VISITOR FIVE
Applejack descended the stairs in a trance. The world as she knew it had gone hazy, as though replaced by some film. She knew she was a part of it—one of the central characters, really—but she thought it might not hurt just to wait and to watch for a time. It was easier that way, she felt. It didn’t hurt nearly as much that way.
When she entered the kitchen, she patted her sister on the head, not meeting her eyes. Apple Bloom asked her if she was feeling okay and Applejack nodded and said not a word. From a drawer, she removed the tin of nails and together they boarded up the window in Apple Bloom’s room. The quiet room across the hall lay untouched, its door shut tight.
Once the windows had been sealed again, the pair reentered the living room, where for the first time since all the horrors began, Applejack finally collapsed onto the couch.
From the kitchen, Apple Bloom asked her, “Don’t you want somethin’ to eat, Applejack? I thought you might want to eat a bit on account of that bite on your neck and all.”
Applejack smiled at her faintly; the loss of blood making her woozy and pale. Her tired and sore body ached in every joint and her eyes begged to close.
Sleep, she thought. I might be happy again if I slept. I might dream. I might dream of something other than this.
Apple Bloom looked concerned and stepped into the room. “You okay, Applejack? You look sick. Do you want a blanket? Some soup? I’m sure there’s a can of something in the stack.”
Applejack patted the part of the couch next to her. “Come sit with me for a bit, Apple Bloom. I just… I just wanna keep you close. It wasn’t safe for us to be apart, even while inside.” She tried for a smile again, her lips twitching.
Her sister came and sat down beside her. “You’re not mad at me, are you sis?”
She shook her head. “Never. You made a mistake, that’s all. But we solved it, didn’t we? We all make mistakes, from time to time, don’t we?”
Apple Bloom put a hoof on her shoulder. “Why are you crying, Applejack?”
She wiped the single tear away and glanced at her wet hoof. “And here I thought I was done with all that.”
“Are you worried about Granny Smith and Big Mac?”
Applejack told her softly, “I’m worried about a lot of things. Like what I’ll do once I leave this place.”
“You don’t need to leave, Applejack. We can stay here. It’s safe here. And we’ve got each other and I’m sorry about before.” She paused and looked away from her. “I should have trusted you from the start. You were only looking out for us and all I could think about were my friends, even if they weren’t my friends at all. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
Applejack pulled her sister to her side and wrapped her in both legs. She rested her chin on her head and stared at a picture on the wall—a portrait of the four members of the Apple family, a few moments after one of the most bountiful harvests in years. In the picture, Applejack was holding her sister in just the same way.
“You remember that day, Apple Bloom?” she asked.
Her sister snuggled closer to her. “Of course I do. That was one of the first years you all let me help with the harvest. You all thought I’d get in the way, but in the end I helped organize better than anyone.”
Most ponies in town could have told her as much. It wasn’t hard knowledge to come by.
She gave her sister a squeeze. “Darn right, you did. And in truth, we never should have doubted you to begin with. But we sure learned better, didn’t we?”
Apple Bloom giggled. “I was glad to help. You guys always made it look like fun.”
She agreed. “Work can be fun, if you know what you’re doing.” Another tear slipped down her cheek. “You, ah… you remember what I told you right after we took that photo?”
“No. What did you say?”
“That I was proud of you—that you were my little apple bucking partner.” Another tear left her eye. “And you know I still am, right? That I’m proud of you.”
Apple Bloom hesitated. “Are you okay, Applejack?”
“I’m only a little tired is all. The last few days have been hard. For you, too.”
She squeezed her sister again, pinning her to her chest. Her eyes never left the picture on the wall, or the eyes of the smiling pair of sisters standing behind the barrel overloaded with apples.
She whispered to her, “Can you do something for me, Apple Bloom?”
“Sure, sis.”
She found the words hard to say. “All I want… I only want you to… I mean…”
Apple Bloom turned to her, and Applejack couldn’t meet her eyes. The voice of her sister was one thing—the living, breathing image was too terrible to look at. “What is it, Applejack?”
Applejack whimpered silently. “Tell me you love me. Tell me that you always will.”
“Of course I love you, Applejack!” her sister trumpeted. “You’re my sis and you’re the best sis in Equestria. I’ll always love you, Applejack. Always.”
Applejack watched the motionless Apple Bloom in the picture, happy and content, a hint of red in both cheeks from the hard day’s work. She heard the words of her sister from someone who was not her and yet it didn’t matter. She knew her sister loved her. Would always love her. All she wanted was to hear it one last time.
Now tears were coursing down both eyes.
“I love you too, Apple Bloom. More than you could imagine. And I’m sorry I let you down. I was supposed to protect you and in the end I couldn’t. I should have kept my eyes on you like all big sisters should, but I lost you along the way. And now it’s too late. And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry for that.”
Apple Bloom turned to her. “What are you talking about, Applejack? I’m right here. You’re not sounding yourself.”
“I’m just fine. Don’t worry your little head. I only need to make sure this house stays safe. No more visitors allowed.”
One of Applejack’s legs rested against Apple Bloom’s chest, wrapping around her shoulders. Applejack slid her other leg up to Apple Bloom’s throat. Then she pulled her towards her.
“You’re squeezing me too tight, Applejack.”
Applejack kept her eyes on the family picture. “I know.”
Her sister squirmed in her grasp. “You’re hurting me, Applejack!”
“I know.”
Eventually, Apple Bloom’s head fell to her side and her eyes closed; her breathing became shallow and ragged. Applejack laid her down on the living room rug and found the sight too terrible to view. An old stack of newspapers sat in the kitchen, so she grabbed the top one and set a single layer over her sister’s head.
***
On the way to get her pickaxe upstairs, she stopped by the closed door across the hall. She laid her head against it. She didn’t dare go back inside. Not yet.
She let the pickaxe drag against the floor on her way back down, clipping each step. The sound died instantly as it dragged along the rug.
She gripped it in her teeth and brought it back, momentary glancing at the picture on the wall again. Perhaps she’d sleep after this, she thought. Perhaps she’d dream of that precious moment again. Perhaps she’d wake up and everything would be all right—or maybe she’d be caught or killed by the time she came to. Whatever the case, at least it would mean an end to all of this.
The thin layer of newspaper did little to muffle the crunch of bone. The pickaxe made a clean hole in the paper, and from its center came a thick ring of crimson that slowly pooled around the head. An advertisement for a local bookstore was the first to turn a muddy brown.
Applejack let her weapon stay where it was, then she took a step back and sat on the ground. It took her a very long time to come to the understanding that something was wrong—that something was out of place and wasn’t adding up. Her focus felt more detached than before, almost numb.
She looked at the handle of her pickaxe, still stuck up in the air. Her eyes followed it down to the stained paper and shattered head underneath. From there, her eyes went to the yellow legs sprawled out along the rug, the tiny smooth hooves that remained motionless.
The changeling that’d disguised itself as Sweetie Belle upstairs had reversed back to its true self once it died. Apple Bloom still looked like…
Applejack shook her head. “No. That’s not right.”
Her eyelids barely held up and as she climbed the stairs she wavered from side to side. She must have lost a lot of blood, she thought. Or maybe she lost something much worse.
The closet door in the closed room creaked open and Applejack stared at the empty space. Old jackets and scarves hung along hangers near the ceiling—worn ice skates lay abandoned in the corner. The corpse of her sister was nowhere to be found.
Applejack shut her eyes and fell to the floor, the sight overwhelming.
It was so much easier to embrace the darkness with her eyes shut tight.
In the darkness, there was warmth—a complete lack of understanding. She knew what had happened, of course she had. But it would be a long, long time until it finally sunk in. It was better to believe in something less painful. To do what all those visitors at her door had asked of her from the start: to believe in all those little lies that begged to be swallowed whole.
It was simple, really. It was a path without pain.
“You all right, Applejack?”
She turned and found Apple Bloom in the doorway. Her big red bow was aligned just right and both big eyes regarded her cautiously.
“I’m fine, Apple Bloom,” she said from the floor. “Everything’s okay now, isn’t it?”
Apple Bloom nodded. “I think so, sis.”
“That’s good,” Applejack said. “That’s good to hear.”
Her sister approached. “You need to come downstairs, Applejack. There’s someone to see us.”
“Another visitor.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, but I think this one you’ll want to see.” Apple Bloom perked up and grabbed at her foreleg.
Applejack got to her hooves and followed her sister, any sense of foreboding danger stripped from her mind. Her sister was safe and with her again, what more could she want? She was by her side, happy and whole, the rest of her life lay ahead of her.
Before even touching the head of the stairs, Applejack noted a radiant glow from the doorway. Entering the living room, she bent one leg and lowered to the ground.
“Princess?” she asked, the bright wash of light hurting her eyes.
Princess Celestia smiled at her warmly, that same radiant mane hovering in an unseen breeze. She, too, bowed, and together they stood.
The rug and coffee table were missing from the living room, as well as each thick board from the door. Applejack took no notice.
Celestia said calmly, “You are safe now, Applejack. Everyone is. I have gathered the other five Elements and now we are waiting on you to help wield them. Time is of the essence, I’m afraid, so we’ll need to make haste.”
Applejack brightened, although her eyes did not open all the way. “My friends? They’re safe? All of them?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes. And they’re waiting for us, to help Equestria again.”
“And Twilight? I heard…”
The Princess placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Twilight is fine, Applejack. Everyone is. And now so are you.”
But Twilight had been ripped to—
No.
No. Applejack had only remembered it wrong. Twilight was fine. She must’ve been. It wouldn’t have made sense any other way.
Applejack looked up to her and smiled, her dry lips cracking. “Thank you, Princess. I’m glad you finally came… before something bad happened to us.”
Celestia smirked and a small burst of green fire swam inside her pupils. It was brief, the sight, so brief a single eye blink would have missed it. But Applejack had nearly stopped blinking at all by then.
“Your eyes…” she started.
Celestia added more warmth to her smile. “I sometimes change the color of my eyes. Have I never told you that?”
“No, you—”
This isn’t Celestia. You KNOW this isn’t Cel—
“—never mentioned that.”
Celestia came to her side and wrapped a wing around her, guiding her towards the door. “You and I rarely talk, do we? That’s something that should change, once we get you out from the fog.”
Applejack agreed and allowed herself to be led away. Her family home did not feel like it used to. Its heart had been removed, leaving a hollow frame of metal and wood. That was all right, though. She always had her sister. Her wonderful, adorable, litt—
Your sister is dead! She’s lying on a rug in the kitchen with a pickaxe through her head that YOU put there! And now there’s nothing you can—
No.
No. Applejack had only remembered it wrong. Her sister was fine.
Once at the bottom of the porch steps, Apple Bloom joined her sister by her side. Applejack ruffled her mane and she giggled. She was happy. Of course she was. The hardship was over and now the one pony in all of Equestria that could make it all better had come. Princess Celestia had never been the type to lie.
The three of them were soon consumed by the fog.
***
“What did you do to her?” Celestia asked Apple Bloom, once her sister had trotted a few paces ahead.
Apple Bloom held a small smile on her lips, her eyes rarely leaving Applejack’s sight. “I did what I had to. To prove to you I belonged.”
Celestia glared at her. “What you did was disgusting and unnecessary. All you’ve done is solidify my reasoning for banishing you and your ilk. You got your brothers and sisters killed, playing your twisted games. The Element could have been yours at any point, and yet you chose to toy with her instead. I thought I taught you all better.”
Apple Bloom seemed unfazed by the remarks. “She loves me. It’s clear, isn’t it? And she’ll continue to love me, forever and always. I feel it even now. It makes my mouth water just walking next to her.”
Celestia lowered her head. “That little filly—the one you parade around as now—did not deserve what happened to her. She—”
“I had no idea where events would lead, Chrysi. Honest. All I did was take advantage of the situation, the same as I believe you must be doing.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re hurting ponies—killing them and eating them. The same ‘vile deeds’ that got us banished in the first place. You might claim to be nobler than yours truly, but you’re starting to act a lot like those ‘ilk’ you threw away.”
Celestia closed her eyes. “I cannot control each and every member of my hive. We were starving, for far too long. Most of what you heard was merely for show, to scare the populace out of their wits before taking them away, leaving them frantic and vulnerable.”
Apple Bloom muttered dreamily, “I love my sister.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, ‘Whatever lets you sleep at night, Chrysi.’”
The pair walked in silence for a time.
The Princess asked, “What happens now?”
Apple Bloom gestured towards her sister. “Now she is yours. To do with as you will.”
“And in return?”
“You allow me back in, along with the others.” She hesitated, before adding, “You also allow me to act as her sister while she stays with us. I think it would be good for her.”
“Or for you?” Celestia rebuked.
“Is it wrong to want more?” Apple Bloom said sincerely. “The way these ponies care for each other—the way they love each other—it’s enough to kill for, I’ve found. When she speaks to me, all of her words taste of honey. When she holds me close, I feel the warmth of a burning sun in my heart. It is pure, her love is. And I want it more than anything.”
Celestia grew sullen. “I tried to love you, you know. All of my children.”
“Then you failed on that front, Mother.”
Applejack turned to them, her eyes tired and half-closed. “What you two chatting about back there? We need to hustle if we want to set things right with the other Elements.”
“Coming, sis!” Apple Bloom yelled, trotting ahead.
Apple Bloom leapt onto her sister’s back, eliciting a chuckle from the other. Applejack playfully bucked a few times, trying to rock her off. The filly giggled and held on tight to her sister.
Celestia watched the two, as a hint of green fire erupted in both pupils.
I had a feeling that the dead apple bloom in the closet was too obvious.
My thoughts were 'No way, that's too obvious. I have a feeling that the knife will get twisted in the wound first.'
But this... excellent story. ten outta ten. All of my hats go off to you, though my feels hate you.
Urrrrggghhhh.
Are we going to see the other endings?
Called it!
I agree with TGM, I too would like to see the other endings.
To be fair, I think we all knew that this was the only way it could have ended.
Marvelous story. You took the Applejack we all know and love, and gradually broke her down into a hollow, exhausted shell that is in the deepest possible stages of denial. Her friends, family, maybe even her Princesses, all dead and gone. But to Applejack, nothing is wrong, her friends are fine, Celestia's here to help.
I once again applaud you for writing this story, the suspense never went away, and the guessing game of "who's real?" constantly had me on edge. I can compare it to John Carpenter's The Thing since, like the movie, we never find out who the imposter is until it is far too late.
Great job, and I am eager to see what you plan to do next. Stay awesome, and keep on writing!
Wow, just wow.
Nice story, though I feel a bit robbed that we never found out why Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle acted so detrimentally to achieving their own goal. That part is still pretty weird.
I kinda want to see the others endings!
I kinda saw the ending coming but that didn't make it any easier to read. Muh feels have definitely been damaged. I really did like this story though. It had some good twists and turns. And the Changelings were used to a potential that clearly couldn't have been done in the show.
Well done
And now this universe is dead the harmony that was once in to is gone this universe has been consumed. This universe is gone, gone to darkness. I'm sorry for what this universes Applejack has gone through but other universes are in need of my help....sadly I could not help this one.
I am confused. Please elaborate.
5776969 Thank you for saying so. I'd been debating keeping in the last part, or making it a epilogue. I ended up keeping it as it was because it helped explain a few things, but it's not perfect. It's also very weird.
5776775 I'm a fan of horror and gore, so the changelings were the perfect fit for my type of story, even if they needed to be changed a bit for maximum feels. Thanks for reading!
5775860 I know... The same guy that wrote those goofy Sombra stories also wrote something blacker than tar. I'll blame it on the fact I'm Canadian and our winters are too long. It does bad things to the mind.
5775531 Thank you for saying so! "The Thing" is one of my favorite films and now that you mention it, might have had an impact on this. I'm not sure. It'll be hard to top this one in terms of dark, but then again, I never thought I could top "Dinner with the King." Anything's possible.
5774691 Thanks for reading all the way through, even if your heart might have died a bit. It was one of the more interesting writing experiments I've done, and I'll explain what I mean, as well as the other possible endings, if one should be interested.
When I wrote and published the first two chapters, someone commented that Apple Bloom was a changeling. That was actually the original ending. Over the course of several "visitors", Apple Bloom would have been giving off more and more signals that she wasn't who she was. Not eating, not remembering personal memories, not acting the same, ect. In the very end, Applejack would have tied her up and tried to bring out the changeling. Apple Bloom would've kept up the appearance and Applejack wouldn't have been able to finish the job because she still looks and sounds like her sister. Then the changeling would've said something along the lines that Apple Bloom is already dead, and pickaxe through the head. A march through fog to find her sister would have followed. But, of course, someone already guessed that.
So do I keep the same ending? Nope. Every time I went back to the comments, I tried to swerve the story in a different direction. Did it work? No. Most readers guessed the final ending, but I still think it was the better of the two. That whole Apple Bloom in a closet part actually came from my editor, when he tried guessing the ending around Visitor Three. He mentioned it as a possibility, and I thought that was just messed up enough to work. So that's what happened.
The last thing to change at the last minute was the final scene between Chrysi and the Banished. I thought of omitting it completely, but kept it in to help explain a bit. Most of what happened is still a mystery, but I'll ruin it in detail in another comment. Needless to say, this was one of the most comment driven stories I've done, and I think for the better. So thanks for all the guesses.
Endings: 1. Apple Bloom is a changeling. Dies. Applejack leaves the house. 2. Apple Bloom may be a changeling. Applejack can't finish it off. Leaves her tied to a chair and goes outside. 3. The ending you read. 4. Applejack is a changeling. (Wouldn't have worked, but I thought about it. As if a changeling convinced itself so much that they were another pony, and loved their sister more than life itself.) 5. The closet was empty all along. Applejack lost her mind long ago. 6. An actual happy ending. (Yeah, right.) 7. Umm. I guess I didn't have seven. Applejack is so disgusted by her actions, she changes her name to Orangejack. Suicide follows.
Enough words? Good.
5777460 Spoiler town!
A short time ago, Chrysalis banished a bunch of her changelings from their home due to their horrific and disturbing behavior. They'd rather toy with their victims and even devour them, sometimes with a competitive spirit. When Chrysalis realizes one last attack will be it on the pony populace, she goes all out, and even some of her "good" changelings, start performing more horrific acts, either because of the banished one's influence, or out of sheer desperation.
After the initial assault on Ponyville, the banished changelings discover Applejack inside her home and make a game out of her. They don't want it to be too easy, so they try to enter with only words. If I were to guess, the one impersonating as Twilight at the beginning, then climbed in through the window and hid in the closet as the dead Apple Bloom, setting up future events.
After discovering Apple Bloom's body (and after having hints that her sister isn't her sister anymore), Applejack murders her and soon finds it was the real one. Her mind shuts down and the banished changeling in the closet reappears as Apple Bloom, ready to play as her sister and soak up all her love for as long as she can. Applejack now believes each little lie given to her and follows Celestia (Chrysalis) and her sister to "safety." The banished changeling makes an offer to Chrysi, saying Applejack can be hers if they're allowed back in the hive. She, begrudgingly, agrees, even if her race seems to have become much more vile than before.
5778454 daaaaaaamn.
5778454
but wait... if that's true...
Then who was fone?!
I'm sorry I couldn't resist
5853501 I guess, in that it's a "show no mercy" type attack. At the Canterlot wedding, she just imitated someone and then had a little fight and then blasted off again Team Rocket Style. They didn't do enough damage to warrant the rest of the pony populace to come looking for them and exterminating them. If they did what they did in this story and ended up losing, I doubt they'd be given a second chance.
5949243 I've never written a story using anypony or somepony or everypony. I think dark fics would look a little odd with them. Plus, characters like Discord or Spike would never get invited to do anything.
Twilight: "Let's go, everypony!" Spike: "And me?" Twilight: "I said everypony, Spike!"
Or.... that's just my preference.
This was one of the darker stories I've read so far. Thanks, I guess?
6105461 Happy to have possibly traumatized you. It was a pleasure.
I liked this quite a bit, except for a few details about the ending.
The biggest issue for me was that a lot of the changeling behavior is a bit questionable. I can buy Sweetieling not getting involved because Applejack was kicking ass earlier and going for the jugular would be a pretty safe bet. But the whole run around with the fake corpse seems a bit unnecessary, and I don't really see what Chrysalis can possibly expect to accomplish with this. The conversation hints that this was basically a snatch and run fueled by desperation but then why let the unstable psychos that she banished back in? Just more mouths to feed, except these ones are sociopaths that have shown a willingness to kill their own if it seems like a good idea. Basically, I feel like explaining what the changelings were doing kind of cheapened it because it's more confusing than just leaving it to us to make our own theories, and this story wouldn't have suffered at all for not explaining their actions.
That said, I still enjoyed the story. Applejack's mounting paranoia was really well done, and it was genuinely hard to determine if a visitor was a pony or a changeling without any conclusive evidence. I do think that out of the endings you listed, the second one was actually the best. The changelings are acting really weird in this, but I think if you hadn't explained it that may have been better. I did think of a couple endings that I think would be pretty good, but I'm pretty sure it's "that guy" behavior to drop them uninvited into your comment section.
6134168 I think it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't type scenario. There are readers that like to figure things out for themselves (I think in this case, it would be mostly up to speculation), and then there are readers that like to know every last detail about a story.
I was originally going to leave most of the reasoning missing, concentrating on Applejack's downward spiral and Apple Bloom mostly, but after reading some of the comments, I thought a little more info couldn't hurt. Still, stories that create questions and theories are the ones I like best, so having people curious about events was pretty fun.
Anywho, thanks for reading and for commenting!
6134607
In a story like this you can almost always get away with not explaining things. Since we just kind of watch over Applejack's shoulder, we can accept not knowing something if she doesn't know it. As I mentioned, I feel like the changelings are making a lot of decisions that don't really make a lot of sense, but if left to each reader to figure out they can fill in the blanks and reach conclusions that make sense to them. For example I like the idea that changeling have no fear of death, and will form plans that hinge entirely on one changeling exposing another to "prove" that it's a pony and can be trusted.
That said I did once tear into a story largely because it didn't explain an important detail, so you're right about damned if you do and if you don't. I imagine there'd be demand for you to explain the changelings motivations if it hadn't been mentioned in story.
All I can say for this story....
Woah...
6149629 All I can say to that is: Thank you!
6275128 I could see the Changelings going after the mane six first, as they'd be the most likely ones to stop them. Considering if they get rid of just six ponies, they can then have all of Equestria (sort of), I don't think they'd mind offing a few ponies. Also, some things will become clearer later...
Oh my, this looks creepy as hell. We shall read later.
6275138 OH GOD! *takes pistol with 6 bullets in it and shoots my hole family one by one even though theres 7* OH SHET!
And now you all see that I WAS RIGHT!!
Cherngelerngs ARE horrible monsters that MUST be exterminated with extreme prejudice (and racism. Lots of racism. ALL THE RACISM FOR THE ACCURSED BUG PONY DEMONS!!)
So, I shall now release the genetically modified Cordyceps fungus to kill them all.
Because, disguised or otherwise, the fungus will find them...
6417792 I guess you could say that if thos ended too fast it would... "suck".
Kek.
5778136
...yeah, it does read like you changed your mind a couple times. Might have been better to stick with the original plan, regardless of how obvious it was. This feels like a contrived swerve.
Holy crap.
Now this is a horror story done right. I didn't know you had it in you.
6476348 Dark and depressing is my bread and butter... if only more people read those type of stories.
What's really surprising is that people think I'm funny. Where'd anyone get that idea from?
Great story. Very effective. Just a bit of constructive criticism: having AJ leave with "Celestia" and ending it there would have been truly mind-destroying, like AJ was going off to heaven with the angels or something. The ending as is was a bit confusing.
6557837 Yeah... the ending's a little hit and miss. Originally, it would've ended with Applejack meeting "Celestia" and that would've been it, but some earlier comments had people confused, so I thought one last scene from the villains' POV might help. Or not.
The original ending would've had a very David Lynch vibe, I think. "What do you think happend?"
Anyways, thanks for reading and for commenting!
If that's ending 3, and another ending is her leaving with Celestia and nothing else happening...what's the other endings?
I actually felt the horror. I watched it play out in my mind as I read this. This was very, very good. I liked it a lot. I've always wanted to write a good horror story like this one. Or maybe just a very dark story in general. I feel that it's very hard for me to write those. Well anyways, enough of my ramblings. This was well written.
I give you points for the paranoia fuel in this story, as well as the uncertainty. But I reduce points for the one of the tropes I have strong hatred for, downer endings with no sense of hope whatsoever. I hate it when a character struggles so much, only to fall, paving way for the bad guys to win.
So thumbs up for set up and atmosphere. Thumbs down for the ending.
memeshappen.com/media/created/Well-Damn-meme-6682.jpg
The changeling's behavior would make sense if they decided love was too hard to evoke and collect and did something to alter themselves to feed on fear.
They're all screwed, so totally screwed.
For me it feels more like unbearably sad than some kind of horror: changeling's plan is so perversely overcomplicated and twisted. Is there really any mind that could generate and execute it for zero sensible reason?
I admit this twist felt just a little cheap, since in this chapter, Applejack seemed to immediately figure out she should double-tap the corpse she just made, in this moment where she should be acting as mentally incapable as she's ever been. But she didn't try it with the one in her closet.
I... today was supposed to be a good happy day for me and this...
AJ normally isn't my favorite pony but I feel so bad for her in this.
And the extra twist with the changeling sneaking in and pretending to be a corpse had me confused at first, thinking she was hallucinating was very well done now that I see you changed based on comment guesses.
All in all very good and sad. Not too terrifying, but definitely unsettling and heart breaking. And you didn't overdo the gore, so thank you for that! I managed to eat and read at the same time.
oh my god, what a move.
5778454
Geez, that is fricked up.
Absolutely exceptional.