Chapters WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS DARK THEMES, BAD LANGUAGE AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE. IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THESE THEMES, PLEASE LEAVE NOW, WHILST YOU STILL CAN.
California, Everfree Forest, 1855.
The girl sprinted as best she could through the trees, keeping her speed up as best she could in spite of her long skirts slowing her down. Gunfire echoed through the trees and voices called out in the blackness.
"There's another load of them closing in!"
"FIRE!"
The roar of muskets echoed through the treeline, scattering wreckage and rubble all around. A tree exploded next to the girl as a musket ball flew through it, scattering wood and dust everywhere. The sounds of battle thundered all around, and the girl was desperately trying to escape from it all.
This forest had once been a place of relative peace. A wonderful place to settle, away from the hardships of the East Coast, it seemed as if they had found the new Eden. The forest was full of wonders and life, plentiful resources such as food and berries, as well as wood with which to build homes.
But now, horror had found them all. There were waves of these things all around, and nobody knew what in the world they even were. She had been out in the forest foraging for food and bark when the attacks had started, and now she had to get back to the village. Last she had heard, that was where most of the musket fire was coming from. Yet her trip home was not to end well at all, as this day was to end in tragedy.
Just as she passed over some tree stumps and ran for a neighbouring creek, a hand burst up from the ground and knocked her to the ground. She landed with a loud thud that could be heard all around, and the ground was wet and sticky. Her clothes stuck to it, mud and leaves covering her jacket and dress, currently piled up in a heap behind her. She out her hands to the ground, only to find that she struggled to get up. This damned frame she was wearing made it hard to move or even get up. Just as she got back to her feet, she looked around. Those monsters were standing all around her, their eyes red, their flesh sloughing from their bones, their skin the colour of the blackest night, and all looked hungry.
The girl did the last thing she could do, and that was scream. "MAMA! PAPA! HELP ME, PLEASE!"
It was to no avail. The creatures closed in, their bodies mangled and rotten. It was frankly bizarre that these monsters were capable of even walking anymore, and nobody had any clue what they had even once been. Their hands touched her, and she fell. All started to go white as her ears were filled with chanting.
"Don't go... don't go... you can stay... you can stay..."
"Forever..."
When she regained consciousness, all was dark and black all around. The sun had clearly set, and the forest was quiet once more. Brushing the worst of the dust off herself, the damage was not as severe as she had once thought. Straightening her skirts out, as one had to keep up appearences even in the middle of a woodland as hellish as this, she suddenly heard more voices nearby. She was nearer the village than she had thought. Excitement filled her heart. She was nearly home! She was nearly safe!
She set off and began to sprint toward the village, her skirts lifting as she ran along. At the edge of the village a rampart had been built, which was being manned night and day by soldiers from the US Army and the men of the village. Some of them were talking to one another.
"I think that's the last of them," said one.
"I hope so too," another added his piece to his thoughts. "They got another three today; Harris, Peterson, and Jones. Poor souls."
"May the Lord protect them and keep them," said Father Wakefield, the local Pastor. "Truly have they gone to the everlasting rest."
"Yeah, but what about us?" asked another villager. "They get to rest whilst we suffer in Hell? What sins have we committed to suffer here in this way, with these things all around us?"
"Quiet!" shouted another. "I hear something!"
The girl continued to sprint as best she could toward the lines, when suddenly one of the soldiers popped out and saw her. "It's another of them! Closing in on the rampart!"
The Captain of the unit looked as well. "ALL UNITS, FIRE!" he shouted. A hail of musketry responded to his order, bullets whizzing through the air and striking the girl multiple times. She fell over the ramparts and into a muddy pit below, landing next to one of the soldiers. It was only then she realised what had happened. She could see clearly now, due to a puddle from last night's rainfall. Her eyes were red. Her skin was black. She was one of them, her face evermore in a blank expression.
The soldier looked over in shock. "In the name of God, it's one of them!" he exclaimed.
"Calm down," the Captain replied. "It's Ruby. That's Chalmers' daughter. He'll be grieving tonight, I'll be sure."
The priest spoke quietly. "Dear Lord, please protect the soul of this dearly departed daughter of yours. Keep her in your love, so that she may awake in Paradise one day, when all are raised from the Earth and become one in Christ Jesus, Amen." He raised his head. "We need to burn the body. That's the only way to stop them from coming back."
Two of the soliders picked up the girl's body, and carried it over to a waiting fire pit, which had already been lit. They swung hard, and threw her body onto it. As the flames consumed her, dancing in her eyes, all she felt was the end of all things, the end of her life, the end of time itself.
And then...
Nothing...
Fimfiction proudly presents...
A story by The Blue EM2...
STORY OF THE BLANKS
Based on the Creepypasta by Aoshi Stark, and the video game by Donitz
Starring
Michelle Creber Ashleigh Ball Felicia Day Tevor Devall Peter Cushing Brian Drummond and Tabitha St. Germain
Coding and text programming by Knighty
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic created by Lauren Faust
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls created by Finn Arnesen
Characters created by Lauren Faust, Donitz, and The Blue EM2
Voice recording by Ocean Productions
Animated by DHX Media and Boulder Animations PLC
Distributed by Hasbro Communications
Copyright MMXIX
Author's Note
Welcome, dear readers!
This story is part of an attempt to break from my usual writing, as well as try my hand at T-rated horror, something I have never tried before. And where better to start than a classic like Story of the Blanks?
More coming tomorrow, so stay peeled!
City of Canterlot, California, 2014.
It was, as mornings go, a wonderful morning in Canterlot city. The sun shone upon the land and the sea, and a gentle breeze blew through the streets and avenues. There was not a sight to miss, and the town bustled with people and action. The streetcars rumbled up and down through the streets, gliding along their rails and keeping the entire city moving, preventing it from being jammed up with cars which would have contributed to local pollution, not to mention spread a number of different health problems all around the town. Many had been amazed when the city council had approved such a measure in the city, but it had emerged they had been inspired by the success of the similar system in New Orleans in moving people about and at the same time helping to keep cars off of the roads, which was always a good thing in Canterlot.
Everywhere you looked, people were having fun and running about, either in the streets, which were neither too hot nor too cold thanks to the pleasent breeze mingling with the sunlight that shone down from the cloudless sky, or in Canterlot Mall. On the coast itself, head and tail lamps burned in the glorious day as trains arrived and departed from Cloudsdale in the north, and Crystal City and Los Angeles to the south. Goods workings rattled through, a mixture of steam, diesel, electric, and battery powered locomotives and multiple units, as well as a handle of railcars and push-pull sets, moving back and forth as people were moved around the state and the coastline. And let us not forget the beach. This was always popular at this time of year, with the families of many prominent Canterlot citizens choosing to gather here and enjoy the sun and breeze, with the water bearing what is known as the 'Goldilocks phenomenon'. It was neither too hot, nor was it too cold. It was just right.
But we shall now shift our focus to three young girls in the park. Yes, you guessed it, these three girls were Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, the trio often referred to by locals as 'the Crusaders', due to their many adventures and misadventures trying to find out whatever their destiny was. This journey had taken many unusual turns and fascinating directions, which included restoring an old railway, unearthing a local cyberbully trying to frame local girl Sunset Shimmer, clogging up a yard with trucks, succesfully driving an experimental train, preventing a train robbery of diamonds, gold, and dollar bills, visited several railways across the globe, and in Scootaloo's case briefly gone to Heaven. Apple Bloom had also managed (somehow) to go for most of a night in a formal gown without tripping up, though a set of stairs had derailed this plan somewhat. Oh well, at least she had got a chance to dance with Pip. Admittedly, the sight of Button Mash with a monocle and moustache was too funny to forget, not to mention all the random musical interludes courtesy of the Wondertones.
Right now, the trio was engaging in rock climbing. Or, more accurately, two of them were. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were up on the rock face, attached into harnesses and with ropes snaking through wheels and pulleys. Sweetie Belle was down at the bottom, pulling Apple Bloom upwards, whilst Scootaloo was being assisted by Rumble.
Apple Bloom felt her rope go slightly slack at her end, and paused, looking down at Sweetie Belle. "Keep it tight, Sweetie Belle!" she called. "Ah can't climb safely if you don't keep the rope taught."
"Strictly," Sweetie Belle replied, going into boffin mode for a bit, "it's a cable, as it is much stronger than a rope and better suited for this sort of activity."
"Ah don't care what it's made of," the apple girl replied. "Ya need ta keep it tight! And Ah mean tight!"
"Yes ma'am! Right away, ma'am!" Sweetie Belle replied, pulling hard on the rope. Apple Bloom suddenly shot upwards and landed on another set of rocks, putting her feet into place on two of the grip points and looking back down.
"Not that tight!" she exclaimed. "That's rubbin' against' mah thighs!"
Sweetie Belle went red. "Oops," she said. "Sorry. Should I go a little slacker on the rope?"
"Ah was hopin' that would be obvious!" Apple Bloom snapped back, who sighed as she felt the ropes slacken slightly, relieving pressure on her... private area.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo was rocketing up the wall, with Rumble struggling to keep up as she flew upwards.
"Hey, slow down!" he called up to his girlfriend. "I can't keep up with you!"
Scootaloo went slightly red, and slowed her pace somewhat. "Sorry Rumble!" she called. "I got a bit carried away."
"Yeah, it's not as if you're racing Apple Bloom or anything," the boy joked. In the instant that followed, he regretted it, as Scootaloo looked Apple Bloom directly in the eye.
"Race you to the top!" she called.
"Yer on!" Apple Bloom replied with a confident smirk, and began to speed up the cliff. Scootaloo laughed and began to follow her up to the top.
"Please slow down!" Sweetie Belle called. "At this rate I'll get friction burns!"
"I knew this was a bad idea," Rumble sighed loudly.
Scootaloo won the climbing contest, and was lowered to the ground with a triumphant smile. "Looks like I win," she smirked, as Apple Bloom touched the floor shortly after her.
"It weren't a fair race!" Apple Bloom retorted loudly. "YOU were higher up the cliff face than Ah was, so you had a head start! Not ta mention Rumble's stronger than Sweetie Belle..."
"HEY!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "I'm not that weak!"
"I can second her on that," Rumble added, as both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo disconnected their harnesses and laid them down on the floor. "Have you ever experienced her grip?"
"Have you?" Scootaloo asked suspiciously, looking at him with a death glare.
"I'm not cheating on you, honest!" Rumble exclaimed. "Button Mash told me about the time he and Sweetie Belle rode a rollercoaster at a theme park somewhere and apparently his hand had gone white when they got off, she'd been gripping it so tightly!"
Sweetie Belle had gone bright red, and simply looked at her shoes. Apple Bloom suddenly spoke up, causing everybody to jump. "Ain't they buildin' that new theme park near Halfway?"
"OH, Equestria Land!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "It'll be larger than the Disneyland Resort when finished, and will feature several themed lands such as Dragon Kingdom, Appaloosa, Neighagra Falls, and Cloudsdale."
"Do you work for the park or something?" Sweetie Belle asked her friend, looking somewhat confused.
"No," Scootaloo replied. "I've just been on the website loads. Maybe we could all go together on opening day?"
"Ah can't see that workin'," Apple Bloom added. "Most parks have real technical issues on openin' day. Universal Studios Florida only had one workin' attraction when it opened."
"Which one was that?" Rumble asked.
"The Hannah-Barbera one," Apple Bloom asnwered.
"Won't it also be really full?" Sweetie Belle added also. She wasn't always great with big crowds, and not only that she suffered from crippling stage fright.
"Maybe," Rumble sighed. "There may also be birds."
"Don't mention birds!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, appearing from nowhere as she usually did. "Sunset gets really angry when you mention parakeets!"
"Why?" the four asked together.
Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Beats me. I gotta go, see ya!" and she vanished into nothingness.
Later that day, the four friends had to part ways. Scootaloo had something or other to do with her mother, Cheerilee, Sweetie Belle and Rarity were visiting family in Crystal City, and Rumble was predisposed at Cloudsdale yard as a huge shipment, consisting of apples, bananas (which were causing Marx no end of confusion and difficulty), oranges, pears, and myriad other fruits had just arrived. This left Apple Bloom with little to do, and as she walked back to her local streetcar stop, she saw her sister stopping at the station.
"Howdy sugarcube!" she called. "Why ya lookin' so glum?"
"Mah friends are all busy," Apple Bloom sighed, her face long.
"Why, you could come with me!" Applejack replied. "Ah'm headin' over ta Ponyville ta take some supplies ta Zecora in the forest."
"Who's Zecora?"
"Zecora's this real nice lady, some sorta shaman or somethin' like that. She often helps with herbal remedies, and helped get one of our horses back on his feet back in the old days." Applejack smiled. "You'll like her."
Apple Bloom nodded. "Ah'd love ta come with ya."
"What ya waiting fer then?" her big sister smiled. "Let's go and get our tickets!" They purchased two tickets, and got aboard the waiting diesel multiple unit, a Class 101. Applejack put her box on the overhead luggage rack, and sat down in one of the seats, letting the air conditioning wash over her body. The horn sounded, and the train pulled away. Little did anybody know that this day would bring horrors.
Author's Note
So, here we are! Chapter 2!
You may be wondering why I'm using Applejack in place of Twilight. Well, I noticed in the bulk of my stories that I hadn't charactersised AJ in a positive way, and sought an opportunity to correct this state of affairs.
Next chapter up tomorrow!
The journey to Ponyville was a pleasent one, and one that Apple Bloom was quite familiar with. In fact, travelling there by diesel multiple unit was something of an experience of deja vu for her, as she and her friends has travelled by Class 101 from Canterlot to Ponyville on the branch line when they discovered the remnants of the Everfree Forest Railway, successfully restoring the line to working order. The branch had changed little since then, it being less than a year ago, and the views were as good as they had ever been.
After rolling out of the canopy of Canterlot station, the sun shone down upon the DMU, rolling forward out of the platform, smoke pouring from its engines and out of the engine exhaust vents mounted at the back of the power cars. It rolled over the junction and onto a diamond crossing, before moving over onto a 5th line on the side of the main running line that gave it access to the branch line. The set rolled to a brief stop.
"Control, this is the 14:15 DMU service to Ponyville Station, calling at Appaloosa Halt along the way. I am currently at the Direct Stop Board awaiting Radio Electric Token to access branch, over."
"14:15 DMU service to Ponyville Station, please hold position for now. Track is blocked, over."
"14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, message understood. Out."
A few minutes of waiting followed, until a 14xx radial tank engine coupled to an auto coach rolled off of the branch and onto the main line for a short spell, before running faster into one of the bay platforms at Canterlot Station.
"14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, awaiting Radio Electric Token to acces branch, over."
"14:15 Service to Ponyville Station, line up ahead is clear. Press receive on Radio Electric Token Box to accept tablet to access branch, over."
The driver reached forward to a box bolted next to the control lever, and pressed 'receive'. There was a short beep, and then the box updated to read CANT-PONY . "14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, I have received Radio Electric Token, over."
"14:15 Service to Ponyville Station, understood. You have permission to proceed past the DSB and access the Ponyville branch, over."
"14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, Understand that I have permission to proceed past the DSB and access the Ponyville branch, out." The driver switched off the radio, and opened the throttle up. The engine began to roar, and the DMU rolled past the board and onto the branch line. This curved off to the left, around a fairly tight bend that caused the wheels to start screeching as they rolled around them. Put simply, the branch line had been built back in the days when railways didn't use bogie coaches, which limited the line to short wheelbase carriages and short DMUs, such as the Class 101. It rolled through the curve at a slow speed of 15 miles per hour, and then rumbled onto the branch proper, where speed opened up to about 40 miles an hour.
The train rumbled past trees and hills, through beautiful valleys and past farms that glimmered in the sunlight. It was always a highlight to see Sweet Apple Acres out of the windows on the left hand side of the train, relative to the direction of travel, of course. When going the other way, it would of course appear on the right hand side. The line began to snake back and forth, the short wheelbase being needed to handle the tight bends which characterised tightly laid lines of this type. The train made a brief stop at Appaloosa Halt in order to pick up a supply of apples, which seemed to be a key product of the small settlement. It was also popular with people travelling to visit the local Indian reservation, the Buffalo tribe, and their leader Chief Thunderhooves was a regular appearance at Canterlot's important public occasions. Once all the loading and unloading was done, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, and the DMU set off into the distance, now somewhat more weighed down than it was before it arrived. The gradient increased to 1 in 100, and the DMU began to roar in order to make the climb. It surged up the slope, wheels slipping as it rolled along, until at last the sanders came on and the engine note increased to higher levels than ever heard before. At long last, after a long, hard, and very hot journey, the train rolled to a stop in Ponyville station, a single platform with a small hut to act as a waiting shelter, and next to it the platforms for the Everfree Forest Railroad, which curled off into the distance and up into the Everfree Hills, culminating at Everfree Camp itself. This line had helped to rejuvenate the local area, although it wasn't running today. Typically, it ran on weekend days, special days, and weekdays during the summer, with galas being held some days as well.
Hopping off the train and picking up the box, Apple Bloom and Applejack set off on a path into the Everfree Forest. It was close and dark, with the branches overhead blotting out the sunlight overhead and casting a pail of gloom over the world underneath it. It was extremely spooky, as visibility was severely limited. Applejack had the box on her shoulder, and her other arm swinging by her side, when suddenly she felt a hand grip hers.
She looked down and saw Apple Bloom was holding it, looking extremely nervous. "Ya OK, sugarcube?" she asked.
"A-Ah'm scared, sis," Apple Bloom replied. "Ah've never been in this part o' the woods before, and how do we know where ta go?"
Applejack stopped, put the box down, crouched down, and looked directly into her sister's eyes. "Now don't ya worry none," she said, with a reassuring smile and a calm, yet authoritative tone of voice. "Ah know where Ah'm goin', and ya can just follow me. Nothin's gonna harm ya." Applejack took the rope around the box, and slung it onto her back. She then produced something else from the box.
"Ya brought the 1200?" Apple Bloom asked. The weapon she was referring to was an elderly Remington 12 Gauge shotgun, with twin barrels and one mighty kick from the recoil.
"Just in case," Applejack sighed. "There may still be critters out here, but a shotgun shell'l put them outta action pretty promptly."
Apple Bloom felt a lot safer all of a sudden. "Ah think Ah'm ready ta go," she said.
Applejack nodded. "Agreed. The sooner we get this done, the better." Off the two siblings went, into the darkness and the cold, even though the sun was shining overhead, little knowing of the evil that lurked in the heart of the forest.
Onwards they went through dark forest and over bridges made of rope and plank, and through a cutting that looked as though somebody had attempted to build a railway line through the area but had given up. It had mostly returned to nature, plants and shrubs growing up alongside the pathway, and the reinforced walls showing signs of slipping down into the undergrowth, as though the forest did not want human development there. At last they reached a hut in the midst of the forest, and Applejack went and knocked on the door.
The door opened a few moments later, and on the other side stood a woman with grey skin and an impressive white and brown mohawk. She was otherwised dressed in cargo pants, military boots, and a cargo shirt suitable for working in the backwoods such as this.
"Howdy Zecora!" Applejack greeted cheerfully, handing the box over to her. "Here's them supplies ya asked fer."
"Kind girls," Zecora replied, now aware of Apple Bloom with her. "I thank you for delivering what told."
"Well, no problem!" Applejack replied, smiling as she did so. But then Zecora spoke again.
"But you do not want to remain for the events that will unfold. Hurry back to Ponyville you two must, for the darkness this night you cannot trust." Zecora then closed the door behind her.
All of Apple Bloom's previous confidence suddenly evaporated, and she looked up with trembling eyes. "Wh-what was that all about?" she asked.
"Ah don't know," Applejack replied. "Zecora just bein' Zecora, Ah imagine. Come on Sugarcube, let's be headin' home."
The two siblings set off once more into the forest, heading back the way they came, Applejack calmly sweeping the area and Apple Bloom looking behind her every few steps. When suddenly, they came to a fallen tree.
"Well, Ah'll be!" Applejack exclaimed, wiping her brow and engaging the safety catch on her shotgun before putting it back down. "How are we gonna get over this one?"
"Cut through it?" Apple Bloom suggested.
"Not enough time, and we lack the right tools. Ah'll climb over it and see if any more have come down over yonder." Applejack mounted the fallen tree and looked ahead of her, to see an entire parade of them knocked down. "Oh, for Pete's sake!"
Apple Bloom looked behind her, and suddenly saw someone standing there, wearing what looked like an old fashioned dress. She had grey skin and blonde hair, and suddenly vanished into the forest.
"Hey, wait!" Apple Bloom called, and began to head after her. She tracked her for a few minutes, and then lost sight of her.
It was just then that Apple Bloom realised she was all alone in the forest...
Off a path...
With no idea where she was...
Author's Note
So, here we roll into the third chapter! Something I've always liked about Story of the Blanks is the unsettling atmosphere it has all around it, something that most MLP Creepypastas lack. This is partly why I chose to adapt it.
See you tomorrow!
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ONE USE OF AN ANTI-INDIAN SLUR.
Apple Bloom looked around her in a panic. The landscape had changed. There was no longer any light anywhere. The sun had gone, and the sky had turned grey. The trees seemed to encroach on her, and a mist rolled in across the terrain, blanketing everything in grey cloud. It was like Apple Bloom had stepped onto the set of a horror film, and she expected to find a creepy old cabin in the woods any moment now. She looked about her, the terrain hostile and unknowable. Where was she? How far away was Applejack? She honestly couldn't tell. In the dark, everything looked the same, and that was what frightened her. She had no clue where she was, and nobody had any clue where she was.
"Sis!" she called out, into the gloom and the mist. "SIS! ARE YA THERE?"
Nothing.
Apple Bloom began to step backwards, away from the path, when suddenly she felt something brush against her back and roll along her shoulder, like ghostly fingers running across her body. She shrieked, and turned around, to see all she had walked into was a set of tree branches. But out here, the trees seemed to be malevolent. It was just then she noticed there were no plants on the ground, and the trees had no leaves. Everything out here was dead.
There was brief, childlike laughter behind her, and Apple Bloom swung round in the direction in which it had come. "Show yerself!" she shouted. "This ain't funny!" At that very moment, Apple Bloom saw the girl again, who seemed to wave to her, and then run further into the forest.
"Hey! Wait up!" Apple Bloom called to the girl, and sprinted after her. The fact that following this girl may not have been the best of ideas did not occur to Apple Bloom, and onwards she went through the trees, following the rustling noise the girl's footsteps were making on the ground. As she ran onwards, the air seemed to grow colder and harsher, the temperatures starting to drop as she sprinted forward, causing the girl to wrap her arms around her chest to try and stay warm. As she went along her way, the trees grew dimmer, their forms looking ever more dead and decayed. Courpses, and there were no leaves and plants. The light also grew worse as more mist rolled in, blanketing the scene in darkness. It got to the point that Apple Bloom could barely see where she was even going. Only a mysterious light could be seen in the distance, and even that was problematic to spot, as it seemed to be getting further and further away from Apple Bloom. The girl puffed and panted as she began to run out of breath, lactic acid building up in her legs and starting to cause her pain.
"Slow... down!" she gasped, moving forward as best she could, when at last the light stopped moving. She at last ran across the threshold, over a bridge, and stopped in confusion.
What was on the other side of the bridge seemed to be exact opposite of what had come before, and couldn't have constituted a greater or more jarring contrast. Before her the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and there was no fog at all. The landscape had been cleared out, and before her sat a village, which looked as though it was some sort of living museum, consisting of old homes with mixed timber and brick construction, as well as a porch out front and back, which caused some of them to resemble the home she knew so well at Sweet Apple Acres. This sense of living history was reinforced further when a man began walking towards her, dressed in a manner that looked like he had just stepped off a wagon on the Oregon Trail; jeans, a chequered shirt, boots, and even a Stetson not disimilar to the one her sister wore. He smiled as he walked over.
"Why, howdy there youngin'!" he called, in a warm accent that Apple Bloom couldn't quite place. "Your not from around here, are you?"
"What makes ya say that?" Apple Bloom asked. This question was baffling; surely she was still in California!
"You're dressed like a man, that's all," the man answered. "Did you come up from that mining town, Canterlot?"
"Yes Ah did," Apple Bloom answered. "Where am Ah?"
"Where are my manners?" the man asked. "I'm Grayson Nash, welcome to Sunny Town!" He extended his hand and shook Apple Bloom's. "And you're just in time for the party as well!"
"What party?" the girl asked again. Something here was very confusing, and she intended to find out what, and thus be less confused.
"We're celebrating our town's founding today," Grayson replied. "We have been here for 3 years now, and don't intend to leave our little patch of paradise."
Something seemed off to Apple Bloom. If they were dressed like they were from the 1850s, why were they only just marking their town's third anniversary? Something wasn't right here, but Apple Bloom pushed that thought to the back of her mind and decided to ask another quesion instead. "How often do ya get visitors?"
"Not very often," Grayson replied. "Now why don't you go and introduce yourself, miss..."
"Apple Bloom."
Grayson smiled. "Not the name I'd have picked for you, but if that's your name, that's your name. See you around, Apple Bloom!"
Apple Bloom wandered about Sunny Town, taking a look at all there was to see in the town. It seemed a normal enough place, even if some of the locals had a baffling lack of knowledge of recent events, not knowing of the American Civil War, World War 2, and several claimed that the President was Franklin Pierce! Apple Bloom attempted to check a few facts on her phone, but that plan went out of the window pretty promptly when it emerged she had no phone signal. She also spoke with a woman called 'Scarlet', who only said that "he hasn't spoken a word to me all night," before sighing. The fact it was daytime seemed lost on her, as well as the fact she never established who 'he' was. Apple Bloom assumed it was her husband, before heading onwards into the town. Along the way, she helped a few townsfolk with their problems, such as recovering a missing present, and other myriad things, before encountering a man who looked to be an Army officer, judging from his blue uniform. He was tall, gaunt, and grey, so seemed to be quite old.
"Howdy!" Apple Bloom called to him. The man turned around, looking a little shocked.
"Young lady, whatever are you doing dressed like that?" he asked.
"My apologies," Apple Bloom replied. "Ah ain't from around here, and Ah wondered how long you've been here."
"Three years," the officer continued. He spoke with a clipped British accent. "We first settled this place in 1852, and have been here since then."
Yet another person who didn't seem to be aware the year was 2014. His dates were 159 years off. Apple Bloom shrugged it off. "Apologies," the officer said. "My name is Captain Gladstone. I command the US Army contingent that guards the town from threats, be they errant animals or Indian raiders."
"The Buffaloes?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Indeed," Gladstone sighed. "Bunch of savages if you ask me. Well, life has been pretty kind to us so far, although one of the men claimed to have seen dead walking around. More likely he'd drunk too much at the saloon!"
Suddenly, Apple Bloom saw the girl again, and went after her. "Hey! Wait up!"
Gladstone called after her. "Madame, wait! That way lie Indians!" He sighed. "Children."
Apple Bloom followed along the path, before the fog suddenly descended again, and the darkness swallowed up the land in a miasma of despair. As she ran along, the previous comfort she had felt evaporated like water droplets, and she felt worried and confused. What was that about their being Indians this way? She only hoped they wouldn't find her, but if it came to that, she could always point out that she and her family supplied cider to the reservation. Just then, she reached an old, ominous building that resembled an Antebellum mansion, similar to ones she had seen in Natchez, Mississippi. She went up to the door, to see a sign marked Chalmer's home . She then tried the door knob.
The door wouldn't budge.
"Darnit!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, as a chill washed over her. "The door is locked!" Just then, she spotted the well, and walked over to it. At the bottom lay a shiny object, but the crank was broken, which she would need to lift the bucket with the shiny object in it out.
So, Apple Bloom backtracked her way to Sunny Town and went into a large barn that was near the edge of town from where she had entered. She walked in, and found the crank for the well lying on the floor. She picked it up, and then heard crying, which she headed towards. Lying there was a woman, who had wet eyes with tears flowing out like waterfalls.
"It is not right. This is not right! The same thing over and over and over again!" she repeated, over and over and over again.
"Excuse me ma'am, are ya OK?" Apple Bloom asked, concerned. The woman didn't reply, simply saying the same thing over and over again.
Apple Bloom headed back to the mansion, and inserted the crank into the bucket mechanism on the well. It took all of her strength, but at long last she got the bucket out, and in it was a key!
"Yeah!" she cried, taking the key out and walking over to the door. The key fitted perfectly, and Apple Bloom opened the door, having no clue what she would find in there...
Author's Note
I chose to humanise a few of the name, given that a man called Gray Hoof would make little sense in the EqG world.
In case you are wondering, my description of Gladstone is based on the late actor Peter Cushing, well known for appearing in many horror films.
Grayson Nash is not a reference to Grayson Bruce, in case anybody was wondering.
Apple Bloom stepped through the threshold of the house. It was dark inside, and the hallway before her opened up into rooms on multiple sides. Above her was an old chandelier, still with candles, although none of them were lit which made it very hard to see. Apple Bloom removed her torch from her pocket and stepped forward, the cone of light that was projected forward from the torch penetrating the gloom. Unlike the rest of the town, which looked to be in good order and structural shape, this house was clearly suffering the effects of neglect. The walls were leaking, water dribbling down them like twin waterfalls, and cobwebs covered everything, from an old piano which by now must be hundreds of years old, to several walls littered in old newspapers and rubbish. Nearby was a cradle, with nothing inside it, and a strange music flowed through the air.
Apple Bloom was by now extremely tense. There was no way of knowing what may be inside this house. But she had to find out more. That girl had come this way, and she had to be somewhere in the house. So, she decided to start by looking upstairs. There was little of note in the bedrooms, and the bathroom was clear, if a little musty due to a lack of cleaning and use. The attic was also clear. Apple Bloom chose to check the main floor next, and found a place full of evidence of life. It was like the Marie Celeste of haunted houses. Everything was left out as if somebody was living here. The table was set up as if there were guests coming around to visit, the plates fully laid out and the cutlery in place, three sets of knifes, forks, and two spoons. A three course meal with soup and desert, perhaps? Apple Bloom walked past the door, and pulled it open, to walk through the parlour. Again, it had seen an obvious lack of use judging from the cracking plaster and cobwebs that permeated the place, but apart from that it seemed to be structurally sound. On one of the mantelpieces was a collection of photographs, which must have been expensive to take given the 1850s timewarp this place seemed to be, as well as a painting of three people hanging up on the wall. The three figures were a man, a woman, and a girl (who bore an uncanny resemblance to the one Apple Bloom had been following earlier), and seemed to be smiling. The caption below it read The Chalmer's Family, 1853 . They seemed to be happy. What in the world had happened that left this place as it was?
Having been through the parlour, Apple Bloom had one last place to check. The basement. She went through slowly, worried about she might find down there. She had once caught a fragment of a film (admittedly by accident) about a madman who kept his mother's courpse in the basement. She paused on the stair. She could go back now, and save herself. But it was too late now. She had to find out what was going on here. So, ignoring the chill on the back of her neck, and the looming sense of horror building up in her heart, she descended the stairs. They were old, and made of wood, and creaked as you stepped down them. It was like being in the middle of a William Faulkner story, and Apple Bloom then reached the bottom, opening an old door in front of her that was covered in gauze. It creaked as it opened, the hinges being on the verge of breaking due to a lack of oiling. How had this place gone un-noticed for so long? It's rather difficult to just lose a mansion in the middle of nowhere!
The room she had just entered had shutters mounted to the walls, as well as a single table. This table had nothing on it, but that wasn't what raised Apple Bloom's attention. In the centre of the wall in front of her was a fireplace, which to her surprise was lit. But there was no trace of the girl anywhere. She had looked through the entire house and hadn't been able to find anything.
"Where did she go?" Apple Bloom asked, as she approached the fireplace and the roaring fire. The heat it was producing was nice given the overall chill that seemed to be permeating through the building and this part of the world, but even so something was wrong. She looked closer into the fireplace. "Nothin' in here," she said. Then she looked a little closer. Something white was sitting in amongst the coals, which were heaped up in a strange shape. "Nothin' in here except..."
The flames then suddenly roared, and the entire room was abruptly plunged into blackness, revealing what was lying in amongst the fire. Apple Bloom screamed and recoiled in horror.
Lying there, before her, in the fire, was a human skeleton. It showed no signs of decomposition despite the flesh and muscle being missing, and furthermore it seemed to be the body of a human female, the body being about the size of Apple Bloom based on a rough guess made by the girl. The bones were white, and showed no signs of being burned at all despite sitting in a fire.
Apple Bloom scrambled back in fright. "NO NO NO NO!" she screamed, running for the exit to the room. But the room was now pitch black, and she had forgotten the precise location of that gauze coloured door through which she had entered. She ran into a wall, and bounced off of it, getting back up as fast as she could before trying to feel her way along the wall to the door. She could feel something behind her, what seemed like breathing on her back.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" she cried, at last finding the door and pulling it open with all her strength. She slammed it shut and pointed her torch ahead. Why hadn't she thought to use her torch in the room? It seemed so stupid now, but she had been rendered unable to think straight due to being frightened. Apple Bloom cleared the stairs, two at a time, and bolted for the main door to the house, slamming it shut behind her and sprinting out into the cold, dark night. The sky had changed little, and if only she could reach Sunny Town, she could-
But Sunny Town was no longer safe. It was covered in a pail of black fog, the sky was dark, and the moon was red, the colour of blood. Apple Bloom stepped slowly through the ruins, the houses collapsed and decaying, as a voice echoed through the darkness, a voice she recognised as that of Grayson.
"There was no other way," it said, raspy and broken. "She was one of them. She would have brought death upon us all."
As Apple Bloom pressed on, she found another shocking sight. Several of the townsfolk were lumbering around like zombies. Their flesh was black and their eyes were red, skin rotting and sloughing from bones, which were in some cases exposed and sticking out at unnatural angles.
"She had become one of them!" gasped one of them. "We had to destroy her body to avoid corruption!"
"What are ya talkin' about?" Apple Bloom asked. "What corruption?"
"This location is haunted, as it was an Indian burial ground," the voice said again. "We disturbed the ancient spirits, and the dead began to rise. Blanks, they were called, due to their vacant expressions. They wouldn't die, no matter how many times we killed them. Eventually, they got all of us, as help never arrived. We are forever undying, cursed to relive this Hellish life over and over again. But do not fear. You can become like us, become undying."
"Become a mouldy pile o' flesh?" Apple Bloom asked. "No thank ya!" And she bolted, running through the street and vaulting over a cart. Nearby was the remains of Gladstone, similarly horrifying in appearance, his uniform tatty and his weapon rusty.
"Please..." he wheezed, his voice broken and weak from the taint that had infested him, his lungs rotting away even as he spoke. "Stay with us... You can have immortality. We shall ensure you never suffer her fate, or that anybody else suffers this fate..."
As she reached the edge of the town, two more appeared, one of them the woman she had helped earlier. A man came forward as well. "All we wanted was paradise," he gasped. "But all we got was Hell. Don't leave. The other's won't like it."
Apple Bloom went for the town entrance by the bridge, only for another to climb out of the Earth and lumber toward her. "Fools," she gasped. "Even in their deathlike state they do not understand. I should have protected her, but we made our choice settling here. This is our punishment, what we deserve for our sins. Now run. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"
Author's Note
The description of the old house was loosely based on Brandon Hall plantation in Natchez, Mississippi.
Apple Bloom took her instructions to heart, and sprinted across the bridge into the darkness beyond. Her legs pounded back and forth as she shone her torch ahead, trying to see where she was going. The fog was making it almost impossible to see where she was going as she ran for her life through the darkness. All around her were voices, speaking in many tongues and tones. The worst ones were the screams. Voices that were disembodies floated through the air, tones of death and voices begging for their lives to be ended from the pain.
Just then, there was a loud noise echoing from the ground ahead of her. Apple Bloom stopped, to see the Earth come apart before her, and a hand smashed out of the Earth. Another of those creatures emerged, in an even worse state than before, mostly bone rather than flesh and muscle, but with the same black skin and horrifying red eyes that glowed like lamps in the night. Apple Bloom ran around it and continued down the path. She was regretting ever doing this. She had run off from her sister and she had let her own curiosity get the better of her.
And because of it, she was going to die. One of things would get her. It was like being the player of a horror game, only this time there was no seperation between the events that were unfolding and the player. There was no screen. There were no respawns. There was no chance at trying again.
If she died, she was dead. Permanently, totally, finally dead. With absolutely no way of coming back at all.
More and more of them emerged from the blackness, staggering over like zombies. A mishmash of clothing clad them, ranging from native dress to uniforms of Union and Confederate soldiers. Reportedly a battle had been fought here during the Civil War, and it seemed now that the dead were rising to claim the bodies of the living. Gunfire suddenly echoed through the forest. It was a very familiar sound. The sound of Applejack's shotgun.
"Ah just have ta follow the sound and Ah'll be safe!" she cried, doubling her efforts to get out of this mad place. She knew she would probably be grounded for having run off, but there were worse things than being grounded, and one of them was being dead. Something she wasn't hugely keen on being right now, as she enjoyed her life, and was quite keen to get back to it.
More creatures lumbered after her, when Apple Bloom suddenly saw a discarded musket on the ground. She picked it up, and checked it. To her amazement, the weapon was loaded, ball, gunpowder and ramrod all there, and furthermore the percussion cap was set to fire. She pointed the weapon at a zombie that was close, and fired. The weapon kicked back in her shoulder, the recoil massive and violent, as huge amounts of smoke and superheated gas came out of the end of the barrel. Joining it was a tiny metal object, a minie ball from observation, which confirmed this weapon to be Civil War era. The ball flew through the air and impacted the zombie. It tore clean through the skull, leaving a splatter of flesh and dried blood as it fell, the skull disintegrating as it fell back into the Earth. With no time at all to reload, Apple Bloom dropped the musket and began to run once more, hearing more percussive bangs from a shotgun, as well as what sounded like a semi automatic rifle. Maybe Zecora was assisting in fighting these monsters off? It was something to be hopeful for, and she kept going, before suddenly more emerged from the treeline, causing her to turn and quickly run to a side path.
It was a terrible mistake, to say the least. As she cleared another few trees, one of those creatures swiped at her, and for the briefest of moments their skin made contact. Apple Bloom felt as though her arm had been set on fire, and collapsed onto the ground in agonising pain. As she brought her arm up, her skin began to turn black as the landscape around her became crimson, the colour of dried blood.
"NOOOOOOO!" she screamed, as the darkness consumed her. Scratch and bite marks appeared all over her skin as the discolouration continued. Her eyes lost their former colour, iris and eyeball changing and merging to form one colour. The colour red. The world changed to nocturnal colours in her vision, as her hair began falling out in clumps, increasingly looking torn and like tissue paper, a matted, jagged, broken mess that terminated in sharp, broken edges. Her trainers decayed, full of holes and dark in colour, as her jeans became full of holes and tears. Her shirt was a similar mess, and her bow was full of holes and torn fabric. By this point, her transformation was complete. She collapsed to the ground, her body ruined, blackened, and one of them.
She was a Blank. "No," she whispered. "This can't be it. It ain't fair!"
"It is perfectly fair," said a voice, and she looked up to see Gladstone walking toward her, still the image of death, surrounded by even more of those zombie creatures than before. "You can never leave our embrace now. But the outside world will never harm you. You can stay safe, and immortal... forever."
Applejack loaded some more shotgun shells. She was lucky Zecora had several weeks worth of ammunition here, and she could use it well. Her father had trained her to shoot, and she was very accurate by all accounts, if the steaming pile of courpses all around her was anything to go by. Just then, she heard another sound. Like a voice walking towards her. She raised the shotgun to her shoulder, and stepped forward to the clearing, expecting another of those things.
But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Walking (or was it staggering towards her?) was a creature with skin as black as night, covered in scars and blood, with glowing red eyes and a torn bow, as well as ripped clothing. It was her own little sister. Apple Bloom.
"A-Apple Bloom?" she gasped. "Wh-what in God's name happened ta ya?"
The creature replied, in a hoarse, yet distinct voice, that echoed of pain, and yet the signature country twang was there. "Applejack..." it wheezed. "Help... me..." It got closer and closer.
"Don't ya take another step!" Applejack demanded, closing her finger around the trigger.
"End... my... suffering..." the creature said again. "Kill... me... please..."
Tears in her eyes, Applejack nodded. "Lord, fergive me fer what Ah'm about ta do." She squeezed on the trigger, and discharged both barrels at once. The flames roared out of the barrel as the twin shotgun shells slammed into the creature, tearing it into a mass of blood and flesh as it hit the ground. It was too much, and Applejack collapsed onto her knees weeping. She had supposed to look out for Apple Bloom, but she had failed her sister completely. She had been taken by those things, and now she was dead by her own hands. Applejack knew that if she survived this night, she would be going straight to hell.
"Do not worry," said a voice behind her, a girl in an 1850s outfit with glowing eyes. "Let me take you back!"
"How?" Applejack whispered. "Ah'm a murderer. Ah just killed mah own sister!"
"Do not fear, as all can be undone," the girl said again. "Return to reality!"
Just then, all went white.
Author's Note
Bet you didn't see the game over ending coming!
What do you think will happen? Find out tomorrow, in the concluding installment of Story of the Blanks!
Tears in her eyes, Applejack nodded. "Lord, fergive me fer what Ah'm about ta do." She squeezed on the trigger, and discharged both barrels at once. The flames roared out of the barrel as the twin shotgun shells slammed into the creature, tearing it into a mass of blood and flesh as it hit the ground. It was too much, and Applejack collapsed onto her knees weeping. She had supposed to look out for Apple Bloom, but she had failed her sister completely. She had been taken by those things, and now she was dead by her own hands. Applejack knew that if she survived this night, she would be going straight to hell.
"Do not worry," said a voice behind her, a girl in an 1850s outfit with glowing eyes. "Let me take you back!"
"How?" Applejack whispered. "Ah'm a murderer. Ah just killed mah own sister!"
"Do not fear, as all can be undone," the girl said again. "Return to reality!"
Just then, all went white...
Applejack awoke with a start in her bedroom, sitting up in bed with sweat pouring down her face. She looked around inside to see all was calm. Her window was closed, and the curtains were closed across it, indicating that it was the night or some point around then. Twilight perhaps? No, not that Twilight. No, not THAT Twilight either. The farm girl grunted and wiped her forehead to remove some of the accumulation of water that had gathered upon her face, and checked her bedside clock. The old hands still rolled faithfully around their circular frame, firm, well built and easy to maintain as it was just a mass of gears and levers that kept the wonderful old machine running like clockwork, if you would excuse the pun.
The small hand was pointed toward the four, and the large hand was pointed toward the six. Four-Thirty. In the morning. Applejack groaned and lay back for a moment. What on Earth had that dream been about? First going into the Everfree Forest to give something to Zecora (who the heck was Zecora? Applejack had never heard of her, and yet there she was in the dream giving something to her of value), and then they had been waylaid by a fallen tree. Then Apple Bloom had vanished into the forest. Applejack had been so scared and worried for her, not knowing where in the world she could be, and then those things had attacked them. Applejack had never taken a life before, but those things were technically no longer alive, so at least it didn't count in that regard. But then she had heard another one. A shuffling noise had approached her, and she then went to look... to see that they had gotten Apple Bloom. The one person who should have survived, moved on, but didn't. It had pained Applejack so much to see what had happened, to see the one she was closest to in her family reduced to nothing but a monster, a walking hunk of mindless flesh and bone replacing the wonderful human being that had once been there. But that was the tragedy, and possibly, the irony of the entire thing as well. Complying with the creature's wishes, Applejack had taken the bullet (or the shotgun shell, to be exact) to the creature, at least ending Apple Bloom's pain.
But that didn't mean it didn't hurt. As she had dropped to her knees, weeping at the horrific crime she had just committed, a voice had told her that she had to go back. And here she was now, at home, with...
Wait, Apple Bloom! Applejack jumped out of bed and pulled her slippers on, running into the corridor (after opening the door first. Entering the corridor whilst the door was closed would not only have been challenging, not to metion painful and expensive. Doors cost money, after all!) and turned to her right, speeding toward her sister's bedroom.
Suddenly, a blur of yellow and red crashed into her, coming the other way, and the two of them ended up piled on top of one another. Applejack knew exactly who it was. "Sugarcube!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the younger girl. She was just so relieved that Apple Bloom was alive.
This same relief seemed to be shared by the younger girl. "Sis!" she cried, not caring what time of day it was. "Ah've never been so glad ta wake up."
Applejack was confused. "Did ya by any chance have a dream about goin' ta see Zecora?"
"Err... yes?" Apple Bloom replied. "Then this creepy girl appeared, and Ah followed her ta this place called Sunny Town, and there were ghosts and dead people everywhere! Then it gets a bit hazy after that..."
Applejack just held Apple Bloom tigher. "It don't matter none anymore," she smiled gently, not knowing tears were rolling down her face. "Yer safe, and that's all that matters. But don't ya go runnin' off from me in real life, ya hear?"
"Y-yes ma'am!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Should we try ta get some more sleep? School tom- well, today."
Applejack couldn't agree more.
The next day, or should I say that very day, dawned upon the world, the sun casting forth its eye upon the world and radiant beams thundering down upon Canterlot. That very day, the Apple siblings, Big Mac included for what would soon be the final time, arrived and went their separate ways. In Form Room, Cheerilee greeted the class, which included Apple Bloom and her friends, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Cozy Glow.
"Attention students!" she called. "Before we begin with the boring stuff, I just wanted to tell you all that we have a new student starting today. She's from Philadelphia, and I want you all to be as nice to her as possible. You can come in now!"
The door opened, and a girl stepped through the door. She had yellow skin and green eyes, as well as green hair. She was dressed in a purple shirt and blue jeans, and wore a pair of white trainers on her feet.
"Hi," she said. "I'm Jade, and I'm- Cozy Glow?"
Author's Note
Well, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story, and the twist ending.
Care to guess what Jade is a reference to?
Author's Note
Story of the Blanks began life as a Flash game told in one continous run from start to finish. As a result, I present the story here in that format to preserve the original game's narrative style.
Story of the Blanks
WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS DARK THEMES, BAD LANGUAGE AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE. IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THESE THEMES, PLEASE LEAVE NOW, WHILST YOU STILL CAN.
California, Everfree Forest, 1855.
The girl sprinted as best she could through the trees, keeping her speed up as best she could in spite of her long skirts slowing her down. Gunfire echoed through the trees and voices called out in the blackness.
"There's another load of them closing in!"
"FIRE!"
The roar of muskets echoed through the treeline, scattering wreckage and rubble all around. A tree exploded next to the girl as a musket ball flew through it, scattering wood and dust everywhere. The sounds of battle thundered all around, and the girl was desperately trying to escape from it all.
This forest had once been a place of relative peace. A wonderful place to settle, away from the hardships of the East Coast, it seemed as if they had found the new Eden. The forest was full of wonders and life, plentiful resources such as food and berries, as well as wood with which to build homes.
But now, horror had found them all. There were waves of these things all around, and nobody knew what in the world they even were. She had been out in the forest foraging for food and bark when the attacks had started, and now she had to get back to the village. Last she had heard, that was where most of the musket fire was coming from. Yet her trip home was not to end well at all, as this day was to end in tragedy.
Just as she passed over some tree stumps and ran for a neighbouring creek, a hand burst up from the ground and knocked her to the ground. She landed with a loud thud that could be heard all around, and the ground was wet and sticky. Her clothes stuck to it, mud and leaves covering her jacket and dress, currently piled up in a heap behind her. She out her hands to the ground, only to find that she struggled to get up. This damned frame she was wearing made it hard to move or even get up. Just as she got back to her feet, she looked around. Those monsters were standing all around her, their eyes red, their flesh sloughing from their bones, their skin the colour of the blackest night, and all looked hungry.
The girl did the last thing she could do, and that was scream. "MAMA! PAPA! HELP ME, PLEASE!"
It was to no avail. The creatures closed in, their bodies mangled and rotten. It was frankly bizarre that these monsters were capable of even walking anymore, and nobody had any clue what they had even once been. Their hands touched her, and she fell. All started to go white as her ears were filled with chanting.
"Don't go... don't go... you can stay... you can stay..."
"Forever..."
When she regained consciousness, all was dark and black all around. The sun had clearly set, and the forest was quiet once more. Brushing the worst of the dust off herself, the damage was not as severe as she had once thought. Straightening her skirts out, as one had to keep up appearences even in the middle of a woodland as hellish as this, she suddenly heard more voices nearby. She was nearer the village than she had thought. Excitement filled her heart. She was nearly home! She was nearly safe!
She set off and began to sprint toward the village, her skirts lifting as she ran along. At the edge of the village a rampart had been built, which was being manned night and day by soldiers from the US Army and the men of the village. Some of them were talking to one another.
"I think that's the last of them," said one.
"I hope so too," another added his piece to his thoughts. "They got another three today; Harris, Peterson, and Jones. Poor souls."
"May the Lord protect them and keep them," said Father Wakefield, the local Pastor. "Truly have they gone to the everlasting rest."
"Yeah, but what about us?" asked another villager. "They get to rest whilst we suffer in Hell? What sins have we committed to suffer here in this way, with these things all around us?"
"Quiet!" shouted another. "I hear something!"
The girl continued to sprint as best she could toward the lines, when suddenly one of the soldiers popped out and saw her. "It's another of them! Closing in on the rampart!"
The Captain of the unit looked as well. "ALL UNITS, FIRE!" he shouted. A hail of musketry responded to his order, bullets whizzing through the air and striking the girl multiple times. She fell over the ramparts and into a muddy pit below, landing next to one of the soldiers. It was only then she realised what had happened. She could see clearly now, due to a puddle from last night's rainfall. Her eyes were red. Her skin was black. She was one of them, her face evermore in a blank expression.
The soldier looked over in shock. "In the name of God, it's one of them!" he exclaimed.
"Calm down," the Captain replied. "It's Ruby. That's Chalmers' daughter. He'll be grieving tonight, I'll be sure."
The priest spoke quietly. "Dear Lord, please protect the soul of this dearly departed daughter of yours. Keep her in your love, so that she may awake in Paradise one day, when all are raised from the Earth and become one in Christ Jesus, Amen." He raised his head. "We need to burn the body. That's the only way to stop them from coming back."
Two of the soliders picked up the girl's body, and carried it over to a waiting fire pit, which had already been lit. They swung hard, and threw her body onto it. As the flames consumed her, dancing in her eyes, all she felt was the end of all things, the end of her life, the end of time itself.
And then...
Nothing...
It was, as mornings go, a wonderful morning in Canterlot city. The sun shone upon the land and the sea, and a gentle breeze blew through the streets and avenues. There was not a sight to miss, and the town bustled with people and action. The streetcars rumbled up and down through the streets, gliding along their rails and keeping the entire city moving, preventing it from being jammed up with cars which would have contributed to local pollution, not to mention spread a number of different health problems all around the town. Many had been amazed when the city council had approved such a measure in the city, but it had emerged they had been inspired by the success of the similar system in New Orleans in moving people about and at the same time helping to keep cars off of the roads, which was always a good thing in Canterlot.
Everywhere you looked, people were having fun and running about, either in the streets, which were neither too hot nor too cold thanks to the pleasent breeze mingling with the sunlight that shone down from the cloudless sky, or in Canterlot Mall. On the coast itself, head and tail lamps burned in the glorious day as trains arrived and departed from Cloudsdale in the north, and Crystal City and Los Angeles to the south. Goods workings rattled through, a mixture of steam, diesel, electric, and battery powered locomotives and multiple units, as well as a handle of railcars and push-pull sets, moving back and forth as people were moved around the state and the coastline. And let us not forget the beach. This was always popular at this time of year, with the families of many prominent Canterlot citizens choosing to gather here and enjoy the sun and breeze, with the water bearing what is known as the 'Goldilocks phenomenon'. It was neither too hot, nor was it too cold. It was just right.
But we shall now shift our focus to three young girls in the park. Yes, you guessed it, these three girls were Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, the trio often referred to by locals as 'the Crusaders', due to their many adventures and misadventures trying to find out whatever their destiny was. This journey had taken many unusual turns and fascinating directions, which included restoring an old railway, unearthing a local cyberbully trying to frame local girl Sunset Shimmer, clogging up a yard with trucks, succesfully driving an experimental train, preventing a train robbery of diamonds, gold, and dollar bills, visited several railways across the globe, and in Scootaloo's case briefly gone to Heaven. Apple Bloom had also managed (somehow) to go for most of a night in a formal gown without tripping up, though a set of stairs had derailed this plan somewhat. Oh well, at least she had got a chance to dance with Pip. Admittedly, the sight of Button Mash with a monocle and moustache was too funny to forget, not to mention all the random musical interludes courtesy of the Wondertones.
Right now, the trio was engaging in rock climbing. Or, more accurately, two of them were. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were up on the rock face, attached into harnesses and with ropes snaking through wheels and pulleys. Sweetie Belle was down at the bottom, pulling Apple Bloom upwards, whilst Scootaloo was being assisted by Rumble.
Apple Bloom felt her rope go slightly slack at her end, and paused, looking down at Sweetie Belle. "Keep it tight, Sweetie Belle!" she called. "Ah can't climb safely if you don't keep the rope taught."
"Strictly," Sweetie Belle replied, going into boffin mode for a bit, "it's a cable, as it is much stronger than a rope and better suited for this sort of activity."
"Ah don't care what it's made of," the apple girl replied. "Ya need ta keep it tight! And Ah mean tight!"
"Yes ma'am! Right away, ma'am!" Sweetie Belle replied, pulling hard on the rope. Apple Bloom suddenly shot upwards and landed on another set of rocks, putting her feet into place on two of the grip points and looking back down.
"Not that tight!" she exclaimed. "That's rubbin' against' mah thighs!"
Sweetie Belle went red. "Oops," she said. "Sorry. Should I go a little slacker on the rope?"
"Ah was hopin' that would be obvious!" Apple Bloom snapped back, who sighed as she felt the ropes slacken slightly, relieving pressure on her... private area.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo was rocketing up the wall, with Rumble struggling to keep up as she flew upwards.
"Hey, slow down!" he called up to his girlfriend. "I can't keep up with you!"
Scootaloo went slightly red, and slowed her pace somewhat. "Sorry Rumble!" she called. "I got a bit carried away."
"Yeah, it's not as if you're racing Apple Bloom or anything," the boy joked. In the instant that followed, he regretted it, as Scootaloo looked Apple Bloom directly in the eye.
"Race you to the top!" she called.
"Yer on!" Apple Bloom replied with a confident smirk, and began to speed up the cliff. Scootaloo laughed and began to follow her up to the top.
"Please slow down!" Sweetie Belle called. "At this rate I'll get friction burns!"
"I knew this was a bad idea," Rumble sighed loudly.
Scootaloo won the climbing contest, and was lowered to the ground with a triumphant smile. "Looks like I win," she smirked, as Apple Bloom touched the floor shortly after her.
"It weren't a fair race!" Apple Bloom retorted loudly. "YOU were higher up the cliff face than Ah was, so you had a head start! Not ta mention Rumble's stronger than Sweetie Belle..."
"HEY!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "I'm not that weak!"
"I can second her on that," Rumble added, as both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo disconnected their harnesses and laid them down on the floor. "Have you ever experienced her grip?"
"Have you?" Scootaloo asked suspiciously, looking at him with a death glare.
"I'm not cheating on you, honest!" Rumble exclaimed. "Button Mash told me about the time he and Sweetie Belle rode a rollercoaster at a theme park somewhere and apparently his hand had gone white when they got off, she'd been gripping it so tightly!"
Sweetie Belle had gone bright red, and simply looked at her shoes. Apple Bloom suddenly spoke up, causing everybody to jump. "Ain't they buildin' that new theme park near Halfway?"
"OH, Equestria Land!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "It'll be larger than the Disneyland Resort when finished, and will feature several themed lands such as Dragon Kingdom, Appaloosa, Neighagra Falls, and Cloudsdale."
"Do you work for the park or something?" Sweetie Belle asked her friend, looking somewhat confused.
"No," Scootaloo replied. "I've just been on the website loads. Maybe we could all go together on opening day?"
"Ah can't see that workin'," Apple Bloom added. "Most parks have real technical issues on openin' day. Universal Studios Florida only had one workin' attraction when it opened."
"Which one was that?" Rumble asked.
"The Hannah-Barbera one," Apple Bloom asnwered.
"Won't it also be really full?" Sweetie Belle added also. She wasn't always great with big crowds, and not only that she suffered from crippling stage fright.
"Maybe," Rumble sighed. "There may also be birds."
"Don't mention birds!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, appearing from nowhere as she usually did. "Sunset gets really angry when you mention parakeets!"
"Why?" the four asked together.
Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Beats me. I gotta go, see ya!" and she vanished into nothingness.
Later that day, the four friends had to part ways. Scootaloo had something or other to do with her mother, Cheerilee, Sweetie Belle and Rarity were visiting family in Crystal City, and Rumble was predisposed at Cloudsdale yard as a huge shipment, consisting of apples, bananas (which were causing Marx no end of confusion and difficulty), oranges, pears, and myriad other fruits had just arrived. This left Apple Bloom with little to do, and as she walked back to her local streetcar stop, she saw her sister stopping at the station.
"Howdy sugarcube!" she called. "Why ya lookin' so glum?"
"Mah friends are all busy," Apple Bloom sighed, her face long.
"Why, you could come with me!" Applejack replied. "Ah'm headin' over ta Ponyville ta take some supplies ta Zecora in the forest."
"Who's Zecora?"
"Zecora's this real nice lady, some sorta shaman or somethin' like that. She often helps with herbal remedies, and helped get one of our horses back on his feet back in the old days." Applejack smiled. "You'll like her."
Apple Bloom nodded. "Ah'd love ta come with ya."
"What ya waiting fer then?" her big sister smiled. "Let's go and get our tickets!" They purchased two tickets, and got aboard the waiting diesel multiple unit, a Class 101. Applejack put her box on the overhead luggage rack, and sat down in one of the seats, letting the air conditioning wash over her body. The horn sounded, and the train pulled away. Little did anybody know that this day would bring horrors.
The journey to Ponyville was a pleasent one, and one that Apple Bloom was quite familiar with. In fact, travelling there by diesel multiple unit was something of an experience of deja vu for her, as she and her friends has travelled by Class 101 from Canterlot to Ponyville on the branch line when they discovered the remnants of the Everfree Forest Railway, successfully restoring the line to working order. The branch had changed little since then, it being less than a year ago, and the views were as good as they had ever been.
After rolling out of the canopy of Canterlot station, the sun shone down upon the DMU, rolling forward out of the platform, smoke pouring from its engines and out of the engine exhaust vents mounted at the back of the power cars. It rolled over the junction and onto a diamond crossing, before moving over onto a 5th line on the side of the main running line that gave it access to the branch line. The set rolled to a brief stop.
"Control, this is the 14:15 DMU service to Ponyville Station, calling at Appaloosa Halt along the way. I am currently at the Direct Stop Board awaiting Radio Electric Token to access branch, over."
"14:15 DMU service to Ponyville Station, please hold position for now. Track is blocked, over."
"14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, message understood. Out."
A few minutes of waiting followed, until a 14xx radial tank engine coupled to an auto coach rolled off of the branch and onto the main line for a short spell, before running faster into one of the bay platforms at Canterlot Station.
"14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, awaiting Radio Electric Token to acces branch, over."
"14:15 Service to Ponyville Station, line up ahead is clear. Press receive on Radio Electric Token Box to accept tablet to access branch, over."
The driver reached forward to a box bolted next to the control lever, and pressed 'receive'. There was a short beep, and then the box updated to read CANT-PONY . "14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, I have received Radio Electric Token, over."
"14:15 Service to Ponyville Station, understood. You have permission to proceed past the DSB and access the Ponyville branch, over."
"14:15 DMU Service to Ponyville Station to Control, Understand that I have permission to proceed past the DSB and access the Ponyville branch, out." The driver switched off the radio, and opened the throttle up. The engine began to roar, and the DMU rolled past the board and onto the branch line. This curved off to the left, around a fairly tight bend that caused the wheels to start screeching as they rolled around them. Put simply, the branch line had been built back in the days when railways didn't use bogie coaches, which limited the line to short wheelbase carriages and short DMUs, such as the Class 101. It rolled through the curve at a slow speed of 15 miles per hour, and then rumbled onto the branch proper, where speed opened up to about 40 miles an hour.
The train rumbled past trees and hills, through beautiful valleys and past farms that glimmered in the sunlight. It was always a highlight to see Sweet Apple Acres out of the windows on the left hand side of the train, relative to the direction of travel, of course. When going the other way, it would of course appear on the right hand side. The line began to snake back and forth, the short wheelbase being needed to handle the tight bends which characterised tightly laid lines of this type. The train made a brief stop at Appaloosa Halt in order to pick up a supply of apples, which seemed to be a key product of the small settlement. It was also popular with people travelling to visit the local Indian reservation, the Buffalo tribe, and their leader Chief Thunderhooves was a regular appearance at Canterlot's important public occasions. Once all the loading and unloading was done, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, and the DMU set off into the distance, now somewhat more weighed down than it was before it arrived. The gradient increased to 1 in 100, and the DMU began to roar in order to make the climb. It surged up the slope, wheels slipping as it rolled along, until at last the sanders came on and the engine note increased to higher levels than ever heard before. At long last, after a long, hard, and very hot journey, the train rolled to a stop in Ponyville station, a single platform with a small hut to act as a waiting shelter, and next to it the platforms for the Everfree Forest Railroad, which curled off into the distance and up into the Everfree Hills, culminating at Everfree Camp itself. This line had helped to rejuvenate the local area, although it wasn't running today. Typically, it ran on weekend days, special days, and weekdays during the summer, with galas being held some days as well.
Hopping off the train and picking up the box, Apple Bloom and Applejack set off on a path into the Everfree Forest. It was close and dark, with the branches overhead blotting out the sunlight overhead and casting a pail of gloom over the world underneath it. It was extremely spooky, as visibility was severely limited. Applejack had the box on her shoulder, and her other arm swinging by her side, when suddenly she felt a hand grip hers.
She looked down and saw Apple Bloom was holding it, looking extremely nervous. "Ya OK, sugarcube?" she asked.
"A-Ah'm scared, sis," Apple Bloom replied. "Ah've never been in this part o' the woods before, and how do we know where ta go?"
Applejack stopped, put the box down, crouched down, and looked directly into her sister's eyes. "Now don't ya worry none," she said, with a reassuring smile and a calm, yet authoritative tone of voice. "Ah know where Ah'm goin', and ya can just follow me. Nothin's gonna harm ya." Applejack took the rope around the box, and slung it onto her back. She then produced something else from the box.
"Ya brought the 1200?" Apple Bloom asked. The weapon she was referring to was an elderly Remington 12 Gauge shotgun, with twin barrels and one mighty kick from the recoil.
"Just in case," Applejack sighed. "There may still be critters out here, but a shotgun shell'l put them outta action pretty promptly."
Apple Bloom felt a lot safer all of a sudden. "Ah think Ah'm ready ta go," she said.
Applejack nodded. "Agreed. The sooner we get this done, the better." Off the two siblings went, into the darkness and the cold, even though the sun was shining overhead, little knowing of the evil that lurked in the heart of the forest.
Onwards they went through dark forest and over bridges made of rope and plank, and through a cutting that looked as though somebody had attempted to build a railway line through the area but had given up. It had mostly returned to nature, plants and shrubs growing up alongside the pathway, and the reinforced walls showing signs of slipping down into the undergrowth, as though the forest did not want human development there. At last they reached a hut in the midst of the forest, and Applejack went and knocked on the door.
The door opened a few moments later, and on the other side stood a woman with grey skin and an impressive white and brown mohawk. She was otherwised dressed in cargo pants, military boots, and a cargo shirt suitable for working in the backwoods such as this.
"Howdy Zecora!" Applejack greeted cheerfully, handing the box over to her. "Here's them supplies ya asked fer."
"Kind girls," Zecora replied, now aware of Apple Bloom with her. "I thank you for delivering what told."
"Well, no problem!" Applejack replied, smiling as she did so. But then Zecora spoke again.
"But you do not want to remain for the events that will unfold. Hurry back to Ponyville you two must, for the darkness this night you cannot trust." Zecora then closed the door behind her.
All of Apple Bloom's previous confidence suddenly evaporated, and she looked up with trembling eyes. "Wh-what was that all about?" she asked.
"Ah don't know," Applejack replied. "Zecora just bein' Zecora, Ah imagine. Come on Sugarcube, let's be headin' home."
The two siblings set off once more into the forest, heading back the way they came, Applejack calmly sweeping the area and Apple Bloom looking behind her every few steps. When suddenly, they came to a fallen tree.
"Well, Ah'll be!" Applejack exclaimed, wiping her brow and engaging the safety catch on her shotgun before putting it back down. "How are we gonna get over this one?"
"Cut through it?" Apple Bloom suggested.
"Not enough time, and we lack the right tools. Ah'll climb over it and see if any more have come down over yonder." Applejack mounted the fallen tree and looked ahead of her, to see an entire parade of them knocked down. "Oh, for Pete's sake!"
Apple Bloom looked behind her, and suddenly saw someone standing there, wearing what looked like an old fashioned dress. She had grey skin and blonde hair, and suddenly vanished into the forest.
"Hey, wait!" Apple Bloom called, and began to head after her. She tracked her for a few minutes, and then lost sight of her.
It was just then that Apple Bloom realised she was all alone in the forest...
Off a path...
With no idea where she was...
Apple Bloom looked around her in a panic. The landscape had changed. There was no longer any light anywhere. The sun had gone, and the sky had turned grey. The trees seemed to encroach on her, and a mist rolled in across the terrain, blanketing everything in grey cloud. It was like Apple Bloom had stepped onto the set of a horror film, and she expected to find a creepy old cabin in the woods any moment now. She looked about her, the terrain hostile and unknowable. Where was she? How far away was Applejack? She honestly couldn't tell. In the dark, everything looked the same, and that was what frightened her. She had no clue where she was, and nobody had any clue where she was.
"Sis!" she called out, into the gloom and the mist. "SIS! ARE YA THERE?"
Nothing.
Apple Bloom began to step backwards, away from the path, when suddenly she felt something brush against her back and roll along her shoulder, like ghostly fingers running across her body. She shrieked, and turned around, to see all she had walked into was a set of tree branches. But out here, the trees seemed to be malevolent. It was just then she noticed there were no plants on the ground, and the trees had no leaves. Everything out here was dead.
There was brief, childlike laughter behind her, and Apple Bloom swung round in the direction in which it had come. "Show yerself!" she shouted. "This ain't funny!" At that very moment, Apple Bloom saw the girl again, who seemed to wave to her, and then run further into the forest.
"Hey! Wait up!" Apple Bloom called to the girl, and sprinted after her. The fact that following this girl may not have been the best of ideas did not occur to Apple Bloom, and onwards she went through the trees, following the rustling noise the girl's footsteps were making on the ground. As she ran onwards, the air seemed to grow colder and harsher, the temperatures starting to drop as she sprinted forward, causing the girl to wrap her arms around her chest to try and stay warm. As she went along her way, the trees grew dimmer, their forms looking ever more dead and decayed. Courpses, and there were no leaves and plants. The light also grew worse as more mist rolled in, blanketing the scene in darkness. It got to the point that Apple Bloom could barely see where she was even going. Only a mysterious light could be seen in the distance, and even that was problematic to spot, as it seemed to be getting further and further away from Apple Bloom. The girl puffed and panted as she began to run out of breath, lactic acid building up in her legs and starting to cause her pain.
"Slow... down!" she gasped, moving forward as best she could, when at last the light stopped moving. She at last ran across the threshold, over a bridge, and stopped in confusion.
What was on the other side of the bridge seemed to be exact opposite of what had come before, and couldn't have constituted a greater or more jarring contrast. Before her the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and there was no fog at all. The landscape had been cleared out, and before her sat a village, which looked as though it was some sort of living museum, consisting of old homes with mixed timber and brick construction, as well as a porch out front and back, which caused some of them to resemble the home she knew so well at Sweet Apple Acres. This sense of living history was reinforced further when a man began walking towards her, dressed in a manner that looked like he had just stepped off a wagon on the Oregon Trail; jeans, a chequered shirt, boots, and even a Stetson not disimilar to the one her sister wore. He smiled as he walked over.
"Why, howdy there youngin'!" he called, in a warm accent that Apple Bloom couldn't quite place. "Your not from around here, are you?"
"What makes ya say that?" Apple Bloom asked. This question was baffling; surely she was still in California!
"You're dressed like a man, that's all," the man answered. "Did you come up from that mining town, Canterlot?"
"Yes Ah did," Apple Bloom answered. "Where am Ah?"
"Where are my manners?" the man asked. "I'm Grayson Nash, welcome to Sunny Town!" He extended his hand and shook Apple Bloom's. "And you're just in time for the party as well!"
"What party?" the girl asked again. Something here was very confusing, and she intended to find out what, and thus be less confused.
"We're celebrating our town's founding today," Grayson replied. "We have been here for 3 years now, and don't intend to leave our little patch of paradise."
Something seemed off to Apple Bloom. If they were dressed like they were from the 1850s, why were they only just marking their town's third anniversary? Something wasn't right here, but Apple Bloom pushed that thought to the back of her mind and decided to ask another quesion instead. "How often do ya get visitors?"
"Not very often," Grayson replied. "Now why don't you go and introduce yourself, miss..."
"Apple Bloom."
Grayson smiled. "Not the name I'd have picked for you, but if that's your name, that's your name. See you around, Apple Bloom!"
Apple Bloom wandered about Sunny Town, taking a look at all there was to see in the town. It seemed a normal enough place, even if some of the locals had a baffling lack of knowledge of recent events, not knowing of the American Civil War, World War 2, and several claimed that the President was Franklin Pierce! Apple Bloom attempted to check a few facts on her phone, but that plan went out of the window pretty promptly when it emerged she had no phone signal. She also spoke with a woman called 'Scarlet', who only said that "he hasn't spoken a word to me all night," before sighing. The fact it was daytime seemed lost on her, as well as the fact she never established who 'he' was. Apple Bloom assumed it was her husband, before heading onwards into the town. Along the way, she helped a few townsfolk with their problems, such as recovering a missing present, and other myriad things, before encountering a man who looked to be an Army officer, judging from his blue uniform. He was tall, gaunt, and grey, so seemed to be quite old.
"Howdy!" Apple Bloom called to him. The man turned around, looking a little shocked.
"Young lady, whatever are you doing dressed like that?" he asked.
"My apologies," Apple Bloom replied. "Ah ain't from around here, and Ah wondered how long you've been here."
"Three years," the officer continued. He spoke with a clipped British accent. "We first settled this place in 1852, and have been here since then."
Yet another person who didn't seem to be aware the year was 2014. His dates were 159 years off. Apple Bloom shrugged it off. "Apologies," the officer said. "My name is Captain Gladstone. I command the US Army contingent that guards the town from threats, be they errant animals or Indian raiders."
"The Buffaloes?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Indeed," Gladstone sighed. "Bunch of savages if you ask me. Well, life has been pretty kind to us so far, although one of the men claimed to have seen dead walking around. More likely he'd drunk too much at the saloon!"
Suddenly, Apple Bloom saw the girl again, and went after her. "Hey! Wait up!"
Gladstone called after her. "Madame, wait! That way lie Indians!" He sighed. "Children."
Apple Bloom followed along the path, before the fog suddenly descended again, and the darkness swallowed up the land in a miasma of despair. As she ran along, the previous comfort she had felt evaporated like water droplets, and she felt worried and confused. What was that about their being Indians this way? She only hoped they wouldn't find her, but if it came to that, she could always point out that she and her family supplied cider to the reservation. Just then, she reached an old, ominous building that resembled an Antebellum mansion, similar to ones she had seen in Natchez, Mississippi. She went up to the door, to see a sign marked Chalmer's home . She then tried the door knob.
The door wouldn't budge.
"Darnit!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, as a chill washed over her. "The door is locked!" Just then, she spotted the well, and walked over to it. At the bottom lay a shiny object, but the crank was broken, which she would need to lift the bucket with the shiny object in it out.
So, Apple Bloom backtracked her way to Sunny Town and went into a large barn that was near the edge of town from where she had entered. She walked in, and found the crank for the well lying on the floor. She picked it up, and then heard crying, which she headed towards. Lying there was a woman, who had wet eyes with tears flowing out like waterfalls.
"It is not right. This is not right! The same thing over and over and over again!" she repeated, over and over and over again.
"Excuse me ma'am, are ya OK?" Apple Bloom asked, concerned. The woman didn't reply, simply saying the same thing over and over again.
Apple Bloom headed back to the mansion, and inserted the crank into the bucket mechanism on the well. It took all of her strength, but at long last she got the bucket out, and in it was a key!
"Yeah!" she cried, taking the key out and walking over to the door. The key fitted perfectly, and Apple Bloom opened the door, having no clue what she would find in there...
Apple Bloom stepped through the threshold of the house. It was dark inside, and the hallway before her opened up into rooms on multiple sides. Above her was an old chandelier, still with candles, although none of them were lit which made it very hard to see. Apple Bloom removed her torch from her pocket and stepped forward, the cone of light that was projected forward from the torch penetrating the gloom. Unlike the rest of the town, which looked to be in good order and structural shape, this house was clearly suffering the effects of neglect. The walls were leaking, water dribbling down them like twin waterfalls, and cobwebs covered everything, from an old piano which by now must be hundreds of years old, to several walls littered in old newspapers and rubbish. Nearby was a cradle, with nothing inside it, and a strange music flowed through the air.
Apple Bloom was by now extremely tense. There was no way of knowing what may be inside this house. But she had to find out more. That girl had come this way, and she had to be somewhere in the house. So, she decided to start by looking upstairs. There was little of note in the bedrooms, and the bathroom was clear, if a little musty due to a lack of cleaning and use. The attic was also clear. Apple Bloom chose to check the main floor next, and found a place full of evidence of life. It was like the Marie Celeste of haunted houses. Everything was left out as if somebody was living here. The table was set up as if there were guests coming around to visit, the plates fully laid out and the cutlery in place, three sets of knifes, forks, and two spoons. A three course meal with soup and desert, perhaps? Apple Bloom walked past the door, and pulled it open, to walk through the parlour. Again, it had seen an obvious lack of use judging from the cracking plaster and cobwebs that permeated the place, but apart from that it seemed to be structurally sound. On one of the mantelpieces was a collection of photographs, which must have been expensive to take given the 1850s timewarp this place seemed to be, as well as a painting of three people hanging up on the wall. The three figures were a man, a woman, and a girl (who bore an uncanny resemblance to the one Apple Bloom had been following earlier), and seemed to be smiling. The caption below it read The Chalmer's Family, 1853 . They seemed to be happy. What in the world had happened that left this place as it was?
Having been through the parlour, Apple Bloom had one last place to check. The basement. She went through slowly, worried about she might find down there. She had once caught a fragment of a film (admittedly by accident) about a madman who kept his mother's courpse in the basement. She paused on the stair. She could go back now, and save herself. But it was too late now. She had to find out what was going on here. So, ignoring the chill on the back of her neck, and the looming sense of horror building up in her heart, she descended the stairs. They were old, and made of wood, and creaked as you stepped down them. It was like being in the middle of a William Faulkner story, and Apple Bloom then reached the bottom, opening an old door in front of her that was covered in gauze. It creaked as it opened, the hinges being on the verge of breaking due to a lack of oiling. How had this place gone un-noticed for so long? It's rather difficult to just lose a mansion in the middle of nowhere!
The room she had just entered had shutters mounted to the walls, as well as a single table. This table had nothing on it, but that wasn't what raised Apple Bloom's attention. In the centre of the wall in front of her was a fireplace, which to her surprise was lit. But there was no trace of the girl anywhere. She had looked through the entire house and hadn't been able to find anything.
"Where did she go?" Apple Bloom asked, as she approached the fireplace and the roaring fire. The heat it was producing was nice given the overall chill that seemed to be permeating through the building and this part of the world, but even so something was wrong. She looked closer into the fireplace. "Nothin' in here," she said. Then she looked a little closer. Something white was sitting in amongst the coals, which were heaped up in a strange shape. "Nothin' in here except..."
The flames then suddenly roared, and the entire room was abruptly plunged into blackness, revealing what was lying in amongst the fire. Apple Bloom screamed and recoiled in horror.
Lying there, before her, in the fire, was a human skeleton. It showed no signs of decomposition despite the flesh and muscle being missing, and furthermore it seemed to be the body of a human female, the body being about the size of Apple Bloom based on a rough guess made by the girl. The bones were white, and showed no signs of being burned at all despite sitting in a fire.
Apple Bloom scrambled back in fright. "NO NO NO NO!" she screamed, running for the exit to the room. But the room was now pitch black, and she had forgotten the precise location of that gauze coloured door through which she had entered. She ran into a wall, and bounced off of it, getting back up as fast as she could before trying to feel her way along the wall to the door. She could feel something behind her, what seemed like breathing on her back.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" she cried, at last finding the door and pulling it open with all her strength. She slammed it shut and pointed her torch ahead. Why hadn't she thought to use her torch in the room? It seemed so stupid now, but she had been rendered unable to think straight due to being frightened. Apple Bloom cleared the stairs, two at a time, and bolted for the main door to the house, slamming it shut behind her and sprinting out into the cold, dark night. The sky had changed little, and if only she could reach Sunny Town, she could-
But Sunny Town was no longer safe. It was covered in a pail of black fog, the sky was dark, and the moon was red, the colour of blood. Apple Bloom stepped slowly through the ruins, the houses collapsed and decaying, as a voice echoed through the darkness, a voice she recognised as that of Grayson.
"There was no other way," it said, raspy and broken. "She was one of them. She would have brought death upon us all."
As Apple Bloom pressed on, she found another shocking sight. Several of the townsfolk were lumbering around like zombies. Their flesh was black and their eyes were red, skin rotting and sloughing from bones, which were in some cases exposed and sticking out at unnatural angles.
"She had become one of them!" gasped one of them. "We had to destroy her body to avoid corruption!"
"What are ya talkin' about?" Apple Bloom asked. "What corruption?"
"This location is haunted, as it was an Indian burial ground," the voice said again. "We disturbed the ancient spirits, and the dead began to rise. Blanks, they were called, due to their vacant expressions. They wouldn't die, no matter how many times we killed them. Eventually, they got all of us, as help never arrived. We are forever undying, cursed to relive this Hellish life over and over again. But do not fear. You can become like us, become undying."
"Become a mouldy pile o' flesh?" Apple Bloom asked. "No thank ya!" And she bolted, running through the street and vaulting over a cart. Nearby was the remains of Gladstone, similarly horrifying in appearance, his uniform tatty and his weapon rusty.
"Please..." he wheezed, his voice broken and weak from the taint that had infested him, his lungs rotting away even as he spoke. "Stay with us... You can have immortality. We shall ensure you never suffer her fate, or that anybody else suffers this fate..."
As she reached the edge of the town, two more appeared, one of them the woman she had helped earlier. A man came forward as well. "All we wanted was paradise," he gasped. "But all we got was Hell. Don't leave. The other's won't like it."
Apple Bloom went for the town entrance by the bridge, only for another to climb out of the Earth and lumber toward her. "Fools," she gasped. "Even in their deathlike state they do not understand. I should have protected her, but we made our choice settling here. This is our punishment, what we deserve for our sins. Now run. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"
Apple Bloom took her instructions to heart, and sprinted across the bridge into the darkness beyond. Her legs pounded back and forth as she shone her torch ahead, trying to see where she was going. The fog was making it almost impossible to see where she was going as she ran for her life through the darkness. All around her were voices, speaking in many tongues and tones. The worst ones were the screams. Voices that were disembodies floated through the air, tones of death and voices begging for their lives to be ended from the pain.
Just then, there was a loud noise echoing from the ground ahead of her. Apple Bloom stopped, to see the Earth come apart before her, and a hand smashed out of the Earth. Another of those creatures emerged, in an even worse state than before, mostly bone rather than flesh and muscle, but with the same black skin and horrifying red eyes that glowed like lamps in the night. Apple Bloom ran around it and continued down the path. She was regretting ever doing this. She had run off from her sister and she had let her own curiosity get the better of her.
And because of it, she was going to die. One of things would get her. It was like being the player of a horror game, only this time there was no seperation between the events that were unfolding and the player. There was no screen. There were no respawns. There was no chance at trying again.
If she died, she was dead. Permanently, totally, finally dead. With absolutely no way of coming back at all.
More and more of them emerged from the blackness, staggering over like zombies. A mishmash of clothing clad them, ranging from native dress to uniforms of Union and Confederate soldiers. Reportedly a battle had been fought here during the Civil War, and it seemed now that the dead were rising to claim the bodies of the living. Gunfire suddenly echoed through the forest. It was a very familiar sound. The sound of Applejack's shotgun.
"Ah just have ta follow the sound and Ah'll be safe!" she cried, doubling her efforts to get out of this mad place. She knew she would probably be grounded for having run off, but there were worse things than being grounded, and one of them was being dead. Something she wasn't hugely keen on being right now, as she enjoyed her life, and was quite keen to get back to it.
More creatures lumbered after her, when Apple Bloom suddenly saw a discarded musket on the ground. She picked it up, and checked it. To her amazement, the weapon was loaded, ball, gunpowder and ramrod all there, and furthermore the percussion cap was set to fire. She pointed the weapon at a zombie that was close, and fired. The weapon kicked back in her shoulder, the recoil massive and violent, as huge amounts of smoke and superheated gas came out of the end of the barrel. Joining it was a tiny metal object, a minie ball from observation, which confirmed this weapon to be Civil War era. The ball flew through the air and impacted the zombie. It tore clean through the skull, leaving a splatter of flesh and dried blood as it fell, the skull disintegrating as it fell back into the Earth. With no time at all to reload, Apple Bloom dropped the musket and began to run once more, hearing more percussive bangs from a shotgun, as well as what sounded like a semi automatic rifle. Maybe Zecora was assisting in fighting these monsters off? It was something to be hopeful for, and she kept going, before suddenly more emerged from the treeline, causing her to turn and quickly run to a side path.
It was a terrible mistake, to say the least. As she cleared another few trees, one of those creatures swiped at her, and for the briefest of moments their skin made contact. Apple Bloom felt as though her arm had been set on fire, and collapsed onto the ground in agonising pain. As she brought her arm up, her skin began to turn black as the landscape around her became crimson, the colour of dried blood.
"NOOOOOOO!" she screamed, as the darkness consumed her. Scratch and bite marks appeared all over her skin as the discolouration continued. Her eyes lost their former colour, iris and eyeball changing and merging to form one colour. The colour red. The world changed to nocturnal colours in her vision, as her hair began falling out in clumps, increasingly looking torn and like tissue paper, a matted, jagged, broken mess that terminated in sharp, broken edges. Her trainers decayed, full of holes and dark in colour, as her jeans became full of holes and tears. Her shirt was a similar mess, and her bow was full of holes and torn fabric. By this point, her transformation was complete. She collapsed to the ground, her body ruined, blackened, and one of them.
She was a Blank. "No," she whispered. "This can't be it. It ain't fair!"
"It is perfectly fair," said a voice, and she looked up to see Gladstone walking toward her, still the image of death, surrounded by even more of those zombie creatures than before. "You can never leave our embrace now. But the outside world will never harm you. You can stay safe, and immortal... forever."
Applejack loaded some more shotgun shells. She was lucky Zecora had several weeks worth of ammunition here, and she could use it well. Her father had trained her to shoot, and she was very accurate by all accounts, if the steaming pile of courpses all around her was anything to go by. Just then, she heard another sound. Like a voice walking towards her. She raised the shotgun to her shoulder, and stepped forward to the clearing, expecting another of those things.
But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Walking (or was it staggering towards her?) was a creature with skin as black as night, covered in scars and blood, with glowing red eyes and a torn bow, as well as ripped clothing. It was her own little sister. Apple Bloom.
"A-Apple Bloom?" she gasped. "Wh-what in God's name happened ta ya?"
The creature replied, in a hoarse, yet distinct voice, that echoed of pain, and yet the signature country twang was there. "Applejack..." it wheezed. "Help... me..." It got closer and closer.
"Don't ya take another step!" Applejack demanded, closing her finger around the trigger.
"End... my... suffering..." the creature said again. "Kill... me... please..."
Tears in her eyes, Applejack nodded. "Lord, fergive me fer what Ah'm about ta do." She squeezed on the trigger, and discharged both barrels at once. The flames roared out of the barrel as the twin shotgun shells slammed into the creature, tearing it into a mass of blood and flesh as it hit the ground. It was too much, and Applejack collapsed onto her knees weeping. She had supposed to look out for Apple Bloom, but she had failed her sister completely. She had been taken by those things, and now she was dead by her own hands. Applejack knew that if she survived this night, she would be going straight to hell.
"Do not worry," said a voice behind her, a girl in an 1850s outfit with glowing eyes. "Let me take you back!"
"How?" Applejack whispered. "Ah'm a murderer. Ah just killed mah own sister!"
"Do not fear, as all can be undone," the girl said again. "Return to reality!"
Just then, all went white.
Applejack awoke with a start in her bedroom, sitting up in bed with sweat pouring down her face. She looked around inside to see all was calm. Her window was closed, and the curtains were closed across it, indicating that it was the night or some point around then. Twilight perhaps? No, not that Twilight. No, not THAT Twilight either. The farm girl grunted and wiped her forehead to remove some of the accumulation of water that had gathered upon her face, and checked her bedside clock. The old hands still rolled faithfully around their circular frame, firm, well built and easy to maintain as it was just a mass of gears and levers that kept the wonderful old machine running like clockwork, if you would excuse the pun.
The small hand was pointed toward the four, and the large hand was pointed toward the six. Four-Thirty. In the morning. Applejack groaned and lay back for a moment. What on Earth had that dream been about? First going into the Everfree Forest to give something to Zecora (who the heck was Zecora? Applejack had never heard of her, and yet there she was in the dream giving something to her of value), and then they had been waylaid by a fallen tree. Then Apple Bloom had vanished into the forest. Applejack had been so scared and worried for her, not knowing where in the world she could be, and then those things had attacked them. Applejack had never taken a life before, but those things were technically no longer alive, so at least it didn't count in that regard. But then she had heard another one. A shuffling noise had approached her, and she then went to look... to see that they had gotten Apple Bloom. The one person who should have survived, moved on, but didn't. It had pained Applejack so much to see what had happened, to see the one she was closest to in her family reduced to nothing but a monster, a walking hunk of mindless flesh and bone replacing the wonderful human being that had once been there. But that was the tragedy, and possibly, the irony of the entire thing as well. Complying with the creature's wishes, Applejack had taken the bullet (or the shotgun shell, to be exact) to the creature, at least ending Apple Bloom's pain.
But that didn't mean it didn't hurt. As she had dropped to her knees, weeping at the horrific crime she had just committed, a voice had told her that she had to go back. And here she was now, at home, with...
Wait, Apple Bloom! Applejack jumped out of bed and pulled her slippers on, running into the corridor (after opening the door first. Entering the corridor whilst the door was closed would not only have been challenging, not to metion painful and expensive. Doors cost money, after all!) and turned to her right, speeding toward her sister's bedroom.
Suddenly, a blur of yellow and red crashed into her, coming the other way, and the two of them ended up piled on top of one another. Applejack knew exactly who it was. "Sugarcube!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the younger girl. She was just so relieved that Apple Bloom was alive.
This same relief seemed to be shared by the younger girl. "Sis!" she cried, not caring what time of day it was. "Ah've never been so glad ta wake up."
Applejack was confused. "Did ya by any chance have a dream about goin' ta see Zecora?"
"Err... yes?" Apple Bloom replied. "Then this creepy girl appeared, and Ah followed her ta this place called Sunny Town, and there were ghosts and dead people everywhere! Then it gets a bit hazy after that..."
Applejack just held Apple Bloom tigher. "It don't matter none anymore," she smiled gently, not knowing tears were rolling down her face. "Yer safe, and that's all that matters. But don't ya go runnin' off from me in real life, ya hear?"
"Y-yes ma'am!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Should we try ta get some more sleep? School tom- well, today."
Applejack couldn't agree more.
The next day, or should I say that very day, dawned upon the world, the sun casting forth its eye upon the world and radiant beams thundering down upon Canterlot. That very day, the Apple siblings, Big Mac included for what would soon be the final time, arrived and went their separate ways. In Form Room, Cheerilee greeted the class, which included Apple Bloom and her friends, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Cozy Glow.
"Attention students!" she called. "Before we begin with the boring stuff, I just wanted to tell you all that we have a new student starting today. She's from Philadelphia, and I want you all to be as nice to her as possible. You can come in now!"
The door opened, and a girl stepped through the door. She had yellow skin and green eyes, as well as green hair. She was dressed in a purple shirt and blue jeans, and wore a pair of white trainers on her feet.
"Hi," she said. "I'm Jade, and I'm- Cozy Glow?"
Brian Drummond-soldiers, Class 101 DMU driver
