Visitor Four
VISITOR FOUR
“We should’ve thought of some code word… or some sentence…”
Applejack sat with her back propped against the door, her pickaxe held loosely in one leg. She’d been mumbling to herself for some time now—a new way of staying awake, or so she figured.
The cider had made her lips dry and cracked. She whispered, “At least if we’d had a sentence or a phrase, some string of words, I would’ve known. It would have made all this so much easier.”
They’d torture anyone they could for that type of information, she reflected gloomily.
For the last few minutes—since her sister had screamed at her and run back upstairs—she’d been pondering all the things that could have been done to prevent such a catastrophic event. The one that kept coming back to her was that her and her friends had never made code words or phrases to help distinguish the real from the fake.
A particular sentence seemed best. Something like, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Applejack snorted when it floated into her head. One track mind, it seemed.
The faint smile felt odd on her face, so she dropped it. Thoughts of what they should have done would not help them now. She needed to think of what she could do, as short a list as it was.
Sluggishly, she went back to the window and found the same wall of thick fog blanketing the countryside. Her porch lay bare and she was grateful for it. Someone claiming to be their savior could very well mark their end. Never before had she wanted so much to lift the responsibility placed on her shoulders—it made it hurt to think and to breath. Each time she turned someone away, they took a bit of her heart as they left. She wondered how much longer she could stay vigilant, before someone found a way in.
She kept her eyes on the fog, wishing she could see through it. It was a bitter struggle keeping them open.
“They’ll try Fluttershy next, I know it,” she said. “Or maybe two of them. One of them could be injured and dying. I could see them trying that. Maybe they’d tell me Granny Smith was left out in the field, heart attack or something, trying to get back here. Maybe it would be Big Mac. Any time now, they’ll try again. But I’ll see through it. I won’t let anyone I don’t trust in. They can try all they want, but I know I’ll see through it. I'll protect us and—”
Applejack put a hoof to her mouth, catching herself in mid-sentence. She didn’t think it was right talking to herself as much as she’d been. While her words reinforced her conviction, did she really believe she could turn away another member of her family? If they were injured or dying and calling out her name for help?
Her eyes watered and she rubbed at them.
“Please, don’t make me do that.”
To distract herself, she went to the kitchen and picked up her list. Without much thought, she removed the three cans her and her sister consumed along with the two apples. Then she carefully went over the supplies, even if they’d barely been dented by the pair.
Three-hundred forty apples.
Six barrels of water. One barrel of cider.
Fifty-eight sealed cans of preserves.
Thirteen planks of wood.
Over two-hundred nails remaining.
Four jars of Zap apple jam still left on the counter. One half-empty.
One pickaxe. No hammer.
Applejack glanced from her list to the table of supplies. She knelt to the floor and looked around, her breath becoming heavy by the second. Her list fell to her side and she swung her pickaxe to rest on her shoulder.
She said hurriedly, “It doesn’t mean anything. It’s missing. It’s misplaced. That’s it. That’s—”
Her legs shook where she stood, her mind clouded with thoughts.
“Then why won’t she eat? Why ain’t she ever hungry? Why—”
One of her legs gave out, and she sank to the floor. A few tears spattered around her trembling hooves. Her body told her to break down—fall to the floor and weep and stop caring about safety and protection. It was too much, she felt. Too large and too terrible to fathom. The thought that her own sister might not be who she claimed.
She roughly shook her head. “That’s not true. Damnit, that’s not true. I didn’t take my eyes off her the whole time back here and I know I could tell the difference if that wasn’t her up there.”
Applejack stood up again, wiping at her cheeks. She steadied herself.
“If she took it, it was for self-defense and nothing more. I refuse to believe anything else. That’s my sister up there. It has to be.” She hesitated. “I need her to be. Oh, Celestia, please.”
In the stillness of the house, Applejack glanced towards the living room as something upstairs smacked against the floorboards. The same sound repeated.
“Apple Bloom?” she whispered.
***
“Hurry! Climb in before someone sees you!”
Applejack listened to her sister through the door, one of her eyes twitching out of her control. She put a hoof to the door and took a breath. Then she turned the knob and entered.
“Stop what you’re doing right now!” she shouted.
Apple Bloom turned her head to her, eyes wide and mouth agape. To her side sat three boards with twisted nails; atop them sat the hammer from downstairs.
Apple Bloom’s window stood bare, the boards Applejack had hammered in place hours ago taken down. The bottom half of her window was open; Sweetie Belle currently struggling to get through. Scootaloo held one of her legs and was attempting to pull her the rest of the way in.
Applejack took a step towards them, pickaxe resting on her shoulder.
Before she could take a second step, Apple Bloom halted her with two hooves to the chest. “Stop! Stop, Applejack! They’re okay! They’re my friends! You made a mistake, but they’re all right, I know it!”
Applejack didn’t take her eyes off the pair climbing through the window.
She said bluntly, “Then how did they get on the roof, Apple Bloom? One of them can’t fly. The other can barely fly.”
Apple Bloom pushed against her again. “Don’t say that! That’s mean! They used the barrels against the house and climbed the drainpipe. I told them to.”
Sweetie Belle plopped out the window and stood next to Scootaloo. Once she caught sight of Applejack’s pickaxe, her ears fell flat and she took a step away.
She squeaked out, “Applejack, why are you holding that? Please, don’t hurt us. We’re sorry for coming in when you didn’t want us to, but Apple Bloom told us it was okay.”
Applejack looked down at her sister. “I want you to go into my room down the hall and lock the door. No matter what you hear, I want you to stay there until I come get you.”
Her sister started to cry. She shook her head. “You won’t. I won’t let you. I know they’re telling the truth and I won’t let you make the same mistake again.”
Applejack said coldly, “The only mistake so far has been leaving you up here alone. It’s one I don’t plan on—”
Sweetie Belle shrieked and ran to the corner of the room.
Applejack looked up in time to see something large and black swim over her vision. She brought her pickaxe up and was thrown out the doorway, the changeling diving after her.
It lay atop her, pinning her to the ground. Its jagged hooves clawed at her chest and neck while its fanged jaws clamped down at the air only centimeters from her eyes. Spittle dotted her cheeks and forehead as the changeling hissed loudly, flapping its thin wings to propel itself into her.
Both of Applejack’s hooves gripped the length of her pickaxe under its chin, too close to her own body to maneuver. She tried pushing it away, only for it to snarl back at her and press down harder.
The changeling’s barbed hoof dug deep into the front of her left shoulder and she screamed.
Applejack lifted her weapon again, bringing it a few inches away from her. She kicked it as hard as she could in the chest, hoping its shell might crack with enough force. The changeling only appeared to grow more and more erratic; beads of sweat rolling down its smooth head as it desperately tried bridging those last few inches between them. Each kick made it readjust its position atop her, but not once did it rethink its attack. Its screamed both in fury and in pain.
Applejack turned her head the moment its jaw shut, narrowing saving a chunk of her muzzle.
She had made quick work of the enemies in town, but that had been hours ago. Now she was tired and weary. The fight had left her long ago.
“Apple Bloom! Get out of here and downstairs! Go out the doggy-door in the kitchen! There’s only a few boards there. Get out and hide! Go wherever you can!”
A bit of the changeling’s spit got in her eye as it pushed down on her again. It was close enough for her to feel its warm breath on her face.
If it eats my eyes, I’ll find it without them and crush its head between my hooves. If it rips out my throat, I’ll still have a few seconds to break its neck before I black out.
She couldn’t leave it alive. Not for Apple Bloom to deal with.
The changeling closed its jaws again, grazing her cheek.
Applejack screamed, pushing against the pickaxe again.
The changeling lifted its muzzle to bite down again and its head jerked. Then its eyes closed and its legs went limp.
Applejack threw it to the floor beside her and got to her hooves, her entire body trembling.
Her hammer was embedded into the changeling’s skull right between the ears.
Applejack wavered in place. “Oh, Celestia… .” She looked at her sister, sitting against the doorframe. She was crying heavily, her eyes trained on the floor between the changeling and her sister.
She whispered as she rocked from side to side. “I didn’t know. I honestly didn’t know. She looked the exact same, so…”
Applejack winced, kneeling beside her. She hugged her tight.
“It’s all right now, Apple Bloom. It’s dead. You did good. You saved me. We’re all right and that’s all that matters.”
Her sister sniffled. “I thought I could trust them. Why are they doing this to us?”
Them, Applejack thought, as she glanced from her sister to Sweetie Belle, still tucked away in the corner of the room. Same as Apple Bloom, she was trembling and in tears.
This wasn’t what Applejack had expected.
She let go of her sister and took a few steps into the room.
“What are you?”
Sweetie Belle seemed not to hear, her head lowered and tears falling down her face. “I didn’t know, honest… she acted the same and she said we’d get help. That means they got Scootaloo… and my sister, too.” She hitched in a breath. “They got everyone and now they’ve got me…”
Applejack asked again, “What are you?”
Sweetie Belle finally looked up, noticing Applejack’s hard-set expression and the pickaxe laying against the floor. She covered both eyes with her legs and screamed.
“No! No, please, don’t! I don’t want to go! I want my sister back! What did you do with her?”
She shrieked her sister’s name, over and over. After a time, she quieted and sobbed, not bringing her legs away from her face.
Applejack set her pickaxe down. She blinked heavily, her whole body wanting to collapse. She pressed against her torn cheek to feel more awake.
She went closer to her. “What are you?”
Sweetie Belle refused to look at her. “I’m Sweetie Belle. But you’re not Applejack. And nobody’s anybody anymore.”
“If you admit to being a changeling right now, I’ll remove you from my home unharmed. But that’s only if you show yourself right now. Your true self. If you’re lying and I find out, I’ll kill you right then and there.”
She whimpered, “I wish my sister was here. She’d stop every one of you and protect me. Her and all her friends. She’d help me. She’d stop you.”
Applejack huffed out. “I’m not a changeling!”
Her outburst only made Sweetie Belle tear up again, shoving herself as far into the corner as she could.
Applejack sat on the floor, watching her. She had no idea what to think anymore, other than that, for once, she wanted to believe someone. Wouldn’t she have attacked Apple Bloom while the other had her pinned down? Wouldn’t she have warned the other that her sister was behind her with a hammer? Wouldn’t a changeling try to fool others with the aid of someone real? Someone innocent and gullible?
Maybe, Applejack thought, she just wanted to help someone again.
Awkwardly, she lifted Sweetie Belle out from the corner. She pressed her small body into her chest and gently shook her, her head resting on her shoulder. Slowly, Sweetie Belle’s shakes stopped and she hugged her back, squeezing as tight as her little legs could.
Applejack told her, “It’s okay, Sweetie Belle. You’re safe now. And I’m sure you’re sister’s fine, wherever she is.”
“You really think so?” she croaked out.
She patted her back. “I really do. Just like before, we’ll come out on top. The Elements will see to it, one way or another.”
Sweetie Belle buried her head into her shoulder. “You’ll protect me, won’t you?”
Applejack felt her dry lips form into a smile. “Of course I will. We need to look out for each other, don’t we?”
The filly squeezed her again; some of Applejack’s mane bouncing against her nose. “Your mane’s itchy.”
Applejack chuckled. “I reckon it might smell a little bad, too. It’s been a while since my last bath.”
Sweetie Belle giggled. “Do you love me, Applejack?”
Applejack thought for a moment. “Well, I…”
That was when Sweetie Belle licked her neck before chewing on her flesh.
***
Applejack screamed in pain and tried to push her away from her. Using both her hooves and her teeth, Sweetie Belle hung on, gnawing at her skin as lines of blood began cascading down her shoulder..
Spinning quickly, Applejack tore her away and Sweetie Belle’s tiny frame hit the wall and slid down. Her blood-soaked mouth left a garish spot on the wallpaper.
Before she had a chance to recover from the blow, Applejack took a few steps away and placed her pickaxe in her teeth. Already, her head bobbed and her vision swam.
Sweetie Belle lunged and Applejack propelled her back to the ground with one of her rear legs. She brought the pickaxe up and buried it into her chest—a small, startled scream soon turned into a quiet hissing noise, the image of the white unicorn darkening into a black changeling.
Its legs twitched a single time and went still as Applejack let go of the handle still embedded inside it.
She fell to the floor as Apple Bloom came around her. “Applejack, you’re bleeding! What… what should I do?”
Applejack put a hoof to her open wound. “Get me a rag or some cloth. Anything to stop the blood.”
Apple Bloom left her and opened one of the drawers on her dresser. She came back with a strip of fabric she no doubt acquired from the real Sweetie Belle.
Using her teeth, she ripped off a long piece and clumsily wrapped it around her neck. Applejack held one end and helped tie it off, halting the worst of the blood.
Apple Bloom held one of her legs between two of her own. “We need to get help, sis. You’re bleeding a lot. And I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”
Applejack blinked until her vision cleared. “I’ll be all right. It’s a small wound—it didn’t get me as bad as you think. It only looks bad.” She motioned towards the open window. “But I don’t like that hole still being there. Go downstairs and bring back that tin of nails. We’ll seal this place up again and then think of what to do.”
Apple Bloom nodded anxiously. “Okay. Okay. I’ll be right back.”
Her sister left and she heard her hurry down the stairs. Applejack got back to her hooves and stood in the center of the room. Some of her blood pattered to the floor. The board she was standing on creaked as she swayed. The wind outside whistled against the open window… as did another sound somewhere behind her.
Applejack turned and went out into the hall, focusing on the shut door adjacent to Apple Bloom’s. She put her head against it and heard the whistling noise again.
Nudging it open, she looked around, spotting the missing boards and left open window. The discarded boards and bent nails had been carefully stacked below the frame.
Applejack went and closed it, stopping the wind. Her lightheadedness slowed her thoughts. When she faced the rest of the room, she noticed the closet door open ajar, a thin ray of dull light from outside hitting a small glassy object inside.
Without thinking, she went to the closet door and opened.
Applejack moaned and collapsed, all of her physical pain forgotten.
The glassy object she had seen through the crack was one of Apple Bloom’s eyes, left to stare at nothing at all. Her cheeks had gone blue and her head was angled far too much to one side. Her body was spread motionless along the floor, as was her bow, left undone to her side.
Applejack wanted to cry. And she wanted to vomit. And more so than that, she wanted to turn back time and stop everything bad before it started. But something else pulled at her.
Apple Bloom called from the bottom of the stairs, “I can’t find them, Applejack! Did you put the nails in a drawer somewhere?”
Applejack looked at her sister again, lifeless and unmoving.
Apple Bloom yelled again, “Applejack?”
Applejack shut the closet door and went back out into the hall.
She managed to say, “Coming… sis.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
1,012 users online
129,394 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ouch... that last scene
im confused, the changelings clearly had an advantage yet decided to follow that path to succeed?
5738325
I've got to agree, it makes no sense at all.
Oh my god, this...
agh...
my heart... my feels...
I love this story author but... damn you...
Wow.
This is creepy, I really shouldn't be reading this but... something is tempting me to look... GAH I WAS SO EXCITED WHEN I THOUGHT SWEETIE BELLE WAS GOOD! NOOOOOOOO NOT SWEETIE BELLE!
OK one of three things happened either Applebloom has been dead from the start and its been a changeling the entire time, she was killed when she let her "friends" in or the dead body is a changeling pretending to be a dead Applebloom so AJ kills her own sister and gives up in despair.
iambrony.dget.cc/mlp/gif/161614__UNOPT__scootaloo_apple-bloom_sweetie-belle_crying.gif
I am a sad person right now. That is all that needs to be said.
This is a very sad universe...One of many universe that have fallen to evil or disaster
5738325 Finally someone gets it. There's something awfully wrong with the changelings here. Awfully wrong I am SURE of it.
I... i don't even...
WHY ISN'T THIS STORY MORE WELL-KNOWN? THIS IT TOP NOTCH PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR, RIGHT HERE!
5738325
5740285
Earlier, it was mentioned the changelings gave up on feeding on love, and turned to eating hearts directly. For one thing, it is clearly much less sustainable. But, perhaps the other problem with that approach is that only one changeling can eat the heart?
That could explain why the changelings are competing, rather than cooperating, in the moment where it counts. Though they were cooperating plenty during the invasion, maybe they are competing now that the food is scarcer?
On the other hand, if AB is a changeling, she actively killed another changeling. Which didn't stop Sweetie Belle from exposing herself despite certain death, when she had already succeeded in fooling AJ and AB.
It doesn't appear to make sense.
5740681
cause alot of people do not like ponies and horror at the same time. i think the people that are reading this might be the odd balls!
5744705 Still the why they did this is strange.
Pretty obvious nopony can be trusted. If I was Applejack I would kill them all. My paranoia would be off the charts.
If i was in this situation i would know i would be screwed, so instead of delaying the inevitable i would go out there with whatever weapon i could find and fight to the death, killing as many Changelings as possible.
Wait, so wouldn't Bloom have to have been dead for a while to look like that? Was she a changeling before the invasion?
6900252 celestia will be there soon, she just needs to survive until then.
5738777
8506652
Applejack should double-tap that corpse, juuuuust to be safe.
The solution to the ponyville problem? Excessive use of napalm and White Phosphorus to remove any living thing from the area.
That was when Sweetie Belle licked her neck before chewing on her flesh.
Delightfully devilish, Elytron.
Those last few sentences were written extremely well... but DAMN YOU, you cruel person.