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// Part II: Applejack 
// Story: The "September" incident 
// by IxyXVIII 
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Part II: Applejack

“What in the name of Sweet Apple Acres is goin’ on here?!” Applejack exclaimed as she looked at the once beautiful town of Ponyville.
“I don’t know Applejack,” Twilight Sparkle, her purple unicorn friend was looking around, a bit dumbfounded at everything.
The town was an empty husk of the flourishing place it had once been. The dark that now surrounded the place was a spine chilling one. Applejack honestly had never been afraid of the dark, but now that she was looking around all she saw was the darkness. It had etched itself upon the walls of every house, every nook and cranny of the once flourishing town. Her orange hoofs were getting blackened from the ash that seemed to have replaced the lush grass with its evil blackness.
Twilight was hunched over, what seemed to be, the only pony left in town. He was a pale gray stallion, but his coat was covered in burn marks and the darkness of charcoal. There were a pair of seemingly untouched blue headphones on his head, but upon glancing at the stallions cutie mark, it had nothing to do with music. 
“Well darn tootin! I’m wonderin why this young fella passed out. I’m guessing you gave him a mighty shock Rainbow!” Applejack tried to ignore the eerie cutie mark on the young stallions flank as she gazed at her quite eccentric friend.
“I only gave him a little scare!” Rainbowdash complained rather loudly. “It’s not like I was the one who made him float in the air or anything.”
“That may be true…but this young fella has had quite a shock here, and it didn’t quite help that Twi held him in the air like that…” Applejack said with all of her honesty oozing from her voice.
Twilight Sparkle sighed loudly, “He seems to be the only pony left here!”
“Th-that’s not t-true Twilight…” a very shy and quiet voice responded.
Applejack glanced over at her friend, Fluttershy. The pastel yellow pony was shaking like a leaf in a storm and staring at the word “September” written in red liquid ooze on the ground.
Fear, what was it? Normally the honest Applejack didn’t have much of it herself. She had always just been able to buck whatever was pestering her out of the way or fight off whatever was trying to get at her and her friends. This was a different case however, and cold crept into Applejack for the first time in what seemed like ages.
Fluttershy let out a soft scream and turned. She was about to flee when Twilight used her magic to keep the extremely frightened pony from flying away and hiding in some deep place where no one would be able to get her out.
“Aaaaah!” Fluttershy cried quietly and flailed her hooves around in the air as the magic suspended her.
Twilight sighed, “Calm down everypony! I’m sure this has a reasonable explanation!”
Though Twilight said that out loud, Applejack knew she was more reasoning with herself than anyone else. 
There was a sudden happy squeal from an excited pink pony next to her. Applejack jumped and reared as Pinkie Pie, one of her more excitable friends ran over to the red ooze. The crazy pink pony took one look at it and put her hoof down in the “P” of the word. Applejack gasped in horror as Pinkie Pie opened her pink mouth and put the foul liquid inside.
“mmm hmm I thought so!” she said in a most satisfied way.
Applejack felt her stomach turn and didn’t want to know the answer as Rarity asked, “Pinkie! What sort of vulgar substance have you put in your mouth this time?!”
“Well at first I was hoping it was ketchup! No wait I thought it was cherry juice! NO! WAIT!”
“Just get to the point!” Rainbow Dash said a bit irritated by her friend.
Pinkie Pie sighed then brightened right back up, “It was blood!” 
The horror that struck everypony there was clearly visible on their faces. It hung in the air like a thick fog, and Applejack had to shut her eyes for a minute to keep from passing out. 
Twilight Sparkle shook a little, but Applejack could sense the uncertainty in her voice as she said, “Maybe it was from another creature… It certainly couldn’t be…. Couldn’t be…” she didn’t dare finish her sentence, there was no need to anyway as Rainbow Dash did for her.
“Holy buck!” she screamed and flew back away from the foul substance, “Somepony has killed everypony in town! We need to get out of here!” 
Fluttershy would have been gone if it weren’t for Twilights magic keeping her suspended in the air. She was screaming loud now and crying as she tried in desperation to free herself.
“Now wait a darn second here!” Applejack said to her friends. “This here pony was at Ponyville when that there explosion happened. Maybe we can get some infer out of him.”
Twilight nodded solemnly, “I’m so sorry guys, and you may leave if you really wish, but I’m staying until we learn the answer!”
Applejack blinked and nodded. She took a stand by her friend Twilight and stared at the other four ponies standing in front of her. Well with the exception of the floating Fluttershy who was trying her best to get away from it all.
Pinkie Pie stared at them for a moent then bounced over with a huge smile on her face, “Weeee! Adventure! Let’s catch the killer!”
Rainbow dash looked at them and sighed, “You know, you guys are right! We have to stick together and all. Besides if that punk wakes up who will deal with him if I’m not here?” 
Twilight smiled as she flew over to them and joined their side. “Rarity?”
The snow white pony was looking around in horror, “Oh my coat could get dirty, but I simply must find out what happened to my home! What if my new fashionista hats are destroyed?!” Rarity gasped and joined their side.
Spike the dragon was already over with them, he had on a moustache to suggested he was in his investigative state, “Fluttershy! Join us! We could be true heroes!”
“O-or we could also die!” she squeaked out quietly.
There was that… Apllejack sighed when something shot through her like a sharp bolt of lightning. “SWEET APPLE ACRES!” she cried out loud.
No sooner had the words escaped her lips, and then she realized that her hooves were sending her flying in the direction of her home. It took her over blackened earth and the closer she got, the more her horror had grown. The fear that chilled her was because she still saw no signs of life.
The darkness.
The death.
And her family could be blown to bits!
Her hooves carried her to their barn. The North orchard was completely obliterated by the blast of the explosion, but it appeared as if the South orchard had been saved.
Her heart almost stopped when she saw the state of the barn. It was ruined, blackened like everything else. Her attention went to their home. Her heart DID stop briefly, for what she saw scared her horribly.
Her hooves carried her against her will to the ruins of the destroyed barn and house. She dreaded what she would see inside. Applejack had once experienced some deaths in the family, and the grief almost overwhelmed her when she found Granny Smith.
Applejack let out a wail and threw herself on her dead grandmother’s body. She had lost her parents, and now her grandmother as well.
‘Why?! Why Granny Smith?! You’re my fave grandmother! I can’t have lost you!’ Applejack was staring at the limp and burned body of her grandmother as her stomach churned.
The only thing that made her come to was her friend, Twilight Sparkle. Her hoof was placed on Applejacks shoulder. There was grief showing in both their eyes, and they hugged. Applejack was wracked with sobs, everything she had was ruined!
Rainbow Dash and the others soon followed, the somber looks on their faces showed that they could see what had happened. Everypony raced to their crushed friend and smothered her with hugs.
It was all they could do to comfort their friend.
Granny Smith was just one pony lost in September…
And as the young stallion was trotting slowly up to the group, he stared at the dead body of Granny Smith, yet he did not feel the same grief as the other ponies. Nor did he feel shock, or sickness or seemingly any other emotion.
Oddly enough the only emotion he seemed to feel was…
‘Am I satisfied with what’s happened to this poor soul?’ the young stallion asked himself in shock.
He watched as all eyes fell on him, he just stared back at those accusing eyes. They didn’t bother him at all. These ponies hadn’t killed him before so who’s to say that they would now?
Applejack sprang away from her friends. She was in such a state of rage that the young stallion was bound to be trampled if he didn’t sidestep away from this insane pony. He leapt away and before this crazy orange Technicolor pony threw herself at him again, she was frozen.
“Lemme go Twilight!” the insane Applejack screamed loudly at her friend. “He killed Granny Smith! Lemme finish this bucker off!”
Twilight looked at her friend fiercely, “Calm down Applejack! If you kill him then we won’t know what happened in the first place!”
Applejack struggled fiercely for a few moments, and Twilight waited patiently for her to expend her energy before she released her. When Applejack finally went limp, Twilight turned her enraged, and yet surprisingly calm eyes on the confused looking stallion.
“Now you are going to tell us what happened…” Twilight said calmly, “or you will be dealt with.”