Anguish

by Late_To_The_Party

Chapter 3

After that for a while things were—not quiet; really it was the opposite. With Twilight comin’ to town and all the adventures we started havin’ on account of the Elements of Harmony, we were all kept so busy that a few ponies’ disappearance years back weren’t nothin’ to worry about. Least that’s what we thought, anyways.

---

Apple Bloom scampered toward the kitchen door, looking like an energetic ball of coats. “Bye, Applejack!”

“Hold on a second! Just where are you gettin’ off to in this weather?”

Apple Bloom looked back at her sister and rolled her eyes. “Come on, sis, it’s not that cold out there.”

The door opened to reveal two small pony shaped bundles of fabric covered with snow. Some muffled noise came from one of them, but it was impossible to tell which.

“Get that door closed! You’re lettin’ all the cold in!” Granny snapped, shivering next to the open oven door.

There was another muffled noise which was probably supposed to be speech, and judging from the sound, it was the other pony who had spoken this time, but Applejack still couldn’t tell which was which.

“Why don’t ya come inside and take a little of that off—”

“And close that door!”

“—so we can hear what you’re sayin’. All wrapped up like ya are ya just sound like you’re hummin’ and I can’t understand a word of it.”

The two piles of coats and scarves stepped inside. A blue glow enveloped the door, flickered a couple times, then disappeared. The pony on the right stamped a hoof and said something that Applejack was sure was best left muffled before kicking the door closed. The two unwrapped scarves from their faces to reveal Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, exactly who Applejack expected to see. Sweetie Belle glared at nothing in particular and started tapping her horn with one hoof.

Scootaloo spoke up. “What I said was, ‘Twilight said that cold doesn’t come in, the heat goes out!’”

“Oh yeah?” Granny asked, scooting so close to the oven that Applejack was afraid she would burn herself. “W-well are ya gonna b-believe what somep-pony tells ya or what you c-can see and f-f-feel for yerself? The cold w-was outside, then you open up that d-door and now it’s c-cold in here!”

Sweetie Belle stopped tapping her horn and looked between Scootaloo and Granny Smith. “But Twilight said—and you said—but I—” She scrunched her eyes and grabbed her head, shaking it. “Ooh! I’m so confused!”

Applejack grabbed a blanket and laid it over Granny’s back. “I’ve never been that good with science-y stuff, but if Twilight said it, then it’s probably true. She’s a smart one...about most things, anyway.” She glanced out the window at the section of the orchard they had given to the vampire fruit bats and gave a quick shiver to match Granny’s.

“Yeah!” Scootaloo said. “She says it’s ‘cause energy is hot and… um… so cold doesn’t have energy… or something…” She trailed off, looking at the floor.

Sweetie Belle brightened up. “Oh, so the air is cold because it’s tired?”

Scootaloo opened her mouth and took a breath. She raised one hoof, then set it back down. “Um…”

“So,” Applejack interrupted, “where ya’ll goin’ in this cold?”

“We’re gonna get our cutie marks in ice skating!” Apple Bloom cheered.

“Ice skating? Didn’t ya’ll already try that? Why don’t—”

“This time we’ve got a grown-up coming along to teach us!” Scootaloo started bouncing in place. She probably would have been hovering had her wings not been cocooned to her sides. ”We’re sure to get our cutie marks this time!”

“Maybe ya should wait ‘til the storm dies down and it gets a mite warmer, ya—”

There was an explosion of pink. “You can’t skate when it’s warm, silly! It has to be cold or the water will be water and it won’t be ice! And if it’s not ice you’ll just sink like this and then you’re swimming, not skating! And swimming when it’s this cold is a really really bad idea because then you’ll get really cold and sick and you’ll have to stay inside and drink soup and you can’t go out and play and that’s no fun at all!” Once all was said and done, Pinkie Pie was laying on her back looking up at Applejack with a sad pleading expression that put Winona’s best efforts to shame.

Applejack’s definition of 'grown-up' was clearly different than that of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “What about roller skates? You can use them when it’s warm.”

Pinkie sighed and shook her head. “Oh, Applejack. Ice skates, roller skates, it doesn’t matter. Trust me, you’ll sink with either one. Now, water skis!” She tapped a hoof against her chin. “Hmm, water skis… No, it’s way too cold for water skis.”

“But—”

In a split second, Pinkie was standing again and patting Applejack on the head. “Don’t you worry your blonde little head, Jackie. I’ll take good care of the girls.” Before Applejack could protest either the head patting or the nickname, Pinkie Pie and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were out the door. Applejack stared at the door with her mouth hanging open while behind her, Granny’s shivers started to subside.

There was a loud crash from outside. “We’re okay!” Pinkie called out.

Applejack sighed and looked back at Granny, who waved her off with a hoof. “Go an’ check on ‘em. I’ll be jus’ fine. I’ll get a bit warmed up and then I’ll go hunker down for a nap.”

“Are ya sure?”

“I’m sure. Go on now.”

Applejack put on a coat and went outside to find out what was going on. She followed their tracks to where they had crashed into a wheelbarrow and knocked it over, spilling its contents, but they had picked everything up and already moved on. She supposed that sometimes Pinkie Pie could be grown-up after all. With that situation taken care of, Applejack proceeded to check on the sheep and the pigs and all the other animals she took care of on the farm, even the vampire fruit bats. By the time she was done and back inside, a few hours had passed. She was warming up with a mug of hot cider when the door opened and Granny Smith walked in.

“Granny! What were you doin’ out there?”

“You’d been outside so long that I stepped out to check on ya. With Mac off spendin’ time with that lovely young Cheerilee I hafta keep a closer eye on ya. Don’t want ya running yourself into the ground like ya did when you tried to buck all the apples by yourself.”

“But without even a coat? It’s cold out there!”

“Oh, fiddlesticks, Applejack. A bit of rest and now I’ve got some energy; a little bit o’ cold won’t do me no harm. These old bones have been through more winters than I care to count, and I reckon they’ll make it through a few more. Even if they do start to rattle a bit from time to time,” she finished with a wink.

Applejack chuckled. “All the same, I think you’d best have some cider to warm up.”

“Well, I suppose I could force myself,” Granny said. “I did have a bite or two before startin’ to look for ya, and I could do with somethin’ to wash it down.”

Applejack poured another mug of cider and the two sat together drinking in comfortable silence for a couple minutes when the door opened again. A snowy ball of coats trudged inside and shut the door before shedding several layers of clothes.

“Welcome home, AB.”

“Thanks, sis,” Apple Bloom replied in monotone.

“Is somethin’ wrong?”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to answer, but a quick check for a cutie mark led Applejack to cut her off. “Ya had fun with Pinkie Pie and your friends, didn’t ya?”

Apple Bloom looked slightly confused. “Yes,” she said slowly. “But—”

“Then it sounds like ya had a good day. Now why don’t ya come over here an’ have some cider?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes got a mischievous glint to them. Applejack narrowed her own. “Not the hard cider.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and smiled, accepting a mug of the hot beverage.

Not ten seconds later the door crashed open again. Scootaloo ran inside, slipped on the puddle left from Apple Bloom’s entrance and fell on her face. Applejack choked on her cider and started coughing.

“Scootaloo, what are ya doin’ here?” Apple Bloom asked. “I thought Pinkie Pie was taking ya home.”

Scootaloo stood up and looked at Apple Bloom with wide eyes. “Sh-sh-sh-she d-d-d-d-d—”

“Heavens, child, just look at ya,” Granny said, offering Scootaloo a drink from her cider mug. “Ya look half frozen.”

Applejack got her breathing under control and took a good look. Scootaloo wasn’t wearing any clothing to keep her warm in the snowstorm outside, and it showed. Her hair was matted with snow, and her feathers were frozen together. She finished taking a drink of Granny’s cider and the warmth seemed to help her a little. She noticed a trickle of blood from her nose where she had hit the floor a moment earlier and wiped it with her foreleg. Applejack gasped. There was more blood on Scootaloo’s face after she wiped it than there was before. In fact, the slowly melting snow on all four of her legs was mixed with blood.

Applejack dropped her cider. “What happened, sugarcube? You’re covered with blood!”

Scootaloo turned her frightened gaze toward Applejack, who swallowed. There was no mistaking the look on Scootaloo’s face. Applejack had seen the same kind of expression before, in the mirror, after her parents went missing. She desperately hoped that there was more than one thing that could cause that kind of pain and fear.

Applejack found her voice again, but was only able to whisper, “What happened?”

“M-m-m-my m-m-m-m-mom a-and d-d-dad…”

Applejack closed her eyes and trembled for a second before reminding herself that there was someone who needed her to be strong. She opened her eyes and reached out to grab Scootaloo, pulling her close for a hug. “Go on.” She braced herself for what would follow.

“I-I f-f-f-found them in the Forest...”

Applejack flinched. “I see. Shh…” She stroked Scootaloo’s mane.

Scootaloo hiccuped. “…AND THERE WAS BLOOD EVERYWHERE!” she screamed before slumping against Applejack, sobbing.

“Are—are ya sure it was them?”

Scootaloo cried louder. Apple Bloom hugged her friend and looked up at Applejack with an expression that silently pleaded for her to fix everything. Applejack took a deep breath. “Granny,” she said, “I need ya to watch over these two while I—”

“Don’t worry about a thing here,” Granny answered. “I’ll take care of ‘em both.”

“Thanks, Granny.” Applejack carefully disentangled herself from the two young ponies, then put on a coat and grabbed her rope.

“Be careful out there, Applejack,” Granny said. “The Everfree’s a dangerous place.”

“I been in that forest plenty of times.” Applejack tried—and failed—to smile. “I’ll be fine.”

Scootaloo’s trail was not hard to follow. The storm had died down, and there was still enough light to clearly see the path she had taken. Applejack didn’t want to think about it, but the red mingled with white also made things easier.

The red-streaked snow crunched under Applejack’s hooves, and for the first time that day she was glad it was so cold. The cold kept her from smelling the blood. She had asked Twilight once why that happened, and the way Twilight explained it there were tiny little pieces of whatever you were smelling getting in your nose, but when it was too cold they stuck together and didn’t get picked up into the air.

crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch

It was peaceful walking through the snow, so long as Applejack avoided looking at the path she was following and the ever-increasing amount of blood on it.

crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch

The orchard held up well through the storm. There weren’t many broken branches, and not a single tree had fallen.

crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch

There wasn’t very much space between the edge of the orchard and the edge of the Forest, but it felt like the farthest Applejack had ever walked.

crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch

The trees of the Everfree forest darkened the ground around her, even without their leaves.

crunch, crunch, crunch, squish

Applejack smelled blood and waste. She trembled slightly. She looked down and her stomach heaved. She had placed her hoof in a small red puddle. It was still warm. She picked her hoof up, and a couple feathers and some hair stuck to her leg. She swallowed and cleaned her leg off on some nearby snow. The trail she’d followed curved around the next tree. She braced herself and followed it.

A grinning face met her on the other side of the tree, and she screamed, scrambling back away from it before she realized it couldn’t follow her. A skeleton can’t move on its own. She moved forward to get a better look and recognized the face of Scootaloo’s father, or what was left of it. His lips and cheeks had been ripped off, baring his teeth in a hideous smile, and one eye had been plucked out. The rest of his body was in even worse condition. There was almost nothing left but bones, some of which had been snapped into pieces, and some of the pieces were missing. All the pieces that were left were covered with tooth marks. Bits of fur and some of his feathers were scattered around the area, glued to the ground and against the sides of the trees by his own blood.

But his weren’t the only remains Applejack found. Sprawled out on the ground a few feet away was Scootaloo’s mother. Her lower jaw was gone, and she was missing even more pieces of bone than the first skeleton Applejack found. Her bones that were still left were covered with the same tooth marks and her fur and feathers were mixed with her husband’s.

The smell of blood was almost overpowering. Applejack remembered what Twilight had told her about what smells really were. She took a few shaky steps away from the remains and lost every bit of cider left in her stomach.

---

Twilight tried, but she couldn’t figure out what had killed ‘em. Fluttershy took a look—eventually—but she didn’t recognize the teeth marks either. She said they looked kinda like bear, but she’d never heard of a bear eatin’ two ponies like that, an’ pegasi besides.

We had a funeral—closed casket, of course. Nopony should have to see somethin’ like that. Pinkie Pie took charge of plannin’ the funeral. I didn’t think that was a good idea, at first, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

She didn’t leave Scootaloo’s side the whole time. She didn’t try to cheer her up, but more’n once she was there to hold the filly while she cried. She stroked her mane like she was her own child an’ treated her more gently than I knew she was able to.

I told Pinkie that it wasn’t her fault what happened, and she just looked at me with a look I ain’t never seen her have before. I don’t rightly know how to describe it. She almost looked confused, like she didn’t understand why I said it. But I did, an’ she looked at me, an’ she just whispered, “I know.”

It wasn’t just at the funeral. Scootaloo didn’t have any other family, so Pinkie took care of her from then on. The Cakes even had her move into Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie told ‘em that it was either that or she was leavin’. Said she’d go back to the rock farm if she had to, an’ take Scootaloo with her. Even if it meant never throwin’ another party for anypony but her own family.

Comments

[Moviestar]

So sad... my feels

[mariarulez101]

OMG PLZ UPDATE SOON!!!! :( SOO SAD

[Cade117]

Much sad...
Such death.

[Late_To_The_Party]

4169402 So story. Wow.