Twilight Sparkle and the Witch Baby

by Brony_Fife

Chapter 7: Still Unbroken

CHAPTER 7: Still Unbroken

It was bright, very bright; almost couldn’t see. Where was she right now?

Applejack looked up when she heard the sound of royal trumpets. Had Celestia come to aid Ponyville? If she had, she was too late. Everypony was gone. Applejack had failed to save them. Her friends and family and neighbors were all gone, disappeared like magic. Bright light and horns or no, Applejack decided it wasn’t worth it anymore; she rested her head back down on the stoop of the library. She took in what she hoped to be her last breath.

Pick yerself up, Half-Pint. There’s still lots o’ work t’be done.

That voice. Deep, loving, and stern. She knew that voice. Her eyelids fluttered open slightly, as if on command.

“… Pa?”

Applejack looked up and saw her parents—hers, and Big Macintosh’s, and Apple Bloom’s—strong and healthy and young. They were so vibrant, so radiant. Applejack slowly stood up and looked at them more closely, not believing what she was seeing.

Her father, as big and strong as Big Mac, his coat a deep tomato red and his bright eyes and mop of a mane even redder. His face was painted with adorable white freckles, the only part of him besides the whites of his eyes and his cutie mark that was not red. Her mother, always as radiantly beautiful as Applejack remembered (and when she was little, always wished to be), with her bright, golden coat and long orange mane, and a beautiful tail that seemed to arrest one’s attention. On their flanks were their cutie marks: her Pa’s a whole green apple, her Ma’s a trio of Golden Delicious.

Her mother came closer. Applejack looked into her eyes—the deep green she herself had inherited—and whispered, “… Ma? Ma, is that… really you?”

Yes, she answered, I’m here, Applejack. Her honey-sweet voice lacked the accent most Apples possessed, as she was a “city girl” who had married into the family; but outsider or not, she was always an Apple, beginning to end. She nuzzled her daughter. Applejack felt her mother’s warmth and strength.

Tears began to fill Applejack’s eyes. “Ah… Ah’ve missed you… so much…” Her voice had cracked, and her vision blurred.

Her father picked up her hat… his hat. The hat he gave her on his deathbed, telling her to be a strong girl, to take care of her family, and that his love for her and her siblings would long outlive him. He placed the hat back on her head. She dared not look in his reddish eyes as her hot tears began to roll off her cheeks.

Hey, what’s with th’ tears, yung’un?

Applejack choked. She didn’t know what to say, where to begin, how to explain herself. “A-Ah…” She looked up at her father, into those strong, comforting red eyes she always loved. “… Ah failed. Evr’pony’s gawn. They were taken…Ah failed… to save them. Ah failed ‘cuz Ah’m...” Her next words became a quivering squeak as she admitted, “… cuz Ah’m not strong enough. Ah’m not strong ‘nuff t’save what matters most t’me.”

Her father stroked her face. The tears would not subside. She leaned into him, felt him, as though he never died or got sick and feeble. Applejack, he said, you ARE a strong girl. Y’know you are.

“No,” she disagreed. “Ah’m weak. They was taken fr’m me when I wasn’t lookin’…” Only had my back turned a second. Didn’t scream, didn’t make any sound. Just turned around and she was gone. They were gone.

Her mother rested her head, warm and alive, on Applejack’s neck and held her firm. Applejack, she said, you are the strongest pony I’ve ever known. It was because of you that Big Macintosh realized what he needed to fight for, what he needed to protect. It was because of you that Apple Bloom began to smile after we were gone. It was because of you that Granny Smith learned that it was all right to keep living into her old age, with or without her son and daughter-in-law.

Applejack sobbed uncontrollably. Her Ma was saying all this, even though these events occurred long after she’d died. This was so unreal. Her father kissed her forehead.

You did all this, he told her, 'cuz you ARE a strong girl. Applejack, yer family is alive.

She looked into her father’s eyes again as he said this. And she could not detect a lie. Her tears slowly stopped.

And raht now, they need yer strength. They need that strength, the strength you have allus dem’nstrated—that which nopony could poss’bly repr’duce. The strength you get from yer fam’ly’s love fer you—and yer love fer yer own fam’ly. He held her chin up and wiped away her tears.

Applejack, her mother said, you listen to your Pa. You inherited your honesty from him, you know. He speaks nothing but the truth. And in truth, you will find faithfulness, and ultimately a love that, like he says, can never be duplicated or replaced. She stroked her daughter’s mane. Your family needs you now, and so do your friends.

“Th-They’re alahve too?”

Her father smiled. Yer friends draw their strength fr’m your love f’r them, too, Half-Pint. His face became stern; Applejack recognized this face when he was going to state some grave news. But th’r’s a wicked game afoot. Th’r’s a pony—heartbroken, an’ driv’n t’madness—who seeks to bring a great calamity to this worl’. Y’need t’find yer fam’ly, and yer friends. Y’all need t’bring this battle t’ him—the ghostly unicorn wrapped in black—an’ strike ‘im down ‘afore he hurts anypony else.

She listened intently to her father’s instructions. Applejack took him at his word—for from him came her own honesty. She nodded when he finished his statement. Suddenly, they all heard a bell. Her parents’ faces looked pained.

Well Half-Pint, he said, it looks like it’s time f’r us t’go.

Applejack felt her heart nearly shatter. “Can’t y’all stay just a little longer?” she whispered sadly.

Her mother gave her one last good nuzzle. We are sorry, Applejack. But we must go now. Just remember everything we’ve told you, and keep us in your heart, always.

As they turned to leave, Applejack ran towards them, stretched forth her front legs as she leapt for them, trying to reach out, to hold them one more time… but her hooves went through thin air, and touched nothing.

They were gone.

She was… alone.

We love you, Applejack. More than we could ever say, and more than you could ever realize.

She teared up again at the sound of her mother’s voice. She withdrew her hat and looked inside. There, at the top, an inscription:

Property of Half-Pint.

She smiled—the first genuine smile she made in months. She felt her heart beating again (Had it stopped before?), and she put that hat right back where it belonged. It felt a little like being crowned queen. She put her hoof back down. She looked around Ponyville, empty and deserted, but not at all a lost cause. It was her family that tilled this land, it was her family that built this town, and it was gonna be HER family that saved it.

She tilted her hat… her father’s hat forward. It was time to get to work.

Whatever evil force was at work here obviously never tangled with an Apple, and now it was gonna get far more than it bargained for!

*****

It was, at a distance, the perfect scheme. I mean, just perfect. Change the name, the logo, the product, even their cutie marks (not the first time they’d done it either) wait a few months for memories to fade, come back. It was a great scheme—the perfect scheme.

Flim tipped his hat upward. It was a nice burgundy top hat, lined at the brim with a black ribbon. It went well with his new coat and other duds (Also burgundy and black). He looked at his cane—long, sleek, black, with a golden knob at the end—which matched his brother Flam’s. He looked over to his brother. “Ready for this?” he asked.

“Ready when you are!”

It had been several months (almost a year, in fact) since Ponyville was glad to be rid of the Flim Flam brothers and their cider-producing machine. But now, Ponyville seemed more welcoming to the Fleesum Twins’ Miracle Growth Serum!

Flam (Playing the part of Pyramid Fleesum) readjusted his magical attention to pulling along the cart, as it was his turn. They had both dyed their manes and tails black, and their cutie marks were now matching plant-life. (The paint on his flanks was itchy, but he tried not to pay it any mind.) Flam had shaved his moustache—which hurt him to do, as it was his most prized possession—and Flim (Playing the part of Ponzi Fleesum) had grown a goatee of impressive length(which he also dyed black).

Ponyvillians walked to and fro in their business, a few of them the Flim Flams recognized. There was the blonde, twisty-eyed mail-mare Flim had previously insisted Flam get to know better (“She’s a bubbly blonde mare, totally your type!”), delivering letters to the lord of the town’s clock tower. Walking by their cart right now was the milky-coated, candy-haired mare and her light-green unicorn friend. (Of course, Flam always thought they seemed a bit closer than just friends, but that was likely wishful thinking.)

The sky was cloudless and a delicious shade of blue, the sun shining as though actually setting was just an unproven theory. The overall temperature was not too cool, not too warm, with a cooling breeze from the north. Perfect weather for ponies—villagers and swindlers alike!

As they neared the center of town, Flim told Flam to start the music. Up came the pompous horns, and from them came an announcement in the form of music. The Ponyvillians saw them now, riding through the town, proclaiming their name and product, for all to come to the square for a demonstration. Most of the townsponies they passed followed them, evidently interested in what they had.

Flam rubbed his front hooves together deviously. The fools wouldn’t know what hit ‘em.

When they reached the center of town, they rolled out their machine, this time refitted with new parts that, instead of easily mass-producing cider, would help to demonstrate their newest sham--er, product.

Flim got the crowd riled up for their demonstration, warning them of other towns that had been hit with a terrible problem: flower lice! Creatures, insects that would devour all plantlife! Many towns had to be shut down from these infestations! And they could have been saved had they merely invested the time and effort into producing what the Fleesum Twins now had: Miracle Growth!

Flam then stomped on a flower for all the crowd to see. It was a crumpled, ruined mess. Then he turned on the machine, which applied the Miracle Growth serum in the form of a sprinkled shower. Suddenly, the flower shot back up, good as new, as though it were never crushed to begin with. The crowd cheered.

They didn’t seem to notice Flam was merely holding the flower up with his telekinesis. It took him a while to figure out how to hide his telekinetic glow (Visible mostly to unicorns), but it was worth the trouble.

The Ponyvillians began to line up to buy some Miracle Growth of their own. It seemed they had gone over well. Suddenly, each of the ponies began almost throwing their money at the brothers. It was hard for them to contain their excitement. “What did I tell you?” Flam whispered to his brother as a bit bounced off his hat, “it was the perfect scheme.”

*****

Applejack couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There they were, the Flim Flam brothers (now going by the name “Fleesum Twins” which made her feel even more intense loathing for them), piling up pebble after pebble, laughing like a bunch of mad-ponies. “We’re rich!” cried Flim. Flam began taking spray bottles of some sham plant-saving medicine and began “hoofing them out”—which in this case meant floating them a certain distance away, and just letting it drop to the ground.

The strangest thing was, Applejack was standing only a few feet away from them as they did this. And they didn’t seem to know she was there. She cleared her throat in order to get their attention. “Oh, we couldn’t forget you,” Flim said, looking in Applejack’s direction.

“Ah sure hope not,” Applejack replied. “Now, I’m willin’ t’set aside arr diffr’nces if y’all’re willin’ tuh…” her sentence trailed off as Flim hoofed another bottle of Miracle Growth to thin air before her. It fell on the ground, and bounced off Applejack’s foreleg.

Applejack couldn’t understand which was crazier: that she was actually willing to work with her enemies, or that her enemies pretended that the town was still healthy and going. The fog was still thick and the morning cloudiness hadn’t subsided yet. The air was moist and damp, the atmosphere chilling and lonely.

In short, the deserted town looked spooky enough that it’d drive anypony coming in right out. Yet, here were the Flim Flam brothers trying another one of their schemes on an invisible audience. Just what the hay was going on?

“Surely this all looks quite deranged, but of everything I’ve seen today, it’s not THAT strange.”

A familiar deep female voice came from right next to Applejack, causing her to jump at its suddenness. There was Zecora, wearing her dark cloak as she normally did when visiting Ponyville on a shopping trip. She lowered the hood, revealing her Mohawk (just as black and white as the rest of her), and nodded at Applejack.

“Zecora,” Applejack began, “D-Don’t… Don’t scare me lahk that!”

“You must accept my apology,” said Zecora, “I just got here back from Everfree. There is something foul at play here in town, something has creeped in and turned everything upside-down.”

“Tell me about it! Have you b’n able to find anypony else?”

“Unfortunately I have not. But there is one interesting tale that I’ve got.”

Applejack didn’t have time for stories or riddles, but since Zecora was the only other soul here (not counting the delusional Flim Flam brothers), she decided she might learn something, so she stayed quiet.

“It happened a few nights before, when a hideous creature was at my door. Its face was like madness as a mask, from where it came from did I ask. It hobbled away on legs both thin and fat, its body even uglier than that!”

Applejack’s eyes widened as she saw what Zecora was trying to say. “You saw it too, din’ cha?” she asked in a quiet tone.

“So we both have met this thing most foul. Tell me, when it met you, did it growl?”

“No, it din’ make any noise,” Applejack recalled. “Did it have eyes all spooky-like?”

“Eyes gray as clouds with iris white as death. Looking into its eyes robbed me of my breath!” Zecora shivered. Applejack felt uncomfortable. Since when did Zecora, somepony almost as well-versed in occult magic or bizarre animals as Twilight Sparkle or Fluttershy, shiver at the thought of something living in her own forest?

“Didja come here to shop?”

Zecora pointed out her saddlebags. “No, I came to flee. Who knows what that beast might do to you or me!” Looking at her more closely now, Applejack could see that Zecora was just as outright terrified as anypony else had been. However, it seemed she was not aware of the goings-on in Ponyville for the past few months… or was she?

“Zecora,” Applejack asked, “Did you know about—”

“The Mass Abduction? Unfortunately, that is a yes,” Zecora replied. Her face fell. “But where anypony was taken, I cannot guess. That monster we saw may be a clue, but confronting it might be a foolish thing to do.” She began to leave. Zecora put her hood back up. “If you need me, I’ll be in Fillydelphia by this time tomorrow.” She thought for a second, apparently trying to think of something that rhymed with “tomorrow”, but she was too scared to think straight, it seemed.

“‘If you was smart, you’d pack your things an’… follow?’” Applejack offered.

“Thank you.”

Applejack shook her head. “Zecora, Ah’ve already tried runnin’ away. It won’t work, Ah can safely say. You can go ‘bout as far as the town’s limit, but although you trah t’escape Ponyville, yull find yerself back innit.” She blinked. “Aw, look what yer doin’! Now you got ME rhymin’!”

Zecora laughed. At first, a small chortle. Then it erupted into a great laugh as hearty as a good song. Applejack decided to join in, too. It had obviously been a while since either of them had a decent brush with humor. After they had both calmed down, Zecora said, “Well then, if running is something I cannot do, it looks like my only option now is working alongside you.”

“All right. Let’s try to find ‘rselves that monster an’ see if’n we ‘kin make it talk!”

The two mares, one a pony, one a zebra, both desperate, made way back into the Everfree forest. Meanwhile, the Flim-Flam brothers were swimming through a pile of mud, sticks, and leaves, Flim exclaiming how he had never before seen this much money.

*****

Everfree forest was always a dank and foreboding place. Everything about it was unpleasant: the smell, the chilly air (even in summertime, the air was cold and quiet as a morgue), the sounds of large creatures in the distance, the sound of smaller creatures crawling up your legs, everything. How Zecora managed to stay alive in such a vicious jungle was a question for the ages, but anytime anypony asked, Zecora just said she had her ways. (Of course, she’d say it in rhyme.)

They walked for about an hour before they reached Zecora’s house. It seemed she had only taken some of the essentials of her belongings, as everything else was as it was the last time Applejack visited: the tribal masks lined the walls like they were watching the place, guarding it from intruders; the potions and jars full of ingredients lined the walls. A small bed was in the corner, and a large cauldron out on the left side. Next to it was a spice cabinet (Full of more ingredients) and a bookshelf housing several volumes of potion recipes from Zecora’s homeland.

For the next hour, Applejack and Zecora went over a plan. Or rather, they ended up arguing about what to do next. The clues they had were still few: Bon-Bon’s theories, what they might be up against, the monster from before, what their mysterious enemy hoped to accomplish with all this. There were too many possibilities and not enough evidence for any of them.

They didn’t like to admit it, but they were stuck.

Zecora went through her zoology books (asking for Applejack to join her), and they studied for the next hour, trying to find what that monster may have been, or if there were any creatures that could accomplish this kind of gruesome act—any that resembled the beast they saw.

The hour went by. Zecora closed her last book. Still no clue where to begin.

“We’re wastin’ time!” Applejack declared angrily.

Zecora understood her friend’s frustration, but demanded she remain patient, that they’d think of something. They argued some more: waste of time, we don’t even know what we’re up against, what should we do then (just wait?), finally ending with Zecora angrily stomping the ground and yelling, “I—DON’T—KNOW!”

A second of shocked silence. Zecora had never… yelled before.

“I don’t know, all right? I’m no less scared now than I was last night! I went into this because I thought you knew what to do, but it looks instead like I am expected to know more than you! How am I supposed to know what to do next, or where to go?! I’m even less prepared than you, so I would not know!”

Zecora looked at Applejack, sorrow in her eyes. This was so unlike her, but the circumstances were proving to be just as oppressive to her as it was to anypony else. Applejack had always thought of Zecora as wise and mystical… so much so, that she had apparently forgotten that Zecora was a pony too. Applejack nuzzled Zecora, and apologized for being so angry. “Ah didn’t mean t’upset you, Zecora, Ah’m jes’ worried ‘bout m’fam’ly.”

That seemed to calm Zecora down. “I’m sorry for not understanding the extent of your plight. I…” she looked about shyly, then exhaled sadly. “My outburst, it was not right.”

“Mebbe we should jes’ look at this fr’m ‘nuther angle,” Applejack offered. She and Zecora began pacing about the house. “What we know f’r sure is that the sheer number of abductions means that there’s more th’n jes’ one kidnapper.”

They passed by each other.

“They must be magic-users—likely unicorns, true. But if so, they are experts as they did not leave a clue. They would make ponies disappear left and right. They abducted them whether it was day or night.”

They passed by each other again.

“Tha’s true. ’Slike they was invis’bull.” Suddenly, Applejack stopped. Zecora looked in her direction. “They were invis’bull!” It made sense. All those times they felt like they were being watched was because they WERE—but by something they couldn’t see! She pounded a hoof on the ground. “Zecora, don’tcha have a potion what can make ya see things what’s invis’bull?”

Zecora grinned. “It is a simple enough brew to make. I have a few of the ingredients, but the rest we’ll need to find and take.”

She had everything she needed but was missing the teeth of a venus flytrap. Of course, the venus flytraps in Everfree forest had appetites for more than just flies. She remembered hearing horror stories of small animals and even ponies being devoured by those horrible things.

And now she had to knock their teeth out. Applejack merely sighed and decided to go look for one. Zecora gave her a map, a knife, and a compass and began to work on readying the other ingredients and getting the water to a boil.

*****

Money, money, money, oh sweet Celestia’s blessed hide, SO much money!

Their first day back in Ponyville had gone over swimmingly. They had earned more than enough money to pay for any hotel they needed to stay in—which would come in handy when they needed to leave, which would be soon. There was no way these dolts would fall for this sham much longer, especially if some of them had already tried using the “Miracle Growth”. They had found a nice quiet alley to hide in for now, before they got back on the road to hit up the next town.

Flim was counting the money, giggling as he noted their bits just getting higher and higher. Suddenly, he felt his brother Flam poke his shoulder. “Flim?”

“Flam, not while I’m counting our earnings. Four hundred thirty-eight, four hundred thirty-nine…”

“Flim, I…” Flam gulped, and his voice was very grave. “…I think you should see this.”

Flim looked up at his twin and read the worry on his face. He got up, the money forgotten, and Flam led him out of the alley. Outside, they noticed all the ponies drinking the Miracle Growth, bathing in it, throwing it at each other. Even though it was only water they sold as something better, this was not the reaction Flim was prepared for. He chuckled.

“Had me going there, Flam. So the Ponyvillians are stupider than I thought.”

As he turned to go back to counting bits, Flam grabbed him by the shoulders. “No,” he insisted, “them drinking the water wasn’t what I was referring to; look at some of them more closely.”

Flim looked out from the alley again. As Flam pointed to specific ponies, he noticed it right away: some of them looked… bizarre. One was missing an eye—there wasn’t even a second socket. Another’s mouth was on the side of his face, and he was missing a leg on one side, but still moved about as though he still had one. One’s mane disappeared as he turned from one side to another. The strangest part was, everypony was acting as though this kind of thing was normal.

Flim began to feel scared for some reason. It was a little like seeing a ghost—some kind of weird glitch in reality. Why wasn’t anypony else concerned about the red mare whose face distorted when she spoke? Or the blue stallion whose back right leg flickered as though it weren’t there, just an illusion?

An illusion?

An illusion.

Oh, horse apples!

Flam darted for the wagon, his brother in tow. They were in such haste, they forgot the money. They started it and drove as fast as they could… away from… the… say, that’s a pretty light…

I wonder what it’s doing there…

… light…

… oh…

*****

The sun was beginning to dip in the sky, not that it was easy to tell unless Applejack were in a clearing. Most of Everfree was covered in a dangerous shadow, and hiding within it were equally dangerous creatures. Applejack knew enough about this forest to have come prepared—she had borrowed a knife from Zecora (Zecora had called it a “Khukri”), and held it in her teeth currently. Besides some overhanging brush, she hadn’t had to use it on anything else.

She prayed it would stay this way.

Applejack looked at her map. Too dark to see it. She looked around for a clearing, but couldn’t find one. She looked at her compass, and noticed the red needle pointing left. ("Let’s see, red needle allus points north, so…") Applejack began to head northward, eyes peeled for a clearing. Or a light. Any light, really. Just like that one, right over th—

What in tarnation.

Applejack had to do a double-take before processing what she saw. It was a light, all right: it was a sea-green glow being emitted from an object that was long and curled. The object looked like a big glow-in-the-dark fishing hook. The light cast itself on a familiar bloated and horrible face.

Applejack hid behind a tree, peeking out from behind, and trying not to be heard. She saw two ponies following it: Flim and Flam. Their eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, the glow the same color as the light from the horn. So the Creature WAS the kidnapper! (Or at least one of them.) It seemed the creature’s single, curled horn was able to hypnotize ponies.

She did the math in her head. (Math. Yet another thing Applejack was not good at.) It was very likely it was this Creature that had abducted her family, Bon-Bon, Filthy Rich, and Faithful. But what about what happened with Diamond Tiara and the cook? It couldn’t teleport, too, could it?

Applejack decided it might be smarter to just observe the Creature from a distance. She watched as it led the brothers through the wood, and followed discreetly, hiding behind trees and taking care not to trip or step on twigs or do anything that might get their attention.

Before long, they approached the mouth of a cave. Applejack noticed there was light coming from it. As the Creature lured its prey into the cave, Applejack expected to hear a scream, like in those horror movies Rainbow Dash loved to watch. But after waiting a few minutes, she heard nothing—which was probably worse.

She edged closer to the cave’s entrance, taking care to be as quiet as possible. Her ears perked, listening for any sound. She slowly looked into the cave.

Inside, Applejack saw that the cave was lit by torches built on stands. She guessed the Creature was intelligent enough to build them. And intelligent enough to start a fire. And intelligent enough to kidnap ponies, lead them to its lair and eat them.

Applejack’s stomach was fluttering. Did… did she really want to go in there? Was what she would find really be worth looking at? Was what she would find… be pleasant at all?

She shook her head. This was no time for feeling scared. Her Pa had told her her family was alive, dangit. And her Pa never told a lie once in his life. Applejack HAD—TO GO IN—THE CAVE. She patted her hat, as if gaining courage from it, and marched into the monster’s lair, drawing out the Khukri, ready to kill the beast if it meant seeing her family again.

The first thing to greet Applejack, unfortunately, was the cave’s overall stench. An offensive smell, lingering and potent, assaulted her nose, and Applejack recoiled instinctively. In an attempt to save her nose, Applejack decided she should breathe through her mouth.

The cave was strangely long. The entrance led to a descending hallway, again lined with torches. Applejack’s heart began to beat harder as she felt the distance between herself and the exit widen. The further she got, the more noise she heard. It was an echo, bouncing off the walls and into her ears. She heard…?

… Laughter? A child laughing.

Apple Bloom laughing.

Her eyes wide, Applejack whispered her sister’s name in disbelief, and began to pick up the pace and raced down the hall. Suddenly, just as the noises got loudest, they stopped all at once. Applejack stopped the moment the noise did. She waited, for what seemed like an eternity, but the chattering and laughter did not return. And then…

…thump…

…thump…

…thump…

Something was coming up the hall. Applejack could already tell what it was, that horrible, gnarled, bloated Creature, and her teeth clenched on the handle of the blade. Her eyes widened with expectation, her nostrils flared. She pawed at the ground, ready to charge. If that beast really wanted a fight, it was going to get one hell of a battle!

Then she saw it. Saw it for the first time in its entirety as it shambled up the steps on its oddly mismatching legs. Two were bloated and looked more like rhinoceros legs, while the other two were thin and sickly looking—one of the two skinnier legs seemed to have more than one knee, while one of the fat legs didn’t seem to have any knees at all. Its lumpy head was cocked to one side, as if it could not move from how its bloated neck was placed. It did not have a mane so much as it had a few bristles of hair on its head and on its chin. Its horn was a dark green, long and curled, jutting out of its forehead at a weird angle.

Its body was gray, like a dead body, and bloated in some areas while twistedly skinny in others; it secreted a smell that I (with all my knowledge of words) am not even comfortable describing. The mouth was a mess that Applejack was unable to make out from this light. Its left shoulder wriggled about rhythmically, and as the Creature got closer, Applejack realized it was a large heart pumping blood to the rest of the body. Applejack began to question how Celestia could let such a miserable thing exist.

But it was the eyes Applejack remembered well. They were blank, soulless, and without any discernible direction. The whites were grey and dead, as though the Creature itself was a zombie (And it likely was). The center of the eyes, where the irises and pupils would be, were a blank white. Again, it was the eyes of a dead animal—which if Applejack had her way it would become.

When the Creature noticed her, it stopped coming up the hall. They stared at each other for a second, Applejack trying her hardest not to freak out at the sight of this monster. The Creature grunted, as if it recognized her. The way its head was shaped overall implied it was impossible for it to speak, even if it knew how. It groaned, then gurgled. It was more of a death rattle, almost.

Applejack began to lose her nerve as the Creature came closer. “You take so much as ‘nuther step,” she threatened, “an’ Ah swear Ah will CLEAVE— YOU— IN—TWO!”

Her voice echoed powerfully throughout the cave. She was honestly quite surprised that she was able to speak so clearly while holding a knife in her teeth. The Creature took a step back, and seemed intimidated by Applejack’s outburst.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice. “Applejack?”

“Apple Bloom! Stay where y’are! Ah’m here t’rescue y’all!”

“But Applejack,” Apple Bloom said as she walked up behind the Creature, “we a’ready was.”

Applejack glared at the Creature. “You get…” she began to sputter in rage. The Creature began to step backward as Applejack came forward slowly but angrily. “You get… Th’ buck… away fr’m… mah SISTER!!!”

“Applejack, you watch yer language!” Granny Smith shouted as she appeared from behind the Creature. “Tha’s no way f’r a young mare to talk, an’ there’s yung’uns present! Ah raised you better’n that!” She stopped by the Creature’s side, looked into its eyes, and back at Applejack. “’Sides, ya durn fool,‘s as Apple Bloom says, we was already rescued by this big feller.”

Applejack set down the Khukri. She walked forward as Big Macintosh joined the rest of the Apple clan. She looked them all over as if expecting them to be… I dunno, clones or copies or something. But she felt, just by looking at them, that they were safe and alive. With tears in her eyes, Applejack gathered them all together for a group hug.

“You guys,” she sobbed, “Ah thought y’all was dead.” She held onto them as she told them of her parents’ visitation. They listened with rapt attention, but Applejack was almost certain they’d all think she’d gone crazy. Apple Bloom was in tears near the end of her recounting, as was Big Mac. Granny Smith held a stoic face, but the story of her son and daughter-in-law had obviously touched her, as her eyes shimmered with tears at the thought of her colt, her beautiful boy.

That’s when Applejack noticed that the Creature was crying, too. Fat tears were rolling down its misshapen cheeks, its dead eyes acquiring a new character from this simple emotion. Applejack walked up to the Creature and threw her forelegs around its neck, hugging it—only to hold her breath as the Creature’s BO smacked her right in the face. “Thank you,” she told it, “Thank you… f’r savin’ mah fam’ly.”

The Creature looked at Applejack lovingly. Its deformed mouth attempted a smile, but failed.

She let go. “Say, whut ‘zactly did this fella save y’all from?”

The other three Apples looked at each other as if the answer might be written on each other’s faces. For a while, nopony said anything. Finally, Big Mac turned back to Applejack and said, “… W’re not sure.”

Applejack looked at Big Mac as though he was wearing a funny hat. “Really? So how’d y’all know you were bein’ rescued?”

Granny Smith told her the specifics: they were woken in the middle of the night by something they were unable to see, but they knew was there—they could all feel its presence. When Applejack asked why she didn’t remember any of this or didn’t wake up, Granny just said she didn’t rightly know. She guessed whatever was in the room was keeping her asleep; after all, it DID claim that it had “special ideas” in mind for her.

Applejack felt sick.

As Granny Smith explained how the Invisible Thing grabbed Bon-Bon and dragged her around until she fell through the floor as if it were water, Applejack felt herself becoming even more scared than when whatever they were up against was still a secret. As they ran to Everfree forest in an attempt to lose them, Filthy Rich and Faithful stayed behind to distract the Invisible Thing (“Well, it was Filthy Rich’s idear, but Faithful wouldn’t go nowhere without ‘is master”) and to their knowledge, were kidnapped too.

But they were led through the Everfree Forest by the Creature, whose horn had charmed them into following it. When Applejack asked them why its horn could do that, Apple Bloom innocently stated that the Creature was so scary-looking and smelly, its horn was probably the only way it could get anypony to get near it. The Creature’s face fell, its feelings hurt. Applejack scowled at her sister and Apple Bloom apologized.

After the story, Applejack remembered that Zecora was still waiting for her to get the teeth of a Venus flytrap. She explained the situation about Zecora and what they had planned. Granny Smith agreed that was probably the best way to go. So they all began to leave the cave. “Wait!” said Apple Bloom.

She ran back, deeper into the cave. Applejack heard a smacking noise, followed by angry yelling. Apple Bloom yelled, “MOVE IT!” in such a demanding way as Applejack had never heard before. Out from behind the corner came the Flim Flams, covered in mud and grass, their burgundy jackets and top hats completely ruined, Flam’s goatee caked with dirt. Granny scowled. “Apple Bloom,” she said, “Ah know yer a bright gal, an’ I won’t question yer decisions too much, but… why we bringin’ those palookas?”

“Better’n leavin’ ‘em t’ their own devices, innit?”

The Apples thought this over and agreed: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Applejack walked up to them, forcing eye contact. “All right, you two, lissen up! Here’s wha’s goin’ on.” She explained the situation to them. “So, ev’n if y’all planned on skippin’ out, there’s no way to do it.”

The Flim-Flam brothers shared weird glances. This story DID explain why everything they saw was an illusion: like a big trap for unsuspecting travelers. Applejack continued. “So if’n y’all play nice wit’ us, we’re more than willin’ t’let you help us out instead’a lettin’ whatever’s out there getcha. Butcha gotta pull yer own weights, got it?”

The brothers turned away from Applejack and discussed this amongst themselves. Apple Bloom whispered, “We ain’t got all day, fellas! Zecora’s still all by her lonesome!” Applejack hadn’t noticed it herself, but now that Apple Bloom mentioned it, leaving Zecora all alone was one of the dumbest things she’d done today.

Flim and Flam turned back to Applejack. “OK, but underneath the condition that, when this story breaks to the rest of Equestria, you’ll all tell the press that it was us who saved the day.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes narrowed. “WHAT! What kinda hokey demand is that?!”

Flim smiled. “That’s easy: you yokels are much too simple to concoct a working strategy against our mysterious enemy,” and here, Flam finished his brother’s sentence, “so in exchange for you to use our plans, we demand to be known as heroes.”

The Apples all shared glances. The Creature seemed to make a face that agreed with the Apples’ incredulousness. All at once, the Apples and the Creature all turned and began to leave. “Hey!” called Flam. “Where are you going?!”

“What, y’all didn’t plan on bein’ left behind?” Applejack said, looking behind her. “I thought you two were s’posed to be all strategic-like.”

After a few seconds of sputtering, Flim yelled. “Y-You’re not going to get very far!”

This time, it was Big Macintosh who spoke. “We’ve already gotten this far. Have fun tryin’ t’void all the dangers out here in Everfree all by y’rselves.”

After they all left the cave, they stopped and hung out at the entrance. After a few seconds, the Flim Flam brothers ran out of the cave, clearly expecting the Apples to not be there. They calmed down and put on their bravest faces, even though everypony else could tell they were just as false as their business ventures.

So off they all went, following Applejack’s map back to Zecora’s hut. All the while, there it was again, that sickening feeling of being watched. Applejack couldn’t wait until they were able to get that potion made—this paranoia was driving her nuts. The Flim-Flam brothers apparently felt it too, as their eyes darted about even when there wasn’t any noise. In fact, the forest was the quietest now that it had been all day, which scared Applejack.

As they pressed on through the woods, Apple Bloom held onto Diamond Tiara’s doll (Applejack was surprised she still had it) and squeezed it for comfort. Suddenly, Apple Bloom felt her hooves step on something decidedly not-dirt: it was soft and squishy… like a tongue.

Applejack heard a loud snap and a scream. Everypony turned around and to their horror, saw Apple Bloom caught in one of Everfree forest’s flytraps. It was a huge plant: the size of the mouth alone indicated it could handle more than just tiny Apple Bloom. The length of its teeth measured about as long as Applejack’s legs, its skin the color of the earth on the ground to better disguise itself to prey. Suddenly, the mouth rose from the ground to reveal the rest of the head, and large, long roots erupted from the ground and began to flail madly.

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack darted for the flytrap, but was swatted hard by the flailing roots. Suddenly, one of the roots grabbed Flam by his back leg and lifted him up and over the flytrap’s head. It began to open its mouth—inside, he saw Apple Bloom stuck to the side of the mouth (he had heard that it took days for the glue of its mouth to digest prey), screaming and calling for her siblings. Not knowing what else to do, Flam began to scream.

Granny Smith wasted no time. She pulled out her late husband’s shotgun, aimed it at the beast, and fired. She was knocked backward by the tremendous recoil (which she had forgotten about), but the flytrap took a pretty good hit to the head, and it dropped Flam to the ground.

Big Macintosh had managed to get past the whipping roots (which reminded him more of tentacles, actually) and to the head. With an angry yell, he raised one hoof and stomped the flytrap’s head, causing the strong material to dent. It made a sound like a whinny, and suddenly, the attention of all the roots went straight to Big Mac.

Just as all the roots were about to grab Big Macintosh, they froze, covered in a sickly green light. He looked to its source—the Creature. It had grabbed all the roots at once (which was probably easy, since they were now in almost the same spot) and tied them all into one large knot.

The Creature then lifted the flytrap up and out of the ground by its roots. The overall body of the thing was impressive: the “attack” roots all came from the head, with several more roots that must have been there to keep it in the ground if anypony tried to lift it out (in this case, it failed). The roots must have been a good twenty feet long each at least.

The flytrap was lifted up, then the head was smacked against the ground. It let out a yelp, with Apple Bloom screaming bloody murder. “Wait!” Flim yelled to the Creature. “What are you doing?! You might hurt the kid!” Flam finished his brother’s thought. “You’ve already disabled it; just let the big guy and the farm girl force it open!”

At the brothers’ insistence, the Creature stopped trying to smash the thing open and merely held it upside-down at the roots. Big Macintosh then ran up to the flytrap’s head. It growled upon his approach. “Apple Bloom!” he yelled. “Ah’m gonna buck th’ monster’s mouth open! You ready?”

From inside the flytrap came a terrified “Just do it! Do it do it do it!”

Applejack had helped her grandmother up to her hooves, and ran along to join Big Macintosh. Her older brother gave the head a strong kick, knocking it towards Applejack who bucked it back to Big Mac. It took a series of strong kicks in order to get it to break completely (for a plant, its head was harder than wood). Before long, the head had fallen to pieces and Apple Bloom was out of the beast, but covered in a sticky goo and sobbing.

Granny Smith set to work cleaning the goop from her granddaughter’s body, with Big Mac trying to calm her down. Applejack turned to the Flim Flam brothers and the Creature. She looked at them gratefully. “Th… Thank you,” she said. It felt strange to thank an enemy for his help, but the Flim Flams probably had it weirdest: being thanked by an enemy. The Creature merely grunted, as if to say, “Hey, no problem.”

Applejack turned to her little sister. “She okay?”

“Just shaken up,” Big Macintosh replied. It must have been a horrible experience. She was nearly eaten by that thing! Applejack nuzzled her sister. “I’m sorry Apple Bloom,” she said, and repeated her apology over and over again. After all this excitement, Granny Smith breathed a sigh of relief and settled on her haunches. All that running around and shooting wore her out.

After a few minutes, Applejack removed some of the flytrap’s teeth. “We’re gonna need these f’r th’ potion,” she explained. So off they went back to Zecora’s hut, the flytrap’s body behind them.

*****

Zecora’s hut. Mid-afternoon. All was quiet. At this point, Applejack had begun to equate silence with danger. She didn’t want to break off from her family and allies (especially not after what nearly happened to Apple Bloom) but she began to walk faster, closing the distance between herself and the hut.

As she reached the door, a sick chill raked her back. It was like having all your color drained out of you—only Applejack could feel it. She barged through the door, and gasped as she saw him for the first time.

His back was turned, but she could tell it was a pony. He was wearing a dark blue jacket (Not a fancy one, like the burgundy ones the twins were wearing) with its collar turned up, with a black undershirt that covered his upper half down to his front hooves. From the brush being moved around in front of him, painting words on a wall, Applejack could tell he was a unicorn. His fur was a whispy pale blue, with his dark purple hair (topped with a small black top hat with a yellow flower stuck to it) flowing over one side of his head.

Before Applejack could say anything, he turned as if to look at her, then—poof! As if he were never there, and just a figment of Applejack’s imagination.

The other came in through the door, Apple Bloom demanding to know what was wrong. Then they all saw it: written on the wall, a message left behind from Zecora’s kidnapper, painted in black oils:

Ready or Not, Here I Come
Isn’t this fun? :)

---

AUTHOR'S NOTE: OK, I'll be honest with you guys, this chapter was way too long. The beginning of this chapter was really meant to be the ending to the first Applejack chapter, but I felt having the downer ending helped make the situation seem really hopeless at the time. Putting it here was probably the better idea, but I'll understand if you disagree.
By the way, every line I wrote of Pa Apple's dialogue, I imagined my grandfather's voice. So if you cried during this scene, chances are good I was, too. ^_^

Comments

[BenMitchell90]

That was... holy shit.

1: I teared up a little at the scene with AJ and her parents. And since you just revealed that bit about your grandfather, that makes it even more moving.

2: "Applejack HAD—TO GO IN—THE CAVE."
Are the Skin Taker and Horace Horrible involved in this twisted plot, by any chance?

3: I love the Creature (though from your descriptions, I sure wouldn't love to be near him!). Pretty brilliant idea.

4: Adding the Flim-Flam Bros. was a nice touch. When you first revealed that they were actually... well I don't wanna spoil it for any other readers, but I actually shuddered. Then you revealed WHY they (SPOILER), and it made it even creepier.

5: GIANT ENEMY VENUS FLY TRAP! COOOL!

6: That ending is bone-chilling.

This story keeps getting better and better! Keep it up!

[Brony_Fife]

350794

1. I actually had to dry off my keyboard after writing that scene. Not kidding. Probably the most moving thing I've ever written. And it's about cartoon ponies, sure... but it's also about a girl who's just lost everything being reminded that she can still push on, and that the battle ain't over yet. A girl who died and rose again. A girl who lost faith, but found it again, found herself again.
And it makes me tear up every time I think of such miracles. I was glad to have found the chance to put it in.

2. There're shout-outs all over the place in this story--one of the things I love about writing it, really. I could make a list of the ones I've referenced so far, but it might end up being ridiculously long. Funny story about this particular reference is that it almost didn't make it in. I only added it after one of my test readers (reading it aloud) said "Applejack HAD. TO GO IN. THE CAVE." I fell over laughing, even though the scene itself was pretty damn tense.

3. Ah, the Creature. Whatever is taking the ponies isn't the only one making them disappear...

4. Funny thing about that is it's based on the weird animation errors in the show. Now that I think about it, if the "glitches in reality" happened in the show, then... that means...
That... that makes me feel even more afraid.

5. Thought a nice tussle would liven up this part of the story.

6. It's also another shout-out, this time to Tribe Twelve.