Snowblind

by CrowMagnon

Fear Not the Winter (pt. 1/2)

Snowblind
by crowmagnon

Fear Not the Winter, pt. 1

Breathe in... breathe out...

Breathe in... breathe out...

Apple Bloom took slow, deep breaths as she huddled up with Sweetie Belle and Spike. Overall, she was much more calm than she had been, but fear still filled the ground floor of Sugarcube Corner, even after Fluttershy and Mrs. Cake had returned safely from their meetings with Gertrude.

"Is... is mommy gonna be okay?" Spike's voice broke the silence as he looked up the staircase, hoping to see Rarity coming down them safe and sound.

"Don't worry, darling," Applejack assured the little ones as she approached, moving very slowly and carefully as she tried to keep a plate of four cupcakes on her back. It was clear that she lacked the practiced balance of Mrs. Cake. As a result, the cultured poise with which she typically walked was completely absent. Once she was close to them, the businessmare turned her head and reached for the edge of the plate with her teeth. Her already precarious balance caused the plate to wobble and tilt away from her mouth.

When the plate and its cargo of sweets started to overbalance, the fillies and baby dragon watched with what they would have called horror if not for the other events of the day. Applejack herself panicked and overcorrected, causing it all to slide off and start tumbling to the floor.

Applejack winced, expecting a crash that never came. As the plate and cupcakes fell, Apple Bloom reflexively dived forward, sliding on her barrel across the short distance of floor just in time to catch the plate in her hooves. She had less luck with the cupcakes, three of which landed on the plate while the fourth hit the edge and fell to the floor.

When the businessmare opened her eyes, she let out a sigh of relief and beamed down at her little sister. "Oh, thank you, thank you. That was an amazing catch," she said, praising Apple Bloom as she picked up one of the cupcakes that hit the plate upside-down, causing it to lose much of its frosting. She looked between that one and the one that had fallen on the floor in quiet dismay. "Oh dear... that won't do. What a waste..."

Apple Bloom briefly felt a small smile try to form on her face, but it quickly faded as a faint whisper in her mind reminded her, It doesn't matter if she compliments me. She's only here to make herself feel better, then she'll abandon her family again.

"Whatever... Y'all c'n jus' buy a whole bakery if'n ya feel like it," she muttered as she set the plate down and just lay down on the cold floor.

"I c'n eat this one," Spike volunteered, picking up the fallen cupcake. "I dun' mind!"

"It's alright, I can just get another batch," Carrot Cake said morosely and started to make his way back to the kitchen, only to be stopped by Applejack's voice.

"No need, sir, you and your lovely wife have done more than enough under the circumstances." She then quickly picked the treat out of Spike's claws and told him, "And your mother would simply murder me if she ever found out I allowed you to eat something off of the floor."

Without a second thought, Applejack took a large bite out of the cupcake, finishing it in two more. She then daintily wiped the crumbs from her mouth and smiled at the bakers. "~Mmm~ Mister and Mrs. Cake, you two are artists," she told them while everypony stared at her in surprise. Everypony except for Fluttershy, at least, who covered her mouth to stifle a giggle at their expressions. Seeing their looks, Applejack pulled a compact from one of her coat's pockets and opened it up to inspect her face. "Whatever is the matter? Do I have crumbs on my face?"

When Applejack found nothing, she closed the compact and put it away, then turned her attention to the remaining cupcakes. "Now then... let's see about fixing this. A-ha!" Her green eyes sparkled with inspiration as she reached up to her earrings, pulling them out. Then she set them on the floor and began worrying at the emeralds with the edge of her hoof.

Apple Bloom stared with the others, and didn't even notice Fluttershy approaching until the filly felt a soft wing on her back once again. Looking up into the pegasus's blue eyes, she whispered, "Wh... what's goin' on...? Why's she doin' that...?"

"It's just the sort of pony your big sister is," Fluttershy fondly whispered back. "Just watch."

After a bit more worrying at the gems, Applejack managed to work them free of their settings. She then carefully picked them up and placed the twin emeralds on the bare cupcake and offered the bejeweled sweet to Spike. The baby dragon's eyes widened, drool dribbling out of the corner of his mouth as the precious stones twinkled deliciously. "Thank you, Miz Appajack," he said excitedly as he took the cupcake and shoved as much of it into his mouth as he could fit.

Applejack laughed softly and pat Spike on the back when he had a bit of trouble eating it all. "Easy, darling, take your time chewing before you swallow. Mister and Mrs. Cake obviously put a lot of love into their work, so try to savor it." With that, she picked up the earrings and placed them back on her ears, showing no hint of concern that the dazzling emeralds that had adorned them were now in a baby dragon's stomach.

Apple Bloom clenched her eyes shut, trying to make sense of it.

Ever since her first blow-up at Applejack, the earth pony's heart had been aching. Mrs. Fluttershy had done what she could to help, but each reassuring word and disarming catch phrase was countered by her own inner voice reminding her of every missed family reunion. Every school event attended by Big Mac and Granny Smith, but not her amazing, successful big sister. Every time those spoiled brats Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made fun of her family's rural ways and taunted her over how Applejack was the only one smart enough to divorce herself from the rest of their family of stupid hicks and make something of herself.

How they had been forced to hire strangers when Big Mac alone couldn't handle the workload and she was too small and weak to help. Strangers working Sweet Apple Acres, which had been lovingly tended to by the Apple clan since before Ponyville was even a town.

As she stewed in her thoughts, Apple Bloom was briefly startled when she felt something brush her nose, and opened her eyes to find one of the remaining cupcakes being held in front of her face between two little white hooves. Sweetle Belle was looking down at her with her wide, innocent green eyes and a hopeful smile on her face as she offered Apple Bloom the treat.

"Ah hate you," the filly muttered in reply as she looked past her friend toward her big sister. Applejack's ears flattened with dismay when she heard this, but Apple Bloom wasn't done. "Ah hate you. Ya never show up mah entire life, then whenever you do, somethin' horrible happens an' ruins everything. Now ya think ya c'n jus' bribe mah friends an' everything's fine?"

Applejack winced. For a moment, her eyes reflexively flashed with the desire to challenge the harsh words, but she quickly swallowed it back before she could say anything more that she would regret today. Instead, she looked her little sister in the eye and said, "I know... but I promise you, I'll do whatever it takes to get you back to Big McIntosh and Granny." She offered the filly a small smile, hoping that this would soothe her sister's anger.

She was not prepared when Apple Bloom croaked out, "Ah hate them, too." This time, the words struck Applejack so sharply that she almost recoiled away. "Ah never knew ya, but they were here when you walked away. They depended on ya more'n anypony, an' no matter how many times ya betrayed 'em, they never stopped carryin' on about how great an' wonderful you were. They're stupid. Stupid an' pathetic..."

Apple Bloom began shivering on the cold floor as she spoke, but in contrast her voice grew steadier as it slipped into an icy, spiteful tone. The ponies and dragon near her gasped in horror at what she was saying, and it was her dearest friend who spoke up first.

"You don't really mean that, Apple Bloom! You're just saying that because your cold and scared, right?" The unicorn filly placed a dainty hoof on her friend's shoulder, but immediately recoiled in shock at what she felt. "A-apple Bloom, you're freezing!"

"Shut up," Apple Bloom said, interrupting her friend. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked up at Sweetie Belle, filling the unicorn with dread. Her eyes didn't have the blank white cast to them that Gertrude's did, or which Rarity's had briefly shown, but her orange irises were masked over with a frosty rime.

"Ah hate you, too," the earth pony filly said, her voice low and steady even as it was filled with a cold rage. It remained so, even as ice began to form on the floor beneath her and slowly creep its way up her little body. "You don't know how good ya have it. Rarity'd move mountains for you an' Spike. She ain't no Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. She'd never sell ya out fer a pile o' bits."

Her gaze then turned to Spike, who was already trembling with fear and confusion as his young aunt's best friend said such horrible things without even raising her voice above a threatening hiss. As she focused her eyes on him, he could see the orange slowly fading away as she said, "An' ah hate you so much, Spike. Always rubbin' it in mah face that ya have the perfect momma when mine's been gone since before you were hatched."

Apple Bloom didn't even seem to notice the ice that was visibly covering more and more of her body as she looked back down at her hooves. "Ah hate you all. I hate everythin'. Ah hate me. Jus' go away! Jus' let it all go away..." By this point the ice had completely coated her legs and was making its way up her back toward her head. The filly simply shut her eyes and let it happen.

"Somepony, do something! Help her," Sweetie Belle shrieked before darkness covered the yellow filly.

-----

"I promise you, Iron Will, we'll do everything we can to help your wife. But right now, we don't even know for sure if Fluttershy's even in there," Lt. Sparkle explained once again to the irate minotaur. Turning her attention to Nocturne Striker, she asked, "Any sign of Private Pierce?"

"No, ma'am, the weather team are still looking," the thestral replied as she flitted about, keeping an eye out from above. Every so often, she would let out a high shrieking sound that would have chilled the blood if the unnatural weather weren't doing the job already. Afterward, her ears would twitch from side to side and she called down, "Sounds like everypony you wanted off the streets is secure inside, though."

Lt. Sparkle let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia for that much." She then turned to Pinkamena and her musician friends, who were among the few she had requested to stay close by. "Thanks for staying on standby. Pinkamena, I have no idea what you were thinking, but I'm glad you brought them."

"It seemed to fit," Pinkamena replied with a shrug as she pulled a thermos out of her turtleneck and opened it up. The rich, warm smell of coffee wafted out of it as she took a long drink of the hot beverage.

"Yeah, well, you gonna fill us in on the plan any time soon, L.T.?" Between Pinkamena and Octavia, Vinyl Scratch was by far the least stoic about their situation. "Not to be a whiner or anything, but I was expecting to have kicked off Spring by now."

"Sorry, Vinyl, but I can't be sure how much that griffon or her Windigoes can hear. Just trust me, in forty-seven of the sixty-one plans I've got running right now, you're very important."

This made the DJ's eyebrows raise up over her shades. "Sixty-one? Isn't that a little overkill?"

Lt. Sparkle coughed into her hoof. "Well, maybe, but--"

-----

"It takes her quite a bit of thought to narrow her options down, you see," Rarity explained to the griffon. Gertrude was listening attentively, as well as keeping her eyes and ears trained on the unicorn's heartbeat and bodily tics for any sign of duplicity. Thus far, she had found none. "She is, to put it bluntly, far more powerful than the average unicorn and much smarter than everypony in this building combined. The instant you made yourself known, her brain must have been swimming with a thousand plans."

Rarity sat on her haunches and ran a hoof up and down the braid hanging down over her shoulder as she thought about the purple unicorn outside. Her blank white eyes looked straight ahead, offering no hint of remorse or guilt over her betrayal. "Most of them would be worthless, but she would have been spending the time since then determining which are doomed to failure and which offer a chance of success. If you give her the chance to pare it down to one perfect plan, then you will have no chance of reclaiming your Element."

"Really now?" Gertrude lay on the floor across from Rarity, her forelegs crossed in front of her. "As strong as she may be for a mere unicorn, I have faced the Sun and Moon, and was only defeated when Luna turned my own power upon me. What if she works her way through the impossible plans and pares them down to zero?"

"Then she will become desperate enough to ignore what's possible and make a new plan anyway. As long as you try to play chess with her, you'll lose."

Gertrude narrowed her eyes at the unicorn and reached out with talons sharp enough to slash through solid rock. Gently holding Rarity's face between those claws, she looked Rarity straight in the eyes for several seconds before saying, "I believe you. Thank you, Rarity, this information is more than worth your family's freedom."

Rarity blinked several times, and in the moments when they open, her blue irises showed briefly through the cloudy white before vanishing again. "It... is?"

"Of course," Gertrude replied, releasing Rarity as she stood and sat down once more. "You gave me an honest appraisal of your friend's intelligence, and made it clear that it is her greatest strength, as well as her greatest liability. Let us assume for the moment that her intellect truly is as formidable as you say, and I cannot defeat her at chess in order to reclaim the Elements. I can still change the game. Now, tell me about the cloaked pegasus."

-----

Iron Will grumbled to himself as he sat, staring at the frozen bakery. The minotaur looked down at the cast surrounding his leg, a souvenir from the last time an insane monster from the ancient past had threatened his wife and adopted homeland.

After narrowing his eyes in a futile attempt to glare his way through the thick shell of ice encasing Sugarcube Corner, he sighed and slumped forward, kicking at the snowy earth with his good hoof. "Stupid... weak... can't even chip through ice. Is this all I'm good for? Just spewing out stupid slogans?" The minotaur slammed his fist into a nearby tree in frustration, causing himself to get buried for a moment in the snow that fell from its branches.

Though it added to his frustration, he made no effort to wipe it away. The thought of failing his wife and friends in the face of danger chilled his heart, and he started to wonder if he should simply let the cold take him, rather than let Fluttershy see him as a crippled weakling who couldn't do anything when it mattered.

The thought of that sweet little pegasus looking at him with disappointment in her big blue eyes made his guts twist.

Why didn't you do anything? You promised you'd always look out for me, the Fluttershy in his mind said, chastising him. Not even angry at him, just... looking at him with those soft eyes that felt like they could stare right into your soul, and finding him wanting.

The very thought made his confidence, which was already shaken at the thought of his beloved pegasus trapped in the griffon's clutches, crumble like a sand castle in an earthquake. His heart seized up in his mighty chest, and he could feel the cold seeping into him. And he realized that he would rather allow it to do so than ever suffer Fluttershy's disappointed stare. Just let it take him away, and--

"What do you think you're doing, big guy? Don't tell me you're just gonna lay down and die," a raspy voice rhymed, interrupting his thoughts while a cyan wing brushed snow off of his body. "I know it's gotta be bugging you, but if you stay buried in the snow, your fur won't be the only thing that's blue."

"Leave me alone," the minotaur said, trying to push Rainbow Dash away with a weak swipe of his hand. "She's gonna leave me! My Flutterpony thinks I'm weak and useless... and she's right! While she was busy saving Equestria, I was sidelined with a broken leg! I hate mys-"

"Stop!" Iron Will blinked, interrupted again when Rainbow Dash stuck a cyan hoof in his face. The minotaur snorted in annoyance, but before he could say anything, she told him, "No, just stop. Don't say another word. That's the biggest load of horse-apples I've ever heard."

Iron Will frowned at the pegasus. Even if he had been in the middle of a bout of self-pity and -loathing, it wasn't in the minotaur's nature to take being told to just shut up and listen. With a heated snort, he asked, "And what do you know about it?!"

Rainbow Dash got up on her hind legs and leaned an elbow against the minotaur's shoulder. "Well it's pretty obvious you're feeling a lot of fear, but why do you think you're here?"

The bull's frown turned to one of confusion as he arched an eyebrow at the pegasus. "Uh... you mean... existentially?"

Dash poked Iron Will with her free hoof and replied, "I mean out here, instead of inside. If you're so weak, why don't you go hide?"

Despite his self-doubts, the challenge to his pride lit a hot spark in Iron Will's psyche. "Minotaurs don't hide! I just don't know what to do!" Iron Will snapped reflexively.

Rainbow Dash snarked, "Well you won't do anything at all if you just sit and mope, you giant dope. Why are you so afraid Fluttershy'll get sick of you and walk away? Did you think she would when you woke up today?"

Iron Will snorted back as he reflexively replied, "Of course not! Why would I? We love each other, and..."

The image of Fluttershy looking at him returned to the minotaur's mind, causing him to trail off as the mental apparition whispered, I thought you were so strong. So dependable. I was wrong... I'm sorry, but you just aren't the man I thought you were.

"And... and she wouldn't... She depends on me..."

I thought I could. I wanted to believe in you, but I've been feeling this way ever since Waking Night, and this was just the final straw. It's better if we just make a clean break of it.

Iron Will clutched the sides of his head and clenched his eyes shut as he felt his heart freeze in his chest again. "No... no, don't leave me!"

With his eyes shut, he could still see the mental image of his spouse as clearly as if she were standing in front of him. Fluttershy shook her head and turned away. No, Will, I deserve better. Don't try to follow--

"Who's leaving, Silly-Willy? I'm not going anywhere."

The minotaur's eyes flew open. "Wh-what? Fluttershy!" Standing in front of him was a vision of the lovely pegasus looking at him with the fond smile she always had. He couldn't help but smile back, though it didn't last long. Off in the distance, a Windigo howled as he asked, "Rainbow Dash... what in Aurox's name do you think you're doing, and why shouldn't I strangle you for this?"

"Oh she's just trying to help, Will. I don't want you two to start fighting," Fluttershy replied, though Iron Will noted that the movement of her mouth didn't quite match the words.

Also, her voice was slightly more raspy than the sweet, melodious tones he was used to.

And despite holding a hoof over her mouth, Rainbow Dash's lips were moving when Fluttershy spoke.

Then there was the small detail that the 'Fluttershy' in front of him was entirely made of green powder.

Growling with anger, Iron Will awkwardly pushed himself back upright and clenched a fist at the cyan witch. "You think this is funny?! I'm worried sick here, and you think now's a time for playing stupid pranks? What is wrong with you?!" The minotaur swung his fist, but not at Rainbow Dash. Instead, he swung it toward the cloud of loa dust the pegasus had shaped.

Instead of dispersing the cloud, however, Iron Will's meaty fist stopped before it even got close enough for the breeze from it to disturb any of the powder which was held in the form of his wife's smiling face.

Lowering her hoof, Rainbow Dash saw Iron Will freeze in place for several seconds before his arm dropped down limply to his side. "I think a Windigo's trying to get inside your head, so I wanted to put something better there instead," she explained, looking away from the minotaur in shame. "Just tell me how you really feel. Between this and whatever you're afraid of, which is more real?"

Iron Will glared at Rainbow Dash, but after a moment he looked back at the image she had made. The more he looked at, the more ridiculous it seemed that he had been fooled even for a fraction of a second. Color aside, the proportions were wrong, its hooves didn't even touch the ground, and the manestyle was askew. The only detail that Rainbow Dash had gotten right was the smile.

That thing isn't me, the Fluttershy in his head sneered, though its voice grew fainter as he found himself staring into the laughing eyes of the image before him. If you're so needy that you have to have a blow-up doll image of me, that can be arranged, his doubts and secret insecurities whispered, but it was just that. A whisper.

Even though he could easily pick apart every other element of the false Fluttershy, the eyes and smile drew him in and shut out everything else.

It was the sort of smile she had given him that very morning, even though it felt like ages since then. The same smile she offered to everyone, whether dear friends or new acquaintances, and yet when she looked at him with that light in her eyes, he always knew that it was genuine from the bottom of her enormous heart.

It was universal, yet specific to everyone she met. That smile held a simple message, and one he would never tire of. It was a smile that said, 'I'm happy you're here.'

The realization that he had allowed some fearful thoughts to make him forget that filled him with anger.

"Get rid of that thing, Rainbow," he growled through grinding teeth.

The pegasus looked up at him and swallowed at the sight of his furious expression as she feared that her actions had backfired, "You sure...? Uh, maybe you should calm--"

Iron Will smacked his fist into his palm as he replied, "I don't need any more reminding. I need to do whatever I have to so I can see my Flutterpony for real, and no wispy fog-horse is gonna distract me again!" The anger that filled him was no longer a cold, hateful, insidious force weakening his resolve, but a hot, righteous fury born out of love for his wife and the need to see her safe and sound. As he leaned on his crutch, he raised a fist toward the sky and bellowed, "You hear me up there?! Mess with my brain, and I BRING THE PAIN!"

With that, he started hobbling toward the purple unicorn who was busily coordinating with Vinyl and Octavia. Rainbow Dash felt a satisfied grin spread across her face as she watched the minotaur rejoin the effort.

"Motivator, heal thyself," Pinkamena mused, startling Rainbow Dash as the loa powder dispersed into the wind.

The pegasus jumped in surprise, turning to face the poet who had snuck up on her from behind. "Geeze, a little warning, Pinkamena," she said, shaking her head at the poet.

"Sorry. I'm glad you were able to help him, though," Pinkamena replied flatly. She then cocked her head slightly. "If I may ask, why did you think Windigoes were the cause? He didn't seem angry at anypony but himself."

Rainbow Dash looked over toward Zecora. The zebra had been quietly biding her time for a while now, helping wherever she could while waiting for the chance to contribute her part to the overall plan, once Twilight hammered out the finer details.

"There are a lot of things about Windigoes that the average pony doesn't know," Rainbow Dash told her friend. "Teach taught me that hatred for others is how Windigoes feed, but that hatred turned inward..." She took a deep breath and ran a hoof through her multi-colored mane. "That's how they breed."

Though Pinkamena's expression didn't show any visible change from her usual flat stoicism, the hitch in her voice betrayed her fear and revulsion at the idea as she asked, "You think the Windigoes are trying to... reproduce with us? Is that the griffon's plan?"

"Hay if I know," Dash admitted with a shrug. "But if we catch anypony starting to slip like Iron Will was, we'll have to try to keep their spirits up."

Pinkamena stared at Dash for a few seconds before looking away and stating the obvious. "I'm not very good at that. I hope nopony else falls into that sort of depression."

-----

Darkness surrounded Apple Bloom completely. Even though the ice had crept its way up most of her body, she didn't even try to free herself from it. It wasn't that she didn't feel the cold, but she simply didn't care. She was probably going to freeze to death, but it's not like she didn't deserve it. Not after what she'd said and felt about her family.

Apples were loyal to each other and to their friends. They stuck together through thick and thin, and never even thought the sort of things that were running through her head over and over again. Her big sister wasn't a real Apple... not anymore... Thinking that way was how she had coped with the knowledge that Applejack wasn't a part of her life. Anger had protected her, because she didn't have to feel sad about losing a big sister who wasn't really a part of the family.

But the rest of her family hadn't shared her anger. Granny and Big Mac never stopped loving Applejack. Always spoke fondly of her whenever she or her company made the society pages which Apples shouldn't even be reading, because what did it have to do with anything? They welcomed her openly when she came back, even when they knew that she would just leave them again.

How could they do that? How could they betray her like that? Act as if everything was fine when they should have joined her in shunning the prodigal sister; a rich snob just like the bullies who went out of their way to make her miserable at school?

How could she betray herself by wanting to feel like they did? For wanting to have a real big sister, even knowing that opening herself up and creating a place for Applejack in her heart would only leave a bigger, more painful hole when she left for her fancy parties and snooty friends?

And now her heart was telling herself that she had been wrong the whole time. That whatever faults Applejack might have, maybe there were reasons why nopony else had tried to deny that she was a true Apple. Anger didn't stop the pain, but she didn't know what else to fall back on. The entire world was turning on her, so the only defense she had was to hate everything, including herself.

Especially herself.

An Apple who betrayed her family wasn't a real Apple at all. If Applejack had a place in the family, then where did that leave Apple Bloom?

"Bad Apple... Ah'm nothin' but a bad Apple," she muttered under her breath. If it were Cider Season, she would be the blackest, mushiest 'badd'un' in the batch, and thrown out without a second thought. And if she didn't deserve her family... then what did she have left?

Better to just go away.

Better to just let the cold take her.

...

It refused to do so.

Instead of freezing like she should have been, the filly felt warmth surrounding her. Applejack had removed her coat and was using it to cover both of them as she pressed her body against Apple Bloom's, sharing her body heat with the filly. The warmth was both comfortable and painful. Half of her wanted to nuzzle up into it while the other half was screaming in agony.

"You're not, darling. Don't ever, ever think that about yourself," came the voice of the one who hurt her first and deepest.

Don't ya fall for it! She'll jus' make a fool outta you, the screaming part of her protested, even as the rest of her started to give shape to the warmth surrounding her tiny body. It felt like a warm body pressed against her. A heart beating against her back while long, gentle legs held her close.

It felt like faded memories of her mother when she limped home with scabby knees. Like Granny trying to explain how even though she wouldn't be seeing her Ma or Pa again, she wasn't going to be alone. Like Big Mac telling her how proud he was when her grades got better at school.

It felt like fa-

She is NOT yer family! You don't have any! They all think you're stupid an' spiteful!"

An' you know they're right.

"Shut up," the filly whimpered. "Stop it... Ah don't wanna feel this way no more..."

Applejack nuzzled her little sister, holding her close even as the ice surrounding her started to creep across her body as well. "I know... it feels horrible, and I am so, so sorry for my part in it. I wasn't there when I should have been... I wasn't there, but you were. You were there for McIntosh and Granny. You were there to do the chores... to play with them, to eat with them... you were there to take your friends on tours of the orchard.

"I'm so, so sorry, dear... There were so many times when I should have come back and seen you. I missed so many opportunities to watch you shine. Your school plays... talent shows... sports... making your first batch of Zap Apple jam..."

Shut her up! She's ruining everything, the voice inside her shrieked, though the growing urgency of it was offset as it felt farther away, allowing it to be overshadowed by other thoughts.

"Ya... knew 'bout that...?"

Applejack nodded with a fond but worried smile. "McIntosh sends so many letters that I lose sleep trying to keep up with them all, sometimes. He's always telling me about what you've been doing... the adventures you have with your friends... what's been happening on the farm... You have such a wonderful life... I should have done more to be a part of it. If I don't get to, please believe that I am so sorry..."

Apple Bloom looked up at Applejack, and began to tremble and whimper.

She thought about Big Mac and Granny waiting at home for her. She thought about fresh pies and running around Ponyville with her friends. She thought about school and pranks and everypony in her life.

She did have a wonderful life...

Ya don't deserve any of it!

... And even if her darker thoughts were right, the thought of losing everything that was precious to her utterly dwarfed the emotional turmoil she had been feeling minutes ago. "Ah... ah don't wanna go away..." she whispered tentatively. "Ah don't want everypony t' go away, neither... Ah'm sorry. Ah'm sorry!" Apple Bloom trembled more and more as if she were freezing, but Applejack felt that it was quite the opposite. Where before the filly's body had nearly caused frostbite at the touch, warmth was returning to her.

Apple Bloom felt something like a pained screeching inside of her as she looked into her big sister's eyes, the frosty film melting away from her own while she hiccupped and sobbed against Applejack. Apple Bloom didn't see it, but her big sister had a relieved smile on her face as she replied, "It's alright, dear. You aren't going anywhere but back home where you belong, if I have anything to say about it."

Suddenly, the voice of their captor replied, "You do not. That is not for you to decide." Gertrude swiftly and smoothly descended the staircase back to the ground floor, but her talons angrily dug into each step along the way. Once she was among her captives, though, she panned her gaze around the room with what could almost be mistaken for a smile. "Most of you, however, are fortunate. I am feeling rather... generous."

Author's Note:

Here we go, moving toward the home stretch. Even so, this particular section of the story turned out to be stretching longer than I expected, so I decided to split it into a two-parter.

Comments

[M1Garand8]

They're fighting back, yes...

Now, time for them to slowly start whipping Gertrude's butt. =x

[CrowMagnon]

2950710
Eeyup. The snowball's started rolling down the hill.

Nice RWBY avatar, by the way.

[M1Garand8]

2951230
Thanks.

[Inferno demon Dash]

Gods DAMN, just when you think darkness over takes a creature, light always shine though in the end....how utterly cheap and common, I hate happy endings, they are always so overplayed again and again, unrealistic in my eyes, any way....NEXT!

[djthomp]

Ugh, really unhappy about the 'Rarity betrays everyone' plot. It all seems to have spiraled out of her very OOC reaction to the incident with Spike's tail, and I'm wondering how she is going to come out of this incident as anything other than a traitor.

[ZealousChristian24]

And with hatred broken, a spark appears...

[Razzy]

Hmm... Still like it. I just hope they manage to save Gertrude too.

Cya
Raziel-chan