Chapters Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
An alarm awakens me in the darkness; the casual alarm that alerts me of the start to my day. It was the sound of my room door being unlocked by a specific key that my nurse, Sassy Heartstone, carries around 24/7 in the institute I've learned to call home since the ending of my last Nightmare Night.
The very reason I'm here in the first place.
Before midnight came that night, I was a normal everyday young adult living a normal life in Ponyville, but everything after had changed me forever beyond repair. They say if you play with fire, you're going to get burned. They're right, and while my case wasn't fire, it was no less vivid.
My name is Flora Bloom, and I am a survivor.
Let me start from the beginning. Decades before I was even born, something horrible happened in my hometown; an event that, after it had finally ended, had shaken the citizens of Ponyville to their cores.
For ten years, residents were forcefully kidnapped, brutally tortured, and eventually killed by a family of ruthless monsters, siphoning their blood for profit in another form of torture.
Desperation.
This was known as the Apple Family Massacre, but after a couple decades, the citizens had forgotten the impact and horror that it had caused them, and was treated less like an event to learn from, in hopes of it not repeating, and more like another fictional addition to Nightmare Night festivities and traditions.
What fools we were for ever treating something that took the lives of over twenty ponies like a joke or myth, because I can tell you personally, it's far from either, and if every pony who ever dared to treat it as such had experienced what led me here, history would have never repeated.
The Apple family was real, and the stories cannot even amount to the reality of being one of their victims. Their cruelty, persistence, and wickedness has no boundaries, and unless you have a death wish, never step a single hoof onto the foundation where the farmhouse had once stood.
An action that nearly cost me my life and soul.
I was a victim along with three of my friends. We thought the stories were fake and it was all just a myth.
May Celestia have had mercy on our souls that night, because that night, we learned not to test myths that may be true.
My name is Flora Bloom, and I am the second survivor to have ever escaped the Apple family.
The assholes here refuse to believe me about anything though. When I was put here, I was scheduled for therapy every other day up until I became somewhat stable again. The main therapist was an asshole who didn't give a shit about me or my well-being.
Every session was the same questions for the same amount of time, and there were times where I actually had to recapture his attention while speaking my thoughts. I eventually gave up, pretending I was better while flushing the medication they prescribed me down the toilet with glee.
I refused, and still refuse, to become a zombie like the rest of my fellow comrades in the hellhole. I know what I saw and will not be silenced and locked away like a stray animal. That's not who I am.
Flora Bloom is a confident and outgoing pony that had a life as bright as former Princess Celestia's sun, and while she may be detained in a structure of solid concrete walls and cages sealed off with doors held in place by electric locks, she promises to get back her life that was taken by that bitch!
The demented and cruel mare once known in this world as Bittersweet Applejack.
My door opens to a brightly lit hall with two ponies guarding the flank of Sassy, her dark hazel eyes meeting my own in our casual greeting. Sassy is probably the only pony I can call a "friend" in this place; she's never showed any ignorance or strife toward me, and instead, treats me with kindness and sympathy.
She knows of the bullshit going on here and hates the majority of the staff. She is probably the only thing that has prevented me from suicide and has allowed me to believe in hopes of my life returning to normal, even though I know it never will.
I never have felt the need to hate her, and she even assists me in not having to take the zombifying medication. She knows what it does as much as me, and somehow manages to keep it secret from the head of the institution.
She knows the risks, but refuses to harm the patients more than they already are mentally. A saving grace I'm thankful for in this personal hell.
I smile, getting up from my brick of a bed and approach at the appropriate pace. Sassy does the usual routine, grabbing a small cup from one of the guards, and handing it to me, then turns to grab the provided water for me to swallow the two capsules in the first mini cup from the other guard.
Sassy directs me accordingly, and I stick the two pills under my tongue, taking the water and pretending to swallow the practical poison. Once the water is down, Sassy directs me to open my muzzle, to which I do and lift my tongue to assure her the capsules have made it no further than that.
She smiles at the assurance as I hand her back the mini cup the water had resided in prior, taking it and turning back to the guards behind her. I expect her to just leave, up until she turns back to me.
"Just so you know, Flora, tonight there will be a special surprise for the patients," Sassy says to me, causing my ears to perk.
"Why the occasion?" I question.
"Why, it's Nightmare Night of course!" she confirms joyfully. "Since the patients can't go out, the institution decided to treat everypony to something special. I'll come to escort you around 8 pm."
Nightmare Night…
Nightmare Night…
Nightmare...Night…
The memories begin to flash before my eyes like a slideshow in rapid succession.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
Present day
"Flora…
"Flora…
"Flora!"
I jump as a familiar voice rouses me out of the flashback of memories I had wished to just forget. The return to that horrible place that we had all somehow resurrected from history through our foolish actions of antagonizing a foundation that should've never been tread upon for the entirety of the remainder of history and time.
I will never forget the sight of that headless demon and every macabre detail. Her bloodstained fur, her insidious laughter and taunting, and the overwhelming smell of death and copper in that single space. They were all burned into my being, just like the scar from me trying hopelessly to escape before all that had happened could take place.
I shake my head, my eyes meeting Sassy's worried gaze and my dark and cold room.
"Flora! Are you okay?!" she asks in an attempt to get my attention.
I eventually collect myself, completely unsure of what had just happened.
"I'm fine," I answer sincerely. "What happened? Did I space off?"
She wipes her forehead of her growing sweat and sighs in relief at my response. She's absolutely stressed and grateful at the same time as she addresses me again.
"Yeah. You suddenly just spaced off and became unresponsive to everything I said. What happened? Did you have a sudden blackout or flashback?"
Sassy knows me well. She knows just how traumatic those memories are of that night I spent in that demented Tartarus, and that they can be triggered easily with just a single word.
Especially "Nightmare Night."
This hadn't been my first "blackout;" I've had several in the long year I've been stuck in this place, and while others claim it as a sign of me losing my marbles, Sassy knows what really is happening. That's why she's my only ally in this fuckhole facility.
She actually knows me and knows that I'm not crazy.
"It was a little flash " I lie through my teeth. "Nothing that hasn't happened before."
She puts her right hoof on my shoulder and looks at me with seriousness, not buying my lie. I don't like lying to her, but if I told her what I really saw, I'd be forbidden to join the rest of the facility tonight for the "surprise" Sassy had mentioned prior to my sudden daze.
"You know I'm on your side, right?" she assures me. "If you need to talk about whatever is causing these dazes, I'm here to listen."
My heart warms at her kindness, but I can't risk putting her in danger or any chance of word spreading, so I just express a fake smile.
"I know, but…I still need time, Sassy," I reply.
It's not a total lie. I really don't have the strength to speak of every raw and horrid detail that occurred that night in Bittersweet Apple Hell yet.
I lost so much that night; things I can never fix or repair back to working condition.
Things that I don't even want to remember, but just like the scars on my hooves from the fence burning me, they are forever burned in my memories.
Memories of things I never want to relive, speak of, or even think about to the day my heart finally stops.
Sassy smiles in understanding, patting my shoulder lightly and turning to leave my practical prison cell. As soon as the door hisses closed, I return to my bed and attempt to sleep, but the flashback of the horrors of a year prior keep me awake, taking me back once again.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
A scream.
A violent piercing scream of anguish was all that had met Flora in her arrival of some unknown part of the Apple family's farmhouse, her left hind leg pulsing with inflammation and pain.
Flora had traveled awkwardly, resulting in one of her legs getting twisted, making her an easy and defenseless target for the bloodthirsty mare on the prowl for every ounce of blood pulsing throughout her entire body.
In other words, she was doomed to eternal torture in whatever Tartarus she now dwelled within. She knew it was bad to scream in her current predicament, but she couldn't help it. She'd never suffered the pain of a fractured bone, therefore that piercing agony was new to her, and as her leg continued to pulse waves of pain, all she could do was scream.
The area she'd arrived in was very compact and dimly lit, the only visible exit being off to the left side of the room, between two thick rusted pipes. The floor was nothing but old rigid straw that hurt Flora to lay upon, feeling like she were in a bed of needles.
The smell of the area was a mix between a musty cellar or attic that hadn't been entered for years, mixed with an overwhelming stench of rot, similar to walking upon a bloated corpse of an animal that had been dead for weeks in the scorching heat of summer.
Flora couldn't even smell the wreaking scent, too occupied by her injury to even notice the very evident smell. She only cried and uttered the sounds of somepony in excruciating pain, gritting her teeth as she shifted to lay against the wall of her hellish abode.
She couldn't walk or even attempt to put pressure on her leg, so she had to drag herself out of view from the only opening to the area. The movement felt like she was dragging a massive block of lead over blazing-red charcoal, but she knew she had to at least try something to keep herself safe from the serial killer on her trail.
Sitting back against the wall, she lay out her lower body and started to inspect her injury. Upon seeing it she gasped, the entirety of the lower part of her back left hoof bruised and swollen. The area was a mix of green, purple, blue, and grey, spread out from the bottom part of the leg to just above halfway up, and the entire area was swole to about the size of a half-inflated balloon.
She nearly vomited at the sight but chose not to, resorting to attempting to calm herself down. Stress and panic would only worsen the injury, so her first step to getting to a point of being mobile again wasn't causing any further unintended damage to her wound.
She took deep breaths in and out, wiping her forehead clean of sweat and eyes free of tears. It was a trick she'd learned in her sports medicine class, and with each long breath, she could feel the pain lessening and her nerves slowing their rapid dancing.
The pain was still evident but subtle enough for her to handle with no need to grunt or scream. She was relieved at it, allowing herself to just breathe naturally and regain full clarity on the situation at hoof.
She and the others were in danger, and she had no idea where they were now in this place of unspeakable horrors, she had an injury that limited her movement in the long night still to come, and there was no way to decrease her injury, and most critically, she was being hunted by a psychopathic mare that was out to kill her and her friends and make them personal slaves in this place for eternity.
How the hell was she going to survive?
Then, out of the mass of pain, doubt, and unadulterated fear clouding every one of her thoughts, some voice of reason spoke out and made her gasp in surprise.
"No, Flora! Stop thinking negatively!" she chastised to herself in her mind. "The best thing you can do right now is not panic and calm down. If you just assume the worst, you're dead meat for sure, so you need to clear your head and figure out what you can do to keep yourself safe from danger."
She took another long and heavy breath, calming herself down enough to be able to think clearly and smartly. She had never been in such a critical situation in her entire life, which was the main reason she'd reacted so negatively. Looking around and thinking hard about her situation, she knew that one thing was for sure, and that was that in order to survive, she was going to have to push herself harder than ever before.
That included putting herself through excruciating pain in order to stay out of harm's way, and that thought alone made her nauseous.
She'd seen this kind of stuff in horror movies before and never thought she'd possibly end up in a situation like what those movies portrayed, but she couldn't deny her harsh and cruel reality, and knew that she'd have to get back up and fight through her injury's constant waves of pain with every step and trot.
Staying there and crying like a foal would only end her life all the more faster, and she knew it.
"Fuck my life…
Gritting her teeth and lifting herself up from the needle-like straw stabbing at her skin, she carefully got herself back onto her hooves. Upon the slightest pressure to her wound, she nearly lost all of her balance, the waves of agony feeling as if she'd just been struck by a taser gun.
Her stomach churned at the electrifying pulses radiating from her leg at an incomprehensible speed, her vile starting to slink up her throat and the nausea increasing with every second as she attempted to breathe normally. It felt as if she were lifting a one-thousand pound lead anvil as she put one of her spasming legs forward, grunts and heavy breaths escaping her mouth through her still-gritted teeth with each movement.
"One step at a time, Flora…
With one leg forward, she started with another, feeling her wound pulse like a second heartbeat and her sight being obscured by fragments of her unfurled bangs. She still pushed forward as hard as possible, her opposite non-injured back leg following her motion, and dragging along the hard ground. It felt like forever, but Flora eventually succeeded, moving onto her next pair of legs.
Once her injured leg started to move, she nearly lost all of her progress, a muffled yelp escaping her throat and stopping behind her snow-white teeth. Tears met her eyes, leaking down her face and dripping onto the floor of rotted straw.
Moving her wounded leg was the equivalent of feeling as if somepony had stuck a heated knife through her leg and just left it there to torture her, and she could barely resist screaming in agony at the agonizing sensation. She breathed as if she'd just finished a marathon, saliva starting to fall from her mouth now.
"J-just power through it… like ripping off a bandaid…
Her self-encouragement was enough to push her past her much evident agony, closing her eyes and dragging her leg forward again. That same stabbing feeling plagued her senses and nerves yet again, but, despite her leg feeling as if it were being shredded apart through a wood chipper, she pushed through it, eventually coming to the point of where she'd successfully taken one whole step.
She wanted to smile at her accomplishment, but knew she couldn't stop now, building up the courage to take another set of steps. While it was excruciating to do it, it was the only way she'd be able to build up the ability to move throughout this maze of whatever-in-Tartarus existed in this demented farm or slaughterhouse.
"Okay…Flora," she spoke between heavy breaths. "We..go..a-again…
Present day
And I did go again, up until I could finally walk normally and the pain had become second nature. It was as if I had relived my process of learning to walk as a foal, only, instead of balance being my enemy, it was a constant pain that made the term "a thorn in my side" literal.
Unfortunately, doing that ended up fucking my leg up, seeing I'd stressed the fracture with so much pressure that it made the injury heal abnormally. To put it simply, the bone hadn't been able to heal back to full strength because of improper treatment, and even now, it continues to break over and over.
I lost count at fifty times, and due to it happening so constantly, anymore the pain is nothing more than the equivalent of the pinch of a syringe. So, I guess you can say that that means I'm the only pony to not even flinch when a bone breaks.
A grim but relieving fact about myself that I've come to accept.
However, a broken bone is mild in comparison to what followed my amateur rehabilitation. Saying that hell maze was big is an insulting understatement.
No.
The correct terminology for that place is more along the lines of gargantuan, colossal, endless, and eternal.
Not to mention what had occurred within it can only be described in a few select words, but the two that come to mind the most are malefic, sinister, and demonic.
But the one word that I can say describes it all, is the only reason I still even remember the events of that night minute for minute, detail for detail, and word for word.
That word, is traumatizing, and the traumatization only started when I found Trevor. Little did I know, it would be the last time I would ever see him again.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
Memory 3: The Cost of A Life
Flora had wandered for what had felt like hours of going in a circle, nothing but the sight of large rusted pipes and the lingering smell of mold and rot to accompany her the entire trek. Any trace of pain had all but faded in her back leg, and she was thankful that some mysterious god with a forgiving heart had spared her further dread.
However, that didn't extinguish the clear fear that was creeping through every bone in her body at the lack of any sign of additional occupants within this monolith of a maze, causing her heart to ache at the possibility that her closest friends may already be eternal occupants of Sweet Apple Hell.
She didn't even want to think that possibility could be true, but she had come to the full realization that this place wasn't fantasy or anything like her world. This place was alive and truly evil, it's lifeforce kept alive by the blood and fear of anypony who dare enter its domain.
Reality and logic were irrelevant here, and it's demented leader was of no exception. She still struggled to believe that she'd seen a headless body speak words from a nonexistent mouth and walk straight as if it could see clearly. Her heart had sunk at the sight of the infamous cutie mark of three red apples, having to blink twice to be absolutely sure what she had seen was real.
Her injury was real.
The danger was real.
The demented mare that had been deheaded by Crimson Flash twenty years prior was alive and as lethal as she was when she and her family still had reigned over Ponyville.
Every one of her beliefs about the tragedy that Princess Flare had attempted to bury with all of her grief had been proven true. The Bittersweet Apple Massacre had occurred in history, and, just as Crimson Flash had stated, instead of learning from the past, ponykind, by burying a horrid truth, had been doomed to repeat mistakes.
It's exactly why Flora and her friends were currently fighting for their lives, and it was only their fault for meddling with a greater force than they could've imagined.
Rounding what felt like the billionth corner, Flora came to a larger opening, glowing an eerie yellow light. As unsettling as it was, Flora actually felt like she'd made some progress in this endless labyrinth of horrors, and upon walking into the massive opening, her ears perked at an abruption in the silence.
The sound of a muffled cry.
Flora's heart skipped a beat at the sound, the voice sounding more feminine than that of a male stallion or, sickeningly enough, colt. The cry seemed higher than any sound Sarah could produce, but Flora wanted to be absolutely sure, working toward the sound's source.
It came from the far side of the area, eventually leading Flora to the far north wall. Flora had heard that victims of the Apple family had been found within walls as stuffed "trophies" upon the full investigation of the farmhouse, and that sent shivers down her spine.
Luckily, she found a handle that slid open the wall upon scaling the wall for anything to allow her access to the victim. Sliding it open, she was met with a single wall, where a lone mare hung on the wall.
Upon closer inspection, Flora nearly lost her stomach, four large and rusted nails being the only thing holding her to the wall. Streaks of dry blood stained her fur from down from where her hooves had been impaled with the nails, along with large trails of blood visible from the inside of her mouth staining her lower jaw.
The rag covering her mouth was stained with tons of her crimson life support and her eyes were bloodshot and swollen from Celestia-knows-what.
She had a messy mane of blonde, stained with coagulated blood, dirt, and whatever else her torturer had stained her with, and her light pink fur that covered the majority of her body wreaked of what Flora assumed was a mix between death and piss.
She looked horrible, and upon her noticing Flora, it was clear that her voice had long since faded away after screaming and begging endlessly to nothing but the rotted wood and creaking pipes.
Her voice was only a raspy croak that resembled the sound of somepony taking in a long and weak breath. It was just audible enough for Flora to have caught, but only that and nothing more.
"Shhh, I'm going to get you out of here," Flora informed low enough for only her and Jane Doe to hear, starting to look around for something to dislodge the nails.
She eyed her surroundings carefully, only to find no tool to remove the nails, to which she cussed in her mind at, knowing the only tool she had that could potentially work was her teeth.
The thought of pulling an ancient nail from a gory wound didn't even cross her mind as she positioned herself at the mare's uppermost legs first, digging her muzzle into the clearly-infected flesh wound, and working to grab the nail head with her front teeth.
The mare grunted mildly under the pressure, but allowed Flora to just continue her efforts. Flora mainly focused on just getting her teeth on the nail head, eventually managing to dig deep enough to grip and start to pull the rusted object from the wound.
Blood started to leak from the scabs that had been reopened by Flora's actions as, with extreme force, the nail started to slide from the wound, having come loose from the wall rather easily. Flora wasn't sure if she was just wasting her time, but the fact a fellow pony was in disarray and potentially set up for much worse was enough to make her act regardless.
At the sight of Jane Doe's leg collapsing from the wall to her side, along with the nail's stiffness dissipating, Flora knew the nail was out. She spat out the nail and turned back to the victim, noticing that she had nearly dislodged her other hoof just by the use of gravity.
Her body weight leaning forward had nearly been enough to pull her other leg from the wall, to which Flora assisted, grabbing her other front leg and yanking it from the wall. It didn't take much force, the leg falling forward almost instantaneously, Flora working fast to catch her upper body before it fell forward hard onto the floor.
She succeeded and lowered the mare onto the ground, surprised that the mare didn't even attempt to stand. Flora didn't object though, assuming the victim was too mentally and physically exhausted to do anything at all. Another clear sign of her exhaustion was due to the fact that she had barely even jumped or made a noise from the first nail being pulled out, meaning either her nerves were somewhat shot, or, similar to Flora's "rehabilitation," the pain had just become mute and nonexistent to her from the countless injuries she'd taken.
It was a sickening thought that she didn't even want to believe true, but as she started on her back legs, coming free with very little effort, it became very apparent that pain wasn't even existent to this poor pony. The nails had dug deeper down her legs from her being unable to balance her own body, and she hadn't even flinched or yelped at the newly dug wounds.
All she did was emit those same raspy croaks that spoke a story of a broken and forgotten mare that once lived a happy life outside this place. They sent shivers down Flora's spine each time as she finally managed to free her back legs from the wall, leading her to helping her to her hooves.
"Miss, I need you to try and use whatever strength you have to stand up against my side," Flora instructed softly, to which the mare didn't even respond to.
Flora tried again, still keeping her voice low enough to not draw attention from afar, only to still receive no response. The mare only continued to stare blankly with her near-dead amber eyes, cloaked with a fog that made her seem dead.
Flora still didn't give up, recognizing the behavior as a result of trauma and paranoia. It was completely understandable due to the fact that she'd been through Celestia-knows how many unfathomable tortures and horrors that would plague any mind with incurable trauma.
She tried again, this time putting her muzzle right next to the mare's ear to give better clarity.
"Ma'am, please. We need to move as fast as possible," she instructed once again, relieved at the sudden action of a flicker of the ear she was speaking into.
That followed with the mare's left eye meeting Flora's gaze and the croaks now turning into raspy grunts, growing in speed with each second.
Upon hearing that the grunts were muffled, only then did Flora realize that she had forgotten to remove the bloody rag from her muzzle, working quickly to untie the rag and remove it from her face.
However, upon the sight that followed the unveiling, Flora's eyes burst to the size of dinner plates and her right hoof covered her muzzle in horror.
Now she knew why the mare really couldn't say anything.
Her mouth was a bloody mess, her gums bruised and swollen, and where her teeth should've been was only sharp and jagged remnants of what used to be teeth. However, the most haunting part of the entire display before her eyes was the absence of her tongue, the entire bottom of her mouth being nothing but a crimson abyss.
Her tongue had been cut out, ridding her of any speech or voice for the rest of her life. Flora's blood turned to ice instantly, and she quickly lost her stomach on the floor.
Never before had she seen something so horrifying and tragic. She'd seen plenty of horror movies and read tons of horror stories, but this…
This was what true horror was, and immediately, every single fear she'd received from a scary story or movie was extinguished and replaced by this sight alone. Her body excreted all of her Nightmare Night delights violently, up until there was nothing left, and all that followed were coughs.
"Sweet Celestia…
That sight would never leave her memories like a tattoo to skin, and as she turned back to the mare, she quickly did her best to recollect herself. She could see tears gliding down Jane Doe's cheeks, to which she wiped away gently and returned to her original goal.
However, just as she was about to say something, a familiar sinister sound met her ears. The same laughter she'd heard upon her arrival there along with echo of hoofsteps; a sound that caused her to gasp in absolute panic, turning her head to the middle of the room where a headless figure stood with their lasso secure around their neck.
Bittersweet Applejack had found her and was there to claim her first eternal torture slave.
"Well well, looks like I've found ya, Goldilocks," Applejack spoke deviously. "An' here I was thinkin' that you and yur little group of nimwits would actually be challengin' for me. Looks like yur just as weak and stupid as the others who have dared to tread here out of curiosity."
Another chuckle escaped her lips as she started to walk a little closer, to which Flora just stared in horror at.
She was frozen and stuck in place with no idea of what to even do.
"I see ya found my lovely little pet. Cute, ain't she? I call her "Tongueless" or "Mute," seein' she started doin' everythin' I said after I shut her little protests and complaints up with just the slightest little yank. Bloody mess it was, but it was worth the effort, seein' I got myself an obedient pet and her lovely crimson life supply made for a large profit. Everypony wins and is happy in the end."
The stories Flora had heard could not have ever amounted to what she was hearing. She was in the presence of a truly dedicated serial killer that put every bit of passion into her craft in the most demented and twisted ways imaginable.
"She's fucking crazy… It's like she doesn't even care or think about anypony except herself… Like she's not capable of emotion or regret… I-I need to run!"
But where could she run? There was only one way out, and it was blocked by the psychopath now less than ten yards from her. Her eyes searched for another alternative exit, but there was no other possible way or opening within the room. What was she going to do?
"Hehe, no way out Goldilocks," Applejack taunted as if she'd read Flora's mind. "Especially if you still plan to go through with your pointless effort to save that lost cause. She was caught and bound here long ago, sugar, and saving her is nothing more than adding extra weight to your back. She's already dead and trapped forever, and soon you will be too!"
She was no more than a foot from Flora now, and the evident smell of copper and rot was enough to tell. The sight of the headless monster appeared like a human to an ant from Flora's perspective, and it was intimidating beyond belief.
She knew she needed to run.
To do something.
But she couldn't move and felt as if she were frozen in place like a concrete statue.
The shadow of Applejack now blanketed her body under the dim lights, and all she could do was just close her eyes and pray to wake up in her bedroom to the sound of her clock alarm any second.
"It's just a bad dream… It's just a bad dream… It's just a bad dream…
Applejack's laughter permeated her ears like drums, her heartbeat joining and causing her head to pulse.
"Welcome to the slaughterhouse, slave," Applejack capitalized in a whisper that tickled Flora's eardrums.
She awaited some sort of agonizing pain to purge her body, her eyes still shut and her voice quivering in absolute fear. Every sound seemed to fade away like the end to a music track, essentially putting Flora into a state where her mind had become a dark and eternal void. Something she assumed as purgatory or limbo, up until something broke her from it.
"Flora!" a voice shouted in pleading.
The voice was familiar and as all sound returned to her, it was clear who she had heard.
Opening her eyes, she saw that Applejack had been attacked by Trevor, and he had her in a momentary stun.
"Flora! Get up! We gotta go!" Trevor yelled, and, now back to her senses, Flora responded.
"Trevor! Where did you com-
"Flora! We need to go!" he yelled bluntly, grabbing her hoof and pulling her up hastily. "She's not going to be down for long! We need to put some distance between her and us!"
Flora caught the urgency, but despite the urgency of the situation, she couldn't just leave Applejack's "pet" to suffer.
"I can't just leave her here!" Flora objected, pointing to the floor. "She's a pony too!"
Trevor grunted at that, having just heard the truth about said mare from Applejack's own mouth while eavesdropping just out of view.
"Didn't you hear her?! She's already unsavable, Flora! We can't save her, and unless we get out of here, we're next!"
Flora frowned, holding her ground in retort.
"I'm not leaving without her, Trevor! Anypony can be saved!"
"Not here, Flora! This is beyond our power!"
"My mind is made up! So, either leave or put her on your back! You have plenty of strength to carry her!"
Trevor couldn't win, so with a very audible grunt of annoyance, he made his choice.
"Ugh, fine! You win, Flora!"
Quickly, Trevor lifted Jane Doe up onto his back and settled her to where she wouldn't fall off, then he turned back to the exitway and signaled Flora to start running.
Flora listened and took off as fast as possible, taking off back into the labyrinth. She made it around the first corner, up until a sudden scream made her stop and skid to a halt. She turned back around to where she could see the wide opening again, but what she saw immediately brought tears to her eyes and caused her stomach to turn.
Trevor was stopped in place, and from his back up to the entire back of his neck had been impaled with hundreds of thin crimson strands, breaking through out from the underside of his body. Massive amounts of his blood was already pouring onto the floor from his hundreds of wounds, and all Flora could do was stare at the sight that had been caused by her and her only.
Trevor mumbled in pain, frozen in place from the hundreds of piano string-like strands that had him pinned. All he could move was his eyes, meeting Flora's in a stare that only spoke one thing.
"R-run…
He mumbled before all of the strands simultaneously shifted and ripped Trevor's stock and muscular body into nothing but chunks of pony meat of several different sizes.
Flora screamed instantly, her body being showered in Trevor's blood and her emotions going into a spiral of chaos as she followed Trevor's last request and ran like hell back into the labyrinth.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
I have never forgotten Trevor's face since that day, nor the tone of his voice when he spoke his last words. He should've never died the way he did, and, thanks to my stubbornness and idiotic hope for an impossible cause, he did, and is now trapped for eternity in that place.
I have never forgiven myself for it, and have cried in every instance that that haunting last image of him crossed my mind. It completely broke my mind after I just ran away from that horrid sight, changing "innocent little Flora Bloom" for the rest of her life.
I'd never witnessed death so graphically in my life up to that point, so the sight of it alone had shaken me to my core and affected my mentality like a virus. I don't even remember running for those next ten minutes; all I remember is crying and just not stopping, until my stamina gave way from exhaustion.
My face had probably looked as if I'd cried ink or tar, along with my fur being drenched in dark crimson and dirt. I hadn't cared and had only been able to see a replay of Trevor's gruesome end flashing every second before my eyes.
I had been lost and broken, like a filly or colt lost in a big city without their parents; wishing I had never even become curious about the Sweet Apple Massacre and praying for Princess Flare to hear me beyond that realm to come and save us.
To extinguish this livid and ruthless evil we'd found out of our own stupidities.
But nothing ever came, and all that I could've done was run until that barn door would unlock.
And, that's what I did. I ran almost nonstop through that endless labyrinth, even if my hooves objected. I ran as if I was deadset on finishing first in a race, like a raging bull, like I knew I couldn't stop.
I just trotted and trotted, up until I heard a scream.
Sarah's scream.
One year earlier
A distant shrill scream broke the ambient sound of the creaking pipes, bringing Flora to a skidding stop. She'd been running for an unsure amount of time, her focus having been more focused on just putting as much distance between the headless witch pursuing her and her friends and her.
She knew that scream well, having heard it a plentiful amount of times throughout her teen years as a result of a successful scary prank. It came from the mare whom she knew was easily scared, despite her appearance, attitude, and role as a medium.
"Sarah!"
Her emotions started to build up again, Trevor's demise flashing before her eyes like the rapid succession of a strobe light again.
She couldn't let another one of her friends die.
She wouldn't.
Wiping her tears away, she listened closely, hoping for Sarah to scream again. Not even a second later, another shrill and desperate scream pierced the air, and Flora honed in on where it was coming from.
She was great at determining directions of sounds, having been in the Filly Scouts before and knowing how to determine where things like cries of help came from in settings like forests. The pipes were a little deceiving, but she could tell for sure that the sound was coming from above her, to which she hustled to find a way to ascend from her current area to an upper floor.
The pipes were big enough to climb on, so she could use them like a ladder to move upward to another floor. However, one thing she didn't know was the state of the pipes.
Were the rusted and fragile or sturdy and solid?
She wasn't sure if it was her ambition leading her to a potentially dangerous action, but she didn't care. A friend was in danger, and she wasn't going to let these monsters take another victim.
She eventually found a wall with pipes that lined it like a ladder, and, upon looking upward, a small opening just big enough for her to fit through. The condition of the pipes wasn't good, rusted patches being visible along the entirety of their length, but Flora didn't care.
She found a non-rusted spot that seemed sturdy enough for her to climb on and not fall through, and started her ascent to the next upper level. Upon contact with the pipes, Flora was surprised to find them as study as a newly formed block of concrete, not even seeming fragile or in a decrepit condition.
With that assurance, she continued upward, sliding through the small opening with ease and up into a very claustrophobic space that continued for at least another twenty feet. Flora wasn't worried about fatigue, being fit enough to outlast heavy amounts of climbing, despite her being a pegasus. Sure, flying up would've been easier, but the amount of space made flapping her wings impossible, something she thought was intentional to keep the chase "fun."
After the full climb of twenty feet, the area opened to the left to a thin linear path that had a small rectangular opening to the right of it.
Flora nearly jumped upon the sound of another scream mixed with the very evident sound of a hammer pounding against something, coming from just outside the rectangular opening.
The scream was muffled this time, meaning her tormentor had finally decided to shut her up, to which Flora shed tears at. Now, she was in the danger zone and would have to step lightly to manage not being noticed.
Another set of screams and hammer pounding set off, to which Flora used as a cover for her to move toward the opening to the room where Sarah was. The sounds horrified Flora, and upon meeting the opening, she realized why Sarah's screams had been so shrill.
Just like the Jane Doe pony, Sarah's hooves were in the process of being nailed, but instead of a wall, Sarah was seated on a wooden chair with her limbs and throat bound by barbed wire, some sort of strange device positioned around her head that looked to be just as malevolent. Her back legs had already been nailed to the chair, and currently her left hoof was being pounded into with a nail by a much larger and muscular pony.
They had an orange mane and blood red body, their cutie mark being the cross section of a green apple. Flora could only guess that this was that demented mare's brother, Big Macintosh; the main pony who operated the grinder while the massacre was still going on.
Apparently he was a torturer as well, and, judging from the current situation, he wasn't any less brutal as his sister.
"Celestia above… How can anypony do this?"
Flora knew she couldn't fight or even pose a threat to this giant, so she started to look around for anything she could use as a distraction. Luckily, she found a small piece of wood just outside of the opening that she could reach, grabbing it with care and as much silence as she could muster.
With the wood gripped, she quickly surveyed the room, looking around for somewhere to toss the wood far enough to get him to leave the room. After one scout of the relatively small room, she quickly found an open doorway that was open enough for her to get a clear throw.
With careful aim, she counted down in her head and prepped the throw.
"Three, two, one…
The wood went flying to the doorway and through, landing with a clank in the distance. The large and buff stallion seized his torture and perked his ears at the sound, setting aside his hammer and moving out of the room to investigate the noise.
Once the coast was clear, Flora moved hastily out of her hiding place and into the room. Sarah jumped at the sight of her friend's intrusion, breathing and sweating heavily from the unholy amounts of excruciating pain she had endured.
She didn't move too much, not wanting the barbed wire to catch her neck, but she did mutter through her covered mouth at the sudden ray of hope she'd been given.
"Sarah, it's okay, I'm going to get you out of here!" Flora assured, looking around for something to cut the barbed wire with.
Off to the side, Flora caught sight of the arsenal of torture tools that Big Macintosh had or was yet to use. The only bloodied up tool was the hammer, meaning Sarah's torture hadn't gotten too far to where serious injury could be applied.
She was relieved at it, but saw no wire cutters on the tray of tools, causing her to panic a little, starting to look along the floor and around the chair Sarah was seated in. Upon surveying the area, she quickly found something that somewhat calmed her nerves, finding that the barbed wire had been nailed to the chair.
With that assurance, she quickly worked back to the tray, grabbing the hammer and starting to dislodge the nails from the barbed wire like a madpony.
She knew time was not on her side, so she worked quickly, managing to pull out the nails rather easily, the wood of the chair being not the healthiest. With that done, and the threat of the barbed wire causing additional damage extinguished, she moved to the next grueling step of dislodging the nails from Sarah's hooves.
"Okay Sarah," she said while placing the opposite forked end of the hammer to where she could grip the nail head. "I'm going to need you to just breathe and count to five."
Sarah's eyes changed to where she started to cry and object through the cloth, but Flora just ignored her friend's pleas and continued.
"Ready? One, two, three!"
She pulled the hammer back as hard as she could, the nail starting to slither out and the wound starting to pulse blood out. Sarah protested loudly through the cloth, the pain shocking her nerves and setting her hoof on fire.
It took five long agonizing seconds, but the nail finally released its embrace with Sarah's body, the nail soaked in crimson upon its collapse to the wooden floor.
Her hoof bled severely as Flora moved to the next one, gripping the nail head and beginning to pull yet again. Sarah wanted to object with her free hoof, but knew if she wanted to get out and live, she needed to let Flora do this.
Five more agonizing seconds, another nail free and temporary bleeding.
Sarah had her front hooves back and free to use at her leisure, but there were two still to go. Flora gave her no rest, moving to the floor and starting her removal of the other two nails.
Ten more seconds of her back legs burning like fire and nerves dancing as if she'd been tased later, she was finally free.
Minus whatever held her head in place.
Sarah manually attempted to free her head from the grip of the two rectangular metal slabs tightly holding both sides of her head in place, but it was as if she were part of the slabs. Flora moved to the back of the chair, examining the device that held her friend tightly for any sort of way to release its hold, finding absolutely nothing.
Then she saw it.
The stallion had returned, standing still in the doorway on the opposite side of the room with a blank expression. Only until now had Flora seen the gaping wound across the perimeter of his throat, remembering that he and the entire family, after Applejack's demise, had committed suicide as a way of solidifying their refusal to justice.
"Eenope," he said calmly, following him lifting his back leg and kicking something.
Upon the sudden sound of an electric current and the eruption of a machine, both of their hearts plummeted. It only grew more horrifying upon the discovery of the machine, now in full function, being whatever Sarah's head was currently bound to.
Then it hit Flora.
The machine was a vice.
Upon connecting the dots, Flora panicked and began to scramble for a way to stop the machine from functioning any further. The situation grew all the more desperate and grim upon Big Mac following up his activation of the device through the switch of a lever with violent kicks, up until the lever snapped like a twig.
He then took off on a hasty trot, leaving Flora to a hopeless situation as Sarah began to scream from the assured and absolute gruesome end to her life. Flora had no idea what to do, pounding the machine with the hammer as hard as possible, but to no avail, along with rushing over to where the switch once had been and trying with all of her strength to pull it back to its "off" position.
Sarah's hooves flung wildly, and her screams wailed in absolute terror and desperation for some miracle to save her, the pressure of the vice growing to the point of where her head felt like it was going to implode on itself.
And that's exactly what was going to happen if Flora didn't find a way to stop the horror from continuing or for the impossible possibility of the machine to malfunction and die to occur.
Hope didn't exist there, and upon the sickening sound of Sarah's skull being crushed growing audible, Sarah's screams turned to chokes, her eyes popped out like a mole from its hole in "Whack A Mole," and the sound of blood leaking from wounds filled the room.
Sarah's completed upper head was crushed to nothing but mush and a bloody pulp, and upon the horrid sight of her friend's grim and undeserved end, Flora lost her stomach yet again.
Sarah's body went limp as a freshly cooked noodle and her soul joined the many others doomed to eternal torture there, to which Flora just wept and screamed at.
She cried and pounded the floor in anger and guilt; she had failed another one of her best friends, and, now, their souls were forever bound to that place.
She would never forgive herself, and she knew it. She had thought Trevor was as bad as it could get, but she had been mistaken and fully made aware that the horrors of Bittersweet Apple Acres have no bounds.
After a long time, she finally got back up and walked over to Sarah's corpse, still crying; still regretting ever learning about and growing curious about anything to do with this fucking place.
Still sniffling, she gave her friend's corpse one last hug and goodbye. She didn't care about the guts or blood; this corpse was still Sarah and she'd be damned if she'd just leave one of her first ever friends without a hug and goodbye, dead or alive.
"I-I'm s-so sorry…
Releasing the hug at long last, Flora turned and ran off, her mind spiraling like a nest of awry hornets and fully aware that whatever was to come in the night was nothing she could be prepared for.
She'd always thought of what Tartarus was like, and now, she knew it. This was Tartarus.
This was Hell.
Nopony could save you, and she couldn't save anypony.
Nopony except herself.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
From that point forward, I had known that it was do or die in that place. Every decision I had made up to that point had ended the lives of two wonderful ponies that I'd cared for greatly, damning them to eternal suffering that had no end or mercy.
After Sarah, I didn't know what to expect, and only had hoped that Henry was still alive and hadn't been caught. He was smart and clever, and, in my mind, even if that place had been controlled by the demented entities that were the Apple family, I just knew that he had the brain to outwit those demons!
He'd gotten out of plenty of sticky situations before and had done the impossible to overcome them! Surely he could outlast the Apple family's sick game of hide and seek, right?!
You already know the answer to that question as much as me, so I won't bother with wasting time on my pointless hopes of what could've been.
One thing is true though about my statements; Henry had outlasted the chase the longest and, along with me, had nearly made it out alive.
Or so we had thought.
We quickly had learned just how disturbingly great the Apple family had been at feeding you false hope; the very thing that kept the massacre going for an entire decade.
The very thing that had nearly led me to my end and eternal damnation at the hooves of the mare known infamously as, Bittersweet Applejack.
One year earlier
Hours had passed since Flora had witnessed her friend's head being crushed like a bug, and, after she had left that torture room, had taken refuge in a seemingly-good enough hiding spot. From the room, it had led to a staircase that led to a series of rooms; rooms whoms sights would be forever burned into Flora's memories.
The first contained what had looked like an aged dentist chair and a pair of restraints that hung from opposite walls by chains connected to a large pair of rusted steel rings. Off the side had been a table with things like scalpels, scissors, a hammer, and even a cleaver laid out in an unordererly fashion, and the chair and floor had been soaked in blood stains.
The second had just a single bloody hook hanging from the ceiling along with its own tray of torture tools, the assortment being much different and intended for much more violent means.
By just one tiny glance at the inside if the third, Flora had only turn and ran, the room having contained a lone saw table with a recently gutted victim upon it in searing agony.
She'd already learned her lesson twice, and knew the victim was already forsaken to a grim fate, so she just ran as fast as she could, not even caring which way she wandered. She just wanted the horror to end, and it seemed the only way to avoid any true terror was to just keep moving.
She had no idea how long she'd been there, hoping for the night to end and be able to go home. She didn't care if she got in trouble for trespassing on prohibited property, if her mom drunkenly grounded her for months, if she had to serve probation or community service; ANYTHING was better than there.
After finding her current hiding spot, all she had done was think. How would she tell Trevor and Sarah's parents about the absence of their child?
She couldn't speak the truth, EVER. Nopony would ever believe her and she would probably end up in the nuthouse. She could only go on with those horrid memories and do everything she could to keep everypony crazy enough to learn more about the Apple Family Massacre away from that cursed foundation.
She now understood what Crimson Flash had meant upon the decree of attempting to bury that grim decade of murder and tragedy completely; you couldn't bury it even if you tried, because the memories still live on, and the spirit force of the Apple family had been strong enough to remain on the foundation due to the fact that those who knew of it would carry on their "legacy."
By retelling the story of the Apple Family Massacre, some ponies dumb enough, like her, would go looking for answers, drawing more victims back to the slaughter.
In truth, the Apple family never died, and their terror continued still to that day. The thought of it made Flora shiver in the grotesque realization of her actions.
She should've never bat an eye at the Apple Family Massacre. Maybe if she hadn't, her friends would still be alive and they'd be doing something else not as stupid to celebrate Nightmare Night.
Getting candy-drunk.
Vandalizing houses of ponies she doesn't like with toilet paper.
Trying something stupid like a mixed drink out of peer pressure.
But no. Instead, she'd never get to potentially do that or anything with Sarah or Trevor. She had forsaken them to something more unimaginable, and, in her eyes, unforgivable.
She had cried at the thought, feeling she should just call out the demonic headless witch pursuing her to join them in the same fate, but something forbid her.
Doing so would hurt more than just her. Her mother who was already unstable enough from her past, having resorted to alcohol whenever she spent the night all alone. She'd drink herself to death just to reach her only daughter, only to be even more devastated at the confirmation that her daughter is not wherever you go when the sand finally runs out.
Flora couldn't allow that. Her mother had birthed and raised her practically alone, and had given her the best life possible.
She couldn't just repay the mare who had shaped and made her into the mare she was with just a basic suicide. She had to do what her mom had taught her; to be strong and keep trying your hardest no matter what.
But her strength was beginning to dwindle like a flickering flame in wind, and she honestly had no idea where to go from where she was. She knew she couldn't just wait it out and expect the predators chasing her to just give up; she knew it wouldn't be THAT easy, and that if she made it to the final minutes of the night, the danger would increase ten fold.
These weren't just regular ponies that give up easily; these were ruthless and sinister killers that would chase her to the ends of the world just to please their sick and twisted joys of capturing ponies and killing them.
It was like a drug with an intense high to them, and they lived for that sensation and drive. They wouldn't give up until Flora's hooves were bound and her muzzle was dressed with a stained cloth.
They would hunt her for eternity.
"How did you get here, Flora?" she asked herself in her head. "How did Sarah and Trevor end up dead, when they still had so much to live for? So young and vibrant, taken in an instant…
She wanted to cry again, but she had no tears left to shed. Therefore, she just thought and thought, more and more.
"I can't keep dreading over what's already been done. They're dead and there's nothing I can do about it. I need to move forward and try to find Henry. Knowing him, he would've observed his surroundings and used them to his advantage; he wouldn't have stayed on the path, he would've broken from it and tried another way."
Flora knew Henry well and that when it came to hiding, he was a pro at it. She had no idea where he was, and maybe that was a good thing. She remembered the way she had gotten to Sarah, and knew immediately that if Henry had seen an opportunity as such, he wouldn't hesitate to abuse it.
He could be less than ten feet from her, and she'd never even know; that's how sneaky and crafty Henry Quickwit was in a sticky situation.
She also knew that Henry couldn't be her top objective, and that her top mission was survival. Her chances of finding Henry were less to none, and if she only focused on finding him in a maze of hundreds of twists and turns, she'd most likely be caught.
"It's not a matter of saving lives anymore, Flora. What matters is getting the hell out of here with your heart still beating and body in one piece. If Henry doesn't make it, in the end, there was nothing you could do."
She prepared herself, taking one last close listen for any dangers nearby.
No hooves.
No voices.
No laughter or misleading screams.
All that had occupied the space was the creaks of the many pipes, and the ringing hidden within the silence. She sighed upon the relief of the area being clear of any danger, moving to slide the wall she was hidden behind open to the familiar sight of a hall lined with pipes and a single narrow walkway.
The wall sliding open produced a very audible creak, making her heart race in fear of Applejack catching wind of her location. Luckily, she was fortunate, but didn't stick around, moving forward into the labyrinth, coming to a crossroads in her trot.
It wasn't clear on which way to go, both paths seeming the exact same. Flora didn't want to just leave it up to an eeny, meeny, miny, moe decision, knowing her decisions actually mattered in this place.
For all she knew, one path could lead to an alternate exit or an imminent death trap, so she smartly put her ear outward to listen for anything suspicious down each path. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear anything in particular down either and cursed silently at the fact that she just had to choose one and hope it was the right one.
Considering she was right-hoofed, she decided on that and cautiously worked her way deeper into the maw of the creepily-ambient tunnel. It extended for about another forty feet, up until it came to a right turn, which Flora peeked around to examine before even putting herself out in the open like a deer in the headlights.
Strangely, it led to just another door, to which she curiously stepped forward to and attempted to open, thinking maybe it could be some other exit. She was surprised when the door didn't seize and opened with ease, leading into a room with empty wooden shelves off to each side, and a long wooden cellar entrance on the floor.
The entrance was a two-door entrance composed of rotted wood and chipped white paint slowly coming off with age. No chains or lock bound the two doors together, causing Flora to wonder what may lie behind that door and if she should go down in hopes of there being some alternate route that led elsewhere outside of the labyrinth.
Then she remembered what happened to victims stupid enough to wander into a basement or cellar in the many horror movies she'd seen, having second thoughts immediately. Going down most likely meant an immediate dead end where she'd be killed or captured, so she started to turn to go back the opposite way, up until a sound suddenly caught her ears.
The sound of hooves growing in volume close by.
She wanted to believe it could be Henry, but she wasn't an idiot, knowing she was at a dead end, and, most likely, dead if she waited to see. She didn't even give a second thought and moved to opening the cellar doors, their hinges singing upon being lifted, but not loud enough to raise any attention.
Flora didn't even wait to hear if the pony had caught wind of her location and just rushed into what looked like a dark abyss with only two visible steps from the top. She didn't care, and to be absolutely sure that she didn't give her pursuer any hint that she was here, she closed the cellar doors behind her.
Immediately, darkness drowned her vision, and with only about thirty seconds of separation between her and the other pony, began to step carefully. Her heart pounded with terror, stepping down into the pitch black with care and haste, and eventually reaching the bottom floor without actually falling or hitting anything.
The floor was cold, Flora guessing it being concrete, as she put her hooves out to feel for whatever may dwell in this pit of hell. She couldn't feel anything, but still didn't think for a second that she was home-free or safe at all, continuing to navigate with care.
It was as if she were wandering in an endless void, no end in sight or anything in general around her as she continued to move across the room quickly enough to make enough distance between her and the pony to not be spotted immediately.
Upon a cold touch to her front right hoof, she jumped, feeling around further and finding what felt like the outline of a shelf. Carefully, she searched for the open end of the shelf, being careful not to knock it over at the slightest dancing of her nerves.
The creaking of the hinges from the cellar doors sang out, causing Flora's heart to drop, praying she hadn't ended up in a dead end situation. The light from the upper floor shone down, allowing her to actually see the outline of the room faintly but clear enough.
Upon her eyes meeting the contents of the room, she nearly lost her stomach.
Jars.
Hundreds of neatly labeled and organized jars stocked on wooden shelves, all filled and sealed with a crimson liquid.
Flora knew exactly where she was now.
This was where the victim's blood was stored away.
Every single one of them.
A smell suddenly became evident to Flora's nostrils and it almost overwhelmed her to the point of passing out, but her survival instincts stopped it.
Copper.
As if she were in a vault of freshly made copper bits, with an added touch of the scent of rot.
Flora had wandered into a graveyard and slaughterhouse.
The pony was luring in closer, so Flora moved silently to the backside of the shelf on the far right side of the room, crouching down and covering her muzzle with her hooves.
Not long after she'd taken refuge, her pursuer had entered the room fully, carrying something on their shoulder. She recognized the pony just from their stock body as the same who had tortured and killed Sarah, but whatever was over their shoulder was out of her view.
Quietly, she maneuvered to where she could see better, only to regret it instantly.
It was Sarah, unharmed and tied up.
Flora was about to make an attempt to rescue her, up until she remembered Jane Doe. She'd been killed already, but looked fine and alive, aside from her hidden injuries behind the rag. Sarah had clearly died; she had seen it with her own eyes, and, now, this must be what happens after somepony becomes an eternal victim.
As much as it pained her to watch this, she knew there was absolutely nothing she could do to save Sarah anymore, so she just had to bite the bullet or close her eyes. However, upon the sudden sound of another pair of hooves, Flora jumped in surprise.
From the stairs came Applejack, still headless but no less terrifying. She carried nothing, and just approached Big Mac.
"Ya know I like ya better with yur head," Big Mac stated. "Reminds me of our lively days together, ya know?"
"Hmph, fine," Applejack scoffed. "I figured you'd gotten used to headless me by now, but just for you, Big Mac."
Then something began to happen; hundreds of tendrils shot from Applejack's neck and began to contort and shift into something full. Then fur began to grow, emerald eyes formed, and every feature of a natural pony's head took full form.
In place of what was once empty space was now a head with fully functional organs, freshly grown tan fur, and a stetson placed atop her head.
"There, happy?" she questioned with slight irritation.
"Eeyup," Big Mac answered.
Applejack just rolled her eyes, walking toward Sarah with a malevolent look on her face.
SMACK!
"Wake up!" Applejack commanded violently, Sarah's eyes opening slowly.
Sarah immediately started to object in absolute terror and desperation for somepony to hear and save her, her voice muffled by the rag covering her muzzle. The pleas and cries from Sarah sprung a demonic grin on Applejack's face, to which she just laughed.
"Help me! Save me! Don't let me die, Celestia above!" Applejack mocked. "It's always the same, but guess what, sugar? It always ends the same too. We killed that pompous bitch and er' little sister over a decade ago! Ain't' no pony comin' to save ya' or able to save ya! Y'all chose this path, so live with it! Y'all chose to come back and visit the Apple's, so be a good guest and shut up!"
Another hard and violent strike across Sarah's face landed, and to Flora's absolute horror, it had been devastating enough to dislocate Sarah's jaw, now dangling like a dead leaf to a tree branch. She wanted so badly to stop this, but she just kept telling herself that there was nothing she could do and held herself to her position.
Sarah was crying now much to Applejack's displeasure, but it was enough to please her to where she stopped the violence.
"Much better. It's very impolite to act so disrespectful while a guest here, so it's best ya' learn to behave. After all, you're gonna be here for a LONG time, so best ya' get comfy to your new accommodations.
You'll serve much a good purpose here, and will for such a long time, but first, we have a special little welcoming ritual for y'all to make it official."
She gave Big Mac a signal to proceed, to which he grabbed a jar of the same size from just outside Flora's sight and placed it just below the jugular of Sarah's neck.
Flora knew what was coming next and couldn't watch, closing her eyes and covering her ears.
"I'm so sorry, Sarah…
Applejack opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a sheathed knife, pulling it from its leather home and approaching Sarah again. Sarah's actions intensified instantly, doing everything she could to break her binds and her screams rising in volume and severity.
Applejack could've cared less, forcing Sarah's head back and playfully hovering the knife's blade just above her flesh.
"Ya see, if ya wanna be one of our family, ya must commit to it, and that means givin' up whatever holds you to any other family, includin' your own. Don't worry though, I promise that we'll make yur sacrifice worth it by givin' y'all the best treatment we can offer here at Sweet Apple Acres. So sorry the conditions must be so "tragic," but that's just how things are here, so without any further objections, I-
The blade's tip entered deep into the right side of Sarah's neck and glided across slowly, up until it met the same spot on the opposite side.
-welcome ya' to the Apple family!"
Blood had started to splatter everywhere from the wound, into the jar and filling quickly. Sarah choked and coughed as she fought endlessly against Applejack's strength, her fate sealed in stone.
It was a painful amount of time before Sarah's jar had finally been filled to the brim, her body having gone limp in her confines, and upon Applejack letting her head back forth, collapsed to the floor dead as grass in winter.
"That never gets old," Applejack said coldly, rotating the jar atop her right hoof. "Nor does the warm feeling of a newly filled jar of their life supply."
Big Mac nodded in agreement.
"I'll dispose of er' body in the orchard while
"Yeah. No more playin' around with em'. It's time for some fun. I especially have plans for that one that got away. Next time I get a hold of that Goldilocks, I won't hesitate to knock her out!
After yur done with that bag of skin and bone, I want ya' to get back to makin' the new shelf. After all, we don't want anythin' happenin' to our newest family member."
With that said, both of them departed the cellar with Sarah's lifeless husk. Once the coast was clear, Flora released her hold on her muzzle and just sat in thought.
She knew for sure now that Henry was still alive, and that this grim game of hide and seek was nearing its end. However, she also knew that the game was about to get a lot more difficult and potentially impossible.
"Stay alive a little longer, Henry."
Getting up, she prepared herself for whatever was to come.
Run.
Survive.
Don't stop.
Failure not an option.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
Flora had wandered back down the opposite direction after being sure that it was safe enough to go and had been surprised that it had led her to another staircase. She had literally nowhere else to go, so she had just trotted up the stairs, bringing her to another set of stairs for another three ascensions.
That climb had led her to a change of scenery that resembled more the look of an attic of a house with only one exit that matched the look of the cellar door she'd come across. She didn't want to stop, so she had just followed the path she'd been provided, being cautious of any potential danger before stepping down from the attic-like area.
From there, it had led into something closer to a house, her assumption immediately being that, somehow, she'd found her way from the slaughterhouse to the actual home that the family had once lived in.
It was dark and eerie, as if this part of the entire farmhouse had not been wandered into for a very long time. Cobwebs and dust had made it evident enough that it hadn't been maintained or cleaned in easily five or more years, the floorboards starting to rot away and wallpaper peeling away from water damage.
For some reason, Flora didn't feel like she did in the maze here; this place felt forgotten and lost, and a ping of emotion stung her heart as she started to walk. She was in a narrow hall where to her right was two rooms, and to her left was one lone room. No door shielded the openings, and, feeling like she needed to investigate, walked into the first room closest to her.
Inside was an unmade bed, a wardrobe with a mirror, and, in front of it, red bows that were damaged from age. They were scattered all over the floor as if whoever had resided in this room was in a rush on the last day they left this room, and upon one glance to the bedside nightstand, it immediately hit her on who had resided here.
The pony who had brought the horrors to light at the cost of her own life.
"Apple Bloom…
The picture upon the nightstand's top surface was heartbreaking. It was of Applejack and Apple Bloom, both smiling with absolute happiness and no care in the world.
Two sisters that had loved each other dearly and just enjoyed life and living.
Up until the Apple Family Massacre happened, and, because Apple Bloom had done the right thing, was killed horribly in cold blood by the sister she loved and trusted to the ends of Equestria.
It was the first true act that had caused the Apple's to become feared and unstoppable. For one to kill their own family was another level of murder; a level that Ponyville had never believed possible at the time.
The first time Flora had even heard about Apple Bloom's demise, it had made her cry and still did. It's a tale that nopony could easily just listen to without having any sort of reaction, and that fact stuck with any who had ever heard it.
Flora's eyes had no tears left to cry, but her heart still ached for Apple Bloom as she turned to leave the melancholic sight of what once had been the room of a young filly with dreams and goals as high as beyond the sky.
Then her ear twitched upon the sound of hooves coming from above her, knowing that it couldn't be good. She quickly looked around for somewhere to hide, finding only the wardrobe as her best option. Working quickly she opened the door to the wardrobe, relieved that there was enough room for her to fit if she stood on her back legs, and worked into the space as quickly as possible.
Once she was fit into the space, she pulled the wardrobe door closed, leaving it ajar by just a sliver to get a visual of the pony on her tail. Her heart pounded in her chest as she heard the pony's hooves meet the floor just outside the doorway, to which she covered her muzzle with her free hoof and forced herself to stay as still and quiet as possible.
She looked through the sliver of an opening with care, hearing the pony start to walk into full view of the doorway, causing Flora to tense up even more.
Then she saw who it was. The vampony costume being clear enough of an indicator.
"Henry!" Flora called, moving out of the wardrobe and trotting to Henry hastily.
Before Henry could even get a single word out, he was wrapped in a hug as tight as the constriction of a Boa.
"Thank Princess Flare you're okay!" she stated emotionally, nuzzling her muzzle against his neck. "I've been so worried!"
Henry returned the embrace, also relieved to see Flora alive and well.
"It's okay, Flo, I'm here now and am not going anywhere," he assured calmly.
They shared the hug for what felt like an eternity, but eventually pulled away, knowing their lives were still at stake.
"Come with me," Henry instructed. "It's not safe here."
Flora agreed and let Henry lead the way, to which he led her down the hall, down a flight of stairs, and into what looked like the front opening space of the farmhouse.
The door was boarded up but looked possible to kick open, a thing Flora noted shall push come to shove. From there, Henry led her towards the back end of the house, into a closet that was just big enough for the two of them.
"After you, Flo," Henry offered, to which Flora followed and took a seat against the back wall of the closet.
Henry followed, closing the thin wooden door and taking a seat against the door. Once he was sure he was somewhat-settled into the closet, he turned his gaze to Flora, her face telling a story of trauma, tragedy, and exhaustion.
A state of emotion that Henry had never seen Flora in in their entire friendship. It broke his heart and made him all-the-more clear on why she had reacted so motherly in their reunion.
"Talk to me, Flo," he said gently. "I need to know. Are Trevor and Sarah…
Flora nodded before he could finish, taking Henry aback.
"I'm so sorry, Flo," Henry comforted, attempting to hide his own emotions.
"I saw both of them die, Henry," Flora started emotionally. "Trevor… h-he…he died…because of m-me."
Henry raised an eyebrow at that.
"I'm sure that's not true, Flo," he comforted.
"But it is!" Flora retorted. "The reason he's dead is because I wouldn't fucking listen to reason! I thought I could save somepony who was already condemned to this damn place, and because of my stubborn arrogance, Trevor was shredded to pieces!"
She had started to cry again, still no tears to shed.
"Trevor would still be alive if it weren't for him trying to save me…and now…he's cursed to eternal pain and suffering because of me… It's my fault, Henry…
She collapsed into Henry's lap, her emotions breaking. Henry just allowed it, gliding one of his hooves through her golden mane in a way of comfort.
Eventually, Flora's emotions turned into slumber, and she passed out for just a little while. Knowing she was physically and mentally exhausted, Henry just let her rest away, keeping her safe in his hooves until it was time to move again
Yawning awake, Flora sat up from Henry's lap, her eyes slowly adjusting. Upon not even recognizing her surroundings she started to panic, her eyes darting rapidly and her anxiety rising quickly.
"Hey, hey, Flo!" Henry alerted, immediately catching Flora's attention and calming her down. "It's okay, I'm here."
Flora calmed and wrapped her hooves around Henry in a form of remorse.
"I'm sorry," she confessed.
"It's okay," Henry replied, rubbing Flora's back calmly. "I'm scared too."
Releasing the hug, Flora sat back and exhaled a long breath.
"I never wanted any of this to happen," she said, her voice shallow and broken. "For anypony to die or end up stuck in a sick game of hide and seek. All I wanted was a fun night of spooks and traditional Nightmare Night excitement, but now, Sarah and Trevor are dead, and, unless we miraculous survive whatever final act is awaiting us, we'll soon be joining them as eternal additions to this demented place."
"Flo, we all know that, and I'm sure Trevor and Sarah hold nothing against you," Henry replied. "None of us knew we'd end up here in a fight for our lives tonight, nor could we have predicted it. All that matters is getting out alive now, and finding out some way to put all of this tyranny to rest where it belongs; buried in history."
That last statement caught Flora's attention, finding it as something out of left field and out of place.
"What do you mean, Henry? This place can't be put to rest. It's just too bound to the very foundation where all of the murders took place. Those monsters left their impression as a permanent seal when they all ended their lives, and the best way to "stop" these bastards from killing anypony else is to do exactly what Crimson has tried to for two decades."
"Has that worked, Flo?" he countered. "We heard Crimson's pleas to stay away, but here we are in the very Hell that he escaped at the cost of losing his own limbs. No. Something else needs to be done to stop all of this.
No spirit or entity is eternally bound to one place by what they did in their lives, but only by some sort of object or seal that they have some bond to through unholy means. Sarah told me this once, and, considering what I saw earlier, I believe it's absolutely true."
Flora's curiosity peaked again. Henry had seen something? If so, what had he seen that made him believe that the Apple Family Massacre could potentially be put to an eternal rest?
"You saw something?" Flora questioned.
"Yes. Something that connects directly to the place where the remaining members of the Apple family were discovered dead," Henry explained, his words starting to sway Flora's beliefs.
Flora's eyes bulged as she felt a chill go down her spine, leaning forward and replying to Henry.
"Can you show me?" she asked. "It's not that I don't believe you, Henry, I just need to see it to believe it."
Henry nodded in understanding,his face expressing a serious look.
"Ok, but if I take you there, there's no coming back here," he warned. "Morning is coming, and, like you said, the final act is coming. Once it does, there's no more hiding, only running and not stopping until the sun is over the horizon."
He was dead serious, and Flora recognized it.
This would be the last trot.
The last dash.
The final obstacle, until they would return to present Ponyville.
She nodded in complete assurance of the danger ahead, knowing she couldn't stop no matter what.
"I understand, but you best be right behind me, Henry," she fired back.
Henry nodded, moving back onto his hooves and taking a moment to check for any activity outside the door. Nothing met his eardrums, except for the sound of his and Flora's shallow breathing, to which he opened the door back to the sight of the melancholic home.
"Follow me, and stay close," Henry commanded, moving further into the farmhouse with soft steps to wherever he had discovered the one thing that had continued the madness of the Apple family, even beyond death.
The sight of Henry's discovery made every speck of fur stand up on the back of Flora's neck. Henry had led her into a hidden cellar below the rug that the kitchen table had rested upon, where only a sight of horrors had awaited her.
On the floor had been a pentagram drawn out in some dark and thick substance that Flora had assumed was wax of a black candle, and in the middle had been something circular and radiating a blood-red glow. Upon closer examination, it had been some sort of circular stone slab dressed with some sort of leathery blanket.
It was stretched out with enough slack to nail it to the back of the slab, nice and tight in place. On top, carved into the leathery blanket was some sort of array of symbols and text of some language Flora was unaware of, radiating the red light from each symbol carved cleanly.
Just being around it made Flora feel uneasy and sick, so she kept her distance to avoid any damage to her health. From a distance, she just examined the pentagram more thoroughly, being careful to be at full alert the entire time.
She had remembered seeing a picture of the crime scene in this room in one of the few newspapers that were printed before Princess Flare took the throne. In the picture there had been two bodies, Granny Smith and Big Mac, with the undersides of their necks placed right on a point of the pentagram.
The very areas where the wounds that had ended their lives had leaked their blood out as a way of making a sacrifice. However, upon another point had been a small jar, a label on it reading Applejack, meaning they had been prepared for what had happened for a long time.
However, no such slab was discovered or confiscated, immediately making Flora think that perhaps it was a discovery that was excluded due to being too graphic. Just another mistake by ponykind that had led to all of this.
"What do you think it is, Henry?" Flora asked.
"The key to this place's demise," he answered simply. "I think it's something we weren't told about that was removed from the farmhouse, and it was created from one of the first victims of the massacre as a seal of great evil to keep them and the past victims bound to the ground the slaughterhouse once stood upon.
It was hid away down here, shall the worst case scenario happen, and only if exactly what Crimson did happen, shall this seal be activated to assure their presence upon the Sweet Apple Acres foundation absolute. Given the fact that getting close to that thing makes us, two ponies of good will and souls, react negatively, it's clear that the three ponies of absolute tainted and evil souls made sure that only they could ever touch or alter it."
Henry's theories made absolute sense, and could really be the only reason it even exists. It seemed cheesy in theory, but, in reality, it was the truth and reason that any of this was even happening.
Now, the big question was what to do next.
"So what do we do? Try to destroy it?" Flora asked.
"No, because if we destroy the one thing that keeps this place alive, we'll be going down with it," he clarified.
Flora's eyes widened. How could she have overlooked that logical factor? It was like if you knocked over a wooden beam holding up a house; everything would come crashing down to nothing but dust and debris.
She was thankful Henry was here right now.
"Not to mention that the whole effects of that thing on us could be catastrophic or even fatal," he added, furthering Flora's relief that he was there with her. "What we need to do is first, get out of here, and then find where that slab thing is in reality. Only then can we destroy it."
"The only pony who knows where that thing is is the very pony who chose to cause all of this; Princess Flare. She probably has it locked up in some fancy chest or something in Canterlot, so getting it is next to impossible."
"I know, Flo, but we've got to at least try. For every pony stuck here. For Trevor and Sarah."
A ping of emotion stung Flora's chest at that, realizing that Henry was right.
This had to end.
For good.
For all of the trapped souls here.
She nodded.
"Okay. I promise to do all I can until my dying breath."
Henry smiled, turning his gaze to something peeking through the cracks in wood above their heads.
Sunlight.
Faint but visible.
The final act had come.
Upon the sudden sound of an all-too-familiar voice erupting from invisible speakers, Flora and Henry jumped in fear.
"My oh my has it been a fun night chasing down both y'all, but I'm afraid our fun must come to an end," spoke Applejack. "So, here's how our final little game is gonna play out. Instead of hide an' seek, we'll be playin' tag down to the final second that yur time here comes to an end!
The rules are simple; ya run and run, hopin' we don't catch ya, but to spice things up a little, we've decided to give y'all a bit of a headstart. Ya have one minute to run as fast as ya can out into the orchard, but I reckon ya don't stop, otherwise ya might be met with a bit of a surprise!
All exits are now open, and yur headstart will start in approximately five seconds. Ya better start movin' fast!"
Flora and Henry didn't even hesitate and rushed out of the cellar, up into the kitchen, and, just as Applejack had said, the side door exit in the kitchen was wide open. Wasting no time, both of them ran out into the yard, eying the orchard out past the gate, and trotted like an animal being chased by a predator past the gate, and out into the mass of dead apple trees.
Just as they met the tree line, a siren had started to blare from the farmhouse; the same one that had signaled Ponyville civilians of their impending doom approaching in short time. It sent shivers down both of their spines as they just ran deeper into the mass of trees that had seemed to extend for endless miles.
They didn't look back or stop, not even thinking for a second that Applejack had been feeding them lies about the orchard's "surprise." In the distance, the sun was starting to rise over a mountain, and if Flora's memory served her correctly, the full rising normally takes about ten minutes.
This would easily be the longest ten minutes of her life, and she didn't expect this to go as smoothly as it currently was. Trickery was soon to come and as soon as she heard the siren stop, she knew their advantage was up and that the true hunt had begun.
"Here we come, friends!" the voice of Applejack erupted over the sound of a megaphone.
Another sound accompanied the message, and it made Flora's fear escalate like a rocket.
Barking.
They couldn't stop, otherwise they'd be caught faster than they had run as far as they did.
"They've got a dog, Henry!" Flora informed.
"I know, just focus on running Flo!" he commanded, keeping within an inch of her tail.
So she did keep running, not looking back for anything and just focusing on what prize awaited her at the end of this race.
Then something happened that she didn't expect. One of the trees not far from in front of her placed one of its thick branches in the way of her path, as if it were a sentient being.
Flora and Henry skidded to a stop, both quickly turning and attempting to go down another clear path, but, to their horror, the trees were starting to block the paths.
The "trickery" Flora had assumed had come, and, as she had also predicted, it was making their progress more difficult, allowing Applejack to catch up faster.
She looked around quickly, looking for somewhere to go, but she found nothing but blocked paths starting to form. Neither she or Henry could trot fast enough to beat the trees, so trotting wasn't an option, and time was slowly starting to run out.
Then Henry said something that Flora hadn't expected.
"They want us to split up," Henry stated. "That's the only way they'll let us pass."
"Celestia dammit, Henry!" Flora objected instantly. "I just got you back! I won't lose you again!"
"There's no other way, Flo," he countered, and while Flora knew for a fact that he was correct, her stubbornness said otherwise. "We need to separate, otherwise we're both dead!"
"Henry! I won't lose you too! If we-
"Flora, Celestia dammit, do you want this to end the same way Trevor did!"
Flora gasped instantly at that, breaking her stubbornness that was as thick as ten-feet thick ice in the winter. Henry was right; this was going just like the series of events that led to Trevor's demise.
She refused to let something like that happen again.
"I'll see you back in Ponyville, okay," he said, backing away towards another path.
The trees began to give way and clear the path once again, and upon that, Flora knew she couldn't argue anymore. Henry had turned to move deeper into the orchard, up until Flora stopped him.
"Henry, wait!" she called, hurrying to him.
Then something happened that Henry had wished for his entire time of knowing Flora, but still had expected it to never happen.
His lips had met Flora's in a short but sweet kiss that he returned and shared with Flora for only a few seconds, though to him it had felt like an eternity.
Upon Flora releasing him, she only stated one thing before turning and running.
"I'll see you on the other side."
Then she turned and ran off beyond Henry's vision, stunned briefly from what had just happened. The stun didn't last long though, and he quickly turned and ran off as fast as possible.
Flora wasn't sure what she'd just done, but she just felt it was needed. That might've been the last time she'd ever see Henry again as much as vice versa, so she just had wanted to give something as a potential last goodbye.
She could resolve the whole thing when she got out of here, so she turned her focus back to running and not stopping. The sun's light was starting to cause the trees to cast shadows, so the sun had risen a little more, but not by much more than a sliver.
She could've sworn enough time had passed for it to have arisen halfway, but she couldn't argue with what she was seeing, so she just returned her eyes to the path she was running, watching for any obstacles.
Her legs felt like jello, but she didn't care. She hadn't felt this exhausted in her entire life, feeling thankful that her adrenaline was masking the majority of it, otherwise she wouldn't even be walking straight.
She just focused on what Henry had told her; run and don't stop for anything. She was literally right at the finish line; minutes from escaping this Celestia-forsaken place and living to tell the tale as the second survivor of the Apple Family Massacre.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
A scream.
Henry's scream.
Every instinct was telling Flora to keep running and to not listen to Henry's clear sound of having been caught or injured.
Just run.
Run until the sun is high above the mountains.
That's not who Flora Bloom was. She wouldn't abandon a friend, regardless of what could potentially happen.
She turned in the direction of the scream and trotted as fast and endlessly as her body could. The trees didn't block her way, and that seemed abnormal to her, and that immediately made her sense that something was wrong.
Another thing that she had just realized in that moment was the barking.
It was gone.
Now she knew something was off, and as she came into view of Henry's location, her heart sunk.
Henry was impaled in the abdomen with an axe, swung so hard that it had broken through his body and into the wood of the tree on the opposite side, pinning him like an addition to the tree. On his chest was a white paper stained with blood, nailed into what Flora horribly realized was his heart.
He was a bloody mess, both of his wounds leaking tons of blood and staining the base of the tree. Flora was already starting to lose her tears by the time she got to the tree and gently touched Henry, his body growing paler with the more blood he lost.
A set of bloody coughs erupted from Henry upon the touch, looking at Flora with eyes of pain.
"F-Flo….
He struggled, to which Flora jumped. She was an emotional mess upon her response.
"H-Henry…I-I…
She trailed off instantly.
"C-Celestia…y-you never…l-listen," he responded, following a chuckle. "S-Same ol' Flo…
Flora sobbed, wiping some tears from her eyes as she collapsed to her knees.
"I-I'm so s-sorry, Henry… This should've…this should've never happened! Not to you, Sarah, or Trevor!"
"D-don't be, Flo… It's n-not your f-fault…We all c-chose to do t-this… We all f-face the c-consequences we brought o-on ours-selves.
"I know, b-but I-I led us all to this…I can't help but f-feel I'm to b-blame for all of t-this."
"Y-you just w-wanted to h-have a fun N-Nightmare Night, and s-so d-did the rest of us. I'm s-sure the others w-will s-say the same w-when or even i-if I find them i-in this p-place…
Flora's heart sank again.
"N-No! N-No Henry!" she objected pleadingly. "Please! Not you too!"
She pointed upward into the distance where the sun was nearly above the mountains. It wouldn't be anymore than another minute or so before they could finally escape this nightmare.
"Just hold put a little longer! The sun is almost up! We can go home! You don't have to die here!"
"Oh Flo…That's what I love about you. Always s-so kind and p-positive, even w-when it's clear t-that things aren't g-going to end w-well."
He smiled, looking up at the sky.
"I'm s-sorry Flo, b-but I can't j-join y-you. I-I'm already s-starting to see b-black, and w-won't last m-much longer…
Flora knew he was right, and she only sobbed, knowing the inevitable was approaching. However, Henry's voice startled her out of her sobs, and she knew that this would be Henry's last words, so she just listened closely.
"P-promise me, F-Flo…that you'll d-destroy this p-place for g-good. That u-until you a-are on y-your deathbed t-taking y-your final breaths…y-you'll try e-endlessly to put t-this terrible p-place to r-rest for g-good…
Flo rose up from her knees and wiped her tears away, looking at Henry with fogged and pale eyes.
"I-I promise, Henry. For you, Trevor, Sarah, and every victim these monsters have victimized, I won't stop until this place falls and never exists in any reality beyond our own."
Henry smiled and coughed as he eyed the sunrise one last time.
"While I'm s-scared… I-I'm happy, because… I-I g-got to… h-hear your v-voice…one l-last..ti…
One last breath escaped his lips, then, with a smile on his face, Henry Quickwit went limp.
Flora started to lose her emotions instantly, but upon a glance at Henry's corpse once again, she remembered the paper nailed to his heart. Wiping tears away, she reached up and pulled the nail from Henry's corpse and took the paper.
It was mildly stained with Henry's blood, but she could read the words well enough, the message sending a chill down her spine.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO Y'ALL'S RETURN
She expressed anger at the message as the sun rose fully into the sky, and with a single blink of her eye, Flora found herself in an empty field.
She had survived the Apple Family Massacre and lived on. However, she would never speak of the horrors she had experienced to anypony. She'd carry the horrors with her to her grave and beyond, probably destined to relive the horrors in her dreams and much more.
She got up and found her way to the entrance she and her deceased friends had entered through, and happily left the foundation with memories she'd never forget.
Most of Ponyville was dead to her relief, seeing she was soaked with blood, dirt, and much more, and all she wanted was to get home and take a long shower. The promise she had made Henry would be accomplished, but she needed time to think and plan.
That would take weeks, and that meant her friends would face endless pain and torture while she plans and lives freely. The guilt ate at her like a parasite, but she just did her best to ignore it, approaching her home.
Opening the door, she walked into the smell of alcohol. It was just as she feared; her mom had drank herself drunk, and upon seeing a mare with a messed up mane sprawled out on the couch and an empty wine bottle on the floor, her fears were confirmed.
"Celestia dammit, mom…
She picked up the wine bottle and tossed it into the nearest garbage, allowing her mom to sleep. As she had planned, she worked her way to the bathroom, stripped herself to nothing but fur and hooves, and took a long thoughtful shower, scrubbing herself over three times to get that copper smell out.
In the mix of the heavy duty cleaning of her body, something eventually clicked in her mentality, and she lost her emotions completely. She sobbed under the stream of hot water and just cried endlessly for ten minutes straight, all of the macabre memories flashing back and playing out like a visceral horror movie.
After her emotional breakdown, she had just shut the water off and dried off, throwing away the towel after she was done. Normally, she would've done her hair and made herself all pretty, but right now, she didn't even care about her looks or anything.
She wanted to take a nap, but she was too afraid to even attempt it, knowing Applejack was waiting for her in her sleep. Instead, she just cleaned up her mother's mess and made the house at least decent enough for just the two of them.
After that, she decided to get something done that was needing to get done for awhile, borrowing some bits from her mother's purse and moving to the Ponyville market centre.
She only needed to get a few things, mainly some vegetables and milk, but nothing more. While at the market, she ran into some of her school friends, but she paid them no attention and just got the deeds done.
Even the market ponies were surprised at normally-chatty and friendly Flora being so emotionless and cold, but she didn't care. If they had any idea of what she'd been through, they would understand why she looked like shit and didn't even want to look anypony in the eye.
Opening the door to her home again, her mother was still asleep on the couch. Sitting the bags of her newly-acquired goods on the kitchen counter, she looked at the clock.
It was 8:00 am.
She wasn't going to let her mom sleep in all day after the mess she made, so she moved back to the front room and started to shake her mother awake.
Upon the touch to her mom's shoulder, Flora froze.
It was like ice.
"No…
Flora started to shake her mother hard, only for no response to come. Upon one good glance of her mother, Flora felt her heart drop and stomach churn in disbelief.
She was pale, stiff, and cold like a stone statue.
Lily Bloom was dead.
"MOM! PLEASE WAKE UP! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"
Flora Bloom was all alone now.
Lost, broken, unstable.
Flora had officially lost everything.
END OF PART ONE
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
It had felt like I'd never left Bittersweet Apple Hell after I'd realized that everything that had kept a smile on my face and my life as bright as the sun had left me alone and lost. Reality became a blur in my screams of a hopeless and inevitable conclusion, and, from that moment onward, the old Flora Bloom had faded away, replaced with the lifeless husk now rotting away in this shithole.
Everything that had kept me stable and robust had collapsed, and back then, I'd become a bridge destined to crumble apart into whatever lay beneath it. Everything bright in my life had faded to nothing but a desolate grey, and my mentality, already scarred by that Applebitch, had become unhealable, the wounds bleeding like a raging waterfall of crimson.
In full clarity, my life had, in one lone night, gone from happy and carefree to dystopic and unhinged. Something I hadn't felt since the day my mom and I ran away from "him."
Oh, you must be wondering who I'm talking about, seeing I never mentioned it beforehoof. Well, there's a reason for my lack of mentioning the stallion who literally destroyed my foalhood, and that's because I buried that bastard in the darkest corner of my mind long ago.
To put it in the lightest of descriptions I can manage, the stallion I speak of is the very one that…violated me at only the age of five, and beat my mom as if she were his own personal punching bag…
The stallion known as Darwin Flare, aka my father.
But that whole nightmare is another horror story for another time. The only thing relevant about that monster to this is that he was the cause of my imbalance before Sarah, Trevor, or Henry were ever even a thing in my life.
For the longest time after mother and I managed to escape him, the scars he'd left continued to fester with pain and trauma. I didn't go anywhere, talk to anypony, or just socialize in any manner in general for months.
Up until the day I met Sarah for the first time.
To keep it brief, Sarah understood my pain, because she'd been through something similar in her past. That's how we connected, and eventually, our friendship would lead to me healing and letting go of the past.
It took a long hard time to finally move on, but my friends all helped and supported me along the way. They were like the siblings I'd never had, and we all understood each other, carrying our own baggage that lingered like an incurable virus or disease.
We all weren't just your ordinary group of friends; we all had connections through things connected to our pasts' and worked together to free one another of those things that haunted us by showing that there is light in the darkness.
Trevor's demon was drug addiction, nearly losing his life to an overdose. He had grown up around said demon and had been led to think that drugs were nothing bad, seeing his parents were constantly poisoning their bodies with them.
Then came the night he had shot up something beyond his usual dosage, leading to immediate negative effects on his body. Somehow he had managed to save himself in time by calling 911 and alerting the operator of his situation.
He was taken to the hospital and cured of his poison, having escaped death by less than five minute's time. I don't know how his parents were able to keep him, but Trevor had vowed from that day to turn his life around.
Henry's demon was suicide, having been driven to the point of no return by the school staff doing nothing to stop the bullying he received daily in and outside of school. However, once it had come to the moment of ending it all, he couldn't do it, and realized that ending his life wasn't the answer.
He came out of that horrifying situation a stronger pony, and refused to ever let his demons take him over again. There were a few occasions when he had nearly lost his strength, but Sarah, Trevor, and I managed to keep his head above the dark sea he was starting to sink into.
Together, we worked to keep each other strong and stable. We'd been through Hell and had managed to escape, turning our lives around in hopes of a second chance. So when I lost them and mom…
I lost myself in the crumbling of everything that had kept me above my own personal sea of dread.
One day after escape
The room Flora sat in was cold and unwelcoming, consisting of only thick walls, a hard floor, and one lone table she was currently seated in. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen from the previous night and horrid discovery that she had found only two hours prior, her screams of anguish and desperation having been loud enough to alert neighbors.
They had found Flora weeping on the floor, her mother's corpse immobile and pale on the couch and cold to the touch. It was a sight that had horrified the ponies who had come to her aid as much as it had Flora, following with a call to the Ponyville police department.
Upon arrival, the house had been swarmed with police and barricaded with crime scene tape. Flora had refused to leave the premises, but was eventually taken out by force, allowing the officers to do the proper actions of investigating the crime scene for anything related to the cause of death to Lily Bloom.
Due to her refusal to cooperate, Flora had been hoofcuffed and locked in one of the cars. She hadn't been under arrest, just temporarily restrained to allow the police to do their job.
Next to arrive had been the homicide unit, a stallion dressed in a black trench coat making his way into the house with heavy focus and analyzation of every area outside of the residence. He did the usual protocol upon entering the horrid scene, eying Lily's body and everything around the area for any solution to her cause of death, but the only plausible thing he could find in relation to anything to do with the crime scene was the empty wine bottle on the carpet floor.
No blood, weapon, or sign of forced entry.
From that, he had concluded his analysis, allowing the coroner to lead the body from the house to the Canterlot Morgue. However, that wasn't all he planned to do, having exited the house, walked over to the car Flora had sat in, and opened the door to speak with her.
"Good day, Ms. Bloom," he had greeted. "I'm Detective Blackhorn, and if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you to come down to the station. You aren't under arrest, I'd just like to ask you a few questions regarding the current situation."
Flora had just lifted her head to meet Blackhorn's gaze, knowing it had been best to just comply. She had seen enough crime shows to know that refusal to comply only makes you look even more suspicious than you seemed prior, so she just had responded with a light nod.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Blackhorn had responded with a smile. "Sit tight. We'll be leaving shortly."
After a short ride, Flora had been escorted to where she currently sits in a blank state. Between losing her friends to that psychotic mare and her mother dying out of nowhere, she felt as if all if the light in her life had burned out, and now she was just trapped in a labyrinth with no way out or light to lead her.
She felt empty.
Lifeless.
Upon the sound of the door across the room opening, she shifted her gaze and jumped in mild fright. Through the door came Detective Blackhorn, closing the door behind him and taking a seat across from Flora. She felt as if she were in one of those cheesy crime dramas being interrogated, and upon Blackhorn laying his hooves upon the tabletop , it was practically exact.
All that was missing was an ashtray and a ton of folders with documentation of the victim. She was just waiting for him to pull out a cigarette, but he never did, and instead began to address the reason he had brought her here for.
"First, I am very sorry for your loss, Ms. Bloom," he started. "It truly must've been quite a shock finding your mother deceased, but that's why I'm here."
Flora didn't say anything, only nodded her head in response.
"Alright, so let me ask the first question. Do you know anypony who would want to hurt your mother? An ex-boyfriend, co-worker, friend?"
Flora shook her head instantly. Lily wasn't one to make enemies, nor did she really have any friends who had a gripe with her.
Blackhorn nodded, pulling out a mini notebook and pen from his left chest pocket and scribbling some notes onto the first blank page steadily.
"Alright, question two. Where were you between midnight and 5:00 am this morning, Ms. Bloom? I know the answer is pretty obvious, but I'm required to ask these things for confirmation."
Flora took a moment to answer, her mind still stained with all the horror of last night and that morning. Her mind echoed the screams of her friends in their final moments, the laughter of that sadistic mare, and Henry's dying wish, but she found her answer through all the traumatic imagery and sound.
"I…was out…at the…festival…
Her voice came out as a trembling whisper, but upon Blackhorn scribbling furthermore in his notebook, it was clear he had heard her.
"Very good. Question three. Were you with anyone at the festival?"
Again, Flora hesitated, but after a minute, she found her answer.
"My…friend…Henry Quickwit…
The screams echoed again, Blackhorn scribbling more notes down.
"Okay. Question four. What time did you leave the festival with your friend?"
Flora paused. She had to be careful here, because she could easily be caught in a lie. She couldn't tell the truth, nor could she say she hung out at Henry's house for awhile. His parents would've seen her arrive and stay.
The near-entirety of Ponyville was out last night, so many eyes would've seen her at the festival, as much as leave it. She thought about the way she left to go to the foundation, and assumed she could say that she went to meet up with a friend or something for a better view of the blood moon.
The road to the foundation is across the bridge and to the left, so she could say she went to meet a friend out that way, seeing there is an actual open field with a good view of the night sky just across the bridge.
It was her best resort, so she went with it.
"I…went outside…of..town…across the bridge…to meet…with my…friends. We…wanted a…better view…of…the …blood moon…so we…went out…that…way."
More scribbling followed, along with Blackhorn sticking his notebook into one of his many coat pockets.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Bloom," he said calmly, standing up from his seat. "You've been a great help, but there still lies the fact that you are without a guardian and are not of adult age.
Therefore, by law, we cannot just let you go, until we are sure that you have an adult guardian caring for you. Not to mention, your home is currently a crime scene, so you cannot go home just yet."
"Then…where do…I go?"
"Do you have any family that can provide care for you, Ms. Bloom? A grandparent, uncle, aunt?"
Flora paused. The last time she'd ever seen one of her relatives was before she had moved to Ponyville and was old enough to remember, and her mother had never mentioned anything to do with her grandparents, so she had no idea. She decided to just lie.
"None…that I…am aware of…
"I see. Well, then do you have any trusted friends who could temporarily care and watch over you?" Blackhorn asked.
Sparks instantly burst in Flora's head, her only friends having met their grisly demise the night prior. Tears instantly started to soak her tearducts, but, given her situation, she fought them back and brainstormed some fake story up in her head.
She couldn't say she didn't have any friends due to her statement of being with Henry the previous night, so she came up with a not-too-untrue answer.
"No sir…because my…friends have been…missing since…during the blood moon…last night…
Blackhorn's eyes widened. Even he wasn't expecting that answer.
"What do you mean, Ms. Bloom?" Blackhorn answered unsurely.
"We all…were…watching the blood moon…last night…and after…it…was over…we all were…planning to do…some last…minute trick or treating…However, after the…event was…over, all three…of them were…gone…
I spent…all night looking…for them…within the…area, and…had no…luck, so…I was going…home to call…the police to report…them missing. That's…when I…found my mother…
Blackhorn cleared his throat, regaining his calm composure. This case of murder had now become a missing case as well, and he was nowhere prepared to find three more potentially dead ponies.
"I see I've underestimated the severity of this," he said, taking a seat again and pulling the notebook from his breast pocket again. "Can you give me their names Ms. Bloom? I'll see to it that a search party will indeed be formed to search for them."
"Sure… Trevor Trottsman, Henry…Quickwit… and…Sarah Darkmist…
With a click of the pen and a few scribbles on the blank paper canvas, Blackhorn finished the session, slipping the notebook back into its home of cloth and cotton, and turning to the door.
"Thank you again for your cooperation, Ms.Bloom. For now, just stay put. My fellow colleagues will arrange something for you shortly, given you're probably hungry."
"What about…my temporary…home?" Flora questioned.
"We'll arrange you something until the crime scene is cleared. My fellow friend Officer Darkwood will be just outside the door if you need anything. Don't be afraid to ask."
Flora nodded, to which Blackhorn took as a sign for him to depart, walking the door and exiting the room.
Once Flora knew she was safe, she didn't hesitate and allowed her dam of tears to break. She buried her face in her arms to suppress any sound she made, and just cried freely, eventually exhausting herself into a near slumber. However, she stopped herself, fearing what may await her in slumber.
Reliving her friends' final moments, what may have happened to her if she had been caught by that twisted mare, her friends being tortured gruesomely, and much more macabre nightmares that she feared won't be "just a nightmare," but actually real.
Just thinking about it made her skin crawl, so, instead, she just tried to think of memories that she cherished; the moments in her short life that had rebuilt her after the horrors that Darwin Flare had caused her, and had shattered her already-fragile psyche.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
Ten years earlier
It was hard for Flora to chew the crustless daffodil and daisy sandwich that had been prepared and plated by her mother for dinner that night due to her recently-pulled tooth. It was one of her main teeth that she used to chew, so she had needed to improvise by moving her bites around her mouth to grind the food to a swallowable state.
The bread was the easy part, it was mainly the two other occupants rested between the soft and delectable wheat slabs that gave her trouble, but, being headstrong and confident in any feat, she managed to beat the challenge of chewing the contents to small and soggy pieces that could glide down her throat easily.
Upon finishing her challenging meal, she raised her arms into the air at her success, to which her mother seated to the left of her smiled. Flora was happy to see her mom smile, considering that things hadn't been the best lately.
Lily had lost her job due to the company have to cut some employees, a job she had worked for over ten years. It was a sad day for her, but just like anypony should, she let it go and moved onto figuring out a new plan to keep food on the table.
She didn't even waste her breath on her husband, knowing it would only result in another beating and potential near-death. That had happened five times in her seven years of marriage, and, out of fear for her life, just told the doctors some fake story of how she had gotten the many wounds and broken bones.
It's not like they could do shit about it anyways, and Darwin knew that just as much as she did.
Their relationship hadn't always been so strife-driven; it actually had started very happily and carefree, up until the day Lily had announced her pregnancy. That had caused a switch to flip in Darwin's head, and, on several occasions, had tried to kill Flora when she was still in the womb.
He had had several opportunities, but, for some reason, had stopped at the very moment he could've, having laughed evilly in Lily's traumatized state and just said something along the lines of "as long as you keep your mouth shut, this thing won't end up bleeding to death on the floor, and you won't end up in prison for murder."
It's only for that very reason that Lily has never spoken a word or attempted to seek help; for Flora's safety. She could care less about her ending up in prison; as a mother, it's her job to protect her daughter no matter what, so she wore fake smiles to keep Flora safe and unaware of the horrid truth.
She was truly miserable, but she'd take the hits and threats until some miracle saved her. Flora had heard the screaming and shouting, but she was too young to catch on, thinking it was just a natural thing mommy and daddy did.
Lily's smile would only last until her daughter left the kitchen to go watch television or play in her room, watching as Flora slid her plate towards her own and took off to her room to play with her new dolls and playset she'd gotten for her birthday one week prior.
Upon the door to Flora's bedroom closing, Lily's fake smile turned back to a static expression of depression, fear, and misery. It wouldn't be long before Darwin walked through the door in a drunken state and the misery began, so she just did her best to eat her own dinner.
She had just started to lift the sandwich when the door opened and unsteady hoofsteps entered the house.
Lily wouldn't finish her dinner. She had a daughter to protect.
The heavy scent of whisky and body odor permeated the kitchen upon the sight of a very drunk Darwin Flare stumbling to the table. It was suffocating, but Lily knew if she said anything she'd be in for a painful night, so she just composed herself and played "happy wife."
"Welcome home, darling," she faked. "How was your day at work?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," he responded coldly. "Where's my dinner, Lily? You'd best not be slacking!"
Lily gulped, getting up and quickly prepping the plate she had saved for him. Once the sandwich was prepared, she returned to the table and placed the plate before him, trying her best not to gag at the suffocating stench wafting from his body.
"What the hell is this?" he questioned threateningly. "This ain't no dinner! This is a foal's meal!"
Lily gulped again.
"I'm sorry, but we don't have any money to go out and buy things for a big meal," she explained, her voice starting to shiver at his tone of voice. "This is all I could manage."
Darwin wasn't listening, rising from the chair with clear anger. He then grabbed the plate and hurled it across the kitchen, shattering upon contact with the far wall and creating a big hole.
"Go out and buy some real food or things are going to be bad for you, Lily!" he growled.
Lily was against the wall frozen in fear, trying to think of another way out of this. She thought of the things in the pantry, piecing them together to try and come up with something to calm the raging stallion before her.
Then something else made her immediately panic, hearing the cry of her daughter's voice.
"Mommy are you okay?" Flora questioned with clear concern. "W-why is daddy so mad?"
Immediately, her motherly instincts kicked in, knowing she had to act.
"Everything's fine honey," she assured in her best calm voice. "Daddy just dropped his plate on accident. Nothing to worry about."
It worked, up until something else replaced Flora's reason of concern.
"Ewww, what is that smell?" Flora asked, covering her muzzle to relieve her nostrils of the clear pungent odor wreaking from Darwin's entire body.
Lily worked quickly, a solution coming to mind instantly.
"Oh, daddy had a little accident at work and he got covered by some stinky stuff. He's going to shower tonight to get it off, right daddy."
The closing statement came with a wink and clear tone of voice for Darwin to catch as a reminder to just agree with her.
Darwin didn't catch it, too drunk to think logically, and instead formed a grin that spoke evil intent. Lily's heart instantly skipped a beat, knowing that, for some reason, Darwin wasn't just following the usual protocol when Flora caught them fighting.
"Absolutely. However, daddy got something cool for you at work, honey," he started, walking to the stove and working his hoof to the knife holder upon the counter.
"Really daddy!?" Flora exclaimed in excitement. "What is it?! What is it?!"
Keeping the sight of his hoof sliding the largest knife from is home from his daughter, he continued to hold his devilish grin and play with her youthful naivety.
"Oh, it's really cool, but you have come over here to get it. It's a surprise!"
He was absolutely serious, and Lily knew he wasn't just messing with her. The grin spoke his intent alone, and now, she had to act before he could harm her.
Flora was already on the pounce, so she knew it was do or die. Dropping every bit of her fear and paranoia of the stallion before her, she lunged at Darwin with all her might, knocking him down instantly.
He had been surprised at the attack, not having expected Lily to actually act, but he still had the knife, and she was far from having the advantage. A sharp burning pain inflamed her left side, the knife having been stabbed into her flesh, causing her to scream, but her motherly instincts didn't let her fall, slamming her head down into Darwin's before he could get the knife out of her body for another stab.
Darwin hadn't expected Lily to be so quick to act, his head being hit hard again and again, until he was to a state where he was stunned. Lily saw that as her que to escape, the knife still in her and her warm blood leaking onto the kitchen floor as much as Darwin's, his nose bleeding and broken from Lily's skull.
Getting off of Darwin's body, she looked around for Flora, finding her in a shocked and horrified state.
"Flora, come on, we need to go!" she demanded.
Flora was still frozen at the sight, so she just proceeded to grab Flora, but stopped at a hard kick to her right set of ribs, knocking her to the floor and shifting the knife deeper into her body. The blade attacked her organs like a blazing fire, causing her to lose focus long enough for Darwin to get up and subdue Lily to a position where she couldn't fight back.
His hooves then wrapped Lily's neck and squoze with a force that was the equivalent of strength of a Boa constricting its prey. She choked and gasped for breath as Flora watched in horror, not knowing what to do.
Lily attempted to yell out to Flora to run, but the force of Darwin's hooves was too much, and no matter hard she tried to fight against it, Darwin only tightened his grip on her neck.
Her lungs burned for air, but none came, and just as her vision started to blur to black, the pressure around her neck lifted. All of the air her lungs begged for returned, and she coughed as she attempted to breathe. Her vision was blurry, but through it she could see Darwin in a hasty struggle.
Then she saw his neck, something around it and holding on for dear life.
"Get off you brat!" Darwin yelled, trying his best in his drunken state to unhinge the hooves wrapped around his neck.
Flora had jumped onto him and gripped his neck in an attempt to save her dying mother, clinging her small body to the entirety of his neck and holding on as if her life depended on it.
And it did.
He slammed against the counters and table to get his daughter off, his lungs begging for oxygen and blood blinding his vision. Plates fell from cabinets, pans collided to the floor, and the knife set met the floor as well, its occupants of several sizes being freed from their homes.
Just as Darwin was close to losing consciousness, with a slam to the fridge, Flora lost her grip, her hooves having lost their strength. She fell hard onto her back on the glass-covered floor, immediately feeling the shards slice her flesh, but the pain was mute to her, more focused on her delusional monster of a father raging towards her with murderous intent.
Before she could even back up, she was pinned and her tiny neck was in a tight grip. Lily saw the horror through her blurry vision, but was too weak to interject the scene, still catching her breath and regaining her strength.
Flora could see spots starting to fill her vision as she reached out for something in hopes of saving herself. She reached and reached, and, through her little strength, found something on the kitchen floor. Without thinking and having only survival instinct as her drive, she gripped and attacked her father with whatever she had in her hoof, praying for her weapon to save her.
It did.
Flora had shoved one of larger knives through the side of Darwin's neck and out the other side repetitively, causing warm blood to bathe her face and upper chest as her father let go to cut off the bloodline spraying from his neck with every beat of his racing heart.
He fell from atop Flora and attempted to get up and run, but the amount of blood he was losing and his heart rate had forced him into shock, and he couldn't act.
He choked on and gurgled his own blood on the floor as Flora attempted to catch her breath, unaware of what she had just done out of instinct of survival.
When she had regained enough oxygen and could focus again, Darwin Flare was dead in a pool of blood, and Flora's response had only been a chaotic mix of sadness and guilt.
"Daddy! DADDY!!!" she screamed in absolute chaos.
Lily had recovered enough, and at the sight of Flora's mad cries for her dad to wake up and her innocence being shattered, she only cried and held her daughter in her hooves as the sounds of sirens could be heard approaching the house.
Flora had killed her own father in defense of protecting herself, but that's not how Flora saw it, too young to understand.
From that moment, Flora's life had changed, and it would take a long time for her to understand that while she had killed her own father, it wasn't her fault. And only until she could understand that, Flora's first life would remain immobile.
Up until the day she would meet Sarah Darkmist.
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.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
The sound of the heavy door to Flora's current abode of hard floors and dim lighting is what awoke her from her daze of reflections of the past. It had felt like she'd fallen asleep, but she had been fully aware of her eyes being open and her current situation while reminiscing on the good times she'd had with her now-deceased friends beyond her reality.
That was how this mess had all begun; the spark that lit the inferno of her curiosity wanting to delve deeper into the mysteries of Ponyville's worst disaster ever since its discovery. An inferno that she now wished to have been extinguished upon the moment it manifested in her mind, never to be thought of ever again.
But fate had other plans, and she could've never predicted or have been prepared for the consequences of her actions. It was the exact reason why she knew now that she had to fulfill Henry's dying wish, and never stop until Bittersweet Applejack and her twisted family were sent to the deepest depths of Tartarus to receive their long-awaited punishments at long last.
Looking up from the comfort of her hooves upon the table, she looked toward the door to see who had joined her in her temporary cold home. It was a stallion with a cream colored coat of fur, dark blue eyes, and a mane of dark brown. His most catching feature was the bushy mustache dressed on his upper lip, giving the illusion that he had no top lip.
This must be the officer that Blackhorn had mentioned prior to his departure, the name foggy to Flora's brain.
"Good day, Ms. Bloom," he greeted, his voice rough and midrange. "My name is Officer Darkwood. I'm a friend of the stallion who questioned you earlier."
"Hello sir," Flora said slowly. "Is there…any word on…when I…can go…home?"
"That's why I'm here," he confirmed. "There wasn't much to go on with your mother's case, so we've sent her body to the Canterlot Morgue for further study on her cause of death."
He paused briefly to break his professional demeanor to a more sympathetic one.
"It must be very hard for you right now, but just know that there's always a light in the darkness. We'll be in touch, and we've arranged some officers to watch over your property, seeing there's potentially a fillynapper loose, given your other current situation."
"That's…not necessary," Flora clarified, seeing this security setup as a problem. "I…assure you that…I'm fine…on my own."
"It's not a permanent arrangement, just simply a temporary one," he assured. "At most, it'll last a week. Just long enough for Detective Blackhorn to get a proper grip on your friend's whereabouts and who the fillynapper might be."
"Ugh. Sorry Henry, my plans will have to wait until these officers get off my tail," she vented in her head.
With police watching her 24/7, there was no way for her to persist with her goal of finding where that flesh slab thing that she and Henry had discovered was in her reality. She'd look too suspicious and be in a deeper hole than she currently was in, so, playing smart, she just nodded and allowed Darkwood to finish his business.
"Very good. Now, I've been asked to escort you back home out of safety concerns. Another officer will show up later to give you further instructions on how we plan to keep you safe, shall we somehow manage to miss any activity while on duty."
Flora just agreed and got up from her seat, hearing her stiff limbs pop upon getting into her usual stance. The burn from the fence made her wince slightly, its presence having returned, no longer coated by the effects of rushing adrenaline in a dire situation.
She shook it off, thankful that Blackhorn hadn't noticed it upon his examination. Regardless, Flora knew she could excuse it as a cooking accident or something. Burns weren't your usual injury to look for on a suspect in a case of murder or fillynapping, but more likely cuts or bruising.
The fracture in her back leg had also returned from under the cloaking of adrenaline, but, considering she had run on it throughout her trek deeper into the bowels of that slaughterhouse, the pain had become no more than the equivalent of a stubbed hoof.
Therefore, she walked out with no visible sign of pain from her battlescars from one night in Sweet Apple Hell, and allowed Officer Darkwood to drive her home.
Upon the arrival of her home, it seemed as if its welcoming atmosphere had dimmed to nothing but a bleak dissonance. It was like she'd returned to a house that had been abandoned and forgotten for centuries, when in reality, it was the house she had occupied for almost two years.
Getting out of the vehicle, she shivered at the cement walkway leading to the front door. It was the first time she had ever returned home alone, and it wouldn't be the last.
"Stay put, kid," Darkwood called from the car. "You'll be expecting company before too long, so just take it easy until then, alright?"
Flora turned back to the car and nodded to confirm that she understood.
With that, Darkwood smiled and took his leave, shifting the vehicle into drive, and taking off back to the station.
Once he was gone, Flora turned back to the unsettling house that was her home, and, with slow and steady steps, walked to the door, turned the knob, and walked into a desolate scenery that she'd never forget as the place she'd found her mother's dead and frozen corpse.
It was all she could see, when in reality, it was just the usual front room she'd occupied with her mother every Saturday night for sitcoms and popcorn. It was a little ritual they'd come up with not long after settling into their new home, and had produced many laughs and memories as mother and daughter quality time.
But Flora's memories would never see that space the same for the rest of her life, and she knew that she could never sit on the cough or watch that TV ever again. She walked past the horrid traumatizing area, into the kitchen, the same bag of items she'd bought earlier still rested there.
To avoid spoiling, she decided to place the contents in their proper areas of the kitchen, then, after the sorting of goods was complete, she just went to her bedroom and closed the door.
Her bed was still messy from the last time she had gotten up for school, and she didn't care to even fix the sheets. Instead, she just lied in her bed and finally cried. She had been wanting to cry ever since Darkwood's intrusion on her past memories, so she did, and, in the culmination of pure and raw agony, found herself reminiscing again.
The day that Henry Quickwit entered her life for the first time.
One year earlier
Through much tribulations and strengths, Flora had finally come face to face with her greatest demons and had seen past her self-grief. Trevor and Sarah had taken Flora's case slow and easy, allowing Flora to regain balance through the many adventures they had shared in their two months of friendship together.
Flora had been shown what Ponyville had to offer beyond its citizens and multitude of buildings; a fountain that was constructed in honor of the discovery of Ponyville, the many clubs that the school provided, and an area that, while it required a long hike, provided an astonishing view at the cusp of inbetween sunset and twilight.
Many of the school clubs seemed like a reason for Callie and her gang of asskissers to target Flora all the more, but it turned out having friends benefited in the case of security as well. Nopony dared to fuck with Trevor or Sarah, mainly because Trevor's muscles were enough to intimidate anypony, and Sarah was known to actually put hexes on anypony who even dared to get on her bad side.
It turned out Sarah was a pony able to see spirits and knew a thing or two about witchcraft, but nothing evil or potentially life-threatening. Flora hadn't believed Sarah about her hexes at first, up until she became a victim of one of her more playful hexes.
It was a hex that had made Flora belch loudly after taking a bite of her lunch the day she was shown how real Sarah's witchcraft was. It had been hilarious to say the least, and had only lasted until the bell rang for the next class. Two bites had been enough for Flora to no longer speculate the existence of hexes, the rest of that lunch hour having been silent in Flora's case.
The same case came with one night of ghost hunting, a single manifestation of a harmless pony spirit having been enough to prove to Flora that Sarah could indeed see spirits and contact them. Sarah had described the spirit detail for detail prior to the manifestation, along with their name as well; Cinnamon Swirl.
Less to say, Flora's friendship with Trevor and Sarah had been very interesting and unique, but it was exactly the reason why she was now more talkative, open, and just happy altogether. She was a totally different mare who had escaped her shell of isolation and paranoia, and every trace of her past had been sealed away in her deepest memory banks to never arise again.
However, through her happiness, she couldn't have helped but feel irritated at the new target Callie had set her sights on. A new student that had just moved from Fillydelphia to Ponyville and was mostly quiet and kept to themselves.
However, in the classroom, they were the opposite, usually finishing their work first and in very little time. Less to say, it was quite a sight to watch whenever they had a pop quiz or just work in general, and it blew Flora away.
That said, the only ponies who knew their name were the teachers; nopony knew their name otherwise, and, seeing they had no friends, you couldn't ask anypony.
Then came the day when Flora would get her opportunity to meet this mystery student under very unfortunate circumstances.
Flora's bladder ached for relief as she grabbed the provided classroom hall pass, and scrambled out of her bore of an algebra lesson. A half hour still remained before she'd be free of the nonsense she'd never use in her life, and she wasn't going to risk the dam in her body bursting.
She found the mare's room not far from the class, walking as if she were drunk, holding her breath, and rushing to the nearest porcelain throne available. Lucky for her, nopony occupied the stalls, and, without even thinking twice, seated herself upon one, closing and locking the stall door behind her.
She occupied the stall for easily over a minute before her private business was concluded, she wiped, and washed her hooves before exiting the bathroom.
Not wanting to return to the snorefest so fast, she chose to take a longer route back to the classroom. This alternate route was a five minute walk than the casual short route of twenty seconds, so she took her time, having no interest in drooling on her desk half asleep and muting out that lecture of how an X magically turned into a number.
She rounded the hall on the far right side of the school, having passed other classrooms and been accompanied only by the static silence of the empty halls.
Then there was a disturbance to the quiet.
It was distant and faint, but Flora could hear something like a shout or cry of disarray. It sounded like somepony was in trouble, and upon hearing high pitched giggling accompany the pleas of distress, she knew exactly what was happening.
She knew the giggles of Callie and her gang all too well, and it was clear that they were devouring some innocent victim that had just been going about their day, minding their own business. Flora didn't even bother the thought of running to get the principle, knowing from her own personal experiences that it was just a waste of time.
Callie was one of the staff's "favorites" who couldn't do anything wrong, so, instead, Flora took the initiative and moved in a fast trot to the source of the disturbance of the natural quiet of the halls.
When she finally found the source, she was surprised to find that it was the stallion's bathroom, and upon peeking into the ghost white walkway, three rears of three mares were in full visibility.
"You're such a loser, Harry Trotter!" Callie taunted cruelly, pointing down fiercly with her front right hoof. "You couldn't get a marefriend even if you tried! Especially if you read!"
More giggling ensued, boiling Flora's blood in anger.
"P-please…just leave me alone!" a mid-range male voice called from in front of the trio.
"Not until you admit you're a loser and say books are garbage!" Callie demanded. "Maybe then you might actually be able to get laid by some mare in this town!"
"Callie that's enough!" Flora objected, fed up with this bitch's relentless behavior.
Callie jumped at the sudden demand, turning to see who had interrupted her fun.
"Well, if it isn't the freak of the town," Callie taunted. "What do you think you're doing on my side of the school? I thought I made it clear to you that if you cross the line, things won't end well."
Flora didn't flinch. She wasn't scared of this bitch anymore, and she made it clear.
"You don't own anything, you selfish bitch," Flora shot back. "I'll walk where I want to when I want to, now why don't you get lost before I report you for sexual harassment."
Callie's expression shifted to anger, not used to being challenged by her victims.
"What did you just call me?!" she raged.
"I simply called you what you are, Callie," Flora replied confidently.
"Hehe. May I remind you that your little entourage isn't here to guard you? You best watch your tongue around me, freak. Otherwise, you may end up in more than just detention."
It was an act of desperation, and Flora saw right through it. With no fear or intimidation, Flora gave Callie a huge wake up call.
"I don't need bodyguards to protect me, Callie. The only pony who can't stand their own ground here is you, seeing these two guard your flank 24/7."
Callie's confidence shattered like glass, having no comeback. Flora had just shot her down like a stone sinking in water.
"T-that's…not…
She trailed desperately, her words skipping and sweat starting to seep from her pores.
Y-you…
She was done. Callie had just been shown just how weak she really was, and that Flora no longer feared her in any way.
"Urgh! This isn't over, Bloom!" she threatened. "You'll pay for this, and will beg for mercy at my hooves!"
Turning to her entourage of mindless sheep to a shepherd, she motioned them to follow her back to wherever they had originally come from with a violent turn of her head.
They followed, and once they were gone, Flora turned to the victim of the entire situation, immediately recognizing the stallion as the new student who nopony knew the name of.
He was cowering and crying in fear of the hopeless situation from his perspective, and Flora was sickened at the sight. This was beyond cruel; this was to the point of traumatizing, and probably would never leave the young stallion's mind to his grave.
Walking forward, Flora reached out a hoof in greeting, to which the stallion, after a long while, took in kind.
"It's okay, I'm not like Callie and those other mares," Flora said, relieving the stallion, and allowing him to finally speak comfortably.
"T-thank you, miss," he spoke with a shaky voice.
"You're very welcome, umm…
"Henry. My name's Henry. Henry Quickwit."
Flora smiled, wanting to just hug Henry for the sake of comfort. He was an absolute mess, and it broke her heart to see a pony like this. Especially considering this was all because of Callie's actions, and it pissed her off.
"Well Henry, my name's Flora. Flora Bloom."
"Flora…
There was a momentary pause.
"I wish I could be as brave as you," he commented. "You just attacked her without fear, while I cowered like a loser."
Flora shook her head, remembering that she had once been in this same exact scenario before.
"I was once just like you; afraid and unable to stand up against her. Then I found friends and learned her weaknesses, and now, I don't even let her intimidate me. After all, she's just another pony like you and me. The only difference is that she prefers to attack others to please herself."
Henry sighed heavily, lowering his head.
"I wish I could have friends, but nopony wants to be my friend," he said sadly. "I've tried to make friends here and in my previous school, but I just get called a "freak" or "nerd" everytime, so I just stopped trying after so many times.
That's why I'm always alone and talk to nopony. I just wanna get through school and graduate so I don't have to worry about making friends anymore. I'm tired of being picked on for my talents, and don't want to be pushed too far again."
Flora caught the last words clearly, knowing what they meant very and fully well. He'd been pushed to the point of no return and had escaped it, and that was enough for Flora to take a chance to say her next response.
"I can understand your reasons, but trust me, hiding from your talents isn't going to end well," she started. "I've faced my own demons, and sheltered myself from the world, thinking that if I kept myself isolated, I could never experience pain ever again. I was wrong, and that's why I want you to take the step I took, Henry."
She held out her hoof again to the young stallion, immediately causing him to wince and become cautious.
"What are you doing?" he questioned.
"I'm offering you my friendship, silly," she answered.
Henry gulped at the gesture, seeing flashbacks of false hope being offered to him by other ponies, only to be cruelly stabbed in the back.
"You'll just hurt me like the others," he spoke with unsureness. "I can't handle being hurt again…
Flora could understand his words. He had been traumatized after being tricked several times, just like she had been with Callie upon hesitating to meet Sarah and Trevor.
"I understand, but I promise I won't hurt you like the others, Henry. I know how you feel, because I've been there, but eventually your efforts do pay off, and I promise I'm only doing this to help you."
Henry eyed Flora for a second, feeling different about Flora. She didn't seem to carry any malicious intent or trickery, and given she had saved him and managed to put Callie in her place, he had no reason not to trust her.
With reluctance, he reached out a hoof and took Flora's own in his, accepting her friendship. Flora smiled at her success, following up with the next step of her offer.
"Meet me at my locker after school, and I'll introduce you to some other ponies who definitely will want to be your friend too," she instructed."
"O-okay… What's your locker number?" he asked.
"Locker 608," Flora answered simply. "Do you need me to write it down on a paper or something?" she replied.
"That won't be necessary. I have a great memory," he confirmed.
"Alright. I'll see you then, Henry," she finished, turning to return to her boring lecture with a wave of her hoof as she rounded the corner.
Henry had waved as well, gathering his scattered belongings, and slowly returning to his own class. He had wanted to smile, but the trauma of the several backstabbings he'd received in his past prevented it. One thing was sure, his suspicions would be answered when the last bell rang in about two hours.
The seventh period bell erupted upon the stroke of 3:00 pm, and in less than five seconds, the vacant halls of Ponyville High were crowded with the stallions and mares of said establishment. Flora was usually the last pony out of her classes, not wanting to get marauded by the massive stampede of adolescents that were in a rush to leave their practical seven hour prison.
After the wave of students had vacated her current class, Flora took her leave to her locker not even twenty hoofsteps from the exitway of the classroom, carefully putting in her combination successfully and shoving away her three heavy literature books.
Once the bricks of thick paper and knowledge was stowed away, she closed their metallic home, and turned toward the exit, finding Henry just off to the side. He looked just as nervous as the last time she saw him two hours prior, a glaze of sweat shining on his forehead.
"You ready to go?" she asked.
Henry simply nodded, to which Flora smiled and directed him towards the exit she usually took. Pushing the door open, the scents of spring replaced the scent of a mixture of colognes, perfumes, and body odor that permeated the halls.
Moving down the concrete steps into the courtyard, Flora found Sarah and Trevor conversing next to a provided bench. A mix of the contant chatter of a mix of not-so-pleasant homework, the latest trends, and crushes on other mares and stallions cloaked the conversation, but Flora didn't mind.
Sarah and Trevor talked about a mixture of things, and you could never predict the topic; it was a thread of several things. It could be school-related, something somepony did, personal stuff, or plans for the night.
Upon approach, Trevor and Sarah seized their private talk, and eyed Flora's guest. They'd been informed about the whole situation with Callie earlier inbetween classes, and had made an arrangement to welcome Henry to their little group.
Henry was beyond scared of this encounter upon stopping before his new company, Flora giving him support by speaking first.
"Sarah, Trevor, this is Henry," she introduced. "Henry, Trevor and Sarah."
"H-hello," he greeted nervously.
Trevor spoke first.
"Nice to meet you, Henry! No need to be so nervous. I promise, Sarah won't bite you "
"Maybe not him, but maybe you," she played, following with a giggle. "I'm just teasing. It's a pleasure to meet you, Henry."
"N-nice to meet you t-too," Henry replied shakily.
"So, you had a run-in with Callie eh?" Trevor said. "Good thing Flo intervened, otherwise things would've definitely gotten worse. Callie's a nasty piece of work, unless you have control over her. When you put her in her place, then she's as harmless as a foal."
"Trev's right," Sarah followed up. "but don't worry, with us around, Callie won't touch you."
Henry nodded, attempting to calm down, but his paranoia prevented any such thing from happening.
"Don't worry guys, he'll loosen up as the night progresses," Flora stated. "For now, let's just go forward with the plan."
Henry winced in fear.
"Plan? W-what plan?!" he shrieked.
Flora acted fast.
"Don't worry, it's not a trick," she comforted. "Think of it as a sentiment to allow you to get more comfortable around us at your own pace."
After making up an excuse to make Henry's parents wouldn't be worried about their son's absence, Flora, Sarah, and Trevor had led Henry to the outskirts of Ponyville, into an open field where their business would remain private.
They sat in the form of a circle, setting their saddlebags off to the side and just enjoying the fresh air and warmth of the sun beaming down on them and the entirety of their hometown. Henry was still a nervous mess, but given nothing malicious seemed to be in the midst of their resting spot, he had started to gain his footing a little bit.
Trevor had taken off his leather jacket and was currently laying back on the soft grass with his front hooves acting like a support for his head.
"Hell yeah. I've been wanting to do that since lunch hour," he commented, allowing himself to just bathe in the bliss of his freedom from his suffocating attire.
"I don't know how you even manage keeping that thing on all day," Sarah added. "Especially in temperatures like this."
"Hehe. It's not easy, but it's either that or having my past in full display for everypony to see," he clarified.
Henry chimed in at that comment, having noticed the clear scars lining Trevor's arms.
"Wait, y-you're a drug addict?!"
"Was," Trevor answered quickly, not wanting Henry to get any assumptions that this was an attempt to sell him drugs. "These scars are simply reminders of a past me that I'll never become again."
Flora put a hoof on Henry's shoulder, assuring him that Trevor was being honest.
"Henry, we all have a secret we'd like to share, and that's why we came all the way out here where nopony will hear us," Sarah explained. "These secrets you are about to hear is what makes us three alike, and we've each supported one another by working to confront the demons that once haunted us through friendship and care."
"The first step to healing is confronting the issue head on," Trevor added, sitting up. "However, know that we don't expect you to do so right away. Healing also takes time, and confronting whatever demon you may have will require courage and strength."
"So, y-you brought me here to face some issue I may have?" Henry guessed.
"No," Flora answered, taking the lead in the conversation. "This is simply our way of showing you who we really are beyond the faces that you see everyday at school, as much as why you're here."
Henry felt as if he were being initiated into some occult group, but, for some odd reason, he didn't feel like these ponies were lying to him and really only wanted to be his friend.
Was it odd? Yes.
However, nothing seemed malicious about this, but he still had one question for the three of them to seal the deal.
"One q-question first," he asked.
"What is it?" Flora answered for her friends.
"How d-do you not know that I w-won't tell the school about your darkest secrets? Do y-you really have that m-much trust in me?"
That was a good question, but Flora already had the answer, given her first meeting with Henry earlier.
"Because you aren't like those ponies, and you gave me a chance," Flora answered. "Just like I said when we first met today, I promise that we will never hurt you, Henry. We just want to give you a chance to know what it's like to have friends in your life."
Bullseye.
Henry could hear a sincerity in Flora's voice, his right hoof being gripped softly by both of her's in a gesture of comfort and trust. If Flora had trust in these other two ponies, then he had no reason to fear them as another evil batch of bullies.
With a long sigh, he finally allowed his nerves and paranoia to settle.
"Alright. I'm ready," he confirmed, following with Trevor speaking his tale of how he escaped death through an unfathomable amount of strength and will. Next came Sarah's tale of how she lost an eye, and, even as a filly, managed to save herself bleeding to death.
However, when it came to Flora's turn, she had to take a moment to prepare herself. Her's was by far the most impactful, seeing nopony expects a filly to even have the ability to murder their own father.
Taking in a breath, she finally started to speak, knowing this was definitely going to shock Henry beyond belief.
"My dad was an asshole, and one night I heard a sudden crash like shattering glass in the kitchen while I was playing in my bedroom. Scared, I went to check and found my dad cornering my mom in the kitchen, along with a terrible odor of alcohol.
My mom played it off as my dad accidentally dropping his dinner plate, but then my dad said he had a surprise for me, and I had to come closer to see. Next thing I knew, my mom was tackling my dad to the floor, and, upon seeing the knife stab into my mom's side, knew my dad's true intentions with me.
I was shocked to say the least, and I just couldn't move at the shock, up until my mom dropped me. My dad had recovered and was deadset on killing my mom and I. He nearly had suffocated my mom to death, up until I acted and wrapped myself around that bastard's neck as tight as I possibly could.
I'd saved my mom's life, but apparently she was so out of it that she couldn't stand up and help me take him down. I just held on as tight as possible as he tried his hardest to knock and pull me off, and he was nearly dealt with, up until my hooves gave out.
I fell to the ground hard, and, before I could get away, my neck was already clenched tight. I was quickly losing strength and visibility, so I just reached for something to save me, and when I found something, I just attacked.
I flung whatever I had into him as many times as possible, and, up until I had regained enough oxygen, had I realized what I'd done. There was blood everywhere, and my dad was dead on the floor from multiple stabs through his neck.
I murdered my own father, and for so long I looked at myself as a murderer and ungrateful pony that didn't deserve to live that night."
She was crying, the memories of that night being too painful to hold her emotions back. Sarah and Trevor quickly acted in support, Henry joining them in the form of a hug.
"It's okay, Flora," Sarah spoke first. "You did nothing wrong, and it wasn't your fault."
"Your dad chose his own path, and you just did what you had to to keep yourself safe," Trevor added.
"I know, b-but it still hurts," Flora sobbed, pulling away and wiping her mascara stained tears.
Trevor provided Flora a napkin he'd saved from lunch to clean herself up, and once she'd calmed down, she turned to Henry. His face was in shock, but sympathy filled his demeanor as well.
"I-I'm so sorry," he comforted. "I can see why you were so isolated for so long. After all, you were just a filly who didn't know better."
Flora smiled, accepting Henry's words in kind.
"Thank you, Henry" she replied. "Now, do you see why you're here and why we want to help you and be your friend?"
"Yes," he responded with confidence. "I also see I have no reason not to trust any of you anymore."
"That's great to hear," Trevor said.
Henry sighed, preparing himself for what he was about to say.
"I feel fine telling you what happened not even two months ago, and the main reason why I moved here in the first place."
"Take your time," Sarah assured.
Taking another deep breath, Henry started to speak of his darkest memory.
"Having a talent that gives you both knowledge and reflexes beyond that of the average pony can be both a gift and a curse. That's my case, having dealt with it my entire life.
Ever since my cutie mark appeared during one of the most important exams in my previous school, I have been the smartest and fastest student of every class. I can solve equations without thinking, read at the speed of lightning, and find an alternative in any situation.
Something I really thought as amazing, up until the harassment started. I couldn't even walk home or use the restroom without getting called some name, getting my head shoved in a toilet, somepony labeling me with a "kick me" sign, or being publicly humiliated outside of school.
It was a constant loop of torture, and, even though my mom went to the school about it, nothing was ever done, and it just got worse and worse. I grew sick of it, so I decided to take care of it myself; by taking my own life.
I waited until a day I was home alone, and got out the spare pistol my dad tried to hide from me. I wrote out a letter as my last goodbye, loaded the pistol, and put the barrel to my head. All I had to do was pull that trigger, and every bit of the harassment in and outside of school would be gone forever.
I could finally live in peace.
However, in the moment I could've ended it all, some sort of raw fear came over me. I started to tremble and cry, but, deep down, I still had the burning desire to put myself down. That primal fear clouded it though, and in a sudden moment of hesitation, I just knew I couldn't do it.
I put the gun down and just screamed in anguish and guilt. I cried at myself, and in the midst of it all, my parents found me and knew what I had tried to do. That was the last straw for them, and they went to the school again about it, threatening to sue them unless something was done about the harassment.
As always, nothing was done about it, so we moved away and left behind those terrible memories. Ponyville High has been more timid, but I fear making friends because nopony wants to really be my friend.
They just want to see me cry and suffer when they just stab me in my back, and watch me bleed out."
Henry finished, and Flora and the others were horrified at Henry's tale. It was just fucked up and sad that Henry had been led to that point, and eventually had to surrender. Flora understood fully now why he had been so scared of her offer, but she would never let him be hurt to that point ever again.
"I can't believe they really did nothing about it," Sarah commented. "That is just so fucked up and wrong on so many levels!"
"No shit," Trevor added. "I'm so sorry you were treated like that."
"It's okay," Henry replied. "I'm just glad to know that there's actually ponies who do care, and I'm grateful for all of you actually being real."
Flora responded with a comforting hug, to which Henry jumped at in surprise.
"We'll never let you experience that kind of torture again," Flora said in a strick and promising voice. "Nopony should be treated like you were, and we'll be damn sure you don't end up at that point ever again!"
"Damn straight!" Trevor added.
"If Callie or anypony gives you trouble, all you have to do is let us know," Sarah added. "We'll be sure they never mess with you again, Henry!"
Henry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ponies were actually supporting him, and he felt like he could finally live normally again.
"T-thank you…friends," he said happily, a smile grazing his face and happy tears leaking from his eyes.
Flora wiped his tears with the clean side of her mascara-stained napkin, smiling and assuring Henry.
"No more crying," Flora said. "You have friends now, and have nothing to fear anymore."
Henry nodded, causing Flora to smile and engage him in another hug. He accepted it this time, feeling like a whole different pony from who he was when he woke up that morning.
"All of this talk has made me hungry," Trevor said. "Anypony up for a hayburger? My treat."
"I couldn't possibly let you buy a meal for me," Henry objected.
"Nonsense, anything for a new friend," Trevor insisted, not accepting a "no" for an answer.
"Best just accept it, Henry," Sarah said. "Trev isn't one to back down."
Henry caught the words as serious, and he just decided to play along to save time.
"Alrighty then, hayburgers it is," Henry accepted.
"Sweet! Last one there is a rotten pony!" Trevor challenged me, getting up and starting to run back towards the bridge into Ponyville.
"Hey! Wait up!" Sarah shouted, starting off after the stallion.
Flora didn't persist in the chase, helping Henry up and gathering her luggage.
"Come on," she spoke. "Let's get going before we lose them."
"Sure," Henry responded, starting to walk alongside Flora to the local Hayburger Shack in town.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
Present day
My door alarm breaks me from my daze of a past I wish I could relive, and prevent myself from getting to the point of where I currently lay on a brick of a mattress and cinder block of a pillow. Those were the best days of my life; carefree, happy, and just enjoying life in general.
Days I wish I could go back to and hit a reset button to prevent myself from ever coming up with that idea for Nightmare Night. The idea that led us all to that foundation that night, into the dimension that Bittersweet Applejack called home.
My biggest regret in life.
Sarah joining me at lunch that day was the best thing that ever could've happened to me, because it gave me another chance to be normal again. I could smile, laugh, talk, and, in Henry's case, help other ponies to give them the same opportunity I was given.
After Henry had told his story, we all had made sure to keep him safe, until he could finally stand against Callie on his own. After one month, he finally told that bitch where to shove it, and Callie no longer became a problem to any of us.
We were a team! We stood strong against anything the world threw at us, and we truly thought that we were invincible together!
Then that demon and her brother shattered that all to pieces. One by one we fell like flies, and, while I survived that night, I truly still feel like I never made it out. I constantly hear the screams of my friends, feel like I'm being watched, and that bloodsoaked mare's laughter permeates my mind like a skipping record.
They say there's no such thing as the boogeypony.
No such thing as ghosts.
No such thing as demons or poltergeists.
They are wrong, because the same one haunts my dreams every night.
It'll never stop, even if I manage to fulfill my promise to Henry. I understand why Crimson Flash said he never escaped now, because I live as if I'm still wandering that labyrinth.
It's only eleven hours from the moment that changed my life one year ago, and, as every second passes, the dread and paranoia of Applejack watching me from the shadows grows more powerful. It's a weight that makes me feel like I'm being suffocated, but I know I can't give into the growing pressure.
Tonight, I'm going to end it all. The Apple family's reign, my suffering and guilt, and the lies that Princess Flare has fed everypony ever since she first wore the crown of her mother and aunt.
It ends tonight!
"Bloom, hooves out!" a voice commands me.
I look up and see that it's just one of the many guards. They have come to shackle me and escort me to lunch, and, even though I was tempted to give them a good hoof to their muzzle, I just complied, playing dumb.
"Y-yes…sir," I reply frighteningly, pretending to act hopeless to avoid suspicion.
Sassy was the only pony I could act normal around, because she knew I was really innocent, and was put here in an attempt to keep the horrid truths of the past out of the public's ears.
Flare thought she could just silence me. That I would just follow along and become a zombie like everypony else.
She may be a royal, but she's just as vulnerable as anypony else. Putting me here was her greatest mistake, because I've had a lot of time to think and plot how I'd get back at her for putting me in this prison.
Tonight, I will either show Ponyville the truth that has been hidden from them for two decades, or I will die trying.
I don't plan on coming back here, and will kill myself instead. I know the risks, and I have accepted them. When I leave this place tonight, I will either be dead by morning or clean of the false accusations I have been convicted of.
My hooves are shackled, and after ten minutes, I am in a line of zombified ponies with a plastic rectangular plate in my hooves. I play along, appearing mindless and deranged as I meet the server of my disgusting meal, and they scoop it onto my cheap kitchenware.
I am provided a juice box, and once I meet my seat, my shackles on my front legs are removed, while my back leg shackles are locked to the table to assure I'd be going nowhere.
"Here's the keys," the guard alerts to my attendee across from me. "Keep your distance, her stench might knock you out."
"I'm fine, I assure you," my attendee replies.
The guard takes their leave, and, once they're out of sight, I break my fake facade of an insane and braindead patient.
Upon eyeing my fellow friend across the table, I smile. Sassy had met up just as we'd planned a week prior.
"Glad to see you're okay, Flora," Sassy greets. "You really scared me this morning! I thought you were dying on me!"
I sigh before responding, knowing that Sassy isn't kidding around.
"I'm sorry, Sassy," I apologize. "It literally came out of nowhere."
Sassy gives me her own sigh.
"Are you sure about tonight? Considering what you just said, I'm worried that you may not be ready to do all of this."
I nod, understanding Sassy's concern, but I can't let this unrelenting trauma stop me from accomplishing tonight's events.
"I can't give into these clear obstacles trying to sway me, Sassy," I assure her strictly. "I refuse to stay here another fucking night. I'm not a criminal, and I'm going to prove it. Nothing is going to stop me."
Sassy nods in understanding, knowing I'm deadset on my objective.
"You haven't changed since I met you one year ago," Sassy said sweetly. "Even back then you were set on the same goal. Back when I knew I had met a survivor of that dreaded massacre."
One year earlier
Sassy smothered out the cherry of her cigarette, blowing the fumes of the toxic habit she'd been trying to kick into the atmosphere. She was currently on lunch break for the job she had learned to dread, having been in the field of pretending to cure lost and mentally disturbed patients for three years.
She had gobbled down her sandwich and chocolate milk, having skipped breakfast and her morning coffee before heading off to work, and, due to her mood having grown worse at the sight of her daily patients, she'd given into her craving for just one cigarette.
She hated herself for giving in so easily, but she'd get over it, swearing to herself that this was the last one. A promise she knew would be hard to keep as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a stick of her mint-flavored gum, sticking it into her mouth and chewing it.
It was her coping mechanism, as much as a cloak for the odor of her nasty habit, even though she knew her fellow colleagues could still smell the cigarette's odor. She didn't really care; she didn't really have any friends here, and she'd been judged before, so glaring eyes and offended ponies at her habit were static to her.
She turned back to the entrance of the Canterlot Hill Ward, and returned back to her torturous occupation that barely managed to keep a roof over her head. As she walked to the elevator to go to the third floor, she eyed the many patients just standing in the corridor as if they were frozen in place.
It was a disturbing sight, seeing she knew that these ponies were perfectly sane prior to being purposely fed concoctions that drove them to insanity. This place was a literal torture chamber for innocent ponies who had been led here out of false accusations, and had been doomed to a very slow and painful descent into pure and unadulterated insanity.
Sassy knew this, because she wasn't an idiot. In her three years there, she had seen ponies change from their admission to eventual comatose state in less than a year.
On day one, they'd be talking and be able to answer even the simplest of questions that anypony should know, then after one week they wouldn't be able to answer those questions anymore. It only got worse from there forward; they'd start to lose weight and grow horribly illl with the same symptoms as every admitted patient.
It started with loss of appetite, not being able to keep down any food or liquids, then it would escalate to weight loss and excessive vomiting. She'd tried to convince the director of the facility several times that the patients needed to be transferred to a more advanced hospital, but he'd always argue that they were a hospital that could handle it.
So, the horror would continue, up until they would either become so ill that they'd pass away, or even worse, reach a point where they became braindead and lost in a state of limbo. They could move and were alive, but they were trapped in a vessel that couldn't fight back or say anything.
Sassy prayed for them to pass away to escape their lifeless existence, but the majority still remain, wandering the halls and trapped in a lifeless shell. She wanted so badly to put this institution in a grave so deep that it couldn't escape, but the issue was that she couldn't prove anything.
Yes, she has seen ponies die and become zombies, but she had no proof that the medication being fed to these ponies was the actual cause. Not to mention that the system was twisted and corrupt due to Princess Flare's rule.
Sassy had been young when the Apple Family Massacre had finally reached its end, but, despite every bit of that twisted matriarch's attempts to remove any existence of that decade of murder and genocide, she knew it was real just from one encounter.
Sassy's mother had been a nurse of the Canterlot Hospital during the period stitching the wounds that the Apple's had left on the entirety of ponykind; before Princess Flare had even been instated as the new ruler. Nopony of Canterlot had ever known of the massacre until the horrid truth was given by Crimson Flash.
The princesses' deaths had been covered up as they had been summoned to attend a mission with the once-known Mane Six. This "mission" had been a trap, and somehow, the princesses' had been detained and eventually killed by the Apple family.
It was never thought that they were missing, seeing the princesses' trusted the Mane Six, so suspicion of foul play was never even a factor. Most assumed the mission as just being a "longer than anticipated" case, and considering that letters were sent with Celestia's hoofwriting to assure the mission being just as said case, nopony went looking.
Then came the day that Crimson Flash would escape and spill the truth to ponies of a small town. Nopony had believed him, up until the Apple Family members were found dead, and the most disturbing event in Equestrian history became known to everypony of Equestria.
It had been a year after the massive cleanup of the massacre when Sassy had seen Crimson for the first and only time during a visit to the hospital. She had planned to have lunch with her mom that day, and had met up with her while she was finishing up with Crimson.
Sassy's mother had been his nurse at the time, and, to say the least, when Sassy saw Crimson that day, it was a sight she'd never forget.
He had been sitting on the edge of his bed with his prosthetic hooves in his lap, and he had been covered in bandages that were stained with blood. His face had been adorned with an oxygen mask, his mane had been shaven for surgeries, and, on the skin that she could see, were an array of bruises, deep lacerations, and the thing that burned that encounter into her mind, a brand on his flank that spelled "AF" out.
The sight had perplexed and somewhat saddened her, and had caused her to cry. She had known nothing of her mother's patients, but the sight of Crimson was enough to tell the story of what had happened to him.
Aside from the brands on his flanks, the other thing she had remembered the most was his eyes. They had been half-shut, bloodshot, swollen, and the sclera was a sick hue of yellow, rather than white.
He was lifeless; lost; broken beyond repair.
It was the sight that led her here, hoping to heal ponies like Crimson, but once the decree of the abolishment of anything to do with the massacre was given by Princess Flare, the relief from the massacre had seemed to disappear, and ponies had started to disappear again.
Sassy had been too young to realize what was happening, but upon her mother quitting her job, she had known something was amiss. It wouldn't be until she got older that she'd learn that the abolishment decree had involved ponies as well, meaning the ponies who weren't smart enough to get out or cheat the system to avoid death were executed.
That's why her mother had quit and gotten them away from Ponyville and Canterlot for a short while, up until things finally calmed down. Regardless of the risks, Sassy had even more of a reason to become a nurse, but, little did she know that stopping ponies from being killed was far from easy.
She couldn't just not give the patients their medication; in her first years, she was required to have a secondary assistant for safety concerns with unstable patients, so she couldn't stop the corruption until she was trusted enough to be able to handle patients alone.
So, she had no choice but to watch ponies be fed poison and see them slowly transform into a zombie. Now, it was her third year as a nurse, and she's managed to slip the medication from patients mouths without any suspicion, but she still had no plan as to how she was going to hang this place and Princess Flare.
So, she just continued to step carefully, waiting for her opportunity to strike.
The ding of the elevator knocked her out of her thoughts, having arrived at the third floor and the doors opening to a long hall and the main desk she ran just off to her left.
She found her way to her workstation, taking a seat and grabbing some files off to the side of her keyboard. On the front of the folder was just a number and sticky pad with the words "approach with caution" on it, to which she ignored and just opened the file.
On the first page was the main information and a picture of her newly-assigned patient. Strangely though, there appeared to be no name listed, and she knew very well that coughing the name out of a patient was no easy task. She noted that task in her memory as she continued to examine the file furthermore.
The age of her new patient was what really made her stop and ponder, wondering how a teenager not even out of school had ended up in this hell.
"Hmm, she seems very young to have even wound up in this place," she said to herself in her mind, moving further down to the cause of the sentencing, and once she saw it, her curiosity spiked even higher like the goosebumps rising on her flesh.
Murder of four.
"Age sixteen, Ponyville resident, accused of murder. Seems like I've got my hooves full with this one. Guess I'd better go give her a welcome to this dungeon."
She got up and started for the assigned room of her new patient, not expecting anything different from her many other patients. She saw this as just another head to the guillotine kind of thing, looking twice at the file for the proper room number to be sure.
Once she was sure, she returned to her job, finding the assigned room rather quickly. The director, Dr. Redcross, was there to greet her upon her arrival, his demeanor the usual and features of a dark blue tuxedo, slick black mane, and thick black beard on point.
"Great timing, Heartstone," he greeted. "She just got settled into her new home, and is ready for you."
Sassy didn't give him anything, following her usual protocol.
"Good. I'll proceed once you provide me what I need."
Redcross nodded, turning to a meal trolley behind him and grabbing a metal tray from atop it. Once he turned back to Sassy, Sassy saw her needed tools on the tray; a mini cup with the poisonous medication, a sealed bottle of water, a syringe, capsules for the blood she was going to draw, a tourniquet, tape, a sealed alcohol swab, and bandaids.
Sassy took the tray from him, and awaited him to open the door. After entering a four-digit code and hearing the alarm to confirm that the door was unlocked, Redcross opened the door just a hair, speaking some words to her before full entry.
"9808. Remember it," he ordered. "Also, watch yourself. This girl may appear innocent, but she's a murderer of four."
"Understood sir," she confirmed, to which Redcross opened the door fully and granted Sassy full entry into the room.
Sassy obliged and walked forward into the dark room, flipping on the light switch to make her job easier.
Her new patient had her head down upon her approach, her curly locks unkempt and messy. Hearing the door creak to just slightly ajar, Sassy began her usual procedure with new arrivals. She started by setting the tray to the side on the provided sink and making her usual introduction.
"Hello, I'm your nurse, Nurse Heartstone," she greeted. "What's your name?"
The mare didn't even flinch, remaining silent and refusing to give her any sort of answer. Sassy had been here before, and, instead of persisting the issue more, she just accepted what she'd been given.
Sometimes it was best to not force answers out of new patients, given they were still adapting to their new prison and needed time to come around. Therefore, Sassy just moved along to her next task of her usual routine with newcomers.
"I'm here to do the usual routine we do with every new patient, starting with a blood draw. So, if you could hold out one of your hooves, I'll be out of your mane as quickly as I possibly can."
Her patient listened, extending one of her free hooves, her head still down and demeanor the same.
"That was surprisingly easy…
Sassy continued with the procedure, tying the tourniquet around their hoof, following with opening the alcohol swab's packet and dousing the area she planned to stick the syringe into. Next, she prepped the syringe, removing the cap and steadying her patient's hoof with her other free hoof.
"Okay, you're going to feel a quick pinch," Sassy instructed, moving the needle into place. "One, two, three, pinch!"
Sassy pushed the needle through the tough flesh, finding the vein and starting to draw the blood. Attaching a capsule to the end of the syringe tube, her patient's blood started to fill the tube at the usual pace. Sassy continued the procedure in the eerie silence, replacing the tubes once another was full.
Upon the third tube being removed, Sassy removed the syringe from the incision point along with the tourniquet, and dressed the area with a bandaid. She collected the tubes, sealing them then setting them aside on the tray. Now done with the blood drawing, she turned to grab the medication and bottle of water, but a sudden disturbance in the silent ambience of the room made her stop.
"You're not like them," the voice spoke in a low rasp.
"Excuse me?" Sassy responded, her curiosity piqued.
"You're different. You're not like the others," the now-confirmed voice of her patient spoke again. "You care. You don't use force or cruelty against me."
Sassy decided to just play along, not letting her guard down in this potential ploy to make her another victim of this mare's murderous nature.
"Let's just say that I don't look at patients like toys and actually know they still are living creatures, despite their mental health having led them to insanity," she commented, speaking in her best friendly voice.
She was honestly terrified, knowing that this mare had ended four lives out of some reason that she'd probably never know or understand, but she couldn't act weak around dangerous patients, otherwise she'd become a prime target.
"I'll treat you with respect as long as you do the same," Sassy enforced. "That's rule zero if you ever plan to get along with me."
Silence followed, so Sassy proceeded with giving Jane Doe her medicine, grabbing the cup and bottle of water from the tray.
"Alright, I need you to look at me, so I can give you your medicine," Sassy instructed.
Her patient followed, raising her head slowly and moving her messy curls from her face to give proper eye-to-eye contact.
Upon one gaze at her patient, Sassy's heart jumped, and she gasped in shock; it was like a mirror image of that day she saw Crimson.
Her eyes were the same yellow hue and were puffy and swollen. She held the same blank and lost expression and composure, and appeared non-existent, as if she were trapped and scared of something beyond her current prison cell.
Just like Crimson had been that day.
This realization had caused her to pause, her mind flashing between Crimson and her current patient's similarities in demeanor and composure. It was as if she'd traveled back in time, and, only until she gained her footing again, did she feel as if this girl were not a murderer.
"Are you okay, nurse?" Jane Doe asked with concern.
"I-I'm fine," Sassy assured. "Let's get back to the procedure."
She did so, handing her patient the mini cup and instructing her to take the medication. After the deed was done, Sassy took back the cup and bottled water and sat them on the tray. That would normally be the time for her to leave the room, but her realization compelled her to stay a little longer and talk more.
"I have one more question for you, and I want you to be honest with me," Sassy instructed.
"You know I didn't do it, don't you?" Jane Doe responded, to which Sassy shivered at.
"Did you?" Sassy questioned.
A short pause followed.
"I didn't kill anypony, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you who really did it. Nopony believes me."
This mare's reply wasn't like the many other patients who had actually killed ponies to end up here, and Sassy could tell that she wasn't lying. She didn't immediately assume it though, digging a little more into her patient's conviction.
"And why doesn't anypony believe you?" Sassy pushed, already knowing what the answer had to be to match her assumptions.
"Because it's literally unbelievable," Jane Doe replied.
Bingo.
That was the answer Sassy was looking for, so she dug harder.
"What if I told you that I had a reason to believe you, but only if it's that reason will I believe you?"
Her patient winced at the reply, feeling as if a ray of hope had just appeared in her neverending darkness, knowing she had to be careful how to word her next response.
"Let me ask you a question first, nurse. That'll determine whether or not I'll even consider being labeled what the others have called me again."
Sassy wasn't sure where this was going, but she literally had nothing else to do except drool on her keyboard for another four hours, so she nodded.
"Do you believe in ghosts?" her patient questioned.
Now, that was definitely not what Sassy was expecting, and now understood why her patient had worded her response the way she had. This was a question with mixed answers, and her true opinion was that she didn't believe in ghosts.
She decided to be honest with her and shook her head as an answer.
"Well, then we're done here," Jane Doe finished, pointing her hoof towards the exit.
Sassy nodded, moving to the last step of the introduction process; the part that she kept behind the backs of the facility. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pill, handing it to her patient.
"This is to get the medication I gave you out of your system," she explained. "Everytime we meet, I want you to hide the pills under your tongue, then spit them in the toilet and flush them down after I leave."
"Why?" Jane Doe asked with concern. "What's wrong with it?"
"It's what causes everypony here to either die or turn into a vegetable, and I'm trying my best to save these ponies from their horrible fate. Trust me, take the pill I just gave you, and in about thirty minutes, when you start to feel sick, listen to your body and vomit that poison out of your system."
Jane's face went pale, immediately sticking the pill Sassy had provided her into her mouth and swallowing it with a single gulp.
Sassy smiled, grabbing the tray and turning to the exit.
"I'll be back to give you your dinner around 4 pm, so just sit tight and everything will be fine," Sassy assured, but, before leaving, she decided to try her first request one more time.
Their relationship as nurse and patient had changed since her first try, so maybe Jane Doe would be more open.
"May I ask what to call you? Your file didn't state your name, so it would be nice to know."
"Flora," Flora answered simply, shifting to a position where she was laying on her bed.
"Flora. That's a pretty name. I'll be sure to remember it," Sassy finished, walking out and shutting the light off.
Once the door was sealed and locked, Sassy was once again met with Redcross.
"Took you long enough," he complained, clearly irritated at his time being used up.
Sassy just rolled her eyes, not even acknowledging his complaining.
"I prefer to get to know my patients' well, considering they're going to be seeing me every day for the rest of their life," she explained.
"Hmph. That's not the way I'd treat a pony who took another's life," he scoffed. "Murderers deserve no respect and only the electric chair in my eyes, and she's no exception."
"Well, the judge has spoken, sir," she answered, hoping to shut him up. "Therefore, she's stuck here, and none of us can do anything about it. So, it's best to just get used to her, because she definitely won't be the last."
"No promises, Heartstone, but I can certainly try. By the way, did you manage to get her name? Upon her arrest, she refused to give us anything, thus why her name wasn't on file."
"Flora. That's all I got."
"Fitting name for a murderer. Make sure to document that in the database before you leave tonight. After all, just like you said, she's going to be here for the rest of her life, so best we get to know our newest criminal."
Sassy nodded as an answer.
"I'd best get back to the office, seeing this bitch really messed up my schedule today," he claimed.
"Your schedule of harassing patients and messing around with the female guards. Fucking asshole."
He finally left Sassy to her work, and with no further interest, Sassy started back to her desk to document Flora's name, and read her file. It was something she did with every patient she would be caring for for the rest of her days working here, up until the day she had enough evidence to bury this place.
It was her way of getting to know her patients more intimately, and Flora had definitely piqued her interest. She didn't know why, but nothing screamed 'I'm a murderer of four" about Flora. She seemed less a killer and more a foal that had lost its parents, and, given she had patients who were actual murderers, none of the tell-tale signs of a murderous pony stuck out in her first encounter with Flora.
She complied for the most part, and didn't treat Sassy like their own personal victim or bitch. Those were not the usual actions of a murderer of four ponies; it was the exact opposite.
Four lives was a high number, and if Flora had killed four ponies, she would be more cruel and playful in demeanor, not silent and cooperative like a well-raised abd disciplined child.
Truthfully, Sassy actually thought Flora had been sent here falsely, and that whoever had actually committed the murders was still out there. But then the last question Flora had asked crossed her mind again
"Do you believe in ghosts?"
How did ghosts existing have anything to do with a case of four murders? That truly was what burned her curiosity the most, and as she began to read, the mystery grew even more stranger.
A high school mare's friends disappear on Nightmare Night.
Teenage mare finds her mother dead next morning.
Claims that she is being watched and led to kill somepony.
Says that the demonic spirit of "Bittersweet Applej-
She froze instantly.
The connection to Crimson and the realization upon Flora's appearance being near exact.
This was no coincidence, and now she could see the connection with that last question.
Demonic spirits? Even Sassy wasn't sure if she could believe that, but the connection to that day she saw Crimson made her believe that it could actually be true.
She noted that as she read onward, and when she got to the court record, that's when things got interesting.
Princess Flare had been requested and accused of by Flora as the actual murderer of one of the victims. Not only that, but the other three victims in the case were never found, and no evidence was provided to prove Flora as the killer. Yet, in the end, she was charged with their murders without any evidence or link to their deaths.
Something about the case was just off completely, and Sassy could see the clear fraudulence inbetween the lines. Either this was one of the most fixed murder cases in Equestrian Law history or the law had changed at some point regarding murder cases.
The latter didn't make sense, seeing Flora didn't seem to have a murderous bone in her body based off of her first impression in their meet. Not to mention that serious factors in a murder case were missing in the record; a motive, evidence, proof of Flora being mentally ill.
Princess Flare being involved was the thing that Sassy noted the most, seeing why the hell would Flora request and accuse Princess Flare if she didn't have no reason? Based off of what Sassy knew of her matriarch's history, murder wasn't far from being something she was capable of.
Had Flora been framed by her own ruler?
If so, why?
Then it hit her; the abolishment decree was linked to the Apple Family Massacre, and Flora had mentioned Applejack, the main Apple family member responsible for the murders, in her case.
Now, the lingering factor of ghosts existing was becoming all the more possible, and Sassy couldn't deny it.
Had Flora's friends been killed by a dead serial killer, and the other victim had been killed by Princess Flare to frame Flora to keep her mouth shut about the Apple Family Massacre?
It seemed literally unbelievable, and that was how Flora had described it. Less to say, Sassy had much to ask Flora come their next encounter in a few hours. Usually, in a case like this, Sassy would be craving a cigarette again, but she wasn't craving anything to do with her nasty habit.
The only thing she was craving in that moment was getting to the bottom of the most intriguing case with a patient she'd ever seen.
Four hours later
Sassy's stomach grumbled for its daily intake of produce as she grabbed her dinner from the Employee Lounge's provided fridge. It was nothing special, just a sealed plastic container that contained the leftover four-cheese lasagna she had made herself last night, its delectable smell of its four layers of tomato sauce, cottage cheese, noodles, and an array of cheeses permeating her nostrils.
She put it into the provided microwave that was long past its need-for-a-cleaning date and set the timer for a long five minutes. Once the sound of four extended beeps met her ears, she carefully removed her steaming meal from the confined space of the filthy machine and took a seat at the round cheap lounge table.
Using a provided fork, she stabbed into the food and pleased her unrest gut that had been nagging her for the past hour. While the meal was hot, the satisfaction of the array of flavors purged the fact that her tongue had been mildly burned.
It wasn't her first rodeo, so she didn't pay it any mind and just continued to gorge herself like a gluttonous queen. Halfway through her meal, her peace and isolation had been purged by the two ponies she couldn't stand the most in her occupation.
Redcross and his bitch mare.
Her name, at least here, was Nurse Rose, and she was the definition of a mix of a prostitute and nuisance. She constantly was kissing Redcross's flank and more, and constantly flaunted her shit that nopony besides Redcross wanted to see.
She was just everything that Sassy couldn't stand and was enough for her to not even bother sticking around for. She took her partially cooled Tupperware container and left those two to do whatever the hell they were up to, and started back to her desk; the last place she wanted to be during her last break of the day.
However, right as she was in sight of her workstation, she stopped and pondered on a thought. She hadn't forgotten about her most interesting patient she'd ever been assigned, and, while she wasn't supposed to start delivering dinner to her patients' for another thirty minutes, she was thinking about taking this opportunity to dig deeper into the mystery that was currently plaguing her mind.
Redcross clearly was busy with his own "business," so she saw this as the opening she needed.
"If Redcross wants to mess around, then I guess I should be able to do the same."
She'd made up her mind, starting for Flora's room. Once she'd reached the room, she entered the code, and moved quickly into the room once the metal bars holding the door shut had released their embrace with the adjacent two-holes that held them tightly in place.
It was dark upon entrance, causing Sassy to flip the lightswitch and purge the room with a blinding flash. Once her eyes adjusted, she found Flora in the same position as when she had left her before.
She was awake, her eyes reflecting the light of the room like a pair of circular mirrors, and that relieved Sassy somewhat, not wanting to startle Flora awake.
"Hello again, Flora," Sassy greeted kindly.
Flora responded upon recognizing the voice, sitting up and sifting her tangled golden locks from her face.
"Greetings nurse," Flora replied, her voice still a rasp, but there was a sign of happiness in her tone.
Sassy smiled, feeling proud that she had managed a connection with Flora. A positive one that made a bridge of trust between them.
"Are you hungry?" Sassy asked, holding out her leftover food as an offering.
Flora backed away at the assumption of the offering being a serving of whatever they served here.
"Don't worry, it's my cooking," Sassy assured.
"But aren't you hungry too?" Flora answered. "I don't want you to go hungry over me."
"It's fine. I've ate a good portion of it, so my hunger is satisfied for now."
Flora continued to hesitate.
"Won't you get in trouble? What if somepony walks in?"
"Don't worry, nopony is going to interrupt us. Besides, someone as young as you needs proper protein."
Slowly, Flora reached out and took the container from Sassy, settling the plastic kitchenware into her lap and taking a bite. Upon one taste of the food, Flora expressed a look of satisfaction, this meal having been her first taste of real food in a long while.
She shoveled the remainder of the delicious serving down like a stray animal who hadn't ate in weeks, and upon finishing, handed the container and plastic fork back to Sassy.
"That's the best thing I've had in forever!" Flora expressed, her demeanor having shifted completely.
"I'm happy to hear," Sassy replied. "It's my mother's recipe."
"Thank you so much, but why would you give some of your food to me?"
Sassy moved some of her mane from her face, then took in a deep breath.
"Because you're not a criminal, and don't deserve the treatment this place provides."
Flora's attention was caught, and she was in complete shock at the words Sassy had just spoken.
"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts, nurse?" Flora reflected.
"Initially I didn't, but I read your file, and you've given me reason to believe you. After all, the connection between the Apple Family Massacre and what I saw in my past can't just be coincidental."
Flora was shocked. Her attention was full, and her curiosity had been sparked enough to keep listening.
"Long ago, when I was just a filly, my mother worked for Canterlot Hospital, and she had been assigned to the only known survivor of that horrifying massacre; Crimson Flash. I had wanted to surprise her with a visit and spend lunchtime with her one day, but when I walked into the room she was currently working in, I had caught the sight of Crimson.
It's hard to explain, but upon seeing him, I had become overwhelmed with dread and sorrow to the point that I had started to cry. It was as if I'd seen something that nopony should have ever witnessed, and ever since that day, I've never forgotten the sight of him; a lifeless and exhausted creature that was only wishing for death."
"Okay, but how does this apply to me? I'm not Crimson," Flora questioned.
"You're right, but upon seeing you for the first time earlier, I saw Crimson. You appeared the same, acted the same, and now, it seems to be because of the same reason."
Flora couldn't believe what she was hearing, flashes of her night in that labyrinth of nightmares and traumatizing imagery playing before her eyes.
It was as if she'd found an angel in her suffocating void of misery and hopelessness.
"You actually believe me…
Sassy nodded, noticing that Flora had unknowingly begun to cry, so she took the liberty of wiping away her tears like a caring mother or friend.
"However, I can't truly believe you, until you tell me what the court records didn't," Sassy explained. "There's missing pieces to this unfinished puzzle that is labeling you as a murderer of four ponies, and I need you to fill those spaces."
"I didn't murder anypony! I was wronged by the court system and that demon!" Flora pleaded.
"Then tell me the truth, Flora. Who really killed all of those ponies?"
Flora took a deep breath to calm herself down, letting it out slowly and calmly. Once she knew she was ready, she finally spoke.
"There's three murderers. The first is the infamous serial killer, Bittersweet Applejack, the second is her brother Big Macintosh, and the last is the one responsible that any of this ever happened in the first place."
"Who is the pony responsible, Flora?" Sassy asked.
"Our ruler, Princess Flare…
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
Four days after the escape
It had been a long four days since Flora had been left alone in her life, and the scars of the night that changed her life had haunted her like a lingering shadow weighing on her mind.
She'd heard the screams of her friends, seen visions of her mother on the couch, dreamed of being tortured in the farmhouse, and had felt the pain of the cuts to her flesh and hits to her face.
She'd barely slept, ate, or even smiled in her grieving for her friends and mother, and she felt like she would never overcome this feeling. Everytime she'd try to do something to break her lingering fears and paranoia, the laughter and image of that headless demon would haunt her.
It was like she'd never left, and she felt like she was still wandering eternally in the hellbent dimension, every turn manifesting another unspeakable horror that she'd never forget. She feared that she was on the brink of going insane, and that scared her more than anything.
She couldn't sleep.
She couldn't eat.
She couldn't even go for a walk to clear her mind, due to her thinking that Applejack would be there to capture her, even though that was impossible.
She was lost and unable to think clearly, and the police hadn't made it any better. After she'd been brought home from the station, she'd been visited by the police again about an hour later.
To supposedly keep her safe, she was provided a censor bracelet that alerted the police officers monitoring her house of any intrusion. If she were to leave the property unannounced, it would alert the police to act immediately, but Flora knew it was a waste of time.
There was no fillynapper, so she was practically under house arrest for a week for safety concerns. It was probably the worst thing for Flora right now, because being bound to one place made her feel the same as when she was in that maze.
But she couldn't tell them that, so she just lived with her constant paranoia and fears. Three more days and it'd be finished, and she could finally go as she pleases.
That was her motivation as the days passed, and if she could survive a relentless serial killer's pursuit, she could do this. To pass the time and escape her constant paranoia of those two demons watching her from the shadows, she just wrote her thoughts in her diary she'd abandoned since before she had met Trevor and Sarah.
It was her way of coping, and she had done the same when she was still unstable from her past demons. Therefore, she'd written and vented her thoughts in her coping mechanism over the days, and it had somewhat managed to help her temporarily escape her hell of a life.
It was around 8:45 pm by the time she'd finished her latest entry, a half-eaten dried up peanut butter and jelly sandwich off to the side on her nightstand being her dinner for the night. Her lamp was the only thing that lit the room, and that was enough for her.
Between her unstable state of mind and contant fear of Applejack somehow breaking into her reality to take her back, the dark was the least of her fears.
The message pinned to Henry's chest wasn't a case of salt being added to a fresh wound; it was a clear assurance. It was something that had burned her curiosity, seeing it was a very brief but effective message.
Applejack had intentionally let her go out of the cruelest intent. Three of her friends were now their's to keep and torture for eternity, and that bitch knew that was enough to destroy Flora.
She didn't need to kill Flora to win, because she'd already won upon killing Trevor. She read Flora's innocence and used it as a tool of mental torture, destroying her by destroying what held her together.
That was more cruel than a knife to her heart or slit to her neck, and Applejack had won despite her escaping back to reality.
That, along with promising Henry in his last moments of life, was what was driving Flora to put Applejack and her demented farmhouse of horrors to eternal rest, and to free all the ponies who are trapped there for good.
The sad truth however, was that she had no idea where to start, and, in her current state of mind, wasn't sure if she could save anypony. She needed to find balance before she could do anything, and that could take years.
Time she didn't have, knowing that her friends were suffering in that place, and she didn't want them to suffer anymore.
Shutting her diary, she slid it under her bed and pulled her bedsheets over her. She knew she wouldn't sleep long, but she needed to try and get sleep back that she'd lost.
Upon reaching for her lamp, something made her stop, a sudden flash of light engulfing her bedroom like a mini explosion. Throwing her covers off and preparing to dart for the door, she instantly stopped upon seeing who had invaded her room, her mane of pink and radiant green eyes being enough to confirm their identity.
Princess Flare stood at the foot of her bed, her eyes glowing in the dim light a pair of glowsticks. She wasn't guarded or attended by any other pony, and that struck Flora odd; royalty is ALWAYS under heavy guard and protection.
She had no idea how to take this sudden visit, and just froze in place in the presence of her princess.
"Princess Flare?" Flora spoke in confusion.
Flare's eyes shifted to her subject, making contact instantaneously. She was no taller than Flora and seemed like a teenage mare, but Flare was more around her early or mid-twenties, aging for royalty being different from casual ponies.
She held a warm smile upon her gaze meeting Flora's.
"Hello Flora," she greeted graciously. "It's a pleasure to meet you at long last."
Her voice was less like her mother's and more of a teenager's, her tone being slightly higher than a casual adolescent.
"No no, your highness! It's a pleasure to be in your presence!" Flora scrambled. "However, I must say it's odd that you have decided to visit me at this hour and unannounced."
"Yes it is, my dear," she agreed. "However, I'm here not by any accident or mistake. I'm here, because you've become a pony of interest to me, and I just had to meet you."
The way she spoke didn't sit well with Flora's senses. While she sounded sincere, there was an underlying tone of something that Flora couldn't explain. However, it could've just been her paranoia, so she didn't want to jump to conclusions.
"Me? I'm a pony of interest to you?" Flora questioned.
"Indeed. After all, you've become quite the talk of the town. Three friends missing, your mother dead, and now, you are probably the most lost and unstable pony in my entire kingdom. I must say that I am truly sorry for your loss dear, considering that I too know how it feels to lose a mother, but I must also ask why you've been dreaming of the things you've been lately?"
Flora froze. The way she had asked that was a clear statement that she had suspicions of what she and her friends had done on Nightmare Night. Her matriarch continued, furthering Flora's fear.
"Some sort of maze, your friends dying very horrid fates, some sort of slab that radiates evil energy, and, the most curious aspect of all, two ponies that shouldn't even exist in your mind, because I snuffed them out of history entirely. Tell me, Flora Bloom, why are such things lively in your young mind?"
She scrambled for a lie to cover up the suspicions her matriarch had, even though, deep down, Flora knew her ruler could read through lies like a book. Regardless, she tried something, hoping it would work.
"Oh that! It's because of a book my friends dared me to read recently!" she lied. "I imagined my friends as the victims in the story, and it scared the daylights out of me.
This always happens after I watch a scary movie or read a scary story, but I'm sure I'll eventually get over it like I always do, your highness. It's nothing to be worried about from your position."
Not even a flinch. She hadn't even convinced her princess the slightest.
Flare giggled.
"Dear Flora, do you seriously think I'd fall for such a ridiculous lie!" her tone shifted from happy to angry upon the end of her words. "You should know as much as me, that you can't fool somepony as experienced as I. I've seen your dreams, and I know what you and your friends did Nightmare Night.
Just like the many other countless fools, you and your friends went snooping around where you shouldn't have, and, as a result, paid the ultimate price for your curiosity. However, the one thing that surprises me is that you somehow escaped from wherever the curious ponies that go onto that property end up during a blood moon.
A much rare occasion, given most don't return. That assures me that you are definitely stronger than most ponies, but it also raises problems. You know of things you shouldn't, and that, in my eyes, is forbidden. I can see your ambition, rage, and grief in your eyes, but I assure you that whatever you are planning won't save your friends."
"You don't know that!" Flora pleaded. "I've seen things you haven't, and there's a potential chance to finally end those monsters' continued reign! We both have been hurt by the Apple family, so I know how you feel and what you desire! If we work together, we can potentially destroy what killed our loved ones!"
Flare chuckled again.
"Hurt? Hurt isn't even the right word for what that family did to me! In less than a week, I had to fill my mother and aunt's shoes, come to terms that they were gone, and become an adult while I was still a child!
When I removed that massacre from history, I swore to never go back, and I intend to keep that promise, dear. Ponies like you are the reason I still remember the sight of my own mother being carried out on a stretcher as stiff as a statue!
I'm sick of ponies bringing the past back, and I'll do everything I can to make sure that massacre stays where I left it the day I forged the Abolishment Decree! Even if that means putting ponies like you away where your voice will never be heard!"
Flora knew now that she was talking to a wall, but a ping of emotion stung her heart at the tone of her ruler's voice. She was angry, sad, and hurt deeply, and the massacre was the cause of it all. She wanted to help Flare to heal her clear aching wounds, but, judging from the demeanor of her princess, it didn't seem like she could.
"Princess, please listen to me! I feel your pain and know that what the Apple's did to you was horrible, but trying to hide it isn't the answer! My friends were all killed in horrible ways at their hooves, and now, I can't go a day without feeling guilty! The true way to overcome and bury those monsters forever, is to do what we can to end their reign!
If we work together, I truly believe we can free your mother and aunt's souls, but only if you give me a chance!"
Flare's demeanor didn't change, and upon her response, Flora knew her words had fallen on deaf ears.
"Enough! Flora Bloom, there's no way to stop what's already been done, because the Apples' and my mother are already dead! Death is everypony's final stop in this world! There's no afterlife or alternative worlds!
The farmhouse was demolished decades ago and left to rot! That's where it ended and will remain! The only reason the Apple's have any existence, is because ponies like you can't keep your mouth shut! But don't worry, you won't have to worry about that old horror story anymore, because you won't be around anymore to speak another word of it!"
She had lost her sense of direction, and was intending to end Flora's life, to which Flora started to get scared, and started to look for any escape routes. Flare may have been experienced, but Flora wasn't just going to lay down and die like a coward.
Before Flare could get close enough to potentially kill her, she rolled across her bed, towards the only window in her room. She didn't think and just threw all of her strength into the window with her right front hoof, shattering it and giving her an escape.
Several cuts had adorned her leg, but the pain was all but mute to her in this fight-or-flight situation. She had move fast before Flare could act, having surprised her with her actions, so she carefully moved past the sharp edges to avoid a severe cut, and attempted to lunge out of the window.
Just as she was about to catch air, she was stopped by a tug on her back leg; the one that had been broken during her night in Hell. She felt the bone break upon the tug, causing her to yelp in pain, and upon her collapse to the floor, her breath was knocked out of her.
She had a hard time regaining her focus, allowing Flare to corner and pin her. She was pinned by some magical force too powerful for Flora to even budge, scrambling and looking around for anything to use as a weapon.
It was no use, and as she awaited her fate, the sounds of her friends' screams and Applejack's taunting laughter played in her mind like a deafening ring.
"I must say, you definitely are full of surprises, Flora Bloom," Flare spoke as if she were in a casual conversation. "Too many surprises for my liking, and enough for me to not have any hesitation in silencing you permanently.
It was a worthy effort, dear, but we both know you are no match for a princess. Now, without further ado, I bid you farewell, my subject."
The pressure from the magic grew to the point where she couldn't breathe, the force slowly starting to crush her lungs and airway. It was just like when she was a foal on the night that her father had nearly killed her, black dots starting to fill her vision and her body starting to ache from the lack of oxygen.
Her vision started to fade like a movie's end, and her life started to flash before her eyes in rapid succession, up until she heard something beyond her growing void.
"Hooves up!"
Then the pressure released all at once, and the void started to dissipate, and, through her blurry vision, she saw a familiar face.
"Step away and put your hooves behind your back!"
It was Detective Blackhorn, his gun drawn and pointed at Princess Flare.
Flora had been saved from assured death yet again, her lungs burning for air as she regained her breath and vision. Flare didn't resist and backed away from Flora, causing Blackhorn to jump in surprise upon seeing his matriarch as the culprit.
"Princess?" He questioned, still holding his guard. "What are you…why are you…
Flare didn't even flinch, to which Flora knew wasn't a good sign.
"That's what they always ask before they die," she spoke coldly. "Before they get what they deserve."
Before Blackhorn could even act, he was engulfed in a magical aura and flung hard into the wall several times. The sickening sound of his nose breaking was audible upon the hits, blood immediately staining the wall and carpet. Blackhorn had no hope in his situation, already nearly dead upon his collapse to the floor.
He attempted to crawl from the mad matriarch, but was pinned by her before he could even move. Then, once Flora saw the gun in a magic aura, she knew Blackhorn was finished.
She couldn't do anything, being too weak from her initial suffocation, and upon the sound of a boom and her ears ringing, she knew he was dead for no reason except doing his job.
After Flare had finished her business with Blackhorn, she walked back over to Flora with the gun still in her magic. Flora assumed she was just going to kill her, up until she spoke something else.
"I have other ways of silencing you, and killing you will only raise trouble for me. Farewell, Flora Bloom. Enjoy the rest of your life behind walls so thick that nopony will be able to hear you ever again."
With that, Flare finished her work with a simple swing to Flora's head with the pistol, knocking her out.
Present day
That had been enough for Sassy to draw her conclusion; the gun had been placed to make Flora look like the shooter, and through manipulating the case, had landed her with a sentencing of four murders she didn't commit.
Flare had twisted everything to her preference, and now, Flora rots in a cell where her voice is permanently silenced from everypony outside these walls.
All except for Flora's one hope in this place; the one pony who believed her and had worked out a plan behind the scenes to get her out tonight.
"It's wrong what she did to you, and knowing how stubborn you can be, I know you can do this," Sassy said, returning back to reality from her thoughts.
Flora nodded with a smile.
"Is everything set to go? We've only got one shot, so we have no room for error," Flora asked.
"Everything's ready. There won't be any issues, because I've made absolute sure that these assholes will not get in our way," Sassy assured.
"Alright Sassy. Just to be sure, let's go over the plan one more time. First, I make a distraction to end me up at the nurse's station, then from there, you sneak me out in a laundry basket and drop me down one of the chutes that leads to the side fence that you've purposely left unlocked."
Sassy followed from there.
"By then the medication I've slipped into the main staff's drinks will kick in, and I'll be able to get outside to meet upp with you and to ride you all the way to Ponyville."
Flora nodded, grabbing her juice box and holding it in the air as a practical toast offering. Sassy followed, grabbing her chocolate milk and holding it up high.
"To a long awaited vengeance," Flora stated.
"To your hopeful success in hanging that bitch," Sassy contributed as well.
Their beverages touched, and the two mares enjoyed a long sip of their respected drinks, everypony among the entire lunch area completely unaware of what was to come within only a few more hours.
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
Thunder bellowed, shaking the walls of the facility like a mini earthquake as Flora engaged herself in the slasher film that had been provided to the patients of her wing of the building. It was a classic film that she had watched with her mother many times before, but she shunned those memories from her mind, knowing she wasn't here to stay like her fellow ponies.
The plan had changed slightly over the past few hours, seeing Sassy had been called as a nurse for any emergencies. Ironic, due to what was to occur. Sassy had taken the proper precautions to make sure the plan went off without any issues, despite the unexpected changes to the plan.
That was enough to assure Flora as she continued to watch the film. She was waiting for one specific scene to come to perform her fake stunt as part of phase one of her and Sassy's escape plan, the scene being a jumpscare that nopony actually expects on their first watch, but Flora knew the timing perfectly.
The sun's radiant light barely peeked through the upper window of the wide area, meaning the time for festivities beyond the walls of her prison were closing in. It was easily a two hour ride from Canterlot to Ponyville by car, therefore she was on a very strict time crunch.
The clock right above the projection screen read 8:46 pm, and the timed jumpscare was closing in, so Flora prepared herself for her act, knowing she had to be perfect. She only had one chance, so she had to make it count.
She counted down in her head, watching the movie carefully for her cue. Her nerves danced with anticipation; she'd awaited this moment ever since she had read that message Applejack had left her, and now, it was here. She could finally redeem the mistakes she'd made that had caused her friends' lives.
The moment came, the volume of the film boosting with the sound of a bass drum and a gothic piano chord. The raging storm outside played along with the scare, lightning flashing and causing the dark room to be lit with flashing light.
Flora began her stunt, pretending to start convulsing and falling from her chair. Collapsing to the floor, she continued her stunt, causing her fellow occupants to stir in alert, catching the guards' attention.
Their hooves closed in, attempting to control the situation.
"Everypony stay in your seats!" one of them commanded with strict force. "Everything is under control! Remain in your seats!"
As Flora continued her stunt, the guards attempted to break her from her facade.
"Bloom! That's enough!"
Flora didn't listen and continued her act, and when the guards' realized that their attempt of "controlling" the situation by striking fear into Flora wasn't working, only then did they start to panic.
"Bloom! Snap out of it!" one of them yelled in a desperate attempt to break Flora from her fake act.
Flora persisted, increasing her convulsions to the point that it looked serious enough to be a potentially fatal situation.
Then she just stopped, acting as if she'd lost consciousness. This made the guards really scramble.
"Oh shit! What do we do?!" one panicked. "Is she dead!?"
Phase one was complete.
"Calm down!" Sassy intervened, addressing the situation by checking Flora's pulse. "She's alive. This isn't the first time she's experienced this, and it's best she just rests in the nurse's station for now. I'll escort her, seeing you clearly have no clue how to handle a situation like this."
The guards had nothing to say as Sassy began to drag Flora from the crowd into a nearby wheelchair. She'd prepped for everything and was deadset on getting Flora out of that hellhole, and, so far, everything was looking solid.
The next step would be a waiting game, seeing the laundry was tossed down the chutes around 9 pm every night by the nurses. Luckily, Sassy would be the only nurse on duty, having slipped a fast-acting sleeping medication into the provided drinks everypony in attendence was already gulping down upon the start of the movie.
Patients and staff alike.
Having been only thirty minutes or so in, the timing was perfect, and soon everypony would be snoozing away to wherever their minds took them in sleep.
Upon arrival at the nurse's station, being only a single room with two free beds, a sink, and a bathroom, Flora had broken her ruse, wearing a smug grin.
"I swear you are the only pony with a brain in this place," Flora complimented.
Sassy smiled, closing the door to the station.
"I appreciate that, but we're far from out of the woods, Flora," Sassy replied with a serious tone. "We still have to get to the lower floor where the chutes are, and, while the ponies are out like a light on this floor, everypony is awake on the bottom floor. Therefore, I'll need you to be as quiet as a mouse if we are going to even have a chance."
Flora nodded in understanding, expressing a face of assurance.
"Good, now we just wait for the clock to strike nine, but, just to be absolutely safe, I'll need you to keep up the act until then. There's no telling if everypony on this floor is sleeping as planned."
Flora nodded again, moving onto the provided bed and pretending to sleep. The ticking of the nearby clock acted like a soothing melody that nearly sent her to sleep, but her drive for vengeance kept her wide awake for the long ten minutes.
Once the clock finally met 9 pm, Sassy got up and moved to the bathroom where she had stowed away a laundry trolley. It was currently empty, but the large rectangular container for the clothes was both deep and big enough to keep Flora hidden.
"Hop in," Sassy commanded, to which Flora broke her ruse and carefully maneuvered herself into the container.
The inside of the container did not smell pleasant at all, her nose being met with a mixture of the scent of body odor, piss, and mold. However, the smells that had permeated the labyrinth of horrors in the farmhouse had been far worse, so her senses became mute to the odor quickly.
Once she was settled, Sassy followed up with something Flora hadn't expected; Sassy had stripped down to only her cream-white fur, tossing her white lab coat into the container as a cover for Flora. She then changed into a backup coat to keep her identity as a nurse solid, returning to the trolley.
"Make sure you're covered well," Sassy ordered. "Most of the laundry smells like shit you don't want to know, so I'm sparing you those scents with my lab coat. I usually drench it with my perfume, so the trip to the lower floor should be more bearable."
She wasn't kidding; all Flora could smell was a strong and sweet scent that she swore she recognized. Most likely she'd caught it during her intervals between classes. Surely some mare with more bits than she had wore the same perfume.
She was thankful for the mercy of whatever smells Sassy was referring to, so she followed up by coating the majority of her body by opening up the attire and widening it to where it covered her entire body like a giant blanket.
Sassy checked as well to be sure Flora was fully cloaked, and once she felt it was safe enough to start moving out of the room, she moved to the door, opened it, and returned to the trolley. Securing a firm grip on the push handle, she started to maneuver the trolley out into the hall.
Flora knew movement meant that it was her cue to be as quiet as possible, so she covered her muzzle and remained as still as possible as Sassy moved from room to room to collect more cover for her. Sassy was careful to leave Flora room for air, and upon the container being a quarter full, she knew that was enough to assure that Flora was guaranteed to not be discovered.
She arrived at the elevator and pushed the down arrow, the doors sliding open shortly after. Lucky for her, the elevator was vacant, to which she sighed in relief, pushing the trolley into the confined space. Once the doors slid shut, she worked quick to check on her patient in hiding.
"Everything still okay, Flora?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," Flora answered from under the clutter.
"Good, because now, the real challenge begins. Just keep quiet and still. We'll be there soon."
Upon the ding of the elevator and the doors opening, Sassy took a deep breath. She moved out of the claustrophobic space of the elevator and started towards the rooms, the fellow staff too occupied by work and magazines to even suspect Sassy carrying a patient in her load of laundry.
She was relieved as she did her job of collecting and tossing the laundry into the container, the procedure going the usual way it always did. She was finished in less than ten minutes, and, while there were many ponies lively on that floor, nopony had bothered her or intervened with her work.
That was due to her reputation, and it was working in her favor. Sassy wasn't one to socialize or pull shady stunts, or so they thought. She managed to keep her true intentions of working there hidden behind a smile and trust bonds with her patients, seeing she was literally saving their lives.
Nopony questioned or suspected her, allowing her to get Flora to the laundry chutes without any intermission.
Upon closing the laundry room door, Sassy let out a breath she'd unintentionally been holding in, wiping sweat from her brow and taking a moment to breathe.
"Celestia above, I'm not sure I can take much more of this shit," Sassy said out of the suspense currently permeating every one of her nerves.
Flora unearthed herself from the clutter of clothing and climbed out of the container, catching her own breath in rapid cycles. Having caught her breath, Sassy returned to the mission, knowing they weren't home free just yet.
"I don't even wanna know what the hell was causing my nostrils to burn," Flora complained. "Thank Celestia above that's over."
Sassy rolled her eyes, moving to the chute that was their ticket out of there. Flora followed, joining Sassy at the large chute.
"Alright Flora, once you get to the bottom, I want you to wait for me," Sassy informed.
"Why? I thought we were going down together," Flora questioned.
"Originally we were, but upon scaling the building today, I noticed cameras that survey the parking lot, and the upper floor isn't the only floor with a pony watching the cameras. Therefore, you're going to need to look less like a patient and more like an employee."
Flora rolled her eyes, walking back towards the trolley. She shuffled through the laundry, eventually finding her target; the lab coat Sassy had worn prior to leaving the nurses station.
It still radiated the perfume of Sassy's preference, which was a relief to Flora as she carefully maneuvered her hooves through the coat's armholes.
Sassy hoofplanted herself, feeling like an absolute dunce for missing that detail. However, there was one more thing that still needed to be accounted for; Flora's scraggly and unkempt locks.
"Alright, you got me, but we definitely need to do something with your mane. It's a dead giveaway."
Sassy followed by undoing her bun, her mane colliding to the floor and dragging as she made her way to Flora. She pulled Flora's stiff and thick curls up and maneuvered the manetie in many patterns, until it secured Flora's mane into a bun.
Upon seeing Sassy's mane in its natural form, Flora almost thought she'd been in the company of another pony. Not to mention that Sassy had a very potent natural beauty with her mane down, and she wasn't married or seemed interested in the idea.
"Something wrong, Flora?" Sassy asked, Flora unaware that she'd been unintentionally staring.
"Huh? Oh! No. I was just surprised, seeing I've never seen you with your mane down, Sassy," Flora answered.
"Oh, I see," Sassy assured. "I guess that's a fitting reaction."
Both of them giggled, returning to the matter at hoof.
"Let's go," Sassy commanded, moving to the chute first and positioning herself as if she were preparing to go down a playground slide. "I'll go first for safety. I'll let you know once I'm down there and am sure it's safe."
Flora nodded, following with Sassy sliding herself forward and allowing gravity to take its course.
She was out of sight in seconds, disappearing into the darkness of the chute's lining, but it wasn't long before her distant voice met Flora's ears.
"Come down! It's safe!" Sassy's voice called, to which Flora followed, climbing into and sliding down the large round tube.
The trip was around ten seconds, ending with a collapse onto the clothes that were yet to be washed. Another thing Sassy had been sure to prepare beforehand, otherwise the collapse would've been less soft and possibly bone-breaking.
The room smelled of mildew and had a cloud of dust very evident throughout the landing area. Flora hadn't expected anything less, standing back up on her hooves and moving to the door where Sassy was awaiting her arrival. She had already unlocked the aged wooden door upon her arrival, and upon opening it, the sound of raging rain and smell of a thunderstorm met Flora's senses.
Fresh air. A bliss she had been without for too long.
It was like a high from a drug, and the essence of the fresh outside air unclogged her cluttered lungs, already feeling like a free pony already.
"Let's go, Flora," Sassy ordered, stepping out into the raging storm.
Flora followed, stepping out into the shower of cool rain, soaking her mane and coat in less than seconds. She made sure to shut the door before leaving the prison she'd been wrongly forced into for far too long, and made quick action to catch up with Sassy, now at the top of the stairs that led up to the right side of the building.
Upon meeting up with Sassy, both of them hastily trotted forward to the front courtyard of the massive asylum, moving to the parking lot. They found Sassy's car quickly, working fast to unlock and open the driver side door, following with Sassy allowing Flora access into the aged car.
Pulling the passenger door open, Flora slid into the vehicle quickly, shutting her door along with Sassy. Sassy shuffled through her keys to find the ignition key, sticking it into its slit-of-a-home and waking the engine upon just a tilt in its solitude.
The engine purred like a kitten, Sassy shifting the car into reverse, backing out of the parking space, shifting to drive, and driving out of the place both she and Flora dreaded with every fiber of their being. As the Canterlot Hill Ward disappeared behind them the further they drove, Flora looked back one last time to give her kindest regards to her one-year hell.
"Goodbye forever, and fuck you," she stated, turning back to the view of the road from the windshield.
Sassy had activated the windshield wipers to give her better clarity of the open road. Upon passing the sign reading "you are now leaving Canterlot! Come back soon !" she felt a weight leave her.
It was a sense of relief unlike any other, but she knew she couldn't be fully relieved yet; she may have escaped the Canterlot Hill Ward, but there was still a whole other beast to conquer. She escaped from it once at the cost of her innocence, sanity, and best friends, but could she escape again?
She would find out upon arrival in Ponyville in a couple hours. She would return to Bittersweet Apple Acres yet again, but this time she would try to end the Apple Family Massacre beyond death once and for all.
She would either succeed or die trying, and upon one glance at the moon, a faint red tint starting to taint its ghost-white glow, she heard the laughter of Applejack echo in her mind.
"The time has come, Flora. Tonight, we either finish what we started or join Henry, Trevor, and Sarah in that place.
No more tears.
No more paranoia.
No more lies.
Tonight, the truth comes out, and Princess Flare pays for her injustice!"
With that stated, Flora laid back and closed her eyes. She needed every bit of strength she could muster, and upon the sound of the car fading to silence, Flora fell into a sleep she had desired for so long.
She was ready. Ready to risk everything, and prove her innocence.
Bittersweet Applejack and Princess Flare would finally be justified, no matter the cost.
END OF PART TWO
Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres
One year earlier
The bell for the final period of Ponyville High School rang loudly, and every student sprang into immediate action, excited for the night to come. It was Nightmare Night and that meant parties, candy, and vandalism, and every student of the building was ready for a night of fun and a sugar rush as potent as a high from poison joke.
Among the raging wave of students was a pegasus named Flora Bloom, dressed in her costume choice for that year; an elf princess, her wings coated in glitter and ear extensions tight on her ears. The dress was dark green with the ends cut to look like spikes, her curly blonde mane and emerald green eyes contrasting with it very well.
It fit her so well that she had even received some compliments from stallions that day, one of them even making an attempt to ask her to be their date to the big dance being held at Town Hall. While she was flattered by the attention and compliments, she didn't plan on even going into the dance.
She had other plans with a few of her friends.
Flora found her way to her locker and opened it with ease, its usual creak meeting her ears instantly. Sticking her history and math books in the small space, she shut it tight, immediately being greeted by her company for the coming night.
The first was a loveable jock named Trevor Trottsman, aka. the quarterback of the school's football team. While most assume jocks to be assholes, Trevor wasn't one of those cases; he was actually smart and not sleeping around with every mare who complimented his looks and skills on the field. He actually had his head on his shoulders, unlike the majority of his comrades on the field.
He was dressed as himself; football practice had prevented him from dressing up in his costume, so all he had was a t-shirt peeking through his black leather jacket that looked and was expensive as hell.
Next down was a unicorn named Sarah Darkmist; the school's supposed medium. She was dressed as a black clad witch, her white body blending in perfectly and her black mane accompanying the costume like a warm hug. The single purple stripe in her mane peeked through from under the hat she wore, matching her violet eyes that were focused on Flora, her usual blank expression painted on her face.
Lastly, was the nerdy oddball, Henry Quickwit, dressed as a fangless vampire pony. Henry was a lot of things, but as his name states, when it comes down to certain things, he's quick to think of solutions, and has yet to fail at it. Any other time he's normally quiet or hiding from bullies, seeing he's teased horribly for his behaviors and talents.
Flora came across Henry while hiding from her own pair of mean mares in her sophomore year, and managed to help him come out of his shell and confront the stallions who shunned him. While it was a big moment for him, the school system never did shit about it, so he still takes a lot of harassment, but Flora and the others do their best to help when they can.
"Hey Flora, you all set for tonight?" Trevor asked.
"Yep, I've got what you asked!" Flora replied excitedly.
"Nice! I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Trevor stated jovially.
"I still think you're all crazy for even trying this," Sarah intervened. "Especially with something like this."
"Come on, Sarah!" Trevor reassured. "We're only going to go as long as we need. If anything bad happens or starts to happen we'll leave, alright?"
Sarah still wasn't in agreement one hundred percent, but she nodded anyways.
Flora smiled at the nod, but quickly turned her gaze to Henry, his deameanor seeming more off than normal. She decided to comfort him in his current conflicting state.
"Henry?" Flora started lightly, the addressed pony twitching in alarm from the mention of his name.
Slowly, his head rose to meet Flora's eyes, his nerves shaking like a mini earthquake.
"You really don't have to go if you don't want to," Flora assured calmly. "None of us are going to judge you for not wanting to do this."
"No! I want to show you all I'm not a coward!" he claimed proudly. "I'm just getting slight cold hooves, that's all."
"I think we all are, no matter how tough we pretend to act," Flora comforted. "Isn't that right, guys?"
"Oh hell yeah! I'm scared as much as nervous!" Trevor confessed.
"While I'm constantly seeing the undead, nothing gets more terrifying than serial killers, so yeah, of course I'm terrified," Sarah followed.
Turning back to Henry, Flora spoke her own confession.
"I agree with Sarah. While I have no connection to the undead, anything involving killers isn't settling in the least. Like Trevor said, if anything bad starts to happen, we'll leave immediately."
Henry smiled.
"Thanks Flo, you always know the right things to say," he complimented, following with a nod from Flora.
"What time do you want to meet up?" Flora asked Trevor.
"The blood moon isn't supposed to take place until midnight, so feel free to hit up some houses in the meantime," he proposed. "We'll meet up outside the opening to the foundation ten minutes to midnight, unless that's not long enough for our fellow witch to set up everything."
Sarah chuckled at the comment.
"I can have it set up in less. How long do you think I've been doing this shit, Trevor?"
The cuss surprised nopony.
"Right. Sorry if I insulted your intelligence," he sheepishly apologized.
"Very good," Sarah accepted. "However, one other thing I suggest bringing is salt."
Everypony's eyebrows raised immediately, minus Sarah's.
"Salt?" Flora questioned. "Why do we need that?"
Moving small strand of her mane from her left eye, Sarah responded.
"Given we're working with stronger spirits or poltergeists, it's best we do our best to stay safe from any sort of harm they may have in mind, shall we make contact."
"Good idea," Flora agreed.
"I can get some from my house," Trevor offered. "My folks are normally busy... roleplaying on Nightmare Night, so it shouldn't be a challenge."
"Ah yes, "roleplaying," Sarah teased. "We all know what your parents up to whenever they have an excuse to escape reality for awhile, so no need to sugarcoat it, Trev."
"I know, it just embarrassing to say it straight out," Trevor replied with a blush."Not to mention what I have to wake up to the next morning; I'm practically the only adult of the house for a day, seeing their hungover and unable to fend for themselves."
"Celestia, how the hell did you end up the one with a level head?" Flora questioned.
"I have no idea, and I prefer to just keep it that way. Last thing I want to do is make a joke out of myself under the influence of ecstacy and alcohol."
"I think that's something we can all agree on," Sarah agreed. "Anyways, before I start getting unpleasant thoughts in my head that I can't forget, is everypony in agreement that Trevor is on salt duty?"
Everypony except Trevor nodded.
"Very good. Now, I've got some enhancements to apply to my costume before we attempt to awaken a family of serial killers, so I need to hurry home."
"Alright, Sarah," Flora assured. "We'll see you at the gate tonight."
With a single nod, Sarah turned and trotted home, leaving Trevor, Flora, and Henry to chat furthermore.
"We should all get home and get ready for tonight," Trevor suggested. "I need to get into my costume still, and that's probably going to take awhile."
"Oh right, football practice," Flora confirmed, remembering Trevor's ordeal. "Alright, Trev. See you tonight, unless you'd rather get caught up in roleplay with your folks."
"Ha ha," he sarcastically answered. "I'll see you two tonight."
With that, he turned and trotted home, leaving Flora and Henry in the vacant hallway.
"I should get going as well," Flora addressed to Henry. "I'll see you tonight, Henry."
"Sure thing, Flo," Henry stated, and with a single wave, Flora trotted away, and he was left alone.
"Sure thing...
A sweet aroma of apples met Flora's sense as she walked through the front door of her house, the scent being a mix of fresh apples and a caramel mix. Walking past the living room, she found her mother, Lily Bloom, at their main oven, stirring a thick concoction with a wooden spoon.
Her entrance startled her mother in her haste of properly stirring the caramel mix, a set of over twenty red apples impaled with popsicle sticks neatly organized on a wide sheet of parchment paper just off to the side of the stovetop.
The essence was pungent but pleasing to Flora's nostrils as she breathed in the fumes emanating from the pot of caramel mix.
"Welcome home, dear," Lily said sweetly, but in a rush. "How was school?"
"It was fine, but I'm going to need to apply some fixes to the makeup patterns for my costume," Flora replied sweetly. "What is all of this mom? I thought you were going to the dance tonight?"
"I was, up until my date dumped me, so now, I'm stuck here tonight giving out future dental issues for fillies and colts," she confirmed, a hint of arrogance staining her tone.
"Oh… Are you going to be okay?" Flora questioned sympathetically.
Her mother paused the stirring to make eye contact with her daughter, her forehead dripping sweat and her mane slightly moist from both the heat of the room and her efforts.
"After what your father did to me, rejection barely stings anymore, dear," Lily placed one of her hands onto one of her daughter's shoulders and expressed a smile in assurance of her emotions. "Just go get ready and have fun tonight, but remember, no alcohol, no kissing, and at least an inch apart while dancing to slow songs. Got it."
Flora nearly raised an eyebrow, up until she remembered the dance. Her mom must've assumed she was just going there tonight with Trevor as her date.
She just giggled at her mom's assumption.
"Got it, though I've told you multiple times that it's not like that between us. We're just good friends and only that, I swear."
"Whatever you say," her mom joked. "Now, go get yourself all prepared while the night is still young."
Flora nodded in response and turned towards the direction of one of the bathrooms while her mother returned to her own prepping.
The closest bathroom was just outside of the kitchen and down a hall to the right. Flora made her way in seconds, closing the door behind her and turning on the light. Her reflection in the large mirror met her eyes, to which she just admired for a brief moment.
She could see exactly why stallions had been all over her today; she looked stunning in her Nightmare Night attire. Like an actual princess.
Now, she was slightly happy she wasn't going to the dance. She practically be a beacon for every dateless stallion there, and she wasn't interested in any funny business.
Less to say, provoking poltergeists wasn't any more comforting or seeming like a better alternative. She had heard the tales, while some say it was just a myth meant to scare ponies, she had a hard time believing that such a detailed and graphic story told in a vivid manner could be "just a myth."
Normally fictional scary stories weren't as graphic as this one and detailed so well to the point of feeling real; they were normally just told in a manner meant to scare you; the tale of Bittersweet Apple Acres and the Apple Family Massacre was far from that and disturbed her to the point of nearly crying.
That wasn't a casual reaction to a fictional tale, but she couldn't prove anything factual or fictional. The foundation was said to be the site of an old apple orchard that died off from some sort of toxic blight that had to be terminated because of it spreading to crops outside the area.
The area was quarantined, and the trees were ripped out from their roots to assure they couldn't spread any further past the area. Many lives were lost in the process, but eventually the area was cleared of any of the toxic trees. However, to be safe, the area was gated off as a toxic site and has been left to suffer whatever history throws at it.
However, one thing didn't add up. There was one other factor that made the tales seem more real, and it lived right in the town. The supposed only survivor of that tragic massacre, Crimson Flash.
While he was an elderly pony now, Flora found it strange that an old pony would spit nonsense to ponies that was so powerful, graphic, and disturbing. Plus, he had evidence to prove his claims; the scars he carries on his skin.
How he tells of how he got them is far from just "off the top of the head" brainstorming. He also cried while describing the agonizing pain and torture, which, unless he was a solid actor, wasn't a casual action in telling a fictional story.
Flora hoped to get closure tonight. While she was scared, she was excited at the same time as she began to apply the fixes needed for her makeup.
She wanted to look her best for the ponies who caught eye of her in the streets. She planned to hit one specific area that gave out large candy bars, soda pop, and even some harmless potions that had specific qualities to each of them.
One year she got one that changed her eye color for only an hour. Another year she got another that gave her harmless fangs until morning came, causing her to make a costume change hastily, and the year before she had gotten one allowed her to fly a little faster than her usual speed.
It was the one treat she anticipated each year ever since the owner of the house, a zebra named Zena, moved in.
Her personal favorite effect had been the fake fangs. That Nightmare Night she won best costume and came home with a load of candy that was the equivalent of a dragon's hoard. The next dentist visit wasn't pleasant, but she had zero regrets on the sugar rush she'd earned from that year.
When she finally finished up the fixes to her additional touches an hour had passed, and Celestia's sun had only been inches from disappearing beyond the distant mountains. Her mother had finished her contribution to the holiday, the apples now doused in hardened caramel upon the countertop.
Lily was resting on the couch in the living room, engaged in a rerun of one of the many classic horror films that aired every Nightmare Night.
A large bottle of red wine rested on the side table next to a glass, the cork yet to be pulled from the opening.
"I'm going out now, mom," Flora stated. "I'll be home not long after the blood moon event ends."
She paused, eying the wine bottle with concern.
"Make sure to not drink too much, okay,"
Her mother turned to her with a smile.
"I won't even start pouring until the caramel apples are given out," she stated calmly. "I love you. Be careful and have fun."
Flora walked around to where she was face to face with her mother, reaching down and hugging her gently.
"I will. Love you too."
Pulling away, Flora grabbed her provided candy bag, walked to the door, and walked out to the sight of a very festive Ponyville.
Nightmare Night music blared throughout the small town, fillies and colts dressed as a plethora of mythological creatures and much more ran through the streets like stampeding bulls, and the sounds of games and cheers could be hear from the other side of town.
Flora closed the door behind her, proceeding to check her bag for the things she'd promised to bring to the ritual. The sheathed knife and crimson apple were still resting at the bottom of the bag as she'd left them, and with that assurance, she trotted off into the streets.
She had planned to meet up with Henry just outside of Ponyville Center, the shy pony being her usual company while trick or treating each year, and it didn't take long for her to find him in their usual rendezvous every year; the right side of the entry to the main plaza of Ponyville.
He was camouflaged very well with the growing shadows of the approaching night time, the light brown fur of his head being the only indication that he wasn't just another shadow cloaking the fence. Flora waved as she approached him, receiving a wave back as confirmation that he'd spotted her amongst the mildly-crowded streets.
As she approached, the first thing she noticed was that his costume quality had changed drastically, the fangs having a tint of dark crimson to them, red contacts adorning his eyes, and even his fake wings looking as if they had aged to the point of looking tarnished, but they adorned the costume almost too well.
Less to say, Flora was impressed and slightly terrified.
"Wow! Henry, you look…. menacing!" Flora complimented, a wide smile growing on her face. "Did something happen to you within the past hour?!"
Henry expressed a blush at the comment.
"No, I just decided to… up the ante this year," he explained. "I was tired of looking so plain in comparison to everypony else, so I just got creative and came up with this."
Flora's amazed expression didn't change, and she only continued to stare at Henry's costume.
"Um… you look great too!" he bumbled out, trying to change the subject.
Flora budged, a smile and light blush meeting her face.
"Thanks. I really wanted to look nice tonight for everypony, even if it's only for one night."
"Well, in my eyes, you nailed it, Flo!" he complimented.
Flora's smile grew wider, following with an action Henry hadn't expected; she leaned forward and wrapped her hooves around Henry tightly. He jumped at the contact but returned it, his blush growing more visible on his face with each second passing in the embrace.
Their embrace lasted shortly before Flora pulled away, her eyes immediately noticing the blush dressed on her friend's face.
"Aww Henry!" she said cutely.
Henry jumped again, panicking madly.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't m-mean-
He was cut off by a hoof to his muzzle, the only sound, aside from the many sounds of Nightmare Night festivities, was Flora's laugh.
Henry didn't know what to think about that, but the fact that it was just a "cute" laugh rather than a mocking laughter was enough for him to calm down.
When Flora finally came out of her short fit, she just continued to smile.
"Come on, let's go hit the good houses before all the good stuff is gone," she said softly, grabbing one of Henry's hooves and starting to drag him.
"Y-yeah… sure…
With that assurance, the two took off towards the far side of Ponyville, one's spirits high with excitement while the other's was more lost and unsure.
While Flora had treated it as a harmless and funny misconception, Henry prayed to Celestia above that as the night carried on, all memory of what had just happened would fade like a lost memory from Flora's mind.
It seemed like the treasures obtained from each house had gotten more and more valuable to Flora after the Sun went down, and night finally came, but the one she treasured the most was her mystery potion she'd gotten from Zena.
Three hours of hardcore trick or treating had passed, and at this point, she and Henry were both exhausted from walking the streets of Ponyville. They had stopped and were looking through their obtained treasures from their fellow pony residents, trading candies for other candies and slowly gaining a massive sugar rush.
Flora had traded candies she couldn't stand, such as Lemon Spheres, black licorice, and anything with dark chocolate involved to Henry for anything sweet and to her liking. Henry wasn't a sugar freak by any means, so he didn't mind giving some of his candy to Flora, knowing she loved sweets and would actually eat them.
He'd taken his time with some of his goodies, while Flora had delved into her treasure like a madpony craving a sugar high, to which Henry had only giggled at, knowing his friend very well.
That also meant he had to be the voice of reason to stop her from giving herself a nasty belly ache, stopping her at her twentieth sweet treat and persuading her to save it for another time. While she pouted at it, Henry convinced her, and now, for a good half hour, the two had just been walking around and enjoying the night on its own.
They decided against the local spook alley, because both of them absolutely hated haunted attractions. It wasn't due to a bad experience or anything like that; they simply just hated the idea of being in a dark and scary place that is intentionally designed to scare the hell out of you. It wasn't their definition of a good or fun time, and just preferred walking around until they needed to take a break again.
"If only we had some bits, then we could pass the time playing some of the games and doing some of the activities in the plaza," Flora pouted.
"Nah, that would ruin your makeup, Flo," Henry stated. "That would be a shame, considering what's to come in less than an hour."
Flora giggled.
"You want me to look all pretty for the serial killers?" she joked.
"Who wouldn't?" Henry complimented. "I heard that they took only the prettiest of mares back then. Something about making their product taste better."
"So, what? You think that'll increase our chances of actually contacting them?"
"They'd be foolish not to take the opportunity to see you, Flo."
"Hmm, I don't know if I should be flattered by that or terrified."
"Well, it is Nightmare Night. If you don't get scared in some way, you aren't celebrating, are you?"
Flora put a hoof to her chin in thought at Henry's comment.
"Hmm, I guess not," she answered.
A pause followed, up until Henry decided to change the subject to something less scary.
"So, what do you think they're talking about when they say "blood moon?" Henry asked.
"What do you mean?" Flora replied, one eyebrow raised.
"Like, is it really a "bloody" moon or just a trick used to hype up everypony watching?"
"You mean, like a magic trick?"
"Yeah! Exactly!"
Once again, Flora paused, putting a free hoof to her chin in wonder of Henry's comment.
It wasn't really something she'd thought of from the moment it was announced to occur a few weeks prior, but Henry had a good point. Was the blood moon an actual real thing or just an illusion, and if it is real, what does it look like or represent?
"Honestly, it could be either. Princess Flare doesn't seem the type to really do something fake for entertainment, but given the history of the Apple Family Massacre doesn't add up in the slightest, maybe it is."
A short pause followed.
"However, is a gimmick for a holiday really something to really get all worked up over? It's used for entertainment on a holiday where almost everypony is out and about having fun, so I don't think we can hang Princess Flare for something so mild."
"What about the history cover-up? Doesn't that seem a little unfair and wrong to hide from us?"
"Well, yes, but maybe it was for a good reason. I mean, think about it. Princess Flare lost her mother and aunt to those monsters. It must've been unbelievably painful and hard for her to go through the loss, then having to wear the weight of their crowns after the dust settled.
I can't even imagine all she went through in such a short amount of time, which may be why the Apple Family Massacre was covered by lies. The pain and grief just never went away, so she buried it the only way she could; by erasing it from history."
"That would make sense, because look around; there's no attraction themed to that massacre or anyone dressed in anything related to the Apple family members. It's just as if it never happened and was never looked back upon."
"I can answer why the second part of that doesn't exist," Flora stated. "It's because the names or anything visually related to the family or the massacre were destroyed when Princess Flare took the throne. Every document, picture, article; anything with any sort of connection to the family or massacre."
"How do you know that?" Henry questioned.
"My mom knew one of the therapists who was assigned to the only survivor of that tragedy, and she said that the stories she heard from the therapist were too much for her to handle, but in the mix of the sessions, the therapist had stated to the survivor that all documentation was being ridden of by order of the princess.
They thought the survivor would be relieved at the news, but was mistaken and had given one grim response that caused them to resign from their work.
"You all are a bunch of fools if you believe the past can be buried so easily. The events of those ten years will never rest; they will only linger until somepony learns and speaks the truth, similar to how one Apple did in the face of death. How will that end, doctor? In proper action or history repeating? Let's hope we make the right choice this time."
"What do you think they meant?" Henry asked with a mild shiver.
"To put it simply, if we can't learn from our past mistakes, we are destined to repeat them."
A pause followed.
"And, the survivor is right."
The moment was interrupted by an announcement from the many speakers throughout Ponyville, causing both of them to stop in their tracks. The mayor's voice boomed from the speakers, coming through loud and clear to everypony's eardrums.
"Attention all residents of Ponyville! The Blood Moon Celebration event will be starting in less than twenty minutes! If you plan to join in on the event, please make your way to the main stage in front of Town Hall for Princess Flare's speech and presentation! Thank you!"
"I'm guessing that's our cue to meet with the others?" Flora said, turning her gaze to meet Henry's.
A long breath escaped the stallion's mouth, attempting to smile at the sudden realization that they were less than twenty minutes from attempting to talk to a bunch of serial killers from beyond the grave.
Swallowing hard, he nodded in agreement.
"Well, let's get moving before we start to look suspicious from everypony else," Flora claimed.
"R-right," Henry muttered out, fear clearly staining his tone as he started to walk alongside Flora outside of Ponyville, up the outer side road that led to the foundation that was once Sweet Apple Acres.
The walk was calm and quiet, but the awareness of what was about to occur made all of the natural calming essence of the night static. The road to the Sweet Apple Acres foundation was decrepit and rotten, abandoned, forgotten, and rotted away from years of no care or maintenance.
While a tricky walk, the sight of the rusted fence came into sight, sending an immediate chill down both of their spines. It was a very unsettling sight to the eye, seeming less like a fence guarding the perimeter of a foundation and more like an entryway to Hell.
Both of them gulped hard, walking further, up until the tall fence towered over them like the maw of a massive beast. It was starting to feel more like Nightmare Night now as they drew in closer to the area they were supposed to meet up with the others.
Relief washed over both of them at the sound of voices and flashes of beams of light from flashlights, trotting faster than intended towards the source of light and life. When they finally reached the rendezvous, Trevor greeted them with a joyous Nightmare Night-style welcome.
"Glad you kids finally made it to the gates of Hell. Are you all ready to talk to some demons?!"
"Not exactly, but sure," Flora answered, turning her gaze to Sarah, a specific object held in one of her hooves. "Sarah, what is that?"
Sarah met Flora's gaze quickly, answering in her usual tone of voice.
"Just something to take the edge off," she answered simply.
"Drugs?!" Flora objected in shock. "Sarah! We need you with a level head, not seeing hallucinations and Celestia knows what!"
"It's not drugs, Flora," Sarah reassured calmly. "It's a natural medicine that calms your nerves and gives you better focus. I'd never put things like poison joke in my body."
Flora wasn't sure what to think, standing frozen in place with confusion expressed on her face.
"W-well...okay. As long as it's natural," Flora stuttered.
"I promise. Want some? It'll help if you're scared out of your wits," Sarah proposed.
"I'll pass," Flora answered slowly.
"Agreed," Henry added.
Henry's contribution to the conversation caused Sarah's eyes to shift to him, immediately smiling deviously.
"Well, well, what the hell happened to Henry?" she spoke deviously. "He never dresses so….scary."
Trevor caught on, adding his own thoughts to the mix.
"No kidding. Henry looks more sinister than usual, and I like it a lot!"
Henry just smiled at the compliments, bowing like a vampire as a bonus to further prove he appreciated the gestures.
"Thanks guys, I just decided to up the ante this year, and considering Flo said the same stuff, I guess I succeeded."
"Bring this kind of effort every year, and you might win the Best Costume award!" Trevor stated, lightly punching Henry on the shoulder with one of his green hoofs as a show of affection.
Trevor was dressed as Frankenhoof, the costume and character actually being perfect for his size and build, to which Flora had nodded at in impression, resting away the residing butterflies in her stomach momentarily.
"I think Flora would actually be good competition in that regard, Trev," Sarah commented. "Were you dressing for Nightmare Night or a strip club?"
Flora immediately blushed in embarrassment, immediately objecting at the comment.
"S-sarah! S-seriously?!"
"Calm down, princess, I'm only joking," Sarah assured. "You should know my humor by now."
"I do, but...did you really have to take it THAT far?" Flora countered.
"Yes," Sarah replied teasingly. "Besides, it's just us out here. Nopony else is going to know about that little comment except all of us."
"Still…
Trevor suddenly intervened to avoid any further issues from occurring.
"Hey, we all know you're not like that, Flo, so don't take anything that Sarah says personally. It's all good fun between good friends on Nightmare Night, and that's as far as it's gonna go, alright?"
Flora hesitated at Trevor's words, but eventually she accepted them.
"Alright," she agreed calmly. "Sorry if I overreacted a little, it's just… well, you guys know how I get about things like that."
Sarah acted first.
"You didn't overreact, and I'm sorry I didn't take your feelings into account. Let's just make up and enjoy the rest of our Nightmare Night rather than hurting each other's feelings."
Flora nodded with a smile, taking Sarah into a short but sincere hug of forgiveness.
"Alright kids, let's get moving," Trevor directed. "The blood moon is supposed to happen in about ten minutes."
Everypony nodded, Sarah flicking her medicinal concoction off into the night and all four of them walking towards the fence. The only way in was a weaker part of the fence that had been weakened by history and was loose enough to crawl through. Being a pegasus, Flora could normally fly over, but a spell shield was applied so that pegasi couldn't just fly in, so she had to just go in the hard way.
The same applied to teleportation with unicorns as well, the only exception being the one who cast it, seeing the spell would weaken with time and would have to be recharged back to full strength for another number of years.
Sarah held the fence with her magic while the other three crawled through carefully, then assisted in pulling Sarah through with their combined efforts. It took about five minutes, but they all were in, standing upon a land that was stained with the blood of countless ponies.
Upon entering something immediately caught their attention; it was dead.
There was no sound except their own breathing, steps, and pulses in the wide enclosure. Already, they were having second thoughts on even continuing a step forward into this ominous place.
"I'm not the only one who can't hear anything except us, right?" Flora asked, her voice trembling.
Everypony else, faces plastered with uncertainty and fear, nodded slowly.
"Something's not right," Sarah stated with a hint of fear. "We should turn back and abandon this idea completely."
"After we planned this for months, you just want to leave not even a minute in because of some absence of sound?" Trevor persuaded.
"Yes," Sarah stated seriously. "When strange abnormal occurrences start happening and poltergeists are involved, you don't fuck around any further."
"I agree with Sarah," Flora added. "This isn't right, and I'd rather not even test the waters any further than I feel unsafe. I vote we get out of here while we're still ahead, and vow that we never come near this place ever again."
"Make that three votes," Henry agreed, his legs shaking sporadically.
Trevor sighed in defeat, turning back towards the fence.
"Ugh, fine. Since everypony is against it, I guess we're leaving."
Walking back to the fence, Sarah focused her magic on the weak spot they'd originally came in from, only to receive zero response from her magic core.
A discovery that made her shudder and freeze in horror.
"W-what?!" she tremored.
"What's wrong?" Trevor asked in concern.
"M-my magic…I can't c-cast it!" Sarah panicked, her voice expressing true fear.
"What?" Trevor questioned in confusion. "Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm fucking joking!? My magic is gone!"
Trevor had no retort, knowing Sarah well enough to know for a fact she was being serious.
"Okay, okay. Calm down. I can lift the fencing no problem, so let's just get out of here and not panic."
Moving past Sarah, Trevor reached down towards the bottom of the fence and placed his hooves into a position to where he could lift the fence, but upon first contact with the rusted metal, Trevor was met with an agonizing pain to his hooves.
A scream of pain escaped the stallion's throat, scrambling back on the ground in a hasty retreat from the fence. A very audible sizzle could be heard, and upon the sight of Trevor's hooves the situation escalated quickly.
"What happened to you?!" Flora questioned in concern, rushing to Trevor's aid on the brittle ground.
"I got burned!" he exclaimed in pain.
"What?! How?!" Flora questioned further, her calm composure starting to dwindle away fast.
"I-I don't know! I just g-grabbed the fence a-an-
"Guys… Sarah's voice broke the chaos, the tone of it being no more than a whisper of a terrified child, and as they all saw what she was so scared of, their own voices died and their blood grew cold as ice.
Before their eyes, fading in like a transition effect, was the sight of a large farm, one lone pony on the outside wearing a grin from ear to ear.
"We need to get out of here...now!" Flora commanded, moving to the fence in a haste and attempting to lift it, only to meet in the same result as Trevor, falling back and screaming in absolute pain.
Her screams continued, up until the entire area and beyond turned a bloody red color. One gaze at the moon solidified the cause of the crimson tint, but that was the least of their worries as a deafening ring enveloped their ears along with a massive rush of what felt like misery and chaos in one blow.
It felt as if their heads were imploding on themselves, and the pressure was unbelievable, feeling like their skulls were in a tightening vice grip with no breaking point. It was like everything was in slow motion, up until it all just stopped.
A new sound had filled the void of deafening ringing; water dripping and distant creaking pipes. Opening their eyes, they were met with the sight of a large and wide room.
It was wooden, decrepit, and smelled of rot and copper. It wasn't until they looked around the room that they figured out the horrifying realization of where they were and their terror peaked to max.
Just off to the side was a massive rusted machine with a single opening at the top of a high flight of stairs. From down that it had a channel of two pipes; one large, one small; the small one leading to just above a conveyor belt line with thin tubes pointing downward, as if to fill something on the beltline.
The exit tubes' tips' were all coated with something thick and chocolate brown, and only until the color became apparent did it hit all four of them on exactly what place they had ended up in.
"It can't be," Flora whispered in fear, her eyes not leaving the massive machine.
Trevor's voice intervened, speaking something she almost didn't believe.
"Hey, there's a door! I think this is the exit!"
He was right. Just off to the right side of the room was a large barn door exit, to which they all quickly acted upon, moving to the door and attempting to push it open.
It didn't budge an inch, even with all of their strengths combined.
Their actions had caused a sudden reaction, the grinder suddenly erupting to life like a waking giant. Following that, a sinister laughter met the room, echoing off of every wall and crevice in a manner of unease and absolute danger.
The instant response was to run, but the only way to run was to a door straight ahead; the very area the laughter had originated from.
"What do we do now?!" Sarah questioned in fright.
Before an answer could be given, the far door swung open with a massive force, entering a sight that seemed impossible; a headless pony with tan fur that wore specks of dried blood with a lasso around their half-neck. They had a blonde tail with part of it tied up at the end with a hairtie and a cutie mark that made all four of their hearts drop like stones; three red apples.
"Leavin' so soon?" the headless pony spoke in a thick southern accent. "But ya' just got here, and trust me when I say that we've had plenty of time to arrange a perfect welcome for y'all!"
Nopony spoke, too shocked in fear and terror to even find words. They didn't know what was to come, but in the company of a headless pony, it was bound to be nothing pleasant.
"Tough crowd I see. Alright, then why don't we just get to the point, seein' it's fixin' to be a long night for y'all. We're going to play a game tonight. Think of it as hide and seek, only with deadly consequences if yur found by me. The rules are simple; if you can stay hidden and out of my capture for the entire night, you'll escape with your heads on your shoulders, but, if I catch you, you'll become part of the collection of victims and souls, bound to eternal torture with no mercy, forever."
That comment made all four of them freeze in fear, unable to move from their current positions.
What just happened?
One hour ago, they were all in Ponyville enjoying the festival. Now, they were in some demented Hell fighting for their lives.
It was too late to turn back now. It was live or be tortured for eternity now; one night of survival in a slaughterhouse controlled by a demented serial killer.
"Happy hidin'!" the headless mare stated grimly, then the room started to shift and convert into something else, the headless mare's sinister laughter erupting once again from her nonexistent muzzle.
A mirage of different structures suddenly erupted from the ground, separating all four of them before they even had a chance to move. It happened too fast to comprehend, and in less than seconds, four friends that were together as one were now separated and in for the fight of their lives.