The Spirit Within

“Why….” sobbed a familiar voice, as Twilight began to wake up.

“Wha- Ah!” Twilight yelled. startled to see the pink mare crying in the corner of the room.

“S-sorry Twil-light. I d-didn’t mean to wake you up…” Pinkie said, tears falling as she spoke.

“What’s wrong Pinkie? And why are you in my house crying?”

“H-have you not noticed that everypony is disappearing, one day at a time?” Pinkie cried, “first it was Fluttershy and Rarity. Then it was Spike. And this morning when I went to say hi to Rainbow Dash before her performance, but when I got closer to her house, I saw some nurse ponies putting a mangled mess onto a board and putting it into the carriage. I ran over to see what was going on and...and…” She stuttered.

“Please Pinkie, don’t tell me it was…” Twilight began to say, tears forming in her eyes.

“Yeah, Twilie, it w-was Dashie!” Pinkie erupted into a distraught mess on the ground, tears going everywhere.

“No….no, no, no, no….h-how could that happen….it can’t be true….it can’t possibly be true!” Twilight yelled, now crying at the thought of her dead friend.

“WH-what are we going to do? We have lost four of our closest friends, and I am scared that somepony else is going to be gone by the end of today.” Pinkie said, trying to stand up as she talked.

“I-I don’t know….I didn’t know they had all….d-died. I don’t have any memory of even seeing them the last few days…and I can’t think of the last thing I even said to them.” Twilight sobbed.

“But I told you about it all yesterday. Y-you acted as if it was all ok.” Pinkie questioned.

“What? I haven’t even seen you in a couple days. When did you tell me”

“I came over and told you that they were d-dead, and y-you told me th-that we j-just need to m-move on.”

“No...NO! I would never have said that! Oh Celestia, what will we do now? I can’t think about how things will be without them…”

“We should go find Applejack before something else happens.” Pinkie said, jumping over to Twilight. Twilight twitched, then turned to face her friends eyes.

“Hah, why would we do that?” Twilight said, staring the pink earth pony down.

“Please Twilight, we have to hurry!” Pinkie yelled, grabbing onto Twilight's arm.

Twilight quickly smashed Pinkie’s arm with her hoof, forcing her to let go. “Pinkie, do you really think that they cared about you?”

“What do you m-mean? Of c-course they cared about me. we always had fun and laughed toget-”

“Hahaha!” laughed Twilight. “They were only laughing because they wanted you to feel better. You are practically just some immature, stupid, wannabe comedy pony that is constantly irritating everyone. You think they all cared for you? News flash, little foal, they lied. They put on an act around you because they didn’t want to come right out and say that they were tired of your nonsense. They were fed up with your random actions and your impulse to sing. When you think about it, they are probably glad that they died.”

“N-no. That’s not true. They would never be like that. They would have told me.”

“You only think that because you see that it is possible. You always try to see the good parts about things, but hey, life isn’t always all cupcakes and happiness. There are times where things are bad. Your problem is that you just can’t seem to realize that.” Twilight explained.

“Th-that’s not true. I d-don’t always think that…”

“Haha, yeah, sure. Actually, since we’re talking about it, you don’t see what the bad things are, even when they are right in your face.” Twilight said, stepping closer to her friend. Pinkie began walking backwards.

“St-stop Twilight. Y-you’re scaring me.” Pinkie said.

“Oh, would you look at that! You actually CAN see when something bad is actually in front of you. Too bad it’s a little bit late for you to have a change in attitude. Maybe things would have been different if you didn’t always...giggle at the ghosties, Hahahaha!” Twilight laughed uncontrollably, still walking forward, pinning Pinkie Pie into the corner now.

“Hah, funny j-joke Twilight. You really got me goin’ there. You can stop no-”

“Here we go again. You really don’t get it, do you? You can’t just laugh things away, Pinkie. Looks like I will need to teach you that, personally.”

Twilight used her magic to conjure up a small flame at the tip of her horn. She then prodded the pink pony as she closed her eyes and pushed as far back as she could in the corner that she was trapped in.

“OW! Stop!” The earth pony shrieked.

“What’s wrong? I thought I was supposed to just disappear once you closed your eyes.” Twilight chuckled. “Did your plan fail?”

Twilight poked Pinkie a few more times, each one bringing a louder cry than the last. The coat of the Pink pony has turned as black as night in the areas where the flame had been.

“Now do you see how things work, Pinkie?” Twilight asked as she grabbed Pinkie by the muzzle. “Do you see that you can’t just wish things away?” Pinkie simply whimpered.

“Well, let’s continue with your lesson.” She said, throwing Pinkie down to the ground.

“Tw-Twilight...stop…” Pinkie Pie begged.

“Oh I’m afraid that I can’t just stop in the middle of this. I am trying to teach you something. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t actually teach my student?” She said as she picked up a few bookcases that were in the room. “Here, you will need some books for this lesson.”

Twilight dropped the bookcase on top of Pinkie’s hooves, preventing her from not only getting up, but from ever being able to walk again. Pinkie couldn’t even speak, for the pain was too intense. She made horrid noises, and inaudible attempts at words.

“Well, now that I have made sure that you aren’t going to be running away, we can finish up.”

As Pinkie was laying in a pool of her own blood, still crying and shrieking, Twilight decided to step back a bit. “This spell is going to need some room.”

Twilight’s horn began glowing with immense power. Pinkie turned her head to look at a pony that was once her friend. Just as Pinkie was about to open her mouth, Twilight launched a giant bolt of electricity, blowing the entire area up, including a little section of the upper floor.

“Oh Pinkie, why do I always have to clean up your messes for you. It’s really starting to get old.” Twilight laughed, beginning to put the bookcases where they belong. “How am I going to fix the floor though?”

After a good 5 hours, she managed to rebuild the little bits of floor that the explosion sheared off. And 3 hours of cleaning got rid of all the debris. “There, now you can’t even tell anything happened here.” Twilight said as she looked around. “I guess I should just lay around here for a bit.”

2 hours had passed before Twilight decided to wake up. “Hmm, where’s Pinkie? She was over here this morning, wasn’t she?” She asked herself. She started thinking about what her pink-coated friend said earlier, and she then froze up.

“O-oh y-yeah…..r-r-right…” Twilight stuttered, tears coming to her eyes. “I w-wond-der if Applejack knows what happened…”

She decided to go see Applejack, though she worried about how Applejack was feeling about the deaths of their four great friends. Continuing to walk until she reached the open gate of Sweet Apple Acres. She stopped and looked over at an apple tree to see her friend bucking a tree and collecting the apples, as if nothing was wrong. ‘Does she really think that working on the farm is that important right now?’ she thought to herself.

“Hey Applejack!” Twilight yelled.

“Well howdy there, sugarcube! What brings you ‘round here?” Applejack replied, smiling as she trotted over to her friend. She began slowing down when she was close enough to see Twilights sad expression. “Are you alright?”

“Of course I’m not alright. How could I be. More importantly, how are you alright!” Twilight shot back.

“Whoa there, Twi. Settle down and tell me what’s goin’ on here”

“Wait, y-you don’t know what happened?”

“No. Is something wrong with Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked. Twilight burst into tears

“Yes...something horrible has happened to them. Even Spike, Rarity, and probably Pinkie Pie have…” She broke down at that point, unable to force the two dreaded words that will haunt her forever. “They’re dead!”

Applejack froze, losing her worried expression and exchanged it for an expression of disbelief. “No, that can’t be true,Twi. It just can’t be.”

“It’s true, Applejack. I don’t want to believe it either, but it’s true.”

“B-But how? What did they do?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that someone had killed them.”

“We have to do something Twilight. What if the killer comes for us next?’

“I’m not sure. How would we figure out who it was? No pony is just going around saying ‘hey everypony! I just killed a few people!’, you know.”

“Well, I guess I should finish up the work here on the farm. Could’ya help me a bit with everything?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Twilight replied.

They began taking the apples from trees, slowly but surely. After the news about the deaths of her friends, Applejack could barely buck the trees. Twilight was using her levitation spell to strip the apples from multiple trees at once, obviously the more efficient process.

It had taken them 3 hours to finish, but they did it. “So what do we do now?” Applejack asked. Twilight twitched a bit as she turned her head to look at Applejack.

“I have no idea. Maybe we should go and check their houses for something that might help us find out who killed them.”

“Sure Twi, sounds good t’me” Applejack replied.

“Haha, are you serious right now? Do you really think that going to their houses would help?” Laughed Twilight. “You must be kidding me!”

“What d’ya mean, Twilight? What else would we be able to do?”

“Oh, don’t worry about trying to find the killer, Applejack. You should be more worried about yourself at this point.”

“You can’t tell me not to look for the killer. Whoever it was is really going to get what’s coming to ‘em. When i figure out who it was, I’m going to find ‘em and make ‘em pay.”

“Oh really? Is that what you think?” Twilight said, grinning as she stared at her friend.

“Of course, Twilight. You can’t say that the killer had a good reason to kill them. They were the greatest ponies in Equestria!” Applejack shot back.

“Well what if I told you that they were killed for a good reason?”

“Don’t you even DARE side with a killer!” Applejack screamed.

“Oh, while we’re on the topic, it would only be fair for me to tell you that I’m actually the one who disposed of those pitiful mares.”

“No. That ain’t possible. And what do you mean by ‘fair?’”

“Come on, Applejack, you should know what I mean. Since you know what happened and who did it, I can’t let you live. You will end up telling everyone, and I can’t let that happen. You’re all about honesty, isn’t that right?” Twilight chuckled.

“Sure is, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight.” Applejack replied, now bracing herself for any sort of magic attack.

“I know that, don’t worry. You see, honesty was always your strongest quality. But what you don’t realize is that honesty is also your strongest weakness.”

“What exactly do ya mean by that, Twilight?”

“You put your trust into everyone and you make sure you always tell the truth to them. Though it may be a great quality to have, it is also a horrible detriment to you. You will believe anyone and you put your trust into them. And since you always tell the truth, people can just use you to find things out about other people, including things that are meant to be kept secret. This is what has lead to your impending downfall.”

“Well I’m not goin’ down without a fight, Twilight” Applejack said.

“Oh I know that. Neither did Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said with a grin. Once Twilight said that, Applejack was enraged. She darted forward towards the unicorn in front of her.

“All of you do the same thing at the beginning of a fight. It’s starting to get old.”

Applejack jumped up when she got close enough to thrust her hoof at Twilight’s face, though it wasn’t effective. Twilight simply side-stepped and pushed Applejacks hoof to the opposite side. Applejack was prepared for that, as she spun a bit and bucked Twilight in the chest, throwing her a few feet before she fell flat on the ground.

“Hah, I forgot about that. Well done. Now it’s my turn.”

Twilight jumped up to her feet and shot a few bolts of magic at Applejack, who dodged each one and let them hit the tree behind her. Getting mad now, Twilight used her levitation spell to throw an apple basket at Applejack, including the apples inside it. While Applejack was trying to dodge all of the apples getting thrown at her, Twilight took the opportunity to shoot a bolt of magic at her. Applejack saw it and was able to roll out of the way. She picked up a rope from the ground and tried to lasso Twilight up. The rope was stopped in the air by Twilight’s magic and instead of wrapping her up, she tied it around Applejack’s hooves, preventing her from running around.

“Well would you look at that, I caught you with your own rope. How sad.” Twilight laughed.

“Get this rope off’a me, now!” Applejack yelled.

“And why would I do that? I can’t just let you go.”

“If ya’ don’t let me go, I’ll get out myself, and take you down with the same rope.” Applejack said, threatening the unicorn that she once called a friend.

“Go ahead, try. I’ll wait. It’s not like I’m in a rush to get going. I mean, there isn’t anypony left that I need to kill, is there?”

“W-When I get outta this, I’m gonna kill you.”

“Oh? DO you really think so? Please, do try.”

“Oh, you’re dead now…” Applejack said.

“Oh no! A tied up mare is threatening to kill me! What ever shall I d-Ahh!”

Twilight was cut off by a quick smash of a hoof to the back of her head while she was turned around. Applejack quickly pinned Twilight down on her back and started raining down strikes on Twilight’s face, tears flowing as she did it.

“What’s wrong?,” Twilight said between hits, “Can’t stand hitting one of your best friends?”

“Y-You’re not my friend,” Applejack replied, “not anymore.”

“Oh, that just breaks my heart. What do you think Applebloom is thinking as she sees this?”

Applejack froze for a second and looked around, checking for Applebloom. When she was done, she looked back down at Twilight and was met with a short burst of fire.

“Ahh!” Applejack screamed, covering her face with her hooves.

“Hah, you are way too easy to distract. Like I said, your trust in what others say is your downfall.”

Applejack tried to speak, but words were inaudible over her horrid screams of agony. she took her hooves off of her head for a quick second to look at Twilight, but that was one of her worst mistakes yet. As she lifted her hooves, Twilight made a bright flash with her horn, temporarily blinding the poor mare.

While the blinded mare stumbled around in an attempt to get away, Twilight prepared a special spell for her.

“You know, I’ve used many spells lately, from raw magic bolts all the way to lightning, but this is the first time that I’ve ever tried conjuring up a pool of acid.” Twilight chuckled as she concentrated on the ground behind the defenseless mare.

Twilight wasted no time to cast her spell. As she began casting it, the ground was slowly being cut into to make room for the acid that would soon fill its place. The hole was no more than 5 feet deep before the bubbling neon green liquid began filling it.

“Your bath is ready for you, Applejack. Just take a few more steps backwards.”

As Applejack heard her say that, she stopped. She didn’t know which way was backwards and didn’t want to take the risk of walking the wrong way. “No! I’m gonna stay right here! If I don’t move, you can’t do nothin’.” Applejack said, trying to sound confident.

“Oh, so you’re going to play THAT game, are you?” Twilight joked. “We’ll see who gets the last laugh.”

Twilight walked over to a basket of apples and picked some of them up.

“Ahh!” Applejack screamed once she was hit by one, knocking her back a step.

“You know, Applejack, I love playing games. I hope you’re not a sore loser.” Twilight said, laughing as she toyed with the poor mare.

Twilight threw two more apples at Applejack, who was now a single step away from falling into the pool of acid. But something was happening now, and Twilight could tell. The blindness was starting to wear off. She took a step forward now, which worried Twilight, who threw another apple at her.

“Oh no, you’re not getting away. Not after all of this.” Twilight said, angry at what is happening. She lifted the tree that she had hit with magic earlier, since it was nearly cut in half already, and tossed it at Applejack. This startled her and she had no choice but to walk backwards.

“AHH! Get me out!!! Please!!! stop this!!”

Applejack tried to hold the side of the pool, but it was to no avail. Twilight stood near the pool, just out of the reach of the mare inside it, laughing at what she watched.

“Please!! help me!! Somepony!! HELP!!!!”

The mare’s screams went on for no more than 2 minutes, for the acid had reached her stomach and could no longer utter anymore words. You could hear her shrieks of pain as her flesh was shredded from her bones, leaving nothing behind. Twilight watched in awe, refusing to blink so she didn’t miss anything. She watched as the acid slowly worked its way to Applejacks chest. At that point, she let go of the side, too weak to continue holding on. Twilight came over to the very edge of the pool now, determined to be the last thing the poor mare sees before she dies. The acid took no time at all to eat through the skin on her hooves, but in one last act of desperation and with the last bit of strength she had, she smacked the acid, throwing drops of it onto Twilight’s side.
Twilight gritted her teeth as the acid took a layer of skin off of her side where it landed. It wasn’t enough acid to cause any real damage, but it was enough to leave a permanent mark on her. She quickly returned her eyes to the mare who was being torn apart on the acid. Not much was left of Applejack other than her head now. Twilight grinned as she saw the skull of Applejack slowly become visible through the bloody mess caused by the acid. Then, the bones that happened to float on top of the acid was melted away, and the blood in it was slowly dissolving. The acid began returning to its bright green state, as if nothing had even fallen into it.

“Well, we can’t just leave this mess lying around, now can we?” Twilight said to herself, as she began casting some sort of spell. A ball of magic flew into the pool of acid and it began to drain. Once it had finished, she used a spell to drop dirt into the pit that was left, and a different one to cause grass to regrow in that area instantly.

“Good, now I guess I head home. All of the pitiful excuses for ponies have been disposed of. Now all that’s left is to sleep it off, hahahaha!” Twilight cackled, throwing her head back in joy as she began walking back into Ponyville. And, as she passed under the gateway of Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom and Granny Smith poke their heads out of the barn doors, watching in fear as the purple unicorn trotted away from the fields that were filled with smiles and happiness no more than two hours ago.

“Ah, it feels good to be home.” Twilight sighed, “without being tackled by a crazy mare.”

She decided to read about old tales of Equestria and a bit about magic, of course, for a few hours before making some dinner. “Nothing wrong with a daisy sandwich before going to bed.”

Twilight sat down on her chair and ate her sandwich in peace, something that hasn’t been existent in a few days. It was relieving to be able to sit down in silence and not worry about random outbursts of Pinkie, or the quiet noises of Fluttershy. The constant bragging of Rainbow Dash or the dramatic and self-conscious stories from Rarity. Not even the constant talk and agreement of Applejack could bother her tonight. It was utter silence, and Twilight loved it.

“Hmm,” Twilight said curiously as she put her hoof to her cheek and looked it, “A tear? Hah, tears of joy over silence? How nice.”
She finished her sandwich in the silence of her home and walked up to her bed. She let out a pleased sigh as she rested her head on her pillow. But before she closed her eyes for the night, she thought of something.

“What am I going to do now?” She questioned. And with that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.