The Sour Apple

by nutcase4real

A Nightmare's Beginning

The Next Day

Sweet Apple Acres- 10:15 A.M.

"Applebloom, how did you get out of the stable the other day?", Twilight asked.

Applebloom stared directly into Twilight's eyes and cooled said, "Why Twilight, a girl has got to have her secrets."

Semi-flustered Twilight said, "Well in any case it doesn't matter. You'll be under constant guard from now on."

Applebloom grinned at Twilight and stared at her with soulless eyes. Twilight stared uneasily back at the little filly sitting before her in the large glass stable. Long gone was the filly who innocently crusaded with her friends with hopes of obtaining their cutie marks Twilight realized. She had been replaced by this filly who had seen more blood shed then most ponies Twilight's age. Her mind had been warped by Pinkie Pie to the point that the filly believed that Pinkie Pie was teaching her something valuable that Pinkie Pie was, her mentor.

"So," Applebloom began breaking the long silence between the two, "tell me Twilight, what was it like?", she asked coolly.

"I beg your pardon?", Twilight asked as she tilted her head from confusion.

"Killing my mentor.", Applebloom answered with a stare that held a small spark of genuine intrigue.

Twilight stared at the filly wide eyed half from terror and half from shock. "I don't see why that matters Applebloom. You really shouldn't be asking questions like that."

"Oh, it matters the world to me Twilight. She broke down that poor pathetic excuse of a pony I used to be, and rebuilt me from the ground up. She taught me things that you couldn't imagine in your wildest of fantasies. She became my world, my sun, my moon. She was everything to me, and you took her away from me forever.", Applebloom stated with rising anger evident in her voice.

"If I tell you, will you tell me what she did to you?", Twilight asked in a quiet tone?

"Quid pro quo Twilight, quid pro quo."

Twilight raised her eyebrow and asked, "What?"

"I tell you what she did to me, and you tell me what you did to her."

There was a long pause between the two ponies until Applebloom broke the silence, "What's it going to be Twilight? Yes or no?"

Twilight let out a breathe that was caught in her chest in the form of a sigh and responded to the little filly, "You're on Applebloom, but you go first and no lying promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.", Applebloom said with an eerie voice as she followed along with the hoof motions of the chant her "mentor" was famous for.

Twilight cringed at the sight and unsucessfully tried to swallow a lump that was caught in her throat, as she pulled her note pad and quill from her saddle bag.

"Ah was walking home from school with Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell awhile back. Pinkie Pie came bouncing towards us and asked me if Ah could follow her to Sugarcube Corner.", Applebloom stated in a droll tone, "So tell me how you found the building she was in Twilight."

Twilight snapped her head back up from her note taking and asked, "What?"

"It's a simple question Twilight. How... did... you... find... the... building?", Applebloom repeated slowly making sure to allow every syllable to smoothly roll off her tongue.

"Tell me more about what happened to you first.", Twilight said sternly.

"Oh no Twilight. You see in this game Ah give you a little, and then you give me a little, or this interview is over.", Applebloom stated as she crossed her arms.

"I found her hide out by mistake.", Twilight admitted while feeling slightly embaressed.

"By mistake?", Applebloom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was knocking on all the doors on Manehatten's Main Street. I knocked on her door and she invited me in. She almost fooled me with her disguise and voice but as I was leaving she made a mistake."

"And what was that?"

"Your turn Applebloom."

Applebloom giggled, smiled slightly, and said, "Now yer gettin the hang of the game Twilight. Ah asked her why she wanted me to follow her back to Sugarcube Corner. She said that she needed some help making cupcakes. We all said sure but she said that she only wanted my help. The others complained for alittle while, but eventually Pinkie Pie convienced them to leave. So we headed towards Sugarcube Corner, and when we got there she led me down to the cellar. She closed and locked the door behind us, which scared me at first, but I thought to myself, 'It's Pinkie Pie, nothin bad will happen.'", Applebloom paused and took a deep breathe and slowy released it. "Now it's your turn Twilight. Continue if you would please."

"She broke charecter and said 'Okie dokie lokie!', in her normal voice.", Twilight replied.

"HMM. Then what happened Twilight?", Applebloom quiried.

A tear appeared in Twilight's eyes as she remembered the events of that night. "She ran into a stairwell that led into a maze. I chased her through the maze, and eventually I found Rarity down in that pit. She looked malnurished, and weak and, and...", Twilight broke down into tears and ran out of the barn, leaving Applebloom alone in her glass stable with her thoughts.

Applebloom walked back to the middle of her stable and thought to herself, 'She'll be back.' Applebloom sat down and stared out of the glass stable where Twilight was sitting moments ago.

'Oh yes, she'll be back.'