Things in Ponyville weren’t faring any better than they were a week ago. By now, the whole town had been informed of the unfortunate event regarding Apple Bloom’s unfortunate death, and a memorial service was held to pay respects for her passing. Most of the town was in shock, especially since they all knew Apple Bloom as one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were well-known around Ponyville. They couldn’t imagine what her family or even her fellow Crusaders were going through from the loss.
A few days after that, things gradually returned to normal around the town, though it was agreed amongst the townsponies to give Applejack her space until she deemed herself well enough again. They weren’t exactly sure how long this would take, but they knew she would come around eventually.
Things were still rather rough between Twilight and Applejack. They still didn’t speak to each other since their argument. Whenever Twilight walked into town and she saw Applejack, she would want to just walk up and talk to her. However, she could never muster up the courage to take a step towards her direction. She had never seen Applejack look so miserable before. All Twilight could manage to do was sigh in defeat and walk elsewhere.
Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy did their best to keep both their spirits high in these dark times. If the four of them couldn’t repair their friendship, they would console them as best they could and just wait it out. This is what they would do when the two weren’t busy doing farmwork or reading books.
One day, when Celestia’s sun was getting ready to lower beyond the horizon, Spike had seen Twilight come through the front door of Golden Oaks, and a smile was brought to his face, considering the disheveled look he saw her in earlier in the day.
“Busy day?” Spike asked, while holding up a small note that had “Gone to Fluttershy’s, be back later. T.S.” written on it.
“I suppose you could call it busy, or you could call it hanging out with friends,” she replied in an almost refreshing manner. Spike wasn’t sure what to make of her slightly content mood.
“Somepony sounds like she had a better day for once this week. What did you do with Fluttershy?”
“Well, I spent today having a small picnic with Fluttershy and her animal friends, which was nice for a change. After that, she invited me to a spa date with Rarity. I couldn’t impose on joining them in their personal time together, but they insisted I joined them, and you know what? It actually wasn’t that bad,” she explained while showing off her newly filed hooves, which twinkled in the light of the room.
“Wow. It’s almost as if things are getting back to normal for you,” Spike noted, relieved that this mess was finally being brought to an end.
“Not quite,” she rebutted, dashing his hopes for things getting better. “Things still aren’t right with Applejack and I, and it’s really saddening. I wish I could just talk to her without me getting scared about her reaction, and it stops me every time. It seems like she still isn’t past what happened, and to be quite honest, neither am I...”
Twilight stepped away from the door and toward one of the bookshelves, pulling out one of the books and setting it down on her study desk. Spike walked up to her and looked up onto the desk she sat in front of.
“What are you doing now?” he asked as he observed her opening the book, her eyes scanning the first page she opened it to.
“I’m just going to read the rest of the night away. Today was fun and all, but I’m not really up to doing anything else right now.” She shifted herself in her seat to get into a more comfortable position.
“Twilight, you’ve been reading the night away all week. I know you’re still feeling troubled inside, but do you really think this is the way to cope with it? Staying up all night without getting much sleep for a whole week doesn’t sound very healthy.”
Twilight’s eyes stopped gazing over the words written on the pages in the book before her. She turned her head to face him, and he could see just how drained she looked. The bags under her eyes and her exhausted expression could attest to that. It wasn’t even just sleep that was affecting her train of thought. She felt as if her mind was in a heated battle with an inner demon, and the enemy looked just like the monsters that attacked Apple Bloom in the Everfree Forest that night. The guilt she felt from letting that incident happen was coming back bit by bit. Even worse, she pictured yet another demon, but she was rather ashamed to see what exactly it resembled. She really didn’t want to believe that it looked just like a furious Applejack. With all of these things going on in her mind, it was no wonder how she didn’t feel like sleeping.
But at the same time, she knew Spike was right. Beating herself up mentally and emotionally wasn’t going to make things any better, and she didn’t want to punish herself for it either. She closed the book and removed herself from the chair, yawning afterwards. “You’re right, Spike. I should probably turn in early, get some actual sleep this time. Thanks for looking out for me.”
“Of course! A good night’s rest should do you wonders.”
Twilight stepped away from the desk and headed up the stairs, mentally thanking Spike for getting her back on track. With the sun having just gone down, bringing the night in all its nightly glory, Spike decided to clean up a little for a few more minutes before getting some sleep himself.
While the moon rose into the deep blue of the night sky, Applejack sat on her bed and stared down at the floor as if there was something to watch there. Her hind legs hung off the side of the bed and her forehooves rested upon her lap, while her signature cowpony hat laid on the blanket next to her. Her door was left ajar, but she hadn’t really noticed. She looked like she had seen better days. Minutes passed, but it felt like hours to her. At some point, she finally laid her head down onto the pillow and slowly closed her eyes, succumbing herself to the peaceful bliss of sleep.
The morning felt like it came so quickly. As per usual, Applejack found herself working the fields. Before bucking the apples out of the trees, she went to go check up on the crops. Naturally, Applejack found herself pulling out the vegetables out of the ground like it was a normal workday.
She kept at it for ages, going down the field until she noticed the area in front of her was suddenly full of trees. This wouldn’t have been a problem if it weren’t for the fact that they weren’t apple trees, but rather the same kind of trees that made up the Everfree Forest. She walked into it and found herself suddenly surrounded by that very same forest.
“What in the hay is goin’ on around here?” Applejack asked out loud to whoever was out there.
Things would only get worse from there, as right after she spoke, she heard what sounded like the scream of a filly. What made it ominous is the fact that it sounded familiar to her.
“Apple Bloom? Is that you?” she called out of impulse. Applejack knew Apple Bloom was no more, but hearing that voice after such a horrible ordeal left her wondering if she really was hearing her little sister.
Just then, the voice screamed yet again, but Applejack was sure it sounded just like Apple Bloom this time. Her ears picked up the sound of hooves and rustling leaves some distance away to her left. She wasn’t sure if that was really her sister, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
“Don’t worry, sugarcube! I’m comin’ to get ya!” Applejack sprinted to the place she swore the voice came from, where she would finally be reunited with Apple Bloom. Her legs swiftly carried her through the forest, her heart practically thumping out of her chest.
Eventually, she came upon a clearing, but she couldn’t believe the scene she saw before her when she arrived. Right there, standing just a few feet in front of her, was a yellow filly with a red mane and tail, along with a pink bow atop her head. After seeing this, she didn’t know what to believe anymore. Unless her memory failed her suddenly, she clearly remembered Twilight informing her of Apple Bloom’s death. There was no way she could’ve been lying about something so serious.
“A-Apple Bloom? You’re alright!” she exclaimed as she galloped toward her litter sister, her eyes full of relief and joy. She was too focused on wanting to hug her sister that she didn’t notice the pair of glowing eyes peeking out of the darkness of the forest to her left.
Before Apple Bloom herself could even react to her actions, the creature from which the eyes belonged to leapt out from its hiding place and landed between the two ponies. The glowing eyes belonged to a dark purple equine-like monster, but the red eyes weren’t the only unnatural thing about it. It had claws on its hooves, a scaly underbelly, fangs as sharp as stakes, and every now and then, a few small flames came out of its mouth, as if that was normal for the monster’s respiration. Moreover, the monster was roughly three times Applejack’s size.
“T-Twilight?!” Applejack reacted in shock. It was the most nightmarish version of Twilight one could imagine. “Dear Celestia, what happened to ya?”
“What does it matter? I’ve shown you my true form!” Twilight growled in a devilish voice. “It’s just you and me, and we know how that will end, just like your little sister.” It was now that Applejack noticed something else: The amount of blood on Twilight’s fangs and hooves.
“Twilight... what did you do...” Applejack noticed that Apple Bloom disappeared as soon as Twilight arrived.
“She was so fun to play with. Begging me to spare her life, running as fast as she could. You should have seen her crying. But you? You’ll be the most fun I’ve ever had!” Twilight lunged right at her at a speed that could rival even Rainbow Dash. Applejack rolled out of the way just fast enough to avoid the attack, but just barely.
Once she got her bearings, she found Twilight turning around to lunge at her again. She scrambled to reach the monster first, and put everything she had into bucking her in the face as hard as she could before this beast could do any more harm. But something happened along the way.
Applejack was prepared to kick Twilight in the face again, only to find the monster suddenly frozen like a statue out of nowhere. “What in tarnation?”
As she wondered what was going on, someone joined her in the forest. The sound of hoofsteps could be heard coming from just behind Applejack. Just when she thought her troubles couldn’t get any worse, she saw a silhouette approaching her from the darkness of the trail she came from.
“Clearly, I was needed here,” the taller figure spoke in a quiet and refined demeanor as it revealed itself to the scene, finally stopping itself next to Applejack.
“Princess Luna! What are you doing here?” Applejack asked, rubbing the back of her head in confusion. “Lemme guess: you’re here because you heard about what’s goin’ on, right?”
“Indeed. I heard of your tragedy, and I give you and your family my condolences. But I hear reports of your strained friendship with Twilight, and I had to see this problem for myself.”
Applejack snorted. “It’s Twilight that’s got the problem, not me. I ain’t got nothin’ wrong with me,” she huffed as she kicked some of the dirt below her.
“Do you really find it normal that you imagine one of your best friends as a demon that killed your little sister in your dreams?” she asked as she pointed to the petrified demon in front of them. “Wouldn’t others be deeply disturbed to find out that this is what you imagine in your sleep?”
That got Applejack to stop in her tracks. “When you put it that way--”
“No,” Luna interrupted, nearly stomping the ground below her hooves. “I did not need to put it that way for you to see your error. It should have been obvious before I said it.”
“But... she should have protected Apple Bloom!” Applejack snapped back, tears welling in her eyes. She really didn’t want to sass a princess of all ponies, but this was getting more personal. “It wasn’t right! She could have kept my sister in good hooves and she didn’t. And I’m never going to see my sweet little sister again as long as I live, and it’s her fault. It’s all her fault.”
“I’m sure Twilight was doing the best she could trying to find Apple Bloom when she was separated from her,” Luna reassured. “Surely, she told you this?”
“That ain’t all she did. When she came back from the forest and I asked her about Apple Bloom, she lied right to my face! I detest lyin’ more than anythin’ else. As if that wasn’t enough, she puts it off on me, tryin’ to get me to apologize for the way I’m actin’ about the loss of my own little sister. No. No, I-I won’t... I can’t... she took my sister away from me...”
She was fully broken down by now. The tears wouldn’t stop, staining the soil below. She breathed heavily from all the emotions rushing at her, the emotions she always felt but refused to show to anypony. It was then that she felt something soft cover her backside. She saw Luna sitting next to her, a wing wrapped over her. The alicorn was showing compassion for her, even after all that. Applejack didn’t react to the embrace. She just stayed there and let her heart cry out.
“Do you know what it’s like to lose your sister?” Applejack asked in the middle of her tearful melancholy.
“In a way, yes. I was separated from my sister for a thousand years, but I know it’s nothing like this. I cannot say I know what it feels like, but I sympathize with your grief regardless of that. But you know what I’m going to say next.”
Applejack nodded hesitantly, then looked down at the ground. “You’re going to tell me the way I’ve been actin’ about this is all wrong.”
“Yes. But I do not merely wish to lecture you. You’ve had enough of that. I want to show you something you need to see.” Princess Luna waved a hoof in the direction of the demon Twilight, and it suddenly disintegrated away, leaving behind a purple door with Twilight’s cutie mark in the center. “I want you to see what’s inside for yourself, for you are not the only one suffering deeply from this.”
Applejack gulped at the thought. Surely, it would involve Twilight, but did she even want to bother? She didn’t want to even look at the unicorn right now, let alone see this side of her. But then again, an all-powerful blue alicorn was standing next to her. There wasn’t really a choice here. She gathered up her strength and came to the door. She grabbed the door handle with a hoof and pushed the door open. What was inside was a bright white aura, and she stepped inside to see what she was in for.
She found herself in a forest, not unlike the one she was in before. However, this one was much more inviting than the one she dreamed up, but there was still a sense that something wasn’t right. Maybe it was in the trees or the colors everything had, but she did not want to be here. It was a dream here, though, so she came up to see what was there in this place. She didn’t see anything for a while, and thought Luna might just be showing her pretty trees.
The silence would soon be interrupted by a cry echoing throughout the forest. It didn’t take her long at all to recognize its voice. Of course it had to be Twilight. This was her dream after all. Even in a dream, Applejack did not want to see her, but she knew she had to. Luna would want that. It was the reason she brought her here.
She came up closer and closer to the source of the crying. Eventually, she found what she was looking for. Twilight was sitting on the ground, all alone with tears soaking the fur on her cheeks. She only stared at the thing she was holding in her hoof, unaware of the two ponies approaching her. It was impossible to see what she was holding from far off, so Applejack came up to see what it was. Upon closer inspection, she could see a piece of red fabric. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it came from Apple Bloom’s trademark bow, something Applejack would recognize anywhere.
“It’s all my fault... it’s all my fault...” Twilight started to speak. “Applejack is going to be so upset with me... they’re all going to be upset,” Twilight wept. “And they should be. She was in my care, and I let her down... what am I going to tell her...”
Applejack didn’t know how to react. She just stared at Twilight, and she felt nothing. Not because she didn’t actually have emotions to this scene, but it was like seeing a disaster for the first time. But she didn’t have time to react. All of the sudden, the same white light came back again, and it consumed the entire forest. The next thing Applejack knew, she and Luna reappeared back in her own dream.
“What in tarnation just happened?” she demanded to know.
“Twilight Sparkle woke up. What you experienced was the moment when her dream ended,” Luna explained.
“We were just in her dream?” Applejack questioned. It sounded very unbelieveable to her, to know that she just saw another pony’s dream.
Luna nodded to confirm her suspicion. “She does not spend much time dreaming in the first place, and I imagine she woke up crying from what she relived, as she has done several times before.”
“Several times? What are you sayin’?”
“This is not the first time I have visited her dreams since Apple Bloom’s passing. Every time I go, the dream never changes. It always ends the same, too, with her waking up mere minutes into the dream. I have urged my sister to come to her aid, as she desperately needs it. But given what I have heard about recent developments, I knew you needed to see this.”
Applejack paused for a long time after that. “I don’t know whatcha want me to say, Princess. I can’t just look at that and tell you what I’m thinkin’ just like that.”
“I understand. It’s a lot to take in. But know this: no matter what you see in her actions, this is what she is truly feeling in her heart. This is the real her. Know her guilt, know her sorrow, and if you ever come across her again, keep what you’ve seen in mind.”
“Do you think I’m not sufferin’, too? I’m hurting real bad from this.”
Luna closed her eyes and sighed quietly. “Yes, but Twilight didn’t kick her friend in the chest like you have.”
That got Applejack to stop in her tracks. She had to admit, that peeved her off a little. “Don’t take the high road on me, Princess, you don’t know--”
“I don’t claim to know,” Luna interrupted. “As I said before, I will not pretend I know what it’s like to be in your hooves. What I want to do is for you to know what Twilight feels, see the whole story. How you respond is up to you. If you still do not wish to talk to her again, at least you can do it from a place of knowledge and not ignorance. I hope I have done my duty in the regard of enlightenment. Farewell, Applejack.”
With that, Luna lifted off from the ground, disappearing into the night sky. Everything else disappeared in the dreamscape soon after, and the next thing Applejack knew, she was looking up at the ceiling to her bedroom. It took her forever to adjust to being back to the real world. Everything she saw in her dream, it felt so real. Mainly because, from the sounds of it, Twilight’s dream was based on what was real. She still needed time to process this.
She spent the rest of the night awake, doing just that. If she saw Twilight again anytime soon, she wasn’t sure how it was going to go.