//------------------------------// // Bruised Apple // Story: Fly Away // by pinkiethepie //------------------------------// Twilight slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times. The bright blue element of laughter let out a soft sparkle on Pinkie's grave. It was completely fixed, devoid of any cracks. She let out a soft laugh as she imagined the pink coated mare hopping about in joy. The feeling subsided and dropped as Twilight remembered the shock of finding Pinkie there, devoid of life, and she covered her wet face with her hooves. The gray clouds began to thin, very slightly. The pegasi must've thought that was enough gloominess for one day. Rain still came in a faint drizzle, but no so hard as before. No pony wanted to be outside in the current weather, or near the cemetery for that matter. A small sigh escaped Twilight's lips. "Only Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy left. Then it's the last I'll ever see of any of them." she whispered to herself, fighting of a choking sensation rising in her throat. She glanced towards Applejack's grave and placed a hoof on the gray rough stone. A flash of white enveloped her, then it was raining again, but harder. Blinking slowly and looking up, she saw that there were apple trees galore and quite a few looked to already be bucked, with lighter colored bark at the bases. The one closest to Twilight had the letter AB engraved into the side, Applebloom's first bucked tree. Night had fallen on Ponyville a few hours ago, judging by the position of the moon. The barn of Sweet Apple loomed over the hillside, the Apple's home seemed tiny by comparison. In the windows, only one light was on, the window that was Applejack's room. Twilight saw the silhouette of a pony bustling about, before it fell dark. Taking a few tentative steps forward, her hooves squelched in the mud, causing her to cringe. When she finally reached the wooden door, she reached out a hoof to knock. Before she could however, a dark outline of a pony caught her eye from the orchard. Twilight ran and hid behind a bush and watched as the intruder pulled out a lock pick of some sort and inserted the tip into the lock. She wanted to call out and stop the mysterious pony, but she felt as if her legs were rooted to the stop, unable to move. Upon looking down, Twilight saw that nearly half of her legs were being sucked into the mud. There was a soft click and the pony tiphooved inside. When she finally managed to pry her legs from the hungry slop, Twilight heard steady hoofbeats on the steps leading to everyone's bedrooms. Memories came flooding back, all at once. She had to get up there! Shaking off the remaining goo, Twilight burst through the doorway. The intruder hastily flipped its head towards the princess, then galloped up the stairs, pounding down on the thick wooden steps. She caught sight of a red tail as it disappeared up the stairwell. "Get back here!" Twilight shrieked, in hopes of waking the Apples. She trotted up the stairs, following the muddy hoofprints left by the shadowy pony. The hallway was a mess, pictures in frames were on the floor, cracked and the pictures inside faded. one of them was all six of them at the gala, sporting big grins and Pinkie frozen in a jumping stance, unable to stand still for even a photo shoot. Rainbow was levitating above them all, head cocked to one side in her signature, "cool stance." Twilight paused for a moment, remembering the gala, and the ticket disaster. She would give anything to go back and change it all, so that the argument had never started. Her trip down memory lane was interrupted by a hoarse yell coming from a little ways down the hall. "Applejack!" Twilight shouted and set off in s swift run to her door,. She kicked it open and gasped in shock and horror. Standing above a bleeding Applejack, was a wide eyed Flim. His ear twitched and large dark bags under his eyes gave him the look of insanity. He pushed past Twilight and she heard the door slam, shaking the few photos left on the walls. Applejack was clutching at her throat, attempting to say something. Blood leaked in a slow drip from a thin incision in her neck. "T...Twi..." Applejack choked out. Twilight began to frantically press sheets or any kind of fabric to the wound. The orange pony gave a large shudder, and her head flopped to one side. Twilight cried out and nearly dropped her. "No! Applejack come on! Please!" she shook the pony, watching her glassy eyes roll about. Then a large chunk of the house fell away, not making a sound, then the rest began to peel away, revealing an endless blank landscape. Twilight heaved a sigh of relief . She hadn't failed. Applejack let out a small cough and lifted up her head to look at Twilight. "What's going on sugarcube? Why are you holding my neck like that?" Applejack look curiously at Twi, but the answered dawned on her immediately. "You came to save me didn't yall?" she cooed, tapping Twilight's shaking head. Twilight took a step back and nodded. "I need to tell you something." she muttered. Twilight stared the farm pony in the eyes, determined not to break down this time. Applejack looked expectantly at Twilight, in that way that only she could. "I truly never got to thank you." Twilight said, keeping her head held high. "You've done so much, for everyone, for me! Even we you didn't even know ho I was you opened up your heart and let me in." At this point, it was all becoming too much. Her breath cam in short gasps and the tears she was holding back poured forth. Applejack placed a caring hoof around the princess's shoulder. "Now sugarcube, you've said thank you in more ways than any pony could've imagined. I have two things to say to you: Buck up, and all I want, is for you to bring that coward to justice, ya' hear me? Or I'll come back and haunt yoooouuu!" she waved her hooves about and imitated a ghostly wail. Twilight turned to Applejack and nodded firmly. She stepped away and let out a wave, making Twilight wave back, and Applejack's figure wavered and disappeared with a faint, YEEE HAW The princess of friendship held her head high, tears streaking down her cheeks, giving away her inner emotions as the world began to spin and fade. "Buck 'em up" she whispered, a final tribute to the late farm pony.