Author's Note

Stage 2-2: The Ill Wind

Diamond Tiara tumbled backwards into the kart, her hooves flying up to shield her face as splinters of wood rained down. She was dimly aware of Apple Bloom’s cry of surprise, of the engine exploding into a cacophony of sound as her friend jammed her hoof down on the accelerator.

As she willed her body into action, Diamond Tiara was definitely aware of the blood pounding in her ears.

She clambered up onto the seat, looking out over the rear of the kart. Behind them, and gaining fast, was the six-legged horse. Its mouth was hanging open in a luminescent snarl, and the strange symbols on its body had begun to glow with a pulsating light. This close to it, Diamond Tiara could now see that the strange ring seemed to be formed from debris. Bricks, wood and bones spun in their own orbits as they rotated around the creature’s head, surrounded by plenty of other objects that Diamond Tiara didn’t want to dwell on.

“It’s catching up to us!” she shouted. The rasp to her voice might have made her laugh, had she not been so terrified.

What am I even doing here? Were those board meetings really that boring that it was worth doing this?

“I can’t get this darn thing to speed up!” Apple Bloom glanced at her over her shoulder. “Feels like somethin’ is stoppin’ it.”

A cold trickle of sweat ran down the back of Diamond Tiara’s neck. The memory of that night when she had first stepped hoof in the Everfree came flooding back, only this time there really was something behind her. Something with teeth and hooves and half a dozen other things that could and would maim and wound her.

She swallowed those thoughts down. No, she told herself. That would happen only if they couldn’t fix the problem with the kart, and right now she was the only pony who was able to do that.

With her lungs pressing tight against her chest, Diamond Tiara leaned over the side of the kart, her eyes darting between the horse and the vehicle, trying to find anything that looked out of the ordinary. A desperate whicker build in her throat. She wasn’t an expert in karts, not in the slightest—she wasn’t Peach Fuzz! She didn’t have the faintest idea of what she was supposed to be looking for.

The thudding of the horse’s hooves drew closer and closer. Diamond Tiara’s heart began to keep pace with it, throwing itself against her ribs until she was convinced she was about to throw up.

Then she saw the branch.

It had obviously come from one of the destroyed trees, and had become trapped between the wheel arch and the wheel itself. Diamond Tiara watched the rotating disc of applewood as it struggled against the obstruction, splinters shearing free from the friction. Planting her legs on either side of the chair, she leaned her body further out of the kart, stretching for the branch.

Her hooves brushed against it, then a second time. Eventually they found purchase, and she gripped the smooth wood tight, attempting to pull it free. The wheel groaned in protest, and Diamond Tiara released her hooves, panic rippling through her body.

I can’t let anything happen to you. She pressed a hoof against the wooden frame of the kart as a flood of memories resurfaced. I won’t.

She nearly jumped right out of the kart as the horse roared its fury. It was even closer now, no more than a hair’s breadth away from the kart, and Diamond Tiara could see the flickering glow of its empty sockets as it tracked her movement. Its mouth moved as though it could already taste her.

With fear spurring her on, Diamond Tiara reached for the branch again, tugging a little harder. The wheel screeched in protest, but, gritting her teeth, she kept the pressure on it. She could hear the horse’s breath clearly now, as though it was running right beside her, exhaling right into her ear. Her skin prickled as she braced her hind legs. Then, with one last groan, the branch started to slip loose.

As if realising what was happening, the horse lunged forward, its jaws snapping. With a shriek, Diamond Tiara fell backwards into the kart, pulling back her forelegs just in time. The creature growled as its teeth closed tight around empty air, the ring of debris rotating faster around its head. It was almost hypnotic, and for a few moments Diamond Tiara found herself unable to pull her gaze away from the mass of weathered objects. She was barely aware of the horse bracing itself to leap again.

Then the world surged back into focus. Diamond Tiara was suddenly aware of Apple Bloom’s voice, shouting over the sound of the engine, and of the close, dense Everfree air on her face. More than anything, however, she was aware of her desire to stay alive.

Pushing her helmet back, she scrambled out of her seat and onto the boot of the kart, feeling the rush of air as the horse’s head lunged forward. Gripping the back of the seat with one hoof, she leant forward to wrap her other foreleg around the branch. Her heart pounding, she pulled it loose just as the horse swung its gnashing head back towards her. Screaming, she swung with both hooves, and felt a satisfying crunch as the branch connected. Pain briefly flared across her cheek as the horse thrashed its head, falling to the ground with a whicker as its legs gave way.

Almost instantly, the kart’s speed began to increase. Diamond Tiara felt the breeze pull at the strands of mane that had tumbled free of her helmet, and clung onto her seat as she watched the creature disappear into the distance. Her lungs were screaming at her, her whole body aching as she pulled herself back into the kart, but a sense of satisfaction successfully kept the pain at bay.

Apple Bloom looked across as she slid into the seat. Her eyes were wide, a look of wonder on her face that made Diamond Tiara feel proud and yet strangely self-conscious.

“That was awesome,” she said, a grin on her face. “We’re speedin’ up now and everythin’—Oh my gosh, you’re bleedin’, DT!”

“I am?” Diamond Tiara slapped a hoof to her aching cheek, and her stomach tightened as she saw blood glistening on it when she pulled it away. The world started to blur at the edges of her vision, and for a moment she was convinced she was going to pass out.

Then a quiet satisfaction began to bloom within her, wrapping itself like a blanket around her numb body. She was bleeding, but she had also just saved them both. She—the pony who was still called spoilt and sheltered in some quarters of Ponyville—had fought off a monster from the Everfree with her very own hooves.

She wasn’t going to lie to herself: it felt pretty good.

“It’s okay,” she said, noticing Apple Bloom’s expression, and offering her a shaky smile. “Just a scratch, right? That lame mossflank totally came off worse.”

The echo of the horse's roar chased them down the track, and Diamond Tiara’s sense of satisfaction quickly dissipated. Apple Bloom threw a glance over her shoulder. “I, uh, think you jus’ made him mad. We better get off this track, quick.”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes moved instinctively to the timer as she reached down to pick up the map.

“Do we have time for that? We won’t pass through any checkpoints until we get back onto this route again.”

Apple Bloom glanced at the timer. “We don’t have a choice. Hey, can you see if you can find another route we can use to get off this track, even if it’s jus’ for ten seconds or so? We gotta throw that thing off our scent.”

“Are you kidding me?” Diamond Tiara studied the sketch of the Everfree on the map, which was mostly empty except for the fat red line they were, hopefully, following, before throwing her hooves up in despair. “You’re lucky you’ve even got this much detail! Everypony knows that the Everfree eats cartographers for breakfast!”

She glanced ahead, her eyes squinting. It looked as though the track they were on curved away to the right a little further down, and just before them was a—

“Get off the track here!” she cried, pointing a hoof at a gap in the dense vegetation beside them. “If we keep driving straight once we pass through there, then we should be able to rejoin this track a bit further on!”

“Where? You mean there?” Apple Bloom swore as the gap passed them by. “Hang on!”

The forest became a blur as Apple Bloom wrenched the steering wheel to one side. As the front end of the kart turned, she pulled down on the hoofbrake, and the rear of the kart swung round in pursuit. Mud sprayed into the air, splattering against kart and pony alike, and Diamond Tiara felt her stomach lurch as the vehicle began to lift up onto two wheels.

Then Apple Bloom released the hoofbrake, and the kart surged back down the way they had come, cancelling out its earlier trajectory as all four wheels again found traction in the dirt.

“Yes!” Apple Bloom punched the air jubilantly, her eyes flashing as she turned to look at Diamond Tiara. “Did you see that!? That was awesome, right?”

She turned her gaze back to the track, and her smile instantly faded. “Horseapples!” she cried, jamming a hoof down on the brake. “Hang on!”

The kart skidded to a halt, spraying a wave of mud against the trees. As she shook her head to clear the blur of tangled images, Diamond Tiara looked ahead, and her blood turned to ice.

Standing in the middle of the track, between the kart and the exit they needed to take, was the six-legged horse. Its eyes were narrowed and its nostrils were flaring, and the ring of debris was now rotating aggressively around its head. After a second, its lips pulled back to reveal jagged rows of thin teeth.

Little whispers, you have grown so quiet now, and yet I hear you still.

Diamond Tiara blinked, unable to tell whether the voice was coming from the creature’s mouth or inside her own skull. The sound of it reminded her of the time she had gone swimming at the beach, and ended up with slimy seaweed all tangled between her legs. As sweat began to bead across her brow at the memory, she was aware of Apple Bloom applying the hoofbrake, and then revving the engine.

Her throat was dry as her gaze returned to the creature.

“W—Who are you?”

Its eye sockets flared amongst the gloom of the Everfree as it took a step toward them. I used to hear you often, little whispers. Your song would always grow so loud, drowning everything else out with its noise. I am that which dulls your melody; I am that which consigns yours artifacts to dust and your echos to time. I am the ill wind of Equestria, and your whispers will soon be silenced.

“This is bad.”Diamond Tiara felt her stomach start to flutter. “This is so bad.”

Apple Bloom’s face was ashen, but set in hard lines and angles. She revved the engine a few more times, before fixing her eyes on the horse. “Hey, DT,” she murmured, “when you hit that thing with the branch, it looked like it hurt it, right?”

Diamond Tiara was still trying to drive out the paralysing chill that had settled across her body. She looked at Apple Bloom, confusion twisting her face. “I think so? But—”

“Okay, then hang tight; I got a plan.”

Diamond Tiara tasted bile in the back of her throat as she watched Apple Bloom reach down for the hoofbrake, suddenly realising what her friend was about to do. Memories started to bubble to the surface—happy memories, sobering memories, memories that made her want to cry—and a sudden desire to protect them overwhelmed her.

“Apple Bloom, wait—”

Her friend shook her head. “We don’t have the time, DT!”

“No, you don’t understand!” Diamond Tiara grabbed Apple Bloom’s foreleg. “Please, just wait!”

But Apple Bloom jammed her hoof down, and released the brake. With a thunderous growl, the kart sped forward, straight at the horse. The creature’s eyes widened momentarily, but it quickly dipped its head and broke into a gallop towards them.

Diamond Tiara watched it draw closer, her blood running cold, her coat boiling over. It felt like the thing had doubled in size, filling the width of the track and looming over them as they moved faster and faster on their collision course with it. Was Apple Bloom trying to kill them? Diamond Tiara’s mind raced, imagining the slam of the impact, the crunch of wood as the kart splintered apart, and of the pair of them being tossed into the unwelcoming depths of the Everfree. The hairs of her coat stood on end, her lungs trying, but unable to draw in the damp forest air.

Then she was aware of the branch resting against her hind leg. Fear, but more importantly a desire to protect her kart above all else, drove her limbs into action, and she took the branch between her forelegs and hurled it outwards toward the creature.

It struck its outstretched forelegs, slapping once against the mossy coat of the horse, before getting tangled between its fetlocks. With a howl of rage, it tumbled forward, its face planting into the dirt and its rear end tipping sideways across the track.

Apple Bloom pulled the wheel hard, trying to swerve around the horse’s rolling body. Diamond Tiara’s teeth rattled against each other as the kart went off the track and onto the rock-strewn ground beyond the treeline. She was just about to congratulate herself on besting the creature a second time, when its tail whipped up and against the side of the kart. Wispy, partially-formed clouds billowed against the door on Apple Bloom’s side, and the air suddenly filled with cracking as the applewood splintered and warped, the red paint coating it blistering.

Apple Bloom’s head spun round at the sound, her hooves sliding across the wheel as she tried to move the kart away from the cloud. But the speed and movement of the vehicle swept the thick vapour up in its current, and as it was dispersed, wispy grey tendrils caressed the side of her face. Diamond Tiara could only watch in horror as Apple Bloom cried out and fell against the steering wheel, her eyelids drooping.

“AB!” she cried, leaning across and shaking her friend. Apple Bloom mumbled incoherently, her eyeballs rolling around in her head. Diamond Tiara felt her stomach contort horribly, but the bump of the kart swiftly reminded her that it was currently out of control, and liable to crash if she didn’t do something about it. Pushing Apple Bloom gently against the cracked door, Diamond Tiara scooted closer, her hind legs reaching for the pedals.

As she fought to bring the kart back onto the makeshift route they had planned, Diamond Tiara tried not to think about how pale Apple Bloom looked in the dim Everfree light.

Or why her thick red mane, creeping out from under her cracked helmet, was now streaked with grey.