Everfree Blanks

The Camp Left Them Behind

As soon as Applebloom had made it home, she went up to her room and onto her bed. She stayed awake for a while, thinking about the strange metal mare she met, and wondering if Fluttershy was safe, whether she was still in the forest or not. It wasn’t long before the little filly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

APPLEBLOOM.

Applebloom’s eyes edged open. She was no longer laying in her bed, but standing in absolute darkness. She could see herself, but the ground and the sky were hidden to her. The red maned filly quivered, but slowly made her way through the darkness, expecting something to jump out and attack her. As she continued her trek, fog rolled in. Applebloom could barely see her own hooves in front of her face. She stopped, looking around for any sign of life, when she spotted a dark shape in the distance. Curiously, Applebloom approached the figure, hoping it was a friendly face. A strange symbol resembling a hollow upside-down triangle glowed on the top of the dark being.

APPLEBLOOM.

“W- who are you?” Applebloom squeaked, taking a nervous step back.

The fog slowly cleared around the silhouette, but remained in sight. The figure moved forward, the right side of it's face becoming visible. Applebloom immediately recognised who it was. “Fluttershy!” she exclaimed happily.

She ran over the greet the kind yellow mare, but as more of Fluttershy came into view, she slowed herself until she was a few feet away. Applebloom nearly cried out at what she saw.

The right half of Fluttershy’s face and mane was normal, but the rest of her body was devoid of any colour, almost as if the life had been sucked out of her. Her left eye had been torn out, and there was a sharp crimson red glow in the middle of the eyehole. She gazed at Applebloom, tears in her coloured eye, but no emotion on the other side of her face.

WE ARE SORRY THAT WE HAVE TREATED YOU THIS WAY, BUT DO NOT WORRY, NOW YOU ARE SAFE.

Fluttershy’s voice was like two breathy whispers, one normal, and one very low in pitch. Every word she spoke sent cold shivers down Applebloom’s spine.

WE WON’T TOUCH YOU. YOU WILL BE SPARED -BUT EVERYONE ELSE WILL BE TAKEN.

“Huh?” Applebloom tilted her head in confusion. Fluttershy continued to stare at Applebloom with listless eyes.

“Wait...” said Applebloom, slowly recalling past events, eyes widening. “Scootaloo!”

Immediately Fluttershy stopped crying and smiled. SHE HAS ALREADY BEEN TAKEN. SHE CHOSE TO BE EVERFREE.

It wasn’t the same warm smile Applebloom was used to seeing on the pink maned pony. She wanted to ask Fluttershy what in Equestria was going on, but the yellow mare started to laugh maniacally as her body faded away in the fog. Applebloom tried to gallop after her, but no matter how fast she ran, Fluttershy always remained out of reach. Suddenly, the ground beneath Applebloom began shifting. Long, slender tendrils began taking form from out of the ground, snaking their way towards her. Applebloom screamed and tried to run, but the tendrils were already upon her. They wrapped themselves around her body, leaving a cold stinging sensation wherever they touched. Now in a full panic, Applebloom began yelling out for somepony- anypony to save her.

Applebloom shot up from her bed, panting heavily. Her entire body was covered in sweat, and her mane was a mess. She sat there for a while, then laid her head back again, calm and breathing softly. It was a dream, but... she had remembered Fluttershy’s words before she disappeared. "Taken? Everfree?"

All at once it dawned on her. “No!!!” she yelled, jumping out of bed. She raced downstairs and out of the farmhouse. It was still nighttime, but the air felt unnaturally cold. Applebloom ran down the path from Sweet Apple Acres, heading straight for the Everfree Forest, tears already rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t know where to begin looking, but she didn’t care. Just as she saw the camp in front of her she tripped over the hill and rolled downwards, landing on her rump with a thud. Rubbing her sore spot, Applebloom looked at her surroundings. She was in the middle of the camp next to a burnt-out campfire and surrounded by tents, each tent their own colour, not too far from the forest.

“This must be the campsite Scoots was talkin’ 'bout.” the yellow filly thought to herself. She trotted over to the campsite, noticing how eerily quiet it was. She found Rarity and Sweetie Belle's tent. They were sleeping inside. A second later she found Big Mac's, he too was sleeping. After those two tents Applebloom found an empty tent. Applejack’s camp bag was hanging on the front pole of the tent. On the side of the tent, in blood, was written “SHE CHOSE TO BE EVERFREE”.

Applebloom's heart raced as she ran from tent to tent, checking if any other pony had been taken. The only other empty tent was Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's. Once again, their camp bags were hanging out the front of the tent, and on the side was the same bloody message: “THEY CHOSE TO BE EVERFREE”.

Worn out, Applebloom fell down and cried. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo... all three of them gone missing, and she was powerless to do anything about it. Wiping her eyes the filly started to make her way back home. She had to warn everypony about what was going on. That was when the fog rolled in.

Applebloom immediately panicked. This was fog from her dream! She tried running straight ahead, hoping to escape the fog, but she ended up crashing into Twilight's tent. The fog had completely surrounded the campsite, making it near impossible to see the way out. Applebloom stared out into the fog. She could see it... a familiar shape beginning to take form in the distance. With one glowing red eye, Fluttershy stepped out from the fog, crying in her right eye.

EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT. WE WILL NOT HARM YOU. YOU WILL LIVE. STAY WITH US. WE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU AS BEST AS WE CAN.

“No!! Ah can't take this anymore!!” Applebloom screamed. She quickly turned around and ran. She didn’t know where her home was through the fog, but she ran as fast as her legs could take her. Fluttershy’s voice echoed in her thoughts. She ignored the cuts and scratches bumping into the tents and tripping over the country terrain gave her, and kept up her blind gallop. Finally having spent all her energy, Applebloom went limp, laying on her side. As she tried to catch her breath, she lifted her head and looked around. She was no longer at the camp, and there was no fog. Sweet Apple Acres stood at the end of the dirt path, almost beckoning her to come home. Applebloom gave a wary glance back at the campsite before she limped over to the front door. She didn’t notice Fluttershy, who was hiding at the edge of the woods.

Fluttershy watched as Applebloom left. WE ARE SORRY... FORGIVE US...

Applebloom was woken up early again, this time by the sound of knocking on her front door. She wearily got out of her bed and opened it. The news pony she had seen on the TV the day before was there, along with a camerapony.

"What do ya want?" Applebloom sighed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"I am so sorry for disturbing your slumber. My name is Felix, and I'm the reporter for Ponyville News. Due to the fairly recent turn of events, one of them being the disappearance of your big sister, I want you to tell me in detail the trauma you experienced. Applejack told me very little about it before she disappeared."

A tear rolled down Applebloom's cheek at the mention of her sister. "Ok-" she sobbed, "-but please make it quick."

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were taken yesterday night while they were on a camping trip.” Applebloom explained. After being interviewed by Felix, she had gone into town, seeking Metalhoof. She found the cherry red pony at Pony Joe’s cafe, and the two talked over breakfast.

Metalhoof spat out her drink in surprise. “Three more? Wasn’t Fluttershy enough?”

“All that was left were their camp bags. On the side of their tents, blood writing. ‘They chose to be everfree’...”

“This is getting insane!” Metalhoof exclaimed, “I’m surprised the Princesses aren’t getting involved in this...”

Applebloom sighed. She had already tried contacting Celestia, but the sun goddess didn't seem to have offered any help. Deciding to rest her head, Applebloom called out to Pony Joe to turn on the TV. Unfortunately, the news channel was on, streaming the interview.

Felix appeared on the screen. “-but, at this very moment, we only have one accurate witness. Applebloom.”

The camera cut to Applebloom’s kitchen, where the interview had taken place. Felix could be heard off-camera. "Just quickly run down the story for us, what happened when you were in the forest with Twilight?"

Applebloom was sniffling as she told the reporter her story. “Well, we were delivering books to Zecora, but we got trapped by lots of fallen trees, so while Twilight tried to clear the way, ah went off to explore a little. Ah found this place called “Sunny Town” and ah couldn’t believe it: a bunch of ponies, livin’ out in the Everfree Forest! The weird thing was, all the ponies had no cutie marks. Ah kept walkin’ and found an abandoned house, but all that was in it was a fireplace, with somepony’s bones in it! Ah got out of the house as quick as ah could, but when ah came out, the whole town was completely destroyed, and these black pony zombies came outta nowhere and started... started chasin’ me! Ah was runnin’ for my life, until this strange mare with glowing yellow eyes found me, and she teleported me back to Twilight. Ah think ever since ah escaped, those zombies ponies have taken over the entire forest...”

The interview continued for some time. When it was finished, Metalhoof looked at Applebloom with pity. “You poor filly...” She gave Applebloom a tight hug. “Nopony should have go through all that! Not on their own!”

Applebloom felt somewhat uneasy with what Metalhoof had just said.

Later that day, Metalhoof made her way towards the Acres, a determined look on her face. She banged on the door, and was greeted by Big Macintosh.

The stallion looked worse than Applebloom. Eyes bloodshot, mane cut in places and scrunched up, legs slightly caved in... like he hadn’t slept in days. It was surprising that he could speak so cheerfully while his body was giving up on him.

Metalhoof cringed. “Uh...is Applebloom here?” she asked.

“Eeyup. Raght here.”

Big Mac shuffled over to the right side of the door. Applebloom came into sight, but she didn't look at the red pony by the front door. She was too depressed to focus on anything.

“Hello Felix.” Applebloom sighed.

“Applebloom, it's me, Metal.”

Applebloom looked up, beamed, and pounced onto Metalhoof. "Metal!" she cried.

“After you showed me the news report, I thought you might've wanted some company. You do look like you could use some cheering up.”

“Ah guess so... ah haven’t had any reason to smile lately.”

"Applebloom... how about I get Sweetie Belle to come over?"

Applebloom sniffed, tears of joy glistening in her eyes. "You'd get Sweetie Belle?"

"What do you expect, we're friends!"

Applebloom hugged Metalhoof. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"