Applejack wasn’t so fortunate. As the vines grew towards her she had nowhere to go, the manacles around her hooves keeping her anchored in place as she continued to groan in pain. As the first vine touched her body though she jumped harshly and looked around. Her face turned white as she saw the mass of thorny vines snaking their way towards her. She tried to back away but she was still incredibly weak and barely managed a short shuffle before she had to stop due to the pain. Several vines slid past her, none of them seemingly interested in her but none the less they still had an effect. The thorns were now as big as Applejack’s hooves and they raked harshly at her coat as they passed her, tearing off small chunks of hair as they continued to grow.
“Twilight…Twilight…help me!” she called in vain.
It was impossible to see Twilight now, the growing vines having completely encased the forcefield the alicorn was using to protect herself. More vines approached and with each one Applejack felt her coat and mane being torn and ripped by the thorns. As more and more vines approached the space for them became more compact and the inevitable began to happen.
Applejack screamed loudly as one of the thorns punctured her skin, sinking deep into her rear leg as it fought for space amongst its companions. It wasn’t the only one though and soon enough the earth pony felt more thorns pierce her flesh. They felt like tree trunks instead of simple thorns, each one as hard as brick and razor sharp. Applejack felt like a living pin cushion but the worst was yet to come. As the vines continued to grow the thorns stuck in her began to move. For a moment Applejack was dragged along with then but as the manacles reached the limit of their length something else had to give.
With a scream of absolute terror and pain the thorns were brutally ripped from Applejack’s body taking with them large sections of her flesh in the process. Blood sprayed everywhere as the open wounds began to gush. Applejack had never known pain like it, even her many accidents on the farm didn’t come close.
Just then she felt a new thorn jab into her skin. This time though it wasn’t in her legs or back, it was in her neck. As the needle like tip pierced her skin she found herself unable to breathe as the thorn punctured her throat and began to strain against her. In that moment all Applejack could think of was her family and friends. Did they know where she was? Where they safe? Would any of them ever find her? A single tear leaked from her eye as she felt the tension rise in her skin.
A moment later the thorn ripped free taking with it much of Applejack’s throat with it. New blood joined the old as her neck was ripped open, coating the green vines in crimson liquid. Applejack’s final words were a string of incomprehensible gurgles before the life finally left her eyes and she fell limp against the vines.
It was at least ten minutes later that the vines finally stopped growing. From within her bubble Twilight watched as they overgrown plant began to wither and die, shrivelling up and shrinking back as the magic driving it onwards finally ran out. The alicorn waited patiently as the plant withdrew and died off before she finally released her spell and looked around the room. It was a mess to say the least. The brickwork was cracked and broken, large holes having been punched straight the floor in some places. This wasn’t the worst of it though.
As Twilight continued to look her eyes fixed on the mutilated body of Applejack. Pieces of her lay scattered around the room; her head, three of her legs and her body lying in separate areas of the room. Blood streaks covered the floor and walls between the pieces and numerous internal organs littered the ground around her body. Twilight seemed unconcerned, if anything she looked mildly amused.
“Woah, guess I’ll have to clean this room up a bit before I use it next,” she commented to herself as she looked back at her notes, “Well time to categorise these and move onto the next experiment I guess.”
She turned away from the scene, the alicorn humming happily to herself as she left the room.
