Curse of Pinkamina

Clay had been walking to Sweet Apple Acres for the past ten minutes, and he had yet to see anything that might pose as a threat beyond the occasional lumbering shadow of a Lamentor. He was starting to wonder where that swarm he had encountered earlier had gone, after all Ponyville wasn’t that big of a town. But then again he decided to consider himself lucky for not encountering those things again in such a large group. He was still trying to wrap his head around the twistedness of this nightmare he was in. Whatever had caused Ponyville to fall in such disarray was strong, and evil.

“It could be Discord… no this is too twisted even for him.” Clay muttered to himself, “Besides he’s reformed.” He pondered to himself as he kept an eye out for and dangers, “Could Nightmare Moon be back? It has been ten years I suppose anything could have happened… but wouldn’t I have heard the guards mention something about it?” Clay shook his head in frustration, he was getting nowhere. And he knew that the only way this could have any hope of being fixed was if he found Twilight. He doubted he would find Twilight at Sweet Apple Acres given the state that Rarity was in when she told him. But still it was his only lead, and if nothing else he could at least get information from one of the apple family members if they were willing to talk… or were still alive.

It wasn’t long before Clay soon came upon the familiar hill leading to the fabled Sweet Apple Acres barn perched on top. Growing up, Sweet Apple Acres was the pride of Ponyville given that it belonged to the family who founded the town in the first place. And as Clay looked up at the darkened sillouete of the barn through the fog he admitted that he felt a sense of nostalgia as gazed at it. But he knew that darkness had spread to this place too, and there was no telling what he would find when he got there. Clay took a breath and tried to mentally prepare himself for the worse though he knew that was impossible, and trotted up the dirt road to the hill. Before long the barn became bigger and bigger as he approached; Clay couldn’t help but glance around the property as he did, spotting the occasional orchard he had worked on when he was a colt. And he did, his heart was saddened as he saw that every tree around the farm land was dead and bared no apples.

“Forget the apples. Remember why you are here!” Clay reprimanded himself, as he finally came upon the front door of the barn, which despite the state of the rest of the town; it looked like it was in pretty good shape. Almost exactly the way he left it ten years ago. He hesitated as he stared at the door afraid of what his actions would cause. Still he took a breath and gave a few raps on the door. He stood there waiting for a reply but nothing happened, so he tried again, “Hello! Applejack… Apple Bloom… Big Mac?!” Clay called as he knocked a little harder, “Granny Smith…. Babes…?” Again there was no answer, “Twilight! Anyone!?” He knew that he was probably drawing attention from nearby abominations but he didn’t really care at the moment. Not until he got some answers. He gave a frustrated huff and thought about breaking the door down or going through the back, when suddenly there was a click as the front door unlocked.

“Clay… is that you?” A southern mares voice asked, from the slightly opened door.

“Aunt Applejack?” Clay asked his ears perking up. The door slowly opened to reveal the orange cow pony, her mane slightly disheveled, her eyes were very bloodshot.

“Well I’ll be damned… it is you.” She muttered in a not so happy tone. As she stepped out of the barn Clay caught a whiff of something surrounding Applejack. Her breath was heavy with liquor and it was even more obvious when she stumbled slightly as she walked that she was heavily intoxicated.

“Applejack… are you ok?” Clay asked, noticing her current state.

“Oooohhhhh I’m just…. Fiiiiiineeee!” The cow pony shouted drunkenly, “Whole towns gone to hell… monsters everywhere... my friends dying off one by one and no Celestia damn… *Hic* Crops… and on top of that now I’ve got a convicted felon on my door step.” She shot a glare in his direction, “So what yah here fer? A place to hide from the freaks outside? Cause I ain’t givin you one…” Her wobbled slightly as she struggled to look at the earth pony in front of her, though he couldn’t tell he was certain that she was seeing double, “Yah know… you’ve got a lotta nerve showin’ up here… after you did.” There was a fair amount of malice in her voice as she spoke, slurred as it was.

“I didn’t come for shelter or to talk about past crimes AJ. I came here looking for Twilight so we can figure a way how to get rid of this fog.” At that Applejack gave a loud sarcastic laugh.

“What makes you think that little miss know it all would be here?” Clay thought about telling Applejack about Rarity, but he knew she would just laugh it off.

“Just a hunch.” Applejack scoffed at him.

“Well she ain’t here. She hasn’t been down here in years. She used to come and get apples from me to take to Fluttershy. But after mah… *Hic* crops went bad she stopped coming. Not even tah say howdey.” Applejack said bitterly.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Clay replied thinking on what he should do now.

“You ain’t sorry… ah bet you ain’t sorry for anything yah did.” She glared at him as she spoke, an intense hatred in her eyes. Clay looked her dead in the eyes but made no threat in them.

“Applejack… do you have any idea what happened here?” He asked her trying to avoid his past.

“You happened…” She muttered turning back inside the barn.

“Me? You… you think I had something to do with all this?” Clay followed in after her intent on getting an explanation. Applejack on the other hand began rummaging in the kitchen for another case of moonshine cider. When her attempts turned up nothing she yelled in frustration and bucked an empty jug across the room nearly hitting Clay in the face.

“Of course it is! This whole damn thing is your fault! This whole town has gone to Hell in a wagon since that day you killed Pinkie!” Applejack shouted angrily her body shaking with rage… or maybe that was the booze.

“So what? You blame me for monsters popping out of a supernatural fog?” Clay began to grit his teeth in anger and frustration,

“Ah did the best ah could with the crops, but without proper sunlight nothin’ could grow. Eventually we just gave up, tried to save what we could and hold up on the farm.” She finally found a full jug of moonshine, popping off the cork with a firm twist of her teeth and spitting it on the floor before guzzling it down. It was then that Clay realized that the farm was unusually quit. No sounds upstairs or anywhere besides from the drunken cow pony in front of him.

“AJ…. Where… where are Big Mac and Apple bloom?” Applejack stopped drinking suddenly. She parted the jug from her lips and placed it on the ground with a soft thud. She didn’t look at Clay as she lowered her head with a quiet expression on her face.

“They’re gone…” She said quietly.

“Gone?” Clay asked not sure exactly what she met.

“Apple bloom left some time when crops started dying, said that she was going to try to find a way out of the fog… she never came back. Granny Smith soon passed away in her sleep soon after…” She stopped talking as she continued to look at the ground her face solemn.

“And…. Uncle Big Mac?” Applejack seemed to be on another plane of existence as Clay asked the question.

“Some time… after the crops went bad we realized we were going to run out of food. If we didn’t do something we would starve… Ah told him that we would find a way to grow more food… ah told him… to have faith in me…” Applejacks face began to twitch as she recalled whatever it was she was envisioning, “There was enough food to last a few more months… but it wouldn’t last long between the two of us. The more we stayed the more angry we became with each other, ah blamed him for letting Apple bloom go on her own, and he blamed me for damning us to this fog… then one day we realized that there wasn’t enough food to go around between the two of us…” She trailed off again as she took up the jug and took another swig.

“And…?” Clay asked raising an eyebrow. Applejack shot him an angered glance at Clay as she brought the jug down.

“Ah did what ah had to…” She gave a twisted grin, “Guess we found out who was the stronger sibling.” She whipped her mouth with the back of her forehoof as Clay looked at her with wide eyes, “Ah guess you were right Clay. In a fight and when it comes to survival… not even family matters.” Despite how disturbed he was by this Clay somehow managed to put together a coherent thought.

“You’re such a fucking hypocrite. You call me a murderer for years, but when you kill your own brother its survival?” Clay’s blood began to boil.

“You killed Pinkie for revenge! Ah did it because he would have taken up the last of our food! Ah didn’t want to do it! Good sweet Celestia above I didn’t want to… but the fact is that Big Mac was just dragging me into an early grave! At least ah admit to what ah did!” Applejack retorted.

“I don’t even remember what happened that day!” Applejack gave a drunken scoff.

“How convenient! And yet each time they asked you if you felt that it was justified you said it was. Now who’s being the hypocrite?” she took yet another swig of the moonshine, “You’re a Celestia damned liar Clay! They caught you red hoofed with blood splattered all over yah and Pinkie on the floor with a knife in her gut!” Applejack yelled with unusual clarity given her intoxication.

“I don’t fucking remember what happened! I went to Sugar Cube Corner! Couldn’t find mom and Pinkie! Went to the basement and found that freak show! And then the next thing I know I’m standing over Pinkie as she’s bleeding to death!” Clay’s voice rose as his whole body shook with rage.

“You’re a monster! Rainbow should have left you in that forest to die!” Applejack shouted.

“And you’re a drunken failure!” Clay retorted, “Mom never would have chosen you as a friend if she knew how you really were, let alone a partner!” At those words Applejacks eyes went wide with shock, “Oh yeah… I know all about your crush on mom… don’t think I didn’t see the way you looked at her when she had her back turned.” Clay gave a chuckle, “As if you had a chance with her anyway.” Angry tears began to escape Applejacks eyes.

“Get out! Get the hell out!” She shouted angrily.

Clay turned opening the door and slamming it for emphasis. Clay stomped across the field as he decided to head for Fluttershy’s for answers. However he didn’t get far as he suddenly started to have coughing fits, his throat as it became filled with something. Clay hacked and spit releasing a gout of blood, his coughing becoming more frequent as he continued to vomit up more blood splattering the dirt. Clay started to become light headed and he stumbled as blood dribbled from his mouth, until finally his vision blurred and collapsed unconscious on his side.

~~~~~

Clay’s eyes opened painfully as he lifted his head. He winced suddenly as the feeling returned to his body. His stomach throbbed in pain as if he had swallowed a blade; he struggled to get to his hooves and blinked the pain from his eyes. As his vision began to focus he noticed the splatter of blood at his hooves, had he broken a blood vessel, and how could he still be alive? But somehow the pool of blood wasn’t what disturbed him. For as Clay looked he noticed that the from the pool was a bloodied streak starting from the pool and off to the farm like something had crawled from the liquid crimson.

“What the hell…?” Clay muttered, as he began to follow the streak of blood.

It turned to the right and seemed to make its way back to the farm, however as he drew closer he saw that it avoided the front door of Applejacks home and turned to the right again. Clay followed it closer picking up his pace even thought something inside him was screaming at him to leave. Before long he reached the barn with the door slightly ajar… with the blood streak leading inside.

“Applejack… you… you in there?” He knew that was stupid but the quiet was driving him crazy, “What the hell is going on here?” Clay’s mind raced as he drew closer to the barn, what could possibly have crawled out from his blood, “Applejack…” His heart raced as he heard the sound of hoofsteps inside the barn, every nerve in his body was telling him to run but he had to make sure Applejack was ok, “Applejack…?” He reached a hoof out to open the door it trembled as he pushed it ever so slightly, “App-.” Clay didn’t finish as suddenly the doors flew open knocking the earth pony back, hitting the ground hard. He lifted his head his vision blurred from the contact with the door; he shook his head and looked up at his attacker… he wish he hadn’t.

Standing before Clay was a massive earth pony stallion, roughly around the size of Big Macintosh if not bigger. Its mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth and had blood dripping from its maw. Its coat a dulled yellow with blood stains. Around its hooves were giant chains that clanked with each movement. Sticking out of its back were numerous knives and shanks buried deep within its back. The most disturbing feature was its face. It lacked any indication of eyes, no eye sockets, no eye lids, just a head, ears, and a mouth. The creature emitted enraged grows as stood above the convict its head looking left and right but never directly looking at Clay, clearly the thing was blind.

“Oh fuck…” The creature turned its head in Clay’s direction as he spoke, causing the earth pony to cover his mouth as he realized how the creature saw by sound, “Careful Clay… be smart about this.” The creature began to sniff the air giving off loud inhales as it did. It drew closer to Clay as it sniffed before it lost interest and started to trot off at a slow pace.

Clay took this moment to move and think about his next move. Applejack could be in danger, should he try to get her out? However none of this seemed to matter as Clay stepped on a twig and caused a loud snap. The monster suddenly stopped its searching and turned around to face Clay unleashing a demonic roar spraying blood in front of it. Realizing that he had been spotted Clay went into full gallop and made for the decaying field of orchards, at the very least he could slow it down in there. The creature was hot on his heels surprisingly fast for something so big and weighed by chains. Clay bobbed and weaved through a row of orchards, but the monster simply smashed through each tree becoming more and more aggravated at its prey. Clay’s ears rang with the mixed sounds of splintering wood, enraged roars, and clanking chains; all of which were getting closer and closer.

Growing desperate Clay took a dive to the left and out of the creature’s path as it plowed through the trees. Clay stayed low to the ground and absolutely still as it continued running before it stopped and began looking around once more. Clay slowly got up and quietly began to move trying to make his way back to farm. His entire body was on pins and needles as he moved at a rather slow pace; being careful to avoid what was left of the broken trees. His shackles giving the occasional rustle as he moved, causing his heart to jump for fear of alerting the beast. However it seemed as if the monster was just far enough from him that he didn’t hear… or so he hoped as he ran back to the barn. Clay would occasionally look back to see if the creature had started chasing him again, fortunately it seemed that he had lost it in the fog. Part of him wanted to leave Applejack, leave her to face that monstrosity on her own. But he knew that wasn’t right, and hate him or not she was still his family. He trotted up to the house and poked his head in through the front door being careful not to speak too loudly.

“Applejack. Applejack where are you?” He said in hoarse whisper, “Applejack! Come on we have to go! There’s… something out there, and it’s very… very angry!” There was no reply through the house… in fact it looked different from when he left a few minutes ago.

Before the barn looked like it was in good condition save for the empty jugs of cider that littered the first floor. But now that he looked he saw that the wall paper was peeling in various locations, and the floors were covered in dust… and there were dried stains of blood on the floor and walls. Various pieces of furniture were tipped over along with broken items as if a fight had broken out. How could he have not noticed this before? He trotted inside the house looking for any sign of Applejack as he made his way up the stairs following the trail of dried blood.

“Applejack… you up here?” The house was dead quiet as Clay reached the second floor. On each side he saw doors leading to Applejacks, Big Mac’s, and Apple Blooms room, the trail of dried blood seem to be leading into Big Macs room only come back out and turn towards Applejacks room. With some trepidation Clay made his way to Applejacks room and opened the door. The room was empty and covered in dust and the air was stale as he breathed it in. There was a strange odor that Clay couldn’t identify and it made him cough slightly as he looked for any sign of Applejack, “Where could she have gone? She was drunk, she couldn’t have gotten far.” Clay muttered as he looked around the room, then he noticed that the blood ended the bed where there was a large bloodied stain on the covers… along with a tattered and familiar looking Stetson hat on the floor.

“What is this doing here? Applejack would never leave her hat lying around. And certainly didn’t look this bad when I was talking to her.” Clay left the room and made his way back to the first floor, confused by the sudden change of his surroundings, “What is going on around here!” He shouted feeling frustrated and forgetting that he was supposed to be quiet. He lowered his head as he started to calm down, “Is this… really all my fault?” As if to answer his question the front door suddenly burst open splintering into pieces as the blind abomination roared in anger, “Oh fuck!” Clay turned and ran into the kitchen and headed for the back door, the creature not far behind smashing the walls.

Clay barely managed to exit the door before the force of the creature knocked him forward and leaving him stunned. He turned on his back only to come face to face with the monster as it pounced on him pinning him down ready maul his face. However before his attacker could finish Clay picked up a rather large splinter of wood beside him and jammed it straight into the monsters face, causing it to roar in anger and pain as black blood poured from wounded face; allowing Clay a window to escape. He clamored to his hooves and climbed onto the creatures back, a primal feeling had over taken his entire being. He grabbed one of the blades from the creatures back with his teeth and began to tug with all his might. The creature thrashed wildly as the blade was slowly and painfully removed from its back until finally it was removed completely. Filled with rage and adrenaline Clay began to blindly stab at the blind monstrosity’s neck causing black blood to pour from its wounds. He attacked like a mad pony, stabbing at any exposed flesh he saw.

Eventually the creature gave a hard buck and tossed Clay off its back. If the monster wasn’t angry before, it was really pissed off now; Clay ran his mind racing.

“How am I supposed to stop that thing? It’s like a runaway carriage!” Clay thought to himself as he ran as fast as his hooves would carry him, “The only way I could stop it is if…” He paused in mid thought as an idea struck him, “Use something bigger.” He turned to the beast that was still stumbling from its wounds, “Hey!” He shouted as loud as he could, and the creature took notice with an enraged snarl, “You want me? Come and get me!” The monster wasted no time and charged at the earth pony with surprising speed. Clay barely had enough time to jump to the side narrowly avoiding the monster as it ran past him. Clay scampered again and ran to the other side, “Come on! Is that the best you’ve got!?” The monster roared again as it made a hard turn and charged once more. Clay took a breath and made a leap to the side once more and again barely managed to avoid being rammed as the creature ran past him and then… *Crash*

Clay looked up from the ground to see a giant hole in the side of the barn, the added damage was just enough to cause the whole barn to fail. Within a matter of seconds the entire structure began to buckle and crack. Wood splintered and moaned as it could no longer stand and before long the whole building came crashing down causing the blind creature to emit a loud roar as it was crushed under the weight. Clay got onto his hooves and cautiously trotted over to the pile of rubble, had it been enough? As he drew closer he saw the monster half buried under what was left of the barn, it was completely motionless. Clay gave a relieved sigh only to be startled, as the monstrosity gave a sudden roar and tried to reach for him before it suddenly lost it strength and its head went limp as it finally died from its injuries.

“Luna damn, that thing was angry.” Clay cursed as his heart raced. He looked to the rubble feeling slightly guilty for destroying Applejack's home. Where had she gone, had she still been inside when he left? Clay was growing concerned by Applejack's absence until he heard a sound behind him in the fog, “Applejack?” He ran into the direction of the noise praying that it was her. However as he drew closer he stopped when all he found was her stetson hat from the barn, “No… no way that’s not possible!” Clay picked up the hat and looked at it, same holes and tatters like the one he found upstairs. But as he inspected it he noticed something else that had been hidden under said hat… a cupcake with orange frosting and written on it was “Gruffaw at the Grossly.” in red frosting. Clay looked up hoping to see whoever it was who had left the hat and cupcake, “Whoever you are! I’m not playing you’re sick game! You hear me!?” Not surprisingly, there was no answer.

Something did happen however as Clay suddenly began to feel light headed and he shook his head, his eyes starting to get heavy. He stumbled slightly as it grew harder and harder for him to focus and stay awake. The foggy land began to spin as blood rushed to his ears causing them to ring as he stumbled again and fell to his side. He struggled to keep his eyes open as his head hit the dirt. But the force that was causing him to sleep was proving too strong and before he knew it, Clay had passed out once again.