Fractured Apple

Chapter Five: A Split Decision

The drum beats sounded quietly from above, the source far away from Applejack. She looked out the window for any signs of the sound, her eyes searching the skies. Only the a few sparse clouds were high above other than the expanse of the night sky with its stars and shattered moon. She shivered from the cold and pulled the curtain tighter around herself. The painkillers had come into full effect, the pains of the many wounds dulled to a tolerable level and the ache of her muscles numbed.

Soon the quick drum beats disappeared leaving only the low howl of the wind outside to fill the air. Applejack read through a couple more journal entries, their contents mostly about Twilight setting up her lab. She had deemed it fit to install a safe room in her basement to experiment and contain any mishaps that would no doubt occur. Much of what was written Applejack could understand, save a few long scientific words or when Twilight started rambling about an idea.

An hour passed quickly; Applejack wasn’t the fastest reader. She flipped past another page of calculations and diagrams and started on the next entry. The occasional page that wasn’t a journal entry did spark an interest, but she didn’t understand any of it.

Journal Entry #006

08 / 01 / 1007

Just The Beginning,

Success! After a half dozen tries I have succeeded in replicating the results of the demonstration shown at the Expo on picking up a shadow. It is truly fascinating on how such a thing could occur. In history there have been very few unicorns whose magic specialty has been shadows, but as far as books go there was no recorded spell to make a shadow into a third-dimensional object.

An interesting note is that the shadow I have successfully raised from a projection of light has become permanently so. I am as of yet not sure if this is the result of residual magic that was used in the experiment, or now simply a fact of its being. I have contained it in a secure chamber within the safe room.

The shadow is small, as I did not want to have something too large to start with, and in an amorphous shape. It is close to a black putty that always shifts to never retain a permanent form. It disturbs me that it does this, tomorrow I think I’ll check for any vital signs. It seems to be alive in the way it moves, but it is just a shadow, right? In any—

She stopped reading, confused as the starlight had suddenly disappeared. Applejack was so engrossed in the journal that she didn’t hear the drum beats return. She looked up out the window to see a enormous shadow cast over her, the sky blocked by an very large bird. She squinted to see it in the darkness; the bird was extremely high in the air.

The two massive wings, double the length of its large body, were beating what sounded like a couple dozen times per second as she couldn’t see anything but the blur of the wings. It flew over the town of Ponyville casting its shadow as it flew. In moments the starlight returned as Applejack watched the bird disappear behind her line of sight.  She released a held breath before returning to the journal. The constant beat of wings stayed in the background.

— case I have it contained and will continue tomorrow. Spike has been a great help of the last few days, easily carrying the equipment I needed down to the basement. I really should do something to show how much I appreciate him. I wonder what he would like... guess I will have to subtly ask him. Oh, this is a great time to record what the mind of a teen dragon desires!

Transcribing in the bedroom with fulfilled results

“Hay, Ah sure hope the end of the world ain’t Twilight’s fault,” muttered Applejack. She knew Twilight was a good scientist and would never intentionally harm anypony, but she had a bad streak of becoming enthusiastic about things much like what happened with the Pinkie Sense.

Her stomach growled in hunger, although it had only been a couple hours she didn’t eat that much earlier. She sat up and pulled the satchel around to her front, shivering as the cold air filled the gaps that the curtain now hung loose at. After gently putting away the journal and pulling out a can and its opener, the light went out again.

Applejack looked out the window again; the large bird was a lot closer than last time. The steady beats never left the background, rising or falling with distance. It flew out in the distance and circled around as she watched and began opening the can. She crouched when it looked like the bird was flying toward Sugarcube Corner.  It sped across Ponyville toward her as she watched thinking it was impossible that it would be after her.

She stopped opening the can and ducked as low as she could to peek over the windowsill. It flew right over her building; she swore that a large glowing eye stared right at her as it passed. Her mind yelled at her to move, that she wasn’t safe. She grabbed the can of food and dashed behind the bathtub in the center of the room. The curtain fell to the floor behind her as she peered over the edge of the tub out the window and waited.

The sound of wings still in the air grew louder before disappearing altogether. The silence was deafening causing Applejack to tense up. Her body argued in response as she prepared to run. If she had to learn anything about these sort of creatures it was that they were smart in a deceiving way.

Her breath came in heavy gasps as she became panicked. Minutes had passed and still nothing but silence and wind. Was it her imagination that it had seen her? She dared not to make a sound. Her stomach rumbled, and with a sigh picked up the can. A thought bloomed in her head as she looked at the can. With a not-so-subtle toss it hit under the window and landed loudly on the floor.

The window shattered sending glass everywhere as two large black talons ripped through the bottom of the wall where the can was. The heavy yet rapid beat of wings roared beneath her; the bird creature rose to meet her eye to eye. Its body was similar to a hummingbird, but that was where it ended. Two huge dragon wings beat so fast they were a blur keeping itself aloft. Its head was that of a hummingbird, with a large thin beak and two eye sockets with brightly glowing white lights where its eyes would be.

Applejack screamed and bolted for the door. She hastily opened it and ran down the hallway, her body screaming through the painkillers for her to stop. A beak pierced through the wall right in front of her, Applejack jumping over it. A talon ripped off the roof above her as she ran down the stairs to the first floor. She had no idea where to go, trapped in this building with a flying predator trying to find her.

As stood in middle of the large dining area looking around for a solution the roof caved in behind her, the bird dragon monster crashing down through with it. It shook off the debris and quickly found its target. Applejack’s eyes met its as hers widened in terror. She ran and jumped against the front door as a beak smashed where she was, piercing into the ground with ease. The door broke against her weight; Applejack rolled across the ground outside before rising back to her hooves. She felt splinters and cuts through the numbing of the medicine, her brain receiving so many signals of body parts hurting.

She looked ahead down the street that led back to the library and shuddered before turning to the right and running down the street. Wing beats filled the air behind her, a glance back showed the enormous bird flying out the hole in the roof it made and heading swiftly after her. Applejack pumped her legs for everything she got as she ran down the street. Her hooves pounded away on the dirt, the chill of the wind rushing against her.

After she rounded the next corner cutting between a street lamp and a building a loud clang with the clatter of rubble followed just seconds behind her. The wind whistled quietly in her ears as she dashed into the nearest building. She took in her surrounds while breathing heavily and quickly recognized this as the Ponyville Post Office.

The talons of a foot pierced around the front door, ripped it out, and tossed it into the street. Applejack dashed around the counter to the back room and found an exit, the door have fallen down long ago. She glanced behind her to see a beak tear through the wall, the monster having no problems wrecking through the decrepit buildings to get to her. She ran outside and through the alleys as the wind’s whistle picked up.

Applejack arrived at the end of the alley, glanced left and right as the sounds of the post office collapsing in destruction came from behind her. The shadows moved in the darkness down the right path, so she took off to the left trusting in what she saw.  She breathed in quick gasps, her body reaching its limit. Applejack could feel her wounds open further and her fur become damp.

The forlorn town of Ponyville raced past her as she ran through its streets. The beat of drums echoed through the air and began to follow her. As she rounded another corner shadows enveloped her area before something smashed against her side. She heard her ribs make horrible sounds as she flew through the air and through a nearby wall landing inside. The brown stetson that had loyally stayed atop Applejack’s head floated down a little ways from her.

She fought back tears and, through all the pain, got up. She walked over to her hat, picked it up, and put it back in its rightful place. The bird creature broke down the wall with nonchalance and stared at Applejack. Applejack smiled as the wind whistled loudly in her ears.

“Heh, don’t think that Ah’ll just let you have me.” Applejack coughed, blood spraying on the ground. “This mare don’t go down without a fight.” She knew it was crazy, that all few instincts told her to run until she dropped. It was as big as that ursa minor that showed up a while back. The monster bird merely took a step forward, and gripped the ground hard enough to tear it up.

With a yell Applejack charged the bird, almost tripping over herself. The bird stepped back and thrust its beak at its charging foe. Her vision blurred and she swayed to the left, luckily dodging the beak that pierced the floorboards. Applejack dashed under it between its black scaly legs as it missed her with a talon by seconds. She halted behind it, tensed up her muscles and let out a buck that would fell a tree. It hit at the ankle of the bird’s left foot with a sickly crunch.

It roared its head upwards, beak open, but let out no sound. It swiftly turned to take Applejack, its eyes glowing bright with anger. The kick had caused obvious damage; the scales were cracked and broken with a black oily blood seeping out of the wound. It returned a kick with its damage talon, a toe slamming into Applejack sending her tumbling down the street.

The edges of her vision blackened as her body surrendered to her many injuries. With a chuckle she watched the bird walk up to her and stare at her. The wind whistled so loud it deafened all other sounds. Applejack weakly held a forehoof if front her as she looked up to the star filled night sky. The fur rustled in only a slight breeze. She turned to see the bird rear back its head. Applejack smiled; she had tried her hardest to survive. The beak surged forward, her eyes closed, and the world went silent.