Loose Ends and Lost Friends [Part 4 Scene 2]
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Twilight regained consciousness to the faint sound of a magical heart monitor. She listened to the rhythmic beeping, and could feel her pulse thrumming in her head. Strangely, the sounds from the monitor did not match the thumping heartbeats in her chest. Her sight had not yet been restored, but she could ascertain that her limbs were not laying naturally. In addition, her head felt heavier than her hooves, and her chest heaved with each breath. Unimaginable pain came in waves with her strained breathing, as if her need for oxygen was never quite satiated, and the rest of her body suffered for it. The agony was so expansive, that Twilight couldn’t help but moan and whimper as the world slowly came back into focus.
“Oh. You’re awake?” A voice asked, coming from a short distance away, though its tone was devoid of concern, and resembled more indifference.
More senses slowly eased into reality as Twilight shifted her weight against a cold, unforgiving hardwood floor. She couldn’t yet muster the strength to move her limbs, so she focused on regaining her sight instead. She blinked a few times, and squinted, trying to find the source of the strange voice. Shapes and colors formed into recognizable objects, aided by the daylight that was pouring in from a window. The room was familiar, and foreign all at once. Under a thin layer of dust, Twilight spotted a stetson hat that was neatly hanging on a hook on the wall. Nearby was a lasso, and a bookshelf used to store many trophies and ribbons. Other notable pieces of furniture in the room included a small bedside table near the door, an old green armchair in the center of the room, and a modest little bed.
Twilight had an inkling in the back of her mind that the bed in this room was somehow out of place. Perhaps it was because she could see the old grooves in the hardwood where the bed posts had once stood, or maybe because she was acutely aware of whose room this used to be, and it looked different in her dim memories. Regardless, the bed now resided against the wall adjacent to the door. Twilight assumed this was due to the various pieces of magical, medical equipment that surrounded it.
Even from the floor, Twilight could tell that somepony occupied that bed. The magical monitor she heard was attached to this pony, not her. Half a dozen hanging fluid bags, with tubes, were also connected to the pony hidden under the sheets. The contents of those bags remained a mystery. The pony themselves looked frail and sickly. They were laying on their back, eyes closed with a mask secured over their snout for oxygen flow. A thick, red blanket and apple-patterned bed sheets had been carefully, and lovingly, wrapped around them. This pony fit so snuggly in their place, that it seemed like they had remained this way for some time. Once Twilight’s sight had fully returned, she could also identify brittle blonde hair, and a cream-colored coat. No, not cream, it was orange, but it was so pale she had mistaken it for something lighter. There was only one pony this could have been: Applejack.
The sound of gentle hoofsteps and squeaking wheels caused Twilight to snap her head to the left side of the room. A yellow-coated, red-maned pony came from the bedroom doorway, holding a new bag of liquid that would replace an empty one in the medical equipment nearby. The pony’s mane, once held back by a bright pink bow, was now limp and hanging loose down her back. She had bags under her eyes and an indifferent frown on her lips. She seemed to ignore Twilight as she both walked and trundled towards Applejack. The pony was attached to a unique device. It had been built for this particular mare by Twilight years ago. It consisted of a pair of wheels, and a strong strap for a pony's waist, connected to one another by two interlocking metal bars. The pony’s back legs dangled freely above the ground, as those wheels acted in lieu of hind quarters. Twilight instantly recognized the pony. After all, she was her faithful assistant for half a decade.
“Apple Bloom? Is that…? G-get away from her! She’s dangerous!” Twilight said, her voice cracking with panic.
Apple Bloom chuckled once mockingly under her breath. She continued to ignore the princess as she carefully swapped the medical bags. Twilight wasn’t sure what was going on, but she didn’t like her growing feeling of trepidation. She finally attempted to move her hooves, but found them bound together; hogtied with thick, scratchy rope. Twilight tried her wings next, but the same rope had been wound too-tightly around her midsection, rendering them useless. Igniting her horn was her third attempt for freedom, but try as she might, no magic responded. Out of options, Twilight began thrashing to liberate herself.
“What is this? What’s going on? Let me out, Apple Bloom!” Twilight pleaded, her dry mouth and desperation caused the words in her throat to be painful when spoken.
“Which question do ya want me to answer first? What is this? It’s rope, dumbass. What’s going on? Well, I imagine you’re tryin’ ta get yer magic to work but it ain’t, is it? Remember that potion lesson you taught me about the ingredient called the ‘Powerless Poppy’? Ya know, the one they use to disable unicorn magic temporarily? Ya might find a fair few of them flowers planted around the place these days, or even their powder scattered here and there. I’m surprised you don’t taste the excess around your mouth.” Apple Bloom answered, her tone still reflected little, if any, emotion.
Twilight’s eyes widened as she tentatively reached her tongue out to check her lips. She did indeed feel some kind of powdery residue lingering there. Her mind was racing, grasping for any kind of logical explanation. When she settled on the only one that made sense, she frantically pleaded with Apple Bloom again.
“Apple Bloom, I know you want to believe that Applejack is still in there, somewhere, but clearly she’s dangerous! She’ll kill us all, you have to let me out of here so I can get you to safety!”
Apple Bloom paused mid-way through discarding the empty liquid bag. She looked at Twilight with a bemused and bewildered expression, almost as if she was seeing the alicorn’s stupidity for the first time. Suddenly, she burst into laughter. The idea was just so absurd, she couldn’t help herself.
“You think Applejack did that to ya? This mare, right here, did all that?” Apple Bloom asked confoundedly as she gestured to the sickly mare in the bed.
Twilight couldn’t answer that question, still searching the recesses of her mind for some clarity. Nevertheless, no explanation presented itself.
“I’d ask if the cure makes a mare an idiot, but AJ didn’t exhibit any signs.” Apple Bloom added.
“W-what?” Twilight whispered, frightened confusion stamped on her face.
Apple Bloom sighed loudly, exaggerating the noise to exemplify her impatience.
“I thought it’d be fun to mess with yer head for a bit, but it’s actually just kinda annoying. Why don’t I cut to the chase?” She offered, taking the green armchair from AJ’s bedside, and pulling it slowly towards Twilight. The scrape of the chair grating against the wooden floor sent a twinge of pain through Twilight's head, worsening the migraine she had already been suffering. She flattened her ears as the earth pony teen pulled the chair into place. Eventually, it came to rest in front of, and facing, Twilight. Apple Bloom then calmly unlatched the device’s belt from around her waist, and hoisted herself into the chair, resting the contraption nearby. Apple Bloom looked like a parent ready to tell their foals a bedtime story.
“Want me to start at the beginning or just answer your stupid questions?”
To say that Twilight was perplexed would be an understatement. She couldn’t yet mentally grasp the situation, and the questions in the forefront of her mind grew too numerous to sort through. After a few beats of silence, Apple Bloom interjected.
“Okay then, I’ll just start at the beginning.”
Apple Bloom leaned back in her chair and smiled smugly, like an old pony fondly reminiscing about a happy memory.
“I guess I’d say this tale starts a few years back. Granny had just passed from the grief of everything, and the strain of taking care of me ‘n Mac. Mac was a damned fool for gettin’ that heat stroke, and an even bigger one for waitin’ so long to get it taken care of. His mind and his kidneys were never the same. Of course, it didn’t help that I was laid up the way I was, unable to get outta bed. You can’t imagine what it was like for an old pony to have to take care of the grandchildren who shoulda been takin’ care of her. I don’t have to tell you what happened when she passed. Mac moved to Starlight’s old village cuz he found some unicorn mare willing ‘nough to take care of ‘im. Didn’t know then why you insisted on takin’ me in, though. I know now it was from the guilt of everything YOU had caused. I can still remember waiting for weeks for a letter from Mac asking me to come live with him ‘n his new marefriend. I had this contraption thingy now, so I wouldn’t be an invalid anymore… why wouldn’t he want me back? We were all each other had. That never happened, though. He’d lost AJ, then Granny… and Celestia help ‘im he tried with me, but everypony has their limits. I never got confirmation, but I know it was you that convinced ‘im to let me stay with you instead. He probably thought he was doin’ what was best for me…still hurt, though.” Apple Bloom briefly hesitated, bitterly clenching her teeth at the memory of her big brother’s abandonment. “Instead, while I was waitin’ on that letter that would never come, I intercepted a delivery at the castle. You remember, all them letters and packages from Pinkie Pie being sent back? Couldn’t figure why they’d come to us, nor who the hell would reject Pinkie like that. I’ll admit, I was curious. There was a note on top, said it was from the head prison guard in Canterlot sending you all the mail for ‘the prisoner’ like you requested. Odd, I thought. What prisoner would Pinkie Pie be sending cookies to? I brushed it off and forgot all about it… until a couple of years ago.”
“Ya see, one day, I was workin’ on my potions when I heard you talkin’ to Starlight. Ya’ll must not have known I was in the throne room close by. She was getting real smart with you ‘bout you going to Canterlot to ‘maybe visit her’ again. Couldn’t imagine who she was talkin’ ‘bout at first, but then them letters came to mind. They’d said Canterlot prison. Got me wondering, ya know? So, I brewed a mighty good sleep aid, drugged you, Starlight, and Spike, and went on a little excursion to Canterlot.”
“Apple Bloom…” Twilight whispered, horrified. She couldn’t believe the pony she had taken in, and raised like her own sister, would do something so callous.
“Oh it weren’t no more than a couple hours is all! I wouldn’t have to have done it if ya’ll didn’t hover around me so goddamn much. You were a worse worry wart than Applejack was.”
Twilight grimly recalled the paranoia of letting Apple Bloom out of the castle in her contraption. She was worried about what might happen if she fell, or if something jammed the wheels and Apple Bloom would get stuck. Perhaps Twilight could have been a little more lenient with her restrictions and concerns, but still.
“I’ll cut a long story short and just say that I found out your dirty, fucked up secret.” Apple Bloom said, her tone notably dark now. “That first time, I couldn’t do more than just catch a glimpse. I was unprepared, ya know? So I came back here and, well, I cried for days trying to make sense of it all.”
Twilight remembered that too, and could never get the truth out of Apple Bloom about what was wrong.
“Spike’s the one I eventually told the truth to. He didn’t believe me, ‘til I showed him. Guess you’d let me out of the castle if I had a little dragon chaperone, huh?”
“Spike…” Twilight whispered, extremely hurt. She hadn’t heard that name in over a year, and still didn’t understand why he had suddenly wanted to spend time in the dragon lands. She had previously chalked it up to teenage rebellion, or perhaps that cliche ‘year to travel and find yourself’.
“Yup. He was pretty hurt. He helped me snoop through your things when you weren’t looking, and we found all them notes you took about the Sleepless Potion. We found out that Applejack was the murderer because of your magic.” Apple Bloom emphasized. She didn’t wait for Twilight to come up with excuses, she just continued. “He was so disgusted, he left. I don’t blame ‘im, I almost did too.”
Twilight was enveloped in memories and anguish. Spike, the dragon she had nursed from birth, and raised like a brother, or even a son… could he truly hate her? In Twilight’s rationale, the decision to keep him in the dark about Applejack was done to spare him from the weight of the guilt that she and her friends had to bear. Finding out through Apple Bloom would turn Twilight’s selfless action into a selfish one. Twilight devolved into soft, heartbroken sobs. Spike hadn’t even given her the chance to explain herself. How could some-creature she loved and cared for so deeply, spurn a chance to make things right again between them? How could he have just left? Previous to this moment, there was no reality in Twilight’s mind that could compel Spike to abandon her as he did. The mental anguish greatly outweighed her physical pain.
“Eventually, I honed my skills makin’ them potions so I could drug the guards and go visit my sister. She told me that you implied that I died that night, not just broke my spine. If I didn’t hate ya before, I certainly did then.
“We came up with a plan to get her outta there. Well, I did... AJ didn’t really think it ‘right’ at first. She said I needed ta ‘move on’. Well, movin’ on could mean gettin’ out and running away too. Right?” Apple Bloom glanced over her shoulder at the motionless Applejack with underlying bitterness. “But it was one thing to drug the guards. It’s another thing to have a prisoner go missin’ altogether. We knew we’d need to account for you gettin’ notified, and potentially all of Equestria out lookin’ for her. Still, we eventually got everything all figured out. Every. Single. Detail. We were gonna make our way to Appaloosa so Braeburn could get us a cart to git out of Equestria altogether. You’ve been preaching friendship so much, there weren’t many places left that didn’t know about the ‘Princess of Friendship’ and her friends. We woulda found somewhere though. Everything was fine until… that damned guard hadn’t been late to work that night…”
Apple Bloom paused, her voice cracking as she recounted their plan derailing. She could still hear the unicorn stallion shouting at them and chasing them down the hall.
“Applejack got hurt. She got hurt savin’ me.” She spoke softly, offering no other explanation as she wiped a rogue tear from her cheek. “Hit her head real hard… she never woke up.” Apple Bloom thought she couldn’t feel a worse pain than that night seven years ago, until now. It was more than just opening an old wound, it was exacerbating it. It festered under the surface as she gripped the armchair, trying to suppress her tears. “I had to change plans last minute, so I brought ‘er here. I was just gonna nurse her back to health, but the longer I waited, the more the plan fell apart. All I wanted was just to escape and hide with my sister. But ya know: ‘Sometimes ya can’t have what ya want, it’s just how life goes.’”
It felt like a millennia since those very words were told to a young Apple Bloom by a potion-suffering AJ. It was the morning after the zap apple harvest, the first time she noticed something amiss in her sister. Apple Bloom would never forget the wild look in Applejack’s eye as she feverishly stirred pots of zap apple jam while simultaneously filling jars in the over-crowded kitchen. That naive little filly couldn’t understand the gravity of the situation at the time, nor how true those words would come to be.
“You did all of this three days ago?!” Twilight asked, gobsmacked.
Apple Bloom’s disposition changed again, trading her sniffles for a smile that eventually turned into a dry chuckle.
“Three days? Try three weeks.”
Twilight blanked. How was that possible? The note she received from Canterlot said AJ had gone missing two days prior. Had Apple Bloom somehow altered the guards perception of time? Had she somehow delayed the letter?
“I see that stupid look on your face, so lemme help your itty bitty brain riddle it out. Ya see, from what I gathered, the Sleepless Potion makes time all fucky for its victims.”
Twilight’s stomach dropped.
“The Sleepless Potion? How… how could you… WHEN?”
“Well, you were one hell of a potions teacher, and it was easy enough to follow yer notes. Oh, by the way, a magic lock don’t work well against acid, just thought you should know.”
Twilight paused her frenzied train of thought when she heard that. Apple Bloom was the reason the lock was broken?
“Thing is, I was a might smarter than ya’ll were about it. I actually studied and perfected the potion before I used it. I knew when to do it, too. Celestia and Luna were off on that ‘friendship summit’ thing YOU came up with, so we could ‘make friends’ with every creature else on this damned planet. I think you did it ‘cuz you don’t like them coming to Commemoration, huh? It’s just another reminder that you failed as a friend in front of yer precious teacher. They’re still gone, I believe. I Guess the llamas don’t wanna play nice after all.”
Twilight couldn’t look Apple Bloom in the eye when she riddled out the princess’s absence. It was as if Apple Bloom could see past Twilight’s eyes and right into her core, where her insecurities and failures overrode logic and common sense. How much heartache could have been prevented if she hadn’t been too ashamed to face Celestia and Luna? Apple Bloom didn’t seem to notice, or care, that Twilight was shying away from her, she just continued on.
It was perfect for me, though. I figured out that when the old recipe is turned into a gaseous form, the side effects don't show up right away. I released it in the castle when you and yer friends were planning that stupid memorial.”
“MY FRIENDS?!” Twilight screamed, snapping out of her shame in a blink of an eye. The thought that Apple Bloom’s twisted scheme could extend beyond her hadn’t crossed the princess’s mind, and now an entirely new and horrific reality was unfolding before her.
“Oh yeah. Pinkie’s the one who sent the letters, so it weren’t hard to deduce that they all knew. Why’d you think Spike was so hurt? You trusted them, and not him. Every single one of ‘em was just fine and dandy knowing my sister was rotting away in a cell for crimes she weren’t responsible for. Pretty damn fittin’ if ya’ll experience what ya put my sister away for, so you could see fer yerselves what happens to ya. I expected a shit show, and none of y'all disappointed.”
No, it couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be possible. Twilight had slept, she was sure of it! She had to have slept… right?
Reality was slow to settle, but it trickled in bit by bit, and things started to make sense. Twilight remembered feeling ill, though not violently. It must have been due to the dilution of the gaseous state that kept her from being too sick all at once. At the time, she had also rationalized that her lingering fatigue had come from the anxiety of planning the memorial. Nausea, fatigue, irritability, manic episodes…not a single one of them would have believed their unusual behavior was anything except the manifestation of stress.
“Since we’re going in order, let’s start with Dash.” Apple Bloom said, folding her hooves and getting comfortable. “Weren’t a mystery why her manic state would manifest as Wonderbolt nonsense. She probably thought she was some goddamn prodigy-record-breaker or something. Cuz of all that exertion, she’s the only one who had shit happen the night before Commemoration.”
Twilight perked up at that statement. Hadn’t Starlight died that night? She was sure of it, she had been working on her speech…
“Can ya stop making dumb faces and let me finish?! I’ll get to you, I promise.” Apple Bloom remarked in exasperation. “Where was I? Oh, Dash, right. It’s mighty convenient that when yer cured, ya get yer memories back eventually. She said she raced Soarin, they crashed, and she fought ‘AJ’ in the orchard. ‘Course, she didn’t know at the time that it wasn’t an apple orchard, but a cherry one, and the only other pony down there was Soarin. He tried calming her down, and she killed ‘im. ”
“Wait… Rainbow is ALIVE?” Twilight stammered, focusing on the wrong thing yet again. Apple Bloom ignored her comment and continued on.
“It was still early on in her exposure, so she was somewhat coherent that things weren't as they seemed. I'm sure that PTSD didn't mix with the potion well, though. After she killed Soarin, she wandered off alone. Some ponies found Soarin's body the next mornin’ and got so freaked out, they canceled Commemoration.”
“What?”
“Yup. Soon as I heard Dash had gone missin’, and a pony was dead, I knew the rest of ya’ll wouldn’t be far behind. Unlike with her, I made sure I was around for everypony else's eventual break. I also promised the Mayor I would tell ya about Soarin and the cancellation. Ponies just figured you were mournin’ when you didn’t say nothing. Frankly, Mayor Mare was kinda shocked to see me since I usually boycott Ponyville around this time of year. I don’t live under your roof, or your rules anymore, so ya can’t force me to go. In fact, I’ve secretly spent the past couple of Commemorations with Applejack. You know, the reason for your disgusting cover-up holiday.”
Even though Apple Bloom spoke with conviction, Twilight was still convinced this was all an elaborate lie. There was just no way any of it could be true. Hanging onto that hope was the only thing keeping Twilight quiet, and somewhat sane.
“First things first, I was the one who intercepted the note about AJ’s escape. I was gonna wait until I was sure you were ready before I gave Starlight that letter, but I got impatient. Revenge stirs around inside ya like an angry critter bitin’ and clawin’ to get out. Lucky fer me, my timin’ ended up bein’ just right anyways. You were stressed out juuuust enough to break. Seems you didn’t even know I was there. 'Course, you’re the one who can fill in those blanks. What happened when Starlight showed you that letter?”
Twilight immediately recalled that first prickly tendril of dread that encompassed her chest, and the frantic events that followed. If Apple Bloom was to be believed, then AJ was never in her lab at all, which meant that she had destroyed it for nothing. But that couldn’t be true, could it? And hadn’t AJ so clearly slaughtered Starlight?
“She was just here!”
Words echoed in Twilight’s mind, words that she did not remember Starlight saying, but somehow felt familiar.
“She was just here! She ambushed me!”
Terrifying pieces were falling into place: Starlight barricading her door with magic out of fear, Twilight blasting in, Starlight looking frantic…
“I tried to barricade my door but she got through! You don't think she's here to replace me, do ya??”
“Replace me, do ya?!”
Those words… She recalled them coming from Applejack. Twilight’s breaths quickened as her body began to shake. More and more images replaced memories, truths replaced delusions. Twilight jolting towards Starlight with a shard of mirror, Starlight confused and trying to run away…
“It’s okay. I didn’t expect you to tell me anyways. I was there for the last bit, though. It looked like Starlight would win out with that dresser of hers, but you were quicker. Ya slit her throat before she could drop it on ya.” Apple Bloom said, ending the prolonged silence.
The sharp pain. She had passed out… hadn’t she?
“How could Starlight hurt me if she had already died?” Twilight asked, not realizing she had spoken it out loud.
“She was levitatin’ a dresser above yer head when you killed her. Once she died, it dropped. Simple as that. You laid there on the ground for a long while and I considered curin’ ya right then and there, seeing how you’d already killed ‘n all. Thing is, you were the first one I could observe up close! You used to always harp on me ‘bout takin’ extensive notes on my potion experiments. Isn’t knowledge the TRUE power, Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked, adding a dark enthusiasm to the question just to torment her former teacher.
“No. No, I immediately came here, to the orchard! I know I did!” Twilight insisted. It was that moment, in that unbridled panic, that Apple Bloom could finally confirm that Twilight had accepted her explanations as truths.
“Yeah, I bet you did.” Apple Bloom said with a shrug. “Cuz you eventually staggered up, covered in Starlight’s blood, and zapped yerself away. You went missin’ too. I was kinda pissed off that I couldn't see what ya were gonna do next, though. I figured for the rest of ya’ll, I’d cure ‘em when they’d done something unforgivable, rather than have five morons bumblin’ around my family’s orchard. I told ya, the potion fucks with your sense of time.”
Twilight felt an uncanny and well-timed grumble in her stomach. She could faintly taste apples on her tongue and more images flashed in her mind. Twilight recalled wandering aimlessly, unable to distinguish one grove of trees from another. An endless sea of apples was her unrelenting prison. The maze of their paths offered no guidance. She recalled teleporting on occasion, but with no clear thought of where to appear, and ending up in places with more unfamiliar apple trees each time. The only reason the alicorn did not perish was by eating the unkept apples in their gnarled branches. Dim memories presented themselves of Twilight lingering at specific, yet inconsequential trees, for hours on end. She recalled seeing slight movement in these trees, and her eyes fixated on them, waiting for that movement to morph into Applejack. She couldn’t let her guard down, after all. The AJ in her mind was enhanced with a great magic of Twilight’s own making. On the rare occasion that she could pull her attention away from one tree to another, her hooves wandered in endless circles. She had seen hoofprints in grassless soil patches and believed them to be Applejack’s tracks. She realized in this moment, she’d been following her own hoofsteps. Twilight now knew that finding the farmhouse at all must have been sheer coincidence.
"Next, it was Pinkie Pie." Apple Bloom recounted. "I think it was… five days after Dash went missin’ that she finally broke. She’d made so many desserts she was baking everypony outta house and home. The Cakes probably didn’t know what to make of it, truth be told. I got to the bakery, with the cure, when the place was already engulfed in flames. Pound was screaming about Pinkie killin’ his momma, and his daddy still bein’ inside. ‘Course by then, they couldn’t save him. Pumpkin's lucky she got out in time. They’re in Manehattan right now, I think. Living with some distant relative or something. Pinkie’s got some real bad burns to heal up from before she can face the Princesses, though.”
“Pinkie…” Twilight whispered woefully. She wished she could tell Apple Bloom to stop, but she just had to know what had happened to her friends.
"But what about Rarity? And Fluttershy!?"
“Yup, they succumbed too, in that order, actually." Apple Bloom started again. “Rarity lasted about a week, and ended up killin’ Sweetie; wrote ‘Guilty’ all over the walls in ‘er blood. At least we could agree on that part. Her guilt, that is. Afterwards, she spilled her guts out to me about dern near everything. Did ya know she was there that night seven years ago, and could’ve prevented all of this? I was a bit sad she was already rottin’ away in Town Hall’s holding cell when she confessed. Had I known that earlier, things mighta gone a little different.”
“But… Sweetie Belle was your friend!” Twilight protested, as if there would be some kind of logic to snap Apple Bloom out of this cold, calculated callousness.
“She ain’t my friend.” Apple Bloom spat. “She ‘n Scootaloo abandoned me, you oughta know that! Scoots claimed it was too difficult to ‘see me like this’, and Sweetie eventually blamed ME for what happened. Fuck ‘em both ‘s far as I care.”
Who was this monster, and how could she be wearing Apple Bloom’s skin? Twilight had done everything she could think to do for this young mare. She was a shoulder to cry on, a guiding hoof in her academic pursuits. She encouraged Apple Bloom to expand her horizons and rise above her pain. Where exactly had she failed her?
“Last, but not least: Fluttershy.” Apple Bloom said with a sigh, getting a little tired from the long-winded narrative, but still secretly reveling in it. “She broke about two weeks in, and had been starving her animals for Celestia knows how long. Before she started babbling all nonsense-like, she mentioned running into Angel, and snapping his neck on accident. Her critters retaliated, but o‘course that just led to more critter death. It’s funny, cuz all things considered, her crimes were the least… well, damnin'. Strange thing though, I cured Fluttershy, but that didn’t stop her from babblin’ nonsense and flailing about. It didn’t make sense! But, she ended up in the looney bin anyway.”
“Fluttershy’s in the mental hospital?” Twilight whispered, feeling a pang in her chest for her friend.
“Yup. Gonna stay there most like. Who knows, the others might join her, depending on how their trials go.” Apple Bloom added. She readjusted in the chair before continuing on.
“I gotta admit, it’s been a mighty interestin’ few weeks. Since you and the princesses weren’t around to investigate the new deaths and disappearances, the Canterlot guard had to come pokin’ about. Obviously they were gonna check Sweet Apple Acres. I’d already taken care of their memories from the escape, so it was just a matter of convincin’ ‘em that I hadn’t seen AJ about. That didn’t always work though, so I was making potions double-time to throw ‘em off our scent. Thank Luna guards is stupid, and their pea-brains are susceptible to magical potions. But I got worried that while I was busy watchin’ yer friends and waitin’ for them to break, that somepony would poke around where they ought not. So, I planted them flowers and set some traps around the farm. Besides, I was killin’ two birds with one stone knowin’ that eventually you ‘n Dash would stumble about these parts. Kinda crazy it was at the same time, huh? Dash is in Town Hall right now with Rarity, waitin’ on the Princesses. I think ponies wanted to find you first, hopin’ you’d riddle out why yer friends had gone so nutso. Gonna be interestin’ to see what they say when they find yer body instead.”
Had Apple Bloom just said what she thought she said? Twilight’s blood ran cold, and a deafening thumping in her head increased with every rapid heart beat.
“A-Apple Bloom, p-please…” Twilight couldn’t think of the right way to beg for her life. This wasn’t her little student, assistant, and protege. This was a monster pretending to be Apple Bloom, and monsters were difficult to appeal to.
“I considered lettin’ you live like the others, and gettin’ put away for life, but I don’t trust the princesses not to go easy on ya. They just seem like the type to pull some stupid loophole shit and set you free somewhere. True, you’d have to live with the guilt, but that just ain’t good enough for me. No, while you draw breath, I can’t find peace.” Apple Bloom finished, relieved the explanations had finally ended.
“It wasn’t my fault! I warned Applejack about possible side effects, but she took it anyway! I know I should have gone to the orchard with her and shake the trees myself but… but the princesses needed me. The drought was more important than some zap apples, or so I thought! I was wrong, okay? Wrong! But I’M not the one who murdered ponies for revenge! I’m not the one who tried to hurt her friends and loved ones. I’m not the one who crippled you!” Twilight shouted, throwing every piece of logic she had left at Apple Bloom, hoping something would stick.
Apple Bloom didn’t respond. She calmly reattached her device around her waist and walked to the side of the room previously obscured by medical equipment. An old, dirt-encrusted shovel was then slowly brought into sight, clutched firmly in Apple Bloom’s hoof. It wasn’t the shovel, Rainbow Dash had disposed of that ages ago, but it was fitting enough. She glanced down at her target, a firm-set grimace on her face.
“I don’t care. You betrayed her. You left her to rot, thinkin’ ya’ll could just sweep it under the rug and forget it. You threw her away like she was nothing! Funny how friendship don’t mean shit without honesty, huh?”
“Apple Bloom, listen to me I--” Twilight Sparkle’s plea was interrupted mid sentence when the pony wielding the shovel hit her hard across the face, knocking her out cold.
Apple Bloom methodically locked her wheels into place, then casually placed the sharpened blade of the shovel to the ropes that bound Twilight’s hooves. It took a little bit of time, and elbow grease, but eventually, the spade of the shovel cut her ropes. Twilight’s body flopped flatly onto the floor, making her into an easier target. Apple Bloom paused for only a second before she lifted her shovel above the alicorn’s body. There was no going back.
With a grunt of effort, the shovel came down hard and pierced the fur of Twilight’s torso. Soonafter, Apple Bloom pried it up, and thrust it down again. This time, the blade made contact with the alicorn’s left forehoof. The third strike nicked the stomach. Apple Bloom wasn’t the greatest at aiming, seeing how each thrust was supposed to pierce Twilight’s heart, but she was still surprised she hadn’t drawn much blood in her first few attempts. By the fourth thrust, Apple Bloom punctured an organ, and blood finally began to flow in surges. Apple Bloom’s movements went from calculated, to crazed. She screamed and sobbed as all of her bitterness and anger was funneled into the bloodied mare. That uncontrollable shake… It prevented her from keeping a proper grip on the shovel. After a final thrust, Apple Bloom’s assault ended. The shovel escaped her grasp, tumbling haphazardly onto the crimson and violet mass. She glanced in slight disbelief at what she had done. The blood spattered and stained on her sunny coat.
Apple Bloom’s heart was pounding in her chest as she stood motionless and loomed over the lump that used to be Twilight Sparkle. After a few minutes, she blinked rapidly to snap herself back to reality. She’d told Twilight that she’d perfected the Sleepless Potion, but the foolish princess hadn’t asked her what that meant. Changing some ingredients here and there, and microdosing her own exposure, had kept the earth pony awake since the beginning of her vengeful quest. She couldn’t afford to sleep and have Princess Luna stumble upon her dreams; all of which centered around her anticipated actions. The princess hadn’t found Applejack’s dreams either, and Apple Bloom was convinced it was because of a dreamless potion she had been slowly feeding into Applejack’s sleeping body. It couldn’t possibly be anything else, even if the magical monitor that showed brain activity had been consistently silent. No, there was a potion to fix just about everything, she would just have to work harder.
Apple Bloom took a slow breath to compose herself. She briefly left the room to find a wash basin. Apple Bloom soaked a rag in some warm water and carefully cleaned any visible droplets of blood from her fur and mane. Once she had finished, she returned to Applejack’s room and eyed the pony remains waiting for her there. She knew she ought to dispose of the body the way she had planned. The trouble was, her frenzied attack had completely sapped Apple Bloom of energy. Melting skin, tissue, and bone in a specially mixed acidic vat of potion would have to wait. It seemed ponies wouldn’t be finding a body after all. Apple Bloom’s hooves dragged on the floor as she walked and wheeled towards her sister’s bed. She gently pressed a latch on the contraption around her waist, freeing her from it as she awkwardly climbed into the bed, positioning herself beside her sister. Apple Bloom snuggled AJ from atop the covers, burying her face in her mane as she had done so many times as a filly.
“You can wake up, Applejack… Please wake up.” She whispered softly and lovingly to her big sis.
“You were right. I shoulda listened to ya… I’m sorry. I just couldn’t let it go.”
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What a finale lost what a finale
This ending says it says it out loud......a sequel of a single chapter with a time skip of several years
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Me: I'm confused, is this an open ending or a sad ending?
Author: It's an ending, that's enough.
Apple Bloom is just as much as a monster as Twilight is.
Looking at it through Twilight's point of view and perspective, it was an accident, Twilight warned Applejack and she didn't listen, Twilight deserved a punishment but not death, not even Applejack got that. However Twilight's friends didn't deserve this, just because they knew and didn't tell Apple Bloom, they deserved to be caught up in all this? What about all the ponies that died that didn't even have anything to do with this? If anything Apple Bloom is more of a monster than Twilight will ever be, including Applejack.
But just because I said all that, doesn't mean I agree with what Twilight did, she should have confessed, save all of this trouble, I don't know what Twilight was so worried about, reputation? Really? Ya Twilight would never care about reputation, she cares about her friends more than anything else.
Awesome finale. What a show!
If there was any way to give you real applause (better than this emoji 👏👏 XD) for this, I would really give it to you honestly as it shows the great effort and passion put into this powerful narrative as it always was in many other past stories. My respects to that, I hope to check out new stories very soon. 👍👍
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I don't think Applebloom cares at this point. Her granny is dead, her sister's in a coma, she's crippled from the waist down, and her friends, brother, and remaining relatives have all deserted her. Every pony she trusted has either abandoned her or lied to her. And now she's trapped in a town full of ponies she can't trust, who willfully perpetuate an annual lie to keep other ponies in the dark and to soothe their own guilty consciences, with a bed-ridden comatose sister, the only family she has left, who may never wake up.
As far as Applebloom is concerned, she has nothing left to lose.
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Well if AppleJack does wake up and learn what happened I doubt she will be proud of what her sister did, so Apple Bloom could lose the love of AppleJack, AppleJack definitely hates Twilight for what she has done, and probably more about the fact Twilight lied to her, but I doubt she wanted her dead.
I feel like the ending would benefit from a scene with Celestia and Luna, having learned the details behind this tragedy, arguing over how culpable Twilight was for all that happened, in such a way that mirrors the underlying problems that caused Luna to become Nightmare Moon in the first place.
If you squint, Twilight is comparable to Celestia, Applejack would be Luna, and Applebloom would be Nightmare Moon.
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Maybe, maybe not.
But honestly, I think Applebloom's far too broken at this point to really care about anything outside of taking care of Applejack.
I would love a Prologue of some sorts. I can live without it but it would be interesting to see what happens to everyone else as a closure. Great story, with an actual twist!!!
Hoping for an epilogue
Yeah, we need an Epilogue with Celestia and Luna.
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I have always been team Twilight, and I always will be team Twilight. Twilight warned Applejack, just like we've seen many times in the show, how in Celestia's name was she to know the consequences, or how bad it would get. It's funny, because it sure seems a lot of judgement is being made from Apple Bloom and Spike, who want their murderer friend/sister to get empathy herself. You want me to sympathize with what Applejack decided to do, KNOWING the stress she was under? Then how about you take a step inside of Twilight's shoes, and picture how she would be more than half as many times stressed as Applejack. Also, completely agreed about the reputation part loll, but if she did, then there wouldn't be a story!
Sequels are sequels, and this is clearly well-written, so props to Magpie and everyone who was involved with the reading. (I love you IMSHADOW007.) However, I like the idea that the original ended where it did. There are so many stories where I read, and think, woah, there's too many loose ends for this to work cohesively. An Apple Sleep Experiment (og) isn't one of those, and it works very well in that we can decide what happened to Apple Bloom, as well as decide if we think Twilight was actually guilty or not. Applejack being an unreliable narrator adds so much to the story, so I believe this story suffers from the same predicament as "The Descent," in which, it's an emotional story of a person struggling through grief (losing her husband and her daughter), and the main character loses all her friends to de-evolved humans in a cave. While you can take it literally, you can also take it in the form of the cannibals representing Sarah's grief eating away at those around her. This perspective is amplified by the fact that just like Applejack in the og, the main character often experiences vivid hallucinations of her dead family members, or being attacked/in danger. This perspective makes a lot of sense, when towards the end, she leaves (redacted) to die for personal reasons. (I won't spoil.) Then, they made a sequel, confirming that everything that happened was real, and exposing the survivors to die, again. It follows the idea 'Scream' has set and ruled for ages; Sequels will continue to be made for as long as they up the body count, and find a new story arc that didn't need to be finished in the first place, to conclude.
Much love to Magpie and Lost though, I really hope this doesn't offend you in any way, you are very loved and appreciated for your contributions to the MLP community. <3
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Ya I like how the original ended and I think I'm more happier thinking that is how it ended maybe even with my own fantasy ending where everything works out in the end.
I think the major flaw that would have prevented this entire mess would be if Apple Bloom or Spike talked about it with Twilight instead of just assuming the worst and run away, that's not how you resolve issues and (in this case) makes things worst than they already are.
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And I love that for you! I'm one to get unnecessarily affected by stuff like this (I think it's a mix of the childhood PTSD from MLP creepy pasta's I shouldn't have been reading at that age, and also the autism lol.) So when I find a really good story, I often insert my own head-canon to give it a bit of a less "hopeless" ending. However, I know it's common for MLP authors to leave endings with barely any survivors, or where the evil is not defeated. I assume this originates from the show's habit of concluding everything constantly, but part of that draws me to the show. All that being said, all power to you to pretend the story ended where it did. If you were to write your own happier ending I would love to read it. <33
I was fortunate enough to be a part of the live viewing of the finale and I have to say, I did not see this coming.
Since the release of the first chapter, I had seen a number of theories cropping up, speculating that Twilight and each of her friends had been dosed with the Sleepless Potion, which I, for one, believed wholeheartedly as I could tell something was amiss but couldn't quite put my finger as to what. You can imagine my surprise when the theory not only turned out to be true, but that the pony responsible was none other than Applebloom - who I personally believed was dead! I guess it just goes to show how good a liar Twilight truly is; she managed to fool just about everyone save of course for the one pony who mattered the most. It's truly impeccable story-telling, and I cannot say enough good things about this series for the fact that it had me questioning everything and everyone, driving home the point that nobody in Ponyville, nay in Equestria could be trusted.
Overall, I would say I am incredibly pleased with this outcome. I know some may disagree with me on this, but personally, I feel Twilight reaped what she sowed. She had years to atone for her mistakes and at every given opportunity, she remained tight-lipped and willfully played the part of the perfect princess while her friend wasted away in a jailcell, serving time for a crime that Twilight is impartially responsible for. It isn't right, and while Applebloom murdering Twilight doesn't at all negate the fact that Applebloom did essentially become Twilight and her hooves are now richly stained with the blood of innocent ponies, it was ultimately Twilight who sealed her own fate - as well as the fate of her friends and the fates of those innocent ponies - from the moment she deigned to forgo honesty and lied to save her own skin. Applebloom, unfortunately, seems to be heading down a similar, if vastly different path, and what's worse (spoilers for the audio drama) Applejack won't be around to protect her or guide her away from it as it's revealed that she died at the very end. It's tragic, and it's bleak, and there's no happy ending here for anyone, but at it's core, that's what a grimdark is.
Spectacular work as always, Magpie. You and Lost, as well as the countless artists and voice actors/actresses who lent their efforts to the audio version, should feel immensely proud of yourselves for helping to deliver such a stupendous sequel to an already amazing story. Hope to see more from you in the future
lots of grimdark fics don't answer how the killer would beat the next canon villain to attack equestria. or in a fic where fluttershy gets her life ruined how discord would react. there's no way applebloom could make sure he didn't hear the explanation she gave twilight. this definitley isn't the only grimdark that fails to account for discord, but he's a walking plot hole in nearly every grimdark.
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Spoilers
Actually. I think Applejack is brain-dead. The audio drama mentions a magic status monitor. While her heart was beating, it showed a consistent lack of brain activity.
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I think it's more like Twilight was scared of disappointing Celestia. The princess was the one who set her on the journey to make friends and ultimately become a paragon of a friendship. And - through lying about her involvement with the sleepless potion - she betrayed Celestia's endorsement and trust in every aspect. And, I guess you could say that since the rest of Mane Six knew what happened with the sleepless potion, they are just as guilty as Twilight since they could have told the truth at any time.
There are a few ponies I believe didn't deserve the punishment. Pinkie was sending letters and gifts to Applejack that Twilight was actively stopping. (Which almost makes Twilight more guilty as she didn't need to do that.) Fluttershy was also innocent. Rarity, I feel, really got burned the most here because while it is true, she could've ended this all at the orchard, you got to remember that she saw the corpse of her father. That would traumatize anyone. Starlight was also innocent since she probably took the element of honesty to help Equestria. The only one I can say was genuinely guilty is Rainbow. She knew Applejack was not in the right frame of mind, but she sought to kill her. That's a betrayal of her element.
It makes me wonder why Fluttershy didn't call Discord during these events and have him snap the potion out of Applejack. But, I can see how his present would make for a deus ex machine, and we would have no story. I hope there is an epilogue to this where the princesses finally piece everything together. It must seem bizarre that these national heroes would suddenly snap out of the blue like this. Maybe Applebloom can come to the princess explaining everything in exchange for her sister getting help.
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I don't blame Twilight for everything that happened, like I said it was an accident, but everything that is to blame is what happened after the entire mess, if Apple Bloom did confess to everything that happened then they might help Applejack however Apple Bloom would either be locked away or exacuted, the difference between Applejack and Apple Bloom was Apple Bloom willingly caused the entire mess, every death that happened that the main 6 has caused is on her hooves, while AppleJack only wanted to help her family and went crazy in the process.
Twilight is only slightly guilty for what AppleJack did, that should be obvious, but I don't know why Twilight didn't try to help AppleJack, I don't know why she tried to stop Pinkie from sending letters, as for the others they have no reason to be guilty, I think the reason why they stayed quiet was to repress the memories of what happened and forget it as if it never happened, cant blame them as it would be a pretty horrific experience.
Did Twilight deserve death though? Not even close, not even Starlight Glimmer got a punishment like that and she killed countless ponies and destroyed an entire country every time she changed the past on purpose.
What Apple Bloom did was not revenge or vengeance, it was straight out cruel and unnecessary, it didn't change anything and only made things worst.
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There not really children, wouldn't Apple Bloom be around 17 at this point? And Spike would only be about 5 or 6 years younger than Twilight, not exactly children but I do see your point, but going straight to murder? Ya that's not really an excuse, if she has the evidence than she should have confronted Celestia or Luna, AppleJack could have gotten a fair trial, Twilight's friends wouldn't have suffered, everyone could work everything out with AppleJack, and Twilight would have gotten a fair punishment and would probably end up being forgiven in the end, it would probably take a decade but everything would have worked out.
PS: I hope it doesn't seem like I'm arguing here.
I really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work.
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I’m fully aware of what Apple Bloom said to Twilight lol, and I still stand firm in my belief that Twilight was correct in doing what she did. Twilight did not betray her sister, nor did she not take accountability for what she did, because how could she? She never told anyone what happened. Anyways, I’m not going back and forth here. I read the story, I know what happened, and y’all are going way too hard against Twilight, who never would have done any of these things anyway.
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Yeah Discord single handedly stops everything that happens in this story lolll. I’d love to make a spin off where he simply just splits Apple Bloom in two.
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Would love to see it.
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That's what I said! I would love to see it though, some kind of villain that require the elements of Harmony to seeling them away attacks Apple Bloom, but I would also love if Apple Bloom knew that if she didn't kill Twilight than she would have been able to be saved therefore instantly regretting her life choices, or better yet kill AppleJack in front of her and than she lives with the guilt forever. Or maybe that's to morbid.
11827639
I sincerely doubt that Applebloom has given it any thought, and even if she has, I don't think she really cares.
She didn't give a shit when all those innocent ponies got killed during the Mane 6's drug induced rampage, why would she care about the fate of a world that, from her perspective, has completely turned its back on her?
I don't even think she cares about her own life - she's only staying alive after her revenge so she can find a way to wake Applejack up from her coma, and even that seems pretty hopeless, if the ending of the audio drama is any indication.
If Twi had been more friendly and told her friends that AJ needed help, the future wouldn't be ruined for her, her friends, and the other ponies
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I thought so, too. But if you listen to the finale over on Lost's channel up to the very last second post-credits, you can hear a heart monitor flatline, which I think is meant to imply that Applejack's heart stopped and she died and Applebloom is left alone, adding another layer of tragedy to this already tragic event.
Rather mix feelings on this. Way too convenient for Applebloom to be such revenge seeking master mind who despite being earth pony with disability managed to both prepare potion and then jump from place to place to witness Mane 5 breaking points. Overall becoming so unhinged that she is willing to go with such a thing, despite it blatantly putting completely innocent lives at risk, is quite OOC. Duh, Mane 5, Twilight including, just as much didn't deserve any of that. Only saving grace here might be if Applebloom was also under strong influence of potion despite her modification which alongside her trauma completely messed up her mentality like any other victim of this potion. Otherwise she is just a vengeful lunatic. Back to convenience, how the hell no one in Ponyville addressed that still remaining from Mane 5 were clearly behaving odd and required attention after RD and Twilight already disappeared? Blooms speaks that there were days in between, yet that doesn't make any sense at all if what she said was true since family members, neighbors or local authorities/royal guards would take action by then just in case.
Oh well, came from youtube where Audio Adaptation production value highly elevates fic overall. But story itself? Twist and ending is quite underwhelming.
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Applejack is dead so applebloom lost everyone, everything she cared about And its in post credit of part 4
I wonder how Spike will react when news of these events reaches him in the Dragonlands? He left home angry and resentful of his friends from what Applebloom says, and not without good reason, but does he really hate Twilight so much that he won't mourn her death (and that of several of his other friends), or not come to regret how they parted on bad terms? Dragons are long-lived, maybe part of him assumed there would always be time to reconcile in the future. But now he will never see her again, and his last memory of her will be tainted with his feelings of outrage and betrayal at the time. He will have centuries to reflect on whether things would have gone differently had he stayed around or told someone what he knew, and whether Twilight's mistakes were enough to outweigh all the good times that came before.
And of course, now Spike has his own terrible secret that he has to choose whether to keep. He knew that Twilight was more culpable in the original incident than she admitted, he knew Applebloom knew and secretly hated Twilight and anyone else who was keeping it secret, he knew that Applebloom was a potions master and had previously managed to drug Twilight without her knowing, and even if he wasn't in on the plan he had to have known that Applebloom would not have let Applejack stay in prison forever. But he walked away without telling anyone, perhaps thinking that it was only fair that he get to keep his own secrets when Twilight had chosen to keep him in the dark, and once word reaches him of this latest Ponyville massacre he'll know that all of it was only possible because of his silence. He might not know exactly what happened, I expect the initial reports will be very confused and mixed up as the ponies try to make sense of what happened, but he knows enough to piece together that something went wrong with the escape attempt and one of the Apple sisters must have taken revenge on the other five element bearers.
So, he could speak up now and tell the princesses everything he knows. It would implicate Applebloom, assuming she hasn't already been caught (she's covered her tracks but doesn't seem to care anymore what happens to her), probably leading to his friend's execution and being remembered as a monster. Twilight covering up her role in the first incident would be revealed if it wasn't already, and he would be tarnishing her memory after her death and undoing a lot of the good she tried to do as a princess. And of course Spike would have to confess that he knew all of this and did nothing, and through his inaction helped allow this to happen.
Or, he could simply say nothing. He can stay in the Dragonlands for the rest of his life and live with his guilt and shame, and avoid any judgement or consequences from his former friends or the princesses. After all, he didn't kill all those ponies or make Applebloom become revenge-crazy or make Twilight and her friends behave so irrationally while under the influence of the potion. And really, if he came out and told the truth now it would just hurt a lot of ponies even more, and get himself in trouble for no good reason.
But of course, now he would be using very similar reasoning to Twilight when she chose to keep the truth from him in the first place, which had angered him so much when he learned about it. It is a lot easier to judge Twilight for her choices before he gets faced with the same hard decision. Maybe now he will better understand Twilight's position, that she didn't keep him ignorant out of contempt or malice but because she wanted to protect his innocence.
This was such a great finale. I didn't see the twist coming. This was a great example of the unreliable narrator because how the sleepless potion messes with your sense of time. Even what happened to the Mane 6 was placed out of order intentionally.
I had to rewatch the videos and reread it all again and it all made sense.
Rainbow Dash: Broke first night in due to the effects of the sleepless potion and PTSD.
Twilight: Similar to Dash, she broke first night and went missing in the same way. But I think if any Pony saw her wandering the abandoned ruins of Sweet Apple Acres, they'd assume it was due to grief or her searching for AJ.
Pinkie Pie: Broke a few days later to the point that she was still making treats for an event that was cancelled due to Soarin's death (they probably found Starlight as well but that's a given). The Cakes probably just let Pinkie bake because she was coping with all the bad things happening. Then her guilt came to a boil like that caramel which lead to the destruction of Sugarcube Corner.
Rarity: Broke a week after exposure and still didn't know the event wasn't happening, probably coping with the death of her father caused by someone she loved. Rarity had more guilt on her plate which lead to her labeling herself as "Guilty" in the blood of her own sister.
Fluttershy: Surprisingly the last to break but seeing how she was a bullied and taunted pony, she's probably put up with worse. But like any tormented individual, everyone has their breaking point. She found her and it turned her feral. The babbling Apple Bloom was talking about might have been animal noises or simply growls because she was now "just a critter"
The way they broke worked psychologically and glad that was paid close attention to. It was a great story from beginning to end and I had a blast trying to figure out what was going on. Bravo 👏👏👏👏
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Part four is considered the finale but I can imagine an epilogue where Celestia and Luna are assessing the damage done to the remaining Mane 6 (especially Luna going into FeralShy's dreams but fail to fix her). I'm fine that it ended where it did but there's some potential for an epilogue. We'll leave that to our imaginations to cook up.
11827590
Nah, I agree with you. The amount of biased gaslighting and excuses that I'm seeing from Twilight fans claiming "Twilight did nothing wrong" is unfathomable cope. She is objectively culpable for giving one of her best friends an untested substance that she explicitly knew was potentially dangerous(which should've been all the more reason not to give it to her in the first place, no matter how much she insisted, especially since she didn't specify the severity of the side-effects otherwise Apple Jack probably wouldn't have used it), then made said-friend into a scapegoat while going with the thinly-veiled pretext that it was for the "greater good of Equestria" when it was simply just to shield herself from any responsibility and protect her own reputation. And while Applejack holds some accountable for her actions, she was also under the influence of a drug that left her sleep deprived, mentally addled (meaning that her emotional reasoning and logical judgement were shot to hell) and suffering from psychosis. If we go by that logic, Pinkie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy are equally guilty for the murderous actions they committed under the substance while Applebloom is technically innocent because hey, it's not like Applebloom compelled them into killing anyone. It was also stupid of Twilight not to just burn all of her research notes after the incident with AJ because what possible benefit would there be in keeping them after seeing what the effects of her potion did to her friend.
And to the people trying to accuse Spike and Applebloom of being "judgemental" (seriously, the selective and largely misguided empathy at work in some of these comments...): if *you* found out that the person closest to you was partially responsible for one of your friends having a psychotic break - resulting in them becoming a serial murderer - and tried to hide this from you, you're not going to be all that understanding regardless of what age you are. Especially when one of the people that was lied to is the younger sister of said-murderer. And people neglect the fact that Spike *knows* Twilight better than anypony else, so he would deduce what her reasoning would be, even if she would delude herself into thinking it was for his sake (and as we see in the narrative, it states that she implicitly knew that her reasoning was selfish, so he was right).
Made an account just to comment because WOW... This is the most horrific thing ive ever read, that plottwist made me put down my phone and sit in silence for a few minutes. Ive never been so captivated by any writing in my life, genuinely, well done
11827116
Yes, this is indeed true. However, lets not forget about the Lesson Zero incident. Twilight"s admiration and loyalty to Celestia is equally as important to her as her close friends. For crying out loud she had a minor metal breakdown over someting as insignificant as late friendship report or whatever. So perhaps, after the horrific incident with Applejack and the Sleepless potion and the amount of atrocities that were committed from it.
I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight did what she did out of some misplace sense of fear of what Celestia would do or think if she had found out what her former protege had done, that Twilight Sparkie, the Princess of Friendship, was the one responsible for inadvertently causing one the worst tragedies within the kingdom of Equestria. Even if Twlight didn't care about her reputation, the rest of Equestria wouldn't let that down. it would've be seen as some sort of political scandal or faux pas. And let's not forget what the other kingdoms might thought of this as well. Everything that Twilight Sparkie and her friends had work so hard to build would've been at risk. Hell, all of Equestria's reputation as the kingdom of love and tolerance and most of all the magic of friendship would've gone down the drain.
Because seriously would you ever trust the ponies again, after one of their national heroes committed unspeakable mass murder the likes of which had never been seen in over a thousand years and even worse one of their princesses try to cover it up with not only a lie. but went against weverything she preach about concerning Friendship and such.
Of course this is just mere speculation. but it's something to think about. you know the bigger picture and whatnot.
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So...she lied not because of her reputation....but because she was selfless and protected all of Equestria? Y'know, the more I think about it, the more it actually makes sense on why Twilight lied.
If she did confess it wouldn't have only affected her, but all of Equestria and every kingdom, hmmm, well Twilight probably should have explained that to Apple Bloom so she could explain why she did it and probably avoided dying, but Apple Bloom was probably to far gone anyways.
11834313
Hah! Of course Applebloom is far gone. She was lost when she decided to get vengeance on Twilight by any means necessary. She didn't care if innocent ponies would get killed in the process. Ponies who had nothing to do with what happned with AJ and that cursed potion.
Hell, she made Pound and Pumkin Cake orphans and had Sweetie Belle killed. it may not be her hooves, but she was the one that instigating it by giving her version of the Sleepless potion. Honestl, out of all the ponies who know what it's like to lose both of their parents, Applebloom or any of the Apple would've been the last ponies to cause that same pain to others. Not only that, the fact she didn't care or show any remorse that she had killed Sweetie Belle a pony who was probably the closest she had to a second sister along with Scootaloo. Yeah, she was beyond redemption after doing all that.
Oh, and let's forget the mere fact that that insane earth pony filly committed regicide. She had killed a Princess of Equestria. the ramifications is quite staggering. Forget about banishment or whatever, she deserves nothing but the death sentence right there. Especially, when you add all the atrocities she committed in the name of revenge. Not to mention, she had bought shame and disgrace to the entire Apple clan, who will now have to carry dark stigma for generations to come. Think about two members of their clan had committed unspeakable atrocities and well, you get the point.
So yeah, Applebloom is just as much a monster as Twilight and her older sis.
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Well the difference between Apple Bloom, Twilight, and AppleJack is Twilight regretted it, she could have killed AppleJack if she wanted to (y'know since she is a princess) but didn't, atleast Twilight felt bad and had morals, plus what she did was an accident, she warned Applejack. With AppleJack she wasn't in the right state of mind, she probably regretted everything she done as well. Now with Apple Bloom, it's a completely different story, it was on purpose, she has no regrets, heck, she probably doesn't even cared if she died, Apple Bloom is basically worst than Nightmare Moon, atleast with her she only wanted eternal night, she didn't want to kill anyone, atleast not on purpose, well expect Celestia.
Question:Can I make a fan animation based on this? I'll make to credit a link to your story and make sure to to send a link to your accounts.
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Sure! Please do share it when you do, I would love to see it!
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This... made my whole week. Thank you SO much!
Looks like Twilight forgot the red rule
When I was reading this fic, I initially thought that of the five only three of them had been given the sleepless potion. I chalked it up that Fluttershy and Dash were the only ones who hadn’t taken it due to my own personal thoughts until it was revealed that they all were under its effects.
Before that, I was trying to think of what villain could have done this. I honestly thought it to be Starlight, playing the long game and other associated reasons; but seeing that she’s an element of harmony would negate this theory. Then I thought it to be Sombra, being the only character in the series to explicitly use fear against his opponents, and I wouldn’t put it past him to use AJ’s incident against them all. Fluttershy even assumed that ‘AJ’ was corrupted by dark magic seeing red wisps coming from her eyes. Until Apple Bloom appeared as the mastermind.
This story was awesome as a grimdark with the twists being even better. They all suffered a mind break with only two of them suffering the worst, that being Rarity and Fluttershy. There were, however, three plot holes that couldn’t have had any accounting for with the last one being the biggest and obvious.
The first is Apple Bloom perfecting the sleepless potion. Yes, by no longer sleeping she was able to hide her dreams from Luna and carry out her plans, but there’s an issue. Luna knows that Apple Bloom is alive, but if you suddenly stop dreaming and she realizes, it would raise concerns. Especially over a three-week period, which raises more red flags for the little Apple and her plans, which would have been discovered and foiled by at the latest the beginning of the second week.
The second ties into the first with this being applejack and the entirety of the mane 6. Before Apple Bloom drugged them, they’ve all been able to sleep, to which you would think Luna would learn through their dreams of what’s happened. Even if she hadn’t for the course of seven years, for the killer to stop dreaming and then her friends as well, it would raise so much concern that she and Celestia would investigate themselves and eventually learn of Twilight’s and Apple Bloom's crimes.
And finally, the biggest and most obvious one is Discord. He isn’t omniscient, he doesn’t know everything unless he reads the script, but it’s hard to believe that he wouldn’t know what’s happening, especially if it involves Fluttershy. Whether he approves of the decisions made is something else entirely, but being such a powerful being he could very easily, and very much in character, snap his fingers to change the events. When Discord gets serious he means business and would have no problems with erasing memories, the potion itself, and bringing characters back to life while filling in the blanks. Nothing that happens in Ponyville can honestly be missed by him, and there is no potion or anything Apple Bloom can do to prevent him from doing the things listed above. Even more so when he learns of what she's done to Fluttershy.
In the comics, he's erased everyone’s memories of Cosmos and took the blame for himself for the chaos that was created so that they didn’t know the true villain. He’s messed with the minds of the mane 6 upon freeing himself from stone and has brought Sombra back to life in perfect condition with no problem. He is, technically speaking, a necromancer, and a good one at that because Sombra was brought back having nothing wrong with him, even after being completely obliterated.
But then the story wouldn’t exist, because he could easily do this and the story loses itself due to his overwhelming power. He warps reality to the same extent as the infinity stones with matching power. With no one being able to stop him unless he feels like it or knows he’s done something wrong.
This series was a fun read. I reread the first story right before this one, and have to say that the quality of storytelling for both entries is exceptionally high. Once I got past the fact that Twilight & friends had the capacity to act so callously towards AJ in the first place, I was treated to a wonderful descending spiral of insanity. I didn’t call the ending, mostly because I assumed that Apple Bloom had been killed. Kudos on creating a sequel that successfully expands on the original.
Okay, WOW. I seriously did NOT see that coming, like, at all.
Yes, I'd thought maybe Applejack hadn't been entirely there with Pinkie, as I noticed the Cake's reactions, but knowing they'd ALL been hallucinating thanks to Apple Bloom poisoning them all with the potion I did NOT see coming in the least, since I thought she was dead.
I also tried posting this on Lost's video, but it never showed up publicly.
It would be there when I'm logged in on Youtube, but publicly, it's nowhere in sight.
Anyway, back to my musings on the story itself.
Spike's absence now does make a painful amount of sense.
Knowing the one who essentially is your mother hid something THAT huge from you? It's no wonder he moved out and stayed out of contact for so long.
...
Speaking of that, however, Apple Bloom fails to realize the cycle of Revenge is not yet finished, though.
Not only does she, by the sounds of the monitor at the end in Lost's video, have to grieve AJ's death... there's someone who's going to be coming for her now.
Once word gets out that Twilight has gone missing and several of her friends are now going to jail for murder, the Princess are bound to contact Spike... and he's going to put all the pieces together... and follow in Apple Bloom's hoofsteps of Revenge.
He may hate Twilight for not trusting him with the truth... but she was still his mother.
And when he learns Fluttershy’s in the mental hospital and Dash and Rarity were imprisoned for murder... but Twilight went missing, he'll know exactly HOW it all came to light, who brought it to light... and who is responsible for Twilight’s disappearance.
Betrayal be damned, she was his mother... and he will bring burning vengeance on the one who took her life.
I have an idea for a third part: The Black Diamond Apple Sleep Experiment (that's the one kind of apple in this world that is purple on the outside. See where that's going?)
STORY CONCEPT WHICH CONTAINS ENDING SPOILERS: After Applebloom killed Twilight and Applejack has either still not waken up or probably died in her coma, the young sister of the Apple Family realizes she needs to set things right with the rest of the Ponyville as they're still kept in the dark of all that went down. As such, she goes further into her potion-brewing and decides to take a piece of Twilight's fur to become her, at least for a while. Then she'll seemingly come out of the shadows, hold some kind of press conference or something like that over at the main square to finally discuss the truth of what happened to Applejack, Twilight being the culprit, and everything Applebloom hoped Twilight would actually admit with her own words before being murdered by her hooves. However, as Twilight's body continues to rot away in the old Apple Farmhouse basement and everyone no doubt be calling for Twilight's arrest, Applebloom's not sure if she should keep up the facade for long, especially since I figure Celestia, Luna, and Cadance would be slowly suspicious of "Twilight", especially after the events involving Queen Chrysalis long ago. Plus, imagine if when the likes of Nurse Redheart or someone studies the blood in the crazed ponies, the sleepless drug is found and thus, Applebloom's revenge ploy could slowly blow up in her own face.
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welcome to the family, dude