Blanked

by Salnalus

Crouching Twilight, Hidden Apple

It was still dark out. The moon shined brightly in the sky, but the view of it was covered by the thick trees of the dark Everfree Forest. Fortunately for Twilight Sparkle, she made it out without running into trouble.

However, she still had trouble to deal with. She entered the dangerous forest with Apple Bloom, but came back without her. The horrible sight Twilight witnessed back in that clearing may have been the most terrifying thing she had ever witnessed in all her life.

"Poor Apple Bloom... why did I give in to her pleading? Why did I let her follow me into the Everfree Forest when I know how dangerous it is to a filly like her?"

At the last thought, she shuddered at the terrifying memory. "Why did I leave her to be mauled by those zombies...? How could I be so careless?"

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the tears that were emerging from her eyes. She knew that this was all her fault.

"I... I can't imagine how Applejack will take the news, or even Big Macintosh or Granny Smith..." She looked ahead down the trail leading back into Ponyville. Twilight knew she had to tell them, but she wasn't looking forward to the heart-wrenchingly painful faces she knew she was going to see.

Her hooves moved shakily as she tried to move them, partly due to everything she just went through in that small time, but also from the hesitance of seeing the Apples' reactions upon giving them the tragic news. But she had to face them whether she wanted to or not.

She built up the courage to force her hooves forward, and make her way towards Ponyville, then the Apple Family home in Sweet Apple Acres. It didn't take very long, as she galloped her way there. She wasn't in any sort of rush, but after what happened, she didn't care much about her fatigue.

When she finally made it, she was somewhat surprised to see another pony in the center of the town, walking around everywhere. "Huh? Who else would be outside at this time of night?"

Twilight made her way forward to meet the pony. When she got closer, the other pony saw her and trotted toward her to meet halfway. Upon further investigation, the other pony was an orange mare with a blonde mane and tail, both wrapped in ponytails. Upon her head was a large brown hat. There was only one pony in town that fit that description.

"Twilight!" Applejack called out, finally catching up to the lavender mare. "Ah've been lookin’ all over for ya! Well, not you specifically. Ah was gonna ask you earlier if ya seen Apple Bloom. It's already nighttime, and she still hasn't come home! Ah'm worried sick about her."

Twilight gulped. There Applejack was, already getting straight to the big question. It was now or never. She had to answer her.

"Well, I did see Apple Bloom earlier..."

Applejack beamed and sighed in relief. "Good heavens! Where is she?"

"Apple Bloom is... uh..."

Twilight wanted to just come out with the truth right then and there, but she was too scared. Her hesitation was preventing her from speaking, and the pause was getting a bit too dramatic. That's when Applejack raised an eyebrow, wondering what was taking so long with the answer.

"Come on, Twi. Ah ain't got all night."

"Alright, alright." Twilight breathed in through her nose, and out through her mouth to calm herself down.

"Apple Bloom... is staying with me at my library."

Way to go, Twilight. Somehow, Applejack was buying it though.

"Oh, that's it? Ah talked to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo earlier. Apple Bloom was with them before, but they parted ways some hours ago. About an hour and a half before sundown, if Ah recall. Was she with you the whole time?"

Of course Apple Bloom was with Twilight, but she knew they were doing more than just hanging out together.

"Yes, she was. And she asked if she could stay at my place. I hope you don't mind."

"Sure Ah don't! Ah trust you completely with my little sister."

Twilight felt her heart drop from hearing that. If she was to be trusted, she definitely wouldn't lead a filly into a death trap. Not only that, but she was now lying to said filly's big sister. The guilt was building up inside her, and it was eating at her from the inside. But she figured she'd tell Applejack and the rest of the Apples the real truth after a good night's sleep.

Just before she could say her farewell, Applejack noticed wet spots under Twilight's eyes. Her mane wasn't in the best shape either.

"Sugarcube, are you alright? You don't look so good."

"What, me? I'm fine... nothing's wrong! I'm just tired from a fun afternoon with Apple Bloom! Tell you what, I'll come by Sweet Apple Acres in the morning. There are some things I want to tell you."

"Well, alright. But listen, if ya got a problem, Ah'm always here for ya."

"Thanks, Applejack." Twilight sighed in relief. She didn't have it in her to lay out the truth then and there. She figured she would wait until they were all well and rested before the news was dropped.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Have a good night, Applejack."

"Good night to you too, Twilight."

Both mares waved each other off before going their separate ways. When Applejack was far enough away, Twilight looked down in distress.

"I can't believe I lied in the face of one of my best friends, especially about something so important. The Princess would be ashamed of me big time if she knew about this. I just... I didn't know what to do. I panicked!"

She stood still for a moment, looking around. Applejack was long gone by now, and nopony else was around.

"And now I'm talking to myself. I really need sleep..."

Just then, a window from one of the nearby buildings opened up, followed by a white unicorn with a sleep mask over her horn peeking her head out.

"What's with all the yelling out here? Can't a mare get some beauty sleep?"

The sudden voice startled Twilight, but when she looked up, it was only Rarity.

"Sorry, Rarity! I've just had a long, restless night. I'm going home now, so you can get back to sleep."

Rolling her eyes, Rarity slipped her head back inside and shut the window to resume her 'beauty sleep'. As if the fashionista didn't already care enough about her looks.

Without any other mishaps, Twilight made it to her home safe and sound. As she entered and closed the door, her magic flicked the lights on. The main floor of her library looked mostly clean, save for one spot on one of the bookshelves where a certain baby dragon was sleeping with his head on one of the books.

Yawning, Twilight picked up Spike with her magic and placed him on her back before turning off the light and walking up the stairs.

"Sorry, Twi..." Spike started muttering in his sleep. "But Rarity is the most beautiful... no offense, heh."

Twilight stopped in her tracks, wondering what that was about. But since the dragon was asleep, and she was deadly tired, she didn't bother to question it and kept walking. She opened the door to her private study, which also doubled as the bedroom. Using her magic one last time, she placed Spike in his little bed beside her own bed and tucked him in comfortably.

She then climbed onto her bed. For a few seconds, she was staring at the ceiling, recollecting the memories of the past moments. Twilight was now wondering how she was going to explain Apple Bloom's disappearance, how she followed Twilight into the Everfree, how Twilight turned her back for one second and she was gone, and how she spent time looking for her only to witness a few zombies maim her to death.

And all after Applejack was fed a lie, making it seem like everything was completely fine when it was the total opposite. All of the guilt was killing her inside.

"I can't deal with this anymore. First thing tomorrow morning, I am going to Sweet Apple Acres, and I'm going to tell them everything that happened. But I need sleep first..."

She made one final yawn before closing her eyes, and she finally drifted off to sleep. But her fears weren't over yet.

----------

Back in Sunny Town, all of the zombies were pretty excited. After all these years, they finally caught a young pony. Not one of them seemed upset at the slightest. At least, all but Mitta, who cried herself to sleep at her failure to yet again protect another filly from certain doom.

In Roneo's house, said filly rested upon a makeshift bed made from leftover blankets and a spare pillow. There laid Apple Bloom, but she was no longer the young earth pony she used to be.

Though the large cuts on her body were patched up and no longer open, she still looked far from normal again. Her coat turned a sickly light black color, and her bow was tattered with slight rips and a few holes. What probably looked like the most repulsive feature were the sharp teeth that somehow replaced her normal ones that could be seen whenever her mouth was open. Unlike the other zombies’ teeth, they were somewhat smaller in comparison.

Standing beside the bed was Roneo and Starlet, looking down upon the newly zombified filly in happiness.

"Starlet, my dear, we have done it!" Roneo stated in a triumphant manner, swinging an arm around his marefriend.

Starlet smiled as well, leaning her head against his neck. "We have. The filly is one of us now. Mitta tried to protect her. Now Mitta can protect her, forever."

Apple Bloom stirred around a bit, life returning to her body. First, one of her ears twitched upon hearing their voices. Then a light moaning sound came from her mouth, followed by the tightening of her eyelids. They opened a bit while her head rose a few inches above the pillow.

"Huh... wh-where am I...?"

She tried to look around, but her vision was heavily blurred. Her head felt heavy as well, and she couldn't feel her hooves. Before she could speak again, she fell unconscious once more, and Roneo and Starlet frowned.

"Oh right, newly-formed Blanks need hours of rest first," Starlet remembered.

"That's alright. Grey Hoof said we can give her a warm welcome to Sunny Town in the morning. She'll fit in real nicely."

"If you say so..."

They watched as Apple Bloom quickly drifted back off to sleep.

Surprisingly, sleep wasn't much different than it was when Apple Bloom was her normal self. She still felt comfortable sleeping on the blankets like she did back at her home in Sweet Apple Acres. The only difference is that her mattress was made out of blankets, but they were still comfortable nonetheless.

She didn't have problems sleeping despite the horrors she witnessed and even experienced that could've manifested into nightmares, so she slept comfortably all through the night for the whole eight hours or so.

Even without the light from outside coming up yet, Apple Bloom woke up just as easily, now having all her rest. The young filly rubbed her eyes as she sat up and jumped off her 'bed'. She looked around with squinted eyes, trying to gain familiarity with the room around her, but nothing looked the same as she remembered it.

"Did my room move around? Ah probably had a worse nightmare than Ah thought and Ah'm seein' things..."

She rubbed her eyes again to get rid of the weird hallucinations, but after checking again, they were still the same.

"Nope, they're still there... now Ah know somethin's up."

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion before she looked around once more and spotted a large mirror placed against the wall in one corner of the room.

Apple Bloom figured she may have looked dreadfully tired, and walked up to the mirror to check. Her eye twitched at the image she saw before her. She still resembled a zombie, but she didn't recognize it those few hours ago because she was asleep. Seeing it now made her freak out.

"W-What happened to me?! Why do Ah look like this?! Am Ah still havin' a nightmare?!"

She took the time to look closely at her features, even though she was utterly disgusted by them. Her coat was all black, her mane and tail looked ruffled and pale, and her eyes glowed red.

"I-Is this me... as one of them zombies?" She touched a hoof to the mirror, and as she saw her reflection match her movements and looked at her own black hoof, she gasped at the revelation.

"It wasn't a nightmare after all... Ah really am a zombie!"

The only thing Apple Bloom thought to do at this point was run around the room and scream her lungs out. She was terrified of the situation she was in, and even though it was nighttime, she didn't care if she woke anypony else up. As far as she was concerned, there probably wasn't anypony else where she was.

As soon as a realization hit her, she skidded to a stop. "Wait a minute. If I'm a zombie, then does that mean..."

She turned her head toward the window. Luckily for her, there was a nearby cardboard box she could use to reach up to it. After walking to the box and pushing it under the window, she proceeded to climb on top of it. It was a bit difficult to do though, considering her slightly new body, but she quickly managed to climb on top.

Peeking her head out the window, she saw broken down buildings, destroyed plants, broken fences, and the trees still gave off a creepy vibe like they did earlier. It looked just like it did right after Apple Bloom saw that skeleton in the fireplace.

“Ah’m still here… so they did get me! This isn’t a dream, it’s real! Ah’m still in Sunny Town, which ain’t so sunny after all…”

She jumped off the box and landed on the floor with a hard thump. Her head was buried in her hooves as she quietly sobbed to herself. Just then, light poured in through the window, heading towards the crying filly. As soon as the light covered her whole body, her whole body started to change.

Her coat swiftly shifted from its bleak black to its natural yellow again. Her pale red mane changed once more to bright crimson. Her sharp teeth even turned back to normal pony teeth. And Apple Bloom could feel the changes, as she rose her head to see her yellow hoof once more.

“Huh? What happened? Am Ah… back to normal?”

She looked back to the window, but covered her view with one of her hooves to prevent herself from going blind by the morning sun. Her ears perked up as she heard a knock coming from behind her, and she turned her head to face it, seeing a yellow stallion with blue hair.

“Good morning, little filly! If you don’t mind, now that you’re awake, Grey Hoof wants to see you.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Hey, you're that yellow pony from before. The one Ah gave a ruby to."

"Yeah, I know. Please follow me, little filly."

The pony turned around and exited the building, leaving the door open for Apple Bloom. She contemplated on whether or not this was a good idea, but it wasn't like she had another choice. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she scurried her way out the door, closing it on the way out.

Author's Note:

Sorry if this chapter didn't seem like much. It's just set up for a really important chapter.

Comments

[PinkPearl]

may i please ask...that she look like this instead of black. im mean she DID just die and it takes awhile for flesh to turn black . so i made her color abit darker.
i have a blog and quite few pictures if you want a fic cover pic that's not that one.

if it's ok
i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj570/akemixchan815/blanked_applebloom_by_the_fireplace_by_applecider1412-d5i7btr_zps6d1c8ca4.jpg

[Soft Shell]

3426006
Welp....
Thats going to haunt my dreams for quite some time,
I thank you good sir, as my dreams have been quite boring of late.

[PinkPearl]

3428977 that's slightly grimdark. not even the least bit horrifying. maybe alittle scary but that's it

[Soft Shell]

3429056
Ahh you see,
The deffinition of "Scary" varies from pony to pony.
Show me the most disturbing horrifying monster
that has ever crawled out from the pits of hell,
And i won't bat an eye,
However show me an innocent filly, ripped from her family and turned into a creature of darkness, cursed to forever be left alone with the very monsters she fears.
Now that terrifies me.

[PinkPearl]

3429091 ...point taken. show me something grimdark. something with a good story ttatched to it. i love it. won't bat an eye but heck..i HATE horror movies. i get scared easily.

[Salnalus]

3426006
First off, sorry to take such a long time to reply to this. Many days, I did not have access to a computer, and I don't have any mobile access to FIMFiction.

Anyway, I just went off the idea of what most pictures of the zombified Apple Bloom looked like, which depicted her with a black coat. I've seen a few with a pale yellow coat, like that one, made in the same art style. Those were yours? Anyway, I chose the black coat instead, so as to keep the status quo, or something.

3433226
Thank you!

[brony_for_life13]

Huh...I finally read the chapter. I love it Sal. I cast wait for the next chapter to come. You st it up well now let's see what happens to our poor applebloom shall we.