The Wither Effect

  Apple Bloom tugged off the red cape that formerly rested upon her shoulders, clamping her mouth upon the silky fabric and pulling it away from her body. She walked over to Scootaloo, who was standing near her, and draped it over her shoulders.

  "Here," said the little yellow filly. "Ah don't wanna rip it 'r lose it. Ya'll're gun' stay safe, alright?" With that, she delivered a peck to Scootaloo's cheek, causing the orange pegasus to blush.

  "We should be telling you to be safe, instead," Said Sweetie Belle, obviously nervous, if not slightly embarrassed. She motioned towards the Everfree Forest with her hoof, then at Apple Bloom with it. "You know... since you're going... um, there." She paused, looked around, and leaned in towards the small yellow earth pony.

  "You aren't," whispered the small, animate, horned marshmallow shakily through clenched teeth, "supposed to go there. It's dangerous." She put a squeaky emphasis on the word "dangerous" that could possibly cause the everyday brony to drop dead of diabeetus.

  Apple Bloom laughed, oblivious to the fact that Sweetie Belle was concerned beyond what seemed possible for a robot. "Ah'll be alrigh', sugarcube." She had taken after her sister in that manner, calling her friends "sugarcube". Scootaloo was occasionally labeled as "sweetheart", though, as a sign of a... slightly more affectionate mood being pointed towards her. It was nothing, really, just the occasional peck on the cheek, short-term blush, and stare. Sweetie Belle was wise enough to leave herself out of it.

  "Ah'm gonna get goin', now," informed Apple Bloom, smirking. "Bye, girls."

  "Goodbye, Apple Bloom," murmured Scootaloo in a tiny voice, face still flushed red from the kiss delivered by Bloom. "Be safe for us." AB just smiled and winked.

  "Ah'll try."

  With that, she turned and trotted into the dark, damp forest and didn't look back.

_____----///||*||\----_____

Apple Bloom stood, shaking. She had mentally kicked herself hard in the face for submerging herself in this terrific place, but that wasn't enough. Fear crept over her, swallowing her. Shivers ran up and down her spine, as if the fear was traffic and her skeletal frame was a bumpy road. A shadow fell over her, belonging to the strangest and most fearful, foul-looking creature she had ever seen.

  It was the color of a changeling, but more gray and dull. It stood tall over her. It had long, lanky arms and legs, tipped with razor-sharp-looking, long claws. It stood upright. It had no wings whatsoever. Where its eyes should have been, there were just empty, black sockets. It had one paper-thin layer of skin covering its dark gray bone structure.

  It looked like a skeleton.

  It was a skeleton.

  But there AB stood, trembling in fear, stuck to the spot. Her hooves refused to move. She couldn't close her eyes, could barely blink or move her eyelids. She stared, stared...

  And then she broke into a shaky, maniacal smile.

  "H-howdy there, li'l... critter!" She said to it, her voice cracking, betraying her. "Y-y'all... ya look l-like ya need a mite bit o' f-food..." She snickered, trying to be good-humored. The laugh

  The thing said nothing, but edged towards her, its mouth slightly open. Apple Bloom could smell it. It smelled of rot, death, gasoline. Her nose scrunched up and she twitched rapidly.

  Apple Bloom twitched once more, hiccoughed, and broke into an insane, shaky cackle. "Ha! Ha ha... y-y... ya'll're funny, mister- whuhuhuAGAHHH!!!!"

  The thing had reached out a finger, slowly creeping towards the butter-yellow filly's face. Its arm extended outwards.

  Bloom's smile became even shakier. Her lips twitched and her bones were rattling beneath her flesh. Her knees buckled beneath her.

  She let out a crazy, high-pitched giggle as the bony, cold claw reached further towards her. Her hooves were locked to the ground beneath her. Cold sweat dribbled through her fur and her forehead heated up immensely. Her breathing became labored. Her heart palpitated, knocking against her ribs, and she thought she was going to faint.

This is it, she thought. This is the end. It's all over now... All over... Her smile got wider with every inch closer the talon came to touching her.

The talon-like finger stopped just about one inch from her muzzle. She gasped, then clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, prepared for the worst...

  And the ice-cold finger booped her nose, leaving a darkly-colored mark.

  It seemed like an hour, although it was only about a second, that the freezing-cold object was pressing hard against the tip of the redhead's muzzle. The tip of her nose was too numb for her to feel the bone finger lift, to feel the pressure cease.

  Apple Bloom felt a mixture of nausea vertigo wash over her, and- drenched in cold sweat- she twirled around and fell to the ground with a thud.

  By the time Applejack found her, the mark that the being's finger had left on Apple Bloom's skin, like an ink blot at first, had spread- now covering her face, neck, and forelegs- and was still spreading.

  The small, butter-yellow filly was barely breathing.