Author's Note

Ah, you've made to chapter eight of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature one no less on the grounds that a previous chapter has recently dealt with another heavy subject matter proven to be unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated; suffice to say, this was by far a strong note for many readers all and therefore you were all given an option to skip ahead to this chapter: whether or not you have taken this offer, it was only up to you to do so nothing more.

Aside from disclaimers long ago, I want to take the time to say thank you for never pulling out too early since we're now in the halfway region of the story's progress; somehow, the new year has provided us with a new hope to have and hold with tender loving care rather than yet a totally lost cause and the strength to continue onward in staying tuned for the future that is the now: I believe at this rate, everything will make sense soon enough.

One last thing before I sign off, I hope you can be surprised about this chapter now even more than the others before it because another special guest is going to be joining our fateful protagonist in this chapter below; but, it will not be the end until otherwise so please stay tuned and enjoy, okay?

Green

“Applejack…!” a loud voice had boomed from behind the doorway where the eponymous occupant had already resided in, now awoken to purity from what would have been an otherwise infernal slumber.

Now standing up on both two feet, the tanned blonde faced the glass pane and started to brush off the dusty particles from her white gown while responding clearly, “yea… what’s going on here?”

“It’s time to get up now; you have a visitor waiting already…” a response was now instantaneously found so fast to hear as she had trudged over slowly to hear the jingling of metal so faintly, “let’s move it on, you hear?”

“Who is looking for me today?” Applejack asked slowly while watching the doorknob in front of her become turned to its side already.

From the opening, there had stood a wide figure clad in the same color of fabric that the tanned blonde was in, save for a pair of black gloves and a teal surgical mask; peering from his hazel eyes, the fair skinned one answered gruffly, “a schoolteacher who claims to know a relative of yours; mustn’t keep her waiting now, won’t we?”

“No, not at all…” she had stuttered sadly while slowly stepping out from the simple and sterile spot from stounds long ago.

At this moment, Applejack could only watch wearily as that man nearby started to close the door behind her; soon, he spoke sternly, “she’s right down this hallway.”

The two individuals walked on the floor away from the room in where the tanned blonde had once resided in with only but a series of lights above them providing guidance and visual altogether. The sights and sounds of footfalls from them created a pattern in which would be observed every time a door frame was passed by, occasionally interspersed with the droning about of its own inhabitants. She steadily stared at the small sandals on both her feet were they had rested upon the white tiles beneath as they traveled onward by throughout the hallway. The wide figure had only kept a sharp eye on Applejack as he had maintained a small but significant distance all so warily.

Within only minutes, the otherwise strenuous pattern had now met its end, overtaken by a vast new area that the two walked in. Filling the widened space was but many sets of round tables strewn across from their position, each of which was occupied by no less than a single person in attendance. Above the very occupants were a few wooden fans that were spinning about from beneath the ceiling in the same speed but lacking even a seconds worth of synchronicity. The walls had but a set of windows providing both light and scenery from the outside world beyond the very premises to say the least. There was also another hallway in the vicinity where people were coming in from, more numerous than the arrival of the tanned blonde and the wide figure at that moment in time no less. Even the very flooring now had gained some bits of color that were sprinkled across the uniformity of whiteness that had colored the unbeaten path where they had departed from long before.

“Wait a second; is that Cheerilee waving at me?” Applejack had squeaked as she noticed one of the very people in question throwing a limb upwardly, a bright skinned female no less, “she must be the visitor that yer talking about.” The tanned blonde had quickly taken notice of the tinted silvery lining across the mauve tresses on the woman’s head reaching past the nape of the neck behind. Applejack was also aware that she and Cheerilee were both sharing the same color of irises wrapped around their pupils but with different shades from one another, the latter possessing a lighter shade. A purple sweater was adorned upon the wearer’s body, thick and straight as the sleeves reached the same length as the tanned blonde’s gown. Circling around Cheerilee’s waist line and legs was a long green skirt with a floral arrangement at the side as there were held up by a gold strap. On the bright skinned woman’s feet were but a pair of brown bluchers with pink socks towering past her very ankles.

“Hello, there; I was beginning to worry about you…” Cheerilee spoke warmly as Applejack made it across to the table up in front.

The tanned blonde took her seat altogether and spoke to the bright skinned visitor, “hi, Cheerilee; wasn’t expecting for ya to come see me today.”

“Well, I gotta come around by and check on you somehow…” Cheerilee replied with a faint smile upon herself as Applejack rested her arms onto the table, “so have they been treating you well, Applejack?”

“Mm-hmm… doctors said that Ah have been doing okay ever since; although, Ah can’t seem to say the same thing about myself though…” the tanned blonde sighed as she stared at the tabletop solemnly.

The bright skinned woman took note of Applejack placing elbows onto the surface as hands ran across the tresses here and there and said to the former, “I want apologize for what had happened to you all this time; I can’t believe that a person such as yourself would have survived even after losing so much to the war.”

“Don’t worry about it, Miss; there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it all from occurring…” the tanned blonde replied as she rubbed her nose almost silently without some much as a care, “all that matters to me now is that Apple Bloom is safe and sound; Ah just hope that she could be able to grow up and put these horrid memories out of her very mind.”

“I see then… I should also say the same thing for Sweetie Belle too; she’s been having some nightmares again even though that it’s all over…” Cheerilee had spoken to Applejack as the former placed a hand onto the table.

At that moment in time, the tanned blonde felt her eyes widened a bit further apart from each other and said to the bright skinned female, “Ah don’t blame these kids at all, not even so much as a single bit; we have all lost something to this travesty and Ah can see that. It’s obvious that they will grow up showing only fear and hatred of war itself: even Apple Bloom will remember how our brother is no more because of all this; she still can’t get them out of her mind.”

“It’s a cruel world that we live in but at least there are still people that can make it a better place; I just hope they can meet the right people coming around…” Cheerilee had sighed slowly while wiping away a tear from the corner of the left eye with a finger, “even I can’t seem to stop thinking about what it would be like if I hadn’t lost a child.”

“Oh, Ah am sorry to hear that; Ah didn’t know that this had happened already, Cheerilee…” Applejack whimpered a bit.

The bright skinned female then held onto the tanned blonde’s hand loosely and had responded gently, “it’s not just that, Applejack: during the war, a man had come by to the schoolhouse and started turning this place into a shooting gallery; I tried to stop him from taking any more lives but he struck me in head and I had passed out onto the floorboard. When I woke back up, I found that my clothes had been stripped off of me by that same man who was assaulting me despite being unconscious earlier; I was so afraid of being killed by him that I closed my eyes and cried for it all to end already. I was fortunate to escape from the terror and had found shelter in the underground tunnels where I was able to get medical help; sadly, I had undergone a miscarriage and nearly died from the overwhelming stress. Not a single day goes by in where I reminisce of the peaceful times from long before where the children were happy; even so, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t gone through with all this.”

“Ah could say the similar thing about the ordeal too: all Ah want is to survive long enough to see Apple Bloom grow up; but, Ah am afraid that it won’t even be long for now to even witness it,” Applejack sighed to Cheerilee as the former rubbed down the stomach then up in expectation, “doctors said that the success probability of the overall operation is approximately two percent; Ah was warned that if Ah were to go through with it, then Ah wouldn’t be able to make it out alive. Earlier, Ah had considered ending it already because of the infection that has spread throughout mah body, but even they told me that doing all this would render me infertile for the rest of mah life. Granny Smith, may she rest in peace, had never even taught me about such a subject lahk this, but Ah would imagine that she would prefer respecting all forms of life whatsoever. All Ah can say is that Ah am glad that mah sister is in Zecora’s hands because Ah can’t seem to see how much longer Ah will have before she learns of mah fate; Ah cannot find the strength to tell her the truth about what will happen to me later on: it would be far too much to bear. Nevertheless, she needs to know about it sooner or later for Ah have so little tahm on mah hands and Ah can’t keep skirmish around any further at this rate: Ah know that Zecora will tell Apple Bloom about all of it when she’s older enough but Ah know that it will not be long ‘til then.”

“Oh… you poor thing…” the bright skinned female had whimpered before reaching for the tanned blonde hesitantly, holding the surprised latter in a sudden embrace as the former felt more liquids escaping from her eyes.

At first, Applejack’s eyes were opened wide when she had felt Cheerilee hugging her as the latter sniffled softly, something that the former was already all too aware of; slowly, the favor was returned through actions and words, “it’s okay Cheerilee, everything will be okay; just don’t beat yourself up over all this. There was no way it would have gone that far, especially in the war no less; at least, it’s all over now: these kids won’t have anything else to worry about whatsoever.”

“ATTENTION PERSONNEL: VISITING HOURS WILL END IN ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES; PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR BELONGINGS ARE STILL WITH YOU BEFORE VACATING THE PREMISES!” a voice had now suddenly echoed from the speakers, “REPEAT: VISITING HOURS WILL BE ENDING SHORTLY; THANK YOU!”

“I wish that I could’ve stayed much longer, Applejack; I’m so sorry it must to end so soon…” the bright skinned female sighed as she released the tanned blonde from the otherwise tighten grip.

As Cheerilee began to wipe away both eyes, a faint smile appeared upon Applejack’s face before more words started to slip out from the thin maws, “don’t worry about it; all that matters is that ya came and it beats hearing these voices that wake me up every now and then in the middle of the night, Ah tell ya what.”

“Are you going to be okay here, Applejack?” the bright skinned woman asked with curiosity, “you seemed to be acting calm here; have the doctors been putting you on some medication?”

“Just some antivirals: they’re only there to keep my body from succumbing to the infection ‘til it gets out of me; they said that I should be lucky that it was caught in time but too late to stop it from spreading…” the tanned blonde had answered calmly.

Watching Applejack pat down on her stomach timidly, Cheerilee slipped out a piece of paper from the sweater sleeve and transferred it over to the former slowly, “anyways, Sweetie Belle had just wanted me to go on and give you this: it’s a get well card that she had made herself.”

“Ya kidding me, there aren’t ya; she had made it all by herself?” the tanned blonde replied as she received the ligneous material from the light skinned female, the clash of colored waxes trailing about with hearty content, “with a little more practice she might as well be a graphic novelist at this rate.”

“Well go on ahead and read it; see what it says inside…” Cheerilee squealed with delight as Applejack took heed of these words.

Opening the synthetic flap in front, the tanned blonde opened the handmade card and started to read the words inside of it slowly and curiously, “To Applejack, please keep yourself strong; we miss you – Sweetie Belle.”

“So what do you think; do you like it, Applejack…?” the bright skinned woman asked, earning a slight hopeful nod, “it’s so short and sweet to hear it all come from her, you know.”

“Yeah, it is…; shame that it would feel like the last time Ah ever read something like this, especially from mah sister’s friend no less…” Applejack said to Cheerilee with a somber grin as a tender tear formed from the corner of the eye.

The bright skinned female watched as the tanned blonde wipes it all away and spoke, “well, I guess I should be leaving now; she must be getting all worried about being left alone for too long after all that’s happens.”

“Ah guess you’re right about that: it kind of reminds me of all the times that whenever Apple Bloom was always alone before then; but, now at least Zecora will be taking care of all that…” Applejack had softly replied as Cheerilee soon started to get up from the chair and walk away, “before you go though, can Ah at least take a moment of mah time to ask you a question please?”

“Why, of course, dear; you can ask me anything you like…” the bright skinned woman agreed as she turned to face the tanned blonde once again.

As Applejack regains her ground over the chair and table, she faces the curious Cheerilee with a steady glance, “Ah know that nothing can ever replace mah relatives or mah friends when it comes to getting advice and that it’s very difficult of me to even say something such as this but tell me no: what would you do if you were in the same situation as I have?”

“Well, to be clear Applejack, I cannot be completely able to say for sure here about it: I mean, I would be okay with raising a child of my own had it been under more pleasant circumstance; after all, my job has always been to provide children some knowledge to help them grow up…” the bright skinned female answered slowly as the tanned blonde looked onward without a view askew, “but no matter whatever decision, I will respect it; just please don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Thanks, Cheerilee; times like this make me wish that my ma and pa were still alive and well, not to mention having the same wisdom as yours…” Applejack spoke to Cheerilee before turning away.

The bright skinned woman watched as the tanned blonde returned to the hallway from before with the card in tow and said, “you’re very sweet…”

“As an Apple no less…” Applejack sighed said as she had waved slowly at Cheerilee, “well, Ah guess this is goodbye; besides, visiting hours are about almost over soon and all good things must come to an end.”

“I know; just to let you know, I will tell Sweetie Belle that you had said hi when I get back to her tonight…” the bright skinned female slowly breathed as she had now found herself waving back at the tanned blonde.

Just as Applejack had started to enter the hallway, she chuckled at Cheerilee with a faint smile, “yeah, Ah supposed you will do that Miss…”

It wasn’t long until the two females had finally departed from each other’s company in a matter of seconds no less; in fact, it had now signaled the point when they would not be alone in that departure.

“ATTENTION PERSONNEL: VISITING HOURS WILL BE ENDING VERY SHORTLY; PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR BELONGINGS ARE STILL WITH YOU BEFORE VACATING THE PREMISES!” the same voice from before had now suddenly echoed from the speakers once more with feeling again, “REPEAT: VISITING HOURS WILL BE ENDING SOON; OUR STAFF THANKS YOU AND HOPES TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOMETIME!”

“Yeah, yeah… whatever…” the tanned blonde huffed in disgust as she was escorted by the same man who had opened the door earlier no less. Applejack started staring at the very floor she was walking on with a somber frown upon the tanned face as she patted the fabric over the very body. The tanned blonde sniffled softly and wiped her jade orbs free of the small liquids as she walked alongside him nearby. Soon enough, they had stared at a nearby door like all the others from long before, albeit without the moans and groans emanating from the others behind them like earlier no less. With the clangs of cleft keys jingling about, the man put one of them into the shaped hole within and turned the knob around to its side; quickly, the door frame was no longer obscured. Applejack then felt herself nudged into the empty room and heard the door slammed shut behind her in a sudden brief moment of levity; now she was all alone again once more as usual.

The sounds of footfalls departing from the tanned blonde’s location were now proof that silence remained as ever present company as she lain on the floor beneath; afterwards, the eyelids became tightly closed as they became moist once more, the silence now broken by a faint wail.