Equestria's War

Chapter 8-Scarlet Cupcakes
Rarity awoke, her room lit by only the full moon. Makeup stained her pillow, and her coat was still matted and stained with blood. Her sheets had been thrown off her bed while she slept. Quietly Rarity padded across the floor towards the hallway. Silently she crept down the stairs, careful to not disturb Luna who was sprawled on her back, lying on the couch. Until, Rarity, lost in her thoughts tripped on one of the stairs. She tumbled down the stairs, falling in a heap at the bottom. Luna stirred in her sleep, mumbling something about Celestia. Rarity quickly got back to her hooves, and walked towards the front door. Luna’s eyes snapped open, and she quickly rolled over, embarrassed.
“Rarity! I thought you were asleep”
“Oh, you’re awake. Well I was going to Applejack’s to, well….um……tell her about Big Macintosh”
“What, what happened to him?”
Rarity paused for a moment, her gaze landing on her own hooves.
“He died, a guard stabbed him”
"Rarity, you should have told me”
“No, it’s too painful to talk about, because after that….”Rarity’s voice trailed off and faded away.
“It was what Rarity? What happened?”
“Fluttershy, s-s-sh-she killed herself” Rarity collapsed to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.
Luna was silent, feeling the same dull pain of a lost friend. Rarity quickly recovered, picked herself off of the floor, dried her eyes, opened the front door, and clicked it shut behind her without saying anything more. The sky was cloudy, and the moon didn’t show. The only light came from the street lights. Rarity headed towards the center of town, expecting to find nopony there. Surprisingly she found Pinkie Pie there; her eyes were red, and her hair straight.
“Pinkie, what’s the matter”
“W-w-well I was going over to Fluttershy’s, to give her some of my new cupcakes, a-a-and when I knocked she didn’t answer. I opened the door, and there was a knife covered in blood lying on the floor, I called her name, and she didn’t answer. I walked upstairs, and opened the door to her bedroom. There on her bed was….” Pinkie Pie trailed off as soft sobs began to shake her body.
“I know sweetie, it’s alright”
“Wh-w-why would anypony do that to her, she was such a loveable friend, and…” Pinkie went into another fit of sobs.
“Nopony did that to her, she well, it would help you to come with me I’ll tell you the whole story when we get to Applejack’s. I have some news for her as well”
The two mares started down the road that led towards Applejack’s farm, Pinkie still crying. The moon was high overhead, the light shining brightly, illuminating the dirt road before them. Although the stars were nowhere to be found, only the moon showed in the ink black sky. Rarity was the first to reach the end of the dirt road, slowly followed by a straight maned Pinkie Pie. Rarity walked slowly up to the front entrance of the Apple Families’ house, so as not to wake anypony, and knocked lightly. At first there was no answer, house as quiet as the world around it. Rarity quickly knocked again, this time a little louder, and at the same time looking back at a still sobbing Pinkie. The door suddenly opened, and Rarity saw Applejack, sleep still clouding her eyes.
“Rarity?” Applejack said groggily “What in the hay are you doin’ here at this hour?”
“Applejack, dear, I’m so glad I could find you. We need to talk, it’s about Big Macintosh”
The sleep instantly cleared from Applejack’s eyes, she was now fully awake.
“What, what happened to him? Why didn’t he come home today?”
“You may want to sit down for this” Rarity said softly
Applejack promptly plopped down in her doorway, clearly ready to hear the news about her brother.
“Well as you may or may not have known, today Big Mac was on an important assignment with Fluttershy to ensure the safety of the rebellion”
“Yea, he told me before he left, but seriously Rarity he’s, well….big I don’t think anything can really happened to ‘im”
“Well, Applejack” Rarity sighed “He’s dead, he was stabbed by a guard”
Applejack’s jaw dropped, and tears filled her eyes
“No, no, nononononono” She said half to herself
“I’m sorry Applejack, but it’s true”
Tears welled up in Applejack’s eyes, obscuring her vision. Rarity watched as Applebloom came up behind Applejack, and she too had tears in her eyes. Now the only sound was the quiet muttering of Applejack, and Applebloom plodding towards her sister, tears dripping down her cheeks, and falling to the ground. Applejack stopped her grieving for a moment to hold a sobbing Applebloom in her arms. Rarity still quietly stood outside the doorway, watching the two sisters grieve together, silently mourning on the inside. The silence continued, nopony dared break the silence as the moon shone brightly, casting ghostly shadows that only added to the sorrow of the moment. Rarity, now noticing that Pinkie was still standing behind her, turned around and embraced her, again laying on Applejack’s entryway. The night wore on, and sleep began to creep into their bodies and minds. Eventually there was complete silence, as sorrows were lost in the peacefulness of sleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bright shafts of the suns rays silently awoke Rarity, bringing her senses back to life. She stretched, trying to work the morning chill out of her bones. In the process Rarity woke Pinkie, who had been sleeping with her head resting on Rarity’s own. The pink earth pony’s mane was still straight, as opposed to its usual fluffy and unruly style. Sleep and sorrow clouded her eyes, and her gaze was cast downward, her ears drooping in line with her hair. Applejack was still sleeping, holding a lightly snoring Applebloom in her arms. Rarity looked downwards to see her own coat dirty and stained by the dirt she’d slept on, her mane was no better, ruffled and matted with dirt and filth. Rarity pulled herself into a sitting position and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. Then as quietly as she could Rarity led Pinky away from the sleeping forms of Applejack and Applebloom, heading towards Sugarcube Corner. The walk there was silent, but occasionally interrupted by a light sniffle from Pinkie Pie. The store looked like a dessert in itself, and appeared to be several kinds of sweets piled together in a fashion that made it look somewhat like a building. With a single motion Pinkie opened the door and invited Rarity inside. Pinkie Pie finally ended the long silence with a voice that seemed all to cherry for her depressed look and stature.
“Hey Rarity, you up for a cupcake?”
“Sure darling, but only if it’s not too much trouble”
“It’s no trouble Rarity, I love making cupcakes for my friends” Pinkie Pie walked into the kitchen, Rarity following close behind. The two mares made idle conversation as Pinkie Pie mixed the ingredients together, humming a little tune to herself. Pinkie walked over to the oven to place the cupcakes inside, but an unseen magical force began to pull the tin of cupcakes faster that Pinkie seemed to be walking. She tried to pull the tin free of the invisible magical force, but its grip held, pulling her faster towards the open oven. There was a loud clanging as Pinkie was roughly shoved into the oven, and the door closed behind her. Rarity tuned around to see Pinkie banging on the door of the oven pushing with all her might to get out as the temperature seemed to rise inside. Rarity leaped towards the oven her horn glowing, first she tried to open the door using her telekinesis, but a magical force seemed to block her from getting near enough to the oven to try and open it. Then she tried to teleport a screaming Pinkie Pie out of the oven. Again and again Rarity tried, and each time she tried she was pushed back by that same magical force. All she could do was watch as her friend was burned alive before her eyes. The fur on Pinkie’s body was the first to go, it steadily burned and smoked. The next to go was her eyes, the temperature reaching high enough for them to melt, and all the while Pinkie was screaming at the top of her lungs, ripping her vocal cords to shreds. She backed against a wall while what left of her eyes dripped down her face. The heat still continued to rise and blisters began appearing across Pinkie Pie’s body almost doubling her size. A black char began to take over her appearance making her look like a roughly pony shaped animal covered in coal dust, empty eye sockets covered in burns. The heat soon started to take Pinkie’s mind with it, causing hallucinations.
“GET THEM OFF, GET THEM OFF!” Pinkie screamed, clawing at her throat, attempting to dislodge whatever she believed was clinging to her neck. Her hooves soon broke her skin, exposing pink burning flesh beneath. Blood sprayed over the oven, coating the entire thing in hot, sticky blood. The screams began to die down to steady whimpering and sobbing as time went on, the life slowly leaving Pinkie’s body. Long ago Rarity had stopped trying to help, rage seething beneath her skin, as she watched what happened, not six feet in front of her. The smell of burned flesh and burning blood permeated the air. The sobs then turned to slow banging on the door, and eventually that ceased to exist as well as the life left the burning shell that had been Pinkie Pie. Shortly after Rarity sensed that the magical field had dissipated and she moved forward to investigate. What was left was nothing but a badly charred body with its neck torn out in panic. “Whatever Pinkie thought she’d seen had apparently been trying to burrow its way into her neck” Rarity thought. Rarity closed the door on the oven and plopped down on her rump, leaning up against the oven, only mildly concerned about the blackened bloody dust that stained her coat as she sat there.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Some time later Rarity was awoken by Mrs. Cake. She had a solemn look on her face, one of dread and horror. Rarity looked towards the floor, resting her head in her hooves; sobbing softly as yet the loss of another friend shook her already unsteady emotional state like an earthquake. Mrs. Cake plopped her slightly larger form next to Rarity in front of the oven, and put her arm around Rarity as the same problem shook her world as well. The burned stench of flesh still hung thick in the air, making Rarity struggle to breathe, knowing that every time she did breathe she smelled the black, bloody, charred lump of flesh that had used to be her friend. She looked over to meet the red, puffy eyed face of Mrs. Cake. Time had passed quickly and it was the middle of the night, the stars shone brightly from outside, and a shaft of moonlight seemed to shine directly on Sugar Cube Corner. After a short while, the silence was broken by the sound of shuffling hooves. Luna had walked in the door, and stood, leaning on the doorframe, her eyes tired and downcast. Rarity slowly got to her hooves, head hanging and slowly walked towards Luna. The navy blue moon goddess put her arms around Rarity in a warm, comforting embrace. Before long the two broke the embrace and stared with blurry vision, into each other’s eyes, both of them with tears running down their faces, and dripping to the floor.
“Rarity, I think that now is the time for action. Now Celestia’s Solar Empire must come to an end, before she finds a way to kill Applejack and anypony else as well”
Rarity wipes her face, clearing it of the pain and sorrow that she felt from within.
“I think you’re quite right Luna, the time has come for action”
The room then falls into a dark silence, and all three ponies look around trying to find a way to continue speaking without breaking down into tears. Rarity is the first to try speaking, but she can’t seem to get words around the lump of emotion lodged in her throat. The only noises that get out of Rarity’s mouth are faint whimpers and squeaks, and for what seemed like the hundredth time that night she began crying and sobbing over the loss of one of her closest friends. Rarity’s legs wobbled and buckled beneath her as the wall of emotion hit her, seemingly draining the energy from her already tired body. It wasn’t long before she fell back asleep, her world shattered by the loss of yet another that was so close to her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rarity awoke to find herself draped across Luna’s back, bobbing up and down in time to the blue mare’s steps. Her eyes slid closed again, the movement rocking her back into a sense of security and the need to rest.