Chapters Author's Note
My name is Fireflower and this is my first My Little Pony fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots I had made from before and using canon characters as human beings instead of their normal forms; however, this is nonetheless a Mature fanfic so future chapters will deal with heavy subject matter unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated.
As always, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic belongs to me so I will say this line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you enjoy this chapter now and stay tuned for future chapters later on.
Nyctalopia
Darkness was the only way of how the small world works, let alone the real world to say the very least; as a matter of fact, the small world is indeed the real world and vice versa too nonetheless. The jet black void was all that could be seen but not heard, felt, tasted, or smelled; yet, it can be also sensed as well anyways, devoid of even a modicum of light bearing any hue whatsoever to permeate through its entirety. For a moment, it had seemed that all was completely lost, its mere fate already sealed and set in stone to say the least before the very beginning; nothing else was going to even change that in the slightly.
“Hah!” a loud gasp was emitted from there, creating an anomaly that gave such a darkness some semblance of life whatsoever: a suddenly new voice being nothing more than ragged panting and wheezing from between intervals; before long, the haphazard breathing had quieted itself down into stabilization. In its place was the shuffling about in a somewhat reckless abandon, each and every move making contact with the small dimensional boundaries surrounding the whole time no less. Next were the sounds of kicking and slapping being muffled and muted upon contact within, perhaps every decibel from the very noise pollution just greatly reduced almost completely no less. Then, there had appeared to be fabric finding itself brushed up against it all, the jet black void being but a witness to such many things from inside itself; without warning, footfalls began tapping onto the floor, its surface being a whole different story compared to the walls closing in on the owner’s minimalist movement already. All that had remained was a faint snuffle from the occupant, a small snort or two notwithstanding as the oxygen gotten sucked into its nostrils gently. Suddenly, a loud plop made itself known, resounding against the hard floor surface as the silent voice metamorphosed into a wail, ghastly as it were but rather interrupted by the choking fluids within the larynx whatsoever.
A diagonal path made its way known, another joining it to keep the lachrymose tenant company: small beams of light peered from the windowsill, a gateway that was high like a kite in the very sky. Speaking of which, the firmament’s color had also contributed to the very darkness itself as well, creating a diminutive glimpse of the external surroundings that were beyond the four walls where the occupant resided. The crescent resided in there as well too being the source of illumination that had just broken away from the circumnavigating clouds along with the starry seas once obscured by them no less. The cluster of brightness gave it some bit worthy of color: a patch of dark blue stood up to contrast against the darkness as if it were the only color so far that gave it a bastion of visibility for the individual. Touching the floor, it had revealed its surface to be that of a patch of white tainted by the vocal majority of darkness, its circle bearing a square tile glistened and gleamed out of all the others surrounding it no less. If one were to look inside of the segments of photons closely, it would become perhaps possible to see magnificent mysteries ready to be solved already by both philosophers and scientists alike.
Soon, a shadow appeared from within the jet black void, obscuring the moonlight in an instant without even a care in the whole wide world: it had the shape of a hand and its skin possessed the color and texture of terracotta; slowly, its owner quickly trudged towards the light in a moment. A set of golden locks had made its way from the very darkness, reflecting the very light that had peered from the clouds that had obscured the skyward treasures from about as they reached to the nape of the neck. Turning around to face them all at once had revealed but a pair of jade orbs circling about the pupils, brows furrowed into slanted inclines forming that of an edgy and downward concave. The observer’s face was feminine, possessing a complexion where a set of bright freckles studded the moisten cheeks, a stark contrast to the rest of the skin as beads of liquid were trailing from the short but noticeable eyelashes above them. Draped over the rest of the body was a simple white thick gown, its length managing to cover both arms and reach over past the kneecaps completely. Aside from the hands within possession was a pair of bare feet making themselves known as they brushed up against the walls around her in little time whatsoever, possessing the same tone as the face and upper limbs no less to say the least. Putting them altogether, her identity was none other than Applejack herself.
Standing back up again, the blonde climbed towards the window to find a sheet of metal overlaying the scenery, palms clutching onward towards dear life as her eyes began to scan in the details provided by the crystalline nighttime sky. For starters, beneath the blue sky to forever the green grass blows in the wind dancing freely about as the atmosphere remained potent in ambiguity with excess pressure. In the distance was but a large river flowing throughout the open fields, its contents matching the color of the heavens above as they were copying the visage of it all directly but not in its entirety. Furthest away were a small set of houses within in every shape and size whatsoever, some of which that even had some lights left on at this very moment in time. Within close range was a fence with a small height and being of rather minimal fortification in its very wake to say the least, having the same texture as that of the surface she had been holding onto all at once. What made the female focus more intensely than ever before were a patch of trees standing up tall and proud upon the fertile soil in various heights and widths imaginable.
Soon, the metal sheet found itself free from Applejack's tight grip, forcing the captor to drop to the floor once again this time with feeling as she fell from the windowsill no less. Crawling in the dark about the very floor, the female had then surrounded the light within a few minutes time to say the least and began to look over the spot with but a weary gaze in these jade eyes. Nestling her very golden head against it, a pair of hands traveled from her collarbone to the lower torso as she sniffled silently again, eyes becoming flooded without warning whatsoever. Shutting them all away, Applejack coughed and choked between intervals before wiping away the streams of tears in a flash, staying solely in place without even a shred of motivation to change arrangements suffice to say. Aside from the beams of light as the blonde's natural guide the warmth also kept the tenant company even though such eyes were now seeing darkness, the same color matching that of the void from long before. Sure enough, the sounds of a silent snore struck the small space within seconds already as she started to sleep away in sadness, shutting out all of the sights that were now surrounding her so simplistically.
For the time being whatsoever, it’d seemed that Applejack was alone to say the least, or so she believes already since that this space felt to be enough for the occupancy of one person. As she was started to get her forty winks, a new voice had appeared within close hearing range as it started to speak up, “what are you doing here?”
“Who’s there…?” the female yawned in surprise, woke up whimpering in a flash, “who are you?!”
“What are you doing here?” a reply was heard already, blatantly ignoring the questions that the blonde herself had asked just earlier no less.
At this moment in time, Applejack felt the jade eyes flew open in its entirety with new emotions inside them all; pain and sorrow quickly replaced by fear and fury no less, “ah am trying to get some sleep here!”
“No…” the other voice growled back in return slowly, defying the female’s answer to no end, “what you’re doing is nothing.”
“What about it?!” the blonde snarled back in return to say the very least, now sitting upwardly to find the darkness still encroaching the space.
Slowly, Applejack heard an answer in a small amount of time being used without either fear or fury whatsoever, “what about it? You think the world owes you that; you think I owe you that?”
“This isn’t about the world here at all, consarn it!” she countered, striking a fist into the basic tile no less, “Ah mean ya show up in the middle of the naiht in mah room no less without a semblance of a warning and all ya asking is what Ah am doing here despait mah reply as if it were a bunch of horse apples? Who the hay do ya think ya are, saying such things to me?”
“The only thing keeping you going; now, what are you doing…?” the second voice spoke back in a full beat or two, answering the blonde tersely in an instant but slowly.
Slouching backwards towards the wall, Applejack started to give out a reply, “to be honest, maybe ya have a point there: Ah am doing nothing but only because there is nothing around here that could be used to pass the time; come to think of it, Ah remember it was lights out long ago but now Ah can’t see what time is it now.”
“I see then; when life is defined by a single course of action, it changes the concept of time itself…” a chuckle escaped from the void already, indifferent to her earlier statement no less, “now it seems that even you have forgotten it so fast…”
“Say what…?” the blonde had now choked out without so much of an effort inside her choice of tone to say the least.
Just when it had truly seemed that things would perhaps go so quietly like they were long before, the other voice began to speak once more, this time with feeling, “long ago you used to be kind and strong, always willing to speak the facts as much as you are willing to face them; what I see here is you wasting away in a ten by ten in your own tears looking on beyond to find the same houses and trees within the very distance, separated by the same fields of grass as they themselves are divided by a stream of water. The same thing here and there all over again every night going on for who knows how long lamenting to yourself about how every single thing you had was taken away: home, peace, family; not once did you even considered trying to get them all back nor get something a few times better than you had before. Speaking of which, you even had your sister within your grasp once more but you had nowhere else to go so to speak; I mean if those people hadn’t stopped you in time, then she would have already perished already at your hands instead of theirs.”
“Don’t ya ever talk about her in such a way again…!” Applejack soon snapped back in a flash, her fury now overwhelming her as if the jade around her pupils started to burn bright into a fire red, “she’s got nothing to do with this whatsoever and you know that.”
“Oh, quite the contrary to say the least, madame…” a laugh echoed in defiance, reverberating throughout the female’s eardrum as the owner winced in a sharp pain.
Rubbing and digging into her ear, the blonde found nothing worth of relevance or discovery and said, “what is that supposed to mean?!”
“Think about it, will you?” the other voice began to answer in the very slightest to say the very least, “I did say that I am the only thing keeping you so whatever or rather whoever made want to cling to your life was none other than your sister no less. The moment you had awoke to find her gone, you had cried and cried to no end about how you failed to keep your promise to your beloved mother and father on how you were going to protect her from the scum of the earth that did her harm. Sure you did try to stop them but they fought back and took you for a ride in ways so horrible that it made you wish that you were thrown into a shallow grave six feet under rather than live another day alone and defenseless within the very wreckage of your so–called ‘home sweet home’ no less. At that point, you even attempted to make sure that you would end up six foot under soon as you gotten into the mood to concoct a desperate attempt to wash away the stains they had left behind on and inside you no less before ending it all. If it hadn’t been for your arm being broken at the time, then you surely would have gotten your wish or so you have believed to say the least; even so, what would you think would have happened next if you had succeed?”
“Well, at least now, Ah can go in peace knowing that she is safe, from this war, from these fiends, and from me as well no less…” Applejack shot back in a whimper, staring into the light that had ricocheted off the tiles earlier as another stream of fluid escape the corner of both eyes.
As the splash appeared wet onto the very tile below the blonde no less, it too was overlooked by the harsh rebuttal, “and what about him too; have you thought long and hard about what are you going to do with him while you are at it?”
“Yes, Ah have…” she answered slowly and steadily suffice to say, “at least one of my friends will be able to look after him, giving all the love and tenderness that he rightfully deserves, more than Ah could give him no less…”
“And what do you deserve…?” the other voice asked in return to say the least, rendering the entire room to be devoid of any sound whatsoever.
At that very moment in time, a dead silence now filled the dry air as the two speakers in question had remained still even though they have both proven to be possessing no clear form of opposition whatsoever keeping them in check and at bay.
Another splash was heard, as Applejack wiped away her eyes in an instant and snuffled slowly, “maybe perhaps Ah deserve to die and rot instead…”
“And yet you survived after all this time to say the least each time, proving yourself to be a lot more stronger than you have actually believed long ago…” a response made its way throughout the room, “as a matter of fact, after all the horrible things that had to happen to you, do you honestly believe that you deserve to die and rot?”
“Well, Ah…” the blonde soon choked out, breathing a bit slowly to take in the air provided to her already.
When she couldn’t continue onward with what had begun, the other voice decided to finish the job by picking up where it had been left off long ago, “look at yourself: you have people who think that you didn’t deserve what had happen, people who had been forced onto a similar path such as yourself and they are still alive right now, wanting you to see this crisis through and come out of there alive. After all, your parents would have wanted you to live on and have a better life than they had and even your sister would be saying the same things too to say the least; speaking of which, where would she be if you hadn’t come along at all?”
“Perhaps, if it weren’t for me, then… then…” Applejack stuttered for a full bit of time whatsoever before finding the strength to go on, “then Ah would have anything else to live for at all.”
“Exactly…!” a terse reply was echoed, bearing no emotion contorting into ill will of any form or fashion to say the least.
Staring at the light again, the blonde now felt her tanned hand become illuminated in a mere instant upon contact; as she stared into the palm and her five fingers, the facial concave shifted direction within minutes contorting her distress into a feeling of hope as she started whispering, “maybe it’s time Ah hit the hay already tonight; need my strength come tomorrow morning.”
Without a change in texture, she had finally felt herself collapse back onto the very floor once more, currently free of any doubt or dread that just plagued her presence since she awoke to purity long before. Arms resting beneath the blonde tresses soon now acted as a pillow made to order as Applejack quickly began to shut away her very eyes once again, darkness now within her very line of sight once again. Now, it had seemed that the new voice had gone away from her at once, restore what little peace and order that had once filled the room without a need for either intruder to steal, to kill, and/or to destroy. The night was a perfect time for her to do so, its light and shadows providing only but dark yet brighten scenery worthy of spelling out such an advice that would have been given out already otherwise; of course, such inactivity helped fill in the blanks as she snored silently once again, solely on the virtues of a reflex so to speak. As such, the slumbering blonde had taken no time whatsoever to even hesitate on that simple matter at hand.
Author's Note
It's Fireflower again with my first My Little Pony fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots I had made from before and using canon characters as human beings instead of their normal forms; however, this is nonetheless a Mature fanfic for that this chapter here will deal with a certain subject matter considered unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated.
In addition, I would like to take this time to inform you that this chapter is only a flashback but it can and will bring shock, awe, and outrage out of you in ways too horrible to imagine so it's with a generous heart and mind that yours truly has uploaded another chapter after this as well on the same day no less: for those of you amongst themselves wishing to skip ahead, please do so; I promise, this one will help calm your nerves a bit for the most part.
As always, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic belongs to me so I will say this line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can withstand this chapter now and stay tuned for future chapters later on then again, you have but a few options: stop right there and wait, go back to the beginning, or skip ahead to the next chapter; whatever decision you make, I won't blame you but consider yourselves warned.
Red
This day was perhaps feeling like any other day to say the very least for anything and everything, a constant result of the turning world rotating on its own axis at a set speed while revolving as well on a different speed to say the least; as a result, half of it was already bathed in daylight anyway no less. As such, the big blue sky had become clear enough to see the golden sun shining about over the scope with a flock of birds from various sizes and shades soaring across so serenely. Within a large dream drop distance was but a civilization defined in such various materials used to build them from the ground up, most of them all being the ones suitably fit for the likes of even three little pigs. The calm gentle breeze was surfing across every one of the grassy knolls, the brilliant green surrounding it all on a solid lower plane of existence even at the dirt road guided its way over from a nearby forest, a curvilinear line worth holding as much as it is and was also worth crossing as well. Amongst the very backgrounds had rested a valley and ridge of smoky mountains, raging with growth and erosion in the process of their trying times as the sun was hovering over them. Bustling about, the small town was already filled to the brim with an utter abundance of many people from various demographic: age, gender, finances, and social standing being rather nothing short from the standardized metallurgy of life.
Out of all the places within this rather quiet town in particular, there was one that had stood out amongst the others no less: it was a large homestead in the very outskirts that remained in the very distance by the sidelines overall. Although that there were some amber waves of grain shining onward thanks to the rays of sunlight bouncing off and leaving behind sparkles of glory in the process, they were outmatched by an abundances of trees surrounding the big red barn as they stood tall and proud like they were royalty. The encamping white fences around the premises were able to withstand the very test of time itself, serving to act as the borders to the open field where the lines had been drawn into the very dirt each and every one of them being a home full of plants now sprouting up and about into a quick about–face of fortune. There was a little orange shed that stood upright and running, being occupied only by the acute sounds of clucking from various decibels; without a doubt whatsoever, its presence was serving to be a home for the ones that can’t even touch the sky at all. Nearby the lush archway had been a lilac fountainhead with a small bucket and two barrels in close range, ready to provide nourishment for the massive vegetation dwelling about within the very confines of it all. All that had remained out there was a big red house not on the lone prairie that stood out in the midst of such things, instantly overshadowing the small bales of hay which were standing by their sides.
As of this moment, there was a tall, dark, and blonde female that was walking about already, wearing a face full of freckles underneath the jade orbs and a smile too plastered amongst the kind visage. On her head was a light brown hat that was widely brimmed enough to shield her from the rays of sunshine composed of heat and light in every photon. She had on a dark red blouse onto her torso that was overlaying an undersized dark brown vest; the former had been buttoned carefully all the way to the top whereas the latter could not even touch the very waistline suffice to say. A rubber band matching that of her blouse was found to be tied around the long hair, creating a short synthetic tail at the very end but leaving the rest of the top alone to say the least. A pair of slacks was found to be already adorned on the blonde’s legs, snugly being held in place by a jet black belt fastened with a red buckle in the shape of an apple no less. Treading off on the dirt path lightly were a large pair of boots in place of bare feet, possessing even the darkest of color shades than that of any garment worn on her body lately so to speak.
At that very moment, she was found to be carrying a full bushel of red juicy apples all gathered up inside a large wooden basket on both shoulders with her own two hands acting as support. Without a care in the world, the blonde started to whistle a tune as she had walked on by the very trees, each of them being ripe with the very fruit that were being transported in such a fashion. Opening her jade eyes, she had quickly found that the little house on the lone prairie was now within her very sights, each step taking the observer much closer to the destination at hand. Before long, the melody had subsided at her own volition, in place was but an upward concave overtaking the lower half of the very face as a set of whites became easily uncovered as well. Quickly, a pleasant sigh soon escaped from the blonde’s lips as she still carried these apples, trading out the dioxides building up inside in exchange for the pure oxygen of the outside world. Within very moments, she had then brought the large basket in front of her, now resting against her own torso as these legs moved further onward upon the dirt path past the other tall trees.
“Hey sis…!” were all that had just echoed in the very distance where the blonde was walking, belonging to a figure out in front of the destination: a young girl was found waving at the former. A set of straight red hair had been found making its very way down past the nape of the neck, already sharing the same length as the female who was watching all at once to say the least. Found on the youth’s very tresses was a light pink bow resting on them, it too creating a piece of shade from the sunlight but still bouncing off and making an illustrious sheen in the process. Around the very pupils were circles of orange making its way known for the redhead to see the blonde approaching her soon enough, already widen with a feeling of happiness shining about. On the girl was but a light green blouse being overlaid by a pair of rather dark blue suspenders as they bold held up her shorts, its legs barely touching the kneecaps as they were rolled up a bit. Some yellow boots were found to be worn by the redhead, its height being rather shorter than the traveler’s and just showing qualities that befitted a different material from the other pair no less. At first glance, she even had on a set of freckles that her sister had underneath both of these eyes yet in contrast possessed an extremely brighter complexion from the other side of the spectrum.
It wasn’t even long when the two had finally made contact already: the blonde setting down this bushel of apples right in front of the youth while crouching, meeting each other at even eye level.
Smiling warmly, the tall female then quickly said to the shorter one, “howdy Apple Bloom; how did yer day at school go?”
“Pretty swell, Applejack: we had managed get out of class early since it was a half day…!” the youth had answered in an instant no less, “anyways, Miss Cheerilee said Ah had done exceptionally well on yesterday’s test so to speak.”
“How high did ya score on there?” Applejack asked before taking a first bite out of one of these apples now firmly within possession slowly.
Reaching for one as well, Apple Bloom had quickly answered her with glee “Ah had gotten a ninety–two; isn’t it great, sis? Ah sure wish that big bro was here to see this…”
“Ah sure hope so too; he would have been proud of you as much as Ah am” the blonde sighed solemnly, rubbing her left hand over the redhead playfully, “come to think of it though, he told me that he should be back here sometime later on this evening; I hope that nothing happens to him…”
“Me too; it’s not fair that he has to go working late overnight because of some dumb curfew…!” Apple Bloom groaned as she bit the top off of the apple in her very hand.
Transferring the hand down from the tresses to the right shoulder, Applejack stared into the orange eyes intensely and spoke, “now, now Apple Bloom, this curfew here has been hard for the rest of us too: all that those people are trying to do are keeping us safe from the invaders no less; in fact, just a few more days and we’ll be able to see him again.”
“Ah know, Applejack; Ah just want him to come back that’s all,” Apple Bloom replied, looking downward away from the wooden basket and her sister’s eyes as well in the process too, “everything felt so much more nicer with him around before; now, Ah feel worrisome whenever Ah go to sleep because of these nightmares.”
“Oh don’t worry about them; there is no way these monsters will get ya, not with me, Winona, and Granny around to protect ya…” the blonde chuckled, winking at the redhead with a grin.
Suddenly, the sounds of barking were then heard within the air, causing the two to break away from the staring into one another as they both look for where the sudden noise had come from. Within seconds, a border collie was found to be scurrying about the grounds, heading off into their direction as they paid attention already, its own two eyes already closed up in an instant whereas its mouth was a whole different story so to speak. Around its very neck was a red collar with a shiny piece of gold below, being instantly overshadowing by its gangly tongue flying against the wind.
When the canine had made its way and gotten within the females’ shadows, the hind legs of the body stopped in place while opening both eyes to see both Applejack and Apple Bloom in its sights.
Panting and wagging its own slender tail rapidly, the redhead started to place her hand over it head gently and said, “aww Winona, who’s good little girl? Yes you are, oh yes you are…”
The blonde did nothing but watch as her sister started petting the border collie eagerly, the latter barking happily in return before rolling over and presenting its underbelly in a small amount of time whatsoever. The smile on Applejack’s face failed to fade away as it remained firmly etched on, her eyelids slowly closing up a bit as she decided to join Apple Bloom alongside as well already. On the blonde’s hand, she had felt that the softness of Winona’s brown and white fur was a stark comparison to the redhead’s tresses: both were straight and slim; the remaining difference was that the former was short and fluffy while the latter was long and adorned with the pink bow.
Quickly, the canine finally stop in place in an instant, surprising the both of them who had watched it happened; suddenly, the former stood up and felt its ears standing on edgewise sharply. Freed from the individuals’ hands, the border collie stared forward at the surrounding trees with a look of confusion as it started to pay attention to what those two ears were now listening to.
“Hey Winona; what’s wrong with ya…” Applejack asked as she took notice of what was going on to say the very least: barking was emitted once again, this time with feelings of fear and fury in place of joy and jubilation, “what are you barking at for; are there thieves in the farm already…” In a matter of seconds, the blonde started to hear a new noise permeating against her eardrums as she too began to stare directly at where the noise was coming from already. At that very point in time, something started to appear within her sight from afar: there was a yellow bulldozer making its way across the very fields as a few of the trees in front of the massive machine were pushed away. Soon, the sight of it all was now coming a little bit more closer as well, the noise increasing in volume altogether for them to hear it reverberate in the very process no less. Winona was found by the females to be snarling about with salivation soundly dripping from her own teeth as the very ground they were all standing on now began to shake in response to the whole movement already so to speak. Apple Bloom was soon trembling from the very shockwave of the entire ordeal, forcing her weary body to cling on to her dear sister’s side for both structural and moral support as the latter focused onward in anger
As soon as the bulldozer touched their shadows, it had finally stopped in its tracks soon enough along with the shaking of the ground created in the process; however, given the destruction that had been caused in its wake, it was all too easy to speculate to say the least.
The sounds of footfalls quickly emerged from the massive machine the moment it was shut off; of course, this action alone did nothing to dissuade them from remaining stationary so to speak. In a matter of seconds, they quickly witnessed something else also emerging from there as well: there was but a quartet of men whom were all dressed up in black approaching them very slowly. Out of the very four, one of them proved to be standing the tallest and in front of the remaining three, wearing a large trench coat all across most of his body and a headscarf over his spikey dark hair. A wide grin had been formed onto his rather pale lips against the otherwise deep and darkened tone, scaring the nearby redhead and angering the canine even more in process; still, the men had approached anyways walking on the dirt path where Applejack still stood up.
“Ah am scared, Applejack…” the youth had slowly whimpered in fright towards her sister, the border collie’s snarl still fresh inside her ears.
Clutching onto Apple Bloom tightly, the blonde looked on into the leader’s scarred squinting eyes and said to the former, “Ah know, but it’s okay; Ah am not going to leave you…”
“My, my, what a lovely little girl you have here by your side…” the tall man said, towering the two as he looked at the redhead with faint wonder and curiosity, “say this must be your own daughter, am I right perhaps?”
“Correction: she’s mah only sister; what about it…?” Applejack had quickly answered with a hint of suspicion in her jade eyes to say the very least.
A terse chuckle had escaped from his mouth and before long he then asked the blonde slowly, “hmm, I see then; please tell us where we can be able to find the head of the household at this hour.”
“Oh you mean Granny Smith here?” Applejack spoke as her pupils began to shrink slowly, “yeah she’s in the house making some lunch…”
“Can we please see her?” the tall man asked the blonde without any form of hesitation in his deep voice whatsoever.
Still holding onto to Apple Bloom, Applejack gazed into the orange worrisome eyes carefully then focused on the irate canine nearby them before going back onto him again and said calmly, “sure, I can take you to her, she just about happening to be finishing it on up just right now.”
Slowly but steadily, the blonde started to go on ahead and lead the way, bringing the redhead and Winona alongside her vicinity as well; soon enough, they had all stood by up towards a red door.
“Granny, can you hear me already?” Apple Bloom asked as she knocked onto the wood loudly, “there’s a bunch of strangers wanting to see you already…”
“Ah heard you the first time; Ah have not gone senile yet!” groaned a haggard voice from the other side of the door followed by the sounds of creaking floorboards against the otherwise light footsteps.
The turning of the doorknob then led to the egress becoming instantly opened all at once, revealing the new figure to be that of yet another female unveiling her identity to the others. Unlike the very others in question, there was a set of gray hair was on her very head wrapped neatly in a bun but not a trace of headgear covering even a fraction of a strand overall. Aside from the dark olive complexion which was on the very woman in question being seen, there were signs of wrinkles appearing all about on her face instead of freckles, a clear signs of the times spent throughout her own life whatsoever. There was an orange shawl wrapped around her very shoulders, matching the color of her squinting irises that were also shared by the young redhead in question no less. A tall green dress was currently adorned throughout most of the wearer’s very body, its own length being fully responsible for covering up both sets of sleeves and even her knees altogether. The woman’s hands were dressed in solid red mitts, each of them retuning to the owner’s very body upon opening the door in front of the others whom were present and accounted for anyway. On her feet was a pair of hot pink sandals touching the ligneous flooring; they were helping her stand upright upon where the creaking sounds had once then originated from earlier.
The sight alone had quickly convinced the youth to cease her trembling already, something that made her sister nearby feel relieved by but still focusing on the very men in front of them.
Within moments, the tall man had soon silently inhaled before giving off a wide smile and said, “well, well, you must be Missus Smith here; we’ve just been expecting you to answer our call.”
“Ah wasn’t expecting company that came by in this form of what modern doohickeys you call transportation…!” Granny Smith slightly growled as she noticed the bulldozer parked within the very distance behind them all, “who are y’all varmints why have ya came here today; what is this all about?”
“Morkhav with a simple reason: we have come here to inform you of your grandson, Lieutenant Colonel Macintosh…” he said simply, leaving the females’ eyes to become widened in: out of all the pairs, Apple Bloom proved to be the most spread far apart.
Quickly, the wrinkles on the elder returned to her eyes, taking the first step forward outside the very house before speaking again, “ahh, Big Mac; what about him?”
“Just around last night, the Terminal had been attacked by a roving squadron of invading horde, slaughtering any and all personnel in their path…” the tall man had slowly answered Granny Smith with a faint glee, “he was in the crossfire and gotten injured during the counterstrike; even worse, he was nowhere to be found so we believe that he is officially no more.”
“Big bro is gone; but, how?!” was a singular thought that had echoed within the redhead’s mind, the orange irises overtaking the contracting pupils as her teeth flashed in shock, a lump forming inside her throat. Apple Bloom then found herself trembling once again, this time with increasing intensity as all she was now hearing were but the faint sounds of her very heart beating reverberated through both ears. The youth then felt her eyes became filled with an achromatic fluid and faced Applejack’s vest and blouse with little warning whatsoever, prompting the latter to wrap the left hand over the former gently.
The blonde then gulped quietly and quickly spoke up to them, “did any of y’all try to find him?”
“Alas, we have not: the chaos bred from this frightful turn of events has dissuaded us from continuing the search…” Morkhav answered grimly before continuing onward without any form of hesitation in the slightest, “as a matter of fact, there’s also another reason as to why we are here today: we wish to inform you that Sweet Apple Acres is now under the Royal Army’s control.”
“Come again…?” Applejack uttered quickly in confusion upon hearing those very words.
At this moment in time, the tall man chuckled lowly, causing the canine to tense up again in fury as he spoke, “since the invasion, we have received preapproved authorization from the Prime Minister’s aide stating ‘in the event of an attack made by warring factions, any and all property will be subjected to seizure and used to contribute to the effort of repelling enemy forces through all necessary means.’ Considering that the Lieutenant Colonel has been knocked out of commission just recently, your farm will serve to provide enough rations and lumber for our remaining troops until we manage to restore order to this land as soon as possible. In any case, I suggest that you take this remaining time to pack in some luggage and head off to the underground tunnels for shelter while you still can.”
“Now wait just a consarned minute here, sir: Ah don’t know much about you doing government work here but Ah cannot fathom those higher ups passing such a bill without our knowledge,” the elder shrieked with fury, trudging towards him, “mah family has been on this very farm since the beginning of our town’s founding; what makes ya whippersnappers think you can do that?!”
“This…!” Morkhav sneered with not a moment too soon; suddenly, he raised his right hand quickly and struck Granny Smith in the face very hard. The sheer force of the attack had knocked her off her own two feet and sure enough, the poor woman was found to be flying away at low altitude for about only a second before hitting the ground below. Whatever pain that was dished out in the process was easily enough for the two observers to imagine how bad it would have been despite Apple Bloom shutting away her eyes whereas her sister watched on in shock and disbelief. As soon as Applejack had seen a few pieces of her guardian’s teeth falling into the very dirt, a new image was then burned into her glowing green eyes: the elder had landed her head against the small stairwell, causing the latter’s face to spasm in shock of the sudden impact being dealt. At that very moment at hand, the sounds of a sharp crunch and a brittle crack became quickly interspersed with the octaves of the witness’ heartbeat sure enough, providing the static orchestra the whole time. Even worse, there had appeared a trickle of blood escaped from both Granny Smith’s nose and mouth amongst the purple bruising growing around on the facial epicenter for the blonde to see.
The redhead found the strength to open her eyelids back up again, only to find that the woman was now laying there on her back, bleeding profusely and showing apparently no signs of recovery; the sight alone prompted the former to break away and let out a bloodcurdling scream: “GRANNY SMITH!!!”
“Oh looky here, it seems that your dear grandmother has fallen down and can’t get back up; don’t worry about it, little girl: I’m going find someone who’s gonna take good care of you…” the tall man laughed as he grabbed onto the youth’s wrists very roughly before facing the three, “Shiv, Cleaver, Edge: please help this woman over here make with her traveling arrangements.”
“SIR, YES SIR!” the named trio had soundly replied as their superior started to drag Apple Bloom away from her current position; these acts altogether shocked and angered the blonde instantaneously, a feeling that was being mutually shared alongside with her border collie too.
As Applejack soon started to glare intensely at the encroaching trio under Morkhav’s command, she was hearing her sister’s cries resonating within the background of their otherwise vast farm, “APPLEJACK, HELP ME: PLEASE DON’T LET THE MAN TAKE ME AWAY FROM YA!”
“DON’T WORRY, AH WILL DO SOMETHING: THERE IS NO WAY AH AIN’T GOING LET THIS SCOUNDREL WALK AWAY!” the blonde had then shouted back at the redhead in return; afterwards, she stuck her fingers at the men and commanded, “SIC EM, WINONA!!!”
Winona then listened without question in a resounding snarl and bark, baring her sharp salivated fangs at them as she charged at one of them nearby her position; sure enough, her teeth sank into the shin of one unlucky member, digging deeper into the dark fabric with but an overwhelming combination of both determination and obedience in those beady black eyes so to speak of.
“DEAUGH…, SON OF A BITCH!!!” one of the men, a broad one shrieked in pain as he felt the canine biting his very leg within a few seconds time no less, much to the relief of her owner who then decided to make her move as well too.
Running up to the remaining two, Applejack charged up and kicked another man fiercely in between the legs, sending him tumbling onto the very ground in an instant already as she yelled, “HOW DO YA LIKE THEM APPLES?!”
“Correction: how do you like these apples?” a sneer was heard from the last man standing upright no less whom approached the blonde with the upmost caution; despite this, the latter had geared up to deliver a big punch only to feel something searing hot appearing upon her left arm: it was a sharp cut into her skin fresh with blood, “now you made my uniform all bloodied up…!”
“Damn it…!” the attacker whined in pain but still attempted to try again and fight back; unfortunately, she had soon also learned how her very arm started to bleed about so recently: unlike the others, the lanky man brought out a knife and quickly redirected her second assault, forcing the former down onto the ground but after making a sharp cut into the back of her vest.
A sharp drone invaded Applejack’s ears when she turned to find that the angered border collie punted into an arc away from the latter’s target, the culprit being the same one who felt some deep pain before groaning, “YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, YOU WILD CUNT!”
“I agree with him…” the broad one hastily replied, barely recovering enough strength to strike the blond from the back of her very head; as a result, she felt herself quickly being pushed into the very ground in front as the former continued one, “how bout we teach her a lesson already?”
“I’m with you, Edge…” the knife wielding assailant answered without hesitation before walking over to her as she attempted to get back up again.
As soon as Applejack had placed her hands onto the dirt, a sickening crunch was heard and felt: one of the men’s feet had stomped onto her right leg so very quickly she let out a pained shriek, “GYUAAAAH! AHHH! AHHHH!”
“Nice one, Shiv; at least that will serve as payback for what that stupid dog of hers just done!” the stout man cheered as he hobbled on over to the injured blonde while leering on with glee, “speaking of which, let’s go and have some fun with this bitch right then and now, you guys?”
“What a smashing idea, Cleaver; I haven’t had such fun with a girl since the last time we went!” the broad man, Edge sneered as he started grabbing her by the long hair quickly in no less time.
Applejack felt her head being raised to the ground as he started dragging her along the dirt, watching the wide brimmed hat fall from the dirtied tresses with her widened jade eyes no less. Because of the pain that the blonde was now feeling, her eyes were now becoming moistened; however, the external sensations and the sight of Winona twitching about were going to be the least of such problems. Spotting a nearby tree, Shiv soon spoke to the other two in an instant, “that one looks like a nice spot for some quality time with her.”
“Okay, then; we’ll set her down here, Shiv…!” Edge had amicably replied without question, “I am already not in the mood to drag her about another meter across especially after what had happened to Cleaver.”
“Just shut up about it, will ya?!” Cleaver barked before watching her be thrown towards a nearby tree; at the time, the latter turned her body around to face the three men looming over at once.
Watching the lanky man bring out his knife, Applejack shivered abruptly as her pupils shrunk after the shine was given off against the very sunlight above them all with a faint whimper, “please, don’t…”
“‘Kill me’?” Shiv interrupted with a smirk on his face, “is that what you were going to say to us: ‘please don’t kill me?’ Oh, let’s just say I’m about to make you wish I’d done so here and there.”
“Yeah, and we’re going take turns at you as well…” the broad man joined in as well gleefully.
Gritting enamel against itself slowly, the blonde witnessed the knife wielded move closer and silently thought to herself, “no… no… no, no, no…” With it, the lanky man watch as blade made its very way across her red blouse, cutting into the fabric around the small buttons as he watched it become quickly torn to shreds; in the process, the former found that the latter wore nothing else underneath it. Next, he sliced open the belt that Applejack was wearing around her waist and pulled down her pants despite her resistance; in response, he slammed a fist into her right leg, causing a brief howl to be emitted. Lastly, the blonde watched helplessly as a pair of green striped knickers were being cut off as well after feeling the big brown boots becoming pulled off her feet with little effort whatsoever so to speak.
Tossing the knife aside, Shiv and the others were now taking in the sight of her own unclad skin: both bosoms were solidifying, a singular navel was dilating, the whispering eye shut thinly, legs were shaking by inches, and feet were trembling about, all while her sweat moved downward. Ignoring Applejack’s tears already, the assailant started to unbuckle his dark trousers with a grin, already aware of the next move that the latter was about to make on the former immediately. “Don’t you want to see how long I am now, my little girlie?” the lanky man had sneered as his pants and undergarment slid downward by a few inches, ignoring the shaking blonde’s silence; nearing her face, he growled confidently, “I’m but only a 7.9 and we’re going about to make you a woman take it all in today.”
Those were the words that she had just heard traveling into both ears, contorting her perspiring face into a mixture of fury and pain that became a covalent bond held together solely by dread. Suddenly, Shiv started entering her abruptly, pressing on with but extended arduous strokes all the way to his skin; this made the latter watch on in horror as the former did so with thirst, feeling each fiber from a part of their regions galling off one another in a pulp friction no less. Applejack’s eyelids widen from the sudden impact and were forced to watch the lanky man’s red eyes move back and forth, leaving the left arm to become risen once again from the ground with a new purpose: punch out the latter; unfortunately, the former’s fist was blocked by a wayward hand slamming into the soil quickly.
“Yo boss… do you want me to hold down her arm while you’re at it?” the stout man said to Shiv slowly as he watched the latter slide deeply into the rather otherwise helpless blonde with a grunt.
Pulling back out of her, the lanky male then turned to Cleaver with an icy smile and answered, “well I don’t see why not here; can’t have any more surprises coming out of her now, don’t we?”
“No… please don’t…” Applejack whimpered as the stout man stomped onto her hand, the stress forcing out a pained shriek, “UUUAAAAAAAAHHH!”
“Yes, cry like the bitch you are…!” Shiv sneered at the strained blonde as he lunged into her once again with drool, striking the latter with an open palm so suddenly and soundly.
She was now feeling every single thing on her very body become rife with only pain and agony: the lanky man colliding inside her sheath, Cleaver crushing her arm underfoot, and her face being slapped repeatedly; even so, there beads of liquid were quickly pouring from the jade irises as she thought to herself that this very experience at hand had no end in sight whatsoever.
Soon, something warm and loose made its way into Applejack’s whispering eye already: when Shiv got back up, she had seen a thin light pink strand leaking out from himself; afterwards, she heard laughter from the very trio around, firstly from Edge, “serves you right for letting that attack dog of yours do all the work here, you dumb cunt!”
“She’s all yours Edge; you can take over from where I had left off…” the lanky man chuckled as he pulled up his pants and walked away from the blonde; soon, the former began to grin at the latter, “hope you got room for one more…”
At that moment, the broad man had undid his trousers and started working his way into her, ignorant of the tears that she was shedding and the results from Shiv’s exploits altogether. “Please, stop this…” Applejack cried wearily as she felt a stream of blood fall from her bruising nostrils as Edge lunged into the whispering eye with an audible squelch from beneath them both.
The blonde’s plea was answered with an resounding slap, no doubt the work of her attacker whom she had watched no less, “absolutely not; it’s as what I said before: we’re going take turns with you and Shiv here just did already while I am just getting started.”
“NO PLEASE DON’T–––” she choked out a yell weakly before the broad man squirmed inside her sheath roughly in an instant, “HELP MEEEEEEEE EEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
“Yeah, that’s it; take it, you fucking whore…!” Edge cheered onward as Applejack’s pleading cries for help went otherwise left unanswered, save for an occasional backhand to her face from him. The lanky man took his time to pick his own knife back up from the ground where he had thrown it away from the blonde long before the broad man took over from where the former had just left off.
With her left hand incapacitated, all that she could do now was watch Edge entered and exited repeatedly coughing out some blood, “help me… please, help me… please help… please…” Before long, Applejack now felt the broad man expelling himself into her bleeding whispering eye and coughed sharply into the face of the former inadvertently in the very process no less.
All that was left was the stout man who raised his leg away off from the blonde’s arm; at that moment, it was now a mixture of mud and blood dirtying the rather already tanned skin on her. “Whelp, I’m going have to go last here, boyos; guess I gotta make the best with her already…” Cleaver chuckled, watching Edge pull up the pants and wipe off some blood before turning to her, “and so far, I didn’t even hear you come the whole time; however, I’m going to change all that.” After unzipping his pair, the stout man started going inside of Applejack already, his efforts now proving to be even more rough and ragged than the combined exploits of both men from long ago. The blonde started to hear the cheers and jeers from the remaining men permeating into both ears as tears of fears crawled down across the bruised and bloodied skin, watching with her now crooked teeth clenching against one another. She started to shut away her jade orbs from the sight of it all but even that act of controllable helplessness was all for nil to say the least: the sounds echoed like the dancer in the dark, the taste of saline breaking bad into the enamel, the feeling of being explored against her wishes and control, and even the smell of their atmosphere had all remained.
“AAAAHHHHHHHHHNNNNNN~!” a haggard moan now escaped from the very lips, originating from a rather unexpected source no less: it had belonged to Applejack who took the time wheezing and struggle for a bit of oxygen.
Cleaver now watched with satisfaction as the blonde squirmed and snorted about in place, turning her face away from the three all at once while he got up again from the very ground. Fastening the entire uniform back in original working order, the stout man had said to the men, “now that was fun; shame it all had to end here: a little more time and I would’ve taken the backdoor.”
“It doesn’t matter… we all need to head back to base before someone starts getting suspicious…” Shiv stated as he had brushed the dirt off of his clothes while trampling over the nearby rags underfoot, “besides, the enemy could be launching another attack any moment from now.”
“Fair enough; but, should we kill this whore now…?” the broad man asked, pointing over to her in a wayward glance no less.
At first, the lanky man glared at Edge and raised his knife, causing the latter to widen his eyes in anticipation; suddenly, the former was laughing uproariously as an answer was spoken at once, “what for? She’s already going to be dead sure enough; besides, we made her into a real woman today…”
As the three men laughed and cheered to themselves, Applejack found herself sniffling and staring at the soil around her as their voices started to fade; even so, her battered eyelids were now slowly attempting to overshadow her sights as both tears and blood touched down onto the ground, pulled by the gravity of the very situation in question.
Author's Note
Ah, you've made to chapter three of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature fanfic no less on the grounds that a previous chapter has dealt with a 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.
As always, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic belongs to me so I will say this line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you enjoy this chapter now more than the others and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned for future chapters later; henceforth, I will leave you with but one saying only: thank you very much.
Alexia
The blonde found herself being awoken to purity from her otherwise deep slumber, her jade eyes flying wide open as she was quickly gasping only for air no less; at this moment in time, the very occupant in question took the small time to find many changes in the encroaching environment. Surrounding her were a quartet of walls padded with white and already arranged in a strict pattern to be seen; however, there were but only two exceptions to this rather monochrome style: one a window behind providing natural light and another a door up front with a small window. Below the blonde was a floor dressed in the scheme of a common checkerboard, save for the squared edges where their dimensions proved themselves to be anything but equiangular no less. Above her was only a lonely light bulb that had hung from the ceiling remaining off for it was not even in use; of course, even her weary eyes altogether could see that particular fact already. Nearby the blonde was a simple pair of sandals resting soundlessly about at the opposite corner of the very walls from where their owner had been laying aside earlier to say the least no less. All that had remained was the oxygen that surrounded her very presence, providing only life and energy to start the day in any form and fashion whatsoever befitting of the occupant in question.
Just as though the sounds of the blonde breathing were all that kept her company, a new sound permeated throughout the dulled atmosphere: the erratic ringing of metal rapidly clanging against another resounded within both eardrums; suddenly, that echo quickly subsided within due time. As if on cue, she started to stand upwardly on two bare feet, brushing off whatever had been attached to her thick white gown adorned on her very body with a pair of free hands all at once. The blonde struggled to look at the ground below as she walked towards the doorway up in front; although the tears of last night were now dried away, a weary frown still remained on her face. She looked out from the glass a found a light teal hallway made up of many doors up in front, each of them possessing a surface composed of a different texture compared to the walls inside. Suddenly, the blonde heard footfalls nearby, its sound being of softened leather treading lightly against the hard floor coming from outside the room that she was already in suffice to say. Backing away carefully, she stood a few inches away from the egress so as to divert whatever potential suspicion that the traveler would have instantly noticed all at once coming from her.
As the blonde slouched against the rear wall, the light from the door was then quickly obscured, the outsider’s footfalls being replaced by the likes of jingle jangle from the thin scraps of metal; then, they had found an entrance within moments: a singular click had led to a circular turn around itself.
“Applejack…?” a grizzled voice was spoken up as the crack in the door had started to grow wider a bit slowly, causing her ears to be perking up on endwise upon hearing the name in question.
Trudging towards the epicenter of the room, Applejack slowly whimpered about with little time, “yeah, it’s me… what goes on here?”
“Rise and shine; breakfast has just started already so eat up…” the outsider answered quickly as a small tray slid through the cracks as the angling grew wider, “also, I have just received a letter addressed to you from someone.”
“Who’s it from?” the timid blonde had replied as she gotten ahold of the very tray at hand: a bowl and cup filled with whatever substance alongside a clean spoon and a white envelope; aside from the paper, the contents were made up a solid plastic as both hands carried them all.
As she started to set it down on the floor gently, an answered was heard within only seconds, “can’t say; just eat…”
The egress in front of Applejack had been instantly shut up again as she now found only but peace and quiet into the very room once again; afterwards, she took the time to pick up the letter off the tray and rip it open to find something within: a piece of paper carefully folded into shape. Finding a small wall of text inscribed across the very way, the blonde focused her attention on what was about to be read rather than the small meal which had been presented to her already. Slowly, a deep breath was exhaled from her as she then began to sit down, concentrating any bit of energy on the paper within her grasp steadily with eyelid encroaching around the jade orbs.
“Dear Applejack,” the eponymous observer quickly read the words as she took it from the top, “this is the hardest letter that I have even written, much more than the one report to the princess. Many of us were happy and hoped that you were being okay in spite of the town undergoing even more pain and sadness. I am touched that you had found me to be the only person keeping you going even after all that you been through and remember of how you were sad to find me all helpless and lonesome. The first thing that I had seen opening my eyes was your tears falling onto my face and ever since then, you have been alongside me in the dreams and nightmares even though you’re far away and that Zecora is only keeping me safe. I had never even thought of living with her as my mentor while you were taken in to get better and whatnot until now but now I still miss you even more than ever. Please forgive me for the tears that are messing up this letter for even the pain I had felt when we were separated still haunts me more than before. I hope and wish from the bottom of all my heart that we can see each other again soon enough and find a new place where we can all stay, free of this pain.
With love and best wishes, XOXO
Your Dear Sister, Apple Bloom.
P.S. – Please write back to me soon enough when you get this.”
When the blonde had reached the end of this letter, she decided to set it back down on the floor; at that moment, a deluge of tears was ready to unfold as the sole paper has now been laid aside. Reading that name appear on the penultimate line made her all too aware of the situation Applejack was in: her relationship was growing distant, the walls of her home felt like closing in, and the life had felt like being extinguished from where they were. The blonde did not find the letter to be of a glimmering light resembling that of the outside world at all but instead of great despair to say the very least already. All that she was feeling right now was only hopelessness tugging about to and fro to no end whatsoever, forcing herself to bury the tearstained face with the hands in front so that they would absorb the aftereffects. Applejack slowly found herself rocking forward and back against the padded as she wept silently, her pain permeating inside and outside her voice within every second of the way filling the atmosphere. The blonde rested her weary head onto the floor as she began to feel the achromatic streams of fluids fell from her eyes and soon started wiping them away despite the overwhelming moisture ever present on these hands.
Soon, she began to close her eyes once again, hoping to sleep away the feelings of sorrow overtaking her in clear disregard to the very light outside of these rather restrained confines suffice to say.
Author's Note
Hello there and welcome back to yet another chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy, the one story out of many of my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots I have given you since the inception; suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all and it will only be a taste of what's to come later on.
As usual, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic still belongs to me so I will say this line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can stomach this chapter now more than the others before it and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times; henceforth, I will leave you with but one saying only: thank you very much.
Orange
The sounds of crying were now filling the dense air for that feeling of loneliness was hanging on and around like a defiant sponge and starfish resting on a pair of hooks cast into the briny deep. Although the clouds in the sky were devoid of precipitation whatsoever falling to the earth, teardrops took their place as they touched the thin scare blades of the brilliant green below. Between intervals were the snorting of nostrils overshadowing by the otherwise gentle breeze where a few of the willow leaves were dancing mad in a rather unwarranted juxtaposition.
They all belonged to the tanned blonde who was wiping away the achromatic beads off from her weary jade eyes as they either were absorbed by her grasp or became pulled down by gravity. Her wide brimmed hat now rested firmly upon her very tresses as they had been reduced greatly in length to the point where there was not a band in sight worthy of keeping it together anyway. Adorned on the blonde’s very body was a dark blue jacket which had overlaid a reflective vest: the former long and being zipped up to her neck whereas the latter remained open and shorter. Her long legs were already dressed in a black fabric so as to protect the otherwise dark skin from the cold airstreams that had been found to be flowing throughout the cold cruel world as of now. The blonde had worn tall brown boots on both of her very feet, feeling the weight of the world below them as well as on these own shoulders as she was standing upward onto the solid ground. Out of all the attire donned on her, there was only one piece that stood out amongst the others: around her face and nose was a gray gasmask that amplified the texture of sadness from within.
Lying in front of the blonde was another female of a similar complexion just like the former but possessing some different qualities of great significance worthy of being instantaneously noticed. First off, the many wrinkles which had appeared all about the face were now replaced by various scars and bruises, bringing in various lines of white and pink onto the otherwise dark olive skin. Both the orange shawl and the green dress that were adored on there were now fading away in color and quality, bearing the sight of wear and tear in each fiber throughout the attire at hand. The hands were now being cupped together and had lain above the waistline, already showing some signs of thinness and deterioration on every finger and cuticle from the pair suffice to say. The hot pink sandals now had both of their soles planted upward towards the very atmosphere, ankles touching the ground along with the very fashion presented in question to say the least. One crucial detail that had stood out was that both eyes were closed as well as the mouth too; therefore showing no signs of obstruction in any form whatsoever being adorned on the visage. The only constant that had remained there was of the gray hair resting on the decaying head; though filled a few strands out of place and a patch of dirt, its style was otherwise clean no less.
“Hey, Granny; it’s your pride and joy Applejack here…” the eponymous observer wheezed with a weary look at the subject in question, “Ah should have been so proud to see you again, but Ah can’t even find the strength to do so: this war has changed everything for the whole entire family. To be honest, it should have been me who died instead: the minute Ah had woke up and found you alongside Winona, Ah had wish that Ah had joined you and not just for what they did to us but for what they did to me and Apple Bloom. At first, Ah thought that she was killed as soon as Ah came to and tried to end myself because of all that pain that Ah had felt, especially since it had seemed to be related a promise Ah made to ma and pa, may they rest in peace, that was broke; but, then Ah learned that she became some sort of a slave and now Ah must find a way to save her from those fiends before something horrible happens: the only question is what to do once Ah get her back? There is obviously no way we can go back home after all that happened here and even if the farm does grow back, all the pain would be too much for the both of us; besides, Ah even have mah own worries to be concern of: it would be easy for me to find someone who will care for her but hard to decide on what to do. Ah have just found out that they have done something even worse to me even after Ah woke up: whenever Ah touch mah stomach at nahgt, it still reminds me of not just what they had done to me but also what they had done to ya both and what they could have done to Apple Bloom. Ah feel sick as Ah go to the bathroom and think about ending it; of course, ya always taught me that life is precious and worthy of respect yet now that Ah see ya, now Ah even cry more about what they’ve been doing: making another one of ya like they’re shipping out toys before Hearth’s Warming Eve. At least, now Ah can see to it that these monsters will never do anything else horrible to you ever again; Ah know it looks extreme and unorthodox but Ah cannot have mahself or Apple Bloom watch even a part of ya being watered down into a common derivative: it just feels so painful to see you this way. Goodbye Granny Smith, thank ya for raising me, her, and Big Mac, keeping us safe on the straight and narrow; at least, Ah understand what should be done already and hope that you could forgive me somehow.”
At that moment, Applejack reached for her pocket and pulled out a bottle from its depths, spraying a small stream of achromatic liquid unlike the small teardrops onto Granny Smith; afterwards, the former, threw the bottle away and found a little matchstick in between fingers. Striking the match against the dark blue jacket in under a second, the blonde finds a petite flame now eating away the tip of the wood where the red used to be with its bright vermillion glow; soon, it fell away from her fingertips and onto the elder’s sandals as it grew in a slight intensity. Within moments, Granny Smith became instantaneously bathed in the synthetic conflagration, the once dried and dampened figure was now found to be burning bright and briskly altogether, all while her granddaughter squinted in silence before turning around and backing away slowly. As Applejack wept right away once more, she had heard the flames crumble and click freely, fully aware of what she’d done to the elder recently and wiping away the tears in the process; even the very sniffling at hand along with the howl of airstreams were overlooked by them. Opening back the weary jade eyes, the tearful blonde had slowly turned back to find what had now become of her grandmother: once a dark yet otherwise colorful being soon became greatly charred and shrunken down from the former shape and size of itself by the fire and flames. Applejack then watched sadly as the conflagration upon Granny Smith suddenly subsided already, a combination of both smoke and ashes in place being repelled against the cool breeze; in addition, any and all traces of the latter’s former identity had now been covered in blackness.
The blonde slowly took in the sight of what was once her grandmother laying across the scarce field in the distance now that the flames had died down, fully satisfied and deprived of fuel. Trudging forward, Applejack soon uncovered a small broom and dustpan from her pockets and knelt down to scoop up the blacken ashes, intent on getting each and every single particle. Sweeping them up had instantly revealed that out of the very pile were a few small yet significant fragments emerging from within as they were put into pan by the blonde at hand. Soon, Applejack had found the ashes to be fulled up and took this time to retrieve a plastic bag from the dark blue jacket, its empty size capable of covering up both of her very hands no less. With the achromatic container now also in possession, the blonde took her time to open it up from its once flattened state and use it to dump the batch inside of there without hesitation. Applejack took use of the instant growth that she had experienced and resumed sweeping up the rest and before long it too was filled up to the brim; still, the task had proved to be far from over. Pulling out another bag, the blonde shoveled the next pile inside there and found that the blackened ashes were now all gone, a small patch of dirtied soil in place to say the very least.
Tying both of the pouches up, Applejack turned her gaze towards another object in the distance: it was a small glass bowl filled with yet another achromatic liquid residing in there all at once. Standing up onto both feet, the blonde made her way over to the object in question no less; slowly, she dropped both bags into there gently and witnessed something happen in the jade eyes: the contents under pressure now sizzled against the liquid as it burst open into the middle. Watching them carefully, Applejack steered clear of the glass bowl and turned to find the brush and dustpan from before; quickly, she began to pick the two of them both up in both hands. Afterwards, the blonde returned to where the containers were discarded into, finding nothing absolutely remaining in the process compared to the time long before her entry in question. Without warning, Applejack now carefully tossed the small broom and dust pan into there, creating a dilated splash before bubbling around the objects as they both shrank in an instant. Sure enough, they all were instantaneously consumed into the very liquid at once, quickly leaving behind no trace of their collective existence in any form or fashion to be salvaged.
Watching all this made the blonde feel relieved to be wearing the gasmask as she started to walk away, no longer feeling bound to this place as the observer turned and never even looked back.
Author's Note
Hi there; it's me, Fireflower here once more ready with a new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy on the way: suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all and it will only be a taste of what's to come later on as I write them all them at my fingertips.
As usual, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic still belongs to me so I will say this line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can stomach this chapter now even more than the others before it and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times; henceforth, I will now leave you with but one saying only: thank you once again.
Jaundice
The sounds of water dripping about against a flat surface were permeating throughout the otherwise limited atmosphere as its identity in question had already been made known to many past, present, and even future occupants from all walks of life so to speak at this moment in time. The entire place had walls and ceiling painted in a grayish blue for every being to notice whereas the flooring was a cluster of tiles dress in white save for the occasional red, green, and yellow. There were a set of glass panes being strewn across on the room’s one side, having simply painted a basic complex and highly resolute picture depicting what had remained in front of them all: they were a series of lanky stalls at the other end, all of which being in a dark forest green. Beneath these mirrors were about several sinks resting into hardwood, each of them sharing equality in many aspects they all possessed: depth, material, structure, cleanliness, and purpose. The otherwise few lights that were shining bright above the solid porcelain ovals still remained stationary, providing only illumination to the very room in question so as to help guide the many persons unknown to and from every passing hour on the hour with no end in sight suffice to say. For all that stood by, the only things found resting on the walls were two sets of dispensers: one is giving away paper through a thin crevice and the other having a tubular nozzle sticking out.
Within moments, the roaring of liquids quickly overlapped the faint splashes as they drowned out the sounds of footfalls making contact against the already hardened surface; of course, they were signs to show one occupant ready to depart: a tanned blonde soon exited the stall in seconds. Walking slowly out from there, she was found to be dressed in a simple white gown with matching sandals as weary jade orbs were pointing downward to the floor where those feet were. The tanned blonde had her rough and tumble hands now resting on the ligneous surface a tad few centimeters away from the porcelain sink as she started to look at the reflection of herself. Staring into it, she had found that outside of her irises and pupils, the majority of these very eyes were painted in a faint drab of gold and outlined with deep carnation rims bleeding into them. Taking sight away from the mirror in front, the blonde took notice of the handles resting on each side of the metal faucet and turned them towards herself slowly; as a result, the water poured out. Her ears perked up to the new sounds of a rushing downpour that she was definitely responsible for yet only took little time whatsoever to run her hands underneath the spigot above the pair.
It wasn’t even long when the blonde had just felt her palms become soaked by the running water; of course, there would be simply no way at all that this one action alone would stop at there. Drawing one of those hands away from the active faucet, she found a thin spout nearby the handles and pressed onto its base slowly; in doing so, a scant few droplets of a thick and viscous colored liquid had landed upon the few fingertips before suddenly subsiding instantaneously. Returning that same hand back into the stream of water, the blonde had then ran it against the now moistened hand and rubbed them both vigorously against one another within moments. When she did so, her tanned hands became lathered in a thin coat of a lukewarm frothing whiteness, bubbles of all shapes and sizes now adorning them amongst the very skin as the constant friction of such activity gave them such significant qualities all at once at this moment. Soon, they were all quickly washed away by the very downpour which the blonde had created earlier, restoring the skin back to its dampened yet otherwise original condition they were in. Taking this very time at once, she soon stepped away to get ahold of a brown paper towel nearby, pulling out a few sheets at a time to dry both of her hands as the water was absorbed by them; afterwards, she returned to turn both handles back to the original spot so the stream would stop.
As the paper towels remained firmly into the blonde’s tighten grip, she took the time to walk out of the very space around her, using them all to grab on a metal handle before pulling towards it; in doing so, she was introduced to a new sight that became apparent to her as an exit was made. Instead of the grayish blue that had once surrounded the female earlier before there were now sides covered in a coat of pale teal residing from every angle possible for her jade eyes to see. Rather than mirrors below a light such as the one that was greeted to the blonde from earlier ago there were a few windows providing sunshine and oxygen throughout and within suffice to say. In place of small tiles were the ligneous floorboards that emitted creaks here and there in response to the footfalls from herself and perhaps a few others as well with patches of carpeting. Caught within the visage of the blonde were many sets of plastic tables being occupied by a few chairs from many sides; out of many, there were only a scant few that had people sitting in them. Right off in the distance was an obsidian square box with thin gray poles sticking out of the top, being obscured by chair as another individual sat in front of it all while she seen it with her eyes.
This change of location brought the blonde no satisfaction of any form or fashion to say the least although it never even filled the observer with whatever kind of dread at all to begin with either; nevertheless, she started to stand up nearby a window to take in details provided very carefully. For starters, within the big blue sky to forevermore the female found a series of clouds traveling across, each of them varying in size and shape as she strove to find a silver lining within them. Resting beneath them all was the brilliant green which was standing tall and proud like a crowd of a million men marching in a linear path as a gust of wind surfed across the very thin blades. Standing furthest away from the blonde were a small set of houses within every shape and size whatsoever, all of which their various colors reflected by the sunlight raining down upon them. Within close range was a metal fence of a small height and being of rather minimal fortification in its very wake to say the least, having only but a single pair of doors standing onto the dirt trail. She soon seen a sizeable patch of trees slowly rising out upon the fertile soil in various heights and widths imaginable, each of them all bearing some fruit amongst the otherwise green leaves.
Now, the blonde took her weary jade eyes away from the sight of the outside world in front, turning her head back to the inner tables with a deep sigh escaping out of her lips in the process. Walking a scant few steps across from the very window in front of her, a empty table was now within sights with only a chair now gotten ahold by a wayward hand stretching beyond reach. Pulling out of it, the blonde started to sit down onto the chair and rested her very hands onto the table in front of her, staring into the blank void of whiteness with a squinting stare sewn together. Slowly, both of her elbows had now made its ways onto the tabletop as she started to slouch forwardly on as they soon acted as a makeshift pillow to rest her weary head upon them all. Turning on its side, the blonde turned her jade eyes over to the left with worn out gaze as these eyelids began to slide over them slowly, a few small precise measurements away from darkness. Just when it had seem that she was heading off to sleep, the occupant quickly snapped back up to reality and looked around herself to find that nothing has changed even so much as a single bit.
“Ah need to find a way to keep mahself awake fer the taim being; Ah bet they must have a pen and paper ‘round these parts… ” the blonde spoke to herself as she stood up from the tabletop. As she started to walk away from the chair, her eyes started to pay attention to what was around her: the tables, the chairs, the people, and the black box were among the only things of interest within the room; of course, what she had found could basically outweigh any potential interest. Standing next to a desk, the blonde caught sight of a small silver bell resting nearby a wooden corner underneath the thin metal framework and pressed it down quick in not a moment too soon.
The acute ding was heard in an instant, bringing out only another observer who also took notice of the brief reverberation with only a simple question, “what’s going here; what do you want?”
“It’s nothing at all…” she had quickly answered, “Ah was just wondering if ya have anything that Ah would like to rait down here, please…”
“Oh, alright then; just wait right here for a moment…” the voice spoke back as the sudden sounds of fervent footfalls made its way from the other side of the desk.
As the blonde turned away from the bell, her ears took note of the sounds from the other side making its way back with a mechanical pencil and white paper as she gasped faintly, “huh…?”
“Here you go; just please bring back the pencil when you are done…” a simple response was made as she gotten ahold of both objects altogether, “I need that to help me with some calculus equations, okay?”
“Thank ya kindly; Ah will give it back to ya soon enough…” the blonde whimpered before returning back to the table within moments, leaving the donor behind at once.
Sitting back down on the table, she placed the paper on there flatly and began to raise the pencil up with her right hand, the thin graphite now ready, willing, and able to do so. As the blonde started to touch the sheet at once, her jade orbs started to squint already, trying to make sense of what would be written down while watching the tip remain there. Slowly, she started to scribble out a simple letter within seconds, slightly set out to script even a short sentence at the summit of the paper sheet. The eyelids began to widen open to give the blonde’s eyes more room to see what was being written down already as there was a harmony of words making its way out from the graphite trail sure enough. Upon closer inspection, she was starting to see them very closely as the scribbling of letters being made out from the same mechanical pencil earlier now read out this: Dear Apple Bloom . Shutting away the weary eyes, the blonde then decided to take in a long deep breath of fresh air as she slouched back onto the chair and started to look up towards the ceiling above her.
Soon, she began to return her gaze towards the paper in front of the table as the words left upon the upper left hand corner still remained, unchanged by inaction on her part alone save for an additional comma. Taking back up the mechanical pencil within the fingertips, the blonde then had the graphite touched down upon the sheet once again and started to put down some more letters directly below the first batch. Finding the little strength to begin where she had already started off, the synthetic inscription grew steadily onward within each passing second that was given out here and there. With the eyelids locked in a tense squint, the blonde started to focus on what she had to write down; of course, they were not without the occasion where a certain word or two met its untimely end at the black eraser. Despite the rather faint smudges being left behind by the very erasure at her hands, she continued to put down some calligraphy upon the white paper with a shred of newfound fortitude within her grasp. By the time that the blonde was finally finished, her set of sentences had now made itself across by only half, each adorned with a set of neatness being out of place but otherwise easy to read aloud nonetheless.
When she put the mechanical pencil down onto the tabletop, she started to take some time in studying what was written down since the beginning: a white sheet of paper that grew beyond three simple words. Starting with the indenting, the constrained yet fluid wall of text was started to be read out in an instant: “Thank you very much for finding the strength to talk to me; I’m sorry for causing you all this grief. I’m touched too that you still haven’t lost hope in me after what we had both experienced in the past; a youngster such as yourself should’ve never been forced to see such horrible nasty things, let alone experience them. I am happy that you are regaining your eyesight despite all the poison that was once inside you; I wish that the first thing you had seen wasn’t my tears staining your face or my hands around your neck. I hope that Zecora is taking care of you very well; I did not intend for any of this to happen to all of us nor explain to you the details. Now that the fighting is over, all that should matter now is that you please stay strong and in school; it’s what ma and pa would have wanted for you. Don’t forget to listen to your mentor while I am away from you; she would need for you to continue on with your life and help you move on past this, you understand?
Sincerely yours,
Your Dear Sister, Applejack.”
A flash flood of tears were now making its way through Applejack’s eyes as she struggled to wipe them away and keep them from staining the writing she had just put down this very instant. This passing moment made her acknowledge the air of loneliness that was hanging around on the blonde’s presence as her hands were now slowly pressed against the moistened visage all at once. Tilting her head forward, she silently wept to herself as the paper and pencil were left alone to their own devices, the only members of the otherwise small audience forced to watch the sadness unfold.
Author's Note
Hi there; it's me, Fireflower here once more with an electric feel ready with a new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy on the way: suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all and it will only be a taste of what's to come later on as I write them all them at my fingertips.
As usual, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to --- you know what? F
However, let me just also say that, with many thanks aside, I hope you can be surprised about this chapter now even more than the others before it and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times: a special guest is going to be joining our fateful protagonist in the chapter below; but, it will only be the beginning here as we all go on and float onward there.
Yellow
“Attention: the time is now twelve o’clock; lunchtime will start shortly in about five minutes…!” a loud voice had now blared throughout its very surroundings. The shuffling of footsteps followed after the sound within moments, creating an echo that proved to be fainter than that previous announcement seconds ago but much stronger nonetheless; of course, not everyone simply followed suit. Sitting in a nearby table was a tanned blonde slouching back a bit on a chair, her mouth agape with a drop of dribble ready to fall onto the floor.
Suddenly, she had felt the sudden appliance of pressure bearing weight on the left shoulder snapping her awake into purity, choking back a struggle as a pair of eyelids flew wide open and exposed the jade orbs before muttering, “what wait wha who…?”
“Wake up, there’s no use in missing out on lunchtime…” a faint voice entered the blonde’s ears as she turned to find a new face interacting already, “I want to make it here in time to visit my dear sweet Bon Bon again…!” Taking the time to straighten out the white gown, the observer found that the speaker was also another female just like the former but with a light and clear complexion adorned throughout. The blonde quickly found a set of minty tresses reflecting against the light residing in and out from the room they were all in with whiteness in the middle; like the former, the latter had a style where they all touched the nape of the neck. There was but a pair of golden irises that had just made its way all around the speaker’s very pupils; it was a key detail in which the observer in question had already taken notice of within so to speak. One thing that the blonde had in common with the minty individual was the simple choice of clothing draping over the rest of their bodies: a simple thick white gown; however, the latter had only shorter sleeves than the former. Strangely enough, the observer had quickly found that the speaker was not even wearing anything upon her very feet, a rather stark contrast to the former who is wearing a simple pair of sandals instead.
“Who… who are ya…?” the blonde stuttered about as she faced the minty one in front of her.
Pulling the observer up from the chair gently, the speaker answered slowly but calmly, “I’m Lyra; don’t you want to get some lunch…?”
“What about it…?” the blonde grunted as she gotten ahold of the paper and pencil in front the table, “Ah just need to return this here before Ah get to do anything else.”
“Ooookay then…” Lyra spoke calmly as she started to contort her fingers on the left hand and twiddle about with her hair in due time.
As the observer walked over to a nearby desk, she had placed the utensil back onto the wood next to the bell before pressing it; in due time, the voice from before spoke, “who is it; what are you doing here?”
“It’s me… Applejack; Ah have came back to return this to ya…” the blonde replied as she watched the mechanical pencil end up back into another’s grasp, “Ah am sorry that it took so long…”
“Whatever…” was all that became a reply as she had returned to find the minty female pushing the chair into the table upon placing the paper in the white gown.
Standing up straight, Lyra began to walk up towards Applejack quickly with little exhaustion whatsoever and asked, “forgive me for saying this but I haven’t quite caught your name here; what is it?”
“Pardon me for not answering; Ah should have done this sooner…” the blonde had replied to the minty one slowly, “mah name, its Applejack…”
“It’s okay, I was just wondering what was with the pencil and paper that you had earlier when you were asleep; what were you doing?” Lyra had spoken to Applejack as they started to walk away from the tables.
As the two females trudged past the desk earlier, the blonde answered the minty one in mere moments of time, “oh ya meant the paper, Lyra? Ah was just writing a letter here to my sister, Apple Bloom; must’ve fallen asleep after Ah had gotten around to finishing it.”
“Does this happen all the time, Applejack…?” Lyra asked Applejack as both of their feet were still in motion no less, “gee, you must’ve been very sleepy now and then; I hope you are okay.”
“No, not at all; although, Ah do have some trouble trying to fall asleep at night here and there…” the blonde replied to the minty female as they were approaching the doorway in front of them.
As they walked over under the frame, they had found themselves over into a different room from before; although similarly alike in fair dignity, they had possessed a series of traits that proved otherwise. For starters, the tables in front of them were rectangular and made only of metal while providing a bench from both sides for occupants to sit on, all of which that had became constrained in this space. The ceiling itself alone was mostly composed of only glass, projecting the imagery of a bright and plentiful sunshine along with some passing clouds residing in the big blue sky above its very own observers. Aside from the hallway where the two females had exited, there were at least two others within their range of sight, each of them having a crowd of people arriving at the same time period as they were. The plaid walls had only a metal trashcan or two resting up against the simple paint along with a few individuals sprawled about here and there in a variety of different positions whatsoever suffice to say. Within the short walking distance from them was a long line of people, each with an orange flat tray that was being held up in both their hands as they were just moving along in every step of the way.
It wasn’t long when they found themselves joining the people along as they gotten ahold of their trays, standing behind the last person in front of them.
Lyra held the tray in underneath her left arm while Applejack held it in underneath the right as they shuffled about in the line; soon, the former spoke silently, “oh, I can’t believe I’m so psyched about what they’re serving for lunch today…”
“What are ya exactly talking about; how could ya be wondering about what food they’re giving out?” the blonde grumbled as the minted one moved along, “it’s not like they’re going to go through the same thing every over day.”
“Oh come on, Jackie; sometimes you’ll never know what you could get as you go on in life…!” Lyra tittered on before placing a hand on Applejack’s shoulder nearby.
The blonde gritted her teeth gently as she felt the minty female make contact so suddenly and scoffed, “whatever...”
“Good afternoon, my name is Wesson and I will be your chef for today...” a manly voice wheezed from their side when they turned to find a tall figure all dressed in a grayish white, save for a black scarf and a pair of sunglasses, “what will it be…?”
“Why, I’ll have the soup here…!” Lyra answered as she pointed to the pasty red pool in front of her.
Taking up a small bowl in an instant, Wesson scooped out the contents in with a gourd and presented it to the minty female with a huff, “enjoy it while you can…”
“Just let me be, Ah just want to have something to drink; nothing more…” the blonde said as she watched the female in front of her hold up the orange tray, “Ah am not so hungry right now…”
“So be it…” the chef snorted as he watched the two carry onward about their business along with the others.
As they came across a round table in the corner, a vast series of bottles and cartons containing various liquids were all that were discovered: out of all them, Applejack took only a tall red one; after doing so, Lyra soon spoke, “seriously, that’s all you’re going to be drinking for the day?”
“Ah just got out of the bathroom earlier; Ah do not need to torture mahself any further, okay?” the blonde snarled at the minted one, forcing the latter to step back away from the former; soon, a cooled continuation carried onward, “Ah am sorry… Ah didn’t mean to snap at you, that’s all.”
“It’s alright…” Lyra whimpered as she watched Applejack started walking on over to a nearby table and sit down. The blonde had now begun to open the red bottle in her grasp and started sipping from there at once all while that the minty one looked on sadly. At first, Lyra found herself hesitating on what to do here; clearly, the stardust memories of hearing Applejack’s sudden answer at the former had caused a lump to build up inside before being swallowed whole in one gulp.
As the blonde took her lips off of the beverage she had gotten ahold of earlier and gasped for air, she had turned to find that the minty one had stood nearby with a choked out, “hmm…?”
“Hey, I’m sorry if I had made you angry, Applejack; I didn’t mean to come off as hurtful earlier,” Lyra spoke to Applejack slowly as the latter had slowly downed the preliminary mouthful, “you don’t mind if I could come sit and eat lunch here with you, please?”
“No, not at all…” the blonde quickly answered as she prepared to take another sip from the red bottle while the minted one took a seat nearby.
As soon as Lyra rested the tray onto the table in front of them, Applejack made an aside glance towards its contents: a bowl of soup, a toasted sandwich, and a cup of water were all there; taking the sight away, the former then said to the latter at once, “here, you could have my half...”
“Oh this…?” the blonde stuttered in confusion as a sandwich’s half was presented by the minty owner, “Ah appreciate the gesture but Ah can’t; you need it more...”
“Not quite; please, I insist…!” Lyra had quickly spoken up as she still held it up in front of Applejack’s visage, no sign of backing out whatsoever.
The blonde sat the beverage aside from her, raised up her right hand, and said to the minted one, “okay, if it will make you happy, then Ah will eat that; just please, Lyra, leave me be for now…”
Soon, the sandwich made its way into Applejack’s teeth, a trio of curves forming at the corner of the edge as crumbs spread across the consumer’s lips and fell onto the table while Lyra started digging into the soup. The blonde felt her cheeks swell up as the portions of grain and wheat were being reduced to mere particles by the constant grinding within the confined space whereas the minty one slurped down a warm gulp. Within seconds, the two females finally swallowed the first round of their fodder without any trouble to say the least as the remainders in tow now became a fraction less than what they originally had.
“So, Applejack…” Lyra began to speak, catching the eponymous subject off-guard, “how was it?”
“It’s fahn, Lyra; it’s taste fahn…” Applejack answered solemnly as she reached for the red bottle nearby and prepared to drink from it again.
Swallowing the liquid from the cup, the minted female placed it back onto the tray and said to the blonde, “anyways, you had told me that you were writing a letter to your sister earlier; how is she?”
“Oh, you mean Apple Bloom…?” Applejack choked out a bit as the jade orbs felt widened open when Lyra brought up the matter at hand, “she’s okay… Ah was relieved when Zecora offered to take care of her while the town recovers; Ah just hoped that Apple Bloom could get the strength to move past this. It’s just whenever Ah think of mah sister, Ah think of how this war had nearly done us both in just recently: while that we had watched many people all around us getting killed, we get to live on and suffer in silence; in fact, Ah even felt like wanting to die so badly because Ah couldn’t live with the thought of her being taken away. Aside from that, long before Ah was left alone to rot, Ah heard Apple Bloom scream for our grandmother as she got dragged away bah that brute of man, crying for mah help; it was absolutely terrifying to say the least. Throughout that very time Ah had been up, Ah had always looked at mahself and then think of how things could have gotten worse from here and there. Sure, we may be alive but even if Ah get out, there’s no way we can go back home; the pain would be far too much to bear for her and besides, the officials are going to turn the entire farm into a memorial.”
“Oh… I’m sorry that I didn’t know that; it’s just that…” was all that the minted one had said as she watched the blonde drink the beverage up.
Gasping for air, Applejack turned towards Lyra and said clearly, “no, you had nothing to do with this; it is mah burden alone…”
“I’m afraid you are not alone here…” the minty one had replied as the blonde looked onward, “I’ve been also in similar situation as you were…”
“How exactly…?” Applejack asked as her eyelids felt slightly opened up.
Taking in a deep breath, Lyra closed her eyes and began to answer soberly, “when the war had reached to our doorstep, Bon Bon had tried to help me get to safety in the underground tunnels but a large explosion had us separated. All I had remembered before was her pushing me out of the way before the bombs hit us; afterwards, I started to see blackness. When I had finally came to, I felt something stuck inside my mouth: it felt like it had belonged to a man in front of me who proceeded to keep me unable to scream for help as there were two others who joined him alongside. Ever since then, I had been their prisoner for what I had felt like many months on end, being used and abused like I was some plaything of theirs; worse, they wouldn’t even let me use the bathroom. I had cried for so many times whenever they did stuff like this to me, I had begged and pleaded for them to kill me already; but, it had seemed that they were killing me slowly, ramming themselves inside of me day in and day out as I had been starved. Then suddenly, it had seemed that I gotten my wish: someone had tossed a bomb at them just minutes after I had been forced to come; soon, I had gotten knocked back and then…”
A deluge of tears now escaped from the minted speaker’s eyes as they were blocked out by her very hands, a sight that started to make the blonde observer avert the jaded gaze and step out from there. The silent but potent wails that came from Lyra caused Applejack to feel a flood of memories rushing back: her pain had grown, she and her sister were already displaced, and the situation seemed to have mutated. The glimpse that the blonde had taken into the outside world had become filled with only pain and sorrow in the jade orbs rather than of hope and recovery that things had been left alone. Even so, Applejack now felt a tear escaping from the corner of her eyes as she then ran away from the windowpane and from the tables in front of her.
“NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS…!” a voice screeched angrily in the distance despite being ignored by the blonde, “GEEZ…!”
When Applejack soon stopped in time, she had found herself to be back inside the bathroom, truly devoid of any personnel in her view whatsoever. Standing up in front of a mirror, the blonde turned the handles on the sink and started to take her time in catching her breath of fresh air. With her hands, she ran them underneath the downward stream of water below her and caught the rushing liquid within seconds, feeling the blistering cold permeating throughout her palms. Cupping them both together, Applejack picked up the water and threw it upon her very face, washing away the tears that had stained her freckles amongst the otherwise tanned skin. The blonde now felt only more liquids piercing her visage as she still heard the running stream still remaining active below her, staring at the mirror once more very slowly with more moisture from before. Then, she started to shut the faucet off in a heartbeat, its sounds now replaced by its remainders going downwardly into the metallic drain as these jade irises looked on without a care in the whole wide world around her.
“Get a grip already, Applejack; ya still have Apple Bloom there wanting to see ya again soon…” was all that the eponymous speaker had said calmly as she started to exhale gently with both eyelids now closed tightly. Still feeling beads of water fall from the chin and jawbone, the blonde started to wipe them away from her face and began to run her hands over the locks above. With only smoothness staying about in these very strands, she started to silently saunter out of the stagnant lavatory surely soon enough.
Author's Note
Hello, it's Fireflower as always ready to give you another chapter on the way: of course, like the second one, this will contain another certain subject matter and thusly is the reason why this story has been rated M for Mature; the only thing I can say is that I hope you are not under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated.
Aside from disclaimers long ago, I would like to take this time to inform you that this chapter is also only a flashback just like the second, but it can and will bring shock, awe, and outrage out of you in ways too horrible to imagine so it's with a generous heart and mind that yours truly has uploaded another chapter after this as well on the same day no less: for those of you amongst themselves wishing to skip ahead, please do so; I promise, this one will help calm your nerves a bit for the most part.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can withstand this chapter now and stay tuned for future chapters later on then again, you have but a few options: stop right there and wait, go back to the beginning, or skip ahead to the next chapter; whatever decision you make, I won't blame you but consider yourselves warned.
Shiner
In some form and fashion whatsoever, it was as if a waltz with death was taking place here and there, seeming to be orchestrated by a fallen angel devoid of either friends or family. The skies were blood red and occupied by the likes of smoky clouds becoming highly immense and pouring in as there were undergoing a twisted state of osmosis. Below them were fires and flames blackening the once brilliant green as they were consumed along with the wood and anything else that proved to be unlucky to get caught into its path, both big and small no less. Filling the role of the gentle breeze were the screams of people scurrying about throughout the vicinity, assimilating the identities of all genders and ages to say the least. Aside from debris, the dirt road was littered with corpses of all shapes and sizes as they guided their way to the town that was subjected to the destruction at once. In place of any birds were various forms of aircraft, screeching about overhead with reckless abandon as the golden sun started to sit upon the mountainside at this very moment.
In the wake of the chaos and disarray, one identity in particular was clinging onward to dear life as a wheezy gasp lacerated the atmosphere already: a tanned blonde female awoke to the noises around her. The jade orbs were tainted with the textured bruising across the visage as she started to look at the very surroundings: in them, she found many trees of various heights chopped down or laid aside, including the one she found herself resting upon. Aside from the fallen foliage and fruits across the lonely wood, the tanned blonde had come to find not even a tiniest shred of fabric in any material form whatsoever on her body. Along with her dishabille, the left arm was now covered in a mixture of mud and blood all around as the dirt seeped into the curvilinear scar that was forming across the way. Below the waist was a pool of various liquids forming between the legs, its contents being all too familiar for the tanned blonde to recall while looking on in a daze, eyes drenched in pain notwithstanding. She felt the solid earth below her being assaulted by a series of tremors and explosions from afar traveling upon the skin and the tree behind as well to say the very least.
Seeing the skies and the smoke drenching them at once, the disheveled blonde began to crawl from the bark and began to take a stand; however, she felt a sharp pain upon doing so: it was in her right leg no less. After a yelp of pain, she gritted her teeth already and started limping about from the tree, taking a few slow steps at once with precision and care while sobbing quietly to herself between intervals. The tanned blonde found pieces of clothing in tatters littered in front of her path where tears fell upon the very dirt below; suddenly, she felt something broke off into the mouth and spat it out: it was a tooth landing into scattered pieces of fabric that had once formed a red blouse. Still lumbering about she found to have wheezed and panted frantically as the oxygen around her got mixed in with the smoke and dust within every breath taken while departing from the resting place of long ago. With little warning, the tanned blonde’s ears perked up to the sounds of whistling approaching from behind her; turning about, she found a large projectile falling towards the tree that was left alone. Hopping away, the large object now quickly collided with the lone wood and caused a large explosion at once as it had created a shockwave that sent her flying over the dirt path in an instant.
Now, the tanned blonde found herself forced back onto the ground once again, this time facedown into the mud as both ears stood on endwise, currently assaulted with the sounds of ringing permeating against the scenery. Nestled against the solid earth, she felt her visage become moistened and dirtied about as a shield of dirt rested upon her very back and thighs, her arms lain in front of her elongated locks. Despite experiencing such escalating pain and agony, the tanned blonde took her time to stand back up again albeit slowly so as to avoid putting and further stress upon these very limbs onto the body. Wiping the barren soil away from the weary eyes, she began to turn around and find that the tree behind her was no more just like the others around it; in place of it, a smoking crater had appeared instead. Returning her gaze toward the path in front, the blonde continued to limp onward from the destruction that was now taking place, hoping to avoid being killed in the blast radius generating throughout the environs. With all this ringing going about throughout her ears, it seemed that fate had been already sealed: another explosion such the one from right before would only be enough to put her out of misery.
Of course, this also gave the tanned blonde an opportunity to take sight of what was up in front of her very clearly: the large homestead that remained in the very distance by the sidelines overall had matched the destruction of the very trees all around. The amber waves of grain that shined onward underneath the sunshine with glorious sparkles now gained patches of craters in every shape and size with smoke and ashes disrupting the pattern throughout. The encamping white fences around the premises, once withstand the tests of time itself while acting as borders to the otherwise open field, became broken down and smoldering about over the drawn dirt lines and the plants as well. The little orange shed that stood upright and running was now losing its color and structure to the flames fluttering about in the turbulent winds as it became blackened every second of the way to say the least. The lush archway that guided denizens to a lilac fountainhead in front had now been stripped of the diminutive flora that was once adorned throughout the grapevine and split in two right down in the middle. The big red house not on the lone prairie that stood out in the midst of such things there was now stripped of its roof in its entirety, surrounded by scuttled hay and bits of debris for all to be seen.
Limping towards the homestead, she found her tears gaining nothing but warmth as she squinted from the pain on her body, inside and out altogether; to make matters worse, she even caught a glimpse of what was in front of her: a cadaver was lain about onto the small stairway. The clean pristine gray hair upon the body in question was now dirtied with many patches of brown and red from the forehead seeping out into there. The wrinkly dark olive complexion had now been ruined by the soil beneath and the blood upon the face, painting the visage with a dark lavender tint of shock and surprise from one side to the other for the observer to take note of. The current ensemble worn about had suffered even worse than what the wearer had undergone: the orange shawl, the green dress, the red mitts, and the pink sandals were all covered in patches of dirt thrown about in reckless abandonment.
“Is that… GRANNY SMITH…?!” the blonde screamed as she took all this information into her jade eyes as they became overwrought with tears, driving her towards the fallen corpse whom was identified. Despite the tingling sensation throughout her body, she had increased her speed and momentum within the limping toward Granny Smith up in front amongst the destroyed background. The tearstained blonde took little time to reach the figure as she made her way across the dirt road behind, ignoring the destruction all around them taking place. A tedious and dangerous approach upon her very body was slightly ignored as she gained some distance here and there in reaching Granny Smith. Within moments, the ringing throughout the blonde’s ears had subsided and sure enough she heard the screeching and whooshing of aircraft from above her once more with feelings of clarity. A sense in which she had regained proved to be not even enough with the details provided by others flowing about needlessly and with little regard whatsoever given the very situation at hand; after all, another figure would prove to be far from comfortable.
The tanned blonde came to what had appeared as Granny Smith’s fallen form and wept to no end in sight for the former, now already aware that the latter was surely and truly dead, not a little but all too completely. A flood of tears fell onto the stained fabric as the unclothed individual knelt and stared into the eyes, the orange pair once capable of producing life and love were now dull and listless compared to the viewer in front and from far back. Staring through the waters that clouded the jade irises, the tanned blonde took up her right hand and slipped the cadaver’s eyelids over shut as she sniffled. Soon, the young female stayed still yet remained far from silent as the sounds of sobbing splashed over Granny Smith in spite of the sharp sounds above into the scarlet skies above. The tanned blonde had still wiped these tears away only to find more in place as they moistened her bruised and dirtied hands upon them as she sniffled about within seconds so seamlessly. In what seemed to be of some sort of an amazing grace, the young one was found to be all alone in a world gone mad and ablaze at this very moment in time no less, alive but unwell.
Suddenly, the tanned blonde stood up and started to climb the steps nearby her as the remains of the nearby house in front trembled back in shock and walked in without a care in the whole wide world she lived in. Within the wreckage of the confines she had found much furniture already torn asunder with reckless abandonment, out of place and out of order as those weary eyes look around her to and fro. The many pictures of various people in each of them fell aside as they had left behind small shards of glass surrounding themselves all at once either facedown or up in the sky all alone. The walls around the structure were either torn down or scorched up by the surrounding destruction that threatened the tanned blonde every waking second no less despite the tenant’s lacking in overall consideration. Only the setting sun in the distance had provided her light upon the forsaken homestead so as to guide the female for that most of the ceiling has gone away from here as many pieces fell to the ground. Even the stairway nearby still stood upright against the destruction despite the failing structure surrounding it; the tanned blonde took little time to mourn for the remaining endurance of such woodwork that was once a sweet home where the heart once was.
Amidst the destruction, she caught a glimpse of something large and white within the short change distance: it was a bathtub and its very presence gave her an indication of the key location. Limping onward, the tanned blonde stumbled about the ligneous flooring and debris below her and gotten near it in due time, the shaking of the solid earth around not even destroying the path. Upon reaching the destination, she found the fixture to be devoid of liquid compared to the weary jade eyes that had seen it all no less; of course, this very fact barely even stopped her. Noticing the handles and the faucet at one end of the bathtub, the tanned blonde turned then both towards the same direction and found water pouring out onto the porcelain surface in due time. As she heard the very fluid splash down nearby, she took the time to survey the damage that had been inflicted upon the unclothed body: the elongated tresses dirtied, eyes tinted with bruises, blood fresh out and onto the tanned skin, even the discomfort still resided within the right leg; all of these injuries however were nothing compared to the one inside of her. Rallying about, the tanned blonde sat on the other side of the fixture and look across her very surroundings, weeping about as she still remained wary of what had happened now and then.
A loud explosion from far away became cause enough for her to flinch, forcing her to shut away both of the eyes as the ground shook about and the clutter fell onto the floorboards nearby so silently. Opening the eyelids back up, the tanned blonde had turned to find another smoking crater within the distance as she found more trees knocked away by the impact while smoldering about. She sobbed while feeling forced to watch all the destruction that was unfolding before her very eyes as these hands started to wipe the streams off the bloodied and bruised but otherwise tanned face. The tanned blonde closed her eyes and felt the teardrops become pulled down by the gravity of the situation at hand, being ignored by the wavy battle orchestra of whooshing and screeching taking place above. Averting the weary and teary gaze, she turned to find that the water was now reaching a taller height than its originally empty state from before, prompting a swirl from her left hand. A large ripple appeared as the blonde did so, the once achromatic compound was now tinted with a diffusing crimson when her arm became dampened as the scar coagulated with the mud before turning off the faucet.
With a heavyhearted sigh, she started to enter the bathtub, feeling her tanned skin become moist upon being submerged by the stagnant water as she descended. For a moment, it had just seemed that the blonde could find refuge from the ongoing mad world in such recreation so to help get a glimpse of it all. She looked into there and watched how all the soil and blood were being washed away up in front by the massive amounts upon the weary body already, new colors now mixing with little time whatsoever. Despite the darkening appearance of such clumpy and clogging components, the tanned blonde had concentrated her eyes and found her reflection in the now dirtied water. Watching the high concentrations of foreign substances had made her tears increase itself in volumetric flow, burying her scarred face with only two hands. Not even the tanned blonde sobbing about was enough to stop the overwhelming pain that was being felt right now coursing throughout the body as she sank into the water.
Now she felt the tanned face and golden hair become exposed to the solution of her own making as she sank inward with the nose above the colored pool. The blonde closed her green eyes and felt more tears slide across the weary skin and dissolved into the reddish brown water all around as feet rose up out of it. Opening the eyelids back up, she had found only a portion of the sky above the wreckage to have exploded in a fiery burst of shame and jet fuel before the jade orbs. Sitting back upward again, the tanned blonde took her time to wash away the blood and mud off her left arm with the opposing limb. While she had managed to succeed in getting the foreign cluster of particles off of the affected area, it didn’t change the fact that the scar was still drawn out upon the upper limb. Watching all of this had made the tanned blonde’s eyebrows align themselves in an angle towards each other as she gritted her teeth.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to rest her arm into the water anyway, blatantly ignoring the outright disarray behind and front as she wept inside of the bathtub. Splashing some of the newly established solution onto the blonde’s face, even the jade eyes were not spared from the sudden impact of first contact. Wiping the dirty water off out of the tearstained visage, its owner did nothing more than just stare into it and wept as she watched them return into the point of origin. Soon, the tanned blonde’s ears reverberated when another round of trembling about from the ground shook the house that she was in, no doubt the work of another explosion from within the distance.
In addition, a new sound also overtaken her sadness as a plane overhead her whooshed above, descending to new lows as it was sat on fire, “fooooooooooom…!”
“So, this is finally it; it all ends there...” the tanned blonde choked out while watching the aircraft crash into the trees up in front of the weary eyes, “the end of days has come and Ah have failed to protect them all; Ah don’t even deserve to live long enough in seeing this. Ah am sorry ma and pa… it looks like that Ah won’t be joining ya’ll; please find the strength to forgive me.”
With all of her strength and force, she took up her right hand and ran these fingers across the scar upon her left arm, causing more blood to seep from the open wound and drip into the water where she was in within each strike and slash. During the whole time, the tanned blonde had watched with tears appearing within her eyes and teeth bared at the sight of it all as the thin elongated scab become wider, wetter, and wilder underneath her plain yet tainted fingernails. Soon, the bathtub now became even more tainted in red when she submerged the arm inside already, watching as the whole world in front of her fizzled out slowly before submerging.
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.
Author's Note
Hello there and welcome back again to yet another new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy, the one story out of many of my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots I have given you since the inception; suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all and giving a taste of what's to come later on.
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 the new year 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.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can stomach this chapter now more than the others before it and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times; henceforth, I will leave you with but one saying only: thank you very much.
Strabismus
It had been, without a doubt, a sudden change of pace to say the very least concerning the fact of the matter at hand; speaking of which, it was as if someone had gone down to a similar path from long ago, only with a significant change in roles being enacted already. Of course, it was at this moment in question where such people were found to be there, currently engaged in suffering the aftereffects of becoming causalities to the modern warfare against germs, toxins, injuries, illnesses, and catastrophes. Amongst the sea of residents and tenants, there was only one out of many, emerging from a range of those small factors of ten to the point where there are no more than a million of others.
At this moment, there inside was of a different room with the company of such personnel being but only a band of seven overseeing whatever progress, composed of past, present, and future. Each of them were now dressed in a sterile garb of whiteness all throughout their very bodies, a few with most of their faces obscured by such a fashion and function intertwining with one another so seamlessly. Many of them varied of countless backgrounds whether of age, gender, complexion, build, and/or standing all thanks to their very identities being obscured by their clothing choice no less. A minority of the seven had donned on long flowing skirts around their waistlines that were reaching down to their legs and footwear already; giving out a singular clue to the position they had been given at hand. All were now stationed around and about within the constrained location at hand, be if operating upon the complex machines or awaiting further orders as they were standing by at their own devices. Their active breathing, though muffled by the masks over their lips and nostrils, were the result of such lives being put throughout the wringer in an animated program of the highest caliber whatsoever.
Within their vicinity had lain a tanned blonde now propped up on a light gurney with delicate care, her jade orbs filled with only fear and pain circling around and about the contracting pupils. Her forehead was drenched with perspiration flowing off from her very brow, most of them being wiped away from there with a damp cloth whereas the others escaped down to the chin. The blonde’s teeth were now bared in a tensed frown upon the lower half of her face as intervals of short breaths escaped from the thin crevices within them as an exchange had taken place. Donned upon her body was a simple teal dress with only the simplest of fabrics sewn into itself, absorbing whatever fluids that had made its way as the wearer rested onto the pillow beneath. Over the long article of clothing that was worn onto the blonde’s skin was a thicker blue sheet and it was covering most of the lower half save for her spread legs and feet poking outward. Wrapped around her left hand was a white wristband snugly over the lanky scar underneath the arm, its place proving to be dark and crusty than the rest of the otherwise tanned and rustic skin.
“Are you okay, Applejack… can you hear me now…?” a tender feminine voice was heard belonging to one of the seven that were still standing around the eponymous tenant in question.
A weak nod was made by the tanned blonde as an answer made its way past the gritting teeth, “yes, ma’am…”
“Alright, team… let’s go over what we are aware of now: this patient here had her water broken at the facility a few hours ago and is currently infected with a venereal disease; so far, conditions have proven to be stabilized but we are projecting a high chance of mortality at over ninety percent,” the first woman had said to the remaining six amongst her as the sounds of beeping were heard, “nevertheless, we must make sure that the woman’s vital signs are kept up and running until we get the child outside of her safely: if she dies in the process before we do so, then the baby will too; so, I recommend that we handle this operation delicately with extreme caution. It is most likely that the infection has spread itself all the way to the womb right now and reached the infant as of this moment; currently, we presume that the weight will be at least four and half pounds upon arrival. Still, time is of the essence and there is going to be absolutely no room for error at all whatsoever in this very operation at hand; it’s vital that we must make sure that the infant is cared for and handled upon delivery. All tasks are at hand to rightfully ensure that the mother’s next of kin will be informed after at the time of death along with other contacts as soon as possible. Are we clear on what we are supposed to do...?”
“Like a crystalline nighttime sky, Redheart…!” a gruff reply made its way to the speaker’s ears within a heartbeat.
Turning to face a pair of dark Bakelite eyes, a small solemn smile formed upon Redheart as she spoke, “alright then, Spec Ops; help Doctor Monitor keep an eye on the patient’s vitals along with the child’s and keep them from straying beyond the balance points. Pap Smear and Sweetheart, you will help her with maintaining respiratory and cardiopulmonary activity by providing painkillers and breathing apparatuses at certain points. Snowheart, Blue Shield, and myself will assist in helping her give birth safely as possible; in the event we run into more complications during the procedure, we will have to perform a last resort tactic to save it.”
“Understood...!” the rest of the seven had shouted off firmly but calmly to the pale nurse nearby, “shall we begin the operation?”
“Alright, then… now Applejack: I want for you to start taking in some deep breath while we do this so it will help the child find its way out as we guide it along; in case you have any problems these two here will provide some assistance, okay…?” Redheart spoke to the eponymous patient with a calm visage.
Applejack looked on into the pale nurse’s gaze with but a straining helpful grin and answers, “yes ma’am, Ah will do whatever Ah can to not be a burden.”
“You’re not causing any trouble here; we are just trying to help you…” Redheart replied calmly to the tanned blonde before turning to face the two men who were on one side of the gurney, “Spec Ops, I would like for you to tell me how is the patient’s heart rate so far?”
“Status is chaffed, ma’am…!” Spec Ops replied as he remained alongside another medic, a brunette watched the lines forming about in the green.
An eyebrow was cocked over the sky blue irises as the nurse stared firmly at the red eyed colleague and asked, “what do you mean by chaffed?”
“The patient’s checking out with a pulse of seventy nine beats per minute but it’s projected to rise about a bit higher, Redheart…!” Spec Ops said as he looked back at the monitor alongside his colleague, “it’s even starting to increase right now as we speak.”
“I see then… breathe Applejack, breathe…” Redheart slowly spoke to the eponymous patient, earning a steady wheeze of dioxide being exhaled upon hearing the very basic command in question. Waiting to exhale had proven to be anything but a daunting task for the timid Applejack whom looked at her torso: underneath that entire set of textile was a significant protuberance sticking upward. The tanned blonde could feel the overwhelming desire to place one of the hands upon her abdomen and pet it gently but the atmosphere she was in proved to be not the case whatsoever.
Applejack already noticed two other people residing nearby the pale nurse in front of the former: a slim nurse with mascara over the light green eyes and a stocky doctor donning a wide visor; nevertheless, much focus was placed on the latter who heard some words being said right now, “Redheart, Ah gotta ask ya ma’am, how often have ya done this before, birthing babies and all?”
“I would be say about four years since my transfer to here, long before we all gotten involved in this cursed war…” Redheart answered calmly as she focused on the tanned blonde’s region between the already spread legs, “I even remember one of your friends barging in the ward with a small chocolate cake when the babies were trying to sleep.”
“Ya mean the Cake Twins?” Applejack sputtered slightly as the rhythm of beeps from a nearby machine increased slightly.
Still staying on target, the pale nurse’s reply had now made its way to the tanned blonde’s ears, “as a matter of fact, yeah: they were just born about a year ago, their parents were pretty lucky to have them; to be honest, the man seemed to be extremely worried about his wife afterwards.”
“Ya mean the father; what had been going on when this had happen…?” Applejack had said to Redheart nervously, “how did his wife do afterwards when she had given birth?”
“She fell asleep, woke up hours later, and wanted to see her kids badly; yeah, she gotten anxious but I’d have called it normal, save for the occasional swearing here and there during the time,” the pale nurse had retorted as the tanned blonde took in a steady stream of oxygen all around them.
Applejack did nothing but winced in thought about these distant stardust memories from before and spoke calmly, “what did their mother say when that had been happening…?”
“Let’s just say that they were some off–color terms of certain things that would make others ask questions such as ‘do you kiss your relatives with your mouth?’ and whatnot…” Redheart answered with a terse chuckle before turning to face the man nearby the red eyed doctor, “how is she now, Doctor Monitor?”
“Well, aside from a slight increase of four to six beats, vitals have still remained normal so far,” the brunette answered as Spec Ops looked onward alongside, lines already creating a jagged edge.
The pale nurse now cocked her head towards another colleague, this one simply residing on the left with a slight olive tone complexion, and said to her, “is the oxygen tank ready yet, Sweetheart?”
“Mm-hmm, it’s still here...” the hefty nurse replied as she held up the metallic container in one hand, “refilled and good to go; just say when and we’ll go in.”
“Alright Applejack, there’s going to come a second were you are going to feeling the urge to scream very uncontrollably in the process: this will be the part where the child starts thrashing about for an exit out of the womb and you’ll help guide the way by pushing it into the world; do you see where I’m going with this?” Redheart explained to the tanned blonde calmly.
Applejack did nothing but replied with only a steady nod and choke out, “yes, ma’am… Ah can understand it loud and clear; after all, Ah feel that this will remind me of the time when mah maw brought Apple Bloom into the world.”
“I’ve seen this before many times and trust me: the beginning always starts out with pain but it’ll end with joy soon enough…” the slim nurse wheezed as she resided nearby the other two, “nevertheless, it’s just another reason why I would rather not have kids…”
“Snowheart…!” Redheart interjected with a stark raving glare piercing into the light green eyes at close range.
A quick sigh escaped from Snowheart as she held her own composure together while saying, “what…? I’m just saying that it would be too burdensome of me to raise children right now…”
“That’s what Ah am afraid of: there’s absolutely no telling what will become of my child when all is said and done; after all, Ah don’t think Ah will be able stick around to even see it grow…” the tanned blonde spoken sadly as she soon stared at her singular stomach with simplicity, “seems to me that no matter what Ah do, everything just goes on and returns to nothing…”
A flood of tears were now pooling out from Applejack’s eyes as she turned the visage towards the very ceiling far above them: fear had gotten its victim into a chokehold, fury reached at an all–time low, and the pain was simmering about from abroad. A sigh escaped from the tanned woman’s plain lips as it became drowned out by the beeping and wheezing of machinery around as the band of seven remained in their place to keep the rather dreary atmosphere in the right balance. The jade orbs end up seeing a brief moment of darkness as Applejack closes her eyelids slowly before opening back up again, every single thing alongside the personnel in this very room remaining constant within taken sights no less.
Just when it had seemed like that the tanned blonde was going to surrender herself without incident, a sharp sting had made itself was from within the protuberance down in front instantly; as a result, the doctors and nurses present watched her emerge from the gurney with little warning whatsoever.
“Ma’am… we’ve just witnessed a sharp increase of heart rate by about forty in a few seconds!” Doctor Monitor echoed as Applejack winced about in a strained supine formation so suddenly.
The tanned blonde clenched onto her teeth very tightly before she had begun to wail out loudly, “OH FUCK, IT’S ABOUT TIME ALREADY; IT FUCKING HURTS LIKE TARTARUS!”
“Oh, no… it’s starting right now…” the pale nurse gasped in surprise as she watched Applejack bolt upward and clutch onto the stomach in pain, “stay calm, ma’am; just keep on breathing while we help you.”
“DON’T YA EVER TELL ME TO STAY CALM, YA IMPERIAL FLOOZIE OF A NIGHTINGALE!” the tanned blonde screamed with increasing decibels levels from the bottom of her voice box for Redheart and the remaining sextant to hear.
At that moment in time, the beeping of machines had faced a sharp increase in frequency courtesy of Applejack’s sudden outburst; as a result, the red eyed doctor suddenly announced, “heart rate is now at a hundred thirty three; in addition, her body temperature has just reached a hundred and eight…!”
“Okay then, Spec Ops get acetaminophen ready now but use only a small dosage to do so; we cannot have a miscarriage here at all…!” the pale nurse gave a command to the aforementioned associate nearby, “are we clear on it…?!”
“Yes, Redheart; I am preparing the needle right now as we speak…!” Spec Ops replied as a syringe was now within his fingertips for the brunette to see already in spite of the loud shrieks.
A hoarse gurgling moan escaped from the tanned blonde as she closed her eyes tightly in a strained grip; as Sweetheart wiped away the sweat from the helpless patient’s brows, the latter’s ears perked up on endwise to a new voice, another male alongside the slim nurse saying, “I can see the head now…!”
“Wait, you mean to say that the crowning has formed already, Blue Shield?!” Snowheart asked in shock as she watched a bulge forming from in between Applejack’s spread legs, “OH MY STARS, THIS IS NASTY!”
“It doesn’t matter, we need to help the child out of their now; come on, Applejack, you can do this: push already now, push…!” Redheart spoke to the tanned blonde with overwhelming desperation.
A staggering wheezy breath escaped the timid Applejack’s mouth as she had cried out in pain, “AH CAN’T; THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME KIND OF A BLOCKAGE INSIDE OF ME!!”
“Yes, you can; none of us would want you to lose this child at all and neither can you ma’am…!” the pale nurse replied staring at the tanned blonde, “please, take a deep breath and push…!”
“Ssssssss… UUUUUUUUUUUWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Applejack wailed with the utmost expulsion of effort she had put in; unto her, a child was borne into the whole wide world. However, there had seemed to be absolutely no joy at all whatsoever being brought alongside into this plane of existence as the shrill drones of whimpering were only heard nearby the tanned blonde. Even the subsiding beeping now became irrefutable proof of such a thing when Applejack gasped for life, only to be greeted with an electronic whine overtaking the focus of such things at hand.
As such, much attention had now been divided by a small prime number: the tanned blonde who collapsed back onto the gurney with little warning and the diminutive neonate that had crawled out from there in due time; while the former needed no introduction whatsoever, the latter was a much different story. The small being was in a state of dishabille, a significant difference that was by far moments away from having such a matter getting addressed by the personnel in attendance. The only sounds coming out and about were the gurgling of weary cries as all four limbs flailed about in acute angles with a decreasing velocity and struggle from the origin points altogether. Instead of a dark complexion or even some cluster of freckles, the infant had only a bright skin tone free of blemishes of any shape and size whatsoever yet otherwise already stained with tears, blood, and mucous.
Redheart did only watch as a male nearby her bulky colleague went over to Blue Shield’s side and started cleaning the fluids off of the crying baby’s skin with a wet cloth and spoke, “get the oxygen tank ready, Sweetheart; we might need to save the mother just in case…”
“Yes, dear; the old one–two I presume here?” Sweetheart had simply said to the pale nurse as the tall metallic cylinder was now within the tightening grip, “fair enough…”
Author's Note
Hello there and welcome back once more to yet another new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy, the one story out of many of my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots I have given you since the inception of my presence; suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all which had given a taste of what had came earlier on as well as what will come later onward.
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 the new year and a new month 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; in addition, I would also like to apologize for not doing so in time as usual since this chapter here was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I had made: I believe at this rate, everything will still make sense soon enough.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can find some joy in this chapter now more than in the others before them enough to have the strength in continuing onward in staying tuned though the passing times before it because some special guests are going to be joining our fateful protagonist in this chapter below; henceforth, I will leave you with much to say significantly: thank you very much and I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting.
Teal
Time had seemed to stand still in space as if the inhabitants were drifting aimlessly as they floated above the stars amongst the never–ending blackness that had been known to drive some from method to madness; it is only the memories of life when the richest beverage of a consumer keeps up their spirits so at least a destination will be within reach soon. Of course, time itself was the only thing that remained constant in the ever–changing plane of existence where many variables came in all shapes and size, coexisting alongside either in unions or divisions thereof as they all transcended boundaries without incident to say the least; then again, almost all of them succumbed to the folding sooner or later. This interval however would prove to be a special case since that there were those who have found themselves still standing rather than stumbling and falling to the depths of their failure nonetheless; however, not all of them were doing so as the whole wide world turned on its own axis: out of many of those in question, there was indeed one no less.
This one individual in question was none other than the tanned blonde herself, sleeping upon a gurney in what had appeared to be darkness save for the occasional rays of light poking from the blinds nearby. The golden locks that had been dangling from her weary head were now nestled deeply in between the terracotta skin that was provided by the scalp and the tender fabric that surrounded the pillow beneath. The tanned blonde possessed a visage that was tainted with darkened circles painted underneath the eyelids but otherwise at peace with the current surrounding of the very room she was already in. The rather quiet sounds of breathing were emanating from her nostrils and lips, the former strained with the intervals that brought forth terse percussions whereas the latter blew itself through the openings in her set of teeth. Draped over the tanned blonde’s body was a large sky blue comforter encroaching over much of the gurney where she laid sleeping, her arms currently stretching outward from its very depths with a tube dug into one of them from a machine. Her own shoulders were adorned with a cottony whiteness, its texture being of an unknown quality as is were with the blanket and pillow; aside from the undetermined aesthetics, it was serving as a piece of clothing no less.
As the tanned blonde remained nestled in what would have been an infernal slumber from long ago, her silent snoring and the steady beeping were now interspersed with a new sound: a sudden click from a nearby knob turning to its own side now became a prelude to a needed introduction. The door had been opened slowly but the small creaking and whines given off by the hinges were slowly started to snatch her out of her peace and quiet that she was currently basking in. The tanned blonde had felt her own two ears perking upwardly to the small sudden sounds from seconds ago but she still stayed firmly within the confines of the very gurney even as footfalls were invading such personal space all too nearby.
“Okay girls, this is her room but please remember: she’s just needs to be relaxed for now, okay?” a feminine voice made its own way throughout the static atmosphere in a rather careless whisper.
The shuffling of limbs decreased in a series of fractions and periods as an answer was made: another voice sharing the same gender and decibel but a different emotion and pattern, “well, alright then Miss Redheart; anything to support our friend here.”
“Oh, I can’t take the suspense any further: I’m so nervous about the whole thing but I’m also excited to find out that Applejack is alive; I’m nervo–cited...!” were a series of words that also made its way, straying from the rhythm emotion set by the first two, “I must see her right now and say something already…!”
Immediately, the eponymous occupant felt a pair of eyelids slowly drifting away from each other by a few millimeters; in doing so, the jade orbs from beneath were greeted with the sight of visitors: three females who were perhaps alike in fair dignity at first glance. Each of them all had possessed certain common traits: a bright complexion upon their skin, a set of pink hair flowing out from their heads, some cool color shades circling around their pupils, and a warm smile donned upon their faces. Of course, there were some significant differences that Applejack had taken notice upon awaking from her slumber: in fact, the only person she had recognized out of the trio was the nurse from before, this time without a mask; on the other hand, that did not mean that the others were to be left out anyway.
Speaking of the two though, they were the ones who had a fashion that was more loud and lively than Redheart herself, something that the patient use to identify them at once as of this moment in time. For starters, one of them had a darker color scheme and a puffy style adorned across the tresses whereas the other was light and straightforward all the way. Secondly, there was also a slight difference in height between the two females standing within Applejack’s line of sight, off by a few centimeters no less. Third of all, one was wearing a dark green overcoat that was reaching down to the top of the shins while the other had a light blue jacket with a pink shirt underneath it and a pair of purple shorts below them. In addition, the visitors were wearing shoes upon their feet that made the patient aware of her own current attire; then again, it didn’t matter at all to say the least. Wiping away those weary green eyes with her hands, Applejack had come to find that one of them had some worrisome teal upon the visage whereas the other had exuberant blue instead.
“Fluttershy… Pinkie… you’ve came; aw shucks, Ah can’t believe that it’s really you guys…!” the patient gasped weakly with a faint smile across the lips.
The visitor in the overcoat smiled back while walking forward and responded gently to Applejack, “me neither… we all had thought that you didn’t make it; we’re so sorry for all this!”
“It’s okay Fluttershy; it’s nothing to beat yourself up over…” the patient sighed at the advancing Fluttershy while wiping a tear from the corner of the eye, “this war may had changed the lot of us but at least that doesn’t mean that Ah can’t see you two again and again…”
“Oh Applejack; I wish I could find the strength to hold you tightly…” the visitor in the overcoat squeaked as she stopped slowly towards the gurney where Applejack lain; of course, the silence that would had filled air was cut off by the rapid footfalls of another.
Suddenly, the patient found herself wrapped around by a pair of arms belonging to another finding Pinkie shouting, “WELL, I CAN!! I’M SO HAPPY THAT YOU ARE ALIVE; YOU WERE THE FIRST PERSON THAT I COULDN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IN THE LONGEST TIME EVER AND THAT–––”
“Shh…!” the nurse hissed as she had quickly pulled the extroverted visitor off of Applejack in an instant, “please keep it down already; there are some others in there that still need to have some sleep…!”
“Sorry…” Pinkie whimpered softly as she had then slinked sadly away from Redheart without so much as a question.
Turning to face the two nearby the patient, Fluttershy said to the nurse with only a slow stutter, “umm, Redheart unless if it’s too much trouble here, can Pinkie and I be left alone with Applejack please?”
“Well, okay then; I don’t see why not…” Redheart answered as she prepared to leave the room all at once, “however, I must inform you not to touch any part of her body for too long; doctors are still trying to make sure that she is completely well enough to be returning back on her feet, understood?”
“Oh yes ma’am; as long as the sky’s blue, we won’t be causing Applejack any problems at all…” the visitor in the overcoat replied while tilting her head towards the nurse without any hesitation.
With a hand on the doorknob, Redheart pulled on it and said to the three, “alright then, I’m going to leave you all be for the time being; just in case if you need anything Applejack, just push the button on the pad and one of the personnel will be with you momentarily.”
“Yes, dear; Ah will not forget to do so…” the patient said as the nurse started to leave them alone; afterwards, the former decided to focus upon the visitor nearby Fluttershy, “Ah never thought that we would meet again after all this…”
“I know, right; I mean, all I was thinking about was how Apple Bloom wanted to see you once more and well… before the… incident ago…” Pinkie responded to Applejack quickly before slowing down not too suddenly; at that moment, the former felt her locks become prostrated slowly.
Edging forward in an acute angle, the patient asked the visitor calmly, “Pinkie, this isn’t much like ya: ya usually spoke up in a chipper mood before the war; are ya okay here, sugarcube?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much Applejack…” Pinkie answered as she started to rub her own shoulder gently, “I just wished that it had been under more pleasanter times…”
“Ah can see that; all that matters to me now is that the war is over and mah sister is safe at last,” Applejack sighed weakly as she looked at the thick comforter that was draped over her very legs.
Taking a small breath of oxygen inside, the other visitor slowly started to ask the patient in front, “well, unless you mind me saying this, how is she; did the girl managed to make it out okay?”
“Yeah, she did, Fluttershy, but not unscathed to say the least…” Applejack answered sadly as a tear fell onto the fabric, “Ah can still remember the fateful day when Morkhav took Granny Smith away from the both of us and how Apple Bloom begged for my help as she was being dragged off. Ah try not to think about too much because of how everything changed for us: Big Mac no longer being found, Winona, and the house being destroyed when Ah had came to; they all made me cry so much. To be honest, Ah had thought that with her gone, it felt lahk Ah had broken a promise to mah maw and paw to keep mah sister safe so Ah figured that there was no use in living any more longer. Then, something happened: Ah had found out Apple Bloom was alive and whatnot but all Ah felt was nothing but anger and dread upon learning that fact; after all, the last time she had been seen, that brute of a man came to mah mind. Nevertheless, it was as if that Ah had regained a purpose in existing so this discovery gave me an opportunity worth getting her back and out of harm’s way; of course, there was absolutely no way it would prepare me from what Ah witnessed. At first, when Ah seen my sister again, instead of feeling joyful there was fear and sorrow taunting me: that little girl could not even see me at all or what had been done around her. All Ah could simply say about it is that Ah am glad that Zecora is taking care of Apple Bloom because Ah can’t seem to do anything without being reminded of the pain that we had gone through all alone in this consarned world out there.”
“Oh my, you poor thing…” was all that Fluttershy could say as the patient was wiping away the tears from the weary eyes as a puddle formed.
Applejack had found barely enough time at all to react when the other visitor ran up to her side and wailed, “WE SHOULD HAVE NEVER ABANDONED YOU AT ALL; I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I HAD BEEN SUCH A HORRIBLE FRIEND TO YOU FOR DOING SO, LET ALONE AN INDIVIDUAL NO LESS!”
“Pinkie, please get off of me; ya remembered what the nurse had said: Ah can’t be touched…!” the patient choked out as she felt Pinkie’s tears descending upon the garment and the arms wrapping around it, “ya are crushing me a bit, sugarcube and Ah don’t want ya to get infected!”
“I DON’T CARE; YOU DON’T DESERVE TO SUFFER WHAT THOSE MEANIES DID TO YOU…!” the extrovert sobbed as she was pulled off of Applejack again by the other visitor in attendance already.
Sniffling softly, the patient took a small breath and sighed, “Ah can see that y’all care for me so much after all this and that: it’s not even any of yer fault at all nor does this make any of ya horrible friends either; none of us truly knew how far this very war would have taken us.”
“I see where you are going with this; you are not alone as you may think Applejack…” Fluttershy had said solemnly while looking down onto the floor beneath the very trio, “I can’t seem to stop thinking about the pets I had been forced to leave behind.”
“How come…?” Applejack asked as the visitor in front placed hands into the overcoat’s pockets.
Aside from the tears being shed by Pinkie touching the floor and the steady whines of electronics filling the atmosphere, the room had fallen silent; then, Fluttershy had begun to speak at once, “the truth is, I was there at Terminal when the whole thing had taken place…”
“Terminal; isn’t that the place where the Guards were stationed at…?” the extrovert exclaimed so suddenly, “you’re not a Guard at all; what were you, of all people doing there…?!”
“Simple, Pinkie: a few nights before the battle broke out, one of the highest ranking commanders of a platoon had met with a terrible fate…” a faint groan had escaped from the other visitor’s tender lips as she was taken aback by Pinkie’s interruption.
The patient felt her ears perk upwardly moved herself a bit forward and said, “yeah, Ah think Ah remembered now: mah brother told me and Granny about how he’d to be called off for his services on that night; come to think, how does this have anything to do you at all Fluttershy?”
“Let’s just say I was to be put on capital punishment; the officials said I had planted an improvised explosive device in attempt to sabotage peace talks…” Fluttershy had quickly answered Applejack, causing the latter’s pupils to contract at once so soon, “even then, I refused to believe it for one bit at first, until I was told that they were going to destroy the animals living at my home. I was scared and saddened when they were about to do that thing: they said it was because a radical like myself should never be able to be around animals just to use them carry out my dirty work; that left me in a wreck. I was left alone to cry in a cell and I can remember how your brother, may he rest in peace, was the only one who didn’t see me as that kind of person at all; he brought me comfort and the hope that they wouldn’t have me executed. I would never even have a single thought of doing such a terrible thing to the kingdom I loved the kingdom, I loved the neighbors, I loved the princesses, and I loved you guys but they didn’t see it that way. Anyways, as I was sitting in that chair waiting for the call to come through, I had closed my own eyes and wept; however, instead of having go through what should have happened, something else took over: a massive explosion knocked out the power source, cutting off the juice. The fighting got everyone in attendance paying attention to the battle that had taken place: while there were soldiers fighting off the invaders, Big Mac took me away from the strife and led me to safety; this was the last time I ever got to see him alive and now I can’t find a way to repay him.”
“Ah am sorry to hear what you had to go through; Ah never imagine that those people would be suspecting you of all this…” the patient critiqued as she found streams of fluids pouring from the speaker’s eyes, its volumetric flow being much more smaller than the other one in attendance.
Wiping away the tears from the teal eyes, Fluttershy caught ahold of her own breath and said, “it’s alright Applejack… I already found the strength to forgive the survivors and the prime minister as well; even so, she’s attempting to help me get through this.”
“Yeah, Ah knew that: Ah was told that he had stepped down from the office and managed to name a successor to take over from here; anyways, Ah can’t seem to forgive mahself for what Ah had tried to do to mah sister…” Applejack sighed as she looked at the comforter upon herself, “no matter how many times Ah hear Apple Bloom saying that she forgives me; it’s like Ah had lost touch with everything and everyone else around here.”
“You haven’t lost your touch at all, Applejack and we have already forgiven you nonetheless; it was the war that made you do these things and had there been any differences thereof, we would never judge you at all for this nonetheless…” the tender visitor spoke as she watch another teardrop splash onto the fabric all at once no less.
A small smile formed upon Applejack’s visage as she turned to face Fluttershy once again and spoke, “thank you kindly for saying that, Fluttershy: that’s all Ah had expected from you and that’s the truth…”
“We wouldn’t want it any other way…!” Pinkie interjected as the light blue eyes became dry again, the concave upon the face inverting itself, “please get well soon Applejack; I’m sorry about before…”
“Don’t even worry about it at all, Pinkie; Ah am just glad to be here to see you all once again…” the patient had spoken up in a faint yet coherent tone before yawning a bit slowly but tersely.
As Applejack prepared to recline back onto the gurney where she had slept earlier, the visitors were finding themselves closer to the door in which where Redheart had departed from before; of the very two, the one in the overcoat, turned around and said, “so are we, just get some rest soon; we’ll see you later…”
“Me too; Ah will be waiting soon enough…” the patient yawned as she watched both Pinkie and Fluttershy vacate the premises all at once while waving; afterwards, the former turned to her side and muttered with a faint smile, “best friends forever, yes we are…”
Author's Note
Hello there and welcome back once more to yet another new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy, the one story out of many of my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots I have given you since the inception of my presence; suffice to say, the past chapter from before was by far on a strong note for you all which had given a taste of what had came earlier on as well as what will come later afterwards.
Sine we have now move past disclaimers so long ago, I want to take the time to say thank you for never pulling out too early since we're now in the the new year and a new month 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; in addition, I would also like to apologize for sounding a bit unconventional in this chapter here since it was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I had endured: I believe at this rate, everything will still make sense soon enough.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can find some joy in this chapter now more than in the others before them enough to have the strength in continuing onward in staying tuned though the passing times before it because some special guests are going to be joining our fateful protagonist in this chapter below; henceforth, I will leave you with much to say significantly: thank you very much and I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting so long before.
Blue
“Gah – ah hah…!” a loud gasping scream pierced the dead air as it had then subsided into heavy breathing with a series of concise intervals in between them. The sounds made in the now started to grow silent save for the occasional wheeze then and there as the air returned to its once stagnant condition from before. Soon enough, they had metamorphosed into some soft sobbing as the feelings of loneliness emanated from all around the recent source of such great anguish.
Speaking of which, that source in question was none other than a tanned blonde resting upon a light gurney with jade orbs already soaked in fluids no less. Her visage was staring at a blue comforter resting over both of the legs as they covered them completely, a region stained with droplets of tears on them. A light teal gown was found to be adorning over the tanned blonde’s body as she sat within the confines of the gurney all by herself to say the least. She looked at her left arm and found a white wristband wrapped snugly around it over the crusty scar that spread across the region. The tanned blonde remained slightly aware of how strands of her own hair were found to be out of place at once but dismissed the state it was in as irrelevant. Shifting the pair of feet around had help her realized that they were bare, devoid of any form of fabric that were clinging over the skin.
As the tanned blonde wiped the fluids away with the right hand, she was greeted by a new sound from across the room: the turning of a doorknob which was followed by a tender voice saying, “oh good morning, Applejack; you seemed to have woken up already…”
“Oh um, morning nurse…” Applejack had stuttered as she found Redheart suddenly emerging from the door all at once, “Ah wasn’t expecting you to come over; how long was Ah asleep?”
“For the entire day yesterday; you looked like that you haven’t been able to sleep for days so we had left you alone for the time being…” the nurse answered the patient calmly during the steady approach.
Applejack had simply wiped away both her eyes as she spoke to Redheart a bit calmly at once, “oh mah stars, you can’t be serious; Ah couldn’t be out for that long now, right ma’am…?!”
“It’s okay; it’s happens with every other mother who gave birth and your survival was a miraculous thing that had occurred afterwards…” the nurse had softly spoke to the patient in front with a faint smile appeared upon the kind visage, “for a sec there, we all thought we had lost you for a bit.”
“Yeah, I could see that…” Applejack sighed as she turned her gaze to the comforter at once already.
Pulling a cart through the door, Redheart brought a tray of food towards the gurney while saying, “in any case, here’s some breakfast out on the table for you; I understand if you don’t want to eat anything yet, but I would recommend doing so in order to ensure a full recovery, okay dear?”
“Yes ma’am, Ah will do so…” the patient slowly replied to the nurse in a soft tone as the tray then made its way onto the gurney, “Ah just want to know something: what happened to the child…?”
“Oh you mean the baby…?” Redheart asked as she prepared to push the cart away from Applejack at once without any hesitation.
The patient stared at the content of what the nurse had given out and said calmly about at once, “yeah, that baby…?”
“Well, I’m not sure how to tell this but since you wish to know about it, well okay then: after your pulse gave out we were trying to get the infant clean and get some information written down; Snowheart was complaining about how he kept crying all too frequently…” Redheart answered Applejack slowly and solemnly, “that was when we had learned that the baby boy here was suffering from total retinopathy…”
“Wait just a minute, are you telling me that he has vision problems…?!” the patient had choked out in shock upon hearing the details given out by the nurse.
Taking in a breath of fresh air from the surrounding room, Redheart spoke to Applejack calmly, “if you mean by being blind, then I’m afraid so: the infection which had already entered your body was been passed onto your child during your pregnancy and now has claimed his eyesight; in addition, doctors had to place the infant on quarantine to stop the spread until it goes away.”
“Ah see it now: thanks to what these bastards had done to me and mah family, Ah am the one that ends up getting punished for this crap…!” the patient suddenly growled as she threw the tray at the wall for the nurse to witness at once, “now Ah survive long enough to find out that the little critter’s gonna have to go on throughout his whole entire life without even being able to see?! Well, fuck that shit…!”
“Now calm down ma’am, I understand that special victims have a hard time being able to cope with the reality of the situation but don’t worry about; medical personnel are working to make sure that his conditions are stabilized…” Redheart had said as she watched Applejack shaking about in place with little warning whatsoever.
The patient did nothing more than just threw up her blanket in fury and screeched about in the process, “and then what, Ah have to be reminded of how everything gone and went horribly wrong because of all this?! Ah had hoped that by giving mah child up to one of mah friends then everything would be okay; however, what Ah had never counted on was how he has to suffer too because the damn war! Ah wished Ah would have died already now…!”
“Oh, my… I didn’t realized that you would feel so strongly this way…” Redheart sighed sadly as Applejack started to sob loudly, “the best I should do now is that I should leave you alone…”
“Maybe so… Ah don’t want to anyone else to get hurt anymore because of people like them, let alone me…” the patient sniffled as she wiped away her tears.
Walking over towards the tray that splattered against the floor, the nurse gathered its remaining contents and said quietly, “at least please take my advice for your sake: it’s not the end of the world so don’t beat yourself up over something that happened in the past that isn’t even your fault…”
With that all said and done from here to there, Redheart left the room all at once, tray and cart in tow in the same manner of the entrance as well; afterwards, Applejack was now left alone once again, a pair of hands now buried into the tearstained visage with little care about the world. While the faint resounding slam didn’t harm the patient’s ears, it did little to act as a reminder of the loneliness that returned back to this very place all at once even as the room went silent again. She could care less about the whole thing at large as the wailing had continued on at a lower volume but nonetheless far from silent suffice to say.
“It ain’t right, it just ain’t right…” Applejack sobbed softly as she felt her teardrops escaping onto her palms in little time whatsoever, “why did this war had to happen to be on our doorstep…? First Big Mac, then Granny Smith, Winona, they didn’t deserve to die, not for Apple Bloom to learn about all this. Fuck, not even Apple Bloom deserved to even experience this at all, especially after what Ah had tried to do to her; Ah am probably just as bad as Rarity. Ah just want her to just forget about all of these horrible things and be able to grow up happy and safe from all of it. Now, Ah can’t even trust mahself into looking at her; every time that she says that she forgives me, it reminds me of how Ah can’t forgive mahself at all. At least with Zecora taking over from here, she can forget about this nightmare more easily with me outta the way. Ah don’t even want to know about how we’ll ever recover from all this destruction that we had witnessed throughout this time. Ah just want to be left alone now…”
For at least just a single minute, the patient had stop crying and began to lie back down onto the gurney beneath her at once. The unnerving calmness that had made its instant return did nothing to soothe the sadness that she is feeling while staying still already. Applejack only sighed softly but sniffled away as she turned to her side and started to snore soundly, shutting her eyes away from the outside world.
“Thanks for taking the time to care… at least the poor woman is now in there…” a rather faint feminine voice became heard from behind the door where the nurse came about.
The pair of jade orbs flew open once again as the patient suddenly turned her visage towards the source of the noise and muttered, “oh, who could it be now…?”
“Well, this is her room madame but please understand that she doesn’t feel comfortable being touched by others for far too long, especially after what had happen earlier…” another faint feminine voice was heard, carrying a lighter tone than the previous one, “doctors are still trying to get her back on her feet again.”
“All part of doing no harm, lest there will be alarm; I guess that it should be fair, my arrival will show that I care…” the first faint voice replied as Applejack sat up from there a bit slowly in curiosity.
Slowly but surely, the doorknob turned on itself once again as new visitors had came about all at once for the patient to see already: a pair of females both alike in fair dignity within first sight. Each of them both possessed certain key traits that Applejack took awareness of instantaneously: a dark complexion throughout their skins, some shades of blue around their pupils, and a look of concern upon their visage. On the other hand, there were some significant differences that the patient was noticing all at once: as a matter of fact, she was able to recognize one of them as the nurses that had worked alongside Redheart more easily thanks to the attire even without the mask.
Aside from this key detail at hand, this made Applejack pay attention to the other visitor as well suffice to say no less. For starters, the tresses were in a set pattern of both black and white in equal proportions whatsoever, all of which that was straightforward down to the nape of the neck. Secondly, out of the two that were at the same approximate height range, the visiting individual had a more slender body frame which was already covered up by a large brown fabric. Third of all, she was wearing black sandals beneath the soles her feet but there were no signs of some socks being worn at all to say the very least. Last but not least, the visiting individual in question even had on a darker shade of blue compared to the other person.
The patient’s own eyes had widen as she wiped them free of whatever particles that blinded her and said, “is that you, Zecora…?”
“To that, I will say yes… nothing more… nothing less…” the eponymous visitor replied all at once, confirming Applejack’s curiosity all at once instantly, “I’m aware of your blight so I came to see if you’re alright.”
“Well, Ah am, thank you for asking me that…” the patient had said to the visitor a bit slowly.
Zecora gave off a warm smile to Applejack and then turned towards the other woman before saying all at once, “thank you dearly, Nurse Sweetheart; this was nice for a day’s start…”
“Not a problem at all: just doing my job as always; it’s what nurses do all in a day’s work…” Sweetheart had spoken calmly to the visitor, smiling back in return in an instant, “just a little word of warning, though: this patient, Redheart happened to tell me about, had given birth earlier ago and doctors are still trying to treat the infection at once; please try to maintain a safe distance, understand?”
“As clear as a silver bell, I’ll heed your words well…” Zecora answered without question whatsoever.
Just as the nurse prepared to depart, she then said to the patient at once, “please stay calm and do not give the visitor a hard time; I’m going to go and get you some lunch and medicine to help you through the day.”
“Yes ma’am, Ah will not hurt her…” Applejack squeaked softly as she looked Zecora timidly, “if you come across Miss Redheart, then can you please tell her that Ah am sorry for what Ah had just done this morning…?”
“Don’t worry about it at all; she already knows about it anyway but at least she can see the stress inside you…” Sweetheart answered as she finally left the room as soon as possible; now, all that had remained at this moment were but two women.
At first, it had now seemed that silence now returned once more, this time with feeling already; then, the patient swallowed a lump into the throat and mustered up the strength to speak to the visitor, “thanks for visiting me, Zecora; Ah am pretty sure that Apple Bloom is doing alright with you…”
“The little one’s in a field of dreams, waking up on occasions with screams; nevertheless, her eyesight’s slowly returning and much more for learning…” Zecora had answered tenderly to Applejack while moving forward slowly, “now she with the tender one, Fluttershy underneath the sun; meanwhile, I ask of what’s new: Applejack, how are you…?”
“Pretty good, if you could call being cooped in a room on a regular basis one…” the patient had said soundly as her eyes darted downward from the visitor’s line of sight already.
Zecora took notice of Applejack’s sad and steady tone and started to say something softly, “I see that it’s been so long, please tell me what is wrong…?”
“It’s everything that’s happened here so far…” the patient had answered as she then faced the visitor slowly again, “all Ah had wanted was to help out with the family and keep mah sister safe and sound from those that would cause harm at all in the slightest. Ah never did anything too horrendous at all; mah maw and paw had taught me that honesty is the best policy that the family has lived by since the beginning aside from other things as well. Yet, Ah can’t seem to understand the complexity of how these turn events would have turned out so badly for the lot of us; as a matter of fact, whenever Ah think of her, Ah remember why she is left you: it’s because of me. Ah was so shocked and sad to see Apple Bloom found this way, it had brought me to tears thanks to these murdering vermin because of how Ah was reminded of what had happened that brought all of this to such a thing. At that moment, the way mah sister was lying about against the wall made me think of how they could have done some unspeakable things with me out of the way for the time being. Now, Ah keep having nightmares about the whole thing and can barely get any sleep from the whole ordeal; come to think of it, y’all were in mah dream last night.”
“Now hold on just a minute, you just mentioned us one bit; I’ll apologize for interrupting but Applejack please me something: what was of the dream that had made you so teem?” Zecora interjected as Applejack wiped her own eyes away at once.
Swallowing another lump of oxygen inside within moments, the timid patient gulped at once, “mah funeral… Ah was inside a coffin, dressed what had seemed to be that attire from mah friend’s first slumber party back then except this was no party: all that Ah was hearing coming from outside of where mah body laid were people crying about how Ah had died for some reason. Speaking of which, Pinkie Pie was in there wailing about her being a bad friend and as Ah was trying to show to her that Ah was alive and well, mah body refused to do what Ah had intended to do for some strange reason; I even thought about shutting mah eyes away just to wake up. Afterwards, Ah had heard you speak to Apple Bloom as she appeared at mah side and of how you help her pick up a Zap Apple that Granny Smith, may she rest in peace, once brought into the town before the war. The things that mah sister had said really shook me to mah core and made me cry more badly than Pinkie had done when she had came by; it took all the things that Ah had done before and shove them back onto my face.”
“Ah yes, now I see it then, you’re sensing trouble again: the memories that left you aghast haunt you from days of future past; even your responses were filled with guilt as they steal away from the very quilt…” the visitor had sighed as she watched a small tear or two form underneath a jade orbs, “you mustn’t let their actions rule you, for you’ve always been faithful and true: now standing up and above the delf, please don’t be too hard on yourself; even now, for all you’ve done, you could still come home, lucky one.”
“To be honest, Ah can catch on to what you’re trying to saying here somehow so thank you…” Applejack said as she and Zecora had both smiled warmly.
The visitor then said to the stationary patient before turning to face the door nearby a bit slowly, “just remember this detail: someday once more you’ll prevail…”
Author's Note
Hello again, Fireflower is back again and ready to give you another chapter on the way: of course, like the second and seventh chapters, this will contain the same certain subject matters and thusly are the reason why this story has been rated M for Mature; the only thing I can say for one last time is that I hope you are not under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated.
Aside from disclaimers long ago, I want to take the time to say thank you for never pulling out and giving up too early since we're now in the the new year and a new month 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; in addition, I would also like to apologize for not doing so in time as usual since this chapter here was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I had made myself go through: I believe at this rate, everything is going to make sense soon enough as we all float onward.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can withstand this chapter now and stay tuned for future chapters later on so as usual, you have but a few options: stop right there and wait, go back to the beginning, or skip ahead to the next chapter; whatever decision you make, I won't blame you but consider yourselves warned.
Photophobia
All throughout the way, there was only an abysmal void of complete blackness where such factors of sight, substance, and scent lay buried in the obscurities referred to as the unknown. The exceptions that gave clues to the location’s identity were surface, sensitivity, and sound: such were the roaring winds that were being far too close for comfort by anyone’s standards. Most importantly, the current occupancy was above from simply desolate, let alone abandoned; after all, this encroaching darkness all along proven to be outright temporary to say the very least.
A tall and dark skinned blonde was lying supine with a face plastered with freckles and sand all across the way. Nearby her head was a light brown hat with a wide brim that had laid by its side and also accumulated some debris. A dark red blouse was found on the tanned blonde’s torso underneath a brown vest with the lower rims of the fabric blowing to and fro. There was also a matching rubber band that kept her hair in place despite the roaring winds that were kicking upward. The tanned blonde had some slacks snugly held in place by a black belt with a red buckle in the shape of an apple. Worn on her feet was a large pair of boots with its heels resting onto the sand without any armed intervention whatsoever.
“Applejack, mah child, can you hear me…?” a tender yet pained voice echoed within the distance, causing a pair of jade orbs to fly wide open slowly.
In an instant, the named listener had started spitting out something from the mouth in confusion and grunted, “Granny…?”
“Open your eyes, mah child: Ah need you to see what have been done; Ah have died long ago…” Granny’s voice spoke back in the same tone for the awakened Applejack to hear only clearly, “we were ordered to abandon this farm along with the town as well; instead, we were all killed.”
At this point, the tanned blonde started to arise from her current station only to find what had awaited all up in front at once; suffice to say, the gathering possibilities were far from benign. The blood red skies were occupied by the likes of such highly immense smoke clouds with only a small patchy break of yellow flying about within the distance above far out of her own reach. All around Applejack were nothing more than but some sand and fog littered below throughout every step of the way like a treacherous sea filled with the most dangerous of predators dwelling.
“Not all of us…” a harsh masculine voice quickly interjected as a shadowy figure had emerged from out of nowhere.
The tanned blonde soon squinted her weary eyes towards the lone figure and gasped slowly, “what, who’s there…?”
“One of your victims…” a lone pale male in a disheveled fashion with rotting flesh and droopy gaze answered contemptuously at first glance, “the one who was just following orders…!”
“You had forced mah hand…” she snarled back in frustration, matching the figure’s unholy glare.
Nonetheless, said figure in question disintegrated within the sand after Applejack made contact; within moments, another silhouette of a similar nature took its place and said back obnoxiously, “your hand was free; now, you have fucked up…!”
“Ah didn’t wish for all this to happen…” the tanned blonde had choked out only steadily as she was strolling slowly over across the sand, “Ah just wanted to save Apple Bloom, that’s all…”
“Deep down, you knew that it was about time no less…” a somber voice echoed back at her as the silhouette shifted form once again, this one wet with fresh scabs and scars befitting a knight.
Applejack had squinted at that visage and broke down when she tried to reach for the closest figure in front with a whimper, “Big Mac… Ah am sorry…”
“Cuz…” a faint feminine voice was heard behind the male entity, surrounded by other beings whom were now buried into the sand, “is that you…?”
“Babs…?” the tanned blonde peeped briefly as a silhouette of a small child was now within the former’s vicinity at once.
Applejack crawled on over to Babs quickly as the latter started to sink into the sand at once, “help… me…”
“There were over a thousand faces that were alive before the war arrived on our doorstep…” Granny echoed as the tanned blonde attempted to dig a hole where the childlike figure was earlier ago, “how many are alive today, Ah must wonder, let alone tomorrow? Ah thought that with this farm around, the town would be prosperous; but, Ah was sadly mistaken: not even the land was spared.”
“Granny, Big Mac, Babs… Ah am so sorry; Ah don’t want any of y’all to die in the first place…” Applejack sobbed as she found more sand in the short wake of things that had already ensued.
The tanned blonde knelt, throwing up her hands over the jade eyes to cover and wipe the wayward tears falling onto the ground; suddenly, a sinister voice appeared from behind snarling, “it doesn’t matter, the only way that you’ll be able to make amends at this rate is with your body.”
Applejack felt her ears perked up in an instant while turning around to find a large fist making contact with the face, sending the female down onto the ground completely. The sudden impact had quickly left the tanned blonde into a temporary daze; in addition, she then heard the sounds of laughter echoing from all around her at once. Her eyes awoken to find two dark figures standing nearby at once; aside from their widened one way smiles, they were all covered in blackness.
“What in tarnation is this…?!” Applejack coughed out in anger as she glared at them already, “who exactly are ya…?!”
“Who we are doesn’t matter to us; what matters to us is the experience your body will be having for a lifetime…!” they’d answered the tanned blonde within only seconds as they edge on further.
The moment when she attempted to get back onto her own feet, she had found that her attire was no longer upon the body; this realization made her scared yet she grunted, “don’t be getting any ideas…!”
“I’m afraid that it’s too late for that…” one of the figures laughed at Applejack, approaching leeringly at once, “it’s as what had been said: your body will be having an experience of a lifetime…”
“Like hay you will…!” the tanned blonde spat out as she started to send out a swift kick to the waistline; suddenly, her eyes had widened in shock as she felt something piercing so hard in her right leg.
As she started to lower, some sneers were soon searing out from their smiles as they spoke darkly, “what a poor pathetic girl she is, always going below the belt under normal circumstances.”
“And now she is going to learn how…” another similar figure nearby replied with a chuckle at once for Applejack to hear only already, “and what better way than taking her out for a ride that never ends…”
“What are you ––– alck!” was all that the tanned blonde had sputtered before being found in a tightening embrace, the silhouette’s arms exploring her body possessed so much substance fitting of a real live being no less. She felt her mouth now being invaded by the human shadow’s slick appendage, the touchy texture of tongues tying in a roundabout made the female’s face change into an all too familiar that would rival her eyes. Applejack even felt her visage widened, forcing her to look into the assailant’s blank malicious view before being forced onto the sand yet again, this time feeling the driving surface now crawling upon her bare skin at once.
The tanned blonde struggled to stand on her feet once more, only to find the weight of the attacker crashing down after; afterwards, she also felt something else making contact as well: it was another appendage similar to the tongue from earlier. With little warning whatsoever, it had entered her body, pressing onward with extended arduous strokes all the way in and out within little time as their skin galled off one another in a pulp fiction no less. Applejack started struggling at once and turned herself over to have her back exposed to the howling winds; however, the owner’s arms still held onto her without a care. To make matters even worse, the tanned blonde then felt something else enter her body as she started to break free and it was the same one that was already inside of her beneath anyway now in another location within the body.
Her jade eyes were now forced open by the sight of another solid silhouette, covered in blackness save for a white grin and blank eyes who placed a hand onto her chin and snorted, “mind if I join in as well…?”
“Don’t do this; Ah am warning you…!” Applejack had whimpered before being slapped in the face so suddenly, “ya can’t get away with this…!”
“Oh, you foolish girl: you’ve failed to realize how this situation has made it quite the contrary; as a matter of fact, there is nothing you can do to stop any of this at all…” a chuckle was emitted before the hand that smacked the tanned blonde was replaced with another appendage that was all too familiar. At this point on, the three shadowy beings press inward, forcing her to feel every single part of her body become ignited with pain as the jade orbs were opened wide to watch what was in front of her. The fact that Applejack was trapped by these solid silhouettes with no plan of a narrow escape had been already made aware but the fact that she was also unable to even speak worsened her situation. The tanned blonde felt her eyes become moistened as she felt them wreaking havoc inside of her body, especially one that was interfacing with her tongue too quickly.
As if watching the shadow in front of her slip in and out of the mouth repeatedly of all the places within wasn’t exacerbating it all, she felt her ears perk up to something that pierced the howling tempest, “so much for a reliable and dependable farm girl such a herself selling out her body…”
Soon, Applejack had heard some laughter but it wasn’t coming from the attackers inside her; instead, it was coming from all around her, its true point of origin left undetermined to concentrate on clearly. As the tanned blonde felt the invasion work its way deep inside her body, she was surrounded by people who used to say that rhyme about sticks and stones as if broken bones would hurt more than the names that would be called which had been started all at once.
At this point, she felt something warm and loose that made its way inside of her body at once: upon making this sudden discovery, they released her at once to sneer and laugh as she coughed a light pink liquid out so huskily. Applejack slowly rolled over in exhaustion as she turned to find a surrounding sea of spectators pointing and laughing at her without a care in the whole wide world whatsoever. The tanned blonde barely cared about the sudden appearance of the heckling crowd since they all had lacked any significant features that would basically strike a chord within no less than the first glance.
As she lay coughing up a rising storm out, her legs were being raised by a pair of hands belonging to one of the three, prompted a weak cry, “no, please don’t…”
“I’m afraid that it can’t be helped at all, girlie…” a snarling laugh was quickly heard by Applejack at once, “it’s as what had been said before: there is nothing that you can do to stop it.”
“Grrr AHH, STOP IT ALREADY, AH M–––” was all that the tanned blonde could scream out before she felt the same appendage thrust into her mouth once again. Out of all the parts of her body that had become inflamed by this harmful sensation she felt, the pair of arms and legs were left quickly restrained within moments. All throughout every step of the way, Applejack watched her vision be flooded by streams of tears as their owners had quickly worked their way across the slightly bloodstained body.
The hecklers watched and cheered on the spectacle that the tanned blonde was a part of, with the unsafe speed rivaling the likes of those dashing through tape as if it were the finish line in a race of who could be awful first. Among one of them even had the time to say something else as well, “oh wowie, look at that farm whore go; for such a virgin, she shakes to and fro…!”
“Was that Zecora…?” she’d thought to herself while suffocating under the force of this tortuous ordeal suddenly, “no, there’s no way it can’t be…”
While that Applejack cannot even see who was exactly within amongst the crowd all around her, she did feel the two expel themselves into her body once again before a quick release back out. The tanned blonde slowly turned on her side to cough up once again, this time with more redness pooling out from the pained lips that was matching the recent aftereffects of her bloody sheath. Even so, her vision was starting to become blurry, tears and sand working together to blind the trapped owner at the mercy of the spectators and performers whose laughing grew even darker.
“Now, then… time for the grand finale of your sorry lifetime…!” one of the performers snarled as Applejack watched her legs being raised up all the way over to touch the latter’s head at once.
Soon, the tanned blonde barely had time to react when she felt some pressure taking form upon her right leg so suddenly she groaned, “no… stop this; Ah am gonna die if you keep this up…!”
“I highly doubt that you will; besides, you already have…” a sneer was emitted as she watched her whispering eye become aligned with the owner’s mouth, “so I suggest you better enjoy this!”
“EEERRAAAAAAAAAAA!!” Applejack screamed hoarsely as the shadowy being entered her again, this time from another angle as the next phase of the ordeal became rough and ragged. Cheers and jeers pierced the tanned blonde’s ears as tears crawled out the corners of her own, forcing them to become closed tightly to avert the sight of such a predicament she’d gotten into. Even so, her teeth flashed into being as its enamel was now grinding up against itself from the overwhelming pain that she was experiencing all at once, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Applejack had her eyelids flying wide open again to see what was being done to her already; with such sight and sense all still lurking about, she began sobbing profusely, “please kill me…”
“Applejack… can you hear me…?” a faint voice spoke within the distance but it had belonged to none of the audience nor the performers or even the eponymous tanned blonde in question; nonetheless, it spoke once more in the same tone it had begun, “Applejack, please wake up…”
“Hah…!” a loud gurgling gasp escaped from her as she soon found herself all alone once again in the burning sands, naked and afraid while bleeding out at once; while that she was relieved that it was over, it didn’t stop her from crying loudly anyway nor did the sandstorm subside. Applejack now rested onto her side as blood was being coughed out of the mouth to no end; additionally, she even watched the failing vision up in front slowly fade to a soft burning white. Before long, the tanned blonde watched a solitary figure approach her only slowly as she sighed.
Unlike all the others who had done her such harm earlier ago, this one stopped nearby her at once and said at once, “Applejack… can you hear me…? Applejack, please wake up…”
“Yes, Ah hear ya loud and clear…” Applejack wheezed as the roaring sands started to lose some speed all at once around a tad bit slowly, “but, Ah must ask: who are you…?”
“Just stay with us, alright; you’re safe now…” a solid whisper made its way to the tanned blonde’s ears all at once but she had barely heard any of these words in the process before her eyes were becoming closed tightly once again with little warning.
Author's Note
Ah, you've made to chapter fourteen of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature fanfic no less on the grounds that a previous chapter has dealt with heavy subject matters proven to be unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated; suffice to say, this was by far another 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 the new year and a new month 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; in addition, I would also like to apologize once more for not doing so in time as usual since this chapter here was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I had made: at the current rate, everything is starting to make sense soon enough.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can find some joy in this chapter now more than in the others before them enough to have the strength in continuing onward in staying tuned though the passing times before it because some special guests are going to be joining our fateful protagonist in this chapter below; henceforth, I will leave you with much to say significantly: thank you very much and I'm sorry once again for keeping you all waiting for the story to be updated.
Purple
“Oh, sweet mother of ––– WE’RE LOSING HER AGAIN!” a shout had quickly begun to explored the darkness, overtaking the incessant beeping that echoed about from all directions.
As soon as the noise subsided, another shout had took its place, “we’ve now gotten the defibrillator ready for use, ma’am; just say the word and we’ll be able to go on ahead at once…!”
“Alright then, make sure that you get a clear alignment with the patient’s heart before start up…!” the first noise shouted off again, making a return trip to the darkness within a moment’s haste, “I’m seeing that you’ve just set the charge at forty; are you ready…?”
“I am… CLEAR!” the second voice responded as upon some loud buzzing, a colorful figure had started to flash into being before being clouded up by the void within only a matter of seconds.
It wasn’t long before the blackness started to return as the first voice asked, “any luck so far…?”
“No, not at all: it seems the gal’s not responding to the charge as we speak…!” the second voice answered back without hesitant as the void solidified itself to its previous state, “I’m bringing up the charge to fifty–two; is that okay…?”
“Just make sure that the equipment is properly aligned again; otherwise, Redheart’s going to be having my ass in a sling for this…!” the first voice shouted off at once.
A whirr of electricity gears up within due time as the second voice stated loudly all at once, “ready… CLEAR!!”
“I just heard a pulse: her heart rate’s at around twenty–seven but she’s still not breathing…!” the first voice spoke again, the beeping now going steadier than it ever was earlier before, “damn it, now it’s falling to eighteen…!”
“I say that we give it another go while we still can, Snowheart; I’m now bringing the charge up to sixty–five at once…!” the second voice had declared at once within due time.
At this moment, two figures were now bursting on through the blackness, both of which clad in white; out of the very two, the one called Snowheart responded, “you still got a proper alignment with the girl’s heart, Blue Shield…?”
“I’ve said it before so I’ll say it again: yes Snowheart, I still got it; do I have your OK, ma’am?” the other figure, Blue Shield spoke back as another whirr peeped within the echoing void, “alright then; here we go: CLEAR!!!”
“Hah…!” a breath of fresh air had escaped into the open space as the blackness was now replaced with the abundance of cool colors painting the visibility with a heighten sharpness of resolution. Within a few scant moments, the white figures that were nearby now stood out in the foreground as the steadiest of beeping were arranged in a clear pattern to compliment the standard ambiance. All that was right behind them were some walls with a door nearby on the right side and the opposite possessing a singular windowpane with some curtains draped over the layered surface.
It was at this moment Snowheart and Blue Shield watched the world around them change in an instant but also noticed one factor staying the same, just migrating from underneath the covers to living underneath a brightened ceiling. Its identity being none other than a tanned blonde slowly emerging upon the gurney at once to find the two in front of her, panting and wheezing at once as a small device was now upon their possession to say the very least. The patient had already came to find that her whitish teal gown had been already torn off a bit, showing a jet black brassiere being worn above a diminutive cluster of some plum dots that rested near the umbilicus.
As the tanned blonde had started coming to terms with the environment that she was brought into, the nurse nearby sighed, “are you alright, Applejack…?”
“Huh… what just happened…?” the eponymous patient replied in confusion as she faced the two people in front of her all at once, “where am Ah; did Ah just die…?”
“No, not at all Applejack… you’re still in the hospital; we’d found out that your heart was slowing down so fast…” the doctor had answered, wiping the sweat off of his brow in an instant.
The tanned blonde slowly sat up a bit and noticed the machinery nearby her, prompting a weak whimper, “tell me, what time is it, you guys…?”
“It’s about a little over a half past ten o’clock, ma’am; lunch should be starting soon already…” Blue Shield said with a wheeze, “in any case, I’m just gonna go on over and tell Doctor Monitor about the whole thing…”
“I’ll follow you; after what I had just seen, at least Redheart’s will go easy on me for all of this…” Snowheart replied as they began to leave the room at once for Applejack to watch them be.
Afterwards, the tanned blonde stared at her abdomen where the gown she had worn had been split in two, its sight leaving the viewer unsettled and weary suffice to say. Out the parts of her dark skin, the spots rested upon there; unlike the freckles that had dressed the cheeks with brightness, they were but a dark purple with shades in a conflict. Applejack started to fasten the garment back together in an attempt to advert the unsavory gaze she was giving off from such a simplistic act thereof.
The tanned blonde looked around to find that this air of loneliness from all directions, encroaching her in the same form and fashion that the darkness had done about not too long ago; as such, she began to speak, “they’re still here; Ah can’t seem to understand why they just won’t go away. Every time that Ah look at them, it reminds me of the whole nine yards that Ah been put through ever since that day. Ah would like to forget about the whole mess already and get on with mah life somehow but it seems that Ah can’t. Oh, what in the world can Ah do about all this…?”
“Excuse me, sir… is this really Applejack‘s room already…?” a faint voice was heard that made her now standing on endwise, “alright then, I can do this; no use backing out from visiting her…”
“Hmm… who could it be now, visiting me at this hour…?” Applejack muttered to herself at once as she faced the door on the right within seconds on the clock.
The tanned blonde quickly focused her jade eyes on the doorknob as it had turned onto its side, the cause of such a rather simplistic change finally entering the room that she was currently in: there arrived a pair of females both alike in fair dignity within first sight. They both had currently possessed only two significant traits that Applejack became aware of already: a set of long hair upon their heads and some purple around their pupils. Of course, the women had possessed vast amount of differences that the tanned blonde quickly noticed in due time; this basically left the observer wide eyed in surprise.
Speaking of the two though, they were the ones who were in a fashion more loud and lively than the doctor and the nurse from earlier had possessed. For starters, one of them was tall and had a bright skin complexion whereas the other was shorter than the former and had darker skin than Applejack herself. Secondly, the taller visitor had a golden tiara with a diamond shaped amethyst that gave way to her multicolored tresses of purple, pink, aqua, and green; the shorter visitor had some locks of purple haze save for a streak of pink. Third of all, the light skinned female wore a long flowing snow white shirtdress with a style that had gave way to the sight of her matching gold necklace; the darker skinned had a light red blouse with an orange neckerchief circling around the neckline. Lastly, the shorter visitor donned a lavender plaid skirt around the waistline that stretched down to her shins, giving some attention to a pair of pink sling backs worn on the feet, attire that was shrouded in ambiguity when it was concerning the taller counterpart.
Anyways, out of the two who were now inside of the tanned blonde’s room, the faint voice that was here came from the darker skinned female who spoke, “are you alright, Applejack…?”
“Twilight… Princess; Ah can’t believe that it’s really you two…” the eponymous patient squeaked weakly as the former visitor started to approach her, “what are y’all doing here…?”
“We came here to see you; I can’t believe that you are still alive…!” Twilight answered Applejack at once, hugging one another within seconds without a care in the whole wide world around the three.
Although that the tanned blonde smiled from the embrace, she said to the dark haired visitor, “uhh… Twilight, as much as Ah appreciate it, would you kindly please let go of me now…?”
“Oh, Applejack… what had happened to you; how did you even survive all of this madness…?” Twilight sniffled as she stared into the jade eyes with but only a tender smile upon the visage, “after what we had gone through in this war, I don’t even want to begin to scratch the surface…!”
“Who said that Ah did…?” Applejack sighed sadly as she started to look away at once.
The bright skinned visitor slowly trudged towards the two and began to speak within earshot, “Applejack… I must give out my deepest apologies for what had happened to you and your family over; I’d absolutely no intention of letting this culminate to a full out assault. It has seemed that I was the most unaware of the troubles that were plaguing the military and the prime minister; thankfully, the mayor had been able to rally the townspeople together to hold on long enough to end the onslaught. Sadly, it was too late to save my niece from the horrors of the war.”
“Ohh… Ah am sorry to hear about the whole tragedy, Your Majesty…” the tanned blonde had said to the princess sadly all at once, “Ah wish something should’ve been to stop any of this…”
“Please, call me Celestia my dearest subject…” the eponymous speaker had softly sighed in due time.
Applejack wiped her own eyes away before facing the princess dead on in the face and chucked, “fair enough, Celestia; still, Ah can’t even believe that everything this family has worked for is gone forever but that’s not the worst of it: Apple Bloom had to watch all of this happen before her eyes. Whenever, Ah think about mah sister, Ah always think of the things that had happened to her: Granny Smith dying, being forced to drink all of the crap that can be found underneath a sink, and worst of all, having to find her own flesh and blood trying to wring the life outta her at once. Even the palm of mah own hands can tell me the stories of the lives that could have been saved, people that had been killed, people that could have been killed; Ah mean consarned it, even Ah came close to dying a few times in the past. Once upon a time, losing the farm by whatever means was a nightmare that Ah along with mah kin wake up from every while; now, Ah find mahself crying a river every now and then moments after when Ah woke up from sleeping. What’s more is that Ah now have another burden to carry: Ah had just gave birth to a blind baby earlier ago and Ah know why that is; the doctors said that the infection Ah had gotten from that day was passed onto him over time. Ah don’t mind having Fluttershy willing to take care and raise him as one of her own but Ah can’t ever even want to talk about what had gone over ever since then; so much for being a strong proud farmer like mahself.”
“Oh my… I am so, so sorry to hear all of this happening to you, Applejack…” the shorter visitor had gasped as she found a tear appearing out the corner of the tanned blonde’s eye, “if I had know about what you were going through sooner, then the least I could’ve done was help you through.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Twilight: after what happened in that house fire, even Ah thought that you were dead too; but still, there was nothing that you could’ve done to prevent it all…” Applejack said to Twilight within due time no less.
At this moment, Celestia placed both of her hands onto the golden necklace gently and said, “true but I guess there’s something else that should also be said about the whole thing anyway: contrary to what you and everyone believes, I’m not as invincible as I was claimed long ago…”
“Now, that is just plumb crazy talk here; you’re Princess Celestia for goodness sakes…!” snapped the tanned blonde in shock, “how in the world are ya gonna tell me that you ain’t invincible?!”
“Perhaps, that this should answer your question…” the princess said before taking off the necklace slowly; suddenly, Applejack widened her eyes instantly from what was behind the item: donned upon the wearer’s neck was but a thin scar found on the right side in the shape of a cross.
The tanned blonde choked out slowly to the taller female at once, “what is that scar on your neck; what happened to ya…?”
“You could call this one a recent reminder of my newest failure, my dearest Applejack…” Celestia answered with a somber gaze pointing to the scar upon the neckline, “a few months ago, the royal ceremony had been the target of a mad bomber, a domestic terrorist by the name of Mercury Promenade. Our guards were unable to stop the intruder from killing the bride-to-be let alone, ingesting a caustic chemical capsule to escape capture. I was able to escape from the chaos but the carriage had been destroyed in the process; that was when I had been shot as soon as I got out. One of my most trusted soldiers had been able to keep news of my unfortunate encounter a secret from the public to avoid escalating the panic beyond control along with Twilight’s location. Nonetheless, it didn’t change the fact that I had lost someone so close to me and my prized pupil too on that same day; I remember the day when they had buried her: a cold rainy afternoon and a small crowd no less. This basically shows me who I am and what the others were; it was that constant thought which refuses to leave my mind…”
“Whoa… Ah never thought of it this way Celestia; Ah am actually surprised that it could feasibly happened…” Applejack whistled softly as the princess returned the necklace back to the original spot.
The taller visitor gulped and said, “I wouldn’t blame you for thinking about it this way: once upon a time, our kind were once capable living long enough all the way to see a century or two pass us by; even so, I refuse to consider myself an exception whenever I think of the times where people have lost loved ones of their own. Still, despite all of that, there are still some individuals who will always keep those near and dear alive in our hearts; I know that you have some that would never stop loving you: your Granny’s passing was something that shouldn’t have happened this way, but not even I’d forget her nor all the others while going on with our lives. Besides, the dead would not allow this tragedy to impede us to the point of stagnation; instead, they would have wanted us to live a long happy life to do the right things and make people feel closer to one another: that’s something that your family would’ve wanted for you and the others.”
“Perhaps, you’re right; to be honest, Ah was never used to the idea that Ah would kill someone for any reason…” the tanned blonde said as she looked at the covers over, “there was always the sheer thought that Sweet Apple Acres would be the home that Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Ah could come back to after a long day; but, now that it’s gone, Ah don’t even know where…”
“Don’t worry about it Applejack, you can stay at my old home in the city for the time being; what matters is that your alive and I don’t want to lose you or any of my friends, not even Rarity,” the shorter visitor replied as she had quickly placed a hand near Applejack’s side.
The tanned blonde focus intently upon that wayward hand sighed softly, “thanks Twilight; Ah would rather not know what would become of me if it weren’t for people like yourself and Celestia here…”
“Just remember that you are not alone here: no matter what happens, there will always be people who still love you and help you throughout your life…” Celestia said as she watched Applejack grip onto Twilight’s hand slowly, “besides, there is still a land that needs a tender hand to be guided out of the turmoil and into peace.”
“Yeah… it’s time that we give peace another chance; speaking of which, maybe Ah ought to write a letter to Apple Bloom as a way of saying ‘hello’ again once Ah get outta of this place…” the tanned blonde had slowly replied with a faint smile appearing upon her own visage at once.
The princess smiled back before heading near the door already and said to Applejack just calmly, “be sure to take it easy from now on, my faithful subject…”
“Ah will try, not just for you ma’am but for Apple Bloom as well…” the tanned blonde spoke steadily at once, “it’s the least that should be done around…”
“And that’s all that should matter for the time being…” the tall visitor said before leaving the room already; at this point, the shorter female was moments away from following the same path.
Twilight began to wave a hand within Applejack’s sight and spoke, “please get well soon, Applejack…”
“That Ah will; goodbye guys…” the tanned blonde replied to the dark haired individual with a wave and a smile, “wow, what a day and it has already started; yet, there’s nothing to do around here…”
Applejack then yawned slowly and began to descend into the comforts of her own gurney, snuggling up in the comforter above with a faint smile upon her face. The bright beams of light that had pierced through the blinds earlier were ignored by the tanned blonde without even a care in the world suffice to say the very least. Suddenly, she had soon started to snore soundly in her sleep, silently staying solitary in the same spot from so long ago within only just mere seconds no less.
Author's Note
Hello there and welcome back once more to yet another new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy, the one story out of many from my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots I have given you since the inception of my very presence; suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all which had given a taste of what had came earlier on and yet I have a small confession to make: this chapter is the penultimate installment of this saga for after this will be the very end of it all.
Aside from disclaimers long ago, I want to take the time to say thank you as always for never pulling out too early since we're now already in the the new year and a new month with a new hope to have and holding onto 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; in addition, I would also like to apologize for not doing so in time as usual since this chapter here was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I had made but I'll say this: it has been a pleasure writing this story, let alone the chapter and for good reason.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can find some joy in this chapter now more than in the others before it enough to have the strength in finishing the whole thing at once because another special guest is going to be joining our fateful protagonist in it below; henceforth, I will leave you with much to say significantly: thank you all very much and I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting.
Analepsis
There was now an absolute absence of light in the almost colorless environment; of course, that didn’t mean that it was lonely or without some semblance of substance or sound whatsoever. Even so, there was almost no way that it was either a solid vision of terrain or even of earthly ground to say the very least; not helping matters was a gentle breeze whispering taboo noises. Most importantly of all, there was also a possibility that whatever being resided in there wasn’t as scary as it could’ve been easily perceived all so long ago; besides, looks can still be deceiving.
“Ah should’ve died a long time ago…” a soft and pained cry had echoed within the darkness originating from a tall dark skinned blonde. Dressed upon her tearstained face were a cluster of freckles and a set of bruises intermingling together across where her own jade orbs had resided. Upon the tanned blonde’s left arm was a wet and lanky scar where blood oozed out at once and started to leave behind a trail that diffused onto the watery surface. She was donned a simplistic lightly shade gown stained with her own blood as well, the fabric becoming both wet and dry at the same time. The tanned blonde was barefoot, her heels quickly sensing the unfamiliar terrain that she was already in with little care whatsoever while lying upon the back.
She remained silent for so long while remaining in the same position without any signs of resistance; then, it had started, coming slowly at first before restarting: the pained sobs became loud as it filled the dead air around. The tanned blonde soon quickly buried her face with the right hand, a rather sensible attempt to wipe away the overflowing tears that were now pouring out from the corner of the owner’s eyes already. She then closed her own eyes away from the encroaching darkness around her and reopened them back up at once to find that it was still lurking about from all directions and angles.
The tanned blonde wept as her tears besieged the skin before becoming absorbed by the surface beneath in due time; at this moment in time, a voice unlike hers started to speak slowly, “Applejack…”
“Who is it; who’s there…?” the eponymous listener replied with careless whispering which brew only absolute trepidation, “who are you; have ya come to put me out of mah misery already…?”
“Nay, not at all; as a matter of fact, I hath come to ease thy sorrow instead, dear child…” the mysterious voice slowly answered with a little more tenderness; of course, its identity started to remove such aspects within seconds as a female figure emerged from the liquid. Unlike the tanned blonde, the woman’s skin that was about fifty shades darker but with enough color to avoid matching what was around the two. Glimmering in the distance was a pair of cyan irises glowing about alongside with the rest of the owner’s own two eyes, illuminating the area where Applejack was lying about upon the dirtied and stagnant water. The elongated hair that was flowing into the soft wind was sparkling about, giving off a bluish tint in both the lightest and darkest hues in such texture as the woman was dressed with a small obsidian tiara matching the wide white crescent necklace. A long shimmering dark pink dress was draped over the slender figure with a hemline that barely touched the owner’s shins as a pair of glass slippers were within the tanned blonde’s sight all at once.
Applejack attempted to sit upward and watched the woman hovering near the former’s place in the water while stuttering, “P–P–Princess Luna… is that you…?”
“Yea, ‘tis I, dear Applejack… the one and only hath appeared before thine eyes…” the visitor answered calmly as a faint smile appeared in the visage already, “do not be alarmed, dear child; what thou hath just witnessed was a part of thy dreams that thou makest in such a slumber…”
“Your Majesty, Ah am honored that you had arrived…” the tanned blonde said as blood leaked out into the water, a stark contrast to the princess whose attire had remained clean and serene.
Luna looked upon Applejack and asked calmly, “I hath sensed that thou art troubled: what is it that drivest thee to experience such a vexation…?”
“It’s everything and nothing, Princess…” the tanned blonde answered the visitor at once, “the nightmares are the least of mah worries and Ah could see why: they’re a reflection of mah past troubles from the time the war came to our home. Ever since then, Ah had thought about how alone Ah was with Granny Smith dead and all; it got me thinking about all the horrible things that could’ve happened to Apple Bloom and how Ah could’ve prevented them instead of trying to kill her. What Ah had nearly done to her was selfish and stupid so Ah couldn’t even find the strength to truly look her in the eye and say that Ah am sorry; you could say that this is mah biggest crime that Ah have committed. Anytime Ah end up going to sleep at all, the sights and sounds of mah sister’s cries playing over and over nonstop; even so, Ah can’t even get the memories of the whole ordeal outta mah head. For what it was worth, as soon as Ah saw her again, it reminded me of what this war had turned me into: an angry brutal maniac ready to kill for mah family, the opposite of something that she would’ve been into if Ah hadn’t survive all this. Even though that Apple Bloom has already forgiven me for what Ah had almost done to her, Ah can’t even find the strength to just forgive myself for trying to go through with it at all; after all, Ah swore to kill anyone who caused her such harm.”
“I already understand what thou art enduring: I hast been watching thou ever since the conflict reached an end along with many others likest thyself; suffice it to sayest, thy art not lonely as believed…” Luna said while hovering over to Applejack’s side slowly.
The tanned blonde turned to find the princess onto the left side wearing a sad gaze and replied, “what do you mean by that, Your Majesty…?”
“First off, thou needst not to refer to me as such, dear maiden…” Luna started to speak at once, “there art many subjects such as thyself being forced to experience the aftereffects what hast been unleashed long ago; thine homestead along with the memories madest in the comforts of our homes art proof of such. While ye had been alone, there were few who hast strangers talketh them into death and ridicule them for their willingness to end the predicament permanently; the wounds that they hast giveth thou art reminiscent of mine own upon the right eye from long ago.”
“What do you mean by your right eye, Luna; how can it be having a scar…?” Applejack asked in confusion.
Steadily, the princess began to kneel near the tanned blonde’s bleeding arm and continued to answer, “all beings such as ourselves for example have the ability to conjure up what goeth on in nightmares and daydreams, be if for good or for ill; therefore, it’s wherefore I can let the healing care taketh place much faster than normal through memorization. Although, ‘tis due to the fact that mine power is to only observe the host minds, such as thine, conjuring up their thoughts in a phantasm during their collective nocturnal slumber; nevertheless, unlike the dreamlands, mine eye has fallen victim to a foul villain’s blade no less.”
“Yeah, Ah can see that what you’re trying to say is that mah body is actually okay in the real world; after all, Ah am aware of it but there’s that bothers me: how did it come down to this…?” Applejack said, the weary eyes now wincing at once, “aren’t you supposed to be invulnerable like Princess Celestia here…?”
“Perhaps, thou hast nearly forgotten what mine sister hast spoken of since her visit: while that I’ve lived long enough to survive mine banishment thanks to the astral environment, it has nonetheless reminded me of mistakes from days of yore that hast leadeth to mine abannation…” Luna slowly gasped while holding a right hand over her respective eye.
A slow sigh escapes from the tanned blonde’s lips as she said to the princess with a faint frown, “compared to you, Ah am surprised that Ah haven’t been put to death for what had been done; then again, after all that has happened to me in the passing months, why should Ah even be surprised? Ah can see it now: Apple Bloom would keep being reminded of how we lost the farm and everything else as well in that war; last time Ah had checked, they were going to turn what was left of it into a cemetery.”
“Ah yes… I hast heard of the tragic fate that hath befallen upon Sweet Apple Acres and thy dear kinsfolk much too recently; even the survivors hast starting to grow distrusted of the new state of affairs…” Luna commented as she then placed the same hand on over to Applejack’s bruised eye gently at once, “we art after all indeed showing obvious signs of such vexation with past transgressions such as this…”
“Ah can agree with that but still it has left me worried about what will become of her future as well as his too…” the tanned blonde groaned with a sniffle.
The princess still found sadness in the other naked eye and asked, “art thou referring to the latter whom was born in the vestry?”
“Ah am afraid so: the doctors have said that because of the infection, Ah had died giving birth to him in the process; in addition, they all found out that it has spread to mah womb and left the baby all blind and such…” Applejack answered Luna within earshot, a streak of blood now pouring from underneath the latter’s hand, “Ah think that this is mah punishment for what Ah had tried to do to Apple Bloom in the past: Ah kept thinking about trying to save her from these monsters and found her eyes all closed up from the trauma that she had endured while Ah was out of the way; it had reminded me so much of what Ah gone through, it was as if the whole world had gone black. Last thing Ah remembered, mah hands were tightly around her neck and we were both crying, me having been around such trouble and her being confused and scared of what was happening; soon, Ah saw something in her eyes when Ah looked: a happy memory from her days of as a yearling when she smiled for the first time. Ah ought to have felt so ashamed of what had happened and broken down in front of Apple Bloom so Ah released mah grip and started to hug her instead; ever since then, Ah think how these hands of mine that planted seeds and picked apples became the hands that took and ruined such lives. Ah had never thought that Ah would allow them to go off and do such a terrible thing to a poor defenseless girl one day, especially mah own sister no less; Ah bet that Granny would have disowned me for doing it, not that it would make much of a difference anymore now that she’s gone too.”
“Contrary to what thou may thinkest, it would hath mattered more greatly than on the surface: mine rebellion against dearest sister was even the most heinous transgression: it would hath leadeth the land into unforeseen consequences had I not see the errors of mine ways…” the princess stated a bit loudly as the cyan eyes radiated with snow white as the blood ceased to leak from the tanned blonde’s eye.
Applejack felt her eyelids widen in shock as they then looked into Luna’s visage, watched the blackness of the deep dark void around them both became replaced with the illuminating whiteness instead. Within only seconds, the two found the blank slate of the scenery burst to life with color: midnight blue skies painted with stars, green grassy knolls and hills have eyes alive through the sound of music, flora wilting and succumbing to the cold frost all around, fauna snarling and whimpering with running speed, and the screaming coughs of fear and pain fill the air. Suffice it to say, the tanned blonde also happened to gasp at what was being shown up in front while the princess looked on with a somber look upon the gaze.
The sounds were resonating about as Applejack shut her eyes and ears away from the whole moving pictures while crying out, “WHAT IN TARNATION IS GOING ON HERE, LUNA?!”
“Tis a possible universe out of many others showing what would have happened hath I succeeded against Celestia…” Luna had quickly but calmly answered the observer, placing a left hand around a nearby shoulder gently, “mine cravings for attention from the populace would nearly cometh close towards the total destruction of all beings.”
“AH HAVE ALREADY SEEN THIS WITH MAH OWN EYES, LUNA; PLEASE TAKE ME OUT OF THERE!!!” the tanned blonde had screamed quickly at once while shaking her head furiously before the environment around them dissolved back into the white; the princess let go of the shoulder slowly at once.
Applejack shed some tears as she slowly opened her eyes back up to find Luna wiping some away who said, “forgive me if this possibility exacerbated thy distress; the purpose of the ordeal was a way of reminding myself of how fortunate we are that such can be forgiven.”
“You oughta suggest that Ah should forgive the monsters that took everything away from us?!” the tanned blonde suddenly snapped at the princess with little warning in sight whatsoever, “perhaps, Ah oughta ask Zecora to bring Granny Smith and Big Mac back from the dead as well.”
“Actually, what we mean is that thou should be able to findeth the strength within to forgive thyself and move on…” Luna replied as she started to hold both of Applejack’s hands within their grip.
A flood of tears escaping from the corner of the tanned blonde’s eyes started to slow down, something that made the princess concentrate as the former asked, “how do Ah even do that; Ah have done so much wrong and for what, to go after a sister whom Ah end up nearly killing?”
“It all depends on what thou must resolve to perform in the now that matters: thy sister’s optimism shows that she hasn’t given up on thee in spite of the horrors that we hath endureth…” Luna answered Applejack with a small smile forming across the visage, “the best course of action is to survive and move on away from the wretched past; after all, 'tis best to remember that there are those that still loveth thee more than thou is leadeth to be alongside others, dear Applejack.”
“What do you mean by that…?” the tanned blonde sniffled as she returned back to a somber tone.
The princess turned to her side and guided attention to what was once a pale white void, “come, let me show thou what we mean…”
Applejack still held onto Luna’s hand and watched the scenery bursting with life once more, this time with a more benign change of pace than before. Instead of wild flora and fauna succumbing to the ills of before, there were now a small group of people circling around as the sounds of crying were resonating from where they stood. The entire background became solid with a ligneous texture, drenched in differing shades of brown and green as the curvilinear work were automatically inscribed. Out of the two females whom were nearby the sights and sounds provided by them, only the tanned blonde noticed how translucent their bodies were, compared to the other up in front.
“Where are we, Luna; please tell me so, what is this place…?” Applejack asked at once after surveying the new environment around them both, “as a matter of fact, who are these people…?”
“Sweet Apple Acres, dear child, before its destruction and after your arrival; your relatives were there expressing their elation of such parturition…” Luna answered as a hand pointed towards the circle of people within the distance.
As this moment in time, their ears perked up to the sounds of intensifying cries before subsiding into a tender babble as a nearby voice cooed, “oh mah dear sweet grandchild, you gonna be a giant soon, just like your brother…”
“Ah remember that voice now: it’s Granny Smith and that must be Big Macintosh nearby her side and mah parents too…!” the tanned blonde exclaimed as she found a small infant being gently raised up by a pair of hands, “how could Ah have forgotten mah own birth so easily…?”
“So few people can remember what their infancy was like throughout their course of existence overall…” the princess sighed sadly as she focused onto the party of five in front of her.
The two females watched as the small child giggled happily in the grasp of the matriarch who said at once, “Ah see a promising life ahead of you, little bushel: in a few years from now, you will be able to help bring the Apple Clan into greater prosperity alongside with the town as well.”
“Yeah, Ah could have been a lot of things if it weren’t for the war and all…” Applejack sniffed as she noticed the resemblance being shared along with the happy infant in record time before looking away from the others, including Luna as well, “oh, who am Ah kidding? Ah should have been stronger enough to protect Apple Bloom like Ah had promised them, let alone faster enough to save her from these monsters.”
“Please understand Applejack, there was little that thou could have done to prevent any of this, let alone mitigate the impairments that had ensued from the grave conflict overall…” the princess responded to the tanned blonde while placing a hand onto the latter’s chin at once.
Applejack struggled to face Luna once again while asking calmly, “then what must Ah do about it for the now, forget about the war and mah promise altogether…?”
“Nay, mine child: thou would prefer to find the means to remember who you are and what you wish to do in the now…” the princess answered the tanned blonde before the scenery around them started to fizzle out at once, “even so, one must remember to use the benign memories from the past as a measure to look towards the future and move onward; so then, pray tell: who art thou and what does thou wish to do for thyself…?”
“Ah… Ah… am… Applejack and Ah… Ah… want to… help Apple Bloom…” the eponymous speaker stuttered in the process as she found herself in the white void once again, this time alone.
Applejack looked around to find that Luna was nowhere in sight for the former to converse with; however, the latter started to speak once again, “just be sure not to let the transgressions of thy fellow peers leadeth astray of what is truly important in the present; after all, thou hast the lovingkindness of friends and family to help thee be shown the right of way.”
“Ah do what Ah can Luna… for Apple Bloom and for the others as well…” the tanned blonde responded to the princess’ voice in due time no less, “Ah will try to remember that from now on…”
“And that’s all that’s important at this time… fare thee well, dear Applejack… fare thee well…” Luna echoed before dissipating at once; needless to say, Applejack took a deep breath before slowly giving off a faint grin.
Author's Note
Hello there and welcome back once more to yet another new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy, the one story out of many of my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots I have given you since the inception of my presence; suffice to say, the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all which had given a taste of what had came earlier on but I am happy to tell you that this will be the final one.
As such, I want to take the time to say thank you for never pulling out too early since we're now in the the new year and a new month 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; in addition, I would also like to apologize for not doing so in time as usual since this chapter here was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I had made yet after all this madness we had made it through.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can find some joy in this chapter now more than in the others before them enough to have the strength in finding some happiness because some special guests are going to be joining our fateful protagonist in the final chapter below; henceforth, I will leave you all with much to say significantly: thank you very much for sticking around to the very end, I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting for it to happen, and more importantly, farewell.
Magenta
There was now a beam of light in its own shining glory dancing in the dark as the place of origin started to emerging within the scenery at once. Its polar opposite soon started to fade out of presence slowly but surely as the orchestra started off with a cadence of crowing followed by twittering tempo with an occasional percussion of buzzing in the distance. The surface amongst the very beings had started to burst with life in color as the artful imitations of itself had become illuminated within its very entirety, sparkling and shimmering from every single microbe possible while casting off an adjacent shadow of its former shelves right behind them in their wake. The crisp cool air on the great string of life and liberty quickly came in the form of such rampant gentle breezes, each of which were possessing an acute aroma that many would cherish for days on end as a distant stardust memory from a link to the past when everything used to be so simple to comprehend.
Of course, not much could be said for the room where a tanned blonde laid fast asleep upon a gurney, the true blue comforter overlaying the teal gown as there was machinery standing nearby. The sterile environment was devoid of many bright colors that could have spoken loudly and proudly like many people would, had they been granted sentience like other innate beings. Without a doubt, it wasn’t lifeless at first glance because of the inner surrounding where the sleeping occupant had remained already, let alone all by its lonesome suffice it to say.
Speaking of which, the tanned blonde wasn’t the only one who had resided in the very area in question; after all, the individual in question seemed to have shared some traits with the former but had some differences. For starters, the secondary figure in attendance was a tall female of a similar build standing nearby a windowpane with a hand on a thin white stick as it turned in sync with the slowly opening blinds. The woman was currently dressed in a sterile garb of whiteness all throughout the body from head to toe: a small hat, a long sleeved blouse, some latex gloves, a flowing skirt, and some thick slippers. With only but a simple straight face upon the visage, the wearer’s identity was easy enough alone to tell from such key details: some teal locks, a pair of magenta irises, and a brightly clear complexion. Quickly found to be snugly tight right underneath the woman’s left shoulder was but a single rectangular tray where it had found its very way onto one of her own two hands all in due time no less. On the opposite side of her body was a flat clipboard where a white sheet of paper became completely stuck to the ligneous material by the metal as it was being held up in the grip of the adjacent hand.
As the thin beams of light made their way through the looking glass, parts of the flooring nearby the solitary gurney were now basking in the aftereffects of the arrogant afterglow all at once.
“Hng… hah… ahh…” a series of groans eked out the beginning of a sudden encounter that the two women would become entangled in within due time.
The woman in white looked to find that the soft struggles against the tender fabric came from the tanned blonde and started to come near the source of such sights and sounds slowly but surely; soon enough, the former spoke, “good morning, Applejack… oh my, what such lovely weather we’re having today; speaking of which, now that you must have slept well, I got to ask: how are you…?”
“Mmnn… Ah am fain, ma’am, thanks fer asking; but, who exactly are you…?” the eponymous occupant steadily replied while rubbing her jade orbs free of some particles, “Ah haven’t seen ya at all around these parts of the area…”
“I’m Nurse Tenderheart, dear…” the woman in white answered quickly, introducing herself with but only a small smile in tow no less.
Placing some hands onto the deep dyed blue comforter, the tanned blonde sat up straight to sigh and said, “alright then, nurse… please, tell me something: what time is it…?”
“You just woke up in time for breakfast, Applejack…” Tenderheart said as she held up a tray with both of her hands at once, “I must warn you that today’s meal is going to be a bit hot now…”
“Okay then; Ah will do mah best to be careful with it ma’am…” Applejack had replied calmly as she then received it at once carefully. The tanned blonde opened the top to find steam pouring out from the rectangular item and exposing its contents to the naked eye: a cream of wheat, some scrambled eggs, a slice of toast, and some glutinous red prism. Already teetering on within the very edged pacific rim of the tray was a white plastic spoon squarely in the women’s line of eyesight, one of whom picking it up to scoop out some lukewarm and moist wheat for the sole purpose of consuming it right after taking in such inherent aroma at once.
Applejack swallowed them whole and heard the nurse ask the former already, “so how does it tastes; do you like the food…?”
“It’s fain, ma’am; not like mah Granny’s cooking, may she rest in peace, but it ain’t awful…” the tanned blonde answered before taking another scoop of food out of the tray within due time, “so what goes on…?”
“Well, Sweetheart had told me last night that you had gave birth to a boy some time ago and that she was able to get it to stop crying; are you okay…?” Tenderheart answered Applejack quickly.
The tanned blonde just finished off the patch of wheat at once and had said to the nurse quietly, “mm-hmm… in fact, Ah feel like Ah am getting better by the day, ma’am…”
“Good for you, Applejack… at least we’re making some progress here…” Tenderheart soon responded as she showed a clipboard with both of her very hands at once, “anywho, Doctor Monitor gave me the test results an hour ago and told me about the infection: they were able to make sure that it has been placed at a more stabilized level for you and your child; however, we’ll still be keeping you under observation until it’s cure with some routine penicillin as usual. In the meantime, I’ve also become aware of the fact that your child hasn’t been given a name at all since the time of your delivery, not that I’m saying that it’s usual though considering the circumstances surrounding it all; anyway, it’s best to avoid pressing this matter onward just for your sake alone. Considering what is happening already so far, I’m happy to tell you that your stay here is going to come at an end but don’t worry about too much, Applejack; this is actually a good thing so how do you feel about it right now?”
“Okay, Ah bet but not good about…” the listener whispered as she lowered her gaze towards the food along with the thin spoon as well.
The nurse noticed a tear seconds away from falling out the corner of the patient’s eye and said, “hey, what’s wrong ma’am; aren’t you happy that you’re going to be out of the hospital soon?”
“Maybe Ah should be, but somehow Ah can’t be at all…” Applejack slowly answered to Tenderheart while silently sniffling, shedding a tear in a mere instant, “what reason is there to be happy when everything ya had been taken away from ya…?”
“I guess that I should be leaving you be for now; on the other hand, just so you already know, the call button’s nearby in case you need anything else…” the bright skinned nurse calmly said to the tanned blonde patient while nearing towards the doorway.
Applejack looked to the right side to find a small device attached with a cord nearby and spoke, “Ah will keep that in mind, ma’am…”
“And that’s all that should be important at this time, dear…” Tenderheart responded before turning the knob at once and taking another glance away from the exit, “I hope you get well soon, Applejack…”
The tanned blonde turned to face the bright skinned woman once more with feeling and peeped, “Ah hope so too…”
At this moment on, Applejack then found herself to be already left alone as a soft slam soon sounded off across the room in due time, the same reminder of such concurrent loneliness. Steadily, the tanned blonde felt a tear pooling out from the corner of her eye and began to wipe it off completely with a singular finger only as she sniffled silently to little end within sight if at all. The only thing that kept her company was a fresh tray of food that Tenderheart had just delivered but its contents were of a limited quantity to say the very least, a short-lived facet to the former. There was also the one window where the nurse had opened the blinds earlier ago so that Applejack can see what awaits beyond the confines of her own current location at any given time.
The tanned blonde focused her attention onto the food within possession and continued to slowly devour what had remained in that rectangular item. First, there was the patch of wheat where she had gotten a taste of it so hastily and seized an opportunity to finish off what’s left of its remains. Unlike the preliminary observations, Applejack started to savor the texture of the soft food and began to clear the spot almost cleanly of its original spot.
“I bet that this must be Applejack’s room already; I wonder if she’s even awake right now…” said a faint voice from behind the door as the eponymous patient turned her attention towards it, “alright, Dash… you’ve made it this far; no use in backing out now…”
“Could it be…?” the tanned blonde slowly stuttered as she placed the fork back down onto the adjacent tray beneath just when the knob far away from her position had started to turn on its side.
The door had slowly opened to find that she was greeted by the sight of another figure approaching right away: another bright skinned female with magenta irises making an entrance. To start it off, the visitor possessed short hair just like Applejack, albeit with a color scheme that included the entire spectrum within each of the former’s tresses in the form of thin racing stripes. Secondly, the bright skinned individual was slim and tender, dressed in a cyan tracksuit with a symmetrical pattern of golden lightning bolts trailing downward from the clavicle to the legs. Third of all, the visitor had on some light brown sneakers with snow white shoelaces tied up in a proper sight, its ends failing to touch the floor she’d already found herself standing upon at once. Last but not least, the individual in question even had on a pair of red gloves worn on her hands, showing only all of her bared fingertips to be emerging from the textile suffice it to say the least.
With a smile now adorned upon the face, the visitor soon began to speak to the tanned blonde, “morning Applejack, I can’t believe that you’re still alive…!”
“Me neither, Rainbow; Ah am surprised to find that you are too…!” the eponymous patient greeted the now aforementioned individual with a smaller smile, “what brings you here anyway…?”
“Just hanging around and checking the place to see where you were, AJ…!” the visitor had quickly answered with a near wink in tow.
Sighing softly, Applejack watched Rainbow approached the former’s current location and said, “Ah can tell that ya leaving something else out of the conversation here, sugarcube; mind to tell me what Ah like to know?”
“Well, you got me as always: you weren’t the first person I had considered on visiting at the sick bay; there was another person besides you, Applejack…” the bright skinned individual replied as she scratched her hair slowly before stopping up in front of the tanned blonde, “you know about who Scoots was back then…”
“Yeah, Ah remember one of the little rascals; Ah can’t believe that they won’t be going on adventures anymore after what has happened with the war…” the patient told the visitor while rubbing a nearby shoulder.
Rainbow had soon slowly clenched her hand into a fist and snorted off, “don’t even get me started about it; already had enough problems with the whole fighting crap…”
“Rainbow… what’s this about that you ain’t telling me; did something happen to one of the girls…?” Applejack inquired, raising a singular eyebrow gently, “come on, answer me please…”
“Let’s just say that I rather not wish to talk about it too much, AJ…” the bright skinned woman said to the tanned blonde while looking away at once.
The patient sat aside her tray and began speaking to the visitor with more feelings escaping already, “look, Ah have reckoned to understand how this madness has changed us all for the worst and why it’s hard to even talk about it at all! The moment when the fighting had washed aside onto our doorstep, Ah had been around to watched what had changed and what was taken from us: lives, lands, friends, family; for land’s sakes, even Ah wanted to end mah own life because of it! Ever since that day, Ah had always been worried about what had been becoming of Apple Bloom when she was taken away from me and what would have happened to her at all had Ah not reached mah sister in time; besides, sometimes when Ah look at mah hands, Ah could hear her crying loudly for me to stop the pain Ah was causing! All Ah had hoped was that she could be able live on past that madness without ever worrying in fear about the damned attacks messing up her spirits and her memories again! You don’t have to hide the pain and stress away because of all that… besides, the doctors said at this rate, Ah would get out of the hospital soon enough already.”
“WHAT WOULD YOU’VE KNOWN ABOUT MY PAIN?!” Rainbow suddenly exclaimed as she felt hot water escaping from her eyes at once, “I never cared about the pain that I was in, but I cared about her instead; up until that day, I barely stopped to consider for a single day how lucky I was to have someone looking up to me. Ever since I was young, I made a promise to myself to not shed a single tear so as to deny the bullies I had the satisfaction of my torment; so much for that, mind you. I cared less about what they were doing to me when they had gotten ahold of me but what they did Scootaloo was something that will never get outta my head for the rest of my life…! The blood pouring out of the body shook me to the core and I had felt that unless she gets some help soon, she would not have lived any much longer; I was lucky to have made it that far but it didn’t change the fact that I failed to protect her. This ordeal gave me nightmares of waking up one morning after to find a girl like Scootaloo dead in the media all thanks to my failure. They said that the odds of getting her hearing back to normal are virtually impossible now even with the most expensive restoration therapy sessions; I bet that she doesn’t even want to see me ever again. Despite the fact that she is alive, I’ve always found myself coming and going to the hospital but never found the strength to even go past Scootaloo’s door every time I ask of her; now, I– I––”
“How can you say such things, Rainbow…?” Applejack whimpered as she quickly watched a few tears fall onto the floor beneath the two of them.
The light skinned woman stomped the tiles and wiped away the stream as she answered the tanned blonde, “I’m sorry, it’s just that what happened made me ask what the fuck was I thinking back then: I was able to overcome every obstacle that had been thrown at me; even so, even she thought that I was unstoppable. This incident nearly left us dead, changed who we were and how we viewed the world, gave me nightmares, made me think that the Princess was too powerless to prevent it from happening. I just don’t know what I am supposed to think about the plan right now: on the one hand, maybe it could perhaps help provide some form of comfort for the girl; then again, she might even start hating on me for nearly causing her death the moment I set foot in there. Please tell me the truth, Applejack: what should I do?”
“Rainbow… mah Granny, may she rest in peace, once said to me that doing the right thing is never easy all the time…” the patient spoken up to the visitor all at once, “but it doesn’t mean that we should quit at any time no matter how far we have gone or how close to doing wrong: you did what you could to save the young’un and if her being alive means that much to you, then I don’t see any reason for Scootaloo to even be mad at you already; besides, Ah will bet that she has already forgiven you, sugarcube…”
“Do you think so, AJ…?” Rainbow peeped as Applejack started to crack a faint smile at once.
The tanned blonde gasped at the bright skinned woman and answered, “Ah believe so; Ah think you have made yerself a great role model for that rascal to not give up on, Rainbow…”
“Spoken like a true friend to the end, AJ; I just wish it didn’t have to come down to all this…” the visitor replied as she rested her hands near the patient’s side already, “so what are you going to do now?”
“Easy, sugarcube… Ah am going to write Apple Bloom a letter after finishing some breakfast…” Applejack answered Rainbow within only seconds while placing a hand on over to the fork.
As the tanned blonde resumed eating, the bright skinned female started to chirp, “I betcha lil sis misses you a lot, am I right?”
“Eeyup and all that’s going to change soon enough, sugarcube…” the patient happily replied, nodding on and off in the process as she started to scarf down a small serving of some scrambled eggs, “besides, Ah had her worried long enough to put off a response; at least, it would be nice to have some help in writing it down alongside me now, wouldn’t ya agree…?”
“Aww yeah; this would be just like old times, eh… J…?” the visitor exclaimed at once with a wide grin appearing upon the visage.
Applejack did nothing but gave off a slight frown upon hearing Rainbow out and spoke back, “let’s just focus on the letter, okay sugarcube…”
“Alright, whatever floats your boat, I’m not gonna rock it; anyway, we’re gonna need a pen and paper…” the bright skinned female wheezed on, “do you know who even might have some at this time…?”
“Sweetheart might even have them on the west wing where the nursery is; why don’t you go on over there and ask her for the supplies, Rainbow…?” the tanned blonde calmly suggested within due time.
Taking in a deep breath, the visitor soon focused the magenta orbs back onto the patient’s jade and replied at once, “well, I don’t see any reason why not; okay, Applejack, I’ll go get you some if it’ll make you feel better. I’ll be right back as soon as I get them; they don’t call me Rainbow Dash for nothing, you’ll see…!”
“Why wouldn’t they…?” the eponymous listener chuckled, “now go on and show them how…”
“That’s what friends are for, Applejack…” Rainbow said before leaving Applejack all alone within ten seconds flat; after the door slammed shut, the latter started to reside back onto the gurney without any solitary form of hesitation whatsoever.
The tanned blonde rested her weary head over the pillow and stared at the ceiling above with a faint smile while whispering, “you go get ‘em, sugarcube…”
Author's Note
Ah yes, I've been expected y'all readers to find yet another new chapter of Ocular Spectral Therapy, the one story out of many of my craft to go above and beyond the oneshots since the inception of my presence read at once; suffice to say, some of the past chapters from before were by far a strong note for you all which had given a taste of what had came earlier on as well as what will come later onward.
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 the new year and a new month 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; in addition, I would also like to apologize for not doing so in time as usual since this chapter here was hard enough to write down given the whole turn of events I had made: I believe at this rate, everything will still make sense soon enough as we all float onward.
Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can find some strength in reading this chapter now more than in the others before them enough and to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times before it because this serve as the reason why it is the hardest; henceforth, I will leave you with much to say simply: once again, I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting.
Dacryocystitis
At the very point onward, darkness had already settled itself in while surrounding every single thing and being whatsoever dwelling inside the pitch blackness of such the deepest of shades altogether belonging to befit an abyss that no one would ever find the bottom of to say the least. Within it all were but both nothingness and obscurity in their entirety remaining static and dynamic interchangeably and respectively as if they were doing a dance that not keen observer whosoever if at all would be able to even see to begin with even the most special equipment. Already a shattered dimension so out of this world, even the most basic of concepts such as shadow, substance, sight, sound, and mind were all camouflaged so deeply inside the very scenery at hand they were as if none of them were perhaps real to the naked eye in any form.
Then, all of the sudden, every inch of it all had disappeared in an instant; in place were many things that had now taken up residence so quickly: it was as if the very light had come on and shown the way. The cool breeze floating above the ground gave way to a sight that one could have never seen before: the big blue sky was as clear as crystal with only the golden sun itself residing in there all lonesome. There were also birds flying in the sky, coming in all sorts of functions and fashions whatsoever: colors, shapes, sizes, speech, and species united and divided in the same atmosphere altogether no less. A clutter of leaves were also dancing in the winds without a care in the whole wide world they were dwelling in, all of them practically devoid of the brilliant green that had matching the grass of origin. Joining them all were a few insects of some sorts: butterflies and bumblebees bursting throughout with their own sense of direction as they flew alongside one another within the vicinity at the very moment. Even so, the rays of sunlight were beaming down upon the lands from all possible angles whatsoever, providing both heat and light to all those inhabitants residing below it suffice to say nonetheless.
Of course, the very scenery was turned away by the sight of clothing being worn on the owner’s body, possessing a color cooled down to the rightest shade much closest to the very light in itself. A long flowing blue dress had made its way down past the kneecaps and into depths of darkness with light lavender trims standing together on endwise and hearts painted above them all no less. The shoulders had bubbly padding in which the trims were colored as white as the ash like snow, the same whiteness that’d already ran down to the abdomen and rested over the colored ones. The dress had a neckline in two different layers with a pair of differences in color and length: one was a thick deep purple and the other was a thin shallow white, all circling around themselves. Even so, there were ribbons resting around the wrists as the hands that rocked the cradles to the grave lain on their side to little end in sight, fluttering about by the gentle breeze of the world. Despite the bared forearms exposed to the crisp cold air, the terracotta skin provided liveliness of its wearer, free of scars, scabs, and all sorts of imperfections normally hidden away by the cloth.
“Applejack looks so peaceful even though that she is dead...” a nearby voice was heard as the wearer felt her ears now perking up to that very statement thereof.
She then turned to find herself in an enclosed space where only the scenery was provided by the door itself on the left side of vision, prompted a confused reply, “wait, how in thunderation am Ah even dead?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today in great sadness to give a fallen fellow a final farewell…” another voice was also heard within the distance, this one in a deeper tone, “Applejack was known to this community as a hard worker who had refused to give up even in the face of adversity when it had seems like that all was lost and where the odds were stacked up. Her abilities had helped provided the Smith family and the town they had lived in bountiful harvests over the past seasons along with the strength through joy and sustainability through relationships. These relationships between both friends and family had given the bonds strong enough to endure any and all challenges that had came our way at many separate occasions whatsoever. Sadly, it had seemed that despite the resolve which had remained inside the woman and the peace that had returned to our humble hearty homes, yet another life had been tragically cut short not by explosions or by gunfire but rather the sickness unto death. Nevertheless, Applejack will live on in the hearts and minds of others who had been inspired by her ideals: friends, family, neighbors and even acquaintances alike shall not let this tragedy hinder us the same way as it had struck her before. As such, we will now pause for a moment of silence to reflect this turn of events both past and present…”
“Wait just a consarned minute: there’s no way that Ah could be dead; Ah gotta tell ‘em the truth!” the occupant muttered as she attempted to rise from her station, only to find nothing but stillness. Accompanying the numbness which she’d felt so instantaneously were the rising choir of melancholy emanating from beyond her current location already apparent of the very situation. Amongst the many, it’d sounded like to Applejack that they were a bit easy to recognize at once, albeit faintly and for some strange reason or another so far away from where she had remained.
Out the few that the very occupant had attempted to recognize were one of the voices wailing, “OH APPLEJACK, OH WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE SO SOON BEFORE US…?! YOUR LIFE DIDN’T HAVE TO BE TAKEN AWAY; YOU DIDN’T EVEN DERSERVE THIS…!”
“Oh dear goodness, is that Pinkie Pie already…?” Applejack whispered as she struggled to fight off whatever forces that were keeping her inside, “maybe she can know that Ah am still alive…!”
“PLEASE, GALS… JUST LET ME GO SEE HER FACE AGAIN FOR ONE LAST TIME…!” another wail escaped from the attendants outside the occupant’s place as it had then grew loud.
Applejack caught a glimpse of one of the people she had heard so recently upon making contact: it then became a visage that now started to scratch away the surface of her determined resolve. The voice that’d now made its approach then revealed its true identity to the occupant at once: a bright skinned female with flat pink hair and face wet with sadness running throughout the pores. Dressed up in the height of fashion, the occupant had found the attendant all covered in darkness: a beret, a blouse, and a pair of gloves that were given out as a signal of such very feelings overall. The only exception that was not even stained by the pitch blackness of such very attire in question was but a tender rose red as the madder sky that wasn’t hanging directly above them. Even so, Applejack felt a deluge of tears falling from the bright skinned female’s contorted face as they started drench the attire that which the former was already found to be dressed into. Staring into such a melancholic sapphire gaze had found that there was even makeup running about and amok as the smooth natural skin became stained alongside such a strong emotion.
The occupant then stopped cold in her hot pursuit to regain control of herself as she choked out, “Pinkie…?”
“APPLEJACK, PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR NOT BEING THERE TO HELP YOU OUT…!” Pinkie cried out so profusely it had even made Applejack’s pupils shrink into the green instantly, “IT’S ALL MY FAULT THAT THIS HAD HAPPENED; I’M SUCH A HORRIBLE PERSON!”
“Pinkie, please stop this; you’re starting to upset me already…” the occupant whimpered as hot tears fell from the viewer’s eyes, drenching the skin and fabric.
Pinkie pulled out a paper cloth from her pocket and placed them over her eyes, wiping away these tears while she had sniffled, “IF ONLY IF THIS WAR HADN’T EVEN HAPPENED THEN WE WOULD BE ABLE TO AWAKE FROM A MADMAN’S DREAM; I’LL NEVER FORGET THE FRIENDSHIP WE HAD WITH YOU, APPLEJACK…!”
“Now I see then: that’s what it is, a bad dream; all Ah gotta do here’s just wake up from all this… ” Applejack had quickly thought to herself as she shut away her jade orbs at once; after a short moment of time, she opened them back up to find something different but also the same: the big blue sky remaining caused a shudder, “why isn’t it working… ”
“Goodbye, Applejack…” the mourner sighed, causing the occupant to tense up a bit during the struggle.
Applejack then felt her eyelids become moistened as she heard another voice from beyond her line of sight and station; it was feminine like Pinkie herself but rather more collectively stable, “let me start off by saying that as a neighbor and a fellow farmer myself I had barely known much about the Smith family aside from the fact that they were large and the choice of location. Nevertheless, we had remained on standard terms with one another to the point of them letting me use a piece of their land to help provide my crops to help them; for what it was worth, they even shared some similarities that my family had: a grandmother looking after us and siblings to look up to. As a matter of fact, I can even remember those who were once with me right now as I stand up to speak already: my grandmother, Amber Waves, once gave me a special trick on how to create the right kind of scarecrow; my sister, Noi, even managed to make bond with one of their neighboring young at the schoolhouse. Yet, even my family had not been so fortunate to escape the effects of the war unscathed no less: my grandmother fought bravely to protect our home from the warring forces altogether while I had watched my sister fell ill. At separate times apart, they too had lost their lives and our of them, even Noi’s passing has haunted me to this day as I stand alone; now, even I feel what Applejack had felt before now: the pain of losing someone so near and dear. Even now, I am relieved that with this conflict finally at an end, their spirits will be able to find peace as the town recovers from the tragedy that had torn it all apart and asunder with the help of its people. All that we should do now is not let their deaths be in vain nor should they be forgotten by those who were close them and are alive; instead, they should be remembered for the lives that they had inspired and their legacy as well.”
“Wait, now even Carrot Top thinks that Ah am dead; no, no, no, how is that even possible…?!” the occupant choked out, a stream of tears forming underneath while squirming about within, “there has to be a way to get them to know the truth somehow…!”
“Is there anyone else who would like to say anything about the dearly departed before the end?” the same masculine voice from before asked solemnly as she started to sniffle silently about.
For a moment, it’d seemed that the melancholy expressed by the likes of Pinkie and Carrot almost subsided soon enough; however, this was not the case as another rose up all at once: “well, can I say something to her please…?”
“Oh no, it can’t be even possible; there’s no way that she could be even in this madness…” uttered Applejack as she felt her eyes becoming wide as they caught a glimpse of a new sight, “Apple Bloom…!” The occupant took some time in recognizing another fresh new face whom was all too familiar: it was another bright skinned female with only a pink bow resting about the crimson tresses upon her weary head. The young one was also dressed in the height of fashion, very simplistic but brighter by comparison: in contrast to the atmosphere that they were found in, a white dress with blue trims was worn over her body. However, there was but only one piece of fabric that was standing out from Applejack’s perspective: wrapped underneath Apple Bloom’s short sleeve was a jet black armband around the latter’s left upper limb. Unlike the mourner from before, the young girl kept a composed visage that was devoid of moisture ready to pool down onto the occupant’s attire; nevertheless, a solemn look was incapable of keeping a promise. The orange eyes that circled around Apple Bloom’s widening pupils was now giving Applejack quite a shock already; after all, this sudden attendance even showed signs of what Pinkie had done before to repeat itself.
“Go on ahead, little one; the function is about done…” a deep cryptic tone was then heard by the two females and out of them, only the youngest thereof was the most aware of its origin.
Applejack tried to turn her sights away from Apple Bloom but felt nothing but stiffness in the process; to make matters worse, not even the tearstained eyes were to be closed as the latter began to speak, “Ah am going to say that for the moment, it is and will be the hardest thing that Ah had to say: growing up without parents was something that had defined the three of us. Granny Smith said that passing away is something that happens to all of us at some point in our lives; even so, she added that her time would come soon enough someday. Ah never thought that it would be that day when that had happened and in front of mah eyes no less; as a matter of fact, all that Ah had hoped was that Applejack would not have to die too. During that time that Ah had spent away from the farm during the war, there had been times that Ah had wished for someone to save me from the horrible things that had happened: mah brother, Big Mac, was even one of those people dwelling in mah mind. Ah never thought that one of her friends would come up to do so for me and for that Ah was grateful for it; unfortunately, Ah wasn’t prepared for the time when that man had tried to kill her and then me on the same day. As mah sight had gone dark from the poison that was inside of me, Ah could recall hearing a tender voice trying to comfort even though Ah had felt mah neck being tightened up a bit: that voice had turned out to be none other than Applejack herself; although, Ah never figured why would she do that. All the pain that Ah had gone through between then and there had made me aware of how Ah was vulnerable and alone: mah sister’s passing had made me realize this in due time; nevertheless, it has also reminded me of the pain that she had endured. Even though that Applejack ended up being the one person who tried to kill me in the end, Ah can not find the strength to forget all the things that she had taught me nor would Ah allow myself to bear a grudge for the one thing in particular; as such, this is why Ah should leave her a memento from mahself: it’s a Zap Apple that Zecora helped me pick back. Goodbye, sister; Ah will always remember you as you were, a big sister and not a murderer.”
At this very point, the occupant then found something fall into her grasp immediately all at once: it was a large fruit which was like an apple except that instead of just possessing a coat of red, there were also stripes of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple following after the red as well. The sight of such a strange fruit no less brought nothing but tears to Applejack as she’d watched Apple Bloom departing from the former very slowly, now completely left alone suffice to say. The occupant then shut away her eyes and sniffled to herself as the loneliness returned once again.
“Apple Bloom… Ah am sorry that you had to see me like this…” Applejack sniffled softly as she stared back at the Zap Apple, “if only if Ah hadn’t gone and jumped to conclusions like this…”
“This will now conclude the service at once: from the land where many have been born and to the land where many have now return; may her soul be able to find mercy and rest in peace…” the same masculine voice from before spoke up once again this time with feeling to say the least.
By then, the occupant watched all so suddenly the big blue sky obscured by the pitch blackness; before then, she heard a faint feminine voice within her range saying tepidly, “bye Applejack…”
“NO WAIT, PLEASE DON’T DO THIS; AH AM NOT DEAD AT ALL AND AH CAN PROVE IT TO Y’ALL ALREADY…!” Applejack then wailed loudly as she became freed from the numbness that plagued her body; as a result, loud banging was heard in the darkness that she was in, “JUST PLEASE OPEN THE COFFIN ALREADY AND YOU WILL SEE IT AT ONCE…!”
“Goodbye…” was all that the trembling occupant heard as she kept shuffling about in the enclosed space she was in to say the very least whatsoever.
Applejack ignored it and screamed out all at once, “NO PLEASE, DON’T DO THIS; NO… NO… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!!! ”
