Apple Bloom sat on her bed and stared blankly at the wall. She had been doing so ever since her party had ended and all of her friends had gone home. She grew tired of the wall and moved to stare at her rear hooves. She swung them back and forth and enticed herself with the movement. It was her tenth birthday and she dreaded this day ever since she had turned six. Ever since Applejack had told her what it takes to keep the apple trees alive. She continued to watch her hooves, humming a short tune to calm her nerves. She was then broken from her trance by a knock at her door. She didn’t answer, she just continued to watch her hooves and hum. Applejack didn’t wait for a response; she knew her sister was upset. Each of the members of the Apple family was unnerved on their tenth birthday, but they each had to be introduced to it at this age. It was their “tradition”.
“Look sugarcube,” Applejack began as she sat down beside Apple Bloom on her bed, “I know what yer’ going through, but we all had to do it at your age.”
Applejack attempted to wrap her foreleg around Apple Blooms shoulders, but she immediately shrugged it off.
“But, Applejack, I don’t want to do it,” Apple Bloom said, not averting her gaze from her hooves, “It just seems wrong.”
“Oh, I know little sis,” Applejack said giving Apple Bloom a hug, “But it’s the only way to keep the trees in the orchard alive, the soil is not fertile enough without it.”
Apple Bloom finally looked away from her hooves; Applejack could see the sadness in her eyes. She gave Apple Bloom a weak smile.
“I know it’s hard to wrap yer’ head around it,” Applejack said standing up from the bed, “But we have to do anything for the trees.”
Apple Bloom wiped the tears from her eyes and stared at Applejack as she walked towards her door.
“I’ll give ya a few more moments to yer’ thoughts,” she said opening the door to leave,” But we have to do this tonight, Granny Smith will be mighty upset if we don’t.”
Applejack left the room and Apple Bloom returned to staring at the wall and began to ponder what it was like to be Applejack, to have to wear a mask around her friends. To have to hide behind a plastic smile, to have to hide the emptiness she felt inside. Applejack had been that way for as long as she could remember, there was once when she had to get away from it all. She just couldn’t take it anymore. She had told her friends she was going to a rodeo. But, Apple Bloom knew there wasn’t a rodeo. She was finally free of the curse taking care of the farm had brought upon her, but her friends grew worried and went looking for her. Once they found her she claimed the reason she had yet returned was because she didn’t win the rodeo, but Apple Bloom knew the ribbons were fake. Apple Bloom wondered if she would turn out the same way if she embraced the dark secret of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom stood up from her bed and made her way downstairs. The rest of the Apple family was sitting in the living room. She approached Applejack and took a deep breath.
“I’m ready I guess,” she said lowering her head to the floor.
Applejack rubbed her head, messing her hair up a little.
“It’ll be quick, come one,” Applejack responded as she lead her out the front door.
They stepped outside into the cool night air. Apple Bloom could hear the howls of the Timberwolves in the distance. They sounded distressed and anxious; they too must have known the evil that would plague this night. Apple Bloom followed Applejack to the cellar door. Applejack was just about to lead her down into the cellar when Apple Bloom stopped her with a question.
“Applejack?” Apple Bloom began, “How do you live with such a thing weighing down on your conscious?”
Applejack averted her gaze from Apple Bloom and stared at the ground, as if trying to avoid the question.
“Applejack, are you listening to me?” Apple Bloom pressed on, “If I’m going to do this, I need to know if I can ever get over it.”
Applejack continued to stare at the ground, “You don’t live with it, it eats ya up inside until you feel nothing. You find yourself no longer being able to experience even the simplest of emotions, no more joy, sadness, anger, just… emptiness.”
Apple Bloom was taken aback by these words, was she willing to give up all she felt and loved just for a few stupid apple trees. They stood outside the cellar door for another few minutes before Applejack opened the door to indicate she was threw stalling. Apple Bloom followed her down into the cellar. A single overhead light hung in the center of the room, illuminating the cellar just enough for Apple Bloom to see the horrors that could have possibly gone on down here. In the corner of the room hung three rather large hooks, bits of meat still clinging to them. Various jars and sharp utensils lined the shelves to the right of the room. But, the biggest thing that worried Apple Bloom was the large wooden table in the center of the room directly under the light. Apple Bloom cringed as she approached the table and met eye to eye with her first victim. He was a light brown stallion with a dark brown, curly mane; he had a pencil and a line for a cutie mark. He wore thick glasses that just magnified his large hazel eyes. Beneath the gag in his mouth Apple Bloom could hear the mumbles and gargles of distress and fear, she cringed again. She didn’t know if she could do this.
Apple Bloom turned to Applejack, who was now leaning on an axe. Apple Bloom turned back to the stallion and saw his eyes grow wide and begin to struggle with the leather bindings that held him steadfast to the table.
Apple Bloom approached Applejack and she handed her the axe, “The longer you stall the more you feel remorse,” Applejack said in a rather monotone voice.
Apple Bloom walked back over to the table and stared deep into the pony’s eyes. Tears began to pour down his face. She could hear his muffled cries for help, as she lifted the axe high over her head.
Author's Note
I decided to write this short story as an apology for the delay on the Shadow Dash sequel. I wrote this one with two separate endings, kind of a "choose your own ending" style. Page 2 is the dark ending, and page 3 is the happy ending.
All the innocence Apple Bloom had had before this night was washed away like chalk on a sidewalk in a rainstorm. She walked out of the cellar with a bag tied to her back. Crimson oozed out of a small hole in the bag and ran down her side. It was warm, unlike what she felt inside. As she followed Applejack to the far end of the orchard, she noticed dark and looming clouds hanging over their heads. Apple Bloom turned back to watch in front of her. Off in the distance she heard the cries of the Timberwolves again; she thought nothing of them now. They were just white noise in the endless trance that was now her life. They finally reached a row of newly planted apple trees. Around the base of each tree a small moat had been dug. Applejack lifted the bag she had tied to her back and began pouring its contents into one of the holes. Apple Bloom followed suit of her big sister as she mumbled to herself.
“Anything for the apple trees…”
The goings on at Sweet Apple Acres continued on for generations to come. Police didn’t get involved until somepony in Ponyville began to notice a rapid decrease in population during a sudden growth spurt of new apple trees. The case has yet to be solved, and more and more pony’s disappear every year.
Apple Bloom couldn’t bring herself to do it. She dropped the axe at her hooves and began to unlatch the captive.
“What are you doing?!” Applejack shouted as she whipped Apple Bloom around from the table.
“There has to be a better way than this!” Apple Bloom shouted back as she returned back to unlatching the pony.
“I knew you were weak,” Applejack shouted as she tossed Apple Bloom to the side away from the table, “If you won’t do it, I will.”
Applejack picked up the axe and was just about to drive it into the stallion’s skull when Apple Bloom tackled her. The force of Apple Blooms tackle sent Applejack tumbling into the shelf holding the various jars and utensils. Applejack was showered with glass and knives, cutting her in various spots. She was just about to stand back up when a large jar came rolling off the top of the shelf and came crashing down on her head, knocking her out. Apple Bloom regained her composure and went back to untying the stallion.
“Quick, go to the police before my granny gets anxious and comes out here to see if we’ve finished,” Apple Bloom instructed the pony.
He wasted no time to listen to her; he bolted up the stairs and fled the cellar. After he left Apple Bloom drug Applejack to the center of the room and tied her to a support beam then locked the cellar door to prevent Granny Smith or Big Mac from coming in to see what she had done. She sat down beside Applejack and waited for the police to arrive.
The police arrived within thirty minutes, just in time to catch Granny Smith and Big Mac trying to break into the cellar with a shovel. Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applejack were all arrested and sent to a home for the criminally insane. Apple Bloom was sent to live with her cousin Bab Seed in Manehatten while also attending therapy twice a week. Sweet Apple Acres was shut down for further investigation and the ponies in Ponyville had to find another way to get food. Apple Blooms family was now split apart, the farm was closed and she was now leaving all of her friends and the place she had called home for so long. She sometimes wonders if she made the right choice.
