Chapter 5
Time had come crashing to a halt for Apple Bloom as she stared into the face of her target for the first time.
For the entirety of her short tenure as a bounty hunter and stretching back to her former life as a soldier, Apple Bloom had always been a professional; never once had she let her personal feelings interfere with what she did on the battlefield. Such sentiments would be locked away deep within her heart and forgotten about, as such emotions could get one killed. As time went on, it had become easier and easier to rationalize pulling the trigger until one day, a day where it happened completely unnoticed, she no longer had to justify herself. Since that day she has never once hesitated in the heat of battle—
—Until today.
The face that stared at her as she stared back down the sight of her repeater pistol had paralyzed her, sending a wave of emotions crashing over her. Her hoof trembled: suddenly her pistol had become far too heavy to hold. No longer able to lift it, she let it slip from her grip and fall to the ground. The face belonged to a scruffy orange pegasus who, judging by her tattered effects and broken goggles, had seen her share of hardships and dusty lonely roads. Her bright fuchsia mane was messy and unkempt, the obvious product of her own attempts to cut her hair, and hung down over a very familiar tattered bandana which had been tied into a makeshift eye patch. Her one good eye, bright and purple and as wide as could be, was locked onto Apple Bloom.
Can’t be… she’s dead…
Apple Bloom couldn’t care less about anyone’s hardships or past, and this pony should not have been an exception. Except she was a facsimile of a very precious pony who had died long ago along with Apple Bloom’s family and friends. It had been so long that Apple Bloom had trouble recalling exactly what their faces looked like, and although time had turned the face of that brash tomboy filly into an adult, she still somehow recognized it. She couldn’t have fired her repeater even if she still held it; it took everything she had in her to even speak the pony’s name.
“Scootaloo…?”
As if hearing that word spoken aloud had set time moving once more, the scruffy facsimile lunged at her. Apple Bloom made no attempt to even move. Her friend hadn’t died; she was here and like Apple Bloom was very much alive. Scootaloo pounced and wrapped her warm front legs around Apple Bloom in a tight embrace, burying her face into Apple Bloom’s neck and sobbing loud, ecstatic tears. Apple Bloom still stood unmoving; her mind was everywhere trying to take in all that had happened in the few eternal seconds since she had stood face to face with the dear friend she thought had died years ago. Her breath grew short as she felt a surge of forgotten memories tear through her heart, and she was finally able to move.
Apple Bloom grabbed her beloved friend and hugged her as tight as she could, letting tears flow free through her clenched eyes. Everything around them was gone and long forgotten; she was a filly again, hugging her dear friend and crying the innocent tears of a foalhood friendship. Nothing existed in this moment but two dear friends and vivid memories of happy times long past. Scootaloo trembled in her grasp and she held tighter, cradling her old friend’s head under her chin. All she wanted, all she needed, was right here in this hug that she wished could last forever.
Words finally came to her, “Ah thought you died!!!”
“I thought YOU died!!!” cheered the happy pony, gripping tight enough to make Apple Bloom struggle to breath, “I thought I lost all of you!!!”
Scootaloo’s words cut like a knife and brought them back to reality; everything they wished could stay away forever came back to them. The two reunited friends cherished the moment for a few seconds more before they separated and looked over what the years had done to each other. Apple Bloom cringed as the pain from their fight began to snake through her body once more. She rubbed the side of her cheek in an attempt to drive the pain back and spat on the ground, leaving a small patch of blood in the dirt. She prodded one of her teeth with her tongue and felt it give ever so slightly, “Urgh, where’d you learn to fight like that?”
Scootaloo only blushed and looked away with a cringe. It was the same sheepish expression she would make as a filly whenever she embarrassed herself.
Apple Bloom spat once more and her gaze became somber, “Ah get it. Been bad for you too, huh?”
Scootaloo nodded slowly. Apple Bloom ran her hoof down her face, tracing the familiar ridge of the large scar that ran down her cheek: The leftovers of one time she came this close to losing her life but somehow managed to scrape through. She reached out to touch Scootaloo’s makeshift eye patch, but stopped herself when her friend recoiled on instinct like an animal.
Apple Bloom knew the answer and did not want to hear it, but for some reason just had to ask anyways. “What happened to everyone? Where’s Sweetie Belle? What about my sister’s friends? We can’t be the only ones that made it out!”
Scootaloo shook her head and looked away, obviously not wanting to talk about it. She fell to her rump and sat on the ground, and stretched her wings with a painfully audible pop. “I don’t know what happened to Sweetie Belle.” She said in a tone so uncomfortably desolate that it sent a chill through Apple Bloom. She wiped a tear from her eye and continued, “I don’t think she made it. Believe me, I looked. Everypony got split up when Ponyville was destroyed. I don’t know what happened to any of the others, I escaped with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and… and…” she twitched as she spoke the final words, “Dashie and Fluttershy are dead.”
Apple Bloom gasped quietly as the words echoed in her head. Somehow it was easier to accept that her friends were only ‘gone’ or ‘missing’. Hearing Scootaloo say with absolute finality that they were dead was like having a dagger buried in her heart.
“Why’d this have to happen?!” Scootaloo said on the brink of tears, “Why did—”
Apple Bloom hushed her friend and put here foreleg around her shoulders. “It’s okay, sugar. Remember the day we met? We promised we’d be friends forever. A lot of time’s past but Ah ain’t goin’ back on that promise. Ah’m here for you now, and Ah’ll never leave you behind again.”
“This doesn’t even feel real…” Scootaloo said as she leaned her head into Apple Bloom’s vest. “I keep expecting to wake up or something, but… but you’re really back, aren’t you?”
Hearing that almost foalish question put a smile on Apple Bloom’s face which quickly began to fade as she thought. She had enough things to say to and ask of her friend to fill an entire week, but just didn’t know where to start. Her entire life had changed in the mere blink of an eye, drawing her back to a life she had almost forgotten. She wanted nothing more than to throw her pistol away and run off with Scootaloo on some inane adventure to find their cutie marks. Except…
Ah found it already.
She had found her cutie mark years ago, with the help of the one who had taught her to use a gun. Apple Bloom’s eyes became stern as such memories snapped her back to reality and finally forced a chilling thought on her she had been fighting away this entire time. She finally came to realize just how close she had come to harming a dear friend. Scootaloo, her, and Sweetie Belle had been close, so close they might as well have been family, and the pony in rags had made Apple Bloom hunt one of those friends down. The image of a bullet tearing through her friend’s body and that body dropping limply to the ground forced itself on her, the sound of a gunshot and her friend crying out in dying pain saturated her thoughts, and it was enough to make her sick. Unbeknownst to her, she had picked her repeater back up and was gripping it tightly. Her thoughts had become rich with hate and rage, and she quaked with it as she held her friend tighter as if to protect her from some nonexistent threat.
“You… you weren’t really going to hurt me, were you? Before?”
The voice snapped Apple Bloom out of her trance. She looked into the almost fearful eye of Scootaloo and forced a much softer expression. “‘Course not. Ah was just trying to scare you.” The truth, of course, but she could only hope that her friend would believe it. “Now, Ah don’t know about you, but Ah’m thinking of continuing on to Broncton. There’s a pony gonna meet me there that paid a small fortune for your hide. Me and this pony? We’re gonna have words.”
Scootaloo cringed at the way she said her last word, and rightly so. “Apple Bloom, I swear I didn’t do anything to anypony! I swear—”
“Ah know, Scoot, Ah know.” Said Apple Bloom, almost with a chuckle. “But this pony is after you. Why, Ah don’t know, but bad enough to dump this on me for you alive.” She patted the bag of bits in her vest.
“But why?!”
Apple Bloom frowned. “Ah say the two of us go and find out. Nobody puts a hit on my friends and gets away with it, y’hear? NOBODY!”
Scootaloo flashed a peek of fear at Apple Bloom’s outburst. “What are you going to do?”
“We’re gonna get some answers. Ah wanna know why this pony wants you so badly. Believe you me, there ain’t nothing gonna happen to you as long as Ah’m around.”
A big smile came across Scootaloo’s face. “Before we go,” she said as she gently clutched her stomach with a blush, “I kind of missed breakfast. You don’t have any food on you, do you?”
“Ah travel light,” She said apologetically, “but you’re in luck, Scoot. Ah saw an apple tree on the way here that ain’t too far out of our way.”
Scootaloo sighed with relief; a sound that somehow brought Apple Bloom to peace inside. Scootaloo was the obvious product of a harsh time and a harsh upbringing: a pony that had been raised on years of loss and hardship. She was scruffy, rough, and scarred from such a life. However, the sound that she had made, a simple sound of joy over something as common as breakfast, told Apple Bloom that she was the same pony they had been friends with in their foalhood. She had become somewhat skittish; Apple Bloom couldn’t help but notice a vulnerableness in her friend that had developed over the years, but inside, not buried very deep at all, was the same tomboy with the fuchsia mane Apple Bloom had met at Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera all those years ago.
Apple Bloom took a few steps forward and gestured to Scootaloo to come along. With almost a skip in her step, Scootaloo bounded to her side and matched her slow limp of a pace. As they walked, Apple Bloom watched her friend walk so happily that she almost sang. She should have been that happy as well, but simply couldn’t shake the guilt that was nibbling at the back of her throat. No matter the reason and no matter the excuse…
…Ah shot at my best friend…
Her sorrowful look went unnoticed by Scootaloo, who continued to bound happily alongside her like a young foal. Finding the pony in rags and getting answers would never be good enough. She’d never be able to atone for coming so close to harming the pony that might as well be her sister.
Scootaloo… Please forgive me…
Her head hung under the weight of her sorrow as the two of them continued on their way to Broncton.
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hmmm
Oh the Fluttershy you know is dead alright...
I know clutz is a character from the pictures.
But god damn that hint. I can't find it.
All I've gathered is AJ and Big Mac are dead.
3410245
Maaaaaaaaaaaaybe. You'll have to follow and find out.
The way you put Nobody makes me put some sort of connection to a human...
Also, how can she hold a gun with a good hmm? Was she trained to shoot a gun with a human? XD (Probably not but just taking a guess)
Have you ever considered submitting this story to Equestria Daily? You can find out how to do so here.
3410245
and fluttershy and rainbow dash!
Applebloom was sent to the human world to protect her and she was taught to shoot a gun by client eastwood
or chuck norris
Not Fluttershy.....
4882329 she would have been a better shot. No more like the lone wanderer, level one edition.
I did and really twilghts behind all this
That line somewhat made me remember a scene from Band of Brothers...