Blanked

Chapters

The Tour, and The Truth
Dark Origins
A Bad Apple
The Cursed One
The Reveal
Relics of the Past
Calm Before The Storm
Heartbeat
Green Hooves and Dark Secrets
Waking The Demon
Memorial Crusade
Ah Hate Zombies
Crouching Twilight, Hidden Apple
Welcoming Party

The Tour, and The Truth

Once Apple Bloom walked out of the house, she saw what appeared to be a peaceful village. She noticed that the house she emerged from was directly across from the entrance of the town. When Apple Bloom recognized the yellow pony from earlier, she also recognized where exactly she was.

"Ah can't believe it... Ah'm back in Sunny Town."

"Of course you are!" Another voice called out. When Apple Bloom looked forward, she saw a grey stallion with black hair.

Standing around him were many other ponies of different colors. Their expressions ranged from genuineness to pure happiness. But Apple Bloom kept herself wary, especially after the night she had.

The grey stallion stepped forward, nodding his head to the filly. "Good morning, little filly! I can see you're quite surprised to be here again in Sunny Town! I just know you're going to enjoy your stay here."

If anything, Apple Bloom's unsure look completely disagreed with his statement, no matter how peaceful the town or its residents looked.

"Since you'll be staying here now, it's about time you get to know Sunny Town's most important ponies! Normally, we accept all ponies as equals, but... well, allow me to explain. We'll start with introductions. I am Grey Hoof, and as I've told you before, I love to throw a good party! I am also the head of Sunny Town."

Apple Bloom didn't have it in her to say anything. She was still scared of the predicament she was currently in. Her eyes looked to the right as the yellow stallion from before stepped forward with a smile.

"Hello. You saw me already. I was the one who saw you when you woke up. In fact, you were sleeping in my house."

He chuckled as Apple Bloom looked back at the house she exited. She thought nothing of it and returned her expression to him.

"My name is Roneo. I'm glad to meet you."

He expected her to say something. When she didn't for a moment, he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Are you a shy little filly? That's ok, we have somepony around here who knows what that's like."

He turned his head to his right toward a white mare with orange hair. She reeled her head back a bit, but Roneo placed a hoof around her neck to calm her down.

"Don't be shy. Introduce yourself to our new friend. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

The mare slowly nodded and stepped forward a bit. "My name's Starlet. It's, uh, nice to meet you."

"There you go, sweetie!" Roneo cheered before turning back to Apple Bloom. "She's a bit shy. But when it comes to her hooves, boy is she outgoing."

Starlet caught the meaning and turned away with a blush on her face, shuffling her hooves on the grass beneath her. Apple Bloom caught on to the meaning as well, recalling her earlier experience.

Don't tell me she was that fast-movin' zombie... sweet Celestia, she was quick!

One of her eyes twitched upon remembering. Luckily everypony was focused on Starlet. But they soon turned back to Apple Bloom as a slightly taller, brown stallion with yellow hair stepped forward to make his introduction.

"Greetings, young filly!" He bowed his head forward courteously before speaking again. "You may call me Gladstone. It is a fine pleasure to meet you."

To Apple Bloom, that pony sounded a lot like Canterlot ponies. The only difference is that he wasn't stuck-up, or even a unicorn.

The last of the bunch, a bright green mare with dark green hair, enthusiastically stepped forward, a large grin on her face. Seeing how this pony tried to kill her before made Apple Bloom question her eccentricity.

"And last but certainly not least, I'm Three Leaf! You know, that pony you saw waaaaay over there watering those plants yesterday? That pony! So glad to have you here in Sunny Town with us!"

"Ok, Three Leaf," Grey Hoof interrupted. "I think the little filly's had enough of an introduction."

Apple Bloom lowered her head toward the ground, a frown on her face. "Ah'm not a little filly..."

Grey Hoof turned back to her after hearing her voice. "Did you say something?"

"Ah'm no little filly. Ah'm a big girl."

Gladstone chuckled at her cuteness, and looked quite adored by the sound of her voice. "Of course you are! What may we call you?"

"My name's Apple Bloom..." she spoke hesitantly with a soft voice. It sounded a bit shaky, but then again, she wasn't exactly in a comfortable position.

"Good, then!" Grey Hoof cheered. "Apple Bloom, these guys are my closest friends. Pretty soon, you can be close to us too."

Her eyes narrowed, and she brought her head up, shooting a glare straight into Grey Hoof's eyes. "Ah don't wanna be close to y'all. You tried to kill me! And... then you did kill me!"

She paused, reeling back a bit with a saddened expression. "At least, Ah think... Ah feel alive, but a few minutes ago, Ah thought Ah saw myself as a zombie."

Grey Hoof smiled, and turned his head to the left. "We'll have to discuss a few things later, but first, let's show you where we all live, just in case you ever need to find any of us. If would be so kind as to follow me..."

He walked off to his left, Gladstone and Three Leaf following behind. Once they proceeded, Apple Bloom could see the entrance to Sunny Town directly in front of her.

My only way out. Maybe I can lose these zombies after all...

Roneo could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her, As soon as she took a step forward, he stepped directly in front of her.

"Wrong way, Apple Bloom. Grey Hoof and the others went that way."

"Ah'm leaving this place. Ah'm not staying here with you zombies."

Roneo started to chuckle, and surprisingly, Starlet giggled a bit along with him. This just seemed to unnerve Apple Bloom as she stepped back.

"You're one of us now. You can't leave Sunny Town once you become a blank."

"A... what?"

Roneo just realized what he had said to the filly, and scratched the back of his head.

"Grey Hoof will explain later. Now come along. They're waiting for us."

Before Apple Bloom could make a counter argument, she found herself being forced away from the entrance toward the other ponies. They stood before yet another house, but it seemed a bit larger than Roneo's house.

Grey Hoof cleared his throat once the other three ponies joined them. "Now then Apple Bloom, this would be my house. If there's any sort of trouble you may seem to have concerning Sunny Town, my door is always open."

"Are you sure?" Three Leaf interrupted with a raised hoof. "I tried to open your door two days ago. It wasn't open!"

"Did you read the sign on the door? It said, 'DO NOT DISTURB'. I was busy doing something."

"Oh..." Three Leaf lowered her head in embarrassment. "I didn't read it. I can't read."

"Let's just move on, shall we?"

Out of nowhere, Three Leaf quickly returned to her cheery self while silently following Grey Hoof, followed by the others. The town looked pretty empty with the six being the only ponies around, yet Apple Bloom saw many, many more houses the first time she came through. She presumed they were the houses that belonged to the many other zombies who were chasing her the previous night. The thought of them made her shudder, but at least they didn't retain their terrifying looks, as was evident by the ponies she was now following.

They ended up near a house not that far away from Roneo's house. In fact, it was next door. "This would be Starlet's house. She likes to read a lot, so her home is filled with many books."

"Yeah," Starlet replied from behind the group. "If you want to read something from my house, I don't mind much. Just, as long as you bring them back when you're finished. That's ok, right?"

Starlet glanced over at Apple Bloom with a pleading expression as if to ask if she could be trusted. But just staring at the white mare instilled fear into the filly knowing how fast she moved. She hadn't seen anything move that fast since the last time she had seen Scootaloo performing tricks on her scooter. To know that a zombie moved with such swiftness scared her stiff. She didn't reply to Starlet, who in turn frowned when she didn't get an answer.

"Apple Bloom, why didn't you answer her?" Roneo asked, slightly disgruntled. Gladstone shook his head.

"Perhaps she is still uncomfortable around us. Do not forget, she is new here. Give her time, and she will open up."

"Well said, Gladstone," Grey Hoof commented before turning to his left and continuing forward. All of the other ponies followed afterward.

After about three more good minutes, they came across a rather fancy-looking house. While it looked just like any other house, the porch was decorated with fancy fixtures that made it a bit more unique compared to every other house they've seen yet.

"This would be Gladstone's house. While he mostly likes to keep to himself, he is an excellent conversationalist, and likes to help ponies through speech."

Gladstone nodded in acknowledgment. "Think of me as a therapist of sorts. I have once helped out Three Leaf with a problem of hers, and... well... alright, she has many problems, but I am usually the one to consult should you ever require a lending ear."

Even though that promise sounded comforting, it felt anything but to Apple Bloom.

Ah think you wouldn't be able to help me out with any new problems Ah'm goin' to be havin' now...

Silence filled the air once more between the group of six. It was getting awkward, to say the least. After about six seconds, Apple Bloom could feel one of her hooves being pulled by a certain green mare's hoof.

"My turn, my turn!" the ever-so-cheerful Three Leaf chimed, dashing away with Apple Bloom against the filly's will. "Come with me, and I'll show you my house!"

Apple Bloom didn't have a chance to object Three Leaf's actions, and they both left in a huff, leaving a cloud in their wake. Everypony else was rather confused about the whole ordeal.

"Well, that's weird," Roneo stated with a raised brow. "She never gets that excited about showing a new pony her house."

"Well, this is a special case, I'm willing to admit," Grey Hoof answered with a cheerful smile. "This is a filly we have brought into Sunny Town. We haven't seen any young ponies since we got rid of the cursed one. So I'm willing to excuse Three Leaf's excitement. Besides, when doesn't she act this happy?"

Roneo chuckled, and nodded his head in agreement. "Good point. Let's catch up to them so Three Leaf doesn't ramble her into submission."

That may have already been too late for Apple Bloom. They were already at Three Leaf's house were the overzealous mare was rambling on and on while Apple Bloom stared at her awkwardly.

"So yeah, this is my house! I know it looks like a bunch of other houses, but it's very much different! For example, you can see my garden right here in the front, which I watch over all the time! I am also a great cook, and I love to help Grey Hoof set up his parties! Though, most of what I do is make the cake and punch and chips and other foods, but yeah! Though that's not all! I also have a back garden where I grow lots of plants and stuff! Oh and fruit trees too! Do you like apples? I'm guessing you do since your name has 'Apple' in it!"

Dear Celestia, this mare is hyper... she could probably compete with Pinkie Pie.

"Three Leaf!" Grey Hoof yelled, which snapped Three Leaf back to reality.

"Oh, did I ramble on again? Sorry, but it's just so exciting to have a filly here!"

Grey Hoof rolled his eyes, but then turned to Apple Bloom with a smile.

"Anyway, that's all you'll have to know around here. Of course, there are lots more ponies that live here in Sunny Town, but..."

Before he continued, the other four ponies gathered to either side of him, with Roneo and Starlet to his left, and Gladstone and Three Leaf to his right. They all had genuine smiles on their faces.

"These four are my closest friends. I hope that maybe you could be a great friend of ours as well. But yes, all five of us hold a special meaning to this town."

"Wait, you forgot about Mitta!" Three Leaf alarmed with a raised hoof in the air. Grey Hoof sighed as he lowered his head.

"I was trying to avoid having her mentioned... but yes, Apple Bloom. You probably remember Mitta. I'd rather not talk about her, but..."

Grey Hoof walked past Apple Bloom a few more steps, and the little pony followed. Not that far away stood a lone house with a rather bare lawn compared to the other houses.

"That is Mitta's house. If you want, you may see her, though if I know her right, she's still crying in there about her daughter. I'm going to go set up for a party now."

Grey Hoof turned away from her, walking back to his group of friends. "It would be nice if you joined us later. After all, the party's about you joining us."

A smile curled on his lips before he walked away, as did the others. Apple Bloom didn't turn away from Mitta's house. She had a sense of wonder about not only the house itself, but the pony living inside.

She cautiously stepped forward, unsure of whether or not she should even be stepping on the property with the permission of its owner. But being a filly, Apple Bloom didn't know better to have that on her young mind. Out of the curiosity that got her into this mess in the first place, she decided to move forward.

Without a second thought, she reached up to the doorknob and slowly turned it clockwise. With a slight push, the door opened with a quiet, audible creak. She didn't even think that the homeowner may have had the door locked.

The room was very dark, save for the light pouring in from the windows, as well as the now-opened doorway. Taking Grey Hoof's hint and attempting to meet this Mitta pony, Apple Bloom entered the house and quietly closed the door shut.

Back in Ponyville, the early morning sun shined through Twilight's window. The bright rays had slowly crept toward the lavender mare's bed until it hit her eyelids. Her body was sprawled out on the bed in a rather uncomfortable position. What made her sleep even more uncomfortable was the fact that she was still wearing her saddlebag on her back.

Eventually, Twilight woke up from her slumber, her eyes feeling heavy from the somewhat lack of sleep she had experienced in the night. She didn't have a headache, but after she rose herself up from the pillow, a sense of dizziness attacked her head. It took more than a few seconds of clearing her head to regain her senses.

After rubbing her head and groaning for a good seven seconds, she tossed the covers aside and left her bed toward her mirror. Staring at her mirror, Twilight appeared to be a bit shocked, though the result wasn't surprising. Her mane was rustled to the point where it was almost poofy. Not as close as Pinkie's mane, but still rather unnatural. Her tail wasn't as rustled, but it still wasn't the same as it usually looked. Twilight even had noticeable bags under her eyes.

She yawned loudly for a brief moment before her horn glowed a magnificent magenta hue, picking up the brush on her dresser.

"Dear Celestia... I've had better nights than this. Luckily, I don't have anything planned today. I feel dead tired."

Before the brush started to streak her mane, she took a pause. "Dead... Apple Bloom..."

Just then, the mirror had swirls moving around the shape of Twilight's reflection, almost like a portal to an alternate dimension. Her eyes blinked at the strange phenomenon, and she raised a hoof to touch it, expecting her hoof to pass through. However, her hoof stopped at where it touched the swirl, and it still felt like glass.

Soon, the vision shifted to a new image, not of Twilight's reflection, but of the image Twilight had seen the night before. There was Apple Bloom, surrounded by six of those creatures, those monsters, those... zombies. Twilight's ears folded downward as she could only stare and witness them tear the little earth pony filly to shreds. One by one, they pounced forward and proceeded to make her one of them. And just like last night, it was unbearable to see.

Her heart clenched upon watching that scene unfold before her very eyes. The more they attacked her, the more it hurt inside to watch. Twilight had wanted to end the assault, but before she could prevent any permanent damage, it had already been too late.

Twilight still felt very tired, and rubbed her eyes with her hoof. Upon uncovering her eyes again, she found herself face-to-face with her reflection once more.

"What... are my eyes playing tricks on me?" she asked herself while bringing her head closer to the mirror, her reflection following suit. "I didn't want to see that again... I didn't want to be reminded of my failure back in that clearing..."

Her magic released its grip on the brush, sending it landing back down on the dresser with a loud thump. A bit of tears formed in her eyes again from the memory of the past night, and her inability to save one of her best friend's younger sister caused her much distress.

Her ears perked up rapidly upon hearing a slight groaning sound coming from behind her, and she quickly spun her head around. She made a sigh of relief when she only saw her number one assistant rise up from his bed, accompanied by a stretch of his small arms followed by a yawn. He looked up at Twilight as soon as his vision cleared.

"Twilight?" muttered a still sleepy Spike. "Is it morning already?"

Twilight sighed. Things were getting to her, so she tried to remain calm. Usually, she would try to, but things weren't usually this bad.

"Yes Spike, it's morning."

Groaning, Spike climbed out of his small bed by the foot of Twilight's much bigger bed. When he regained full control of his senses, he finally noticed Twilight's hideous wake-up look and reeled back in surprise. Twilight had expected this.

"I know, I look horrible. I could hardly sleep last night."

"I can tell. You look like a pony that recently came across zombies or something."

Twilight's right eye twitched. How exactly did he know that? Or maybe it was just a lucky guess. Either way, Twilight just giggled nervously at the small guess.

"Heh, yeah. We both know there's no such things as zombies..." she emphasized. Luckily, it seemed like Spike didn't catch on to the meaning of the emphasis of the word zombies, and shrugged it off.

"Well, whatever's bothering you, I'm sure it can be fixed with a nice talk. That is, if you don't mind, of course."

Twilight shook her head. She couldn't really tell him what happened, especially about Apple Bloom. She had to break the news to Applejack and the Apple Family first. "It's alright, Spike. How about you just get me a nice cup of coffee? I really could use the energy."

Spike beamed with a hand raised to his forehead, presenting a salute. "A cup of coffee, coming right up!"

With that, Spike ran out the door and down the steps. After he was out of sight, Twilight exasperated a deep breath.

"I just need time to think about how to tell them. Just, what do I say? Something like, 'Hey, umm, I went to the Everfree Forest last night, and I'm sorry to say, but Apple Bloom went with me and she got killed by zombies'?"

She facehoofed, and dragged her hoof down her face in exhaustion. "That's not going to work at all! I need to think of something quick."

Meanwhile, Spike arrived at the main floor of the library. Normally most mornings, Twilight would have Spike check something like a list, or one of the bookcases, or some other such thing. But all he was doing now was getting a cup of coffee. As he made his way across the room, a sudden knock was heard at the door.

"Huh? Who knocks this early in the morning?" Spike asked while he scratched his head. He switched route and walked to the door. When he opened it, Applejack stood there with a smile on her face.

"Howdy, Spike!" she greeted with a tip of her stetson hat. "Ah know you ain't used to seein' me here in the mornin'. Just thought Ah'd stop on by since we ain't so busy at the farm, and won't be until a few more hours. Where's Twilight?"

Spike was rather intrigued by the fact that Applejack had shown up at the library of all places, in the morning of all times. But he just shrugged it off as nothing.

"Twilight's upstairs. Come on in."

Applejack gladly stepped inside as Spike closed the door behind her. He went back to getting Twilight a cup of coffee. "I guess you just wait for her to come down, I guess."

Applejack didn't have to wait, though. As soon as she turned her head the other way, she saw Twilight walking down the stairs. Her dark blue mane and tail were fixed to the way they normally looked so as to be presentable. She had to remain calm for the Apple Family.

"Howdy, Twilight!" Applejack greeted with a wave of her hoof. The sudden voice fully woke up Twilight, who jumped in surprise, which made Applejack chuckle from the sight.

"Sorry there, Twi. Didn't mean to scare ya."

Twilight continued down the stairs uneasily, and her shock came from more than just the sudden greeting. "Applejack, why are you here so early? I mean, I know you like to get up early in the morning, but why come here? I said I was going to meet you at Sweet Apple Acres."

Twilight's plan was normally to spill the beans, figuratively of course, in front of the whole Apple Family, and that included Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. The way she planned it, she was going to walk there while coming up with a perfect way to explain everything that happened. Now, with Applejack here, she no longer had time to think.

"Yeah, Ah know that. But Ah asked Big Mac if he'd take over the farm for a bit while Ah check up on lil' Apple Bloom. Where is she?"

Twilight gulped. Applejack was known for getting straight to the point, but without even trying? Twilight didn't even mention her yet. But it was now or never.

"Listen, umm, can you come up to my room? I'd rather not have Spike close enough to hear."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Why not? All Ah wanna know is where my sister is."

"Just come with me," Twilight responded before she turned back and trotted back up the stairs without waiting for a rebuttal from Applejack.

"What in the hay is her deal? Something's goin' on here, and Ah'm goin' to find out what."

She narrowed her eyes as she followed Twilight up the stairs to her room. Applejack was a blunt, straight to the point mare, and when it came to the safety of her family, she was willing to up her attitude. When they reached the top of the stairs, Applejack closed the door behind her with a hind leg.

"Alright Twi, spill it," Applejack demanded bluntly, startling Twilight a bit. "Ah know somethin's up here, and Ah want answers, now."

Twilight had no escape now. It was just her and Applejack in the room, and nopony else. Twilight wanted more time to think, as she always did in situations like these. But now that her cowpony friend was here and demanding answers, she had no more time. She relaxed herself and took a deep breath, then exhaled before looking Applejack straight in her eyes. She figured she would wing it and hope for the best.

"Applejack, your sister is... gone."

Applejack's narrowed eyes let up a bit, with one of her eyebrows raised. "Gone? What do ya mean, gone? Where did she go?"

Twilight sighed. She was being too weak. There was no point in making her explanation subtle, or stalling for more thinking time. She had to explain now, whether she liked it or not.

"Ok, fine... there's no use in sugarcoating it or lying anymore. Applejack, Apple Bloom wasn't spending all day with me yesterday. She only joined me a bit late, right before sundown."

"You... lied to me? Ah'm one of your best friends, Twilight. And this is about my lil' sister!"

Twilight winced a little from the forced yelling. "Yes, I know. But I'm telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth now."

"Ah'm listening..."

Twilight nodded before beginning her explanation. "I was walking toward the Everfree Forest to deliver some herbs to Zecora. By then, it was nearing sundown. Before I left Ponyville, Apple Bloom appeared, and when I told her what I was doing, she begged me about taking her with me. I just couldn't say no. We did go to Zecora's hut, and I watched her at all times to make sure she was kept safe. When we got there and I gave Zecora the herbs, she gave us a warning, something about something bad happening that night. So we left as fast as we could."

"Ah have a bad feelin' about this..." Applejack admitted, rubbing her stomach as if she felt a bit ill. Truthfully, she was just feeling worried that something bad happened to Apple Bloom.

"So we were going back the way we came, when a fallen tree mysteriously blocked our path. I wondered how it got there, and Apple Bloom thought ghosts put it there, but there aren't any such things as ghosts. I moved it out of the way with my magic only to see more fallen trees. I told her to stay put while I cleared the path, and once I did, I turned my back to see that she was gone!"

Applejack gasped in shock. "Ya mean to tell me my lil' sister is lost somewhere in the Everfree Forest, and you walked back home without a care?!"

Applejack's tone frightened Twilight, making her step back a step, probably for her own safety. She could understand why the orange mare would be furious, but she wasn't finished yet.

"Please, Applejack. I'm not finished," Twilight pleaded, calming Applejack down.

"I figured she went back to Zecora's hut, but when I returned there, she wasn't there. I told Zecora what happened, and she told me to hurry and find Apple Bloom. So I did, and I kept going until I found my way to a place with a few paths. And hanging from a tree, I saw... a torn piece of her bow."

Now, whatever anger Applejack had stored inside her was soon replaced with more worry. Her heart beat a tiny bit faster at the suspense of what was to come next.

"I ran down one of the paths, hoping to find Apple Bloom at the end while using light from my horn to guide me. But at the end of the path was a closed clearing, and what I saw terrified me... it was Apple Bloom, and she was surrounded by six zombies!"

Applejack was surprised. She was expecting Twilight to mention something fierce and dangerous like timberwolves or a manticore or some other beast, not something as make-believe as zombies.

"You're kiddin' me, right?"

"Applejack, this is serious! Apple Bloom was cornered by zombies, and they killed her!"

Applejack shook her head in disbelief. Normally, she'd appreciate a good joke, but when it was about her own little sister, or any family member for that matter, things got personal.

"Twilight, Ah can't believe you'd joke about my sister like that. You know how much Ah care about Apple Bloom."

"I'm not joking!" Twilight yelled back, but that didn't phase Applejack one bit, who narrowed her eyes once more. "How could you think I'm making this up?"

"Zombies? They ain't real. Ah used to think they were back when Ah was a filly, but Ah've grown outta that phase."

Twilight's heart was now pounding out of the situation Apple Bloom was in with her death, as well as the fact that Applejack wasn't believing a word she was saying. She had one more thing to bring forth, but it was a reminder of that fateful night; something that would definitely change Applejack's view.

"Applejack, if what I said didn't happen, how do you explain the time I was out last night? How do you explain how I looked last night? How do you explain... how I have this?"

Her horn started glowing, and a similar glow filled one of her saddlebags. When it opened up, the torn up piece of cloth she found on a tree branch during the search for Apple Bloom floated out and levitated in the air between the two mares. The sight of it was too much to bear for Twilight, as it was a reminder of her lack of responsibility to take care of Apple Bloom, including her failing to save the filly at the hooves of her attackers. The pain her heart was feeling caused tears to form in her eyes out of despair.

Applejack picked up the cloth with one of her hooves, looking down at it with melancholy. "Apple Bloom's bow... and it's torn off..."

She looked back at Twilight, who lowered her head and ears slowly. Her eyes stared back down at the cloth, tears coming to her eyes as well.

"So, what ya said is true? She really was killed by zombies?"

Twilight shook her head, unsure of how else to address the situation. "I'm really, really sorry Applejack. I should've never let Apple Bloom follow me into the Everfree Forest if I knew her curiosity was going to harm her. It's all my fault..."

Twilight didn't get an answer from Applejack. They stood in total silence for about half a minute while the orange mare took in all of the information as she stared down at the small cloth. Without a word, she slowly turned around and opened the door. Twilight opened her eyes and lifted her head as soon as she heard the door open.

"Where are you going, Applejack?"

Applejack sighed without looking back. "Ah'm gonna step outside."

Afterward, she closed the door, leaving Twilight alone. She sighed, willing to wait for her friend to return.

Dark Origins

The main room inside Mitta’s house was very dark, and to Apple Bloom, quite spooky. Then again, this was a lone house in a mysterious village deep within the Everfree Forest. It wasn’t exactly as sunny as the name of the town implied. That was the vibe Apple Bloom felt as soon as she entered the building where she saw a pony’s skeleton lying in a fireplace the day before.

All was silent as the filly walked throughout the house. The only thing she could hear were her own hoofsteps clopping quietly against the hard, wooden floor. It looked like any plain, wooden house, not counting the fact the indoors were unnaturally so dark. The expectation for something to just pop up out of nowhere sent chills up Apple Bloom’s spine.

There was a creaky floorboard just in front of her, though she did not notice it due to the combination of the darkness that made it hard to see and her trying to be aware of whatever else was around her. When she stepped on it, it made a long, creaky sound, which made Apple Bloom jump and scream in fear.

Though her scream only lasted half a second, it echoed around her as if she were in a large hallway, though strangely enough, she was in an almost empty room. Based on past experiences, she thought it looked like the living room of the house, but it looked anything but living. Some of the things she noticed were framed pictures on the wall. Though the darkness made it hard to see, the light that peered through the windows provided more than enough to see what they were.

The light made it only visible enough to see two of the three frames. The first one showed a picture of the entrance of Sunny Town. In the middle of the area, seven ponies were seen posing for the camera. Five of the seven ponies were the same ones Apple Bloom met earlier, when she first arrived in Sunny Town, and only a few minutes ago. One of the other two ponies looked like the mare she saw in Roneo's house the day before, crying and saying things about something happening again and again.

But the one remaining pony, Apple Bloom did not recognize at all, and from the angle the picture was taken, it was hard to get a good look at her. However, a clearer image of that pony could be seen in the second frame, which Apple Bloom shifted her attention to. It showed the two aforementioned ponies side by side sitting in front of a house.

Both mares had grey coats, similar to Grey Hoof. One of them had dark red ruffled hair that went down to her shoulder. She looked rather young, yet somewhat older than most of the ponies she met, even Grey Hoof. Next to her was a grey filly, about two years older than Apple Bloom as far as she could tell. Her hair was more neat than the other pony's, orange with a plain yellow streak going down the middle.

The two ponies looked genuinely happy together, but Apple Bloom was anything but. These may have looked like happy memories, but the filly looking at them thought that the fact they were kept inside such a depressingly dark house told her there was something behind the meaning of the images. Apple Bloom had second thoughts about coming inside in the first place, and contemplated going back.

Before she could do so, she heard hoofsteps coming from the doorway she entered the room from. This alarmed her, and so she scrambled for the door on the opposite of the room. She managed to open it as she saw a hoof out of the corner of her eye. She let out a loud scream before hightailing it out of the room.

As soon as she left the room, she ran through the hallway to her left, which wasn't as dark as the rest of the house, but not exactly light either. To her left, she spotted the door out of the house. She bolted straight for it, her small heart beating rapidly from the fright of being chased. But right before she could reach it, the dark figure from before stepped in through an adjacent doorway, blocking access to it. That was the only chance Apple Bloom had at escape, and this pony was blocking it.

"S-Stay away from me!" she cried, backing away while the pony stepped forward. With the way its eyes were looking, it looked like it was haunting the filly with the intent to kill. After hearing Apple Bloom's voice, the figure stopped in its tracks. Apple Bloom was confused as to why it didn't keep walking toward her, but she was still more frightened than surprised.

"You're the filly... the new one that has been forced to join Sunny Town."

Apple Bloom gulped, shivering in place while staring at the pony, who she could now confirm was a mare by her voice. She would speak if the mare weren't intimidating her with the creepy atmosphere and mood.

"If you're wondering who I am, think about the only pony you haven't formally met yet. Besides, I am the one who really tried to protect you, unlike Grey Hoof..."

Apple Bloom didn't know what she meant by that, until she started to think hard. Putting what Grey Hoof said about this house earlier, plus the fact that she met every pony in Sunny Town, except one. Then it came to her.

"Y-You're Mitta...? The one who tried to save me?" Apple Bloom's voice was shaky when she muttered those words, but the mare knew better than to scare the filly any further. She nodded without a word, and Apple Bloom stopped shivering.

"Yes, I'm Mitta. I was the one to let you escape Sunny Town when Grey Hoof and the others tried to chase you. Unfortunately, you didn't make it, and they converted you anyway. That makes you the second filly to suffer such a horrible fate..."

Mitta hung her head in sorrow, causing Apple Bloom to lift her own head in wonder. She seemed less frightened now, though the dark atmosphere still made things not very comfortable. She figured it was safe to move forward, so she did, seeing as Mitta was friendly, unlike the others. At least, she was friendly in Apple Bloom's sense of the word.

"S-Second filly? Was there somepony else?"

Mitta sighed, and walked forward Apple Bloom before walking past her. "Follow me. It is only fair that I show you, as well as give you information about this place."

Being the naive filly she was, Apple Bloom followed the older mare, unsure of where this was going. She had no idea what else to do, and if this was the mare that tried to save her, it was much better being with her than with Grey Hoof and the others that actually tried to kill her the other night.

After about a minute or two of walking, the pair ended up in a moderately-sized room. It was filled with a single window on the wall opposite the door, a bed on both side walls, and a chest past the foot of the bed on the left. Unlike the other ninety percent of the house, this room actually had a good amount of light.

Mitta dragged her hooves over to the window and stared out of it. Apple Bloom followed, but was unsure about the grey mare. Something also caught her attention, and that was the second bed. If Mitta lived alone, then why was there a second bed? That question formed in Apple Bloom's mind.

“Umm, Mitta? Why do ya have a second bed? Is there somepony else who sleeps here that Ah haven't-”

She was cut off by Mitta putting a hoof over her mouth and giving her a cold stare, which brought back the frightened feeling Apple Bloom felt earlier. Her eyes were like daggers shooting into Apple Bloom's face, but as quickly as they appeared, they softened down. Mitta retracted her head and sighed in a low tone.

“Sorry. That bed... belonged to my daughter.”

Apple Bloom tilted her head. “Belonged?”

Mitta shook her head sadly. She faced the bed and walked toward it, putting a hoof on it. “Yes. She is no longer with me. She was murdered.”

Apple Bloom gasped upon hearing the sudden news. If she was horrified earlier, she was devastated now. “What happened to her?” she asked.

“I'm going to tell you a story about my daughter, and the curse of Sunny Town. Get comfortable, because this is a long story.”

Apple Bloom hesitantly nodded before walking toward the bed and jumped up onto it. Once she planted her rump onto the soft sheet, Mitta cleared her throat.

“About one hundred years ago, everything in Sunny Town was peaceful. Grey Hoof was always obsessed with his parties, Roneo was his natural goofball self, Starlet was as timid as ever, Gladstone was the ever so charming stallion, Three Leaf was the cheeriest pony around... all that sounds like today, doesn't it?”

Apple Bloom slowly nodded before Mitta shook her head in disagreement. “That's because they all tried to forget the past. I remember it perfectly, and it still haunts me today. The difference between then and now is that back then, I was actually happy. We also had one other pony living here...”

“Your daughter?” Apple Bloom asked, taking in all the information.

“Yes, her. Her name is Ruby. She has a grey coat like mine, and beautiful, orange hair with a yellow streak as well as gorgeous yellow eyes.”

Apple Bloom's eyes widened. That exactly matched the description of the other pony she saw earlier in that second picture frame. That had to mean that the picture had to be taken about one hundred years ago since that was how long ago Mitta said Sunny Town was peaceful.

“She made you happy, didn't she?”

“She was my everything,” Mitta answered while taking her hoof off the other bed. “I loved her dearly, and she was the number one thing that ever mattered to me. Of course, all the other ponies were my friends, but Ruby stood high above all else in importance to me. That bed you're sitting on was her bed.”

“So that's why this bed's here,” Apple Bloom replied after looking down at the bed.

“Back then, both of us were the happiest of ponies. I loved her as a daughter as much as she loved me as a mother. She used to always have fun with all of the others. Sometimes, she would bake stuff with Three Leaf, or listen to a story read by Starlet. She always enjoyed Grey Hoof's parties, too. That is, until the worst party to happen occurred...”

Apple Bloom was scared to even ask what happened to the poor filly that was Mitta's daughter. But she didn’t have to, for Mitta opened her mouth to speak more.

“It was one day when Grey Hoof threw another one of his random parties. He does it every two weeks on Saturday. I was helping out Three Leaf with her garden. Back then, she was my best friend, but look at her now. A cruel monster, just like the rest of them.”

Apple Bloom didn't have to be told that twice. She witnessed that nightmare already. Three Leaf was the first of those repulsive zombies she saw, and it was a mental image she would never forget.

“Anyway, while I was helping her, Roneo ran up to us, asking if either of us have seen a small ruby. It used to be his most prized possession, and it was also, what he calls, a good luck charm. He would always carry it with him wherever he went like it was his life force.”

Apple Bloom didn't exactly have a prized possession of her own, unless the bow in her mane counted, but she could understand why anypony would love keeping something so close to them around all the time.

“I haven't really seen it, and neither did Three Leaf. Roneo started to panic, going around and turning everything topsy-turvy just to find it. Well, at least in his own home. Outside, he was just asking everypony if they have seen it. Even my daughter Ruby haven't seen it. She was just going around, acting like her cute self. Sometimes, she would walk up to Gladstone and ask him a few random questions, which he was always delighted to answer. But even he did not know where Roneo's ruby went.”

While Mitta was explaining her story, Apple Bloom noticed another picture on the wall about two feet over Mitta's bed. It showed a picture of Mitta and Ruby sitting happily next to each other with Three Leaf posing in the background. It seemed Mitta liked to keep around things that reminded her of life before that fateful day.

“It wasn't until a few minutes later that my precious little Ruby came up to me, holding a beautiful ruby in her mouth. It turned out that was what Roneo had been looking for. I told her to give it to Roneo like a good filly should, so I began to follow her to Roneo's house. When we reached it, there he was sitting on his rump, picking at the grass on his front lawn like a depressed loner. You wouldn't believe how ecstatic he was when Ruby presented him with his gem, and she ran back to me with a cheery smile. Then, something happened...”

Apple Bloom returned her attention to Mitta, whose voice was uplifting for the past few minutes. The happy memories seemed to have distracted her from the earlier spookiness of the situation she was in before entering the room.

“I praised Ruby after helping out Roneo, and after we hugged, I noticed a small picture on her flanks. We looked at it closely to see that it had been a picture of a magnifying glass.”

Apple Bloom's ears perked up suddenly. A small picture of a magnifying glass on her flanks only meant one thing.

“She got her cutie mark!” she shouted, which surprised Mitta to the point of making her jump a bit. Who could blame her? The room they were in was mostly quiet save for Mitta's voice, which wasn't very loud to begin with.

“She got what?” Mitta asked while she rubbed the sides of her head.

“Her cutie mark,” Apple Bloom explained. “It's a mark a filly or colt gets on their flanks when they discover what makes them unique. Like, their special talent. It's somethin' Ah've been tryin' to get for a while now.”

Mitta stared at Apple Bloom for a few seconds with her mouth agape as if she heard the most surprising thing. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow when she saw Mitta hadn't answered her.

“Are you ok?”

“It's just that...” Mitta started, “that mark has been seen as a disease for a long time. A long time ago, our ancestors received many of these cutie marks before they all acted crazy. They all started doing things those marks represented. It was out of control.”

Apple Bloom coughed to get Mitta's attention. “Cutie Pox. It's a disease alright, where a pony gets a lot of cutie marks out of nowhere and starts doin' those things. There is a cure, though.”

“That's what it was?”

After Apple Bloom nodded to her question, she facehoofed, thinking just how stupid she and the rest of Sunny Town must've been for not realizing this mistake.

“If we had known that, my daughter would not have been lost... and this curse would not have befallen Sunny Town.”

“What do ya mean?” Apple Bloom was now curious. She wanted to know what Mitta had actually meant by this curse she kept bringing up, though she had a pretty good idea what exactly she meant. She just didn't know how it was caused.

“After she received that mark... or, 'cutie mark' as you say, the other ponies saw it, and they thought she was going to fall under the influence of that disease. They wanted to get rid of her.”

Apple Bloom gulped. She wasn't going to enjoy hearing what she was going to hear next.

“I tried to defend her, but the others were claiming that she was going to suffer the disease, and was going to spread it to the rest of us. What did they want to do? They wanted to banish her to the forest to fend for herself. She didn't want that, and neither did I. Unfortunately for us, none of us knew that this disease actually had a cure. I tried to tempt them to change their minds, but none of them were listening to reason. They still wanted her gone, just so they wouldn't get the disease themselves.”

Apple Bloom was visibly shaking with fear again. Her teeth were bared against each other, and she had an expression of worry on her face. It was as if she was listening to a scary story, except that the story actually was real, and not just another made up tale.

“Just then, Ruby ran past everypony and they all gave chase. I tried to protect her, but I suddenly tripped on a small rock while they all ran past me. I didn't suffer any sort of bruising, but my front right leg had a bit of pain. Either way, I got up and kept going just to get to my Ruby. She eventually led them to the small shack at the back of the town.”

Apple Bloom knew what shack Mitta was talking about. It was that same house she saw that pony skeleton in, just before Sunny Town became a shadow of its former self.

“When I got there, they all had my little Ruby cornered, telling her to leave and to never come back. She was just innocently shivering there in that corner, scared for her life. I faced Grey Hoof, and told him that we didn't have to do this... we didn't have to banish her anywhere. Perhaps there was more to that mark then what we heard about our ancestors.”

“B-But there is more!”Apple Bloom retorted. “It's like Ah said, they are cutie marks. They represent a pony's special talent.”

Mitta shook her head mournfully. “He just wouldn't listen. To make matters much more drastic, since neither I nor Ruby would listen to him, he ordered the others to... attack Ruby, and kill her. That way, the so called 'disease' wouldn't have a chance to spread.”

Apple Bloom gasped very audibly. Mitta could hear it perfectly, but she anticipated it. Apple Bloom had never heard of any sort of case where a pony was killed, much less by the hooves of another pony.

“Before I could do anything, Roneo, Starlet, Gladstone, and even Three Leaf, started to pound down on my daughter... she screamed and yelled, telling them to stop over and over again, but they kept up their assault, no matter what. I begged them to stop, and even tried to interfere myself, but they ignored me and Grey Hoof kept me held back. He even went so far as to push me down to the floor.”

Mitta lowered her head and bared her teeth. Apple Bloom could hear soft sobs coming from her as the grey mare shuddered in the memories. She was feeling rather sympathetic to this, and her heart suddenly felt like it was beating slightly slower than usual.

“After they stopped, she just laid there, but she looked horribly disfigured... some of her limbs were crushed or bent out of shape, and she was bruised all over. Both of her eyes were blackened, and her nose was bleeding profusely... she was whimpering in the corner in her greatly injured state... and I cried out to her as she was calling me...”

Apple Bloom slumped down on the mattress as she was hearing the story. This was too sad, depressing and heart-wrenching to listen to, and it was making her heart ache with melancholy.

“Right before my eyes, Grey Hoof looked down at Ruby, lifted up his hoof... and struck her hard on the head. I could hear nothing but a hard stomp and the fracturing of her skull. Then the room fell silent as we all stared at her now dead body. That last blow did her in...”

The more Mitta told of the story, the worse her voice got. She was visibly shuddering beside the bed in front of Apple Bloom. She didn't take bad news well, especially something as deep as this.

“I did nothing but cry my eyes out... how could they do this to Ruby, my daughter, my only child, my own flesh and blood? They even went so far as to think the disease could still spread, even if the body still stayed around, so they stuffed her body in the fireplace. After they left, I just... stood in front of the fireplace, watching as Ruby's body burned in the fire... after a while, I couldn't watch anymore, the tragedy of her murder... so I left toward home, and cried the rest of the day...”

The story was enough to bring Apple Bloom herself to tears. Nothing was worse than a filly with watery eyes. The depressing atmosphere soon shed on the room again, and left them in silence. A minute or two passed before Apple Bloom hopped off the bed and proceeded to wrap her arms around Mitta as much as she could. A hug couldn't really fix anything, but she hoped it could at least make the mare feel a bit better.

But Mitta merely separated herself from the filly, turning away from her. “Please, little filly... I just want to be alone right now...”

Apple Bloom was going to interject, but she decided against it, and simply turned her body away and dragged her hooves across the wooden floor toward the doorway.

“My name's Apple Bloom, by the way, Miss Mitta... Ah'll leave ya be,” she spoke before leaving the room.

A Bad Apple

Back in Ponyville, Twilight was walking through the town with a melancholic expression. Her tail hung down more than usual, though it looked neater than before after she had time to brush it. She still felt tired, and that could be seen by the way she dragged her hooves across the ground.

She was walking toward the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, hoping to find Applejack there, since she did not return to the library. She had a hunch the orange mare did more than just ‘step out’, but left the library entirely.

Before she could continue further, a pink figure could be seen bouncing her way. Twilight sighed knowing just who that pony was, mixed with her low fatigue.

“Hiya Twilight!” Pinkie Pie chirped, as she bounced around the lavender mare with vigor. “Why the long face?”

“Hey Pinkie... sorry, but I can’t talk right now. I have to get to Sweet Apple Acres and talk to Applejack.”

“Oh, I saw her earlier!” She stopped bouncing, and her expression was replaced with one of blankness. “She had a long face too. What is it with everypony today and long faces? They should shorten them because long faces are a big no-no for a happy pony.”

“Pinkie, I just need to talk to her alone. Could you please leave me be?”

“Why?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion. “Is there something going on between you two? Is it something I can help with? Can it be fixed with cake?”

Twilight looked back at Pinkie, who was suddenly holding a whole cake in her hoof with a hopeful smile.

“It’s strawberry!” she spoke in a singsong voice. “Everypony loves strawberry!”

Twilight had enough, and she just wanted to be left alone. She turned her head to the pink mare and yelled, “Pinkie!”

That startled her, making her eyes widen in surprise, and causing her to cower behind her cake. Twilight just facehoofed and slid her hoof down her face tiredly.

“I’m sorry Pinkie. I’m just not in the right mindset to have a conversation right now. I have to get to Sweet Apple Acres. Goodbye.”

She turned back, head hanging as she walked away from the sad pink mare. But something just wasn’t sitting right with her. Twilight knew personally what happened to Apple Bloom, and Applejack was told firsthand. There would be no doubt that she had told the rest of the Apple Family too. In a few days, ponies would be suspicious when they figured they haven’t seen the yellow earth pony filly in days, thinking she disappeared. They would ask where she had been, what happened to her, how she had been doing. Sooner or later, they had to know.

Twilight stopped, and faced Pinkie again. “On second thought, could you invite Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy to Sugarcube Corner? Once I’m done talking to Applejack, I have something to tell you guys.”

Pinkie sprung up enthusiastically, making the cake shoot up twenty feet in the air. “I’m on it!” was all she said before zipping off to find the others. Two seconds hadn’t passed before she zipped back and caught the whole cake in her mouth, and she giggled before running off again.

Twilight had ignored that weird moment, just focusing on the task at hand. It had been minutes before she arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, home of Ponyville’s proud Apple Family and where all of Ponyville’s apple produce had been, well, produced. Everything still looked fine and sound.

“Anypony?” She called loudly. “Anypony here? Applejack? Big Macintosh? Granny Smith?”

Looking around, she saw nopony in sight. The only things she saw were the barn and the apple orchard, as well as the Apple Family house.

She decided to check for the Apple Family inside the house, so her hooves carried her toward their home. When she opened the door and took a look inside, the first thing she noticed was Big Macintosh sitting down on a sofa. But something didn’t seem right about him. He looked to be in tears, and he was sobbing uncontrollably.

Being held in his large forearms was Granny Smith, and from what Twilight could hear, she was also crying her eyes out. Both Apples sat and laid there crying, and as Twilight stared at them, she felt her heart drop intensely. They looked like they had seen better days, and it reminded Twilight how much this whole situation was her fault, all because she wasn’t looking after Apple Bloom.

To attempt to calm them down, or at least talk to them, Twilight moved her hooves forward, coming closer to the two earth ponies. “Big Macintosh? Granny Smith?”

Granny Smith didn’t bother moving an inch, but Big Mac opened his eyes upon hearing Twilight’s voice. His eyes weren’t bloodshot, so that was an indicator that this had only happened recently.

“You heard the news, did you...?” she asked.

All he could do was nod his head slowly, as Twilight stared at the red stallion. Granny sobbed a bit more loudly, and Big Mac held on to her tightly as she shed tears onto his shoulders. Twilight didn’t know what it was like to have a close family member lose their life, but however it felt, she could see how drastic the effects were on those who did.

“Where’s Applejack? Is she alright?”

Big Mac shook his head, and simply pointed out the door where Twilight came from. She didn’t see her outside when she came through the front gate. Twilight had figured she was outside tending to work like she usually did, when she was this upset about something.

“Thank you, Big Mac,” Twilight said, before she walked back into the outdoors. Not ^wanting to waste any time, she galloped through the farm in search of her friend.

The fact that Applejack didn’t return to the library raised a few questions for Twilight. Exactly how upset was she when she heard the news? Did she tell anypony other than Big Mac and Granny Smith? What effect did this have on Applejack’s well-being?

Twilight had seen firsthand what Applejack and Apple Bloom’s relationship was like. They were like the best of sisters. They loved each other deeply, and they were closer than most other sisterly ponies were. They played with each other a lot, they supported each other, and most important of all, they were always there for each other. She had seen that Applejack cared very much for Apple Bloom, and the filly returned that care.

But now, ever since the night before, that bond was broken. Twilight knew this was her fault, and she couldn’t take that night back. She couldn’t take back losing Apple Bloom, or wasting time finding Zecora for nothing, for finding part of her bow in a tree without the filly there as well, and worst of all, she couldn’t take back wiping out her murderers before the deed was done.

Thinking back on all of this made tears appear in Twilight’s eyes once again, and she couldn’t control them. But she set her own emotions aside to find Applejack, as she made her way through the apple orchards. Eventually, she did come across a certain group of trees, and pounding her hind hooves against one of them was her orange-coated friend.

Unlike Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, Applejack had a rather fierce expression on her face. She bucked the trees around her like nopony’s business, and if Twilight guessed that if she kicked any harder, she could knock the tree off its roots.

Slowly but willingly, she approached the apple bucking mare, but kept her distance just to be safe. “Applejack?” she called out. “Are you alright?”

“Just fine,” she spoke in an angry yet broken voice. Whatever Applejack was feeling, Twilight knew it was anything but just fine.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked back.

“Yup. Now leave me to my business. Ah ain’t up for talkin’ right now.”

“Applejack, I need to talk to you.”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed a bit more, and she turned her head to look at the lavender mare. “About what?!”

Applejack’s fierce tone startled Twilight, making her step back a foot. Her angry gaze could be compared to a raging bull. Twilight didn’t know why she felt this way, but she was going to find out. She sighed deeply before starting her interrogation.

“Alright Applejack, it’s just... you look so frustrated. At least, compared to Big Mac and Granny Smith.” She looked back at the house with a downtrodden look before she turned back to Applejack, who was emptying the apples in a basket.

“They’re inside crying their eyes out, while you’re out here trying to kick down apple trees instead of being with them inside, trying to cope with the situation.”

“Buck apple trees, not kick them, and Ah’m just fine out here, thank ya,” she explained with a huff. “Now leave me alone and let me get back to work.”

“So, you’re telling me you’re not even a bit sad?” Twilight asked with concern for her friend. Applejack just stared her down, not letting her threatening expression falter.

“I mean, your little sister just fell to zombies, and I even gave you proof that what I saw is real, and not a fake story I made up. Why would I, even? Do I look like a pony that would make up a story like this? Maybe Pinkie Pie, but-”

She was cut off as Applejack’s angry appearance deepened, and she turned back around as she headed for another tree with apples still hanging on its branches. She turned her body and struck the bark of the tree hard with her hind hooves, shaking the tree and causing the vibrations to knock down the apples into the baskets.

“Can ya please leave me alone?” Applejack begged while trotting past Twilight. “Ah have apples to be buckin’, and I can’t have ya distractin’ me from my work.”

Unfortunately for the hard-working mare, Twilight stepped in front of her with an annoyed expression of her own. “Not until we get this straightened out. I’m trying to figure out why you aren’t sad about this like the others are. I thought you’d be devastated.”

“Ah’m...” Applejack paused a bit, her expression weakening briefly before going back to her fierce look. “”Ah’m gettin’ over it.”

She sidestepped Twilight in order to fill up the wheelbarrow with her collection of apples from the earlier tree. Once she emptied the apples into it, she headed back to repeat the apple bucking process. But no matter how much Applejack pleaded, Twilight kept following her.

“So, you aren’t saddened at all by this?” Twilight asked as Applejack got into position.

“Ah was,” she sharply replied before kicking her rear hooves back, knocking down the next batch of apples.

“And?” Twilight questioned as Applejack went back to empty them again.

“Ah’m gettin’ over it. Now please, leave me be. I don’t need a stern talkin’-to.”

She trotted past Twilight to another tree, and at this point, Twilight couldn’t take anymore of Applejack’s attitude. She wanted to bring out Applejack’s caring side, but was ultimately failing. So she thought of trying a different approach.

Applejack was all ready to make the next buck, and as soon as she did, she awaited the next collection of apples. However, they never fell. Applejack looked back to see her baskets empty, then looked up to see if the apples ever fell in the first place. Her eyes narrowed further as she saw the apples being held in place by a purple glow.

She looked back at Twilight to see her horn glowing the same hue, and she clenched her teeth. “Drop those apples, now.”

Twilight shook her head. “Not until you fix that attitude of yours. This isn’t the Applejack I know. The Applejack who would care deeply about her family, no matter what. The Applejack who would never lie to anypony.”

Applejack kept up her deathly glare, but didn’t do anything rash yet. Twilight could still see that, but still chose her words carefully. “Now I’m going to ask you... did you even cry once after I told you what happened to Apple Bloom?”

Applejack had been holding back a feeling since Twilight approached her, but she didn’t want the purple mare to know what it was. So far, she didn’t lie one bit, but she wasn’t feeling up to talking about her emotions at the moment. Twilight could understand if she was hiding something, as anypony wouldn’t know what to feel from losing somepony so near and dear to them.

“Ah did cry...” Applejack answered, but didn’t say more in an attempt to keep herself cryptic.

“And? Nothing else was felt-”

“Just drop the apples now, Twi!” she huffed, stomping her hoof on the grass as she said ‘now’. That startled Twilight, but she kept her guard up.

“Not until you drop the tough act and tell me how you’re really feeling,” Twilight retorted, keeping the apple tied to the branches with her magic.

Applejack had just about enough of Twilight’s arrogance, and before Twilight knew it, Applejack’s hind hooves struck her square across the chest. Twilight’s eyes widened as she took the brute force of the earth pony’s hind hooves, making her fly backwards a few feet and sliding across the ground for about two seconds, before coming to rest just near the wheelbarrow.

Twilight knew Applejack as a rather tomboyish mare. She was always tough, and didn’t back down from any challenge. An honest-to-goodness pony, moreso than anypony else in Ponyville. She was usually a morally good mare, up until now. Twilight never expected Applejack to get this physical with one of her friends, of all ponies.

Once Twilight’s sliding stopped, she looked up at the huffing Applejack, and a few tears slipped from her eyes. She had never received a blow that hard before in her life, and it hurt immensely. But it didn’t hurt nearly as much as seeing one of her best friends in emotional pain.

Once she figured she was alright enough to successfully stand on her hooves, she stood and backed away from the orange mare.

“Ok, I can see you just need time to yourself...” Twilight said shakily. She could feel a bit of bruising in her chest where Applejack had struck it, but she wasn’t worried about that now.

“I’ll just go. I hope you feel better.”

She turned around and headed out of the orchards. Once Applejack saw that she had fully left Sweet Apple Acres and out of her sight, a few tears streamed down her cheeks as she headed back to work.

Author's Note

Yeah... poor Applejack. She doesn't know how to deal with the passing of her sister.

Don't worry guys. I'm not trying to make out Applejack as the bad guy here. You should just wait for the next update calmly without raising pitchforks and heading for Sweet Apple Acres.

Thanks to Soothing Stone for editing.

The Cursed One

After that rather depressing meeting with Mitta, Apple Bloom made her way out of the lone mare’s house and back to the others. She couldn’t bear to see a grownup pony cry. She thought grownups were too tough for something like that. But actually seeing it happen made her heart sink.

Three Leaf spotted the filly approaching them and turned toward Grey Hoof and the others. “Hey guys, she’s back from Mitta’s! We can start the party now!”

“Hold on, there,” Grey Hoof interrupted with a raised hoof. “No party in Sunny Town starts until I say so. I am the party pony here, after all.”

“Aww… well, let’s hurry up then!” she exclaimed before she sped toward Apple Bloom and propped the filly onto her back, racing back toward the group.

“Hey!” Apple Bloom yelled as she clutched onto Three Leaf’s neck, hanging on tightly. “Could ya slow it down a bit?!”

Three Leaf slowed down eventually, and set Apple Bloom down in front of them. All the Sunny Towners looked down at the filly curiously as she stared back at them.

“How’d it go with Mitta?” Grey Hoof asked. “Not a very chipper soul, huh?”

He expected an answer, but he didn’t get one. Apple Bloom just looked down at the ground, her downcast expression telling him just what she felt.

“I’m guessing she told you about the Cursed One…” he answered with a shake of his head. Everypony else narrowed their eyes in response. Apple Bloom lifted her head back up, looking Grey Hoof in the eyes.

“Cursed One...? She was talking about you guys, and how y’all killed her daughter-”

“She deserved it!” Roneo blurted out suddenly. Everypony else agreed with a nod of their heads. Apple Bloom just cowered as a response to Roneo’s sudden outburst.

“”It wasn’t her fault…” Grey Hoof added as he hung his head, “but she had to go. She had the mark, and it was going to spread to all of us.”

“It’s a cutie mark!” Apple Bloom responded angrily, stomping her hoof. “It’s not a curse!”

Three Leaf giggled and bent down toward her, squishing her face with her hooves. “Aren’t you the cutest thing, thinking such weird things? You’re a silly filly, yes you are!”

Apple Bloom swatted her hoof away and bared her teeth. “Ah ain’t cute or silly, and neither is what Ah said. Y’all just got the wrong idea. She didn’t have to be killed.”

“Little Apple Bloom,” Gladstone cut in, “perhaps you just need something to calm your nerves. Grey Hoof has prepared an exciting party in your honor in the town square. You must join us in such a merriment.”

Grey Hoof nodded in agreement, and turned his back. “Come everypony, let us all enjoy this party, for we have ourselves a new member of our herd!”

All of them cheered enthusiastically, even the normally timid Starlet. But Apple Bloom was finding this situation hard to swallow. Her murderers wanted to throw her a party in the occasion of her joining them. But she wanted no part of it.

“Ah ain’t joinin’ no herd of yours,” she complained as she followed them toward the town square. “Ah want out, now!”

“But you haven’t even seen the party yet!” Grey Hoof said before they turned the corner, and before they could say anything else, Apple Bloom laid eyes on a familiar place in town she saw not too long ago. The town square was not very far from Gladstone’s house, but still seemed like a big place.

Decorations were seen practically everywhere, almost enough to rival Pinkie Pie’s parties. Streamers were hung up around banisters and wires, and there were tables setup up covered with food and drinks. Balloons floated about everywhere, and added a sense of flair to the atmosphere.

Normally, Apple Bloom would’ve loved a good party, especially if it was thrown in her honor. But knowing the reason behind it put her off the idea. She shook her head and turned back to the group.

“Ah don’t wanna hang around here anymore. Ah’m leaving.”

Even if she hadn’t been in Sunny Town for long, and therefore wasn’t familiar with the area, it was a rather small town, much smaller than Ponyville, so she could figure the way out easily. Her hooves carried her forward, determined to leave this Celestia-forsaken town.

“Not so fast, little one,” Grey Hoof responded as Apple Bloom kept walking. “You can’t leave Sunny Town. Once affected with our protection, you’re unable to leave.”

She was already ignoring his words, and paid no attention to what he was saying. She kept moving forward toward the entrance of the town, wasting no time in escaping this horrible nightmare.

Gladstone stepped forward as they all watched the yellow filly leave their sights. “She’s unable to leave, right? As far as I know, nopony who has ever been in Sunny Town left us.”

“Calm yourself,” Grey Hoof answered with a smile. “We gave her our gift. This town is something she’ll never leave, and because of that, she’ll be protected by us from the monsters out there in the forest.”

Gladstone nodded, and they faced forward, watching Apple Bloom leave without going after her. They knew she would end up coming back to them, so they went back into the square to start their party.

Despite Grey Hoof’s warnings, Apple Bloom made it out of Sunny Town without any problems. Once she did, she breathed a sigh of relief, finally glad she was out of that nightmare of a place. But nowhere in the dark Everfree Forest was any safer, so she had to find her way out. Unfortunately for her, the area she was in was so deep in the forest, she couldn’t find her way anywhere. She couldn’t even find Zecora’s hut if she wanted to.

She stopped in her tracks and gazed at the environment around her. There were nothing but trees everywhere, and there wasn’t a landmark in sight to tell exactly where she was. With the Everfree Forest being such a maze of trees and dirt pathways, Apple Bloom couldn’t find her way anywhere. If it was the entrance to the Everfree, she could find her way easily. But this was too distant from there.

As she stared into the distance, thoughts entered her mind. The kind of thoughts that reminded her of what happened in this part of the forest. They were a reminder of the day when she was being chased by zombies, of when her bow was snared against an outstretched tree branch, of the lighted path she thought was a trap set by the zombies that were chasing her.

And then she lowered her head worriedly, when she was reminded of the last thing she saw when she ended up in that clearing. The Blanks were around her, looming over her in every direction, cutting off any attempt at escape. And Twilight appeared behind one of them. Apple Bloom stretched her arm out and screamed her name, to no avail. The zombies had leaped upon her small, feeble body, and all life was gone from her.

That is, until she woke up in an unfamiliar house, but upon looking at herself in the mirror, she realized that she was no longer a normal pony, but a rotting version of herself. It was as if she became one of them.

But she couldn’t return to Ponyville like this. Nopony would want to hang around an undead pony. Her friends at school would be scared of her. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would be too frightened to even approach her. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would be scared too, which would actually be funny to see, but not in this way. Everypony in town would panic, and that would be utter chaos. Her life in Ponyville was over.

Apple Bloom didn’t want to believe it, but she couldn’t go back. She tried to deny it as best she could. She had to be able to go back. She didn’t want to stay with Grey Hoof and the rest of Sunny Town.

Just then, something caught her attention. She looked forward to see a lighted path in front of her, just like last night. This wasn’t the part of the forest where she saw three paths, as there was only one way to go. She thought it was some sort of supernatural occurrence, as Sunny Town and its residents were supernatural itself, not to mention all of the Everfree Forest on its own.

Last time, Apple Bloom thought it was a trap set up by the zombies that chased her through the trees. That didn’t end up well for her, as it led her to a dead end. But what if she had taken the lighted path instead? Not too long after thinking about the situation, she thought they couldn’t have made a path of light.

It was then that she heard a sudden voice that echoed through the area. It was distant and faint, but the atmosphere before was so quiet that Apple Bloom could hear the voice. She could make it out as a pony saying “Young filly…”

She couldn’t recognize the voice at all; it was a new voice she never heard before, and it was calling to her. A few seconds later, two bright lights appeared from the darkness that the light led to before fading away. From what it appeared to be, it looked like glowing eyes, except they were yellow instead of red like the zombie ponies had.

Due to her natural filly curiosity, her hooves carried her body forward. The unnatural light lit up the normally dark area around her, making it a bit easier to see where she was headed.

When she came to the end of the path, she saw nothing but a clearing. It looked almost like the clearing she ended up in the night before, except it was brighter due to the earlier time of day. Unlike before, it was sometime during midday, so more light shined through the leaves. But she saw nothing but fallen leaves and a wide-open space.

“H-Hello?” Apple Bloom called out, hoping to find out who called to her before. But she didn’t see anypony in front of her.

“Anypony here?” she spoke a second time, turning her head to look around the clearing. Not a single soul was in sight. “Ah wonder who that was that Ah saw… maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me or somethin’.”

It was then that she heard hoofsteps behind her, and she jumped a bit in surprise. She immediately turned to see a figure that appeared to look rather mysterious.

It was a pony that had a light grey coat, and a short orange mane that hung off her head, decorated with two large yellow streaks that ran down it. A magnifying glass was shown on her flanks, signifying her cutie mark. But something stood out the most: the pony’s eyes were glowing a bright yellow hue that appeared almost ghostly.

“So you are Apple Bloom, are you not?” the figure asked the filly, who was stunned by the appearance of her. Although, she could tell that Apple Bloom focused solely on her glowing eyes.

“Pardon the eyes, friend. There is no need to fear me, for I am friendly to you, unlike Grey Hoof and the others.”

That caught Apple Bloom’s attention, and she calmed herself a bit. It was then that something sparked in her mind. From taking a good look at the pony, she could see that the figure looked just like the filly sitting next to Mitta in the photographs in her house. There was no mistaking the similarities.

“Wait,” Apple Bloom said as she put the pieces together. “Are you Mitta’s daughter? The filly she mentioned in her story about Sunny Town?”

The ghostly filly nodded and smiled brightly. “My name is Ruby. I saw you following me, so I tried to walk away to avoid luring you into Sunny Town. Apparently, that didn’t work, as you followed me in…”

She looked down with her ears folded back, the feeling of disappointment within her heart bringing her down. Apple Bloom wanted to try and cheer her up, but something bothered her about this whole thing.

“Hey, Ruby?” she asked, getting the other filly’s attention. “If they killed you, how are you here? And what’s with your eyes?”

Without an explanation, Ruby giggled as if what Apple Bloom said was something silly. But to pardon her rudeness, she calmed herself. “I am a ghost! When they killed me, a curse descended upon Sunny Town, and when that happened, my spirit wasn’t laid to rest, but left to wander around the Everfree Forest. It’s not as exciting as it sounds, trust me…”

Ruby’s ears folded back as the truth stung in her half-living heart. Apple Bloom didn’t exactly understand much of this, and was very optimistic about it.

“So, you’re like a friendly ghost, right?” Apple Bloom asked as a precaution. “You ain’t gonna haunt me or nothin’, are ya?”

Ruby looked back at Apple Bloom and shook her head. “Oh no no no, I’m not like that! Besides, my spirit can’t leave the forest anyway.”

“How come?”

“Well…” Ruby started as she rolled her eyes, then she proceeded to turn away from Apple Bloom and walked a few paces away, as she stared into the looming darkness. “I think it’s still the effect of the curse, but if I tried to leave the forest, my ghostly body would take great pain.”

“Aren’t you a ghost? You shouldn’t be able to feel pain if-”

“Shush,” Ruby interrupted as she held out a hoof. “While I may not be alive anymore, I can still feel pain. Apparently, the curse doesn’t take mercy upon my spirit.”

She turned back around, and walked toward Apple Bloom with a serious expression. “Let’s say you were to poke me in my eye. It would hurt.”

After a brief pause and silence between the two fillies, Apple Bloom curiously raised her hoof toward one of Ruby’s eyes, and it flashed in response, startling her into tumbling backwards into the dirt. Ruby narrowed her eyes at Apple Bloom’s attempt.

“Please never try that again,” she retorted with a stern tone. “I told you it would hurt. No need to prove it.”

“Ok ok, sorry,” Apple Bloom apologized as she stood back on all fours. “So, you feel pain. It’s just out of nowhere?”

“Pretty much. But that is a whole other subject entirely different than what I called you here for.”
She cleared her throat before she started speaking again. “This situation you’re in, it’s serious. They captured you, and made you into one of them. You’re cursed now.”

Apple Bloom lifted up one of her hooves and looked at it, but nothing seemed extraordinary about it. She questioned in her mind what exactly Ruby meant, especially since she left Sunny Town. “What do you mean, cursed? Ah feel fine, and Ah look fine as well.”

“Think back. Was there something that seemed off about an hour or two ago?”

She stared at Ruby with a confused expression, but decided to humor her and focused on the immediate past. She thought back to when she woke up, since that wasn’t very long ago. The first thing she noticed was her reflection in the mirror.

“When Ah woke up, Ah looked just like one of them…” she responded while staring back at her hoof, briefly seeing the mental image of an undead version of it. “Ah was a zombie for a few minutes. Or, Ah looked like a zombie.”

She turned back toward Ruby with a worried expression. “Am Ah a zombie now?”

“As sad as it is to say, yes.”

After hearing that, Apple Bloom’s ears lowered, as did her head as she took a moment to take in the situation. She didn’t want to be one of them. All she wanted was to spend a little time with Twilight in the Everfree Forest. She didn’t know that one day, her curiosity would lead her to live a life as an undead pony, forever cursed and left to wander the Everfree Forest without a hope.

Ruby came up behind Apple Bloom, and placed a hoof on her shoulder to get the sad filly’s attention. She lifted her head and turned to the ghost, which was hard to believe she even existed at all.

“Not to go about on a totally different subject, but based on what you said, I can say you have met my mother. How is she…?” Ruby cautiously asked, hoping that things were well about her long-lost mother.

Apple Bloom sniffled a bit, as the heavy weight of her situation was still set on her shoulders, but rose her head to gaze at Ruby. “She’s fine… but she really misses you. Last Ah saw her, she was cryin’. Ah bet my family’s the same right about now…”

She looked back down and slid her forehoof against her cheeks, ridding them of her tears. She felt the need to cry, but wanted to be strong since another filly was in front of her. Yet, she was still worried about what her family would be like if they knew what happened to her.

Big Macintosh was a really tough stallion, but when things got to him, she would get as soft as a plush toy. Granny Smith normally wouldn’t let anything get her down, but even the slightest bit of tragic news would bring her to tears. To see an elderly pony cry would be something depressing to witness.

Applejack, however, was quite possibly the closest a pony could get to having an elder sister. Applejack and Apple Bloom were the best of sisters, who loved each other in a way unlike any other sisterly couples were. They shared many great times with each other, memories Apple Bloom could never forget. The filly looked up to her big sister, and wished to grow up to be just like her.

However, because of this situation that Apple Bloom had gotten herself into, she could no longer experience such things. She could no longer know what it would be like to have a big sister to look up to, to help her out when she needed love, to look after her when times were tough. The luxury was gone.

It had seemed like minutes had passed since Apple Bloom started thinking back about her family, and Ruby decided she needed to leave the filly to her thoughts. “I know things are tough on you now, but please, watch over my mother. I feel she needs you as well…”

With that Ruby started walking away. She faded into the darkness of the trees, leaving Apple Bloom to her lonesome. However, she left a lighted path behind in her wake, so that when the filly snapped back to her senses, she would safely find her way back to Sunny Town. Surely, this would not be the last time Apple Bloom would see the mysterious Ruby.

The Reveal

Positioned at a table in Sugarcube Corner, two young ponies were enjoying a pair of hearty milkshakes. One of them, a white unicorn filly, was sipping on strawberry. While the other, an orange pegasus filly, was drinking chocolate.

“So you haven’t seen Apple Bloom either?” Scootaloo asked after taking a sip of her drink.

“Nope,” Sweetie Belle answered, as she stared into her glass. “We’d always meet up at the clubhouse, but she never showed up.”

“That’s not like her,” Scootaloo said with narrowed eyes. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders always show up to crusade for cutie marks! And besides, she usually comes up with our best ideas.”

“But Scootaloo, don’t our plans always fail?”

“Well, yeah…” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin in thought, pondering the meaning of Sweetie’s statement.

“Either way, it wouldn’t be fair if we went crusading, and this time, we actually did get our cutie marks, but Apple Bloom wasn’t there to get hers,” Sweetie stated.

Scootaloo nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right… but still, you think we should go and find her anyway?”

“Why don’t we ask Pinkie Pie if she saw Apple Bloom?” Sweetie suggested, pointing toward the counter where the hyperactive pink mare was talking with Mrs. Cake.

“I guess we could… it wouldn’t hurt, I suppose.”

Just as Scootaloo was about to step out of her seat, the door of the bakery opened, and four mares walked in. Both fillies looked toward their direction and saw them come in.

“I don’t know what it is that Twilight wants,” Sweetie Belle’s older sister Rarity said as she walked in, followed by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Rainbow looked quite confused herself, and Fluttershy remained with a neutral expression.

“Pinkie did say Twilight wanted to tell us something, right?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“That’s what she told me earlier,” Rarity answered, as she directed them to a table where they all sat, directly behind Sweetie Belle’s seat.

“I’m sure whatever she has to tell us, it’s very important,” Fluttershy spoke with a sincere smile.

“Oh, it is important indeed,” responded a smiling Pinkie, who was trotting toward the three mares. “She told me that after she was done talking to Applejack, she wanted to tell us all something. That’s why I told Rarity to invite Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie is not so sure what this is all about, but she’s curious!”

“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “could you spill it, maybe without the third person talk?”

“Oh, sure!” Pinkie chirped. “Well, before I saw Twilight, I came across Applejack, and she had a really long face, almost like she was depressed or something. A few minutes later, I met with Twilight, who not only said she wanted to talk to Applejack, but she had a long face too! I swear, if I find another long face-”

“Pinkie, darling, I think we get the point,” Rarity interrupted, before Pinkie could go on a long tangent about something unrelated to the current subject.

The fillies were just as curious as Pinkie. Though they wanted to find Apple Bloom, they couldn’t help but want to listen in on the conversation.

“Applejack?” Sweetie Belle questioned in a hushed tone. “Something’s wrong with Applejack?”

“That probably explains Apple Bloom’s disappearance,” Scootaloo said, guessing the reason for the missing filly’s whereabouts. “Maybe if we listen in on what they say, we’ll know where she is. You know, just to be sure.”

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t she be at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack?” Sweetie asked, before taking another sip of her milkshake.

“Well, it can’t hurt to listen in a bit. Besides, what if she’s not really there? She could be somewhere else, and maybe Twilight knows where, right?”

Sweetie gulped down a sip of her drink before speaking. “I guess you have a point… let’s try not to be seen, then. It looks like they didn’t notice us here when they walked in.”

“Alright.”

They lowered themselves in their seats while carrying their milkshakes in their hooves. At about the same time, the door opened to a familiar purple mare.

“Hey Twilight, over here!” Pinkie called, and Twilight responded by walking over to the group.

“Thank Celestia you’re all here. I have drastic news to share… and I feel you all should be the first to hear about this.”

“I can only guess that it has to do with Applejack. At least, that’s what we could gather from what Pinkie told us,” Fluttershy explained, and everypony else at the table nodded their heads in agreement.

“Well, part of what I have to tell you has to do with Applejack, but the news concerns somepony else even more.”

“Who is this other pony?” Rarity asked.

“Well… let me talk about Applejack first,” Twilight responded.

“Twilight, before I saw you, Applejack had a really long face,” Pinkie recalled, her expression downtrodden. “Minutes later, you came by with the same face. Something happened between you two, and I’m getting a really bad feeling that it isn’t good.”

“Well, you’re right, and not right,” Twilight answered as she lowered her head. “You’re about half right.”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Rainbow huffed with narrowed eyes. “If you have something to say, just say it already.”

“Now now, Rainbow Dash, don’t just put down Twilight like that,” Fluttershy scolded. “Whatever it is she has to say, it’s probably hard for her to get out. Maybe it’s worse than we think.”

“Fine… I just don’t like waiting,” Rainbow responded with crossed arms.

“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Twilight expressed kindly before rubbing her eyes. The others could see see she had a rough night, what with the noticeable bags under her eyes, along with her slightly ruffled mane and tail.

“Well, about Applejack, you see, she’s upset because…” Twilight gulped before collecting the strength to speak. “Apple Bloom’s gone.”

Everypony at the table gasped in surprise. “You mean she’s missing?” asked a deeply concerned Rarity.

“Well, yes and no. She’s not exactly missing. She’s… no longer with us.”

“Twilight, dear,” Rarity said, “you don’t mean…”

Twilight nodded despondently. “Last night, Apple Bloom accompanied me to the Everfree Forest to deliver some herbs to Zecora, and when we were walking back, trees blocked our path. She disappeared soon after that, and I went looking for her. And when I found her…”

Twilight’s ears drooped, and tears formed in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t help shedding tears while recalling the memories of that night. Just imagining the scene she saw made her heart chest heavy with guilt, thinking what happened to Apple Bloom was her fault.

Pinkie couldn’t help wrapping her front legs around Twilight, embracing her in an attempt to calm her a bit. Twilight noticed what she was trying to do and looked in her direction, then back at the others.

“I’m kinda afraid to ask,” Rainbow Dash admitted, “but you’re telling us her life is over? Some sort of monster got to her and she’s dead?”

That last word got a high-pitched peep out of Fluttershy, who was very sensitive to such subjects. Rarity held one of her hooves to keep her relaxed, though it wasn’t easy to do so. Rainbow Dash, too, focused on the news of Apple Bloom’s death, forgetting about Fluttershy’s sensitivity, and she could feel her heart rate slow down upon seeing the timid mare’s soft crying.

At that point, Twilight closed her eyes and slowly dug her muzzle in Pinkie’s shoulder, letting her tears flow out of her eyes. Pinkie held on to her tight, rubbing her back with a free hoof. “Oh, Twilight… and Applejack…”

Nopony at the table could think of what Applejack was going through, with Apple Bloom being the farmer pony’s younger sibling. Family meant everything to each member of the Apple Family. They knew they had to give her time by herself, but for now, all they could do is silently sit there as they took in the news.

In the other table, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were staring into their milkshakes, unable to process everything they just heard. Neither of them could say anything. All they could think about was the scene played out for them by Twilight’s words. They didn’t want to believe her, but the story wasn’t too unbelieveable either, considering how dangerous the Everfree Forest was.

It hit them just as hard as it did the mare that told the story. Apple Bloom was their best friend, one of the three Cutie Mark Crusaders. Without the earth pony third of the group, they didn’t feel right anymore. They didn’t feel complete.

Mrs. Cake could see everypony from behind the counter, and it was disheartening for her to watch the scene before her unfold. She didn’t know what it was about, and she wanted to find out, but she didn’t want to bother them. She opted instead to walk into the kitchen, so she could check up on her babies.

Minutes of silence passed, and the four mares sat silently the whole time, the two fillies being the same way. Many tears were shed during that time, but it was enough to calm down after a while.

“Twilight…” Pinkie asked, breaking the eternal silence, “a-are you ok now?”

The purple mare lifted her head and looked at Pinkie, with dried tears covering her cheeks. “I’m fine now… it’s just that this is just too much to bear. And I can’t imagine how hard Applejack is taking this too.”

Twilight turned toward the other mares sitting at the table. “So far, us five and Applejack’s family are the only ones to know about this. Pretty soon, everypony in Ponyville will wonder what happened to Apple Bloom, when they notice she hasn’t been seen in a while. They’ll have to know soon.”

“I agree,” Rarity stated with a head nod, as she held Fluttershy close. “I mean, what about the school? Apple Bloom attends that, so what will they think when she suddenly stops showing up?”

Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof to get everypony’s attention, and Twilight was the first to notice. “Yes, Rainbow?”

“That reminds me, Apple Bloom is one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. How will Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle take the news?”

“I do admit, I never thought of that,” admitted Rarity. “They are Apple Bloom’s two closest friends…”

“Maybe I should break the news to them,” Rainbow Dash said, before she rose from her seat and hovered a few feet above the floor. “Fluttershy, Rarity, you guys wanna come?”

Both of them looked at each other and nodded before they rose up themselves. Fluttershy in particular rubbed away the remaining tears in her eyes, before she followed Rarity and Rainbow Dash out the door.

“I might as well let Spike know as well,” Twilight said as she rose up from her own seat, pulling herself away from Pinkie Pie. “Good bye, for now anyway.”

Pinkie’s ears drooped as she saw yet another one of her friends leave. Her heart felt heavy, as did the air around the table. She had to admit that this was one of the saddest days of her life in Ponyville, to hear that the younger sister of one of her closest friends had died. Her hair even deflated a bit to match her current emotions.

However, Pinkie could tell she still wasn’t alone. Her ear twitched when she heard a faint sobbing sound coming from the other table nearby. She turned her head and slowly walked toward the sound, and when she saw what was there, she made a quiet gasp.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were huddled up on the floor under the table, and noticeable tears were seen staining their cheeks from their dismayed eyes. From seeing this, Pinkie could conclude that they heard everything the mares said, including what exactly happened to Apple Bloom. She couldn’t bear seeing two fillies cry, but she could resist crying herself.

The only thing she thought to do was sit by them and stretch their hooves out to them and pull them closer to herself. “Y-You heard everything, didn’t you…?”

Both fillies looked up to her and gave her slow nods, before rubbing their eyes with their hooves. Pinkie just pulled them both into a comforting hug, and they responded by wrapping their hooves around the pink mare.

“It’s ok… you can cry if you feel it. It’s ok to cry… nopony will look down at you for it.”

They laid their heads against each other, and Pinkie rubbed their backs with her hooves, attempting to comfort them as best as she could.

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the filler chapter here. But I had to do something with how the other four Mane 6 learn about Apple Bloom's death, as well as the other Crusaders.

Relics of the Past

The door to Mitta’s house creaked open, and she closed the door behind her as she went inside. The night before was a day she wanted to forget; as for today, she didn’t want to bother with socializing. Not that she wanted to socialize with any of the other ponies any other day, except with Three Leaf on occasion, but she had been reminded of terrible memories recently, and she wanted them out of her mind for the time being.

She walked through the empty hallways, the dark atmosphere not bothering her a bit. They weren’t as dark as her demeanor, which the others didn’t try to concern themselves with. As though it didn’t ruin the “sunny” image that the town and its inhabitants, sans Mitta, presented.

But now that she was reminded once more of her precious filly, she had something to do, if only just to get the feelings off her chest.

She traveled her way up to her bedroom and quickly bent her body down toward the floor, crawling under her bed. Being the oldest pony in Sunny Town didn’t bother her much, but she wasn’t as physically fit as the others were, thus she had a bit of trouble reaching down. Her back ached doing so, but the physical pain didn’t compare to the emotional pain she felt within.

At last, she found what she was looking for, and crawled out from under her bed. In between her teeth was what appeared to be a red scrapbook, lined with a great deal of dust. The underside of her bed was not a particularly good place to breath in, being so dirty, as Mitta sneezed before dropping the book onto the bed.

She paused after sneezing so hard, then she blew away most of the dust off the cover. She wiped off any excess with her hoof before glancing down toward the image. It was a red book with a large picture of Mitta and Ruby, sitting together in front of Mitta’s house. She smiled warmly as she flipped the book open to the first page.

The first thing she saw was a photograph from the time Ruby was but a foal. She was being fed milk from a bottle by Mitta, who smiled down at her little baby filly. Mitta remembered most of Ruby’s baby days, and she sometimes wished she could relive those moments.

The next photo below the first was also from the days when Ruby was a foal, but this one showed her hugging her first plush toy, a small pony with a cute pink dress. Mitta could remember the day she gave Ruby that plushie. It was one of the happiest she’d seen her little filly. Even when Ruby wasn’t around her mother or the other Sunny Towners, she wouldn’t be so lonely, as long as she had her plushie.

Mitta lifted her head from the page, looking across the room at the other bed. That same plushie was sitting atop the covers, its blank stare facing nothing in particular. It was just about one of the only relics Ruby owned that Mitta still had. In the pictures, it looked worn, but still as cute as ever. Now, it looked somewhat tattered, with a rip on one of the ears, and a bit of the stitching was messed up. It looked like it had gone through a lot.

Mitta sighed and turned the page. The next few photographs were a bit different, as each had a picture of Ruby with the other ponies. The first showed Ruby sitting on a swing, with Grey Hoof pushing her from behind. The swing used to be between Mitta and Three Leaf’s houses, but it was no longer around. The next picture showed a picture of Ruby playing Tag with Roneo and Starlet. They really seemed to enjoy themselves.

The third picture showed Gladstone reading Ruby’s favorite children’s book to her. The book was titled “The Little Pony That Could”, which was about a hardworking filly that found their special talent through helping others. Mitta liked that book as well. She still had it, propped up on Ruby’s bed about a foot away from her plush toy.

The next one showed Ruby reaching up to hug Three Leaf, with Mitta standing off to the side smiling at the sight. This was one of the few times where Mitta was able to actually see herself smile back when she was happy. Back then, Three Leaf was her best friend. The green mare always thought fondly of Mitta and her daughter. But those were only memories now.

The other pictures showed other related photos of the same kind. Each picture was sentimental and were the only ever relics of the past that held the good side of Sunny Town. For the first time since the incident with Apple Bloom, she felt at peace relishing in the memories of its past.

Just then, she heard the creaking of a door coming from the entrance to her house. Just as she was feeling at peace, somepony had to ruin it. She closed the scrapbook and set it aside, standing up from the bed. Whoever it was, she really didn’t want to see them, even if she was in a slightly better mood than before.

“Mitta?” a small voice spoke. “Are ya in here?”

Mitta’s expression softened as she heard the voice, recognizing it as Apple Bloom’s voice. “In here,” she responded, to guide the filly toward her location. She wondered just what Apple Bloom wanted. She really didn’t want to be bothered by anypony, but Apple Bloom wasn’t one of the ponies she resented, and really didn’t mind much as a result.

A few seconds later, and she was standing at the door with a small plate of cake in her left hoof. “I’m sorry if I interrupted somethin’. Just thought ya might want somethin’ to eat from the party since you weren’t there.”

Mitta sighed as she heard her. “I’m not really hungry, nor do I approve of Grey Hoof’s party either,” she responded while looking down at the floor.

“Hey, Ah don’t like bein’ here either,” Apple Bloom responded while walking closer. “Ah’m not even supposed to be here in Sunny Town. But Ah’m stuck here because of some stupid curse you told me about. Ah’m also against his reason for that party. But if Ah’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life, Ah’d rather not mope around all the time, despite what happened. Ah’m a big filly, and Ah’m goin’ to act like one.”

“That’s pretty noble of you, given the circumstances,” Mitta replied as she turned her head. “So you know he threw that party just in honor of your being here. You’re still comfortable with that?”

“Well…” Apple Bloom contemplated her answer for that. The answer was pretty obvious. “No, not really. But other than that, I don’t really see anythin’ wrong with the party.”

Mitta looked back down at her scrapbook, closing her eyes afterward. “They really aren’t bad ponies. Their intentions for their actions in the past are, however, as well as their conversions of everypony that stumbles into Sunny Town. I only hold a hatred for them because of what they did to Ruby. But your history with them only dates back to yesterday. I’ve known them for a long time.”

Apple Bloom walked forward more and stood by Mitta, before the mare laid back down in her bed with the scrapbook in front of her. Being the curious filly she was, she looked up on Mitta’s bed to see the side of the scrapbook.

“Hey, what’s that thing?” she asked, as she tried to get a good look at it. “Some sort of book?”

“Memories of Sunny Town during its good days,” Mitta answered. “It mostly has pictures of me and my darling little Ruby. The others are there too, back when I actually liked them, and they were all my friends. I hate them all now. Three Leaf a little less so, but she still gets the same resentment.”

“Why Three Leaf?” Apple Bloom asked. In response, Mitta opened up a page that showed nothing but pictures of Three Leaf. Most of them were solo pictures, but some of them also had Mitta in them.

“Three Leaf used to be my best friend. We used to do everything together. She even got along with my Ruby as well. We basically spent a lot of time together. While we did enjoy doing things with the others, Three Leaf and I were inseparable. The rest of Sunny Town were always remarking how close we were. Grey Hoof even joked sometimes that we were probably lesbians.”

She chuckled as she looked at a picture of both her and Three Leaf hugging each other. Apple Bloom didn’t know what a lesbian was, so she had a very confused look on her face. “Umm, what’s a lesbian?” she asked, being so naive.

“Basically, a girl pony that is into other girl ponies. Most ponies see it as a girl pony should only be into boy ponies, but that is not always the case. Girls can like girls, same as how a boy can like a boy. But, it was just a joke. Three Leaf and I were never like that. We were only close as best friends.”

Apple Bloom didn’t know what to make with that information. She knew about romance, but didn’t know how far the subject could go. She wasn’t about to question it anyway.

“But that was in the past. While I don’t hold as much hatred for her as I do for the others, she still lost my respect for her. Even now, she still acts as if we’re still best friends. I can’t really bring myself to forgive even her.”

Apple Bloom’s ears folded back. She was back in the same depressing atmosphere when she entered the house earlier in the day. She figured Mitta was off even worse, judging from her demeanor and her being alone in the house all the time.

“...Actually,” Mitta muttered, which made Apple Bloom’s head turn toward her. “I wouldn’t mind some of that cake. Haven’t really eaten anything.”

The filly was a bit surprised to hear that, seeing as Mitta rejected the offer earlier when she came in. Seeing that she warmed up to the idea, Apple Bloom slid the plate with the slice of cake toward Mitta. She picked it up with one of her hooves and took a nibble of the sweet treat. After enjoying the bite, she sighed openly.

“Yeah, definitely one of Three Leaf’s cakes,” she said, much to Apple Bloom’s confusion. “Nopony else here makes cakes as good as this. They’re all decent at best, but Three Leaf was always the best at preparing food.”

Yet another thing that compares her to Pinkie Pie… Apple Bloom thought, realizing just how much they both had in common in both their personalities and their hobbies.

“Hey, uh…” Apple Bloom, wondered by staring at the scrapbook, “do you have good memories about anypony else?”

“Of course I did,” Mitta answered, “but I tend to try and forget everything to do with them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.”

She took another bite of the delicious slice of cake before saying more. “Though, besides Three Leaf, the only other one I knew the most was Grey Hoof. While he’s not exactly our leader, everypony else does look up to him like one. He’s actually the second-oldest of us here, as I’m the oldest.”

“What was he like before?” Apple Bloom asked with curiosity. Mitta responded by turning the page to one that showed some pictures of Grey Hoof.

“He was just like he is now, unless you meant how I saw him. Well, it wasn’t just the others that looked up to him. Ruby and I also did. We liked him very much. Besides Three Leaf, he was just about the cheeriest pony you could ever know. He would always make sure everypony in Sunny Town was happy. It’s like he was trying to match the image of Sunny Town with its name. And for a while, he was doing a good job with it.”

She looked down at the pictures, as did Apple Bloom. One showed Grey Hoof standing behind Mitta and Ruby as he was pushing them on swings, their expressions filled with joy.

“Even now, it seems like he’s tryin’ to keep that very image you’re talkin’ about,” Apple Bloom said, much to Mitta’s disdain. “But it’s just a mask that hides the real, scary part.”

“Exactly,” Mitta agreed. “At least, it does now.” She finished off the rest of the cake quietly. Then she looked down at Apple Bloom, with the filly staring back up at her blankly.

“Apple Bloom, while I wasn’t exactly in a good mood, it was nice to actually have company from somepony unlike those out there. And I will admit, it felt nice to share these memories.”

“Umm, you’re welcome?” Apple Bloom answered, though she wasn’t sure if the welcome was supposed to be genuine or not. She figured it was, since Mitta was actually speaking in a calmer tone than she was before.

“You can go back to the party. I’m sure I’ll be fine now,” she said, as she closed the scrapbook. Apple Bloom looked down at it in thought. She really was a curious sort, and unlike the others, she found a pony in Sunny Town she actually felt comfortable around.

“Actually… could you tell me more about what happened?”

Mitta stared down at Apple Bloom for a brief moment, their eyes locking with the other intently, almost as if they were having some sort of staring contest. Just then, Mitta smiled and reopened the scrapbook, adjusting its position so that Apple Bloom could see it more easily.

“Of course.”

Author's Note

Just in case, for those of you that didn't play Story of the Blanks (then again, I wouldn't expect anybody who reads this story besides my editor to NOT play the game), the title of this chapter Relics of the Past does not only refer to the relics being Mitta's memories, and some of her keepsakes from her past with Ruby, but it is actually a reference to the ending message of Story of the Blanks.

"Throughout Equestria, relics of the past
Lay forgotten and alone
Never truly resting.

Awaiting recognition"

Calm Before The Storm

Later on in the day, Pinkie Pie told Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy about what happened with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, which seemed to lower their downed moods even more than before. Fluttershy decided she wasn’t feeling too well for all of this, so they escorted her on home, where she was left in the comfort of her animal friends.

But what Twilight had said to them got them curious about Applejack, who must’ve been taking the news the hardest considering the circumstances. They suggested that Pinkie and Rainbow check up on Applejack, while Rarity would go to see how Twilight was doing. After agreeing with each other, they went their separate ways.

As they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie and Rainbow tried to hide their feelings from the townsponies of Ponyville as best as they could, giving off forced smiles if they felt the need to. They figured the citizens shouldn’t know yet, at least until everypony in the know agreed on the best time to do so.

As soon as they entered the front gates of the farm, the only pony they saw outside was Big Macintosh, who was bucking down some apples from the trees. It seemed like most of his work was finished, and he only had a few trees left to take care of. Seeing how he wasn’t that far from the gate, they decided to approach him.

“Hey, Big Mac,” said Rainbow Dash, trying to get his attention as he bucked down another batch of apples into the baskets on his back. He turned his head toward them, and the expression on his face showed a small hint of sorrow, as opposed to the laid back demeanor he always seemed to carry around.

“Do you know where Applejack is?” Pinkie asked.

Big Mac answered her question, not with any words, but by facing the house..

“Not feeling good, is she?” Pinkie responded.

All he could say was “Nope…” The hesitation in his voice was quite apparent.

Both mares were cautious to approach the building now, as they weren’t sure if Applejack was even going to accept talking to anypony in her current mood. But they figured it was worth a try, and Big Mac seemed like he didn’t mind, mostly because they were some of Applejack’s best friends. He thought that, if anything, they could help to calm her down even a little.

And so they entered the house, but Applejack was nowhere to be seen. Granny Smith was there, though she was peacefully resting on her rocking chair. They didn’t know if she knew what happened as well, mostly as they couldn’t see any sort of melancholic expression on her sleeping face.

They just looked at each other and shrugged, figuring as long as she didn’t look bad, they shouldn’t bother her. Their main focus was on Applejack at the moment. The only place they hoped to find her was in her room. They made their way up the stairs toward her room. Pinkie pressed her ear to the door, hearing nothing but a faint breathing coming from within.

“She’s in there,” Pinkie said, facing Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare noded and proceeded to knock lightly on the door.

“Hey Applejack, you in there?” she asked, hoping to get an answer. They waited and waited, but heard nothing in return. She knocked again, with no answer to greet them still.

“She probably needs a bit more alone time,” Rainbow suggested, at least until they heard hoofsteps coming from the other side of the door.

It opened up to reveal Applejack, but she wasn’t wearing her trademark hat. It was lying down on the bed beside her. And as expected, she looked the most miserable they had ever seen her. The worst thing they saw were her slightly bloodshot eyes, quite possibly from all the crying they assumed she was doing.

“What are y’all doin’ here?” she asked.

“We heard what happened from Twilight,” Pinkie started, “and wanted to see if we could turn that frown upside-down.”

“Sorry Pinkie,” Applejack responded as she turned away, walking back into her room, “but ain’t no way you’re gonna flip my mood over. This is way too serious a matter to be makin’ things easy on me.”

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash entered the room, seeing no resistance to them being there. “What Pinkie meant to say was, maybe we could keep you company at the very least. You know, make you feel a bit better?”

She wasn’t sure if that helped any, but Applejack didn’t seem to be cross over it. “Ah just don’t know guys… just not in th’ mood for company,” she said as she slumped down to the floor on her flanks, lowering her head in despondency.

“Well, I don’t know about you, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to her friend and sat down beside her, wrapping her foreleg around the orange mare’s neck. “But I’m always going to be there for my friend, no matter what.”

“Me too,” Pinkie agreed, sitting on the opposite side of Rainbow Dash, wrapping both of her legs around Applejack’s body.

Applejack sat in between her friends’ hugs, sighing and doing nothing to push them away. She wanted to be alone for most of the day when she woke up that morning, and even when she saw two of her best friends come in, she still wanted some solitude.

But she couldn’t deny that it felt… nice to have somepony come in to cheer her up. Somepony that wasn’t doing it the way Twilight “helped” her, at least that’s how she saw it.. Rainbow and Pinkie just wanted to see her get better, and that was something she could respect.

She found herself hugging them back, happier than she was in some time. Even if that wasn’t much.

“Ah love you guys,” she followed, accompanied by a miniscule smile. “Y’all didn’t have to come here and cheer me up, but ya did anyway. Ah’ll be fine, really. Just need a bit a’ time to accept things is all.”

The other mares let go of Applejack and looked up at her “I doubt it’s just going to take a little accepting the facts to get you through this. We’ll be here with you every step of the way to, uh, make sure you don’t go crazy or anything,” Rainbow Dash joked, though she meant part of what she said.

“”Ooh, I know one thing that’ll work! Why don’t we make an apple pie together? You know, just to get your mind out of the gutter?” Pinkie Pie suggested with an upbringing smile.

“Ah suppose we can do that,” Applejack answered while rising up from the floor. “But Ah can’t promise y’all that Ah’ll feel any better. What happened to Apple Bloom is way too huge for me to ever ignore or get outta my mind.”

“Yeah, we understand. We’d probably be like this too, if we lost somepony so close to us,” Rainbow Dash explained, while she and Pinkie rose up as well. “But me, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight will help you all the way, and Big Mac and Granny Smith too.”

However, hearing Twilight’s name made Applejack’s eye twitch with a bit of frustration, and she walked toward the door with her eyes narrowed. “Ah’d rather not talk about Twilight…”

“Why?” Pinkie questioned as they followed her. “Did something happen between you two?”

“You could say that…” was all she said afterward.

Spike was in the library, organizing a few books on the bookshelves. He had seen Twilight even more down than before, and he thought that a job done well would at least bring up her mood a bit.

He was just about done when a knock came from the door. Quickly setting a book down, he walked over to the door and turned its handle, opening up to see Rarity standing in front of the doorway.

“O-Oh, hi Rarity,” he said as she graced him with her presence. Though, with how things were going recently, he figured it wasn’t just another visit.

“Is Twilight here, darling? I don’t know if you saw her yet, but she is having… problems,” she explained to the small dragon, while he opened the door all the way to let her in.

“Oh yeah, I know what you mean…” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know what’s up with her, and I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she wouldn’t tell me.”

“Oh, she didn’t tell you? She said she was going to… poor dear,” she said, with a hoof held to her chest in dismay. “You’d think that if you saw her like that, making you wonder what the problem was, she’d tell you instead of keeping you concerned.”

“I know, right?” Spike exclaimed with his hands thrown up in the air for emphasis. “Do you at least know what’s wrong?”

“I do, but… it’s rather hard to explain. I’ll tell you what I know.”

Rarity explained everything, about Twilight and Apple Bloom going into the Everfree Forest to deliver herbs to Zecora. That part of the story got him curious, especially considering Apple Bloom went with her. It went on until the part just before Twilight’s discovery of the filly’s body, where she started hesitating.

“This is where it gets even worse, doesn’t it?” Spike asked worriedly, as if he was hearing some sort of scary story, which it was in a way.

Rarity slowly nodded. “According to Twilight, Apple Bloom was… attacked by some ferocious creatures, and she’s… she’s no more.”

That got a loud gasp out of the baby dragon, and he suddenly felt uneasy, especially knowing why Twilight was disheveled now.

“You...you mean...she’s…oh no…” he trailed off, unable to speak anymore. The wave of emotions hitting him was too much to bare. He wasn’t crying, but he wasn’t far from reaching that point either.

Seeing her poor Spikey Wikey acting like that, Rarity came over and brought him in for a hug. He was too overwhelmed by the news to react like he wanted, but there was nothing wrong with that.

“It’s fine if you want to cry,” Rarity comforted him. “There’s no shame in doing that for something like this.”

“That’s horrible,” Spike responded. “That’s just...horrible…no wonder Twilight’s been acting like that…”

“There’s more to it, unfortunately. You see…”

She explained what Twilight did that night, and how she blamed herself for Apple Bloom’s death in the end. As she continued on with the story, Spike’s expression was even more saddened. It was too much, and he started to cry from it all.

“No...she can’t do this to herself...it wasn’t her fault,” he cried, trying to wrap his head around such a thing. “It can’t be…”

“I know how you feel, but that’s how she sees it. And I’m here precisely to make her feel better
about it. Could you take me to see her?”

“I can do that. I don’t want to see her like this anymore.”

He grabbed one of her front hooves and took her to the bedroom. Rarity wasn’t sure what to expect from Twilight, but she was preparing for the worst.

And that was what she got. Twilight was curled up on her bed, closing her eyes and tearing up. Her mane was a little frazzled, a result of being in bed for so long. She wasn’t even aware that Rarity and Spike were there in the room with her. That was how deep into guilt she was.

The baby dragon hesitantly climbed into bed with her. He wanted to tap her on the shoulder so she’d know they were there, but he was scared about her reaction. He took a deep breath and did it anyway.

Twilight slowly opened her eyelids and turned around to see him. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, as she lost control over her emotions when she got home. Rarity almost gasped from the sight, but she had to ignore it to be a good friend.

Seeing that Rarity was here, the purple mare sat up on her hind legs. She brought over a tissue and wiped the tears away, enough to look presentable before she could speak.

“Hi, Rarity,” she said in a downed mood. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here because I’m not going to let you be like this anymore,” Rarity responded, in a tone that was half comforting and half confrontational. “You have every right to be sad about this. Apple Bloom was a good friend of ours, and we’ll never find somepony like her. But I’m not letting you take the blame for her death.”

Twilight’s ears drooped again, and she nearly shoved her face back into the pillow. “But it is my fault…”

“No, it’s not. I don’t care what happened that night. We all know you did the best you could in that situation. You always do--”

“But I didn’t,” Twilight interrupted. “I could have been there to save her. I wasn’t, and I should have. If I was right there with her, none of this wouldn’t happen, and--”

“I will hear nothing of it. Please, darling, I know you wish you could have changed the outcome. We all would have if we were in that position. But please don’t do this to yourself. We know you better than that.”

“Same here,” Spike spoke up. “I… I don’t want to see you like this. So what if you didn’t do what you wanted to do with her? From what I’ve heard, those creatures were creepy and scary. I would have run away if I was there. You were brave for even trying to save Apple Bloom.”

“Try? Try? That’s not good enough, Spike. I could have saved her...and I didn’t...and now Apple Bloom is gone, and Applejack will never forgive me for losing her little sister…”

“Are you kidding? I know Applejack took the biggest loss out of all of us, but she has to forgive you...right?” Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head, and spend the next few minutes explaining what happened between them at Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity gasped at the news, while Spike came down to tears again.

“Oh my Celestia,” Rarity replied. “That doesn’t sound like the Applejack I know. I understand that she would take this the hardest out of all of us, but to go that far?”

“Exactly. And I’ve been thinking lately about it,” said Twilight. “And I think I deserve it--”

Before she could continue, Spike broke down and hugged her as tightly as she could. Rarity did the same, embracing her to make her feel loved. Twilight did nothing while they were hugging her, still consumed by the guilt eating away at her heart and soul.

“Please… don’t do this to yourself,” Spike cried again. “Please…”

“I’ll have to deal with Applejack about this in the future,” Rarity said, pulling away from the hug. “That’s no reason to hate yourself for what you did.”

Twilight said nothing again, and she laid back down on the bed. Rarity was heartbroken that her words did nothing to help her friend, but she felt like this was the best she could do by herself. Spike stayed by Twilight’s side in bed, making sure he would be there as soon as she needed something. He had to do that for her now.

Rarity sniffed and regained her composure enough to keep a straight face, and she rubbed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder to comfort her one last time. After that, she left the bedroom to head out the door. She would think of something else to do that would help Twilight in the end. Something had to work on her. Anything.

However, right before she pushed the door open, she heard seven words come out from the bedroom. It was enough to make the whole thing worth it, and her heart was uplifted from hearing them.

“Thank you, Rarity. You’re a great friend.”

When Applejack was finished with her story, the contrast in Rainbow Dash and Pinkie’s faces were enormous. Dash only gave a blank stare to Applejack, and Pinkie’s face was soaking wet from the tears.

“And that about covers it,” Applejack concluded. “Ah know that might seem rough and tumble, but it was the right thing to--”

“You kicked Twilight in the chest when she was trying to help you? Seriously?” Dash interrupted.

“Now, you just wait a moment before you’re pointin’ hooves at me. Apple Bloom was a huge loss for our family. It will always be a big loss. And Ah can’t just forget somethin’ like that, not when Twilight could have stepped in and put her hoof down when she didn’t.”

“You… you mean… you’re no longer friends?” Pinkie asked cautiously.

Applejack had to think about the answer to that question, which was noticeable by her sudden pause. “Ah don’t know about all that. Ah do know that Ah don’t want to see her right now. She could have saved her, she didn’t, end of story.”

“But that’s no excuse to act like that toward her!” Dash shouted. “I know you have every right to be mad at her right now. I get it. Maybe Twilight should have been there for her. But you can’t do things like that just because you’re angry.”

“She wouldn’t give me the space Ah needed,” Applejack retorted. “Ah had every right to shut her down.”

“But you can’t kick her. She was trying to help--”

“You call that help? She knew what was up. She should have--”

“I don’t care! You don’t treat friends like--”

“Why won’tcha understand? Ah should have--”

“STOP!” Pinkie finally snapped, unable to take any more of the arguing. She shoved a hoof into both of their mouths to shut them up, and she was literally shaking from all the mixed emotions she was feeling. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were surprised by Pinkie’s actions, and they stopped in their tracks and looked at her.

“Please, I can’t take it when you two fight like that. It’s fun whenever you’re being competitive, like your 192nd Iron Pony competition to figure out who’s the toughest pony, but this isn’t fun at all! You’re being mean to each other, and that’s not what friends do! They’re supposed to talk it out and be open to both sides.”

That was enough to calm them both down. They sat down on their haunches and were ashamed over what they did. They both shared a defeated sigh and faced each other.

“Ah’m sorry, Dash. You know by now how touchy this is for me. Ah know Ah might sound a little blunt at the moment, but you can’t just forget somethin’ like that.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Dash apologized. “But you know what the deal is? We know you lost something deep and personal to you. I would be the same way if Scootaloo died on me like that. She’s the closest thing to a sister I have. We just don’t want to lose something else along the way.”

“And what would that be?”

“Your friendship with Twilight,” Pinkie spoke up. “If you keep acting this way, you two are never going to be friends again. And that would be horrible.”

“Are you saying that our friendship would be a greater loss than my own sister?”

“No,” Dash cut in, knowing Pinkie would break down if she had to answer. “That’s not it. But it would make things worse. We don’t want to lose anything else because of this.”

“Guess Ah see what you mean. But Ah’m not going to forgive Twilight that easy.”

“Can you at least try?” Pinkie added, her voice full of hope and optimism.

Applejack stopped for a moment and thought about it. “Ah… Ah’ll think about it. But there’s no guarantee that it will be a yes.”

“Better than saying no, at least,” Dash said. “Just understand, we feel sorry that you lost Apple Bloom. Don’t ever forget that, and we’ll be there to help you out. But don’t let it be an excuse to do something you’ll regret.”

With that said, Dash and Pinkie hugged Applejack one last time before leaving the room. Pinkie shut the door behind them, leaving Applejack alone with her thoughts.

Applejack sat down on her bed, thinking over what her friends said to her. She wasn’t mad at her, and at least they weren’t being sticks in the mud like Twilight was.

But at the same time, she had some thinking to do. A lot of thinking.

Heartbeat

The scrapbook was shut tight again, each picture inside saying more than a thousand words. After Mitta closed it, Apple Bloom was slack jawed, processing all the events she was given in detail. Even if there were a few she didn’t want to be told to the last letter.

“And that’s what that happened to Sunny Town,” Mitta said quietly, suppressing her feelings to get through the tale in one take.

“That’s all from those ponies?” Apple Bloom noted. “Ah don’t like them very much, but it’s hard to think that they’re the same ponies that did those things.”

“I know it’s hard to believe. I don’t believe it occasionally myself. They were good ponies deep down, and I could trust them with anything. They were a little eccentric, but they were good hearted in the end. And then they did… those things…”

The emotions coming back up were too much for Mitta, and she wiped away a tear with her hooves. Anytime she closed her eyes, she could see everything as clearly as the day it happened. She wanted to stay strong for the poor little filly, but she was reaching her limits.

Then, she felt a hoof placed on her shoulder. It was from Apple Bloom, doing her best to comfort her with anything she could do. It wouldn’t be enough on its own, but it was something at least.

“Thank you, Apple Bloom,” Mitta said faintly. “I needed that.”

“No problem. Anypony would have a tough time tellin’ a story like that.”

“Right. But I want to stay strong through it. Even though I can’t get out of here, there’s no reason why I should be like this all the time.”

“That sounds like something my sister would have said.”

Mitta chuckled. “Sounds like she’s a good role model, then.”

Meanwhile, Apple Bloom was curious about Ruby, thinking back to the parts of the tale with her at the center. She opened the scrapbook again, flipping over to the pictures of the late filly. It started off with her foalhood pictures, and almost all of them featured Mitta with the smile she used to have long ago.

“She’s cute when she’s like that,” Apple Bloom noted.

“I know. The first few years were scary, though. I was scared that I would be a bad mother, just like any new mother. She was a hoofful for a while, but every now and then…”

Mitta flipped to a picture of herself and Ruby together, with matching flowers in their manes. “...I would be reminded why I wanted to be a mother in the first place.”

As she kept flipping through the pictures of Ruby’s fillyhood days, Apple Bloom remembered the times when she met her ghost. A shiver went up her spine just thinking about it, but at the same time, she couldn’t stop thinking about her. What Ruby was like when she was alive.

“Um, Ah understand if it’s something you don’t much like talking about, but what was Ruby like?”

Mitta blinked, the question taking her out of the memories she wanted to relive. “...sure. I guess I could tell you a few things about her.”

Apple Bloom scooted up closer to the mare, making sure she would catch every detail.

“Where to begin… oh, I remember. She was really playful, even as a foal.” She found the page in the scrapbook with a picture of Ruby surrounded with toys, and each one was worn out, or they were on their way. “I don’t remember how many toys I bought for her, but it was a lot. And then there’s this.” Another page showed the filly with a shovel, along with the rest of the ponies breaking ground for a new building.

“She was a great helper for her age. If there was ever a pony in need and she was big enough for the job, she would help them out. If she grew up to be an adult, she might have been the most helpful pony in all of Sunny Town. Maybe even Ponyville.”

Somehow, she managed to keep a straight face saying that. If she was allowed to grow up…

“I know I’ve told you before, but that played a big part of her getting the Mar- uh, her cutie mark. She found Roneo’s gemstone that he lost, and returned it to him, since he wanted to present it to Starlet as a gift. And that’s when… when…”

She wanted to continue the story, but all the bad memories soon flooded her head. The discovery. The decision by the rest of the town. And then that moment...

The emotions were too much for her when she was confronted by those images, and the tears came down slowly. Her heart couldn’t bare the pain of that day. She tried her best not to let it show to the filly in front of her, but it was a fruitless effort. The tears wouldn’t stop.

Apple Bloom saw it all, and knew she had to do something to help Mitta out. She got up and looked frantically for anything that would help, and she found a box of tissue on a table nearby. She grabbed it and handed a tissue to Mitta.

“T-Thank you, Apple Bloom,” Mitta said, wiping away the tears and blowing her nose. “I appreciate you trying to help.”

“It was nothing, really,” Apple Bloom said, smiling and trying to lighten the mood.

“Speaking of cutie marks,” noted Mitta, wishing to change the subject ASAP, “I noticed you didn’t have your cutie mark when you came into town.”

“Oh yeah. That thing,” Apple Bloom sighed, looking down at her blank flank.

“If it makes you feel better, I can already tell that you’re a really smart pony. You would get your cutie mark at any time if you weren’t stuck here.”

“Really?” Her eyes brightened at the thought; towards the end, she was beginning to doubt if she was doomed to be a blank flank forever.

“Really. It would happen sooner or later.”

“Thanks a lot. That was somethin’ Ah tried to do all the time back home. Ah couldn’t get my mark no matter what Ah did, so Ah joined up with two other fillies at mah school, and we’d spend a lot of our free time tryin’ to get our marks. We even had a name for our group: The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” she proclaimed triumphantly.

Mitta raised an eyebrow. “So you made a group just for that? What all did you do as Crusaders?”

“All sorts of things. We tried a talent show, skydivin’ without parachutes, making plants come alive with fancy potions, seeing if one of us was secretly fireproof, that kind of stuff. Ah lost half my mane for a while with that last one.”

That got another chuckle out of Mitta. “That sounded fun.”

“It was. We never did get our marks, but we had fun as a group. But... Ah wish Ah had gotten my mark...”

She brought her head down and closed her eyes, the reality of her situation suddenly hitting her hard.

“And now Ah can’t get my mark because of some stupid curse, and Ah’m stuck in this town forever. Couldn’t get out even if Ah wanted to….”

She started to hyperventilate, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Her feelings were so deep, so pained, that the emotional pain was beginning to turn physical.

“Ah won’t be able to see my friends again, and Ah won’t be able to ever see my family again… Ah miss them all so much…”

The tears wouldn’t stop now. She couldn’t stop feeling miserable over the situation, and it felt like her life was over. She collapsed on the floor and buried her face into the carpet, making the spot wet in seconds from all the crying.

Mitta was heartbroken at the sight. As soon as she saw the filly’s state, her heart soared to help her out as much as possible. She went over and picked up the poor Earth pony with her front hooves, giving her a comforting hug. Apple Bloom was so broken that she didn’t know what was going on at first, but once she processed it through, she found herself hugging Mitta back. At least somepony was trying to help her out at her time of need.

The mare ran her hoof down the filly’s mane, humming a melody she once sang all the time to her daughter.

“It’s alright, my dear, don’t say a word,
I’ve got you safe in my hooves.
Nothing will come after you anymore,
I’m going to make sure you’re safe and sound.”

Apple Bloom held onto Mitta’s front limbs as much as she could. The tears were still going, but she managed to calm down a bit She felt Mitta brush her mane a few more times, singing the foal’s song again and again until she knew that the filly was feeling better.

And that she was.

She shut her eyes and felt a moment of peace for the first time in a long while. It was only for a moment and wouldn’t solve everything, but feeling any relief at all was a blessing.

After endless minutes passed by them, Mitta looked down at Apple Bloom, relieved to see that the crying had stopped.

“Feeling better?” Mitta asked.

“Yeah… Ah think so,” Apple Bloom whispered. “Ah just want to stay here…”

“That’s alright. You can stay here for now if that’s what you want to do.”

“More than anything.”

After a few hours passed, Luna would be raising the moon over Equestria soon. It wouldn’t be long until it was dark, and given it was summertime, it was really, really late in the day. The party would’ve been finished by now, and everypony in Sunny Town would’ve gone back to their homes.

“Oh horseapples, it’s almost nighttime. Ah’m not gonna go back out there tonight,” the filly stated, being the most comfortable with Mitta, and not the others.

“Hmm, I didn’t realize how late it was. You don’t trust those other ponies either, do you?”

“Not one bit,” Apple Bloom said, slamming a hoof on the floor.

“I understand. You know what, I’ll let you stay at my house for now. At least, until you figure out what you want to do in the long term.”

Apple Bloom smiled again. “That sounds fine…” She tilted her head back and yawned, her eyelids getting heavy on her. “Ah’m pretty tired now. Kinda need the shuteye. Where you wantin’ me to sleep at?”

Mitta was going to answer, until she realized she didn’t really have another room for Apple Bloom to sleep on. She did have a couch in the living room, but it was pretty worn, and therefore uncomfortable to sleep on, even for Mitta. She looked across the room at Ruby’s bed, and it gave her thoughts. It used to belong to Ruby, and she probably wouldn’t have minded Apple Bloom sleeping on it, if only because it was now unused and she needed a place to sleep.

“I suppose for now, you can sleep in what used to be Ruby’s bed, right there,” she answered as she gestured toward the bed across the room. “Just as long as you keep it nice and tidy, you can sleep in it all you want. She may not be using it anymore, but out of respect, I’d still like it to be as clean as possible.”

The filly smiled and stepped off Mitta’s bed, hopping up onto Ruby’s bed and got comfortable. She sighed at feeling the softness of the mattress, almost like a cloud. “That’s mighty nice of you, and sure, I’ll keep it nice. Ah think Ah’m gonna call it a night.”

“Here, let me tuck you in.” Mitta grabbed the nearby covers near the foot of the bed, and she draped it over Apple Bloom’s frame.

“You sure you’re not weirded out by this? Me sleeping in your daughter’s bed?”

“Not at all. Ruby would have given you the bed and slept on the sofa if she was here, anyway. Besides, it felt sort of nice being able to tuck in a filly after so, so long…” She paused slightly, a small smile first showing, then fading slightly. She felt a bit heartwarmed from tucking her in, but at the same time, it wasn’t Ruby. But it still felt like a close reminder of what it was like, and for now, it was good enough for her. “N-Nevermind that, you should get some sleep. I’ll try to help you as much as I can when you wake up.”

“Thanks. Oh, and good night, Mitta.”

“Good night, Apple Bloom.”

The filly rolled over to her side and closed her eyes, trying to get a good night’s sleep.

Once that business was finished, Mitta went back into the living room and tried to enjoy one last moment under the sun. She dwelled her thoughts the poor filly she took under her metaphorical wing, and she felt so horrible about her fate.

Nothing about it felt fair, but then again, nothing about this situation was fair. It was something she grew to accept over time, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Or, for that matter, like it when the town’s residents made other ponies share their curse.

Still, she wanted to do the best she could with what she had, and when she could hear the filly snoring in her sleep already, she knew she did just that.

In the last minute before the sun set and her true form came out again, she took another look at the scrapbook, back to the pages featuring her beloved daughter. She put a hoof over Ruby’s face in the picture, trying her best to call back to the good times.

“Oh, my dear Ruby, what are we going to do with her?” That was the last thing she said before she became a monster once more.

Half an hour before nightfall, Grey Hoof and Three Leaf were busy trying to clean up the mess left behind by all the partying. Well, it wasn’t that big of a mess. Grey Hoof just wanted it out of his mane as soon as possible. That was the way he liked it.

He grabbed a broom and swept some of the confetti away to the sides, where they wouldn’t be in anypony’s way. But there were a few pieces of cake stomped on the ground, and that would probably take more work to clean off. He wondered how that got there. Eh, this looked like something he’d have to finish tomorrow.

“Another great party, Three Leaf,” he said to the green mare, who was drinking some of the leftover punch.

“You really think so?” Three Leaf gleamed, coming over to chat with him. “Thank you so much! I wanted to make sure that the newest Blank felt welcome in our lovely Sunny Town. Do you think she liked it? Do you?”

He smiled with a warm feeling in his heart, as he always did with each successful conversion of a pony. “She warmed up to us a little more today, I would say. I’m sure she’ll fit in soon enough.”

Three Leaf’s ears parted to the side out of nowhere. “Umm... actually, can we talk about that?”

Grey Hoof sensed something was wrong with Three Leaf when he heard that, and set down his broom next to the table. “Hmm? Sounds like you got something on your mind. Go ahead, talk it out.”

“Here’s the thing. Have you seen the way she’s been acting around us? I’m trying really hard to be the friendliest, most inviting pony ever, but she doesn’t like me very much. She doesn’t seem to like any of us, actually. The only pony she kinda likes in this whole town is Mitta, and she’s the saddest pony ever.”

“Three Leaf, please. Calm down--”

“I’m just worried that she’s never going to warm up to us! And that’s awful, because I really want her to be our friend. She’s adorable with that lovely yellow coat and red hair, and those cute little cheeks, she seems really smart, and I think she’s a farm pony with her accent and all that dust on her hooves. We could use somepony like her, she would be a big help around town! But that won’t matter if she’s not our friend…”

She kicked the dirt with her hooves, very upset at the idea that they wouldn’t be friends. However, Grey Hoof wasn’t shaken up at all. He was as calm as ever, as if filled with much confidence.

“I know what you’re saying, but you don’t have to worry about that little thing. She’s staying here forever, right?”

The usually happy mare was still kicking dirt around. “Maybe…”

“So you have all the time in the world to make a good impression on her. She’ll fit in soon enough, and before you know it, she’ll want to be your friend. You just have to keep at it. Don’t be afraid to throw her another party. And don’t give up on her.”

She lifted her head to his eye level. “You think so?”

“I know so. She’s not going to be like Mitta. She’s far too cheerful to be like her.”

Suddenly, Three Leaf went from being a depressed pony to a happy-go-lucky pony. “Thanks, Grey Hoof! That’s just what I needed to hear. I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

“Now now, you’re smarter than you think,” Grey Hoof responded, just before he stepped into a piece of cake on the road, and frowned a bit. “Even if you can be messy at times…”

“Heh, thanks again!”

With their nice little talk over with, Three Leaf finished her punch before going to another table, cleaning stuff off of there. Grey Hoof himself went back to work, cleaning up as much of the debris as he could before the night arrived. He paused every now and then to wipe the sweat from his brow.

“Just keep at it, Grey Hoof,” he said to himself. “Apple Bloom will come around soon enough.”

Author's Note

So... it's been about a year and three months since the last chapter of this has been published. I'm so sorry about that. I don't really have much of a plan when it comes to updating these chapters, but I'll see what I can do.

Green Hooves and Dark Secrets

A week passed since that fateful day. Apple Bloom still wasn’t taking her sorta-imprisonment in Sunny Town well, but she was learning to deal with it over time. The only thing keeping her from total depression was Mitta’s kindness, and the fact that she wasn’t evil like the other Blanks. At least, Apple Bloom saw them as evil. They showed themselves to be like some of the nicest ponies Apple Bloom had ever met. But considering the dark and twisted things she learned about their past, she felt rather appalled about befriending the lot of them.

Now had been yet another time Apple Bloom ventured off into the Everfree Forest to find Ruby again. It had been a few days since she saw the ghost filly, and besides Mitta, she was the only other friend Apple Bloom had here.

“Ruby?” Apple Bloom would call out through the mass of trees and bushes that surrounded her. Soon afterward, she heard the giggling of a cheerful filly just up ahead. No guesses who that voice belonged to.

Poking her head out through a bush, she saw the ghostly figure just a few feet ahead, staring right back at her. Those large, glowing yellow eyes of hers lit up Apple Bloom’s face, which Ruby giggled at.

“It’s good to see you again, Apple Bloom!” Ruby cheered and stepped back, giving her space to emerge from the bush she was poking out of.

“Likewise,” Apple Bloom responded as she brushed away a few twigs that got caught in her mane..

“So… it’s been a week since all this craziness happened. How are you faring?”

“A week’s come and gone, but it feels almost like a year…” she complained while holding a hoof to her forehead.

“That bad, huh? That’s probably just what being immortal does to you. Time seems to move fast. After a while, you learn to ignore the sense of time, because now, you have all the time in the world. You’re already dead, so you can’t exactly die again.”

As time passed, Apple Bloom learned more and more about what exactly her fate meant for her. Time stopped mattering to her, apparently. And being undead, she was now immortal. To some, immortality sounded nice. But if she had to be undead to be so, she didn’t want any part of it.

“I know you’re not exactly doing alright here, but… my mother. How is she?” Ruby asked curiously.

“She’s kinda the same, really,” Apple Bloom answered in a monotone voice.

“I see…” Ruby replied dejectedly. “She really loves me. I wish I could see her again.”

A lightbulb went off in Apple Bloom’s head. “Maybe you can!”

“I don’t really see how I can anymore.”

“Well, you can still go inside Sunny Town, right?”

Ruby sat down on her haunches and stared down at the forest ground. “Yes, I can. I’ve actually done it before. In fact, you saw me go inside that abandoned house, right?”

Apple Bloom nodded her head. “Right. See, I thought that maybe you can come by and see her at night, when everypony else is asleep.”

Ruby shook her head as her ears bent back. “I-I can’t do that. Because of… Grey Hoof.”

“What about him?”

She closed her eyes and sighed. “One time I sneaked my way back into Sunny Town, and Grey Hoof actually saw me. As soon as he did, he got the others’ attention, except for my mother. She wasn’t with them. They chased me back out before I could see her. I looked out there every single night for a while after that, and every single time, Grey Hoof was out there, watching for me. I’m sure he doesn’t need sleep. I pretty much gave up my chances of ever seeing my mother again when that happened.”

That’s pretty terrible, Apple Bloom thought. She felt like she had to cheer Ruby up.

“If it helps, she seems to be doing just a tad bit better whenever Ah spend some time with her. She says she doesn’t feel as lonely as she usually felt with me around.”

Ruby lifted her head up after hearing that, and a smile was beginning to form on her face. “Really? She’s feeling happy?”

“Well, not totally happy…” Apple Bloom corrected as she rubbed the back of her head. “She’s still really down about not having you with her. But she doesn’t look as depressed as she usually does now.”

Unexpectedly, she felt Ruby throw her forelegs around her neck to hug her tight, catching her off guard. “Thank you so much, Apple Bloom, for looking after her for me. It means a lot that she’s even a little happier with being less lonely.”

Without saying a word, Apple Bloom returned Ruby’s hug. She felt like that was the best thing she could do right now.

After letting go, Ruby wiped a happy tear from her eye. “I wish I could see her myself though, or at the very least, be able to talk to her.”

Just then, Apple Bloom got another idea, and the confident-like face she had was something Ruby could see very clearly. “You have another idea, don’t you?”

There was no denying it; she definitely had one, and she thought it was full-proof. “What if Ah send messages ‘tween the two of y’all? You can talk to your mother, and she’ll be happy knowin’ her daughter is still out there somewhere. It’s the perfect plan!”

Apple Bloom was so proud of her plan, she hopped up and down in excitement in a way that was reminiscent of Pinkie Pie. Ruby, however, wasn’t so sure of this plan. Sure, Apple Bloom could act as a correspondence between her and her mother. But the look of disbelief on her face held many messages, one being that she thought her mother wouldn’t believe that Ruby was still alive, not after what happened in Sunny Town.

Once Apple Bloom’s little bout of elation subsided, she looked to Ruby, only to sense a bit of discomfort in her face. “Ruby, what’s wrong?”

Ruby ended up explaining to Apple Bloom about the doubts she had about her oh-so-brilliant idea. Unsurprisingly, she was quite taken aback by what she was hearing.

“Ah can’t say Ah understand. All Mitta wants is to be reunited with the filly she loves. Even if she can’t exactly have that, this has to be the next best thing, right?”

“How exactly do you think my mother will react to seeing me as a ghost of my former self… literally? And not only that, but what if the others find out? They’d make sure I was gone for good.” At this point, she looked distressed. Her ears folded back, her head hung, even when she looked back at her flank; more specifically, her cutie mark. “All because of this mark. Turns out I’m good at finding things. The only thing I can’t find now is happiness.”

“But Ruby…”

Before she could say more, Ruby held out a hoof as a signal to stop talking. “Apple Bloom, please. Don’t tell my mother about me, at least not yet. I’m not sure about this right now. For now, just keep her happy. That’s all I can really ask for at this time.”

Apple Bloom didn’t understand the ghost’s wish to keep it a secret, but she chose to respect it. “Fine, Ah won’t say anythin’. You’ll still be around though, right?”

Ruby lifted her head and nodded eagerly. “Yeah! The afterlife doesn’t really leave anything for us ghosts to do except wander around aimlessly. So yes, I’ll still be around.”

“Alright. Ah’ll just head back to Sunny Town for now. Ya take care now!”

With all that taken care of, Ruby rushed past Apple Bloom toward the way she came in before she disappeared, leaving a hoofprint trail made of light that led back to Sunny Town. After a few minutes, she found herself back at the entrance, where she found Three Leaf laying down atop the grass.

“Heya, Apple Bloom!” she exclaimed as she waved a hoof at the filly. “It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like these, kids like you…”

Before she finished her statement, which Apple Bloom felt cautious about for some reason or another, she sprung up to her hooves and held one of them out for Apple Bloom. “...should help me water the vegetables! It shouldn’t take long. Come on, what do you say?”

“Gee, that sounds fun and all…” Apple Bloom replied in a way that almost sounded sarcastic, “but Ah should probably go an’ check up on Mitta.”

“Oh, that’s okay! At most, it’ll only take about half an hour, but with you there, we can do it in half the time! And after we’re done, you can go straight back to hanging out with Mitta! It’s a win/win, don’tcha think?”

Apple Bloom was still feeling wary about Three Leaf, being one of the many ponies in Sunny Town that only a week ago tried to murder her and succeeded. But there wasn’t really much to do in Mitta’s house, and she really didn’t want to stay in the forest either. In fact, Apple Bloom was wondering just what there was to do around Sunny Town. For the past week, she just stayed with Mitta inside her home, but that became uneventful.

The ponies in Sunny Town weren’t hostile to her. At least, now they weren’t. If anything, she was treated like a V.I.P. here. She didn’t know whether to feel amazed or uncertain, and she felt uncomfortable about it. To avoid the monotony of sitting inside with Mitta all day, however (despite it being the only place she felt the safest in), she decided that maybe doing this one little thing wouldn’t be too bad.

“Alright, let’s water your vegetables, or whatever…” she replied dryly, even though Three Leaf was too excited that she said yes to even pick up on her hesitance. She gladly led Apple Bloom to her home in the northwest corner of Sunny Town, which looked to be about the greenest area in the town, both figuratively and literally.

On either side of the pathway to her house, many different kinds of vegetables were planted in the dirt, such as cabbages, carrots, potatoes, and some others. From out of nowhere, Three Leaf handed Apple Bloom a watering can and pointed to the right side of her front lawn.

“How about you get to watering that side while I water the other side? I know this isn’t much, but I have a much bigger garden out back.” She then started to tip the can, pouring the water out and sprinkling it over her side. It wasn’t the most fun thing in the world, but at least Apple Bloom was doing something different this time.

Even as she watered the field, her mind wandered on to other thoughts. She wondered more about the relationship between both Ruby and Mitta. She knew that they were mother and daughter, but there was more to it that Apple Bloom was thinking about. She remembered Mitta telling her that Three Leaf used to be her best friend. If Three Leaf knew anything more about them that Mitta didn’t told her about, it would be a good time to ask about now.

“Hey, Three Leaf,” she started, with a bit of hesitation, “is there anythin’ you can tell me about Mitta and Ruby?”

“Oh, where do I start?” Before she could ramble on about almost everything about them, she mentally stopped herself short to save Apple Bloom the trouble. “But I’m sure Mitta has told you just about anything you wanted to know anyway. I don’t know if there’s anything I can tell you that she already hasn’t.”

“Hmm…” Apple Bloom pondered about what she could ask about. Then it hit her. “Mitta is Ruby’s mother. So what about her father? Where is he?”

Three Leaf took a short pause, then suddenly started back up again. “Now that you mention it, I actually don’t know anything about that myself. You see, about ten and a half years before the incident with the Cursed One… er, Ruby, a pregnant mare entered our fair town. And that mare was Mitta. She was alone though, so whether or not she still had a lover was unknown to us. And we never really bothered to ask, thinking it was something personal to her.”

That was quite a mouthful to take in. The fact that she may or may not have had a lover wasn’t all too important, but she did learn one thing. “So you’re sayin’ that Mitta ain’t originally from Sunny Town?”

“Yup! As for the rest of us, yes, we are from here. She eventually was told of the urban legend of the MMM.”

“The MMM?” Apple Bloom questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“The Multiple Mark Mayhem. That’s the incident where many ponies living in Sunny Town, long before the COI, had many marks appear all over their body, and they would do things related to the pictures the marks had shown against their will. Mitta probably told you about that too.”

“And the COI is…”

“The Cursed One Incident. You know, the one with Mitta’s daughter.”

“Right…”

By that time, they were both finished watering the front of the house, and Three Leaf was proud of their accomplishments. “Great job so far, Apple Bloom! I got some more in the back, if you’ll follow me.”

Three Leaf started to lead Apple Bloom around the side of her house to water the rest of her vegetables. As fruitful as the conversation was, she wondered if there was more she could get out of Three Leaf, or perhaps the rest of Sunny Town.

Author's Note

Yeah yeah I know, it's been a while. Another year, another chapter. Ah man, I just fell way out of writing fanfiction in all that time. But you know, maybe it won't be too bad in the coming chapters.

A lot of this story has been planned, and other things, I'm making up as I go. In fact, this chapter was originally supposed to take place in Ponyville and it was going to be pretty much a school day without Apple Bloom. But I really didn't know how good I was going to write that one idea out, so I scrapped it in place of this. The next chapter will take place in Ponyville though, after I think up how to write it out.

So umm, yeah that's it from me. See you guys ~~in another year~~ later.

~Salnalus

Waking The Demon

Things in Ponyville weren’t faring any better than they were a week ago. By now, the whole town had been informed of the unfortunate event regarding Apple Bloom’s unfortunate death, and a memorial service was held to pay respects for her passing. Most of the town was in shock, especially since they all knew Apple Bloom as one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were well-known around Ponyville. They couldn’t imagine what her family or even her fellow Crusaders were going through from the loss.

A few days after that, things gradually returned to normal around the town, though it was agreed amongst the townsponies to give Applejack her space until she deemed herself well enough again. They weren’t exactly sure how long this would take, but they knew she would come around eventually.

Things were still rather rough between Twilight and Applejack. They still didn’t speak to each other since their argument. Whenever Twilight walked into town and she saw Applejack, she would want to just walk up and talk to her. However, she could never muster up the courage to take a step towards her direction. She had never seen Applejack look so miserable before. All Twilight could manage to do was sigh in defeat and walk elsewhere.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy did their best to keep both their spirits high in these dark times. If the four of them couldn’t repair their friendship, they would console them as best they could and just wait it out. This is what they would do when the two weren’t busy doing farmwork or reading books.

One day, when Celestia’s sun was getting ready to lower beyond the horizon, Spike had seen Twilight come through the front door of Golden Oaks, and a smile was brought to his face, considering the disheveled look he saw her in earlier in the day.

“Busy day?” Spike asked, while holding up a small note that had “Gone to Fluttershy’s, be back later. T.S.” written on it.

“I suppose you could call it busy, or you could call it hanging out with friends,” she replied in an almost refreshing manner. Spike wasn’t sure what to make of her slightly content mood.

“Somepony sounds like she had a better day for once this week. What did you do with Fluttershy?”

“Well, I spent today having a small picnic with Fluttershy and her animal friends, which was nice for a change. After that, she invited me to a spa date with Rarity. I couldn’t impose on joining them in their personal time together, but they insisted I joined them, and you know what? It actually wasn’t that bad,” she explained while showing off her newly filed hooves, which twinkled in the light of the room.

“Wow. It’s almost as if things are getting back to normal for you,” Spike noted, relieved that this mess was finally being brought to an end.

“Not quite,” she rebutted, dashing his hopes for things getting better. “Things still aren’t right with Applejack and I, and it’s really saddening. I wish I could just talk to her without me getting scared about her reaction, and it stops me every time. It seems like she still isn’t past what happened, and to be quite honest, neither am I...”

Twilight stepped away from the door and toward one of the bookshelves, pulling out one of the books and setting it down on her study desk. Spike walked up to her and looked up onto the desk she sat in front of.

“What are you doing now?” he asked as he observed her opening the book, her eyes scanning the first page she opened it to.

“I’m just going to read the rest of the night away. Today was fun and all, but I’m not really up to doing anything else right now.” She shifted herself in her seat to get into a more comfortable position.

“Twilight, you’ve been reading the night away all week. I know you’re still feeling troubled inside, but do you really think this is the way to cope with it? Staying up all night without getting much sleep for a whole week doesn’t sound very healthy.”

Twilight’s eyes stopped gazing over the words written on the pages in the book before her. She turned her head to face him, and he could see just how drained she looked. The bags under her eyes and her exhausted expression could attest to that. It wasn’t even just sleep that was affecting her train of thought. She felt as if her mind was in a heated battle with an inner demon, and the enemy looked just like the monsters that attacked Apple Bloom in the Everfree Forest that night. The guilt she felt from letting that incident happen was coming back bit by bit. Even worse, she pictured yet another demon, but she was rather ashamed to see what exactly it resembled. She really didn’t want to believe that it looked just like a furious Applejack. With all of these things going on in her mind, it was no wonder how she didn’t feel like sleeping.

But at the same time, she knew Spike was right. Beating herself up mentally and emotionally wasn’t going to make things any better, and she didn’t want to punish herself for it either. She closed the book and removed herself from the chair, yawning afterwards. “You’re right, Spike. I should probably turn in early, get some actual sleep this time. Thanks for looking out for me.”

“Of course! A good night’s rest should do you wonders.”

Twilight stepped away from the desk and headed up the stairs, mentally thanking Spike for getting her back on track. With the sun having just gone down, bringing the night in all its nightly glory, Spike decided to clean up a little for a few more minutes before getting some sleep himself.

While the moon rose into the deep blue of the night sky, Applejack sat on her bed and stared down at the floor as if there was something to watch there. Her hind legs hung off the side of the bed and her forehooves rested upon her lap, while her signature cowpony hat laid on the blanket next to her. Her door was left ajar, but she hadn’t really noticed. She looked like she had seen better days. Minutes passed, but it felt like hours to her. At some point, she finally laid her head down onto the pillow and slowly closed her eyes, succumbing herself to the peaceful bliss of sleep.

The morning felt like it came so quickly. As per usual, Applejack found herself working the fields. Before bucking the apples out of the trees, she went to go check up on the crops. Naturally, Applejack found herself pulling out the vegetables out of the ground like it was a normal workday.

She kept at it for ages, going down the field until she noticed the area in front of her was suddenly full of trees. This wouldn’t have been a problem if it weren’t for the fact that they weren’t apple trees, but rather the same kind of trees that made up the Everfree Forest. She walked into it and found herself suddenly surrounded by that very same forest.

“What in the hay is goin’ on around here?” Applejack asked out loud to whoever was out there.

Things would only get worse from there, as right after she spoke, she heard what sounded like the scream of a filly. What made it ominous is the fact that it sounded familiar to her.

“Apple Bloom? Is that you?” she called out of impulse. Applejack knew Apple Bloom was no more, but hearing that voice after such a horrible ordeal left her wondering if she really was hearing her little sister.

Just then, the voice screamed yet again, but Applejack was sure it sounded just like Apple Bloom this time. Her ears picked up the sound of hooves and rustling leaves some distance away to her left. She wasn’t sure if that was really her sister, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

“Don’t worry, sugarcube! I’m comin’ to get ya!” Applejack sprinted to the place she swore the voice came from, where she would finally be reunited with Apple Bloom. Her legs swiftly carried her through the forest, her heart practically thumping out of her chest.

Eventually, she came upon a clearing, but she couldn’t believe the scene she saw before her when she arrived. Right there, standing just a few feet in front of her, was a yellow filly with a red mane and tail, along with a pink bow atop her head. After seeing this, she didn’t know what to believe anymore. Unless her memory failed her suddenly, she clearly remembered Twilight informing her of Apple Bloom’s death. There was no way she could’ve been lying about something so serious.

“A-Apple Bloom? You’re alright!” she exclaimed as she galloped toward her litter sister, her eyes full of relief and joy. She was too focused on wanting to hug her sister that she didn’t notice the pair of glowing eyes peeking out of the darkness of the forest to her left.

Before Apple Bloom herself could even react to her actions, the creature from which the eyes belonged to leapt out from its hiding place and landed between the two ponies. The glowing eyes belonged to a dark purple equine-like monster, but the red eyes weren’t the only unnatural thing about it. It had claws on its hooves, a scaly underbelly, fangs as sharp as stakes, and every now and then, a few small flames came out of its mouth, as if that was normal for the monster’s respiration. Moreover, the monster was roughly three times Applejack’s size.

“T-Twilight?!” Applejack reacted in shock. It was the most nightmarish version of Twilight one could imagine. “Dear Celestia, what happened to ya?”

“What does it matter? I’ve shown you my true form!” Twilight growled in a devilish voice. “It’s just you and me, and we know how that will end, just like your little sister.” It was now that Applejack noticed something else: The amount of blood on Twilight’s fangs and hooves.

“Twilight... what did you do...” Applejack noticed that Apple Bloom disappeared as soon as Twilight arrived.

“She was so fun to play with. Begging me to spare her life, running as fast as she could. You should have seen her crying. But you? You’ll be the most fun I’ve ever had!” Twilight lunged right at her at a speed that could rival even Rainbow Dash. Applejack rolled out of the way just fast enough to avoid the attack, but just barely.

Once she got her bearings, she found Twilight turning around to lunge at her again. She scrambled to reach the monster first, and put everything she had into bucking her in the face as hard as she could before this beast could do any more harm. But something happened along the way.

Applejack was prepared to kick Twilight in the face again, only to find the monster suddenly frozen like a statue out of nowhere. “What in tarnation?”

As she wondered what was going on, someone joined her in the forest. The sound of hoofsteps could be heard coming from just behind Applejack. Just when she thought her troubles couldn’t get any worse, she saw a silhouette approaching her from the darkness of the trail she came from.

“Clearly, I was needed here,” the taller figure spoke in a quiet and refined demeanor as it revealed itself to the scene, finally stopping itself next to Applejack.

“Princess Luna! What are you doing here?” Applejack asked, rubbing the back of her head in confusion. “Lemme guess: you’re here because you heard about what’s goin’ on, right?”

“Indeed. I heard of your tragedy, and I give you and your family my condolences. But I hear reports of your strained friendship with Twilight, and I had to see this problem for myself.”

Applejack snorted. “It’s Twilight that’s got the problem, not me. I ain’t got nothin’ wrong with me,” she huffed as she kicked some of the dirt below her.

“Do you really find it normal that you imagine one of your best friends as a demon that killed your little sister in your dreams?” she asked as she pointed to the petrified demon in front of them. “Wouldn’t others be deeply disturbed to find out that this is what you imagine in your sleep?”

That got Applejack to stop in her tracks. “When you put it that way--”

“No,” Luna interrupted, nearly stomping the ground below her hooves. “I did not need to put it that way for you to see your error. It should have been obvious before I said it.”

“But... she should have protected Apple Bloom!” Applejack snapped back, tears welling in her eyes. She really didn’t want to sass a princess of all ponies, but this was getting more personal. “It wasn’t right! She could have kept my sister in good hooves and she didn’t. And I’m never going to see my sweet little sister again as long as I live, and it’s her fault. It’s all her fault.”

“I’m sure Twilight was doing the best she could trying to find Apple Bloom when she was separated from her,” Luna reassured. “Surely, she told you this?”

“That ain’t all she did. When she came back from the forest and I asked her about Apple Bloom, she lied right to my face! I detest lyin’ more than anythin’ else. As if that wasn’t enough, she puts it off on me, tryin’ to get me to apologize for the way I’m actin’ about the loss of my own little sister. No. No, I-I won’t... I can’t... she took my sister away from me...”

She was fully broken down by now. The tears wouldn’t stop, staining the soil below. She breathed heavily from all the emotions rushing at her, the emotions she always felt but refused to show to anypony. It was then that she felt something soft cover her backside. She saw Luna sitting next to her, a wing wrapped over her. The alicorn was showing compassion for her, even after all that. Applejack didn’t react to the embrace. She just stayed there and let her heart cry out.

“Do you know what it’s like to lose your sister?” Applejack asked in the middle of her tearful melancholy.

“In a way, yes. I was separated from my sister for a thousand years, but I know it’s nothing like this. I cannot say I know what it feels like, but I sympathize with your grief regardless of that. But you know what I’m going to say next.”

Applejack nodded hesitantly, then looked down at the ground. “You’re going to tell me the way I’ve been actin’ about this is all wrong.”

“Yes. But I do not merely wish to lecture you. You’ve had enough of that. I want to show you something you need to see.” Princess Luna waved a hoof in the direction of the demon Twilight, and it suddenly disintegrated away, leaving behind a purple door with Twilight’s cutie mark in the center. “I want you to see what’s inside for yourself, for you are not the only one suffering deeply from this.”

Applejack gulped at the thought. Surely, it would involve Twilight, but did she even want to bother? She didn’t want to even look at the unicorn right now, let alone see this side of her. But then again, an all-powerful blue alicorn was standing next to her. There wasn’t really a choice here. She gathered up her strength and came to the door. She grabbed the door handle with a hoof and pushed the door open. What was inside was a bright white aura, and she stepped inside to see what she was in for.

She found herself in a forest, not unlike the one she was in before. However, this one was much more inviting than the one she dreamed up, but there was still a sense that something wasn’t right. Maybe it was in the trees or the colors everything had, but she did not want to be here. It was a dream here, though, so she came up to see what was there in this place. She didn’t see anything for a while, and thought Luna might just be showing her pretty trees.

The silence would soon be interrupted by a cry echoing throughout the forest. It didn’t take her long at all to recognize its voice. Of course it had to be Twilight. This was her dream after all. Even in a dream, Applejack did not want to see her, but she knew she had to. Luna would want that. It was the reason she brought her here.

She came up closer and closer to the source of the crying. Eventually, she found what she was looking for. Twilight was sitting on the ground, all alone with tears soaking the fur on her cheeks. She only stared at the thing she was holding in her hoof, unaware of the two ponies approaching her. It was impossible to see what she was holding from far off, so Applejack came up to see what it was. Upon closer inspection, she could see a piece of red fabric. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it came from Apple Bloom’s trademark bow, something Applejack would recognize anywhere.

“It’s all my fault... it’s all my fault...” Twilight started to speak. “Applejack is going to be so upset with me... they’re all going to be upset,” Twilight wept. “And they should be. She was in my care, and I let her down... what am I going to tell her...”

Applejack didn’t know how to react. She just stared at Twilight, and she felt nothing. Not because she didn’t actually have emotions to this scene, but it was like seeing a disaster for the first time. But she didn’t have time to react. All of the sudden, the same white light came back again, and it consumed the entire forest. The next thing Applejack knew, she and Luna reappeared back in her own dream.

“What in tarnation just happened?” she demanded to know.

“Twilight Sparkle woke up. What you experienced was the moment when her dream ended,” Luna explained.

“We were just in her dream?” Applejack questioned. It sounded very unbelieveable to her, to know that she just saw another pony’s dream.

Luna nodded to confirm her suspicion. “She does not spend much time dreaming in the first place, and I imagine she woke up crying from what she relived, as she has done several times before.”

“Several times? What are you sayin’?”

“This is not the first time I have visited her dreams since Apple Bloom’s passing. Every time I go, the dream never changes. It always ends the same, too, with her waking up mere minutes into the dream. I have urged my sister to come to her aid, as she desperately needs it. But given what I have heard about recent developments, I knew you needed to see this.”

Applejack paused for a long time after that. “I don’t know whatcha want me to say, Princess. I can’t just look at that and tell you what I’m thinkin’ just like that.”

“I understand. It’s a lot to take in. But know this: no matter what you see in her actions, this is what she is truly feeling in her heart. This is the real her. Know her guilt, know her sorrow, and if you ever come across her again, keep what you’ve seen in mind.”

“Do you think I’m not sufferin’, too? I’m hurting real bad from this.”

Luna closed her eyes and sighed quietly. “Yes, but Twilight didn’t kick her friend in the chest like you have.”

That got Applejack to stop in her tracks. She had to admit, that peeved her off a little. “Don’t take the high road on me, Princess, you don’t know--”

“I don’t claim to know,” Luna interrupted. “As I said before, I will not pretend I know what it’s like to be in your hooves. What I want to do is for you to know what Twilight feels, see the whole story. How you respond is up to you. If you still do not wish to talk to her again, at least you can do it from a place of knowledge and not ignorance. I hope I have done my duty in the regard of enlightenment. Farewell, Applejack.”

With that, Luna lifted off from the ground, disappearing into the night sky. Everything else disappeared in the dreamscape soon after, and the next thing Applejack knew, she was looking up at the ceiling to her bedroom. It took her forever to adjust to being back to the real world. Everything she saw in her dream, it felt so real. Mainly because, from the sounds of it, Twilight’s dream was based on what was real. She still needed time to process this.

She spent the rest of the night awake, doing just that. If she saw Twilight again anytime soon, she wasn’t sure how it was going to go.

Memorial Crusade

The following day was just like any other. With all the citizens of Ponyville getting back to their lives shortly after the memorial, it was almost as if nothing happened. Of course, the fractured friendship between Applejack and Twilight wasn’t something that could be easily ignored, but nopony felt like they could do anything to further help them. Applejack would only deny her need of help, and Twilight only tried to mask her feelings to anypony outside her closest friends. Tensions were high between them, especially for Applejack.

Things felt even more different whenever anypony saw a certain pair of two fillies that always hung out with each other. Whenever they saw the cuteness of the white unicorn, curly pink and lavender hair and all, or the orange and purple pegasus in all her brash glory, they were always reminded of the missing link of their small group, the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

To Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, even school seemed so different without Apple Bloom. She was always one of the more enthusiastic fillies there. The teacher, Cheerilee, wasn’t even sure what to do with the now-empty seat in the middle of the classroom, especially since all the students always preferred to sit in the same seats. It didn’t feel like much of a bother to her, so she decided to keep it there in the case that there was ever a new student.

Sometimes, whenever the students talked amongst themselves or did any sort of work, Cheerilee looked upon that seat and thought about the circumstances that led up to Apple Bloom’s unfortunate passing. Why? she would ask herself sometimes. She was so young... too young. She deserved to live a rich, fulfilling life.

Most of the students felt sympathy toward the two remaining Crusaders, but like most everypony else, they all moved on back to their own daily lives. Even with the tragedy still fresh on their minds-- it had only been a week ago since it happened, after all-- school was still school, so they all passed through the day just as if it was any other.

When school was finally done for the day, all the students left the classroom, going off to do whatever fillies and colts like them did these days. Sweetie Belle was even heading off to her own trivial pursuits when Scootaloo caught up to her by the entrance.

“So...” the pegasus began to start, “there’s uh, something I wanted to say.”

“What is it, Scootaloo?” Sweetie asked as she stopped to turn to her friend, who was just getting on her scooter.

“Oh, not here. Meet me at the clubhouse,” she answered as she put on her helmet and flapped her tiny wings rapidly, kicking the ground below her scooter to accelerate herself out of view. Sweetie wanted to ask something else, but it would be a fruitless task now that Scootaloo left her sight.

“So, it’s finally happening again,” a voice said from behind her. Sweetie Belle knew that voice anywhere, and she really didn’t like hearing it sometimes. The source of the voice eventually made its way in front of her, belonging to another filly. She was an earth pony with a pink coat, her hair a light purple with a large white streak running down the middle. A cute tiara was perched atop her head, and it matched her cutie mark.

“What are you talking about?” Sweetie asked, her brows furled downward out of annoyed anticipation for what was about to come.

“What else could I be talking about? I meant you and your fellow blank flank friend going off to try to find your cutie marks,” Diamond Tiara answered with a bit of snark. A grey earth pony filly with silver hair, cyan frame eyeglasses, and a decorative silver spoon for a cutie mark stepped out from Sweetie’s other side, wearing the same smug expression her friend was wearing.

“That is what you used to do before Apple Bloom kicked the bucket, so to speak,” Silver Spoon added. The unicorn filly wasn’t looking very surprised by their attitude, especially Diamond Tiara’s.

“I actually don’t know if that was Scootaloo’s intention when she told me to meet her at our clubhouse.” Sweetie Belle looked back toward the road. “But we can’t grieve for her forever. She wouldn’t want that. Part of being a Crusader means never giving up, even when facing hard times. And we haven’t given up yet. We’re going to keep going, no matter what, not just for our sake, but for Apple Bloom’s too. She would want us to keep at it, I know it.”

“Aww, that’s such a sweet story,” Diamond Tiara interjected, her face basically telling Sweetie that she was unmoved by such deep words.

“You know, you could at least pretend to care,” the white unicorn huffed.

“Who says I don’t care?” Diamond Tiara scoffed. “With her gone, it means one less blank flank to be better than.”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. She really didn’t want to hear any more of Diamond Tiara, especially if she was going to disrespect her dead friend. Sure, this was Diamond Tiara, after all. This sort of behavior was to be expected toward her and her two friends. However, with Apple Bloom’s departure from the land of the living, it felt more personal to her. She just couldn’t stand it.

In fact, she didn’t even want to say anything else to the bully. She simply sighed and walked herself out of the schoolyard without a word, her head hung low. To anypony else, this would’ve been a disheartening sight to see. But Diamond Tiara frowned without another word.

“I think you touched a nerve,” Silver Spoon commented after being quiet for a little while. The pink filly simply rolled her own eyes.

“Oh, please. She’s just being dramatic,” she said as she waved a hoof in the air.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Just think about it; their best friend is gone, and every day this past week, they looked like they’ve been trying to put on brave faces. You may have set her off just a little.”

Diamond Tiara turned toward her best friend and pointed an accusatory hoof at her. “Don’t tell me you’re actually pitying her.”

“No, not at all!” Silver Spoon replied with a defending hoof held up in front of her. “I’m just saying... maybe we should give them a break, just for a little while. Take it easy on them, you know?”

A few seconds passed between Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The former stared back at the latter intently for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Though I can’t say I like it.”

Regardless, the two fillies left the schoolyard, moving on to better things.

A few minutes later, after a brief stop in Carousel Boutique, Sweetie Belle made her way toward the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. It had been a whole week since she last set foot inside. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both weren’t really in the mood to do any crusading with the tragedy that occurred to one of the trio. In that time, they only went on to do other things.

But things were slowly returning to normal, and Sweetie figured that Scootaloo went to prepare yet another meeting. Just in case, she picked up her cape in Carousel Boutique prior to leaving for the clubhouse. Even if there wasn’t going to be a meeting, she figured it would be a bit more convenient to have her cape there anyway.

When she finally arrived and entered the wooden one-room building, she found the orange pegasus standing behind the podium in the back of the room, breathing a sigh of relief.

“There you are,” Scootaloo said as she gestured her hoof outward. “What took you so long to get here?”

“Sorry,” Sweetie apologized as she stepped closer to the podium. “I stopped by Carousel Boutique to pick up my cape. You know, just in case you were planning on holding a meeting here.”

“Ah, so you caught on,” Scootaloo suggested, pointing a hoof toward her, then pointing it upward in a proud manner. “Yes, we are having a meeting; the first meeting since... well, you know.” Scootaloo would be lying if she said the matter didn’t bother her somewhat, but she reassured herself in her mind that things would turn out alright.

“I have to admit, it’s going to start feeling weird around here without Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Yeah...” Scootaloo sighed as she lowered her hoof, then stepped down from the podium. “I have something to show you. Part of this meeting was for this reason.”

This came as a surprise for the unicorn filly. Usually at these meetings, they would discuss their plans for earning their well-deserved cutie marks. This was a well worn routine for them, so that was exactly what she was expecting. What she didn’t expect, however, was the sight of a curtain hung onto the right side of the north wall.

“What’s this?” Sweetie asked as she gazed upon it.

Scootaloo walked over to it, grabbing onto the bottom with a hoof. “Just something special I did. I got some help from Rainbow Dash. I wanted it to be a surprise. Tada!” she exclaimed as she forcefully pulled down on the curtain, yanking it off the wall. Sweetie Belle could only gasp as she looked upon what looked like a large, framed picture of all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was at least twice their size

Sweetie couldn’t help but shed a few tears. It felt like forever to her since she last saw Apple Bloom. Seeing the joyous smile on the yellow earth pony in the picture caused her to smile back in reminiscence. As memories flooded her thoughts of the three hanging out, getting into ridiculous antics just to get their cutie marks, and overall just being the best of friends, she rubbed the tears out of her eyes with a hoof. “Scootaloo... this is perfect. If she were still around, she would’ve loved this. I couldn’t think of a better addition to our clubhouse than this.”

“I knew it would be great!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she stepped away from it to admire it herself for a few seconds. In that time, the two fillies held a moment of silence for their fallen friend, a moment that seemed to last forever. At least, it felt that way. As soon as she was sure enough time had passed, she turned around and trotted to the opposite wall. It held a large sheet of paper with pictures of various things, some of which were crossed out.

“Alright, let’s get down to business. It’s just the two of now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t stop trying to get our cutie marks!” she said, causing Sweetie Belle to turn toward her. She looked up at the talent board-- at least, that was what they called it sometimes-- and saw most of the pictures crossed out. They ranged from things like a baker’s hat, most likely something to do with baking, to a plant, no doubt it was botany. The only thing that was left uncrossed was, coincidentally enough, an apple. Or rather, a group of three apples.

“Seems the last thing that’s here has to do with apples,” Sweetie noticed while pointing a hoof at said apples. Yet, something felt familiar about it. After staring at it for a few seconds, she figured out what it meant. “Isn’t this Applejack’s cutie mark? What’s it doing on our talent board?”

“Obviously it means we should do something in Sweet Apple Acres that’ll lead to us getting our cutie marks!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Sweetie Belle had to admit, with what Applejack had been going through, that the plan sounded pretty good.

“You know, that actually sounds like a great idea!” she chirped, hopping up and down twice.

“Of course it does. Now come on, let’s head out to Sweet Apple Acres!”

Both fillies giddily high-tailed it out of the clubhouse, dashing their way toward Sweet Apple Acres. This was bound to be either the best plan ever, or a total disaster, as things sometimes ended up.

It wasn’t fun taking a break on a day like this for Applejack. Not a break per se; she just wanted to refresh herself. It wasn’t going to take too long, she was just having some cider before getting back to work. Thing is, there was so much stuff for her to do. She didn’t want to waste a second doing anything but work, but her body wouldn’t take it. So there she was, leaning back on a chair in the dining room and drinking a tiny glass of cider, while her hooves took their sweet time getting less sore.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. One in the afternoon. Just five more minutes and break time was over, back to occupying her mind with work, work, work. It was the perfect antidote to everything going on around her, as she was back in her element. Once those five minutes passed, she sighed blissfully. It didn’t take long for her to get back on her hooves to the next task for the day.

She grabbed an empty basket and headed out for the fields for an old fashioned apple bucking. Nothing like kicking a tree right in the middle of its trunk. The farmpony went to the first tree, but something was weird about the image in front of her. The tree already had all its apples taken down, and three baskets full of apples greeted her. Big Mac must have gotten to that one first.

No matter, she could handle the next tree along the way. Thing was, she saw the same thing in front of her, baskets full of apples. That was when something felt off: Not all the apples came down from the tree. Some of the apples that did wind up in the basket were rotten and full of worms. She sighed and tossed away all the rotten apples, and she bucked the last good ones down where they belonged. When she finished up and went to the next tree, she narrowed her eyes.

“What in tarnation... somepony’s pullin’ a prank on me.”

Over half of the apple fields had baskets full of apples, and it was the same story every time; not every apple on a tree was in a basket, and some in the baskets were rotten. She knew Big Macintosh wasn’t behind this. He was never that sloppy on his worst day. Well, it was time to fix this image.

Applejack finished the chore after a while and crossed it off her mental list. The next chore to tackle was feeding the chickens in their little pen. She went down that way and hoped Big Mac did this chore right, assuming he was the one leaving the apple trees in such a mess.

Her jaw dropped when she saw the state of the chicken pen. There was a hole the size of Rainbow Dash’s ego on the side of the building, and it was “patched” with duct tape. Some of the chickens lost their feathers and looked terrified for their lives. Chicken feed was scattered all over the ground.

“Heavens to Betsy, what happened here?” Applejack wondered. “Big Mac, this better not be you doin’ all this funny business.” She rolled up her metaphorical sleeves and got to work with some plywood and a little bit of confidence. Seeing just how much work she found herself having to do filled her with determination.

A half hour later, the pen was good as new, and the chickens were grateful to have seed that wasn’t forced down their throats. “This is gettin’ ridiculous. When I get to the barn, I better not be seein’ the cows walkin’ on walls or anythin’ like that. Things are bad enough as it is.”

She went over to the barn to do the next thing on her mental list, milking the cows, but she heard something as she approached the structure. It was muffled at first, but she pressed her ear to to the door to hear the commotion as clear as day.

“This is stupid! I can’t believe I’m doing this. How do you even do it when you have hooves?” one light, yet raspy voice grumbled.

“We’re doing this for Applejack, remember? And who knows? This might be your special talent,” a more feminine tone responded.

“I doubt I’m getting my cutie mark in farm stuff at this point, but I’m still going to do this. Anything to make Applejack happier.”

Applejack rushed to get the barn door open. Sunlight flooded the room to reveal a floor covered in milk, with cows running and mooing all over the place. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shielded their eyes from the burst of light hitting them, and they were covered in sweat and mud.

“What in the hay is going on around here?” Applejack demanded. “You two left that big hole in the chicken pen, didn’t you?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other like they were caught committing a crime. “We can explain,” Sweetie Belle started.

“Yeah, this isn’t what it looks like at all!” Scootaloo sweated.

“I better hear some answers, lickety split. I dunno what you were thinkin’, but you left a pretty good mess out there.”

“We heard you were having a really hard time after Apple Bloom’s... you know,” Sweetie Belle trailed off. Right away, Applejack knew where this was going.

“And we felt really bad about it, too. She was a really good friend and fellow Crusader,” Scootaloo sighed.

“So we got together and thought we could keep looking for our cutie marks and help you out by doing your chores for you,” Sweetie followed.

“It would help you out around the barn, and it would make you feel better. Right?”

Applejack paused for a good minute. This caught her completely off guard and it took her a minute to process it, though that slight glare she had before never left her face as she listened to their explanation. After a while, she took a breath and calmly rounded up the cows into one corner without a word.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other in confusion. They expected one of two reactions: gratitude for the thought, or anger over the mess they left in their wake. Her actual reaction was something they didn’t see coming. The Crusaders came over to Applejack to get a better read on her.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Scootaloo asked.

“Look, you might have left a big mess I had to clean up, but I appreciate the thought,” Applejack said as she put the cows back into their respective pens. “Y’all got some big hearts, and I admire that. Apple Bloom would be proud.”

“Thank you!” Sweetie Belle gleamed. “I thought for sure you were going to be--”

Applejack interrupted her with a snort. “But I’m not gonna let you help me out with my chores after the messes you two left me to fix.”

Now Scootaloo was confused. “Wait, I thought you were--”

“It’s great when friends like to help each other out. But I can do this all by myself, and it’s my work. Ain’t nopony going to tell me I can’t get it done in when I’m going through this.” Applejack’s face was completely devoid of emotion as she got the last cow where it belonged, then she opened the barn door further. “I want you two to get back to your clubhouse or whatever you were up to before this, and I’ll be fine here. You don’t be needin’ to do anything else around here today.”

Tears started to swell in Sweetie Belle’s eyes. “But I thought you would like it...”

“I do, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t need it like you think I do. Now, you two best be gettin’ along now.”

Sweetie Belle turned back to Scootaloo. Scootaloo wasn’t handling this any better than her, but it was clear they couldn’t do anything else. She kicked the ground and joined her fellow Crusader out of the barn. They glanced at Applejack, down and depressed, before they went on the path leading back to Ponyville.

That left Applejack alone with the cows in the building. She adjusted her hat and brought out the broom. The mess they left behind would take some time to clean up, something she wasn’t happy about. Still, it was a nice thought. That don’t make it a good idea, either way, she thought as she sighed, beginning to sweep up the mess.

She spent the next hour cleaning up the barn and finishing up the rest of her chores, save for bucking the apples. She figured she could start doing that again tomorrow. It was an hour before dinnertime when she finished up her last chore, but she was going to have to eat later. There was something else she planned on doing today after her chores.

Within minutes, Applejack headed out into the streets of Ponyville toward the other side of town, toward the Everfree Forest. There were other ponies around, and though they saw her passing through, they paid no mind to her. That is, except for one pony, who walked over to her side with a smile.

“Hi Applejack,” Fluttershy greeted politely as she walked beside the orange mare with a saddle on her back, her bags filled with different vegetables.

“Hey there, sugarcube,” Applejack greeted back, her mood lifted up just a little from seeing a friend. “What’re ya doin’ here?”

“Oh, I was just heading out to pick up some food for Angel and myself,” she answered as she looked to one of her bags. “He can be a little demanding at times, but I don’t really blame him. I’m happy to get him whatever he wants... within reason, of course. What about you?”

“I’m headin’ into the Everfree Forest,” Applejack responded without hesitation, causing Fluttershy to gasp.

“T-The Everfree Forest? W-Why are you going there, Applejack...?” she asked with a worried expression.

“Don’tcha fret none. I’m just going to talk to Zecora. That’s it. This whole time, I’ve only had all the answers from Twilight. I was wonderin’ if Zecora had anythin’ to say. Perhaps she saw somethin’, or maybe she even has a different story to tell.”

“O-Oh... ok,” Fluttershy timidly squeaked, deciding not to question it any further. She was visibly concerned for her friend, but Applejack was a tough pony, and she knew that. “I’ll just head back home, then. Angel’s probably waiting for me and this food. A bunny’s got to eat, you know?”

Applejack knew Fluttershy just didn’t want to follow her into the Everfree, but with the forest’s scary and dangerous reputation, it was probably for the best. Besides, she didn’t really need the timid pegasus to tag along anyway, and simply nodded to her response. “I’ll see ya later, Fluttershy,” she said as she kept walking.

“Bye, Applejack. Hope you find the answers you’re looking for,” Fluttershy said as she turned in another direction, heading back to her cottage to feed her hungry little bunny. Unbeknownst to either of them, a filly emerged from behind a nearby building, having heard everything from their little conversation. She watched as Applejack resumed her trek to the Everfree Forest.

“Ooh, now this is interesting,” the filly, none other than Diamond Tiara, snickered as she followed Applejack, trying to stay out of sight as best as she could. “Maybe I can finally get a few answers about how things really went down with Apple Bloom.”

The filly chuckled mischievously, wondering if this plan of hers would really work. In the midst of her thoughts, she noticed that Applejack was getting even further away. She quickly picked up the pace while remaining out of sight. As for the distressed mare, she wasn’t sure if Zecora had the answers she was seeking, but she was surely going to find out.

Ah Hate Zombies

Deep in the darkness of the Everfree Forest, a small, young earth pony filly was running for her life. She was scared out of her wits as a group of monsters chased her out of a seemingly scary town in the middle of the dark forest. To think that such monsters existed. The filly never thought that she would ever be running away from something that was believed to only be in legends and myths.

Namely, she was running away from zombies.

Nearing the only exit of Sunny Town, Apple Bloom looked ahead, and her ears perked up in relief upon seeing the entrance. Finally, she could escape from this horrible nightmare come true. She didn't want to overstay her welcome any longer than she had to. However, she heard voices coming from behind her.

Screeching to a halt out of fear, she slowly turned her head back to notice two more of those monstrosities pursuing her. She recognized one of them as the fast-moving zombie that chased her just before reaching the front of the town.

"All we want is friendship," one of the zombies spoke with a raspy voice. "Don't leave, the others won't like it."

Earlier, Apple Bloom met all the ponies that lived in this tiny village. The only two ponies she knew were together, and coincidentally in this area of Sunny Town, were Roneo and Starlet, the two ponies whom she helped bring together. At least, they weren't ponies anymore.

"No! Ah ain't stayin', not with you guys!" the filly yelled in distress, backing away from the two as they approached her. The closer they stepped, they more frightened Apple Bloom became.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, she heard the ground shifting behind her. She became alarmed by the sound, and turned around to face yet another zombie pony rising from the ground.

However, this one looked much different than the others. All of the zombies she had seen so far were nothing but pitch black, but this one was a very dark red color. If anything, Apple Bloom thought this one could be their leader, or perhaps the strongest one or something that made this one more special than the others. She was doomed now, but as soon as she was about to scream in horror, the new zombie spoke up.

"Fools... even in death, they do not understand. I should have protected her, but I made my choice."

"H-Her?" Apple Bloom questioned shakily. She wasn't so keen on talking to the enemy, but this one didn't seem to be after her like the others. In fact, it was looking at Roneo and Starlet.

"My daughter, Ruby." the red zombie answered, turning to the surprised filly. "The skeleton you saw in that fireplace belonged to my daughter, Ruby. The day she earned 'the mark', they killed her." Her eyes glowed fiercely upon saying 'they' with emphasis. "Because of that, this curse descended upon Sunny Town, turning us into these hideous creatures you see now."

She turned back to Roneo and Starlet, and saw three more shadows in the distance approaching, narrowing her eyes.

"This is our everlasting punishment... what we deserve."

The other three zombies stood by the other two, but one of them stepped forward. "Mitta, what are you doing? Convert her now!"

The zombie mare now known as Mitta turned to Apple Bloom, pointing a hoof backwards towards the path away from the village. "I would explain more. but there's no time. Now run. Run for your life."

"Mitta!" The zombie ahead spoke out angrily, his red eyes glowing even redder. "Convert her now!"

Mitta did not move. She stood her ground next to the cringing Apple Bloom. A small touch from Mitta's hoof alerted her, and she gulped, turning away and running for dear life.

"So you're going to protect her, but in the wrong way..." The zombie shook his head in disapproval.

"Shut your mouth, Grey Hoof. It was about time you all stopped converting innocent wanderers. This isn't right!"

Grey Hoof scoffed, rolling his eyes, which would've been noticeable if they had pupils. "It doesn't matter. The others will see to it that she'll be converted, and then she'll be protected, forever!"

"No!" Mitta yelled with a hoof stomp. "I am not allowing another filly to be killed by the likes of you! Ruby already suffered that fate, and I had to watch... that filly will not be converted if I have anything to say about it."

"But you don't have control over the nightmares and bonefiends. Observe."

Grey Hoof stomped a hoof on the ground while his eyes shifted from a dark red to a deep black.

"Now let's see if the filly manages to escape. We will protect her from the dangers of the outside world, especially the mark!"

Ignoring the incredible shock of seeing something so disturbing, Apple Bloom ran into the depths of the Everfree Forest, relieved that she didn't have to face those things again. But she was sure to have nightmares about them for weeks now. Once she was sure she was far enough from the entrance, she slowed to a halt to catch her breath.

"Thank... Celestia... for that red zombie..." Apple Bloom said between breaths. "Ah don't think Ah would've made it out alive if it weren't for her. Guess they all ain't so bad after all."

She stood there, contemplating what she just said about hideous undead creatures trying to 'convert' her and offer them their 'protection'.

"On second thought, yes they are, but with one exception. Still, Ah ain't goin' back there ever again. Ah gotta get back to Twilight..."

As soon as she took one step forward, she heard moaning coming from either side of her, as well as behind her. The ground started to move around as well before more zombies rose up from the dirt. Their glowing red eyes glared at the filly, who backed away even more before tripping on a small rock, landing herself on her rump.

She groaned as she rubbed her backside, but as soon as she looked up, one of the zombies stood directly in front of her.

She screamed in terror as she looked at the detailed features, most notably the pitch black coat, parts of the zombie's skeleton protruding from its stomach area, and even its rotting teeth with a sickly tongue hanging out. It pounced forward to try and catch Apple Bloom, but she reacted quick enough to slip away from its reach.

She immediately ran away, and they chased behind. Fortunately for her, her adrenaline made her quicken the pace, making her outrun her attackers. No matter what, they still chased her, intent on making her one of them.

But those three were the least of her worries. No matter where she turned, more zombies popped up to block her path.

"Don't leave. We want to protect you," they spoke to the escaping pony.

They were slow moving compared to Apple Bloom's slightly increased speed. That still didn't help, as more kept showing up every few seconds.

"J-Just how many of these z-zombies are t-there?!" Apple Bloom stuttered between breaths as she rounded a corner, narrowly avoiding another one.

She stopped as soon as she faced a crossroad with three paths. One had to be the way she came, but one of them had a lighted trail on the ground.

"Oh, no y'all don't," Apple Bloom spat. "Ah ain't fallin' for that trap. No way, no how."

Ignoring the lighted trail, she returned her attention to the two remaining paths. She shuffled on her hooves as she looked between both, thnking hard on the decision.

"Oh, what do I choose, what do I choose?!"

Her ears perked up once more as the zombies behind her approached rapidly, their undead hooves rustling through the leaves and twigs. She shrieked as she sped toward the path on the left.

However, her bow got caught on a stray branch from one of the smaller trees. She pulled hard to try and free herself. She didn't want to be caught by the zombies, so she tried her hardest.

Just when all hope seemed lost, she broke free from the branch and ended up on the ground, her bow ripping in the process. Part of it was left hanging on the stray branch.

Apple Bloom quickly rose up from the ground and ran through, the zombies giving chase. When they all disappeared, the glow from the lighted path dimmed down, and a mysterious grey mare emerged from it.

"Where is she going...? She's going to be trapped!"

"Apple Bloom?" a lavender unicorn called out in the darkness of the Everfree Forest. "Where are you, Apple Bloom?"

Twilight Sparkle had been trotting her way through the trees, dirt and flowers, intent on finding the little earth pony filly who had been traveling with her earlier. She had finally moved away the couple of broken down trees that had been blocking their path earlier, but when she looked back at Apple Bloom to tell her the good news, she was nowhere to be found.

Since then, she made her way down the path at a breakneck speed towards Zecora's house, hoping that Apple Bloom made her way back to the foreign zebra's hut. When she found her way there, guided by a light conjured up by her magic, she immediately burst into the hut, startling the zebra who had been mixing up a potion in her giant pot.

"Twilight Sparkle! Do you want to find trouble? You and Apple Bloom must hurry home, on the double!"

"Zecora, there's no time!" Twilight breathed out in huffs. "We were about to leave when a bunch of trees blocked our path, and when I cleared them out, Apple Bloom was gone! I need your help to find her!"

Zecora's eyes widened in surprise. "You have lost the filly? I hope you are only being silly..."

"If I was joking, do you think I would be here instead of in Ponyville with Apple Bloom?"

"You must find her, and make haste! There isn't time to waste, for there is danger I am sure. Do you remember what I said earlier?"

"Something about darkness, right?"

Zecora shook her head, and looked at Twilight sternly. "Thank you for delivering what told, but you do not want to remain for the events that will unfold. Hurry back to Ponyville you two must, for the darkness this night you cannot trust."

"So she IS in danger!" Twilight yelled, much to the dismay of Zecora's ears. "I have to go find her now!"

Before the zebra could offer a rebuttal, Twilight rushed out of her hut, leaving a trail of smoke in her wake. Zecora sighed as she turned back to her mixture, a worried look on her face. "She may already be too late... Apple Bloom may have already met her fate..."

Twilight galloped through the trees, breathing heavily as she jolted her head left and right for any sign of Apple Bloom. She couldn't bear to feel responsible should anything happen to her. She already regretted bringing the young filly with her. All she did was turn her back to get rid of a few fallen trees, and suddenly she was gone. That filly was too curious.

She stopped as soon as she found two other trails near her, but something she saw made her gasp in surprise. Her horn glowed, and a small pink cloth floated over to her from one of the lower tree branches.

"Apple Bloom's bow! She must've went this way!"

She immediately made her way through the dark passage, ignoring the fatigue she was experiencing from running so much. No matter what, she was going to find Apple Bloom and bring her home. But the path was so dark compared to the earlier paths. She used her magic to conjure up another orb of light, which illuminated the area in front of her immensely.

This made it much easier to see, but didn't help lighten the situation any further. She still had to find Apple Bloom. She wasn't going to give up, even if it meant she had to spend a few hours in the dreaded Everfree Forest.

But now, that was no longer necessary. Just as she was about to call out her name, Twilight found a light coming from up ahead. Hopefully, Apple Bloom was still up there. Twilight quickly made her way toward the light only to come across a clearing blocked on all sides by trees and thick bushes. And directly in the middle of the clearing was something Twilight saw that shocked her even further.

Apple Bloom was in the direct center of the clearing, but she was surrounded by six hideous creatures that looked like nothing more than undead ponies. The young filly saw Twilight as she was cowering in fear, and reached a hoof up.

"Twilight! Help me outta here!"

Suddenly, the group of six pounced on the filly, attacking her and presumably tearing her to pieces. A loud shriek could be heard coming from the pile for a few seconds, and after a little while, it suddenly stopped. Twilight couldn't bear seeing this, and her horn glowed fiercely, and all six of the zombies floated upwards. A large beam of magic shot forward from her horn, obliterating each one into nothing.

Twilight's biggest concern now was Apple Bloom. But what she saw could possibly scar her for life. Apple Bloom was lying on the ground, but she had massive cuts all over her body, blood gushing out of every opening. Not only that, but her natural yellow coat had somehow turned into a pitch black color, even the parts that weren't bloodied. Her bow contained many rips and tears, but was not completely torn apart.

"A-Apple Bloom... I was too late..."

Tears started to form in Twilight's eyes, knowing that this was all her fault. Her heart ached in emotional pain from seeing one of her best friends' little sister, dead. She laid there for what seemed like minutes. She sobbed into her hooves in front of the now dead Apple Bloom, part of her hating herself for allowing the filly to follow her into the Everfree Forest. How would Ponyville handle the news, or the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or even the Apple Family? How would Applejack take the dreadful news?

Suddenly, the ground started to shift around Apple Bloom's body, and it started to slowly sink into the ground. Twilight lifted her head only to see part of Apple Bloom's head sticking out. "Apple Bloom...?"

She reached her hoof out, to no avail. By then, all of Apple Bloom sunk down into the ground, leaving nothing but a confused and scared Twilight Sparkle in the middle of the clearing.

A smile curled up on Grey Hoof's repulsive face. "They have done it."

Mitta raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Who's they? And what are you talking about?"

"The nightmares and bonefiends. They captured the filly and have successfully converted her themselves."

Mitta gasped in shock, but the other Sunny Towners had evil grins upon their faces. They now had another addition to their small town.

"T-That can't be true! She had to have escaped!" Mitta retorted in anger. "I made sure she wouldn't fall by the likes of you, Grey Hoof."

"Are you sure?" Roneo spoke from behind Grey Hoof. "We can all feel when anypony joins us, or is otherwise converted. You must've felt it, too."

Mitta bared her teeth, knowing the truth stung, but was too afraid to admit it. As one of the zombies herself, she could feel when somepony has turned into one of them. There was no doubt in her mind that the young filly she saved turned out to be caught anyway.

Two more zombies approached from behind the group, evil grins on their faces as well. "The filly was captured?" one of them questioned.

"Yes, Gladstone. She's one of us now. Mitta tried to help her escape, but all was in vain."

"How fortunate for Sunny Town to have another addition," the one next to Gladstone added. "And a filly at that. Reminds me of those hundred years back when we got rid of the marked one..."

"Shut up, Three Leaf!" Mitta yelled in frustration, and tears began to form from the memory of Sunny Town's cursed dark origin. However, what were her tears was actually blood streaming down her dark crimson cheeks.

"That filly was my daughter. All she did was find her true purpose in life, what gave her life meaning... and like the monsters you all are now, you murdered her!"

"We had to, Mitta! That mark she received was a curse, and you know that!"

"It was no curse! What happened before with our great grandparents was nothing more than a mere illness. It could've been cured. They also believed it was contagious."

"Which it was..."

Mitta stomped a hoof in anger, glaring at Grey Hoof with malicious intent. "Silence! It wasn't contagious. But since they believed it was due to some of the ponies getting it all at once, even though it was nothing more than a mere coincidence, they left Sunny Town to fend for themselves. They were never heard from again."

"Save your breath, Mitta. We heard that lie of a story over a hundred times. None of that is true. The mark is a curse, and we had to get rid of her, or else she could've spread it to all of us, even you. We could've let her go out into the forest, but you didn't want to let her leave."

"She was my daughter, and she was just a filly. She couldn't fend for herself in the forest!"

"That's exactly why we had to get rid of her. To get rid of the mark."

"The mark was no curse. It was actually a blessing. Look what your actions caused all of us. We're all these hideous creatures, forced to be isolated in this town, and with no true purpose. That is the real curse here."

Next to Roneo, Starlet circled her hoof beside her head to indicate Mitta's nonsense, and Roneo snickered. They all believed she didn't know what she was talking about, and Grey Hoof was going to get the last word in.

"That's enough, Mitta. We've heard it all already, and don't want to hear it anymore. In fact, you should be happy. You wanted to protect the filly. Now you can protect her... forever."

His eyes glowed a brighter red, and the dirt between him and Mitta started moving around. She wasn't startled, but she knew what was coming next. After a few seconds, Apple Bloom reappeared before all of them, but she was now a zombie. Or at least, half a zombie. Parts of her skin still had large cuts and slashes, blood gushing out and staining a lot of her now black coat.

She approached the dead filly with dread, her mind once again reminded of the murder of her daughter. She simply closed her eyes and hung her head in remorse.

"Don't feel bad, Mitta," Grey Hoof said, noting her expression. "I said you could protect her now that she's been blessed by the Blanks. But she isn't fully blessed yet."

He turned toward Roneo and Starlet. "Roneo, Starlet, take our new friend with you and finish her off. Three Leaf, take Mitta home. I think she's had enough for tonight. We'll give the filly a proper welcome to Sunny Town tomorrow morning."

Grey Hoof then turned and walked back to his house. Roneo and Starlet nodded, walking up to the deceased Apple Bloom. Starlet lifted her body and laid it atop Roneo's back. Once they made sure she was secure on his back, they made their way to Roneo's house.

Three Leaf gave a heartfelt smile toward Mitta as she held a hoof out, but she swatted it away. "I don't want your help. Just because I'm the oldest one in Sunny Town doesn't mean I'm too old to care for myself. I'm still young. I just want to go home and cry myself to sleep."

She sulked as she turned away from Three Leaf, her undead hooves dragging on the dirt ground. She didn't want to see any of her friends for the rest of the night, if she could even call them friends anymore. She didn't want to become part of the curse that came with Sunny Town's killing of her daughter. Moreso, she didn't want her daughter to be murdered in the first place, curse or not. She felt alone, even with the others living in the small town.

And now that Apple Bloom was captured, she too would have to suffer being one of them. Mitta felt guilty about letting her get caught by the nightmares. She knew the filly couldn't stand a chance against them, and she let her go anyway. She felt responsible for not preventing the deaths of two innocent fillies now, and it was weighing down on her heart even more than earlier in the day.

Once she reached her house, she slammed the door shut, and impressively hard at that. She had a lot of strength, even as the oldest mare in the town, but that didn't matter anymore to her, though. She just slumped onto her bed and pulled up the covers.

Across the room from her was another bed, presumably the bed of her daughter. She didn't want to get rid of the only reminder of her daughter she had, even after that fateful day she was murdered. The memory never left her mind. And as she was staring at it, she could hear the sounds of Roneo and Starlet finishing off Apple Bloom's transformation in the other house. She had enough for the day, and simply closed her eyes, blood tears staining her pillow.

Crouching Twilight, Hidden Apple

It was still dark out. The moon shined brightly in the sky, but the view of it was covered by the thick trees of the dark Everfree Forest. Fortunately for Twilight Sparkle, she made it out without running into trouble.

However, she still had trouble to deal with. She entered the dangerous forest with Apple Bloom, but came back without her. The horrible sight Twilight witnessed back in that clearing may have been the most terrifying thing she had ever witnessed in all her life.

"Poor Apple Bloom... why did I give in to her pleading? Why did I let her follow me into the Everfree Forest when I know how dangerous it is to a filly like her?"

At the last thought, she shuddered at the terrifying memory. "Why did I leave her to be mauled by those zombies...? How could I be so careless?"

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the tears that were emerging from her eyes. She knew that this was all her fault.

"I... I can't imagine how Applejack will take the news, or even Big Macintosh or Granny Smith..." She looked ahead down the trail leading back into Ponyville. Twilight knew she had to tell them, but she wasn't looking forward to the heart-wrenchingly painful faces she knew she was going to see.

Her hooves moved shakily as she tried to move them, partly due to everything she just went through in that small time, but also from the hesitance of seeing the Apples' reactions upon giving them the tragic news. But she had to face them whether she wanted to or not.

She built up the courage to force her hooves forward, and make her way towards Ponyville, then the Apple Family home in Sweet Apple Acres. It didn't take very long, as she galloped her way there. She wasn't in any sort of rush, but after what happened, she didn't care much about her fatigue.

When she finally made it, she was somewhat surprised to see another pony in the center of the town, walking around everywhere. "Huh? Who else would be outside at this time of night?"

Twilight made her way forward to meet the pony. When she got closer, the other pony saw her and trotted toward her to meet halfway. Upon further investigation, the other pony was an orange mare with a blonde mane and tail, both wrapped in ponytails. Upon her head was a large brown hat. There was only one pony in town that fit that description.

"Twilight!" Applejack called out, finally catching up to the lavender mare. "Ah've been lookin’ all over for ya! Well, not you specifically. Ah was gonna ask you earlier if ya seen Apple Bloom. It's already nighttime, and she still hasn't come home! Ah'm worried sick about her."

Twilight gulped. There Applejack was, already getting straight to the big question. It was now or never. She had to answer her.

"Well, I did see Apple Bloom earlier..."

Applejack beamed and sighed in relief. "Good heavens! Where is she?"

"Apple Bloom is... uh..."

Twilight wanted to just come out with the truth right then and there, but she was too scared. Her hesitation was preventing her from speaking, and the pause was getting a bit too dramatic. That's when Applejack raised an eyebrow, wondering what was taking so long with the answer.

"Come on, Twi. Ah ain't got all night."

"Alright, alright." Twilight breathed in through her nose, and out through her mouth to calm herself down.

"Apple Bloom... is staying with me at my library."

Way to go, Twilight. Somehow, Applejack was buying it though.

"Oh, that's it? Ah talked to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo earlier. Apple Bloom was with them before, but they parted ways some hours ago. About an hour and a half before sundown, if Ah recall. Was she with you the whole time?"

Of course Apple Bloom was with Twilight, but she knew they were doing more than just hanging out together.

"Yes, she was. And she asked if she could stay at my place. I hope you don't mind."

"Sure Ah don't! Ah trust you completely with my little sister."

Twilight felt her heart drop from hearing that. If she was to be trusted, she definitely wouldn't lead a filly into a death trap. Not only that, but she was now lying to said filly's big sister. The guilt was building up inside her, and it was eating at her from the inside. But she figured she'd tell Applejack and the rest of the Apples the real truth after a good night's sleep.

Just before she could say her farewell, Applejack noticed wet spots under Twilight's eyes. Her mane wasn't in the best shape either.

"Sugarcube, are you alright? You don't look so good."

"What, me? I'm fine... nothing's wrong! I'm just tired from a fun afternoon with Apple Bloom! Tell you what, I'll come by Sweet Apple Acres in the morning. There are some things I want to tell you."

"Well, alright. But listen, if ya got a problem, Ah'm always here for ya."

"Thanks, Applejack." Twilight sighed in relief. She didn't have it in her to lay out the truth then and there. She figured she would wait until they were all well and rested before the news was dropped.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Have a good night, Applejack."

"Good night to you too, Twilight."

Both mares waved each other off before going their separate ways. When Applejack was far enough away, Twilight looked down in distress.

"I can't believe I lied in the face of one of my best friends, especially about something so important. The Princess would be ashamed of me big time if she knew about this. I just... I didn't know what to do. I panicked!"

She stood still for a moment, looking around. Applejack was long gone by now, and nopony else was around.

"And now I'm talking to myself. I really need sleep..."

Just then, a window from one of the nearby buildings opened up, followed by a white unicorn with a sleep mask over her horn peeking her head out.

"What's with all the yelling out here? Can't a mare get some beauty sleep?"

The sudden voice startled Twilight, but when she looked up, it was only Rarity.

"Sorry, Rarity! I've just had a long, restless night. I'm going home now, so you can get back to sleep."

Rolling her eyes, Rarity slipped her head back inside and shut the window to resume her 'beauty sleep'. As if the fashionista didn't already care enough about her looks.

Without any other mishaps, Twilight made it to her home safe and sound. As she entered and closed the door, her magic flicked the lights on. The main floor of her library looked mostly clean, save for one spot on one of the bookshelves where a certain baby dragon was sleeping with his head on one of the books.

Yawning, Twilight picked up Spike with her magic and placed him on her back before turning off the light and walking up the stairs.

"Sorry, Twi..." Spike started muttering in his sleep. "But Rarity is the most beautiful... no offense, heh."

Twilight stopped in her tracks, wondering what that was about. But since the dragon was asleep, and she was deadly tired, she didn't bother to question it and kept walking. She opened the door to her private study, which also doubled as the bedroom. Using her magic one last time, she placed Spike in his little bed beside her own bed and tucked him in comfortably.

She then climbed onto her bed. For a few seconds, she was staring at the ceiling, recollecting the memories of the past moments. Twilight was now wondering how she was going to explain Apple Bloom's disappearance, how she followed Twilight into the Everfree, how Twilight turned her back for one second and she was gone, and how she spent time looking for her only to witness a few zombies maim her to death.

And all after Applejack was fed a lie, making it seem like everything was completely fine when it was the total opposite. All of the guilt was killing her inside.

"I can't deal with this anymore. First thing tomorrow morning, I am going to Sweet Apple Acres, and I'm going to tell them everything that happened. But I need sleep first..."

She made one final yawn before closing her eyes, and she finally drifted off to sleep. But her fears weren't over yet.

Back in Sunny Town, all of the zombies were pretty excited. After all these years, they finally caught a young pony. Not one of them seemed upset at the slightest. At least, all but Mitta, who cried herself to sleep at her failure to yet again protect another filly from certain doom.

In Roneo's house, said filly rested upon a makeshift bed made from leftover blankets and a spare pillow. There laid Apple Bloom, but she was no longer the young earth pony she used to be.

Though the large cuts on her body were patched up and no longer open, she still looked far from normal again. Her coat turned a sickly light black color, and her bow was tattered with slight rips and a few holes. What probably looked like the most repulsive feature were the sharp teeth that somehow replaced her normal ones that could be seen whenever her mouth was open. Unlike the other zombies’ teeth, they were somewhat smaller in comparison.

Standing beside the bed was Roneo and Starlet, looking down upon the newly zombified filly in happiness.

"Starlet, my dear, we have done it!" Roneo stated in a triumphant manner, swinging an arm around his marefriend.

Starlet smiled as well, leaning her head against his neck. "We have. The filly is one of us now. Mitta tried to protect her. Now Mitta can protect her, forever."

Apple Bloom stirred around a bit, life returning to her body. First, one of her ears twitched upon hearing their voices. Then a light moaning sound came from her mouth, followed by the tightening of her eyelids. They opened a bit while her head rose a few inches above the pillow.

"Huh... wh-where am I...?"

She tried to look around, but her vision was heavily blurred. Her head felt heavy as well, and she couldn't feel her hooves. Before she could speak again, she fell unconscious once more, and Roneo and Starlet frowned.

"Oh right, newly-formed Blanks need hours of rest first," Starlet remembered.

"That's alright. Grey Hoof said we can give her a warm welcome to Sunny Town in the morning. She'll fit in real nicely."

"If you say so..."

They watched as Apple Bloom quickly drifted back off to sleep.

Surprisingly, sleep wasn't much different than it was when Apple Bloom was her normal self. She still felt comfortable sleeping on the blankets like she did back at her home in Sweet Apple Acres. The only difference is that her mattress was made out of blankets, but they were still comfortable nonetheless.

She didn't have problems sleeping despite the horrors she witnessed and even experienced that could've manifested into nightmares, so she slept comfortably all through the night for the whole eight hours or so.

Even without the light from outside coming up yet, Apple Bloom woke up just as easily, now having all her rest. The young filly rubbed her eyes as she sat up and jumped off her 'bed'. She looked around with squinted eyes, trying to gain familiarity with the room around her, but nothing looked the same as she remembered it.

"Did my room move around? Ah probably had a worse nightmare than Ah thought and Ah'm seein' things..."

She rubbed her eyes again to get rid of the weird hallucinations, but after checking again, they were still the same.

"Nope, they're still there... now Ah know somethin's up."

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion before she looked around once more and spotted a large mirror placed against the wall in one corner of the room.

Apple Bloom figured she may have looked dreadfully tired, and walked up to the mirror to check. Her eye twitched at the image she saw before her. She still resembled a zombie, but she didn't recognize it those few hours ago because she was asleep. Seeing it now made her freak out.

"W-What happened to me?! Why do Ah look like this?! Am Ah still havin' a nightmare?!"

She took the time to look closely at her features, even though she was utterly disgusted by them. Her coat was all black, her mane and tail looked ruffled and pale, and her eyes glowed red.

"I-Is this me... as one of them zombies?" She touched a hoof to the mirror, and as she saw her reflection match her movements and looked at her own black hoof, she gasped at the revelation.

"It wasn't a nightmare after all... Ah really am a zombie!"

The only thing Apple Bloom thought to do at this point was run around the room and scream her lungs out. She was terrified of the situation she was in, and even though it was nighttime, she didn't care if she woke anypony else up. As far as she was concerned, there probably wasn't anypony else where she was.

As soon as a realization hit her, she skidded to a stop. "Wait a minute. If I'm a zombie, then does that mean..."

She turned her head toward the window. Luckily for her, there was a nearby cardboard box she could use to reach up to it. After walking to the box and pushing it under the window, she proceeded to climb on top of it. It was a bit difficult to do though, considering her slightly new body, but she quickly managed to climb on top.

Peeking her head out the window, she saw broken down buildings, destroyed plants, broken fences, and the trees still gave off a creepy vibe like they did earlier. It looked just like it did right after Apple Bloom saw that skeleton in the fireplace.

“Ah’m still here… so they did get me! This isn’t a dream, it’s real! Ah’m still in Sunny Town, which ain’t so sunny after all…”

She jumped off the box and landed on the floor with a hard thump. Her head was buried in her hooves as she quietly sobbed to herself. Just then, light poured in through the window, heading towards the crying filly. As soon as the light covered her whole body, her whole body started to change.

Her coat swiftly shifted from its bleak black to its natural yellow again. Her pale red mane changed once more to bright crimson. Her sharp teeth even turned back to normal pony teeth. And Apple Bloom could feel the changes, as she rose her head to see her yellow hoof once more.

“Huh? What happened? Am Ah… back to normal?”

She looked back to the window, but covered her view with one of her hooves to prevent herself from going blind by the morning sun. Her ears perked up as she heard a knock coming from behind her, and she turned her head to face it, seeing a yellow stallion with blue hair.

“Good morning, little filly! If you don’t mind, now that you’re awake, Grey Hoof wants to see you.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Hey, you're that yellow pony from before. The one Ah gave a ruby to."

"Yeah, I know. Please follow me, little filly."

The pony turned around and exited the building, leaving the door open for Apple Bloom. She contemplated on whether or not this was a good idea, but it wasn't like she had another choice. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she scurried her way out the door, closing it on the way out.

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter didn't seem like much. It's just set up for a really important chapter.

Welcoming Party

Apple Bloom had made her way back to the entrance of Sunny Town after being separated from the friendly apparition known as Ruby. The whole thing still freaked her out, but the lighted path the ghostly filly left behind kept her eyes concentrated on her destination.

Three Leaf had been getting a drink of punch at the snack table, when she saw Apple Bloom returning from her little trip into the forest. Her smile grew wider as she turned toward the others in the square.

“Hey Grey Hoof, she’s back just like you said!”

Everypony turned toward Three Leaf to see the filly walking toward them. They all started to come to her, wondering what she had been up to.

“Had fun?” Grey Hoof asked, to which Apple Bloom looked up.

“Nothin’s fun out there,” she responded before she walked past him, but she was stopped by Roneo and Starlet, though the latter of them stood slightly back more.

“Apple Bloom, you don’t really look well,” Roneo said as Apple Bloom was stopped in her tracks. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

While it was true that she had indeed seen a ghost, she couldn’t really tell them about what she saw and even interacted with. At least, that’s what she thought. She knew that they didn’t like Ruby, so if they knew about her ‘existence’, they may have done something drastic. And she didn’t want that.

“Ah didn’t see nothin’ out there. Nothin’ but trees and leaves and stuff.”

Three Leaf approached her with a cup of punch in her hoof, carrying around an expression that oozed happy vibes. “Well, want some punch? It’ll cheer you right up! I made it myself, and it’s really, really good.”

“No thanks,” Apple Bloom replied, pushing it away with a hoof. “I ain’t thirsty for anythin’ right now.”

Just after she said that, her stomach grumbled loudly. She didn’t have anything to eat or drink in a while, and she couldn’t deny that it bothered her a bit. She looked back at Three Leaf, the cup of punch still sitting in her hoof as her smile remained on her face. Apple Bloom sighed and took the cup in her own hoof and lifted it up to her lips. They parted slightly as the red liquid slipped past, traveling downward into her throat and refreshing the filly’s body.

She lowered the cup and looked back at the green mare, who was eagerly awaiting an answer. “So? How is it? Good? Great? Grand? Magnificent? Impressive? Thirst-quenching? Refreshing? Invigorating? Revitalizing? Bracing? Energizing? Stimulating? Exhilarating? Rejuvi-”

Before she could go on, Gladstone stuffed a hoof into Three Leaf’s mouth, shutting up the endlessly chattering mare. “Excuse me dear, but if you wish for an answer from the filly, let her speak. Your eternal blabbering prevents her from uttering a word. No offense.”

“Mmmkuh,” Three Leaf responded, his voice muffled through Gladstone’s hoof. He removed his hoof after he was finished, turning to Apple Bloom.

“It’s fine…” she commented meekly. “I’d hate to ask, but ya got any food too? Ah’m kinda hungry, and Ah haven’t gotten anythin’ to eat since Ah, well, got stuck here.”

“Oh, but of course we do!” Grey Hoof exclaimed, as he pointed a hoof toward a few tables a few feet away. Lined on the table were many choices of foods such as cakes, flowers, pastries, crackers, chips, and other assorted snacks and party favors. Apple Bloom walked up to one and grabbed what appealed to her more at the moment, as Grey Hoof smiled even more.

“She doesn’t seem to be that comfortable with us,” Roneo spoke up. “Why are you happy about that, Grey Hoof?”

“Oh, well it’s pretty simple,” Grey Hoof started as he led Roneo to another table filled with even more snacks. “She seemed pretty nervous around us at first. That we can understand, seeing as she is starting a new life with us here in Sunny Town.”

He grabbed a cup and started pouring some punch into it. “She seemed hesitant to say many things to us. Sure, she spoke her mind at times, but she was unsure of herself. But did you see her just now?”

Just as he finished pouring his drink, he directed Roneo’s attention to Apple Bloom, who took a small piece of cake from the table and was already taking small nibbles of it while she looked around the Sunny Town Square, taking in the bright scene of her surroundings.

“Just think about the way she spoke to us. The way she reacted. It didn’t lack as much calmness as it did before.”

“Are you saying she’s getting used to being one of us?” Roneo asked as Grey Hoof took a sip of his drink, letting out a breath of invigoration.

“Well, it will take a while, I am guessing. Those before her who had been blessed with our gift gave in to us and our town, and our beliefs. They accepted us Blanks and became one of us without question once they had received it. But little Apple Bloom… I sense that she is different, in a way.”

“Different how?” Roneo asked.

“Didn’t you notice anything strange about her while you and Starlet ‘finished the job’ last night?” Grey Hoof answered with a question of his own. Roneo put a hoof to his chin and pondered just what Grey Hoof could have meant.

Ten seconds passed before he shook his head. “I have no idea, Grey Hoof.”

“Try to figure it out, then. If you can’t, ask your marefriend. She was there, too.”

Before Roneo could get another word out, Grey Hoof trotted away toward Gladstone and Three Leaf. He couldn’t figure out what Grey Hoof had meant by that. What did he mean by ‘Did you notice anything strange about her?’ That was a question that was buzzing around in his head, and he didn’t like it.

Something did make sense, though. Apple Bloom wasn’t like any other ponies they converted over the years. He just couldn’t figure out what, but if anypony besides Grey Hoof could figure it out, Starlet could. She was the smartest pony in Sunny Town other than the aforementioned stallion. He trotted his way toward his beautiful marefriend, Starlet.

“Hey babe,” was all it took for the timid mare to jump in shock so much that she spilled her own cup of punch on the ground. She turned to see Roneo, and took a moment to collect herself.

“Roneo, be careful next time,” she responded as she picked up her cup from the ground. “You scared me half to death!”

“Sorry, Starlet,” he apologized as he led her toward the table with the punch bowl. “I didn’t mean to scare you. You know I would never do that on purpose. But… something Grey Hoof told me has me wondering something, and I think you’re the only one that could help me figure it out.”

“Oh… well, whatever could it be?” She wondered as she started to refill her cup.

“It’s about Apple Bloom, our newest member of the town.”

Starlet suddenly stopped pouring her drink and exhibited an expression of timidness. “I don’t… I don’t have to talk to her, do I? I-I’m not so good with t-talking to new ponies…”

“But you have no problem chasing after those when we’re forced to convert during the night.”

“B-But that’s different,” she said as she stared into her cup. “During those times, I am only focused on making them into one of us, since that’s what Grey Hoof wants. Other than that, I’m rather afraid to talk to ponies I don’t know…”

Roneo smiled and wrapped an arm around his marefriend’s neck in an attempt to comfort her. “Don’t worry, Starlet. I will always be there to help you whenever there’s a new face to meet, just as I always have.”

In response, Starlet nuzzled her head into Roneo’s neck, smiling warmly as she took comfort in her coltfriend’s presence. “Thanks.”

“Besides, I didn’t mean anything about talking to Apple Bloom anyway. Something else Grey Hoof said has me wondering about her that we have to figure out.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Roneo looked back at Apple Bloom once more, squinting his eyes at the filly. “He said that she was different than all the other ponies we converted in the years, somehow.”

“She is?” Starlet asked as she looked in Roneo’s direction, taking note of Apple Bloom herself, as if to sense something.

“That’s what he hinted at. He said there’s something strange about her that we could’ve noticed while you and I were ‘finishing the job’ last night.”

“You mean when we were completing Apple Bloom’s conversion that the Nightmares and Bonefiends didn’t finish up?”

Roneo nodded his head in agreement. Starlet pondered this, and turned toward Roneo’s house where they took Apple Bloom’s body the previous night. She could remember the whole night well, from Apple Bloom’s entrance into Sunny Town to the filly’s conversion itself.

“Well, you know how every time we give a pony our gift, their eyes glow red like ours?”

“Yeah, I know about that.”

Starlet turned to face Roneo again with an unsure expression. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but before her eyes glowed red, they turned yellow for a brief moment.”

“Yellow?” Roneo questioned, noting how strange such a phenomenon was. “That can’t be. They glow red.”

“I am sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me at the time,” she argued. “They did glow yellow, for whatever reason.”

“When I think of yellow eyes, I think of…”

Roneo paused. His eyes stared hard at the ground, and all he could think of was the grey filly from Sunny Town’s past. She had yellow eyes as well, and he could not forget it. But he couldn’t link Apple Bloom to that filly. It just didn’t make any sense to him. She was just a stain on the past of their beloved town, and in no way could be linked to another filly in present time.

“It must just be a coincidence…” he muttered.

“Excuse me?” Starlet asked as she stared at Roneo, confused as to why he looked zoned out. When he came back to his senses, he faced Starlet once more.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“You were thinking about the Cursed One, weren’t you?”

Roneo stood silently for a few seconds, realizing his marefriend caught on to his thoughts, and he sighed. “Yes. She does have yellow eyes. But I refuse to believe that those two fillies are connected in any way. It’s just coincidence! That’s it, just a coincidence, and nothing more.”

Starlet nodded in understanding, and turned towards the rest of the square, where she spotted the rest of the ponies continuing with the party. “We still have a party going on. I think it’s best we keep enjoying it.”

“Yeah, it would,” Roneo agreed as he picked up his own cup. “Grey Hoof’s parties are the best. Hope Apple Bloom is enjoying it as well. She’s going to have to get used to it around here.”

Apple Bloom was busy talking with the extrovert green mare, Three Leaf. Well, she tried to get a few words out, but Three Leaf kept going on nonstop without a break.

“So you ever hear about Roneo and Starlet? These two are so close, their hold on each other is stronger than glue! And I would know. I tried to pull them apart once to see if I could, and I couldn’t! But I could pull apart things that were put together by glue, no problem. Like once, I accidentally glued Gladstone and myself together. It’s was a real pickle to try and get us separated, but I figured it out eventually! I can figure out a lot of things, actually. For example, did you know that adult male ponies tend to have more teeth than adult female ponies? It’s weird, but true! And I checked it out, too. I counted how many teeth I had, and how many Gladstone had, and he definitely had more, and so did Roneo! Though, Gladstone did say--”

“Can ya stop, please?” Apple Bloom groaned, covering her ears with her front hooves and wanting the endless chattering to stop. “Ah can’t take it anymore.”

“Three Leaf,” Gladstone spoke up from behind Apple Bloom, “maybe it would be best to calm down on the talking? Remember, we’re trying to make Apple Bloom feel comfortable here.”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll try to control myself. I guess I’m just too excited.”

“It is alright. I know you meant no harm.” Gladstone looked down at the cowering filly, discouraged at what Three Leaf was doing to the poor child. “But choose your tactics wisely. Let her talk. Maybe she has something to share.”

Apple Bloom looked up at Gladstone as he backed away to give her some room. She stood back up, but her face remained looking down at the ground. “Thanks…”

Gladstone picked up on her tone of voice, and leaned his head in. “Is something the matter? Is there anything I can help with?”

“Gladstone is a great lending ear,” Three Leaf cut in with a cheerful smile. “You got a problem, you can tell him all about it, and you can be sure that you’ll always feel better after a bit of talking with him.”

“Three Leaf suggests that I try to become some sort of psychiatrist or something…” Gladstone said before he waved a hoof in a silly manner. “Like Three Leaf said, I’m but a lending ear. Any friend would do the same.”

Apple Bloom’s thoughts turned to Applejack. Her big sister was the one pony she could count on the most when she needed someone to listen to her troubles. She was a great help, and most of all, she loved Applejack very much. The two were very close sisters, and no force could’ve broken such a strong bond between family.

Apple Bloom hadn’t been too long away from her sister and Sweet Apple Acres. She figured it had been about twenty hours since then, due to the position of the sun in the sky, though she was careful not to blind herself with the intense rays of the sun. She couldn’t stop thinking about her and the rest of her family, and what happened to Twilight after her unsettling fate.

Meanwhile, Grey Hoof’s attention was received by Gladstone after a poke on the shoulder. “Grey Hoof, I am sorry to bother you, but something concerns me.”

“What is it, Gladstone?”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t invite Mitta to this party? At least to try and cheer her up?”

The normally cheerful Grey Hoof shifted to a more neutral expression, then turned away. “She wouldn’t want to come. She doesn’t really like any of us anymore, and to try and ask her would be fruitless. I wouldn’t mind her company, really. But knowing her, she wouldn’t come, even for Three Leaf.”

“I understand that…” Gladstone took a pause, then resumed. “But you’ll never know.”

After another brief pause, they both chuckled jokingly. Another pony could hear them some distance away, and was not so much amused by the fact that they referred to her in such a way, even if it was true.

“Fools,” Mitta said, standing just behind the corner of a building, watching the party with disdain in her expression. She knew what they were celebrating with this party, and she disapproved of it. She wouldn’t have minded any of Grey Hoof’s normal parties, but knowing that this one celebrated yet another victim of the curse brought upon Sunny Town, she couldn’t help but hate Grey Hoof even more because of it.

Her ear twitched as she heard barely audible hoofsteps treading the grass behind her. “Three Leaf, I know you’re behind me.”

Three Leaf went unhappy after hearing that. “Aww, I wanted to surprise you… oh well! Wanna join us?”

“No thanks...” she retorted in a drab monotone as she turned around. “Grey Hoof’s parties sicken me. At least, this one does. I’m not happy about what you all did to that filly.”

“But that’s what we do. I mean, she’s even the first filly we ever got to join us! We hadn’t had a filly here since, well…”

“No!” Mitta replied sharply. “Don’t mention my daughter. I’ll never know the joy of love ever again because you all took it away from me. I used to have a family… now I have nothing.”

“Oh, I get it now. Hey, maybe Apple Bloom can replace her. Then you two can be happy again!”

Mitta huffed before walking away. “Nopony, not even that filly, can replace my little Ruby…”

Three Leaf watched as she was left by herself. She just simply shook her head and rejoined her friends at the party.