Granny's Perfect Present

As the wind flowed on the leaves, silence took over. Each timber wolfs eyes glowed on Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Everything had stopped, a frozen moment before the storm. Scootaloo shivered in the cold and her coat stood on end

Crashes of waves on tentacles were the first break in silence. Gromin's tentacles began to glow, emanating in three separate colours again, and, with a sudden pop, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom found themselves in darkness.

Now they weren't just cold, but they felt the presence of walls. Around them was a room of some kind, though the abyss they could see gave no image. Apple Bloom felt around with her hoof, searching for any other sign of life.

"Scoots, you here?" Ice seemed to strike the back of her throat; Apple Bloom felt numbness take her over in the cold darkness.

"Right here." As Scootaloo spoke, they're hooves collided. Apple Bloom moved as close to Scootaloo as possible in attempt to feel the warmth of her pegasus friend.

"Scoots, it's dark in here." Apple Bloom  stated the obvious. She wanted some kind of perception, other than the cold; it soon came for her.

The room illuminated slowly, with a faint purple glow.  Apple Bloom knew straight away, the rock, covered in ice, with the odd pink spots no longer glowing. Beyond the seat atop the rock, a frozen waterfall descended into an icy lake.

"This isn't right." Apple Bloom took in her surroundings, she felt horror at the changes. It looked like Granny's description except... "Everything is icy and cold, Why is everything icy?"

"Is this Candy's kingdom?" Scootaloo managed to finally catch up. She looked around and kicked a rock across the room. "Not quite how i expected it. It's nothing like Twilight's palace."

Hollow winds then cut passed the duo and glided off the edge of the cliff. A foul stench hung on the new air. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom turned to an entrance, where the breeze was entering. Beyond it a glowing pair of eyes shone through the dark, and then another two joined. All three timber wolves stepped out of the void.

As they stepped slowly forward, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom found themselves being pushed closer to the cliffs edge. A crash of ice, blasting up from the drop, signalled Gromin's arrival. Apple Bloom looked down to the hard beak, with it's tentacles climbing to inspect the fillies.

"Welcome fillies, to my domain." His voice bounced from the cliff edges as it echoed  up, not losing any of its rusty pitch. "I know it looks small know, but one day this will be the centre of all of Equestria."

"No, you didn't!" Apple Bloom's world crashed down. She fell backwards, stumbling over an ice white stepladder and over the odd spot rock. There on the seat, to her shock, was a lifeless brown doll, with a straw blonde mane. Hollow and empty as it was, Granny's stories depicted her well. "Candy?"

Nothing, not a flinch, came from the doll. Even normal pony dolls had more life than this one, it was just blank. Apple Bloom looked into it's cold button and marble eyes, still nothing.

"My daughter is finally well behaved." Gromin's multi-coloured magic enveloped the doll and it floated upwards. Its legs dropped to the ground, its body seemed limp and its head fell to one side.  "She gave me my rightful power."

Apple Bloom remained silent. The sudden shock of her Granny's false victory broke her.  A cold symbol of the false past hovered before her eyes, a mockery of Granny's adventure.

"No!" Scootaloo's hoof crashed to the ground loudly; Apple Bloom snapped from her self absorption. "You're just a mean kraken, Candy was a nice doll before you, and I want to meet her!"

Almost childishly, Scootaloo began a filly fit. Just like Apple Bloom, she didn't want to believe the truth, but there it was before them. Apple Bloom picked herself up, looking into the eyes of the ghostly doll.

"She's long gone filly, the power worked on her." A tentacle crept up on Apple Bloom and wrapped itself around her back hoof. " Now let's see if it works on ponies."

"What are you doing, let go!" Apple Bloom battled the tentacle striking the eye, but a blue barrier blocked each strike.

Scootaloo also tried to attack the kraken's limb. She jumped, using her wings for extra distance, and tried to kick it, but ricocheted back into the cave wall. She struggled to return to her hooves, while Gromin dragged Apple Bloom down the cliff.

Her eyes dropped down to see Gromin's beak glowing an odd purple. Surges of power sparked off it; his power seeped up his tentacles and around Apple Bloom.

Soon came the slow drain of power. Apple Bloom couldn't fight the release of her being. Her eyes grew blurry and eventually closed shut. She felt who she was run away from her, like a spark being consumed by a bigger flame. She lost some of her perception, everything grew darker, quieter and emptier.

Scootaloo's voice faded in and out, calling Apple Bloom's name, but she couldn't call back. A sudden smash and another strange voice echoed in through the quiet. She wanted to look but instead fell into an unconscious slumber.

Apple Bloom looked around to see a purple mist. It completely enshrouded her and felt comforting on her coat. She looked down to see nothing but the mist below her. She floated, but it was like walking.

"Where am I?" Apple Bloom stepped forward and watched the sparkles around her, like stars at night. They floated and spun horizontally around her. "Hello?"

"Anny?" A kindly voice called from around her. Its voice surrounded her from all sides and came in a high tone. Apple Bloom searched for an origin but found herself disorientated in the purple mists.

"Who's there?" She walked in every direction, but seemed to stay in one place. Everything followed her as she moved. "Erm, Help?"

"Anny, its me." Each sparkle glistened as the voice called out. "Anny?"

Apple Bloom felt an odd sensation shoot across her spine. Shivers repeated back and forth across her until she called back. "Candy?"

"Anny!" All the stars froze in place as Candy's voice resonated from within. "I knew you'd come for me Annie, I'm sorry my spell didn't take me with you."

"I'm not Anny." Apple Bloom felt calm and safe here. As empty and odd as the plane was, everything still felt alive. "Anny's my Granny. I came looking for you."

Everything seemed to get colder and dimmer. A sudden unease clouded Apple Bloom. Candy's stars grew dark with her voice.  "Who are you? You're just a Gromin puppet aren't you."

"No, my name's Apple Bloom." Pins and needles seemed to tingle across Apple Blooms body. She fought through the odd sensations. " I'm Granny's granddaughter I swear."

Another change took over on the environment. Everything became neutral and Apple Bloom felt some uncertainty, as if she was making a decision.

"How can I trust you, Apple?"  Candy's voice, this time, sounded indifferent. Each star shifting a neutral grey and slowly rotating around once again.

"You have to, please." Apple Bloom desperately pleaded to the mist and sparkles. "Granny told me and my sister the story of you, back when we were younger."

"Perhaps you tell the truth, or maybe you're lying, but you're here so you're not a friend of Gromin's." Candy's stars returned to their original state, rotating in a horizontal cyclone. "You might be able to help me, especially if you are a friend?"

"We need to get you back to Granny. Her birthday is almost over." Apple Bloom called back out to the disembodied doll.

"I can't." Her voice came, hurt and afraid. "I'm not in the real world any more, and neither are you. Or at least not all of you."

Apple Bloom sat down on the transparent platform, while taking in her thoughts more seriously. "Well, where are we now?"

"As I said, nowhere. Gromin has the power of life. My mum's power. And now he uses it to absorb the life of Equestria." All of the balls of light flew passed at high speeds. Apple Bloom felt them bounce lightly off of her body. "This is inside him. It's his magic catalyst, and he seeks more."

Apple Bloom froze, she had no idea what was going on. Everything seemed so strange, but she was so calm. Apple Bloom had to consider everything.

"Wait." Apple Bloom looked up in thought. She tried to mull all the information over again. "So, Gromin has some kind life magic?"

"It's the magic to give things purpose, to bring life, and I guess to take it to. He took it from me." Candy's voice slowly began to fade. Silence slowly taking over as she "I wish i could tell you more but I think our time is up."

"Candy, what do we do now?" Apple Bloom watched as the stars seemed to leave her, one by one. Her surroundings stretched out before her very eyes " Candy? What's happening."

Everything grew darker and darker, very quickly. She could feel herself being pulled from this place and back to where she belonged, but Apple Bloom wanted to stay for Candy. She tried to fight it, but again she was helpless.

Candy's final words called through on the distance. "Find the prison at the lake, find Heartspark tonight, and you can stop him."

Everything grew dark for a moment, and then Apple Bloom heard three different voices; each very distinct. Scootaloo's chirp called Apple Bloom's name repeatedly; An unmistakably deep voice from McBurden sounded concerned; and a third recognisable voice spoke in rhyme.

"Apple Bloom will be fine. The cure will help her in no time." Apple Bloom's eyes opened slowly to see Zecora's face. She smiled down at Apple Bloom, clearly thankful for her safety. "You are lucky to survive that creep, evil lurks in the king of the deep."

Scootaloo barged into view and knocked Zecora out of sight in the process. Her eyes widely stared into Apple Bloom's. "Thank Luna you're alright, you should've seen them it was amazing."

Apple Bloom finally took note of her surroundings. She hadn't left the cavern; the cold hard floor hurt her back. McBurden stood by the exit from where the wolves came. She then thought back to Candy, stuck in McBurden's ether.

"Zecora charged in with a bottle of this purple misty stuff, then she threw it at Gromin and he was like 'argh you zebra craven'." Scootaloo was reliving the moment in her mind. Flipping in the air and narrating the moves herself.  " McBurden fought off the timber wolves, he threw them all down the cliff on his own."

McBurden spoke up from the entrance, his vigil took precedence. "Zecora found me by the lake and gave me something, after it I felt I could take on the world. I told her about you and she knew about this place."

"I'm glad you're okay Apple Bloom, let's get you home and to your bedroom." Zecora's remark got a snicker from Scootaloo. "Gromin is a Kraken not to be messed, not even for a pony doll quest."

Apple Bloom shot a glare at Scootaloo, which caused her pegasus friend to shy away.

Scootaloo responded before Apple Bloom could ask. "I had to tell her, you were in trouble."

"But Candy? and Heart Spark?" Apple Bloom's sentences came out fractured. Zecora turned to the filly; she seemed disturbed by something Apple Bloom had said.

"That alicorn name comes from centuries ago, where did you hear it from i would like to know" Her eyes focused on Apple Bloom in tension. She stood, impatiently waiting for Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom felt anxious, and her knowledge jumbled around her mind. Seconds wandered past as the two looked at each other. Eventually Apple Bloom gathered her thoughts together.

"Candy told me, in Gromin's magic, she told me to find Heartspark tonight, to stop Gromin." Apple Bloom had no more clue to the meaning than anyone else. She knew she had to find Heartspark but no idea how, "She said something about a prison."

"Prison huh?" McGromin marched over, he'd listened in and had decided to get involved. "Zecora, you know anything about this place?"

"A prison for a kraken I may know, the lake were I found the mist to throw." She stroked her chin as she spoke. "Gromin attacked me by this place, deep underneath a ruin in disgrace."

Apple Bloom spoke up again. "We have to go there, we need to find Heartspark."

"No young filly, leave it to me and Zecora, we'll stop this beast." McBurden started towards the entrance of the cavern, then stopped and turned his head. "You two need to go home."

"But I'm the only one who knows this, plus I need to save Candy." Apple Bloom decided to play on McBurden's weakness again. "And if we're with you we'll be safe. You don't have time to get us home."

Zecora had thought about Apple Bloom's inclusion. She decided there was no other way. "I do want Apple Bloom to get home safe but we need her help let us give her some faith."

While hovering, Scootaloo joined the discussion. "And we get to see McBurden beat up a big nasty Kraken. This is gonna be amazing."

With a sigh, McBurden found himself defeated once again. " Fine, I can't stand it but I guess we have no choice. But you two will stay behind me and Zecora."