The Sacrifice, a once in a century rite for the continuation of all of Equestria. One filly is chosen to be killed for the progress of the rest of society and the continuing virtue of egalitarian life. Will she escape or will she die?
"Hey Applebloom wake up! Today is the day" said Applejack as she shook her from the bed to wake her up. Applebloom stood up and wiped the sandman's sand from her eyes, she then yawned hard that showed how tired she was.
"Applejack? whats going on?" said Applebloom as she barely awoke from her slumber.
"Today is the lottery silly! We're going to see who wins the grand prize"
"What grand prize?" said Applebloom
"I dont know but its always something good." said Applejack
"Well come on lets go." continued Applejack
Applejack walked with Applebloom from her room to the kitchen were there was a feast of food to eat from zap apple jam muffins to apple croissants. Granny Smith was cooking up a storm from the oven making many confections for the Apple Family to eat.
Applebloom smiled at the confectionary food surplus that was smacked against her eyes.
"Wow Granny Smith this must be a important occasion!" said Applebloom in regard to all she has seen.
"Why yes deary today is a really important day, have some muffins and apple croissants." said Granny Smith as she continued her home cooking.
"Yep this food looks delicious granny." said Applejack as she sat down in the chair to eat.
Applebloom sat down on the seat of wood, it felt rigid on her plot. She took a bit of zap apple jam with a butter knife and slabbed it on the muffin. She took a bite and It tasted sweet and zappy like thunder on her tongue, pleasure was throughout her face as a "Mmmm" resurfaced out of her voice box.
"Hey granny whats the lottery?" Applebloom said between bites of food.
"Oh it's this eternal tradition for all ponies to gather and give a honorary filly the honor of a lifetime, it only happens every one hundred years so it is going to be excitin!"
"No way I can't wait Granny, when is it?" said Applebloom as she finished her meal.
"By gum what time is it?" said Granny Smith as she searched and found the clock. "Oh dear me! it is seven O'3 you girls have to go now!"
"C'mon Applebloom." said Applejack as she grabbed Applebloom and exited the house.
"Wait Applejack why are we in such a hurry, I havent even gotten ready yet!" said Applebloom as she was pulled from the hoof.
"No we have to be there on time or the consequences will be dire." said Applejack as they sped to Ponyville.
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Applejack and Applebloom arrived to the center of Ponyville where there was a huge reception of ponies from all over Equestria. There was the rich ponies from Canterlot, the farmers, the town ponies, every single type of pony of rank was there. There was a huge pavilion in the middle to announce the winner of the prize.
"Wow Applejack there is so many ponies in Ponyville today, how come I never heard of this occasion?" said Applebloom in awe.
"Didn't Mrs. Cheerilee tell ya in school about it?" said Applejack.
"Oh... I Mustv'e been sleeping in class that day..." said Applebloom while she looked away from Applejack in embarrassment.
"Applebloom! sleeping in class?" said Applejack dissaprovingly.
"I don't know I get tired in class, I'm sorry..." said Applebloom.
"Never again Applebloom, never again." said Applejack.
Then out of the pavilion there came ponies with horns and they blowed real loud to announce Celestia. Out came Celestia in all her vibrance, she appeared to the masses and greeted them with a canterlot voice.
"Good evening, everypony today we are going to announce the winner of the Grand Prize and he or she will have the absolute honor for the continuation of our Egalitarian society!"
The masses cheered for their goddess as she slipped out a letter to announce the winner. She opened the paper, she saw the name and her face cringed.
"What?.. it can't be.." she said to herself while she studied the paper in disbelief.
The masses waited for her to announce the winner.
"The winner is... Applebloom!" said Celestia.
"What? Applebloom you won!" said Applejack as she was excited for her sister.
"I won? I won! woo hoo!" said Applebloom towards her big sister.
Everypony screamed and cheered, the ponies near Applebloom congratulated her as she walked through the street towards the pavilion. Celestia watched as Applebloom walked towards the pavilion, each step Applebloom took a toll on her conscience but, it had to be done. Celestia forced a smile as Applebloom got up the stage.
"Wow Princess Celestia! your even more amazing close up" said Applebloom.
"Thank you Applebloom I am glad you won the prize..." said Celestia.
"I know! I just wish I knew what it was" said Applebloom.
Applebloom with Princess Celestia went behind the pavilion and Princess Luna was there along with the royal guard. Applebloom saw an altar with a pedestal that had an opening for what looked like it could fit somepony's head.
"Congratulations Applebloom, you will make a great sacrifice for the continuation of our Egalitarian life here in Equestria!" said Princess Luna as she waved the guards to get Applebloom.
"Sacrifice? what? hey let go of me!" said Applebloom as she was grabbed by the guards.
"Set her on the sacrificial altar." said Princess Luna.
"Hey whats going on! I don't wanna die!" Applebloom screamed as she was tied down and placed on the altar.
In came a pony through the back of the pavilion with a Executioner's axe and mask, Applebloom looked at her executioner and closed her eyes.
"Now!" screamed Celestia. In came a pegasus with a orange and purple streaked mane and black hair. He threw a smoke bomb and it clouded the entire room, he then put on a gas mask that he had equipped and grabbed Applebloom from the altar.
"What... whats going on." said Applebloom as she felt her body get rocked from the Stallion that was carrying her.
"Quiet down or we both die." whispered the Stallion.
He flew out of the Pavilion while everyone was distracted and kept flying.
Princess Luna covered her eyes from the dust and shadow that enveloped the entire room. As the room dissipated she realized that the sacrifice was taken from the altar. She stood up from the floor and waved her guards to her. The royal guards came to her and she spoke.
"Find the sacrifice or else were all doomed, for now we must satiate the eternal one below us or he will rise." ordered Luna.
"Mephilos and Darian track the traitor who stole the sacrifice" she said towards two of the royal guard.
The two chosen royal guard picked by Luna herself flew off from the pavilion and tracked the pony that took the sacrifice from the altar by flying towards the direction he went. Celestia had disapeared from the pavilion so Luna had to greet the ponys for another sacrifice. Luna went outside of the pavilion and saw the many confused faces of the pony inhabiting the spacious area surrounding the pavilion.
"Pony of Equestria, Applebloom has been abducted and has been taken by an unknown assailant." screamed Luna in a canterlot voice.
The ponys gasped, spoke amongs't another, and naturally frowned on the fact. Applejack was even more surprised by this occurence and walked past all the ponys and stepped on the steps to get towards Luna.
"What? ma'h sister is gone?" said Applejack towards Luna.
"Yes your sister was abducted by an unknown pegasus and he is now bieng pursuited as we speak." said Luna towards Applejack.
"Will she be alright?" said Applejack with a worried face.
"I doubt she will be hurt but, first she must be found" said Princess Luna
"Well darn tutin I'll look for her" said Applejack
"The trip will be perilous and dangerous, and who knows what will happen are you sure Applejack?" said Princess Luna.
"I'm sure she is my baby sister and all" said Applejack.
"You will not go it alone Applejack!" said Twilight Sparkle as she emerged from the crowd.
"We will accompany you on your mission!" said Rarity as she emerged from the crowd along with the rest of the mane six.
"Yah were not going to let some meanie kidnapper get away with your sister!" said Pinkie Pie.
"We'll get em I swear on it!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Oh and we will throttle them... too... I guess..." said Fluttershy.
"Aww thanks guys I always can count on you girls to help me out!" said Applejack towards the other five.
"Then it is settled, you will need to go with one of my guard, he is an expert tracker" said Princess Luna.
"His name is Diabelos and he will help you all find Applebloom, make sure to bring her back for the prize..." continued Princess Luna
"Of course Princess Luna we will get back Applebloom!" said Twilight Sparkle.
"Diabelos come hither!" said Princess Luna
In came Diabelos of the royal guard who was also a earth pony, he wore the royal guard armor as usual but, had a scar across his face showing he had experience in battle. He was rather old yet, strong of leg and body. He came to Princess Luna and bowed his head.
"My princess did you summon me?" said Diabelos.
"Yes I need you to accompany them and to help them find Applebloom." said Princess Luna.
"But princess we already have a team tracking her as we speak" said Diabelos towards Luna.
"Do not question me, we need all the help we can get before the eternal one rises from the earth!" whispered Princess Luna.
"Of course then we must move fast then, before they escape, come the six of you we must move quickly towards... this direction." said Diabelos towards the mane six.
"Pegasi, take to the skies and supervise the land." said Diabelos towards Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Yes sir." said the two.
"Unicorns, do a tracking spell to see where the abductor went." said Diabelos towards Twilight Sparkle and Rarity.
"Um I don't really do Tracking spells and such..." said Rarity.
"Well what do you do you are a Unicorn are you not?" said Diabelos.
"Well I am more into dresses and such... but, Twilight Sparkle can do that!" said Rarity.
"I'm already on it" said Twilight.
"Well okay... Rarity and you two earth ponies with me!" said Diabelos.
"Okay!" said Pinkie Pie.
"I hope we find my sister soon enough..." said Applejack.
The six horses followed Diabeloses lead and sped towards the direction were the abductor went. All that was left was to satiate the sacrifice for now. Princess Luna came towards the crowd of ponies and said "Who would like to hold the prize until Applebloom gets here?".
One pony came up from the crowd and it was Diamond Tiara.
"I want to see it!" said Diamond Tiara towards Luna.
Diamond Tiara and Luna went into the pavilion and Diamond Tiara saw the altar.
"Alright just put your head right there and you will claim your prize okay?" said Princess Luna
"Okay" said Diamond Tiara as she put her head on the altar.
Without hesitation the executioner came in from behind cover and slashed off Diamond Tiara's head off before she could react. The blood that came off of Diamond Tiara came through the altar and slowly dripped down towards the earth.
"That should suffice until the true sacrifice returns" said Princess Luna.
"Now we must prepare the forget spell to erase from everyone's mind the memory of Diamond Tiara." said Princess Luna to her remaining guards.
The unicorn's of the guard began the spell, a bright energy emanated from the pavilion and spread all over the outside. Many ponies were blinded by this occurence and became dazed by the bright light that hit their eyes. And so Diamond Tiara was forgotten from their memories forever. After the bright light faded out, Princess Luna again came out to greet the denizens of ponyville.
"Pony of Equestria, we are going to announce the winner of the grand prize!" said Princess Luna towards them all.
The pegasus that had taken Applebloom flew far into the wasteland beyond the Ponyville border. Though he wanted to continue flying because he knew that the royal guard were in pursuit, he had no choice but to land since his wings were fatigued from all the flying and it was dark.
Darn wings why can't I fly further! damn going to have to camp for the night
The pegasus landed on the ground around without much vegetation surrounding the area. Applebloom was asleep under his hoof slumbering gently like a new foal. The pegasus looked at the sleeping Applebloom and smiled.
They won't hurt you little one they won't hurt anypony ever again
The pegasus laid down Applebloom on his side and went to sleep under a steep rock that hid them from sight.
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The pegasus awoke and found himself in a town, but everything was burning. The houses were on fire, ponies were being burned alive and the pegasus screamed in terror at the image shown to him of fire enveloping everything. Many ponies ran around in circles and screamed in pain as the burns seared their skins with terror in their eyes. The trees were on fire as well as the ground. It seemed the fire was everywhere and it looked like it was endless. The pegasus soon looked up and saw a huge monstrosity burning the denizens everywhere with fire breath. The creature was huge with three horns on its head and a massive mouth that looked like it could tear entire continents in half. The pegasus screamed in horror as the monster breathed fire at his direction. Then he awoke, opening his eyes and jerking off the ground from whence he slept. He lifted his head with a hoof and realized it was all a dream.
What a nightmare... wait where is the filly?
The pegasus then saw that Applebloom was gone and he instantly searched the area with his eyes to see any hint of her existance.
Celestia damn it where did she go!
The pegasus flew high into the sky to supervise the layout of the desert and soon found the filly speeding towards the other direction. The pegasus flapped his wings and dived towards Applebloom. Seeing that she was discovered, Appleboom ran even faster but, to no avail the pegasus caught up with her. The pegasus flew and landed on Applebloom and they both rolled into the desert sand.
"Where are you going!?" said the pegasus as he pinned her down in the sand.
"Let go of me!" said Applebloom as she struggled to rid herself of her captor.
"You'll die if you go to that direction!" said the pegasus as he pushed her down the sand.
"I said let go of me!" said Applebloom as she was set free and kicked the pegasus in the face.
"Ah!" screamed the pegasus as he got knocked back and felt blood trickling down his nose.
"Erg.. I don't have time for this!" screamed the pegasus as he flew and hit Applebloom in the head knocking her out.
The pegasus walked to the body of the knocked out Applebloom, picked her up and flew towards the sky. As he flew up Applebloom regained consciousness and bit on his arm really hard. The pain shot up into the pegasus's brain and caused him to imbalance and fly to the ground were he crashed into the sand while Applebloom flew through the air. Dizzied and tired the pegasus laid there for a few moments until realizing that Applebloom was crashing to her death in but a moment.
Why me?
The pegasus then flew and intercepted Applebloom before she landed on the sand. He carried Applebloom and saw she was crying her little head off.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" said the pegasus.
"I want my sister back, I don't wanna die!" cried Applebloom as she closed her eyes with her hoofs.
"Your not going to die! I came here to rescue you for goodness sake" said the pegasus.
"You did? so your not trying to kill me?" said Applebloom as she cleared her tears.
"NO!" screamed the pegasus.
"A'm sorry is just I have been through so much..." said Applebloom.
"It's alright just don't do that again okay?" said the pegasus.
"Alright... hey whats your name?" said Applebloom as she holded herself up on the sand.
"Uh... I don't have a name..." said the pegasus.
"Don't have a name? how is that even possible?" said Applebloom.
"I.. just don't have a name okay? drop the subject we need to go..." said the pegasus.
"I'm hungry" said Applebloom as her stomach grumbled.
"All I have is this gas mask, how am I supposed to feed you in this desert?" said the pegasus.
The pegasus looked around and found a cactus near by, he came near it and studied the green plant and noticed the prickles all over. He grabbed his gas mask and started to bang on the cactus, each strike caused a piece of the cactus to come off until one of the arm's fell off to the ground. He picked up the now prickle infested mask and lifted the piece of cactus on top of the mask. He flew and landed near Applebloom and begrudgingly gave it over to her.
"You hungry? well eat." said the pegasus.
"How am I supposed to eat that?" said Applebloom.
"Just eat the inside of the cactus... It's nutritious." said the pegasus.
"Can you hoof it over to me?" said Applebloom.
"Sure why not." said the pegasus.
The pegasus then took pieces of the inside of the cactus and hoofed it to Applebloom's mouth. She took a bite and continued to eat until the inside of the cactus was hollow. The pegasus then threw the mask towards the ground since it had served it's purpose.
"Alright we need to get some facts straight here, there are ponies who are coming after us to kill the both of us and they won't stop until I'm dead and your in their custody, you understand?" said the pegasus.
Applebloom nodded while her mouth was full chewing cactus.
"I need you to be a good little filly until we get to our destination, no more slip ups alright?" continued the pegasus.
"Now take my hoof we can't waste more time." said the pegasus as he lifted a hoof towards Applebloom.
Applebloom grabbed the pegasus hoof and they flew high into the over expansive sky. Applebloom was bewildered by the speed and force that the was pegasus flying. They then continued towards their destination.
