Winter's Bloom

by Bookworm S.

Apple Bloom led Applejack to out of the command center and into the winding mass of caverns. The bare rock of the tunnel wall was smooth, but obviously hoof-cut. Applejack could only imagine the circumstances that these tunnels were dug under. Apple Bloom caught her gaze and began explaining. "We found these caves a few weeks after we lost Ponyville. We were a few dozen ponies then, afraid, aone. After a while we started t' send out scoutin' teams and discovered more pockets o' survivors. After a while, it started gettin' pretty crowded in here." They exited the tunnel into a large cavern, stalactites decorating the ceiling making it obviously natural, unlike the tunnel they just exited from. There were a few ponies here, a couple of pegusi attending to what looked like a small mushroom garden. Over in a corner, a few earth ponies were listening to a unicorn reading from a tattered book. "We tried to build a life in here. The mushrooms grow down here even without light, but we still have a few hidden gardens in the area that we raid for fruits'n veggies. It's dangerous though, we could be cut off from our food supply if they ever find them." Applejack gulped involuntarily at the mention of their foe. Apple Bloom took little notice, and instead crossed the cavern and led her to another tunnel, barely wide enough for two ponies to stand abreast, and illuminated only by the greenish glow of bioluminescent moss. The tunnel turned slightly to the left and downward, before opening up once again into a wide cavern, containing a few trestle tables surrounding an open fire in a brazier. "Cookin' is tricky. We can only start the fire up at night, so they don't see th' smoke. Luckliy, near's we can tell, they don't have a sense o' smell, so cookin' at night is still fairly safe." Apple Bloom looked up, and Applejack follows her gaze. The cavern ceiling, mostly hidden in shadows, sported a narrow chimney at the top with a wooden cover, currently pulled back, that could be manipulated by ropes and pulleys to cover the hole when not needed. Then she looked back to the brazier, seeing a lilac-colored unicorn levitating over a blackened grate, setting it atop the fire in preparation to cook. When the unicorn saw, Apple Bloom, she stiffened and gave a hasty salute, which Apple Bloom returned, before she went back to her business. "Can I get y'all anythin' They jus' started cookin' for everypony, but if you want somethin' cold I'm sure Cookie can rustle somethin' up for y'all." Applejack nodded, appreciatively. "Maybe a salad or somethin'. I feel like I haven't eaten in days." Apple Bloom gave her an odd look, but led her to a side cavern separated by a wooden door. Inside was another chamber, almost as large as the last one, with the sides carved to make natural countertops. Several earth ponies and unicorns, and even one pegasus, were already hard at work chopping vegetables and preparing the evening's meal. Once again, they all flashed Apple Bloom a quick salute as they see her, then return to their work as she salutes in return. "I will never get used t' that." Applejack shook her head, and Apple Bloom stared at her. "Used t' what?" After a beat, she cringed a bit. "Oh, the salutin'? Yeah... I never told 'em t' do that. That was all Lieutenant Spoon's doin'." She blushed a little, and suddenly Applejack once again saw her little filly of a sister standing next to her, a wooden plate of carrots and lettuce in her mouth. She trotted towards a small wooden table in one corner of the kitchen and sat down, out of the way of the ponies going about their cooking duties. Applejack followed her, sitting across from her and gratefully accepting the plate from her sister. The vegetables were wilted and pale, the kind she would have thrown away if she had found them in her garden back home. Home. The word echoed in her mind, as she remembered visit Harvest Gold's stall at the market to get her carrots, always the best in Ponyville. But that was a long time ago, in a different world. She smiled weakly as she ate the salad, while Apple Bloom regarded her, deep in thought. Looking around, the ponies working in the kitchen seemed thin, but not malnourished. Though one thing they all seemed to have in common were scars along their bodies. Applejack guessed that not a pony among them escaped combat at one time or another. At least the hopeless, empty look she had seen on the faces of the ponies in the caverns as she first arrived didn't seem to extend to these ponies. They seemed focused on their tasks, diligently slicing mushrooms and peeling potatoes, preparing a stew that would feed the entire population, Applejack surmised. As she finished her meager meal, she caught Apple Bloom's gaze. An inscrutable look was on her face as her eyes scanned her up and down, as if trying to work out a puzzle to which she was missing half the pieces. Finally, she spoke up. "What happened to you? What do you y'all 'member about how you got here?" Applejack swallowed the last morsel and put her chin on her hoof, staring into nothingness as she cast her mind back. "I was out in the orchard, checkin' on the apples. It was early summer, an' the fruits were jus' beginnin' to appear on the branches. I remember thinkin' that it was gonna be a bumper year for us, when, suddenly, everythin' jus' went black. "When I woke up, at firs' I didn't remember nothin'. I jus' thought I had laid down t' take a nap, until my vision cleared and I saw I wasn't nowhere I'd ever been before. At first I thought I was back in Appleoosa, what with how dry and desert-like everythin' looked. My head was pounding, like I'd been hit on the temple with a sledgehammer, or had been out all night drinkin' cider with Big- er, drinkin' cider. "I didn't know what in the hay had happened, but I knew that I had t' find ponyfolks, or at least some shelter, so I set off in the direction that looked most promisin'. That's when I ran into your patrol. And that thing..." Apple Bloom nodded at the mention. "They're Windigoes. At least, that's what we've taken to callin' them." "But, I thought Windigoes were nothin' but an old pony tale, somethin' to tell on Hearth's Warmin' to teach little foals to be all friendly-like." Apple Bloom sighed, looking at the scratched tabletop that had seen the effects of many meals prepared on it. "I wish they were jus' myths, but they're not. We still don't know where they came from, or why they invaded Equestria, or why they chose now t' attack us. Nearest we can figure, if the stories have any truth to them 'tall, is that Equestria used t' be their land, and they decided to take it back." Applejack gulped, but nodded slowly. "I still somehow can't make myself believe this is all true, that this is really happenin'. If I had read this in an adventure book I'da chucked it for bein' too crazy. But... here I am. An' here you are." She sighed. "I guess I'll have t' make the best of it. Apple Bloom pressed on. "Think back sis. Before y'all fell asleep, did y'all see any flashes o' light? Hear any noises? Smell anything out of th'ordinary?" Applejack furrowed her brow. "Come t' think of it, t'were somethin' I thought was a mite strange. I seem to recall the temperature suddenly droppin' a smidge, like the wind had picked up, 'ceptin' there wasn't no wind t' speak of. Apple Bloom's eyes showed the hint of a triumphant gleam. "So it was them. That does it. I wonder..." She let her voice trail off as she, too, gained a faraway look in her eye. "Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'? That if the other Elements o' Harmony.... that if my friends disappeared the same time I did, and I'm here now, maybe they're out there, wanderin' the land, wonderin' what in the hay happened to them as well?" Apple Bloom looked at her with mild astonishment, to which Applejack beamed. "C'mon, I'm gonna go brief my scouts and let them know t' keep an eye out for them." With that, she stood up and heads towards the kitchen door. Applejack makes to follow, then stopped, and placed her empty plate in the stack of dirty dishes, before catching up to her sister. "What I don' understand." Applejack pulls up alongside Apple Bloom, trying to ignore the salutes ponies passing her cast in their direction. "Is, they were all in town when I disappeared, why didn' they land near enough to find them when they reappeared." "If they reappeared." Apple Bloom corrected her, with a hint of resignation. "Well, for one thing, Ponyville is about a hundred miles south o' here. If you ended up so far from where you started, ain't no reason to reckon the same mightn't be true for th' others. They could be anywhere." Applejack mulled this over for a bit, then her ears perked up. "Tell your scouts t' be on the lookout for a gigantic, rainbow-colored explosion in th' sky." "A rainbow-whosit?" Apple Bloom stopped and looked at her perplexed, suddenly once again looking like nothing so much as the foal she remembered. Applejack just grinned. "If I know RD, she'll try'n signal help the best way she knows how." Apple Bloom just looked at her, until understanding hit her with a flash. Then, she immediately looked grim. "If she does try one of her Sonic Rain-thingies, we won't be th' only ones who see it. I only hope we can get to her before they do."