• Published 18th Dec 2011
  • 2,989 Views, 87 Comments

Fading Friendship - flame phoenix



When one of the mane six dies... the others find it hard to cope.

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Chapter 3- Applejack

Ah must admit, ah was pretty darn scared of the storm; the one of the Pegasi (Ditzy Doo, I think) told me it wasn't made by them! Applebloom was shivering in her little horse shoes and Big Mac was getting on my nerves with his fancy mathematics. Granny Smith was knitting a blanket; Ah was really worried for Dash. She was out there in the storm, trying to make stop and savin' ponies.
The mayor made a speech about how we should keep inside; In the apple cellar it was cold, and the rations weren't pretty but it was the only place we could go. Ah thought back to when ah was a little filly; ah used to be so scared of the thunder and lightning ah would shiver worse then Applebloom. Big Mac was trying to calm down Applebloom and Zecora was meditating;

Zecora had come to the cellar earlier, saying all her stuff was lost in a storm. Ah added some weights to the door so it won't open until it had to; then ah heard something above my head. It was Winona; she was whinin' and whimperin' like an old rusty plow. Ah patted her on the back, cuddled 'er close; ah was in the cellar many times, but this felt different. It felt unsafe, bad.

Zecora opened one eye and brought a hoof to her mouth;
"My dear Applebloom, this storm shall not end soon; the creatures who are causing this, are animals I do not miss." She turned to me, worry in her eyes; "Applejack, your brains are yours to rack."
"Well shoot Zecora, ah don' get your fancy mathematics; spit it out, will ya?" Ah lied down on the hard earth of the cellar, mah hat over mah eyes.

Big Mac leaned over to me; "She's right, Applejack; Didn' cha see them in your show ya put on?" I racked my brains;
"Are ponies animals to you?" Ah said.
Applebloom looked up at me, interest in 'er face; "Wha was the name of those white swirly things that caused it to snow again?"
Ah paused; "Wendigos?" Zecora toppled over in a perfect roll;
"Do not say the name, or for when the disaster that comes it will be yours to blame."

Ah paused, confused; "It's Beetlejuice's name you can't say three times, Zecora."
Applebloom shouted, "You said it the second time! One more and-" She drew a hoof across her neck.
Suddenly Granny Smith woke up; "Soup's on..." she wheezed before drifting up off to sleep again.

"Zecora, can you do another riddle please?" Applebloom gave Zecora the puppy-eyes look; Zecora smiled.
"Off course dear Applebloom, but this one you will not solve soon." She coughed before saying loudly and clearly,

"Only one colour, but not one size,

Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies,

Present in sun, but not in rain,

Doing no harm, and feeling no pain."
Big Mac scratched his head; a bad sign, ah thought.
Granny Smith smiled. the wrinkles in her face multiplyin' by ten; "Wouldn't that be a cutie mark?" she wheezed;
"Um, Gran, does a cutie mark disappear in the rain?" Applebloom looked uncertain.
Big Mac scratched his head again; "Can you repeat that please, Zecora? More slowly?"
Zecora nodded and repeated the riddle, slowly this time;
Ah was bamboozled; word problems were mah biggest weakness.

In the end, it turned out ter be a shadow; Zecora gave us five more riddles, each makin' less sense hen the last. Ah gave up with the last one, which was about some place called St. Ives; Applebloom noticed the storm less and less until she forgot about it.

But right then, when we were enjoyin' ourselves, we heard a long drawn out scream; it sounded familiar, as if ah heard it before. Applebloom shouted, pointin' at the door; the weights ah had attached earlier fell, and the door opened, sending a barrel full of snow at us, as well rain, sleet, hailstones and wind.

Ah screamed, "WHAT IN TARNATION?!" before boundin' towards the open door; it was bitterly cold ou' , but ah didn't care. Mah sister's safety was in jeopardy. I bucked down on the open door as ah could; it wouldn't close. Ah looked up an' brought mah hat to mah chest; heavens to bettsy, dragon like animals were in the sky, blowin' puffs o' wind from their huge jaws, making more and more storm-grey clouds. Applebloom was shiverin' like a leaf in the wind; "Get up here!" I yelled, barely audible over the fierce wind. Big Mac, Applebloom, Zecora an' Granny Smith peeked out of the cellar;
"Mah star apples," Whispered Applebloom.


But Applebloom wasn' pointing at the Wendigos; she was pointing at- golly, it was- it was simply beautiful. It sounds wrong to say this, but it was beautiful. She was falling in a perfectly graceful nose-dive, mane billowin' around her. Heavens, ah was shocked; she was fallin' as if in slow motion. Then, she hit the ground.

Ah cried until the stars came out, an' ah thought to myself: why should there even be stars? Stars were a sign of beauty, a sign of life. No beauty came to match that of love and friendship, an' since the world was now empty of both, who needed stars?
Ah cried myself to sleep, missing dinner and supper; ah was heart broken, and ah would probably stay that way for the rest of mah life.

Zecora left her hut a couple o' minutes afterwards; Applebloom was rocking backwards and forwards in a trance of shock, an' Big Mac was comfortin' Granny Smith. I went to Carousel Boutique to see Rarity about her; to mah surprise, it was abandoned. The place was stripped of furniture and belongings and a large "FOR SALE" sign hung over the door. In shock, ah went over to Sugar Cube Corner to comfort Pinkie, who was still bawling her eyes out; ah even tried to make her a cupcake to cheer her up, which put a dim smile on her face even thought the cupcake was black in colour.
"S-sorry," she sobbed, "I'm being such a party-pooper; It's just- It's h-hard to know that sh-she'll never talk to me a-again!"

"It's alright, sugar cube," ah patted her mane; "It's okay."

But ah knew it was far from okay; next morning ah got a black invitation that caused me to crack again; it was an invitation to her funeral. Christmas now meant two things fer me: her funeral and a loss of a great friend. She wouldn't live to see the sounds and sights of Christmas, nor her birthday. And then, why should ah?