THE BONEYARD
by CLOUD WANDER
BILL
The Ponyville Library:
Bill slumped before that book. Yuh won't beat me, y'know, he told it.
Reluctantly, he turned back the page and studied the diagrams again. Okay, this is t' this as that is t' that. Got it. But what about this little bit here. Seems more important than I thought before. It's like it leads somewheres.... Oh! Oh, thassit! Righ'! Righ'! I goddit!
He turned the page forward again and now it all made a little more sense.
Bill Plum was a teamster Earth Pony, dark purple, big, broad of back and tough as an old oak root. Strong! Oh, there were times when his teammates would back off and tell him, C'mon, Bill, that stump, that rock, that load, it's just too big for you to shift. Let it go.
But that's when Bill would put his head down, plant his hooves and pull, pull with everything he had. Won't let go, he'd think. It will give, if I just pull a little more, he'd tell himself, leaning into his harness, sweating and straining and calling up all the heart and hope he had inside him.
And, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, dang if the thing didn't move.
So, in the early morning, in the Ponyville Library, Bill Plum harnessed himself to that book, planted his hooves and dragged a little knowledge, a little understanding out of its pages.
And, just as Bill was getting settled for the next hard pull, Blue Grass danced in.
Bill loved Blue like a brother. (Bill had three brothers, so he knew how rough and tumble a family could be.) Blue was a good pony: funny and good-looking, a strong teammate and kind when no one was watching. But, dang if Blue didn't have a positive talent for putting a burr under Bill's saddle.
"Hay there, Bill! Never thought to see you in a library," exclaimed Blue, a little too loudly for Bill's taste. Bill thought the Library was a Special Place. One ought t' be quiet an', I dunno, respec'ful in a Special Place.
"Whatcha readin' there? A book? A whole book? With words and things? Wow! Lemme see!" Blue reached for the book.
"Blue, don't," began Bill, but Blue Grass snatched the volume up and examined it.
"The Elephants of Memory," recited Blue, glancing at the title page. He flipped through it. "Hmmm! Pictures! Shoulda figured. Lots of words, too, though. Hey, what is this? These words don't make any sense! It's all gobbledygook! These aren't even proper letters! It's unreadable!"
"I can read it jus' fine," said Bill, proudly.
Blue glanced back at the title page and startled. The Eloquence of History, it read, now. He looked back into the middle of the book, puzzled at the text a little more, then back at the title page.
The Equestrians of Mystery, the title read.
"Oh, this is just stupid," said Blue, impatiently. He gripped the book in his teeth and shook it vigorously.
"Blue, I wouldn't," cautioned Bill.
Blue looked back at the title page again.
The Last Thing That Blue Grass Will Ever See If He Does That Again, said the book.
"Gah!" exclaimed Blue, dropping the book like it burned him.
Bill sighed and collected the book from the floor.
"No, seriously, Bill, why are you shutting yourself up in here?" asked Blue, suddenly eager to change the subject away from the weird book. "It's a beautiful day outside. Better, there are beautiful ladies out and about. Miss Rose was asking about you again."
"Aw, no she wasn't," shied Bill.
"No, really. Heart-fly, cupcake-eye! She batted those enormous eyes of hers at me and asked where that adorable Big Bill was."
Bill grinned despite himself. "Miss Rose is pretty sweet, ain't she? Still, I can't see her right now. Got studyin' t' do."
"Studying, for what?" asked Blue.
Bill frowned. Blue was a pretty good guy, really. But Blue liked to laugh, and sometimes, when he forgot himself, he'd laugh at you instead of with you.
Bill placed the book down on the table, one hoof on the cover, protectively.
"I'm studyin' t' be a wizard," declared Bill Plum.
As expected, Blue's whole face curled into a huge horse laugh. He nearly choked himself trying to hold it in against Bill's obvious earnestness.
Blue started to speak, but Bill cut him off. "Look! You 'member when we talked t' Miss Sparkle that time, an' she said she'd be real happy if we'd visit her in th' library?" Bill was very careful, saying library. He'd said li'berry once in front of her and Miss Sparkle had looked so sad.
"Well, I visited her! An' I tole her, I tole her I really thought that unicorns was great an' that I wanted t' study magic an' be a wizard." Bill glanced down at his hooves. "A good wizard. Sumbuddy special, what helps everypony, an' mebbe not just a dumb ol' plodder."
Blue Grass, quietly, moved up to Bill and gently shouldered him. "You're already somebody special, pal. Don't let anypony tell you different. Ever. Otherwise, I'm likely to get mad."
Bill grinned at his friend.
"So, Miss Sparkle," Bill continued. "Miss Sparkle, she tells me, 'Bill, in the whole history of Equestria, there's never been an Earth Pony wizard.'
"An' I looks at her an' I says, I says, 'Well, then, maybe I'll be th' first one.'
"After that, she looked real thoughtful, then finally she gives me this book t' study. 'Read this, Bill. Ask me if you have questions. Then tell me what you think.'
"I promised her, I'd study real hard, an' I means t' keeps my promise."
Bill held himself inside, waiting for Blue's laughter. But, to his surprise, the feisty blue pony just punched him in the shoulder again and danced away.
"I just came in to tell you," said Blue, "that Josh has another job lined up for us. Something easy, for a change. 'Mindin' the ol' family farm.' Sounds real restful. Maybe you should bring your book, in case you get bored." Blue grinned, but Bill could see the concern in his eyes.
Don't hurt yourself, buddy, Blue's eyes said. You're my pal, and I worry about you.
Then Blue started humming a popular song and danced from the library.
Bill sighed, found his place and immersed himself in the pages of The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.
Come t' Life Spell, he read. That sounds pretty useful. Bill Plum put his head down, planted his hooves and pulled.
BLUE
The Boneyard:
The ponies in black fled across the desert and the teamster ponies followed.
The sunrise at their backs, their black shadows running before them, the three teamsters hauled their wagon down the long draw that would eventually bring them to the gate of the Pie family rock farm.
Examining the landscape, Blue Grass did his best to hide his amazement. Not Ponyville, definitely not Ponyville, he thought. The land was brown and red, dotted with spindly trees, and low, strangely aromatic flowering shrubs. And rocks, lots of rocks. You'd almost think that the rocks grew out of the ground like mushrooms, he thought.
And that sky! The sky above Ponyville was blue, but not like this: a deep blue, like a sea suspended over the land. Looking up, Blue thought a pony could sail away into that sky, in search of distant lands.
"This valley's a bit different than Ponyville, I'll admit," said Blue.
Josh Pie, in the lead, chuckled. "Oh, it's more different than you know, Blue."
"What do you mean, Josh?" asked Bill. Bill was carefully watching where he placed his hooves. This draw was alive with little lizards, darting this way and that, scrambling for juicy flies in the morning coolness. Bill hadn't seen many lizards in Ponyville. Except for Mister Spike, of course. Bill wondered if Mister Spike liked to eat flies too.
Josh thought for a minute. "Ponyville, and most of Equestria for that matter, has this... timeless quality. Like, you get up one day and know that today will be pretty much like yesterday. Sure, the seasons go around, but in a steady, reassuring way. The unicorns, the pegasi and us Earth Ponies, we manage Equestria pretty well.
"But here," Josh said, thoughtfully, "the land is full of time. Look up at those cliffs there! See the different stripes of color? That's compressed time. Year upon year, age upon age, from the beginning of all things.
"Geologically speaking," said Josh Pie, warming to his topic, in that tone he had when lecturing, "this valley and all the lands around it have been more active than you might think.
"Long ago, and I mean, really, really long ago, a warm, shallow sea covered this whole region. You hike up into the hills above the arroyo there," he nodded, "and dig a bit, you'll find the shells of clams and crabs and trilobites and things that nopony has a name for.
"Over the ages, the sea dried up, but its history, the ghost of that old, lost sea, is everywhere, if you look for it."
"Welcome, my friends, to the HAUNTED VALLEY! Woo-oo-oo!" said Blue Grass sarcastically, waving his hooves. "Thanks, Josh. That'll help me sleep."
"Oh, it's worse than you think, Blue," continued Josh, cocking an eyebrow at his teammate. "Y'see, after the Ancient Sea faded, there came the Great Swamp, and then the Old Forest, that once graced the hills and valleys and even the tops of those buttes out there.
"I can't even imagine what it was like here then. Green and lush, rough and savage. Giants lived here then, great birds with teeth, big plodders bigger than any ox, lizards larger than any dragon. You might laugh, but their bones are scattered everywhere hereabouts, if you look for them."
Bill Plum piped up. "What happened to 'em, Josh?" he asked. "Where are th' big critters? Where are the trees? I kinda like it here. The sky is big an' th' land is open an' gentle."
"Hah!" exclaimed Blue, doubtful.
"But where did they all go?" persisted Bill.
"Their time passed," said Josh, quietly. He walked on for a bit, then asked, "Did I ever tell you fellows about that tiny pony I found, that one day?"
"'Your little pony?'" asked Blue, smirking. "Really?"
Josh paused briefly, his back tensing with anger. Then he plodded on.
Josh glanced back at the two of them. He tossed his head to the west. "You see that big butte there, the tallest one?"
"Yeah, so what?" asked Blue.
"One summer," said Josh. "when I was a little colt, I ran all the way out there, just to see if I could. It was a long way, and a pretty hot day, so I was happy to find a little cave I could crawl into, to get out of the Sun.
"So I was laying there, resting out of the heat, sipping my water and eating my apple, when I looked around and found something white sticking out of the rock.
"I dug at it a little, absently at first, then got more excited as I realized that the white thing was a bone. There's good money in old dragon bones, so I dug away happily, thinking Pa would be so proud of me."
Josh looked down. "But what I found was this little guy. I don't know what his story was, but he was tiny, littler than me as a colt, no bigger than a baby. His hooves, well, he had four toes on his front ones and three on his back ones. I can't really imagine how he walked, with all those toes, but there he was.
"But that little guy, he was a pony. I dug out enough of him to see that, then I stopped. I apologized to him. Sorry, little brother, I thought, then I did my best to push the earth back onto him. Rest now, I thought. Rest. After that I ran back home, and I never told nopony about it."
Blue looked around, at the cliffs that rose around him, expecting to feel creeped out at the weight of history frowning down at him. But, to his amazement, he felt like the stones called to him. Brother! Brother, thank you, you are welcome here, among your ancient family! We are Equestria! Welcome!
"We are Earth Ponies," said Blue, quietly.
"Aye," said Bill, "this's our place. Th' stones are our fam'bly."
Josh nodded. "We are the Ponies of the Earth. And across all the generations, we endure. Oh, look! Here's the gate!"
They looked down the draw and saw it.
The gate was bright and cheerful. PIE ROCK FARM: PERFECTION IS OUR QUARRY, declared a sign over the gate. The sign depicted a smiling Sun glowing over a basket of rocks, offered up like fruit in a still-life.
Weird, thought Blue. So silly. But I kinda feel like I like these Pies.
"Josh," he asked, quietly. "I know we're supposed to look after your brother's rock farm while they're away, but could we manage a trip out there," he tossed his head towards the distant butte, "to visit your 'little guy'?"
Bill nodded. "Yah. I wanna go. Just t' say 'hay.'"
Josh looked at his friends. He seemed pleased. He nodded. "Don't see why not, once the chores are done."
INCUNABULA
Muscles? Why in Celestia’s and Luna’s names do I have muscles? Why can’t I be skinny like Blinks?
Incunabula Susan Pie examined herself in the mirror and snorted. My legs are too fat, I’ve got a huge butt and whatever am I going to do with this ugly mane?!
Maybe I won’t go into town after all, she sulked. Pa, Ma and Blinks can go. I’ll just stay here and, I dunno, write some sad poetry or something.
Then she snorted and chuckled ruefully. Aw, who am I kidding? I can’t miss a chance to see the, air quotes, “bright lights of Ponyville.” Maybe I’ll go bowling. Ironically, of course.
Her eyes strayed to the corner of the mirror, where a happy picture of Pinkamena grinned back at her. Heya!
Almost against her will, Incunabula smiled. Pinks! BSBFF. Big Sister, Best Friend Forever. Miss you so much.
I guess I’ll go.
She pulled her stuff together and looked around at her little room. She snorted, then slouched towards the, air quotes, family room.
Okay, I admit it, she said to herself. I’m so happy to see Uncle Josh.
Pa never said an unkind word about his brother. Hardly mentioned him, really. Uncle Josh had visited the farm from time to time, bringing silly presents and good cheer. It was always a treat to see him.
Incunabula had held back as long as she could, but when she heard her uncle’s voice, she had galloped out to him, crying.
She hugged him tight and he hugged her back.
“You’ve grown,” he said.
Of course, you would mention my big butt, she thought. But she hugged him hard anyway.
Incunabula said hello to Uncle Josh’s friends, Bill, who smiled at her bashfully, and Blue, who, who… wait, is he trying to hook up with me?
She didn’t know if she should be insulted or thrilled. She decided to go with both, looking back at him archly: thank you for your interest, but I am unapproachable. For now. Wink.
Wow, that got his attention. Too bad he’ll be here, in the Boneyard, while I’ll be sneaking away from the parents in Ponyville.
Pa, of course, couldn’t have a happy reunion with his brother. Pa and Ma took Uncle Josh aside and argued with him a bit. The Parents haven’t been off the farm since whenever, so naturally they are afraid that Josh and his boys can’t mind everything.
But Uncle Josh grew up here. He knows the Boneyard. And he knows how to keep the stones quiet.
Incunabula Susan Pie hefted her panniers onto her back and trotted forward, suddenly eager to see the world outside.
BILL
Bill had been a town pony almost his entire life, first in Trottingham, now in Ponyville. Never in his whole life had he ever seen anything like the Racetrack.
The Racetrack was a dry lake bed, completely flat, within the bowl of the surrounding hills. The surface of the Racetrack was covered in hard, clay tiles, like a vast natural floor.
Bill and Blue were following Josh around the edge of the Racetrack, crossing from the Pie farmhouse to the South Fields. It would have been faster to just walk straight across the dry lake, but Josh insisted that they keep to the worn track on the edge, to avoid disturbing the sailing stones.
Blue had laughed derisively when Josh warned them about the sailing stones, but Blue seemed less interested in laughing now, with the stones right in front of him.
The sailing stones weren't that big, most of them the size of bricks, although there was one, "Miss Petra," Josh called it, as big as an oven. The reason they were called sailing stones was obvious when you looked at them: they all had long tracks winding behind them, carved into the surface of the dry lake.
The stones sailed the dry lake and left wakes to mark their passage.
"Josh," asked Bill, wondering, "how do the rocks move?"
Josh shrugged. "I don't really know, Bill. When I was a colt, me and my brother camped out some nights, up there in the hills, watching, hoping to see the stones wandering around. But we never caught them."
"I'm sure there's a rational explanation for it," declared Blue.
Josh sighed. "I understand that there's a pony in Canterlot that makes the Sun come up. I don't have that much confidence in rational explanations."
The three ponies skirted the Racetrack then climbed up a track to the South Fields.
"Today's work should be pretty easy," announced Josh as the three made their way up over the ridge and down the slope. "All the big cairns have been rotated to the East Fields, so we mostly have to do clean-up. My brother left us a big pile of geodes to break and sort, so you'll get some idea of what rock farming is like."
Bill looked out over the South Fields and stopped. "Josh! What--? What--?" he said, lost for words.
Bill had expected a big, empty place covered with little piles of rocks, like around the Pie farm. He had never expected to see this: a broad plain of slender standing stones, some no more than knee-height, others towering twenty feet or more. From the top of the ridge, he could sense their design, a winding, spiral pattern that was almost hypnotic.
"Oh, the megaliths," said Josh. "You can ignore them, mostly. We won't need to be shifting them, not anytime soon. In fact, you guys could do me a favor if you'd just leave them be."
"No problem," said Blue.
"Okay," said Bill, quietly. This's a Special Place, he thought. Should be respec'ful inna Special Place.
They reached the floor of the South Fields. Josh led them along the perimeter of the fields and stopped at a dark shaft dug into the hillside.
"This is the place," Josh said. "Let's get to work, guys. We'll start by hauling out a couple of lots of geodes. Then I'll show you how to break and sort them."
The mine shaft was dark and a little spooky, Bill thought. But Josh found a lantern, lit it, and the three made their way down to the bottom.
"Okay, here," Josh announced, gesturing to a pile of lumpy, bowling ball-sized rocks, "are the geodes. And here's the cart," he continued, indicating a small wooden wagon.
"Let's get to work."
Josh loaded the cart and Bill and Blue took turns hauling them out of the mine.
Out in the daylight, with two full piles of geodes in front of him, Josh showed Bill and Blue how to snap them open cleanly and examine their interiors.
"Wow! Shiny!" said Blue.
"Brilliant!" agreed Bill. It was astonishing that such plain rocks could yield so much beauty.
"Here's the thing," said Josh. "There are two kinds of geodes. This kind, that have all sorts of colorful corundums inside, rubies, sapphires and whatnot, and the other, that have various kinds of quartz or amethyst inside. The idea is to dig out the crystals and sort them by color. That's all you have to do. Don't worry about clarity, inclusions or weird shades. Mrs. Pie has a pretty good eye for this, so she'll make the final determinations. When in doubt, give it to me.
"Heheh! When I was a colt, we all made a game of this, matching jewels together. So don't worry about it too much.
"Be careful with the shells. We'll want to use them for re-planting, if we can.
"If you have any questions, just ask me. I've been doing this since I was a colt."
So they set to work and in a short while they had piles of differently-colored gems and the shells of the geodes.
Bill was still working on his last one when Josh stood. "I think you guys have the idea. Blue, let's get the rest. If we get this done before lunch, I think we can knock off for the rest of the day."
Josh and Blue went into the mine while Bill worried at this last, stubborn geode. He had prized all the easy bits out, but there were a few little guys left that he couldn't quite get at.
Bill was about ready to give up when it happened.
There was a loud wump! sound. Bill turned instantly, but all he saw was a huge cloud of dust. Choking, blinded, he struggled towards the mouth of the shaft.
"Josh! Blue! Are you all right?" he called.
There was no reply. Instead, he was horrified to discover that the face of the hill had collapsed and that there was no sign of the shaft, or of his friends.
It was too much for Bill to comprehend. "Josh? Blue?" he shouted, dancing around the collapsed earth and stone.
There was no reply.
"Josh? Blue?" he shouted again, running around the ruin of the shaft. "Josh? Blue?" he cried, digging at the earth, pulling the heavy stones away.
Frantically, Bill dug and tore and pulled at the collapsed mine entrance, all the while shouting for his friends.
No reply.
"Josh? Blue? Please...?" he shouted, struggling to shift this one stone, this terribly heavy stone, away from his dearest friends.
It's too heavy, I can't move it, he thought, panicking. Damn me! I can't move it!
If I quit, if I give up, I'm killing my friends. My friends will die because I was not strong! Damn me forever!
Then Bill's eyes fell upon the gems he and his best pals had drawn from the earth. He saw the gems, and in a terror-illuminated flash he saw them align with the some of the arcane designs he had learned from that book.
Come to life.
Desperately, tears streaming down his face, Bill scratched a design from the book into the dusty earth before the mine. He gathered the gems together and placed them at the proper points. This is to this as that is to that.
He stood in the center of the design and looked at the great stone that separated his friends from light and life. He whispered, "Come t' life."
No response.
Aw, no, I can't fail my friends, he thought, tortured.
"Come to life!" he said, again. Please....
The stone remained inert.
Bill Plum, weeping, put his head down, planted his hooves in the earth, and called up all the love and hope and friendship in his great heart. And he bellowed at the stone, "COME TO LIFE!"
EQUESTRIA
A vast reservoir of life energy, of magic, lay beneath the Pie family rock farm. It had collected there for eons, since time beyond imagining, from the era of the smallest, soft-bodied sea-life to the time of the walking giants. The sea receded, the land grew dry, but the enormous potential for life had never diminished. It lay in the stones, dormant, waiting. And it yearned for release.
Perhaps Bill's urgent plea for life would have gone unheeded elsewhere. Perhaps. But there, among the megaliths of the South Fields, in the Boneyard, in the heart of the Ghost Sea, the anguished cry of an Earth Pony with just a little understanding of magic could not be ignored.
And there were consequences, as the impact in the Ghost Sea sent waves across Equestria.
Sweet Apple Acres:
"Huh? Whazzat?" said Granny Smith as she awoke.
She hadn't been sleeping, nossir. Just restin' her eyes for a bit. You know how a body gets tired. But she got up out of her chair and looked around. Somethin' was amiss, she knew, you bet.
She walked out to the front porch and found her grandchildren wandering back from the fields.
"What happened, Granny?" called Apple Bloom. "What wuz that?"
"Why, Ah wuz about t' ask you th' same thing, child. Macintosh, whut d'you have t' say fer yerself?"
Big Macintosh just shrugged, baffled.
Applejack tipped her hat back and said, "It was like thunder or somethin', Granny. Only, Ah didn't hear it, Ah felt it. In muh bones."
Big Macintosh nodded. "Eee-yup. You express my feelings exactly, AJ."
Granny Smith searched the sky. "Ah dunno. Mebbe a storm's a'comin'. Best you stay close t' th' house today."
Ponyville:
Pinkie Pie had arranged a big, fancy brunch for her family and all her friends out in back of Sugar Cube Corner. There was music and balloons and treats and everyone was having a great time.
Then suddenly, in the midst of a laugh, Pinkie twitched. Her mane stood up straight, her tail lashed left and right, her ears fluttered, she hopped twice and she fell, stiff-legged, on the grass.
"Pinkie!" cried Twilight Sparkle. "What's going on? Are you all right?"
Then Twilight looked around and saw that Mr. and Mrs. Pie and their two daughters were also lying on the grass with stunned expressions on their faces.
Twilight looked to Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy for help. But the unicorn, the pegasi and the dragon had no answer for what had happened to the Earth Ponies.
The Canterlot Royal Palace:
Princess Luna burst from her chamber. "Captain Bucephalus!" she shouted.
"I am here, Your Highness," said the Commander of the Lunar Guard, coming to her side.
"Thank goodness you are here, Captain. Send word to our sister! We must speak with her without delay! We must warn her!"
"Your Highness," said Captain Bucephalus. "There is no need. Princess Celestia is here now. She awaits without and requests your counsel."
The Canterlot Royal Gardens:
The wave of magical energy lapped against the stone figure poised before the great labyrinth of the Royal Gardens. Alas, he found its residual power too weak to grant him movement. But it was enough for a thought.
This should be interesting, chuckled Discord.
BILL
And the stone came to life.
The earth sloughed aside, reluctantly. Pebbles popped. Rocks hopped. And the massive stone that had blocked the entrance shuffled tiredly away from the mine and flopped over.
Then the shaft was open again.
Bill hurried forward. "Josh? Blue?"
Two ponies in black appeared before him. More like, ponies in gray, actually, as they shook the dust and dirt from their coats and came towards the light.
"Well, that was surprising," said Josh Pie, walking out of the darkness.
"Sorry, sorry, my bad," said Blue Grass. "I know, I know, I shouldn't have kicked that timber. But I stubbed my left front hoof on it, and you know how that feels. Ow ow ow!"
Bill galloped forward and hugged them both.
"Hay, Bill," said Josh, surprised.
"Um, Bill, you're kind of choking me," complained Blue.
Bill wept, hugging his best friends tightly. "Don' care. Yer back. Yer alive. Yer alive!"
"Well, yeah," said Blue, looking at Josh and shrugging.
Josh said, "I've got an idea. Let's knock off early. We got most of the gems sorted. And, if I'm not mistaken, those bottles I left to chill in the creek should be cold enough now. What do you say?"
"Yes!" shouted Blue.
"Yah," said Bill, quietly, wiping his face.
The teamster ponies fled across the desert. And the ponies in black pursued.
JOSH
Hardly a day's work, he thought, as he put the finishing touches on the plate of spinach, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. He considered getting the guys together after lunch and hiking back to the South Fields to finish up, but he shook his head. He wasn't sure what had happened out there, but Bill looked pretty shaken up about it. Better slack off the reins, for a while.
He couldn't put all the blame on Blue for the collapse of the mine entrance. Fact was, the beams had gotten old and a bit rotten and even if Blue had kicked one out, the bracing around it should have held. Time for another chat with my brother about the importance of maintenance, he thought grimly. This would never have happened back in the circus.
All right, SLT sandwiches, bean salad, dill pickles and a few bottles of Old Windmill. Sounds like lunch to me.
Josh loaded up the big platter and carried it out into the yard. Blue and Bill had pulled out the awning from the side of the wagon and set up the table and cushions. Blue appeared to be trying to explain the finer points of buckdancing to Bill. Bill looked on quietly, distracted.
The guys settled around the food and for awhile there wasn't much talk. When teamsters have food in front of them, they eat.
Finally, when the food was gone and the Old Windmill opened up, they all sat back and admired the open azure sky and the broad, brown sweep of the land, so unlike Ponyville.
Blue, of course, went to the sore spot right away.
"Okay, Bill, let me understand this. You are seriously saying that you used a," air quotes, "'magic spell' to open the mine entrance. Is that right?"
"Yah," said Bill, softly.
Josh knew that Bill had long harbored a desire to be a wizard or, better, a unicorn. Josh would have thought that, had Bill actually worked some magic, Bill'd be a bit happier about it. Instead, he just seemed dazed.
Josh shot Blue a sharp look. Don't press him too hard on this. Leave him be.
But Blue was Blue. "Most likely," Blue declared authoritatively, "what happened was the big rock blocking the entrance was unstable. It just fell over, from the weight of the dirt and rocks around it."
"Mebbe," said Bill, quietly. Bill looked at Josh. "Do you believe me, Josh?"
Josh considered for a moment. "I have to be honest, Bill. An Earth Pony casting a spell is a really unusual thing. But it's far from the oddest thing I've seen in these parts. So, yes, I believe you worked magic, or something like magic, that shifted the rock away from the mine entrance.
"Blue and I might have been in real trouble, if the rest of the mine had decided to let go then. I believe Blue and I owe you our lives. You are a good pony."
Bill smiled shyly. "'kay," he said.
"But, Josh, think!" insisted Blue.
Josh cut him off. "No, Blue. You listen: you're in the Boneyard now, and the rules are different here.
"That was something I didn't understand, growing up. Growing up here, it made perfect sense to me that you could bury some pottery shells deep in the ground, come back a couple of years later, open them up and find them loaded with precious and semi-precious gems. It made perfect sense that you could haul a tanker down to the old arroyo, a stream bed that's been dry for centuries, water it just so and come back a few months later to harvest polished river rocks. It made perfect sense that you could shave off a layer of slate or sandstone from the cliffs, return a year later and find that it had all grown back.
"It made perfect sense to work season after season, shifting the cairns from one field to another, because if you didn't do it, or you did it badly, or the flash floods came and wrecked the lay of the stones, you'd soon find that the rock harvest would suffer or the geodes would turn black and crumbly.
"It was only after I ran away to join the circus and traveled around Equestria for a few years, that I understood that the rest of the world is different. In Ponyville, if someone tells you she has a rock garden, she doesn't mean she's growing her own rocks. It took me awhile to wrap my head around that.
"The rules are different here. And if you can't understand that, brother, then go for a walk in the Everfree Forest sometime, and explain to me why the birds there don't seem to understand what you say, or why the critters all run away from you or, worse, try to eat you.
"I don't understand it, any more than I understand why the rocks in the Racetrack seem to weigh anchor and sail across a dry lake when nopony is looking. That's just the way it is here. And I've learned to accept and love it, in my bones."
"Okay, fine," said Blue, who just wasn't the type to leave well enough alone. "But, Josh, an Earth Pony, like you, like me or Bill, tossing around magic like a unicorn? It's... unnatural, if you ask me."
Bill hung his head.
Josh took another sip of Old Windmill and thought. "But it's not really like unicorn magic, is it? It's more like what the pegasus ponies do: move stuff around. But with Earth Ponies, we aren't moving around silly winds or fluffy clouds, we're shifting the earth itself. We are harnessed to the land, and it to us. We pull, and the work is long and slow, but it endures.
"Or here: it's like dancing."
Blue perked his ears at that.
"Like dancing with a partner. You step this way, right, and your partner steps that way. And aren't there times, Blue, be honest, when the dance is something greater than the two of you? When it all just works and your bodies become a song?
"That's the way it is in the rock fields sometimes. You look at this cairn and say to yourself, no, that isn't right, and push it a little one way and it just feels like music. Like you and the earth are partners in a long, slow waltz that lasts forever."
"Yah, thas it," said Bill. "Thas exactly it, Josh. Harmony."
"Huh," Blue sat back and took a pull from his bottle and looked at his two best friends. "Well, you got me on that one, guys. Don't tell nopony this, but I've sometimes wondered if dancing isn't some kind of magic. Let me think on it some more."
So the three teamsters sat together in silence for awhile, on the shore of Ghost Sea, while the tide started to come in.
APPLEJACK
Sweet Apple Acres:
Applejack, Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh had kept close to the house, as Granny Smith had suggested. Applejack was down in the apple cellar, sweeping it out, when she heard this odd banging sound. Whut in tarnation? she thought.
AJ climbed out of the cellar, walked around the side of the barn and found two things pounding away at the old, distrustful drainpipe. The things were skeletons. One held a hammer, while the other held the pipe steady. Their pose was so familiar that Applejack recognized them at once.
"Daddy? Mommy?" she said.
The two skeletal ponies looked up. They backed away from Applejack, as if ashamed of their condition, of chores left undone.
Applejack ran to them, hugging them. Wiping her eyes, she said, "let's get 'er done." She helped her mother, one last time, to hold the drainpipe while her father forced the darn thing into line.
"Good job!" declared Applejack. "Let's go inside for some pie! C'mon!"
The two skeletal ponies looked at each other, shook their heads and walked off the farm for the last time.
"Goodbye," said Applejack. It was awhile before she could collect herself, smile and return to her living family.
CARVER
She stood and shook herself after her long sleep. Where are my kits? Carver wondered.
Ah, here. My darlings! There were only four; apparently, the other two had wandered off and died forever. So sad. Still, her current litter was enough for now.
So frolicsome! They sprang and wrestled with one another, eager to get started after so much nap time.
Here now, you four! Follow Mama! Let us run and sniff and hunt. Let us find delicious prey and take their lives for our own!
Run! Ha ha! Oh, my children, run!
And so, the small family of smilodon fatalis ran from their stony graves into the bright sunlight.
BLUE
Okay, weird, Blue thought. There's one of them fossils. Why's it in the bathroom?
Unsurprisingly, the Pie family rock farm lacked for indoor plumbing. Blue had wandered to the outhouse to relieve himself of a couple of bottles of Old Windmill.
And he found this stony fossil near his hoof. A, whatizzit, trilobite? he wondered, sleepily. Like a big pillbug with an attitude. Well, it's neat that they collect such things, but why'd they leave it here?
Get on with you, he thought, vaguely annoyed. Go on. He kicked at it.
It scurried under the outhouse wall and disappeared.
Okay, weird, Blue thought, blinking. Good thing I'm a little drunk. Otherwise, I'd be pretty upset right now.
Make a note, Blue, he thought, as he relieved himself. Bring this to Josh's attention.
But he completely forgot about it, once he stepped back outside.
PINKIE PIE
Sugar Cube Corner:
"Baking is the cure for shaking, Gummy! Granny Pie taught me that! Let's get baking!"
Pinkie Pie's "pinkie sense" was still tingling, but she distracted herself with double-chocolate double-mint cupcakes. Just right, just right, she told herself, as every nerve in her body jangled alarm. Nothing is wrong. Everything is just right.
Less sugar, more cream, whispered a voice. And vanilla with sprinkles for icing, of course.
Pinkie Pie looked to her left and discovered a skeletal face looking down, studying her cupcakes.
"Granny?" said Pinkie Pie, frightened.
"Oh, child! What did I teach you? Vanilla icing for chocolate cupcakes and...?" whispered the skeleton.
"Laugh at fear," said Pinkie Pie.
"You were always my favorite grandchild. So smart! Let's bake together, one more time."
Together, Pinkie Pie and Granny Pie put the cupcakes in the oven. But when Pinkie Pie looked up again, her grandmother was gone.
JOSH
"Well, this is unexpected," Josh decided, looking out over the pale field of bones that was scuttling slowly towards the farmhouse.
The interesting thing, Josh decided, was that the bones were all articulated and walking around. Most of them looked fragile, like the bodies of little lizards or birds, darting here and there in search of... what?
Dear Celestia, I think I've lived too long, when I look up from my lunch to see a skeletal bird with teeth looking back at me and my reaction is, hey there, buddy.
If you can't grow a sense of humor under these conditions, then Celestia help you.
He stepped inside the farmhouse, where Blue was having a panic attack.
"Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh," yelped Blue as he ran from door to window to door, doing his best to throw together a barricade. "We're doomed! Bill has summoned the horrors of the night! Zombies! That which is not dead can eternal lie, and with strange eons, even death may die!"
Josh smacked Blue lightly upside the head. "Get a grip," he advised.
Josh stepped outside the farmhouse, looked around at the assembled skeletons and shouted, "Shoo!"
The skeletons skedaddled. In a heartbeat, the farm was clear.
"All right, problem solved. Blue, put the tables and chairs back where you found them, then help Bill clean up after lunch. I think we're going to be busy today after all."
Blue stared at Josh in disbelief.
Bill, who had hung back during the ruckus, ducked his head and said, "Sorry, guys. My fault, I guess."
"It's all right, Bill," said Josh. "We'll manage."
Blue looked gobsmacked. "So, we're just going to ignore the legion of undead terrors that surrounded us, right here in broad daylight?" he asked.
"Did they hurt you?" asked Josh.
"Well, no," admitted Blue.
"Then leave them alone," suggested Josh. "Look, these little critters, they aren't what you should be worried about. I've been thinking about this a bit and I think that Bill may have upset something in the Boneyard and now we're dealing with the splash damage. We'll probably see some strange things for a few days, but we'll just have to deal with it. In the meantime, let's put our heads down and work together."
And in the Ghost Sea, the tide continued to rise.
BLUE
I wasn't scared, he told himself. I was just surprised.
It turned out that Josh was right after all. Big know-it-all. The little skeletons, the lizards, birds, crabs and those pillbug jobs, weren't especially dangerous. If they got too curious, a quick swat with a broom would send them scurrying and then they'd keep their distance.
The bigger skeletons, now. Blue was pretty sure that they were going to be a problem.
Right now, Blue, Bill and Josh were standing at the rail fence before the farmhouse, looking west down the gentle slope of the valley. Or, more correctly, they were looking up at a trio of tall, two-legged skeletons that looked something like kangaroos with duck beaks.
Blue readied his broom.
"Now, just hold on," cautioned Josh. "These fellows don't look too aggressive. Just curious."
"I refuse to be nibbled to death by giant ducks," declared Blue. "It would be humiliating."
The three giant kangaroo-ducks seemed stymied by the fence. After a trial bite or two, they apparently didn't find the taste of fence to their liking and loped slowly away.
"I suppose we're lucky we're on the eastern slope of the valley," said Josh. "These bigger creatures are all coming up from the lower parts to the west. Must be busy down there.
"Most of these things look confused. Not surprising, I suppose. This was all water, wetlands or wood when they knew it. They're mainly interested in finding a more familiar neighborhood."
"I still think we should just up stakes and get outta here," said Blue.
Josh looked at the Sun. "It's mid-afternoon now. We wouldn't reach the edge of the Boneyard until after dark. For that matter, we don't know that the disturbance is limited to the valley. I wouldn't care to be walking around out there after nightfall.
"Here we've got shelter, in the farmhouse and the silo. We've got provisions. We can build a fire, so we have light. We have tools we can use as weapons, if it comes to that. We're better off here, for now. In the morning, we can decide if we should make a run for it."
"I don't suppose Mr. Wizard here has a Spell of 'Get Me Outta Here' that he could whip up," said Blue.
Bill shook his head. "Naw. I only mem'rized two of th' spells I thought would be useful. 'Come To Life' an' 'Grow A Mustache.'"
Blue's ears perked up. "'Grow A Mustache?' Really? You know, I always thought I'd look pretty sharp with a pair of handlebars. Do you think you could set me up, pal?"
"Let's keep focused on the situation in front of us," said Josh, nodding to the west.
Blue followed the nod. He looked down into the valley and saw that something was coming. Something huge.
"I'm gonna need a bigger broom," he whispered.
TREAD
Tread kept turning his massive head, this way and that, hoping to see his Mom and Dad, his siblings, or anyone else from his clan. No luck so far. Oh, well.
He was a little puzzled. He had been pulling down tasty fruit from the trees the other day and something bad had happened. What, exactly, he couldn't remember. It was bad, he was sure, but the details were lost, like the tatters of a bad dream on waking.
Oh, well.
Wow. The land is so empty. The trees are small and kinda scratchy. I guess we're in a Bad Patch, he thought. That's what Mom and Dad called the land when it was dry and barren. A Bad Patch. Oh, well, they'd say, we'll just go on until we find a Good Patch.
Now, this was interesting. Here were these little guys, smaller than babies, running around near his feet. They were making noises at him. His first thought was to smoosh them, because obviously they weren't proper mammoths, but because they looked a little like babies, Tread tried to avoid stepping on them. Besides, scraping smooshed things from between his toes was always kind of gross.
Anyway, there was water around here somewhere. He could smell it. (Oddly, he could feel his trunk, but when he waved it around, he couldn't quite see it. Well, it had to be there; it's not like it could walk away on its own, huk huk.)
The water smell was coming from the direction of that tall tree with the spinning flower. Tread kicked through some sticks that were blocking his way and walked over to it. He could smell the water just fine here, but where was it? Under the ground, maybe? Tread started scraping at the dirt around the spinning tree.
Okay, now here were the babies again, jumping around and making noises. Somebody's lookin' for a smooshin', he thought.
Wait, what's that little one doing? The water smell was suddenly much stronger. Oh! Now water was coming out of that little stump and filling that hollow log.
Happiness! Tread sucked up a trunk full and shot it in his mouth. Ooh! Cold!
BILL
"Good thinking with the pump, there, Bill," said Josh.
"Aw, when he started diggin' th' ground, I jus' figgered he was thirsty," beamed Bill.
Blue was watching the enormous visitor drink. Suddenly the creature blew a great spray of water into the air, dousing the pony. "How does he even do that?" he spluttered. "He doesn't have a trunk."
Josh shrugged. "How does he walk? He doesn't have muscles."
Bill sidled around to the mammoth's side. The big guy didn't seem so bad, now that he had his water. Delicately, Bill reached out one hoof and touched the creature's leg. He pulled his hoof back and looked at it.
"There's somethin' there," Bill said. "It ain't like bone. But it ain't like hide either. More like a fog o' memory."
An idea occurred to Bill. "Hey, Josh! Mebbe we could, y'know, try t' make friends with him. I bet no other critters would bother us with this big guy in th' front yard."
Josh looked pleased. "Bill, that's the kind of innovative thinking that has helped our little enterprise thrive. Well, if he can drink, maybe he can eat, too. How about we see if he likes apples?"
HEARTSEEKER
Heartseeker was encouraged. She had found others of her tribe in the other caves that pockmarked the Heart of the World. After a few quick battles for dominance, Heartseeker had established herself confidently as the leader.
The Grasslands had changed. Some terrible wind must have blown the grasses away while she slept. The land now was not good. The tribe could not remain here.
First, weapons. To her dismay, her familiar spear and faithful spear-caster were missing. Then new weapons must be made, simple sticks with sharpened points for now, until new flints could be napped and tied with cords of gut.
As her tribe worked, she scanned the horizon. Shapes moved across the lands, many unfamiliar. Perhaps these strange creatures ate up all the grass. No matter.
The uplands were their best bet, she decided. Out of this dry place to a new place they could call their own.
She gripped her new spear tightly. Strong! Good! Ready then.
Heartseeker hooted for her tribe's attention. She raised her spear. We go!
CARVER
The plain was crowded today.
Carver and her children had run down from the cliffs and across the broad land, killing and feasting as best they could. But the prey were weak and unsatisfying. She sat with her children, crunching bones and digging for marrow, but the game here was strangely dry. Where was the bright burst of blood, the struggle with the living meat?
She scented game in the air. There was life here, no doubt of that. But most of the shapes that shambled through the the landscape around them were... echoes. Memories of meals past. Not enough for her or her children.
She ran on, determined to not give up. Her children followed.
As the Sun fell towards the rim of the earth, the smilodons came to a ridge, overlooking... what? A large nest of some kind, in the midst of the great plain? It looked strange. But the wind from it carried the rich scent of living flesh. Worth the risk, then.
Carver paused, looking up at the sky. Sister Sun and Sister Moon, bless my children. If I die here, give my life to my babes, that they may live on and adore you.
She licked her chops. Her boisterous children gathered about her.
Do not kill for joy, my little ones, Carver said. Do not kill for anger. Kill only for need, for defense or for love. This is our way. And if you betray our way, then you are damned forever.
Then she led her children over the ridge and down into the strange place that smelled of life.
HEARTSEEKER
As the land rose, it got better. The uplands had been a good choice. The falling Sun brilliantly lit the hills on the horizon. A haze of trees crowned their tops. It would be a good land.
Dark was approaching quickly. Best to go to ground, find a defensive place for the tribe.
Her scouts returned. They smelled water in the air. Good! Water, rest and perhaps food. Heartseeker gripped her spear and urged her folk onward.
TREAD
Huk huk. The babies weren't so bad. Tread was happy he hadn't smooshed them.
They had water and sweet yellow grass and even some tasty fruit that they shared with him. Good babies! They stayed with him and made soothing sounds in their soft little voices. Tread wasn't in any hurry, he didn't like to hurry, so he thought he'd stay around awhile and look after the babies. Maybe Mom or Dad would come by if he waited and then he'd be in a clan again.
A few times during the afternoon, some big, strange-looking creatures came by and made scary noises. Well! That wouldn't do! When that happened, Tread just walked up to them (even the biggest was smaller than Tread) and Tread just trumpeted at them, "GO AWAY!" and they slithered or slouched away.
Oh, the Sun was falling down. Dark soon. Hmm, better take a nap now so I'll be bright and alert tonight.
The ground looked uncomfortable. He figured he'd nap standing up, next to the spinning tree, so he could get a drink later.
Tread awoke with a start only a little while later. Trouble! Tread was in motion even before he knew what the problem was. A scent! Not friendly like water or tasty fruit, no! But a stink that brought back bad memories.
Oh, he knew that stink all right. The kitties with big teeth. Bad kitties. No! The kitties are near the babies!
Smoosh away!
Wow! The kitties were persistent. Even though Tread ran forward and trumpeted "GO AWAY!" as loudly as he could, they only circled and didn't run. So Tread smooshed one, feeling its bones crunching under his feet. Another that was trying to run behind Tread was too slow and Tread swung his head and smacked it a good one with his tusks. It didn't move anymore after that.
The kitties were running away, scared now. Bullies! You scared the babies and now you are scared! Huk huk! Okay, step on this kitty, step on that one. There!
Uh oh. The biggest kitty was mad. She had leaped up to his throat, behind his head where he couldn't get at her. He tossed his head left and right, but the kitty held on and her enormous teeth and terrible claws tore deep into Tread's remembered flesh.
Tread looked around for his Mom and Dad again. No one except the little babies to help him. Oh, well.
Tread stumbled and fell. I remember this, he thought, with sudden clarity. This is how I died the last time.
It hurts.
Oh, well.
BLUE
The collapse of the ponies' big friend had been long, slow and loud. The immense body struck the ground and seemed to shatter, fragmenting into its component pieces.
Guess he won't be getting up from that, thought Blue.
The good news was that the, the, what?, lions, tigers, manticores, whatever, that the Big Guy had stepped on showed no signs of getting up either.
The bad news was that the last of the giant cats, with teeth like scythes and claws like knives, showed no signs of going down.
Blue searched to find Josh in the confusion and the gathering dusk. There! What's he doing? Ah, got it! He's trying to light the fire! Good idea! The three teamsters had built a big bonfire away from the farmhouse, but hadn't lit it because they didn't want to upset the Big Guy. But maybe fire and light are what we need right now.
Blue then spotted Bill lugging a tin of lamp oil to Josh, and horseapples-up-a-tree that cursed big cat looked like it was going for him.
Blue picked up his weapon, a mining pick, tossed his head and let fly. It struck the stalking skeleton in the ribs. Hah! Have at you! he thought.
Oh, good going, Blue, you've got its attention. And you've disarmed yourself. Idiot.
Dodge around the remains of the Big Guy. Dodge back. Dance! Hope it's not smart enough to-- oh, horseapples, here it comes, over the top!
Quick glance to Josh and Bill. Bill's dumping the oil into the bonfire. Josh is fiddling with bits of kindling.
No! Don't look at them, you dead pile of bones! You look at me! Right at me! Here's this rock I found. Wanna see it? There, hah! Right in your stupid dead face!
You wanna kill something, kill me. Don't hurt my pals. You come after me, damn you!
The enormous undead cat skeleton roared at him. And charged.
How does it even do that? It doesn't have a throat! Blue wondered, rolling under what remained of the rail fence. A second later, the rail fence burst to splinters as the cat skeleton tore through it. But it was enough to arrest its charge.
Into the night, then. Into the dark. Blue was weeping now, blinded by tears, but it didn't matter. He couldn't see anyway. But, hah!, he was leading it away, by Celestia and Luna, he was drawing it away from his friends. It would likely find him in the empty plain and tear him apart as it had the Big Guy. But his pals would live at least a few seconds longer, and those few seconds might be enough to save them.
Blue Grass, the dancer, the "good-looking" teamster, the one who joked too harshly and sang too loudly and drank too much and, yes, had a charming way with the ladies, galloped into the blind darkness of the Boneyard with Death on his tail. And he didn't think about the mares he had missed, or the cider he hadn't guzzled, or tunes or steps he had never learned. No, he only thought about keeping his hooves on the uneven ground and breath in his laboring lungs as he sped across the black landscape, hoping that each step would buy his best friends another second of life.
CARVER
Kill you. Kill you. Kill you, she thought, with every bound.
I told my kits, do not kill for anger. This is not our way. If you leave our way, you are damned forever.
But all of my kits are dead. Again. So I am already damned.
The stupid little thing just ran straight into the night, not weaving, not trying to dodge. Prey did that, she had found, because they were so stupid that they thought they could outrun her.
I will show you, stupid little thing. I won't kill you. Not right away. I'll cripple you, bite off a leg or two, then drag your sorry carcass back to the others and kill them before your eyes.
And maybe I won't kill you at all. Maybe I will spit out your meat and leave you to rot, and let the tiny scavengers steal your eyes.
I remember having this rage before. I looked down at my kits and asked myself, why was I even born, if my get must die before me?
Little Claw, who was so clever. Digger, so inquisitive. Beige and Bright-eye and Slinker. Chaser, my favorite. Last to die.
I killed my mate. After I lost place in his pride, he dared to threaten my children and I killed him for that. I tore his throat out and spit out his meat, so that the others would understand my serious intent.
Why am I going through this again? I thought I was done with life, with regret.
Please, Sister Moon, I'm so confused. Aid me!
The stink came to her then. The stupid little thing led me into a trap. Oh, it must have known! Clever, stupid little thing.
The scent of the Bad Prey came to her, too late. Spit spit spit! Why has my life come to this?! she raged. I only wanted my children to live! Why is the world so cruel?
Too late now, Carver realized her mistake. The stupid little thing had blinded her eyes, her ears, her nose, and drawn her into the circle of the horrible Bad Prey that she knew she couldn't escape.
She heard their hooting, hissing, clicking calls. Clever Bad Prey. Monsters. Pack hunters, smart, with their sharp and stinging claws. Prey that had turned, unnaturally, into predators of her kind. She fell upon them, but, as she expected, they faded away, as their more distant fellows threw their stings at her. She turned and lunged, finished a few, but always she was outflanked and overwhelmed by their numbers and their grace.
Carver stopped, finally. Stopped fighting. Let there be an end to this, she thought.
She gazed up at the beautiful, distant stars and cried with all her heart: Aid me!
Then Sister Moon was before her, in the form a proud black smilodon, eyes bright, tail streaming in the wind, stars shining from her pelt. Sister Moon held out her paw.
YOUR HEART IS GREAT, BELOVED. WE SHALL WELCOME YOU INTO OUR PRIDE. COME, YOUR KITS ARE HERE. COME. LET GO OF YOUR OLD SELF, NOW. COME.
The Bad Prey gathered around her, hooting and clicking. They raised their terrible claws and closed on her.
Carver died then, at last and forever.
JOSH
Blue Grass emerged from the night. And an army of darkness trailed in his wake.
Whoa, thought Josh. He was elated to see that Blue was still alive, but then worried by the legion of hopping, prancing skeletons that encircled him.
The scuttling and clacking collection of bones came out of the darkness towards the fire, herding Blue before them. Singly, then in twos and threes, the small, pale figures emerged from the shadows and into the yellow light of the bonfire. Their ranks swelled to more than three dozen. They advanced slowly, gripping short spears in their deformed feet.
The creatures weren't big, the biggest no higher than Josh's knee. But there were a lot of them, and they were obviously fast, fierce and familiar with hunting.
One skeleton, the largest and most aggressive, prodded Blue. He jumped forward and joined Josh and Bill near the bonfire.
The leader of the skeletal army stepped forward, carrying a heavy spear as long as itself.
It stood before Josh, its empty eye sockets turning down and up, seemingly taking Josh's measure. Then its skull tilted as if listening, or in thought.
Then quickly, decisively, it acted. It dropped its spear and ran towards Josh.
And then, affectionately, the little skeleton butted its head against Josh's knee.
"Hey, there, little guy," said Josh, quietly.
As if in response to a signal, the other figures scrambled forward in a rush, abandoning their weapons and surrounding Josh, Bill and Blue, jumping and bumping up against the teamster ponies, clacking and hooting, in a friendly, if somewhat macabre, jostle.
Josh kept one eye on Blue, just in case. Blue was initially all, "Hey, hey, hey now! Whoa!" But after a few moments he settled down and was able to accept their attentions without freaking out.
Bill was grinning widely, hugging this little skeleton and that. "Wow! Look at all these little guys! Hey! Four toes on th' front feet, three toes on th' back. Josh! D'ya think one a' these is that little pony you found?"
"Don't know," Josh admitted. "But it wouldn't surprise me at all. Today, nothing surprises me."
HEARTSEEKER
She sat apart, at the edge of the camp as the night faded, gripping her strong spear and looking towards the east.
This was a good day and a fine night, she thought.
The poor Big Ponies, crippled by their size (too big to hide in the long grass) and their damaged feet (no toes to grip) are safe now. They sleep, uncaring, as Heartseeker's tribe stands over them, watchful in the night, turning away the things that would do them harm.
Heartseeker looked at them fondly.
Hsss-hsss, Heartseeker laughed. The Big Ponies were so funny. The Sky Pony, that the tribe had rescued, had joined the dance around the big fire and at last fell asleep with her tribe huddled around him.
The Night Pony, purple-dark, had laughed with them and shared water and yellow grass and delicious treats. They had stood with him in silence, for a while, over the remains of their big companion. When he at last fell to sleep, the youngest of them huddled against him. Brother, Big Brother, they had sighed, as they too slept.
The Dirt Pony, brown of coat and mane, slept beside Heartseeker.
Heartseeker stood. I am the last awake. I know, in my bones, that when I sleep, I will not wake again. Oh, I am so tired now.
But, before I die again, I will lead my tribe forward. Into the new day.
As the golden Sun of Equestria glinted above the eastern ridge, Heartseeker raised her spear in greeting.
One more dawn. One last dawn.
She cried: we are the Ponies of the Earth. We are stone! We will endure!
BILL
Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
I am Bill. Sorry. Bill Plum. I am a pony what lives in Ponyville.
I asked Miss Sparkle if it was OK that I write to you an Miss Sparkle thot it was a good idea. So here I am writing to you.
Mister Spike wanted to write for me but I thot it wuld be better if I wrote myself. So dont blame him if you think this letter is stupid.
Anyway sorry. I diddnt mean to upset everypony. I just tried to do magic because my best pals were in trubble. So I did what I thot I culd do and well things got a little weerd after that.
I have learned a valuable lesson about friendship.
Bein a wizzard issnt about spells or bein important. I thot thas what it was. I am sorry.
Its mosly about understandin. Understand first then act thas what Miss Sparkle says. I acted before knownin what I was doin so bad things happened.
Sorry.
Heres my lesson what I have learned.
I thot I wasnt special because I wasnt a unicorn. Just a dumb ol plodder I said to myself.
But you know I understand now that earth ponies are special in their own way. We are tied to th land an th land is tied to us. We are stone. Slow an certain. An we endure.
Anyway I will ask Miss Sparkle to help me before I try magic again. Miss Sparkle is pretty nice. I hope you are proud of her.
I think there is a special Earth Pony magic an I will try to understand it. An then mebbe I will act.
But you know once you understand sometimes its better to let things alone.
So Blue will have to grow his own mustache. He might be mad but thas the way it is.
Sorry to bother you. Just thought you should know.
Your faithful student
Bill Plum
PS Josh and Blue say hay.
