Fractured Apple

Chapter Two: A Sudden Scare

The startling screech pierced the air so powerfully that Applejack had to hold her ears. ‘What’s goin’ on? What is that thing?!’ she thought as she hit the back wall. Her mind blanked on what to do. She squinted from the pain from her ears looking for anything at all. Rusted silverware was strewn about close to her, just another small fact that she wasn’t home. She tried to kick the knives and forks at the creature, most falling short. A lucky one slid across the floor and flew off an angled tile right into the creature’s throat. The screech stopped as it began clawing at the fork in its mouth in desperation.

Applejack let go of her ears and looked at her hooves; her right hoof was slightly damp with blood. She straightened her head to keep a good sense of balance before jumping over to the erratic monster. Thin wisps of shadows began to come off of it like a black steam as it even clawed at its throat now trying to cut through its chitinous shell. She knew this was her only chance and charged as it sliced through its own throat, the fork falling through coated in something akin to oil.

The creature tried to begin its screech again, but had its head crushed into the tiled floor by Applejack with loud crunch. The black steam was cold as it rose against her hooves from the writhing body of the small monster, its tail lashing wildy behind it scratching up the floor and wreckage around them. Applejack pushed off and brought her hooves down again, a web of cracks in tile ran from under her. Panting she backed off, falling back on her haunches and stared at what she had killed. Killed. A word she wouldn’t think of describing any action she would do.

The cold black steam stopped rising as the white glow from the monsters mouth faded with its life. A puddle of blood eerily close to oil when lit by the starlight grew steadily around it. She rubbed her right ear to soothe the now pulsating pain lost in thought. What was that creature? Why is it so dark in the afternoon? Why does everything look decades old? Where was she? That was the biggest question. She rose to her hooves and slowly approached the kitchen window. It was definitely Ponyville, but it wasn’t hers.

Houses and shops that she frequently passed by were collapsed or damaged in unnatural ways. The night wasn’t normal, as if it was the night of nights. Her breath created wisps in the chilling air, only now after the sudden rush of a fight that she felt it on her body. Above all were the shadows. They moved when she wasn’t looking, barely catching them in the edge of her vision.

“Okay, AJ. This ain’t no dream,” she muttered to herself. She tried to think about what could have caused this. Nothing was different today other than finding that mysterious box and object. She paced back and forth in her mind before it clicked. Of course! A weird looking object that came from a just as weird box that was also probably magical? Obviously her problem right there. She reached back into to her mane only to feel the spot that was stabbed by something. She searched diligently in her long ponytailed mane to find nothing.

How could there be nothing? Applejack froze in a wide-eyed stare around her. She was trapped here. The world began to spin and her head throbbed in ache as the realization hit her. “Wait... one... second,” she said in gasps. She collapsed to the floor with a loud thud. Her body felt like it was overheating in the cold night air, quite literally. Wisps of black steam similar to what came off the creature earlier that was dead opposite her rose from her body.

‘This is bad, extremely bad!’ Applejack crawled slowly to the nearby pantry. Staying out in the open was the easiest way to die. She couldn’t let any monsters see her now, her mind swimming with her vision as she inched into the pantry beneath the lowest shelf. Her breath was coming in short gasps as the white of hot air mixed with cold black steam flowing up from across her whole body. She tried to pull the pantry door shut, and succeeded on her third try.

Darkness filled everything. It felt like a furnace atop a mountain as her mind created images in the black. Her eyes squeezed shut as pain wracked her whole body. It took all her willpower not to scream. Another surge, this time worse in her head as she felt hot liquid flow down from her right ear. She was so tired. Her mind quieting, the sounds of outside the pantry silenced. A muffled cry and a tear streaked down her face before sleep took her. ‘I don’t want to be alone...’

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Her eyes opened slowly as light streamed in from the window. With a groan she turned over and asked the sun for five more minutes. Seconds passed before she sat up in a rush. She held her hoof out in front of her, admiring the way the sun glistened off her coat. Her bed was a mess, a sign that she was tossing and turning all night long in a fit. She ran a hoof over the back of her neck and felt no wound. Her vision blurred as tears streamed down her face.

“It was all a dream?” whispered Applejack to her empty room. She laughed sadly to herself before wiping her eyes. Of course it was a dream. Wrong, it was a nightmare. She hadn’t had nightmares since she was a foal, they stopped after her parents... She shook her head.

“You kids get down here for breakfast!” Granny Smith called from below. Hoofsteps both slow and strong alongside light and noisy came from the stairs heading down. Applejack smiled as she pulled herself out of bed, put on her brown stetson, and headed down for food. Now that it was on her mind her stomach roared to be filled. When she entered the dining room Big Mac and Applebloom were already seated with flapjacks in front of them.

“Sit down, missy. We’re waitin’ on ya.” Applejack smiled as she enjoyed the company of her family. That nightmare had gotten to her. She pulled out her chair and sat down as Granny Smith plopped down a stack of pancakes, buttered with syrup and ready for eating. She looked to her family as they all held their heads down in respect, her quickly joining them.

Granny smith cleared her throat and recited, “Let us give our thanks to Celestia for her sun, to without there would be no light. To Luna for her night, to without there would be no rest. We give our thanks to nature, to without there would be no life. To our family, to without we would have none to share.” A moment of silence passed. “Now eat up, ya young uns. We got a busy day ahead of us!”

The Apple family began to devour their breakfast eagerly. A frenzy across the table as they conversed with half-full mouths while being scolded by their elder who was in a similar situation. Applejack’s mood changed for the better, that nightmare pushed back in her mind. Breakfast finished as quickly as it started, the dishes washed and put up. Applebloom was about to head off to school when Applejack gave her a hug.

“Uh, sis? I’m gonna be late,” she choked out in Applejack’s bear hug. Applejack chuckled as she released Applebloom. A scream of pure terror sounded out. She looked around to where it came from but found none. It rang out again, this time she saw it rather than heard. Applebloom’s frightened eyes looked into hers as her sister backed away in a panic.

“Applebloom?” she asked. What had scared her sister so much? She reached out a hoof to calm her only to see a black claw. A claw shaped like a scythe. Her yell joined her sister’s as Applebloom ran across the room. The sunlight from outside disappeared suddenly. Applejack’s world grew around her. She saw Big Mac run in from the kitchen, his eyes widened before steeling themselves in a scowl. “Big Mac, what’s goin’ on?” she meant to ask, but all that came out was a horrible high-pitched screech.

Her brother dashed as fast as he could between Applejack and his littlest sister, all the while yelling at her. She couldn’t understand, the screech was too loud. She tried to go to them, but a hoof met her face. She held up her hooves to block, the claws tearing as the red stallions body. She screamed for him to stop while trying to do the same, but nothing happened. Blows were exchanged, blood was scattered. Why was this happening? Big Mac looked down fiercely and raised on his hind legs.

“Macintosh!” she yelled, hearing her own voice before the hooves swallowed her vision.

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Applejack opened her eyes to nothing but darkness. She closed them and couldn’t tell the difference. A flush of hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She wondered which was truly the nightmare, the dream or reality. She wiped her eyes and pushed her sadness to a corner of her mind. Self-pity would get her nowhere. How long did she sleep? Her body was still in pain, her muscles sore from being cramped when she passed out.

Crunch. Schlrrrpt. Crunch.

Her ears perked to the sounds coming from the other side of the door. She noticed her breathing was ragged and loud and immediately switched to long, slow breaths. The noises were dulled through the door, but weren’t close. With a held breath Applejack slid the pantry door open as quietly as she could, pausing when she sensed it would creak. Light poured into her hiding spot through the small gap, it being as open as she dared.

Applejack squinted from the sudden light, it being brighter than she remembered. She slowly shifted her scrunched up body to a position where she could see out the gap. Two small black creatures identical to the one she had killed earlier sat around its corpse. She focused harder, her vision blurry from what she suspected a terrible fever. The beasts were eating the dead body. Their whip-like tails wagging in obvious delight at a meal, the light emitted from their mouths vanishing every so often, blocked by a piece of dead carapace. One leaned to the ground and acted like it was drinking. Applejack gagged, repressing the urge to vomit at the sight. It was drinking its black blood,

She must’ve been out for a long while as they were just finishing up their dinner. Frozen in suspense and fright Applejack watched them continue until nothing was left but a shadow on the floor, it looked the same as one of the monsters. Her mind blanked at this impossibility as there was nothing casting it. The two creatures turned to each other, one emitting a quiet screech of different pitches before raising a claw.

‘What?’ was all she thought. The shadow was cut in two halves. Both of the monsters each took a piece and added it to their own shadow. She quietly shut the door and hid there shivering in terror. They grew. They both grew slightly larger.. She held her hooves over her mouth as she retched. She was scared, her whole body and mind was in pain, and trapped for all she knew in a world of demons. Tears continued to flow despite her will to suppress them.

Sounds from the other side. Applejack looked towards the door. She waited. And waited. The sounds had stopped, but she continued to wait. She had started counting several times in her head, losing track each time as she continued. Her stomach hurt from hunger and growled for food. She held her gut to try and quiet it to no avail. Soon her eyes closed and she continued waiting until fatigue took her.

Her eyes shot open. She didn’t remember drifting off to sleep, so maybe it hadn’t been long. She held her breath and listened for anything other than her racing heartbeat. After hearing nothing she slowly slid the door open to peek out. The kitchen was still a mess of ruin and darkness, although there was no sign of anything else. Pulling the door all the way open, Applejack crawled out to open space. It was still, no signs of anything other than herself being here. She stretched fiercely, joints cracked and muscles stretched in pain. She shook it all off as her stomach growled loudly this time.

She glanced around and saw no signs of a threat. A small sigh escaped her as she turned back to the pantry. She took a few cans off the shelves that were poptop, the labels faded past deciphering. Sitting on the ground with cans at hoof she carefully opened the first one, or tried to. The tab broke off as soon as she lifted it upwards. Swearing curses that nopony would ever hear, she looked around at the many cabinets and drawers. Knowing Twilight, she would probably have multiple can-openers. That mare was prepared for everything.

It took a couple minutes of searching and good guesses, and indeed there was a worn drawer at the end of the room that was full of assorted openers that included a few of the can variety. A small smile has her success, and she was truly opening her first can. As soon as the seal broke the smell hit her in a wave. It was a can of brown beans that smelled something awful, though not rotten. Applejack’s gut roared in hunger as she unceremoniously lifted the can up and scarfed it down, head tilted back. It tasted better than it smelled for sure, the can’s seal doing its job well.

Her body satiated for the time being, Applejack wandered carefully back into the main room of the library. The light seemed to be better now than it was when she suddenly appeared here, many things more noticeable. She climbed the stairs as silently as she could to Twilight’s bedroom in hope of finding anything. Applejack didn’t know how she arrived here, or how to leave. She also had no supplies to survive until she did find a way, so she counted herself lucky that she found herself here of all places. If anypony was prepared for the end of the world, it would’ve been Twilight Sparkle.