The SS

Like Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle, a small, yellow filly named Applebloom was slowly beginning to settle into her own bed, yawning occasionally, but remaining dormant. Slowly, she felt herself drift into a deep sleep…

“Hello? Is anypony thar’?” Applebloom looked around her empty dream, seeing nothing around her but white. She groaned. These had been her dreams for the past few increasingly boring nights. Even though she had full trust in the Princess, and usually wouldn’t doubt her. But she was sure that she was the only one who was having these blank dreams.

“Hello, little Applebloom.”

Applebloom’s head shot up as she looked above, seeing the slight silhouette of Princess Luna floating in the air. “Princess Luna?”

“It is I. I am here to report to you that whatever happens to you in the dream world, remember that it is not real. You must remain strong.”

Applebloom was confused by the night Alicorn’s words. What did she mean? Before she could ask her, the vision of her faded away, and Applebloom felt the sudden rush of wind against her face. Looking up with squinted eyes, she saw that she was going through some tunnel.

Just as she was bracing herself to be stuck like this, the force propelling her suddenly stopped, and she fell off the object carrying her. Brushing the dirt off her face, she looked up to see the shadow of two ponies staring down at her.

Just before they raced off again, she rubbed her eyes to remove some of the dust, and gasped as she saw the swift ponies that were carrying her were joined together like a crazy science experiment.

“W-What in th’ hay?” She coughed, slowly getting herself up as she looked at her surroundings. She was in what appeared to be Ponyville at night, although the familiar glow of Princess Twilight’s castle was dimmed down to a darker purple colour. Applebloom was confused at what was happening. Quickly, she rushed over to Twilight’s castle, even though she knew it was a dream.

Last time she had a dream about Ponyville, the ponies seemed to act like their real counterparts. She was hoping she could at least get some information from the ‘fake’ Twilight Sparkle.

Applebloom finally got to the castle. Her hooves were strangely heavy from the dirt; the black dirt actually felt like it was weighing down her hooves. Running through town normally didn’t entail being covered in dust.

“Hello? Miss Twilight?” She opened the castle door, looking around, coating the crystal floors in the black dirt that followed her. “Huh? What the-” Applebloom looked around to see that the black dirt that had gotten stuck to her hooves was slowly fading from the ground.

Shrugging, she continued walking along, going up the stairs to see if Princess Twilight was anywhere. A strange, dull noise began to emit from a nearby room, and Applebloom’s ears flicked up.

She quickly charged forward, no longer weighed down by the dirt, and rushed towards the door, putting her head against it. Strange mumbling noises, followed by a deafening crash were heard. She pulled her head back and slowly opened the door, to see a pegasus figure jumping through the smashed window.

Applebloom rushed into the room, doing her best to avoid the smashed glass as she walked towards the window. She peered through the window to see the pegasus figure chasing after another pony.

“Hey! Wait!” Applebloom screamed out as she felt herself lose her balance. Slowly, she began to fall out of the castle window, onto the pavement below. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, but before it could strike she felt herself being lifted up by a strange force.

“Princess Luna? Is that you?” She shivered, slowly opening her eyes to see the pavement barely scraping her muzzle. She gulped as she heard the pony sighing, about to reply.

“No, Princess Luna isn’t here Applebloom.” Applebloom was confused. How did the pony know her name? “But that isn’t important right now. You need to run.”

Applebloom looked up at the dark pegasus, who was hovering her above the ground. Although she couldn’t see her properly, she couldn’t help but feel a familiar aura come off her. She reminded her of a pony back in the real Ponyville. “Ah-- Thanks a’ guess.”

“No need for words. You have to go.” And with that, Applebloom watched as the pony flew away from the castle. She stared off for a few more seconds until the pegasus left her sight before registering the pony’s words. She began to pick up pace as she ran away from Twilight’s Castle. Although the pegasus didn’t ask her to, she followed the other ponies that were running away earlier.

It seemed the ponies hadn’t travelled that far either, as it wasn’t long before she could hear the sound hoofbeats on the black barely metres away from her. Skidding to a stop, she accidentally fell into the dirt. She didn’t want to be seen by the running ponies, but the fact that she was now rapidly choking on the black dirt that had covered her face made that nearly impossible.

“What in the name of Celestia is that?” Applebloom shoved her hoof into her mouth to stop herself from coughing as she heard a voice whisper nearby. “Don’t you dare move. I need to check what that is.”

Applebloom could feel her heart beating faster as the shadowy pony walked too close for comfort. Looking up at the mare’s figure, she could see a horn and a pair of wings. It was an Alicorn.

“Damn,” the Alicorn muttered. “Looks like I was just imaging things.”

Chuckling darkly, she continued, “No matter. Now, what was I doing again?”

As she slowly walked away, Applebloom noticed something. The pegasus figure that seemed so familiar before was now cornered against the nearby wall, shuddering.

Applebloom was about to speak up before she remembered. Right, Alicorn. She could probably vaporize her in one second if she even dared to move.

She watched as the Alicorn walked up to the pegasus in a predatory manner. A magenta glow came off her horn. Applebloom inched closer to get a better look at the Alicorn’s face, but the glow effectively obscured all but the eyes, as if it were a balaclava.

“Her eyes….ther’ black!” Applebloom exclaimed, before freezing mentally as she covered her mouth. It was too late. Both ponies were staring at her.

The Alicorn stared at her, her emotions nearly unreadable.

She laughed, before gritting her teeth.

“Applebloom. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?!” Applebloom was about to scream and run away, but suddenly felt her body being propelled closer by the Alicorn’s magic. Now, she could almost clearly see her face. That face...was so familiar.

“I’m going to have a very stern talk with Applejack after this.”

Judging by the look on the pony’s face, she wasn’t being literal. Getting grounded would be the least of her worries.

“Twilight! Please, let her go! She has nothing to do with this!” The other pony yelled at the Alicorn, but she just rolled her eyes and scowled.

“Wait…..Princess Twilight?” Applebloom’s ears flattened to the sides of her head as the pony, or rather ‘Twilight’, smiled at her.

“Ah, seems you’re not as stupid as I thought you would be.” The aura around Applebloom’s body vanished, and she fell to the ground with a thud. “Well, you could say you’re here to witness a very special moment.”

Applebloom gulped. She didn’t like the sound of that. Twilight stepped back and wrapped the entire pegasi’s body in her magical aura. The faint glow made pegasus visible.

Applebloom, trying to avoid the gaze of the dream world Twilight, slowly sneaked up behind her to look at who the pegasus was. Then, everything became clear. The cyan fur, the rainbow mane. It was Rainbow Dash.

However, something was off with her, just like with Twilight. Her entire body was covered in stitches, and just like Twilight, her eyes seemed to be made nearly entirely out of blackness apart from her pupils.

Then, Twilight’s magic began its work. Rainbow Dash let out a cry and Applebloom heard multiple snapping noises coming from Rainbow Dash’s body. She wanted to close her eyes and ignore what was happening, but for some reason she just couldn’t turn away.

She watched in horror as a black liquid began to seep from Rainbow Dash’s twisted legs. Why would Twilight be doing something like this? That’s when Applebloom realised something. This was just a dream. If she got hurt, she’d just wake up.

She latched onto Twilight’s leg.

“Miss Twilight, please stop doing whatever the hay you’re doing to Rainbow Dash!” She yelled.

Twilight just smiled.

“You can’t stop this from happening, past or present.” She mumbled as she focused on dismembering Rainbow Dash. Applebloom lifted an eyebrow.

“....What are you talking about?”

“This is a warning, little Applebloom. You need to alert everyone. Please.” That was when Applebloom realised that Twilight was no longer the one talking.

“...Every….one? Princess Luna, what ar’ yah talking about?”

“You’ll find out soon, little Applebloom. There’s a lot more out there than you think. Ponies aren’t alone.”

Princess Luna’s voice faded away as Applebloom heard a sickening crunch coming from Rainbow Dash’s direction.

Applebloom slowly looked towards the direction. If this was real life, her gag reflex would have activated. Rainbow Dash was still there, but no longer in one piece. The black liquid was still oozing from her body, but she had not stopped breathing.

“Applebloom, get out of here.” She wheezed. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Applebloom watched as all buildings, ponies, and other things around her poofed out of existence. And then, finally, Applebloom felt herself begin to fade away from the dream as she opened her eyes.

She got up. There were things to be done.