Like a big, red apple, the sun shone through the trees as Applebloom carried the last sack of apples over to the barn. She had always liked how the light washed through the leaves in the evening, especially when a wind blew and whirled warm sunset dots over the rough, grassy ground.
Putting down the heavy sack, she sat down to watch the light playing in the trees. She lied there, her front legs crossed behind her head, hind legs stretched out, the soft grass and leaves offering a nice mattress. Closing her eyes in joy, she sighed, relaxed, let herself forget the time as the wind played with her mane and with the leaves, the orchard filled with the sweet smell of growing apples [1] and the song of birds praising the sinking sun.
After a while of relaxing in the warm evening light, maybe for a few minutes, maybe a lot, she saw something moving through the trees. A squirrel? Probably. Slowly, she rose to a sitting position, leaning onto the apple sack, feeling the shape of the round, hard apples poking into her back. After a moment, she saw it again. No, it was definitely not a squirrel. Far too big for that. It rather looked like some kind of wooly snake - a marten? She had heard about some very big ones living in the Everfree Forest. Maybe she should call her sister? Animals that size could be dangerous, after all. Or trying to steal apples, for that matter. Then, whatever it was, jumped from one tree to another, and she saw dragon-like scales and mismatching wings.
Discord!
What was that old bugger doing at her farm? Was he trying to turn all the apples into bananas [2], like he did last time? Or did he want to make the trees dancing polka? Or something? Slowly, she got on her hooves, and got behind a tree. Peeking out from behind it, she watched him conspicously:
He was slinking from tree to tree, slowly, carefully, apparently not wanting to be seen. Sometimes he would move through a tree as if it just weren´t there, or dive into the ground and come out on the other side of the tree. Or something even stranger. All without making a sound. Cautiously, Applebloom followed him, moving from tree to tree in a somewhat less chaotic manner, carefull not to trip up on some root and betraying her presence to him.
After some time, as the apple-red sun had come down even more, nearly the horizon, they came to the edge of the orchard, and Discord geckoed down the last tree and sneaked across the little pasture, wading through the high gras like a child through a ball bath.
On the other side, the fence of the old funpark loomed, all grey wire and cold steel. This fence was the only part of the park that was being held in any state, the old attractions inside slowly falling inside, a deranged world of slivered varnish, rusted beams, and rugged tarpaulin, of dust whizzling through twisted decorations, dry leaves covering tarnished dance floors, and water seeping through partially collapsed roofs. When Applebloom asked Granny Smith about it, the older mare told her that she remembered when it was open, back when she was a little fillie, and the funpark was, well, fun: Loud, bright, crowded, full of thrilling attractions and sugary treats, and it had always been the height of the month to go there with her friends.
But when she was about Appleblooms age - at least that is what she said, and she always says that when telling any story about her childhood - rumours started, of ponies gone missing on the park ground, of strange sounds at nights, and weird scrawlings on walls in the mirror cabinet. One night then, the whole sky over the funpark was bright with lights, deep, fiery red, blindingly bold blue, sparkling silver, a brilliant green, and in the morning, Celestia herself came to town to declare the funpark closed. To make sure no one entered the park ever after, she put a spell on the fence, rendering it impossible to climb, fly, or jump over it, or dig beneath it, and so no one did. Of course Applebloom and her friends (as well as many other fillies and adventure-seekers in the past) tried to get in there, but to no prevail. So the funpark was left there, and decayed.
Discord just stood there, in front of the fence, as if waiting for something, his paw lying sofly on the wires. Applebloom, from behind a tree, watched him closely doing -
nothing.
As the sun sank, she got distracted by the light rushing over the trees of the orchard and the rusting roofs of the funpark, and watched the last sliver of light go down.
She looked back to Discord.
She blinked.
She ran over to the fence, and looked through.
Nothing.
Discord had vanished.
Maybe he teleported?
But if he did, why walk the whole way there and not simply teleport all the way?
Did he find a way into the park?
But then...
What does he do in there?
Does he have some sinister plot?
Maybe he tries to rise the souls of lost fillies in there, so he could bring about eternal chaos - again?
Or maybe he tortures the ghosts in there, for fun?
Or does he eat all the rust and the grime in there?
Or maybe...
She shuddered. Better not to think about it. Also, she wouldn´t be able to find out anything more this evening. So she made her way back to where she left the sack of apples, and brought it to the barn where she put it to the others she had brought there over the day, and walked home, where she ate something and then asked Granny Smith for a story about that old funpark as went to bed.
Tomorrow, she would get Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to help solve this mystery.
Author's Note
Footnotes:
[1]: Growing cycles work differently in Equestria. It is perfectly normal to have both fresh, ripe apples and growing apples at the same time.
[2]: They tasted like peanut butter, and smelled like old socks. Chocolate-covered old socks.
And if you touched them without looking, they always felt like paper cubes.
Also, you couldn´t slip out on the peels, which lead to some very strange pranks from the CMC.
A soft "thud" echoed through the room as Applebloom hit the desk with her mallet.
"Hereby, this emergency meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is opened! I have gathered you here because of th-"
"Aye, we already know that, you told us on the way here. Discord crossed your farm and got into the old, musty fun park. Thing is - what do we do about it?" Sweetie Belle interrupted.
"Well, I think we should wait for him at the same spot as yesterday, and then follow him. A troublemaker always returns to where he made trouble!"
"You sure about that?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"But of course!" Scootaloo exclaimed enthusiastically, „we are troublemakers, and we always return!"
"I... I think you may have a point. But shouldn´t we asked someone, like, Princess Twilight to help? I mean, it is Discord we are talking about here." Sweetie Belle mentioned, "I don´t want to sound like a coward or something, I just don´t want to be sent into another dimension, or covered in goo, or turned into a platypus!"
"Ah, you are right. We may end up in some other dimension, covered in goo, trapped in the form of a platypus. But think of this: How many times have we tried to get in there? Remember how we tried to climb up there, but ended up covered in tree sap - with literally no firs around? Or how we tried to dig a tunnel underneath it, and it spit us out? This is a single opportunity to get in there!
Also, Discord is reformed now, I don´t think he will do anything nasty to us. He may send us home with sticky notes telling what we did covering our flanks, but I think we can avoid that."
"By not letting him see us? I don-"
"Also, we may get our Cutie Marks!"
"Fine, I will come."
"Scootaloo?"
"Do you really think you need to ask? I´m not chicken!"
"Hey!"
________________________________________
It was hard to find anything in the Chaos that was Scootaloo´s room: Posters of Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolts, some bands and movies hung all over the walls, the desk was piled high with school stuff, paper, pencils, empty glasses of water, and other stuff, the floor littered with magazines and clothing. Luckily for her, she always kept a fully packed bag for adventures behind her drawer, so she took it out, added a few random items, and then walked to the kitchen. She chuckled as she rummaged through the fridge looking for something she could take as a snack. Applebloom probably still used those blank checklists the Princess gave her, and Sweetie Belle would take a whole lot of time to get some cape or something.
"Dad?" she called, poking her head into his garage[1], "I will be at Sweetie Belle´s over the night."
"All right. Do you know where that coach wrench is?"
"I think you left it in the fridge."
"In the fridge? Again?"
________________________________________
Moving around her scrupulously clean room, Sweetie Belle put the assorted items she would probably need into her bag, as she hummed the tones of a song she recently heard and immediately loved. When she was finished, she walked over to her sister’s hat room. After a long time of careful examination, she went down to her sisters sewing room.
"Sis, can I borrow your adventure hat? The olive one with the many pockets."
"Uh... Oh, well, take that old one. But make sure you bring it back in one piece, darling."
"Sure! Is anything left from the tea party you had with Spike earlier?"
"I think there should be some scones left, I don´t really like them and Spikey just ate all of the crystal-filled ones...
And where are you going, exactly?"
"Camping over at the Apple´s."
"Ah, good. Also, could you please take down a tone while doing something in your room? Your singing is lovely, don´t get it wrong, but I need to concentrate while sewing."
"Okey-dokey!"
________________________________________
As she checked of another thing on her adventure-packing-list, Applebloom thought of how she never really understood why Scootaloo always laughed about Twilight using checklists for absolutely everything. They were darned useful, those lists. Sitting on her bed, she skimmed over the backs of the books on her bookshelf. One she could take with, more wouldn´t fit in the bag.
Birds and Bird-like creatures of the lands surrounding Everfree Forest? Not much of use, probably.
Earth Pony Magic: A comprehensive Essay? Far too heavy, both for body and mind.
When the Frog met the Sun: Fairy Tales in and around Ponyville? No, there is nothing about the old fun park in this one, otherwise she would...
After a short time of contemplation, she settled for the potion notebook Zecora gave her. This may come in useful - if she had to make potion, and also had the needed equipment and ingredients coincidentally lying around between the ruins...
Shrugging, she put it in her bag, and headed down.
"Applejack?" she called, as she put her bag on the kitchen table, "We´re having a sleepover at Scootaloo´s. Can I take some Pie?"
"Of course, sweetie. Make sure you call if anything is wrong. And remember we want to make apple gelee tomorrow, so don´t be late!"
Wrapping a nice, big piece of apple pie in some paper, she said: "Aye, won´t be!"
"And, most importantly: Have fun!"
"Oh, I will!" Applebloom exclaimed as she put the package in her bag, and walked out.
________________________________________
So when the evening dawned, Celestia lowering the sun towards the horizon, tinting the whole world in a warm, soft red, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, each equipped with a their own bag full of supplies, met on an apple tree overlooking the pasture in front of the fence.
"Chamois knifes [2]? Check!"
"Check!"
"Check!"
"Rope? Check!"
"Check!"
"Check!"
"Torch? Check!"
"Check!"
"Check!"
"Binoculars? Check!"
"Check!"
"Check!"
"Snack? Check: Apple-pie!"
"Check: Buttered Scones!"
"Check: Some Cheese!"
"Everything else ready?"
"Ready!"
"Ready!"
"Why exactly are we shouting this? Discord could hear us!"
"You´re right. Sshhh."
"OK!"
"OK!"
A few minutes later, Discord oscillated out of the orchard, and sloped over to the fence. As he did the day before, he stood there, perfectly still, and waited, his paw lying on the fence. Through the binoculars, they could see him glancing to the sun from time to time. A small rabbit sniffed his motionless tail. After a few seconds of close examination, it bit into it, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. In its place, there sat a highly disorientated pigeon. The Spirit of Chaos apparently didn´t notice at all, and so the former rabbit hopped away, slightly worried.
When the sun touched the horizon, the piece of fence in front of Discord...
melted, but not like molten steel, but rather like shadows retreating when the sun comes up. It moved out of the way, leaving a hole for him to walk through. Behind, there was a wall of mist - although through the other parts of the fence, the park could be seen normally. As Discord walked through, he vanished into the mist, and the fence started closing again.
"Now!" Scootaloo shouted, and they jumped down the tree, landed lightly, and, after making sure they had everything, bolted for the hole. Running, sprinting, rushing, speeding, dashing they reached the hole, and just before it closed completely, they managed to slip through. They were...
inside.
Author's Note
Footnotes:
[1]: No, no Orphan Scootaloo in this story. Her father´s job (and talent) is repairing Pegasi-drawn wagons.
[2]: The Chamois are a species of mountain goats that live in a small republic in the mountains near Griffonstone.
Although the Griffons are quite warlike, they never attacked the Chamois Republic.
Nevertheless, the Chamois are aware that they do need an army, and since they don´t know much about fighting, they invented a piece of equipment that would be useful in any kind of situation, were it war or peace: The Chamois Knife, a foldable collection of multiple different, useful, albeit quite small tools.
Later, they exported it, and now the Chamois Knife is standard in any adventurer’s toolkit.
