Chapters Start Of Something Terrible
Apple Jack stared off at the field. It was Apple Bucking season already and the trees were spotted with delicious looking apples. She watched Big Mac kick the trees and knock the apples into a basket.
Maybe Apple Bloom's cutie mark coulda be- she cut off her thought and shook her head. Come on now, Apple Jack, just let it go.
Apple Jack tipped her head down to let her hat cover her face. She tried to hold back her tears as she trembled slightly.
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"Dashie!" Pinkie Pie grinned as she set a cupcake in front of herself and Rainbow Dash. "Cheer up, we have delicious foooo d!"
"Mhmm," Dash nodded and picked the cupcake up. Her pink eyes were dark as she stared down at the table with depression. She took an apathetic bite out of the pastry and set it back down.
Pinkie Pie stared sat Dash with wide, concerned eyes. "You still sad?"
"Pinkie, you didn't lose anypony. I lost a little sister, so did Rarity and Apple Jack. We all lost a friend when Twilight died. We are all depressed and sad and..." Rainbow Dash paused. Pinkie Pie saw tears welling in Dash's magenta eyes and whimpered.
"I'm sorry, Dashie. I'm just not very good at being serious or being in serious situations..." Pinkie Pie poked at her cupcake sadly. "I guess not everything can be solved by laughing." At that moment, Pinkie Pie's mane and tail deflated and straightened.
Rainbow Dash realized what she had done and fumbled her words when she tried to say something. "No-no-no, it's-uh fiiine! Laughter iz-da besttt medi-"
Pinkie Pie walked away from the table- walked. She didn't bounce or skip, she walked. Rainbow Dash looked down at her cupcake and whimpered quietly. I'm a terrible pony... I made my friend sad because I'm sad... I made the Element of Laughter frown... She put her head down with guilt and grief.
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Jay rolled over in his bed. He was twitching erratically as he forced his eyes closed. Stop thinking about it... You did nothing wrong... Nothing wrong... Nothing wrong... Everything is fine... Nothing wrong... He held his head with his hooves. Everything is wrong...
Jay paused when he heard crying coming from the living room. It was from one of his colts and, as a parent, he felt an urge to go and comfort them. He had to fight the urge as it would not be a good idea to let anypony see him right now. He only had two more hours to wallow in his own misery before Cotton got home and he wanted to do maximize his freak-out time.
Jay rolled onto his back again and looked up at the ceiling. The crying continued and got even louder. He was sure he should at least see what was causing the colt to cry. He quickly realized he couldn't move even if he wanted to. A sharp stabbing pain began in his chest and worked its way up into his throat and down to his stomach at the same time. He whimpered softly and slowly worked himself into a more comfortable position.
Once Cotton had gotten home and calmed the colts down, who were both crying by that point, she walked into her bedroom. Jay had already calmed himself down and was completely still on the bed.
"You doing okay?" Her voice was sweet and sympathetic as she sat down next to him and stroked his navy blue mane.
"Yeah," he rasped.
"Doctor says you need to give that wing a work out every day, honey." She pulled the blanket down, making Jay curl up. He was laying on his good wing with his prosthetic wing facing upwards. It was robotic-looking and made out of steel.
"I'm tiiiired..." he whined.
"So am I, Jay!" Cotton said sternly. "Sit up!"
Jay sat up slowly. He turned around so that he was facing away from Cotton. She slowly ran her hoof up and down the prosthetic wing almost as if she was in a trance. She quickly remembered what she needed to do and grabbed the tip of the wing.
"Try to lift it up," she commanded softly. Jay did so and attempted to lift the wing. It burnt slightly and he had no feeling in the wing, but it began to rise until it was parallel with his shoulders. "Is that feeling okay?"
"I only just got the thing. I have absolutely zero sensation in it." He said as he rolled his eyes.
"Try to flap your wings at the same time- gently." Cotton let go of the prosthetic wing.
Jay funneled his energy into lifting his wings- both the one that was healing from a stab wound and the one that was replaced with a hollow, metal shell. They began to rise from his flanks and then lowered back down. He repeated the draining process a few more times before whimpering, "Can I lay back down now?"
"Sure, honey." Cotton gave Jay a quick kiss on the cheek before leaping off of the bed and out the door.
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It was already a month after Scootaloo had been killed and Rarity was well aware. Her normally glamorous mane and tail with elegant curls were knotted and unkempt. She had unattractive bags under her eyes while she worked on sewing her new dress.
The dress was the perfect size for a filly to wear- a filly like Sweetie Belle. It had the same whites and purples as Sweetie Belle, as well. On the flanks of the dress were matching symbols, a sparkling angel-pony with a posh dress on.
"Rarity, maybe you shouldn't make this last dre-" Fluttershy's soft, sheepish voice suggested.
"No, Fluttershy!" Rarity interrupted with a maniacal tone. She sounded so paranoid; so different. "Why don't you just go home to take care of those animals of yours?"
"Because Pinkie Pie is with Rainbow Dash and she told me to make sure you were okay," Fluttershy explained in a voice as insistent as she could muster.
"Who cares about whatever Pinkie Pie says, anyways?" Rarity wanted to sound melodramatic but ended up sounding insane with accentuated sighs and giggles. "Angel must be absolutely staaarving by now!"
"Rarity, this isn't you. Maybe you need to see a therapist or-" Fluttershy was cut off by Rarity giving her a wide-eyed, slack-jawed look.
"You doubt me ?! I'm the most fabulous pony in all of Equestria, darling!" The erratic unicorn turned back to the dress she was sewing. "That's why I must finish this. It will be the best piece of foals' designer clothing anypo-"
"Rarity, you're scaring me..." Fluttershy squeaked, taking a step back.
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Starlight stared upwards at the glittering castle's ceiling. She was too depressed, too stressed, to even imagine getting up.
Need to get Twilight back... she thought to herself. She's all that matters- her and spike.
Author's Note
replacing the word "fuck" with "buck" was a bad idea...Bucking Season...Fucking Season...
Sorry, this took SO incredibly long.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake were both worried sick about Pinkie Pie. She stayed in her room all day and even refused to eat. Many of the ponies that came into Sugarcube Corner were disappointed to see Pinkie Pie wasn't out.
Inside of the party pony's room was a completely different pony. Her mane and tail were still deflated, her blue eyes were dull, and her pink coat looked slightly gray as she stared out of her bedroom window. She repeated Rainbow Dash's words in her mind, Pinkie, you didn't lose anypony.
Gummy crawled around at Pinkie's hooves, letting out small sighs and grunts. She looked down at the baby alligator and groaned. "Shut up!"
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Starlight raced out of the library with a saddle bag full of books and papers. She was on her way to the Everfree Forest- to Zecora.
The ponies she had asked for help all let her down. Doctors and nurses were unable to help, nopony had the correct magic, other ponies had "morals". She knew Zecora would help her, whether she wanted to or not.
After about 45-minutes of running, the unicorn had reached her destination. She stood in front of Zecora's hut, catching her breath and reviewing her plan.
Ask about it, then if she refuses, threaten her. Her eyes darted back to her saddle bag before looking back at the hut. You can do this.
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At this point, Fluttershy was terrified of Rarity. The once glamorous unicorn had completely lost her mind and never stopped working on the dress.
"R-Rarity, I made you some pancakes..." Fluttershy carried a plate of pancakes out to the white unicorn. She cautiously set the plate down on the table Rarity was working at and backed off. "I hope they're good..."
Rarity looked at the plate momentarily before turning back to her work. The dress was almost done and she was adding laces to the collar. Fluttershy was hesitant to walk back up to the insane pony, but she wanted to push the plate closer to Rarity.
It had been 3 days since she last ate and this worried Fluttershy even more. The meek pegasus wanted so much to help her friend's mental state, she truly did, but she was too scared to do much more than sit and watch.
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Rainbow Dash was sitting on a cloud as she stared at the black clouds that had taken over a percentage of Cloudsdale. It was strange to her how everything was falling apart. She wanted to blame somepony, but she couldn't. Nothing made sense.
When did this all start? It started with a bully and a filly. When would it end? How would it end?...
I don't want to see it end...
She looked down at the town below. She took a deep breath and thought about what she was going to do. Without any hesitation, she closed her magenta eyes and jumped. She tumbled down to the ground and accepted the sweet embrace of death.
Author's Note
Hey, I'm alive! Sorry about the delay, I just got a bunny and it takes a lot of time to work with it.
Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates
"The potion you like, you cannot buy. It's quite a crime to-" Zecora began, but was interrupted by Starlight shouting for her to be quiet.
"I don't care ! Make it now!" The purple unicorn stomped her hoof and the zebra flinched. "Do it!" Before the zebra had any chance to reply, Starlight's horn lit up and she trapped herself and Zecora inside the hut. "Don't make me hurt you."
Zecora glanced around the room and felt herself panicking. She didn't even think this could happen. "I'm afraid I have no option," she admitted, turning toward her pot, "I see you're tainted by corruption." She slowly began brewing a resurrection potion.
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Rarity was worse than ever. Fluttershy was forced to tell her the news about Rainbow Dash, but the unicorn barely even responded before turning back to the dress. The dress was finished, but she wouldn't stop adding onto it. It was like she never wanted to stop working.
"Please, Rarity, take a break. Do it for me; do it for your friends." Fluttershy begged as she hovered next to Rarity's desk. She was on the verge of tears and could feel herself cracking under the pressure. She felt like she was stuck in pit of hopelessness with what used to be her friends.
"I'm already doing this for my friends- the most wonderful dress is for them!" Rarity turned around to face the meek pegasus. Her mane and coat were ratty and her blue eyes were wild and glazed over as her gaze settled on Fluttershy. "Don't worry, Fluttershy, darling. You should go home and take care of yourself."
"Rarity, listen to me! You have to break through this. This isn't you, I want the Rarity I know." Fluttershy's voice was desperate and her eyes were pleading. She just wanted her friend back. She needed her friend back.
"Darling, this is me! You must be tired. I need to keep working, but you should leave. Don't worry about me." Rarity turned back to the dress.
Fluttershy was about to scream. This was too much for her to handle! What was she supposed to do? She curled up on the floor as tears welled in her eyes.
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Pinkie Pie was still locked in her room, but her personality had shifted from hopeless to manic. She danced around her room and grinned even as tears formed in her eyes.
Mrs. Cake put her ear up to Pinkie's door and heard giggling and things moving. Cup was so worried, she just needed to see what was happening. She turned her back to the door and kicked the door with her back legs. It burst open and she rushed into the room but stopped once she saw Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie halted her dancing and looked at Cup with tears flooding down her cheeks and a smile on her face. "W-what happened?" Cup sputtered.
"I learned to accept life as it goes, that's what happened!" Pinkie hopped over to Cup and extended a hoof out to her. "Would you like to join me?"
"Pinkie... What...? I don't understand..." The blue pony stared in shock at Pinkie as she slowly stepped back.
"Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get. We got a bad box of life, but it's still chocolate, isn't it?" Pinkie explained, still grinning and crying.
"Is this how you react to getting a bad slice of life...? This... This isn't you..." Cup's voice was shaky and she took another step back. "I-I... CARROT!" she suddenly called out for her partner.
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"Ow, ow, owwww! You can stop now, Cotton!" Jay yelped, making his wife step back. He looked back at her and saw she was smiling like her prayers had just been answered. "What? Why are you smiling?"
"You have feeling in the wing! You can use it now! Isn't that fantastic?" Her pink eyes glittered with joy as she began hopping happily.
"That means I can go back to work! Yes! See ya, honey, I gotta go see Asher!" Jay suddenly bolted out of the house and toward Asher's house in Ponyville.
I gotta tell him the great news! I gotta! Yes! Jay reached the edge of the cloud platform and braced himself to fly. He jumped and spread his wings, taking flight. The wind against his mane and coat felt so refreshing and free! I miss this!
Author's Note
Guess who's not dead? Me! Sorry for the hiatus, I swear to God I won't do that anymore. I know this seems kind of terrible, but it's leading up to something good. Just be patient with me, I'm very easily distracted.