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Apple Bloom knows that one thing, above all, is inevitable.
And it isn't death.
Not quite.
This was written for the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting Group's "What's Happening To Me" panic, where it won second place. We're on Discord here if you'd like to join us!
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I love how the cover art reflects this line and vise versa but with the unicorn being the one reflected. I find this very neat!
11405202
Thanks! I'm flattered you noticed!
This line's confusing me. Unless I'm reading it wrong, it seems to imply that the other Bearers "did" something to Twilight, something terrible enough that they no longer deserve to be called "Twilight's friends". And at first, I thought that might've been a hint towards the ambiguous "betrayal that lost them the Elements" that was alluded to earlier… but then the rest of the story suggests Twilight and the Bearers are still together, and that, if anything, Twilight's the ringleader of their "betrayal", whatever it was. What am I missing?
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the story; I just suck at comprehending this brand of ambiguity.
Either way, kudos!
In an unspecified post-apocalyptic setting, Apple Bloom has to fend off a wandering zombie. Very well.
Except ... the twist at the end seems to say that it's Apple Bloom who is a monster. Perhaps the zombie isn't a zombie after all? It's mentioned early on that she brings a "horrible stench" with her, but it's a common enough trope that the uncorrupted smell foul to those already fallen.
I reread from the top to see whether I'd been fooled by the standard assumption that the viewpoint character is the good person. But the second time around the unicorn still doesn't seem the least bit heroic, making rude threats and demands and expecting to get what she's after by brute force. And if Twilight and Applejack are really out there, leading a resistance of the Last Good Ponies against the blight, then surely they'd be smarter than to keep sending single ponies to recover a lost element by mere bullying?
Of course it's entirely possible that both sides are evil. I suppose after a sufficiently terrible disaster, the only ones remaining alive will be those who become monsters. That's a defensible, if not particularly uplifting, moral.
Is there an underlying work explaining this setting that one should be familiar with?
11405361
Good point, I can see how that can read a bit unclearly! I intended for it to be the other way around, that Twilight had done something to her friends.
11405455
Long time no see, friend! Hope life is treating you well. There's no original work that this is based off of, I made it up myself. I wanted to see what happened if I played with the idea that Apple Bloom is the Element of Decay... and so I did, and I liked the idea enough to draw a picture for it and post it.
11405470
Ah, that makes more sense! Then again, that raises another question: if Applejack's simply a victim of whatever Twilight's done, then why does Apple Bloom have such contempt for her sister? The "REAL Apple" line suggests that she now considers Applejack a "FAKE Apple", and she later ropes AJ in with the rest of the Bearers who "abandoned us"… when your explanation seems to imply they only did so because of what Twilight did to them. I'm absolutely certain it's simply my misinterpretations intermingling, but the overall vibe I'm getting from Apple Bloom's opinion of Applejack is "How dare you get brainwashed against your will!", which doesn't feel right to me.
Could you tell me where I'm going wrong?
11405502
I... hm. I can, but I also can't, if that makes sense. I have my own idea of what happened, but I left it vague intentionally because I wrote this in half an hour, and didn't have time to go into details. This isn't a failure of understanding on your part, I just didn't specify! I am still debating expanding on it if people show interest in the concept, but if not, I was both fine with it as it is and yet I liked it enough to post, you know? The idea has stuck with me.
In my head, Twilight got corrupted, her friends got corrupted either trying to follow her or stop her, and the Elements of Harmony abandoned the group. They no longer had the power to control other ponies, and so they keep sending the few they did control that haven't been killed by the monsters/ancient gods/whatever they didn't take care of to go see if the most likely ponies had been attuned to the Elements of Harmony instead. Apple Bloom just got a particularly pushy mare this time, and sent her back barely-alive as an example to her sister and to Twilight, justified by the fact that she felt sufficiently threatened.
11405516
No worries! Please don't beat yourself up for "not specifying"; if anything, I really appreciated how those ambiguities set the mood! Like I said at the start, I just have a bad habit of staring into "the fear of the unknown" and asking "But what is it?" even when I know that it's beside the point.
11405470
Yes, it has been some time. Am doing well. Nice to see you still going strong; it is pretty rare I have time to sit down and read fanfic.
Thanks for the explanation.
dude, i love the concept surrounding this story the, post-apocalyptic setting, the elements abandoning the mane six for some reason and them scrambling to get it back (and maybe lying about them being stolen to cover that up) even the way you write applebloom is interesting!
Must be an awful feeling when the gods you've looked up to to keep you safe and protected just decide to bail out. Chilling stuff and great work as always buddy :)
11405516
sent her back barely alive? It seems to me that she was alive and mostly intact before being buried/decayed; and even if she comes out of the ground she will be come nothing but bones and dirt.
Is Apple Bloom actually doing unintentional necromancy? If she leaves her victims alive but naught but bones and dirt, then it hasn't she basically created an undead creature with the lifespan of the original?
Oh I love this. it brings up enough questions about what is actually going on that it makes me think there might be a bit of a misunderstanding on Applebloom's part. Even if there's not, she is also somewhat corrupted, turning to something so awful as this to survive.