Prologue
In the regal city of Canterlot, the moon was hidden by a thick blanket of storm clouds that poured onto the city streets below. A few lamps lit the empty street corners, and very few ponies were out, galloping quickly into the warm lights of their homes. Two royal Unicorn guards lifted their lances to allow passage for a lone, wobbling carriage. One of the guards looked to the carriage puller, and the broad red earth pony looked back to him.
"I'm... sorry for your loss, Mac." He said, his voice almost a whisper.
Big Macintosh lowered his head to the ground, his orange mane matted down by the rain. Wordlessly, he continued trotting into the empty streets, his only companion the pounding rain and booming thunder. Inside the carriage, four mares were just as solemn. Three of them stared down at the carpeted floor of the carriage, and the last just slept silently, their face scrunched in an uneasy cringe of painful memory.
There was a particularly loud boom of thunder, and the sleeping mare awoke with a start, screaming uncontrollably. The rest of the mares were startled and almost jumped out of their seats before a pair of lavender hooves grasped the shoulder of the screaming mare and held her tight, whispering and cooing to her.
"It's okay, Fluttershy." The unicorn whispered. "It's going to be alright."
Tears were streaming down Fluttershy's face. "I-I-I saw her again... Rainbow..." Fluttershy hugged Twilight back, squeezing the breath out of her and covering her in salty tears.
"It's gonna be alright, sugar cube. Rainbow's in a better place now, y'hear?" The third mare, an orange earth pony, gave reassuring words to the distraught pegasus, but she wasn't entirely sure how okay it would be herself. She turned toward the rain-splattered window and closed her eyes.
"Applebloom..."
Pinkie Pie, the last of the four, pulled a party horn out of her frizzy mane and was about to blow on it to cheer Fluttershy up, but when she got piercing and almost hateful looks from Twilight and Applejack, she shoved it back into the poofy mess atop her head. She began to sing softly;
"Giggle at the ghostie... guffaw at the grossly... chortle at the-" Applejack's hoof met Pinkie's cheek with a slapping sound, and the party pony rubbed her cheek with her own hoof. She looked to Applejack, tears welling up in her eyes. Applejack glared back at her as thunder and lightning flickered outside the window and bumps on the street shook them up and down. Fluttershy's sobs were joined by loud, almost comical wailing from Pinkie. Eventually the carriage stopped, and a few moments later Big Macintosh opened the carriage's right door. He was wet and shivering from the rain, and wore a forlorn, almost dead expression that Applejack had only seen once before, when she went to live in Manehattan with her aunt and uncle.
"We're here," he said, his deep voice almost totally muffled by the rain.
Pinkie and Fluttershy were still crying when they got out, and Fluttershy clung to Twilight, not even able to muster the will to walk. Big Macintosh took Fluttershy from Twilight and put her on his back, and the whimpering yellow mare didn't seem to oblige. The five ponies walked in through the tall wooden doors as the guards opened them. Twilight took note of the lack of light, and sent a little purple orb above the group to add to the dim torchlight around them. It shone brightly with a purple gleam, and several royal guards put their lances around the group, feeling that this magic was a threat.
"Lay down your weapons, guards. These are our guests." Came a voice from the darker corners of the room. The guards returned to their stiffened stances with eyes toward the ceiling. From beyond the reach of Twilight's orb, Princess Luna stepped into the soft lavender light.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience, elements of harmony. We prefer the dark." The princess spoke softly, her somber expression not changing while her horn glowed to illuminate the chandeliers in the high ceilings of the hall. Now the group of heartbroken ponies could see the castle halls in the bright and royal condition they'd been during the Gala and the royal wedding. It was better, though dissonant with the purpose of their being here. Twilight let the ball of light disappear.
"Follow us. We have much to discuss." The princess of the night walked away slowly, beckoning for the other ponies to follow.
- - -
In the royal library, the six ponies sat around in a circle of chairs with a large, tile-pattern sun in the middle.
"We understand that very shortly ago, there was a terrible tragedy in Ponyville and Canterlot. Many ponies have lost their lives... including my sister, the beloved Princess Celestia." Luna paused. She was used to having loved ones die, but she never thought it would happen to Celestia. "And I have brought you all here to apologize to you. I know that I am partially responsible."
"PARTIALLY RESPONSIBLE?!" Applejack screamed furiously. "Who in the HAY do you think you are?! If you'd 'a never ordered that BUCKIN' dress for yer birthday, we'd a' never had this happen! Mah filly sister'd still be here with me! Hell! I'd be home buckin' apples iffin' it weren't fer you!"
Fluttershy was shaken by this, and went back to crying into Twilight's shoulder.
"Applejack, you must remember. We did not know Rar-" Luna was cut off.
"Don't you say that psycho bitch's name! I wanna kill 'er with mah bare hooves!"
"Applejack!" Twilight and Big Mac said in unison. Twilight was horrified, but Big Mac knew where she was coming from.
"Applejack, you know the Laws of Harmony as well as we do. Nopony can kill another, and revenge is viewed as equal to the original offense, and is punishable to reflect such."
Applejack gritted her teeth and pounded the arms of her chair. "Ah couldn't care less about the damn dusty ol' Laws! Ya'll can hang me at sundown for all Ah care, Appleloosa style! I jus' wanna see that insane marshmallow bitch before she gets shipped off to the Everfree! Ya'll can hang all of us too! See if I give a foal's plot what happens to some egghead, her dumb-flank friend and some whiny little parasprite! Hell, Mac's the only pony in this here room I care a lick for!"
Fluttershy and Pinkie cried harder, and Applejack was met with stares of disgust from her brother and the "egghead." Luna simply closed her eyes. "Silver Shield," Luna called. A gray-coated guard came in and bowed to the dark mare. It felt odd bowing to somepony aside from Celestia, but hey. It was his job.
"Shield, please take Applejack down to the dungeon to see the prisoner."
"The diamond dog?" The guard asked.
"No. The mare, the one in solitary confinement." Luna answered. The guard nodded, and swung open the library door. He then looked back at Applejack.
"Follow me, ma'am."
- - -
Applejack followed Silver Shield down twisting corridors, through long halls, and finally down a long set of stairs. The stairs were made of stone in sharp contrast to the marble-and-carpet castle. Silver Shield picked up a torch from the wall and held it aloft in a glittering magic aura. The stairwell got thinner and darker, and Applejack could hear water dripping. The corridor smelled like mold.
After what felt like ages of walking, Silver Shield reached an old and rotten wood door. The guard opened it up, and let Applejack go through first. Inside there were two rows of cells covered with thick metal bars on either side of the ponies. Water dripped from the ceiling and collected in puddles on the floor. Most of the cells were empty, except for one occupied by a sleeping diamond dog, and another by a swarm of parasprites that tried to gnaw at the bars and escape. The guard stayed behind Applejack, and used magic to create sparks and light the torches that sparsely lined the walls. Applejack noticed the guard quaking in his armor.
"Umm... she's down the hall. Come back up the stairs when you're done!" The guard shakily informed Applejack before dashing back up the stairs, the clip-clop of his steps growing fainter and fainter. Applejack rolled her eyes.
"Coward."
The mare trotted slowly to the end of the hall, her heart consumed by rage. She knew what was in there and unlike that guard, Applejack was not afraid of it. The mare continued to the end of the hall, and saw that the stone stopped to give way to an iron wall with a large, apparently thick glass window. Applejack reached the end, and peered through the glass.
Inside the dimly lit iron box there was the form of a mare, sitting in the corner and not showing her face to Applejack. The form, she knew, once had a gleaming white coat and a wonderfully combed mane. Now, however, the being in the corner's hair had spots of dirty gray and red brown splotches of dried blood. The mane still retained its basic shape and style, but hairs stuck out of place every which way and some parts were burned or torn. The mare's neck, chest, stomach, and three places on each leg, had thick cuffs made of the same iron of the cell, and were all attached by heavy chain links to the floor and walls. Applejack laughed, and the sound reached the mare through tiny holes in the iron cell.
"Ya'll got yer just desserts, huh Rarity? I ought to bust this here glass an' beat ya senseless. These legs had a lot a' practice buckin' apples. Once ya find yer death in th' Everfree, you'd better make 'em go easy on ya in Tartarus... 'cus I'll be there for ya soon." Applejack laughed, and saw Rarity slowly turn her head. She couldn't wait to see the look of pure pain on the mare's face. She was getting ready to see Rarity's sobbing face, and when she turned around...
Applejack saw a smile.
And it wasn't a madmare's bloody grin, either. It was the kind of smile that Applejack had seen back when Rarity was her friend, before... this.
"Do you really think you'll go to Tartarus? But you're such a decent pony! Don't sell yourself short, Applejack. You're one of the best ponies I know. I'm sure you'll see Apple Bloom again, don't you worry." The Element of Generosity winked.
Applejack stood there dumbfounded, her mouth wide open with shock. This mare didn't sound insane. Something was wrong here.
"But... ya'll went insane! I saw the look in yer eye!" The farm mare shouted.
"Oh, no no no no no! I never went insane! I just had some inspiration! Luna just loved her dress before she found out about how I made it. It's too bad she didn't see things the way I did." Rarity pouted.
Applejack was enraged. "Yer supposed t' be mad! Yer gettin' banished! Yer goin' t' Tartarus!"
Rarity giggled at Applejack. "Oh, you don't know just how easy it is to get out of banishment! Luna got back from the moon all on her own, and look how pathetic she is. That 'oh-so-serious' attitude of hers is just so repelling. No wonder she never found a stallion."
Applejack banged on the glass of Rarity's cell, screaming and swearing.
"IT AIN'T FAIR! YA'LL KILLED MAH SISTER! YA'LL KILLED TH' PRINCESS! YA'LL'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN PAIN! YA'LL'RE SUPPOSED TO BE CRAZY!"
Rarity pouted from inside her web of chains. "Oh, now now, Applejack! That attitude is going to give you an ulcer! Oh, and by the way..." Rarity paused to giggle beneath her breath. "Parasprites hate loud noises."
Applejack froze. She turned around to the cell full of parasprites, and saw that they were in a frenzy. They stopped trying to chew through the iron bar, and were bumping around frantically. A few of them bump-bump-bumped each other against the bars, until one parasprite was hammered through the bars. He looked around with his wide compound eyes, around the room and then to Applejack. The parasprite licked his little chops before flying straight toward the orange earth pony.
Applejack looked to Rarity with utter terror, muttering a few final words.
"Burn in Tartarus, you psycho bitch."
Rarity only smiled back, planting a light kiss on the glass. The parasprite dislocated its impossibly huge jaw and bit off Applejack's legs and flank. Applejack fell to the ground in pain, screaming and not losing eye contact with Rarity. The mare only had a little more time to scream before the bug ate her front legs, then her torso, and left only her head, whose eyes rolled back away from Rarity before it was eaten too. Rarity smiled and gave out a yawn, then lied down and fell asleep like a filly. Some ponies were just so rude.
To be continued...
So, tell me about the story. Did you like it? Does it need work? Criticism welcome.
Oh, and if you'd like to draw some art for the story, I'd love to work out a trade of some sort. (I'm lookin' at you, Snifi!)
Edited by Spiffington, 12 August 2012 - 04:06 AM.




