Chapters Today was a busy day for Applejack. With winter right around the corner she needed to clear the trees and fast so she could sell some of them off and strip others down to collect the seeds for spring. She had just finished bucking one of the trees, knocking almost every apple out of it with one powerful kick. She stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow. Only two more acres of land left to cover. She sighed tiredly to herself and looked up at the sky. Judging from the position of the sun she could only assume that it was about 7 o'clock and that the moon would be raised soon. That signaled the end of her work for the day; so she grabbed the basket she had just knocked all of the apples into and dragged it up to the house. When she arrived she found three fillies playing around in the dirt and one old green mare sitting in a rocking chair watching them.
"Howdy Applejack." Said the old mare, "How''s it coming along out there?"
"Well, Granny, I still got a little ways to go but it should be done before winter." Applejack replied with confidence.
"Alrighty then, as long as it gets done." Granny said with a smile. "Now go on inside and get some rest, I'll have them there fillies put those apples in the barn for ya."
Applejack nodded, "Thanks granny." She set down the basket full of apples and trotted into the house to get to bed early. She had a lot of work ahead of her tomorrow and would need the energy.
Granny looked over at the three fillies playing in the yard and waved to get their attention. Once she was sure that they were all focused on her she spoke. "If you youngins wouldn't mind, I would like you to take those apples into the barn for me."
The fillies stood up straight and saluted the old mare. "Sure thing granny, we'll get right on it." Apple Bloom said, running off with her two best friend to retrieve the basket and carry it into the barn. They set it down by the wall and were about to leave but froze in place when they heard a strange noise come from the hayloft. "Did y'all hear that?" Apple Bloom asked, slightly unnerved.
"It sounded like something was moving around in the hayloft. Maybe a small animal?" Sweetie Belle answered, being the voice of reason as usual. There was a loud bang that was followed by the sound of bones being broken.
The noise was enough to make the fillies jump and cower behind a stack of apple-filled baskets. They quietly debated who would leave the hiding spot to inspect the sounds and eventually Scootaloo was shoved out into the open. She gulped and slowly made her way over to the ladder leading into the upper half of the barn. When she got to the ladder she placed a hoof against the first step and looked back to her friends who were gesturing for her to continue. She looked up at the edge of the loft and started to make her way up, each step feeling heavier than the last as she got closer to her destination. When she reached the top her eyes had already scanned everything with three feet of her. Nothing but bales of hay filled the area and Scootaloo let our a sigh of relief before looking back at her friends. "Girls, there's nothing up here." She said with a reassuring tone. As she turned her head back into the loft though she was met with the sight of a short dark figure that made her cry out in fear.
Her friends could only watch in shock as the thing seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but oddly ran off when Scootaloo screamed. It was almost as if she had scared it away. "Scootaloo! Are you okay?" Sweetie Belle called out, praying that her friend was unharmed.
Scootaloo took a moment to recollect herself before finally answering. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said, taking in short quick breaths. Her coat was pale and her body was trembling. She looked like she had just seen a ghost, and for all she knew she had.
"What was it?" Apple Bloom asked
"I don't know..." Was all she could say before something caught her attention. A small rabbit was jumping around and made its way over to Scootaloo. She smiled a bit and reached out to pet it but jumped back when a black arm shot out from behind the hay and grabbed the small animal before puling it into the barreled up stacks of straw. Scootaloo had finally had enough and leaped off of the ladder, fearing that if she stayed it would come for her next.
Once Scootaloo made a safe landing she and the rest of the fillies charged for the exit. Before they could reach it though a large bale of hay landed in front of the door. They tried with all of their might to push it out of their way, but it was simply too heavy. They all looked back to the loft to see the figure from earlier drop down and land on its feet. The sudden reappearance of the creature made them scream in terror as it started to wobble its way toward them. They stopped trying to move the hay, knowing they wouldn't be able to make it budge. Now all they could do was watch as this thing came closer and closer to them. When it was only mere inches from them it leaned down and growled. The smell of blood filled their nostrils as the world around them turned to nothing but an empty black pit full of fear.
"Come on now," Big Mac started. "ya gotta get up. We got work to do."
Applejack opened her eyes and let out an audible yawn as she sat up and stretched her limbs. "Ah'm up, I am up..." She said drowsily. "Sorry Mac, didn't mean to sleep in on ya like that. I'll be out in a bit. Big Mac nodded and exited her room to get started on another hard day of work. Applejack crawled out of her bed and got ready for a long day. Once she was washed up and ready to go she went outside to see Big Mac standing oddly by the barn door. She decided to investigate and trotted over to him. "Something going on, Mac?"
"Door's jammed, won't open." He said plainly, giving the door a light shove to sow her that it wasn't moving.
"Well that seems a tad odd. We've never had this kind of problem with it before. Why's it actin' up now?" She asked herself curiously. Applejack placed both of her hooves against the door and started pushing it. "Come on, let's get this darn thing open."
Big Mac mimicked her position, putting his front hooves against the door and pushing it. The force behind the two of them was more than enough to get the door open, but also to knock down a large stack of hay barrels that seemed to have been blocking the door. They both looked at the tumbling pile with surprise and confusion before entering the barn. All of the walls were blocked off with barrels of hay that should have been in the loft and a lot more were stacked around in the center, shaping some sort of obstacle course.
"What in tarnation?" She asked, baffled by the sight before her. "What the hay happened in here?" She walked through the barn with her brother following close behind. After a bit of wandering on the ground floor all they found were more and more hay stacks just randomly placed about. "There aint nothing down here." Her eyes suddenly wandered up to the hay loft and she felt a slight tugging in her chest. "Mac, I'm gonna go up into the loft and try to find out how all these bales got down here. You think you can tear this down and get them re-stacked?"
"Eeyup." He said almost routinely.
Applejack nodded and climbed the ladder to the hay loft. Once she got to the top she found herself being met with a ray of light coming from a large hole in the roof and more hay barrels, however, these ones were ripped apart and spread all across the flooring. After glancing around for a bit she started to walk around the hay, striding deeper and deeper into the loft until she found a rather unnerving sight. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all laying side by side nestled into the midsection of one of the strangest creatures she had ever seen. The light from the hole was just bright enough for her to make out its features. Pale skin, no fur, long dirty black hair, and some sort of dark cloths covering most of its body. The final thing she noticed were its glowing green eyes that seemed to be staring directly at her. She felt her heart skip a beat and froze as she realized that the creature was watching her. Her blood ran cold as she heard a low growl come from the beast before it flashed its sharp teeth at her. Applejack took a step back, completely forgetting that this thing had her sister. It opened its mouth and something disturbing happened. The lining of what looked like its throat came out from its maw and slowly stretched further out until it was only a mere meter from Applejack's face, a row of thick sharp teeth appearing at to make a disgusting looking mouth at its end that drooled heavily. A low hum came from one of the fillies and the extended mouth retracted back into the creature. It looked down at the small ponies as they were stirred from their sleep.
Apple Bloom was the first to wake up completely and noticed her sister standing just a few feet from them with a horrified expression on her face. "Applejack? What are you doin' in here?" She asked plainly
"Apple Bloom," She whispered, "get your friends and get away from that thing."
"Why are you whispering?"
"Just get away from it!"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were up and at attention from the sudden shout. "What? What's going on?" Scootaloo asked.
"Oh, hi Applejack." Sweetie Belle said with a yawn.
"Girls, you need to get away from that thing. It could be dangerous." Applejack stated with concern.
"Oliver?" Apple Bloom asked, looking at the creature they were laying on. "He wouldn't hurt no pony. He may be a little bit funny looking, but he's no more dangerous than a teddy bear." She said with a smile, nuzzling the creature. It followed suit, sounding almost like it was purring, if demons could purr.
"Did you just call it, Oliver?" Applejack asked, going from scared right back to confused.
"Yeah, that's the name on his tags." She replied.
"Tags?" Her confusion was just getting worse and worse as time went on.
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle started, "he has dog tags." She reached up and pulled a necklace out of his shirt. There was a small metal plate with the name Oliver engraved in it. "See?"
"Ah see it, but just what is that...thing?" Applejack asked, doing her best to not sound offensive just in case it could understand her.
"We don't really know." Scootaloo replied, "but he's really energetic."
"He's playful." Sweetie Belle followed up.
"And he's protective." Apple Bloom finished. "Why, just last night one of them hay barrels nearly crushed Sweetie Belle."
"Yeah," Scootaloo jumped in, "then he leaped into action and caught it."
"Can we keep it?" Apple Bloom asked.
Applejack was taken back by the sudden question. "Uh, Apple Bloom, I'm not so sure-"
"Aww, come on sis. Please???" She started giving Applejack the puppy eyes.
It took everything in her power to resist her sister's gaze, but she caved. "Fine..." The fillies all smiled brightly, "but, ah wanna take him to Fluttershy or something first so we can figure out just what he is and make sure he doesn't have any illnesses."
"YAY!!!"The fillies yelled in unison.
Getting this thing, or Oliver as it's called, out of the barn wasn't all that hard, it was keeping him from running off that was the problem. The second they got him outside he started jumping all over the place. Eventually, Applejack was forced to leash him with a rope. It definitely didn't solve the problem as the creature proved itself to be much stronger than she, despite barely being four feet tall, but it helped. In short, getting to Fluttershy's cottage was a nightmare. When they did arrive however, Applejack was slightly shocked to find that there wasn't a single animal in sight. Usually this place was being horded by every type of small critter within the Equestrian border. The fact that it wasn't was worrisome. She made her way over to the door and knocked, calling her friend's name to let her know she was here.
A few seconds later the door was opened by a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane. "Oh, hello Applejack. What brings you...here..." Fluttershy found herself choking on her own words as she saw the bipedal creature standing behind her friend.
Applejack, sensing the oncoming panic, quickly talked Fluttershy down and reassured her that whatever this thing was it was peaceful. After calming her down she went on to talk about finding him in the hay loft with the fillies and how Apple Bloom figured out its name and wouldn't stop begging to keep him as a pet. "So, since we're gonna be havin' this thing around, ah wanted you give him a check up and make sure he don't have rabies or nothin. And, if you could, help me identify just what exactly it is ah'm dealing with here."
Fluttershy couldn't make heads or tails of just what this thing was just by looking at it, "I'm not sure if I could help with identifying it, I've never seen anything like it before, but I can definitely do a check up."
Applejack took a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Flutters. Ah really appreciate this. Havin' him checked at a vet would cost me a might some."
Fluttershy nodded and stepped aside to give Applejack and her new pet room to enter. "Come on in." Once in she had them follow her to the kitchen. "If you could, would you mind making him sit on the table while I collect some supplies?"
"Ah can try." Applejack turned her attention to Oliver as Fluttershy went off to get what she needed. Pointing a hoof at the table she spoke, "Go sit down." Much to her surprise he actually listened perfectly; walking over to the table and placing his rear on it. "Well ah'll be..." She suddenly noticed that there didn't appear to be any animals inside of the house, which was even weirder than there not being any outside. "Hey Fluttershy, where are all your little critters at? I'm not used to seein' this place so empty."
"It was so strange," Fluttershy started, "one minute they're all playing peacefully, the next they just ran off. It was like they were scared." she replied. "I certainly hope they're all okay. I would have gone after them but by the time I got outside they were nowhere to be seen."
"That's odd. When did that happen?"
"Just a few minutes ago." Fluttershy said, earning an odd look from Applejack as she flew over with what she needed. "Okay, let's get started." She looked over the creature and gave it a few reassuring pats on the leg. "You're going to be alright, okay little guy. I promise." She said to it with a smile as she flew up and lifted the shirt off of him, revealing his midsection completely. He was extremely thin on the torso and had a large scar going down the center of his body from his neck down to his waist. Tracing down his spine were a series of pointed bones that broke the skin just enough to show their tips, several more of these were found on his arms, especially his shoulders. Also with his arms, each one had one large lump on its top side with a sharp chunk of what looked like curved metal breaching at least three inches from its flesh. "Oh...my..." Fluttershy commented, her ears dropping to the sides of her head.
"Heavens to Betsy. What are you?" Applejack couldn't hardly believe that what she was looking at was actually real.
Fluttershy took a few shaky steps closer to the monstrosity sitting on her table and started poking randomly on its body before fumbling with the obviously odd parts of him. She pokes at the studs decorating his skin, "These appear to be bone, but I don't know why they would grow outward like this." She moved on to the small metallic blade-looking thing in his arms and pressed randomly about on them. "The skin doesn't seem to be irritated or strained in any way, so whatever these are they are completely natural to his body." She put a hoof to his lips, "Open up, please." He obeyed and opened his mouth, letting Fluttershy inspect the inside. "He has many rows of small, but very sharp, teeth. This means that he is a carnivore." Fluttershy took the information fairly well, but it unnerved Applejack some. Knowing that her little sister was playing with a potentially dangerous creature that eats meat wasn't exactly very comforting. She moved on to inspect his hands and feet. "Sharpened nails, he's definitely a predator." Fluttershy patted his head, this time trying to reassure herself that she was safe. "You're a little hunter aren't you." She said in a cutesy voice. It seemed to take some comfort in the attention which was enough to put Fluttershy a bit more at ease. She moved on and grabbed her stethoscope, using it to listen to his heart and lungs. "He has a very strong heart beat and can take in a large amount of air despite his thin appearance." She grabbed an otoscope and inspected his ears. Finding nothing that she could call odd in them she moved on to look at his eyes. Once she finished up she trotted over to Applejack, leaving Oliver to himself on the table. "I don't see anything that would label him as being ill. He is pretty young from the looks of it and definitely very unique...and a little scary."
"You're tellin' me, ah'm gonna be livin' with it." She looked back at Oliver who was sitting silently. "Do ya have any idea what it is?"
"I'm sorry, I don't." She said, her words making Applejack lower her head in disappointment. "But maybe Twilight will know, she might even have a book on his species."
Applejack's head perked right back up. "Yeah, you're right. She's probably had the answer to this question the whole time." She said with a smile, "In fact, ah reckon that she'll be able to tell me what this thing is the second she sees it."
"What in the wide wide world of Equestria is that thing!?" Twilight shouted
"Aww, come on! Ya'll don't know what this thing is neither?" Applejack yelled.
"No, I don't." She replied, "but it's definitely not natural."
"Why does it have knives coming out of its arms?" Spike asked curiously.
"Spike, not now please." Twilight said, gesturing for him to leave. He groaned, but left without saying a word. "Where did you even find that, Applejack?"
"Ah didn't, my sister did. He was up in the hay loft and the her and her friends spent the night up there playing with it." She explained.
"And it didn't hurt them?"
"Nope, but now she's lookin' to keep it as a pet."
"She wants to keep that...as a pet?"
"Yeah."
"And you agreed to this?"
"Well...yeah, but-"
"Why would you agree to something like that?"
"Well i- she just- I don't-" She said, stuttering as she struggled to put her words and thought back together while Twilight raised her brow at the farm horse. "look, she gave me the puppy eyes." Twilight's expression remained unchanged. "Look, can ya please just help me?"
Twilight's eyes wandered from the creature back to her friend. "Alright, I'll see what I can figure out. He'll need to stay with me overnight for some tests. You can pick him up tomorrow around noon and I'll notify you of my progress then."
"Thank you Twi." Applejack passed the end of the rope over to Twilight and exited the castle, making her way back home so she could get started on helping Big Mac with the harvest. She was already way behind and didn't want to leave her brother in the dirt doing all of the work.
Twilight walked the creature down to the lab she had set up shortly after her castle appeared. She noticed the name tag chained to his neck and looked it over. "So, your name is Oliver?" She asked, knowing he wouldn't respond. "Well Oliver, you and I are going to have to get to know each other tonight." She found a chair and had him take a seat before doing a complete anatomy inspection. "You certainly are different from anything else I've seen in Equestria." She said to herself. She started poking randomly on his body with almost no reaction. Until she got to his neck. When she would press on a certain spot where it would appear his lymph nodes were swollen his jaw would twitch. She decided to risk it and pressed down harder, which resulted in his jaw coming unhinged. She gasped, thinking she hurt the creature, until the gums of his teeth disconnected from the rest of his face and extended outward on a long flesh-like tube. She stared at the odd appendage in shock and awe, never has anything she had ever studied done something like this. The tube was obviously made of living tissue, the pulsing veins going through it were proof enough of that. It was attached to the lining of his throat and after a few stretch tests she concluded that it was very flexible and very lethal due to the jagged teeth at the end. When she was finished fumbling with his limbs she took hair, skin, and blood samples to study for when Applejack came back to pick him up. He was very fascinating and she almost didn't want to stop studying every little thing about him, but it was getting late and she needed to rest. "Well Oliver," She yawned, "I think it's about time to call it a night. Come on." She grabbed his rope leash and led him to an empty room. "I don't really want to leave you in here, but I can't having you running around and breaking things." She yawned again as she gave him a light shove to get him into the room. "Goodnight Oliver." She closed the door and locked it before walking away. She stopped before she even got a foot away from the door though. 'That was odd.' She thought. She could have sworn that she had heard someone say Goodnight to her. She shrugged it off though and was on her way to bed.
Applejack waited until eleven thirty to start walking over to Twilight's place. She had some time to think about things with Oliver, like a shelter to make for him, how they would go about feeding him, schedules to go out and play with him for the fillies and what not. She was starting to warm up to the idea of having a new pet. Granted, this one wasn't your average pet and would likely be more difficult to deal with than Winona. She made it over to the castle five minutes early and knocked on the door. There was a loud crash and as the sound of hooves came closer to the door the more it sounded like things were being broken.
Twilight finally made it to the door and opened it. "Applejack? You're here!" She smiled at first but her smile soon dropped as she realized what that meant. "No, wait! You can't take him, not yet!"
"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" She replied quickly.
"Twilight!" She yelled, snapping her out of whatever state she was in. "Ya need to calm down. What's going on?"
Twilight closed her eyes and took a breath before focusing back onto her friend. "I'm sorry, I'm just really excitable right now is all. After he started talking I just-"
"Hold on there now! Did you just say he spoke?" Applejack wasn't sure how to feel about this, but it got her attention real quick.
"I know!" Twilight replied, thinking Applejack's confusion was actually excitement. "Come on, I'll show you!" She grabbed Applejack and pulled her into the main room where she had left Oliver. "That's weird." She said as her eyes wandered around, trying to find him, "He was here a second ago."
Applejack didn't know why, but her instinct were telling her to look up and upon obeying them she was met with another weird sight to add to the list of things she never thought she'd see. "Twilight, ah think I found'em."
Twilight looked to Applejack and followed her gaze, gasping as she saw what she was looking at. "How did he get up there?" She asked as they watched him crawl across the ceiling.
As Oliver crawled, his nails digging deep into the crystal-like structure to hold him in place, his sights were locked onto a small yellow bird that seemed desperate to get away from him. The bird flew away from him and closer toward the ground, earning adoring awes from the mares below. Oliver unhinged his jaw and his teeth disconnected from the rest of his face. Just as the bird was about to land it was caught by something very strong and very sharp before being pulled back to the creature it had been trying to escape from and forced into his maw. The birds life was ended with the small crunching noises that followed its departure into Oliver's mouth. After properly chewing the bird to bits and swallowing it down he made his way down the wall and back to the mares watching him.
Applejack backed away a bit as it came closer to her, she saw Twilight do the same. "Ah know Fluttershy said it was a carnivore, but ah don't think I'll ever be able to get used to it doin' stuff like that." Twilight looked ready to throw up, "You gonna be alright there, girl?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." She shook off her sickness and cleared her throat. "Back to the mater at hoof." She took a few step closer to Oliver and looked him in the eye. "Oliver, speak!"
"Speak..." He replied slowly.
Applejack's eyes widened, she was't actually expecting him to reply. His voice was smooth and quiet. It reminded her a lot of Fluttershy in a way. Her attention went back to Twilight who was clapping her hooves with glee. "That certainly is somethin." she started, "Did ya learn anything else?"
Twilight levitated a small stack of papers over to her, "I've found a few things." She let out a small cough before taking a seat and putting on a pair of reading glasses. "From what I could gather he has multiple different types of genes in his body, everything from mammals to reptiles. However, most of these genes are lying dormant deep within his body. The sharp bones coming from his body are likely due to a mutation from having so many different genetic codes rammed into one body, the metal in his arms are from a large amount of iron in his body that seems to have somehow been focused on that particular area and built up. I also learned that he is highly adaptable. After doing some tests on both blood samples and on him I've deduced that his body will mutate and change based on whatever climate he is in, activating whatever dormant genes it needs to rewrite his genetic code. That's all I have so far sadly, but I would love to study him further-" She stopped as she looked up at Applejack to see the deadpan expression on her face. Twilight let out an annoyed sigh, "In short, he's an abomination of nature that has managed to survive due to his ability to adapt." She said slowly.
"Okay then..." She said plainly, "but he isn't dangerous is he?"
"...Applejack, we just watched him eat a bird and from the looks of his genetic background, not only is he dangerous he might just be one of the most lethal creatures to walk on equestrian soil. Not only that, but my studies have also showed that he hasn't even gone through his pubescent stages yet. And, like most wild animals, once he does he could end up being very deadly." This only further presses Applejack's anxiety with this thing and Twilight could see that so she made quick work of correcting herself. "But, he clearly isn't hostile. If he wanted to hurt any of us he would have a long time ago. I mean, I was poking him with needles and he hardly flinched. If anything I think he's grown a liking towards ponies. Plus, with the name tag I can only assume he's had a previous owner who domesticated him."
"A previous owner..." It clicked in Applejack's head, finally she would have a way to keep her sister safe from this thing while not looking like the bad guy. "Of course! We can't just up and keep an animal we just found if there's another lovin' pony out there missin' him." Twilight couldn't help but notice Applejack's somewhat more upbeat behavior. "We better start puttin' up posters, cause ah'm gonna get you home."
It took a lot of convincing a few shed tears to get the cutie mark crusaders to accept that he may have another home and would need to go back to it, but after cutting a deal with them they were a little more relaxed. The deal was if someone did not come to claim Oliver with one week that he would belong to them forever. With that Applejack and Granny Smith got started on making Pet Found posters with a small description of Oliver's appearance and his name at the very bottom. The fillies played outside with their new friend; this made Applejack nervous. She honestly didn't like this thing and she definitely didn't trust him. For all she knew he could be biding his time before gobbling them up and taking off in the dead of night, never to be seen again. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head, her fears only worsened the more she thought about them.
"Hey Apple Bloom," Scootaloo called out, "catch this!" She threw a brightly colored orange ball in the air, doing her best to keep it from Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle jumped up to get it, but she didn't nearly get high enough. Luckily her back-up, Oliver, turned out to be a very high jumper. His body launched into the air high enough to grab the ball and still go into the air by at least another foot and a half. "Woohoo!" Sweetie Belle cheered, "Go Oliver!"
Big Mac watched in the distance as the fillies played with the odd creature. He had met with it once, but only to pin it down and put the rope-leash on its neck for Applejack. He wasn't really sure how to feel about it, but he had heard Applejack say it was okay for the fillies to keep it and he trusted her judgment. He stopped focusing on the playful fillies and went back to continuing his work on the farm. There wasn't a whole lot left for him to do, so he would get to it and get it done as soon as possible.
Oliver landed hard on his feet with little reaction. When he landed he heard Sweetie Belle cheer for him and mimicked her "Go Oliver!" In doing this he earned himself three tiny gasps, followed by three sets of eyes staring at him in surprise.
Apple Bloom took a few steps closer to him. "Did you just talk?"
"Did you just talk?" Oliver mimicked, using both her words and accent.
Apple Bloom took a moment of silence before an idea popped into her head. "Crusaders, do ya'll realize what we have here?"
"A new pet?" Scootaloo asked in a confused manner.
"A pet we can teach how to speak?" Sweetie Belle asked with excitement.
"Sort of." Apple Bloom began. "Girls, what we have here is a live animal that's never been seen before; A livin', breathin', learnin' thing that is the only one of it's kind. We can do more than teach him to talk, cause if he can learn to talk he can learn other things, we can teach him how to live. It would be like having our own baby!"
Scootaloo was the first to shoot her an odd glance. "A baby, seriously?"
"I don't know. He isn't exactly a pony." Swettie Belle followed up.
"Plus, doesn't there need to be some sort of dad or something?" Scootaloo added.
"I know he aint a pony , but if he's sentient than he should have every right to a normal life as any other pony; and who says that we can't raise him without a stallion?" Apple Bloom argued.
"Well," Scootaloo started, "I guess I'm cool enough to be a father-figure. Why not, I'm in!"
Sweetie Belle hummed to herself. "I guess you're right. If he can think and speak for himself then he should be treated as an equal."
"Of course I'm right. So what do you say crusaders; Do you wanna help me raise this child into a proper, hard-working, gentlecolt or what?" Apple Bloom held out her hoof and her friend's laid theres on top of hers before cheering loudly with excitement for their new journey.
Author's Note
Just a little something to help you guys out:
Chapter 1
10 Years Later
The house looked like it had been abandoned for years. Everything about it had an old vibe; from the mold coating ninety percent of the interior to the cracks in the wood all throughout the entire structure. Hoofsteps echoed from the outside before the door swung open, releasing a cloud of dust to those who dared disturb this homes long standing nothingness. Once open three mares entered carrying boxes on their backs. On of them was a yellow earth pony with a braided red mane tied off with a bow at the end, The next was a white unicorn with a long curly purple and pink mane, finally in flew an orange pegasus with a crazy dark purple mane that looked like she had been sitting in front of a powerful fan all day. They all bared a similar shield cutie mark with their own separate symbols in the center of them and had an unpleasant look about them.
"Is this really the place we're gonna be staying?" Asked the orange pegasus. "It looks like it's about to fall apart."
"It'll be fine, it just needs a little TLC." The yellow earth pony stated with a soft southern accent.
"TLC as in Tender Love and Care, or Totally Lost Cause?" The pegasus remarked.
"I don't see why it matters," Came a third voice, once belonging to a male humanoid creature that strolled in carrying a couple boxes. He stood just under six feet tall with short dark hair gelled to the side with a spiky look to it and wearing cloths that made him look like an eighty's punk rocker. He wore black pants with a studded belt and chains across them, his black shirt was stained by several different elements and he wore a a black jeans jacket with grey stripes across the sleeves. "You're just gonna have me fix it up anyway."
"I'm sorry, everypony. This was the only three bedroom house I could find that fit our budget." Sweetie Belle quickly threw in.
The human walked pass the other two mares and up to Sweetie Belle. He tossed down on of the boxes and uses his free arm to hug her. "Don't worry about it mother, we'll make this place into a proper home. Just gonna needs a little bit of elbow grease."
Sweetie Belle Smiled and hugged him back. "Thanks Oliver. " She said before they finally released each other. "Sootaloo, get the tools. We have some work to do."
It took approximately five hours to get the house cleaned and ready to be decorated, but only to an extent. Their were still plenty of repairs that needed to be made, but that would have to wait until they had the bits to get everything they would need to repair the wood, walls, and floors. For the most part they managed to make it look homey, it was painted with warm welcoming colors that would shine when the sun hit it just right. Once they had finally finished with the decorating they all took a seat in the living area to look over what they had done.
"That took a lot longer than expected." Apple Bloom said, breaking the silence.
"No kidding." Scootaloo commented.
Sweetie Belle wiped the sweat from her brow. "We should probably get cleaned up and get ready for bed. We do still have to work tomorrow after all."
"I call the basement!" Oliver said, shooting up from the ground and running off to his underground sanctuary.
The mares giggled at his behavior. Their little boy has grown into a very interesting individual and they couldn't be more proud. Years of taking care of him, teaching him how to talk, tending to him when he got sick, and finally convincing Rarity to make cloths for him as he grew; It was hell. But he was healthy, he was happy, and in the end that made it all worth while for them. Throughout the years Sweetie was the one who taught him proper speech, Apple Bloom made him fit and showed him the value of hard work and labor, and Scootaloo basically became his life coach. She would teach him what was wrong and what was right and guided him down the path to being awesome . After a bit of reminiscing the mares got up and went to their new separate rooms for the night. When the sun started to rise their alarm clock went off in the form of Oliver's terrified screams from the basement.
Oliver was panting heavily as the nightmare finally came to an end. It was always the same thing every night, he was wandering around somewhere he didn't recognize when e found a large hole in the ground that seemed to go on for miles. As he leaned over to get a better look he would slip and fall into the darkness below. He shuddered at the memory of the reoccurring dream as climbed to his feet and made his way up stairs. He didn't bother putting any cloths on, he was wearing his pants which was enough in his mind. When he made it out of the basement he walked into the kitchen where the three mares were gathered together eating their breakfast.
Scootaloo looked over and saw Oliver walking around without a shirt and started poking fun. "Hey sexy, how did you sleep?"
He waved to her before replying. "Hey ma, did you finally learn how to fly?"
She grabbed a biscuit from the table and threw it at him with a laugh. However, she threw it too high for it to hit its mark so Oliver sent his extendable mouth out and caught it between his many sharp teeth before pulling it into his primary mouth. "Mmm, needs more butter." He took a seat at the table with his mothers and stretched his arms out.
Sweetie Belle looked over Oliver's body, "Your spikes are starting to get long. Both the metal and non metal ones."
Oliver looked over his arms. The curved bones growing out of his body were at least an inch long now and the metal ones stuck nearly five full inches out of the skin on the upper side of his forearm. "I guess they are."
"I wonder if their is some way to file those down or somethin." Apple Bloom thought out loud.
"Why would you want to?" Scootaloo asked, "They look cool!"
"Yeah, but they might become dangerous." Apple Bloom explained. "Just look at those things; he could poke somepony's eye out with one of those."
Oliver looked over his own features, wondering if maybe there was some way to get rid of these things growing out of him. "Do you think Twilight might be able to figure something out?"
Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin as she thought about it. "She might. We'll have to visit her some time and see if she can do somethin' that will help."
Everyone raised their heads high as a knocking came from the front door. "That's funny," Sweetie Belle rose from her seat and walked over to the door, "I didn't think anypony knew we moved here yet." As she opened the door she was met with four earth pony stallions charging in, one of which picker her up into the sir before pinning her against a wall.
Three charged at everyone else, pinning them to the ground as their apparent leader entered. He was a unicorn and taller than the rest with a brown coat and a black mane. "What is it we have here? Some stupid ponies living in our hideout." He nodded his head from side to side as if scolding a child. "That just can't be allowed."
"Excuse me, punk!" Scootaloo shouted as she struggled beneath one of the goons. "But this is our house, we just bought it!"
"Listen you little whore, this house belongs to the Red Dragons." He stated as if they were supposed to know who they were.
"The Red dragons?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yes, the Red Dragons, our gang." The stallion explained. "My name is Red Dragon and I am the leader of this gang and you are on our territory, not only that but you are trying to claim ownership of a house that rightfully belongs to us. That, my friend, is how you start a war."
"Okay, first off, that's now how gangs function." Oliver said, sounding extremely annoyed.
"What would you know about gangs?" Red Dragon asked. "You're not in one."
"Exactly, I'm not." He replied, "When it comes to a gang war that means two separate gangs fighting each other for whatever reason. We are not part of a gang, therefore, it would not start a war. You my friend are just a stupid kid and frankly I've had enough of this." He re-positioned his arms and shoved the pony on top of him upward, sending his body straight into the ceiling. The pony had broken through the first layer of wood above and now dangled in place with a dazed look on his face. Oliver pulled himself back to his feet and walked toward the leader of this so-called gang.
"You shouldn't have done that." A dagger appeared out of thin air and flew into Oliver, the blade digging deep into his stomach before being twisted several directions. Oliver cringed as the blade entered his body and fell to his knees. "You're not as bright as you might think. You may have had your book smarts, but you were definitely lacking in street and the streets are all that matters."
The three mares called out Oliver's name in unison before being silenced by their assailants. All they could do was watch as Oliver silently sat on his knees and started bleeding all over the floor beneath him. He could feel his eyes slowly closing themselves as the end approached him. The mares started struggling harder and screaming, doing anything they could to fight back. But it was useless, their attackers were too strong and were trained for this kind of thing. They may have been amateurs but they knew what they were doing "What do you want us to do, boss?" One of the goons asked.
Red Dragon pulled his knife out of Oliver and cleaned the blood off of it. "Kill them, they are of no use to us." The knife vanished and he turned away from Oliver, getting ready to leave.
The words he spoke echoed around in Oliver's head. Kill them...Kill them...Kill them...Kill them...Kill them... His eyes suddenly opened, but they were different. They had gone from their seaweed green color to pitch black all around. The sound of metal piercing flesh could be heard by all who dwell within the home. The ponies all turned their head to see a heavily disturbing sight. There sat the black eyed human with a blade longer than his body sticking out of his arm with the end punctured deep into the back of Red Dragon's skull. Oliver rose, standing several feet taller than he originally was, as the blade slowly retracted, dragging Dragon's body with it. He reached out and grabbed the corpse, holding it above his head and letting out a loud monstrous roar, claiming dominance. The goons weren't having it though, they forgot all about the mares they were holding and charged at the beast that had killed their beloved boss.
Oliver extended both of his arm blades until they stretched down to his feet. He swung at the nearest stallion, decapitating him with the sharp metal. He attacked the next one, slicing off one of his hooves to bring him to the ground before stabbing a blade into his heart. One of the stallions made it over to Oliver and jumped onto his back. The small bone spikes on Oliver's back suddenly extended several feet, stabbing into the stallion and leaving a perfectly lines set of holes in his body. The spikes sank back into Oliver's skin and the stallions limb body collapsed to the ground. He turned to face the last stallion, letting out a low growl as their eyes met. The stallion was scared for his life and was looking around for an escape route, but before he could take off Oliver made his move. His jaw unhinged and his extendable mouth shot out, biting down on the goons neck before retracting and tearing out his throat and making him choke on his own blood.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all stared at Oliver in fear. They watched as he tore these stallion apart like they were nothing. This wasn't Oliver, this was something else, something evil. It was an animal, a monster that's been hiding deep within him for all these years. Regardless, he was still their son. The mares looked to each other and nodded, both frightened and hopefully. They all rose and made their way to Oliver, stepping over and around the warm red puddles that coated the entire room. Once they were standing just inches behind him Apple Bloom reached out to touch him and the second she made contact Oliver's body snapped and suddenly he was facing them, letting out the most ungodly noises as he leaned closer to them. It didn't even look like Oliver anymore, it looked like something crawled right out of Tartarus and was wearing his skin over it's beastly form.
It took a moment, but Oliver suddenly recognized the ponies that were now standing in front of him and he felt his heart sink. He blinked several times and his eyes went back to their original color. He stared at them before looking at his twisted and deformed body, then looking over the mess he had made out of the one who tried to harm them. His eyes started to water as he turned back to his mothers with so many questions running through his head. The most reoccurring one being this; "What am I?"
After the initial shock of everything that had taken place Oliver demanded that his mothers select a room and stay in it until he said otherwise. They didn't bother arguing it and Oliver made quick work of the bodies by consuming them. This form he was in was very large and very hungry. Once the bodies were gone and he mopped up the blood he started focusing on intentionally manipulating his body. It took a while to figure out and he still didn't know how to use it properly, but after a while he managed to make his body go back to what he'd grown up with.
Oliver made his way to Scootaloo's room, that's where they decided to stay, and knocked on the door. "It's all clear." He told them, sounding as if he were dead on the side. He definitely felt like it. He went back down to the living area and sat down against a wall, thinking back to just moments ago. He didn't know how, but he had lost control and something else had taken over. His thought were interrupted as three mares came into view. "Mom, Mother, Ma..." He said plainly.
"Oliver," Sweetie Belle started, "how are you doing?"
He bit his lips before answering. "I'm as good as I can be, I guess."
"Are you sure?" Asked Scootaloo, "Because that was really intense."
He looked down at his body, there wasn't so much as a scratch on him, not even where the knife had chewed through him. "I'm fine....but I'm scared."
Apple Bloom tilted her head slightly. "Scared of what?"
"What the hay do you think, mom!?" He said, raising his voice, "I'm scared of what just happened, I'm scared of myself and what I could have done. I mean, what if I had hurt on of you?" Oliver buried his face into his palms, trying hide from the world.
Sweetie Belle walked over and sat down beside him, putting a hoof over his shoulder. "Sweetie, it's okay. We know you would never do anything to hurt us."
Apple Bloom joined them. "Yeah, and we don't care what you are. In our eyes, you're still our kind and loving son."
Scootaloo decided to fly over and join as well, hovering above them. "And no matter what, you're still awesome to me." She said playfully.
They managed to get a chuckle out of Oliver who removed his hands from his face and wrapped them all in a giant hug. "I love you guys." He said quietly, but loud enough for them all to hear it. They all joined in and reinforced the embrace.
They may fear what Oliver is capable of, but in the end it all came down to how much they all cared for each other. No matter what, he was still their son and they loved him and would continue to love him even if he was a monster. If only they knew...
Apple Bloom found herself wandering around deep within the Everfree forest. She didn't know how long she had been there or even how she got there. All she knew was that their was something watching her and she was scared. With every step she took she could hear another one behind her, one belonging to something else; something that was breathing deeply and growling with each exhale. Her curiosity started overwhelming her fear, she had to know what was behind her. Apple Bloom stopped moving and so did the thing that was following her. Slowly, she turned around to face her stalker. She felt her heart skip several beats, almost as if it were trying to stop right then and there to save her from this beasts gaze. It stood almost three feet taller than her with impossibly dark skin, its body was twisted and jagged with rough edges randomly about its figure, it stood on hind legs with feet like talons, the entirety of its arms looked as if they belonged to a skinless dragon with long metal blades sticking out from them, its head was as rough as the rest of its body complete with black spike-like additions to its skull and no no lips to cover its large monstrous teeth which hung out freely with blood staining every inch of them. Apple Bloom stared for what felt like hours into its black eyes, but stopped when a light was reflected into her eyes. She squinted at the small light puncturing her eyes and followed it's glare to the beast's throat. Hanging around its neck was a small metal plate that seemed to have something engraved on it. She leaned close to try and read what was on it, but the moment she started moving so did the creature. It reached out and grabbed Apple Bloom in one of its large hands, pulling her up to its head and holding her in front of his teeth. The smell of blood rot and death traveled from it's jaw to her nostrils, making her gag. It opened its mouth to reveal several more rows of long sharp teeth coated in blood and a second smaller mouth deep within its throat that opened its jaws and flew out, swallowing her whole. Apple Bloom screamed as she woke up in a cold sweat on her bread, panting heavily as she tried to convince herself that she was safe and still alive.
Apple Bloom checked her clock and sighed. It was only six o'clock and something told her that she wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon. She figured it was better to be up and doing something rather than nothing, so she got out of bed to shower, brush her teeth, and braid her mane. Overall, it only took her an hour to complete, and she was surprised to find Scootaloo actually up and about. "Hey Scoots. What are y'all doin up so early?"
Scootaloo was fresh out of bed and had to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "I could ask you the same thing."
"You could, but I asked first." Apple Bloom retorted.
Scootaloo chuckled at her friends words. "Alright, you got me on that." She let out a soft yawn before continuing, "I don't know, I had a really weird dream last night and it kept me up all night."
Apple Bloom tilted her head at Scootaloo, "What kind of weird dream?"
"I'm having a hard time remembering it," Scootaloo began, "but I think I was being followed by something." Scootaloo watched Apple Bloom's expression shift from curious to fear. She wanted to question what it was that was bothering her, but decided against it. "Hey, I was thinking that we could all go to the swimming hole today. We've never taken Oliver swimming before, so maybe we could teach him."
Apple Bloom shook of her fears to listen to her friends idea. "The reason we haven't taken him is because he keeps sayin he doesn't like how the water makes him feel. Don't ya remember how hard it was for us to give him a bath?"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes at Apple Bloom, "Yeah, yeah, I remember. But he's older now; I'm sure once we get him in the water he'll realize that he's perfectly fine."
"Alright, but if he starts goin' nutty or gettin an attitude ah'm pointin my hoof right at you." She warned.
"Cool, I'll wake Sweetie Belle up, better we get there early so we won't have to worry about sharing it with anypony for a while." She said and set off to wake her friend.
Apple Bloom shrugged and figured that she might as well go wake up Oliver. As she traveled down the stairs she could hear the stirs of her beloved human child in the basement. He was having another nightmare. It pained her to know that he suffered like this every night, but what could they do about it. They couldn't take him to a doctor for help, his genetic makeup was too complex for them to find something to help and they didn't know how magic would effect his body, so they were advised to steer clear of that. Once she finally reached the bottom she saw Oliver in his bed tossing and turning. She let out a sad sigh before trotting over to his bedside and putting a hoof on him. As she gave him a few light shoves she started to see his eyes slowly opening. Suddenly he screamed, causing Apple Bloom to flinch as he shot up. She saw his arm start to move and her direction and she dropped to the ground as quickly as gravity would let her, letting a long shining metal bar fly over top of her head. She looked up to see that she had just barely dodged the blade currently sticking over four feet out of Oliver's arm and stabbing into the concrete wall behind her. She slowly rose, moving over to the side slightly as to not touch the metal.
Oliver watched as his mom came up from beside his bed and the blade retracted as quickly as it repulsed as he tackled her to the ground and released a title wave of apologies for several minutes straight. Once everything was straightened up between the two they went upstairs to wait for the others so they could head to the swimming hole, Oliver refusing to go in, but willing to join trek.
When they arrived Apple Bloom and Scotaloo wasted no time jumping in and having splash fights, Sweetie Belle however sat next to Oliver and watched the two roughhouse. "So, why is it you hate the water so much?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I don't really hate it," He explained, "I just don't like the way it makes my body feel.
"What do you mean?"
"It makes my skin crawl and I feel tingly all over. I really don't know how else to describe it."
"I guess that makes sense." She replied, "I can understand not wanting to feel that sensation all of the time. I get that feeling when I hear ponies using sand paper on wood."
He smiled, looking over the water hole. "How deep is this thing?"
"I'm not sure. Some ponies have said that its like thirty feet, maybe more."
Scootaloo's attention was caught as she heard their conversation about how deep it was. "Thirty feet, that's it?"
"That's pretty deep Scootaloo." Apple Bloom stated.
"Not even!" She argued, "In fact, I bet I can swim to the bottom and come back up, no problem."
"That doesn't really sound like a good idea."
"Stop being such a foal and just watch me." Scootaloo took a deep breath and dunked herself under, swimming further and further down until they could no longer see her.
Not even half a minute later Apple Bloom started freaking out. "Why hasn't she come back up yet?"
"Maybe it's deeper than we thought," Sweetie Belle commented, trying to calm her friend down. "I'm sure she'll be back up soon, even if it is too deep, she'll need air."
"Ah'm goin down there to see what's keepin her." Before anyone could protest Apple Bloom dunked down to search for Scootaloo.
"Do you think Scootaloo is okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I hope so." Oliver said, just as worried about his ma as they were.
Apple Bloom soon came back up, her panic worse than before. "I got all the way down, but I can't find her!"
"What!?" Sweetie Belle shouted in a high squeaky voice.
"I just can't find her, I don't know what to do."
Oliver could picture it already, his ma sitting at the bottom of the water slowly choking to death on water, dying cold and alone down there, never to be seen again. Something in him clicked and he jumped high into the air, diving straight down into the water. He could feel the tingling sensation coursing through every inch of his body, his insides shifting around, it was almost like he was changing.
Scootaloo barely clung to life as water started to fill her lungs. When she had made it to the bottom she had bumped a loose rock causing it to fall from the side of the pit and land on her hoof, pinning it and her to the ground and making her incapable of swimming back to the surface. As her eyes started to close she noticed something swimming at her, something strange. The only thing she could make out was its humanoid figure with fish spines from its head to its tailbone, that and the blades in its arms stabbing rapid;y at the rock holding her down. After that everything went black.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle waited impatiently at the top of the water hole, staring deep into it with fear and worry filling their bodies. They both flinched as and orange pegasus was suddenly launched out of the water, landing just inches from the two. They stared hopefully at their friend as she started gagging and coughing up all of the water that she had inside of her. They both dropped down and hugged their friend as she started recollecting air.
"Oh mah gosh!" Apple Bloom yelled, "Ah thought you were a goner!"
"Me too!" Sweetie Belle followed.
Scootaloo coughed a few more times before responding with a question. "What was that thing?"
Before the two could answer there was a loud splash as something else came flying from the water hole, landing right in front of the mares. They could tell it was Oliver without so much as a second glance, but this time he was different. His eyes were glassed over for some reason and he had a strange webbing between his fingers and toes. His neck had three long slits on both sides and from his head to his tail bone was a long set of dark grey fish spines.
Oliver soon fell onto his rear as air started filling his lungs. The gills he had grown on the trip down sealed themselves shut, allowing him to breath normally again. The rest of his body soon followed suit and adapted back to its original form. He looked up at his mothers, fearing they might find him as some sort of freak because of the change his body made. He had known all along how his body reacted to water, he just didn't want them to know out of fear that they might find him to be weird. He closed his eyes, waiting for the criticism to strike, but surprisingly he felt himself being embraced and when he opened his eyes he saw Scootaloo holding him tightly.
"I thought I was going to die.." She started, "but you came down and saved me; Thank you!"
He stared down at her and looked up at his other mothers. "You guys don't think I'm weird, that I'm a freak?"
"Oliver, you are anything but normal." Apple Bloom stated, "You're body shifts and changes, you have giant knives comin out of yer arms, and you turn into a fish when your under water. Ah think that you are the weirdest thing to ever show up on Equestrian soil." She explained, causing Oliver to lower his head, until he felt another set of hooves wrap around him, "And I absolutely love that about you. You're not a freak Oliver, you're unique. And that only makes us love you more."
Oliver smiled, wondering why he would ever doubt his family. He knew they loved him, and he loved them in return. He would never doubt them again and that was a promise. The sound of water splashing immediately caught their attention and they turned toward the water hole just in time to see Sweetie Belle surface.
Sweetie Belle looked back at them with a smile on her face. "Does anypony want to join me on a non-exploratory dip in the water hole?"
The three looked at each other and smiled before jumping in. Oliver forcing his fish spines out before he even touched the water. Minus Scootaloo's near death experience, today was a good day. Oliver and his mothers got to go on an enjoyable trip to the water hole and the mares learned something new about their special boy. He was, hooves down, the oddest creature they had ever seen. He was an abomination, a freak, but it's like they used to say; A family of freaks is better than no family at all. A lot of ponies hide things about themselves from their families due to their fear of being judged. Being criticized for who you are can be rough, but you shouldn't let it become something that makes you feel miserable. Ponies should embrace who they are and show the world that their aspects are what make them unique. They shouldn't hide something and feel ashamed, they should use it to drive them and find a way to utilize it for bigger and better things. A lot of ponies don't know it, but even their smallest aspects can change the world.
Oliver shook his head, trying to get that philosophical side of his mind to quiet down and let him enjoy the time he was having with his mothers. He swam out to join the mares, but stopped as an unfamiliar scent found its way into his nostrils. He quickly turned around and saw the silhouette of a stallion standing a great distance away from them. He rubbed the water out of his eyes and when he put his hand back down the silhouette was gone. "What the hay?"
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Apple Bloom wandered around aimlessly around the forest with her friend Scootaloo and her son Oliver. As she did this she called out the name of her missing friend. Sweetie Belle had been missing for well over a week now and it was eating them alive. They didn't know what to do, where to go, or how to handle it. They started by hanging posters left and right, which earned them a visit from Rarity where they had to explain that her younger sister had simply just vanished. Once Rarity was informed word got around to Pinkie and then suddenly everypony in Ponyville knew she was gone. The residents then went out day and night in an attempt to find the missing mare as her nearest and dearest friends search high and low for her as well. They went at it non-stop, being excused from work in order to search for the unicorn they had known since they were very young.
Scootaloo, despite missing Sweetie Belle just as much as Apple Bloom, kept her cool about the whole situation. She had worked quickly and calmly. She would commonly search the ground with her friend and son, but from every now and again she would take to the skies to get a better range of view. She wouldn't admit this allowed, but she's felt an emptiness inside of her grow once Sweetie Belle was gone. Something was nagging at her, as if trying to tell her that their was something else going on, but no matter how much se thought about it she just couldn't put her hoof on what could have happened.
Oliver felt terrible about all of this; about his mother and how she 'vanished'. But, what could he do? He couldn't go to the police, his body wouldn't let him. He couldn't tell anypony, his mind kept that from being an option. It bothered him constantly though, not really the guilt of doing something so horrible, but how doing it felt so right. Yeah he had felt like someone stabbed him in the chest, no pun intended, at first. However, once he took the time to think about it, something inside of him was telling him that it was okay. That what he did was natural, like natural selection. Then these thoughts started flowing through his mind, thoughts about hurting other ponies. This scared him, but at the same time it made him feel excited. Every time the image of blood shed filled his mind he would become hyperactive and his stomach would growl at him like a wild beast. Princess Luna hasn't visited him lately, she must be busy. There are thousands of ponies asleep at night, it's not like she'd just be able to check them all at once to see what's bothering them and helping lead them the right direction. It wasn't needed anyway, after the incident his nightmares seemed to just stop.
As they wandered the woods they continued to call out Sweetie Belle's name, praying for a response, minus Oliver who already knew the truth about what had happened to her. While on their journey Oliver would look around at the dangerous wildlife that filled the Everfree. Yes, they were ferocious monsters that wanted to tear them limb from limb, but whenever Oliver was around they would keep their distance. It was almost as if they felt threatened by him and that kind of power felt good to Oliver. He looked down to see a small bunny, probably one of Fluttershy's. It wasn't normal for small creatures of all thing to be okay with him, but there were a small few that wouldn't run away in terror thanks to Fluttershy convincing them that he wouldn't do anything to hurt them. It looked up at him while wearing a small smile on its tiny face and holding its arms up as if it were asking to be held. Oliver lowered himself onto his knees, grabbing the bunny in one of his hands and twisting its little neck with the other. The small animal made the cutest little squeak as the sound of its spine breaking filled Oliver's eardrums blissfully.
"Oliver!" Apple Bloom called out to her son. He had gone completely still and was staring off into space as if he were being hypnotized. Te look he had on his face scared her slightly, along with his behavior. His sharp teeth were bared and he was breathing rapidly. He almost looked like he was wild animal. "Oliver!!!" She called again, this time actually managing to catch his attention. His breathing slowed down and he started to inspect his hand for some reason, as if he were looking for something.
Oliver snapped out of his short daydream, looking down at his hands to discover that he was not holding the corpse of the small bunny. It was all just in his head. He found himself becoming lost in daydreams like this a lot lately and honestly he didn't know how to feel about them. Part of him knew that it was wrong, while another part of him made him feel as though it was natural. His mind was constantly at war with itself about his emotions and what would be right or wrong.
"Oliver, are you okay?" Apple Bloom asked, her worry for her son growing. He seemed to be getting worse with every passing day and she felt as though this was all because Sweetie Belle had vanished. Of course she wanted to find her friend to ensure her safety, but also to end whatever torment their son seemed to be going through.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, trying to assure his mom that there was nothing wrong. "I just thought I heard something is all."
"Like what?" She asked, hoping that nothing was coming after them. The creatures here usually stayed away when Oliver was with them. Suddenly a small white bunny hopped out from the bushes, bounding up and down madly and pointing to a spot just a bit deeper into the woods.
Scootlaoo flew over after noticing that the rest of the group had stopped and came over just in time to see the wildly bounding rabbit. "Is that Angel bunny?"
"It sure look like'em." Apple Bloom answered, lowering herself to his eye level. "What's wrong, little buddy?"
The small white fuzzball kept bouncing and pointing before simply taking off in the direction it was motioning to. The three looked to each other, then started following the rabbit. Not even seconds later they came across a yellow pegasus with a pink mane laying down in the dirt.
"It's Fluttershy!" Scootaloo shouted, flying over to the mares side and rolling her over. She quickly looked her over, noticing a lump along with a small trace of blood on her forehead.
Apple Bloom made it over shortly after Scootaloo with Oliver standing behind her. "Is she alright?"
"She's knocked out and from the looks of it I would say she hit her head." Scootaloo explained, but she wasn't exactly a doctor so that was all she could figure out.
Oliver reached down and Fluttershy up, throwing her over his shoulder. "Come on, we've gotta go get help." He took of down the direction they had came with his mothers following close behind him, but before they could get very far he tripped over a root, causing him to fall over with his shin slamming into a large rock. He fell to the ground and dropped Fluttershy, he body only sliding about a foot away from where he landed. Oliver was rolling on the ground, grunting in pain at his injury.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were quick into action, Scootaloo moving by Fluttershy's side and Apple Bloom by Oliver's. The farm horse lifted the leg of Oliver's pants and was met with a sight that made her vomit in her mouth.
"Scootaloo noticed her friends odd behavior and questioned it rather quickly. "Apple Bloom, what's wrong, is he going to be okay?"
Oliver looked down, seeing the bone of his leg sticking out of a large chunk of torn flesh with blood leaking out of it in waves. "I'll be fine, you two need to go!" He shouted, slightly out of irritation, but mostly from the pain. "The animals won't come near me and we can't just leave Fluttershy here. Go back to town, find somepony that'll help and get back here!"
The mares looked to each other, mentally arguing against leaving him alone, but they knew he was right. They weren't strong enough to take them both, they would only be able to take one. If they took Fluttershy then they would be at the mercy of whatever came after them and likely wouldn't have much luck outrunning it, if they took Oliver than Fluttershy wouldn't make it. Apple Bloom gave a firm nod to Oliver. "Okay, we'll be back as soon as we can." She ran over to Scootaloo's side and looked back at him. "Stay safe..." And with that they were off, running as fast as their little horse legs could carry them.
Once they were gone Oliver's pained expression sunk away. Looking down at his leg he watched as his body forced the bone back into place, rapidly healing the wound. The process was extremely painful, but it only lasted a short time. Once healed Oliver climbed back to his feet, limping at first, but soon being able to move like normal. He made his way over to Fluttershy and leaned down, his stomach growling angrily at him, disturbing the white rabbit hiding out in her mane. Angel poked his head out of the ruffled pink mess only to be met with Oliver's hand grabbing him and pulling him over so they were face to face. The rabbit struggled, squeaking tiny little insults at the humanoid creature holding it, but was met with silence. Oliver's stomach growled again, his eyes going black as his hunger started to take control of him. Angel started kicking and flailing around in an attempt to break free, but to no avail. Oliver tightened his grip on the small rabbit until its head popped like a tiny watermelon. He dropped the small headless husk to the ground with blood coating his hand. His attention then turned to the unconscious yellow mare laying before him. The skin on his features and face started to stretch as his body took on a more bestial form before climbing over the mare so he would be right above her. He lowered his head to her neck, deeply taking in her scent as his body continued to reshape itself, growing larger and more hideous with every passing moment. Once he felt he was at a sufficient enough size he stood up on two large, hard skinned, hind legs and scooped her into his hand.
Fluttershy could feel herself being lifted into the air, the movement as well as the feeling of being up unsettling her and bringing back to the waking world. However, when she opened her eyes she immediately started praying that she was still asleep. Here she was in the middle of the Everfree with a large creature that looked like it was about ready to tear out of its own skin holding her tightly in one of its large hands. She looked at it with pleading eyes, being unable to talk due to the slight concussion she had. She watched its eyes turn green and the hungered/angry expression on its face soften.
As Oliver looked into the eyes of this poor mare, he remembered all of the fun he had with her. Going over to her cottage for tea parties and to play with the animals. Sometimes he would even go over there with sandwiches just to surprise her. It was like having a very young grandma who loved to laugh and play all day. As he was about to set her down the empty feeling in his gut grew and started to overwhelm him.
Fluttershy watched fearfully as the creature started to fidget around, its eyes turning black again as it screamed and opened its mouth wide. Staring into its jaw was like looking into an abyss with several rows of large teeth pointed to tips. In the back of its shadowy throat she could just barely see a smaller mouth with large teeth of its own opening up. She was getting ready to open her wings and fly away, but she felt something suddenly dig into the back of her neck.
To ensure that the mar wouldn't escape him Oliver raised his thumb and stuck his nail into the back of her neck, severing her spine and rendering her motor skills completely useless. Now, with her body limp, but still living, he gently placed her into his mouth before chomping down hard. He could feel his teeth digging through her flesh and started grinding his jaw from side to side in order to break up her tough horse hide. Not even a second after he had finished consuming her his sensitive ears caught on to the sound of what seemed to be a wing-beat. Turning to face the source of the noise he saw a very familiar orange pegasus staring at him with a mixture of disgust, shame, and sadness.
Scootaloo could do nothing by hover in place out of shock. What she had just witnessed tore her insides apart. Here was her only son, the child her and her friends had raised and given all of the love he could ever ask for committing an act that only a wild animal would. Despite everything that was going through her mind, only one thought reigned over all of the rest. "What did we do wrong?" She asked herself aloud, convinced that somewhere along the lines they had made a mistake and he was acting like this because of that. However, her self-blaming thoughts stopped when she noticed Oliver's tall monstrous form sprinting towards her with a very displeased look plastered across his face. She immediately took off, flying away from him as fast as her wings could carry her.
As Oliver gave chase he swiped at her with his claws, just barely missing her every time. The annoyance of missing each swing and the thought of her making it back to town and turning everyone against him only fueling his rage. He crouched down as low as he could and leaped with all of his might sending him crashing into Scootaloo and bringing them both back down to the ground. The two hit the ground hard, landing several feet from each other.
Scootaloo got up with a struggle and tried to fly, but the second her wings moved a sharp pain surged through her. Looking back she could see that both of her wings were sitting oddly, clearly meaning that they were broken. He head still focused behind her she saw a dark figure pull itself off of the ground and charge in her direction. It didn't take much more to convince her to start running.
He couldn't keep this up much longer, he could already see Ponyville, he couldn't let her make it out. Oliver suddenly changed his pursuit tactics and dropped down to all fours, running after her in the same manner a dog would. It worked, he was moving much fast and with one last push of his willpower he managed to run up right beside her and extended one of his arm blades out in front of her.
She ran as fast as she could, nearing the exit with ever step. She thought she had made it, that it was over from this point on, she wasn't expecting to fall over at the last second. Right when she thought she had made it she could feel something thick and sharp tear through the flesh of one of her hooves, even managing to break through the bone and completely sever a whole part of her leg. The pain itself was enough to knock her down and she rolled as her body collapsed against the ground before coming to a full stop on a dirt trail just a few feet where one would enter the forest. Scootaloo grabbed her bleeding appendage, trying to stop the blood flow by squeezing it as tight as she could, but Oliver's footsteps were enough to make her attention wander elsewhere. As she stared at the beast she remembered all of her life at once; The cuteceanera where she and Sweetie Belle met Apple Bloom and formed the CMC, all of the ridiculous things they did to find their special talent, the day when they help Diamond Tiara realize who she really was and earned their cutie marks, everything. When she snapped back into reality the first thing she saw was Oliver, back in his normal old form, holding a large boulder over his head which he preceded to slam on top of her.
Oliver made sure that this blow would be the last by bringing down the giant rock he had found nearby with all of his strength on top of her head, the size of it crushing the pegasus from her scalp all the way down to the base of her hind legs. He took in long deep breaths, all of that running had taken a bit out of him, but there was no time to rest. The echo of hooves moving against dirt grew closer and he could already see a large herd of ponies making their way to the trail. Wasting no time he took off into the darkness of the woods, making sure to go down a much less traveled path, the last thing he needed now was to get caught again.
Author's Note
Holy shit...I didn't even plan this out, I just started typing and this is what happened...fuck dude
Apple Bloom sat silently in the house she grew up in. Life back on the farm all those years ago was so simple; she would laugh, she would play, and she would be able to run around with her friends to her heart's content. Now she was older, she was alone. She had no choice to come back home after her two friends disappeared, her income wasn't enough for her to hold onto the property. Her sister Applejack welcomed her back with open hooves though, so it wasn't all bad. Who was she kidding? It's been almost a month now since she had been searching the Everfree Forest with Oliver and Scootaloo and just two weeks before that everything started to go downhill. Sweetie Belle was still missing, Scootlaoo was found dead under a large rock, Fluttershy was no where to be seen, and Oliver had simply fallen off of the face of the planet. Now she was here, alone, sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee at five in the morning. All was quiet until the soft pattern of hoofsteps upstairs caught her attention. Big Mac and Applejack must have just woken up, probably to get ready to tend to the farm. Apple Bloom figured that she may as well get off her lazy flanks and make breakfast. Since Granny Smith passed, bless her heart, the two work horses had to get up even earlier just to get something in their bellies so they wouldn't have to work on an empty stomach. About half an hour later her two older siblings came down the stairs, seeming very pleased with the fact that Apple Bloom had cooked for them
Applejack walked over and embraced her younger sister. "Oh sugarcube, y'all didn't have to go an' cook for us."
Apple Bloo wore a light smile, "It's fine Applejack. After all, you did let me come back to live here."
"Of course ah did, yer family, and family sticks together no matter what." Applejack said with a smile, not noticing the big red stallion creeping up behind them.
Big Mac wrapped a single hoof around the both of them, pulling them to his chest to join in the hug and show appreciation for Apple Bloom's contribution "Eeyup." He stated simply, agreeing with Applejack that a family should always remain a single strong unit.
Once all of that was out of the way they all grabbed plates and began to serve themselves. While they ate they discussed ways that Apple Bloom could still help out around the farm while working around her other job. Because she would be working another job they agreed to keep her on light duty chores; stuff like cooking and cleaning up the barn and the house. Apple Bloom agreed, she wasn't going to turn down doing some chores here and there. She knew that family should always look out for each other, but she still felt as though she owed them for allowing her to stay. Once they were done with breakfast the two older ponies placed their dishes in the sink and Apple Bloom got started. She had some time off of her actual job to grieve over the loss of her friends and her son, so she would most likely just be working around the farm for a bit. When she had finished up with the dishes she got started on the rest of the house; dusting the cobwebs out of the corners, sweeping up the dirt on the floor, and wiping down counter tops. When she was done the whole house was practically glimmering. Apple Bloom wiped a couple small beads of sweat from her forehead. It felt nice to do chores again, helped clear her mind of everything that had happened recently. After getting a quick drink of water she went outside to grab the morning paper. She had only been working for maybe two hours and had some time to kill before starting lunch. She trotted over to the couch, sitting down and getting comfortable before unrolling the paper onto a small table in front of her. The headline read thus: Princess Twilight Missing!!! Apple Blooms air got caught in her throat from just the title and she felt her insides turn ice cold as she read on. The papers went on to talk about different theories about how or when she disappeared and that the possibility of a foalnapper is no longer in question. Somepony was clearly taking ponies away and doing something, but who would it be and what are they doing?
Apple Bloom wasted no time running outside to tell her sister about what had happened and the two mares ran down to Twilight's castle as fast as they could. When they arrived they found the castle being swarmed with ponies from the press trying to get inside and guards shoving them away. Applejack quickly caught sight of the royal sisters standing just inside of the castle and charged forward, calling out for them. However, one of the guards on patrol stopped them, believing they were part of the press. "Halt!" He yelled firmly, "By order of the Princess, nopony may enter."
The guard felt a hoof touch his shoulder and looked back to find Celestia looking down at him. "It's okay, they may enter." The guard nodded and the them through. Once they were inside the castle the doors were closed and from the looks of it the other four elements of harmony were here as well.
"What's going on?" Applejack pleaded, "Where's Twilight?"
"Is she okay?" Apple Bloom followed up.
Celestia bowed her head and closed her eyes. "We do not know, not yet. But I am certain we will find her soon."
Luna nodded. "Yes, the guard is on high alert. Searching every inch of Equestria as we speak."
Applejack wanted to say something, but she simply couldn't find the words. Celestia, noticing her struggle, walked over to her. "Do not worry, my little pony. We will fine whoever has done this and punish them for their crimes. For now, I think it would be best if you went over and spoke to your friends." Celestia suggested, pointing over to the group who waved in an unenthusiastic manner to Applejack. She nodded and walked over to join her friends, Celestia following her.
As Apple Bloom was about to join her sister, but found herself being cut off by Luna. "Apple Bloom, I must speak with you in private."
"Uh, okay then..." Apple Bloom replied, slightly confused. She followed Luna as she started to walk away from the group and into a room. "What are we doing all the way down here? Why are we goin' about this like it's some big secret?"
Luna walked over to the window, staring out at the forest not too far from here. "Apple Bloom, what do you know of Oliver?"
"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, he confusion growing.
Luna turned around and marched over to Apple Bloom, putting the fear of god into the young mare with her gaze. "What do you know of him?"
"A-ah don't know what you mean."
"Of what he is..."
"Oh...Well I really don't know what he is. We took him over to Twilight's a few times to see if she coudl figure it out, but she was a s lost as we are. No pony could ever find out what he was." She thought back to the visits they had with all kinds of doctors, scientists, vets, you name it, they've been there. They wanted to find out as much as they could about him so they could take better care of him. "But, Honestly, I don't really care."
"I beg your pardon?"
Apple Bloom smiled for the first time in a while and this time it was genuine. "Oliver is by far the weirdest thing I have ever seen. His body is all weird, and whenever we we so much as go out swimming it would change into something weirder. But really, ah don't care what he is-" As tears started to form in her eyes and began rolling down her cheeks, "ah miss him and ah just want him back. He was mah baby..."
Luna felt touched by her sentiment, but it wasn't right. There seemed to be some strange look in Luna's eye, something that said that she knew what was going on. "Apple Bloom, I am sorry for all of your losses. However, the games must end here. Oliver was not your child and you will need to accept that very soon. He is the one behind all of these disappearances and we both know it."
"What are you talking about?" Apple Bloom asked with venom in her words. Hearing Luna accuse Oliver of being responsible for everything that had happened more than got on her nerves.
"Your maternal instincts have blinded you to the truth. You took him in and raised him as a son, your love is keeping you from seeing it, but you must listen to me. He is-"
"NO!!! Oliver would never do nothin to hurt nopony! And the fact that you're here accusin him is just disgusting! How do we know you aren't takin all of them ponies, Nightmare Moon!?" Luna gasped and stepped back, being called by that name wounded her very deeply. She had forgiven herself for everything she had done, but the guilt would never stop burdening her. Apple Bloom walked over to the door and opened it, "Princess Luna, y'all need to stop talkin about Oliver! You understand? You weren't with us helpin take care of him, so stop actin like you know 'em!" She stormed out slamming the door shut with enough force to shake the crystal walls.
Luna, after recovering from the initial shock, bowed her head down and closed her eyes. A single tear found its way down the side of her face. "If only you knew..." She opened her eyes and looked up at a nearby mirror. Her horn began to glow with her magic and the reflection shifted as the glass started flowing like water. The fluid-like motions ceased and an image appeared. It was one of Oliver sitting up in a tree, his body coated in a mixture of dirt, sticks, leaves, and blood. As she looked through the image of Oliver looked up and his head snapped from side to side as if searching for something. Much to Luna's surprise his eyes rest on looking forward, making it appear as though he was looking at her. She didn't know why, but she felt a strange desire to reach out. She fulfilled this desire and held out a hoof, placing it against the magically altered glass. The image of Oliver slowly lifted one of his hands and held it out, as if reaching out to touch her hoof. She jumped away from the mirror and deactivated the spell. Her heart was racing; she didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't deny the facts. He knew she was watching him and he felt the same connection she did.
Before Luna could continue with her thoughts Celestia opened the door and entered the room. "Sister, what was the meaning of that?"
Luna looked back at Celestia, slightly started and obviously nervous. "T-the meaning of what?"
"You brought Apple Bloom back here and now she has been triggered! As we speak she is screaming at the press and scaring them off! I'm not saying them leaving is bad, but I would like to know what caused this." Luna's expression sank as she started to break down. Celestia was slightly taken back by this. Normally Luna was not one to show her emotions so openly, however she could understand her pain. Celestia walked over and forced her sister into an embrace, which Luna greedily accepted. "It's about him again isn't it?" Luna hummed in approval, finding words to be very difficult to form at the moment. "Don't worry sister. We'll find him and see to it that he is put back into the proper care."
Outside Apple Bloom had to be dragged away from the screaming ponies by her sister. On their way back home Applejack had demanded that she explain her sudden outburst, but Apple Bloom held her tongue. She was angry, infuriated, livid beyond all belief. How could she accuse him of being the one who was taking all of those innocent ponies, of being the one that murdered her friend? It couldn't be possible, it wasn't possible...was it? Her mind wandered back to when he had killed all of those ponies when they first moved into their new house. No, that was different. He only attacked them because he was trying to defend his family, he was trying to protect them because he isn't a monster. He's different, but he's sweet, he's loving, and he's protective of his family. That's what family was there for, to love and protect each other.
"Apple Bloom!" Her older sister shouted, finally snapping her out of her thought.
"What?" She asked with an attitude.
"You are going to tell me why you were yellin at them ponies and you're gonna do it now!"
"Because Luna said Oliver did it!"
Applejack was surprised that she actually answered. She half expected her sister to continue being silent about the whole ordeal. "What in Equestria are you talkin about, girl?"
"When Luna pulled me aside to chat, she accused Oliver of takin all them ponies! Even said hat he was the one that killed Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom started tearing up again, the memory of finding her friend's body half crushed by a large boulder filled her with pain and the image itself would never stop haunting her.
Applejack remained silent for a moment, thinking about Oliver and all they had to deal with when it came to his upbringing. "What if he is the one behind all of this?"
Apple Bloom stopped dead in her tracks, giving her older sister a stare that could strike fear into the hearts of grown stallion. "How could you say that!?"
"Well it aint exactly hard to believe. And, if Luna thinks he did it then ah wouldn't doubt it for a second. She's the Princess of the Night, ah'm pretty sure she has a feel when it come to situations like this."
"Stop it..." She begged silently between sobs.
Applejack,not hearing her sisters please, continued. "Don't ya remember how he used to o out and kill little animals and eat them, that in normal-"
"Applejack, please..."
"and then there was that time when he bit Big Mac, then then he-" Applejack was suddenly cut off as she felt a hoof smack her against the face, hard. She stood their silently from the shock before putting a hoof to her face and looking back to Apple Bloom, who had tears streaming down her face.
"If you really think it was him, then you obviously don't care about Oliver...Or me!" Apple Bloom turned around and took off, running away from the farm, refusing to look back or listen to the calls of her older sister. After a few minutes she finally turned around, finding nopony behind her. She came to a complete stop, greedily sucking air into her lungs to quench her thirst for oxygen. She waited to catch her breath for no longer than a minute before continuing her trek. Having nowhere else to go, she made her way to a place that he hadn't been for many years. Pushing through the trees was a bit harder than she remembered, but when she made it to her destination her mind started combating itself. The sight of her old clubhouse filled her mind with pleasant memories, back before any of these horrible things started to happen. She remember how they had worked together to fix it, how they had meetings to plan out how they would get their cutie marks, and once when they let Scootaloo create a 'Rainbow Dash' fan club. Their were so many great memories here that immediately became ruined as the thoughts of her friends being gone started forcing their way back into her head. She stopped and ignored the pain. There was nothing left for her here. Her friends were gone, her son was gone, her family didn't lover her. All that was left was one question; What will you do now? She asked herself this over and over and no matter how long she sat there and thought about it she couldn't seem to come up with an answer. The sun began to set and the moon was rising. She forced any and all thought outside of her mind, the constant nagging of it was becoming too stressful for her attention. Once her mind was cleared out enough she climbed the stairs up to the clubhouse and entered. There was more than enough room for her to sleep here tonight and she planned on taking full advantage of that tonight. Apple Bloom walked to the center of the room and laid down, letting herself drift off to sleep.
After searching for a few hours with the help of her big brother, Applejack was forced to call it a night. She wasn't proud of it, but her body was demanding rest and she wouldn't be able to fight much longer. She had already explained the whole story to Big Mac and he was as surprised as she when he heard that Apple Bloom had not only snapped and started screaming at ponies left and right, but had also slapped Applejack. She knew that it was her fault for her sister running off, she was going on about a subject that caused her sister a great deal of pain. She was being insensitive and, honestly, she would have done the same thing if their positions were switched. She felt absolutely horrible about the whole thing, but Big Mac reassured her that everything would be alright so long as they stick together and find Apple Bloom. Sadly, that last part would have to wait until tomorrow. Applejack and Mac said their good-nights and went off to bed. She climbed up and slipped under the covers, her body wasting no time in putting her right to sleep. What seemed odd though, was that just before she finally nodded off, she could have sworn she smelled smoke.
Author's Note
Wow guys. I cannot believe how far we've come. Chapter 5...We're so close
Apple Bloom stirred from her sleep from an echo in the distance. She yawned before standing up and stretching, the sun wasn't even out yet, but for some reason she could see bright lights coming from the direction of the farm. She heard the echo again, it sounded like somepony was screaming. The smell of smoke started to fill the air around her and her tired mind finally started putting the pieces together. Her eyes widened in fright as she charged out of the clubhouse and trotted as fast as she could back to the farm, finally arriving to a sight that made her heart sink deep into her gut. There stood her child hood home completely engulfed in flames and surrounded by ponies of all kinds dumping buckets of water on it in the hopes to bring down the fire. Finally the pegasi flew in with large storm clouds, making it rain over the burning structure. Apple Bloom got as close as the heat from the fire would allow her with tears in her eyes that were being masked by the intense amount of rain landing all around them. Once the fire was out and there was nothing left but the large charred house filled with smoke she forced her way through the crowds of towns-ponies and ran through the front door. She stopped for a moment to check her surroundings, her eyes locking onto the heavily damaged flight of stairs. After a bit of quick maneuvering and the occasional stumble as the floor literally broke apart from under her she managed to make it up the stairs, but immediately regretted the decision. The first thing to grace her sight was the burnt corpse of her older brother laying on the floor with smoke rising from the singed meat of his large body. Apple Bloom gagged, she didn't know which she was going to do first, cry or throw-up. Her thoughts as well as her actions were soon interrupted by what sounded like groaning in one of the rooms. She held her breath an averted her eyes from Big Mac's body, walking around his body so she could reach the door that belonged to the bedroom of her older sister. The knob was likely very hot from the fire so rather than grabbing it Apple Bloom kicked the door open. She found Applejack laying on the floor in the same physical manner as Big Mac, but somehow the once orange farm horse was still alive.
Apple Bloom was immediately brought to tears at the sight and ran over to her sister. "Applejack! Hold on, I'll get you out of here!" She grabbed Applejack and attempted to lift her, stopping when she heard the sound of flesh being ripped and her sister crying out in pain. Setting her back down she examined the area, just noticing that her sisters burnt flesh was fused to the floor-boards. She struggled to think of a way to free her sister, looking around the room frantically for something, anything.
She was suddenly interrupted as Applejack weakly called her name. "Apple Bloom..." She said, forcing her hoof to rise up and reach for her kin, despite the pain that came from her burnt flash tearing from the movement.
Apple Bloom's face started unleashing waves of her sadness through her eyes as she watched her sister reaching out for her. She walked over and sat down, grabbing Applejack's raised hoof. She didn't care about the burns, she just wanted this to be nothing more than some horrible nightmare.
"Apple Bloom..." She said once more, feeling the life fading out of her. "It's not...your...fault...I love you..." As she finished saying this her body went limp and she let out a long breath that almost didn't seem to end.
It took ten minutes and three stallions to pry her off of the lifeless husk once known as Applejack. Once she was off they were forced to drag her, kicking and screaming, out of that house. It took some time before she finally calmed down enough to stop attacking everypony that went near her, but once she had settled a familiar white unicorn eventually found her was over.
Rarity approached, but with caution. She had seen what kind of damage Apple Bloom was capable of when provoked lately and she did not plan to over step her boundaries. She stood next to the young earth mare, who didn't seemed to notice her, before speaking to her softly. "Good morning Apple Bloom."
Apple Bloom turned her head to face the source of the voice speaking to her; she could just barely see the sun beginning to rise behind the unicorn. She didn't say anything though, just stared at her.
Rarity would assume nothing less than silence. The poor mare had just lost her whole family, she was likely traumatized. Rarity straightened herself out before taking a seat beside her. "I'm deeply sorry, Apple Bloom. Applejack and Big Mac were like family to me and they will surely be missed." She explained, her voice cracking every so often.
Apple Bloom watched as Rarity's eyes started to water slightly, but this only angered her. What would she know about loss? Probably a lot actually. Apple Bloom's nerves started to settle as she remembered that rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle, one of her best friends, had vanished and was still missing to this day. "Thank you..."
Rarity was slightly shocked she had gotten a response at all, but this wasn't something to be played with. She was happy that Apple Bloom was still capable of opening up, even if it was just a little bit. "Well, and I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I suppose you will be needing a place to stay for the time being?"
Apple Bloom let out a soft sigh. She really didn't have anywhere else to go, other than the clubhouse, but she didn't want to burden Rarity. "Don't worry about it, Ah'll find somethin' eventually."
"...please..."
"Pardon?"
Rarity's eyes started to water up once more. "It's no trouble, I promise. Thing's have been kind of lonely since..." She stopped, closing her eyes tightly in an attempt to keep her emotions hidden. "I would just really appreciate the company...With Sweetie Belle gone, as well as the other, I'm just so lonely."
"Wait," Apple Bloom started, " what do you mean when you say the others ?"
"You know of Twilight and Fluttershy...Now Pinkie and Rainbow have vanished as well." She explained, finding it harder to fight the tears that had been building up for so long.
Apple Bloom was awe-struck. They had both lost everything; their friends, their family, all of it was just gone. She watched as Rarity finally let go and released her emotions, she was quiet about it, but she had still finally cracked. Apple Bloom inched her way over to Rarity before wrapping her hooves around her and pulling her into a warm and comforting embrace.
After being slightly taken back by Apple Bloom's sudden actions Rarity returned the hug, letting a light smile creep across her features for the first time since Sweetie Belle's disappearance.
After holding each other for what felt like hours the two broke their embrace and started to make their way to carousel boutique. Once there Rarity showed Apple Bloom to Sweetie Belle's room. She already knew where it was, but she figured it was best to just humor Rarity for the time being.
Before heading down the stairs Rarity turned back to face Apple Bloom. "Darling, I have a few orders I need to take care of. If you feel like doing something you're always welcome to come help." She said, smiling weakly at her guest.
Apple Bloom did the same in turn before replying. "I think I'd like that Rarity."
Rarity motioned for her to follow and Apple Bloom complied. It wasn't exactly easy for her to help with the sewing aspect, being an earth pony and all, so instead Apple Bloom helped sort out materials, bring over anything Rarity might need, and package completed orders so that they could be shipped out as soon as possible. They spent hours doing this while talking back and forth, telling jokes, telling stories. Eventually they found themselves laughing every so often just by simply enjoying the presence of the other. It was nice to get all of their feelings out and let go of the pain, it didn't mean that they cared any less for those who were lost, but that they had simply braved the storm and were ready to move on, carrying the memory of the one they loved.
Apple Bloom finished packaging the last set of dresses before finally falling onto her flank and letting out a sigh of relief. She enjoyed working, but taking a break was always good too. "Rarity, Ah'm mighty thankful for you letting me stay here. Ah really wish I could do something to make it up to ya."
She shot Apple Bloom a crooked look. "What ever do you mean darling? You've just helped me complete a full weeks worth of orders! I believe you have more than earned your keep."
Apple Bloom smiled up at her friend before her attention was became caught by a dark blur running pass on of the windows. Her head shot over toward the transparent glass as her eyes started scanning for any kind of further movement.
"Are you alright?" Rarity asked, causing Apple Bloom's head to jerk back in her direction, "You seem a bit...what's the word? Jumpy, I guess?"
"What? Oh, no. Ah aint jumpy, Ah just noticed that it was getting pretty late." She said in an attempt to cover for her weird behavior.
Rarity looked at the window. "Oh my, it really has gotten late. Time sure does fly when you're hard at work with such a good friend! Com, come now. I'll see you to your room."
The two got up from their places and walked upstairs. Rarity, after taking Apple Bloom to Sweetie Belle's older room, bid her friend a good night and went off to get some rest. As Apple Bloom climbed into the bed and got comfortable she found herself feeling genuinely calm and relaxed. She still missed her friends dearly, as well as her family, but she couldn't let the thoughts of them torment her. They wouldn't have wanted that, they would want her to move on and be happy. So for their sake, and hers, she was going to do just that. After not even a minute of laying down she found herself slipping into dream land with little effort. The darkness that was filling her sight soon became a bright and blinding light as her vision became engulfed by the sight of a full moon. She raised a hoof to shield her eyes from the immense brightness and before she had a moment to thing she saw the shadow of an alicorn appear on it.
"Apple Bloom, you must listen to me." The shadow spoke with a voice that sounded way too familiar.
"Luna?" She asked, her mind suddenly being filled with thoughts of anger. "What the hay do you want?"
"Please, Apple Bloom. You are in danger, you must awaken." Her voice held firm, but her concern could be lightly picked up from her usual tone.
Her curiosity started to grow upon hearing this, so rather than arguing she decided to pry a bit. "What do you mean? How am ah in danger?"
"There is no time to explain, he is already so close. You must run!"
The moon started to glow brighter before a set of large black claws grabbed onto it and crushed it to dust in its palms. Apple Bloom started quickly backing away as the beast from her previous nightmare reappeared, this time being giant. A tall dark creature with spines and spikes donned on its rough and twisted body, with massive blades protruding from its arms. The gargantuan beast roared wildly as it pounced, leaping at Apple Bloom with a hungry look in its black eyes. Suddenly she awoke in a cold sweat, sitting up quickly, her face wet from the intense dream. After looking around and seeing that she was okay, she managed to take a breath and let it slide off of her like dead weight. Once her mind started to clear she reached her hooves up and rubbed her tired eyes. "Sweet Celestia," she muttered to herself, "why can't ah just have one normal night?" She lowered her hooves from her face, screaming the second she did so. They were covered in a thick red liquid that she easily recognized as blood. Looking up she saw several holes in the ceiling where the blood seemed to be leaking from. Apple Bloom quickly leaped out of the bed and charged upstairs to Rarity's room. The door had been torn off of its hinges, allowing her to run straight in. The carnage that laid before her was heart-wrenching; her one and only friend left in this cruel world was laying on her bed convulsing with several holes decorating her body.
Apple Bloom ran to Rarity's side, grabbing her face and turning it to face her. She couldn't lose her, without Rarity she would be all alone. "Rarity, stay with me now...Please! You're all I have left!" She immediately froze as the sound of something large breathing right behind her started to fill shake her eardrums.
Rarity's eyes shot up to Apple Bloom's face. "Run..."
Apple Bloom hesitated at first, but once the breathing behind her turned into a bestial growl the decision was made for her. Her body forced her up onto her hooves and into a sprint out of the room, earning a loud roar from whatever was behind her. After practically flying down the stairs, and almost tripping a number of times, she finally made it the the main room. However, before she could get to the door the ceiling collapsed just in front of her and following the debris was the creature. Despite it being much smaller, it was identical to the monster that she had been seeing in her dreams. Her thoughts became interrupted as it started to walk on its hind legs towards her. Apple Bloom backed away until she found herself up against a wall. Having no where to run she simply faced the creature, before taking notice of the necklace it wore with a silver plate on it. Squinting a bit she managed to read an engraving on the plate; Oliver . The beast raised its bladed arms, ready to finish her off as it swung at her.
"Oliver, wait!" Apple Bloom shouted with her eyes sealed shut so she wouldn't have to watch herself die. Once the strike didn't come she opened her eyes, seeing the blade at a complete halt less that a centimeter from her face. "Oliver, it's me." She pleaded, the beast finally lowering its weapon. "That's right, baby. It's your mama. Come here..." She opened her hooves, holding them out wide to offer a welcoming embrace.
Oliver felt a pang in his mind as she did this, but something else was fighting against him. It fought harder than he ever could and his mind became that of a feral beasts once more. He roared at her holding up his blade again, this time, he wasn't going to stop. He watched as the mare her once called his mother dropped down in defeat, accepting her fate. At least this would be easier. He held the blade up high and stuck, but before the blade could connect he found himself being blasted against a wall by a bright beam of energy. He hit the wall hard, but his thick skin protected him from any damage as well as any pain that could have come from the impact. He got back to his feet, this time being on all fours so he could move quickly if need be. However, he found his body frozen at the sight before him. Beyond the large hole that now graced the carousel boutique was the alicorn princess of the night. He wanted to charge her, he wanted to attack, but something was stopping him. Some sort of strange new instinct was taking over his body. As Luna walked through the wreckage and close to him he could feel a strange warmth growing from with him.
Luna walked into the now damaged building, but just far enough to where she would be able to speak to her subject. "Apple Bloom, are you unharmed?"
Apple Bloom laid on the ground with tear streaming down her face. "Ah'm fin...I'm sorry princess...Ah'm so sorry. You were right all along...This is my fault, all of it..."
Luna hung her head slightly, "No, Apple Bloom. The burdens that have arisen shall not fall unto you, but me."
Apple Bloom lifted her head to face the night Princess with slight confusion. "What?"
Luna bowed her head, but only for a second. Her eyes focused onto Oliver, locking onto his form before she started to walk over to him. The closer she got the less aggressive he became, his stature lowered as Luna seemed to become more threatening than he. It was as if he were a dog who had misbehaved and his owner was stomping their way toward him. As Oliver seemed to cower slightly he started to slowly make his way over to Luna. Once they became close to one another Oliver lowered any and all of his defenses; his blades retracted, his spines sunk, and his hard skin became smooth and firm as he started to rub up and nuzzle against her. Luna looked down at the calm mutation before her, a tear gracing her features as she put a hoof around its neck and held him close to her
Apple Bloom stared at the two in shock as the realization finally started to dawn on her. When Luna said that Oliver wasn't her child, she said it because-
"I'm so sorry..." Luna said aloud, interrupting Apple Bloom's thoughts as she grabbed the creatures head and twisted its neck sharply, eliciting a loud crack as its neck was snapped and its spine became severed.
Oliver fell to the ground, struggling to move, to breath, the only noise he was able to make were horrible panting sounds as he attempted to suck air into lungs as his body convulsed on the floor. His bodies natural abilities eventually kicked in and his neck made another loud pop as his spine was set back in place and healed rapidly.
Luna had expected this though, in fact, it was part of her plan. As Oliver rose up onto his hind legs and prepared to take the offensive Luna charged her horn and set a powerful beam of magical energy through his chest, completely destroying his heart. She watched he started flailing around the room wildly, the pain taking complete control of his mind as he threw his body all around, trying with every last breath he took to make the hurt vanish. He started to go after Apple Bloom, but his weakened body caused him to collapse. His determinations, however, forced him to crawl at the young earth mare. Once he was close enough to reach out and touch her Luna fired again, this time severing his arm.
As Oliver's body finally went limp and fell completely flat against the floor it started to revert back to it humanoid appearance, leaving only the two mares and his naked bloody form on the ground.
The nurse checked the machines, mentally reading the vital signs that appeared. "You sure are lucky Miss Rarity. If Apple Bloom and Princess Luna hadn't found you when they did, you surely would have perished."
Rarity looked over at the the two from her hospital bed and smiled at them. "Thank you, both of you. Honestly, I didn't think I was going to make it."
Apple Bloom walked over and placed a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "How are ya feelin?"
"A bit sore, darling. I'll be alright though." She reassured.
Luna looked over at the nurse with a questioning gaze. She quickly took notice of this and nodded. "Yes, she's in pretty rough condition, but I have no doubt in my mind that she will power through this."
Luna nodded to the nurse. "Thank you and do try to keep this quiet. The last thing Rarity needs right now is for the press to be swarming her in the state she is in."
"Of course Princess." The nurse said with a small bow and exited the room and closing the door, leaving them to be among themselves.
Apple Bloom nuzzled Rarity happily. "Ah'm so glad that you're gonna be okay. I don't know what I would have done without you."
Rarity returned the affection and pulled Apple Bloom into a loving embrace. "Come on, darling. Did you really thing a few puncture wound were going to keep me down? I would never leave you like that."
Luna smiled at the two before exiting, not giving them a chance to say goodbye as she teleported out of the hospital and next to a carriage. Within the carriage was her dear sister Celestia and atop of it a body bag with the remains of the beast that once terrorized this town and killed five out of the six elements of harmony, as well as two innocent mares. She sighed and entered the vehicle, closing the door with her magic before the pegasi took flight and carried them back toward the castle. Luna leaned against the window, staring down at the small town.
"I'm proud of you, Luna." Celestia stated, earning her sister's attention. "You overcame the feeling you had for the good of our subjects. I understand it must have been difficult, but you've done a great thing." Luna just huffed at her sister and continued to stare out the window. "He wasn't your responsibility sister. You need not feel responsible for his actions."
Luna's head shot toward Celestia with an angered expression. "Of course he was. He may not have come directly from me, but he was still-"
"Luna, he belonged to Nightmare Moon. He was not your creation, he was hers." Celestia argued, trying to convince her sister that none of this was her fault.
"Sister, I AM Nightmare Moon!" She snapped, "It doesn't matter how you look at it. Our minds may not have been the same but we share the same body that birthed him. On top of that he was turned to stone after I was banished. He needed my magic to fuel him and because of that connection he was released upon my arrival!" Luna leaned back into her seat, slightly sinking into the plush of it. "This is my fault two time over..."
Celestia knew arguing with her sister would get her no where, the only option she had was to just drop the subject completely. The rest of the trip to Canterlot was silent, aside from the occasional strong winds. When they landed they waited patiently for the carriage to come to a complete stop before exiting, Luna levitating the body bag off of the vehicle and placing it on her back. "Luna, what are you doing?"
"I've already told you, sister. He is my responsibility, I will take care of it." This caused Celestia to roll her eyes, but again she decided not to argue. Luna marched through the castle, making her way to her quarters. After demanding privacy from the guards she entered her bedroom and locked the door behind her as well as casting a soundproofing spell around the room. Once done she laid the body bag on the floor and unzipped it with her magic just enough to see Oliver's bare face and torso. His skin was extremely pale and his eyes had been closed before they wrapped him up. Other than that it looked like he was just sleeping peacefully. Luna put a hoof to his cheek and closed her eyes, her body turning pitch black as she focused her magic. Her teeth suddenly became razor sharp and when she opened her eyes they worked themselves into slits. She smiled, looking back down at Oliver's cold corpse, still rubbing her hoof against the skin on his face. "Oliver, my special little boy... " She laid down on the floor and leaned her head down to the hole in his chest. A small wave of magic began leaking out from her horn and into the wound, surrounding it completely. Once the wave stopped and the magic dissipated the wound was gone. She smiled at this before moving her head up to his and planting a light kiss on his temple. "It's time to wake up. " Her ear flicked as the sound of something ripping to her side caught her attention. Hey eyes wandered to the source of the noise and what she found was a thick metal blade that had stabbed through the leather sack and seemed to be extending further.
Oliver opened his eyes, looking up into the face of a mare that he had not seen in so many long years. "Mother..."
Author's Note
Holy fuck guys, this has been one hell of a ride, but sadly it has to end here. Thanks to all of you who have been keeping up with this story from the beginning and to those who just happened to find it and check it out. It's been fun, I really enjoyed writing this despite how annoying it would get sometimes, but still. I had a great time and this story has had it's time in the light for a good while. Thanks again and I hope you stick around to see more of my work. As for the cliffhanger...We'll just have to see where that goes.
