Author's Note

Ah, you've made to chapter ten of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature one no less on the grounds that this chapter will deal with another heavy subject matter proven to be unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated; suffice to say, this will be by far a strong note for many readers all and therefore you're all given an option to skip ahead of this chapter like before.

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 very close to the end of the story; somehow, the new year had still 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.

However, let me just also say that, with many thanks aside, I hope you can be able to 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; nevertheless, I hope to see you all again soon.

Astringent

The darkness within was solid, devoid of the colors best found in a rainbow both hot and cold along with the light that gave out some guidance. A significantly sickly sweet smelling scent had currently found its way nevertheless, ignorant of the jet black space thanks to its achromatic quality. Overshadowing it all were the percussive choir of shooting strafing about with reckless abandonment as they roared all across the way.

Soon, the void that was there then opened up, providing a clear picture as to what had actually laid out in front of the observer. The skies above were a warm mixture of orange and red, the latter being the more potent of the two colors as it set up the frame. A forest of downed trees were instantaneously found surrounding a part of the earth, many of which containing some apples. Resting upon the horizon was a big red barn that had seen better days, the signs of damage being very significant enough at large. The heat of the entire landscape was too high to be in the double digits in the very least, its source being the fire and flames. Even though that the full salvo was further away from the homestead, it didn’t change the fact that danger itself still lurked on. Running amok were the high winds shifting around and about as they had kicked up some bits of dust and debris in the process.

A lone individual was found to be amongst the sea of grass and leaves with the occasional apples taking a stand against the chaos and disarray here. The denizen in question had possessed a set of long crimson locks, sharing the same color as the very fruit left lying abandoned upon the solid dirt. The owner’s face was feminine, wearing a complexion that was free of all imperfections save for some patches of soil found upon her very cheeks. Underneath the redhead’s eyelids was a pair of hot pink circles running around both pupils as they were set apart by black shadowy patches too. Her attire was simple: buried within the large brown overcoat donned upon her very body was a peachy bleached blouse and a purple skirt as well. The redhead even wore a pair of black boots, firmly planted several inches away from touching the abandoned apples already away from the trees.

She took in a deep breath and smelled the scent of burnt applewood bark and leaves amongst the diatomic oxygen all around the way. The sight of some fire and flames all around gave the redhead reason to be vigilant, avoiding the scorching heat of this environment. A pair of ears currently stood on endwise as she heard gunfire in the distance among the roaring winds and the conflagration around. Recently standing in the soil, the redhead started to run from heat that was lick away her coat with some shelter quickly on her mind. Even though it’d just looked like that she was alone in this forsaken place, there was no need for the likes of her to take any chances.

“I hope that thomeone ith home; Mith Thmith thould be there…” the redhead whimpered as she looked towards the barn dead ahead.

She couldn’t help but pant and heave as the sounds of conflict grew closer and louder with every single step of the way taken. Despite the solidarity and barrenness of the location that the redhead was found in, she can’t take any time whatsoever to stop. For such large flames that remained far from her ever since, the fact that its own heat refused to leave her side was astonishing.

The minute that the redhead reached the doorway, she attempted knock on the wooden partition right in front of her, only to be greeted with a reply almost instantaneously, “it’s open; ya can come in now…”

“Huh…?” the listener gasped as she stopped herself from making contact, finding the momentum to reach into her pocket, “who ith there: Mith Thmith…?”

“Actually, her granddaughter…” the occupant answered, shocking the redhead who began to pull out a black pistol from underneath her fabric.

With the weapon in hand, she stared at it and thought to herself, “Applejack, but that ith impothible: I thought that the wath–––”

“It’s okay, Ah will get the door for ya…” the voice on the other end of the door said, bringing the suspicious redhead out of her way of thinking, “why Twist, never thought that ya be showing up here…”

“Applejack…?” the eponymous visitor had choked out, staring at sight that she couldn’t believe in the very slightest.

It wasn’t long until the redhead was greeted by the sight of a tall, dark, and blonde female, wearing a face full of freckles underneath the jade orbs and a small smile plastered alongside as well. On the occupant’s head was but a light brown hat that was widely brimmed enough to shield her hair from the aerial assault that was further away from where either of the females were standing now. The tanned blonde wore a dark red blouse onto her torso that was overlaying an undersized dark brown vest; the former buttoned carefully to the top whereas the latter left the waistline exposed here. A pair of slacks was found to be already adorning the occupant’s legs, snugly being held firmly in place by a jet black belt fastened with a red buckle in the shape of a big and juicy apple no less. Like Twist, the tanned blonde wore some boots as well but they were thinner in the choice of material and possessing a more colorful shade despite being darker than the latter’s garments thusly.

The occupant took note of the redhead’s widened eyelids and mouth agape with the pistol in the latter’s hand, all while responding, “are ya okay, sugarcube? Ya look like that ya seen a ghost here; what’s bothering ya…? Where are ya folks…?”

“I wath about to thay the thame thing: what are you doing here…?” Twist stammered at the sight of the tanned blonde directly right in front of her, “I thought that you were… you were… you were–––”

“Dead… now how in thunderation did ya get such an idea; why don’t ya come inside for a bit ‘til the whole mess dies down…?” the occupant interrupted, opening the door right in front of the redhead.

Twist soon attempted to speak out as the tanned blonde had now lead the way into the big red barn, shaking and sweating about in the process. No longer standing upon the dirt where many of the trees were lying abandoned, the redhead had now stood upon the ligneous floorboards here. A set of furniture such as chairs, a couch, and a table were found in the distance while a lamp was resting on a nightstand was nearby Twist. The very walls around the structure that the two females were in had been adorned with portraits of various individuals from many upbringings. A single piece of illumination was found resting at the corner, standing upwardly nearby the tiny window as it had remained lit to be easily seen. The redhead found a stairway in the distance in where all that had it had led up to was a patch of a jet black void that even she couldn’t make out.

Twist looked around and got lost into her thoughts again as she stammered onward, “what in the world ith going on: why ith Applejack thtill at Thweet Apple Acreth of all placeth; where are the otherth…?”

“Ah got t’ hand it t’ ya; ya managed t’ do the one thing that Ah had failed to do: avenge mah longsuffering family…” the aforementioned blonde’s voice had went into the redhead’s ears, “Ah bet that ya feel like a hero right now, let alone a million bits to say the least, don’t ya, Twist…?”

“What ith the talking about…?” the titular visitor said to herself as she looked around to find the source of the voice thereof.

Still gripping the weapon in the right hand, Twist heard Applejack speak, “please, come on upstairs; now that you’re here, Ah want t’ ask ya a question: what did ya think when ya came here? When ya wanted to see yer friend, did ya expected it t’ be like old times, before the whole war?”

“More than ever…” the redhead’s response reverberating rapidly, “I thought that the would be alive…”

“Ya weren’t the only who believed that; sadly, I wasn’t so lucky…” the tanned blonde had just instantaneously said as Twist soon started to move towards the stairs right up in front of the latter.

Stepping up on the ligneous incline, the redhead whimpered about, “w–w–what maketh you thay that…?”

“It’s pretty simple, sugarcube…” Applejack answered as Twist climbed up the steps within the homestead, “we’d all lost people we’ve loved…”

“What are you talking about…?” the redhead had asked as she hoisted herself over the last of the flight to be greeted with a small hallway.

Of the many doors at each side, only one of them was left ajar as it gave off some light from there; as Twist moved forward toward it, she had heard the tanned blonde speak, “no matter how hard Ah had tried, Ah never could escape the reality of what happened here; that was mah downfall. Well, it’s finished anyway: I hope you like what Ah had been doing in mah spare time; as a matter of fact, ya welcome t’ see it now…”

The redhead then opened the door to find a bedroom that matched the style and substance of the living room itself that they were once in. Though the ceiling above Twist was already painted uniformly in a true blue scheme, it had remained otherwise barely minimal here. The linear dimensions within the area were painted in various shades of green, all of which were firmly aligned into a rather small pattern. The redhead was instantaneously aware of the armoire nearby standing tall and proud as it had been a part of some other furnishings. The dressers and nightstand sharing the same color scheme possessed more than just clothes: one had a large mirror; the other held a lamp. The most crucial part of them all was the fact that the large bedstead was riddled with numerously small strokes of colors alone. There also remained Applejack resting at the side with a thin paintbrush in hand as she had given the adjacent partition long broad strokes.

“What ith going on here: what are you doing, Applejack; where ith Apple Bloom…?” Twist tested the eponymous tenant in question, “have you even bothered to check the air raid thirenth recently…?”

“It seems t’ me that yer eyes are opening up: it hurts, don’t it; well, go on… what do ya think…?” the tanned blonde tittered on, pointing to what she had done to the area in front of themselves.

The redhead directed herself to the part of the room that the occupant asked of; the former could barely hold in a gasp to such a sight that had shocked her even more. Unlike the walls within the very bedroom, this one was the canvas that had bore witness to the image of many colors painting a sight livelier than the outside world. A set of figures were staring back at the one direction centering on those who watched them, many of which screaming of bloody murder being done against them. Twist started to look more closely to discover that these subjects in question were darkly colored individuals from all ages and both genders with faces devoid of irises. Juxtaposed within the sea of agonized people were of brightly clear skies of whiteness save for the occasional streaks of red and orange in the form of small comets. Even though that they didn’t resemble the physiological state of being that both females had shared, they were nonetheless bleed out in various shades of red.

The redhead stood still in silence before starting to regain the strength to speak, “you did all of that…?”

“No, you did: yer actions caused the deaths of numerous people…” Applejack answered Twist almost quickly complete with a sneer, “somebody had to pay for yer crimes here; who’s it going t’ be now…?”

“Crimeth… Applejack what are you thaying…?” the redhead asked as she attempted to avert her gaze, turning to find that the aforementioned artist was no longer within the former’s line of eyesight.

It wasn’t long until Twist was finally alone again naturally, left with the portrait of countless faces glaring onto her as she started to walk away. Only then when her pistol found within the redhead’s grasp did it break, shattering into five easy pieces before the fall to the floorboard did the rest. The sounds of artillery being shot to and from the skies began to grow louder enough to shake the room, scaring Twist out from the area quickly. As soon as the redhead left the bedroom, the door slammed shut behind her with a loud but brief crescendo of a whole note in and of itself thereof.

Twist recoiled and attempted to open the doorknob, only to be greeted with the tanned blonde chiding the former, “uh–uh–uh, that’s not the place t’ be here; besides, ya already know what Ah had been doing…”

“What do mean by that…?” the redhead responded as she wandered about, “where have you gone…?”

“The restroom… Ah need t’ wash up anyway…” Applejack answered as Twist tried to follow the voice nearby.

Sure enough, the redhead was guided by another light source pointing towards the end of the hallway opposite of the stairs she had climbed upon. In the midst of the turmoil outside of the barn that the two females were in, Twist was drawn in by the illumination that was more open than before. The redhead was drawn in to the sight and sound what had taken place before, albeit in a more blatant way that she was picking up at in the process. As though the possibilities were hatching within Twist’s brain, she couldn’t help but walk towards the very doorway that stood in front of her. Reminiscing on the early periods of the redhead’s predicament, she finally started to enter the room that the tanned blonde had informed her of. Such was the act that Twist had partaken in as she finally moved forward to the new room within the house with hopes of finding Applejack in due time.

The redhead busted on through to the other side as she’d soon found some things that caught her off–guard, more shocking than the bedroom in and of itself. The floors were adorned with footprints caked with mud and blood, staining the tiles with the utmost uncanniness in every single step thereof deep within. The sink was filled with up with brackish water bed that was tinted with a jet black tint and a rim with some color as the drain above it ran a cleaner stream. Though the toilet had the lid placed down but the porcelain texture was oversaturated with numerous crimson streaks as the water poured out from there. The bathtub was covered up with a small pair of pink curtains with a shadow stuck out and about in the process as Twist started guessing almost instantaneously.

Soon, the redhead’s temptation gotten the best of her when she had used the left hand to uncover the stationary figure; of course, what had remained to be seen wouldn’t be expected upon making the instantaneous discovery thereof. The identity of the subject that Twist had suddenly uncovered was none other than the tanned blonde herself; however, the latter was extremely different from what the former had seen not too long ago, especially given the facts. One major detail that the startled redhead had quickly found was that Applejack wore not even so much as a single thread of fabric over upon the naked body, just only clad in the cold comforts of the crimson fluid from the waist down. Casing about the utility, Twist had noticed other things that weren’t found upon the tanned blonde before: injuries ranging from a blackened eye, a runny nose, and even some gaps within the set of teeth were telling a tale. Having found Applejack’s figure within the bathtub, the observant redhead’s gaze was turned upon the former’s left arm being submerged into the depths of the otherwise achromatic liquid that was lacking the latter’s solidity.

The cold lifeless gaze that was the tanned blonde’s body sent chills up across Twist’s vertebrae, prompting the latter to mewl, “App… le… jack…?”

“It seems to me that Ah didn’t make it out at all…” the titular occupant answered, but it didn’t belong to the nude figure in front of the redhead, “nor did you come to help me when I had needed it the most…”

“But that’s impossible…” Twist started to reply, turning to find Applejack standing tall and proud with some clothes in contrast to what the former had seen, now greeted by the sight of the latter’s two juxtaposing likeness of one another.

With the redhead struggling to process the very realization that was directly right in front of her, the tanned blonde’s clothed form on the right side had countered onward, “oh, Ah can assure ya; it is…”

“But how?!” Twist exclaimed as she remained focused on the left where Applejack’s nude form rested upon, “I thaw the men beating you up and taking–––”

“All while doing nothing; ya shouldn’t have come here at all on that day…!” the tanned blonde interrupted the redhead.

A loud scream was heard, causing Twist to cover her eyes and ears before starting to shout back, “what happened here wath not my fault…!”

“Wasn’t it?!” Applejack instantaneously interjected as she had remained unfazed, “none of this wouldn’t have happened if ya had just gone home; but, ya kept on going and for what reason here…?”

“I tried to return thomething!” the redhead screamed.

The tanned blonde couldn’t help but laugh as she had replied, “Ah, what could ya have hoped t’ return here, a favor…? Yer favors are better off left abandoned elsewhere…!”

“Pleathe Applejack…” Twist started to cry out to the eponymous tenant, “thith wath not my fault; I never knew they would do it to you…!”

“It takes a strong one to deny what’s in front and if the truth is undeniable, then ya could make yer own; the truth here, missy, is that ya came here today to feel like someone yer not: a heroine…” Applejack said as she had watched the redhead starting to shed some teardrops all at once.

A loud explosion resonated from outside the home as Twist struggled to speak, “pleathe, make it thtop…!”

“Ah am here because ya couldn’t accept what had happened; it broke ya and ya needed someone to blame, so you cast it on them, a pile of dead soldiers.” the tanned blonde continued to pick up where she had left off, “Ah know the truth is hard to hear, Twist, but it’s time: yer all that’s left and we can’t live like this forever; Ah am going t’ count t’ five then Ah am pulling the trigger.”

“You’re not real; thith ith all jutht a nightmare…!” the redhead muttered as she was shook her head.

Applejack then pulled out a pistol and asked Twist, “are ya sure? Maybe Ah am one… One!”

“No… everything that happened… all of thith… it wath their fault…!” the redhead started to growled, “Apple Bloom didn’t even detherve it…”

“If that’s what ya believe, then go save her; otherwise… Two!” the tanned blonde replied, still holding the weapon.

Twist turned her gaze from Applejack and started to weep, “I… I didn’t mean for any of it to happen…”

“No one ever does, sugarcube…” the tanned blonde sighed slowly with a somber frown as the redhead cried onward, “Three… Four… Is this really what ya want, missy…? So be it… FIVE…!”

At that point, Applejack pulled the trigger and a loud bang escaped from the pistol; at the same time, Twist was sent backward across the bathroom tile instantaneously. Left firmly upon the redhead’s body was a rapid incision upon her chest that tore through the fabric which she had worn long ago since she had been awaken to purity. Much of the energy Twist had possessed started to leave her body as she was now writhing upon the floor, the memory of the wound still fresh in both mind and body.

All that the redhead could muster up is a cry, “Apple… Bloom…”