The Last Stand

Beauty Sleep

There was a loud bang followed by a soft thud, Applejack opened her eyes to see her friend lying on the floor. She dropped the gun and began to cry.

"What have ah done! R-Rarity! Ahm sorry! Ahm so, so sorry!" She sobbed. Her sorrow began to slowly turn into anger. The stress had overpowered her and she began destroying everything she could get her hooves on. She picked up her gun and began smashed several mannequins with it. She smashed the window and saw Canterlot off in the distance. It mocked her, from Ponyville, it looked untouched by the hell that had been released upon Equestria.

"DAMN YOU, CELESTIA! WHY WOULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?! BECAUSE OF YOU, AH JUST KILLED MAH BEST FRIEN'!" Applejack cursed. She began swinging her gun wildly in the air. Everything moved slower in her eyes, her surroundings seemed to have some sort of delay and left a slight double-image as it moved. Pretty soon, her sight began to go white. Time felt as if it had slowed down to little more than a crawl, she could recall most of the times she spent bickering with Rarity over fashion and getting dirty.

"Applejack... APPLEJACK!" Applejack stopped herself to notice a yellow filly with a tattered red ribbon standing in front of her, shaking in fear and tears streaming down her face. She then noticed that she was holding her shotgun just inches away from her face. It took less than a second for her to realize that she had almost struck her sister, the one pony in this dead world she cared for.

"A-A-Applebloom?" She dropped the gun, "Ah... ah... ah just..." she dropped to the floor and began to wail. She couldn't handle it, she just cried and wished that things could go back to the way life used to be. She hated this new world. Living in this world meant living in fear every second of your life and killing your friends and loved ones too. It's more like a game, a sick game to see who lives the longest, everyone wants to win, but the game is rigged so that you always lose. It comes down to whoever loses last.

"Applejack? Please, stop crying, you were right, that wasn't my sister." Applejack looked up to see Sweetie Belle looking down at her.

"Bu-bu-but ah... ah... killed her! Ah killed my best friend... ah killed your sister! You have every right to hate me, what ah've done is unforgivable." Applejack choked, tears still flowing down her face.

"Applebloom told me how much you've been working to keep her safe, you've been having such a hard time lately and Rarity wouldn't want you getting your beautiful mane all in a mess over her. Keep it clean, for her sake. Those words hit Applejack hard. She was right, Rarity, as a great friend, would want her to keep her sanity as well as her mane straight.

"Thank you, Sweetie Belle, you're right." Applejack stood up and wiped her tears. She turned to see a cracked mirror. She stared at herself and noticed that her mane was a mess, she hadn't cleaned it since this whole mess started. She picked up a brush off the floor and began to brush her mane.

"Applejack, what're ya doin'? We don't have time for that!" Applebloom complained.

"Applebloom, please, ah haven't brushed mah mane in years, it'll only take a minute." She put the brush down and admired her work, for the first time in years, her mane was straight and tidy, Rarity would be proud of the farm pony.

"Wow, Applejack, ah've never seen you brush your mane before." Applebloom commented, "It looks beautiful."

"Alright, let's go gather up supplies. We're gunna need food, water, and weapons. Let's start with the--" Applejack was interrupted by a loud explosion.

"W-w-what was that noise?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. The Apple sisters couldn't help but laugh at Sweetie Belle's expense.

"Ah dunno, it sounded like Pinkie's party cannon. Wait, could that mean that Pinkie Pie might still be alive?" Applebloom smiled at the thought.

"Perhaps, let's go find out. It sounded like it came from Sugarcube Corner." Applejack's sorrow soon went away. Even though she just lost a dear friend, she was happy to learn that another one might still be alive. Of course, that sent Applejack's eyes to the white pony that was still lying in the center of the room. She couldn't bear to see her like that. She went downstairs to the one untouched mannequin that wore Rarity's gala dress and took it off.

"We all made this for you. Ah want you to keep us close until we all meet again." She took the dress back upstairs and laid it over the body, "Goodbye, Rarity. Ahm sure we'll see each other again someday."

"Are ya'll ready to go?" Applebloom asked.

"Yea, I'm ready. How about you, Applejack? Are you going to be okay?" Sweetie Belle tugged at Applejack's tail.

"Yup, ahm fine, don't worry about me. Now let's go see if Pinkie Pie's doin' fine too." The three left the boutique along with the horrible events that took place there, behind. As they approached Sugarcube Corner, the explosions became more frequent. Something didn't settle right with the ponies. Applejack, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle were as sure as pink punch, as Pinkie would put it, that she was indeed alive, but something was off. They soon made it to the doorstep of the bakery and they could here laughter coming from inside.

"Pinkie Pie! It's Applebloom, ya in there?" Applebloom opened the door to see a pink pony dancing in the center of the room around several ponies wearing party hats. There was a banner that was strung up on the ceiling that read, 'Happy Birthday, Pinkie Pie!'

"Hehehehehehe... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PAAARRTAAAYYYY!!! HAHAHA!" Pinkie Pie laughed as she fired her party cannon again, not noticing the three ponies at the door.

"Pinkie Pie? It's me, Applejack."

"Huh? Oh, Applejack, so glad you could make it! There's still some cake left... hehehehe."