Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres

Nine years later

Sophomore year in Ponyville High School had been a drag for Flora, having been a prime target for the mean mares of the establishment. She was a quiet and contempt student, unlike the majority of the plethora of adolescents on the curvature of learning whatever the establishment had to offer.

That wasn't what the mean mares liked. They considered mares like Flora bait.

It had been hard ever since that horrible night when Darwin Flare had finally received his just desserts from his own daughter, having been the very night that Flora had lost every fiber of her innocence.

Lily had been very lucky that the injury she'd received was nothing that the doctors couldn't have fixed. She had been smart not to remove the knife, otherwise the end result would have not been so fortunate in Lily's favor. Potentially fatal, seeing the blade had been the only thing keeping large amounts of blood from her damaged organs from bleeding out internally.

There had been a brief investigation by the police on the assumption of it having been a case of murder, but, thanks to Flora giving clarification on the cause of Darwin's death being self defense, every suspicion of it being murderous cause was dropped.

Lily and Flora had decided to see this whole endeavor to Darwin's funeral to avoid the police suspecting them any further of malevolent actions, seeing they had planned to move after the fact. Their original living place had carried only bad memories, and they had wanted to start anew.

So, they left, leaving behind any trace of Darwin Flare's existence.

However, Flora had not recovered, still traumatized at the reasoning of her father's death being by her own hooves. Even as she grew from a filly into a mare, she carried that same burden, despite what her therapist or mother told her.

She knew her father was a terrible monster who had not only violated her, but also her mother. But the fact remained that he was still her father, and children are not supposed to kill their own blood.

That was the main reason why she couldn't escape her personal limbo; she thought herself a murderer; a murderer of her own family.

Lily had tried her best to persuade her daughter that she was not a killer, but nothing ever helped or changed Flora's mind, and she remained in that limbo for nine long years, up until the day her personal state of immobile growth had finally shattered.

That day was a bright sunny one in the cafeteria of Ponyville High School, a rectangular room that smelled of that day's serving; hayburgers with a side of fries, and a drink to wash it down. A long line of pubescent adolescents crowded the entrance, but Flora was already seated on the farthest table of the cafeteria, slowly gnawing away at the barely-tasty food on her plate.

The hay rested between the two buns was brittle and tough to chew, so Flora had just decided to settle her stomach with the fries. A gloss adorned her hoof after each bite, the fries being greasy and slightly soggy. Despite the clear health hazard, she just stomached them, her stomach grumbling as an objection to skip lunch.

In the midst of her isolated self-company, something broke the quiet, another plate joining her on the opposite side of the table. Flora suspected it to be one of her everyday-bullies, here to taunt her and throw food in her face, but upon the pony speaking, she knew that wasn't the case.

"Hi."

This voice was different; subtle and monotone, but carried a hint of care underneath. Flora just kept her head low and didn't answer, hoping for the pony to just move to another table.

They didn't and persisted instead.

"You're Flora, right? The one who doesn't talk to anypony?"

Flora continued to just stay quiet, still hoping for this stranger to lose interest and go elsewhere. They didn't and continued to persist.

"I see how it is. It's okay, I know what you've been through and how badly it fucks you up."

Flora's eyes widened, both at the carefree f bomb and comment on knowing what she's been through. How could she know? She was just a random stranger.

"Let me guess, you've either had a terrible dad or mom, or you've done something that you can't let go of, because you think it's your fault."

Now Flora was getting scared. How the hell was she guessing everything related to her past?! Was she a time traveler or mind reader that could see her darkest thoughts?! What was happening?!

Flora thought about getting up and leaving, but part of her wanted to hear what this mystery mare had to say. Curiosity was a dangerous thing, but what could a teenager do to her in front of hundreds of other ponies? She raised her head slowly to meet the mystery mare's gaze, meeting them almost instantly.

"I see I've hit the nail on the head," the mare said, her features being that of usual goth.

She was a unicorn with a ghost white body and a long black mane with a single purple stripe adorning it, her left eye being cloaked by it. Her visible eye was a dark violet, and her body was adorned with several goth-style attire such as spiked bracelets, a necklace with a skull as its main feature, and a black t-shirt with rips and tears.

Her expression spoke little emotion, her one eye half-shut and lips neutral, neither frowning or smiling.

Flora was intimidated, but she just went with it, keeping her eyes on the mare.

"What…do you want?" Flora spoke at last, her tone carrying a mix of fear and confusion.

"She speaks," the mare commented. "Good, and here I was thinking you wouldn't even speak. That shows that there's definitely hope for you after all."

Flora was beyond confused and seconds from getting up and running, but something kept her seated, too intrigued at this strange mare.

"I don't understand…who are you, and what do you want from me?!" she demanded under her breath.

Flicking her mane from her covered eye, she responded with something Flora would never have expected.

"Do you notice anything about this eye?" the mare questioned, pointing to her left eye.

Flora looked over the eye carefully, and up until Jane Doe averted her gaze elsewhere did Flora realize the difference.

Her left eye didn't move with the other one.

Flora gasped at the realization, and, upon discovering the difference, it was enough for Flora to see that she wasn't lying and actually had good intentions.

"It doesn't move…

Jane Doe nodded as clarification.

"That's because it isn't real, and it's my reminder of what my parents did to me as a foal, and what I had to do in defense to save myself from further damage."

Flora was shocked, having not expected this to be how her day would go, as much as how relevant this mare's case was to her past. She just kept listening as the mystery mare covered her left eye again.

"My real parents were alcoholics and drug addicts, which you should know is not a good combination. When I was only five, I had caught my parents doing "the thing" while as drunk as a sailor and as high as a kite.

Being curious, I'd asked them what they were doing, and, well, my father let me up onto the bed to explain, however, it was a trap, and he held me as my mother took a beer bottle to my face, destroying my left eye in the process. Unbelievably the hit didn't manage to knock me out cold, and I managed to get away and hide.

I couldn't reach the doorknobs at the time, so I couldn't get out of the house to yell for help, and just hid somewhere I felt safe. It worked, but only briefly, and considering I was starting to lose lots of blood, I knew I had to get out and find help.

Due to the blood loss and trauma, I don't remember the majority of how I found a way, but I did, and managed to find a window to crawl through. Once I was out, I just remember screaming in the streets for help, and one of the neighbors found me.

My parents were arrested on the spot, seeing they were far too out of it to even pass the breathalyzer or speak full sentences. Upon analysis of my wounds and skull, I'd been lucky to even live. My skull was fractured, my eye was beyond saving, and, had I not been found any sooner, I probably would've died from the blood loss.

My parents were put in prison for child abuse, and now I live with my grandma, but for the longest time,and unknown reason, I'd blamed myself for their imprisonment. It was mainly because I was too young to understand, but, just like you, I couldn't let it go.

I knew they had tried to kill me that night, but they were still my parents, and for some reason I blamed myself for what happened to them. That is, up until I started making friends again and learned better. Friends I'd like you to meet, Flora."

Flora was stunned at this mare's tale of survival, having brief flashbacks of the night her father attempted to kill her. She could see what she was trying to say now, but she was scared to confront her past again.

"What makes you so sure you can help me?" Flora asked calmly. "We're two totally different ponies with different pasts, You may have been able to recover, but what if I can't?"

Jane Doe nodded.

"You're right, but you'll never know if you can until you try," she replied. 'Trying is the first step to recover, Flora. However, you have to take those steps on your own."

The conversation was interrupted by the school bell, signaling lunch hour was over. The pony stood up from her seat, relaying one last comment before returning to class.

"Name's Sarah by the way. Come by the football field after school if you wanna take my offer. Otherwise, continue living in that shell for the rest of your life."

With that said, Sarah walked off and Flora was left to her thoughts. Flora had no idea how to feel about what had just happened. Was this her opening to a second chance or some cruel prank arranged by those bitch mares?

The only way she'd find out was to try. Could she even attempt to try? She had until the final school bell to decide.

The last bell rang loudly as Flora exited her last social studies class, making her way through the crowded halls to her locker. After successfully entering the right combination, she opened the worn steel door and store away her heavy baggage weighing down her back in her saddle bags.

To her, it was the equivalent of lifting an anvil from her aching back, but even she knew that wasn't true, and just shook it off as she finished her locker business. Once her practical anvils were settled in their steel home, she shut the locket and turned towards her usual quick route she used to escape the ocean of students she called her peers.

She had made it about twenty yards when she suddenly lost her balance and hit the floor hard. She could already taste her irony life supply upon her attempt to get back on her hooves, knowing full well who had tripped her on purpose.

"Oops! I am soooo sorry! I thought you were some kind of freak!"

Callie Stirrup. Aka. Flora's personal torturer.

Her sassy and sarcastic tone was enough to clarify it, as much as the light pink fur and gold horseshoes adorning her body.

Upon getting up, Flora felt the desire to give the bitch a taste of her own medicine, but stopped herself for two reasons.

One. She was the better mare.

Two. She had a bloody nose from her fall.

It was really hard not to deck Callie across her muzzle for Flora, but she had no interest in detention or paying hospital bills.

"What's the matter, freak?! Too much of a wuss to fight back?! Maybe you don't understand pony language! Well, read my lips, don't trot in my territory and maybe you won't get punished!"

"You're soooo lucky I have great self-control. Otherwise, you'd be in the hospital with more than just a broken muzzle," Flora spoke to herself in her mind, watching as Callie walked off with her usual prissy strut.

She wanted to tend to her injury, but the closest bathroom was nowhere close by and she knew the staff wouldn't even do shit about it, so she just took her leave out into the school's courtyard. She just wanted to get home and forget about what just happened, but just as she started to approach the perimeter of the end of the school's property, she thought back to lunch.

"Come by the football field after school if you wanna take my offer. Otherwise, continue living in that shell for the rest of your life."

That mare aka. Sarah had given her a free invite to a potential friendship, but every instinct and the butterflies in her stomach were telling her otherwise. Her paranoia told her it was a trap; another dirty prank by Callie and her little sluts that kissed her ass so much just to stand by her side.

However, the more Flora thought about it, the more her suspicion of this "Sarah" being another one of Callie's followers dissipated. Unless Sarah was a great actor, everything she had said sounded real, and she hadn't lied, seeing her left eye was fake.

Not to mention, Callie's little gremlins were terrible actors and always had a hint of fakeness to their schemes; Sarah had felt legitimate. She was kicking herself in her conflict, but given there was a chance to escape her guilt and inner war with herself, she reluctantly turned back around and started for the football field.

It wasn't a far trot, the football field being just off to the side of the school's right exit, and in no more than five minutes she was at the backside of the bleachers. The entrance to the field was less than an inch from her, but she had stopped to think twice about this whole idea.

However, her stubborn attitude and will to want to escape her personal limbo was enough to break her barrier of paranoia and caution, trotting onward and through the entrance of the football field.

She had never attended any of the games in her little time at Ponyville High, so seeing the field was actually an astonishing sight for Flora, but her sights were quickly averted to the middle of the field where a pair of ponies stood in conversation.

One of them she recognized as the same mare who had accompanied her at lunch earlier, while the second was more of a stranger. He was a tall, stock, and clearly attractive stallion, his mane done in a 50's greaser-style fashion.

He wore a clearly-expensive black leather jacket, had light brown fur, sky-blue eyes, and a slick well-kempt mane.

Even Flora couldn't deny that she had been slightly aroused at the sight of him, but that was the last thing on her mind as she approached, feeling certainly intimidated and uncomfortable.

Sarah caught sight of her first, and a smile adorned her face in her success of convincing Flora to join her and John Doe after school.

"Well well, looks like you made it after all," Sarah greeted. "Oh shit, what happened to your nose?"

Flora jumped, having forgotten about her little tussle with Callie.

"It's nothing, just a casual everyday injury in this place," Flora explained.

"There's nothing casual about a bloody and bruised nose," Sarah objected. "Trev, do you have anything to clean her up?"

"Yeah," the stallion said, reaching into an inner pocket of his jacket and pulling out a white handkerchief. "Here ya go."

Sarah took the cloth and handed it out to Flora, to which Flora rejected.

"It's nothing, no need to bloody up a-

"Either you take it or I wipe it," Sarah interjected, causing Flora to realize that she was serious.

Reluctantly, she just listened and took the handkerchief, wiping away the dried blood outside her nostrils and continuing to hold the cloth to her swollen nose.

Flora jerked at the touch to her injury, which the stock stallion caught and obliged to.

"Hey Sarah?" he started.

"Yeah?" Sarah answered.

Mind keeping her company for say…five minutes?"

"Sure, but why?"

"I gotta go inside to get something for that nasty injury."

"Oh. Go ahead then," Sarah finished.

"Guys, really this is nothin-OUCH!" Flora attempted.

"Yeah, I beg to differ," the stallion countered. "Just sit tight, I know the perfect way to fix your injury."

With that, he turned back to the school and ran off in a trot. Flora grumbled at unnecessary action, but knew he wouldn't listen, so she just stayed put.

"Just trust him, he knows what he's doing," Sarah assured.

Flora just grumbled, unintentionally snorting in the process, something she hadn't done since she was a filly.

Five minutes later, the stallion returned in a hasty trot, carrying something like a bag in his lips. Upon stopping and presenting his baggage resting between his lips, it was found to be a bag of frozen peas, to which Flora expressed a confused expression.

Had he gotten these from the cafeteria fridge?

He motioned for Flora to take the bag of the frozen vegetables, and, knowing she had no choice, just took it.

"Rest that against your nose. Trust me, it'll help with your pain and swelling," the stallion instructed.

Flora just listened and placed the ice cold package against her swole nose, and, upon the contact with her skin, she winced. However, after a few seconds, her flesh adapted to the temperature, and she just allowed this odd form of medicine for her nose to do its job.

"Well, I guess now's good a time as any to introduce you to Trevor. You may already know him, seeing he is our school's main quarterback, and apparently a doctor."

"Hehe nah, this is just standard procedure for things like swelling in the locker room whenever one of the players on the team gets hurt," he explained. "Remember, I was a medical assistant on the team before I even played on the field."

"This is new news to me," Sarah answered.

"Hehe. Anyways, it's very nice to meet you Flora," he greeted, holding out his hoof to shake.

Not wanting to be rude, Flora answered by shaking his hoof in return, bewildered by his politeness, but something else caught her attention as well.

"How do you know my name?" she questioned.

"Ah, I'm very well acquainted with every student of our school, seeing I'm in the yearbook club, and organize things like names and such," he explained kindly.

Flora nodded, returning her hoof to the surface of the football field.

"It's nice to meet you too, Trevor," Flora greeted in return. "However, I can't help but be surprised at how…polite and generous you're being. I thought that jocks were supposed to be full of themselves and careless?"

"And you'd be right, but that's not the case with me. My teammates are egomaniacs and carefree bastards that have basically slept with all the "popular" mares in this school. Caught a few in the act even, and immediately reported it like a good jock should.

Unlike them, I actually have a life outside of sleeping with mares and pretending I'm a god when I know full well I'm not. You see, it's kinda part of the reason we wanted to convince you here."

Sarah immediately followed up with an explanation for Trevor's reasoning of actually having his head on his shoulders.

"Trevor has some skeletons in his closet that he cleaned out after he nearly killed himself one night," Sarah explained. "His parents are heavy drug addicts that somehow convinced the system to let them keep him in their custody after, due to their influence, Trevor became an addict himself when he was only eleven."

Flora gasped, causing her to wince at accidentally aggravating her injury in the process.

Trevor followed up with a nod and rolling upper on his jacket sleeves, revealing an array of scars that lined his entire arm.

Now, Flora knew this was no ploy by bitchy Callie; this was legitimately two ponies with dark pasts and shared demons in one form or the other.

"As a teenager, you get curious about things, and when you see your parents doing lines and they call it "amazing" or "exhilarating" it doesn't seem dangerous or even hazardous to your health. That was my case, doing my first one behind my parent's backs at age eleven.

After the first one, I had only wanted more, and eventually ended up on the wrong side of Ponyville. Lines weren't enough eventually, and I had started to start other things. Pain pills, razor blades, cigarettes, alcohol; I was killing my body before a colt or filly should even know what the hell drugs are.

I thought I was invincible, up until the night I shot up with some shady "friend" that gave me what I wanted for a good sum of bits. The needle doesn't hurt when you crave the drive of that high, and that's all I had cared about, up until I started to get dizzy, my heart rate raised so high that it became painful, and my body went as limp as a cooked noodle.

That was the point of no return, but Princess Flare was looking out for me that day, because out of that limp state, I found the strength to save myself. It was like climbing a steep and slippery mountain with no climbing gear in the middle of the worst rainstorm imaginable, but I found a phone, called the police, and, just before I actually died, got enough info through to them to find me and save me.

It took three shots of adrenaline to bring me back, but my "friend" wasn't so lucky. He didn't make it up the mountain with me, and fell seconds after he injected that poison. That was the moment I knew that I wasn't invincible and swore to never do anything like I did ever again. So, I got clean and have been sober for over a year.

I would be lying if I said I never had that urge to go back, but I've stayed strong, despite having to live with it, seeing my parents somehow cheated the system."

Flora was blown away at Trevor's story about him managing to escape assured death and kicking old habits to better his life. It carried that same effect that she'd experienced when Sarah had told her story at lunch; raw and unadulterated emotion that spoke truth.

That was enough for Flora to know that these lucid tales of survival and second chances at life were word-for-word true. She had been convinced enough to drop any insecurities she may have had at her arrival, and knew now that Sarah and Trevor related to her current predicament.

"Now, while we've spoken our tales, know that we are not expecting you to tell us yours, Flora," Sarah clarified comfortingly. "You can tell us when you're ready, and only then. Just from looking at you, Trev and I know that whatever happened wasn't light, and we hope that we can help you to heal and see beyond your guilt and paranoia."

"Yeah, everything said between us stays between us," Trevor added. "We aren't like Callie Stirrup and her little band of gremlins, and just wish to give you your life back that was taken by whatever took it in your past."

For the first time in a very long time, Flora finally smiled, knowing this wasn't false hope being fed to her. These two were really here to help her, and they understood her completely.

From out of the dark void and into the light, Flora finally blossomed with a single pair of words.

"Thank you," she spoke softly, happy emotions staining her tone.

Sarah and Trevor smiled as well, nodding their heads as confirmation.

"Now, as our first act of friendship, allow me to treat you lovely ladies to a free ice cream at Sugarcube Corner!" Trevor offered kindly.

Flora spoke first.

"I would kindly accept, except for the fact that my mom usually expects me home in about twenty minutes."

Trevor shook his head.

"No matter. You can call her from the shop. I'm sure she will be happy that you made some new friends."

Flora usually would've still rejected the offer, but nothing seemed bad about the idea. Free ice cream, a chance to break from the norm, and the fact that Trevor was right about the last part of his statement; her mom had been trying for years to get her to make friends, and here was the opportunity.

"Okay!" Flora agreed happily.

With that, the trio started their way off the field, in the direction of the sweet shop that had been known as "Ponyville's best" for decades; Sugarcube Corner.

The delightful smell of an assortment of sweet delicacies filled the vacant space of Sugarcube Corner as Flora and Sarah sat in wait for their free treats. Flora had gone simple and ordered a lighter treat named "Firework Swirl," while Trevor and Sarah had gotten their usuals with a much higher price tag.

This was actually Flora's first time ever coming to Sugarcube Corner, so she had no idea what was good and bad on the massive menu. She'd heard around school that it was the best place to go for anyone with a sweet tooth, and Flora was one with a massive craving for sweet treats, but her introvertive nature had made her sweet tooth dwindle over time.

This would be her first real sugary concoction in a long while, and she was slightly nervous.

"Never had Sugarcube Corner before?" Sarah asked from across the table.

Flora shook her head, to which Sarah winced at, similar to when you get surprised or confused.

"Damn girl, we seriously are going to have to work hard to get you more acquainted with the entirety Ponyville has to offer."

Flora blushed, a sheepish smile meeting her face.

"How's your nose by the way?" Sarah asked.

"Still a little sore, but the peas really took down the majority of the swelling," Flora confirmed. "Looks like you were right about him."

"I've known Trev for awhile, and he's one to even overreact to the smallest of wounds. One time, I barely scraped my knee when I fell off my bike, and freaked out so much that he ran back to his house to get a bandaid.

We were miles from his house, and my scrape wasn't even bad enough to draw blood, so it just goes to show how much he cares about his friends, as much as anypony for that matter."

"Sounds like losing his friend to the "stuff" actually messed him up more than he thinks," Flora guessed.

"Mhm. While he claims they weren't a close friend or anything, I think they were somepony he cared about dearly. That's why I just let him get the bandaid that day, because I know it's a coping mechanism, and if he's happy I'm happy."

The conversation was interrupted by Trevor, approaching the table quickly with the array of sweet treats provided by Trevor's generosity. Laying the tray carefully upon the table's surface he addressed Flora.

"Shop owner said you can use the phone, so go ahead and go call your mom," Trevor confirmed.

Flora nodded, getting up from her seat and walking to the counter. At the counter were three things; the cash register, a bell, and the owner of the establishment. She wore a white apron, baker's hat, and had a joyous demeanor to her that radiated the atmosphere of the shop like a contagious sickness.

"You must be Flora, right?" she spoke with a high voice that matched every bit of her features.

The mare had light blue fur, a dark blue overly-curly mane, and magenta eyes that pierced Flora's soul. From her name tag, Flora knew her name was Blueberry Pie, which fit her perfectly.

"Mhm," Flora answered simply.

Blueberry turned from her briefly to grab and slide the shop phone from behind the counter, allowing Flora to dial her home phone number.

With a simple dial and two rings, Flora had her mother on the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey mom."

"Flora!? Where are you!? You had me worried?!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, but I'm fine. I'm with…some new friends at Sugarcube Corner. One of them offered to take me here for some ice cream, so I accepted after they promised to let me call you."

"That's…fantastic! I'm so glad to hear that sweety! However, when do you think you'll be home?"

"Hmm, if I had to guess, probably an hour or so. Sugarcube Corner doesn't filly around when it comes to quality."

"Hehe, sounds like you're having fun. Are they school friends?"

"Yeah. I just met them today and they weren't one of Callie's cohorts."

"I'm glad to hear that, honey. This is what you need, so please give it a chance."

"Don't worry, mom, these two actually seem real and not just other fake friends.

"That's good. All I ask is that you be home before dark, okay."

"I will."

"Alright dear. Have fun, and I love you."

"Love you too, mom."

"Bye."

"Bye."

With that, Flora hung up and allowed Blueberry to take the phone back behind the counter. After that, she walked back to the table and took her seat, noticing the gargantuan ice cream cone before her that extended easily five or six inches from the cones top base.

Flora had no clue where to begin, so she used a provided spoon to start from the very top, taking the bite into her mouth. Upon the cold sweet hitting her tongue her eyes bulged at the taste. It was a mix of layered flavors, starting with cherry then mixing with a blueberry, a sweet orange, banana, green apple, and lastly a grape.

But that wasn't it; after the fluctuation of separate flavors, she suddenly started to feel a mild tickling sensation on tongue, and, only until she opened her mouth did she hear what it was. A sizzling sound escaped her mouth, and mixed with an array of flavors as if fireworks were going off in her mouth.

Now she knew where the name came from, and she was loving the experience permeating her entire oral cavity.

"I'd say that's a fitting reaction to that specific treat," Sarah joked. "Quite an "explosive" experience."

"Must be her first try," Trevor guessed. "I acted the same way when I got that for the first time. The sizzle stops after a minute or so. No need to worry. "

Flora nodded, downing the mixture and giving herself a second before going into the sweet again.

"Did you know that that treat got its name from that pegasus who did the Sonic Rainboom?" Trevor informed. "What was their name again?"

"Oh, you mean Rainbow Dash?" Sarah guessed.

"Yeah, that's her! Kinda a weird name to give it. Don't you think it would be called something more fitting like "the Rainboom" or "Dashing Delight?"

"That would make a lot more sense, but Pinkie Pie did name it, so maybe it was done by request?" Sarah analyzed.

Flora winced at the mentioning of the name and the fact that it ended with "Pie."

"By any chance, did this "Pinkie" have anything to do with this shop?" Flora asked.

"Yep. She used to work here, back before…it happened," Trevor trailed.

Flora's curiosity instantly spiked. Trevor was leaving something out. Something important.

"Before what happened?" Flora questioned.

Trevor averted his gaze to Sarah, as if he were needing permission or something.

"Should we tell her?" Trevor asked Sarah in a low voice.

"Why not? As long as we just keep our voices low, we should be fine," Sarah replied at the same volume.

With a sigh, Trevor returned his gaze to Flora's, waving his hoof to direct her closer to him. Flora didn't object, she just followed and joined Trevor and Sarah in the privacy of the middle of the table.

"You ever heard of the Apple Family Massacre?" Trevor asked.

Flora shook her head as an answer, allowing Trevor to continue.

"Before I tell you, you must know that you cannot mention this to anypony; not even your mom. It's a subject that was banned from history by Princess Flare two decades ago, and it's basically an illegal thing to talk about."

Flora nodded, intrigued and slightly intimidated at the words.

"Alright. To keep it brief, twenty years ago, this town was practically a pigs pen to a family of serial killers that lived on a farm just outside of Ponyville. It started in secrecy at first, up until the day that the youngest of the family was murdered by the leader of the massacre in cold blood; Bittersweet Applejack.

She was a twisted mare who would use fear and desperation as a tactic to send the inhabitants of Ponyville to their assured deaths in the slaughterhouse of the farm, through the grinder that would siphon their blood into this towns only food source at the time; the Apple family's homemade applesauce.

However, before the grinder took their lives, the victims would be bound and tortured in sadistic and horrid ways that only the sickest minds could conjure. Some would be tortured for days, while others took weeks or even months; history says that it was the Apple's way of tenderizing or marinating the blood before it was put into the jars on the assembly line.

This lasted ten years, up until the only survivor to ever escape ended it all. It cost him his front hooves, but he managed to get out and kill that crazy mare by grinding her head off from her shoulders in the process, and he now lives on the far side of town. So, if you don't believe me, just ask him yourself."

Flora gulped, swallowing the saliva that had built up in her mouth over the course of the tale.

Could this be real?

Trevor hadn't seemed to have been making it up or pulling her leg. It was hard to swallow, but why would Trevor lie?

"I assume Pinkie was one of the first victims?" Flora guessed.

"Her and the entire group once known as the Mane Six, minus Applejack," Sarah confirmed. "Blueberry, the owner of this place, is the daughter of a stepsister of Pinkie who didn't get caught up in Ponyville during those times. Nobody knows who her mom is, but we do know she worked in the mines of Appleloosa during the massacre.

Her mom found out after the mine ran out of material, and in her sister's memory, took ownership of this place. Sadly, her grief took her to the point of no return, and she shot herself, leaving Blueberry to take over.

This place is all Blueberry has, and that's why she holds that smile, but after the fact, she goes to the liquor store, buys a single beverage, and attempts to drink herself to death. She's nearly succeeded two times, but the doctors managed to save her."

Flora's gaze averted to the front counter, Blueberry serving a customer with that contagious smile. She had a hard time believing that her smile was merely a mirage to something much more broken behind it, but why would Trevor or Sarah lie about something so grim?

She wanted to give Blueberry a hug, but was none of her business. All she could do was stare at a deeply disturbed mare hiding behind a fake smile, and that wad what made her the most sad.

Once she stopped looking, she returned to her ice cream, the rest of her time in the shop being quiet and bleak.

After finishing her sweet treat, Flora had parted ways with Trevor and Sarah, all of thm returning to their respective homes, and upon walking through the door, she saw Lily asleep on the couch, having fallen asleep to the current television program.

She had thought about waking Lily up, but decided against it after pondering for a minute. Her mother hadn't slept well in awhile, so any amount of sleep was good for her in Flora's eyes, so she just walked past the living room and to her bedroom at the far end of the hall to her left.

Closing her door, she flicked on her lamp and lay down atop her bed. She wasn't tired, just had a lot in her mind from all that she had learned. She couldn't believe that something so horrible had happened in the town she now occupied, and her curiosity was only more anxious about what else may have happened during that decade.

Eventually, her brain ran out of juice, and unknowingly, she had passed out. That night she actually dreamed of something other than black space; she dreamed of happy things like Sarah and Trevor, her mother, the hopeful positive future she hoped to reach, and the sensation of that giant sweet treat she had somehow consumed in Sugarcube Corner.