The cold burned. Applejack never new how much the winter season could burn before Anon-a-Miss. The gentle warmth of her family always chased away the bite of the snow. With strong bonds and unbeatable love, The Apple Family stood unmoving against everything. Just like the trees that filled their orchard. All of that ended when Anon-a-Miss' identity was revealed. In an instant, the family lost its warmth as the crimes of one of their own was brought to light. As she wandered listlessly through the snow covered orchard clothed with nothing but the bare minimum, memories of that day ran through her mind. She remembered the shock of hearing what Sunset tried to do. She remembered the fury she felt as Applebloom's guilt was shown to her and the whole school. She remembered the shame of being so easily fooled. She remembered the heartbreak of knowing that her sister wouldn't be home for a long time. But more than anything, she remembered how hollow she felt when she understood the meaning behind Lyra's words when she begged her for a chance to talk to Sunset.
"I can't say all that much, but you guys really fucked up."
Applejack let out a bark of humorless laughter at that memory.
"Understatement of th' century," she muttered as she staggered about.
When everything was said and done, she had no idea what to do with herself. With no school or lengthy list of chores to contend with, the farm girl had nothing to do to get her mind off of things. She briefly considered sneaking into the family cider reserve, but decided against it. Not only did she know that doing so wouldn't solve anything, she felt that she didn't deserve a release from this pain. For what she did to Sunset, she deserved to feel this way and so much more.
Sad chuckles slipped past her lips as tears ran down her cheeks. So many dark thoughts ran through her head as she continued her aimless march that nothing else could be processed. Things she would've done to her sister if she hadn't been taken to Equestria after the assembly. How she would do anything to make it up to Sunset. How alone she felt now that her family was forever scarred by this travesty. How the cold burned like acid on her skin. How dead she felt inside.
She fell to her knees, her sad chuckling turning into a mournful laughing fit. She was angry, but she didn't know at who. She was sad, but she didn't know for who. She was in pain, but she didn't know if it was physical or emotional. All she knew was that she burned and that she was laughing. Slowly, her laughter and tears petered out, leaving her a kneeling wreck staring at the ground like a woman at the gallows.
It was then that she saw what stood before her; the Memorial Tree. At some point her wanderings brought her to this sacred part of the orchard. For the first time ever, she felt like a trespasser in the tree's presence. Like she wasn't a true member of the family. That fact alone made her tears return as she kneeled before the great tree.
The soft crunch of boots in the snow caught her attention as she turned towards the source. Standing roughly five feet away from her was none other than her tower of a brother Big Macintosh, a faint trace of concern visible on his stoic face.
"B-Big Mac?" she asked, voice a feeble, trembling imitation of its formal glory.
"C'mon sis," he intoned closing the gap between them and reaching a hand out to her. "It's too cold out for ya' to be out here without a coat. Ya' know better than that."
She nodded, staring at the ground as she took the offered hand. He lifted her to her feet with next to no effort and guided her towards the farm house. On the way, a faint part of her scattered mind had a thought that brought a chill down her spine. For the tiniest fraction of a second, she considered going to the bridge over Canter Creek.
All the while, just outside the view of the two farmers a shadowy mass slithered through the true shadows among the trees.
***
Everything was cold. No matter what she did, she could never get any warmth. Tea tasted like ice water in her mouth when it didn't taste like ashes. When she walked the streets, she may as well have been naked for what little good her expensive designer coat, sweats, and boots did against the unforgiving cold. Even now, as Rarity stood in the shower, water so hot it should've burned her, she shivered.
"Oh what's the point," she sighed listlessly as she turned off the water.
With a faint shiver, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. A faint haze covered her vision as she staggered out of the bathroom. Faintly, she wondered if maybe the wine she drank last night was still in her system, but tossed that out the window. She knew that wasn't how it worked. She had enough experience to know that much at least.
As she staggered into her room, her mind wandered towards the full bottle hidden beneath her desk. She frowned as she stared at it, a strange mix of longing and detest swirling around inside her gut. The temptation was there, like a giant leech sitting on her back draining her resistance by the mouthful and weighing down on her. But the hate that seemed married to it put a wall between her and the bottle. While the drink made her forget her troubles, it was only for a moment. Not long after, her thoughts would turn dark and twisted. A part of her that she kept berried deep in her soul would flow to the surface. It wanted damnation. It wanted to hurt those that hurt it. It was that side of her personality that tore the sheets off of her bed the night Sweetie was taken to Equestria. It was that personality that threw the comforter out the window. It wanted to hurt her. Her, and everything the sixth grader had touched. She hated that part of herself. She hated that such an ugly monster was a part of herself. It wasn't until she was standing before a wall holding her sister's photo against it with one hand while holding a pair of scissors like a knife in the other that her mind cleared the last time she drank, but by that time it already had several holes jammed through it. It was in that moment of clarity that she decided against using her old vice and to be safe, she locked the door to Sweetie's room from the inside and gave the key to her parents. But the tug of her old "friend" would always drag her to that bottle.
And so it was that Rarity, still wrapped in a towel, found herself holding the bottle of wine. Her hands trembled, from the cold, the rage she felt within herself, or the fear of what hid beneath the surface of her heart, she didn't know. All she knew was that she was a horrible person. A person that left a shelterless friend to make an unchangeable decision. A person that let her pride get in the way of her friendship with an incredible person. A person that wanted to harm her sister.
She knew the bottle held no salvation. She knew that it would only make her pain worse. She knew it wouldn't give her the peace she craved. That was why her trembling fingers removed the bottle's cap and she took a long pull. As the bitter drink slid down her throat, she felt her mind drift into a pleasantly familiar haze. She sighed in satisfaction, enjoying the warm fog for as long as she could knowing that at any moment it was going to turn into a frozen miasma as her true self rose to the forefront of her mind. In time, the warmth faded into the familiar cold that followed her since the day she realized her sins and the world turned black.
In what felt like a blink, she stood at the heart of her room, a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hands. Her eyes widened as she took in what she was holding. It was a picture Sweetie had drawn for her when they were little. A crude crayon drawing of her and Sweetie Belle standing in the center of a glue heart covered in glitter with the words "Best Sister Ever" written with red marker. It was a gift for her on her eleventh birthday when the little kindergardener tried to find something to get her. Even with all the expensive gifts her parents had given her, this simple drawing was the greatest gift she could've ever received. It was because of that tears slid down her face when she noticed the small rip at the top of the paper before it slipped out of her hands.
The final nail in the coffin was a memory of the last thing Sweetie said that night so many days ago when she shared a bed with her.
"Sis, I love you."
"I-I-I love you too," she stammered, falling to her knees. "S-S-Sweetie."
With that, what little restraint she had shattered as her tears fell like rain, all the while a shadow slithered out of the room.
***
Empty. That was the only word Rainbow could use to describe how she felt as she stared at her bedroom ceiling. Dead also came to mind, but that didn't quite fit in her opinion. The day of the assembly ran through her head like a broken record, every detail of that day feeling like a punch to the gut. It all stayed clear in her head. Sunset's speech. The evidence against Scootaloo and her friends. Princess Celestia's punishment. All of it was so clear and perfect in her head, like her brain had become a video camera and was mocking her for how bad she screwed up. But one thing sent a chill down her spine. When Anon-a-Miss was revealed, she thought she would be angry. She thought she would be relieved that it was all over. Instead, she felt...... nothing. It was as if a part of Rainbow died that day.
Since then, everything seemed like too much effort. Eating, drinking, everything seemed like their was no real point to it. If it wasn't automatic, she would've wondered if breathing was worth the trouble. As a result, the normally energetic jock spent all of her time in her room shut off from the rest of the family staring at the ceiling or sleeping. At one point her father had to bring her food and force her to eat because she wouldn't do it herself. Even then, she didn't eat more than she needed to as the food had no flavor to her.
She knew this wasn't good. That being this numb wasn't healthy, but she just couldn't bring herself to care. Everything was just so gray and bleak to her. She hated it. A small part of her wanted to be angry with herself for being so weak, but couldn't muster up the strength to do it. Instead, her mind drifted to the dreams she had before the assembly after Lightning punched her.
For days, the dreams were the same; a blindfolded version of herself would yell and scream at her for thinking Sunset was Anon-a-Miss. Naturally, Rainbow was defiant towards her double and was absolutely positive that Sunset had gone back to her old ways, but then things started to escalate. The double started to get physical, slapping and punching her while all the while telling her to snap out of it. Soon, she started the dream tied to a chair with her double assaulting, her demands for Rainbow to get a clue becoming akin to begging. Eventually the double's demands started to sound desperate before the dream that scared her to her core came. Even in her lethargic state she could remember it clearly, and it sent a chill down her spine.
***
Rainbow was bound to a chair. Countless cuts and bruises covered her body. Her double stood over her, panting and blindfolded eyes glaring a hole through her. Her knuckles bled from their most recent "debate" as she scowled at the battered girl.
"Why?" the double hissed through clenched teeth. "Why won't you listen? Do you like being in pain? Do you want me to do this?"
Rainbow glared at the double, but remained silent.
Her double trembled with rage as she struggled to keep her arms at her side.
"Stop it!" she roared. "I don't want anymore rage! I want you to snap out of it! Don't you get it?! I can't protect you from her if you keep this up! If you don't snap out of it.....I'll have to leave you!"
"Then go!" Rainbow barked. "All you've done this whole time is hit me! How is that supposed to help me?!"
"BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE MAKING ME DO!!!" the double roared. "I don't want to hurt you," she whimpered, voice choked by barely contained tears. "But your treachery is rejecting me, and I don't know what else to do to make you see. Loyalty is my core. Leaving my host is the same as getting split in half for me. I don't want to abandon you, but if a better host comes I will leave regardless unless you come to your senses. And if I leave, you will be at her mercy."
Black trails of what looked like ink slipped past Loyalty's blindfold and dripped onto the ground as she stared at Rainbow, filling the bound girl with dread.
"You won't last against her," Loyalty said, voice an eerily calm whisper as her hands reached for the knot to her blindfold. "She'll twist your heart and hollow out your soul. She'll turn you into nothing but a shell of your former-self before she breaks you. Then, when your ready, she'll kill you."
As she said that she pulled the blindfold free, black fluid trailing from her eyes like wet mascara and walked towards Rainbow. The girl struggled to free herself from her restraints as her double approached, ice cold fear running through her veins. Once she was in reach, the double slowly and deliberately placed her hands on Rainbow's shoulders and lowered her face to be level with her own. Then her eyes snapped open, revealing eyes identical to Rainbow's covered with black blotches like someone threw ink into them.
"For the love of god," Loyalty whispered while Rainbow stared in horror. "WAKE UP!!!"
She woke up at that point, screaming bloody murder into the night.
***
After that the dreams went back to normal before her double finally changed color and left. Ever since, her mind was constantly at war with itself. Like something was scrambling her thoughts around and there wasn't a lot she could do to stop it. Now she felt empty, as if her soul had been scooped out and all that was left was a body that just wanted to function and nothing else.
Maybe the others will want to do something, she thought.
With a hollow sigh, she reached for her phone on the nightstand. After a few minutes of scrolling she found her friend's numbers and set the numbers into a group call. She wasn't all that surprised when Fluttershy didn't answer, but Pinkie not answering was something to raise an eyebrow over. She didn't think about it for too long though, as Applejack and Rarity answered.
"Yeah, Dash?" Applejack said, tone a little strained.
"Y-You called, darling?" Rarity choked, words slightly slurred.
"Yeah," she sighed, ignoring the tone of her friend's voices. "I was thinking of going to Sugarcube Café later. You want to come with?"
"Sure," Applejack said, tone shaky. "Reckon Ah could use the distraction."
"Agreed," Rarity sighed. "I-I really need to be somewhere else right now."
"Cool," Rainbow said, tone metallic even to her own ears. "See you all in an hour."
With that she hung up and forced herself into a sitting position. Sighing, she staggered around the room in search of anything clean enough to wear. All the while a black shadow slithered out of the room.
***
A world of complete darkness. That was the only thing that such a void could be described as, where the only sound that could be heard was the wails of the doomed as its inhabitants wallowed in the misery of their choices. Choices that could never be taken back as they laid formless and miserable on what passed for the ground in this world. One sole inhabitant was exempt from this fate for not only did she have a form, but she was in relatively good spirits as she stared at a shimmering tear in the abyss. From its light, the ruler of this forsaken world could be seen. She was a tall, slender woman with long, ebony curls trailing to the middle of her back and covering the right side of her face. Her skin was a deathly shade of ivory that accentuated her midnight black ball-gown. Matching elbow length gloves covered her hands and arms as she gazed through the portal. Her black lips turned into a cruel smile as her golden eyes with black sclera analyzed the three girls shown.
This was Lily's favorite part of her hunt. Nothing made her black heart flutter quite like tearing a person's heart apart. And they made it so easy for her! Just a twinge of self-loathing, a splash of broken pride, and a liberal helping of the ugly truth and these mortals become so easy to ripen. Of course, she had to be much more brutal with these three than she had been in the past what with two of her previous meals escaping her. Her smile faltered slightly as her grumbling stomach echoed through the void. With an irate groan she narrowed her attention onto the portal, shifting her weight to be more comfortable in her throne of lost souls.
"Not long now," she muttered, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth with her wrist. "At the rate the seeds I planted in them are growing I should be able to feed on them in about a week. In the mean time though."
As she said that she made a beaconing gesture into the surrounding darkness. A back tendril rose out of the "ground" and presented her with what looked like a black apple. With a wide smile, she snatched it out of the tendril's grip and took a savage bite out of it. She smiled blissfully as she savored the taste.
"Such sweet misery," she mused as she took another bite. "Not quite as tasty as Sunset's or Pinkie's crumbs, but delicious all the same. I can't wait to have all of her. I need to have them!"
She moved the portal closer, a wide manic grin of pointed teeth spread across her face as she stared at her prey drinking milkshakes together.
"Ripen them faster my seeds," she growled. "Let me devour them!"
It was then that she saw something that snapped her out of her hunger driven obsession. A red skinned woman with gold and orang hair wearing a light-blue blouse and dress-skirt approached the girls. As Lily only had enough surplus energy to make a visual portal she couldn't hear what she said to her prey, but she could sense a strange mix of emotions in them as she watched. Curiosity, Shame, Fear, but also relief and, most disgusting of all, hope. Lily felt her metaphorical blood boil as the woman talked to her prey, but it didn't reach the breaking point until she handed the girls her business card. The second the cards made contact with their skin, Lily's seeds let out wails of agony that only she could hear as all but a few fragments of them were obliterated.
Lily let out a wail of fury as she jumped to her bare feet, a manic scowl decorating her face as she glared at the woman.
"MY SEEDS!" she snarled. "HOW DID SHE DO THAT?! WHO IS THIS BIT-?!"
It was then that the woman turned enough to make her face visible to Lily through her portal. A deep growl built in her throat as recognition settled in her core.
"HEARTHS WARMING," she growled through gritted teeth.
Her rage only grew as the red woman seemed to stare at her through the portal, lips pulled into a patronizing smile. With a snarl of pure rage, her hand morphed into long claws and she ripped the portal to shreds once again plunging her world into pure darkness. Slowly, her rage melted into irritation as she struggled to get her hunger driven mind to focus. She took another bite out of her crumb to aid in the process.
"It's fine," she sighed as she took another bite. "My seeds still live, so she isn't as strong as she once was. All she's doing is prolonging the inevitable. I will feed. In the mean time, I still have enough crumbs to sustain myself until then. I just need to be patient. Patient."
As she devoured what was left of her crumb, she found that she was slowly starting to hate that word.