Secrets in the basement.
by Moon Chaser (DA CrazyMikePrime)
Sweet Apple Acres just after sundown
“Half pint! Yer friends are here ta stay for the night!”
Granny Smith thumped on the stairs with her hoof as she yelled, the stairwell channelling her voice into the second story of the house. The piercing timbre of the old mare’s voice caused Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to wince slightly, their ears lying flat as she called out to Applebloom.
Granny cocked an ear up listening for a response; waiting for a moment before a frown spread across her aged muzzle. The Apple family matriarch then shook her head and clicked her tongue while she turned back to the two fillies who waited in the living room. She cracked a sad smile as she spoke.
“Please understand, it’s been kinda rough around ever since that awful night, especially for Applebloom.” Granny shook her head again and sighed,” Poor gal took all of it kinda hard and she’s been actin’ peculiar ever since. Ah’m mighty glad that y’all have come over ta see her. Ah’m sure it’ll help her disposition.”
Sweetie Belle dropped her head down and laid her ears flat as she stared at the large circular carpet that covered the floor in front of the door. The unicorn filly then gently picked at the edge of the floor cover with a hoof. “It’s ok, Granny Smith. I we really should have come to see her sooner. I …we… oh..I don’t know what we were thinking,” Sweetie then raised her head and looked at Scootaloo. “I guess we just got caught up in everything.”
It was Scootaloo’s turn to look at the floor of the house, picking out a table leg to focus on as she struggled to think of something to say. She had been so caught up in being with her idol, wielding her ring and seeking revenge on Diamond Tiara she had barely spared a moment’s thought on her friends. Ms. Cheerilee’s words seared her soul again: “Do you know Applebloom has been terribly ill ever since the Black Lanterns attacked Sweet Apple Acres? Do you know how lonely Sweetie Belle has been ever since that day as well? Only Diamond kept her company until someone pointed out how much she was accidentally neglecting her other friend, Silver. What do you think Rainbow Dash would have felt, you neglecting your friends so you can have your revenge?”
There was a slight pain in her heart with those thoughts, for a moment she felt as if all strength left her limbs. Why? She was not feeling doubt about her ring or herself. She felt some self hate, but that wouldn’t be because of this, would it? She had felt she betrayed her friends somehow, particularly Applebloom…
…another twinge, this one more powerful. Scootaloo winced, a small amount blood plasma seeping out of her mouth and down the side of her jaw.
Granny Smith half closed one eye and peered intensely at the pegasus. “Is there a problem there, furious lil’ filly? Yer startin’ ta look a little peakid.”
Scootaloo wiped the blood plasma away with the back of her leg; a slight sizzling noise came to everyone’s ears. “No, Granny Smith, I’ll be ok. Just feeling bad about not visiting here sooner is all. I got so carried away with this,” she raised her ring up, “that I just forgot about a lot of things.”
The old mare chuckled, “Yep, that’s how it is when ya git wrapped up in a new thing, ya lose track of where ya supposed ta be.” Granny looked up into the stair opening, trying to see beyond the darkness of the second floor hallway. She rubbed her chin as she rose off her haunches. ”Tell you gals what, Ah’m gonna go up stairs and get her ta come down and then we’ll all enjoy one of Granny’s good ole hot suppers.” Granny placed a hoof on the first step but paused before continuing up the stairs. “Word of warnin’. Applebloom is runnin hot/cold lately. She turns moods on a bit, so don’t fret about that and make a fuss…that tends to make her react powerful bad.”
The two fillies answered ‘Yes, Mam’ in unison as the old mare slowly began to climb the stairs to fetch her granddaughter. As the ‘clunk’ sound of Granny’s hooves grew softer, Sweetie Belle looked around the living room, looking at this thing and that while she waited for anypony’s return. The coat rack caught her eye -- the collection of cold weather gear, saddlebags, hats, and shoes made an interesting and varied sight.
Sweetie looked at the Apples’ coat rack, taking note of the items that hung on the wall-mounted storage piece. She then looked around the room, gazing at the fireplace, then the book shelves. ‘Something’s not right here,’ she thought as she got up and quietly tiphoofed over to Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo, there’s something wrong here. Something is…off. This room doesn’t look right,” Sweetie whispered in her friend’s ear. The unicorn then cast a quick glance at the stairs.
“What are you talking about?” the filly lantern sneered under her breath. Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Sweetie Belle.
“Look at the coat rack, the mantel, and book shelves,” Sweetie hissed as she looked at the stairs again. “It’s wrong somehow.”
The pegasus glanced at what her friend had asked her to. She saw the rack with its items like Mac’s heavy coat, Applejack’s saddlebags, and Granny’s gardening hat. The books shelves looked normal. A few books had been removed from the shelves, but that didn’t seem out of the ordinary. The mantel had the family pictures on it, the gaps between bigger here and there. She pursed her lips in thought, frowning slightly, shaking her head as she faced Sweetie Belle again.
“What are you, a detective like Sam Steed? I don’t see anything wrong here Sweetie.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You’re imagining things!” Scootaloo grumbled her tail lashed back and forth as she stared at the young unicorn.
“What is your problem,” Sweetie stomped her hoof.
“My Problem is Silver Spoon, or rather how you’re letting her use you.”
“Use me,” Sweetie Bell raised an eyebrow. That was not the answer she expected,” What do you mean?”
“She’s using you to cover her flank. She’s trying to save her skin from the punishment she deserves,” Scootaloo bared her teeth. “How can you stand up for her, after everything she did to us with Diamond Tiara?”
Sweetie made a pouty face, “Look, I think she’s really trying to be a friend. I’m just trying to keep open to…”
“Open! OPEN? She and Diamond Tiara made our lives miserable Sweetie! They deserve to be hurt like they hurt us, “the red lantern filly said while grinding her teeth.”That’s another thing, how can you be so easy on Diamond Tiara? How can you be ok with everything she’s done to you, me and especially Applebloom? She’s…”
“I’m not ‘ok’ with everything, but hasn’t there been enough pain? If it changes things for the better, we should try and make peace. Besides, Diamond IS being punished. That’s what the indigo ring is about, remember?”
Scootaloo scrunched her face in annoyance. It was what Miss. Cheerilee had said to her earlier, the ring for Diamond was a punishment for her lack of empathy, and she was being forced to feel the weight of what she had done. She was feeling the ‘pain’ she had inflicted on others.
“Ugh…Fine! Whatever! I’ve already sworn off getting Diamond Tiara, but Silver Spoon is trotting away clean! She should get some kind of punishment for all the pain she helped cause!”
Sweetie Belle approached the fuming pegasus and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I know how you feel Scootaloo, really I do. Maybe you’re right about her and I don’t see it. Maybe I am being fooled. I don’t know,” the young unicorn removed her hoof and prodded at the ground with it. “I stood up to you FOR you more than for her!”
Scootaloo cocked her head to one side,”Eh?”
Sweetie sighed, “Your anger is so much stronger than ever and I didn’t want it to…make you do something you would feel bad about later.”
The red lantern snorted, “Yeah, like that would happen.”
“Look, I’m not asking you to be her friend Scootaloo, I’m not even asking you to like her. I’m just asking for a truce, that all. Just for a while…wait and see, OK?”
‘You are so clueless aren’t you’, “Ok, fine! I’ll drop it for you and for Applebloom for now,” the rage wielder’s eyes narrowed,” …but if I catch her doing anything to hurt you, be two faced, I’ll throw her to the moon myself!”
A low ‘clunk’ was heard at the top of the stairs, the sound making the fillies twitch. “We’ll talk later,” Sweetie whispered as she turned to face the stairs.
Granny came down the stairs first, carefully placing each set as she slowly descended to the main floor. Behind the old green mare was Applebloom, pausing at each step for a moment as she waited on her grandmother to continue her movement down the stairs. Without a word she followed the old mare down the stairs until she stopped at the base of the stairs.
The earth pony filly looked so different from the last time her friends had seen her. Her top bow was rumpled looking like it had not been removed since that fateful night the Black Lanterns attacked the farm. Applebloom’s mane and coat were in better condition, showing that some washing and grooming had happened recently. She was wearing a plain gold ring around her neck that was brilliantly shinny even in the light of the living room. A fine braded rope was coiled around her body and ran down her left front leg, the rope ending coiled around her hoof. The bandana she had wore for the talent show was tied to the end of her tail.
Applebloom then quickly scuttled over the floor to Granny Smith and hugged the left rear leg of the elder Apple. She stared at her friends for what seemed like ages, her eyes moving back and forth between the other Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Uh…hi Applebloom..” Scootaloo began, looking down at her front hooves.
“We missed you bunches,” Sweetie Belle finished her friend’s sentence.
There was another pause as Applebloom looked at her friends, deciding if they were real. Suddenly was in front of her friends, enwrapping her front legs around the necks of her friends, tightening as she whispered in their ears, “Y’all still mah friends’ right?” Sweetie and Scootaloo looked at each other the shoulders of their friend. The pegasus eyes narrowed and one eye ridge rose in an expression of confusion. Sweetie Bell bit her bottom lip when she felt wetness on her neck. Applebloom made no sound, but cried silently while refusing to let her friends go.
“Applebloom…we were afraid you wouldn’t want to see us. I mean, we heard that Applejack didn’t want to see anypony and thought…” Sweetie squeaked.
Applebloom seemed to pull her friends to her even tighter at that statement. Scootaloo’s eyes bulged a little from the force of the embrace. The earth filly said under her breath, “Y’all came back. “She sniffed as she spoke. “Ah’m never letting anything take y’all away from me, ever! Even mah hurt feelin’s. Every time Ah let go, somethin’ terrible happens.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other again, wide eyes and bit lips displayed their confusion and worry. Neither of them had expected this reaction from Applebloom. They both had expected some kind of grumble or anger at both of their absences, not the hugging death grip they were now receiving.
“There, there, now.“ Granny came around and put a hoof gently on her granddaughter’s back, “How about we get some vittles now. Ah made some of my cheese dumplin’s and gravy, sweet taters and mixed greens just the way you like em.”
Applebloom’s head popped up. The tears seemed to dry up instantly, disappearing under a huge grin of shining teeth whose sparkle matched the gleam of her necklace. The filly released her grip on her friends and spun around like a top, stopping when her muzzle pointed at the kitchen. In the blink of an eye she was gone, the sound of her hooves thundering over the floor almost drowning out her cries of “Dumplin’s! Dumplin’s!”
Scootaloo turned to look at Sweetie, her mouth agape. Sweetie swallowed hard and looked about the living room again, trying to find what it was about the room that raised the hackles on the back of her neck. Both fillies then turned to look at Granny Smith, Scootaloo placing her ring hoof behind her head.
“That was…different,” the pegasus said with a worrying quiver in her voice.
“Ah told ya…hot/cold.”
***
Ponyville, The Crystal Palace of the Star Sapphires, after the reading of the book of OA
In the darkness of her basement, half blinded by tears, Fluttershy wept. The only light in the room came from the aura created by her violet ring. The rivers of sorrow that fell from her eyes made sparkling falls of violet liquid that ran out from her and out into the darkness of the floor. The liquid sadness in this light was almost like blood and for a moment it felt as if she was crying tears of blood, and that thought made her melancholy more intense.
Angel bunny shook open a small square of fuzzy cloth with a snap of one his paws as he hopped up to his pony guardian’s side, rubbing her shoulder with the other to say to her ‘it will be alright.’
“I wish I had not seen that, Angel,” Fluttershy whimpered out to the darkness. The upset that tore at her heart made her wish she had gone home after the meeting with Princess Celestia rather than stay and see the horror she had seen from the Book of Oa. The idea of all the creatures of a world gone was almost too much for the animal-loving pegasus to accept and deal with. The idea that it had been caused, that somepony had made a world die…
That had been too much.
Angel bunny gently dabbed at Fluttershy’s cheeks with a small towel, attempting to stem the torrent of tears falling from the eyes of his charge keeper. It was a challenge he could not hope to ‘win,’ but he carried on comforting his pegasus the best he could.
The Queen of the Star Sapphires sobbed for the love of creatures unspoken of in the story and uncared for by most until at last she heard a voice from the darkness.
“Please don’t cry, my Queen,” a soft voice called out from the darkness.
Angel, surprised from the unexpected noise, jumped into the air and landed between Fluttershy’s front legs. He wiggled backwards on his rump, pushing himself tail first under the head of his keeper, his fur bristling slightly from being startled. Many creatures lived with he and Fluttershy, but her latest ‘guests’ still rubbed his nerves the wrong way and made his already sour disposition even more nasty.
Fluttershy lifter her head up and stared into the darkness, the shower of her sorrow slowing as she listened.
“Yes, please don’t.” Another small voice from the shadows.
“We do not like seeing our Queen cry. We do not like feeling her sadness. It is pain to us,” a
third and slightly deeper voice said.
“We love you, Your Majesty,” a chorus of the small voices said softly from the darkness beyond.
The Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face with a wing and looked into the darkness to those speaking to her. She saw the softly glowing blue eyes of the creatures who she had found in the Everfree Forest looking out at her from the darkness. Fluttershy could hear their quiet breathing as she rose up onto her hindquarters while wiping away more tears away from her eyes. She increased the glow of her aura, the room brightening with her violet light. There was something like a cat’s purr that rang out from the darkness.
“I’m not really a Queen or anypony special. Cadance is a real princess.” She made small circles on the floor with her ring bearing hoof.
“But you are! You are our Queen,” whispers from the shadows said in unison.
She sighed as her she regained her composure. “I don’t deserve that title.”
“You saved our lives, Light Keeper.” That sounded almost joyful.
“I love taking care of all poor creatures.” Fluttershy blushed. “It’s my special talent.”
“You are the bearer of the Violet Light,” a soft hiss came from the darkness.
“You took us in when we were outcast and homeless,” a deeper voice spoke out, its source unseen.”You took pity on us, you who had no reason to.”
“It was the least I could do for you poor creatures.”
“We are ever yours, our Queen” they chanted.
“Oh my friends, that’s not what I wanted! All I ever wanted…”
Fluttershy’s ears pricked up. She issued a quiet “shush” as she looked back at the door of the basement. The sound of hoof steps coming down the stairs caused her to be quiet. The glow from her ring aura dimmed as she whispered to the darkness “Hide! Please! I don’t want you found and I don’t want anypony hurt. Remember I love all of you and I hate when those I love fight with each other.”
There was the sound of soft scampering as the creatures in the darkness hid themselves from the approaching source of the hoof steps on the stairs. Quickly the ones the violet lantern had been speaking to concealed themselves among the things that were stored in the pegasus’ basement.
“Fluttershy?” a mare’s muffled voice called out. “Fluttershy, are you down here again?”
The hoof steps stopped, at the last step just in front of the door from the sound of it. The sudden quiet was broken by the sound of a hoof gently knocking at the door. The scurrying in the dark had ceased as the sad pegasus turned to face her visitor.
***
The Apple Family home 8:30 PM
“Y’all head up stairs, Ah’m gonna talk to Applebloom for a moment.”
“But Granny, Ah need ta…” Granny raised a hoof in command and the protests of the oddly dressed filly ceased.
“Go on, children. Applebloom will be up shortly.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle excused themselves and took their saddlebags up the stairs to Applebloom’s room. The fillies could hear Granny speaking to their friend as they ascended the stairs, the old mare’s voice fading as they went higher until only the sound of their hoof steps on the floor of the second story was left.
When they reached the closed door of their friend’s bedroom, Scootaloo opened the door by batting at the knob with her hoof. Then, as the door opened, the light from the lamps inside the room dispatched the darkness from the hallway and momentarily blinded the two fillies. Sweetie entered the room first and came to a short stop as she got a look at the inside of Applebloom’s room. Scootaloo almost crashed into Sweetie, so quickly had the unicorn stopped in front of her. The pegasus began to grumble when she caught sight of what had made Sweetie freeze.
The room was mostly bare. All of the things in Applebloom’s room had been removed from their normal storage places. The shelves were bare and the wardrobe was empty. Even framed pictures on the wall had been taken down. That was strange enough, but the sight of the bed made it all completely weird.
All of Applebloom’s possessions had been piled under, around, and on top of her bed. Toys acted like bricks of some sort of play fort, the plush animals making a wall around the mattress. Clothes hung off the bed canopy like vines in the Everfree forest draped from trees. Sweetie Belle gasped. It was not a messy pile of things -- the way the pile had been constructed, the pieces had been placed carefully, purposefully like Applebloom was using the items to build a house. What would not fit was added in the best way possible: snow shoes were sticking up behind the headboard. A large picture and photo album were on the night stand within reach of the bed occupant. Garden tools were leaning next to the bed, secured by the posts and the wall. Scootaloo saw some things she did not know Applebloom possessed -- a fancy fan from Neighpon was more like something Sweetie Belle would own.
“That’s what was wrong with the living room, Scootaloo! All of Applebloom’s stuff was missing. She took it -- all of her things -- and put it here in this…what would you call this?”
“I’d call it a hoard!” the gobsmacked pegasus said under her breath, her eyes fixed on the sight of the ‘stuff fort’ Applebloom had built around her bed. “She’s sleeping on all her stuff like a dragon does, right? That’s what dragons do.” The gleam of brass caught Scotaloo’s eye. “Sweetie…there’s stuff in there that I don’t think she owns! See that thing that looks like a clock…is…is that a gauge from a steam engine? What the hay is she even doing with that thing?”
Sweetie’s mind raced. Finding this…hoard was another discovery this evening that was unpleasant. Applebloom’s behavior at supper had heightened that there was something wrong with her. Apples as a rule all had hearty appetites, and their friend was no exception, but seeing the way she had devoured her meal with the reckless abandon of the starving, Applebloom had shocked everypony at the table, even Granny Smith. It was as if she was a ravenous wolf tearing into….
Sweetie was startled from completing that thought by an even, low voice that came from behind her:
“Don’t touch any of it.”
Applebloom had appeared as if out of nowhere, silently entering while her friends had been gawking at the renovations she had made. Her eyes were half closed and her mouth was completely flat and straight, the expression making her mood a mystery. She slowly approached her friends and gave Sweetie, then Scootaloo in turn, a hug, sighing as she approached the bed-fort.
“All of this here stuff is mah’n Scootaloo, includin’ that steam gauge.” Applebloom sat before her bed and gently reached out to the wall, holding the shiny brass instrument in her hooves. A tear came to her right eye as she held the gauge close to her chest. She then turned to her friends and showed them the item she so reverently held.
“This gauge was from the train that brought momma to Ponyville.” Applebloom cradled the dial like it was a holy artifact, gently stroking it while she talked, “The train made it in but had problems and couldn’t leave. Momma was a passenger on her way to Las Pegasus from Manehattan. She only planned to be in Ponyville for an hour, but there were problems, and they had to stay for the night. That was the night daddy an’ momma met an’ fell in love. Then, next day as they were takin’ all of momma’s stuff off the train, daddy asked the engineer what had caused the train to lay over and the engineer told him that this here gauge was the problem and was bein’ replaced. Daddy asked if he could have it and the engineer gave it to him. He told Mac and Applejack that the reason he wanted it was that it brought him the greatest piece of luck in his whole life.”
Applebloom turned and looked at her friends, her eyes wet from sorrow, “It’s the one thing of his Ah have to mahself. Applejack got daddy’s hat and Big Mac got his watch. This was left ta me, his will sayin that his two lucky charms should be together. When Ah hold it…” She choked on the last words, sniffing while she composed herself. “Ah just want what’s important ta me….close ta me.”
Sweetie Belle sniffed and wiped her own tears away. “Oh, Applebloom, that was such a beautiful story. Right, Scootaloo?”
“Yeah…beautiful.” The pegasus had looked away, hiding her face from her friends. It was all she could do to keep from crying bloody tears. Sweetie was right, it was a beautiful story. But Scootaloo was a Red Lantern, and (in her head) Red Lanterns shouldn’t cry. There was a sizzle sound as a tear landed on the floor of Applebloom’s room, burning the wood as the crimson tear tried to eat its way to the rooms beneath.
Applebloom’s tears had stopped. She started to place the gauge back into its proscribed place, her voice and posture changing again. Her shoulders drooped a bit and her eyes were half closed and slightly sad. She took a deep breath and began speaking in a soft tone as she reached out and hugged her friends with an almost deathgrip tightness, “…y’all don’t know how special ya are ta me. Few things come back ta me like y’all.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged glances, the unicorn biting her bottom lip in concern while gesturing with her eyes and head at Applebloom to Scootaloo who responded with a small nod. “Ah, Applebloom, what do you mean by that,” the diminutive red lantern asked as she withdrew from the tight embrace, breathing a bit better as she freed herself from her friend’s constricting limbs.
Applebloom stared at the floor, tears welled up and her breathing came heavier for a moment. “Everypony Ah love, everyone that is important ta me always seems to leave me. Sometimes…” her voice cracked. Applebloom threw her head back and sniffed, closing her eyes as she tried to fight back the tears and terror at the same time. “It seems when Ah care about something, life wants to take it away, and lately it seems that it wants those Ah love the most.” She sighed and looked at her friends. “What did Ah do for life ta punish me like this.”
Sweetie, who had also withdrawn from her friend’s embrace along with Scootaloo, placed a hoof on Applebloom’s shoulder and leaned in to touch her cheek. “Oh no, Applebloom, no! Please don’t think that! I know it looks bad but…”
“Isn’t it true?” the earth filly snapped. “Ma and Pa are gone, ain’t they! Ah never even knew em! Granny, Applejack, and Big Macintosh almost died that night, and both mah big brother and sister have been so caught up with this crazy business that they haven’t been around much. Granny tries ta help but she just doesn’t understand! Nopony understands!” Applebloom suddenly became quiet. She laid on the floor on her belly, her ears flat as she touched the neck ring gently with her hoof. ”Zecora would understand…but she’s gone now, too!”
“Applebloom,” Sweetie whispered as she kneeled down and put her head on her friend’s neck. Applebloom visibly shuddered. She placed her muzzle into Sweetie’s side as she continued her raving. “Ah never thought that anything in the world would make me dread Zecora again. Seeing her as one of those…zombies was bad enough, but her touch….urr!” The earth filly shivered again.
“Touch?” Scootaloo cocked her head sideways, one eye half closed in an expression of confusion. Scoots had come over now, sitting on her haunches next to her friend. “What do you mean?”
Sweetie Belle sat up to give the upset filly room to move. “Look, Applebloom, if you don’t want to talk about it…”
“No. Y’all are here with me again. Maybe you’ll understand if’n Ah tell ya. It was that night those…things attacked. Applejack came in flyin’ with that dang ring blazin’ an all, the zombies were everywhere! That was when we saw Zecora. She was…” Applebloom closed her eyes tightly for a moment and gulped. “She looked so…different. She looked almost lifeless like the rest of em even though she was movin’. Her voice was hollow with none of the warmth it she usually had. Her eyes were cold…so cold! Applejack’s fancy ring stopped working and Zecora went after her. Ah tried ta stop her, ya know? Ah just jumped out and pleaded for her ta stop. She pushed me aside trying ta get at Applejack and when she touched me with her hoof, Ah felt…sick.”
“Sick? She gave you a cold?” Sweetie started to look at Applebloom’s muzzle and ears for signs of illness.
“Nah. Not like that,” the earth filly continued, “Ah felt sick in…my heart. Yeah. It felt like mah feelin’s were bein’, Ah don’t know…pulled outta me, like a piece of knittin’ with a loose end that gets pulled and undoes the whole thin’, That was when Mac got his shiny ring somehow and saved our tails.“
She sat up, putting the end of the rope wrapped around her under her hoof and started making small circles with it on the floor. “Ah felt kinda numb after that. When Ah started ta un-numb, Ah felt really strange. Ah was hungry, really hungry. Granny and Mac thought Ah was on the mend, seein’ that. Ah tried reachin’ out to Applejack, but she was in bad shape, too. Ah feared that she might go away, lost to whatever had crushed her spirit that night. Ah was losin’ mah sister, and….”
Sweetie Belle leaned in, her ears pivoted forward as if she had not heard her friend, “And?”
“Did ya ever want somethin’ so bad ya’d do almost anything ta get it? Ah did, remember? Last time Ah felt like this Ah mixed up a potion and gave mahself Cutie Pox. Ah feel the same now…only worse.”
Applebloom stared at the bed fort then looked at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “It’s not just about mah cutie mark. It’s about everything: family, friends, stuff...” She swallowed hard, making a gulping sound. “Is it wrong ta want ta keep whatcha have left, ta want life ta stop taking from ya?”
Puzzled expressions washed over the fillies’ faces as they both searched for an answer to their friend’s question. Applebloom was acting like she had just before she used the Heart’s Desire potion. Her melancholy seemed even deeper than last time, her comments more pointed.
The earth pony filly reached out and hugged her friends tightly. “Forget it! It’s not important now. Yer here -- that’s what’s important an’ Ah ain’t never gonna let y’all go ever again.” She smiled “Ah got somethin’ back tonight.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle returned her embrace and the unicorn’s horn caught on the dilapidated bow in Applebloom’s mane. Applebloom chuckled a little as she and Sweetie untangled from each other, “Don’t worry,” Sweetie squeaked,”it’ll work out. I have faith in all of us.”
The pegasus sat back on her haunches and sighed. She caught Applebloom staring at the glowing red band for a second. The light and heat of Scootaloo’s ring flashed in that moment as she felt an almost invigorating feeling inside her. Applebloom was not mad, she was…grateful! She had despaired over loosing Scootaloo, and did not fear the ring that had become the heart keeping her body alive. The Black Lanterns had hurt Applebloom deeply in her heart, pushing her into a kind of obsession. ‘No,’ Scootaloo shook her head as she ran things through her mind ‘I’ll stand by Applebloom through thick and thin, no matter how crazy or obsessed she gets. It was the Zombie Lanterns who did this to her…’
Scootaloo felt a deep growing fire ignite in her red light-filled heart. It was pure, beautiful and justified in the eyes of the tiniest of the Red Lanterns. Her growing anger at the Black Lanterns for the pain they had brought to her friend was the best kind of anger: it was not the petty revenge of score settling, it was what all Red Lanterns sought in their rage-filled hearts: true righteous wrath! Loyalty approved.
Sweetie then yawned and stretched her neck and front legs out. “I know it’s a little early, but maybe we should turn in.”
“Yeah, frankly Ah’m beat, too,” the earth filly stretched her hind legs and unwrapped the rope wrapped around her, “Maybe Ah’ll get a good night’s sleep this time and stop havin’ nightmares.”
Applebloom climbed onto the stuff-fortified bed, pulling the covers open while Sweetie and Scoots unrolled their sleeping bags and pads. The two fillies unpacked their toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental cleaning items, then walked with their friend to the bathroom where discussion fell to the mundanity of who would go first and for a moment the friends were ‘normal’ again.
***
Fluttershy's cottage 9:30 PM
The red kettle was whistling as Cheerilee removed it from the burner, the hot water vessel floating above the prepared tea cups wrapped in the soft glow of the violet energy from her power ring. The kettle was tipped over and steaming water filled the teacups, sending up a vapor filled with the pungent smell of peppermint tea. The odor of the steeping teacups’ vapor added an enveloping and soft warmth to what could only be called a cold and hard situation.
Cheerilee sat down across from Fluttershy, clasping her teacup with her hooves. tTe blue enamel shined in the lights of the kitchen.
Fluttershy stared at the steaming red teacup that had been placed in front of her and sighed. The rising mist swirled and floated, gradually disappearing as the vapor rose and spread wide away from the cup. The steam’s action reminded her of what she had been told. She imagined the wreckage of a lost world dissipating as its remains, set in motion by an explosion, expanded into the emptiness of the void. Creatures had called that place home, trees once rose from its ground, flowers had blossomed across its meadows and animals had once called it home. The horror of it brought home to the Star Sapphire Queen a feeling of being so small, helpless and useless.
Fluttershy took the warm teacup in her hooves and breathed deeply, the hot peppermint vapor filling her nostrils with the warm odor of the tea. She then blew over the steaming liquid and took a quick sip, feeling the almost burning hot liquid run down her throat, its heat soothing the irritated passage to her stomach. Her crying had caused her to choke several times and her voice had a slight rasp to it from the stress of her weeping. Fluttershy cleared her throat as she took a second sip of the teacup and placed it back down on the table.
“So, what happened at the meeting with the Princess?”
Fluttershy stared into her teacup, her silence accenting the melancholy of her demeanor.
“Did something go wrong with the princess?”
The pegasus’s lips quivered a little.
“By the Violet Light, dear…what happened?” The school mare laid a hoof on the shoulder of her Corps Queen, ”Please tell me, what happened?”
“It’s not Princess Celestia. She was very encouraging to me, comforting. No, it was the book Applejack found in her ring…a history book of the Green Lanterns.” Fluttershy gulped softly “Twilight thought that hearing something from it would help Applejack get better and forgive herself for Zecora.”
Cheerilee raised her eyebrows. A history book? ‘That would be quite helpful to find,’ she thought. As school mare, a book of history was of particular interest to her. After all, she was still learning to be a Star Sapphire and discovering what that really meant.
“Well that sounds helpful. Was it helpful to Applejack?”
“I think so. She seemed different after hearing what the book had to say.” Fluttershy took another sip of her tea. She swallowed the warm liquid hard, her lips began quivering again as she looked at the slightly steaming cup.
“What’s wrong? What has you so upset?” The school mare put her hoof on the shoulder of her Corps Leader as she cocked her head, listening to the pegasus.
“I heard something terrible from that book of Applejack’s. I heard something so horrible I almost can’t believe it, but I’m sure it’s true. I believe it’s true.”
Cheerilee took a sip from her cup while she looked at her Queen with a half cocked eyebrow.
Fluttershy sighed. “I-I really don’t want to talk about it. Besides, our friends won’t let something so awful happen here to us, but it was just so upsetting. I just have to keep calm and help as I can.” The Queen of Star Sapphires stared into the steeping tea as if trying to find answers in the leaves like Pinkie did every so often. All Fluttershy saw was floating bits of peppermint.
Cheerilee sipped her tea. The warm liquid gently warmed her body and relieved her stress. She had been busy all day from teaching for the half day, looking in on Applebloom, helping Princess Cadance continue the expansion and transformation of Fluttershy’s cottage into the Sapphire Palace, and meeting with Rainbow Dash about Scootaloo. It had been a very productive day, and now a simple talk over tea, even if matters were serious, was welcome.
“Maybe a change of subject would be better, then,” Cheerilee opined. Several moments passed in silence.
Fluttershy took another sip from her tea, then nodded. “Yes, maybe that would be best.”
Cheerilee put down her teacup and then gestured to the back door, accenting the gesture with a nod of her head. “Why don’t I show you what Princess Cadance and I have been doing here? The princess has been very active in making improvements, and the violet crystals are quite beautiful.
“Ok,” Fluttershy replied as she put her teacup on the table. “By the way, where is Princess Cadance? She told me she wanted to talk to me after Princess Celestia had departed?”
“Oh, she said that she would be in later tonight. She told me she had some things that needed attending to and would be by later. She was very grateful to you for letting her stay here with you and for giving such leeway in building up here.” Cheerilee opened the back door of the cottage with her hoof and gestured to Fluttershy to go out the door first.
Fluttershy smiled as she passed through the door. “It’s the least I could do. She’s been so helpful to me in trying to handle all this lantern stuff, I don’t know what I would do without yours’ and my friends’ help.”
Cheerilee trotted through the door behind her Corps Leader and, standing next to the pegasus, brought up the Star Sapphire ring on her leg. A ball of violet light formed from the energy of the ring and floated above the two ponies, banishing the darkness of the night from Fluttershy’s backyard.
“Well?” the school teacher asked.
“Oh…my!”
***
The Apple Family Home, 10:45 PM
Applebloom woke, pulling and pushing her sheets this way and that, trying to get comfortable.
“Augh! Same as the other nights,” she whispered.
It was like all the other nights – Applebloom had trouble sleeping for more than a few hours. This time, fortunately, she had not had the nightmares that plagued her before. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her forelegs and yawned.
The earth filly looked at her friends sleeping on the floor before her bed. The gentle Sweetie Belle on her sleeping bag, curled around her pillow, making no sound at all. The only way Applebloom could tell she was breathing was seeing her chest rise and fall rhythmically with her breaths. Sweetie was the very picture of peaceful sleep, not stirring or thrashing at all.
Scootaloo was another story. The pegasus was more like a sleeping guard monster, her small snore and occasional gnashing of her teeth completing the image of a dozing dragon guarding something precious -- the broken growl warning not to hurt what she guarded, which seemed to be her friend in the fort bed.
Applebloom smiled as she silently climbed out of her bed. Her friends’ arrival was the medicine she needed right then. She had feared that her friends were indeed were lost to her, and now they were back, with her, and she loved them for it. Of all the things she had lost that she loved, they were the ones that had come back.
She crept quietly to the bedroom door to begin her latest nightly ritual. Though her friends eased her nightmares, she still felt compelled to go into the basement and rummage about in the old family things to see if there was something of her loved ones that would catch her eye and had been forgotten by everypony. Holding an item, like uncle Hard Cider’s police academy acceptance letter, or cousin Apple Tart’s old scarf, brought her comfort and helped her go back to sleep. She felt like when she held something of theirs they couldn’t go away -- they wouldn’t be…taken away from her.
Down the hall the filly lightly stepped, going past Granny Smith’s room, the old mare’s snores reassuring Applebloom that she was alive and not awake to see the filly’s collecting action. Granny disapproved of her latest collecting craze and had gone into her room to retrieve photo albums and knickknacks when it was clear that Applebloom was not going to stop. Granny then tried to keep the pile in Applebloom’s room to a minimum, and would confiscate anything she saw the filly taking to her room. Applebloom responded by growing her pile at night when everyone was asleep, and only taking small items that would not be readily missed, keeping her family’s worries to a low level.
Slowly, she made her way to the basement, making sure to step only on the floor boards that she knew would not creak. She passed Applejack and Macintosh’s rooms, both siblings away at their Lantern meeting. A twinge of pain shot through the filly’s heart. Her big sister had been hurt like Applebloom had in the attack that night, and, though she seemed to be better, it was plain to Applebloom something had entered Applejack’s heart. She was slightly grimmer now, more forlorn than she had been. That was not to say Applejack was mean or anything, but it was plain that her big sister was a bit less warm than she had been. She carried herself a little more like her outcast uncle, a little colder and a little more determined.
Step by careful step Applebloom descended the stairs until she arrived on the main floor. She looked about and cocked her ears, trying to discover if her brother and sister were in the house at all or not. Lack of any sound in the house save from the ticking grandfather clock showing 11 and the only lights coming from the night lights told her the coast was clear and she proceeded to the stairs leading to the basement.
The large oak door swung open, making not a sound as it pivoted on its large iron hinges. Applebloom groped in the dark for the light switch, the dim bulb coming to life when she brushed the switch while looking for it. She surveyed the basement in the low light, noting the different stacks of things stored. This time a pile of empty jam jars in a corner next to an old canning bench called and focused her attention.
Applebloom moved to look at the pile of jars more closely. She had seen the old glassware before, but it had not commanded her attention before like it did now. The haphazard pyramid of discarded containers gleamed in the low light of the overhead bulb. The jars were all capped loosely with a metal lid. The labels on the jars were all similar in size and shape, but the colors on the labels became more vivid the higher up the stack the jar was. Applebloom sat down before the collection of old glassware and picked up a loose jar from the very bottom of the pile and read the old and yellowed label:
Sweet Apple Acres’ unique Zap Apple Jam.
The large signature on at the top of the label on old jars showed they were from the time of Great Grandpa Apple. The labels had a zap apple in the center with a second set of writing that was hard to make out in the dim light of the basement. Applebloom pulled one of the old empty jam jars close to her muzzle to read the smaller writing.
Barn Yard Mercantile Company, Ponyville Station. Strike-it Rich, Proprietor.
“Diamond Tiara’s grandaddy. Granny said he started out selling our Zap Apple Jam.” Applebloom looked at the stack of old jars with their yellowed, aging labels and marveled at the antiquity of some of the jars. Granny had been jamming for a long time, and Applebloom hoped to carry on in her hoofsteps when she got older. The jars on the bottom of the pile were the oldest, with newer jars piled on top of older.
Applebloom looked at another of the old jars further up the pile. It was labeled similar to the one she had just read, but with changes.
The large writing read: ‘Barn Yard Mercantile Co. Zap Apple Jam’ and the smaller writing below the Zap Apple read: ‘canned by Sweet Apple Acres Farm. Ponyville, Equestria.’
Applebloom discarded the old glass container, letting it clink on the floor while she grabbed another jar even higher on the pile. This label was different, it was apple shaped and marked with the Barn Yard Bargain’s title like the previous one, but this time there was no mention of the Apple Farm, save in tiny print on the edge of the label.
She read the label over again, then again, and again, and again. A thought came to her when she read the writing and a heat started to wash over her muzzle as she stared at the empty jam jar. She felt incensed, angry, and insulted, and then: cheated! That feeling flooded through her mind and in her heart. That was what had been happening to her family and now to her! She had been cheated!
“The work of mah family is the reason that the Rich family has anything in this world,” she growled in the dim light of the basement. “You’d think, knowing that would have gotten me some little bit of respect from Diamond Tiara! Dang it, she’s got a fortune because of us!” Applebloom dropped the jar as she fumed over the gall of the spoiled filly bullying her and her friends, knowing full well the reason she was so well off was because of the toil of the Apples.
It didn’t matter if Diamond Tiara now felt empathy because of an indigo power ring. Power ring! That was another thing! She had all that wealth and respect and a dang ring, too! Who cared if it was to make her ‘feel compassion’ -- it was yet another thing Diamond Tiara had! Wasn’t the cutie mark by itself bad enough without all the other things?
Applebloom dug into the side of her bare flank. All of this insanity hadn’t brought out her cutie mark either. She had lost so much, including nearly losing her life and she still didn’t even have her cutie mark to show for it! She touched the neck ring and almost burst into tears. Zecora’s death and transformation into a Black Lantern was the bitterest pill of all to swallow, one loved one taken away and trying to take her beloved family away, too.
Applebloom felt like a piece of wood, tiny slivers and bits of her shaved off and cast aside, never to be part of her again, both life and death whittling at her and taking bits and pieces away, not content to kill her or end things quickly. With every piece she felt more and more lost. Had she done something to deserve all this? She just wanted what was hers. Was that so wrong? Was it wrong to want more out of life than perpetual disappointment and tragic loss of what she loved? It was like everything else in her life had been as she saw it -- denied or outright taken -- denial of respect, parents taken.
“No,” she mumbled through gritted teeth under her breath, “Ah’m done with that! Time ah start takin things in hoof mahself! Seems if Ah don’t protect what’s mine it get taken from me. And Ah’m tired of all the take, take, take from me!” She looked out the vent window up into the distant stars twinkling in the sky. She thought of her friends still sleeping in her room, and how Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had tried to take them away from her. Not giving her respect was one thing, but trying to take her friends…no, that was too far! They were HER friends!
“No more lettin’ things be taken from me. Ah’m done with that. No more loss. No more settling. No more just sittin’ by while what Ah love is taken from me…Ah want more out of life, more of everything. Ah want my own place, mah own name, mah cutie mark! Ah want respect and to keep mah family from any more pain! Nothin’ is taking anything from me anymore ever again!” The earth filly seemed to reach out over the whole of the world and grip it in her teeth and shake it hard until it gave her what she wanted. It had taken so much, now she wanted it all back.
“Ah want…what’s….MINE!”
At that very moment a light shown on Applebloom, cutting through the gloom and the dark and filling her with a longing, a hunger like a roaring fire burned within her. The soft glow of orange appeared to be shining on her from outside the basement window calling to the filly in a way she had never felt before in her life...
***
Fluttershy's Cottage 10:45 PM
Well…her Star Sapphires had certainly not been idle!
“Dear me! It looks as tall as the clock tower downtown.” Fluttershy swallowed hard as she peered at the top of the tower.
“Taller,” said the school mare. “Almost twice as tall.”
Fluttershy stared at the huge gleaming pillar of violet crystal that towered over her home. It rose into the sky like a massive branchless post oak, the facets creating highlights that outlined the crystalline building in the soft light of Cheerilee’s ring. As she took in the sight of the edifice, it struck the Star Sapphire Queen that the building resembled violet-colored ice. She turned to ask the school teacher a question when she noticed that the edge of her property was now marked with a low fence of violet crystals like the ones used to construct the tower, the dimly seen shards of violet bristling like the thorn bushes of the Everfree.
“Um…are those supposed to be a fence? I think it’s bigger than my property,” Fluttershy returned her gaze to the teacher. “How large is Princess Cadance planning to build? I think this might be a little much.”
Originally, it had been the idea of Ms. Cheerilee and Princess Cadance to expand the cottage to make it more expansive and roomy. Fluttershy had approved of the idea because she herself honestly had no idea what to do. Princess Cadance, on the other hoof, seemed to know exactly what to do. Since her induction into the Star Sapphires and the revealing of the secrets of the violet light, the Princess of Love had been truly dynamic, almost demanding to help and to take action. Being a lantern seemed to suit both of her recruits very well.
“Well, she’s planning on being able to protect many of your animals and other ponies in case something happens, but mostly she said she wants to protect the violet battery. Princess Cadance wanted the house fortified against what she calls ‘abusers of love’s light.” Cheerilee moved next to the Star Sapphire Queen and took her Fluttershy’s hoof into her own. “She is doing just what her heart tells her: she’s taking precautions to keep us safe.”
“Yes I suppose so,” the pegasus sighed.
Being Queen of the Star Sapphires was difficult for Fluttershy. Her whole life had been one of passivity, only getting involved when it was clear she had to do something. Her special talent with animals and her caring and gentle nature made her actions clear when it came to taking care of others, but she was now a 'Queen' (not by her own will) a 'leader' and being a Queen was anything but clear! She had no drive or experience to help her in the day-to-day decisions necessary to direct the Star Sapphires in what actions were to be taken. The Star Sapphire motto of ‘Follow your Heart’ was vague, and specific things needed to be done, and Fluttershy’s kind heart quailed at some of the things Twilight and Rainbow Dash had done in the name of protecting their herd and their home, and she did not feel comfortable with everything Princess Cadance was doing.
But…Cadance might be right to guard the violet battery. After all, if Queen Chrysalis did manage to get her hooves on the the lantern, there was no telling what kind of havoc she could wreak on the world. Fluttershy shivered thinking about what the Changeling queen would do with that power; and the light of pure love would be a too tempting target for her not to try something to get it.
But Changelings were not all like Chrysalis and her hive. Surely Princess Cadance could see that, couldn’t she? It wasn’t wrong to try and treat them well was it?
“Is there a problem, Fluttershy? You seem a little upset about what has been built,” the school teacher inquired, her ring glowing dimmer, the surrounding darkness slowly reabsorbing the violet crystal work.
“No…it’s just so…big so…much, like that book of Applejack’s. It can’t be helped, I guess. I’m just glad I have my friends, you and Cadance to help me.” Fluttershy looked up at the top of the crystal tower again. To her, the crystal construct was like her new status: baffling, gaudy, and uncomfortable. Her friends’ advice and support were appreciated, but that did not make it easy.
The Star Sapphire Queen sighed and turned back, making her way to the back door. “Is there anything else Princess Cadance or you would like to talk to me about before I turn in? It’s been a big day and I’d like to get some sleep.”
Cheerilee briefly floated over the ground and landed behind Fluttershy to follow her back into the house. “Yes. Cadance wanted to talk to you about new candidates for our corps. One in particular is a stallion who is suffering heart ache, yet stands by his love, though he cannot even touch her any more, lest he be burned.”
“Burned?”
“Yes. Red Lantern Wildfire is pure red energy now, and though she has resigned herself to her fate and told her coltfriend to move on, he loves her so much he refuses to give up on her,” Cheerilee looked up and right, a wistful expression crossing her face. “Quite sad and sweet isn’t it”
Fluttershy smiled, “Yes. Maybe we can help with that.”