The fire burned brightly in the dark room. The Beldam's hands stitched the new doll carefully. A tune hummed from her throat with each verse tuning with the needle and thread. A simple little project to pass the time. Stitch by stitch, thread by thread, in with the needle and out with the needle. The Beldam gazed at her new little creation. Its button eyes stared up at her.
"Poor little doll. So weak and fragile." She cooed to the doll, the perfect replica of the purple dragon, her latest "son", a disobedient "son" to be precise. She really should have put more care when she programmed him. Really she put too much into the whole friendship aspect. In a way he was a fulfilling his design, but now he had deviated from what she had planned.
This wouldn't do, but she had made precautions for his disloyalty. Even if she didn't know it, Apple Bloom was helping with said punishment.
"If only you had remained obedient." Sighed the Beldam.
Casually, she tossed the doll into the fire. A crackle of embers engulfed the doll, its black eyes staring up the whole while.
XXX
"Am Ah goin to fast for ya Spike?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly.
The Other Spike wheezed out a breath before he responded. If he could even respond that is, he was in terrible shape since they left the rodeo. Apple Bloom wanted to look away but could not find the strength nor the pull to do so. The Other Spike had lost a great number of his scales. So much that his entire lower body looked like a withered pink mess. The only scales that remained were his head and left arm. He had tried to walk only to collapse onto his feet or if they could even be called feet any longer. So Apple Bloom had taken it upon herself to carry the dragon. It was no real trouble at all strangely. She was still a young filly, so she wouldn't be able to carry anyone at this point, or rather shouldn't. However, the Other Spike was so light. That alone worried her.
They had visited two wonders, so that left one more. Going on from her last visits to this world, she knew of one place she had yet to visit. The filly stopped as she saw the stadium looming in front of her. The last ghost eye lay inside. Once she got it then she would be out of this place with her family in tow.
Just as she was about to embark forward, a wheeze upon her back made her come to a decision. "Spike you wait out here okay?"
The Other Spike opened his mouth to protest but found himself shushed. "Look, y'all aint in no condition to walk." Said Apple Bloom.
The filly gently deposited the dragon upon the grass making sure he was comfortable. Again, Apple Bloom wanted to look away but could find herself unable. Perhaps it may have been because she was a kid. Kids like her seemed to always be interested in the weird and the unknown, and this certainly fit weird, weird but sad as well.
The Other Spike raised up his still scaly arm. "A…Appl…..Apple……B….B….B…..loom." He pathetically called out.
"Shhh, just relax. Ah'll just get the last eye and we can go back to mah world." Apple Bloom smiled at her companion and he smiled back.
Turning around, she trotted inside the stadium. The Other Spike forced his head up feeling the strain his weakened body was undergoing. He wanted to tell her, goodness knows he wanted to, but he couldn't. If she knew the truth, she would give up everything, racking herself with guilt. Then the Beldam would have won.
"Good luck." He wheezed."
This was the best thing he could do for her.
XXX
Just as she expected, the stadium was dark. She couldn't even see her own hoofs. Trot by trot, she stumbled occasionally bumping into something yet managing to keep herself on the carpeted path. How was anypony supposed to find anything in here? Was this her test? Trying to find the eye in the dark? Apple Bloom had the answer to that. At least in regards to seeing where she was going. Still remembering her pack, she pulled out the emerald colored seeing eye Zecora had lent her. Positioning it in the same way she had back in the other apple orchard. Holding it up, the familiar emerald view lit up the room. She could make out the chairs now raveled in the darkness. But what got her attention was the round shining object upon the stage.
"Hu hu *sniff*"
Apple Bloom heard a strange sound coming form ahead. There was a bright flash as a spotlight illuminated the stage. There standing upon a pedestal was the round object, another ghost eye no doubt. Apple Bloom would have lit her face up in joy that is if she hadn't seen the Other Sweetie Belle hunched over. Her tiny filly body shook while a series of sniffles followed. It dawned on Apple Bloom that she was crying.
"Sweetiebelle?" Apple Bloom asked not even hiding her concern.
"You don't want to stay with us do you?" The Other Sweetiebelle sobbed.
A look of guilt flashed across Apple Bloom's face. "Well that's true but-"
"Why? What do you have at home?" The Other Sweetiebelle asked. "Just ponies who ignore you, give you chores and rules. Here you can play all day, we'll have fun, why would you want to go back?"
The questions filled Apple Bloom with guilt. The way they were poised by the Other Sweetiebelle seemed innocent and sad. If the crying wasn't evident enough that is. Apple Bloom found it hard to say what she said next.
"Ah'm sorry, but Ah don't belong here." She stamped her hoof with affirmation. "Ah have to go back to my real home."
The Other Sweetiebelle sniffled again. "I get it, me, we, this whole place isn't real enough for you." Anger began to creep within the false filly's voice. The Other Sweetiebelle turned her head. As with the last two fabrications of her family, Apple Bloom found it the same with the fabrication of her friend. Initially, Apple Bloom believed the Other Sweetiebelle to be sweating as her face shined in the light. A trickle beaded down her forehead. Then another followed, and another, and another. Then it dawned on Apple Bloom, it wasn't sweat. The Other Sweetiebelle's face began to sink and started to grow transhumant. The "sweat" then flowed from other orifices, her ears, her nose, her mouth. Just then the Other Sweetiebelle began to heave her head back.
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Choooooooo!!!" The Other Sweetiebelle let out a mighty sneeze. A massive bubble formed in front of her face as she did. The bubble only grew larger as she sneezed twice more. The bubble then started to melt as did the rest of her body. It slowly spread, growing larger into a gelatinous blob. The snot blob (as Apple Bloom could tell it easily was snot from the way it oozed) spread around the stage. Apple Bloom backed away from the grossness of it all, but now here eyes indeed went wide as they gazed at the ghost eye slowly sinking into the body of the Other Sweetiebelle. Apple Bloom almost cried out until she felt something hot breath against her back.
"Going someplace Apple Bloom?" The voice echoed behind her with the voice of many within it.
Apple Bloom gazed up to see a massive creature leering down at her. It was big, tall, and held a reptilian appearance not unlike a dragon. Yet this dragon had a very sickly, skeletal body, the bones were outlined through the skin. The creatures back held a pair of torn wings, useless for flying. Its eyes were the same button pair she had seen before. There would have been no need for an introduction. There was only one other who resided in this part of the Other World.
"Scootaloo." Apple Bloom whispered. The Other Scootaloo that is.
Opposite to her, Apple Bloom heard a squish and turned her attention back to the transformed Other Sweetiebelle. The filly snot blob shifted a portion of its body to resemble a head. Her buttons eyes gleamed with the slimy substance. "You can't leave us Apple Bloom. We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders after all!"
"That's right! On the quest to find out who we really are!" The Other Scootaloo mocked using the lyrics from the talent show.
Per usual, Apple Bloom's mind told her to run. This time was no exception. Both monsters lunged at her, and she dodged but not without a bit of slime hitting her face. The Other Sweetiebelle dove first followed by the Other Scootaloo. The dragon pony was covered in her slimy friend but she didn't seem to care, she merely got up and charged after the little filly. Apple Bloom did what she had done twice before, run that is. Her goal was simple, grab the eye and then everything would be fine. She could see the eye on front of her just within reach. Before she could even act upon her thoughts, a claw swiped at it sending it flying into the stands. The Other Sweetiebelle smirked at what she had just done.
"No!" Apple Bloom cried but simply ran towards the seats. There would be no time to dally so she ran as fast as she could. The moment she touched the ground however, she felt something over her. Looking up, she noticed the overlapping shape of the Other Sweetiebelle. A sickening gloop followed as she smooshed her way into the floor. Apple Bloom tried to run, but she found it hard. She gave a pull in her back leg as a cold, wet feeling covered it.
"Please don't go Apple Bloom! I wanna play!" The Other Sweetiebelle pleaded as her body tugged furiously upon Apple Bloom's right hind leg.
Apple Bloom tried to break free but the Other Sweetiebelle did her very best to drag her in. Another thundering crash followed as the Other Scootaloo leapt down onto the floor smashing into several chairs leaving nothing but splintered wood. With a pull, Apple Bloom managed to free her leg. Her mind racing frantically, she dove underneath one of the still standing row of chairs. Behind she could hear the glooping followed by more crashes. She crawled and dug underneath rows as she felt the overwhelming presence of her fake friends. Her eyes darted around for any sign of the ghost eye, but found it impossible within the darkness. Her little hooves clattered against the floor as she attempted to reach out for anything.
"You can't hide from your friends!" Bellowed the Other Scootaloo.
Looking to her right side, she saw a sea of snot spill forth. A pair of button eyes swirled around to view the frightened filly. To her left she saw the snarling mug of the Other Scootaloo. Frankly she found herself trapped. Slowly they began to advance. Apple Bloom knew she had no chance. Without much thought in her mind, she mindless moved her hooves forward.
"Come on! Come on!" She screamed as she felt for anything.
The Other Cutie Mark Crusaders moved even closer. Apple Bloom crawled and felt but only touching the cold, hard floor. Crunch and slither the monsters went. The closer they got, the faster Apple Bloom went. But she found nothing each time. Desperation moving her, she became frantic, frantic and hopeless at the same time. She was like a fish out of water, a cat up a tree, a pony who had just touched something round, something that wasn't ground.
Something that wasn't ground?!
With a spring of what appeared to be hope, Apple Bloom leapt forward, as did the Other Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo. Although their leaps were ones of desperation, for their very existence hinged upon this moment. Unfortunately, their existence ended right then and there. Apple Bloom placed both hooves upon the ghost eye and then everything went gray.
XXX
The Other Spike felt a constriction in his chest. It was as if someone had just stabbed him in the lungs. A crackled came from his side and spread up to his head. He could feel the feeling growing along with the cracking sound. It became more painful with each surge it brought. He knew what this meant.
Apple Bloom had succeeded.
Cricck Crack!
More scales fell. They fell right off his arm.
Crick Crack!
Some fell from his forehead.
The pain spread becoming more and more of a sting. But then it started to fade. In fact, Spike could feel himself getting lighter, as if everything around him was fading. His vision started to blur, the trees night sky becoming fuzzy.
Crick Crack! Crick Crack!
With a pitter patter they fell. Her started to feel lighter and lighter as if he were air. Yet somehow, he didn't care. He had helped someone in need, someone he cared about. But most of all he now realized.
He had helped his friend. Those were his last thoughts.
XXX
The light from the ghost eye filled the dark room. Apple Bloom looked away for a moment from the brightness. However it died as an image appeared inside. Apple Bloom looked down at the now ethereal blue eye. Like the other two it held the appearance of a ball. Several paths of leather stitched together making it look impossible to bounce. But from the firmness, the filly concluded it wasn't that sort of ball. But she didn't care about that, what mattered was the image within the ball. Looking up at her was the ghost earth pony filly.
"Y'all need to hurry! Her web is starting to unravel!"
Apple Bloom was about to question her but the image faded. Wasting no time, Apple Bloom tossed the ghost eye into her bag. A grin spread across her face for she knew she had one the last test. Her smile faded momentarily when she glanced around. The entire room had turned dead gray, including the Other Cutie Mark Crusaders. Their faces were frozen in fright. More so because they had failed. Apple Bloom felt some degree of pity towards these creatures. They were slaves more or less with no choice in the matter in regard to choice. But for once, Apple Bloom felt happy, she had won and so she trotted outside. The night sky had never comforted her so, at least in this world that is.
"Spike!" She called out to her traveling companion. "Spike!" She called again. But no answer came. "Spike?" Concern began to creep into her voice. Walking over from the stadium entrance, she headed toward the last place she left him.
"Spike? Spi-" Her voice stopped as she saw what was at her hooves.
There was no trace of the dragon but a single scale. Horror filled her eyes as she noticed the crack starting to form. It spread from the edge and spread until the whole scale crumbled into nothing, just like a dead leaf.
Apple Bloom knelt down. She was too late; she couldn't keep her promise to him. That promise of course was bringing him back to her world. But how did this happen she wondered? When they started, he had appeared fine save for the mutilation the Other Sister had inflicted upon him. Then the scales had started to fall. Each and every time they traversed, his condition had steadily gotten worse. Each time they got a ghost eye that is.
The ghost eyes?
Oh Celestia! Apple Bloom didn't know why she didn't see it before! There would be no denying it, this was her fault. The ghost eyes were connected to the Other Spike. In all honesty Apple Bloom wondered why the Other Sister hadn't killed the Other Spike for helping her escape. That seemed to be a real lapse in logic for the otherwise crafty witch. This must have been what she wanted, another way to discourage the filly.
So far, it worked.
Apple Bloom felt the tears fall down her face. A sob hiccupped in her throat. Back and forth it went bobbing up and down. Her emotions and spirit drained into a mere puddle. Not even that, but a small trickle of a stream. Then could it even be considered that? In any case, Apple Bloom felt like a rotten apple core left in the sun for days. The Other Spike had been there for her, defended her, protected her, and she had just gotten him killed. Friends didn't get friends killed.
Her sobs grew larger but with a subdued hush to them. Apple Bloom truly felt alone.
"Spike." She whispered staring up at the sky with reddened eyes.
The stars looked down at her in all their false glory. The moon shined the brightest of them all. At least what the shadow didn't cover. A shadow had formed over the moon turning it into a crescent shape. Staring at it, Apple Bloom felt a cold tear drip down. As the shadow formed, Apple Bloom could make out four holes. They were just like a button.
Button.
The earth pony's red eyes squinted with anger. It reminded her of the one who was truly behind everything. Standing to her feet, Apple Bloom held her head up high and her tear stained eyed wide.
"Listen here ya evil witch! Ah'm not scared of you, ya hear!?" Apple Bloom declared. There would be no use in giving up for the filly wouldn't. All the ghost eyes had been accounted for, but there still remained one obstacle.
The Beldam awaited, and so did the rest of the Apple clan.
Apple Bloom kept along the path, trotting with triumph in each step. So much had been risked to get this far. Apple Bloom couldn't give up now. The house lay in the distance; the sheer mockery of it infuriated Apple Bloom. No witch got away with stealing her family. The only guide was the moon. At least, it had been. Somehow, the moonlight had grown dimmer. Looking up, Apple Bloom noticed that the shadow had covered the moon completely. A black shadow of a button overlapped the celestial body, the fake representation of Luna's symbol.
Then everything fell apart......literally.
A great rumble overtook the Otherworld. Apple Bloom had no idea what was happening, but she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. The rumble continued, great cracks in the earth formed, the entire world had started to crumble.
So this was what the filly meant, the Beldam's web, this world she had set up to trap her in was no starting to reveal itself for what it truly was. Apple Bloom could see the door in front of her. Behind she knew there was nothing waiting for her, again literally. The rumbling continued forcing Apple Bloom to run faster. The door laid right in front, just a littler farther. Her front hooves pushed against the wood and she trotted inside closing it behind her.