Rotten

It was apple-bucking season again, and Applejack learned from last time so all her friends helped her.

"HEY AJ!" Rainbowdash called.

"YEAH?" Applebloom had kicked over a barrel full of apples and Applejack was helping pick them up.

"I FOUND SOMETHING STRANGE!" Rainbowdash seemed a little worried, but not much. "COME OVER. QUICK!"

Applejack dashed over to where the 'strange thing' was. When she reached the place, Rainbowdash was pointing to a few trees full of this weird looking fruit. It's shape was like a thin apple, and it's skin was lavendar.

"Ah'll try it first, make sure it's not rotten." Whispered AJ. She was a bit worried, she had never seen anything like this before. "If it's good, we can sell it at the carnival tomorra."

That night, she shuffled under the covers and picked up the weird fruit. She bit into it, it's inside was more of a maroon color. Weird. But the taste was sensational, she ate the rest. She would definantly make muffins out of these.

So, she went downstairs to tell her family the big news. They were very excited and said they would bake them in the morning.

Applejack went and crawled into bed, she dreamt they gathered enough money to fix the rusty old barn and replace Granny Smith's rusty old hip.

She woke up feeling bright as can be, she quickly brushed her hair and put it up. Then she went to take a quick shower, as she washed her face she felt this pain. Did she have a toothache? As she exited the shower and dryed her mane out, she looked into the mirror.

"OH DEAR CELESTIA!!" Applejack screamed. Her face was sunken in and bruised to the bone. She looked as if she'd been bleeding the whole night. Her eyes were droopy and looked as if they could fall out any second. You could look at her cheeks and see her teeth marking her skin. If anypony saw her like this, they would scream 'bloody murder'. "Oh mah gosh! Mah body's churning all over! Is this internal bleedin'? No. Ah'm rottin' from the inside! Am ah decomposing?"

Applejack took a step back then realized what was happening to her, the fruit she ate yesterday was DEFINITELY rotten! It caused your body to rot from inside to out.

"Wait, those muffins. They're headin' to the carnival! A-Ah've got to tell the family!" Quickly, Applejack used all her energy to get her to the carnival on time. But when she reached there, it was too late.

They were handing out muffins already, it would only be a night and everypony would start to rot from the inside. Applejack ran over to the muffin stand. "YOU HAVE GOT TO STOP SELLIN' THOSE!" She shouted at Big Mac as his jaw dropped at the sight of her. She looked as if she hadn't eaten in weeks! "YOU SEE ME?! That-THAT FRUIT, DID THIS!"

Everypony at the carnival was staring and gaping at Applejack. "DON'T EAT THESE!" She screamed. "THEY DO THIS!" Her hoof pointed to all the wounds on her body.

Pinkie was right at the stand, she had just finished hers. "Aw, DARN! This had no extra SUGAR!" Applejack eyed her. "Pinkie, NOWS NOT the time for making jokes!" Applejack had tears forming in her eyes, she didn't like to think of her best friend ending up like herself.

"Has ANYPONY ELSE bought one and eaten one?!" Everypony raised their hooves. Applejack thought Ponyville was doomed. Even the NURSES had eaten one! Applejack fainted.

When Applejack woke up, a day had already past. She was horrified. Her body started to feel lighter, and one of her eyes looked like it completely inside the socket. The socket itself was crying a mass of blood. "Oh no! Hopefully only Pinkie of all my friends ate one!" Frightened, she rushed to Twilight's house.

"TWI! Are you alright?" Applejack barged into the treehouse to see a sad, normal Twilight. Seeing her friend was okay, she sighed with relief. But soon that relief washed away, she saw that Twilight was softly crying.

"Hey. What's wrong sugarcube?" Applejack calmly asked.

Twilight looked at the horror Applejack was facing and sobbed some more. Applejack tried to comfort her, and soon Twilight wiped her eyes and spoke. "Everypony, every one of our friends ate one. Even yourself... I know what they are. They cause the body to rot and decompose from the inside. It takes a week for a pony to die from it. It's called a Everia." One more tear rolled down her cheek and Applejack wiped it off her cheek.

"It's ok. I-I didn't know what it was. It tasted sweet, but the next day I looked like I was already dead..." She cried a tear herself, then grew some confidence. "How about we go check on our friends..."

Twilight at first was horrified, but then decided to go along with Applejack. AJ knew it was hard for Twilight to go, she didn't force her. "Are ya sure ya want to go?" Asked Applejack. Twilight nodded. "I want to."

As they headed toward Rarity's, a bird shot down from the sky. It looked torn up, and hungry! The bird stole a piece of skin from Twilight's head, causing her to bleed a bit. "I-I'm fine, let's go on." Applejack thought the animals must've been eating off of some of the muffins. They were getting it worse than ponies since they were so little.

As they approached Rarity's boutique they heard a piercing scream. "NOOOOOOO!!"

"That sounds like Rarity!" Applejack and Twilight ran into the boutique. To find Rarity screaming at her reflection.

Her mane was torn away from her head, her horn looked chipped and her hooves had somehow seperated from her knees. Showing muscle and bone being torn apart. "Rarity!" Twilight screamed. Rarity looked over to her friends, then keeled over and fainted.

Twilight and Applejack trotted over to their friend. Rarity's eyelashes looked as if they were torn from her eyelid.

"Rarity, I'm so sorry..." Twilight started to cry again, but saw Applejack's reassuring smile and smiled back. "L-Let's go to Rainbow's..."

Onnce they got to Rainbowdash's, they saw a mangled body hanging on a sharp-edged fence. A letter lay beside the decaying body.

Whoever may find this,

I've decided to quit.

Seeing me like this is just too horrifying to explain.

The Wonderbolts would never except me now.

I look like a loser,

like I've been beat.

I'll never be equal to them.

So why should I live.

I've decided to leave,

and to find a better place.

Whoever may find this,

I wish you don't end up like THIS.

A picture of her face was on the bottom, she looked like her face had been ripped off by force. Muscles and bones showing to the very brim. Scootaloo was spotted at the end of the gate crying. Applejack and Twilight slowly walked over to her.

Scootaloo banged her face on the gate a few times, leaving bruises on her forehead. "Why, why, WHY?!" Her wings looked torn off, only leaving the bones that once held them onto her back. Her tears were blood red. Like she was crying her own blood.

"Scootaloo." Twilight calmly said kneeling down to Scootaloo. Scootaloo's face was covered in blood tears. "T-Twilight?" She jumped up and hugged Twilight. "R-Rainbowdash...sh-she......!" Twilight shushed Scootaloo like a mother would to her baby. "I know, I know..."

Scootaloo gazed up at Twilight, her violet eyes soaked with bloody tears.

"Hey Scoots." Twilight started.

"Yeah..."

"Would you like me to be your mother..."

Scootaloo had a look of shock and thanks. "OH TWILIGHT!  THANK YOU!" She hugged Twilight with more affection.

Twilight laughed a small laugh. "Your Welcome...."

As the three headed towards Sugar Cuube Corner, Scootaloo stuck by Twilight's side.

"Hey Twi, look." Applejack pointed towards the window. Mrs. Cake was looking at them through the window. Mrs. Cake walked out towards them.

"Oh Hi girls!" She nor Mr. Cake were affected by the Everia muffins because they were too busy with their own sweets stand. "Umm... I have some bad news."

Twilight and Applejack traded worried glances.

"...It's Pinkie..."

Applejack whispered something in Twilight's ear and Twilight nodded. "Scootaloo, can you stay with Mrs. Cake until I come back?" Scootaloo looked worried, but nodded.

Mrs. Cake told them Pinkie was upstairs in her bedroom.

The two dashed upstairs, when they reached Pinkie's bedroom, they heard a low and painful moan. Slowly, they opened the door. To find a horrifying Pinkiepie. Her heart was hanging out of a hole where her chest is. As if someone tried to rip it out but didn't finish. Her bottom jaw was torn off, you could see it on the ground. As if it had just dropped off not too long ago. Her left ear was missing, leaving a bloody mess. And her back legs looked like they had blown up!

"Twahliht, Ahpljahk....." Pinkie managed to sputter out, as if saying their names.

Twilight look like she was going to throw up, Pinkie looked as if she was killed in the war, then murdered again.

Pinkie tried to stand up, but fell on her face. Twilight and Applejack placed her on her bed to rest. "Pinkie yall need some rest...." Applejack said, she looked like she needed it herself, her eyelids were drooped.

"Huhlp...meh...." Pinkie tried to say 'help me', spitting out blood as she did. The girls understood her but, there was nothing they could do. There was no cure. And if there was, it would've already been to late.

The girls went to leave. Twilight looked back. "Sorry, Pinkie.." A tear leaving her eye.

As they saw Scootaloo and Mrs. Cake outside, they knew Scootaloo heard a little about it. "T-Twilight.." Cried Scootaloo, blood leaking out of her eyes once more. "I heard Pinkie was seriously hurt...is she going to be ok?"

Twilight leaned down and kissed Scootaloo on the forehead. "I don't gurantee, but hopefully she'll be alright..."

Scootaloo let out a small smile, and  wiped her blood tears away. "Good."

A rabbit herd hopped toward them as they walked toward Fluttershy's house. They looked rabid. Once again, hungry. Applejack quickly placed Scootaloo on Twilight's back. "Run to Fluttershy! I'll hold em' off!" Twilight took off to Fluttershy's home, leaving AJ behind.

Entering the cabin was tough, a swarm of hummingbirds flew out and nipped at Twilight until she swiped them away.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight called, wa.lking into the kitchen.

"In here Twilight!" Called the soft, high-pitched voice from the living room.

Twilight dashed into the living room with Scootaloo. "Oh dear Celestia..."

Fluttershy had bite marks everywhere, they bit part of her right ear off. And ate her whole right eye. The huge empty socket was bleeding unstoppable. Most of her hair had been chewed off. And her hooves looked like a changeling's. She was being eaten alive.

"I bought some muffins a-and gave then all to my a-animals. Today they went crazy and started eating me bit-by-bit....." She let out a long, deep cry. "H-HELP ME TWILIGHT!!"

Twilight cried a laid down next to Fluttershy. "I-I'm sorry, there's no cure....I looked it up...!" Scootaloo ended up crying her bloodied tears.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy....I'm sorry.....I-I'm sorry........"

Twilight embraced both Fluttershy and Scootaloo, knowing they both wouldn't make it. ".....I'm sorry....."