Applebite

by Matthias Ramsey

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Sad
Length: 2373

When Applejack is found dead, Twilight begins to suspect her friends had a hoof in it. Why do they act strange when questioned? Why are they suddenly alienating her?

When Applejack is found dead, Twilight begins to suspect her friends had a hoof in it. Why do they act strange when questioned? Why are they suddenly alienating her?
Little does she know how much the truth can hurt.

Published 2013-05-28 02:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-28 02:20:01 UTC

Call No. 11616125

The following is a recording from call no. 11616125, received at 0:15 on 21 May May XXXX.

"Hello? Officer Cornell speaking."
"Hello, police? I'd like to report a firearm discharge and possible homicide."
"What's your name?"
"Winesap, sir."
"Where are you currently?"
"At Sweet Apple Acres."
"How many shots did you hear?"
"One, maybe two. I'm afraid to go downstairs. I think someone might still be down there."
"Did you hear anything preceding the discharge?"
"There was some arguing, I think, and I thought I heard glass break."
"Thank you, miss. We'll dispatch a squad car and medical personnel as soon as we can."

Anger

Anger is an emotion related to one's psychological interpretation of having been offended, wronged, or denied and a tendency to react through retaliation. Sheila Videbeck describes anger as a normal emotion that involves a strong uncomfortable and emotional response to a perceived provocation. Raymond Novaco of UC Irvine, who since 1975 has published a plethora of literature on the subject, stratified anger into three modalities: cognitive (appraisals), somatic-affective (tension and agitations), and behavioral (withdrawal and antagonism). William DeFoore, an anger-management writer, described anger as a pressure cooker: we can only apply pressure against our anger for a certain amount of time until it explodes.

Twilight pounded on Fluttershy's door. If anyone would give her the answers she wanted with minimal effort, it would be her.
Fluttershy timidly opened the door, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief.
"Twilight? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about last night."
"Last night? I...I'm sorry, you've come to the wrong house." Fluttershy shut the door in Twilight's face.
"What the...Fluttershy, open up!!" Twilight pounded on the door, only to be greeted by the sound of a deadbolt locking.
"Rrgh...maybe Pinkie Pie..."

"What do you mean she's not here?! I saw her come in twenty seconds before I did!!"
Mr. Cake shrugged. "Sorry, that's what she told us to tell everyone. No exceptions."
"Come on, this is important! I think she knows something about what happened last night!"
"Look, Twilight. If, on the off chance, Pinkie did have a hoof in killing Applejack, do you really think she'd tell you just because you asked nicely? Really, come on. You're smarter than that."

Twilight pounded the wall in frustration. "Dammit!! None of them will talk to me!!" She stormed about the house, fuming, trying to think of a way to get what she wanted.
"Now I-" Twilight cried out and collapsed to the ground as a jolt of pain shot through her head. Her horn sparked, and a scene played out in front of her.
a ghostly Applejack was holding a gun to her own head. You don't understand my family. They'll lynch me themselves if they find out. Better to just...
The image disappeared just as suddenly as it appeared.
Twilight broke out in a cold sweat. "What....what was that?" She realized that that was part of her missing memory.
"How...will I get to see the rest?"

Bargaining

Bargaining or haggling is a type of negotiation in which the buyer and seller of a good or service dispute the price which will be paid and the exact nature of the transaction that will take place, and eventually come to an agreement. Bargaining is an alternative pricing strategy to fixed prices. Optimally, if it costs the retailer nothing to engage and allow bargaining, he can divine the buyer's willingness to spend. It allows for capturing more consumer surplus as it allows price discrimination, a process whereby a seller can charge a higher price to one buyer who is more eager (by being richer or more desperate). Haggling has largely disappeared in parts of the world where the cost to haggle exceeds the gain to retailers for most common retail items. However, for expensive goods sold to uninformed buyers such as automobiles, bargaining can remain commonplace.
Dickering refers to the same process, albeit with a slight negative (petty) connotation.
Bargaining is also the name chosen for the 3rd stage of the Kübler-Ross model (commonly known as the stages of dying), even though it has nothing to do with price negotiations.

Twilight spent most of the next week pondering the unsettling memory piece she had recalled. Maybe Applejack HAD killed herself. But why would she do that?

Early in the evening a week after she had first learned of Applejack's death, a knock came at her door.
She opened it to reveal Rainbow Dash, who began to greet her but quickly adopted a concerned look. "N-No one else is here?"
"Just me, Rainbow."
She chewed her lip. "Dammit, I'm early...i was supposed to meet the others here...we w-waah!"
Rainbow's statement was cut off as Twilight roughly yanked her inside, slammed and locked the door, and pushed her into the table.
"Oww...Twilight, that-"
"Shut up. I'll be doing the talking."
"Twilight, w-"
Twilight stamped her hoof and amplified her voice with magic. "I SAID SHUT UP!!!"
Rainbow Dash actually looked scared. "I-" She clamped her mouth shut, afraid of what would happen.
"Good girl. Now, you're going to answer my questions, or I might actually get angry enough to hurt you. Understood?"
Rainbow nodded shakily.
"Let me hear you SAY IT!!"
"Y-yes, I understand!!" Rainbow said frantically.
"Good. Now, first question. Do you know what happened the night AJ died?"
"I'm not-"
"Did I ASK if you were supposed to tell me what happened?! NO!! DO. YOU. KNOW. WHAT. HAPPENED."
"Y-Yes! Yes, I know what happened! I was there, j-just like the rest of us!:"
"All right, NOW what happened?"
"I-I can't tell you-"
"Why not, Rainbow Dash? Why can't you tell me? Because YOU killed her?"
"No, Twilight, I-"
"Tell me the truth, Rainbow Dash! Why are you guys giving me the cold shoulder? Why don't I remember almost anything about what happened? JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH!!!"
Rainbow Dash burst into tears. "T-Twilight, stop yelling at me! I-I wanted to tell you the t-truth all along, b-but they wanted to w-wait..."
"Wait, who wanted to wait?"
"The others! They don't think you can handle the truth! You know what, I don't think you can either, but bad news doesn't age well."
This was what Twilight had been waiting for. "Oh god...Rainbow Dash, I'll do anything, just tell me the truth! Please just tell me what happened!"
"Anything?"
"Anything at all."
"Would you....would you wait for everyone else to get here? We were going to tell you together, but I'll tell you when they get here."
Twilight backed away from Rainbow and nodded. "Yes. I'll wait. I'm sorry about what I did and what I said...did I hurt you?"
"No...I was just scared. I thought you were going to hurt me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't...I'm sorry."
"It's...I'm all right." Rainbow brushed wings with Twilight. Twilight smiled, knowing that was as close Rainbow ever got to giving someone a hug.
"Thank you."
"You're gonna need it after you hear the truth."

Barely five minutes later, the other three arrived.
"Twilight, we, uh-"
"Girls, it's okay. I'm going to tell her."
"Are you sure, Dash?"
"I'm sure. I wanted to tell her from the start, after all." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "Twilight...Applejack committed suicide."
"I figured that from the-"
"She killed herself because she was in love with you."

Depression

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings and sense of well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, worried, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, hurt, or restless. They may lose interest in activities that once were pleasurable, experience loss of appetite or overeating, have problems concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions, and may contemplate or attempt suicide. Insomnia, excessive sleeping, fatigue, loss of energy, or aches, pains, or digestive problems that are resistant to treatment may also be present.
Depressed mood is not necessarily a psychiatric disorder. It may be a normal reaction to certain life events, a symptom of some medical conditions, or a side effect of some drugs or medical treatments. Depressed mood is also a primary or associated feature of certain psychiatric syndromes such as clinical depression.

Twilight felt much the same as she had a week before when she first read the headline about Applejack's death.
"What?"
Rainbow Dash nodded somberly. "You erased your own memory of the event. We were alienating you because we didn't want you interrogating one of us before we told you." Rainbow stepped forward. "This is what happened."

A text message, simultaneously sent to all five of us. We knew she'd been feeling depressed, but not like this. Not this bad.
The text read, Y'all ever played Russian Roulette? I think I'll play a game...with myself. But, you see...it's a loaded game.
We all ran to the farm, intent on stopping her. We burst in through the door just as she was about to pull the trigger on the first chamber.
You ran to stop her. The bullet missed her and fired in the air, but both of you started bleeding out of one ear.
You tried to wrestle the gun from her, but she shoved you off and stood up, holding the gun to her head.
"Y'all don't get it. I'm gonna die either way, and I don't want the other way."
"AJ, what are you talking about?!"
"Ya see, I love Twilight."
"W-Wait, what? ME?!"
"But see, a mare marryin' another mare is somethin' my family don't like too well. If they find out, they'll beat me to death. I don't doubt it."
"But AJ...if you really do love me, won't they-"
"You don't understand my family. They'll lynch me themselves if they find out. Better to just..." She forced a smile. "...go out with a bang."

"And then she-"
"I can fill in the blanks, Rainbow."
"You okay, Twi? You're looking a little pale."
"I'm f-fine....I just need s-space."
Rainbow brushed wings with her again, then the small crowd left, closing the door gently behind them.
Twilight let her emotions build up: anger, grief, despair, a will to just end her sorry existence...
And released them in a powerful burst of magic, screaming at the top of her lungs, tears pouring from her eyes.

Acceptance

Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it, protest, or exit. The concept is close in meaning to 'acquiescence', derived from the Latin 'acquiēscere' (to find rest in).
Acceptance is fundamental to the core dogma of most Abrahamic religions, the word "Islam" can be translated as "acceptance", "surrender" or "voluntary submission" and Christianity is based upon the "acceptance" of Jesus of Nazareth as the "Christ" and could be compared to some Eastern religious concepts such as Buddhist mindfulness. Religions and psychological treatments often suggest the path of acceptance when a situation is both disliked and unchangeable, or when change may be possible only at great cost or risk. Acceptance may imply only a lack of outward, behavioral attempts at possible change, but the word is also used more specifically for a felt or hypothesized cognitive or emotional state.

Yes, I accept it.
I know why AJ's dead.
I know I could've helped her somehow.
Somehow, I could've stopped her.
But I didn't.
I'm weak.
I'm pitiful.
I...I should be there with her.
I wasn't there for her when she was alive...I'll be there for her now.

The next morning, Twilight Sparkle was found dead in her home, no possible instruments of death readily apparent, save for an apple with a bite out of it.
Later analysis showed the apple to be poisoned.
Twilight Sparkle had followed in Applejack's footsteps. The only note she left was this:

I'm going to see AJ. I might be gone for a while.
-TS

END.

Denial

Denial, in ordinary English usage, is asserting that a statement or allegation is not true. The same word, and also abnegation, is used for a psychological defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence.

Twilight stared at the newspaper in front of her, unable to believe her eyes. She read the headline once, twice, three times, but she still couldn't believe it.
Sweet Apple Acres Farmer Applejack Found Dead In Home; Cause Of Death Suspected Homicide
Applejack? Dead? Who could have done it?
Twilight flexed her wings. She was determined to find out who had done it.
"But who could it be? Who would have any reason to commit an act this...for lack of a better word, mean?" She started to think about it.
After an hour or so, she realized that her friends weren't calling or otherwise contacting her to give or seek comfort.
"Maybe one of them did it. Maybe they all did it."
She decided to start where Applejack had wound up: in the coroner's office of the Ponyville Police Department.

The coroner, and acting sheriff until a new one was found, was Officer Cornell, a previously retired police officer who had come out of retirement to serve as a coroner.
"Officer, this is very important. I need to see the body."
"Sorry, I have orders not to let anyone see the body until it's been claimed."
"Urgh...can you at least tell me what kind of injuries she sustained?"
"Well...i suppose I can. She sustained a ruptured left eardrum and a gunshot wound right here, in the left temple." Officer Cornell tapped the side of her head. "She was either being held hostage at gunpoint and they shot her, or-"
"I don't want to hear about the cause. I just wanted to know the injuries." Twilight about-faced and marched away.
"I'll start interrogating them, one by one." Twilight stopped. She realized that there was a blank spot in her memory.
"They must have had Rarity wipe my memory so I wouldn't turn them in. I'll find them, and I'll make sure they get brought to justice."