An Apple Far From the Tree

by Autum Breeze


Chapter 16

Chapter 16

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The orange mare looked down with drooping eyes at the yellow filly resting in the bed before her, still save for her chest’s rising and falling with each breath.

Two days had passed since Sam had been brought into the hospital. She had regained consciousness once or twice, though only for a few moments and was barely coherent enough to speak with, before drifting back to the realm of sleep.

“Applejack?” she lifted her head slightly and turned to see her purple Alicorn friend walking into the room.

“Hey, Twi,” she mumbled, her voice sounding tired and worn out.

Twilight looked to her friend, worry etched deep in her expression. “Applejack, you’ve barely left this room since Sam was brought here.”

The farm mare nodded, her gaze returning to the sleeping filly before her. “Ah ain’t leavin’ her again, Twi. Ah won’t let her down like Ah already have.”

The room was silent for several moments, before the Alicorn sighed. “Applejack, you know this is serious.”

She nodded.

“As much as I know Sam isn’t going to like it, things are going to have to change whilst she’s staying here in Equestria.”

Applejack nodded again.

Twilight cast her eyes down to the filly as well. “I’m not going to pretend I understand what happened in her world, it clearly being different than the alternate one I went to, but it's obvious there are things she hasn’t told us, bad things.” She sighed. “For whatever reasons, she’s hidden them from us. Those are personal matters and she have a right to her privacy. However,” the firmness that entered her voice caused Applejack to glance at her, “whatever happened, it clearly affected her negatively.”

Applejack couldn’t stop herself from snorting at that, a bit of anger entering her tired eyes. After she’d gotten to Sam’s room and been told the short version of what they’d needed to do for Sam, she’d had to wait for Doctor Stable to come back for more information, during which time, the rest of the her friends had arrived and seen the state Sam was in.

However, Sam’s self-inflicted injury was only the first they’d learned about. When Doctor Stable had returned, he’d informed them all about things he and his fellow doctors and nurses had noticed whilst trying to stabilize Sam.

She had scars in several places on her body, scars similar to what they were told would likely form where Sam had hurt herself. They were mostly hidden by her fur, but if you looked closely enough, you could see them. When they all panicked, as if this meant Sam had harmed herself before, he shook his head.

Several patients he’d had to deal with over the years had caused self-injury. However, aside from the injury she’d given herself at the school, he said it seemed like the other scars were from wounds inflicted upon her by outside forces.

The idea that any being would willing harm such an innocent and clearly emotionally hurt filly made Applejack’s blood boil and, when the princesses could send Sam back, if she could go with her, she vowed she’d find the ones who’d inflicted the injuries that made those scars and make them pay for harming Sam.

A sigh from the Alicorn next to her pulled Applejack from her thoughts and she looked to the mare. “Applejack, I’ve spent the last two days going over everything, from what you and your family have told me about Sam and what I’ve been told by the witnesses at the school, which includes Apple Bloom.” She heaved another sigh, before continuing. “If what I’ve theorized is right, Sam stopped acting like herself right before she sliced her own foreleg open.”

Applejack couldn’t help but squirm uncomfortably. Jeez, did she have to word it like that? She felt bad enough about everything as it was, but that just made her feel sick to her stomach.

Twilight closed her eyes, continuing. “Princess Celestia has told me about similar situations she’s dealt with in the past before, and yes, I am including Luna in that.

“Princess Luna suffered great emotional trauma before and during her banishment. She has much improved, but, before her decent into Nightmare Moon, Celestia did at times notice points where Luna’s demeanor would change. Her eyes would go out of focus, or shrink to pinpricks, after which she started acting erratically different, with no proper memory of what happened after. True, Celestia unfortunately passed this off as small anxieties that Luna would get over and we all know where that lead, but the principal applies here.”

Applejack looked worriedly at Twilight. “An’ just what does all that have ta do with Sam?”

Twilight looked down at the sleeping filly sadly. “She’s going to need to always have somepony with her from now on, at least for a while. This is to ensure what happened a few days ago doesn’t happen again.”

Applejack nodded, before returning her gaze to Sam. “Ah know, Twi.”

Twilight grunted and Applejack glanced at her to see she was wearing a mixture of annoyed and worried. “No, Applejack, you don’t understand. You and the Apples need to take her original age into account from now on when it comes to any matter, but, from here on out, you will make a lot of decisions for her.”

Applejack blinked, before worry entered her own expression. “Why’s that? Twi, she hated when Ah started doing that. Ah can’t do it again!”

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead and rubbed her temple. “Applejack, I’m not sure if you or even Sam herself have realized it, but, whilst she is still mostly an adult mentally, her mind isn’t meant to cope with that. Whilst her mental brain is that of an over twenty-year-old human male, her physical brain is that of a young filly. I believe the reasons she’s been having such extreme out bursts is because her mind is getting confused with how to act. Add to that whatever trauma she clearly went through back in her world right before coming here and it’s likely a mess in her head. I don’t think I could even pretend to begin to understand what she’s been through.”

Applejack just remained silent, her gaze remaining on the pony she’d failed so badly.

A sigh and hoofsteps indicated Twilight getting up to leave. “Applejack, I don’t know how bad things are going to get from here, but it will not be pleasant for anypony. When she does finally fully return to consciousness, I think taking her to a therapist would be a good move. Whatever caused her to react like she did, we can’t just ignore it.”

Applejack just nodded, returning her gaze to the filly as the sounds of Twilight’s hoofsteps and the door closing came from behind, leaving the room in silence.

Applejack leaned forward slightly, her eyes drooping. She hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep since Sam was put in hospital.

Much as she tried to stay awake, she slowly flopped forward onto the bed and joined Sam in the realm of sleep.

___________________________________________________________

Applejack blinked as the world came into focus around her, before she blinked again in confusion. She was in some kind of a starry void of sorts.

“Greetings, Applejack.”

The farm mare whirled around to see a slightly tired looking Princess Luna standing before her.

“Princess Luna?” she glanced around, before cocking an eyebrow. “Am Ah dreamin’?”

The dark-blue pony nodded. “Yes. I apologize for not coming sooner. With my sister still bedridden, it has fallen upon myself to handle most of the day to day tasks of running the kingdom along with my own personal tasks. As such, I have not been able to come to your aid sooner.”

“My aid?” Applejack felt even more confused. “What aid?”

“Aid to fully understand the being currently under your charge,” the princess replied.

At once, Applejack’s body sagged. This was about Sam.

The Night Alicorn nodded her head so slightly, before the faintest of a worried expression crossed her face. It was fast and, had Applejack blinked, she likely would’ve missed it, but she didn’t.

“What is it?”

Luna looked away, sorrow entering her eyes. “I honestly never thought I’d see what I have in young Sam’s mind. Her memories... though there are good, the bad are... they are not at all pleasant.”

Applejack took a deep breath and stilled herself, looking firmly at the Alicorn. “Princess, Ah’ve failed Sam too much. Please, if’n ya think in even the smallest sense, that ya’ll can help me help her, Ah would be forever in yer debt.”

Luna seemed to ponder this for several long moments, before eventually relenting, sighing heavily. “Very well, dear Applejack. Just know, what you are about to see will not, in even the slightest sense, be pleasant.”

Her horn glowed and the world seemed to zip by them, before stopping abruptly, leaving them standing before a door. It was pure white with no other discerning features, but what worried Applejack were the chains around it.

“Her dreams are not the easiest to enter,” Luna answered the unasked question. “She is in a lock where she is reliving her memories in her dreams. I have had to break through many mental barriers, which seem to rebuild themselves every time I leave. Thankfully, I have learned most of them, so it will not be too difficult to show you what lies beyond.”

Her horn light with her night-blue aura, which encased the chains. After several moments, the chains snapped, falling away.

“Be warmed, Applejack,” Luna stated firmly, looking to the mare. “Bad as you may feel Sam’s memories are, they are worse than that.”

With a gulp, Applejack followed the Alicorn as she opened the door and lead her into Sam’s mind.

___________________________________________________________

Applejack just stared opened mouthed at the huge number of tall beings on two legs. They seemed so much like what Twilight had described seeing through the mirror, but, unlike that world, skin colours of these humans seemed few and far between.

A nudge from Luna’s wing made her shake herself and focus on what they were meant to be looking at.

For a moment, she thought she was seeing Apple Bloom walking out of a large building down a space that had been fenced off, followed by several of the humans, before realizing it had to be Sam.

She, along with the other humans, were waving happily to other humans in the crowd, a smile on her face so happy Applejack had never seen.

However, the cheers of the crowd and the happy atmosphere were suddenly halted when a glass bottle came flying out from within the crowd and smash against Sam’s head.

Applejack’s eyes widened as the filly tumbled back from the hit and lay on the ground, not moving, blood seeping from a gash just above her temple. A little lower and that hit would have killed her! It was also where Applejack had seen one of Sam’s scars.

After that, everything happened so fast. Several of the humans started trying to force their way through the crowd, screaming things like “Freak!” and, “Go back to the pits, you monster!”

As that was happening, the humans that had been following Sam hurried towards her, one with long blonde hair that looked younger than the others picking the prone filly up in what Applejack recognized as arms and holding her close, calling out Sam’s name in worry.

At the same time, other humans were hurrying to stop the crowd, themselves wearing suits Applejack realized looked like those of police or security. She’d seen a fair few in her lifetime, especially during her stay with her Aunt and Uncle Orange before she got her Cutie Mark.

Not too long after, a large carriage that wasn’t being pulled by anything stopped nearby and the human carrying Sam hurried over, taking the still unconscious filly with her.

As the memory faded away, Applejack’s eyes were wide with shock. Sam’s own people had done that to her? They’d called her a monster? Why? What could she possibly have done to warrant such a thing? Though, more importantly, if Sam was unconscious after being hit by that glass bottle, how could she remember it?

“The mind tends to fill in the blanks when it cannot remember something,” Luna answered, as if hearing Applejack’s thoughts. “Sadly, this is but one of many times Sam suffered at the hands of those she once called her own kind. And it is by far the tamest.”

Applejack gulped, trying to get herself under control. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. Those creatures had hurt Sam and she wanted to hurt them back even worse. At the same time, she felt horrible for Sam. To have those that were once your own kind turn on you like that... she couldn’t even pretend to begin to understand how horrifying that must have been for Sam to go through.

“I will spare you the most of it,” Luna said, with a sigh. “However, that is only because I must find what Sam keeps most hidden.”

After a few moments, Applejack glanced at the Alicorn, confused.

Luna wore a slight frown. “There are some memories that are very resistant, almost to the point I would almost beleive they had been magically sealed.”

“But, Sam said there weren’t any magic like Equestria’s back in her home,” Applejack blinked, confused.

Luna nodded, her frown deepening a little. “That is what worries me. Now, come. We have much for you to see before I get to the hardest memories and not much time to do it before the barriers return.”

They spent what felt like several hours going through Sam’s memories and each one caused the farmer’s heart to sink more and more.

There were happy memories, where she would often see one of the humans she’d seen in the first memory, the young one with blonde hair, the two talking animatedly and laughing.

Other happy memories included a human female with short brown hair, whom Sam often would hug and be hugged back by. It took Applejack no time to realize this had to be Sam’s mother and the sight of them being so close to each other tore her heart in two ways. The first was sadness for Sam not being able to be with her mother and the other was... pain for herself.

However, as many happy memories as they were, it was the darker ones that stood out in Applejack’s mind as she saw them.

Tall humans standing in Sam’s room at night, followed by her screaming in mortal terror, Sam being held by the young blonde human as they tried to break through a crowd of humans waving crosses and torches, among others.

However, the worst were the memories where Sam wasn’t with any of the humans from her happy memories. Applejack saw one where the filly was running for her life from several cruel looking humans. On memory showed her trapped in an animal crate, only at the last second being rescued by humans wearing those uniforms.

But, now they had reached the last of the memories that were before Sam awoke in Equestria. Applejack could see Sam’s waking moments of that time just in the distance.

Luna grunted as her horn glowed, fighting what was keeping them from the memory. It was a dark cloud of purple gas. It continued to strain against Luna, until a small hole finally opened up in its centre.

Before Applejack could react, Luna grabbed her and they slipped into the memory.

Sam was lying in a bed in a room that was clearly her bedroom. Applejack could see strange devices on a desk, a wooden closest and shelfs with very slim looking books with titles she’d never heard of.

Applejack’s eyes returned to the sleeping filly, however. Or, rather, the filly who was pretending to sleep.

Soft sobs and slight jerking motions told her Sam was wide awake and very upset.

“As you saw, this memory came right after a particularly nasty experience after leaving an interview,” Luna stated, glancing around the room, a confused expression on her face. “Though I do not understand yet why this memory was so hard to get to. It seems normal and quiet enough at the moment.”

Suddenly, shouts from clearly outside the house sounded, followed by explosions like Pinkie’s Party Cannon, only smaller, but also rougher sounding. Most like sounds of the explosions some of Twi’s experiments gone wrong would make.

Sam at once jerked up, her eyes widening in worry. “Gabe?!”

Whoever this Gabe was , Sam clearly cared about him, as she leaped from her bed, running to her bedroom door and used her mouth to pull on a string that pulled what looked like a new push-down handle and pulling the door open, before hurrying out into a small living room with several couches and another weird screen like Sam had had in her room, only much bigger on a large shelf.

No sooner had she run out however, were the sounds of banging and smashing glass heard. Within seconds, several tall humans wearing nothing but black were forcing their way through the large windows in the living room.

Sam screamed, before turning to run, only for someone to tumble past her, causing her to skid to a halt, before her eyes widened in horror.

The human, like those still forcing their way through some of the windows, was dressed completely in black, no sign of what was underneath visible.

“We got her, boys!” he called out, his voice filled with cruel glee.

Cheers from outside followed, along with a young male voice shouting, “Sam, run for it!”

“Gabe!” Sam cried, running towards the voice, only to be kicked by another human who’d just gotten through the window. She tumbled back, before whacking her head against the metal leg of a long table.

Sam struggled back up as the sounds of angry shouts and screams could be heard, only with the voice of the human Applejack knew as Sam’s mother crying out her foal’s name.

Sam’s expression hardened and she turned, heading for the sound of her mother’s voice, but was stopped by a human who leaped through one of the busted windows and pinned her down.

Sam screamed, trying to break out from under the human, before he was helped by several others, all who held one of her legs down, whilst another human stepped towards her, pulling out a long, sharp knife, the sight of which caused Applejack’s gut to drop.

He held the knife up in both hands, before bringing it down. However, the knife barely did more than slightly graze the filly as the human was tackled by a large human Applejack had come to understand was Sam’s father.

His eyes were filled with a rage she remembered seeing in several adults whenever their families were put in danger. She herself had had those same eyes several times when defending Apple Bloom when she was younger.

The shock caused the humans holding Sam down to lessen their grip in confusion, which Sam used to kick free and try to run, only to get a kick from one of her former binders, causing her to slam into one of the walls.

As she tried to get up, he came at her with his own knife, aiming for her heart. She screamed, “Please, Ah ain’t a monster, like ya think!” trying to move out of the way.

However, the knife got her in the stomach, slicing across it as the man yelled, “Prove you’re not a monster!”

She cried out in pain, falling down and skidding a bit along the floor. The human, however, stopped his advance, his eyes, the only thing visible under all his black clothes, stared, wide in horror as the gash he’d given Sam began to heavily bleed red liquid.

“She... she has red blood?” he gasped, the knife falling from his grasp as he took several steps back. “Only God’s creatures have red blood. That... that would mean...”

Sam struggled to stand, before falling down onto her side, looking at the human. “Ah... ain’t a monster.”

This shocking revelation to the human was short-lived, as another shoved past him, grabbing the knife as he made his way to Sam, his movements clear he was intent to do what the other hadn’t.

Sam just stared up at him, struggling to get up and run, her eyes fixed on the incoming knife, wide with absolute terror.

“SAM!” Sam’s mother’s voice cried out in manic fear as the human stopped in front of Sam, raising the knife. “NO! PLEASE, GOD, SAVE MY BABY!”

What happened next caused Luna’s eyes to widen as big as Applejack’s as, right after Sam’s mother’s desperate plea, the human with the knife was suddenly hurled back by a blinding white light that had appeared above Sam’s prone form.

When it faded, Applejack and Luna saw something they had not been expecting, if the Alicorn's shocked expression was anything to go back.

The figure was standing over Sam in a very protective manner. It was an Alicorn, tall, with white fur and a pink, green, white and yellow mane that moved in a non-existent wind.

P-Princess Celestia?!” Applejack cried, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

She was not the only one. Everyone had stopped whatever they were doing, their eyes wide at the sight of the two beings before them.

“Thank you, old friend,” Celestia said, closing her eyes briefly. “I only wish you could help more.” Then Celestia opened her eyes, turning a steely glare on all the black-clothed humans, all of whom were staring at her either in shock, awe, or terror.

“BE STILL!” she yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice, her horn glowing with its golden aura.

At once, every human wearing black was surrounded by the same aura as that from Celestia’s horn. Such a glow also appeared around the bleeding cut on Sam’s stomach, which sealed itself.

There was silence for several long moments, before Sam’s family, the young blonde haired human Sam was clearly friends with and a male with short brownish-blonde hair and wearing different black clothing from all the humans who’d been breaking in hurried over to Sam, whom Celestia stepped a little back from, allowing Sam’s mother to pull the prone filly close to her.

After a few moments, it was the male human in black who looked to the Alicorn, both amazement, worried and confusion written all over his face. “Um, I don’t understand. I.. Are you really Princess Celestia?” His voice sounded like the one that had called to Sam outside, whom she’d responded by calling out Gabe, this must be him.

The white mare nodded, her expression solemn. “I am.”

“But... I don’t understand,” the young blonde asked, looking to Celestia. “Why’re you here and... just how did you get here?”

The smallest of smiles fluttered over Celestia’s expression for a brief moment. “God.”

Again, silence fell, before everyone in the room, including those still bound in Celestia’s magic screamed, “WHAT?!

The smile was gone as fast as it appeared, a firmness returning. “Well, a deity beyond time and space, anyway, but calling them God saves time. They came and brought me to your world as soon as the desperate plea of a mother wanting her child to be saved was heard.”

“But... why?” Sam’s father asked, looking both worried and confused.

Celestia closed her eyes, before opening them in a glare aimed at all those held in her magic. “They are the reason. They are not the only ones. I was warned me more will come. They have spent weeks studying how best to get into your home, all to harm an innocent foal.”

“I’ll say,” Gabe said, holding his arm, a sicking crack being heard, followed by a gasp from him. “They were well-trained. I’m in the military for crying out loud and they still got the drop on me.”

“What can we do?” Sam’s mother looked to her husband, her eyes filled with tears of fear. “Sam’s not safe here anymore. Where can we take her?”

“It is I, who will be taking her.” They all slowly turned to the Alicorn, who nodded her head sombrely.

“What?” Sam’s father cried in anger. “Why?!

Celestia fixed him with a firm glare that rooted him to the spot. “Your foal is no longer safe in your world. While many have accepted her, those who wish her gone will never stop. In Equestria, I can promise you she will be safe.”

“How can we be expected to believe that?!” the youngest male human, Sam’s youngest brother as Applejack remembered it from past memories, shouted angrily. “We’ve seen the show! Wolves literally made of living wood! Creatures that feed on love and can look like anyone they want! A fucking centaur that broke out of what I’m guessing is Pony Hell and can steal magic from others. Sirens that cause chaos with their Dark Magic. Even, hydras, fucking hydras!”

“Do you feel she will be any safer in this world after tonight?” Celestia shot back at once, giving him a cold glare. “In Equestria, she can be protected from those things by my former student and others. Here, there is no magic. She is the only being in your world with true magic and she cannot properly defend herself with it against so much.”

The room was silent save the sound of police sirens coming closer.

Celestia looked over her shoulder at the sound, before sighing. “We must act quickly.” She looked to Sam’s mother, sadness in her eyes. “I would never wish to separate a mother from her child, but, if she stays, her life will never truly be safe.”

Sam’s mother looked from Celestia down to the barely conscious foal in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

After several moments, she gave a shuddering breath, before standing and walking over to the Alicorn. Leaning down, she kissed Sam on the forehead, whispering, “I’ll always love you, my little Sammy,” before holding her arms out to the white mare.

Celestia’s expression could not be any more sad as her horn glowed a little brighter, the filly becoming encased in it and levitated up and onto the taller mare’s back. “I will explain what I must to your world’s media. Then, we must go.”

Sam’s mother could only sob as she was pulled into a hug by her husband, who himself had tears streaming down his cheeks.

Celestia lead that all out the front door, pulling every single human in her aura with her. Upon getting outside, the whole road was filled with police carriages. Several other humans were out, likely neighbours, along with several humans with large black boxes that looked like cameras, which Luna had explained were called video cameras, like viewing crystals for humans, instead of normal cameras that took photos.

All eyes went wide at the sight of the white Alicorn stepping out of the house with Sam on her back.

Celestia looked around at all the humans gathered, specifically the ones with the cameras. “Humans of Earth,” she began in a firm, authoritative tone. “I was brought to your world by a being beyond time and space, maker of all there is, when they heard a desperate plea for the safety of a mother’s child. They has watched you all, hoping the accident caused by events in my own world would be worked out evenly, that your kind would accept one of my little ponies into your world as one of you own.”

Her expression hardened.

“Whilst some of you have indeed done so, there are many of you, dangerous humans out there, who refuse to accept that one of your own has become one of my subjects. As such, tonight, they decided they would no longer leave this filly in danger from your kind. If you are saddened by this, as many of you know doubt are, it is those humans you should blame. Those unwilling to accept the impossible and deny that an innocent being affected by events out of her control, is still one of God’s children. As such, tonight, Sam Wilson shall leave this world forever more. I will be taking her back with me to Equestria, where she will be accepted among my subjects.”

She looked back to Sam’s family, her expression sympathetic and apologetic.

“I am sorry it has come to this. If it were up to them, you would all have lived happily together.” She levitated out all the men wearing black, her eyes going cold. “However, it is because of these horrible humans and those like them that such a thing cannot come to pass.”

One reporter stepped forward, holding out a small mic towards the Alicorn. “What will you do with them?”

Celestia snorted, lumping them all together, before releasing her magic, causing them all to fall in a mass pile on the front lawn. Another flash of her horn and they were all bound together by a strong rope.

She then looked to the reporter. “That, I leave up to your own authorities and government. Now,” her horn began to glow again, herself and the filly on her back starting to shine with white light, “we will be going. Know, humankind, that you had a chance to coexist with my little ponies... and failed.”

There was an enormous flash of light, followed by Luna and Applejack feeling like they’d been yanked back by the scruff of their necks, before tumbling out of the smoke, the hole closing up behind them.

Applejack stared, wide-eyed at the smoky cloud before her, her body sagging and her eyes brimming with tears as more fell down her cheeks.

“I am sorry, Applejack,” Luna said, sounding like she was struggling not to sob. “I... I never would’ve guessed...”

Before Applejack could respond, the world swirled around her and faded away.

___________________________________________________________

Applejack jerked up, looking around to find herself back in Sam’s hospital room.

Turning her attention to the bed, her heart broke as she saw tears were running down Sam’s cheeks. She was still asleep, but her tears fell, all the same.

“Oh, Sam,” she sobbed, leaning forward and pulling the filly into as best a hug she could without risking anything with the devices attached to the filly. “Ah’m so, so sorry!”