The bright sun hanged in the sky. The soft dirty road crunched under Apple Bloom´s hooves. She tipped her hat backwards and stared at the forest of apple trees before her from the hill she stood on. The leaves rustled in the wind and the sweet scent of apple flowers reached Apple Bloom´s nose. She smiled and started trotting forward. She limped on her left leg.

Within a few minutes she reached the edge of the forest. She stopped just before entering. With a blank face she stared in between the trees. She reached up and removed her hat. Her hoof was trembling at the sight of it.

No strings left. Only five empty holes.

The hat slipped from her grasp. Her heart pounded inside her throat as it fell towards the ground. It hit the grass below with a soft thud.

Apple Bloom released her cloak and let the wind gently lift it off her. The revolver and the katana still hung to her side. She lifted the empty gun from its holster and let it slip from her hoof. The grass muted the sound of it hitting the ground. She released the buckles holding the sword and held the scabbard with the blade within it. Bits of string and fabric hang from the broken handle. The wind flickered them. When she dropped the sword it made a sharp clang as the blade shook within the scabbard.

For a moment she stood there. The wind howling quietly and pulling her mane, the scent of apples in the air and the thick forest before her. She swallowed hard and walked forward. The sun disappeared from her sight. Blotted out by the blanket of leaves and flowers. The trees were shorter than she remembered. But there were more and all of them were wildly grown and their fruits unharvested. The ground was soft and warm. And the crowns of the trees were thick and dense.

Apple Bloom wandered, her left leg giving her a slight limp. After a few minutes she started to fear that she may have gotten lost but then she saw it between two trunks.

The Sweet Apple Acres. The red-purple house with its apples drawn on. The wooden archway, overgrown with wild plants and bushes.

The white paint was all but gone. Only small patches of it remained. She trotted down the road towards the archway.

A chill traveled under her skin as she entered the archway. An image of what had happened flashed before her eyes. It caused her to bit down on her lip. She took a deep breath and sighed.

She ignored the pain in her leg and trotted up to the door of the house. The hinges creaked as she opened it. A cloak of dust drifted slowly down as she stepped inside. The smell of the house was different yet familiar.

Apple Bloom walked slowly forward. Everything looked the same and simultaneously she felt like a stranger steeping down the hall.

She glanced into the kitchen. She could see the old table and pans with the dinner table in the center of it. She walked past it, up the stair, into her old room.

With trembling hoof, she opened the door. The large bed was on her right. The window overlooking the fields were in front of her. The old wardrobe with the rosettes she used to wear as a filly was on her left.

Apple Bloom put a hoof on the bed. The cover with flowers felt like a soft cloud. Before she knew it she threw herself onto the bed and spread out her hooves. She put her head on the pillow and stared into the roof.

The roof looked strange in daylight. She remembered spending her nights staring at it when she couldn´t sleep. But she could never see what was up there. It was always hidden by the darkness. Now she could see it.

She threw a pillow at it.

The pillow met the roof with a soft thud before rushing back down. It landed next to Apple Bloom´s head.

Enraged she threw it at the wall and once it again it bounced softly of. Apple Bloom grunted before charging towards the closet. She took the door by the top and began to violently pull it until it released from the hinges. Splinters sprayed over the floor as Apple Bloom threw the door at the window, shattering the glass and the frame. Sparkling shards sprayed over the floor, rattling as they hit the boards.

Apple Bloom grabbed the remaining door and tore it free with a hard yank. She threw it at the wall with enough force to crack it. Her golden brown eyes narrowed as she stared at the collection of rosettes inside. One by one she tore them down and threw them to the floor.
When only one remained in she lifted it down. It felt soft and light in her hoof. She took a breath through her teeth and started pulling it apart. With the first yank the fabric resisted. With the second one the strings holding the cloth together started to split. Once the first strings shattered it went a lot easier. With the third yank the entire thing split into two asymmetric pieces.

She turned and pulled the cover from the bed and started ramming her hooves into the mattress. It didn´t matter how hard she pushed her hooves into it her punches merely bounced softly back at her.

Apple Bloom leaned on the edge of the bed and stared down into the floor. A tear rolled down her muzzle and dripped onto the floor.

Once the tear splashed Apple Bloom slowly raised her head. The left part of her upper lip was raised and twitched. She charged down the stairs and ran for the kitchen. She grabbed a pan from the wall and attacked the table. With every strike splinters flew from the wood. They sprayed and splashed into her face. The little pieces of wood irritated her eyes. She kept striking and striking. Hammering the pan into the boards until they broke. The table cracked with a loud crash and hit the floor with a large thud.

She threw the pan at the window and the glass shattered. Apple Bloom flipped the table over and kicked the legs off. She took the broken table leg and threw it into the cupboard filled with glasses. All of them shattered.

Apple Bloom stood still, gasping, struggling to breath. She sat on her knees, shaking and tears ran from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks and dripping from her muzzle. “It was supposed to stop.” She said, her voice trembling and shaking. “It was supposed to stop.” She repeated and leaned forward. “Why does it still hurt?”

There was a knock on the door.

Author's Note

Finally. I´m done.
Took a little longer than the last one but it was worth it. And according to the like/dislike ratio it was the best multi-chapter story I´ve ever written.

Thanks to everyone who read it and special thanks to my proofreader Silverstain, even if he reads slower then I write which is saying something.

Well now that I´m done with this godforsaken series I can finally fulfill my lifelong dream and start up my own ribjoint. See ya on the fuckside flippers.