Applejack
She felt the familiar wood of the farmhouse's front porch beneath her hooves before the vision had even fully formed.
Belial's voice in her ear made her shiver. “You country folk always put me on edge. Honest to a fault and all that. One of your kin folk in another world relieved me of a golden fiddle I was quite fond of. Took ages for me to get it back...”
The image finally materialized and Applejack found herself on the front porch of the farm-house in which she'd been born. Before her were a pair of elderly mares in a set of slowly moving rocking chairs.
Applejack did a double take when she realized the mares were herself and Rainbow Dash.
“Lovely, isn't it?” Belial faded into existence beside her. “A picturesque scene at the end of a life filled with love.” He tried to force a disgusted sneer but found the muscles in his mouth unwilling to move. “How... charming.”
Applejack stared at the serene picture formed by the hazy magic of the King of Lies. She and Rainbow Dash were rocking in tune with one another, hooves tightly clasped in the grasp of the other.
Their eyes and faces told a tale as old as time; trials, tribulations, children, grandchildren, old friends, new friends...
The smiles were satisfied at a life well-lived, a life lived to it's fullest.
“You are the spitting image of your granny, by the way. I wonder, if this is true...”
“...it's a lie.”
Belial could not suppress a chuckle. “Believe it or not, that actually took longer than I anticipated, you being the Bearer of Honesty and all.” He looked over at her expecting to see the same grin of victory her lover had worn. Part of him was actually looking forward to it.
She was crying.
His hoof morphed into a claw once again and he caught one of her tears on one outstretched talon. He brought it to his lips and let his reptilian tongue taste it.
Bitter.
A tear of anger.
“T'ain't fair.” She whispered. “I knew it was fake the second I saw it. Didn't even get the chance to hope that it was real.”
“The truth hurts.”
She rounded on him as the vision vanished into the blackness. “Well?!” She demanded. “What's gonna happen?”
“Happen?”
“Do I die? Does Dash? Does she leave me? Do I leave her? WHAT HAPPENS, DAMN YOU?!” Her green eyes blazed into his, their inner fire matching the quite literal flames inside his own head.
He did not budge. “What does it matter? You won't recall any of this in the morning.”
“So what's the harm in tellin' me?”
Belial considered. “If you desire it so much, I shall give you what you want.” He held up the clawed hand. “But everything has a price.”
“Price?”
“If I tell you what you want to know, you won't remember it in the morning. But for the rest of your life … there will be the shadow of fear in your heart. A lurking despair, knowing but at the same time not knowing what is to come.” The claw shifted into a hoof once more. “And that terrible gift comes with a price.”
“...I have to know. Name it. My soul?”
Belial smirked. “Tempting, but your soul is beyond my reach, daughter of Jack... descendant of Eden.”
“What?”
He waved her off. “I'm going to be... going to be...” His lips struggled. “...nice... about this and only take a sinner's soul.”
“Just one?”
He nodded, his hoof changing into a claw once more. “Surely there's somepony who has wronged you? Wronged your family.” His eyes burned into hers. “Took something dear to you.”
When it clicked in her head, Applejack didn't even pause to consider it. “Feather Duster.”
Like lighting, Belial's claw shot to his right and ripped a hole in the darkness.
As Applejack watched, a tiny figure fell into the outstretched claw. She imagined she heard a tiny scream as the claw closed into a hoof once again, pulling the figure into Belial himself.
Belial closed his eyes satisfactorily as the rip in space and time closed. “The offering is accepted.” He smiled at her. “I was going to take him anyway, but souls always taste sweeter when they're given by others.”
Applejack tried to feel remorse for what she had done.
She remembered her mother's dead eyes and could not.
“Well?” She raised an eyebrow.
Belial shook his head and closed his eyes. “A deal is a deal.”
Applejack watched in amazement as a black tentacle emerged from Belial's chest. It wavered in the air breifly before shooting straight towards her forehead. She prepared to run, but it reached her...
As the knowledge of what was to come filled her mind, Applejack's eyes grew wider and wider. Her nose and ears began to run with blood. Her mane and tail turned stark white and stood on end. Her mouth opened in a silent scream.
For a moment, Applejack went mad.
The tentacle returned to Belial just as quickly as it had emerged. He stamped his hoof and in a flash Applejack was her normal self again. He shook his head sadly as she looked around in terror. “I did warn you...”
She stared at him. “There was so much death.” She whispered. “So much suffering...”
“Wrought by whom?” He asked.
“A king. No... a queen? I'm not sure.” She looked at him. “I saw Dash. I saw her with somepony else.”
Belial's eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Indeed? Do you remember who she leaves you for?”
Applejack closed her eyes and tried to remember the severe face beneath the heavy crown. She could not. Only the name remained. “She's called... the Terra Queen.” She looked at him again... and tilted her hat in his direction. “Thank you.”
“What in the world for?”
“You told the truth. You gave me what I asked for.”
Belial snorted. “Indeed. This world must be getting to me.” He raised his roof to end the vision.
“One last question?”
He nodded.
“All that death and destruction... is there anything we can do to stop it?”
Belial shook his head. “No. A storm is coming, Applejack, and nothing in all the worlds can prevent it.”
Before she could say another word, his hoof came crashing down.
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...vive la appledash
Well, never let it be said that AJ isn't one to face reality.
Just a little error to fix.
The story's getting really good. This was worth the wait. I'm glad it all came out at once.
Two trials left. How will they go, I wonder? Must read on.
The fridge horror is strong with this one.
Old Scratch flat-out says AJ's soul is beyond his reach? I want to believe that of our heroes, but it almost seems too easy... and then, not only is AJ willing to damn herself to satisfy her curiosity, she proves willing to damn somepony else to satisfy it, and for revenge. I'm never going to deny that FD had it coming, or that Belial would have taken him anyway, but the effect on him is not the issue- the effect on AJ is. That "lad" did say that nursing hatred in one's heart is as bad as murder, after all.
Some years ago, there was a DC crossover, Underworld Unleashed, in which the resident devil figure, Neron, ultimately desired Captain Marvel's pure soul. Marvel ended up offering it to free everyone else Neron had imprisoned, and Neron couldn't touch it because of that very act of selflessness. AJ wanting to satisfy her curiosity is not exactly on that level to begin with, but it still rang a bell. Perhaps a fair bargain is just less effective than the good old slippery slope.
And if you wanna be profound
And you really gotta justify
Take a breath and look around
A lot of folks deserve to die
I'm really Hoping that AJ is that queen. I'll cry if not!
I have a theory, and it might seem a bit out there, but hear me out. The queen in that vision is the Terra Queen, right? Terra is a Latin word for earth. As implied in 'Apple Family Secrets', Applejack is some kind of earth goddess. At the end of that story, she makes some plants grow, but I get the impression that she can do far more that. Also, Dash is the Element of Loyalty, and I can't see her leaving AJ like that. Conclusion: Applejack is the Terra Queen.
this chapter is too damn sad. ajs emotions are realistic as hell, and her basically murdering feather duster was surprising, but not at the same time. too many thoughts to fit here. ill review this as a blog post soon.
Ooh, that hits like a hammer!
Also, what the fuck