Death's Bargain

by Haseo

Chapter 2 - The Basement door

Chapter 2
The Basement door

The sound of countless, tiny hooves that rushed out of the classroom of Miss Cheerilee filled the environment around the only school in Ponyville. Applebloom circled the huge flag in front of the school in joyful expectation of her brother.

From the distance, the gold-voiced Sweetie Belle watched her little friend waiting for somepony dear to her. “Hey Applebloom! What are you doing?”

Applebloom stopped in front of her friend and looked back at the deep imprints her countless rounds around the flag had left before she turned her gaze toward Sweetie Belle. “Ah'm waitin' for mah brother. He’s late again, and he didn't come yesterday at all! Can ya believe this?”

The white filly puzzled her friend for seconds before she answered. “Did you ask him why he don't come for you?”

The little Apple sat down on her plot and rubbed her chin with her right hoof. “Well, Ah didn't see him since the day before yesterday. Ah suppose he is doin' some extra work at the fields. That's not really unusual for him.”

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth and closed it again without having said anything. Her eyes were fixed at the ground between her’s and Applebloom's hooves. “I will wait here with you. You don't have to be lonely until Big Mac is here.”

Applebloom happily clapped her hooves together and hugged Sweetie. “Thank ya, Sweetie Belle. This is really nice o’ ya.”

She sat down next to her friend and watched the clouds in the sky. The clouds hung immobile in front of the sun, sending relaxing shadows to the ponies below. “I always wanted to ask you about Soul Tearer. You met him once, right?”

Applebloom played with her red mane and swirled the ends around her hoof. “Why are ya asking meh this right now?”

Sweetie bobbed back and forth. Barely, she could open her small muzzle. “Rarity told me once about him, but I think that she didn’t tell me the whole truth. Maybe you know something more.”

Applebloom threw herself on her back and joined her watching of the clouds above. She felt the gentle stroke of the wind whistling over her face. “It was out in the orchards, Granny Smith told meh to bring them some apple juice. Sometimes Ah'm a lil' bit afraid when Ah'm alone in the orchards and the darkness is comin'. But when Ah got close to them, Ah felt safe. He looked older than Applejack and was really big, even Big Mac' wasn't taller than him. Ya could feel that he was strong even without being a unicorn. He had such a warm and caring smile, like Applejack's and Big Mac's smile when they are really happy or proud of me. Applejack told me later that this was the day she fell in love with him. Everytime she told meh the story, her eyes got this happy expression. It is so sad that he’s gone now. Ah would wish, for Applejack's sake, that they could be together.”

She could feel something soft on her shoulder, and she let her eyes strive to her left side and looked Sweetie directly into her watery eyes. “That’s so cute! I really wished that Soul Tearer and Applejack could be happy together. I really wish I could have met him once, you're so lucky Applebloom!”

They could hear the grass behind them been pushed down by another being. Step for step it got closer to them. “Don't make me laugh! A stallion of his attitude, a stallion that saved the whole of Equestria, even more powerful than the Princesses and your sister together? Sorry, but I can't take it!”

Diamond Tiara fell to the ground due to her heavy laughter. The tiara on her head got stuck in the ground while she rolled over her back, over and over again. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle shot their schoolmate a disapproving and dangerous glare. Applebloom stomped at the ground and pressed another imprint deep into the ground. “Why wouldn't Applejack be happy with him?”

The pink filly struggled free from her uncontrolled laughter and slowly calmed down. She straightened her ruffled mane, grabbed her tiara from the ground and put it back on her head. “Oh come on! You can't be that blind! Do you ever look at your sister for more than a second? She is always covered in mud and I don't want to know what else. Her mane is full of dust, I'd bet that there are even bugs in there. She is as filthy as the rest of your dirty family! No wonder your parents ran away! In their place I would ran away, too! I can fully understand them!”

Tears of her inner pain ran down the cheeks of Applebloom and dripped, drop for drop, on the ground. “That is not true! Stop talkin' like that 'bout mah family! Ya know nothin' 'bout them!”

Sweetie stepped protectively in front of Applebloom and took her into ancaring embrace. “Don't you dare to talk to her like this! You can't even imagine how hard it is to barely know your parents at all!”

Diamond Tiara rolled with her eyes and looked at her hoof, searching for even the smallest stain of dirt. “Oh boo hoo. What about your parents? If I remember right they dumped you by your sister Rarity. Just be honest with yourself! They don't want you anymore, they wanted to get rid of you. They simply couldn't take your guts anymore!”

Sweetie couldn't hold back the tears that already knocked from behind her eyes. Frankly, her tears met Applebloom's on the ground. “Why are you so mean to us? What have we ever done to you?”

Diamond Tiara enjoyed the misery of them. A wicked smile formed on her lips. “Nothing at all. I'm just sick of your blank flanks. You would do every pony a favour if you just disappear from Ponyville and...”

“Diamond Tiara? Where were you for so long?” The three fillies turned around and watched Diamond Tiara's father, Filthy Rich approaching. His outfit suited him perfectly on his brown coat. His black mane was neatly styled back over his scalp. As usual he wore the tie with the Bit symbol embodiment.

The pink filly quickly turned around to face her father. She tried to put her most convincing smile in her face and looked at him with huge forgiving eyes. “Hello dad, we only talked about school.”

She flashed him a self-confident smile until her father focused on the other fillies. “Then why are they crying?”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle still had tears in their bloodshot eyes. They let their eyes wander to Diamond Tiara, she shot them a warning glare. They quickly changed their field of view to Filthy Rich. “Of course this is the truth. We are just allergic that is all. Diamond Tiara just came over and asked if everything is alright, Mr. Rich.”

Their speech in perfect unison made Filthy Rich suspicious. He narrowed his eyes and put on a thoughtful expression for the blink of a moment. “Diamond Tiara? We will go home now. I think we have to talk.”

Filthy Rich grabbed his daughter and walked away from Sweetie and Applebloom. From the distance they could hear her moaning. “But dad! I didn't do anything! I promise!”

Her father answered only sternly. “We will see about this at home.”

They looked at each other and began to giggle maniacally. More tears were shed, but the sadness was gone and replaced by happiness about Diamond Tiara's bust.

From the edge of her eyes, Applebloom saw her sister approaching even during the laughter. “Applejack! What are ya doin' here? Ah thought Big Mac' was comin' for meh.”

Applejack approached her in a rapid step. It seemed like something was bugging her for quite some time. She wore a big frown in her face, her eyes were filled with sternness and anger. “Hey there, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Ah waited for ya at the barn but there were no trace of ya or Big Mac'. Ah would bet that slacker is sleepin' somewhere. Ah haven't seen him the last two days, Ah will tell him somethin' when we get home!”

Applebloom puzzled her bigger sister with huge eyes. “Ya didn't see him either? Ah thought he was just doin' some more work.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows and watched the dish-like eyes of her little sister. “Ya mean that none of us have seen him since two whole days ago? Ah think we should really check for him around Sweet Apple Acres.”

Energetic, the little filly nodded into the direction of her off-galloping sister and followed her almost with the same pace. While running she looked behind at the clueless little unicorn. “See ya later, Sweetie Belle!”

Left alone, the filly waved weakly at her friend. Following their way on the road that led to Sweet Apple Acres. “And how am I supposed to get home?”

Both members of the Apple family roared down the dirt road, heading for their beloved home. The dust whirled up after their hooves met the ground. Sweat was already running down their faces. Applebloom had problems keeping up with her older sister. She panted heavily and gained more and more distance from her sister. “Applejack, wait! Ah can't run this fast!”

The mare with the golden-blonde mane turned her head slightly around but didn't dared to tilt her head fully off their running direction. “We can't lose more time! He could be hurt or even worse!”

Applejack even increased her pace and let the distance between them grow rapidly. “Applebloom! Ya can check the farm again, Ah will try to find him out in the orchards!”

The little filly raised a hoof to her forehead in mid-run and saluted. “Consider it done, big sis'!”

Applejack smiled at the creditable attitude of her little sister. She took a sharp right turn into the seemingly endless apple orchards and let her eyes wander through the different shaped tree trunks in order to spot anything red near the ground.

Her muscles began to itch, but she didn't dare stop. The hooves beneath her body carried her faster and faster over stick and stone. Tears formed in her eyes while she covered more and more of the ground that belongs to their family. She already reached the border to the Everfree Forest once and was heading to the second point where the forest and the orchard met.

The endless mix of brown wood, green leaves and red apples whirled over her retina. Something disturbed the multicoloured picture inside her mind. Slowly, her running speed decreased and she began to observe her surroundings more precisely. The apple trees were bare, they didn't carry any fruit for the last few feet she ran.

The gust blew through her golden blonde mane, and she began to search for any evidence of Big Mac's presence. Carefully, she inspected the space behind every single tree trunk and bush. She scanned a countless number of them for nothing but the very last tree before she reached the second border to the Everfree Forest, and it showed her something promising.

Deep hoof-prints were pressed into the ground. They led away from the tree trunk and were accompanied by a grinding trail on each site. She bowed down and hovered her nose only mere inches above the ground. Applejack closed her eyes and took a deep sniff. Almost instantly her face shot towards the sky and she ripped her eyes open again. “Apples!”

She began to follow the stain on the ground through the orchards. The trails should belong to Big Mac' and two of their apple-collecting-baskets. With every passing trunk the trails deepened due to the additional weight of the freshly picked apples. Her walking pace increased and changed quickly into a gallop again.

The trails led back to Sweet Apple Acres, something must have happened between here and their farm. The sun stood high in the sky and blinded the rushing mare slightly. Single strands of her mane flew into her eyes. Her hat remained only barely atop her head.

She dashed past two close-together standing trunks and entered a clearing in the orchard. The light blinded her completely and left her stunned for the fraction of a second. Her eyes accommodated to the brightness and began to search through the grass. In the distance she saw two big baskets filled with apples. She followed the trail until she found the centre of the clearing where the forsaken baskets stood.

The deeps trails ended here. Exactly in front of Big Mac's hoof-prints apparently were another set of them. They were significantly smaller and pointed towards the ones of her brother. They seemed to appear out of nowhere. Their owner only made one small step towards Big Mac' before both of them seem to disappear. He even let the heavy stacks of apples behind.

The gears inside Applejack's mind began to grind. The other pony have to be either a pegasus or a unicorn with the ability to teleport. She scratched her chin and checked the possibilities. On one hoof, not even Rainbow should be able to lift Big Mac' and let alone carry him through the air. He would have resisted, it is impossible to abduct a pony of his measures without catching attention. On the other hoof, she knew only four ponies who were able to teleport.

Two of them were Princesses, she doubt that any of them had something to do with this. As a matter of fact the hoof-prints were too small for them. The third pony she knew was already dead, so there was only the fourth one left. Twilight.

Her legs began to move again, the gust in her face became stronger and stronger the faster she got. A small liquid drip fell from her cheek. She didn't know if that was actually a tear or only sweat from the strain of running. “Darn it! Twilight can't have somethin' to do with this! She just can't!”

Soon she left the orchards behind and let Sweet Apple Acres come into her view. Hastily she let her gaze strive over the red building. In front of the barn she spotted her little sister.

Applebloom sat there completely still, she just stared into the seemingly empty barn. As fast as she could Applejack closed the distance to her. Only a feet behind her, she came to a halt. Applejack stared into the dark barn and identified a darkish shade at the other end of the barn right behind a pile of hay. “Applebloom? Stay here, Ah will go and check.”

Without verbal response Applebloom accepted the order and simply answered with a small nod.

Hesitating the farmer made it step for step slowly into her own barn. She got closer to the ominous object but still couldn't tell what it exactly was. Every step produced a dumb and hollow sound but the step she took next was different. Something liquid splashed under her hoof, she stepped into some kind of puddle.

Applejack froze on the spot, she didn't even dare to think what this liquid might be. Her body began to shake violently. With all of her will-power, she managed to lift one hoof after another. The shadow almost completely hid the shade behind the pile of hay. Her hooves were completely covered in the unknown liquid.

In disgust she closed her eyes and slowly raised her hoof to lay it on top of the pile. With one powerful single strike she shoved the majority of the pile aside. Applejack opened her eyes only a little bit, so she could get a slight impression of the object in front of her.

Applejack breathed deeply in and opened her eyes fully. The now better lightened object was simply a bag of oats. She looked at her hooves and saw the white liquid surrounding her. With a closer look she identified it as milk. Somepony had to toss the bag of oats over and spilled some milk in the same moment.

It felt to her like the weight of the whole fell from her shoulders. “Applebloom! Everythin' is alright! It is just a bag of oats!”

Applebloom's frown disappeared while she leaped to the air in delight. “Thank Celestia!”

She had thrown herself on her back and looked into the endless blue of the sky. “But where is Big Mac' if he isn't in the barn?”

A cold shiver ran down Applejack's back. It was the last thinkable possibility in her eyes. “Ah may know where he is. But ya will stay here with Granny Smith. Ah don't want ya to get a wrong impression about the pony Ah'm suspecting in case she is innocent.”

Quickly, her little sister came back to her hooves and leaned against Applejack. “But Ah want to come with ya! Big Mac' is not only ya brother, he is mine too!”

Applejack gently shoved the tiny hooves of Applebloom aside and offered her a warm smile. “Ya need to watch over Granny Smith as long as Ah'm gone. Ah promise Ah will be back soon.”

Unwilling, the little filly accepted the order of her older sister. “But hurry. Ah don't want to sit here all alone and bored.”

Applejack ruffled through Applebloom's mane and gave her a friendly nudge. “Ah will.”

She turned around and made a massive leap forward with help of her well-trained hind legs. Years of apple-bucking have their advantages for sure. The sun was already sinking behind the mountains of Canterlot, the dawn was soon to come. She had to hurry. From the distance she could see the first lights of Ponyville.

The orange mare rushed like lightning over the dirty side path to Ponyville. Every single muscle inside her body ached under the massive strain of this day. She hadn't had to run such a distance in her entire life until now.

Buildings came into view, but as fast as they came, the orange lightning-like mare passed them. She left everything aside in order to reach the Library-tree in time. The muscles in her legs began to clench. Unavoidably, Applejack was forced to slow down, but fortunately the library appeared at the now crimson horizon.

Though the homes around the tree were already lit up, the library itself was dark. Her legs felt numb, every step drained her power. She dragged herself to the front door and leaned upon it. Applejack's ear was pressed against the wooden door once more.

There it was again, the sound of something being pulled over a wooden surface. Applejack panted heavily, her legs were shaky from the pain of running. “Twilight! Ah can hear ya! Open the door! Ah have to speak to ya!”

The noise behind the door stopped immediately but she wouldn't surrender so easily. “If ya don't open the door, Ah will buck it in!”

Applejack distanced herself from the door, but just before she turned around in preparation to kick in the door, she could hear the door magically unlocking. The door slightly swung open and offered her a small gap. Carefully she opened the door fully and stared into the dark library.

The dark shape of her unicorn friend sat there, covered with a blanket and a cup of tea clenched between her hooves. Her mane was ruffled up and the dark rings beneath her eyes made it easy to tell that Twilight wasn't getting much sleep recently. “What are ya doin', Twi? Ya look pretty tired.”

Twilight set down the full cup of tea and wiped a single streak of her mane out of her face. “I was just doing some research about some certain spells.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes and looked closely at everything around Twilight. “Without any books opened? Here in complete darkness?”

From the corner of her eyes Applejack could see that a faint light was shining beneath the basement door. Twilight grabbed her mane firmly when she noticed the direction of Applejack's look. “There is nothing down there.”

Applejack didn't listen to her anymore, she went straight for the door. But when she lifted her hoof to open the door, she caught attention of the unicorn behind her again. “Stay out of my basement. Please leave now.”

She could hear the faint sparking noise of Twilight's horn behind her. Applejack's hoof that was still lifted, shivering from the previous strain and the fear of her own friend. She didn't know if Twilight was really up to attack her. Sweat ran down her cheeks. “What is down there, Twi?”

Twilight hesitated for a short moment. Applejack could hear the uncertainty in her voice. “A research project that I want to show to Princess Celestia when she returns. Please don't do this to me. Don't go there.”

Applejack reached for the doorknob, she could hear the sparking noise behind her rapidly increasing. The unicorn behind her stammered quickly. “I'm sorry Applejack. I hope you can forgive me someday.”

She felt like her coat was to burn, the heat around her was unbearable. Luckily the heat was quickly replaced by a cooling gust. Applejack looked around herself and stared at the red barn of her family. “Argh, horsefeathers!”

Angrily she stomped inside the barn.

The gust brew up a second time, this time more stronger than before. Through the open window it streamed into the room of the barely sleeping Applebloom.

“Twilight... brother... dangerous... Luna... evil... I'm here... the statue... me back.”

Comments

[Applejackderp]

Either Twilight took Big Mac and is doing experiments on him or Pinkie is making cupcakes.