> The Lovely Pony
>  by BlueBrony13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> An Introduction to the Conclusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	My name was Apple- like the fruit. First name Lilac, named as such for my soft, flower-like coat, and wings that resembled petals. I was thirteen years old when I was murdered, on January 29th, 2027.
Though I wasn't particularly well-known at my school, a lot of people came to my memorial service- despite the common busy-ness that tended to flow through Ponyville's everyday life. Everyone that I knew of- from custodians to the principal himself- came. My small circle of friends showed the most emotion, other than my mother of course. After the service, some ponies would still come to my grave and leave lilac branches. My family, bless them, came three days a week and would always leave painted rocks- one of the little things I had really liked. My mother, Fluttershy McBreeze, would always paint a lush lilac flower with butterflies sitting majestically on the branches. My father, "Big" Macintosh Apple, always wrote a quote from Lewis Carrot, an author I always admired for his whimsical tales of Card Soldiers and Mad Hatters. My two siblings, because neither of them had gotten the hang of art quite yet, collaborated to make a little rabbit picture using pastels (to their distress, the colors would often smudge and "ruin" the picture).
When I was alive, I would often help my mother at the Natural Recovery Center, nourishing babies and learning about how to caretake for different animals. She was known for her particular skill in the area~ some big-shot from Canterlot even offered her her own show "Cat Whisperer" or something... she declined (and then they got some new pony- Jackson Galaxy or whoever). My father taught me how to properly buck trees when I was 10, the age of my sister. Everyday, we'd go out into the orchard, kick the trunks of trees until we had a good barrel or so, filled to the brim with Red Gala's, Pink Ladies, Honey-crisp's, and Fuji's.
My sister, Honeycrisp Posey Apple, was two years younger than me at the time of my death. It was hard to take for my baby brother, Appleseed, but it was harder for her. Honeycrisp had grown up with me for her entire life, and through thick and thin, we'd always managed to stand by each other ~ and live as true sisters.  There was an embarrassing story about Honeycrisp and I that my dad always liked to tell; when I was 4 and Honeycrisp was 2, my parents gave her all of their attention (naturally, but a 4 year-old filly would have a hard time understanding that, eh?) , so in a rage, I..... Peed on her when my parents were making lunch. Honeycrisp never let me live that down. As for my brother, Appleseed, there isn't much to say other than that he's three.

As for my current situation, I reside in heaven, among the bright streets of Utopia Square, seeing and feeling what I always desired. But heaven isn't all that it seems. Not if you come the wrong way, like I did on January 29th, 2027.

*********

School had gotten out early so that we could take advantage of the snow being here during the short lived winters of Ponyville. My parents had already picked up Honeycrisp from school, and asked that I get home ASAP. At the point of no return, I was only a short five-minute trot from the barn on the outskirts of Ponyville, and I had just come by a familiar green house with a familiarly neat garden. This was Mr. Harvey's home, I recognized it because my mother always admired the garden, and I'd seen his little teepee out lately, a hobby of his.
"Hello," said a voice. I turned around to see Mr. Harvey, the fat pegasus of Talon Street. His gray coat was smudged with dirt and stained with a faded red, wine I figured, he was known for being a bit of an alcoholic. "You're the older Apple girl, right?"
"Yes," I responded curtly. "Lilac."
"Aw, so you foalsat for my little filly Cyan. Why don't you come inside for a little bit of cider! It's the least I could do, she hasn't stopped talking' about you for weeks."
Nothing could be wrong with a simple glass of cider, right?
"I'm sorry, Mr. Harvey, I'm supposed to be home soon, we have plans to visit my Aunt Rarity in Las Pegasus."
He contemplated for a moment, and then spoke, in a slightly more firm voice.
"Well, I got a lot of it, and I need help finishing it. Come on, you're doin' me a service, and don't your parents always want you to help in the community? It won't be long."
His points convinced me, though I knew I should've declined.
"Alright," I confirmed. "I'll come."

As Mr. Harvey stepped on to his doormat, he stopped dead in his tracks. "You know, I think I left the cider in my cellar." Mr. Harvey said with a polite smile. "Come with me, please?"
I nodded, and trotted behind him. He had a slight spring in his step, and his hooves hit the ground briefly and hard, as if he was waiting for something. After a short while, Harvey and I had reached a small hill with a door dug into the side. It looked like a Hobbithole from 'The Lord of the Rings'. The pegasus in front of me opened the door and revealed a staircase. He beckoned me as he began to trot down. I was starting to get suspicious, but for whatever reason, I didn't go back. Ponyville was a town of tranquil history, nopony could've REALLY thought anything bad would come from this.
.		.		.
> Deprivation- a Conclusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Surprisingly, the staircase didn't spiral down into an abyss of darkness, the small passageway was actually well-lit.  The walls were lined with kiddish doodles, some with captions like "I love you' Daddy" or "To: Momma, From: Me". Each step creaked loudly, and stepping over some if the gaps was very awkward.
"Just a little while longer," said Mr. Harvey.
Soon enough, the two of us arrived in a little room with shelves of cider stacked to the ceiling. In a few of the gapped areas, there were stray drawings with the name Cyan Drop on each of them. Each drawing seemed hastily done. I looked to Mr. Harvey, who returned my unsure look with a polite smile.
"I apologize, but I need to go. It wa---"
"NO. You're staying."
I stared at him, a look of pure fear in my eyes, countering a look of eagerness in his. He spread his wings and trotted towards me. "Please...no.... You're going to kill me, aren't you..."
My plea did nothing. Harvey pounced, giggling like a Pinkie Pie. I unfolded my wings, and in an attempt to escape, turned around. Just as four hooves were off the ground. My body was slammed into the floor, Mr. Harvey on top. He grabbed one wing with his forelegs, and the other with his teeth, and twisted hard. I cried out in pain, tears streaming down my face. It was horrible. Harvey turned me over so I would look at him.
He leaned in close and covered my mouth with his hoof.  "Answer the question, my little lilac tree," Harvey demanded with a crazed look in his eyes.
Oh Celestia , please let me leave I thought.
"You know, you look like your mother. Same beautiful flanks, same style of mane."
He leaned in, and kissed me hard, blubbery lips squashing mine. Harvey was going to kill me. How could I be so stupid?! I thought well on my hooves, got outstanding grades, and his weird behavior OBVIOUSLY meant bad news! Why did this happen? Now he was going to kill me. Harvey probably killed Cyan too. I hadn't heard from her in weeks, and he had her drawings everywhere. My eyes shifted to the side, and a saw a picture of the poor filly, smiling innocently.
His lips moved to my chin, and then he took my childhood. I could almost hear my dad calling out in his thick southern accent.
"LAAAHLAC! Come on! We're meeting Rarity soon!"
The pain was unbearable. I silently cried, feeling pathetic, and like a target for which Harvey shot at with the arrows and bullets of abuse.
"LAHLAC? LAH?"
I screamed as loud as I could, tears streaming down my face like a waterfall. Harvey moved up and clobbered me square on the snout, drawing a bit of blood from my nostril. I screamed again, forgetting my pain and safety, only hoping that some pony would hear me.
"LAAAHLAAAC!"
Harvey punched me again. And again. He continued flying hooves at me until I stopped crying. And then my vision faded to black.
*************
"Rarity.... I don't think I can meet you tonight with my family. I...." My mother began sobbing into the phone.
"Fluttershy, dear," came the voice of Rarity Suaveston on the other line. "What in Equestrian happened? Did Macintosh cheat on you? THAT ASS! I'LL DESTROY HIM!"
"No, Rarity..." My mother said through tears. "We can't find Lilac.... Mac can't find him, I can't find him! We've looked everywhere! We even went to the police! They did NOTHING!"
"Fluttershy, that's HORRIBLE! I'll arrange a search party at once with the rest of the girls!"
"Rarity, Applejack and Twilight are the only ponies in town. Pinkie and Rainbow left long ago. Neither of us has any way to find them!"
Silence.
"Then I will arrange a search party with other Ponyvillians. 'Til then, you should stay searching, okay?"
************
I woke up an hour later. Harvey lay next to me, now with a knife. "Good. Now you're awake." His voice was soft. He loomed over me once more.
"Please don't.... Not again"
Harvey chuckled. "Don't worry, Lilac, I'm done with that. But I can't risk you telling anypony. Shame, such a beautiful body has to go."
He moved the knife over my stomach, and jabbed it into my flesh. I cried out in pain, weak. Mr. Harvey made a small slut across my belly as he glided the knife up to my shoulder. I tried to look down at myself, seeing blood stained on my coat making an ugly orange-brown color. The terrifying pegasus stabbed me again, and stabbed hard. This time, I screamed louder than I had the entire horrific day. Harvey reached the tip of his hoof into the cut, and dug around, squirting blood all over the floor. Finally, Harvey went back to the knife, and moved it above my skull.
"Tell me you love me."
Gently, I did. My eyes began to close as I felt myself slowly dying. This was it. I'd never imagined that I would die young, much less be murdered. Harvey looked into my eyes and kissed me on the forehead one final time. The end came. The knife made its way into my skull and pierced my brain with immense force. The last thing I saw was Harvey pulling the bloody knife out my skull.
I had actually died.
> Adapting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		When some lives end, the passing pony can involuntarily pass on an image of themselves to another- as I did with a filly named Normandy Cliffs. What she saw was an image of myself, fluttering past her, through her body, and into the heavens above.
Normandy was a pony with bright blue eyes, and a silvery coat. Her mane was everywhere, each curl seeming like it was fighting its way to get further into the world. From what I could tell in the brief moment we saw one another, her cutie mark was a helmet on top of ropes. Some of her features were familiar, but some were.... less familiar. I recognized her eyes and her curls from a picture of my mom and her friends. What was the name of the mare I was thinking of? Party Platter? Pink Meringue? Celestiadammit, who was she? Then, it came to me.
"Pinkie Pie!" I whispered to myself. "She's the daughter of Pinkie Pie!"

I rose further into the air, the satchel with Normandy Cliffs written on it faded. I could only barely see her look up as I ascended into heaven. But then, everything around my immediate field of vision faded to white.


* * * * *

"LAHLAC!" shouted my father, as he galloped frantically through the streets of Ponyville, the eerie twilight about to envelop the entire town. "Lahlac! Please!" Tears began to stream down his face.
Darkness came and made the chances of my dad finding me even worse. He galloped further into town, soon finding the Police Station. He burst through the doors. Everypony inside looked at him, confusion and interest etched into each and every face.
"Ah need to see the deputy and sheriff!" My dad cried. "Now! My daughter, Lilac, has gone missing- nopony can find her!"
In the back of the police station, my father saw a brown figure rise from his chair, slowly- cautiously. Next to him was the purple mare, the new deputy, My dad recognized this mare to be Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was known throughout Equestria for being a prime pupil for Princess Celestia, saving everypony's flanks numerous times, and even for being a Princess herself- for a short time. Twilight's reputation relieved my dad slightly.
The two ponies trotted to my father, eyes analyzing him with haste.
"Lahlac's gone missin'! We've looked everywhere, Ah've nearly lost my voice shoutin' her name at the top of mah lungs! No dahce! Please, help. Notify the Canterlot- or- or- Cloudsdale police! J-just do whatever you need to and Ah'll-"
"Wait, Macintosh!" said Twilight with bewilderment. "Slow down and tell me the whole thing."
If my father's coat wasn't already the deep shade of red that it was, it would've deepened to the point of a tomato from anger.
"THERE'S NO TAHM FOR REPEATS! MAH DAUGHTER COULD BE DEAD IN A DITCH RIGHT NOW! LAHLAC'S GONE MISSIN'!"
The rest of the police department just stared. The brown stallion, who had a thick Trottingham accent, yelled to his cohorts; "Don't just sit there! Send out search parties! Alert the other cities' police!"
Almost immediately, everpony burst into an almost Manehattan-esque burst of communication; Ponyville P.D. to the Canterlot P.D., various policeman trying to coordinate who would search for me and where., stallions and mares arguing with each other about what circumstances could manipulate where I was. It was pure chaos. Little did anypony know that it take four weeks for somepony to accidentally find me.

**********************************************

Heaven is a truly magnificent place. The borders of your field of vision, almost like a surreal wall of fog, were lined with golden satton. Ponies- foals to the elderly- happily trotted on the soft, comfortable ground. The smell of acrylic paint filled me nostrils, causing a wave of nostalgia to washed over me. Suddenly, I pictured to small stones my mom and I used to paint, and my nostalgia turned into a harsh buzz of cruel reality. I.... was dead. Murdered. Violated and stabbed in the skull...
To be honest, I never pictured my life ending this way, my vision of the end was me in a bed, surrounded my my children, their children, and my husband. But it happened this way.... of all ways.
My thoughts were interrupted when a mare popped up in front of me.
"Hello," she said in a Russian accent. "My name is Spokoystviye- or as you would most likely say it: Tranquility. Anyhow, I am your Heavenly Counselor; somepony who will help you through your first two months of being dead. What is your name?"
"Uhm..." I suddenly realized how much I must have seemed like my mother then. "My name's.... Lilac..."
"Prosti, but what was that?"
"Lilac.... Lilac Skyskimmer Apple..."
"Speak up, dear."
"Lilac. Lilac Skyskimmer Apple. Died about an hour ago. Mollested and stabbed in the head."
Spokoystviye cringed at my explanation as to how I died. "WEll, em... let's brush you up a bit on what you'll be experiencing today. In a moment, you'll be seeing what your actual heaven is like. What you see now is called "general heaven", the image every newly-dead sees when they arrive. And I will be available back in general heaven if you need to talk. Now, are you ready to see your true heaven?"
I was confused. Why was she treating this like I had just checked into a hotel? Oh? What was that about meeting an awful fate in the prime of your life? Well, seeing your room will make it all better. What's more, I'm just down the hall if you want to talk! LOL, have a great stay! I decided to go along with it all, since I was going to be here forever, I might as well get accustomed as soon as I could.
"Alright, close your eyes," instructed Spokoystviye. I obeyed, and waited.
"Now, open." said a different voice- a much more familiar voice. Was it.... Cyan? Cyan Skies?
"Hello, Lilac!" she said in the cheery voice that she'd kept even after death. "Welcome to heaven!"
> Rectilinear Hoofsteps
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Cyan?" I whispered, awestruck at the notion of the dead filly being with me. "Is it really you?"
Before she could answer, I quickly and passionately wrapped my forelegs around her, squeezing hard, tears flowing. The tone of the young unicorn in front of me changed from cheery to despondent. "No," she said- voice grave. "I'm just a part of your heaven. I'll never actually be here."
I pulled away, hooves still grasping her shoulder, and stared into her magnificent crystalline eyes. She couldn't be serious. Why would she not be a part of my heaven? She was an equine being, wasn't she!? She could be a part of anypony's heaven?
Wrong. My heart sank, processing this with dread. Cyan Skies, one of my favorite fillies, wasn't going to be with me after death. Even though she herself, was dead. This faux-Cyan didn't make the burden of truth any lighter.
"So...Cyan?" I asked with hesitance. "If you aren't here, and you're dead... what actual heaven is there?"
"Look around you," she responded, voice brightening once again.
I looked around, analyzing each detail of my heaven, savoring the delectable taste of each and every speck. Soccer fields and playgrounds lined the huge, open plains, and glorious, magenta mountains, snow caps glistening atop, jutted out of the horizon. To the far west, I saw a spectacular turquoise ocean, seals occasionally popping up out of the water, snatching up crabs or just basking in the sunlight over the rocks they lay upon. When I turned back, Cyan had disappeared. Staring at the spot where the filly had stood, my mind drifted. Suddenly, I thought hard on what was happening. I was dead; murdered by a pedopony living amongst the ponies that I loved.
Each second that the thought twirled around in my mind like fancy pasta, tears grew more and more large and frontward in my eyes. What I had known, or ever would know, was no longer- no marriage, children, job, graduation, or retirement. The thought of my siblings, who'd lived with me all of their lives, being without me, was another consideration. I could only imagine the mental paroxysms undergone by the young filly and colt- practically foals, both of them. My mother and father, who'd been with me through so much; my mother had helped me through school, (some) puberty aspects, and helped me prepare a wonderful Bat Mitzvah for myself. My father had taught me what the equine character is like, and what the true meaning of "pony", while also showing me perseverance, love, my cutie mark, and how I should treat others. I then thought of what my parents had probably wanted me to experience: meeting Pinkie and co., getting good grades, my first kiss, senior prom, and the thrill of travel. All things I was denied by George Harvey.

Sitting now, I peered about my "heaven", and saw a blue oasis, surrounded by small, painted rocks.
***
"Is there any luck?" inquired a worried, white unicorn as she trotted into the Ponyville Police Station from a pristine cab. Rarity's hair was slightly askew, her fake eyelashes also falling out of place, and her coat had a coffee stain; nonetheless, she looked stunning.
"I'm afraid not," answered Twilight. "Authorities from all over the Equestrian States of Amareica have been notified- or at least in Cloudsdale, Canterlot, and such. You might want to see Mac- Flutters is a mess. He's talking with the Sheriff."
Following Twilight's instructions, Rarity galloped to a small, beige corner near a dull cubicle, where two stallions were talking. One of the stallions had a ruffled mane, freckles, and a stern expression; the other had spiky, styled hair, a fez, and a bowtie with a small sheriff's badge. Rarity grinned slight, recognizing these ponies, but then remembered why she was approaching them. This wasn't for an attempt at seducing married stallions (believe, she'd done it before), it was to discuss the chances at finding a filly that she loved like her own.
"I'm telling you, Macintosh, I've alerted all of the authorities; and there are search parties- authorities, all over the town, each searching for your daughter and questioning residents about her whereabouts."
"Please, you gotta let me search to, that's my daughter and I-"
"Macintosh, please. This is police work, we will find your daughter. There are search parties out there, what more would you like me to do?"
"I dunno, maybe SEND OUT AN AMBER ALERT TO THE RADIOS OR SOMETHIN'!?"
"Yoo-hoo," interjected Rarity. "Is there any progress on finding Lilac?"
"I'm very glad to see ya, Rare. Fluttershy, Twilight, the sheriff, and I have been discussing efficient ways to look for Lilac. Clearly," Macintosh now used gritted teeth, "we have different ideas. I, for one, find the idea of a dead filly to be terrible, much more that it's my daughter. This $2 "detective", here, has decided to be casual about it."
"Macintosh!" yelled Sheriff Whooves.
"For God's sake, you know it's true!"
"Mac," plead Rarity. "Please, I understand your stress and anger, but you need to realize: this is what police work is. Won't you try to understand that?"
The conversation was interrupted by the scream of a pegasus. Macintosh galloped at full speed, trying to reach Fluttershy's side before she fainted.




George Harvey stood silently outside the police station, staring wistfully at the pegasus inside. He felt wetness on his cheek, still. The filly's tears mixed with her blood were still faintly stained on his cheek. Harvey thanked luck for his being absent when the police came questioning. He didn't know if he would be able to create a good alibi for the filly's disappearance.
When the winged stallion had reached his apple cellar again, he turned the light on when trotting down the stairs. He analyzed the drawings on his wall, some of kids, some Harvey had drawn himself, and some of a wife Harvey knew he could never have. He looked down. Last time, he thought. I swear.