//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: The City of Outcasts 
// Story: Witchcraft is Magic 
// by wingdingaling 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5

The City of Outcasts


All was not well at Sweet Apple Acres.
"Apple Bloom! Apple Bloom!"
When she was led home by her dog, Applejack found that her sister had disappeared from her bed. Worse still, she was nowhere in the house.
"What's all that racket out here? Mares're tryin' to sleep!" Granny Smith shouted as she stepped out of her room.
Down the hall Big Macintosh came out of his room to investigate the noise.
"Apple Bloom's missin', Granny!" Applejack explained.
As soon as he heard that, Big Macintosh retreated back to his room, while Applejack replenished the fuel in her lantern.
"What the hay are ya talkin' about? I just saw her in her room not an hour ago," Granny said.
"It was some pillows, an' a Nightmare Night mask! Now she's out there! An' probably in danger!" Applejack answered.
After the encounter with the thing outside the library, Applejack wouldn't have left her house at night for any reason. But, now that her sister was out there, she had no choice but to risk the dangers of the darkness.
"Big Macintosh!" Applejack called.
"Ready!" Was all her brother answered as he came back out of his room, wearing his yoke, and carrying a lantern.
The Apple siblings ran outside, where Applejack's friends were waiting for her.
Without even being called, Winona ran out the door with them, ready to track her filly.
Once outside, the dog ran ahead and darted toward the forest at the edge of the property.
"Come on! We're goin' to the Everfree!" Applejack declared, without even stopping.
Her friends had no idea why she would even suggest such a thing, especially Fluttershy, who wasn't keen about entering the home of a werewolf. But, a filly was potentially in danger, so she followed Applejack and the rest of her friends.
Rainbow Dash flew alongside Applejack.
"What are we going to the Everfree for?" Dash asked.
"'Cause that's where Winona's headed!" Applejack answered.
"You're going to trust a dog to find your sister?" Rarity asked from behind.
"She's our best bet at findin' my sister! More than likely yours too!" Applejack said.
Dash and Rarity didn't even think about that, but she was right. If Apple Bloom was going to get in trouble, she was definitely going to involve Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Dash wasn't about to let anything happen to the foal she just adopted, and Rarity would never forgive herself if her sister got hurt.
With a renewed vigor, they all sped into the darkness of the forest.



On the other side of darkness, in the city of Macabria, the denizens of the night lived their peaceful lives. There, they were free of the fear and persecution that came to them from the ponies who lived in the light. It was a happy existence for them, but now the terrors from Equestria walked among them and spread their malice.
"Hi, I'm Sweetie Belle. I'm night mare too now. I wasn't always like this, but I turned into one when I came here. I don't have my cutie mark yet, but I'm trying really hard. Do you know anypony who needs help with anything? Maybe I can get my cutie mark by doing something here instead of back home."
Sweetie Belle had been talking the ear off of almost every creature she met on the street. Currently, she was talking to an adult equine creature like herself.
"Sorry, lass, but she nay kin speak," said the creature sitting in the carriage that the larger equine was hitched to.
Sweetie Belle was startled by the appearance of the creature, who only appeared as a dark shadow under his high collar and wide hat, but his eyes shone from under it like two fireflies. The rest of him was covered by a long coat and trousers. Even his hands were covered by a pair of heavy gloves. Despite his frightening appearance, his voice was gentle, and brought to mind an old stallion who had done many kind deeds in his long life.
"Ye need a lift somewhere?" The coachman asked.
"No, thank you. I want to walk around and see more of the city with my friends. I just thought that I could talk to her, since we're both night mares," Sweetie Belle answered.
"Alright. Be on yer way then. And there's a witch neer heer ye may wannae see about that enchantment o' yoors," the coachman said, before he cracked the reins he held and spurred his night mare to pull his carriage away.
After only a few blocks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had seen many things they never saw back home. The creatures in Macabria were much more varied than what they knew from anywhere in Equestria. It was hard for Sweetie to tell which ones were animals, and which ones were the civilians of the town, until Apple Bloom pointed out that all of the civilians were fully clothed. Oddly, the clothes they all wore were very old fashioned, like what ponies wore hundreds of years ago back home. It was like walking though the pages of a history book for them.
Some of the creatures they saw looked strikingly similar to the ones they knew back home. In an alleyway, Scootaloo saw what she thought was a large cat, only to see it stand up on its hind legs and jump over a fence. What she thought was a decorative gargoyle statue turned out to be a living creature that crawled onto her back before Courtney shooed it away. At first, Scootaloo was startled by the gargoyle, until Courtney explained that they have a generally docile and protective nature, which made them desirable as an animal familiar.
After the carriage left. Sweetie Belle looked down the street, and saw her friends with Molly watching a group of street performers.
Two of the performers were playing instruments: a clarinetist with oddly avian features, and a bassist who was literally nothing but four hands (one holding the bass upright, one plucking the strings and two on the frets). The third member wasn't playing any instrument, but was dancing for the crowd. At first, Sweetie Belle thought he was the same kind of creature as Courtney and her mother, but when she got close, she saw that his joints were hinged, as was his jaw. His mouth was also painted on, in a huge, disfigured smile.
"Wow, look at him go. It's like watching a puppet show, but without the stage," Sweetie said as she watched the dancer move and contort his body to the rhythm of the music his associates were playing.
"Look at this, boys. We got us another talking filly roaming around here," the dancer said as his body angled itself and his shoulders twisted unnaturally, "Well, I gotta say that you lot'll fit in just fine in our fair city. Where losers and lowlifes abound, and freaks and rejects like us are your closest friends."
"Doesn't it sound a little off-putting when your friends are rejected, freaky, lowlife losers?" Scootaloo asked.
Where she was from, all the ponies she knew made friends with other ponies who were sunny, cheerful, and generally on the bright side of things. To hear that anyone like the dancer described was to be her friend was completely foreign to her.
"I don't see why that's so strange. Around here, we look after the people that everyone's forgotten about. After all, it's the one's that others turn away that need a friend the most," Molly answered the orange filly as she ran her fingers through her mane.
Out of the three of them, Scootaloo didn't mind having her mane rubbed, or her ears scratched by the leafy creature. She even kind of enjoyed the strange tingling feeling that came from the touch of Molly's fingertips.
As they were growing up and learning new lessons about friendship, they never once heard about the ponies that nopony cared about. Sure, they learned about accepting ponies no matter how different they were, like Zecora, but to be friends with the ponies that nopony wanted to be friends with was a new concept.
With that new knowledge, the world around them became even less foreign and foreboding. Sure, it was dark and spooky, and the creatures that roamed there were scarier than what they were used to. But any place that valued friendship as much as Equestria couldn't be that bad.
"How'd ya like a dance?" The dancer requested as he extended one of his wooden hands in Sweetie Belle's direction.
"Well...okay. But I only know a little bit from what my sister taught me. And even then, I made us both trip," Sweetie answered.
"Sorry, luv. But, this dance calls for both partners to have two legs," the dancer said, indicating that he was actually asking Molly.
"Oh, I don't know about that. I just had my fronds done, and I'm wearing a new dress. I wouldn't want to--" With those last words, Molly cut off her own answer, took the performer's hand, and began dancing with him.
Many a man in Macabria would be jealous of the dancer, but dancing with Molly earned him a thumbs up from the clarinetist. And four thumbs from the bassist.
To the fillies watching, it was a wondrous show. The two horrible, frightening creatures moved so gracefully with one another, and in perfect rhythm of the music. It was a captivating show that blended the horrifying with the beautiful that enchanted the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They could have watched the display forever, and would have if not for what happened next.
As they were dancing, one of Molly's bandages got caught in the hinge of the dancer's wrist, and unraveled to reveal her withered skin underneath it. That itself was a shock to see, but not so much as when her entire hand fell off.
Sweetie Belle screamed, but not nearly as loud as Molly did, who started frantically re-wrapping her bandages to hide her unsightly skin.
Molly reached down, and tried to grab her disembodied hand, but it moved away from her by flopping around like a fish out of water.
Mayhem ensued when the dancer tried to help her, only to hinder her efforts, and unravel the bandages around her chest, revealing more of her dry, brown withered skin.
The clarinetist stepped back when Molly's hand started climbing up his leg, and tried to brush it off with his instrument. Instead, the hand grabbed onto it.
The clarinetist shook the hand free, only for it to fall down the collar of his jacket.
"Hold on, Percy! I'll give you a hand!" the bassist said, as the four hands arranged themselves into the shape of a mouth and eyes. All four hands crawled up the clarinetist's leg, and under his jacket to catch the errant extremity.
The clarinetist jumped all up and down the sidewalk, trying his best not to crush anything under his jacket.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders offered their help by tackling and pinning the hopping musician, and the five hands came filing out.
Molly's came first, and tried to crawl away, but was quickly jumped by the bassist, one hand after the other.
Once it was pinned, Molly picked up her hand and tried to reattach it to her body.
The bassist let go, and the dancer apologized excessively.
Molly slapped the dancer with her severed hand, making his head spin around atop his neck.
The fillies tried to help resolve the issue, but their voices weren't heard over the string of expletives Molly was letting loose. But even still, Apple Bloom's attention was elsewhere.
Down the street, she saw that Courtney and Bruce were walking out of a shop, and then further away down the street.
Apple Bloom had no way of knowing what they were doing in there, but whatever it was, Bruce came out carrying a pure white bag in his mouth. Maybe they were shopping for potion ingredients, like what Zecora did back home.
Her curiosity piqued, Apple Bloom left the street performing fiasco behind her and followed the witch down the road.
Following Courtney wasn't easy, since she seemed to disappear in and out of the crowd. It became easier to keep an eye on Bruce, since he was so much larger. But, Apple Bloom still had trouble keeping up with them, since she kept getting distracted by the sights around her.
Soon, the filly realized that she had followed them past the borders of the town, and onto a road that led into the hilly countryside beyond.
Even though it was still nighttime, the red moon above cast a light bright enough for her to see everything around her. Despite the sanguine coloring of the celestial body, the colors around the filly ran the whole spectrum.
The grass was dark green. Almost sickly. But, also somehow pleasing to they eye, and inviting to walk on. The grays of the rocks, and blues and purples of the flowers dotted the landscape, lending variety to the scenery.
The trees nearby had twisted, gnarled trunks, and very dark (almost black-looking) leaves that hung lank and limp in the gentle breeze.
In one of the branches, Apple Bloom saw what she thought looked like a squirrel, only different. Its head was much too pointed and narrow, and its appearance was dark and faint, almost as if a shadow had walked free of what was casting it. After a second of watching it, the animal drifted down the trunk and into the tall grass where she lost sight of it.
The filly flinched when she heard a sudden melodic whistling. It was different than the phantom music she heard back home, but at the same time, she had no idea where it was coming from. More than likely, it was just the wind whistling in the trees. But in this strange countryside, who knew what it could have been?
Ahead of her, Apple Bloom saw that Courtney and Bruce were getting further away, and she picked up her pace to follow them. But she kept far enough behind them so that she could keep taking in the new scenery around her.



Their walk led them to the foot of a hill, where Apple Bloom could see an imposing structure on the top. A fortress of stone and metal with a wickedly steepled roof. What windows she could see were shut tight and secured by bars on the outside. Whatever this place was, it was far less inviting than the town below. But, despite its frightening exterior, she watched Courtney and Bruce walk right inside.
Apple Bloom hesitated to go any further, but she had come this far and she wasn't about to go back. The witch was up to something, and she wanted to know what went on in this strange world.
Fear clung to her as she approached the ebony door. The filly reached for the doorknob, only for her eyes to lock onto the knocker.
It was large, and made of heavy bronze. But for the strangest reason, Apple Bloom felt like it was watching her.
Somehow, the design lent itself to a watchful guardian, keeping out those who dare intruded the building. There were no eyes, so to speak, but the artistry of it created a feeling of a harsh glare to the filly, telling her that she was not welcome inside. But she had a conviction to see this through.
She opened the door, and stepped inside. After the first step in, the door slowly creaked shut behind her.
Inside, Apple Bloom saw a long hallway with many doors on either side of it. As she passed them, she could hear faint voices coming from inside a few of them. Some sounded like there were one or two creatures inside. Others sounded like one creature talking to themselves. Apple Bloom walked slightly faster past those ones.
As she walked the halls, she found a large room. A lounge of some kind, where she could see all manner of creatures, all clothed in the same drab gray uniforms (except for a few in white shirts) performing various activities together: reading, painting, talking with friends. It was almost reminded her of how some ponies acted back home, but at the same time, different.
Though their activities were all quite mundane, they seemed to be laced with a kind of underlying sadness. As if some part of them they cherished had gone away.
From what Apple Bloom could hear (or at least from what she thought she could hear), the ones in white uniforms were some kind of caregivers.
She definitely heard one of them talking to one of the sad creatures about her family over a card game. How her family missed her, and hoped she would get better so that she could come home.
The other creature smiled ever so slightly at the news. But it soon turned to a small frown, and the creature loosed a sentence full of scattered thoughts and ideas.
As if she realized how she sounded, the creature became saddened by the state of herself, hung her head and sighed, unsure if she would ever get better.
The other creature reached across the table, and placed his hand on top of her's, assuring her that one day she'd be able to return home.
From the doorway, Apple Bloom smiled. Not many ponies would take time out of their day to spend time with somepony they thought was crazy. But a wonderful kind of friendship had bloomed between the creatures here, when the rest of the world was likely to shun them. It almost made Apple Bloom want to go in and introduce herself, in hopes of helping the ones that were cast away.
One of the dreary creatures glanced in the filly's direction, and the feeling of caution and foreboding came rushing back to her. Not wanting to find out what would happen if she got caught in that place, she ran away further down the hall. Until she heard something coming towards her.
Whatever it was, it sounded very large. Almost as big as Bruce, but didn't have his soft footfalls, or the clicking sound of his claws. It was more like a shuffling noise.
Whatever it was, she didn't want to find out, and ran further into the place.
After so long, Apple Bloom felt like she had entered the belly of a terrible beast when she found a heavy iron door on a wall with no windows. Above the door, engraved in the metal frame was a sign that read 'Authorized Personnel Only.' It created an even greater sense of foreboding within her than even the front door did, only this time, Apple Bloom heeded her senses and backed away. Even if she weren't she would have been forced to anyway.
The door began to slowly open with a groan that sounded like a hungry beast.
Spurred by the noise, and determined to be unseen, Apple Bloom turned around and quickly hid behind a trash bin. Despite it being big enough to hide behind, she still pressed herself hard against the wall in an effort to be as invisible as possible.
What came through the door were three creatures. Two of them were escorting a third, much older creature through the corridor.
From her hiding spot, Apple Bloom could hear the older one was quietly mumbling something under his breath, but as soon as he passed by her, he began to loudly shout.
"Beware!! Beware!!"
Apple Bloom cowered in the small shadow of her hiding place, wishing she could escape into it.
The two creatures escorting the elderly creature had to tighten their hold, and had to pull him forcibly down the hall. After a few steps, the old man began speaking in a lower volume, reciting was sounded like a poem.


Beware, Beware ye magic folk
The Wicker Man draws nigh
His withered claw, his fiery maw
His evil glaring eye

Should e'er you hear his mournful howl
Run, Run, Run with all haste
Should not you flee, then woe to thee
Your cinders he shall taste


He repeated this poem over and over as he was taken down the hall.
"Poor damned soul. Just can't let go of the past," one of the orderlies sighed.
Apple Bloom didn't know what they meant by that, but she didn't plan on asking them. She was ready to leave, but she had a very large problem: she didn't know where the exit was.
She looked up and down the halls, unable to discern the way she came. Then once more, she was distracted by the sights of the world.
Out one of the windows, Apple Bloom could see a garden full of plants that she'd never seen before. Some looked familiar, a little like something back home. And a few of them had fruits in their branches.
Leaving would have to wait. The garden simply looked too inviting to pass up.
Down the hall, Apple Bloom found a door that led to the garden area, and stepped into its midst. Outside, there were walkways that bordered the garden's perimeter, and cut through the middle of it.
The filly walked through the garden, first examining the fruit-bearing trees, and finding red fruits that looked quite similar to apples. The only major difference was that they were bivalve like a peach.
She tried to reach for one, only to come up several feet short. But the filly was determined to try the fruit. She knew that she was too little to buck apple trees, but then this wasn't an apple tree.
Apple Bloom thrust her hooves at the tree, only for the branches to gently sway. She cursed her small stature, wishing her sister was there to help her.
Then something hit her head.
Apparently her effort wasn't in vain. One of the ripe fruits had fallen from its branch, landed on her head, and was now lying on the ground before her. Apple Bloom celebrated her small victory by taking a bite of the fruit.
Some would say it was unwise of her to do such a thing. For all she knew, the fruit was terribly bitter, sour, or even poisonous. But it was not so. The burning sensation of poisonous fruit was absent, and it was very, very sweet and juicy. It tasted like a mix of oranges, strawberries and raspberries, which made her smile giddily.
After the first bite, the filly saw that it was oozing a thick, syrupy, red liquid.
Apple Bloom swallowed her bite, and looked apprehensively at the fruit. If she didn't know better, she'd say it was bleeding. Like she had taken a bite out of a living creature. But that would be ridiculous, even for this world, wouldn't it?
Putting her doubt aside, she took another bite. It was even better than the last one with the juices she discovered. Of course it was silly for a fruit to be alive. And then something else caught her eye.
Further away in the garden, Apple Bloom could see something moving, and without any heed or caution, she went to investigate it.
What she found was a patch of leafy plants. They reminded her of ivy, the way they snaked up the stone walls. She thought they could have covered the whole wall, were they not blocked off by wooden stakes. But what made them move?
There was no wind, and there were no insects that she could see crawling on them. Apple Bloom finished the fruit she was eating, and more closely examined the wriggling plants, now noticing how familiar they looked to her.
After a few seconds of staring, she realized that the leaves on the plants were the same kind that were on Molly's head, along with the flowers were dotted here and there among the foliage. The thing was that each plant had different colored flowers. Some were yellow, some were white, some were purple, some were red, and some were pink like Molly's.
As she looked closer and closer, the filly saw what was making them wriggle.
In the spaces under the foliage of leaves, she could see fern-like tendrils shifting about. The idea that a plant could move without some outside force was strange, and sent a small hint of fear in her mind, but so far nothing here was as scary as it seemed.
Apple Bloom was about to part the leaves with her hooves to get a better look, until a hand on her back stopped her.
"Not too close. They drink blood," Courtney said to her.
Apple Bloom immediately backed away from the plants. She then realized that even if things from the dark weren't as scary as she thought, there was still danger to be aware of.
"I see you've finally caught up with us," the witch said
"Wha--? But...How'd ya know?" Apple Bloom asked. The whole time, she stayed far behind them, and neither one acted like they noticed her.
"Not much escapes the nose of a werewolf," Courtney briefly explained as she tickled Bruce's snout.
Bruce snorted, making him shake the contents of the bag he held in his teeth.
"Oh," was all the filly answered. She should have known. After all the times she tried to shirk her responsibilities at home, only for Winona to track her down, it should have been obvious that a canine creature (even one from the dark world) would have smelled her.
Her eyes were then drawn to the stark white bag he was holding, after hearing whatever was inside rattling, and noticed that Courtney was holding an identical bag in her hands now.
"Hey, what's that ya got?" Apple Bloom wondered.
"This? It's nothing special. Just some walnuts and mustard seeds for a spell I need," the witch answered.
"Really? What kinda spell?" Apple Bloom asked. After seeing the different world, full of different creatures, different plants (and even a few familiar ones) she was ready to learn about a different kind of magic.
"One that's going to help me with my work tonight," Courtney answered.
"Ya mean when ya go back the the apple orchard, right?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Exactly."
This was only half true. Courtney had never been good at lying. It was a terrible weakness of hers. But since Apple Bloom hadn't asked what was in both bags, she had no way of knowing that the witch had ingredients for two spells. In the bag Courtney held were amaranth and ynys roots (which only grew where madness nested) for any physical harm she was likely to sustain that night at Sweet Apple Acres. And one for Apple Bloom and her friends.
"What're ya gonna do with that stuff?" Apple Bloom asked.
This filly asked way too many questions for Courtney's liking.
Bruce glanced over at his mistress, wondering if she could come up with something convincing enough to divert Apple Bloom's curiosity. But she wouldn't need to.
Outside the garden, they all heard shuffling footsteps, as if something very large was walking through the halls of the building.
"Let's go. We should get you out of here before the bugbears find you," Courtney said as she hastened Apple Bloom to the door.
"A bugbear!?" Apple Bloom said.
Bugbears were something Apple Bloom knew to avoid. In all her life, she never thought about the prospect of facing one, and was glad that Courtney and Bruce were with her if she did.
"Actually: hang on," Courtney said as she returned to the fruit-bearing trees.
The witch took her time picking a fruit, making Apple Bloom anxious as the heavy shuffling got closer. Finally, Courtney picked a fruit.
"This will do," she said as she gave the fruit to Bruce, who cut it neatly in half with his claws. Courtney then extracted the seeds with her magic.
Spells were a tricky thing. Some only required the will to cast them, others could only be performed in a certain place at a certain time, and others required a specific kind of ingredient to work. The spell she needed required the latter.
In order to save herself some work, and protect the orchard from further harm, Courtney would need something purifying and protective. And the wood of an essen tree would do just fine.
A shadow materialized in front of her, and a white bag produced itself from it. Courtney placed the round, black seeds inside, and put the pouch back in the shadow, along with her bag of herbs. She would have done the same for Bruce's bag, but knew that he liked the smell of mustard seeds.
"Alright. Now we can leave," Courtney said as she walked toward the door.
Apple Bloom followed her and Bruce out. But as they left, she heard shuffling footsteps stop, and the door at the far end of the garden open.
The filly looked back, and saw a creature poking its head through the door. Though she only saw it for a second before she left, she saw that its head was huge, brown, and had a short snout, giving it an almost simian appearance. Its mouth was full of long teeth, which jutted out of its gaping mouth. And its eyes were copper-y in color. If that was a bugbear, it was very different than the ones she knew back home.
But it was behind them now, and after what seemed like a very short walk to Apple Bloom, they arrived at the front door, and exited that horrible place.