Worlds Apart: At Eternity's End

Chapter 2

Four hours after entering the portal

Apple Bloom froze and listened intently. She was certain she had heard something else moving nearby, but the only sound she heard now was the wind, which was as constant as her hunger. Her instincts told her to kneel down low, though she knew that anything that had been following her would know exactly where she was. She narrowed her eyes and scanned behind her, but all she saw was a carpet of blue, green, and red grasses swaying in the breeze. There was no sign of any other living thing nearby; there were no birds in the sky, and no ants or insects crawling upon the ground.

She decided her ears were playing tricks on her. The lack of noise wasn't something that she was going to get used to any time soon. It was just unnatural, and it gave her the chills. Still, if she wanted to find anything to eat she would need to keep looking. She doubted she was going to find anything edible in the middle of a giant field of grass, even if it was as colorful as candy. With no other choice, she forced her legs to keep moving.

Apple Bloom's mind wandered as she stepped over rocks and pushed her way through the taller patches of grass. It had been just over two weeks since she'd last seen Ponyville, or any of Equestria for that matter. Things had been much simpler back then, before Discord had come along and decided he wanted Ponyville as his plaything once and for all. He'd hidden the Elements of Harmony away and had made a complete mess of the town. It'd been... well, chaos.

Applejack and Rarity had gathered up Apple Bloom and her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and taken them into the Everfree forest to await their return once they'd dealt with Discord. Apple Bloom had known things weren't going well when the Everfree was considered to be safer than Ponyvillle, but in the end it hadn't mattered. Some kind of enormous explosion of chaotic energy had come from the center of town, and her last memory of Equestria was watching as everything within the explosion's shockwave vanished before her very eyes. When she'd woken up, she had been on Earth.

A heavy gust of wind caught Apple Bloom off guard and knocked her down onto her hands and knees. She winced in pain as she moved her hand and saw fresh blood beginning to form on her palm. Frowning, she picked up the small rock she'd cut herself on and hurled it away as far as she could. It sailed through the air and landed a good distance away.

She was tired of being hurt. Back on Earth, she'd taken the full brunt of a rogue blast of energy that Sweetie Belle had inadvertently released during her struggles with trying to control her budding magical powers. The result had been serious burns, and cuts that still covered most of her chest, arms, and face. There was a tense night in which she had remained unconscious while Doug and John watched over her.

Sweetie Belle had blamed herself, but Apple Bloom knew it wasn't her fault. Sweetie had been under a lot of stress with being stuck on Earth in an unfamiliar body, and she'd been all panicky because she missed Rarity. Apple Bloom knew how she felt; she missed Applejack and the rest of her family more than anything.

She stood up and brushed herself off, then blinked and looked around. She was nearing what she guessed was a forest... of sorts. There were hundreds of small trees up ahead. The grey and brown trunks rose to about six, maybe seven feet high. Bright purple and red leaves sprouted from the branches, and the ground below was littered with even more branches that had broken off in the wind.

It was the shortest forest she had ever seen.

Apple Bloom approached one of the trees and studied it. This one had a grey trunk, but upon closer inspection she saw that it shimmered in certain places. Some kind of sparkling, translucent tree sap oozed out from between fissures in the bark, making it seem almost as if the trunk was covered in ice. She pushed a few branches out of the way to get a closer look, but she saw no sign that any insects or woodland creatures had ever disturbed it, and a quick inspection of the leaves showed no signs that anything had ever eaten any parts of them. She had to admit that the leaves themselves were beautiful. The ones on this particular tree were a gentle violet, partially see-through, with bold purple veins spreading from their center. It was like the leaves were made out of crystal, though touching one proved that they most certainly were not, as it bent just like any other leaf would.

Unfortunately, none of the trees bore any kind of fruit. Still, she felt like there must be something edible nearby. If there are plants, then there should be fruit or berries or... something! She'd just have to keep looking until she found something worth taking back to Doug.

She left the tree behind and made her way further into the forest, staying alert for signs of anything she might be able to eat. The surrounding trees did a decent job of shielding her from the wind, and though they were short they were still tall enough to mostly obscure her view of the strange planet that remained suspended in the sky above her. Leaves crunched and twigs snapped beneath her feet as she walked, the noise punctuated by the silence of the surrounding forest.

After a long while, she came upon a fallen tree, probably blown down by the wind, and sat down upon the trunk, being careful not to sit in any sticky sap. Her legs were getting sore from walking for so long. How much time had she spent out here? She wasn't sure, and the sky above was no help, either. It never seemed to be day or night in this place; it wasn't bright out, nor was it really dark. The sun just didn't provide much light, though she could see it up above in a gap through the trees. It looked as if it hadn't moved at all since she'd first arrived.

Maybe this place is like Equestria, but whoever's in charge of moving the sun is no longer here, Apple Bloom thought. She looked around, grimacing as she had a thought. It looked as if no one had ever been there.

She sat in silence for a while, studying the ground beneath her feet. The grass here was a pale blue color. Sighing, she bent down, picked one of the blades and held it in front of her face. She wasn't a big fan of eating grass, though it was nutritious enough... for a pony. She thought she remembered John or Doug mentioning that humans needed a much bigger variety of foods to stay healthy and, like it or not, she was still a human for now. Still, she needed to eat something. She put the blade of grass in her mouth and chewed.

She immediately spit it back out.

"Gross!" she cried out loud. The sudden loudness of her own voice startled her, and she took a quick look around as if someone, or something, might appear at any moment, attracted by the noise. Eventually, the hairs on her neck settled back down and she was able to relax again.

It was no good. Even if the grass was the most nutritious thing on the planet, she doubted she'd ever be able to force herself to choke enough of it down to matter, and she imagined Doug wouldn't be able to, either. They needed fruit, not bitter, horrible-tasting stuff.

Her thoughts drifted to Applejack. She had seen her sister just a few hours ago, but it had only been for a brief moment. She had been in a place on Earth called Australia with John, Sweetie, and Scootaloo. They had recently been reunited with Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Angel Bunny, all three of whom had been found by Doug, and with Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna, who had both been found by a man named Nathan and his wife.

Doug had had a plan. Everypony had lost their magic when they arrived on Earth, but he thought it could be regained if the Equestrians were all reunited. He'd said that maybe if that happened, they could rely on Princess Celestia to use her magic to find a way to get everypony back to Equestria.

It seemed to be working, too. Every time another Equestrian was found, Sweetie Belle's magic became a little stronger, Fluttershy could communicate with more animals, and Pinkie became more like her usual self. But something bad had happened. Someone that Doug seemed to know had shown up out of nowhere and... well, a lot of things she didn't understand had taken place. All she really knew was that Discord had shown up and, with a snap of his fingers, had brought everypony together. It had been that simple – a quick snap and Applejack had appeared right in front of her eyes. It hadn't lasted long, though. Applejack had gone through some other portal with Rainbow Dash and a human she had never seen before. Her sister could literally be anywhere.

She never even found out what had happened to the rest of her family.

Apple Bloom unclenched her fists and stood back up. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to make her any less hungry, and she had no idea how long she'd been out looking for food. If Doug were to wake up and find her gone, he might try to look for her.

No, scratch that. Even though she hadn't known him for very long, she knew that Doug would go looking for her. There were no 'mights' about it.

She set off at a brisk pace, determined to find something edible, and soon. She had only taken five steps when the ground beneath her went from solid to liquid, and she fell, screaming, beneath the surface of the leaves.

..o0o..