In The Fog is Where He Waits

Applebloom groaned. She slowly began to lift her eyelids. Celestia had risen up the sun once again, as the yellow rays of sunlight greeted her eyes through the window. Applebloom slowly got on her hooves and trotted towards the window, glaring through the grove farms of Sweet Apple Acres. She then thought about the rapid sequence of events that occurred last night, about how for some reason, she overreacted all because she thought that there was something on the trees. Her mind was racing that time, which led to the event being sort of vague. Applebloom sighed and began trotting downstairs for breakfast. She didn't want to overthink it and lose her mind going down a rabbit hole in the process.

Applebloom trotted downstairs and saw what had been prepared at the table. She greeted the rest of the Apples took a seat between Granny Smith as she began to dig in on some waffles. After every couple of bites she had taken on a piece, Applebloom would turn her head around and glance towards the window displaying the furthermost groves of the farm. The lingering thought hasn't fully dissolved into nothing, as she swore that something did happen, but she couldn't describe it whatsoever. Applebloom nevertheless made sure that her actions won't be so frequent that it would capture the family's attention, and that she'd had to explain herself which would make it a bit embarrassing. Once breakfast was concluded, Applebloom prepared herself to trek towards Saddle Lake, where the girls had planned to go for their next crusade. She began trotting out of the barn, but not before Applejack came out to advise her on something.

"Don't wander off so late Applebloom! I've heard that its gonna be a foggy day in town." Applejack called out.

"Alrighty, bye sis!" Applebloom replied back, heeding her advice.

Trotting towards the lake, Applebloom gazed over the scenery of tiny grass hills. Applejack was right, the fog had begun to seep through, although it wasn't much, as the Pegasi had planned for more of it later throughout the day and the following night. Visibility would slowly begin to limit itself more as the day passes, but despite all of that, Applebloom would be fine to live with that for the time being. She continued to trot past a couple of dead trees, until she finally caught the sight of the lake, as well as her fellow crusaders hanging about with small paddleboards and creating pyramids on the sand.

"Hey y'all! I guess we're doing a 2 in 1 on the lake?" Applebloom asked curiously.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Scootaloo wondered in confusion.

"Uhh, I meant that we're paddleboarding and building sandcastles that are like, bigger than you girls, from what y'all have already planned." Applebloom replied, a bit taken aback bit Scootaloo's answer.

"What? Oh! Those things? Yeah about that....We didn't make those." Scootaloo reluctantly replied, knowing that she would confuse Applebloom.

"Uhh...okay then. Wonder what those are for." Applebloom pondered.

"Oh don't worry about it. We were just as confused when we got here. We think the townsfolk did it to mark a path back to Ponyville because of the oncoming fog. There's even some on the grass not too far away!" Sweetie Belle replied reassuringly.

"Alright I guess, this must be a new thing! I remember some ponies were lost the last time we had a foggy day here." Applebloom concluded. "So we're paddleboarding only, right?" She asked.

"Yeah! I already got some here that we borrowed. Let's hop to it!" Scootaloo announced.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders paddleboarding!"

Slowly but surely, the trio were getting the hang of it. They began to paddle with their mouths through the still water, and decided to circle around a sand pyramid. They all decided to go in a single file line, as they kept a consistent pace between each others' boards. They continued to loop around for a couple of minutes, patiently waiting for something to happen.

"Anything yet?" Asked Sweetie Belle.

"Nope, not at all." Scootaloo replied.

"Nothing here yet." Applebloom followed.

"Still no cutie mark at all. How long should this keep going?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We should probably do a few more loops. Then maybe something will happen." Scootaloo suggested.

"Alright. This is sorta starting to get to nowhere." Sweetie Belle replied in near defeat.

The trio continued to paddle around the lake, but this time going through their separate ways and increasing their speed by a margin to make it a tad more effective. Despite knowing that an appearance of a cutie mark was quite unlikely, they still had fun paddling on the water. Sweetie Belle giggled as she passed through Scootaloo within a close range of their boards. and she did the same back to her. Scootaloo passed through Applebloom this time, and smiled at her. Applebloom wanted to return the favor, so she turned around to smile at him. She then turned back around to her front view and continued to paddle.

Immediately, Applebloom's board began to wobble due to her legs quivering. Applebloom's face filled with shock as she felt paralyzed. Her six senses skyrocketed as she felt a jolt and snapped her head looking behind. But before her mind can process anything, her legs gave out as she plunged on the lake water. The other crusaders took notice of this and gasped, before paddling hastily towards Applebloom, rushing towards her aid. Thankfully, she was donning a life vest like the rest of them, so she remained afloat face-up.

"Applebloom! Are you alright? You accidentally tipped over!" Sweetie Belle asked eagerly.

"Don't worry AB, you're gonna be fine. You just fell in the water. Let's get you back to shore." Scootaloo reassured.

Applebloom finally caught on the moment as she popped her head up to speak to the crusaders.

"I..uhh...I..I...T-There was somethin'!" She stuttered. "I saw!"

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Scootaloo asked in a mildly confused state.

"Saw what?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

Applebloom stuttered. She in fact saw something, but something was rather a broad word in this case. She tried to pick the most accurate words scrambled in her brain, but to no avail, the details remain to be vague and blurry.

"I-In the fog! I saw somethin'! It was on the pyramid!"

"What?" Sweetie Belle paddled closer towards it. "There's nothing there!" She yelled back.

"What did it look like? Are you sure you weren't just uhh, hallucinating?" Scootaloo asked curiously.

"No! No! I swear I wasn't! It had uhh....It had..." Applebloom tried to recall the recent occurence. It all happened so fast. Just like last night, when her mind allegedly caught on to something on her mental image. She couldn't quite describe what all of it was back then, but now, she might just possibly could. Soon enough, two words echoed on her mind. It was sort of far-fetched, but it would somehow just make a bit of sense.

"White eyes." She emotionlessly stated.

"White....huh?" Scootaloo asked, now really confused and taken aback.

"I-It had eyes. It was looking at me! Glowing!" Applebloom listed as much as she could.

"Y-You're not making any sense AB." Scootaloo replied, trying to make out of what occurred.

"B-But I am! Well, no but yes! UGGH! How do I explain all of this?" Applebloom yelled out in frustration.

"So you're saying that something was looking at, or like, watching you?" Sweetie Belle asked as she disembarked her paddleboard.

"Yes! It was quite hard to see. But I swear I did! I was probably the only one to see it." Applebloom replied, hoping that she would have convinced the crusaders by now.

"Yeah I shouldn't be believing in this hooey, but judging from what you've experienced, I'm sort of in the middle of it." Scootaloo replied, half convinced. "I mean, you're not pulling a prank on us right? Cuz you know, I ain't scared of the fog."

"No! Why would I? I'm not even convinced that I could have pulled a good prank!" Applebloom replied, desperate for them to understand her side of the story.

"Well okay then, we believe you. But right now, I think we should get back to town. I think it's best if we could get things settled first." Sweetie Belle replied, hoping that whatever this occurrence is, would become resolved as quickly as she had anticipated.

Applebloom sighs. "Alright then. But, how am I gonna spill the story? Everypony would think that I'm crazy!"

"Oh don't you worry, there has to be a reasonable explanation! Right now, I'm thinking that its some sort of wild animal." Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Ehh, maybe. But somethin' about it seemed so off. Or maybe I just overreacted. Who knows?" Applebloom replied in doubt.

"Yeah, maybe you were. You do get pretty jumpy sometimes. And in a foggy day? Now that's more likely to happen for you, rather than something else unusual." Scootaloo replied as she helped the rest of the girls pack up their things onto the wagon.

"Hmm...maybe, but still, I'm not too entirely sure." Applebloom replied back.

"Hey guys? Why don't we go to the clubhouse and like, hang out there? We can discuss a few things, especially our next cutie mark activities!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"Sounds like great idea to me. I'm all out of options for the rest of the day, so let's get to it!" Scootaloo replied confidently. She began to flap her wings, and just like that, the CMCs were off back to town from Saddle Lake. Visibility was starting to get a lot more limited, so Scootaloo equipped her helmet with a wrapped torch, giving her an advantage. They zipped through the hills and dead trees, and through some of the grass pyramids. They passed through him and some ponies, steering clear of any of their paths to avoid a collision. Moments later, they were zipping across Sweet Apple Acres, until they have finally arrived at the clubhouse, where their main hangout spot is situated. They deboarded the scooter-wagon and began trotting up the slopes towards the entrance before heading inside.

"No no no, not this. Oh, we've already done that." Scootaloo silently spoke as she marked around the ponyville map, looking for other opportunities to try out. Sweetie Belle was slowly trotting in circles helping Scootaloo come up with new ideas, all while Applebloom was busy staring out the window emotionlessly towards the day fog. Sweetie Belle, upon seeing her in that state, broke out of her brainstorm and trotted up towards her.

"Hey uhh, you okay? That thing must have really made your head spin, didn't it?" Sweetie Belle asked, trying to reassure Applebloom.

Applebloom sighed. "Yeah, it did. Two times already. I think I saw it last night too. Before I went to sleep."

"Are you sure you're really not seeing things? It sure could have been like...I don't know, a timberwolf?" Sweetie Belle curiously responded. "I mean, we do live in a magical world after all."

"No, I don't think so. Don't they have like, green and yellow eyes?" Applebloom replied.

"Oh yeah, right. But still, don't you think you're still overreacting? You've been nervous ever since the day started." Sweetie Belle asked.

"I...well.....I honestly think that I am, maybe its just the fog; or even the night. Those could make you see crazy things." Applebloom replied, yet somehow doubtful.

"You're right, although there isn't enough proof on what it is, I think it's best that we wait patiently for what's to come." Sweetie Belle assured as she patted around Applebloom's neck. Sweetie Belle then went back to her brainstorming. She thought hard, until it came to her.

"Hey guys! I know what we can do! We should go cave mining! My older sister Rarity does that sometimes, she can probably help us!" Sweetie Belle announced.

"Oh sweet! That's a great idea! We could find so many gems! We're gonna be looking for treasure!" Scootaloo exclaimed in excitement.

"Wait, mining...in the dark?" Applebloom gulped.

"Oh don't be so nervous. We're gonna get Rarity to help us! Don't worry, we won't be exposed to the outdoors, and we'll stick together no matter what." Scootaloo confidently replied.

"Well, alright, but...." Applebloom silently spoke.

"So are you in or are you out?" Scootaloo asked eagerly.

"Well, I'm not so sure..." Applebloom silently replied.

"Oh come on, this could be our chance!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Scoots, slow down. Applebloom needs some time to think about it. Obviously she's just experienced something that frightened her. So maybe we should cut her some slack for now." Sweetie Belle lectured out at her, a bit annoyed by her behaviour.

"Oh, sorry for rushing that, It's okay if you don't want to, but as I said, we'll stick together and have a grown up beside us." Scootaloo softly spoke, hoping to ease Applebloom as she's deciding.

"Hmm, alright then, I think I'll be fine. I know how much we all want a cutie mark, so let's give it a go!" Applebloom answered. "But promise that we stick together?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." They all spoke in unison.

"Thanks y'all, now I don't feel too nervous after all." Applebloom spoke in relief.

"Oh it's alright. We all look out for one another, right?" Sweetie Belle asked rhetorically. Scootaloo nodded.

"Huh, it appears to be getting dark now, I think we should get going." Sweetie Belle stated.

"Oh yeah, I should get back to the barn. Don't want to come home late at this time of day." Applebloom replied.

The crusaders then trotted out and headed down the clubhouse. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle prepared themselves to travel back towards their homes.

"Bye Applebloom!" Yelled out the two of them.

"Bye y'all! See ya tomorrow!" Applebloom waved back as she bid them farewell. The two fillies zoomed out of her vision, and towards the fog, heading for down town. Applebloom sighed as she began trotting back towards the barn. The fog was getting thicker as the sun began setting, so she would have to trot a bit faster. Applebloom was casually heading down the groves, navigating her way back to the barn. Silence fell within each step she took. There were no nearby critters or animals, so no noise were produced. It was peacefully quiet, with only Applebloom's hoofsteps being audible.

It was quiet. Perhaps even too quiet. Applebloom tried to ignore the silence. But as time went on, the silence refused to fade out, as Applebloom was constantly rifting through the foggy groves. She tried to brush it off, but within each clip, and each clop, her heart continued to race. She tried to breathe and calm herself down, but all she can ever think of, is how vulnerable she thinks she is. Applebloom was on the edge, her anxiety slowly rising as the silent fog built nothing but suspense and adrenaline. She slowly started to pick up her pace and went from trotting to galloping. She doesn't want to stay in the fog for too long, and she didn't want to look anywhere else other than the front. She galloped, expecting anything to happen at this point. All she wanted was to reach the barn door and call it a day, but a lingering feeling didn't want her to feel just that. It wanted her to feel more than she already was. Applebloom galloped, knowing; That she is being watched.

"Applebloom! There you are!" Cried out Applejack. Applebloom had finally arrived. The barn lights illuminating its yellow rays shone down towards her. It began to get brighter as she finally reached the barn. Applejack was holding a lantern, watching out for Applebloom, whom she slowly reduces herself to trotting speed, finally going beside her older sister.

"Man, I was hopin' that you'd somehow won't get lost. How was Saddle Lake for ya'll anyways? Applejack asked, eager to hear about her younger filly's day.

"Fine, I guess. Hey uhh, we might head down to the caves with Rarity tomorrow, hopefully you'd be fine with that." Applebloom said.

"Oooh, I'm not too sure about that. I've heard Rarity's caught up on a busy schedule, so your plans might be in turmoil." Applejack replied. Applebloom was somehow glad, but a bit disappointed, knowing that her friends might not be able to get a cutie mark from that.

"Anyways, let's get you inside. The fog is getting thicker. Heard that a few ponies got lost but thankfully made their way back." Applejack stated.

"Huh, did they use the pyramids that you guys dug up?" Applebloom wondered.

"Uhhh, what...pyramids?" Applejack asked in confusion.

"The ones that you and the townsfolk made! You know, to help point the way back to town." Applebloom replied, yet in mild confidence.

"Uhhhh....We never do that? As far as I know we only use torches and many other sources of light. You alright, sugarcube? You must be seeing things." Applejack chuckled. "How silly, although that idea doesn't sound half bad now...".

"Well then, somepony must have done it. If they didn't, then...who did?" Applebloom was now taken aback by this her confusion grew for a short period of time.

"Oh it must be some burrows for the critters. Probably even set up by Fluttershy!" Applejack replied confidently.

"Uhh.. I don't think so...." Applebloom silently spoke as she stopped on her tracks while watching Applejack trot towards the kitchen. Right away, Applebloom thought of it. About how it all could link with whatever she saw that day. However, Applebloom physically shook her head as she went up. The idea of it sounded eerie, but it just wouldn't make sense at all. It just somehow wouldn't. She decided to ignore anything related to that, as it would keep her up all night.