//-------------------------------------------------------// What Has Become of Us: The Cutiemark Crusaders -by Megasis101- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Apple Blooms Story //-------------------------------------------------------// Apple Blooms Story "Applejack, what's goin' on?" I trembled in fear. "Ahm sorry, Apple Bloom." Applejack looked at her with tears in her eyes. I didn't understand. The wind blew harder and harder. My eyes grew as she tried to look through all the dust flying in the air. Lightning stroke a few miles away. Applejack turned her head. She gasped and turned back to me. "Apple Bloom, listen to me, ya need to hide. Don't worry about me. Go!" "But Applejack!" "GO!" Applejack ran. Her hat flew off and it flew over to me. "Applejack! No!" I screamed. I saw a lightning bolt in front of me. I screamed and ran in the barn and hid under the bed. I hugged her and thought about my sister. Was she ok? After a while, I fell asleep. ~~~~~~~ My eyes shot open and I struggled to get up to the window. The bad weather was gone. I galloped downstairs and looked around. "Applejack?" I ran through the orchard calling her name. I walked through each orchard and tried to stay awake. "A-applejack!" I sobbed as I struggled to keep looking. My neck pulsed and my legs were numb. I was so, so tired. I collapsed once, but I struggled to gain strength. There was one time were I couldn't take it anymore. I fell on a tree stump and the last thing I saw was a single apple fall from the tree and my sisters hat land on the ground. //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue Many decades into the future has passed. The sun rarely shown and the beautiful scenery in Equestria has disappeared. Canterlot became ruins years ago after Princess Celestia and Luna's time has passed. Ponyville remained the strongest of all the broken cities, although most ponies found their different ways. No pony moved in, but so many moved out. Mayor Mare couldn't handle a tearing city, so she moved away and no pony took over. Everypony else lived their own ways with no rules. No rules sounded like a good thing at first. No pony even ran the Golden Oaks library; Princess Twilight also ran off. No pony can blame her, she had nothing else to do. She was just another broken heart. Only Mr. Cake stayed at Sugar Cube Corner. No pony came, so he just used it as a home. His wife had passed and his good assistant Pinkie Pie went wherever the wind took her. No pegasi had the strength to move the clouds anymore. Rainbow Dash joined the Wonderbolts, but only for a few years. She went into hiding. Fluttershy refused to move away, but after a few years went by, her instincts told her to. Many of her precious animals died off so she had nothing else to do but run. Her new home became the Everfree Forest. Rarity closed down the Carousel Boutique. She also escaped her gloomy world around her. Leaving Sweetie Belle broke her heart, but she couldn't take it. And Applejack; no pony knew what happened to her. //-------------------------------------------------------// The CMC's Now //-------------------------------------------------------// The CMC's Now The clubhouse was dark and gloomy as Apple Bloom stepped in. The smell of rotting wood filled the air of the treehouse. Despite the shadows towering the room, it felt inviting to her. She flipped on the light and waited for Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo climbed up with Sweetie Belle asleep on her back. Sweetie Belle's cold body pressed up against Scoot's feathers making it uncomfortable. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo went upstairs and helped Sweetie onto her bed. One of her mechanical hinges squeaked. They lifted the blanket over her body. Tears formed in both crusaders eyes as they watched her slumber. It was unbearable to see her like this. Scootaloo glanced at Sweetie's flank. She wondered if robots can bear cutie marks. She cringed at the thought. "C'mon, Scoot," Applebloom said, pulling her sisters hat over her eyes. "She'll be sleeping for a while." Scootaloo looked at the mechanical body one more time. She joined Apple Bloom as they both slipped out of the room and closed the door. They looked down at their flanks. As grown mares, no pony has ever grown this old and had a blank flank. They stepped downstairs. "How could something like this happen?" More tears filled Scootaloo's eyes. "Oh, Scootaloo..." Apple Bloom tried to comfort her but Scoot just pushed her away. "This is all my fault..." She whimpered. "Scoot, this is not..." "Yes it is!" She shouted back. "Shhh!" Apple Bloom pointed to the attic. Scootaloo toned down a bit. "If I would've stopped her, none of this would have happened!" "This didn't all happin' cause of you! It was all a series of misfortunate events." "Yeah, sure." Scoot whimpered. "Scootaloo, we've all had our days were things don't go right..." Apple Bloom took off her hat and held it against her chest. Scootaloo glanced at her wings and opened them, one of the hinges creaking. She remembered the doctors attaching them on. She remembered the pain. She tried to blink away the memory and her tears. Apple Bloom put her hat back on. "Thing like this happen, and we have to learn to except them." Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom and nodded. "I still don't understand why this has to happen to us." She said. "Everypony in Equestria had faced hard problems and we are three of them." Apple Bloom put a hoof on her back. "Sometimes we'll have to live with it. We're lucky we're alive." Scoot looked up to Apple Bloom. They both smiled and Scootaloo wiped a tear from her eye. She took a deep breath. "Thanks, Apple Bloom." Apple Bloom smiled wider. Suddenly, something shocked them. Their ears rang as they heard a terrible noise, a blood curling scream. A wave of horror washed over both of them. There was nothing they could do. They looked at each other. That could only mean one thing.