Applejack was too exhausted to cry.
After fifty waking hours of constant, nonstop searching, the only thing she could muster doing at that point was just to stand there, leaning against the front face of Ponyville's Town Hall, caressing the little pink bow in her hooves. Winona—likewise exhausted—nevertheless sat alert at Applejack's side. The dog's nose was worn thin from constantly sniffing for Apple Bloom's scent, the same scent that was on the bow.
By the tenth time Applejack blinked her bloodshot green eyes, she was woken by the frenzied argument between a thick crowd of villagers in front of her. She looked up, limp and lethargic.
"I don't care if we've already covered the windmill!" Filthy Rich's face frowned in waving torchlight. The sun was almost completely set, and yet again the hush of evening loomed over the fruitless search. "We need to send a team out to investigate that area again!"
"Mr. Rich, we can't afford to backtrack anymore!" Mayor Mare held a torch high as she gazed at the exhausted, worried faces before her. "We still haven't covered the southern farm fields or the eastern riverbank!"
"Besides," spoke Mr. Cake, also gripping a torch. "This search has gone on long enough for the abductor to catch wind of our movements. He's likely hiding in the last place we've yet to thoroughly check!"
"Or..." Filthy Rich frowned. "He knows all the places we've been to already and he's constantly moving the foals around so that we never find them!"
"Just what are you suggesting, Mr. Rich?!" Mayor Mare frowned. "We send half of the search parties back to retrace old ground?! Every minute we waste on speculation, we risk the lives of these poor, innocent fillies—"
"You think I don't know that?!" Filthy hollered, teeth showing. "My little princess is in the clutches of some psychopath as we speak! She doesn't need us arguing over how we go about her rescue! None of them do!" She pointed across the way at Applejack. "Applejack, surely you and your brother agree with me!"
Applejack looked to the side.
Big Macintosh hung his head. At the mere mention of his name, his ears folded and he winced.
Shuddering, Applejack spoke up. "Honestly, at this p-point... I... I-I think we can safely say that the best thang we can all do is keep up the pressure." She turned the pink bow over in her hooves, gulping. "According to Twilight, nopony could have gotten any further than ten miles from the heart of Ponyville by the time we discovered the four kids missin'." Applejack stood up straight, teetering slightly, though she managed to keep her composure. "Now, the Princess has got every able-bodied unicorn between here and Fillydelphia coverin' the perimeter with their magic. And then outside of that, she's got every Ponyville pegasus plus a heap'o'volunteers from Cloudsdale keepin' tabs from the air. Since this whole search started, they've been closin' tight that very same circle. So far, there's been no sign of the creep who took Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Twist and... a-and Apple Bloom." She shuddered, then continued. "But he ain't got much else left to go. I reckon he'll feel the heat closin' in and start panicking. And when that time comes, he'll let go of the fillies and—Celestia willing—turn himself in as well."
"Then what do you suggest, Applejack?" Mr. Cake asked. "Should we start backtracking? I mean... if th-this is simply a waiting game for the unicorns and pegasi to meet us back in the heart of town."
"Exactly when are Princess Twilight's teams supposed to reach Ponyville proper?" the Mayor asked. "At the rate at which they're closing in?"
"Mmmf..." Applejack rubbed her brow. "What time is it now?"
Flithy Rich shuddered. "Seven thirty..."
Applejack sighed. "I... I-I dunno..." She shrugged exhaustively. She didn't dare yawn, though. "Three o'clock tomorrow afternoon, I'm guessin'."
"And if we don't find the fillies or whoever it was who took them before that time?" Mr. Cake blinked, stirring uncomfortably. "What th-then?"
The whole crowd was silent.
The Mayor frowned. "No time for that sort of thinking! Applejack's right! Let's keep putting on the pressure!" She turned and started shouting at different groups within the search party. "You... and you... and you! Start searching the southern farms! After that, cover the riverbank! You and you, join Filthy Rich's group in scouring the windmill once again! Then proceed to the edge of Whitetail Woods! Leave no stone unturned—even if you've 'turned them' before!"
Several ponies nodded. Adrenalized by their own desperation, they galloped off to perform their tasks, armed with torches, flashlights, and any other brightly-lit thing they could get their hooves on.
However, as soon as Applejack took a single step forward, she tripped and fell. "Unnngh—"
Big Macintosh caught her. He held the mare upright, gazing worriedly in her face.
Applejack blinked several times. "I... uh... I-I'm alright, Big Mac." She tried to smile. It came out as a grimace. "Just about to get my s-second wind..."
Big Macintosh glared at her.
With a defeated slump, she sighed and glanced down at where Winona lay limp. "Alright... alright. I'm pretty dang pooped. But for lil' Apple Bloom's sake, I just can't... I-I can't..."
"Applejack," spoke a soft voice. She looked up to see Filthy Rich trotting over with his torch. He calmed himself long enough to speak evenly. "You've truly been the spearhead of this search. We wouldn't have gotten nearly as organized as we have if it weren't for your leadership, darlin'."
Applejack gulped, leaning against her big brother. "I only w-wish I had done the job better, Mr. Rich. It's been two days since all four of 'em disappeared in the park. We... we shoulda found them by now." She bit her lip. "Silver Spoon... Twist... your daughter."
Filthy held a hoof up. He swallowed a lump down his throat and spoke in a hoarse voice. "Don't pretend that you're not half as distraught as I am. I'm not the only one... t-tearing apart on the inside..." He exhaled with a shudder.
Applejack's gaze fell to the floor. Blades of grass formed shadows that danced in the torchlight. Her eyelids hung heavily.
"Nopony's going to hate you for taking a few hours to catch up on some much-needed sleep," Filthy Rich said. "Least of all Apple Bloom."
"I... I-I'm her big sister..." Applejack wheezed. "She's d-dependin' on me to f-find her..."
"And surely she knows you're doing the absolute best that you can," Filthy Rich said. He rested a hoof on the mare's shoulder. "But you're not doing your 'absolute best' if you're falling asleep on your hooves. Don't you agree?"
Applejack bit her lip.
"Head on home, Applejack," Filthy said. "Get some sleep. Check up on Ms. Smith. Luna knows she's probably beside herself with worry."
"Yeah..." Applejack nodded wearily. "She sure is..."
"Then, when you're well-rested, you can come rejoin the search in the morning. But, hopefully, we won't have to be searching anymore. Who knows?" Filthy's eyes moistened, but he nevertheless smiled. "Maybe we'll have found the girls by then."
"I... I-I can't just... abandon..."
"Your brother looks like he's still got some light left on upstairs." Filthy glanced over. "Isn't that right, Big Macintosh?"
The big red stallion smiled gently. "Eeeyup..." He leaned over and nuzzled Applejack.
The mare bore a faint smile. "Well, alright, big brother." She nuzzled him back. "But dun hog all the credit when you find Apple Bloom, y'hear? I done directed this search party from the get-go."
Big Macintosh chuckled, a very brief, half-hearted thing. His face once again turned melancholic as he gazed at the bow in Applejack's grasp.
"I just dun understand..." Applejack brushed her bangs back and shuddered. "There was no trace of any of the other girls... but this was left behind." She gulped hard. "Did Apple Bloom leave it there on purpose? Did it come off by accident? Did... did she struggle with the foalnapper when... when she was t-taken?"
"I wouldn't stress over the possibilities, Applejack," Filthy said, though there was no joy in either his voice or his expression. "Perhaps it's a sign... the best thing we've all had to cling to." And with that, he left, trotting into the sunset as his torch billowed overhead.
Big Macintosh gave Applejack one last, sad look, then galloped off to join the search parties as they split up.
With a dull sigh, Applejack squatted low, picking up the family dog. "Come on, Winona..." She laid the exhausted canine over her flank and shuffled out of town. "Let's go home..."
Half-an-hour later, the sun had completely disappeared, due largely in part to a thick swath of thunderclouds that had clustered across the northern sky. From a distance, Applejack could spot tiny flashes of cold blue lightning from within the murky cloud banks. She approached the dark outline of her farmhouse, lingering a bit before the front porch. A chill wind had picked up, and the mare felt the shivers straight through to her bones. A light was lit behind one of the first floor windows. Applejack felt a lump form in her throat just from looking at it.
Steeling herself, Applejack trotted over to the woodshed on the north side of the house. There, she lay Winona, leaning down to nuzzle her. "You've been such a good girl today. I'll have to reward you... but not until this whole m-mess is over." Winona didn't say a word, her ears twitching slightly as she lay in an exhausted heap across the grass. Nevertheless, Applejack wandered over, grabbed a length of chain, and hooked it to the dog's collar. "There..." She smiled faintly, dizzily. "What, with how you love to run in yer sleep, it'd be a shame to wear yourself out even further." She petted the dog several times, sighed, then trotted into the house.
Opening the screen door, she heard the first roll of thunder in the distance. Applejack let the door slap shut behind her as she shuffled into the living room, engulfed in dim candlelight. She squinted, peering forward into the shadows.
Granny Smith sat slumped in a chair... a rocking chair that did not rock. She had the piece of furniture shuffled up to the side of the house so that she could stare straight out the windows and beyond the front porch. Right now, her body lay limp, rising and falling only with the occasional slumbering breath. Gritty salt from dried tears clung to her wrinkled muzzle as she murmured quiet nothings into the night. All around her, the candles had burned halfway down to their holders, and some of them had gone out completely.
Applejack felt another cold draft coming from the screen door. Teeth clenched, she bravely trotted over and nuzzled the elder mare. Upon feeling how cold she was to the touch, she grabbed a thick duvet from the nearby couch and gently laid it over Granny Smith's legs.
As she did so, the mare stirred awake, lips murmuring. "Mrmmff... wherezit... how..." A sniffling sound. "Applejack... izzat you, darlin'?"
Applejack knelt down, resting a hoof on Granny Smith's shoulders. "I'm here, Granny. But not for long. I-I just had to get some rest. That's all I came home for."
"Did..." Granny's brow furrowed. "Did you find our lil' apple seed?"
Applejack opened her mouth... but lingered. She gulped and muttered, "All in due time, Granny. Dun you worry or nothin'. We'll find her. You'll see."
Granny Smith said nothing.
"Granny...?"
Tears squeezed out of her green eyelids. "Lived so long..." She sniffled. "So... so tired of buryin' my own children..."
Applejack's face paled. With misty eyes, she leaned forward and nuzzled the old mare. "Oh Granny. Dun... dun talk like that! There ain't nopony that needs buryin'! Just... just have a lil' faith! That's all! You gotta... gotta..."
As soon as the first tears trickled down Granny Smith's face, her lips stopped moving. She drifted off into quiet slumber, floating away on melancholic breaths.
Applejack held her teeth together. Composing herself, she leaned in to nuzzle the pony one last time... then kissed her on the cheek. Standing up, she turned around and trotted slowly up the creaking stairs to the second story of the house. A touch of thunder rolled through the old floorboards. In the blossoming starlight through the windows, Applejack could make out the silhouette of her bedroom at the far end of the hall. However, she stopped dead in her tracks.
After a lengthy pause, Applejack looked to the left.
The door to Apple Bloom's room hung ajar. The soft colors inside were painfully inviting under the hushed shroud of night. Without giving it a second thought, Applejack pushed the door open and slid her way in. Once inside, she stood in place, taking a deep breath.
Apple Bloom's things were scattered all across the room right where she had left them before going to school two mornings prior. Time and time again, Applejack remembered scolding the little filly for the mess. For the life of her, she couldn't imagine why a farm filly raised to respect hard work and determination would leave her own place in such disarray. All of that seemed extremely trivial now. It stabbed at Applejack's gut.
Shuddering, Applejack lifted one of her bucking legs. She pushed the door shut with a thap, then slowly drifted forward. As she passed a wooden stool, she laid Apple Bloom's bow neatly down, then made her way to the tiny bed in the corner. The thing was three sizes too small for Applejack, but that didn't stop her. She crawled up, grabbed one of the filly's pillows, and curled into a little fetal position.
"Apple Bloom..." The freckled mare mewled, undamming the tears for the first time in over two days. "Apple Bloom, where are ya, darlin'?" Alone, Applejack hiccuped, sobbed, then hugged the pillow tighter. "Come back to us... please, sugarcube..." Her whimpering lungs did their toll, and she soon fell asleep, awash in her own tears. "Please... c-come back..."
Applejack had a dream... if one could call it such. Throughout the restless hours that followed, she swam from vision to vision of rummaging through basements, backyards, and veritable seas of hay and tall grass. She saw torchlight glinting off of wooden shack doors and gnarled tree trunks. She heard the voices of frantic adults calling out name after name... but not once did the sweetest voice in the whole world answer back.
So Applejack resorted to running... galloping. But the faster she trotted, the less torchlight she had to light her frenzied path. One by one, the flashlights and candles and matches went out. Soon, all Applejack had was moonlight. When she tried calling Apple Bloom's name, all that came out was an awful clicking noise. So Applejack tried screaming, but her breathless wheeze carried her into an empty, empty field. There was a brief wink of moonlight, and Applejack saw skin—wrinkled skin—Granny's. The old mare stood at the end of a long, dark grave, marked with the name of every Apple who had come before Applejack and her sister. At long last, Granny Smith looked up, with dark hollow eyes that scuffed the edges of Applejack's beating heart. Then, bowing her head, Granny Smith tilted over... and fell into the abyss. Thunder rolled from the echoes of her dry body hitting the dirt inside.
"Nnngh—Gaagh!" Applejack shot straight up, bumping her head against the canopy of Apple Bloom's bed. At first, she thought her mind was flashing from the sheer pain of her skull's impact, but then she heard thunder rolling yet again. Real thunder. Gazing straight out the window—and panting—Applejack saw the East Orchards of Sweet Apple Acres fluttering in a stormy breeze. There were more flashes of lightning, illuminating the eerie lengths of the farm in a sickly silver sheen, and then the thunder redoubled, shaking the very foundations of the house.
Wheezing for breath, Applejack slumped back on her side, her eyes thin and twitching beneath a curtain of sweat. The storm had obviously passed over the farm by that time of night. She wondered just how many hours she had been under. Whatever the case, Applejack didn't feel any more rested.
So, with a defeated groan, she rolled over in the tiny bed, facing away from the windows. She would have closed her eyes... if only it weren't for what she saw.
The door to Apple Bloom's door hung wide open.
Applejack blinked. Her eyes darted left, right, then left again. The muscles in her forelimb became alive, pulling at the edge of the bed. She craned her neck and looked down.
The wooden stool was barren. Apple Bloom's bow was gone.
Applejack pursed her lips. Her lungs quivered, powerless to produce any sound.
Then lightning flashed, and something made Applejack gasp. At first, she thought it was her imagination playing tricks on her. Anxious, she crawled out of bed and squatted right beside the stool. There, she waited... and waited.
Lightning flashed again, and this time Applejack was sure she saw it: a series of tiny, tiny hoofprints leading to and from the doorway. They ended right at the stool, then led right back out into the main hall. Applejack crawled over, feeling the floor beyond the stool. She instantly winced, holding her hoof up. Something on the wooden floorboard was damp... and warm.
Muzzle quivering, Applejack stood straight up. In a jerk, she bolted towards the door, then peered out into the hallway. She didn't have to wait long this time. There was another flash of lightning, and she saw sporadic stains in the floorboard—all leading toward the staircase. A rumble of thunder masked the sound of Applejack's nervous hoofcreaks. When she reached the top of the stairs, she nearly slipped on something. She leaned down and rubbed her hoof along the top step. Something slimy made contact with her hoof, then dribbled off.
Face scrunched in confusion, Applejack slowly trotted down the steps. She emerged on the first floor between the kitchen and the living room. Here, she could hear the rustle of leaves and tall grass all throughout the orchard. It sounded like the entire farmhouse was surrounded by a babbling brook, with the thunder resembling looming rapids.
"Granny...?" Applejack called out. "Granny, did you hear somethin' just—?"
Gonggg!
Applejack hissed beneath her teeth, flashing an angry glare at the grandfather clock immediately to her left. The little hand was on the number five. She had been asleep a long time, but she was wide awake now.
So engrossed was she with the moment that she didn't hear the loud rustling until the fourth and fifth chime. Somepony was stumbling through the kitchen, bumping into almost every pot and pan imaginable.
Applejack groaned. "Granny, how many times do I have to tell ya?" Applejack trotted forward. "If y'all need somethin', dun go fumblin' for it in the dark! Heck, I just nearly slipped on the stairs just now on account of my bein' all paran—" Applejack saw something in her peripheral vision. She looked to her right and immediately froze in place.
Granny Smith was still reclining in the living room's rocking chair, fast asleep.
Applejack's muzzle fell agape.
Cl-Clakkk! The kitchen door rattled shut.
Applejack spun completely around, panting.
As the last clap of thunder settled, she heard a faint rattling noise, like a coin spinning to a stop. The sound ended as softly as it had started, then all was silent, save for the distant howl of wind.
On brisk hooves, Applejack rushed into the kitchen. She peered around the dining table. A sliver of starlight illuminated the tile just before the screen door. There, she saw a couple of the same stains that she had spotted on the second story hallway. But there was something else too. Something tiny and round.
Applejack trotted over, then leaned down. She squinted, then brought two hooves together, lifting the puny disc.
"A button...?" She murmured aloud, turning the item over several times in her grasp. Although it was hard to tell in the dim light, Applejack could make out a hauntingly bright amber color to the four-holed thing. Also, she could almost swear that one side of it felt damper than the other. "But... what in tarnation?" She looked up, blinking into the shadows. "Who—?"
Suddenly, Winona started barking—a very angry, agitated salvo of animal chants.
Applejack stood up. She pressed her muzzle to the screen door, peering straight out.
The grass swayed between the trees. When lightning strobed, Applejack could see their silver-tinted blades dancing left and right. When lightning flickered a second time, she spotted something parting the grass... scampering away with a pained limp.
The mare blinked, squinting.
To her mixed fortune, there was yet another flash of lightning. As the thunder punished Applejack's ears, she could make out a tiny body bobbing through the grass. A yellow body, flouncing, clinging to a piece of pink fabric as it ran further and further away from the farm house.
"... ... ...Apple Bloom?"
Winona's barks grew louder and louder.
Gritting her teeth, Applejack bucked the kitchen door open (Whack!) and tore her way outside. She trotted ten feet into the northern yard of the house. "Apple Bloom?!?" she hollered. Only thunder answered. Frustrated, she gnashed her teeth and bellowed again: "Apple Bloom, is that you—?!"
Winona's jaws snapped at her fetlocks.
"Gaah!" Applejack jumped aside, eyes wide. "Winona! What in the hay has gotten into you?!"
The canine was snarling, lashing, barking and thrashing at the windy air. Its hair rose up on its back as it crouched low, growling between explosive barks.
"Winona! Land's sakes!" Applejack grimaced, backtrotting away from the angry mutt. "I've no earthly idea what spooked you, but I think Apple Bloom's back! Did you see, girl?"
Once more, Winona was completely wild, livid. Her nostrils flared as she growled and yipped in angry confusion. Applejack saw the spike that held her chain starting to yank out of the earth. Rushing over, she kicked it snugly back into place with her hoof.
"Fine! Be that way! Stay here, girl! Stay!" Without a second thought, Applejack ran past the dog and her chains, chasing after the yellow figure she had seen at the far end of the northern field. "I'll go get her myself! Apple Bloom?!" Her voice was as panicked as her labored gallop. "Apple Bloom?!"
The next ten minutes were full of sprinting. Applejack knew that she was breathless before she even started, but—much like Winona's temper—none of that stopped her. Running on pure adrenaline, she pushed her exhausted muscles to the limit, pushing on through the lightning and thunder that drew closer, brighter, louder.
"Apple Blooooom?!" She made sure to yell both when her lungs were full and when there was a space between the thunder to carry her voice. Neither worked out for her very well, so she resorted to simply galloping straight forward. Her expert eyes noticed that there was a split in the grass following the path where a lightweight pony's hooves had sprinted almost as desperately as she was right then. Every now and then, when Applejack rounded a crest in the hills, she could see past the apple trees and make out a faint yellow figure once again. That's how she knew that she wasn't simply dreaming it up. "Besides..." She sputtered, her gallop having dwindled to a desperate limp. "Somethin' had to have scared poor ol' Winona!" She hissed between her teeth. "But if she came b-back... then wh-why would she just up and leave right away like that?! It dun make no—" Her pupils shrank and she skidded to a stop, wincing.
The outer treeline of the Everfree Forest loomed straight ahead. In the last flicker of lightning, she easily made out a bright yellow body darting in between the tree trunks, and vanishing under a dull curtain of thunder.
When the storm's noise once again silenced, it was replaced with a dull heartbeat in Applejack's ears. "Apple Bloom..." This time, it was a whimper. There was no chance of the filly hearing her. And—with the Everfree Forest now on the horizon—Applejack knew there was no way she could be found either.
Nevertheless, she crept forward.
"Apple Bloom... it's Applejack!" She gulped, then chanted louder as she reached the dark, dark edge of the wilderness. "Apple Bloom, I-I just want to talk! We've all been mighty worried about you, and... and we..."
Once engulfed in the forest, Applejack was chilled by just how dead quiet it was. The foliage above was so thick that not even the lightning from the storm could bleed through. The thunder was now a dull, muffled thump, and even the crickets had a faint, lifeless chorus at that hour.
"Apple Bloom...?" The mare pressed forward, her legs bent and her shoulders hunched. Her eyes darted to the left and right. A minute or two into the bleak search, and Applejack's vision had adjusted well enough to define the dull brown tree trunks from one another... but only when they were a few feet ahead of her in the onyx-black, windless soup. "Apple Bloom... t'ain't just you we're lookin' for, darlin'. But Twist... Silver Spoon... even Diamond Tiara!" Applejack gulped. "They're all in the same pickle as well, darlin'! So please... be responsible. Be like yer big sis and help them all by helpin' me find you."
She galloped a few steps ahead, nearly bumping into a tree. Wincing, she leaned against it and gave the next shout her biggest breath yet.
"Apple Bloooooom?!"
Nothing.
Not even an echo.
Fighting the urge to hyperventilate, Applejack once again bellowed into the forested void. "Apple Bloom, tell me where you are, darlin!"
More silence.
At least at first.
Applejack heard a snap.
Gasping, she looked ahead and to the left. Her panting muzzle curved slightly. "AB? Is that you, sugarcube?"
There was another snap... only it was different this time. It resembled more of a click than anything.
Applejack's brow furrowed. She pushed away from the tree and crept forward, slowly, her hooves pawing pensively through the soft forest floor.
The click repeated... followed my more guttural percussion, all in the same pitch.
Clickkkk-clickclickclickclickclick...
The sound paused, then repeated, growing louder and more ardent in successive intervals.
Applejack's blood ran cold. The clicks had the natural timing of inhales and exhales. She held her whole body still, forelimb raised, not daring to move another inch.
The clicking continued, at least at first. A few seconds after Applejack was silent, it turned quiet as well.
Applejack leaned forward, squinting.
The bowels of the forest were coming into focus. She saw tree trunks, shrubbery, and natural flower beds. She also saw an overturned log, only it was split in half. She could tell from the thick dark spot in the middle...
Until that dark spot moved. A pair of spots glistened above it like a wolf's eyes. And it clicked.
Applejack twitched.
The shadow stood across from her at about fifty feet. It tilted its neck to the left, to the right, then straight up by about three feet. Suddenly, it was still... then just as suddenly it wasn't, gliding straight at Applejack with a thumpthumpthumpthumpthump!
Squeaking, Applejack bolted to the right, dashed forward, and jumped blindly into the darkness. When she landed, she immediately tripped on a tree root. She stifled a shriek, finding herself sliding down a wet hill of leaves and clumped dirt. She rolled and tumbled, then came to a bumpy stop in a ditch of loose soil. Panting and panting, she sucked in her breath and wriggled her flank, digging herself deep in the surface of the earth. Once she felt herself burrowed up to the muzzle, she lay dead still, staring wide-eyed into the empty void.
Within seconds, a darker shadow than the rest pierced the tree canopy. It clicked and clicked and clicked, faster and more pronounced with the sway of its long, long neck. The thing loomed right over Applejack, blind to her position. It sniffed at the air with something too thick and hollow to belong to a horse's nasal cavities. Pretty soon, Applejack had to blink, and yet she could have sworn she saw slender things swaying through the air. Within seconds, something long and needle-thin scratched across the forest floor, followed by another. They brushed a fleck of dirt across the mare's freckled cheek, tickling her, then scratched the leafy pile to her side.
This went on for a horrific minute. Then, with rolling clicks, the neck of the thing retracted. Lumbering, it spun around, thumpthumpthumping off into the distance... where tree trunks and branches devoured its echoing steps.
Applejack didn't dare move a muscle... not until another ten minutes had limped by at least. When she unburrowed from the earth, it was in a slow, liquid motion, like she was silently giving birth to herself. At last, crawling on all fours, she made her way in the opposite direction from which the thing retreated. As nearly half-an-hour of tree-laden darkness followed, Applejack realized that she was heading deeper into the Everfree Forest. This meant that the creature must have been heading into the opposite direction, which meant—
"The farm..." Applejack murmured to herself. "I've gotta go warn the others somehow. Granny. Winona. They'll be..." She stopped murmuring... as well as trotting.
She saw a light up ahead. A flickering light.
Brow furrowed, Applejack rushed forward and pressed herself against a tree. Holding her breath, she craned her neck and peered around the trunk.
Several spots flickered with fresh torchlight. Applejack made out windows, a door, and multiple thick branches stretching out into the Everfree Canopy. The mare recognized what she was looking at in an instant.
"Zecora's..." She muttered. "But what is that zebra doing awake in the middle of the night?!" Panting, she glanced behind her. There was no shadow. No clicking. Even still...
Applejack rushed out into the clearing. There was a brief break in the trees overhead. Pale starlight twinkled upon the verge of a new dawn. Applejack would have given anything for sunlight, but with the town's loyal shaman within reach—
"Zecora?!" Applejack pounded on the door. "Zecora! Open up! Please!" The mare gulped, leaning against the door. "There's somethin' terrible stalkin' these woods! And I-I think I just saw Apple Bloom run into the forest just now! That means she's in trouble! You gotta help me! Please! I'm beggin' ya—"
Something clattered on the inside, followed by a light scuffling against the wooden floor. Then all was silent.
Applejack held her breath. Blinking quizzically, she stepped back, then looked down at the bottom of the front door to Zecora's hut.
Through the thin crack, Applejack saw enough torchlight to spot several blood-red hoofprints against the doorframe and the handle.
Applejack gritted her teeth. "Z-Zecora...?"
There was no reply. Not even a stirring this time.
Holding her breath, Applejack gripped the door handle. It felt warm to the touch, and wet. Nevertheless, the mare opened it wide, left it hanging there on its hinges, and cautiously stepped inside.
She was immediately greeted with an awful stench, as if she had just trotted into a manure factory. Applejack wanted to wretch, for her nose curled up even more, detecting something so rotten beneath the initial smell that her senses couldn't even account for it. Her eyes fogged over with tears, and she had to wipe the lids dry. Finally, blinking into the hazy candlelight, she took a few moments to digest what she was seeing.
The whole interior of the hut was in disarray. Leaves, mulch, and flecks of indiscernible detritus covered the bulk of the floor. Gone were the tables and shelves of alchemy equipment that Zecora normally kept in strong supply. Instead, the tables had been turned over—some shattered straight down the middle. There were slash marks and chipped strips of wood all across the dilapidated furniture... the floor... even parts of the ceiling. Overhead, cockroaches skittered away from the shadows that Applejack was making. And the candles—they didn't consist of normal wax, but some sort of pliable green substance that only added to the odor of the place.
Applejack fought the bile rising up in her throat. Only after a full minute and a half of standing in the doorframe of that place did she realize what the hidden stench was. It was something she once smelled years ago when having to visit an embalmer while personally arranging a funeral for one of Granny Smith's old, deceased friends. Applejack was an adult mare who was well acquainted with death, but she seldom had the misfortune of smelling it.
She was very, very unlucky that evening.
Slowly, Applejack trotted forward. She looked to her left. Zecora's wooden trunk lay wide open, but instead of wooden masks and desert scrolls it was stuffed full of branches, moss, and leaves stained with animal feces. She glanced to the right. Zecora's bed had been completely wrecked, its mattress torn wide open. A reptilian tongue flickered in the candlelight as a snake slithered deep beneath a pile of rusted metal tools, hiding. Beside this, the floorboards were noticeably red, stained with the color crimson in multiple, thick layers. Applejack's eyes followed the stains as they led down a steep flight of stairs and into an underground wooden basement.
Applejack blinked. She wasn't even aware that Zecora had a basement. A part of her wondered if even Zecora herself knew. From the look of things, the zebra hadn't been living inside that hut for ages. Applejack's beleaguered mind did backflips, trying desperately to remember anything from the past few days that didn't involve fruitlessly wandering in circles, calling out Apple Bloom's name or trying to hold her own tears in. None of those faint, fleeting memories involved a zebra shaman. This was bewildering, because Applejack guessed that Zecora would be the first pony aside from her close friends to volunteer in the search for the missing foals.
Something overcame Applejack's mind. It chilled her heart, sending a cold shudder from her head to her tail. She did her best not to dwell upon the horrid thought, instead focusing on the fact that she hadn't yet seen where the candlelight was coming from.
Applejack turned towards the far wall of the hut... and she immediately wished she hadn't. A crooked grimace crossed her muzzle. She stepped forward only because she had to... because she needed to make sure she was indeed seeing that which lay in front of her.
Dozens of candles—some on the floor, some mounted to the wall—all collectively framed a fireplace stuffed to the brim with dead pigeons, squirrels, and the heads of small deer. As disgusting as that was, it didn't steal Applejack's attention as much as that which stood on the very mantle of the fireplace.
One after another, Applejack saw three dolls... life-sized pony dolls... stuffed toys of various shapes and colors. They each stood the average height of a young foal, and their "coats" consisted of baby-soft felt cloth, as did their matching manes and tails. There were no mouths or hollows to their ears, and in place of eyes they each had a pair of large, matching buttons.
Applejack stared at these for a long time. Her mind didn't want it to happen, but she detected a noticeable pattern. The coats of the three dolls were peach, light gray, and soft lavender—respectfully. What's more, two of the dolls sported eyeglasses and one of them had a tiara—slightly bent and tarnished.
The mare stepped up to the last one in question. She leaned close until she was muzzle-to-muzzle with the limp doll. Red stains clung to the edges of the tiara. The raggedy bands that made up the toy's mane were two-toned, consisting of lavender-and-silver colors. What's more, the two buttons were a light blue. One of the threads that held the left "eye" in place was loose. Curious, Applejack opened her mouth and clasped it in her teeth. She pulled until the button dangled loosely, and then she plucked it off the doll's face with her hoof.
It matched the shape and configuration of the button she had found in front of her kitchen door back at home.
Applejack's muzzle scrunched. She looked at the stuffed toy once again. Now that the button was gone, there dangled a loose flap of lavender felt cloth underneath. With her hoof, Applejack lifted the flap, peeling it back.
Instantly, her nosehairs curled and she nearly jerked back.
Beneath the cloth, all Applejack saw was juicy red pulp.
Cl-Clakk! Something rattled on the opposite side of the hut.
"...!" Applejack spun around. In so doing, her flank bumped into the fireplace. The candlelight danced. Behind her, the lavender doll's leg snapped, and the whole thing fell clear off the mantlepiece with surprising weight. Splat! Applejack turned and looked down—instantly gasping.
The felt doll had exploded on impact, spilling out a viscous pile of red hash and phlegm all across the chipped wooden floor. Bone fragments and writhing maggots were exposed to the light for the first time in days. Poking out from the edge of the doll's disintegrating face, Applejack spotted full rows of tiny horse teeth, glinting in the candlelight.
The only thing keeping Applejack from vomiting was the perpetual rattling sound from across the hut. Once again, she spun.
This time, she caught what was making the sound. A tiny yellow figure scrunched up into the corner just beyond the penumbra of the candlelight. It shook and shivered, inching away from the sight of Applejack as it clung a pink bow to its chest.
Applejack panted and panted. She scooted forward and squatted low. "Apple... Apple Bloom?"
"St-stay away..." yelped a quivering little voice. The familiarity of its tone filled Applejack with simultaneous joy and despair. "Please! It'll find me! It'll find you too!"
"Apple Bloom..."
"It'll sniff us both out!" The yellow shape shivered, hugging the bow until it collapsed to ribbons in its grip. "It always d-does! There's no escaping it!"
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack swept the little thing up into a hug, nuzzling it close. "Oh, praise Celestia! I'm so glad I finally found you—"
"Ow ow ow ow ow—" The filly squeaked in pain. "Applejack, stop!"
Alarmed, Applejack drew back, holding the foal at forelimb's length. "Apple Bloom?! What's happened to—?" Her muzzle hung wide open.
It looked like Apple Bloom. It sounded like Apple Bloom. It was even shaped like Apple Bloom. But all over its body—tightly woven—was yellow felt cloth for fur. Its hooves were stained green and brown from grass and sawdust, and in a few places the cloth had torn away, leaking blood and jaundice.
"Please... d-don't hug me," the filly sobbed. One amber-colored button wobbled across her masked face. For a mouth, there was loose string barely holding a ragged seam together. The fabric along the muzzle expanded and contracted with each pained breath. "It hurts, Applejack. It hurts everywhere." She hiccuped on a sob, struggling to stand upright in front of the mare. "It hurts when I walk... it hurts when I run... it even h-hurts when I cry..."
"Apple Bloom..." Applejack was close to hyperventilating. She nervously caressed the raggedy strands of red cloth that the filly had for a mane. She glanced at her "tail," then leaned in towards her face. Where the lost yellow button had been, there was a tiny hole. Beneath the felt cloth, Applejack could see a bloodshot eye twitching in a sea of gnarled red muscle. "Celestia Almighty..."
"You sh-shouldn't have c-come here..." Apple Bloom shivered and stammered. "Nopony should be here."
"Then... then what made you come back?!" Applejack gasped. "That... that was you who came home for the hairbow, wasn't it?!" Eyes welling with tears, Applejack stroked the doll's cheek with as soft a touch as she could manage. "Why didn't you wake me or Granny, sugarcube?"
"I... I didn't want it to f-find you..." The filly seethed, her exposed eye clenching shut. Bloodied tears squeezed out, staining the yellow fabric beyond. "It takes your insides... and adds you to its collection." She spasmed, coughing up blood as she writhed on the floor. "But it won't f-feed... it w-won't feed until the collection's complete." She looked up, shivering. "That's why it sent me back..."
"For... for the bow?"
Apple Bloom clenched her stained teeth beneath the mouth slit. "I was an unfinished doll." She hunched over, whimpering. "Until tonight... until t-tonight..."
"Apple Bloom..." Applejack snarled, leaning forward with a frown. "Who is it?! Who's doing all of this to you?! I need to know!" She hissed. "Is it Zecora?"
"Mmmm... n-no..." Apple Bloom looked up, quivering. "It's the thing wearing Zecora's skin."
Applejack tightened her jaw. While Apple Bloom continued sobbing, she turned and looked back at the fireplace. Her eyes traveled across the dead animals stuffed between the brickwork, then at the two remaining dolls, then at the lavender toy that had exploded into a hash of meaty pulp across the floor.
"...I have to get you out of here."
"It'll c-come..." Apple Bloom cried. "It'll come for all of us! It always does!"
"It's a risk I'm willin' to take!" Applejack hoisted Apple Bloom up and onto her back. "Now let's move!"
"Owwwwww..." Apple Bloom shrieked, then whimpered, curling up atop Applejack's flank. "Pl-please stop... d-don't move me! It h-hurts!"
"No can do, lil' sis!" Applejack panted as she trotted for the hut's front door. "The longer we stay here, the more we risk—"
The dark shape was trotting out of the forest, heading straight for the hut.
Apple Bloom shrieked, forcing Applejack to clamp a hoof over her pained muzzle. The mare stared—wide-eyed—out the door.
The shape loomed closer and closer, limping as it dragged a heavy body right behind it, kicking up dirt and leaves. Its long neck stretched towards the light, clicking faster and faster as thin needles swayed out of its neck and forehead.
"Mmmr-fmmmlllfffjkk!" Apple Bloom mewled, drooling blood over Applejack's fetlock.
"Land's sakes!" Applejack whispered to herself. She backtrotted over the red-stained floor, looking left and right. The creature was only a dozen heartbeats away from entering the hut. Spinning wildly around, Applejack rushed towards a window, struggling with the pane and wooden crossbars. "Nnnngh—Guh! Come onnn! The thing wouldn't budge.
Limbs dragged straight up to the outer doorframe, followed by dull, undulating breaths.
Clickkkk-clickclickclickclick...
Breathless, Applejack looked up, then below. She saw the dark steps leading into the darker basement. Without a moment's hesitation, she galloped straight down, plunging herself and Apple Bloom into darkness.
"A-Applejack..." Apple Bloom cried.
Shhhhhhh! Applejack's own hissing voice echoed against the claustrophobic shadows. She saw something twinkle in her peripheral vision. Glancing aside, she saw a thin slitted window that hugged the bottom of the topsoil outside. Leaning up on her rear hooves, she pushed and struggled against the thing's hinges. It didn't budge any more than the window upstairs.
Up above, the floorboards creaked and shook. Then, a pronounced silence. All of the sudden—THUD! The front door slammed shut, thundering throughout the entire hut. Something brushed against the wooden surfaces above, like copper wires over unpolished linoleum. Gentle little scrapes... growing fainter. Once again, nothing. And then, once more: Clickkkk-clickclickclick-clickkkkk.
Applejack breathed and breathed. Every tremble that ran through Apple Bloom's body chilled her own blood colder and colder. She looked straight into the darkness, then fumbled slowly—one step at a time—across the frigid basement to Zecora's hut. She carried her sister into the inky black shadows, feeling forward with one hoof. Above, she heard the labored thump th-thump thump th-thump of the homecoming resident. Suddenly, it was a race—a competition between Applejack's pensive steps and the scraping movements overhead. All Applejack had to do was find a quiet niche to hide, a shadow within shadows, then... and only then... would she and Apple Bloom be—
Cl-Cl-Clankk! Applejack's hoof knocked into a bunch of hanging metal blades. She winced, lost her balance, and teetered over onto her side. Sp-Splat! The basement floor was wet with a pool of crusty liquid. She groaned, but not as loudly as Apple Bloom. Reaching blindly, Applejack scooped her pained sister's body up, making her yelp all the more from the contact. Frantically covering the filly's muzzle, the mare scooted through the viscous slime until her back was up against a wall of hard plaster. There, she huddled in dead silence, clutching her little sister tight. The two shivered in place, surrounded in darkness.
The only source of light was the thin trap door to the basement above and to the left. Something obstructed the view, and Applejack assumed that a table or a stack of boxes lay between where they were and the thin-slitted window on the far side. She was too busy laying dead still and holding Apple Bloom in place that she didn't realize until a full two minutes had passed...
That it was quieter than a graveyard upstairs.
Applejack held her breath. Her left ear twitched. Then her right. Apple Bloom shivered in the mare's grasp, her one eyehole tearing through the felt cloth "coat."
More silence...
And then...
Clickclickclickclickclickkkk...
The light upstairs dimmed halfway. A few seconds limped by.
Clickkkkk-click-click-click-click...
The rest of the candles were blown out.
All the light from above was gone.
Applejack could feel the vessels in her neck throbbing. She evened the pace in her breath, hoping that her heartbeat would follow peacefully along. There was no hearing anything through the resounding thunder that pulsed through her ears.
Eventually, Applejack's eyesight adjusted to the new darkness. For what it was worth, she could see a hazy horizontal beam of starlight wafting down through the thin slitted window along the basement's ceiling. This was a good thing... as well as a bad thing... for when the thing started its lumbering lurch downstairs, she could see its dark, dark frame.
Apple Bloom squealed, forcing Applejack to clamp the filly's muzzle tighter. The mare clenched her teeth, her green eyes reflecting the shadow of the thing as it slithered down, one th-thumping limb at a time.
The thing paused, leaning forward, stretching its neck out by three feet and peering left and right. Click-click... click-click... clickkkk. Dark-black needles shot in and out of its skull like sea anemone, even glistening a bit in the starlight. It lingered there at the top of the stairs, sniffed and sniffed, then retreated back to the top floor.
Applejack's eyes darted after it. Slowly... slowly, she exhaled. She felt Apple Bloom relaxing in her embrace, head bowed as she breathed with relief.
Wh-WHUMP-Wh-WHUMP! A meaty corpse barreled down the basement stairs. It crashed to a clattering stop somewhere across the floor.
Apple Bloom jolted again. Applejack held her in place. Squirming, Applejack squatted on her hind quarters and daringly craned her neck to see better.
The clicking returned, along with the creature's shuffling limbs. It pitter-pattered swiftly onto the floor, landing on what sounded like more than four hooves. Once there, it crouched over the corpse, sniffing and clicking. Then, for a brief moment, all was still and silent.
Applejack felt a lump forming in her throat. For all she knew, the creature could have shuffled up to the tiny partition between them.
Instead, she heard the sound of a match being struck. Applejack's gaze caught a limb stretching up in the starlight with a lit match. Before her eyes, a kerosene lamp brightened from where it dangled from a rusty hook in the middle of the ceiling. It was a zebra hoof holding up the match, though the fetlock was tangled over with dark black threads—almost like thorns, only they quivered and pulsated in the fire light.
Clickkkkk—Clickclickclick!
Applejack shrunk back, squatting behind what turned out to be a stack of thick burlap bags. She saw roaches scattering between her and her sister. Tilting her head up, she looked directly above, noticing that the entire wall was dotted with hooks, upon which over a dozen knives and cleavers dangled with every conceivable shade of red. Looking to her side, Applejack almost gasped at a stack of translucent jugs, all filled to the brim with flammable kerosene. Cursing under her breath, Applejack nevertheless steeled herself. She gestured for Apple Bloom to "stay put," then, silently—on feather-soft hooves—she trotted sideways and peered around the pile of bags.
It was just in time for her to catch the shady figure hunched over the dead corpse lying in the middle of the room. To Applejack's frustration, the light was too dim to illuminate the figure's shape in full. Nevertheless, she could make out the zebra stripes without question. But unlike the living Zecora, this equine's flesh flounced and billowed with every sudden movement. The thing continued crawling over the corpse, like a queen bee might take its time shuffling over a sheet of honeycomb.
At long last, the creature paused in its undulating motions. The frame of a zebra's head and snout tilted back, meanwhile something else protruded from the neckline, stretching about three feet forward. Applejack couldn't make out more than a slight leathery texture, but then something bright and glistening shot forth like a bullet. It stabbed deep into the gullet of the dormant corpse. Not long after, the air filled with a disgusting gurgling noise. Applejack watched in vomitous silence as the neck and belly of the thing thickened, enlarging three times beneath Zecora's half-lidded scalp.
Before long, the feast was over. The needle snapped back. Deep-throated clicks came out of the creature's belly, only it was now a dull, watery noise... drunk and reeling, like the thing's body. It hunched low on four quivering legs, as if its belly weighed three times as much as it did a minute before. Applejack watched as it crawled over to the far right corner of the basement. Its body was further away from the dangling lantern, so it cast far less of a shadow. Thus, Applejack saw—for the first time—a "bed" made of leaves, moss, and bird feathers. But that wasn't all. Blankets covered the corner like a bedspread, only they were made of four distinct tones... four distinct colors: peach and gray and lavender and yellow. What's more, each "duvet" dangled with brightly colored fibers.
Applejack inhaled sharply, covering her muzzle with a hoof.
Clickkkk-click-click-clickkkk. The creature crawled up, then pressed itself against the fuzzy sheets. Its body curled and uncurled, the zebra stripes rippling in the starlight as it writhed and rubbed is body against the pelts. It then rolled from left to right, purring and clicking in some unnatural bacchanalia as its hooves thrashed and kicked at the ceiling. A throng of dark threads unfurled from its throat, then shot back in. Finally, after a lasting spasm or two, the thing rolled up like a pill bug, and lay still... silent... unmoving.
Applejack lowered her hoof and stepped back, shuddering heavily.
Beside her, Apple Bloom whimpered, leaning over and nuzzling Applejack's fetlocks in spite of the pain. "Applejack..." she whispered hoarsely, then a melodic sob. "I wanna go hommme..."
"I know, darlin'," Applejack whispered, eyes locked on the slumbering monster in the corner. "I know." She looked down and touched Apple Bloom's chin. "I think it's dead tired. The thing's fallen asleep."
"Are you s-sure?"
"This is our chance," Applejack said quietly but firmly. "We'll creep right past it, real quiet-like. Then, once we're upstairs, we open the door and run out of here... and we dun stop until we're at Sweet Apple Acres, y'hear?"
"Okay..." Apple Bloom whimpered, nodding and nodding some more. She rubbed at the tearing edges of her cloth coat. "So long as we get home."
"Dun rub at it, darlin'," Applejack insisted. "We'll get you to a doctor. We'll fix you up nice and good. I promise."
"I... I don't feel so good..." Apple Bloom stammered, teetering slightly. "Like... like my stomach's t-turning inside out..."
"Just like I said, we'll get a doctor to take care of you, darlin'." Applejack took a deep breath and crept forward. "Let's just deal with thangs one step at a—"
She ran nose-first into Zecora's face.
Applejack stepped back.
The zebra's head cocked to the side. Its eye sockets flared wide open, exposing two dozen twitching orbs.
Apple Bloom saw it. She shrieked. "Applejaaaack!"
The zebra looked down at her. The striped flesh rolled back. "CLCKKKKKKKKK!" Its mouth opened with the song of a million crickets, a spiked proboscis pulsating and thrashing.
Applejack flashed a look to her left. She yanked a rusted meat cleaver from the wall and swung it at full force. "Hrnnnng!"
Cold inky blood splattered across the room.
With a banshee shriek, the creature sprouted four multi-jointed legs and flew straight back. Clank! It knocked the lantern on its hook, swinging it back and forth.
Applejack ducked low to avoid the kerosene torch. She squinted, her shocked breath squeaking out through her toothed grip on the blade.
Something squirmed darkly against the basement wall. As the light's halo swung back, Applejack could see the body of the creature slamming and slamming and slamming against the thin window. As the light swung towards Applejack again, she heard the high-pitched shatter of glass. The halo swung back, and the empty window-frame was splattered with black blood. On the floor below lay Zecora's striped skin, deflated and lifeless.
Applejack was too stunned to notice the hook in the ceiling snapping completely. The kerosene lamp fell hard, and the basement floor caught ablaze. Every corner of the niche lit up, including the discarded bones of tiny foals that lingered within inches of where Applejack and Apple Bloom were hiding. Wind blew in through the thin slit in the wall, causing the blades to jingle on their hooks and spreading the fire towards the corner of the basement where—
"Luna above!" Applejack dropped the cleaver, grabbed the nearest burlap sack, and used it to slap and strike the spread of flame towards the kerosene jugs. "Not good... not good! Apple Bloom!"
"Guhhh! Nnnghhh!" Apple Bloom, panting hysterically, scooted and pushed herself way from the flame. She grazed herself on a jutting leg bone, tearing a swath out of the yellow felt cloth, where she proceeded to leak red blood all over pre-stained floor. "Applejaaaaack!"
Seething, the mare looked at the spreading flames, then at her frightened sister. She dropped the sack and hoisted Apple Bloom up with a shriek. "Hold on tight!" She galloped for the far end of the basement. "We gotta get out of here before this whole place—"
She nearly fell flat on her face. She had forgotten about the corpse—the corpse that she just tripped on.
"Oomf!" Apple Bloom clung to Applejack's neck, shivering. "Applejack?! What's wrong?!"
"I... I..." Applejack's emerald eyes shrank into tiny pinpricks. The longer that she stared at the corpse... at its wrinkly green skin... at its baked apple pie for a cutie mark, the harder it was for her to contain her own shivers. "I just... j-just..."
"What is it?!"
"Just cl-close yer eyes, Apple Bloom!" Applejack sniffled, fighting tears as she clambered immediately up the stairs, fleeing the rising heat from down below. The floorboards crackled and the wooden planks warped as the flame spread throughout the hut's foundation. Another doll fell from the fireplace, exploding in a wet crimson mess. "Just close yer lil' eyes until I tell ya to open them!"
"B-but Applejack—"
"Just do it!" Applejack turned and tugged at the front door's knob. It refused to budge. "Come onnnn... Come on!" She slammed her shoulder against the frame. "Grggghh! Gnnghh!"
Smoke rose through the wooden slits in the wood. Sparks and ashes spat up between the floorboards.
"Hnnngh—Come on!" Applejack stepped back, panting and panting. "Apple Bloom, hang on!"
The filly nodded painfully, wheezing from the rising fumes.
Applejack spun around, raising her apple bucking legs high. "Mmmmmm-GAAAUGH!" She kicked the door savagely.
Crackkk! The top half of it snapped loose from the rest of the frame. There was enough space for a small pony to crawl through.
"There! Apple Bloom!" Applejack hoisted the filly high up. "Get a move on! Git!"
"But... but Applejack!" Apple Bloom fought and struggled. The gash in her cloth coat bled profusely over Applejack's fetlocks as she looked back. "Wh-what about—?"
A length of the floor imploded, collapsing into tongues of flame. Bottles exploded on a nearby shelf while spiders and roaches skittered out the fresh entrance Applejack had made.
"There's no time! GO Apple Bloom!" Applejack shoved her little sister through. "I'll be right behind you!"
"Applejack!" Apple Bloom's voice wafted in through the sound of crackling, burning wood. She moaned in pain before whimpering again. "Applejack, hurry!"
Panting, seething, the mare was already climbing into the thin crack in the doorframe, trying to squeeze her body through. A speck of ash caught on her tail, and she had to whip it left and right to put the flame out.
"Applejack!" the filly's voice shrieked from a distance outside. "I see it! I see it! Quick! Get out of there!"
Applejack's left flank caught on a sharp barb of splintery wood. "Aaaaugh!" She yelped in pain, already feeling the blood rivering down her leg. "Nnngh... st-stuck! I'm... I-I'm..."
Clickkkkk-click-click-click-click...
Applejack's eyes widened. She locked on the flouncing yellow image of her sister beyond the glow of the burning hut. Clenching her teeth, the mare pulled herself forward, weathering the torturous pain as her lower body riiiiiiipped across the wooden protrusion. "Nnnngh-Aaaah-haaugh!" At last, Applejack slipped on through, rolling to a stop outside on the cold, cold grass. Firelight streaked across a gray patch of sky. It was sunrise over an Everfree Hell.
"Applejack! Move! Move!"
"Apple... Bloom..." Applejack crawled forward, limping several agonizing feet across the forest floor. She looked up, her eyes hazy from the pain of her forced exit. She stretched a hoof out towards the retreating figure of Apple Bloom. "Don't... don't go without me! Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom!"
The clicking intensified, higher and higher in pitch.
Wincing, Applejack rolled over. She sat up, clutching her bleeding leg. From her vantage point, she could see the entirety of Zecora's hut. The building lit up like a torch, with flames vomiting out every window.
Positioned on the very top of the hut, perched between three branching tree limbs, was a dark shadow that stood eerily still against the whipping inferno. As the first rays of morning light wafted through the tree tops, it tilted its body back, its thorax stretching until it was slender and rigid like a praying mantis. Four legs clung to the tree while six legs stretched to the heavens. When it opened its three-pronged mouth, a throng of needles rotated outward, allowing a narrow proboscis to twirl towards the heavens. Its clicking breath narrowed, solidifying into a filly's shriek, copying the pitch of three different foals before finally settling for Zecora's prolonged, torturous scream.
A blink later, the hut erupted in a blinding flash as the kerosene jugs underground ignited completely. Applejack flinched, feeling the heat curl her tail hairs. She nevertheless squinted into the blaze, then gasped at what she saw.
The beast was still standing, seemingly unfazed by the consuming blaze. Slowly, it tilted its head aside, its dozen black eyes peering straight back at Applejack through the fire.
Applejack trembled, scooting backwards through the blood-stained grass.
At last, the creature vanished. Applejack figured that it was only because it chose to. She wasn't about to wait there and test its resolve.
Panting, wincing from her pain, Applejack forced herself up on three legs and hobbled away from the burning pyre. As she limped forward, she noticed one startling thing... or a startling lack of a thing.
"Apple Bloom!" she screamed, her voice cracking as she teetered on the brink of adrenaline and sanity. "Apple Bloom, where are you?!?"
Somewhere... somewhere far up ahead, something yelped... something shrieked.
"Apple Bloom?!?" Applejack hobbled and hobbled forward.
"It hurts, Applejack..." A yellow figure flounced through the underbrush, a yellow figure that was quickly turning red... and redder. "I can't take it anymore! I wanna go home!"
"Apple Bloom, wait for me—" Applejack gasped as she stumbled over a loose fabric of yellow felt cloth. "No! No! Apple Bloom! Keep yourself together! You must—"
"I-I can't help it!" The filly panted and stammered. "It hurts! It itches and it hurts so much! I-I just wanna go home!" She twitched and galloped faster, becoming a distant amber speck along the brown and green malaise of Everfree. "I just wanna go hoooooome!"
"Apple Blooooom!" Applejack hyperventilated. She forced herself into a pained gallop, seething painfully through her teeth with each weighted step she forced on her bleeding limb. "Please... pl-please wait for me..." She whimpered, shoving her way past dangling branches and bushes. "Silly filly... I know it hurts... just wait... j-just wait... please."
Her eyes fogged over with tears, but she fought them away, wiping her face clean of salt and sweat in order to see the wild thickets ahead. Slowly, inch by inch, the lengths of the forest lit up around her as the sun came up. And as the world came into focus, Applejack saw the color red. It formed a winding trail directly in front of her, running towards the edge of the forest, collecting thickly around every jagged branch and bramble.
"Please... please Celestia..." Applejack heaved and sobbed. The blood trail grew thicker... copious and dripping. Flashes of Granny Smith's heavily wrinkled flesh flickered across the mare's eyes, and it only spurred her on. "Please, Celestia... shine yer light... make a miracle out of th-this moment..." Her breath choked in her throat as she spotted more and more scraps of yellow cloth. "Please, I'm begging you..."
The grass crunched with wet dew and even wetter blood. From far up ahead, echoing between the trees, Applejack heard a pained yelp, followed by a gurgling shriek.
"Apple Bloom?!" She limped faster and faster. The treeline was approaching. Beyond was nothing but apple orchards and glistening fruit. "Apple Bloom, hold up! Wait for yer sister! Wait for..."
There, hanging off a jutting branch, billowing like a flag, was a loose rag of yellow felt, petite and pony-shaped. Raggedy strips of red cloth dangled on both ends, and an amber button had fallen loose, settling amidst a wad of red matter clinging to the soil.
"Apple..." Applejack shivered and hyperventilated, her eyes glazed over. "A-Apple Bl-Bloom...?"
She limped forward in the pale dawnlight, for she had spotted another clump of red pulp... and then another... and another... entire puddles of crusty red hash, growing thicker and frothier, until finally, at the top of a hill, Applejack stood dead still before the Apple Family farmhouse. There, the front lawn was empty, save for Winona, loosed from her chains and growling by the front stoop as she shook a ragged strip of red meat in her hungry jaws.
