Hold On Ta This Fer Me, Sugarcube

by DougtheLoremaster

Chapter Five- ...Reality Comes True

“Th' Pegasus was fierce, hitting with all 'er might and even knocking Chrysalis ta th' ground. She was like a wild animal in 'er frenzy, 'er strikes were powerful, but uncontrolled and reckless. Unfortunately, it didn’t take Chrysalis long ta figure that out and th' poor Pegasus stood no chance against 'er magic…”
Pumpkin could see it, all of it, as Applebloom’s almost angelic tone reached her ears. The picture of that battle becoming clearer with each syllable uttered. However, what she saw wasn't what she heard. As the battle played out, it began to shift, almost as if her own memories were involved.

Chrysalis was flung to the ground as the pale yellow Pegasus pummeled her roaring out loud her agony.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!
The yellow Pegasus’s fur changed to a bright orange, the mane shifted in tone from light to a dark pink. Pumpkin watched; stunned, as the iconic butterflies of the Element of Kindness changed to the image of a shield featuring a winged-lightning bolt. Her form seemed to grow smaller as well. Her voice took on a slight rasp as she bellowed in rage.
“How dare you do that to Rainbow Dash!”
Scootaloo hit Chrysalis with everything she had. Blow after blow rained down onto the Changeling Queen. Though she too, began to change. From the nape of Chrysalis sprouted a flowing black mane. The eyes of the Queen took on a strange aura of purple as they glowed brightly with a bright green. Chrysalis started laughing, and rose to her feet, unaffected by the subsequent blows. Her body shrunk in size and the holes within her legs filled in with an inky blackness. Tearing her eyes from the strange sight as Chrysalis’s torso became encased in a silvery armor, Pumpkin stared in horror at the cave wall.
The wall was no longer that of a cavern rock, but of a Crystalline design. Rainbow Dash lay, pinned and unmoving; a crystal spike jutting through her torso. Next to her was…
No. Nonono. NO! There before her eyes wasn’t the Cakes, but instead there lay Pinkie Pie. Her eyes unseeing and her limbs pierced by the same strange, glowing crystals.
Looking back to the scene, Applebloom was no longer the corpse on the ground. Instead, there lay Applejack; her throat slashed. And there next to her stood Sombra, still laughing as he blasted Scootaloo point-blank in the face with dark magic. YOU!
Applebloom stood where Twilight had stood, yelling towards Diamond Tiara.
“We don't have much time! Quick! Find some way ta activate that thing! Ahm’a go an’ help Scoots!”
Diamond Tiara stood off to the side intensely analyzing the Crystal Heart; a legendarily magical artifact of the Crystal Empire.
It was then she saw it. Pumpkin watched as Rarity, in a rage stormed from the opening, alongside Sweetie Belle and the last Princess; Flurry Heart. Before her eyes, Rarity changed into her. And suddenly it was Pumpkin, not Rarity; screaming at Sombra.
“My brother’s corpse is not a flag for your standard, you scum!”
Recklessly, Pumpkin watched herself charge Sombra; horn aglow with magic. Scootaloo blinked as Applebloom had used the amulet around her neck to create a shield; blocking Sombra’s shadowy blast and saving her life. Pumpkin noticed all the fillies present wore such amulets. What in the… But as she stared at herself running forward in rage, Pumpkin saw Applebloom turn towards the image of her.
“Stop! Pumpkin, don’t go near him! Look out!”
Applebloom charged towards her and suddenly there was a flash of purple and…

Pumpkin’s skull pounded as she grabbed her head. What was that? Arggh! My head!
Her eyesight seemed blurred, was that a pharmaceutical bottle by Applebloom’s hooves? What? Applebloom continued talking though now her voice seemed different. It sounded worried, concerned even. As she spoke Pumpkin watched as the walls around them slowly melted revealing a graveyard with countless tombstones behind them. And next to it was a shimmering river.
“Ya have ta listen to meh Pumpkin, your time is running out! You have ta go back! It’s not your fault!”
Applebloom had tears streaming down her face as she shouted at Pumpkin to go back. That warm conversation had all been a creation of Pumpkin’s mind. As Pumpkin wallowed in her own despair Applebloom had desperately been trying to reach her; to break through the mental dellusion Pumpkin’s own denial had created. There was no diner, there was no warmth. Having finally broken through her shield of lies, Applebloom’s voice could finally be heard.
“It wasn’t your fault! Let me go!”
Let me go. The words echoed in the recesses of Pumpkin’s mind as an image flashed past her eyes. Pumpkin with Applebloom; the two sharing a milkshake. Let me go... No, I can’t, not again!Let me go...I remember! APPLEBLOOM! I’m so sorry. Because of me, you’re- It wasn’t your fault!
Her head was throbbing with pain as she stood there, shaking her head violently; in a desperate attempt to stop the echoes.
“Argggh! Make it stop! Make the pain stop! Why does it hurt so much? Help me!”
Applebloom grabbed Pumpkin in a hug as the latter began to violently shake.
“Go back Pumpkin, it’s not too late. Please stop chasing me and go back.”
Pulling away, while her body was wracked with unbearable chills, Pumpkin stuttered.
“Wh-What’s going-go-going on? Wh-Where’s your-your hat?”
Pumpkin stared at Applebloom, who was no longer wearing her hat; in fact the hat was nowhere to be seen. Applebloom shook her head and held up the pharmaceutical bottle.
“Yer veins are coursing with this poison. Your brain is shutting down an’ yer heart is stopping. Pumpkin, you are dying. That pain is your nerves screaming as they burn with an overload o’ medicine. Pumpkin go back, we’ll meet again! Go back. After all, didn’t Ah promise you?”
“P-Promise?”
Her eyes opened wide as the realization dawned. The world had begun fading away as she screamed her name into the darkness.
“Applebloom!”
And then the darkness swallowed her whole.

Pumpkin lay unable to move, unable to see in the hospital bed. She couldn’t hear anything but the buzzing in her ears as she involuntarily shivered from an icy cold gripping her body. She was alive, though her body refused to respond to her; her eyes had opened, but she didn’t see anything except the memories flowing through her mind.
The fight with Sombra years ago, with her, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara and Flurry Heart. That’s right, the Elements conquered Chrysalis and fell to Sombra. The Princesses had summoned us and gifted us with the Elemental Medallions of Harmony. It was a brutal fight. And when my rage got control of me, once blasted by his fear magic; Applebloom took a blast meant for me. That’s when she-
Another scene appeared in her mind: Applebloom, lying on the ground of the remains of Ponyville as Pumpkin cradled her.

Coughing up blood, Applebloom whispered to her.
“I-It’s not *cough* y-your fault. L-live fer meh. And one d-day *cough cough* we’ll me-meet agin.”
With the last of her strength, Applebloom had reached up and undid the satin red bow in her mane and weakly pressed it to Pumpkin Cake’s heart.
“Until th- *cough* Until then, hold-hold onta this f-f-f-fer meh-”
As Applebloom’s eyes dimmed for the last time she uttered the final word.
“Sugarcube.”

The cold was unbearable, try as she might she couldn’t move her hoof of her own volition. Her eyesight was slowly becoming grayer; no longer the sheer black it had been. She lay there lost in her own mind. That was when it started. The pain, the sheer agony. I turned to pharmaceuticals to ease my pain. A little at a time, just to feel it again; some form of joy. She would always greet me in that diner. But she wasn’t really there...Was she?
She winced as her nerves seemed to burn from the icy cold. Her ears were still buzzing, but she heard garbled sounds about her. I went to the bar and even hung out with our friends, but I couldn’t shake her memory.
The shivering wouldn’t go away but seemed to lessen. Strange blurry colors now filled her eyes one of them was a bright light. The sounds continued, though almost audible.
“Murdse…”
What was that? Pumpkin became distracted once more as the scene of her at Applebloom’s grave filled her mind.

Within the graveyard off to the east, in the hills of Ponyville, Pumpkin stood next to a small tombstone. In her hooves was the bottle of pills she had desperately clung to for the past five years. She whispered to Applebloom as she opened them up. On the grave were the words: Hold onta this fer meh, Sugarcube.
In front of the stone lay Applejack’s old stetson. She always loved that old hat. She could hear her, still; going on about her sister’s hat. Mah sis told me ta hold onto it, she’d be back. That was before we got th’ summons. Ah guess it’s mine now. No Ah won’t take it off! Gotta keep goin’ Ah promised. That warm voice had been like angels talking to Pumpkin, and now it was as though devils were torturing her with the memory.
“I can’t go any further. I’ve tried so hard to move on. I just- I just need to see you, to talk to you. Just once more. I. Need. You.”
Tilting the bottle, Pumpkin downed the contents quickly. The effect was instantaneous as her body collapsed upon the soft loamy ground. In her ears rang a loud shouting.
“Diamond! I found her. Quick somepony get a doctor!”
And then, she was in that diner where she had once shared a milkshake with Applebloom; with none of her memories. And then, she heard nothing more.

She felt something wrap around her, as her hoof shivered and twitched weakly. She could just move it. While her hearing had become even clearer; she couldn’t make it out completely.
“Nurse, grab...she’s... convulsions.”
Something pressed down on her midriff and her eyes; still blurry, beheld the image of a mare in a white uniform looking into her eyes.
“Doctor...Her eyes!”
Trembling, Pumpkin desperately tried in vain to move her hoof; but to no avail. The cold was slowly subsiding and her stomach began to growl. It hurt, and she felt so weak. It had been several minutes since she had returned to herself. Her mouth opened, but there was no sound; try as she might to speak. The feeling was slowly returning to her limbs, little by little.
Just a little; just to feel again. But slowly the feeling got harder and harder to reach. So it required more and more each time. And then it just didn’t come and I got desperate. It felt like eternity. I was consumed by my desire to see you; at any cost.
“Nurse, get the Princess, she’s awake!”
Pumkin’s body twitched as she tried to will her hoof to listen to her. She could feel it again, but she couldn’t move it. Her limbs felt limp. She stared ahead; able to blink but not move her own head. Her lips moved easily now, but her voice wouldn’t come.
It wasn’t long until a flash of pink out of the corner of her eye, shined. A familiar face of a pink Alicorn stared into her eyes. On her head she wore the Royal Crown of Canterlot, her voice warm and tender. That mane, those colors...Cadence?
“Can you hear me, Pumpkin?”
Once more Pumpkin tried to speak only to issue forth a gurgle. She watched the Alicorn turn to speak to a pony she couldn’t see; listening as another familiar voice reached her ears. This one was raspy and resembled....Rainbow Dash? No...She-Who is that?
“We came soon as we got the word. How is she Princess Flurry Heart?”
Little Flurry? No...No way. How long have I been...?
“Her eyes are open, Scootaloo, but she is still in shock according to the doctor.”
A white unicorn filled her vision as Pumpkin felt something heavy on top of her; it was a hug. The unicorn had tears falling from her eyes as she wailed.
“We thought we lost you forever!”
Trying to remember that face, that mane style...Rarity...No that voice...Sweetie Belle!
Once more, Pumpkin moved her lips and her voice came forth though it sounded cracked and strained.
“I’m sorry...to have worried you...Sweetie. Belle. Flurry, I’m so sorry. Forgive me, girls.”
Straining, she managed to lift her head just a little as a new pony walked into the door. Dressed in a business suit, a Pink Earthpony, with a coiffed mane strolled into the room speaking in a snooty accent.
“This better be good, my meeting is in-”
Upon seeing Pumpkin staring at her with a weak smile; the Earthpony ran up to her and gave her a massive hug whispering just loud enough for all to hear. Her voice no longer cold; it nearly broke with how choked up she was.
“You! You idiot!...You have no idea how much we missed you. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
The tears streamed down her face as Pumpkin recognized her and whimpered.
“I-I’m sorry Diamond.”
“You better be. I swear Pumpkin; you do that to us, to me again and I’ll kill you myself.”
Her words seemed harsh but her tone told how relieved she was.
Reaching into her pocket, Diamond Tiara pulled out a cell phone. Opening it, she began to talk to a frantic sounding voice on the other side.
“Cancel the meeting...No, I’m not crazy, you listen here you-”
While Diamond argued with her contact, the doctor pulled the Princess to the side.
“Your Majesty, after five years in a coma, her body has severe apathy. She will need to stay at the hospital and attend therapy for the next few months. It’s not a cheap practice.”
“After what she did, we’re lucky we didn’t lose her completely. A few extra months is nothing; add it to my bill. Just make sure she returns to us with a smile, and while you’re at it, have a counselor work with her and make sure she’s doing alright. I don’t care about the cost. I’ll sell my family heirlooms, if need be. Make it happen.”
Flurry Heart turned back to the bed where Scootaloo was telling a joke to make them all laugh, and Pumpkin weakly clapped her hooves together. Diamond still angrily ranting on her phone; stopped to give a grateful smile, before finally shouting.
“Listen here, reschedule the meeting. Do I care if they go elsewhere? No! Why would I? I own every major retailer in Equestria. Listen, this is really important, cover for me. I’ll buy you a milkshake afterwards. Yeah, I love you too. Thanks honey. I’ll be home around 8.”
Flurry Heart smiled at the scene.
“We couldn’t be there for her then, we are here now.”

Pumpkin lay, withered and wrinkled in the same hospital bed. In her mane rested a faded, torn, worn down satin red ribbon. She weakly looked around her. Beside her, sat her son in a chair with a small filly bouncing on his knee while the mother watched; smiling. I remember when he was adopted, so small; now such a proud stallion. I’ve never been more proud than that day in the nursery when his wife gave birth.
Diamond’s daughter wore the same business suit her mom had worn, so many years ago. Just like her mom, cutthroat in business, but always there for her friends. Who would’ve thought she’d marry my son? Couldn't ask for a better daughter-in-law. Sweetie Belle’s Granddaughter sat in her mama’s lap as the mare watched her suck on a rattle. Your mother would have been so proud Rosemary.
Nearby Princess Flurry Heart played checkers with her son; both wearing bright smiles. I’ve gotten older, and she still looks as innocent as the day we met. After her eye-opening incident Pumpkin Cake had led a blessed life. She had reached for the stars and worked hard to achieve her goals; having re-opened her mother’s bakery as a diner. The Sugarcube Diner had served all sorts of sweets and dishes but the signature it had been known for; was none other than the Appleshake. The Apple-flavored Milkshake had been a huge success.
She had adopted her son and taught him all about the perfect cupcakes and cookies her mom had once baked; watching as his eyes lit up. Who knew he would wind up taking over the family business with his wife, no less.
Turning her head she watched the daughter of Sweetie Belle gently pass her little filly to the aged form of Scootaloo who accepted her with a slight trembling in her hooves.
“Why don’t you give Grandma some love? Here you go, mom.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, never saw two prouder parents when their daughter graduated. I still remember the shock when she said she was pregnant. Thought Sweetie Belle was gonna need a drama couch. Heh. I’ve had a good life. And now-
Her eyes slowly fluttered before closing; a warm grin on her face. Her thoughts were quieted as she found herself in the darkness once more. A light appeared in the distance, which she began running towards. Tears welled in her eyes as a voice from the past greeted her once more. That warm, lovingly angelic voice from so many years ago:
“Hey Sugarcube, Ah came ta getcha, just like Ah promised. Thanks fer holdin' onta mah ribbon fer meh.”