Sugar Valley

A smiling Applejack looks at Twilight, both hooves wrapped around her family. Aj’s signature hat is resting crooked on Applebloom’s head, her face frozen with laughter. The princess finds herself staring at the framed picture, and the many that surrounded it, longer than she had ever stared at them before.

“I packed plenty food for us all; should cover us through the week.”

Twilight finally spins around to see her friend sealing a saddlebag stuffed to the brim.

“That being said—if you think ya’ might get sick of apples… and, apple derivative foods, you may wanna pack some of your own grub…”

The violet alicorn smiles warmly.

“You’ve always been the most grounded, Applejack. Sometimes I think it should be you wearing this crown.”

Applejack cocks a brow, a bit confused by Twilight’s comment.

“I do my best to protect my family; but I hardly believe I could do the same for an entire country…”

Twilight Sparkle turns back around, slowly walking towards no particular destination.

“...Seems like just yesterday I was living alone in the Canterlot library, a mere student.”

“You feeling alright, Twi?”

The two lock gazes, Twilight staring from beneath her bangs. Her voice feels lodged in her throat.

“Applejack… Princess Celestia told me about the captor; about Lane.”

The earth pony nods.

“Well… what’d she say?”

“Lane, he isn’t like other ponies, he’s done… terrible things.”

“You don’t mean…”

Twilight looks up from the floorboards, allowing the silence to answer. Mouth hanging open, Applejack removes her hat and holds it to her chest.

“I—I can’t believe…”

A breeze rolls through the window in the small room, testing the candle on the desk.

“There’s something else Celestia told me…”

Applejack looks up at the princess, wondering what could possibly follow up the news she had just heard.

The two ponies spend most of the evening in that room. After, they walk out in total silence, making their way to a door open just a crack at the end of the hall. Twilight stays back and watches as her friend steps into the room, talking softly to the smiling filly with a bow in her mane. After a while, Aj pulls the blankets over her sister, kisses her on the forehead, then blows out the candle burning next to her. As Applejack slowly returns to the doorway, Twilight stares at the floorboards beneath her, thoughts drifting back to her assistant.

In silence still, the two ponies then proceed downstairs, and to the entrance. Twilight grabs the door handle with her magic, standing still as Applejack walks into the kitchen. After she could no longer hold her gaze on her own reflection in the handle, Twilight looks over her shoulder, watching Applejack wrap a kitchen knife in thick paper. The alicorn then opens the door all of the way, exposing herself to the chilling night wind.

* * *

There was a strong, metallic scent in the air. Twilight, returning from a foggy sleep, begins twisting her head from side to side. Bright lights and sounds surround the pony, leaving Twilight unaware of her environment.

“Where…”

A pink blob emerges from the array of dark and dry colors.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. You should be back with us soon enough.”

Pain shoots through Twilight’s back, as she slips in and out of consciousness.

“Pinkie…”

The pink mare’s chest rubs against Twilight’s head as the earth pony moves closer. The metallic scent of before is briefly subdued by the strong smell of cotton candy.

“There’s so much to show you!”

Twilight Sparkle looks up at her friend’s smile, Pinkie’s head blocking out the vivid light behind her. Twilight’s surroundings are briefly visible, and she’s finally able to deduce her position.

“The others…”

The smile grows larger, and Pinkie playfully pushes against Twilight’s chest, sending her into a dizzying spin.

“Don’t worry about them; our friends are all as safe as timber wolves in a forest fire!”

Twilight’s eyes widen in shock.

“Oh—no, that came out wrong, didn’t it?”

“Please, Pinkie… I need to find them…”

The princess winces as Pinkie pulls her face close to her own, Twilight noticing dark bags under her friend’s eyes.

“Worry, worry, worry. That’s all you ever do, Twilight!”

It feels as if all of her blood had rushed to the alicorn’s head. The mare fights relentlessly to maintain consciousness.

“I’ll worry about the others, you worry about having the time of your life! ‘Kay?”

Pinkie’s hooves clop sharply against the floor, as she releases the alicorn and quickly turns away.

“Our friends… please, I have to know if they’re… if they’re…”

Exhausted, Twilight allows her head to fall all the way back, as she again slips into the abyss.

* * *

“T-twilight…?”

The princess stands motionlessly in the Ponyville plaza, watching the only other pony there with her.

“Twilight c-can you hear me...?”

The pony’s back is turned, not willing to greet Twilight. He didn’t have to; Twilight knew who he was.

“Oh, please wake up…”

Twilight opens her eyes to find herself nearly muzzle to muzzle with a familiar pegasus.

“Fluttershy; you’re okay!”

The violet pony eagerly wraps her forehooves around Fluttershy’s neck, laying her own head against the pony’s soft coat. Fluttershy manages a weak smile, then slowly brings a hoof up to complete the embrace. As Twilight regains all of her senses, she pulls back from her friend and stares into her tear-glazed eyes.

“The others; do you know where they are?”

Fluttershy tenderly rubs her eyes as she responds.

“No… Pinkie Pie; she took them somewhere, s-she wouldn’t tell me where…”

A hoof prods frantically at Twilight’s chest, searching for a particular amulet.

“I can’t believe this… What happened to her?”

Fluttershy sits quietly, looking just off to the side of Twilight. The alicorn closes her eyes and inhales slowly. As she exhales, she opens her eyes and begins scanning the room before her.

“Okay; we need to regroup. Which means we need to get out of here.”

It was a poorly cared for, dimly lit room. There were metal shelves full of strange tools and electronic components, the stone floor cluttered with stains and debris. There were no windows, and there was one door.

“We have to go, we don’t know how long—”

As Twilight stands up, sharp pain surges through her head, bringing the pony back to the floor.

“Agh!”

The princess sets a hoof on her forehead, just grazing the base of her horn. With a worried look on her face, Fluttershy leans in to console her friend.

“Twilight, you’re in no condition to move around right now; please, just—”

The alicorn brushes the yellow hooves off of her, intent on leaving the room.

“Our friends could be in danger! We can’t just sit here…”

The sharp pain immediately returns as Twilight stands again, but she fights against it, using the shelves as support while she slowly makes her way to the door.

“Twilight, please; you can’t.”

Grimacing in pain, the violet pony turns her head over her shoulder. Her gaze first looks over the pegasus’ face, tears again edging Fluttershy’s eyes; then, Twilight looks further down, noticing something she hadn’t when her friend was sitting partly obscured by the shadows.

“Fluttershy… you’re bleeding…”

The pegasus briefly looks down at her hooves, which were both caked in blood.

“No, it’s not mine.”

Twilight cocks a brow as she sits one of her forehooves against the shelf for stability.

“Who’s—”

“Pinkie, she—she said she ‘has rules’… and that we were all violating them…”

Fluttershy’s lips quiver as she struggles to carry on.

“A-after… she asked that I help everypony get better… to save—”

“After what?”

Tears begin to make their way down Fluttershy’s cheeks.

“She—she… Twilight, I-I couldn’t…”

The pony begins to break down before she can finish, sobbing uncontrollably as she runs for the door.

“Fluttershy, wait!”

The pegasus bursts through the door, it squealing as it swings on its hinges. The door slams against the wall outside of it, then drifts almost all the way back into its original position, a crack of light remaining. Twilight slowly makes her way to the exit, hobbling with three hooves as the other continued to use the shelf for support. She stops at the end of the rusty shelves, able to smell the dew-ridden grass on the other side of the door. Instinctively, she consults her magic to open it.

“AHH!”

The pain doubles as she attempts a simple levitation spell. A moment after the shock, Twilight looks back at the spot she had woken up in, realizing the stains on the floor had actually been small pools of blood.

Twilight’s heart skips a beat. Sweat begins to surface from under her coat as she again searches the room. She can see a small reflection peaking out from under an object covered with a tarp. The alicorn stands deathly still for a moment, watching the small reflection near the floor. Pushing off of the shelf, she then begins to make her way over to the tarp.

Her pain ridden journey across the room ends shortly, leaving her alone with the covered mirror. Twilight’s heart begins to beat violently as she pushes a hoof against the dirty cloth separating her from her reflection. In one swift motion, the pony tears off the tarp, revealing a tall mirror with a large crack running down the center.

Tears begin to seep out from under Twilight’s eyes. The alicorn shakes as she can finally see herself, her midsection covered with bloodied bandages. Her wings were gone—and her horn had been crudely sawed off, only chipped bone remaining. Twilight stares at her reflection in disbelief. Flexing the phantom muscles, she can still feel her wings flapping.

The pony’s head slowly comes to rest against the cold mirror, as Twilight loses all composure, and cries relentlessly together with the mare in the mirror.

* * *

The sun was preparing to rise over the park. A low hanging layer of fog rolled through, obscuring the already faded booths and attractions. Litter was strewn about; newspapers, plastic cups, and wrappers all surrounded the two ponies who walk solemnly through the fairgrounds. They remain in close proximity, eyeing the many costumed ponies that drifted aimlessly around them.

“Why won’t any of them help us?”

Twilight had retired her stare to the ground, only half listening to her friend.

“I don’t know. Maybe Pinkie Pie asked them not to.”

The princess’s eyes creep up to Fluttershy’s back. Her wings were bandaged—poorly. As the pegasus had described it, Pinkie had opted to break Fluttershy’s wings instead of removing them, fearing the blood loss from cutting may have been too difficult to manage by herself.

Twilight Sparkle closes her eyes, attempting to ignore the reality.

“What’s that?”

When the alicorn again opens her eyes, she didn’t even need the pegasus’ pointing hoof to find the tower of smoke in the distance.

“Stay close!”

Twilight abandons her slow walk in favor of an energetic canter, excited by the prospect of distracting her mind.

The light gray fog begins to give way to heavy, dark smoke as the two near the point of interest. They keep their distance, but even several meters away the flames batter the ponies’ coats with heat. Twilight squints, attempting to make out what was burning so vividly.

The makeshift bonfire appears to be raging over a wooden chariot, surrounded by piles of lumber. The paint had all burnt away, but the design seems somehow familiar to Twilight.

“HELP!”

Fluttershy and Twilight look towards each other, both silently asking if the other pony had heard the cry as well.

“PLEASE, ANYONE!”

The princess tenses up.

“It’s Applejack!”

Twilight and Fluttershy race towards the desperate cries, stumbling upon the entrance to a western-themed rollercoaster.

“APPLEJACK!”

“Twilight! Please, hurry Twilight!”

The alicorn can’t actually see up into the station where Aj’s voice came from, but only a short set of wooden ramps lies between the two ponies.

“Hold on Applejack, we’re coming up!”

Hastily, Twilight Sparkle makes her way up the ramps, Fluttershy following closely behind. When they arrive at the top, they find two cars designed to look like train engines docked at the station, Applejack struggling against the ropes that bind her to the one in the rear.

“Quick, come untie me!”

Without hesitating, the two ponies gallop over to their friend, Twilight immediately checking the ropes behind Applejack. The bindings seem to wrap over the pony’s abdomen dozens of times.

“Where’s Rainbow ‘n Rarity?”

“We don’t know; I was hoping you were all together…”

Twilight steps back around the car, and faces Applejack.

“I’m going to have to chew through it.”

Aj nods, and Twilight leaps into the front seat of the car, beginning to bite through the thick ropes. Fluttershy stands on the platform above the tracks, shaking ever so slightly. She notices a figure standing near the coaster control panel, wearing faded clown apparel.

“P-please, help us?”

Twilight briefly pauses her chewing, looking over her shoulder at the mysterious pony. Applejack turns her head as far as she can, being able to just make out the violet pony in her peripherals.

“Twilight; she took our bags...”

The calm tone Applejack used surprises the princess. When she turns back around, Aj’s face explains everything.

“I know.”

Twilight returns to gnawing, small threads getting stuck between her teeth as the ropes severe.

The three ponies freeze in shock, as the station abruptly comes to life. The dim lights hanging from the ceiling light the tracks, a rusted cowpony animatronic springs awake, and cautionary boom gates lower themselves on either side of the cars, accompanied by the familiar warning tone and flashing lights of a railroad crossing. Twilight looks up to the control deck, watching the masked clown pony slowly slide a hoof off of the panel in front of him.

“Wooohoo! Y’all ready for a rodeo?”

The animatronic makes metallic grinding noises as it shifts its limbs about.

“Twilight—”

“Right…”

Sweat begins to creep down the alicorn’s forehead as she chews relentlessly at the ropes. The pony at the controls brings their hoof back up, this time pulling a large lever. Twilight ignores the sound of a pneumatic release in front of her, focusing all of her concentration on getting her friend out of there.

She hadn’t made it halfway through ropes as the clown pony begins to make their way down to the station.

“T-twilight!”

The violet pony lifts her head, then spins it the direction Fluttershy’s pale face is looking. Just as she had done so, the clown-dressed pony swings a heavy hoof at Twilight, striking her in the muzzle. She recoils in pain, nearly falling to the ground. The clown pony continues to silently move towards Twilight.

“Ahh!”

Pain washes over the alicorn as she instinctively attempts a stun spell. During her recovery, she is again struck by the pony walking towards her, this time causing blood to run out of one of her nostrils.

“Oh my goodness!”

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, Twilight dashes forward, tackling the other pony to the ground. The two begin to struggle, hooves on each others’ necks, as Twilight refers to Fluttershy from behind a grimace.

“The ropes!”

“R-right…”

Fluttershy leaps onto the rollercoaster car, picking up where Twilight had left the bindings.

A mechanical whirring grows louder and louder; Aj momentarily ceasing her struggle as she watches a thin piece of metal bound to chain slide underneath the car in front of her.

“Guys—”

Twilight grunts in pain as she’s thrown onto her back by the clown. Pushing her attacker’s head away, she’s able to look behind her, watching the lead car from an upside down perspective. The chain system latches, and begins to pull the mock train engine up the long wooden incline, producing a loud, rhythmic clicking.

“AAGH!”

The princess rolls over, exchanging positions with the clown pony. Applejack’s eyes are unblinking as they run up the hill before her, to the towering apex the car is headed towards. It appears that in the distance, the tracks simply end, ramping straight into the raging bonfire.

“I don’t mean to pressure ya’, Fluttershy; but I seriously doubt we have much time…”

The pegasus responds with a frightened whimper, working as fast as she is able. Applejack can barely hear Fluttershy over the two ponies fighting behind her. It frustrates Applejack how helpless she is; she can’t even turn her head far enough to see her friends. All her eyes can focus on was the car ahead of her, the chain having successfully brought it to the top of the hill. A lump forms in Aj’s throat as she watches the car speed relentlessly down the hill, off the tracks, and crashing into the flames below.

The train that Applejack is bound to slowly moved forward, tears edging Fluttershy’s eyes as she fights to cut the ropes.

Near the back of the room, Princess Twilight stands a good distance from the her attacker, catching her breath as she waits for the pony to lunge. Twilight lays a hoof on her shoulder, rubbing the bruised spot lightly. She can hear the stallion panting like a dog, the alicorn fixated on the mask’s lifeless plastic eyes.

Twilight is ready when the clown pony again charges, dodging to the left and then following through with an elbow to the pony’s abdomen. The stallion makes a muffled grunt, losing his balance and tumbling onto the wooden tracks. Twilight hops down to join him, unloading a string of wild punches directed at the face of the colt before her. Adrenaline courses through Twilight’s veins as she connects several hits, the fourth of which knocks the mask loose, exposing the pony’s chin.

Gritting her teeth, Twilight makes one last powerful attack, sending the entire mask flying off to the side. The now exposed pony slowly returns his head to its original position, Twilight gasping in shock as she sees the stallion’s face for the first time. His coat had been peeled back past his eye sockets; bone visible at the muzzle, dark layers of flesh and muscle running all the way back to the flaps of skin dangling around his head, creating a sort of grotesque lion’s mane.

The car behind her jolts to life, the shock knocking Twilight onto her bandaged back, sending waves of pain through her muscles. The alicorn shakily drags herself backwards with her forehooves, attempting to escape the nightmarish scene before her.

The stallion had begun to flail about wildly, creating blood-curdling howls that pierce deep into Twilight’s ears. The pony brings a hoof up to his face while making fiendish cries, in an effort that almost appears to be some form of embarrassment. Twilight freezes in place as the creature before her locks its soulless, bloodshot eyes with her own.

“Twilight!”

The alicorn turns on her back and faces Fluttershy, who had paused her task to show her concern for Twilight.

“Keep cutting!”

With animalistic fury, the tormented stallion grabs Twilight’s back leg, pulling himself closer to the pony. The princess responds with a violent kick to his head, freeing herself to catch up with the coaster. She climbs the tracks to where the car is slowly being dragged to the top, the warmth of the rising sun suddenly resting on her coat.

“How close?”

Fluttershy turns her head to answer, before her eyes widen in shock.

“WATCH OUT!”

Twilight turns just in time for the sickly pony to hit her square in the jaw. The pony stumbles, her phantom wings extending themselves as she wobbles on the edge of the track. With no time for recovery, the princess is shoved by her attacker, Twilight’s heart dropping as she’s sent over the edge of the wooden tracks. A hoof just barely grabs the ledge, preventing the pony from making a twenty meter drop. Even so, the stallion above her falls to his haunches, extending his head far enough down to be within biting distance. Twilight closes her eyes and turns her head, blood and saliva raining down on her as the creature gnashes and bites like a rabid animal.

The pony’s grip was slipping. Twilight attempts to drown out the horror above her, tears seeping from her tightly shut eyes as she prepares for her fate. Just as her hoof is preparing to release, the creature howls out, Twilight opening her eyes in time to see Fluttershy standing in his place. The princess briefly turns her head, regretting her decision when she finds the beast laying still on the ground, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle.

“Pull me up…”

Fluttershy helps her friend regain her grip, aiding the princess as she uses the last of her strength to heave her body back onto the tracks.

“Applejack.”

The two rush to the pony bound to the car, now nearing the fifty meter apex of the coaster. Twilight tears aggressively at the ropes, before instead climbing to the front of the train and pulling the earth pony from under her exposed arms. Applejack muffles a scream of pain, using her strength to slip out of the remaining ropes.

The train makes a distorted whistling sound as it plunges into the flames below, Twilight and Applejack watching it from above. Twilight Sparkle bows her head, struggling to catch her breath.

“I wouldn’t of made it if you didn’t show up, Twi’…”

A violet hoof rests against Twilight’s stomach, as she suddenly feels close to vomiting.

“We’d both be gone, if Fluttershy hadn’t saved my life.”

Fluttershy turns her head towards her friends, but refrains from saying a word.

“We gotta find the others. Who knows what Pinkie has planned…”

Fearing that more than words would spill out if she opened her mouth, Twilight opts to nod in agreement with Applejack.

The ponies begin to make their way safely back down to the station, Aj pausing to lay a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“It’s a big park, Twi’... where do we even start?”

Twilight and Applejack walk slowly and cautiously down the incline, rubbing shoulders in their effort to keep clear of the ledge.

“I don’t know. Actually, maybe we should take advantage of the coaster and get a better vantage—”

After carefully turning around, the alicorn freezes in place. Fluttershy’s tear-stricken face keeps Twilight glued to the tracks beneath her.

“Fluttershy.”

The pegasus sniffs, a tear drop making the long fall to the grass below.

“T-the stallion… I…”

Twilight slowly steps into the light, cast from the magnificent rising sun behind her.

“He wasn’t—’pony’, anymore. You—you had no other choice.”

Fluttershy shakes her head, a stray hair getting stuck on her face with the help of the leakage from her eyes and nose.

“I c-can’t do this!”

Both Twilight and Applejack had been slowly stepping towards the pegasus, freezing immediately as Fluttershy’s back hoof steps halfway over the edge.

“Fluttershy—listen to me, Fluttershy. We’re gonna find our friends; and we’re gonna get home. Okay? W-we’re gonna be alright, just please step back from—”

“Y-you don’t know that!”

A pain sinks through the two ponies trying to save their friend. Twilight’s throat goes dry, the alicorn knowing perfectly well how in the dark they really were. She swallows the lump in her throat, her composition seemingly bound by a single thread.

“...No. But I believe it. Please—come with us.”

A silence settles over the ponies, Fluttershy’s sobbing becomes softer and softer, until the pegasus can hardly be heard at all.

“Come on; take my hoof…”

The princess stands unwavering, violet hoof extended, and bathed in the warm morning light. Applejack holds her breath as Fluttershy’s glance swaps between the open hoof and its owner, all ponies under a blanket of silence.

Fluttershy then speaks with sudden clarity.

“I’m sorry.”

Twilight’s eye twitches. In the next moment, she is diving towards the edge, reaching as far as her muscles would allow.

But Fluttershy had been quicker. The pegasus leaps gracefully backwards, legs limp at her sides. Twilight lands on her stomach, with her empty hoof dangling off the side of the tracks. She lies there, wide-eyed, fixated on the yellow blur that quickly grows smaller and smaller.

She lies there, petrified with shock. Applejack falls to the tracks, over encumbered with misery, wailing into the chipped wood beneath them.

Twilight doesn’t hear any of this. Every neuron in her brain had dedicated itself to rendering the image of Fluttershy, just as her weight had shifted over the edge. There’s an empty look on the pegasus’ face; her pink mane enveloping it quickly, flapping violently in the wind.

Tears begin to pour down Twilight’s face, as she slowly realizes that images were all that remain.