Equine Royale

by MemoryLane

Serendipity

What everyone in this game didn't know was that there was a pair of relatives inside the battle arena: Applejack and Braeburn. No one had known of their relativity, because they had kept it a secret, because neither one of them liked the other. Ever nice the game started, all they've really done is bicker. They couldn't even remember what fueled their hatred, but all they did know was that it stemmed back from when they were just foals. Applejack didn't even want to travel in the first place with him, after all, all he did was drive her bonkers. But she decided that he's, somehow, better than no one. Also that's it wouldn't be safe to travel alone.

"Where are we even headed?" Braeburn asked her. Braeburn liked to let her cousin walk in front of him, for some reason. Applejack concluded that this was incase they were attacked. The attack would go for her since she would most likely be closer, and he can make a break for it. But she didn't jump to conclusions.

"Ah don' know!" Applejack shot back. She reached into her bag and pulled out her weapon, night vision goggles. Oh how she was glad that she got this instead of something stupid, although she was a little jealous of Braeburn and the two smoke bombs he somehow acquired. Although she didn't know what use they could possibly have.

They were hesitantly trotting through the jungle, jumping over various plants and foliage on the ground. While they were walking they discovered that there was indeed a path, but she decided that since Braeburn didn't see it, that it's best to stay off the trails where most other ponies would travel.

Applejack felt a slight chill on the top of her head, and habitually reached up to pull down her hat, only to realize that it's not there for the umpteenth time that night, and groaned.

"Ah just don't get why they had ta take our hats..." Applejack commented. Braeburn nodded along with his cousin. Right now, he was quite scared, although he didn't want to show it. Applejack would never let him live it down if she knew. Also, he didn't feel like fighting either.

"It just makes no sense as to why ah'm even 'ere." He moaned. As far as Braeburn knew, he lived a good and honest life, much like Applejack.

"So that little incident down at the train station that one time was just-" That was enough to jog his memories and quickly hushed her.

"Shut up!"

"Hey!" Applejack, being the older of them both, stopped and turned around to her cousin. Applejack glared at him, but he couldn't tell due to her thick green goggles. "Don't talk ta me like that!"

"Ah'll talk to ya as ah see fit!" He huffed.

Applejack ignored that last comment before scoffing loudly, reminding her of their situation. "Quite down! Do ya want us ta get kill out 'ere, consarn it!?" She asked, before turning around again. Braeburn was going to continue arguing, since he was now indeed in the mood, but didn't. He couldn't mistake the fact that her cousin was right, and ultimately quieted down.

After a few more minutes, Applejack spotted something in the darkness and ducked down. It was too far away to make out what it was, but she did know that it wasn't a tree. Braeburn looked around for a moment confused at what was going on before Applejack grunted and shoved him down next to her.

"What's the big deal?" Braeburn asked, not enjoying Applejack's roughness towards him.

"There's somethin' over there." Applejack replied, messing with the knobs on her goggles. "Either it's ah building or somethin'...."

"Well...you're the one wit the goggles. Ya tell me!" Braeburn said. Once Applejack finished focusing her goggles, she looked to see that it did appear to be some larger wooden building. It was pretty worn down, most likely from rain and rust, and the sign was very difficult to read. But Applejack quickly discovered what it said, "Saloon".

"It's...ah tavern?" Applejack said, confused. Braeburn's eyes lit up and promptly grabbed her goggles and put them on his own head. Applejack became quite dizzy as her eyes adjusted to the dark. "Hey!"

"Hold on ah minute..." He ushered, before taking a look himself. When he saw the tavern, a great smile pierced his face. "It's just like the one in Appleoosa!" He cheered, he tossed the goggles to the ground(Almost breaking them, which would have infuriated Applejack. Luckily they were fine when Applejack picked them back up) and ran towards the Saloon, cheering the whole way.

"Hey! Don't just run off all willy nilly!" She yelled at him, remembering to keep her voice down, before grabbing her bag, the goggles, and Braeburn's bag, since he had forgotten it in his hurry.

Braeburn entered the alehouse, which was substantially dark and musty. A smell instantly filled his nostrils upon entering. He looked around for a light switch, which took a him a while. By the time he had found it, Applejack was already in there with him, and had set their things on the table nearest the door. She switched on the light with the help of her goggles. She hadn't thought about the mixture of the light with the goggles until the last second when the light began to burn her eyes, she almost tossed the goggles off of her face and onto the table.

"Gah!!" She yelled, rubbing her eyes. Braeburn just laughed at her as he inspected the room. The tavern had many tables used for drinking all around, along with a bar. His eyes lit up once again as he looked behind the counter to see many bottles on apple cider behind the bar.

"Hey look cuz!" He pointed, grabbing a bottle and holding it proudly. "Just like back at home." Applejack couldn't help but chuckle at her cousin's excitement.

Braeburn eagerly grabbed a cup and began to pour the cider, his lips drooling before Applejack stopped him.

"No!" She said quietly, not sure if anyone else was in here, although she doubted it. "Do ya really think that now is ah good time for that?"

Braeburn grinned. "All the time is ah good time when it comes ta apple cider!" He replied. Applejack only rolled her eyes before tossing the cup over her left shoulder. "Don't. That's not a good idea." She gave Braeburn a cold, hard, and serious stare. "This is ah death match, the last thing ya wanna do is get drunk."

Braeburn sighed and stared at the apple cider in front of him and put it away. "Aw..." Applejack looked to her left and saw a small hallway, on the wall right next to it, was a sign that read "Kitchen", and an arrow pointing down the hall.

"Come ahn." She hoisted her cousin away from the drinks and towards the hall. "There might be food in the kitchen." She stated. She was making a mental checklist of the things she needed. Shelter, she could check that off for right now. Water and food? They had about three days worth, but food and water are always a necessity.

They made their way down the dark hall, unfortunately, there were no light switches that they were able to find. So they had to manage with the darkness. A bright light shone in the distance coming from a doorway. They both quickly trotted towards the door and into the room.

Applejack smiled happily as she gazed upon all the food in the room. There were literally shelves upon shelves of food, including fruits, vegetables, and various meals. Her mouth watered. Braeburn shoved her aside and ran into the room, almost knocking her over.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed. "Lookit all this food!" He was running to and fro, looking inspecting all the food.

"Be careful Braeburn...I have a bad feeling about this...." Applejack said cautiously. Braeburn didn't seem to want to listen.

But in all seriousness, this place completely creeped Applejack out, she really wanted to leave. To Braeburn, this was a dream come true, he thought that this couldn't get any better, they have shelter, water, and food. But he's not seeing the big picture.

"Braburn..." She started. Braeburn still didn't seem to be listening as he was investigating the room.

"What do ya want now?" He asked, not even looking in her direction.

"Ah don't think it's a good idea we stay 'ere." She replied. Braeburn stopped and looked at his cousin, stunned.

"What do ya mean!? What else could we ask for? Water, food, an' shelter! Ah don't know much about survival, but what ah do know is that's what ya need!" He argued. Applejack shook her head.

"None o' that would matter if this whole place isn't safe to begin with." She said, looking around. Something here just threw her off...

Braeburn laughed. "What makes ya think this place ain't safe?" He asked her, a smirk on his lips as he knew she wouldn't have a thoughtful answer. Applejack sighed.

"Something 'ere just doesn't seem right..." She said, beginning to inspect the room herself. She looked down at the glossy tiled floor, up to the light blue ceiling. the kitchen was much more clean and sparkly than the actual tavern part of the building. Braeburn, with a victorious smirk, went back to investigating.

Besides the food, there was nothing very special about the kitchen, the only other things that were in there was a stove, and an empty refrigerator. Braeburn took out his bag and starting stuffing food into it.

"We're gonna have a great dinner tonight!" He hollered. Applejack just rolled her eyes again. When Braeburn grabbed an old jar full of fruit, it only tilted.

"Hey what gives?" He said out loud. Applejack turned just in time to see her cousin drop down as a 3 by 4 slab of the tiles slid out from under the yellow stallion. He yelped out and desperately tried to grab the edge of the floor, but failed and fell down 20 feet below to the hard dirt pit and landing on his stomach, dropping his bag, and most of the jars and food in it breaking upon impact. "AUGH!"

Applejack ran over to the pit and looked down, Braeburn had a scrape on his chin, but other than that he looked fine.

"Are ya okay Braeburn!?" She yelled down to him. Braeburn looked sadly at his backpack and unwittingly dumped out the contents.

"Aww the food's all banged up now!" He exclaimed. Applejack deadpanned.

"Are ya kiddin' me?"

"What?"

Applejack looked around for something she could use to help the stallion out of the hole. "Ah told ya this there was something odd about this place." She sad pridefully. Braeburn only grumbled angrily to himself.

The orange mare grabbed a mop and ran back to the hole, and lowered it down. "Here, grab on ta this!" She suggested. the second Braeburn grabbed onto it, feedback was heard coming from a speaker.

Uh oh.

"Hello everypony! I trust you all are getting a good night's sleep? I only have three deaths to report for the last few hours..." Applejack was starting to wonder if she was only reading out names when she felt like, since she was pretty sure that the last few deaths before these were many hours ago. "We have lost #7, the beloved Carrot Top..."

Carrot Top? Applejack knew her! She used to run the carrot stand right next to her in the market! She was so nice though...she'd always exchange goods with the mare on the off days...

"Also we have #10, Roseluck. And..." Celestia paused, and let out a hurt sigh. "My dearest nephew...Blueblood...poor baby..." She said sympathetically. Like most ponies, Applejack and Braeburn were both glad that he was gone. "Now, the next place that will be off limits is the Tavern."

Applejack and Braeburn's hearts both stopped cold.

"You have five minutes to leave, or else..." Celestia let out a cold laugh. "Well, you know. Have a good night everyone!" The announcement then came to an abrupt end.

"Help me up consarn it!" Braeburn yelled, bringing Applejack back to reality. They need to get out of here!

Applejack lowered the mop and Braeburn grabbed the end of it, but when Applejack tried to lift up, the stallion lost his grip and the mop fell down the hold next to Braeburn.

"Come ahn!" Applejack's heart was racing, she was running out of options. She was afraid of dying, and what she didn't know was the her cousin was subconsciously losing his mind. Fear was coursing through the blood of both the relatives.

"I'm sorry!" Braeburn yelled as he raised the mop back up so Applejack could grab it again. It took a moment for her to realize that he had done so, since she had left to go find another object. "Come back ere'!"

Applejack ran back to the hole, and noticed what Braeburn was trying to do, and promptly grabbed the end of the stick carefully, gripping it as tightly as she could. Braeburn picked up his back and grabbed the mop. The weight was too much for Applejack to carry, and she dropped the mop once again.

"Forget the bag!" Applejack shouted angrily. Her patience was slowly dying.

Braeburn grunted and threw the bag to the side of the pit. Smoke bombs really wouldn't come in handy anyways. He picked up the mop again, and raised it up to Applejack slowly. "Third times the charm?". The mare swore she could see tears coming down the stallions face as he said that, pleadingful eyes looked up at her.

She was starting to lose hope, and a part of her mind was telling her to leave him. To make a break for it and save yourself while she could. But she refused to listen. "Ah'm not leaving family behind dammit!" She screamed as she grabbed the mop. Braeburn smiled up at her, as he held onto the mop for dear life, as Applejack backed up, hauling the yellow earth pony up from the pit. As soon as Braeburn was close enough, he hopped from the mop and clung onto the edge of the pit. The mare dropped the mop and helped up her cousin.

"Thank you! Thank you!" He yelled, as he hugged his cousin. She gave him a quick hug back before she grabbed him by the mane and ran full speed into the hallway.

Braeburn and Applejack jogged to the exit of the hallway, only to see the doors to the entrance of the saloon. They both let out a relieved sigh as they thought about their safety. Applejack picked her things off of the table that she had recently left as Braeburn opened the door and dropped to the floor.

"No!" He shouted. Applejack ran to him to look outside herself.

They were too late.

A blue shield cut them off from the rest of the jungle, almost like a dome. Applejack ran for the dome and kicked it with her hind legs, screaming and grunting subconsciously.

"No! That's not fair!" She shouted. Braeburn picked himself off the ground and stepped out of the tavern.

A few kicks later, and the dome is still intact. Applejack's legs were throbbing in pain.

"It's too late, cuz." He said, tears stained his face and his eyes were bloodshot.

"No! It's not! Help me break this thing!" Applejack argued.

With those words, Applejack looked a the top of the dome and noticed a large hose spouting from it, pointed straight at the tavern. The spout silently leaked out a purple gas, and Applejack knew exactly what it was.

"It's poison gas!" She yelled, bucking the walls once again, grunting in pain. "Help me!" She pleaded to Braeburn. The earth pony shook his head.

"Applejack, it's too late." He whispered. Applejack's eyes dilated to microscopic proportions as she saw the purple gas completely overtake the tavern that they were just in, and slowly make it's way toward Braeburn.

"Braeburn, please!" She begged, kicking the wall one last time. Braeburn didn't even respond. He just turned around and watched as the gas made it's way toward him.

"It's too late." He said, as the gas passed through his legs. The stallion inhaled the noxious poison, the poison stung his lungs, as if his insides were full of angry bees. He groaned at the pain and clutched his chest. His throat burned like never before and he felt his knees give way. He fell to the ground.

"No! Braeburn!" Applejack shouted, pounding on the walls. She looked out the shield only to see the rainbow maned mare that she saw inside the ship. Applejack hollered to her, and the cyan pegasus eagerly turned her way. Apparently, the shield's weren't sound proof. The rainbow maned pegasus walked over to the shield and tapped it, and shrugged.

"Help us! Please..." She begged, as the poison was mere inches away from her body. She looked back to her her relative, lying on the ground, completely covered in the poison. He wasn't breathing.

The rainbow mare peeked over Applejack and to see what she was looking at, her heart dropped as she saw the stallion lying dead on the ground. The mare didn't know what to do however.

"Please..." The gas was now crawling up her body. The pegasus looked around desperately, trying to think of something she could do to help.

That's when she realized she couldn't. If she broke the shield, the poison would kill her as well. As well as half the island.

Applejack unwillingly breathed in the poison, and clutched her neck with both of her hooves. The poison burned her throat and her lungs like sulphuric acid. The earth pony's vision got blurred and her mind soon began to die. The rainbow pegasus sobbed, unable to help in anyway.

"I'm so sorry!" She wailed as she rested her hooves on the outside of the shield. Applejack was losing consciousness and turned around from the cyan mare. She felt her award winning legs begin to get out as she slumped to the ground and rested against the shield. It only took a few more moments before both the relatives died.

Rainbow Dash stared wide eyed as she saw the strangers die right in front of her. She felt helpless, she should have done something. She just felt so bad. She lied down, right there next to the shield, and cried.

#17 Braeburn, dead
#21 Applejack, dead

17 to go

Comments

[Eighth Note]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOT APPLE JACK!!!!!!!!!!!
MY FAVOURITE PONY IS GOOOOOONNNEEE!!!!!!!!!