//------------------------------// // Silent Grave // Story: Hour of Twilight // by -Brutus //------------------------------// //----------------------------- // Story: Hour of Twilight // Chapter: Chapter 2: Silent Graves // Author: Darth Femto //----------------------------- ####################################################################### Chapter Two Silent Graves ####################################################################### It was early in the morning, the Sun slowly but steadily rising from the east, sending its bright rays of sunlight across Equestria, announcing a new day. The light traveled through the skies, bathing the scenery in a brilliant warm glow, colours erupting from the land below. It was not unusual for Applejack to wake up at such an early hour, having worked in her apple orchard since she was but a small filly. But it was different now. She was not going to work in the orchard for a few more months, until her small fillies would grow a little more. She stirred in her sleep and yawned silently, glancing towards the window, the rays of the sun slowly creeping into the room. The only noticeable sound was that of her breathing, and a pair of fillies that slept peacefully on their own mattress. A wide smile spread onto her face, gently getting up from bed and trotting over to her treasure. She dared not awake them, at least for a few more hours. Suddenly, the peace was interrupted by a loud snort and some soft snoring afterwards. Turning her head around to the source of the sound, she laid her emerald eyes on her beloved husband, a blue pegasus with a dark blue mane. He had a cheesy grin on his face and talked in his sleep, causing Applejack to snicker lightly. She got closer to his bed, and kissed him softly, intending to wake him up. "Huh... buh... five more minutes mom... I don't have school ... today," he said through his dreams. Applejack sighed and knocked him in the head three times, not too hard, but enough to wake him up, and quick. "Ouch! Hey, what gives!?" he was hushed by his wife, who pointed at the sleeping girls. "Oh... sorry." "When did you arrive? I didn't hear you get in." "Well, I lost the train and I flew all the way from Manehattan, so I got here when it was already dark. I didn't want to bother you." She leaned in and kissed him gently, nuzzling his neck. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her on the bed, cuddling against her. Applejack did not object and returned the embrace, gently nibbling his ears. They sat like that for another ten minutes, before she had to go and prepare breakfast for the little fillies. Before she left, she took a peak in the next room, where Applebloom usually slept, sighing sadly when she realized she wasn't there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Applebloom walked slowly on the marble path, eyes on the ground, brimming with tears. She had been walking on this path for the last twenty years, almost every day before every pony woke up, at the earliest hours. She would come and spend some time with a fellow crusader. Even though she had earned her cutie mark a few years after the incident, it meant nothing for her, and chose to maintain the secret organization along with Sweetie Belle. After a few more yards, she turned left and stopped upon reaching a rather large tombstone, but instead of bearing a cutie mark like all other stones, it held a picture of a long gone friend, an orange pegasus filly. Blinking several times to stop the flow of tears, she read the lines again and again, as she always did. Here lies the beloved adoptive daughter of Rainbow Dash, SCOOTALOO DASH Loyal and great of heart in life, may you fly in Heaven, amongst angels. Pure streams and green pastures, devoted friend. ...Once a Crusader, Forever a Crusader... Applebloom knelt over the grave and placed another flower on the old grave, struggling to keep her tears, to no avail. Her shoulders heaved and she wept silently over the grave, the wound in her heart still not healed, after all these years. She fell silent as she heard gentle flapping near her. Quickly wiping her tears, she prepared to leave when she heard a soft thud behind her. Turning around cautiously, she was surprised to see a very familiar cyan pegasus, her magenta eyes glistening with tears, her cheeks bearing marks of old and fresh tears. She started to trot slowly towards the grave, laying down near Applebloom and placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Hey, what's up?" she tried to lighten up the mood with a weak, fading smile. Applebloom shrugged and took a deep breath. "Not too bad, Ah guess...," she sat in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again, her voice cracking with deep sorrow, a lump in her throat. "Ah still can't believe she ain't here no more... Why did Twilight do that to her, Rainbow? What did poor Scoot do to her to be killed like that?! It ain't fair!" she openly cried into Rainbow's coat, shivering slightly. "Shh, now," she whispered softly to the sobbing mare. "Twilight had lost her mind completely, and she gave in to her own evil. Even though she was my best friend once, she is nothing more than a ... pathetic murderer! Hiding behind the innocent to cover up her doings. But no matter how long has she been imprisoned, it will never be enough to account for all the evil deeds she has done. I, for one, will never forgive her for my daughter's death!" She was now openly crying, hitting the ground with her front hooves. "Seven months! That's all the time I could spend with her! She was so happy... oh Twilight, how could you do this to me?! TO HER!" "Applebloom?" Rainbow stopped crying and turned around to see Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle, trotting up to them. Applebloom smiled weakly and went to hug her, before both of them came and sat beside the Wonderbolt. "How long since you two started coming here?" the cyan pegasus asked with a small smile on her lips. "Ever since she was buried here, me and Applebloom came here almost everyday, to spend some time with her. For a while, each of us had to go and pursue our dreams, but in the end, it meant nothing, because we were apart. So, we resolved around living in Ponyville and helping around town with our talents. How about you, Rainbow? You disappeared after several years, only to hear out you joined the Wonderbolts." The cyan pegasus sighed and stared at the ground. "I left Ponyville because it was too much for me... I needed some time to come to my senses, and eventually I pursued my dream," she gave a sad chuckle, tears starting to pour once again. "But, after every show, my heart would break when I would remember, that my number one fan, my daughter, would never be able to see me, to cheer for me. Yet, something happened one day. After the show, I usually went and isolated myself in my room, to let all of my anger and sorrow out." A small smile crept on her face, as she continued her story. "I heard a soft 'BOOM' in the air, picking my interest. I got myself up from bed, and went to the window. What I saw made my heart jump with happiness; on the sky, high above Cloudsdale, there was a brilliant rainbow trail, surrounded by a shockwave of orange and deep purple! I immediately ran to tell the others, but they denied such event happening. I ran away, to hide on a cloud above our HQ, wanting to be alone for a moment. Then, it happened again, but this time, I saw it clearly! An orange pegasus filly, soaring at very high speed towards Ponyville! I immediately shot after her, to see if I was hallucinating. Before I could tackle her, she turned her head towards me and smiled. Even though we were quite far from each other, I saw her face! It was her! My little girl! She told me to let go of the sadness, and live my life to its fullest. She said she is very proud of us, and that she loved us a lot. That's all I could hear before she completely disappeared from view, along with the trail she was leaving behind. Only then did I understand, that she is always here," she pointed at her chest proudly, " and that nopony can take her away from us!" she ended with a wide grin. The other two mares stared in silence, their jaws hanging from the skull in astonishment. "That... was so beautiful..." the unicorn broke the silence. "Does anypony else know this?" Applebloom asked. "Nope, just you guys." Applebloom snorted and held her head high. "Good, 'cause if we didn't know ye better, we would have thought ye were wrong in tha' head if ye know what Ah mean," she winked at the pegasus. They all laughed for a while before departing the scene. Before she left the gates, Rainbow could have sworn she heard a faint 'boom' in the skies above, bringing a smile on her face. ***** Artwork by The-Proverbial-Jon.