• Published 24th May 2015
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My Little Pony Bizarre Adventures - Part 1: Ponyville Central - LateBronyWriter



One Thousand years ago, the saints Celestia and Luna drew upon the power of the Red Stone of Aja to defeat the demon Discord. Now one thousand years later the Stone is destroyed, beginning the tale of six ponies and their quest to redeem the world.

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Chapter 31-The Monster Within-Take 1

The Monster Within-Take 1:


No matter how bad her day was, no matter how horrible things would get, Applejack is a mare of simple pleasures and preferences. And despite how badly the day had gone for her, the fact that she could eat a quiet healthy dinner with her family fills her with the kind of subtle joy that can never be replicated. So it is that the entire Apple family (sans Granny Smith who had left the day before to visit Appaloosa for their national pie baking contest) sit down together at the end of a very long day for supper. Indeed, a slice of apple crumble pie is almost enough for Applejack to put the day’s events behind her.

“So,” Big Mac asks, “How was yer trip?”

Almost enough.

Sighing heavily, the downtrodden mare turns to face her brother. “Give me a break, Big Mac; like Ah said before; I ain’t talkin bout it.”

“Are you sure?” Applebloom asks. “Ah just ask cause yawl are kinda down.”

“Yep, now finish yer pie,” Applejack plainly states as she shovels another mouthful of comfort food into her mouth.

Dinner at the Apple family household had never been very loud. Despite the rambunctious nature of the Apples, dinner was a sacred time for them to come together as a family and love on each other. It was a time to let everypony know what was going on the farm and what was happening in each other’s respective lives.

However, the silence filling the dining area is anything but reverent this night, as the second-eldest Apple struggling to push aside her own feelings on Twilight and the Holy Corpse and focus on her meal in peace. What happened to Twilight was kept a secret from almost every pony in town for a reason, it could ruin her good name and inadvertently reveal things about the Holy Corpse, and so Applejack too was sworn to the same silence as the guards-ponies. In her heart, Applejack still hopes that things will end up working out as they had always have before. However the practical side of her still can’t help but doubt that things will be so easily resolved, given how much hot water Twilight is in. And what about Celestia? How was she supposed to tell her sister that the ruler of their nation, a pony who could do no wrong, was using magic to hurt others?

Applejack sighs deeply. It’s nights like this one, nights when she doesn’t know what to do, that she misses her parents the most. Though she likes to play the part of the dependable and strong-hearted mare that her friends expect her to be, there are days like today, when she visits her parents’ graves to vainly try to feel like they are still a prevalent part of her life, like they are still supporting her in her darkest moments. However, she can’t let her brother and sister on to what is going on with Twilight: as far as they know, Twilight is still in her library snuggled up in her blanket safe and sound. So once again Applejack finds herself pushing the truth further down inside her as she tries to keep her family content and happy.

Despite her lack of words - or rather, because of it - the two other Apples know that something is very much up with their sister. Applejack is good at keeping secrets; however, when It comes to hiding her own feelings on matters she can be read like a book. Both the Apples know that something is eating her, but without Applejack’s desire to come clean there is no way to get the orange farm mare to fess up. Thus, the three Apples sit in relative silence around each other, Big Mac seeking to alleviate his sister’s sour mood and Applebloom seeking to take advantage of it.

“So…..” Applebloom picks at her food as she tries to phrase her question carefully. “Me and the other crusaders did as ya asked and we were REAL good while you were gone.”

“That’s good, Bloom!” Applejack smiles, sincerely glad that her sister stayed out of trouble for once while she was gone.

“And since ah was so good, that means me and the girls can have a……..” the yellow filly asks with pleading eyes as she attempts to lead her sister on.

However, in Applejack’s mood she has absolutely no idea what her little sister is aiming for, and so attempts her first frantic guess. “Um, an ice-cream?”

“Nope!”

“Um, a new bed?”

“That'd be nice but nope!”

“A new coltfriend?”

“APPLEJACK!” the filly yelps, causing the mare in question to snicker. “Ya didn’t forget, now did ya?”

“Of course not, Applebloom! I didn’t forget whatever it was that you wanted me to remember,” the mare states with the absolute worst poker face in the world.

The filly’s eyes fill with sparkles as she looks over at her sister. “So does that mean me and mah Crusader friends can have our sleepover?! Cause we sorta already planned it out…..” the filly whispers under her breath. “Oh please please PLEASE say yes!” Shifting gears in an instant the youngest Apple begs with Category Five pleading eyes against her unsuspecting sister.

Applejack groans as her sister’s aim suddenly becomes apparent, recalling that she did promise her sister a sleepover if she behaved. Normally she would have kept track of something so important, but with Granny out of the house and all that was happening it completely slipped her mind. “Sure, why not? As long as Rarity’s looking after yawl ya can’t get inta too much trouble.” Applejack picks up her plate, placing it in the sink as she rubs her sore forearm. “As fer me, Ah think things will be getting back ta normal round here.”

The first word from Applejack all night that belies her true mood leaves her two siblings wondering what she is talking about. “Applejack? What da ya mean by that?” Big Mac asks with no small amount of confusion in his voice.

Applejack looks at her brother with equal mixtures of sorrow and happiness. “Ah mean that Ah think Ah’ll be able to work full-time on the farm again, on account that Ah think that our little group is done and gone.”

Now they’re worried. ‘It’s no wonder that Applejack’s so down in the dumps’ both siblings think to themselves as if with one thought, ‘she must be fighting with her friends!’

“Now sis,” Big Mac states calmly and surely, “you know that I’d be the first ta appreciate the extra help, and havin you around again. But there’s really no reason ta give up on yer friends. With what yer bringing in from working with Twilight, and the fact that yawl get along so well, ya’d be a right fool for givin up on them.” Big Mac places his plate in the sink. “It’d be a shame ta lose that friendship now after all this time.”

“Big Mac is right, Applejack!” Applebloom whines, her mood a complete contrast to Big Mac’s demeanor. “Ya can’t just give up on ya friends so easily. The Applejack that I know wouldn’t give up without a fight! She wouldn’t……”

“What do you know?!” Applejack snaps at the filly, causing her to flinch in her chair. “Ya seem ta think that fighting is all yer sis is good for; well let me set ya straight, Applebloom. Ya can’t fight everythin, and there comes a time when all things have ta come to an end, and when that time comes ya just have to accept it instead of complaining like a baby.” The orange farmer straightens her hat on her head as she prepares to walk out the room without another word, leaving her family stunned.

But once again, however, Applejack’s conscience gets the better of her and she turns to face her family. “Look Bloom, Ah’m mighty sorry bout snappin like that. It just, this is somethin that can’t be handled by just swingin hooves, it’s far deeper than that. And well…..” The mare struggles with her next words as she rubs her sore arm again. “Well, there's just aint no easy answer fer it.”

“But Applejack….” The filly brushes her teary eyes. “You’re still friends with Rarity and Twilight and everypony else, right?” Applejack stops rubbing her arm as she looks down at her hooves. “Ah mean, even if ya fight with each other yer still good friends, right? Yawl just need ta get together and work it out!”

Applejack looks back at her sister’s confident expression as she thinks to herself. Could it really be that easy? If they all get together, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna and Twilight and the rest, could they find a way to make this work out? Applejack’s new hope is cut off by another persistent, painful throb from her arm bringing her out of her thoughts and back to her troubles in the present.

“Applejack?” the filly asks.

“Maybe, Applebloom, maybe,” Applejack says longingly. “Ah’ve had a long day; Ah’m hittin the hay now.” And with those cryptic last words the mare trots up the stairs, leaving her two worried family members completely in the dark about the situation that she has embroiled herself in.

Trotting down the hall with measured steps Applejack tries to maintain her mental balance, as her mind goes through option after option to get her friends back together. Idea after idea on how she can bridge the gap between her friends caused by all this craziness courses through her head as she scratches her forearm viciously. However, just as before, as an idea pops into her head her thoughts are cut off by a sharp, painful throb coming from her arm. This time the pain is sharp enough to cause the mare to wince, and she looks at the red, sore area of flesh that is causing her this much trouble.

“Must have been some bug bite,” the mare remarks to herself as she scans the hall for the bathroom. Finding the familiar room the mare trots into the small enclosure, locking the door behind her as she takes a closer look at the large welt on her lower forearm. Pulling on the faucet, the mare sends a cascade of warm water across the wound as she thoroughly cleans it out, washing her own face in the process. Looking from the tired-eyed mare in the mirror to the wart on her hoof, the mare reaches a quick and logical decision. Reaching under the sink cabinet the mare pulls out a long, thin-pointed sewing needle and carefully places the tip of the point on the sore boil. The mare takes a deep breath as she prepares herself for the pain.

“No problem, Jackie, just got to pop this sucker and bandage it up. It’s just like pulling off a band-aid.” Applejack closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath. “It’ll be easy.”

“I doubt that!” a grating and nasal voice responds.

Applejack’s eyes widen in shock as she searches the small room for the sound of the voice that just assaulted her hearing. “Who’s there! This had better not be another one of those Strange Stone hallucinations. Cause Ah've had enough of those!”

The mare looks around the room in a frenzy, pulling back the shower curtain, looking out the window, and even checking under the sink. Finally content that she is alone the mare breathes a sigh of relief. “Whew, it must have just been mah imagination. See, Jackie, it was nothing.”

“Who you calling ‘nothing’, you backwater country hick! I’m super-impressive!”

The hairs on Applejack’s neck stand on end as she locates the sound of the voice. Suppressing her rising fear, the mare looks down at her hoof to see a large razor toothed maw on her sore hoof. Like a blackened blister with teeth, the infection on Applejack’s arm has evolved into a monstrosity with a broken, twisted mouth of teeth grinning back at her with a hungry smile.

“Hiya Toots!”

Reacting accordingly Applejack fumbles back on herself as she screams out in terror. “W-W-What is it? What the buck!? How did this happen?”

“How rude!” the maw spits out. “I’m not an ‘it’, you idiot, in case you didn’t know! Though I suppose with your level of education that’s the best greeting you can come up with.”

Applejack simmers with anger as the offending boil clears it's throat. “Well, since you’re so slow on the uptake then I’ll tell you WHO I am! I’m a Stand called THE MONSTER WITHIN! And I just so happen to be occupying this spot on your hoof; Ah may be small now but I’m mighty impressive. And let me tell you, gal, my user’s got big plans for you!”

Applejack’s thoughts run at a mile a minute as she instantly recognizes the fact that this little mouth on her is very big trouble. Thinking fast, the mare clears her throat as she addresses the offending boil. “So yer a Stand, hunh? And I take it cause you’re so talkative yer one of those automatic types, hunh?”

“Well, the southern belle got one right! Impressive. Well since you’re right I won’t deny it.” The boil admits. “Yeah I attack automatically! And that means that even if you somehow attacked me, which would crush your own foot in the process, the big man wouldn’t get hurt at all!”

“Ah see.” The mare quickly realizes, “And since ya can’t move of yer own accord, that means ya can’t attack. So all Ah have ta do is put up with ya until I can beat the stuffing out of whoever is controlling you. That bout right?”

“Hey, do you think I’m some helpless dope? Normally I would have killed ya impressively! But the boss has a thing fer pretty mares like youse!” The evil maw grins. “So I’m gonna take over yer body and lead you right ta the main man himself, right after I use it to whack the other two dopes in this barn!”

In her rage the mare punches the offending maw with her Stand, causing both of them to wince in pain. “Yawl have some pretty good vision fer a buncha teeth, so why don’t ya go ahead an read mah lips. OVER MAH DEAD BODY.” Applejack stares hatefully down at the boil on her how. “Now why doncha give up ya little guy an take me to yer user so Ah can slap em silly?”

The maw grins at Applejack’s threats as it’s cheeks bulge. “Alright youse gal, prepare ta get yerself defeated by mah impressive skills!” With a shower of bile the Stand spews forth blobs of spit and a small projectile, hitting Applejack square in the shoulder before she can react.

Applejack winces as she reaches over to her opposite shoulder, and with precision pulls out the very needle she planned to pop the bloated sucker of a boil with. “That’s it? A needle? Yawl are gonna have to do better than that!”

However Applejack’s optimism and cocky bluffs quickly give way as her shoulder where the needle tit throbs painfully. Suddenly before her very eyes a large black maw pops out of her shoulder, it’s sharpened teeth ready to bite at the slightest stimulus.

“You dope, don’t you get it? I’m a body-type Stand that infects others!” The Monster within snaps between jagged teeth. “Whatever part of a pony I touch I gain control over, and every bite or wound I make creates another of me! I’m a Stand that you catch, a living disease!” Applejack watches in fear as her own arm begins to move of its own accord. The mare tries to send her own commands to make her arm obey her, yet every movement she makes seems to be overpowered by the offending blob on her shoulder. “And now that I’ve got some real control here, it’s feeding time!”

Applejack’s own arm moves towards her, aiming for her neck and forcing her to dodge her own swinging arm. Falling to the ground Applejack holds back the savage attack of the Stand, gripping the inside of her own arm with all her strength to prevent the maw from closing in on her vital organs. With her great strength Applejack manages to push the gnashing teeth away from her body, however with every second the teeth grow closer and closer to her main body as her strength begins to waver.

“Impressive, aint it!” the mouth comments as it draws ever closer to the mare’s throat. “I can keep at this all day since there aint no limit to mah endurance! But as satisfying as it would be to keep at this till you croak I have a better way to end this little stalemate!” The maw extends its teeth in a grotesque way. “BIG MAC, COME QUICK I NEED HELP!” the maw cries out in a facsimile of the farmer’s voice. “See, I can mimic your voice, impressive hunh? Now your big brother’s gonna come investigate and when he opens the door I’ll give him a little kiss and he’ll be mine!”

The room goes silent as Applejack hopes that her brother doesn’t fail for such a ruse, praying that her own strength holds out as the maw draws closer to her body. However, once again her prayers go unanswered. “Applejack?” a concerned voice calls up from downstairs. “Is that you? What’s wrong?” Every step that echoes through the barn a death toll for Applejack and her family.

Realizing that she has little time, the mare thinks fast of a way to take advantage of the relentless Stand. “Big Mac! Don’t come in, it’s a trap!” Applejack yells as she struggles to push the advancing arm off to the side. “Go an git help!”

“Applejack?!” The hoofsteps grow louder as the stallion picks up the pace. The door handle rattles and Applejack desperately puts more of her strength to pushing the maw away from her.

“BIG MAC HELP ME PLEASE!” the maw cries out again in an attempt to lure the stallion in for the kill. However, in the Stand’s attempt to call out Applejack seizes her chance. Flipping over her body the mare moves the infected arm around her hind hooves, pinning the snapping muzzle against the floor. With all its strength the mouth flails as it attempts to escape Applejack’s joint lock.

“Whew,” the mare breathes out in relief, “That’ll hold ya piece of…” Yet in a moment of pure irony Applejack is cut off as the door is bucked clean off its hinges, the force of the impact knocking the mare into the bathtub as the maw escapes from its bind. The shower-curtain falls around the dazed mare, tangling her even further in her trap as the maw wraps itself beneath the cover of the plastic sheet, its mouth licking its twisted lips as it prepares to savor its bound prey.

Pulling the now-broken door out of the bathroom, Big Mac looks around the room for any sign of danger as the light above him flickers on and off before sputtering out, no doubt a side effect from him pounding the door in. The heavy-breathing stallion looks over the partially destroyed room searching for his sister; straining his ears the stallion hears a sloppy mouthy sound and, focusing his senses, he notices the twisted shower curtain writing around in the bathtub.

Big Mac Rolls his eyes as he watches the figure flailing about and moaning in pain in an attempt to free itself from its captivity. “Not again,” the stallion sighs as he approaches the bundle. “Now AJ, how the hay did yawl get yerself tangled up in the shower curtain this time?” the stallion asks as he moves over to the cloaked, flailing figure.

With simple predictable movements the stallion bares his teeth and begins to tear the offending pile of plastic from his sister’s body. “Ah hope yer happy, Applejack. Ya made me buck down a perfectly good door and ruined our shower curtain! An to top it off ya made me think that somethin was really..…”

A hoof extends from the dark, attacking the stallion’s muscled neck taking the Big Mac completely by surprise. Big Mac yelps in equal measures surprise and fear at the fact that his sister’s hoof just bit him as he recoils away from the curtain. “S-Sis what was… YARGH!” The stallion leaps up as another bite from the blackened orange hoof snaps at him like a snake, the side of his neck and his own hoof throbbing in pain from the deep wound.

Big Mac looks at the blacked maw attached to the orange limb that snaps at the air like a feral Timber-Wolf as his mind ceases to function properly from the fear coursing through his veins. The mouth smiles as the shower-curtain is ripped to pieces by its sharp teeth. “Now then, that wasn’t so bad was it?” the maw says, causing all color to flush from Big Mac’s face. “Now how about you come over here and I’ll fill your thick pelt with my lovely kisses now?”

The stallion flails back against the horrible sight as his hoof and neck throbs again, the stallion looking just in time to see a similar black maw come into being on his own hoof, its teeth grinning maniacally at the terrified stallion.

“IIIIIMMMMMPPPPPPPRRRRREEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” the maw screams as the black maw closes around his own flank. Foregoing any notion of courage, the stallion screams in terror as a dark and monstrous figure rises from the bathtub, its multiple grins reflecting off the moonlight that streams through the window behind the abomination. Unable to cope with levels of fear and pain he is no doubt unused-to, the stallion mercifully passes out as the dark figure draws ever closer to his unconscious body.

………….

CRASH!

The yellow farm filly flinches and ceases packing the remainder of her saddle bag, the silence coming from upstairs beginning to get to her. Big Mac had said that he would escort her to the Crusader’s sleepover, when he said he had heard something from upstairs and went to check up on Applejack.

“BIG MACINTOSH! Hurry up up there!” the filly cries out, knowing her brother hates being called by his full name. “What’s takin ya so long? Ya promised ta take me ta mah sleepover, what’s the hold up?!” The filly waits and listens for the sound of her brother’s voice, however the filly is surprised and frustrated to hear no response from upstairs.

“Applejack must really be upset if Big Mac is ignoring me….” the filly whispers to herself, her voice trailing off as she looks up the dark flight of stairs.

True, she really the filly part of her really wants to go to that sleepover the rest of the Crusaders had planned. However the more concerned part of her doesn’t want to leave her sister alone like this, especially if her sister, or even worse, Big Mac, is breaking things around the house again. The filly shudders as she tries to suppress the memories of the last time Big Mac brought a date over. They were lucky that time, only half their house was set on fire - luckily, insurance paid for it - but she still lost some pretty prime stuff. Looking back and forth between her bag and the stairs the filly mentally debates her course of action: wait for her sister to calm down, or go up to try and comfort her herself. The filly looks back and forth for a full minute before finally consigning herself to helping her sister. With a careful hoof the filly begins to climb the stairs up to the second floor, the hallway darkening with every step as the filly trots into the gloom above.

Reaching the top of the stairs, the filly looks down the hall with apprehensive caution at the quiet that greets her. She expected loud noises, shouting, not library level quiet, and the fact that the hall lights are out only makes her more cautions. The hairs on the filly’s neck stand on end as a door creaks eerily, blown by the breeze from the open window at the end of the hall. The only source of constant light to see by is the thin silhouette of the full moon outside, the moonbeams cascading through the window. Applebloom’s hooves shiver in fear as she begins to walk down the hall with shifty eyes, surprised both by the fact that her own house could become the backdrop to a scary movie in under a minute, and by the apparent absence of her siblings.

“O-Okay Applejack, ya got me,” the filly admits as she looks back and forth between the darkened hallways. “Ah’m scared now, j-joke’s over.” However, despite the filly’s admission of her own fear, her brother and sister are still nowhere to be found in the shrouded hallway. The filly is about to bolt back down the stairs with all her strength when the echo of gentle crying reaches her ears, the sound freezing her in her tracks. Putting aside her desire to bolt out of her own house, the filly gulps and perks her ears, swiveling her head in the direction the soft sound is coming from. The filly looks upon the door to her own room as she begins to clearly hear a sound whispering from the half-open door to her abode.

“Applejack?” the filly asks as she trots over to the door of her room, the sounds growing louder with every step. “Applejack, is that you? What the hay are ya doin in mah room?”

“Don’t….” Applejack’s voice struggles to utter, “don’t come up, Applebloom…. run away….”

Applebloom chuckles a bit as she realizes the extent to which her own fraidy-cat suspicions have gotten the better of her. Her sis is probably just crying a bit and accidently walked into her room by mistake. The fact that her sister wanted to be alone only makes the absence of lights and the absence of her brother even more understandable as the filly’s nerves calm down.

With the trademark ignorance of the leader of the CMC the filly rolls her eyes as she approaches the sound of her sister’s voice coming from her room. “Now sis Ah know that confronting yer problems ain’t easy an all that, but ya can’t just cry fer ever! Especially not in mah room! Now yer comin out of there even if ya don’t like it. After all, it’s not like it’s……” The filly presses open the cracked door to her sister’s room as she trots in blindly. “…the end of the world?”

The filly’s mouth hangs open and her rump falls to the floor at the sight before her. A slight gust of wind blows in from the open window, the slight breeze carrying the stench of decay towards the filly’s sensitive nostrils. The window curtain drifts lazily, distorting the narrow beam of moonlight that refracts through the broken glass into several dancing streams.

However, dominating her physical senses and mental attention is a figure that could have only come out of a nightmare. Rising from her prone position on the floor, her back turned to the filly, sits her sister Applejack, her hat absent and coat covered in dark splotches blacker than the pitch of tar. Like a drunken pony her sister staggers, her face a mask of pain and fear, small rivers of tears dripping down her muzzle. Yet what is stunning the filly to utter breathlessness is the fact that the dozens of splotches that cover her sister’s body, from her back to her hooves, and even a large mark on her cheek, are grinning at her. The splotches are grinning at her, with sharpened teeth that put a manticore’s maw to shame, each tooth catching the moonlight from behind her sister like a sharpened blade on a cool winter’s night. Each tooth gnashing at the filly in preparation for the meal they are about to eat. Each one, each tooth and mouth hungering for her tan flesh.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!” the fully screams at the top of her lungs, as the multiple, gaping, hungry mouths open and close on her sister’s body as if they plan to devour her. Even in her darkest dreams the filly couldn’t have conceived of such a terrifying image; the thought passes through the filly’s mind that this very scene will haunt her till the day she dies. That is, if she survives beyond tonight.

“A-A-Applebloom…” The orange mare struggles as tears of pain flow down her face. “R-Run away!”

“NO APPLEBLOOM!” the maws speak simultaneously, “Stay here! We’ll have so much fun at OUR sleepover you’ll forget about your little friends!”

Reaching a nope factor of a billion in less than a second, the filly slides back on her rump as the creature that calls itself her sister lurches forward with the coordination of a corpse, it’s jaws snapping in anticipation of devouring the little filly. The stunned and terrified filly slides backwards on her rump as the form of her sister lurches at her, its mouths open to bite.

“SPROUT!” The filly manifests her Stand just in time as the creature’s iron jaw closes around her neck. In less than a second the force of the bite is returned on the jaw itself, shattering its teeth in an instant and sending the form of her sister falling backwards from the the impact of its returned blow. The multiple jaws scream in both rage and pain as Applejack flails about on the floor. Rising shakily to her hooves, the filly gasps for a breath that she didn’t know that she had forgotten.

“A-Applejack, w-w-what’s goin on? I-I don’t like this anymore…..” the filly states as her legs quake, threatening to give out from underneath her.

“A-A-A-Ap-p-p-pueblo-o-o-om.” Applejack struggles against the pain that courses through her entire being as she attempts to resist the muzzles on her body.

“S-Sis? Is…..” The filly gulps. “Is that you, Sis? Is it…. Is it really you?”

“RRRRRRRR AAAAAAAAAAA!” The figure in front of her leaps towards the filly, who barely sidesteps in time as the bulk of her sister’s body punches through the wooden floor, the boards shattering from the force of her blow.

“A-Applebloom.” The mare sweats feverishly as her limbs begin to quake from an unknown strain. “It’s a Stand attack. If ya get bit by these mouths ya catch……. A plague.” Applejack pulls her body out of the broken floor planks as she struggles to resist the Stand’s might. “Ya gotta run, get Twilight, she’s at the police center. H-Hurry it takes all my strength to slow this monstrosity do-own.” The mare croaks as her body is dragged closer to her little sister against her own will.

“But…” The filly swallows her terror as she takes a step towards her sister. Her ragged breath echoing through the hall as she tries to suppress her rising fear. “But I can’t leave you here!”

Applejack’s arm extends like a coiled snake as the maw tries to take a bite of the filly. “Ya ain’t goin anywhere, ya little minx!” the jaw screams. “I may have had use fer that big lummox of yer brother, but I don’t need a little filly like youse.”

The Stand grins at a figure behind her. “Beside, I’ve gotta kill you impressively fer breaking my wonderful teeth like that.”

The filly freezes as she hears a loud, heavy set of hoof steps behind her. Against her better judgment the filly turns around to see her brother, her big brother who was always there for her, who had vowed to always protect her, covered in dozens of the same grinning mouths. “B-Big Mac?” the filly whispers. With the suddenness of an earthquake his large powerful hoof falls on the filly, pressing her into the wooden floor with a thud as the boards crack beneath her from the blow.

The filly struggles to get to her hooves from the force of the impact as another blow from the stallion sends her skidding across the floor. Rising to her hooves just in time to avoid a chomp from maws on her sister, the filly looks back and forth between her two affected siblings, recognizing with horror that she is trapped in the center of the hallway, each sibling cutting off her escape. Applebloom quickly realises that her way out of the hall is blocked by the rapidly advancing monstrosities that were once her family as she is forced between a rock and a hard place.

“He He HE! There’s no way out, little filly!” all the mouths speak at once. “Your brother to yer back and yer sister to your front! There’s no way to escape my jaws” the mouths state as they lick their lips in anticipation of the kill.

The filly looks between her brother and her sister as she is metaphorically and mentally backed into a corner. In such a situation any normal filly would be bawling their eyes out, begging for what little mercy an inhuman monster could offer before being torn to shreds. However, Applebloom is no normal filly, and she is no coward, and so she does something completely unexpected; something that baffles both her siblings and the monstrous Stand alike.

She sighs.

Not a sigh of deep longing and regret, but rather one of annoyance and mild frustration. It is the kind of sigh a pony might make if their their ice-cream cone fell in the dirt. Or the kind of sigh one would give if they lost a very memorable game that would be rubbed in their face over the course of a year by a prismatic speedster. But it is most certainly not the kind of sound one would expect of a cornered filly about to die would make..

“Ta tell ya the truth, Ah didn’t want ta have ta use this right off tha bat, but…..Ah think Ah've absorbed enough force from Big Mac anyways.” The filly primes her arm as a Stand appears behind her, its shape not the static plant that Applejack had seen before but an entirely, shiny new Stand. Its piston arms and ribbon-red mane flow as if caught in a windstorm, and the needle gauge on its chest hovers into the red.

“Applebloom?” Applejack asks, “Is that….. yer Stand?”

The filly looks up for a moment, locking eyes with her elder sister. “Hold on, Applejack.” The filly looks down at the floor, concentrating as her Stand primes its right hoof to strike.

“VIBRATIONS!” With all her might the filly slams her hoof into the ground beneath her, the force of her blow dissipating into the ground with a dull rumble.

The hallway goes quiet as the rumble dies down, the blow from Applebloom’s Stand becoming a distant echo in the empty house. Originally mystified by her Stand’s sudden appearance, the mouths grin again, their hosts advancing on the filly. “What was that? That wasn’t impressive in the least! That was just…”

Before the offending maws can speak another word the floorboards beneath them give out with a loud crashing snap. Or rather, it would be more proper to say the floor exploded beneath them with the force of a stick of dynamite. Either way, as the ground gives way under the two infected ponies, they fall with a loud resounding crash that causes the little filly to wince from the incredibly loud noise. With caution plastered across her face, Applebloom looks down at the two figures beneath her, both her brother and her sister wriggling in pain underneath the multiple layers of broken planks and living room furniture as they attempt to free themselves out from under the mess. Finally raising their hosts up to their hooves the mouths echo out whiny cries. “Alright that’s it, ya little minx! I’m gonna kill you so impressively that…”

The ground explodes beneath the two ponies once again as the Stand cries out in defeat, “NOT AGain…………. ugh!” Applebloom winces not only from the loud thud of two ponies falling another story but also from the thought of the grounding she is going to get when this is all over for destroying their house.

However, with a quick realization the filly realizes that she can’t stop now, she has to stick to her plan, or else all would be lost. Reacting quickly Applebloom leaps over the crevices in the floor she just created and over to the open window at the end of the hallway. Steeling her nerves the filly closes her eyes and jumps through the open window out into the cool night air, using her Stand’s power just in time to absorb the force of her fall. Breathing a sigh of relief that that worked the filly turns to face her true destination, the fortified cellar door behind her. With speed that would surprise even her, the filly grabs the large heavy plank that is used to secure the cellar door and with expert aim fastens the door shut just in time as a loud heavy thump echoes from the other side.

“Ya see that!” the filly shouts from the other side of the door, confident that she is safe. “That’s the combined strength of mah sister mah brother combined with mah own strength! Ah stored it with mah Stand and sent it through the house to attack the weakest beams all at once! That’s why the floor collapsed twice!”

The door echoes from the impacts as Applebloom smiles with glee. “He, don’t yawl even try it. That there’s an Apple Family Cider Cellar. That there door is made of the hardest apple trees reinforced with iron plates all ta keep out any who’d try an steal from us! There ain’t no way yer getting out of that easy!”

A large red hoof rips clean through the door, the metal bending from the force of the blow. Applebloom’s eyes widen and her mouth gapes as she realizes that she has greatly underestimated her sibling’s physical strength. “…...I’m gonna go get Twilight now,” the filly states as she runs off, the door’s latches beginning to break and give under the monstrous strength of her two siblings’ assault as Applebloom runs for help as fast as her little legs can carry her.

Author's Note:

To Be Continued→

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