Fallen Apple

by Soothing Stone

The Weak Wake Up Screaming

Most of the time, a pony can't remember the beginning of a dream. He or she usually end up in the middle of something with no knowledge of how everything started. It's not long after that the dream ends with a stop just as sudden as the start.

That was not the case when Apple Bloom started to dream. She was sleeping peacefully in Sweetie Belle's room, when all of a sudden she felt wet sands on her cheeks. It didn't strike her as odd for now, she was so tired after yesterday that she didn't mind it one bit.

But things turned for the strangest not long after. The sounds of a tide coming in filled her ears, with a restlessness when it grew closer to her body. Once again she chose to push it away, until she felt her bow coming down on her mane. She moved her hooves to adjust it back in its rightful position. And then it struck her that it was wet with water.

She opened her eyes in a panic, and found herself in a completely different place. Instead of resting in the Carousal Boutique, she was in the middle of a beach she had never seen before. Miles of yellow sand stretched to her left and right as they were wet with moisture. It was probably the tide that was invading the ocean's boundaries, but the skies were dark with grey clouds with the occasional black one in the group. That suggested it might have rained recently.

Her siblings took her to a few beaches in her lifetime, but this wasn't like anything she had seen before. Most of the beach fronts had whiter sands and were adjacent to towns, not grasslands that didn't fit with the rest of the scenery.

Outside of the beach front, the land curved upwards into a grassy plain. There was not a single feature to be found other than the grass on the ground. Not a tree or a house was anywhere nearby. As soon as somepony saw this, it created an atmosphere of loneliness into his or her soul. It took mere seconds for Apple Bloom to feel the same.

She hurriedly got back on her hooves, shocked by such a drastic change of scenery. Her heartbeat shot through the roof as fear and worry entered into her mind. The sight was so realistic that she didn't recognize it as a dream, and tried to remember what happened last night. It only made less sense when she recalled the sleepover.

"Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! Rarity!" she shouted. "Sweetie? Scootaloo? Rarity? Where are you? Where the hay am Ah?"

Her voice echoed in the distance several times, something that shouldn't be happening on a beach as shallow as this. She whimpered as she discovered she was lost.

Nevertheless, she figured somepony would be close by, even if there was a storm around these parts minutes ago. Speaking of which, her body was soaking wet and her back was ruffled with sand. After she looked and smelled her fur, this must have been from the rain. If it was from the beach, it would have the scent of salt to it, something she didn't smell.

The first step of action she took was look around for hoofprints on the wet sands. She decided on her left to begin, looking back her shoulder to make sure she wouldn't see her own prints as a visitor's trail.

She marched forward for a little while, hoping to see the first signs of another visitor. But there was a long field of vision and even then she couldn't see a thing. Not one little press was visible for a few miles. But the filly had no choice but to keep trying. She would find something sooner or later.

As the time went on, she was further dismayed to see not one sign at all. Another glance at her shoulder demonstrated that she had been going for a long stretch. She sighed and laid down on the ground.

The clouds shifted form and turned into a muddled sheet of grey. A breeze swept through the beach as a light rain fell to the earth below. She sniffed as her coat became doused in water, bringing her mane and tail down flat. Her bow even popped out of her hair onto the sand, yet she forgot about it when she saw her first piece of hope.

There was a trail of prints from somepony else here. It was far off and beginning to dissolve in the rain, but she ran after them anyway before they were long gone. Finally, she might get out of here!

She pursued this pony and paid attention to the prints. They were much bigger than her own, suggesting he or she was bigger than Apple Bloom. Yet they were slim for their size, meaning it was a mare she was going after.

That eliminated the idea it might be her friends, while keeping the possibility it was Rarity. Perhaps she overslept and they went to the beach, while making sure they would not wake her up. But why they leave her alone out here?

As the trail continued, it curved steadily into the grass plain. But she didn't notice how the world was changing as she went closer into this pony's way. The beach was getting further and further away from her, more than realistically possible, while the land were featuring more detailed landmarks.

Apple Bloom stopped and realized this for herself. More trees were popping up within her viewpoint, and a few buildings like the ones in Ponyville were beginning to show. Not many were there, but she was relieved to be seeing something familiar as well. But when was Ponyville ever near a beach?

She pushed the question away and kept her pursuit of the hoofprints. They were no longer on a beach anymore, but on a dirt road as it fed into her hometown, or so she thought.

The rain stopped with a halt and the clouds began to clear up. It wasn't long until the sky was sunny and clear, and the breeze had faded away to calmer winds.

"Silly pegasi," she said to herself.

The path led her to a hill, giving her a great sight of the place, and best of all, a great view of the last of the prints. To make things better, she could see where it stopped at. The pony had walked from the beach to arrive at her peaceful looking house. One story, simply designed, smoke coming from the chimney. She hatched a plan to ask the mare for directions to either Rarity's house or Sweet Apple Acres, and then find out what happened with her friends.

She traveled down the hill and made a turn to the right at the end of the trail. She knocked on the wooden door a few times, and stood back for the pony to answer.

There was no answer for half a minute. She knocked again only to get the same response. After five or six series knocks, she didn't know what was going on. Maybe the mare wanted to be alone.

"Hello, miss? Ah was wondering how to get to Sweet Apple Acres from here. If you don't mind, could you give me directions or something? Ah would like that very much."

The door did creak a bit, and she looked up in anticipation. But there was nopony there when it swung open. Instead, she was greeted to the horror of a blinding light that filled her eyes with searing pain. She covered her eyes as a gust swirled around her, sucking her into the house. She screamed as she had nothing to hold onto, falling without resistance into its jaw.

Her screams didn't stop, keeping her eyes shut from whoever was responsible for this. But there was nothing touching her anymore. In fact, she felt solid ground at her feet. What was going on now? She opened them to see what was happening around her, only to be greeted by another change of location.

Instead of the sparse beach and town, this meadow she found herself in was far more richer in detail. It was full of valleys and hills, with flowers dotting the ground everywhere she looked. There were so many trees that they created tons of shade for the ponies playing here, and there was a forest only half a mile from here.

For reasons that couldn't be explained, it felt warm and accepting to its visitors. Apple Bloom's mood felt lighter as she looked around, and while she couldn't see the pony she was looking for, it didn't matter when she would be fine anyways. To tell the truth, she forgot about it when she was distracted by a sight this beautiful

So she enjoyed it a little bit. She trotted through the flowers, and found a delicious dandelion in her way. It made for a great snack as she picked it up and ate it. Her now-dry body rolled down the hill, and she laughed all the way through. Whenever she felt exhausted, she sat down below a tree and rested a bit.

During the third nap today, she rested soundly without a care in the world. But something felt different now. She could sense that somepony was here with her, and she couldn't tell if this was a kind fellow or not. But the mare was already under the shade with her when she got up.

Her jaw dropped with surprise when she finally saw the pony she had been following all this time The mare had a blond mane tied in a ponytail along with her tail, and her coat was a warm shade of orange. A few freckles dotted her cheeks, a few apples were on her flank, and most familiar of all, she had a cowboy hat on her head.

"Applejack!" she shouted. "You're alive!"

The next thing you knew, she drove into Applejack with her hooves extended, giving the biggest embrace of her life. Her big sister returned the move as they fell into the ground. Flowers went in all directions as they landed, hugging each other tightly.

"Ah thought you were dead!" Apple Bloom continued. "They told me you died and..."

"No, Ah'm still here," Applejack replied. "Ah'm sorry Ah've been gone so long, can't be leaving you or your friends like that."

"But how are you here? This doesn't make a lick of sense."

"It doesn't matter. Ah'm here, and Ah won't leave you anymore, Ah promise."

Apple Bloom smiled and rested her head on Applejack's shoulder. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but this time they were of joy. She felt her mane patted with a hoof, but she didn't need to be comforted anymore. Applejack was here. That's all she really wanted.

Applejack smiled as they remained embraced on the grass together. Both of their hearts were as light as a feather then, and she didn't say a word as Apple Bloom snuggled her more than ever before.

"We should tell the family about this," the filly said. "They still think you're dead, and they're getting a funeral together and everything. You shouldn't keep them out of the know any longer."

The farm pony nodded as much as she could. "That's what Ah'm going to do once we leave. How sad was everypony when they thought Ah was gone?"

"You have no idea. Big Mac was crying for the first time in his life, Rarity was devastated, and Ah think all of your friends are the same. They're going to be excited when they know you're still alive. Now that Ah'm thinking about it, why were you gone?"

"Ah had to leave for a business trip that came at the last second. Somepony in Canterlot wanted to carry our cider in the autumn. Sorry Ah didn't tell you before."

In real life, Apple Bloom would have known those words were strange and call bull on it. But then again, here AJ was alive. That's the only part she cared about.

"It's alright. We forgive you. Just don't go off scaring us like that anymore."

Applejack laughed. "Agreed. Anything you want to do here before we get going?"

"Of course! This place is amazin'!"

"You haven't even seen the best part about it just yet. Let me show you."

Applejack carried Apple Bloom on her back as they went into another round of things to do there. They used some of the trees to create a makeshift swing with rope, and Apple Bloom had the time of her life while AJ was pushing her forward.

They held a race against each other down all of the hills, one by one. Applejack would win if it was for real, but she allowed Apple Bloom to win each one. She would brag about how fast she was, and maybe become a Rainbow Dash class athlete when she grew up.

Applejack pointed out there were things in the forest that were hidden out of sight, particularly a stream they could swim in. They explored inside to find a big pool of water there, and had their share of cannonball drops.

It all felt like a dream come true to Apple Bloom. Everything about this was perfect as it could have been. And if it was a dream and not reality, she wanted to sleep forever.

However, every dream can transform into something nasty without warning

Apple Bloom shook off the water on her coat when she finally got out of the natural pool. The water sprayed everywhere for a few feet as her coat got all frizzy. She laughed and pushed the fur back down.

"So what should we do next?" Applejack asked. "It will have to be the last thing we do before we have to leave. They'll be expecting you any moment."

"Ah want to get back on that swing you made," Apple Bloom answered. "That was fun!"

"All right! Rope swing it is!"

They dried off with more coat shaking and went back to the meadow. The wind was picking back up, but still nothing more than 10 miles per hour, which a nice breeze in the end. The swing moved back and forth from the tree holding it in place, waiting for the next pony to ride it.

Apple Bloom ran up the hill, and sat back down on the wooden plank for a seat. She couldn't wait for Applejack to come up with her, but she was taking her time all of a sudden.

"Come on!" the filly shouted. "You can run just as fast as Ah can! Ah've seen you do it before!"

"Hold your horses!" Applejack shot back. "Ah'm coming. Trying to enjoy this before we're out of here."

She came up the hill just behind Apple Bloom and looked back up at the sun. It didn't move at all, creating the same angle of shade there was before. But she didn't know the reason behind it. She accepted it anyways, thinking it was noontime given the sun's position.

Apple Bloom giggled as Applejack pushed her again. Since it was on a hill, it was a steep drop below her as she went back and forth. The swing picked up speed as Applejack kept pushing time after time. The filly shut her eyes, enjoying the wind in her face as she moved faster and faster.

But then something was wrong. She couldn't feel Applejack's hooves pressing on her back. Her speed was slowing down with nothing to keep it up. Something bad was going on here.

She came to a complete stop, and turned around to see what was stopping AJ now. The farmer was looking straight ahead past her sister, her expression one of complete terror. She pointed her hoof at what she was seeing, without the will to get out one word. Apple Bloom looked forward herself with curiosity, only to share the same look of horror.

Many trees were sprouting out from the ground before the hill. They became fully grown plants within the second they arrived, and they were nothing like the ones in the forest. These were a lot taller to begin with, towering over the entire meadow with a sinister purpose.

That purpose was clear, with their bark more darkly colored and twisted than even the Everfree Forest could offer. Even though they were plants, they gave the sensation that they had eyes, containing hatred contempt in its purest form to whoever was watching.

Apple Bloom quivered in fear at the sight, without the safety night of acknowledging this was a dream. As a result, she felt like her life was in danger somehow. These trees were going to do something...

"Ah don't like the look of this," Applejack commented. "We ought to get out of here now."

"Ah was thinking the same thing," Apple Bloom said.

Those words acted like a trigger, as more of the dark trees spewed up out of the soil with a faster pace than the ones before. They were gaining distance on the sisters fast. Without a command, both turned around and ran as fast as they could.

"Don't look back!" the farmer warned. "Whatever you do, don't look back!"

Apple Bloom got the message loud and clear, scrambling as quickly as her little hooves would allow. Yet the trees kept up their unorthodox chase, as more of them shot up.

Applejack's heart was racing along with her body, and turned around to see how Apple Bloom was doing. She was running at half AJ's pace, and the trees would catch her with this pace. Seeing no other way, she ran back for the filly.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Apple Bloom screamed. "You can't do this! Ah'll make it!"

"No you won't! And Ah won't allow them to touch a hair on you!" AJ shouted.

The trees were so close, their branches were extending for the filly like hands. But Applejack clutched her with her teeth before that could happen. She slung the filly onto her saddle, and ran full speed ahead.

The trees roared with a singular growl as their would be victims were getting further away. Not far from here, Ponyville was off in the distance. There was a force field enveloping it, giving the idea that Twilight knew this was coming. There wasn't a doubt that the sisters would be allowed inside while the trees would be blocked. So the demonic creatures changed tactics before it was too late.

Apple Bloom screamed again as the spouting trees began to fall in their direction. The trunks crashed all around them, intending to flatten them to a pulp.

Yet Applejack wouldn't let that stop her now. She ran undeterred to Ponyville, only a few hundred feet away now. They could see their friends waving for them inside the force field, appearing as freaked out as they did.

But their time was running out. The trees were getting closer, some narrowly avoiding their target by inches. Applejack looked up and saw that the trees were going to get them within seconds.

A hole in the force field opened up, big enough for them to fall into. Their friends were screaming for them to hurry up, and a few couldn't bare to look.

She looked at Apple Bloom directly in the eyes. The poor girl was crying from everything happening around her, and clung so tight to AJ it was beginning to hurt.

"Can you be a good filly for me?" AJ asked in a bittersweet tone. "Can you make it here without having me around?"

Apple Bloom gasped at such a question and shook her head. "No! Ah lost you once, Ah can't let it happen again!"

"Ah'm sorry. If we keep going, we're both goners. You're not going to die here. Not today!"

She stopped in the middle of her run and grabbed hold of her sister. Before Apple Bloom could argue anymore, AJ threw her into the gaping hole in the force field. The child went through the hole perfectly before it closed up behind her.

In a panic, Apple Bloom turned around to see AJ's state. The farmer smiled and waved her goodbye with her hat as the wave of trees came in. One drove in for its victim, going headlong into Applejack. She smiled right before it slammed itself directly into--

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The filly clutched at the blanket while simultaneously shooting up from the bed, screaming her head off. The noise woke Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo up on the spot as they woke up from their own dreams. They almost panicked when they had never seen Apple Bloom as terrified as she was now.

She could have taken comfort in the fact that she was back in Sweetie Belle's room, but she kept screaming anyway. The image of Applejack's smile before the tree got her was branded into her memory, and the trees still wanted her dead. She buried her head underneath the blankets, in hope they would not find her.

Her friends came down under the covers, only to witness her violently shaking from the nightmare. They pulled the blanket away and held her closely in some attempts to make it better.

"It's OK, we're here now," Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah, you must have had a nightmare or something," Scootaloo chimed in. "And none of it was real."

"But the trees...they're tryin' to get me..." Apple Bloom whispered.

"What trees?" asked Scootaloo.

That was the moment Apple Bloom came back to reality. She could see her friends standing by her side, and back into the comfort of the Carousal Boutique. Her shaking did not stop, but her hysterical speech was gone.

Her breathing slowed down when the traces of the nightmare's hold had faded away. Yet it felt so real that she really did feel the sting of losing her sister again. And this time she saw it with her own eyes, making it even worse if that's possible.

They could hear hoofsteps coming up on the staircase, while the lights in the house were flicked on. A pony came inside their room and turned the lights on. It turned out to be Rarity, sporting her sleeping mask on her forehead while in a sleeping robe.

"What happened? Did one of you get hurt?" she asked.

"Apple Bloom woke up from a terrible nightmare," Sweetie explained. "It's nothing, really."

The designer came to the bed and looked at Apple Bloom herself. She was still shaking with every nerve of her body, not to mention the fact that the fur on her coat was standing upright.

"It is not something to disregard, it's an emergency!" Rarity counterpointed. "Look at her! She couldn't have merely had a bad dream, she had a nightmare of nightmares! None of us should let her go back to bed right away, she'll need something before she does that. Apple Bloom, could you come with me to the kitchen?"

Apple Bloom nodded and pulled herself out of the sheets. She came out of the bed and joined Rarity down the staircase. The two remaining Crusaders watched on with concern as the door was shut behind them.

Rarity guided her to the kitchen, bringing up a chair for the both of them. Apple Bloom's shaking had managed to get even worse when she sat down.

The unicorn levitated two glasses to the counter along with a full carton of milk. Noting how awful and disturbed Apple Bloom looked, she poured both glasses full and gave the first to the filly.

"What was the nightmare about, if you don't mind me asking?" she inquired.

Apple Bloom barely acknowledged the milk prepared for her. She forced herself to stop shaking and racing through thoughts by sheer will, while she put the nearest straw inside the glass.

"Ah watched Applejack die again."

Rarity dropped her glass when she was in the middle of drinking from it. Her glass shattered into a million pieces as it collided with the floor. The milk splashed around before it became a puddle, matching the white tiles it was covering.

"Did I hear you correctly? Applejack died in your dream?"

Apple Bloom nodded, sipping a bit of her milk. "It was awful, Rarity. Worse dream Ah've ever had."

"I can believe that. It must have been traumatizing. I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"She even died the same way she did in real life, from a falling tree trunk. Only this time, it was alive and trying to kill her. It had eyes and everything. And it had spouted out of the ground from nowhere, and fell directly on her--"

"That is enough, no more!" Rarity was beginning to shiver just like Apple Bloom with that imagery. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but that could be the most horrid thing I've ever heard of. I dare say that most ponies with such a horrifying dream could use some assistance to get through it. I know somepony who would be happy to help you tomorrow, if you like."

The filly shook her head. "Ah'll be fine. It was just a dream." She drank her milk with a few more sips until it was gone. The shaking had subsided when she grew to accept that it was all but a dream.

It was a terrible dream, everypony would agree to that. And now that she was back in reality, she didn't feel responsible like she had for AJ's death. How she was so slow that she forced Applejack to turn back, in order to save her life...

A few tears welled up in her eyes, and Rarity was there almost immediately to hug her. The mare quietly sang a lullaby, one she heard in her foalhood. Apple Bloom made no attempts to push away this kind of help, in fact, it was almost soothing to her.

She kept the glass in her front limbs as Rarity carried her to the living room. Nothing other than the lullaby was said when they were on the sofa. Apple Bloom even looked at peace for a brief moment, with the melody of the song getting to her.

Do you know how much your friends are looking out for you, Apple Bloom? I think you would be a happier pony if you realized that in your heart. You might not be the happiest pony in the world like you were a few weeks ago, but you would be better than you are now. And without such unspeakable dreams.

She could hear Apple Bloom snoring again before she could sing the song a third time, and she sighed at the result. Finally, she managed to help her out at least once.

The glass was placed over on a table neatly, and she held the filly on her shoulder as she went back up the steps. She could hear two fillies scurrying about as she got closer, but it could be tolerated for now.

Sweetie Belle opened the door for them while Scootaloo waved Apple Bloom and Rarity in. The fashionista smiled as she went inside the room for the last time this night.

Apple Bloom didn't make a noise as she was levitated carefully back into her spot on the bed. She grabbed hold of the blanket subconsciously, showing she was over the nightmare. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo took their places at the sleeping bags placed back on the floor, giving their friend the bed all to herself.

"I know your hearts were in the right place," Rarity whispered, "but I think it would be best if she had her friends with her for these hours."

They understood and slipped out of their sleeping bags, going back into bed as before. After a few seconds, Apple Bloom subconsciously wrapped her hooves around them, making another group embrace even in her dreams. They said nothing to this, only happy that being there DID make things easier.

With her mission accomplished, Rarity trotted out of the room and shut the door. She groaned when she remembered the shattered glass of milk downstairs, and came into the kitchen with a broom and dustpan. As she feared, Opal had beaten her to the punch. Her lips were covered in milk, but at least all the milk was gone. And the worst was over for Apple Bloom at long last.

In reality, it would only be the beginning for her.

Comments

[Slateblu1]

she'll meed something

Think you want an 'n' there.

Wow.... wonderful, sad, and terrifying. I'm worried I'm going to have nightmares now. So realistic.
And poor Apple Bloom. This can't be getting any easier for her..

[Soothing Stone]

1586053

Surprised I missed that. Then again, when you spend over an hour fixing your own work, it can be hard to miss things like that.

It's hard to see this with the title now, but the title to the fourth chapter is actually a reference to an Akira Kurosawa movie called The Bad Sleep Well. It's basically Hamlet set in postwar Japan and such. Hard to see a correspondance, but I thought with a dream chapter like this, a title along those lines would work.

[IvanTheRifleman]

"Applejack!" she shouted. "You're alive!"
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"Yeah, you must have had a nightmare or something," Scootaloo chimed in. "And none of it was real."
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