While Applejack and the fillies followed the trail searching for the final door that holds the final filly, Scootaloo told the two ponies about her dream with her idol. Even though it sounded like a dream an average fan would want with their idols, it sounded very likely and possible. It sadden her to think that Rainbowdash was a little bit egocentric, and she would like to see the cobalt speed demon spend more quality time with her number one fan.
As the clock kept on ticking closer to the dawn hour, Applejack began to shake, her hooves began to sweat, and the two CMC members on her back started feeling sick after bobbing up and down for so long. “How much further?” asked Scootaloo trying not to hurl.
“Just a little bit further. I know we can reach it.” Applejack responded.
“I hope it’s soon.” Sweetiebelle complained,” Who knows how long it’ll take to get out of here.”
Applejack kept pushing through all the stress and fear. She could sense the door right under her muzzle, she couldn’t quit now. She made it this far, she still had a slim chance of surviving. She wasn’t going to let all that she had been through in the past 5 hours go to waste. Her family was counting on her from her world, Twilight Sparkle counted on her, and even the fillies on her back counted on her.
With all this support on her hoofs, the only thing Applejack had to do was stay strong and hope for best. Even if she did fail, Applejack would welcome the worst case scenario gratefully. The best that she could do, was do her best.
Keeping their chins up, the group eventually did find the door, and a good thing too. Time was running short, they only had 15 minutes before the door would close. She haulted her sprint when she approached the final gateway, the fillies were relieved that they could get off the mare for a breather. Applejack let down the fillies and proceeded to the door with full bravery on her face. Before she reached the door, Sweetiebelle said,” So whats the plan?”
Applejack turned around,” I’m gonna need you two to sit this one out for me.”
“Wait, didn’t you agree that we could come with you?” Scootaloo added.
Applejack sighed,” yes I did, but Celestia knows what could happen in there.” She took off the watch and gave it to sweetiebelle,”here, If I’m not back in ten minutes, leave without me.”
“Are you sure you don’t need us Applejack?” Sweetiebelle softly asked,” we just want Applebloom to come back safe.”
Applejack smiled a little bit,” but you are sugar cube, your right behind me, and you believe in me. Besides, we’ve taken a lot of chances as it already is.”
“Yeah, but-“
“I would never had made it out of that dungeon without your reassurance Sweetiebelle. You believed in me. And as long as I’m still brave and confident, I’ll pull through whatever the hay this nightmare throws at me. Ya get it?”
Sweetiebelle thought about it a different way,” Yeah?” she looked up at Applejack,” yeah, I think I do.”
“Alright then.” Applejack approached the door,”wish me luck.” She opened the door, and entered the dark room closing the door. Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle walked up to the door and sat down. They wanted to go in there and pull off this daring rescue with Applejack, but it probably would put pressure on the cowpony. This was her mission, and it was for the best. The two Calmly awaited Applejack to prevail for them. Having faith in Applejack, was the most they could do at this dire moment.
The room was pitch black when Applejack closed the door. There was nothing all around her, and there wasn’t a single sound made (besides the sounds of hooves made by Applejack). She kept looking all around her surroundings, but still nothing. It was a black room, yet she could she herself in bright colors. Hopefully she wouldn’t run into anything dangerous, but that was the least of her troubles.
The orange mare then felt a glow beaming against her backside, as if something had appeared. She quickly turned around to see the strangest thing that she had seen in this dimension yet. It was a large spherical object, closely resembling a crystal ball but with red glass that gave off a glow. In its center was hollow, but in the very core of the ball was Applebloom, suspended in the air and fast asleep. Or atleast Applejack did, she didn’t know what her sister was dreaming at this time.
Applejack then noticed two other objects that were rubbing the red crystal. They resembled a pair of giant dragon claws, each one being a slightly lighter red then glass ball. Looking at them a little more closely; the claws appeared to be a little more fleshy then a dragon’s, and they didn’t have sharp points on their fingers either.
This reminded Applejack of an animal that Twilight attempted to describe one time. She described them as bipedal creatures, with strange fleshy tentacle like things just like the ones she was right now looking at. Applejack then remembered the name; Twilight dubbed these things hands, and that’s what Applejack was going to refer them as.
The way that these “Hands” stroked the crystal ball, reminded Applejack of times when Pinkie Pie was a fortune teller, but they didn’t look like they were seeing any future. They rubbed the crystal ball as if it was some sort of treasure. They didn’t appear to be causing any threat to her, but since they looked like they were protecting it, they could possibly pose as a threat to her. But the way that the hands moved felt very uncomfortable to Applejack, as if the hands are attracted to her sister.
Applejack began to feel a little nervous on the inside, but she started to move towards the ball, trying to retain her focus. She approached the ball with caution, and stoped when she was a foot away from the glass surface. She looked up at her sister, still floating in the air with her arms spread out. “Applebloom,” she called out,” Applebloom!” no answer.
She went up to the glass and tapped on the glass with a hoof. “Applebloom!” she shouted.
------
As Applebloom began to lose consciousness, she was awaken by the tapping of a glass window. Her first reaction, was an annoying animal that was tapping on the glass. She turned to the window behind the sofa she was on, seeing that it wasn’t some pesky animal, but it was Applejack. She rubbed her sleepy eyes,” Applejack,” she said in a sleepy voice looking up at the adults with her,” your home! And look who’s hear.”
Mr. and Mrs. Apple turned to the glass,” Well I’ll be.” Mr. Apple said. “Applejack, could have chosen a better way to present yourself.” He chuckled.
“My Celestia you havn’t changed one inch, how ya doin?” Ms. Apple added.
“It’s them Applejack it’s really them.” Applebloom said.
----
Applejack was confused at what she was saying to her. “Them?” she thought to herself.”What do ya mean them, who are you lookin’ at.”
“Don’t ya remember Applejack, It’s ma and pa. They’re right here with me, alive and well.
Applejack took a step back. She knew that this was that nightmares doing. The dream was made to keep her happy, and gave her what she had always wanted. Applejack then said,” Applebloom, ma and pa are dead. They fell into the gorge when you were a baby!”
“They survived Applejack, they were saved by a hiker, and they suffered heavy amnesia.”
Applejack didn’t want to say this, but she had to do something to get her sister’s wits back in line,“They’re dead Applebloom, and they’re still dead to this day! Now wake up. Please!” She pleaded.
-
Applebloom looked at her sister in disgust, she didn’t believe her. Applebloom didn’t know what was going on with her sister, but she took it as rudeness and began to feel anger. They were right there, flesh, pelt, and bones but they were still just an illusion of the dream. “No. there right here sis!” she defended.
A hand came off of the crystal ball, and lowered itself to Applejacks level. She turned to see the claw, palm down, swat her away like a ball of crumpled paper with scribbles of lead. Applejack flew across, landing on her back and sliding across the floor. The claw then returned to the crystal ball, and resumed its stroking.
Applejack got up, feeling the pain in her back and quickly ran up to the glass. She had to keep trying, there’s got to be something that could wake her, “Applebloom, listen to me!” she yelled,” Your dreaming, this is all just a dream Applebloom!”
-
“Now Applejack,” said Mr. Apple.” Why don’t you come inside and we can talk this over. I don’t know where you’ve been, but I think you should sit down and take a breather.”
“Yeah,” chuckled the wife,” I think you’ve worked a little too hard.”
“Why are you yelling at us through a window, just come inside sis.” Applebloom said,” what else would it take to get you to believe us.”
“I can’t come in Applebloom.”
“Why?”
“I’m separated by the glass!”
Applebloom raised an eyebrow,” Why not just use the door?”
“I can’t-“
Applebloom was starting to become agitated.” Then just go away, go off and work somewhere else. I want to spend time with my parents. At least Granny Smith and Big Macintosh would understand!”
Applejack wanted to yell at all the things wrong with that statement, but it was no use. No matter how hard she could try, she could not get her sister to believe her. The world of the dream can feel so real. Even if the most crazy of events happened, it was still hard to believe that it was dream. That’s the very nature of dreams. And laws of nature, can be ridiculously unfair at times, but Applejack didn’t quit.
-
Applebloom then yelled,” Go away! I don’t need you to enjoy my parents!” Applejack stepped back a few feet when she felt a slight quake in the ground. A shock wave emitted off, pushing Applejack back.The next thing she knew, the hands that rubbed the crystal sphere became very hostile. They came off of the orb and began to attack Applejack. The mare stood her ground to the hands threat. One of the hands came crashing down onto Applejack, but she was quick enough to dodge it. She had to get the glass again.
The one hand may have missed her, but the other then threw a punch at her. Applejack dodged to the left. Applejack retreated to gain distance from the red hands that guarded the filly. The mare had to come up with something to get her to wake up. She quickly thought of anything she hadn’t tried yet, as fast as she could before the hands came in for another attack. Dreams may be real, but they always held some sort of a flaw.
Applejack then charged to glass sphere, but the hands were one step ahead of her as they hovered above Applejack’s body. They came together to form one giant shaking fist with combined brute force, and came crashing down at a fast speed. Applejack only had a split second to react, but she was barley to slide under them. The fist crashed with a loud thud, just barely catching the tip of Applejack's tail under it’s massive weight. The ground shook from the impact, bouncing Applejack a little.
After sliding a little bit farther, she got back up on her hooves without haste. She ran up to glass surface placing her hoofs on it,” Applebloom. Maybe ma and pa are there, but they aint ma and pa!” No response came from the filly. Applebloom was now ignoring her, and then she said” I don’t care Applejack. They are our parents, they love us, and they care for us. That’s all I need to know about them, to believe that they are my parents!” Her boomed with that statement, fling her sister away.
Before she could get up and try again, one of the hands took her by surprise and caught her in its massive grip. Her head managed to stick right out of it, she was unable to move anything below her neck with the hand limiting the movement. She could not get out of it. The grip was not loosening itself anytime soon. The hand began to squeeze Applejack within it’s red fingers. She could feel her head inflating, she could feel the intensity of the tightness, and felt like gasping for air.
This may be the end for the orange cowpony. She kept on thinking and thinking during this moment, she thought,”Come on Applejack, think. There’s gotta be somethin’ that can crack my sister. I don’t know how this world made my parents so real to her, but its not she knows everything about them.” Her eyes widened at the thought
Applejack then remembered something about her parents that may be able to save herself, and Applebloom. As much as she didn’t want to say this and destroy her sister’s dream, she did it for their own good. In her final moments, Applejack yelled out with a red face,” If you think…” she struggled to speak,” You know everything about ma and pa. Then what are their names?”
---
Applebloom rolled her eyes, as if it was an easy answer,” That’s easy, their names are-“ she paused,” their names are-,” she didn’t give an answer.” I don’t need to know their names, I don’t even know. That ain’t gonna-”
“Why don’t… you ask them… then.” She yelled losing conscious.
Applebloom was never told the real names of her parents in her life. Since she thought they were right there with her, it was a good time for her to ask them,”Ma, Pa,” she started,”What are ya real names?”
The Apples smiled down at her,” You’ve never heard our names before?”
“No.”
“I’m mom, and he’s dad. Aren’t we dear?” said Ms. Apple.
“Yeah, no denying it.” Said Mr. Apple.
Applebloom was confused. Those were their real names? They couldn’t be.” But don’t ya have names that you were born with?”
“Names we were born with?” asked the stallion.
“I don’t think we were given names honey.” Ms.Apple said looking at her husband.
“But you must.” Applebloom pleaded,” You are my parents aren’t ya?”
“Then I guess if we both don’t know our names… I guess we aren’t the true parents of this little filly right here?” Applebloom felt her heart sink at those words.
Mr. and Ms. Apple smiled down at her, Applebloom suddenly became a little bit frightened. But then as if out of the blue, the two started to turn grey in the face. “Pa?” asked Applebloom. She looked up at her mom and noticed that she was turning grey too.” Ma?” The discoloring continued until their bodies were all grey, but it didn’t stop there. Confusion began to mix into Appleblooms state of mind.
The patches of growing grey began to multiply, and appeared everywhere in the living room. At first they were small, but they all started to grow faster. The lamp, the pictures, the wall that hung them, and all of the furniture. Applebloom became nervous at these strange events. Soon, everything in the world became grey, and froze in time as well. Applebloom was still in her red and yellow colors, looking around frantically.
Applebloom looked at her dad she wanted to ask him, but then she saw a crack in his face glow with a faint white light. The crack started to grow more across his body, branching out and reaching other parts of his body. But after that, the cracking continued on the couch. Applebloom was really beginning to freak out. She felt like she was realizing that it was a mere dream, causing the world’s destruction to come faster. The cracking grew more and more, and started to crack at different parts of the living room. As they grew more, and gained speed, the world started to shake violently.
Applebloom wanted to close her eyes in fear as bits and pieces of shattered dream began to crumble. She no longer thought of her parents that she spent time with as real, and she regained more of her senses. Light began to shine through the pieces, and more light came in as more fell. Applebloom was then consumed by the blinding light, causing her to finally wake up.
On the outside, Applejack was feeling the last of the light leaving her eyes, when she felt the grip of the hand that was crushing her start to losen, and it was a good thing too. She saw through the glass that Applebloom was beginning to stir. Her words must have finally gotten to her, and she was starting to wake up. The hands eventually lost their hold on Applejack, and dropped her her on the ground. Landing on her stomach with a thud, Applejack watched Applebloom twist and turn in the air.
“Come on Applebloom, come on.” Applejack chanted.
The giant glass orb began to shake left and right, as if the magic that held it up was now giving in. The more the filly in the center squirmed around, the more unbalanced the ball shook. Applejck ran away, knowing that the glass ball was about to fall to the ground as soon as she woke up.
Applebloom opened her eyes, wide and awake, emitting a flash of light. The extreme brightness died out quickly, followed by the shattering of the dropped orb, flying pieces of glass all over the room. Applejack had her back turned when the flash occurred, and saw the room turn from black to white in a split second. When she heard the glass shatter, she covered hooves overhead and ducked.
All the shattered glass fell to the floor, with a few pieces landing on Applejack of course but no major cuts of any kind at all. She slowly got back on her hooves and turned to where the orb once was. It was now just broken glass in the center of the room, with Applebloom lying on the spot of black flooring where none of the glass landed. Applejack ran towards her sister, being cautious about where she was stepping hooves.
Applebloom’s eyes were shut, but she appeared to be breathing like normal. Applejack then picked up her sister, hoping that she would open her eyelids for her,” Applebloom.” She said, watching her wake up in her hooves. When the eyes of her sister became wide open, Applejack began to smile with joy that she was alive and well. She tightly hugged her, and Applebloom became more awake with the squeeze.
“Your OK!” Applejack cheered.”Your OK.”
Applebloom was still trying to process the situation,” Applejack? What have I been doin’ all this time?”
Applejack felt like crying a little, ”It’s nothin’ sis. You’ve just been dreamin’, that’s all.”
“I wish you could’ve seen them Applejack, they were right there.”
Applejack took her sister off her shoulder,” I know Applebloom, and ya probably have a thousand questions to ask me, but we need to get out of here.”
Applebloom didn’t bother asking why, but judging from her sisters voice, it was indeed urgent. Applebloom tried to lift herself and try to walk, but she felt like her legs were weak. She fell back down on her flank, but she tried again and she again fell back down. Applejack saw that she was having trouble walking again, so she picked her up by her back. “I got ya,” she said, ”let’s go home.” She hurried herself to the black door at the end of the room. She hoped that there was still time to escape before the gate closes.
She opened the door to the starry world of light paths, seeing that Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo were still in same spot awaiting Applejack with Applebloom. They were relieved that Applejack was safe, but were very happy that she got their friend back. They walked up to her,” Applebloom! You’re ok.” Said Sweetiebelle.
“Sweetiebelle, Scootaloo.” Applebloom said, “guess you guys followed me in through that wall.”
“Yeah, but luckily Applejack came to save us,” Sweetiebelle smiled at Applejack.
“We thought that we were gonna have to really leave you two. Not that we would leave another crusader behind.” Applebloom smiled as she enjoyed her friends company after all the terrors that she was experiencing. She too noticed that everypony was greyed out, and thought that the paths of light looked very heavenly to her. It made things less stressful for her, and she wanted to ask questions when they were back at home.
Applejack picked up the watch, the time was just now turning to 5:57 A.M. They only had three minutes left before the gate would close, but the problem was finding a door that she had no clue what it looked like. She was so urgent to find the CMC, that she didn’t think about looking at what exit was. Applejack was able to take in the scenery of the realm, but forgot about the exit.
“Ah Shoot,” said Applejack,” I don’t know where the exit is. We better get going.” Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo lead off, with Applejack following behind with her sister in her mouth. The orange mare then noticed that something was different about the sceanery, there were no stars anywhere to be seen. They were still there when she came out of the doors that the first two fillies were in, where did they go now? This change gave Applejack suspicion.
They kept on running the path, going through the many twists and turns that it offered. Applejack still couldn’t believe that she forgot to check what the exit looked like. The only thing she could think that the portal would look like, was an opening.
She began to look high and low, around the mesh of light paths for anything. She didn’t find any doors anywhere, not even the doors that lead to the other world. She kept looking harder, until she noticed that there was a strand of path that lead to nowhere. Was this the way out?
It may as well be. After all, the portal that she came through was invisible to the naked eye. Until it was revealed that it was a doorway by the chalk drawing. Perhaps the same went for the gate on the inside. “Come on, this way!” Applejack ordered. The fillies followed her. Thinking that Applejack knew what she was doing.
“You found the way out?” asked Scootaloo.
“Ah think so, but I’m willin to do anything with the little time we have left.”
They continued running until they found a stretch of path without any branching paths. But something did not feel right to Applejack, it felt a little bit… too easy. It felt like there was something that she was forgetting about. There was something that the dwellers from earlier said, that she had neglected to think about it when she continued on. Thinking about it a step further, the eerie voice that flowed through the ears of the ponies didn’t sound through the realm this time.
Then, as if out of nowhere, there came a sudden boom of thunder in the air that shook the gang where they stood. Clouds began to form, creating a thunderstorm with lightning shooting through. The surprise caused Applebloom fell out of her sisters mouth when it went off. The group all looked at the clouds as they began to spread through out the sky.
“What was that?” Sweetiebelle asked with fear.
“YEEEEEEAAAAAARRRRRRG!!!!!!” it was that voice again, booming through the realm and turning the path of light to a dark red. Red dots started to appear in the black canvas of nothing, popping in at random and filling it almost entirely with specs. Some of the stars were blotted out by the incoming storm however. Applejack looked around the room, with a strong feeling that they were being watched by something.
The specs then began to rotate in unison, gaining speed the more it spun around. It came to the point where the dots made a red tornado, creating a draft that the ponies could feel. With that and the clouds above and below, a strong wind storm was the result. “Come on,” said Applejack,”We’re almost there!” they continued to trudge carefully on the path. Applejack still had the bad feeling, and sensed that the something was close, uncomfortably close.
As if their troubles couldn’t get any worse, It appeared, It finally began to reveal itself. Coming out of thin air, was a giant red skull taking on an agonizing face with red fangs coming out of it’s side. The four turned around to great this unholy beast. It was the creature that made those dreams, it was thr creator of the realm. It was… the crimson nightmare.
So this is what the dwellers called their god. This is the one who caused all of this trouble to them. Those ruthless creatures were at the very least insane to call this thing their god. Applejack thought that it was all made up, and didn’t expect the sound and the skull had a connection to each other. Nor did she expect a god of world to look this menacing.
The group turned around at the terrible monstrosity. The fillies were petrified at the very sight, and Applejack was astonished by the creatures own existence. The skull looked at them with it’s eyeless eye holes, and let out a terrifying screech that was cold to hear. It looked like it was live and ready to hunt. It breathed very deeply in sync with the howling winds.
Applejack turned away,” Run, RUN!!” she yelled. The CMC looked ahead and scurried off to the exit. Applejack ran behind to back them up, just as the skull began to float towards them. The ponies kept on running, no matter how intense the sight was.
With the spinning backround, red path, flashing red strobe light that constantly flashed, the howling of the wind, the red skull, and all the red red red things that you could imagine. Their hearts began to race harder and harder the longer it went on, the entire peaceful starry realm that they ran through, had become a nightmare just like the one that was chasing them. It would be a blessing that this would all be over soon. That is, if they could make it out first.
The skull kept on following behind, getting closer and closer. Applejack could feel the thing on top of them. They were so close to the door, but at this rate, they would be caught by it before they could get near the door. The group was now becoming weaker, and began to slow down. Now it was next to impossible to even get to the gate without getting caught.
Applejack had high hopes for these children’s safety. All of her efforts were about to waste away. There wasn’t anything she could do about it. She wanted to get these fillies home, she wanted these children to see another light of day. She suddenly came up with the only solution, but it wasn’t a pleasant one at all. In order to make sure that the CMC live, Applejack needed to sacrifice herself. She was no longer afraid of facing death, and making sure that she did what her best, as the best for her friends would be satisfactory to her enough.
She stopped herself, sliding a little on the path and letting the fillies go on without her. The CMC kept on running onwards, but Applebloom was the one to notice that she stopped. She too stopped and looked at her with a frightened expression, and then Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle stopped to look behind.
“Applejack, come on!” Applebloom yelled.”What are ya waitin’ for?”
Applejack turned to her sister,” Go! I’ll hold this thing off! Get out while you still can!”
“What are you doing!?” yelled Sweetiebelle.
Applejack then yelled,” Don’t worry about me. Get out of here!”
“Not without you!” Scootaloo started.
“Now!” Applejack screamed.
Applebloom then looked into the eyes of the floating skull and back to Applejack’s serious face. She was then picked up by her friends, who were just following orders by an adult pony like they should. Applebloom was then carried off, heading straight for the invisible doorway. The filly tried to get free from her friends, but they were held bent on fulfilling Applejack’s final request. She started to tear up as she got farther and farther away from her sister and the red skull.
Applejack watched them run a good distance, and then turned to the skull, seeing that it had just stopped right in front of her. The skull let out another loud roar that almost blew off her hat. She held onto it tight, feeling that she made a bad choice, but knew that there was no turning back now. The brave mare went face to face, looking at it dead in the eyes. It was the face that said, she wasn’t afraid of the beast.
The mare then yelled,” do you know who I am!?” The skull looked at her as she made her speech.” My name is Applejack, I’m the voice of ponyvile and I’m the one to uphold that. I’m the one who overcame all of what you threw at me. Yer fear’s might’ve been strong. But my own bravery grew stronger. I vowed to get these little ones out of this place, I ain’t gonna let you harm these fillies any more, and I’m willing to sacrifice myself for their safety!” The skull roared a mighty roar.”I’m not afraid, come and get me ya ugly varmit!”
And it did. The skull became furious at her,”You cost me my treasure!” it howled. It then began to charge after on full pursuit . Applejack then began to run away, she knew it would be pointless in doing so, but she felt she would be able to live a little longer if she did. She was unaware that the skull was even more faster than before, with it’s anger induced rage. When the mare turned her head to see the skull however, the skull came in with its mouth ready to bite. The jaw closed biting off her lower half, and Applejack fell to the ground feeling a strong pain in her body. She couldn’t turn herself to see the damage, but she could feel half her body missing, but she didn’t feel anything coming out.
Knowing that she was now doomed, she looked forward to see how far the fillys were. She could see off in the distance that the CMC were very far away, and had a good confidence that they could make it out. She watched them until they eventually disappeared. Applejack, though feeling intense pain, smiled knowing that they have escaped this world, and were out of harm’s way. She wished she could say the same for the peril that she threw herself in, but she was long aware of the consequences.
The tusked skull hovered near Applejack, approaching its fallen prey. Applejack lifted herself up on the two hooves that she still had intact, and looked up with a weary frown. She now began to regret making this decision definitely, but there was no other way to save herself and the fillies at the same time. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth to the pain,”do you’re worst.” She murmured as if she was excepting her own death. The events she was about to experience were far worse than she actually expected.
The skull opened its jaw with red chompers ready for another bite. With a charge onto the mare, it swooped Applejack inside of its own mouth, but it wasn’t for eating her. Immediately, Applejack was bombarded by many horrible red flashes. Applejack shielded her eyes with her lids, but it was no use. The many series of terrible thoughts managed to go through her head. She was feeling even more tear jerking pain then ever before.
For an instant, she saw a picture of a funeral with familiar faces surrounding the coffin, it was her friends and family that were mourning for her death. Then it changed to a field of dead appletrees. Could this be Sweet Apple Acres when she was dead? Applejack began to feel more pain surging through. She felt like screaming her lungs out, but she managed to grip the pain as it came through.
Then it changed to another terrible slide, then another, then another, then another. The pictures came in at high speed, yet they gave off the same effect as if she was crying at it for 10 minutes. They were all futures that were forseen if Applejack was gone, but they were futures that were unlikely. The pictures kept coming, Applejack kept spinning around in the red vortex of winds, and the pain of fear kept piling up. Applejack tried her hardest to disbelief it, but it only worked for so long.
When she had finaly had enough torture. The pictures became little memories that were being recalled. The first one showed Sweetiebelle in a spider web being devoured by said spider. Then came the one of Scootaloo turning golden brown in the oven. And finally, there came the memory of Applebloom in the crystal ball, fading away and becoming lost in the darkness. But she had to fight it, she knew that the three fillies were safe, and these flash backs were nothing but mere lies. It wasn’t the visions she saw that made her want to cry, but the pain that they all gave off.
After that session of torment, Applejack felt herself slam onto the ground hard. She wanted to cry after seeing those things, but she barely held the flood of tears in. She realized that they were grim alternatives if she failed, but they felt to real to her. At this point, she wanted herself put out of her own misery.
Applejack wanted all of this to end. Dead or alive, she wanted this all to stop. She felt herself being picked up by her legs, and was lifted up like a ragdoll by its arms. She couldn’t think of anything else that this beast could do to her. Applejack was still attempting to cry now, but she had suffered so much in such short time, that she had no energy left to even cry for her life to end.
Way below her, a pool of swirling red began to spiral into the red skull that tortured her so much. She knew that this was the absolute end for her, just seeing the sign of her own demise was enough to bring her a tear. But it wasn’t a tear of painful crying, it was a tear of relief. She had wished for this mission to end so badly, but she wan’t this to end as much as the next pony in ponyvile. If this was indeed fate, then It was finally time for her to depart.
Applejack simply closed her eyes, feeling that single tear ascend down her face as she felt her self being dropped into the beasts mouth. In this absolute final moment of hers, she began to recall all of her memories at once. She remembered all that she had done for the loved ones she cared so much about. She could see all the smiling faces of her friends, and could even feel the warmth of her family from just remembering. This all made her death more peacefull as she began to smile.
But that wasn’t what made her feel peace. Just by seeing all of the ponies in ponyvile, they reminded her of all of her efforts, and all of her contributions made her hometown thrive. And that was all that mattered to the apple horse; she did the best she could do for the better of ponyvile, and that is just what her friends and family wanted. Nothing more or less of her. She then considered this mission a success; and she considered it her final honor, as well as her finest.
The mare smiled in acceptance and wanted to greet her afterlife with the expression that she now wore. She fell closer and closer into the jaws of the demon, feeling that her life was fading more and more until she passed the teeth. Applejack would now forever fall into the endless black abyse. Silence would forever fall, when the red tusked skull closed it’s jaws with a thunderous BANG!