Apple in Decay

by kilkennycats

Chapter 2

The fog permeated the air so thickly that nopony could even see where the flames licked out amidst Ponyville’s infrastructure. With ash burning in her eyes and fire lapping at her hooves, Applejack raced through the cobbled streets, calling out for any ponies that might’ve gone astray during the evacuation. The little Earth Pony coughed and heaved amidst the smog, straining her ears to hear even the slightest reply to her cries. She had no idea where her friends were; hopefully, the weather patrol would be there soon and everypony was safe and sound.

The fire spread and grew, and soon Applejack’s eyes watered, the flesh beneath her coat baking with the horrible heat. Feeling the flames sap away her strength like it was a means to fuel its own cruelty, the orange pony slowed her pace, crouching lower to the ground where the smoke had not yet settled.

“Help!”

Her ears pricked up, and coughing, ambled in the direction of the screaming. A young filly was caught between a fallen support beam, flames enclosing around her.

Applejack bit her lip. Should she…? She had enough time to free the foal but the flames were encroaching quickly…

Oh, buck it, she thought, I shouldn’t be a selfish pony, and dashing over, gave the beam a mighty kick with her back hooves, breaking it in half and sending it careening into the fire.

“Git onto mah back,” Applejack commanded, hoisting up the filly with her teeth. The weak creature did as she was told and clung to her mane.

Now the flames had devoured the beam, and crackling spires of death towering five feet high surrounded them. Applejack whipped her head around, trying to find an exit, but there was none.

“Hold on tight!” she cried at last, suddenly breaking into a full gallop. The fire licked at her and filled her lungs with smoke, and dizzy, Applejack took a leap of faith, soaring above the foiled fate below her. A few flames lashed at her underbelly, and giving a gasp of pain, crashed to the ground, throwing the filly out of the way before she landed.

Not letting herself regain her breath, she staggered to her feet and grabbed her hat, wrinkling her nose at the smell of her smoldering fur.

“You all righ’?” she called out to the filly. The little unicorn child had a small gash across her back from where she landed, but she nodded, trying her best not to cry.

“C’mon, then!”

Applejack flung her onto her back again, running at breakneck speed. The wind that whipped around her was almost enough to distract her from the throbbing pain of her burns, and she felt like she was soaring, rocketing away from the melee of destruction behind her. Her practice as a rodeo pony paid off. She ran and ran, dodging and bucking obstacles aside until a lance of pain caught her sharply and she collapsed, knees buckling into the grass.

Letting the filly get off, she rolled over onto her side and heaved. She was in a meadow, still dewy and unaware of the fire around it, and soon she began to see other ponies, coming from all directions and in various states of health.

And then there came the rain, the weather ponies having mobilized and bringing clouds over to quench the angry fire. After what seemed like a millennium, the weather ponies sounded the all clear that it was out, and friends and relatives scampered about to find one another.

“AJ! There ya are!”

A great shadow swooped overhead and landed next to her, a tangle of rainbow hair getting in her face.

“Heh-heh, sorry,” said Rainbow Dash, giving a grin. “At least the fire’s out, and… whoa! Applejack! You’re all beat up!”

“Guess so,” she choked, forcing a wan grin.

Rainbow tapped her chin with concern. “Oh, man. We have to get you to a doctor. That looks like it really hurts.”

“Tell me more,” she replied sardonically, vaguely annoyed at Rainbow’s insistence of keeping her from her rest.

“Applejack? Rainbow? Ah, there you are!”

Twilight trotted up to them. She looked exhausted, but unharmed.

“Oh, no! Here… wait.”

Twilight placed her horn to Applejack’s seared belly, a wave of magic rippling through it. Applejack felt a warm glow, and when it faded it was less painful.

“Sorry,” Twilight panted. “I would’ve healed it completely, but I had to teleport a lot of ponies out of town, and I guess I’m tired.”

“Much appreciated, Twi,” breathed Applejack, appreciative of her friend’s actions.

“Let me see your other burns and bruises… Wow, what did you get yourself into…?”

“Um, Twi?” coughed Applejack.

“Yes?”

“Can y’all attend to this little filly next ta me? Ah’ll be fine, ah promise.”

“Oh.”

Twilight used her healing magic on the filly’s gash, the cut fading away almost instantly.

“Dinky! There you are! I thought I lost you!”

A grey Pegasus with wall eyes fluttered down to the foal and scooped her up into a hug.

“Mommy, Applejack saved me!” squealed Dinky.

“Yay, Applejack, woohoo!” cried the Pegasus. “Thanks, Applejack!”

“Don’t mention it, Derpy!” replied she as the mare flew off with her daughter in tow.

“Applejack,” lectured Twilight, lying down on the grass next to her. “When I said evacuate the ponies, I meant to lead them out of town, not jump into the fray!”

“Heh, mighty sorry, there. Ah got a little carried away, ah guess. Where are Rarity, Pinkie, an’ Shy?”

“Pinkie’s right here!” came the pink Earth Pony’s singsong voice. She bounced up to them, her hair wet from the rain and charred in some places, but still energetic as ever. “Wow! That was so scary! Wasn’t that scary? I used my Pinkie sense to help the ponies out and then my Pinkie sense led me over here to you guys and I’m all like, wow, we need to do that again!”

“Um, I’m here, too.”

Fluttershy crept up to them, a white rabbit nuzzled in her mane.

“I just had to see if the little animals were all right! You understand, don’t you, girls?”

“Of course, Fluttershy.”

Rarity.

Three small fillies were curled up around her.

“Applebloom!” cried Applejack, getting up at once to greet her little sister. “Thank goodness yer all right! How’s Big Mac an’ Granny Smith?”

“The-they’re okay,” the scared yellow pony stuttered, cuddling up at her side. “They stayed at Sweet Apple Acres t’day an’ the farm didn’ get hit by the fire.”

“That’s a relief. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, are you okay?” asked Rarity, eyes softening in concern at the two trembling fillies.

“Y-Yeah,” said Scootaloo.

“Thanks for saving us, Sis,” said Sweetie Belle in her high, buckling voice.

“You girls are lucky I checked the Carousel Boutique before I left! Now, once this mess is all cleared up, I expect you not to Crusade in my workplace again!”

“Okay,” groaned Sweetie Belle. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Firefighters, yay!”

They started to scamper off, but Rainbow Dash held them off.

“Whoa, hey guys. Maybe you should stick with us… um, not that I’m scared for you or anything!” she added, indignant at showing concern.

The other ponies chuckled.

“Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight Sparkle, “is everypony okay?”

“Yeppy yeppy! I know everypony in Ponyville and they’re all here except Spike and… oh! Here comes Spike now! Hi, Spike!”

A baby dragon trudged up to them, looking irate. He flicked his green scales a bit and gave them a disapproving stare.

“Hey, guys, I know I’m a dragon and I have thick scales and all, but couldn’t you have at least come for me?”

“Sorry Spike,” Twilight chuckled, “ponies aren’t immune to fire like dragons! We had to get out.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Hey, you know you’re still my number one assistant. How about I make it up to you with a nice bowl of emerald mint ice cream once town’s fixed up?”

“Hmm.”

Spike faked an expression of pondering.

“If what you say is true, then I’ll let it go just this once!”

Everypony laughed, the mood returning to the cheeriness it was before.

“Did you see the damage, Spike?” asked Twilight. “Is the library okay?”

“Well, the outside got burned a bit, but the books are fine. Some buildings were hit pretty bad, but hey, it’s nothing a little magic can’t fix.”

“Right. I need some rest right now, though. Well, call me vain, but I’d say our friendship saved the day yet again!”

“You mean y’all saved the day,” stated Applejack. “Ya saved a bunch of ponies, an’ I only saved one. Ya have so many fancy talents that I can’t compare…”

“Oh, come on, Applejack!” cried Rainbow, trying to cheer her up. “It isn’t just one filly. You saved her…”

“And that makes all the difference,” Rarity finished.

“Plus, you must’ve done some awesome hoof work to get out of that mess!”

“I think you did a good job,” peeped Fluttershy.

“Heh, thanks guys. Guess ah’m just bein’ hard on mahself.”

“Yer the coolest big sister ah could ever have!” chimed in Applebloom helpfully, and Applejack smiled, ruffling her hair.

“Ya guys are great. I dunno what ah’d do without ya.”

“Well,” said Twilight, “I think this calls for a friendship report! Spike, once we get back home, can you take a letter?”

“Yeah, sure, as long as you get me some of that ice cream!”

“Of course! Hmm… I kind of wish I knew who started the fire, though.”

“There she is!” cried somepony in the distance. There was a scuffle, and a yellow Pegasus was held down.

“What’s goin’ on, here?” coughed Applejack, getting up with her friends to investigate the situation.

The sobbing Pegasus struggled and cried out.

“No! Don’t touch me!” she shrieked. “You’ll get it on you!”

“Get what on me?”

Dash hovered in front of her.

“Now, calm the hay down and tell me what happened.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry,” coughed the pony. Her name was Hemlock, Rainbow recalled, a pony who did a lot of odd jobs around town.

“I… I tried to get it off… but it wouldn’t… so I got a book to see if there was somethin’ written about it… and I lit a match for light… but then… but then I dropped the match, and…”

“Oh, I see.”

Twilight sighed.

“I feel like such a terrible pony! I…”

“Don’t say that,” whispered Fluttershy. “It was just an accident and nopony got hurt.”

“Yeah! You can make up for it by helping us fix Ponyville!”

“No, I can’t!” Hemlock wailed. “I really messed up. I’m just… I just don’t deserve to be alive!”

Everyone’s mouths opened in stunned silence, her captors surprised just long enough for her to break free and crumple up into a little ball. Words like that were something ponies never said. There was never any kind of deep self-loathing like that. Never in Equestria, the land of Harmony…!

“Don’t talk like that,” said Twilight, trying to mask her shock. “Really, we aren’t going to hurt you, but we do expect you to help. Now, tell me… what’s this ‘it’ you keep talking about?”

Hemlock trembled a bit and then rolled over. A mass of black… something writhed around her flesh and she pawed at it, to no avail. It stayed put and even got more aggressive, fastening itself to her foot. Hemlock squealed.

“Shh! Shh! What happened?”

Twilight’s urgent tone finally leaked out.

“I…” gulped Hemlock, trying to compose herself, “I was in the Everfree, doin’ some work for Nurse Redheart, when everything got all cold and I couldn’t move. And then…”

She broke down again. Fluttershy reached out to stroke her, but Twilight held her back.

“And then this… tree thing started growing. And there were red fruits everywhere, but they didn’t seem to be fruits, and the tree… it made me reach out for one…”

“Made you?”

Twilight blinked in confusion.

“Y-Yeah. Made me. An’ then it… it grabbed me… and I flew away… but it stuck…”

A scream ripped through her, and she huddled against herself, trying to make herself disappear.

“Whoa, weird,” said Rainbow, reaching out to examine the strange black tendrils.

“Rainbow, no!” cried Twilight, but it was too late. The cyan Pegasus had already touched it, and some rubbed off on her hoof.

“What… ew! Twilight, get it off!”

“I wish I could, Rainbow,” stuttered Twilight, “but I need to know what it is. Applejack, you farm, right? Have you ever seen a tree like that… before…? AJ?”

The blonde Earth Pony stood rooted in fear, eyes fixed to the black substance like solder.

“Uh… Twi…” she managed weakly. “Ah… I don’t like the feel of that.”

“What?”

“Ah said it looks like bad news! Git it off of ‘em!”

“Applejack, I can’t…”

“Right now!”

She tried to suppress her frightened tone by swallowing her words, but it did nothing more than to further betray her terror.

“Please, Twi.”

“Well…” Twilight furrowed her brow and frowned. “I could try a transportation spell, but I can’t guarantee anything. Stand back, everypony!”

The ponies huddled back from Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Hemlock, watching with bated breath as a purple wave of magic emanated from the Unicorn’s horn once again. The magic surrounded the areas where the two ponies were infected, and gritting her teeth in abject concentration; let a bubble form around them. Twilight unclenched her jaw and sat back, still levitating the bubbles with the black goop inside.

“Heh! Well, whaddya know?” said Spike. “Great job, Twilight!”

“Thanks,” muttered Rainbow Dash. “That stuff was so un-awesome!”

Hemlock just lay there, still shaking from the recent events. A few ponies cheered, others remained silent, until finally Rarity trotted up to Twilight, adding her own magic to support the spell.

“Twilight, darling,” she said, “what ever are you going to do with that horrid… substance? You can’t keep this spell up forever, you know.”

“I know,” replied Twilight. “I’m going to send it to Princess Celestia and see if she knows what it is.”

“It’s really that serious?” squeaked Fluttershy. “Are you sure you don’t know what it is?”

“Not a clue. Does anypony have a quill and paper?”

“Ooh! Ooh!”

Pinkie Pie jumped up and down, stationary dangling from her mouth. Giving them to Spike, she gave a silly grin, proud of how she somehow managed to produce it from nowhere.

“Use this, Twilight! I always keep a quill, ink, and paper handy in case of writing emergency!”

“Uh, thanks, Pinkie. Spike, take a letter!”

“Right!”

The baby dragon brandished the quill, writing with quickness and precision as Twilight orated her message.

“Dear Princess Celestia. Today I write to you on account of a fire in Ponyville, and the strange events surrounding it. Everypony’s fine, but first of all, I would like to request some literature on repair and creation magic from the Canterlot Archives, as the Ponyville library does not have anything on fixing fire damage. Secondly, I send you a strange substance that was found on the instigator of the fire, and briefly on Rainbow Dash. I have already sealed it for you. One thing I feel I should mention is that Applejack does not trust it, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my friendship studies, is to always trust your friends’ intuition. Of course, obviously, I do not have any reason to not believe there might be dark magic involved. Do you know what it is? Thank you for your response, and expect a friendship report tonight! Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.”

With a small breath of fire, Spike sent the letter and the orbs off into oblivion, a small spark signifying its magical mark of passage.

“When do you think she’ll get back to us?” whispered Fluttershy.

“Princess Celestia always takes time for me! Oh, are you silly fillies getting bored?”

Twilight Sparkle smiled at Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo.

“Applejack, Rarity, can your sisters go off and play now?”

“Of course, Twilight.”

“But they’re only allowed tah play at the farm!” said Applejack sternly. “Ah don’t want them gettin’ hurt if Ponyville’s still broke! Run along now, girls, an’ if when I git home Big Mac says he didn’t see ya at the farm, y’all will be in for a world of trouble!”

“Okay, sis!” agreed Applebloom with some reluctance. Still, she and her friends ran off into the distance, giggling and laughing.

“Ah, good,” sighed Twilight. “I’m kind of worried about what the Princess’s reply is going to be… it’s no thing for a foal to hear.”

“I understand,” said Rarity.

Spike heaved and belched up another plume of fire, a scroll magically appearing in the air, sealed with the Princess’s insignia.

“There! I knew she’d get back to me!”

Twilight used her magic to open the letter and read it, frown creasing deeper with every word she spoke.

“To my most faithful student: Unfortunately, I cannot identify this right off hoof, but I believe you are right when you say that it is magical in origin. I will consult with my sister to see if we can pinpoint its source. In the meantime, I have sent for the perfect book for you, and you will be receiving it shortly. I am so happy my little ponies are all right! I don’t know what I’d do if one of them got hurt under my watch. I eagerly await your friendship report!”

“Well, there we go.”

Rainbow Dash crept up to them and licked her hoof where the strange substance used to be.

“Seems like it was written kinda fast, don’t you think?” she observed.

Twilight nodded.

“Well, she’s very busy, and…”

Suddenly, Spike bellowed forth another letter.

“To my most faithful student: can you have Applejack and the pony that started the fire write me on this substance? Thank you… What’s that all about? Well, can you two do it?”

Applejack nodded, but Hemlock didn’t respond.

“We’ll do it together, Twi. Hey, miss, y’all want me to stay with you a bit an’ then walk ya back home?”

Slowly, the Pegasus Hemlock nodded.

“All righ’.”

“Well, we’ll be off now,” said Twilight. “We have a lot of work to do if Ponyville is going to be fixed up by tonight! And remember, AJ, see the nurse about those burns!”

“See ya!” cried Dash, flying off.

“Buh-bye!” giggled Pinkie.

The rest of her friends gave their regards, and the other ponies shuffled off back home, leaving only the two ponies left in the field.

“Well,” Applejack breathed after a few moments of silence.

Hemlock looked up, face stricken with tears and shame.

“Now, ah have somethin' to ask of ya. Ah want you to put yerself back together, an’ I want you to tell me everythin’ ya saw.”