Twisted

CHAPTER FIVE

Applejack knew she just couldn't outright say no. Her sister had such good intentions, and it was clear how much she had grew up. But AJ had been to caught up in farm duties to notice. She listened intently and gazed up to the house. It really did look awful. Applejack was still very much shakey but things were starting to die down.

"Aw, hey. Ah had no idea bout all them things you've been up to. The school and your inventions." Applejack kicked at the dirt with her front left hoof. She had just been hit by a sudden wall of self realization. "Well shoot. Maybe Ah have been so busy tryin' t' be a one-pony work machine.Tell ya what, we're gonna do what'cha said. BUT, on a trahl run. First sahn'uh trouble or danger an' you're out!"

With that she ruffled Applebloom's mane with her hoof and smiled. "It'll be jus' lahk the good ol' days."

This conversation had sparked something in Applejack. Her sister's drive to accomplish this was something quite amazing. Applejack missed her friends a great deal. Maybe she should take a page of Apple Bloom's book and try to make a difference. Though, this would have to wait. Rarity seemed to be on site and looking for her.

"What in tarnation, Rarity? Apple Bloom, go on an' sort out what ya gotta do. Ah'll be back soon."

Apple Bloom's face seemed to glow as her older sister gave her the 'blessing'.

"Ah'll do mah best, big sis!" she cheerfully responded, turning away to look for a cart. A part of her wanted to stay by her sister's side to make sure Rarity minded her manners, but she knew Applejack. Even in her current condition, she could take care of herself. She also wondered if Sweetie Belle would be tagging along with her as well. Still, she had work to do!

The apples weren't gonna buck themselves!

As she started her manual labour, Apple Bloom thought back to her former friends. Much to her chagrin, Apple Bloom was the last of the "Cutie Mark Crusaders" to get her cutie mark. Scootaloo was the first, who gained hers after she finally learned how to fly and gained the respect of her hero Rainbow Dash. Sweetie Belle gained hers during a Hearths Warming Eve concert she was part of. While she was part of the school's choir group, the little unicorn's solo song drove even the hardiest of hearts in the crowd to tears. Sweetie Bell was rather delighted to see a cutie mark waiting for her after she took off her choir robe. It wasn't until a year later when Apple Bloom got hers. She was always really good with tools and had developed a near unicorn-like way to study and analyze buildings or projects as she worked on them. Starting with the old tree house, every building from outhouse to temple were solid examples of architectural genius. She finally received he mark after gaining the top Canterlot honors in home design under the filly and colt's division. The second she noticed the mark, she could only say "ABOUT GOSH-DAMN TIME!". She just wish she wasn't so close to an microphone when she did it.

"Aha!" she caught sight of an old apple cart as she got closer to the field. While pulling the cart, she took note of the apple trees. She was not as strong as her big sister, but she knew each of the tree's 'sweet spots'. If she kicked them in the right spot, she could get as many apples into the cart as possible without harming the tree itself.

"Tahm t' get t' work!" she shouted, pulling the cart up to the first tree.

Sweetie Belle wandered after a trail of small horse-shoes belonging to Rarity. She was bored, and yet still concerned for her sister's well-being. The filly trotted quickly across town, and unfortunately the trail led back to Rainbow Dash's. She sprinted away as fast as she could, wanting to escape the memories of earlier that day. She was soon at Sweet Apple Acres, which was undoubtedly a better place to be. She never really had a falling out with Apple Bloom...they just grew apart. She only had fond memories of Applejack too, a pony who treated her like a sister when she needed family the most. She ran head first into the orchard, dashing straight into Apple Bloom.

"Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom asked in slight disbelief. She looked far worse than she did the last time she saw the unicorn. She appeared to have been bleeding. It wasn't from the apple tree accident, as the blood was dried and matted to her fur. The pale earth pony hated to see her like this, and she knew that she could not ignore her problems any further.

"Sweetie, are ya alraht?" she already knew the answer to her own question, but that was the only thing she could think to ask at the moment. "Ah need t' take this full cart back t' the farm. If ya want, we can mosey over t' the house an' have somethin' t' eat. Ya look like ya haven't had a good meal in ages!" she smiled warmly as she walked closer to the unicorn, "We kin talk 'bout things. It's been so long since we shared more than a few words!"

Sweetie Belle nodded, deciding that it would've been better than sitting in her room doing nothing.

"Alright..." she said, relieved that at least one old friend wasn't attacking her. Apple Bloom slowly pulled her cart.

"So, er, how are things?" she tried not to stare at the unicorn. While she did not look as bad as Rarity did, she still looked pretty rough. "Ah always thought ya would've left Ponyville t' travel the world bah now. You've got a great gift there, Sweetie Belle. Ah seen what yer music could do t' ponies, an' considerin' all the bad things that've happened lately we sure could use some of that! Ah bin so wrapped up in mah own lil' word, Ah din't really see how bad things have gotten 'til rather recently. But Ah aim t' change things! First Ah'm gonna help my big sis take care of the farm, an' then we're gonna help the others. Maybe starting with your sister. Ah still chat with Zecora from time to time, so Ah'm sure she could whip up a potion to fix whatever's ailin' Rarity. Then we kin help the others, an' soon everythin' will be back like it used to!"

Sweetie Belle smiled at the compliments, and the thought of everyone getting better. Wouldn't that be wonderful.

"That'd be very nice." she said, the simple thought of Rarity being back to her old self enough to make her feel better. "I just don't know what's wrong with my sis, Apple Bloom. She wont eat, she doesn't sleep, she's always cold.." her ears drooped a bit and her smile faded completely, the joy replaced with pain. "A-and she just...won't listen to me."

Rarity was feeling fat that day and time to burn some calories, she thought to herself! Working on that stinky old farm seemed to be a good way to do that.

"Hello, Applejack!" she greeted. She knew her friends were trying to stop her from being thin, so she had to lie about her motives. "You want some help with Applebucking? I only ask that I can take some apples myself. There aren't any good ones in the market anymore. I'm, uh, *hack* making a big meal for me and Sweetie Belle tonight." she said, unconvincingly, "And I, uh, need some apples. I though it would be healthier if I got some myself."

Applejack wasn't happy about what she had to say. But if anypony was going to say it. It would have to be her. She sighed and began to speak.

"Rarity...it's good t' seeya and' all that. But ya ain't foolin' nopony. Ah gotta feelin' Ah already know the answer, but ya should really actually eat whatever ya plan on cookin' up."

Applejack really wasn't sure what to expect, but she knew one thing. Rarity still saw everyone as friends, she had just...changed. What Apple Bloom had previously said to her still resonated in her head. She had to do something and now was her chance.

Apple Bloom quickly deposited the apples in their storage and lead Sweetie Belle into the family house's kitchen, where she started on breakfast.

"Ah bin thinkin' 'bout a few things." While the oatmeal was cooking, she took a moment to get out a lightly dampened cloth, which she used to clean up her old friend's wounds. "Hold still a second. This is Granny's recipe. Aloe vera an' a few other things. Should clean yer wounds an' make ya feel a ton better. Anywho, Ah was thinking, way back when we were tryin' to set up Miss Cheerilee with Big Mac we borrowed that love poison book from Twahlaht. She also wanted us t' read her 'Elements of Harmony' book at the tahm. Not sure wah she suggested it, but Ah ended up readin' it a few days later. There was some strange stuff involved. Said before our sisters and the others took over the 'Elements' no mortal ponies ever handled it before. Just real powerful ones lahk Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Ah just wonder if the power has binn doin' strange things to the others."

She quickly cantered over to the oven and started to sir the oatmeal, "Either that, or maybe this has to do with Twahlaht. She always struck me as rather odd at tahmes, like when she freaked out a few years ago when she thought she had t' fix a 'friendship problem' before sundown an' ended up killin' our ball an' scarin' us silly. Scoots had nightmares for weeks after that. Even odder was when Ah saw that weird Mail Pony...you know, the one that Rainbow Dash hit so hard it made her ahes go funny? I saw her drop an honest-to-goddess piano on Twah an' it din't do anythin' but mess up her mane a little."

She turned off the stove-top and poured the oatmeal into two bowls. "And you remember how NORMAL Ponyville was before Twah moved here? We never had problems with no monsters or anythin'. We jus' went t' school and our folks went to work and things were fahn. Ya got any ideas?" she placed the bowls on the table, "An' do ya want coffee, orange juice or both?"

"Coffee." Sweetie Belle said, thinking about what Apple Bloom had mentioned about Twilight and the Elements of Harmony. The oatmeal smelled amazing, and the feeling of having clean wounds felt so different. Sweetie always just let herself bleed, her blood usually matted to her fur and stuck to her scars, giving her a rather horrific appearance to the ponies in Ponyville.

"Well, Twilight is a bit...weird." Sweetie said, looking into her oatmeal, "It was kinda quieter without her."

Apple Bloom couldn't help but gasp as she got a better look at the nasty scars that were under her old friend's coat.

"W-who did this to ya?!" she traced what appeared to be a pattern of scratches and old cuts that were on the unicorn's stomach. "Let me, just," she quickly threw the coffee pot and and stirred the oatmeal once more. "Just stay put for a second!" Apple Bloom ducked her head into a cabinet and pulled out several long cloth bandages. Growing up on a farm, it was necessary that everypony who lived and worked on Sweet Apple Acres was trained in first aid. The earth pony also learned a great deal about certain healing herbs and salves from her old friend Zecroa who lived in the Everfree forest.

"Thank Celestia most of yer wounds an' scars are jus' drahd skin that hasn't healed or been cleaned properly, but these special bandages," she tore off a strand and quickly tied one around Sweetie Belle's midsection, "should do the trick. They're special. Ah'll keep an eye on ya an' make sure we change yer bandages. Within a week you should be turning stallions heads an' makin' their hearts go pitter-patter lahk ya used t'!" a few more bandages later the young pony could only smile. "Remahnds me when we used to play doctor back in the clubhouse."

Poor Featherweight looked more like a mummy that she did, but he at least got a little kiss from Scootaloo. Apple Bloom tried to keep that smile on her face and tried even harder to keep the tears from flowing. She had abandoned her friends and this wasn't the first time she did such a thing. Back when she was younger she barely spoke to her foal-friend Twist after she got her cutie mark. And she she ditched both Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell when things got a little too 'inconvenient' for her. But things were changing! She swore she would never do it again. Her special talent was at fixing things, so she made sure 'friendships' was placed high on her list.

Both the coffee and oatmeal were finished nearly moments after the unicorn was wrapped in a few bandages. The young pony was able to move freely and she could feel the special bandages work their earth pony and zebra magic on her wounds. She was starting to feel rather better. Apple Bloom helped her friend onto a chair and poured her both her oatmeal and coffee.

"Could ya tell me what's goin' on with you and Rare? Did she do this to you, or was-", she stopped, sighed and ran a hoof through her mane, nearly knocking off her bandana. "Ah swear from now on Sweetie Bell, nopony will ever hurt ya again. You, Scoots and all of our friends. Ah'm gonna make things all right again." She poured a cup of coffee for herself, "Jus' tell me what ya feel comfortable tellin' me. Ah won't judge you, you're mah friend."

Sweetie Belle smiled a bit. "Thanks, Apple Bloom, but..." she shook her head slightly, "It wasn't Rarity who did this to me. No one did it." Sweetie looked away nervously as she struggled to say what she wanted to. "I-I've been doing this to myself."