It was the wonderful night of Nightmare Night.
Celestia's sun was nearly set, Luna's white, luminescent moon replacing it.
Over in Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was finishing packing the wagon that they were going to have Big Macintosh carry into town. Apples, candy, candy apples, and some other things for the festivities.
Pleased with her work upon finishing, Applejack exited the barn, taking a moment to admire the autumn season. The harvest had just ended, and the her orchard turned turned from its lush green to the warm colorful hues of fall. The burning hues of the trees matched the flaming sunset sky.
She heard a group of hoofbeats from her side. Looking in the direction of the sound, she found the three Crusader fillies running about.
They all looked so cheerful. Applejack chuckled as they passed her. They sure looked very excited and in a hurry. She called out after them after a few seconds.
"Hey! Where are you three goin?!"
"We're gonna go to Zecora's and see if she has anything cool right now!" Applebloom replied as the three Crusaders kept running.
"Ya'll mean yer goin' into the Everfree?!"
"Yeah!"
Applejack would not take that as an answer. "No you don't, you fillies! Git back here right now!"
"Don't worry sis! We'll be fine! I know the way!" Apple Bloom's voice started droning away as they got farther.
Applejack grumbled in frustration. The Everfree Forest was dangerous, and nothing else. During the daylight, it was slightly better, but during nighttime, there was no telling what was lurking around a pony. The farmpony would have to run up and catch them to ensure their safety.
The orange pony started running after the Crusaders. After a few minutes of following the path of the three fillies, she was finally at the entrance. Applejack took a pause to try and simmer down her own fears.
"I still don't get how three fillies can barge in there without a care, but I can't. It ain't supposed to work that way..." Then she took off into the forest. She could barely see the leaves rustle and hear the hoofbeats of the Crusaders, but she knew she had to go on. It was simply too dangerous for anypony to be in the Everfree Forest at night.
Applejack stopped running. "Darn it! I... I lost them. And I think I might be lost too..." She turned her head and tried to find any sign of the three young ones or even just a way out. "To be honest, I think I'm just worried about myself by now." Now, Nightmare Night was supposed to be scary, but Applejack sure didn't sign up for this.
She had ran in so far into the bush, mindlessly chasing after where she thought the three had went, that she was now most certainly lost. With only moonlight shining through the dense forest canopy, there was little illumination in the forest. She could only see a short distance, and it was difficult to discern any signs of disruption of foliage by her running. Her head spun, disoriented, no longer knowing from which way she came.
In a forest so large, she felt claustrophobic. Boxed in. The Everfree just seemed to close around her. With every step she took, she stepped into another prison, locked in by the ominous trees and shrubs.
Sounds echoed through the forest. Leaves rustled from animals that, to her, could've passed next to her or half a mile away; she couldn't tell. Crickets screeched with the forest's ambience; it would have been calming in any other situation, but here, it made time stretch uncomfortably.
In her pursuit to ensure the fillies were not about to run into danger by themselves, she had become stranded and helpless herself. Applejack, however was a very determined pony. She took a few moments to regain her composure, then put aside as much of her fear as she could. However, no matter how far she buried them, the innate fear of being alone in the Everfree never to be found would not stop terrorizing her.
Applejack began walking. The brush brushed against her, leaves audible in the chilling silence. Her hoofsteps were muffled against the soft earth, crunching when she stepped on twigs or underbrush.
"AAPPLEE BLOOOM!" she called out, half in worry for her sister, half in want to relieve her fear of being alone. But there was no response.
The forest remained in its tranquil, evil-like lull. Owl hoots and bird squawks echoed through the air. A manticore roared in the distance. Applejack was full with apprehension, like she wanted to just break out of her own body.
"AANYYPOONY?!" she called out in hopelessness. A few more frantic calls later, and she was on the danger of breaking down.
Suddenly, the forest's ambiance seemed to silence, a new sound taking its place. The forest rustled loudly, as if something, or things, were in a hurry. Applejack perked her ears up, her distressed mind not sure whether this was her breaking point or the point where she snapped to attention and pulled herself back together.
Barking. Growling. Howling. Running.
Timberwolves.
And they were coming closer to her direction. Maybe if she stood still, they would pass by her.
She waited, sounds of her breathing filling her ears. The timberwolves kept approaching. She could hear the bush crackle with timberwolves rushing through.
No, it would never work. They could and would smell her fear. Her hooves rocketed to motion, running as fast as she could. The timberwolves were definitely on her now.
Then a new sound broke through the sounds of her hooves, breathing, and the timberwolves growling and tearing through the bush. A scream. It was not a scream of a forest animal, but one of–
"APPLE BLOOM!"
She ran towards the sound, protective instincts taking over. She broke through more foliage to find a tiny empty area between the trees. What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.
It was the three Crusaders, lying on the ground, unmoving. Applejack didn't look long enough to see why—they could have been mauled by timberwolves for all she knew.
On this one night, when fright and terror were the themes, she could not look. Not when it was also supposed to be a night of festivities. Frozen in terror, she stared up at the sky, the luminescence of the moon barely visible through the Everfree's thick canopy.
How could this happen? Why did this happen? Was she a failure?
Locked in her place by her conscience, she was knocked back to reality when she heard a timberwolf burst out from the brush behind her. Ducking in time, the wooden wolf sailed over her. Applejack scrambled up to her hooves and was met with the sight she hoped would not have to see, yet knew she would.
Applejack was shivering in fear. Timberwolves. She was surrounded by timberwolves. The ravenous beasts, no matter how valiantly she fought, would tear her apart. She could try and fight off the pack and hope to make a run for it, but for all she knew, she could be running deeper into the forest.
The timberwolf pack started closing in on her, growling ever more menacingly... then they stopped. The wooden eldritch horrors took a few steps back, then completely turned around. Applejack kept her guard up, and as soon as they disappeared in to the fog of the forest, she turned her head back to the three Crusaders limp on the ground. She took a step towards the three when–
*whoosh*
A familiar and jarring sound came from behind the orange pony. It was a sound like a fire or smoke, and when she was halfway turned around–
"Hello, my little pony."
It was a deep, evil voice. And it was from a familiar, insect-pony-alicorn. The farmpony dared not speak a word. She turned around, face in horror, to face the Changeling queen.
"No words? No screams? Too choked up? I understand. We'll give you a moment," Chrysalis toyed with her.
The sounds of more changelings revealing themselves echoed around Applejack. Mouth agape, she returned her eyes to the three Crusaders. Or what she thought was them. In their place revealed three more changelings. Applejack was surrounded and heavily outnumbered.
"B-but why?" Applejack finally managed to ask.
"Same as last time. Except this time, I thought it'd be good to... have a little bit more fun with it." The changeling swarm started tightening the circle. Those that were not on the ground landed with menacing thumps. There was no where to run. This was–
"Welcome to the end, my little pony," Chrysalis terrifyingly informed her. "I hope you don't mind- we've been quite hungry, and would like to be satisfied more... directly."
What little Applejack could see in the dark soon turned into pitch black as the changelings jumped her. She only got out the start of a scream as she felt the horrors of getting her life sucked out of her. The large swarm fed on her love energy, but to the hopeless farmpony, it was like getting her soul sucked out. The pain from that was so much, she couldn't even scream from the ones sinking their fangs into her body and neck.
With the changelings having effectively and quite literally sucked the life out of her, they all stepped back to reveal the queen once more, malevolent grin on her face. Applejack felt pain everywhere, from the bites in her neck, to the suffocating feeling. She knew she wasn't going to be holding onto life much longer. Her breaths were short and shallow, and she felt cold and dead all over.
The last thing she saw from her fading sight was Queen Chrysalis staring down at her poor, dead body.
"Happy Nightmare Night." It was the last thing Applejack heard before succumbing to the black.
<<+>>
Ponyville was in its midst of starting their lively festivities of Nightmare Night. Little foals ran all around while the adults stood around chatting or playing some games. The sight of all the costumed ponies was truly magnificent, and brought a feeling of exhilaration to everypony.
Suddenly, somepony saw something in the sky. "Hey! Everypony! Look! It's Princess Luna!"
The crowds erupted in cheering at the arrival of the Princess of the Night. Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie went forth to greet her when she landed. It appeared this year, the Princess decided to go under her own wingpower, and instead just have her Night Guard escort her.
Twilight was the first to speak. "Princess Luna! How are you!"
"Just fine, Twilight Sparkle," the night alicorn thanked her. "Citizens of Ponyville! Your princess has arrived!"
More applause.
Twlight asked a question out loud between she and her friends. "You know, I wonder why Applejack isn't here yet. I know she'd never miss Nightmare Night. Especially with all of her friends!"
Princess Luna spoke as she took off her cloak. "Oh, I was just about to ask you something about her..."
The sounds of changelings filled the air around the entire town. They had all of Ponyville within their grasp. And before the four Element bearers was no longer Princess Luna, but Queen Chrysalis. The changeling queen took out a large object magically hidden with in her cloak, and forcefully stood it on the ground.
All the ponies took a moment to take in what they were seeing. It looked like a pony, and it was lit up. They soon saw that it was hollowed out from the inside, and was glowing with wood burning with green changeling fire. The sight of its eyes and mouth brought chills throughout all the townsfolk, with its terrifying image and green fire burning within. The four Element bearers especially didn't know what to do or even say.
"... How do you like my... Applejack-o-Lantern?"
END
Author's Note
I wrote this story exactly one year ago, on a very cold Halloween morning in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. No power, no heating. Was definitely in the mood to write this story.
However, there were holes in the story that I never finished that day (the part before she gets surrounded by Timberwolves). So, I left it alone for a year and finished it today. Insane how a year passes.
