May.
‘Gerðr, eleven, from Skírnir.’
“You… You did what?”
Cheerilee hardened her gaze, matching the violet eyes glaring at her from behind a pair of red glasses. “You know what that is, Yearly.”
Daring Do sighed, taking off her reading glasses and throwing them onto the table. “I do, but that doesn’t mean I believe any of this.” She tapped the paper with a hoof. “This sigil? I haven’t seen anything like this ever, and I’ve been in structures that were around since before Celestia was a princess. We’re talking theoretical history here, Cheer. And you want me to believe some twenty-something mare just drew this in her backyard barn?”
“Apple Bloom didn’t figure this out on her own,” Cheerilee countered, pointing at Applejack’s notebook. “Applejack did.”
Daring muttered to herself. “Okay, fine. Let’s start at the beginning then, since I know history was your weakness back in University.” She stood, going over to her bookshelf. “The three tribes each have their own unique gift. The gift of earth ponies has been one of the most difficult to quantify and explain. They grow things, we know that much. But why? How? Are they in tune with the natural movements of the earth? Just a gut feeling? Something akin to unicorn magic, but without a vehicle like a horn to procure it?”
Cheerilee watched her old friend pace back and force.
“There’s no solid, unified answer like there is for unicorn and pegasi. What we have instead are folklore tales and legends. Myths from all across Equestria, tales from native tribes that existed on their own for centuries before unification.”
“I’m familiar with a few of these stories. I found your package.”
Daring glared at her. “Applejack called in a favor. She wanted to know about these exact same stories, and wouldn't tell me why. I didn’t get back to her because of… work. That and the post office losing my mail again.”
Cheerilee shrugged. “Go on.”
“It’s not unique for tribes to have myths and lore, but what has been unusual is that there are similarities across a majority of these stories.” She withdrew a book from her shelf and placed it on the table. “The Book of Cataclysm. You’re familiar?”
“Vaguely,” Cheerilee said as she reached for it before Daring pulled it away.
“First edition, no touching. The Book of Cataclysm is one of the oldest surviving texts from before the recorded existence of the Windigos. As far as we know, this is one of the earliest stories about earth ponies receiving a gift of magic. The story arc of Ignis, an earth pony warrior, leads him to a small remote village that has to pay tribute to a local forest god to survive the winter. Instead, he finds a secret garden and makes a pact with someone named the Gardener to kill said forest god and receive the gift of life itself. Notably, the Gardener accuses the god of heresy and using magic to grow from death.”
Cheerilee blinked. “Like… necromancy?”
“We’re uncertain. What we do know is that a majority of texts across Equestria share some degree of similarity with Cataclysm. Applelachian lore has a story about a village chief who makes a gamble with a god to receive magic in return for his daughter. He tries to hide her but the god finds and kills her, he then tries to use magic to bring her back resulting in a–” Daring sighed, shaking her head. “You get the idea. The common themes are some sort of god, an agent pony who seeks to learn how to grow, and the idea of growth from death.” She tapped a hoof on Applejack’s notebook. “I don’t know what on earth she was trying to do with all of these stories.”
“You don’t think they’re real?”
Daring scoffed. “I make deductions based on facts.”
Cheerilee didn’t say anything, instead reaching into her bag and removing her berry bag. The bag was about half empty, but she removed one and placed it on the table.
“What are those?”
“Applejack gave them to me.”
Daring took the berry and examined it. “This…”
“Isn’t native to Equestria?” Cheerilee sighed. “I know. I’ve been looking around myself.”
“Where did Applejack get it?”
“She wouldn’t tell me. Just that there was more where they came from.”
“What else did she give you?”
Cheerilee exhaled quickly. “That’s not the point. The sigil in the barn, it leads somewhere into the Everfree, but I can’t figure out where.”
“I’m not helping you.”
“What?!” Cheerilee shot up.
“This is all just insane,” Daring hissed. “You are playing with things that you don’t understand. History can be dangerous, and this is territory that nobody has ever covered before. Applejack got killed digging into this, you understand that?”
Cheerilee felt another headache coming on. “I thought you were braver than this,” she spat.
Daring’s gaze hardened. “I’m not stupid. If you want to be stupid, be my guest. But I’m not going to kill myself trying to save you, even if that’s what you’re intent on doing.”
Without another word, Cheerilee stood up and left.
A schoolhouse was a fantastic engine to generate rumors. Cheerilee knew this quite well: foals seemed to be engineered to spread rumors at times. “My mom thinks she was a witch!”
Every whisper felt like she was being stabbed. The dark classroom made it impossible to make out any faces. On the blackboard, the projected film continued in its lecture about the water cycle.
Cheerilee scanned the room, a silent sentinel.
“Yesterday my dad told us to throw out all our apples. He was saying maybe she had poisoned them or something!”
Someone coughed, and a chair scraped across the floor.
“You know, I heard that Applejack was secretly in loooooove with–”
Cheerilee slammed a hoof on her desk and the whole classroom flinched. “Why do I hear talking?” she asked.
Nobody answered.
“What did we say about spreading rumors,” she said through gritted teeth. A guilty silence washed over the room then. With her class reprimanded, she went back to the papers below her. Her red pan danced across the paper as her eyes scanned the responses.
She flicked an ear as someone sneezed. She twirled her pen and flipped a page. The narrated voice carried on and on as round, bright visuals flashed across the screen. Cheerilee grunted quietly, glancing out the window.
She didn’t usually feel like this during school days. But something had been nipping at her lately. On a cool night in April, she had spent nearly the entire night wandering through the Everfree, trying to figure out what Applejack’s arrow could possibly have been pointing to.
As soon as she left the forest, something had felt off inside her: a slight discomfort that lurked in the depths of her body. It tugged on her heart strings, nibbled on the backs of her eyes. Made her stomach churn and groan violently, putting pressure on her chest and pushing downwards like someone was lying on her.
In that cool dark classroom, she was beginning to feel it again.
Cheerilee set her pen down and tried to take a deep breath. Instead, she felt her lungs constrict and her heart began to race. Her vision went blurry and she gasped for air. Clamping down on her lip, she slipped out of the classroom and into the hall.
She gasped for air, leaning against the wall for support. The floor tiles were blurry beneath her vision, and her chest heaved with every passing seconds. She tried to take a step but fell all the way to the floor again. Cheerilee resorted to pressing her forehead into the wall and squeezing her eyes shut.
Breathe. Breathe.
She trembled, tears rushing down her cheeks as she shuddered.
Breathe… Breathe… “Just breathe, sugar cube. You’re gonna be okay.”
She whipped around, half expecting to see Applejack standing behind her.
But there was nobody there. Nothing to fill the hole rapidly engulfing her heart.
Applejack was gone now. All that was left were the memories: ghosts of fleeting feelings that passed before she could catch them. She could almost remember the feeling of Applejack wrapping her hooves around her stomach, pulling her close to nuzzle.
Cheerilee felt quiet, lacking the strength to move. Upbeat music pumped out from the ajar classroom door behind her as the video marched on. Slowly she climbed to her hooves and wiped her eyes with the back of her foreleg.
The anxiety still lingered, but the video was ending soon and she needed to get back to her students.
Cheerilee took a deep breath and tried to put on a brave face. She slipped back behind her desk and ate eight berries before the video ended.
Applejack’s face remained in her mind for the rest of the day.
The night was cool when Cheerilee returned home. Her backyard was still, save for the chirping of crickets hiding in the bushes around her. She eased herself down onto the grass, feeling it brush against her skin.
The tiny sapling in front of her swayed in the breeze. Its leaves rustled gently, as if the plant was trying to comfort her.
“Ya ever plant a tree before?”
“Once, back when I was still in university,” Cheerilee said. “I took an environmental studies course. They had us help plant some in the Royal Gardens.”
“Great! So you already know what to do! If ya don’t mind gettin’ down and dirty with it, that is.” Applejack winked, taking a shovel and trotting into the backyard.
Cheerilee rolled her eyes, blushing slightly. “So what’s so special about this tree anyways?”
Applejack shrugged. “I dunno, frankly! It’s a new one I recently found. One of them fruit trees, I think. Grows more of them berries you like so much.”
“Wait… You mean you don’t even know where it’s from?”
Applejack gave her a strange smirk. “Long story. But don’t you worry none. If we take care of it, it’ll grow right as rain.”
“Oh AJ,” Cheerilee whispered, drawing a circle in the dirt with her hoof. “What did you do?” she sniffed, looking up at the stars.
The very thought of those berries made her sick now. The way they rolled down her throat and filled her stomach with a strange warmth… The way they managed to block out the pain… It was too much for her to bear anymore. They weren’t just berries: they were drugs.
“Where did you get them? Where did you get this?” she muttered.
The plant said nothing in response.
“What did you do?” Cheerilee asked again, not knowing if she wanted to hear an answer.
Description of Ancient Mosaics, Canterlot Museum’s Special Archive. Early Solar Era. Description by Archivist Hidden Find.
The mosaic is divided into several sections, each section depicting a scene. The first scene (upper left) shows a small village preparing for the winter. A chief is easily identified by his regalia, and a pony presumed to be a family member is beside them. The villagers gather around for some announcement: of note is that the trees in this image are empty and barren.
The next scene shows the chief in a wooded area, apparently conversing with some type of forest spirit. The chief kneels in front of the spirit in apparent shock. Their eyes are on the ground, and the spirit appears to be bestowing some type of gift upon them.
The next scene shows a plant sprouting from the ground.
The next scene shows a grand feast with varying foods piling on plates. Notably, some of these foods are not known to be native to the region this artifact was retrieved from. The chief sits in the middle with what can be assumed to be their daughter besides him.
The next scene shows the daughter on the bed, apparently ill. The chief appears distressed.
The next scene shows the chief alone, standing in front of what appears to be a coffin.
The next scene is missing.
The next scene shows the forest spirit, wrathful. Several villagers appear to be running in fear.
The next scene is missing.
The next scene shows the chief in front of several other villagers, apparently on trial. Plant life in this panel is noticeably different and more closely resembles that of the native land.
The final scene shows a figure that resembles the chief’s daughter wandering an unknown area, with strange plant-like appendages sprouting from their body.