//------------------------------//
// Prelude – Time Crash 
// Story: Ponies in the Attic 
// by Digodragon 
//------------------------------//

	Applejack ran up the porch steps of her home, her breath visible in the cold rain. The recent burn marks on her drenched body ached more so than the older bite wounds, but AJ refused to let the pain slow her down. Thunder rolled over the farm as Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh arrived a moment later, winded from their race through the Everfree Forest together. The icy rain dripped slowly off the faces of the siblings.
Applejack spun around and kicked in the front door with a hard blow. Big Mac lifted a large gilded hammer off his back and presented it to AJ.

“Here, you ought to do it,” the eldest sibling stated.

The orange pony took the weapon and slung it over her shoulder. “Thank you both for believing in me,” AJ replied. She gave both siblings a quick hug and then stepped into their home. She searched around the living room for its occupants.

“Zecora, are you still around?!” she called out. “Where’s granny?!” AJ looked around the living room and noticed a chipped teacup on the floor. It sat in a pool of black tea. A scuffle had taken place here recently, but AJ couldn’t tell who the victor was. She couldn’t even tell who was involved and her fragile mind was too scattered to remember the names of everyone who should be here.

She looked at the old grandfather clock in the corner. There was a dried stain of blood upon the jagged edge of the broken glass door. AJ knew what had happened to have caused the scuffle in this house.

Big Mac and Apple Bloom stepped inside from the rain. A crack of thunder rattled the windows and startled Bloom. She scurried closer to her big sister. The siblings heard hoof-steps approach from the second floor and Applejack kept her grip on the hammer tight.

“Alright varmint,” AJ stated loudly, “What did you do with Zecora?!”

The white and black stripped Zecora stumbled onto the second floor landing from the darkened upstairs hallway. Her mane was disheveled, and there was blood caked on her cheeks and right foreleg. A much older green pony with a pinned-up gray-white mane stepped out behind the zebra. She had a hoof leaned on Zecora’s backside as if the two were good friends.
It couldn’t have been much farther from the truth.

“Well if it isn’t the little peasant Applejack and her siblings,” Granny Smith hissed. “So, what do you plan on doing with that hammer, girl?”

“I aim to nail you good with it,” Applejack stated angrily.

Granny snorted. “Why couldn’t you all just accept your new lives? You would have all been happy together!”

“Because it was all a lie!” Applejack snapped back. “Life is full of pain and loss, but that’s just part of the deal! It’s what brings about hope and dreams, strengthenin’ family and friendships. A candle has got no purpose with a shadow to illuminate.”

“I refuse to lose him again!!” Granny Smith screamed out.

Zecora shoved the distracted old mare away and shouted down to AJ. “You must move like quicksilver! Use the hammer and strike-”

Granny kicked the zebra down the flight of stairs. Zecora tumbled down like a rag doll and hit the bottom with a weak groan. Apple Bloom screamed with fright, but Big Mac rushed to aid the zebra. Applejack rushed forward to the couch that sat by the staircase.
With a mighty leap, AJ stepped off the cushion and headrest of the sofa, scaled over the stair railing, and landed next to Granny smith. She brought the hammer to bear and swung at the old green mare. Granny darted back as the huge weapon smashed through the stair railings.

“You missed,” the old mare taunted. She grabbed AJ around a foreleg and threw her off the landing. Applejack crashed into the coffee table below and broke it in two. The hammer landed with a heavy thud near Apple Bloom. A flash of lighting illuminated the little filly’s frightened face.

“Sis, get up!” Bloom shouted. She grabbed the massive hammer with her teeth and dragged it over to her sister.

AJ rolled to her hooves as Granny jumped down to the ground floor. The old mare threw several punches with her fore-hooves, but Applejack covered her face and shrugged off each blow. The orange pony tumbled onto her back and kicked out at Granny with incredible force. The old mare flew backwards off the ground and collided with the nearby wall of framed photos.
Granny landed on all four hooves as several picture frames crashed around her.

Big Mac charged at the old mare, but Granny stepped out of his path. She stuck out a leg and tripped the red stallion. Big Mac stumbled and rolled into the adjoining wall. Granny lifted a plush chair and smashed it over the stallion. The wooden chair shattered into several pieces over the stallion’s back.
Big Mac grunted and shrugged off the cushions and splintered wood.

“Oh, you want another?” Granny said with a sinister grin. She reached for another chair.

“You leave my brother alone!” Applejack shouted as she grabbed the hammer from Apple Bloom. AJ came down on Granny with the weapon in mid swing and crushed the old mare’s left foreleg. The sound of snapping bone echoed in the air as Granny screamed with pain.

“Insolent little filly!” the old mare growled.

Black shadows oozed out of her broken leg and grabbed onto AJ’s neck. The orange pony struggled to breathe and hold the hammer at the same time. The shadows lifted Applejack off the floor and threw her into the grandfather clock at the other end of the living room.
AJ’s body hit the glass door with a resounding crash. She fell to the floor among a shower of broken glass. AJ didn’t give in to the pain and tried to stand up.

The shadows slithered and wrapped themselves around Granny’s crushed leg like a cast. She ripped a large board of wood off the floor and smashed it on AJ’s back. The orange pony held in cries of pain and tried to remain standing.

“I will unmake you!” the old mare yelled. She brought the plank of wood down a second time on Applejack, then a third. Apple Bloom began to cry out for help as her older sister was pummeled by Granny. Big McIntosh stumbled over to the old mare, but she swung the wooden board at him and struck him backwards into the wall.

Applejack staggered and fell to the floor. Her strength was sapped and pain gnashed at her head. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. Her body had given up on her, her mind had given up on her, and the darkness slowly consumed her consciousness. Applejack began to tear up as her vision faded away.

“No… it just can’t end like this,” AJ thought to herself. “Big Mac… Apple Bloom… forgive me…”