Wake up, Applejack!
By
EvilDemonNeko
It had been 8 months since the accident… And Sweet Apple Acres had seen less business, and less maintenance. Due to this, the crops started to slowly die out. The orchards apple trees leaves, and, more importantly, apples, started to wither away into nothingness. It was a sad state to see, indeed. The fields no longer had the bright sunny attitude it had prior to the tragic events that occurred half a year ago. Now it was… Frightening. Even on it’s brightest, warmest day. The orchard held an..Eerie feeling. Like,
Emptiness… Quietness… Death. That was it, the orchards atmosphere was heavy with death. So heavy you could taste it. Nopony dared step hoove in the orchard.
Even so, Big Macintosh had tried his hardest to keep the orchard going, but he simply couldn’t do it by himself. Applebloom tried to help, but given her age, she just wasn’t strong enough. He needed the help of another pony… Somepony like…
Applejack.
For everyone in Ponyville, their heads spun, and their hearts sank at the name. Even saying it left a bitter taste on their tongue. It made them cringe, it made them cry…
It made them remember.
However, hiring another pony was out of the question. Some ponies offered, but Big Mac refused. At first, it seemed like a good idea, but after the first month of the funeral, something triggered Big Mac to stop, and stop going into the orchards for any reason whatsoever.
He refused to tell anypony. He just put up warning signs around the orchards entrances a few days after his… ‘encounter’.
He especially warned Applebloom not to travel into the orchard, especially near the grave. But Applebloom did not listen, not today. Not after the milestone she achieved.
Trotting through the dying orchard, Applebloom nervously looked around. The orchards were covered in fog and clouds. It had already rained, leaving the trails of the orchards wet and muddy. Applebloom shrugged off the creepy setting and went further into the west orchard. Those were the fields that had been untended to the longest, and it was riddled with animals and sorrow. The dead trees had sharp branches that occasionally poked Applebloom and hurt her, and the paths were treturous, covered in rocks, roots, fallen fruit and the occasional mummified fruit bat. Applebloom was careful to watch her step, however, and eventually found herself coming up on a small gray rock that stood out from the rest.
Frowning, she trotted faster until she came up to it, it was simple, and held three apples at the very top of the gravestone, as well as a hat sat on top of it.. Gently, she sat down on the slightly uneven dirt that was in front of it. Just as she did a thousand times before, she read the words,
“Here lies: Applejack. The loyalest of friends and most dependable of ponies. R.I.P. -Element of Honesty-”
Applebloom usually cried here, and reading it made her want to, but not this time, this time she came baring happiness..
Hesitantly, she spoke. “H-hiya, sis… I’m really not sure if you can hear me from wherever you are now, b-but, it makes me feel better, so yah… Guess what ah got today? ah got mah cutie mark! ah got it while ah was fussin’ with a rock ah found in the park today, it was really huge, and smooth, and ah thought it would look kinda pretty if ah tried puttin’ a picture on it… ah ended up painting a nice little sunset over an ocean, it had so much detail, and oh, ah know you would have just loved it… But then it started rainin’, and… It washed away. Ah was so, so sad… But it made me realize that not everyone can have somethin’ perfect forever… Even if it’s a picture, a pet, or a pony. And that’s when it made me think of you… And ah think… Ah think ah finally accepted that you’re gone now, sis… And that it’s okay, because even though you’re not here anymore, you gave me the best memories, and ah had somethin’ amazin’. And that’s when this here mark appeared… “
She turned and rubbed her cutie mark; A paint pad with a paint brush. “I’m sorry for cryin’ so much sis, ah just couldn’t cope with the fact you were gone. But, now... ah think ah can.”
Applebloom nuzzled into her front hooves and closed her eyes, sighing slightly. She hoped what she had said was heard… And if not, the thought alone of Applejack listening to her from wherever she was settled the young fillies thoughts.
“Well that’s mighty swell, little sis!”
Applebloom’s ears shot up and flicked back toward the sound. She shot up to her hooves faster than lightning, and glanced around in front of her, trying to see through the thick fog. “W-wha..? W-who’s there…?” She whimpered, confused. Taking a few steps back, Applebloom was about to turn around when her rear thumped into something… Cold… It was wet, and sticky. She had an idea of what it was. And due to her youth and powerful imagination, monsters seemed so real to her. But Applebloom was brave, whatever she just touched, she would face it and make it go away… Or so, she thought…
Swiftly, she moved forward a few feet, then turned around and kept her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. There was a bloody paired of hooves, with bone showing through, but the color was unrecognisable. Applebloom peered her eyes up slowly. The bloody, torn, bent legs making their way into her view. They were covered in bite marks and bruises.. She looked up more.
Then she saw the opened chest. Meat and muscle torn and hanging out every which way.
Then the torn throat, a clean tear, with hardly any blood around it.
Then.. the head. Dear mother of Celestia, the head. Appleblooms eyes welled with tears as she looked over the figure in front of her. It was frowning, its empty eye sockets staring off into nothing, and it’s dislocated jaw agape with a half missing tongue hanging out the side of it’s mouth. Yeah, it was Applejacks body. The mauled, terrible mess that the timberwolves left her in.
Applebloom stared at it with tears streaming down her face. It didn’t scare her very much… But she could feel the fear trying to work its way into her brain. Did she not know she was staring at her dead sister?? Her Dead, yet somehow ALIVE sister?
“A-a-apple..jack…” She murmured, choking on her own words slightly as she took a few hesitant steps back.
Applejack’s body stared at her with the eyeless sockets, it kept its frown, and stood perfectly still for a half a minute. A long, terrifying, half a minute.
Then it’s mouthed moved… In a whisper, the dry voice let out one thing.
“Timberwolf”
Immediately, Applebloom snapped from her daze and turned tail toward her house as fast as her little legs could carry her, she mud getting into her eyes and the rocks that littered the path daring to trip her at any given second, she looked behind her occasionally to see if she was being chased, and it turns out, she was. The figure seemed to appear closer and closer behind her, without moving. It just...Blinked in and out of existence. All the while it was shouting in a demonically twisted voice; “TIMBERWOLF, TIMBERWOLF, TIMBERWOLF”
With tears and mud clouding her vision, Applebloom cut through a part of the orchard that had no path. The trees scratched her violently, and slice open her cutie mark on her right flank, she gasped and whined as her newly found talent got ripped open. She would worry about that later, though. She had much, MUCH bigger problems on her hooves than a silly cut.
The yelling from Applejack’s body had slowed down, and was getting more quiet as she ran. She could see the house come into view, not much more time left before she was safe…. She thought Applejack’s body had stopped shouting..
"WHY DIDN’T Y’ALL STOP?! IT’S NOT FAIR! IT’S NOT FAIR! SAVE ME APPLEBLOOM! IT WAS YOUR JOB TO SAVE ME! YOU LEFT ME! YOU LEFT ME!”
“SHUT UP! YOU’RE NOT MAH SISTER!” Applebloom retorted, running faster than she could manage. After what seemed like forever, she soon arrived in the front yard, slowing down to a trot to let her burning legs rest a bit. She saw Big Mac trotting around. She knew she was going to be in a lot of trouble for not telling anypony where she was going.. But she didn’t care. She just needed somepony to remind her she was sane.
“Big Mac! Heeeelp!” Applebloom called out. Big Mac’s eyes widened at the state of his only sister, and she galloped over to her. Applebloom smacked into his chest and wrapped her hooves around his neck tightly, crying into him. “I-it was awful, Big Mac! J-just awful! A-all ah wanted to do was to go tell her ah was okay! B-but-”
“Applebloom, that’s enough, calm down.” Big Mac said, cutting her off and stroking her mane with his hoof, holding her close, and tight, making sure not to touch any of the slice marks that covered most of her body. “Ah thought ah told yah NOT to go into that orchard…? Why yah gotta be so stubborn, little sis…?” He continued, sighing. His ears perked up, hearing the faint sounds of crying off in the distance.
“A-ah sorry, big brother, ah just… Ah was so proud of myself… A-ah should have listened..” Applebloom said through heavy sobs of terror.
“It’s alright now little sis…” He said.
“Ah um...A-ah got my cutie mark…” She said and glanced up at him. A soft smile appeared on his face and he nuzzled her gently.
“I’m proud of ya, but we need to get yah in the house…” He said. Big Mac let go of Applebloom, and lead her into the house to get her cuts cleaned up.
She showed him her new cutie mark, and he praised her more for it. He really was proud of her. She wasn’t a filly anymore. It made his heart sink a little, but he knew she couldn’t stay small and cute forever. She had to grow up, and he would help her grow up, so long as she needed him. He was her family, her brother, and she was his last little sister. He would protect and love her until the day he died.
After a nice talk and hot bath, Getting her into bed after calming her down the best he could, Big Mac tucked Applebloom in, and left her room, leaving her door open in case she needed anything. She still wasn’t very calm, but she was better. She was still sobbing slightly and barely talking, though.
That night, Applebloom hardly slept, instead, she softly cried into her pillow. She was still fazed from the traumatic experience. It was true what… IT, told her…. It wasn’t fair, it just wasn’t… But she sure as Celestia knew it WASN’T her fault. There was no way to stop the timberwolves from attacking, especially if she wasn’t even home at the time!. She finally figured out what she wanted now, though. and it was that…
She didn’t want her sister back anymore...
Applejack was dead.
And that’s how it was going to stay, up until her own, very end.