An Anon-a-Miss Persona

by Arcanum -Phantasy

Ch.15 Cracks in the Dream

For two weeks, Rarity and Fluttershy continued to whittle away at Applejack's scarecrow "family". While they went about it, Applejack's feeling that something was wrong steadily grew. It ate at the back of her mind at all hours, chipping away at her already fraying peace. By the start of the third week, all three girls were on edge, waiting for something to finally snap. A wait that Rarity was pretty sure she wasn't going to have to keep for that much longer.

She had no idea just how right she was.

She kept her ears and weapon primed as she crept through the house. Fluttershy was doing the same, her weapons lightly trembling in her grip. After having taken care of all of the scarecrows outside of the house, now came the true nerve-wracking work. While each of the scarecrows outside were usually alone, the ones in the house were mostly in groups of three. This meant that, if they wanted to avoid suspicion, they needed to dispose of each trio at a time. Clearing out the living room and getting rid of the Applebloom in the hall the last couple of days took so much time, they were almost caught.

The two of them went to work quietly disassembling the scarecrows in the dining room. Every now and then, a faint creak would make them pause for a moment before they went back to work. While the "Applebloom" didn't take too long to take apart, the "Big Mac" and "Granny Smith" were more complicated.

Almost done, Rarity mused, using the edge of her rapier to cut next to a stubborn knot of rope. Just a few more ropes and it will all be over.

Sure enough, a few more cuts was all it took to do the deed. A second later, she quickly held the bundle together herself to keep them all from clattering to the ground. Slowly, both of them worked together to ease the, now loose, cluster of twigs and branches onto the kitchen floor. Taking a minute to hear for any breaks in the silence, they shifted their focus to the "Big Mac" to repeat the process.

Trading subtle nods, each of them went to deal with the last part of their task. Rarity quickly folded up the clothing that were used on the scarecrows and crept back up to the second floor to store them in what appeared to be this world's version of Applebloom's, Big Mac's, and Applebloom's rooms. Meanwhile, Fluttershy disposed of the wood the same way they had done the past few nights before. After what felt like an hour, Rarity completed her task and came down to help Fluttershy with her own. She was relieved to see that said task was about half-way done, the stress of their situation already starting to eat at her.

She quickly and quietly made her way into the dining room and grabbed a good-sized bundle of branched. When she stood up, a sudden chill froze her in place. A quick glance at Fluttershy added to her dread, the girl standing a couple feet in front of her staring at something behind her with wide terrified eyes. Slowly, Rarity turned, praying that her guess was wrong about what she was going to see. The prayer went unanswered as her sapphire eyes met a pair or wide, unsteady, green ones.

Applejack stood at the opening into the dining room, body unnaturally still as her eyes drilled into them. Her hand-sledge was held in a white-knuckle grip at her side. Rarity flinched back a step when Applejack's head twitched, the action seeming to hold a bit of barely restrained malice.

Slowly, Rarity reached for her key, not once taking her eyes off of her unstable friend.

"A-Applejack," she gulped. "I...I know this looks bad, but you need to listen."

Applejack gave no signs that she heard her. Aside from the occasional sharp twitch of her head, she gave no sign that she was even alive. Rolling the dice, Rarity pressed on, hoping that she could get through to her.

"I...know this is all a lot for you, dear, but you need to face facts. These dolls you made are not your family. This place is not home. It is all just an illusion you built to feel safe."

"Sh-She's right," Fluttershy chimed in, a small frown pulling on her lips. "Y-You may not believe me, but...I know exactly what you are going through. I know how much better it may feel to just...let yourself get swallowed up by this place, but you can't let it happen! You need to wake up Applejack! And...If you can't do it on your own...."

Her eyes briefly flicked down to the now scattered scarecrows before they met Applejack's, now with a determined fire shinning in them.

"Then we're going to help you do it ourselves!"

For a long moment, neither person added to that, a heavy silence surrounding them like a thick fog. Rarity and Fluttershy both held their guard, the later silently praying that one of them had managed to get through to her. When Applejack eventually broke the silence, she added a sickening chill to the room that make her friends wish she hadn't.

"Who are ya' people? What did ya' do to Rarity and Fluttershy?"

"W-What?" Rarity blinked, taken aback.

"Flutters and Rares would never do this," she growled, whole body trembling with fury. "They ain't murderers. Did ya' kill 'em too? Tell me."

She took a step towards them, teeth bared as the rage within became visible.

"Tell me," she repeated, scaring the duo into taking a couple steps back from her.

"TELL ME!"

With that last roar, she raised her hammer and charged.

Their training took over, letting them dodge the girl's opening attack by just a hair. Not wanting to test their luck in the house's confines, they tackled the door open into the inky darkness beyond. After they gave the building a good twenty-feet of space, they turned and summoned their personas. Instantly, they could see their surroundings as clear as day, the glow from their persons' aura giving their location to anything in the dark. Applejack's eyes locked onto them, pure hatred covering her face like a bestial mask.

She darted towards Fluttershy with an animalistic roar, closing the distance in a literal blink. Terror flashed onto Fluttershy's face as her friend raised her hammer. Medusa knocked the raging farmer back with a blast of wind, lips pulled into a worried frown while she and her mistress watched her hit the ground hard. Rarity didn't get to take in the scene for long, before Applejack jumped to her feet and shifted her focus to her. She pointed her palm at Applejack and a blast of freezing air shot from her persona's palm towards the raging girl.

At speeds beyond anything either girl thought possible, Applejack side-stepped the attack and bolted towards Rarity. She tried to take a swing at her with her hammer, but a quick parry from her rapier managed to redirect it just enough to avoid a hit. Rarity jumped back and pointed her palm at her attacker. A second later, an ice pillar roughly seven feet high sprouted from the ground and encased Applejack's armed arm before she could raise it again to attack.

Applejack looked back and forth between the two girls, eyes wild and teeth bared like a savage beast. Furious animalistic roars and screams filled the air as she tried to pull herself free. When that didn't work, she started clawing at the pillar with her free hand, then biting it like a trapped animal.

It was only a matter of seconds when blood started to stain her fingertips, sending more terror into her friend's souls. Rarity heard Fluttershy say something, but it was pushed to the back of her mind. The second Applejack reared her free hand to punch the pillar, Rarity trapped it in a pillar as well. Applejack's scream of fury grew louder, more primal the second her arm was trapped.

Rarity gasped, suddenly feeling an intense strain puling at her core. She could feel Applejack's strength start to take its toll on her spell, a few thin cracks starting to form on the pillars. She dropped her weapon, aiming both of her palms at the bound girl to force more of her Spirit Energy into the spell holding her in place.

"Medusa!" Fluttershy cried, pointing at Applejack. "Do it now!"

"Yesssss," the persona nodded, quickly slithering in front of Applejack.

Applejack continued to struggle, screaming and howling. When she saw Medusa, she lunged forward as much as she could to take a bite out of her face, but came just short. Before the girl could look away, Medusa pulled down her blindfold. Gold, reptilian eyes met maddened green ones and Applejack froze. Every part of her was locked in place, her body, her mind, everything was bound. Her rage was frozen, but not by fear. It was there, but it wasn't the focal point of her being. It was a side note compared to the persona's eyes. She wanted to see them; needed to see them. There was nothing that she wanted to do beyond this simple act.

While she was distracted, Fluttershy staggered towards her and pulled a small glass bottle out of her pocket. Rarity watched her, worry almost distracting her from her own duties, but a soft crack from the pillars recentered her focus. Forcing back the strain using her persona's hidden ability, she gently held open Applejack's mouth, bit the cork out of the bottle, and poured a single drop of glowing white liquid down the girl's throat.

She staggered back, recorking the bottle, she mentally told Medusa to cover her eyes. With a nod, the persona obeyed before she returned to her mistress's side.

The second the trance ended, pure panic and confusion formed on Applejack's face. Rapid pants fell out of the girl, her eyes looking around frantically for something neither girls could see. Small delirious whimpers came out of her with her frantic breaths for a few minutes before she threw her head back and let out a bloodcurdling scream. A scream that turned wet as black sludge poured out of her mouth. Oily black tears ran down her face as well, fear and agony decorating her features. She lurched forward, puking and crying more of the black sludge onto the ground.

Fluttershy and Rarity watched the whole thing with tears of their own, their hearts breaking at what they were witnessing.

They watched for hours, Applejack's strength seeming to bleed out of her along with the rancid black slime below her. The first rays of red moonlight started to crest the horizon before the purging slowed. Between expulsions, the girl tiredly muttered something almost too softly for her friends to hear. When the cleansing was finally over and the red moon hung high above them, Applejack's words clear to them before she passed out.

"Ah...need to wake up.....don't want......to be...........a.........lie."

With a flicker of hope in their hearts, they made to take a step towards their weakened friend, but were halted by their personas. Remembering the toxic pool surrounding their friend, they let their persona's dispose of it with a pulse of frozen and healing magic. With the danger gone, the two girls ran to their haggard friend's side.

Rarity slowly dropped her spell and helped Fluttershy ease Applejack down onto the ground. Rarity watched with worry and hope as the girl immediately went to work, a light green aura surrounding both her hands and Applejack's body. Little by little, the wounds to Applejack's hands started to fade away. All the while, slow, shaky breaths rattled Applejack's body.

Neither girl said anything, both too invested in their current task.

After a few long minutes, Applejack's eyes slowly fluttered open.

"R...Rares?" she croaked out, gaze hazy with exhaustion. "Is....Is that you? Really you?"

"Yes, darling," Rarity smiled, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "i'm here. We both are."

She let out small, tired chuckle, eyes slowly drifting shut as her exhaustion started to claim her.

"Ah'm back....Ah'm finally......back."

Tears softly fell onto Applejack's chest, both girls finally able to let the dread that sat on their shoulders slide off to the ground. Finally, their mission was over, even if it was not according to their initial plan. Finally, they could bring their friend back home.

Comments

[Hexan Tronic]

At least she's been purged. Now they just have to get her back to the Hotel.