Blooming Late

by Akumokagetsu

Apple Bloom feels left in the dust when seemingly everypony except for her begins to get their cutie marks. Anxiety and depression begin to set in the harder she tries to succeed, and one by one her enemies begin disappearing. Does Apple Bloom have a chance of gaining the respect of her family? Are the disappearances related? Apple Bloom couldn't possibly be connected... right?

0-0-0-0-0

Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again.

~ Simon & Garfunkel, The Sounds of Silence

---

Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook

or tie down its tongue with a rope?

Can you put a cord through its nose

or pierce its jaw with a hook?

Will it keep begging you for mercy?

Job – 41

0-0-0-0-0

Apples controlled the world.

That was what her grandmother always used to tell her. Granny Smith had such an odd affixation with apples, or so Apple Bloom thought. The wizened old mare used to go on and on about apples, all about how the shining red fruits were so much more than anypony else knew. Almost as if apples had a mind of their own, in a way. Apples would go on growing even without somepony to tend to the orchards; the difference being that without tending, they would just grow wherever they felt like. Apples didn't even need ponies – ponies needed apples, and apples worked their way into a mare's head in the strangest of ways.

Apple pies, apple cider, apple tarts, apple treats and pastries jam packed full of the things. Apples, apples, apples! Granny Smith loved the things more than anypony else, but she also shared her slightly strange view on them with Apple Bloom.

It was sort of like Granny Smith felt like apples controlled a pony's entire existence. Apple Bloom thought it so bizarre, her grandmother's seemingly half-hopeless outlook as she grew older. She had an obsession with things like that, how a mare's destiny was never really her own to control. And Apple Bloom found that her words stuck with her for a long while, how destiny was something slightly beyond comprehension, even when you thought you finally understood.

"Come on, Apple Bloom. I know you heard me."

A little tuft of red mane wafted up upon the filly's exasperated sigh, sunlight dancing cheerfully across her muzzle in direct contrast to her sullen stare at the ceiling. With hooves crossed firmly over her chest, Apple Bloom let out another little breath, tarnished yellow eyes narrowing due to her elder sister's repeated hammering of her bedroom door.

"You ain't going to be late this time, Ay Bee! Come on downstairs, grab some grub before you go." The mare thumped loudly against the wood with the back of her hoof a couple more times before the sound of downward treading reached Apple Bloom's ears. Apple Bloom bit back a snide remark and resisted the urge to cover her head with her pillow again, the too-bright morning sunlight seeming much more glaring the more she thought about going back to school.

She didn't want to go back to school.

Going back to school used to mean that she was presented with another chance to learn something about the world that she didn't know before. Going back to school used to mean that she had a whole day before her to potentially earn herself a cutie mark that would symbolize what field her talents might lie in, what kind of pony she would become, what her destiny would be. Apple Bloom didn't see it as untapped potential as her teacher tried to convince her that she should, however. To her, it was just another annoyance that she still didn't have a proper cutie mark like everypony else.

Even the Cake twins had their cutie marks by this point, and she was even older than they were!

Apple Bloom groaned once more into her pillow, forcefully pushing herself from her bed and instinctively rubbing her eyes. It wasn't as if it really helped; she had been awake for most of the night, anyway. With a tired limp over to her dresser, Apple Bloom yanked her bow impatiently from her drawer and mashed it onto her head, hurriedly dragging herself out of her room and downstairs, the clopping of her hooves against the hardwood floor muffling the sound of busy life around the farmhouse.

I don't want to do this today.

The happily hanging pictures of her rather expansive family lining the farmhouse walls decorated nearly every square inch of the stairwell, packed in close together as they were. Photographs of black and white, half colored silent mementos to times behind them. Pictures here, pictures there. Pictures, pictures everywhere. Apple Bloom frowned as she passed them, her thoughts darkening once again. She would have preferred to stay at home with her family instead of going to school… were it not for her family's seemingly constant upbeat morning attitude.

Apple Bloom just didn't feel like a morning filly that day. If anything, she wanted to shout at the top of her lungs; but that would wake up Granny Smith, and Granny Smith always got to sleep in late because of her age. If not because of her age, then because of her other problems. Apple Bloom wished that she had a few good reasons to sleep in right about then, too. It was just too early to start another day.

Apple Bloom harrumphed crankily as she reached the bottom of the stairs, almost bumping into her brother as she rounded the corner.

"Got a lil' bit of grump on your lip there, young 'un," Big Macintosh rumbled, bumping her under the chin with his hoof and forcing her to look up. She swiped him away mindlessly as she tumbled into the kitchen, tediously pulling a couple of the freshly made hay waffles off of the platter in the center of the table and sticking them directly into her mouth.

"Apple Bloom," her sister rolled her eyes with a slight grin, pouring syrup over her own plate of pancakes. "If you want to eat like a pig, you'll wind up eatin' with them, eventually."

The filly grunted, chewing hard.

"I am not a pig," Apple Bloom scowled. "I ain't even hungry."

"Uh huh," Applejack chortled as the filly scooped another few pancakes onto her plate and began slathering them in syrup. "With an appetite like that, you might put Momma Sow to shame. Or, shucks, maybe even Big Macintosh."

Her brother snorted quietly, but didn't reply beyond that.

The three of them finished their breakfast in silence as they usually did these days, the light of dawn beginning to brighten up the kitchen as time passed. Apple Bloom was weary to finish her breakfast, but nodded quietly as soon as she did so before wordlessly taking off outside to begin her morning chores. At least it wasn't her turn for dishes.

Feeding the chickens, gathering eggs, searching for holes in the fences. Taking care of the old sow and her unbearably noisy piglets, tiredly dragging the buckets of slop to them and mucking the pens. By the time Apple Bloom was finally finished with all of her morning chores, she was both soaked with sweat and even more tired than before. Thankfully, her burning anger had subsided to something of a dull roar thanks to the blissfully monotonous work that she had grown used to, and gave her a chance to clear her head a little before school.

Apple Bloom marched into the house with her head held high and a miniature smile on her face, even though she was still worn out. The smile didn't seem to last very long, though. She was quick to wash her hooves and slip her school saddlebag onto her back, making sure to rearrange her pink bow before she did so.

Apple Bloom took a long, hard few minutes in the bathroom as she washed up, though. She tried to shift her bow around and around again, but it seemed perpetually glued to the only comfortable spot on her head and she soon gave up in favor of staring at her grim frown. The downturned slant furrowed deeply into her face, and she glared at the unnatural thing with distaste. She wasn't usually this sour looking… and she probably wouldn't have felt as such, if only she could avoid going back to school. Apple Bloom temporarily considered faking sick once more, but that could only work so many times; besides, she had just done it again last week and barely gotten away with it.

She sighed quietly, splashing some more cold water from the sink onto her face. The dripping icy liquid seemed to wash what dimness was left in her emotion, leaving her face blank and empty. Blowing a soft stream of air into the water and releasing a sleepy moan, Apple Bloom wiped her face and let the water circle the drain before staring once more at her expressionless reflection.

She shrugged internally, flaring her nostrils. It was better than being angry.

"Bye, everypony!" she called loudly before shoving open the front door without awaiting an answer, as nopony spoke back. Big Macintosh and Applejack were probably already gone, and she didn't think much more on it as she trudged outside and made her way slowly over the apple orchards toward the old dirt path that led to Ponyville. The faint chirruping of birds in the distance flittered through the air, the touch of nearing summer splaying its hands freely on the wind like a pianist beginning to play a quiet tune.

The wrinkle and crinkle of leaves in the cool morning breeze greeted her ears as she traversed the little path toward the village, dirt crunching dully underhoof as she walked. Watching the leaves dance was something that Apple Bloom looked forward to in the morning, oddly; she liked watching how the heavy branches swayed in the wind, the healthy green leaves sashaying back and forth like they were really breathing. But breathing slowly, as if they were all dreaming.

Apple Bloom found it soothing, those trees that she had grown up with. Thick, sturdy and reliable.

She was smiling fully again by the time she reached the crossroads where her friends were already waiting for her, chatting animatedly before she even arrived.

"Heyya, gals!" Apple Bloom waved optimistically at the pair, who greeted her with equal positivity. "Finally made it," she said, out of breath. "Hope I didn't make you wait too long."

"Nah, it's cool," the orange pegasus stretched tranquilly, leaning on her slightly dusty scooter. The flaming wheel on her flank acted as an impromptu vacuum to Apple Bloom's eyes, and she forcefully looked away to the pale egg colored unicorn.

"What took so long?" Sweetie Belle shifted her own saddlebag, and Apple Bloom noted that Scootaloo seemed to either have forgotten hers again or just didn't bother to bring it; likely the latter, as it tended to slow her down.

"Oh, you know," she cleared her throat uncomfortably, marching a little more quickly beside Sweetie as Scootaloo rolled nonchalantly alongside them. "Just held up with some chores is all. Granny can't really do all that much anymore, 'cause of her age and, you know…"

Apple Bloom left her statement hanging, and Sweetie slowly nodded. Apple Bloom desperately tried not to look at her friend's crescendo cutie mark, that badge of honor that she herself was still denied. She unconsciously shuffled her schoolbag a little further back to cover her flank, even though it was uncomfortable. The thought tugged at the string of anger, but she brushed it off.

Blank flank.

"Yeah," Sweetie replied quickly, the changes in her voice even more evident than they had been before. Gone was the familiar scratchy tone and uneven break in her words, as lost as the dust in the wind. "My sister was gos- uh, she mentioned it the other day," she stated offhandedly. "Is your grandmother still having those problems with her…?"

"Not right now, Sweetie Belle." Apple Bloom's scowl was quick to return, although she felt a sliver of remorse for the look of concern Sweetie showed. Apple Bloom swiftly wiped her face of emotion again, glaring dimly ahead and evening her tramping to a steady pace.

Sweetie Belle honestly looked as if she were going to ask something, but instead bit her tongue and shook her head. She knew the look on Apple Bloom's face, and knew when she wanted to talk.

Sometimes though, silence was preferable.

0-0-0-0-0

The hefty clanging of the old metal school bell rang through the air, leaving colts and fillies scurrying left and right to make it to class on time. Scootaloo sped ahead of them, and Sweetie Belle coughed inconspicuously into her hoof to draw Apple Bloom's attention to the pair of fillies seemingly guarding the door.

A heavy rock began to weigh on Apple Bloom's stomach, and she bit back a groan. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, one on either side of the door and only allowing one pony in at a time. She didn't have to think long as to what the pair was up to, as it was certain to be something bothersome.

"Come on, move already!" Scootaloo growled at the smug filly, whose hoof was planted firmly on the doorframe and preventing anypony else inside. "We're gonna be late, move it!"

"Oh, dearie me, Silver!" Diamond Tiara sniggered as her compatriot placed her hoof on the opposite doorframe, making an odd 'X' with their hooves. "The little hooligan didn't even say please. Can you believe it?"

"Ugh. No way," the grey filly opposite her rolled her eyes energetically. "Since when are the common rabble so rude?"

"Please get out of my way," Scootaloo deadpanned.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shared a momentary look at each other before glancing toward Sweetie and Apple Bloom, and grinned.

"Sure!" Silver responded with surprising enthusiasm before they each moved out of the suspicious pegasus's way. "After you."

Scootaloo grumbled something very rude before shoving her way into the classroom, rolling her scooter with her. Sweetie was next in line, and marched completely unmolested directly into class.

Which meant that Apple Bloom was left utterly alone with them when the door snapped shut, leaving her standing crossly before the obstructing fillies.

"I need to get to class," Apple Bloom stated flatly, but the fillies only smirked at her.

"And?" Silver Spoon glanced around. "Maybe you should have been here earlier."

Apple Bloom felt like a hot spike of steam was piercing her stomach, and she clenched her teeth in anger.

"Please let me through," Apple Bloom swallowed her pride, desperate to just get the day over with.

Neither of them moved.

"I said, please!" she raised her voice as the tension in her chest rose, and Diamond Tiara and her ally shared another smug, simpering look before laughing in unison. It wasn't fair. As per usual, Apple Bloom was being singled out. Why did they always have to make her life miserable?

"Ooh, look at that!" Diamond snickered, almost dancing back and forth to show just how much she was preventing her from class. "Somepony taught it how to talk."

Apple Bloom burned at her words, heat blossoming into her face as she desperately fought the leviathan beast within herself that demanded violent justice.

"Ah. Said. Please."

She wanted to hit them. Apple Bloom wanted to punch them both in their smug, satisfied faces for the unfairness. But she knew that would only lead to trouble for the umpteenth time, and she would doubtlessly be blamed for it and get in trouble at home, whereas Silver and Diamond would walk away scot-free.

Again.

Still neither of them moved.

Apple Bloom wanted to scream through her teeth, but instead tried shoving past them only to find herself blocked by both of their forelegs.

"Geez, if you're just going to be a brute, maybe you don't have the brains to be taught anything!" Diamond Tiara scoffed, and Silver giggled again. Apple Bloom's eyes stung, but she only pushed harder until she was callously propelled back.

"Yeah, I know!" Silver Spoon rolled her eyes again. "She acts like such a pig."

"Hey! Maybe her name should be Apple Pig instead of plain old blank flank! Ha!"

"Please!" Apple Bloom bellowed. "I ain't got time for –"

Her words were cut off once again by the ringing of the late bell, and a golf ball lodged itself in her throat.

Those stupid, wretched brats!

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Silver Spoon wailed in a clearly rehearsed manner as she budged open the door. "That Apple Bloom made me late again! Miss Cheerilee, Apple Bloom pushed me!"

Apple Bloom ground her teeth in frustration, and Diamond Tiara haughtily stepped aside and presented the open doorway for her. She forced her eyes forward and stomped as angrily as she could into the classroom, knowing full well that she would be receiving late marks again, no matter what she said.

However, because Apple Bloom's eyes were focused solely ahead of her, she did not notice when Diamond Tiara took advantage of the distraction.

Apple Bloom suddenly found the ground rushing up to meet her as her chin painfully smacked the floor, and she cried out when she bit her tongue. The coppery taste of blood tinged her mouth, and tears sprang forth from her eyes at the sting.

A few titters of laughter spurred her to scramble in humiliation to stand, swiping hatefully at empty air behind her.

"Oops!" Diamond Tiara pranced lightly after her, not even bothering to hide her smirk. "Little piggy tripped, what a klutz."

Apple Bloom turned in desperation to Miss Cheerilee, words already out of her mouth to defend herself against the cruelty of Diamond Tiara –

– just in time to spot the lilac schoolteacher hiding a grin of her own behind her hoof.

Apple Bloom boiled in fury, wiping her eyes and shuffling toward her seat as she tried to ignore the ruckus of the class.

Even Miss Cheerilee was laughing at her.

Mocking her.

"Everypony, settle down," Cheerilee called out evenly, pulling a couple of tissues out of the box at the edge of her desk before passing them to Apple Bloom to wipe her mouth. "And Apple Bloom, I know you're in a rush not to be late, but try to watch where you're going next time so that this doesn't happen again."

"Yeah," Diamond repeated smugly from somewhere behind her. "Watch where you're going, blank flank."

Apple Bloom clenched her teeth again, tension skyrocketing in her temples as she whirled around in her seat. She found herself only further angered to see that Diamond Tiara wasn't even looking at her anymore, more distracted with the reflection in her small portable mirror as she gazed lovingly at the little tiara she placed upon her own head.

"Watch your mouth, Diamond Tiara!" Apple Bloom seethed, and Cheerilee smacked her desk with her hoof sharply.

"Apple Bloom!" she frowned. "That's enough, little missy. If you don't stop picking fights, you're staying after school again. Am I understood?"

"It ain't fair!" the filly demanded. "She's always-"

"Apple Bloom!" Sweetie hissed at her. "Just drop it!"

"I won't!" Apple Bloom insisted, Diamond Tiara's smug smirk only widening. "I am sick and tired of her…!"

"Apple Bloom, kindly see me after class," Miss Cheerilee interrupted loudly. "… Now, if you are all quite finished, please open your history books to page one – oh – seven, and please turn in your homework assignments starting with the arithmetic quiz…"

Apple Bloom choked on her words behind her desk, clenching and unclenching her muscles viciously at the wrongness of it all. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair that nopony would bend that rotten brat over and tan her flank. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right at all!

She fumed quietly, straining to keep from so much as thinking about Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. If they would just leave her in silence, everything would be fine. She just needed to block them all out and focus on her schoolwork, empty her head of them. She just needed silence.

---

Apple Bloom hated her.

She hated that smug, arrogant brat with every aching fiber of her being.

"So, then," Diamond Tiara drawled to the few fillies (and one colt) that sat around her at the base of the tree as she prodded the studded tiara atop her head. Her words were occasionally interrupted by the chewing of her prepared lunch, which was so loud that it ground at Apple Bloom's ears. "Then, daddy goes and buys me another gem-encrusted old gold necklace, and I'm like 'but daddy, I don't WANT another gem-encrusted old gold necklace!' and daddy buys it anyway because he can, and I'm all-"

Oh my Celestia shut up. Shut up, Diamond Tiara you stupid, horrible attention hog, shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up…!

Sweetie Belle lightly touched Apple Bloom's quivering hoof, her lunch held so firmly in her grasp that she was beginning to leave hoof marks on her apple. Apple Bloom immediately loosened her grasp, and Sweetie returned to her respective grilled cheese sandwich along with Scootaloo as if Diamond Tiara hadn't purposely positioned herself directly next to the trio. Almost as if she were sitting just within earshot, in order for her voice to cover as much ground as possible.

And her voice. Apple Bloom might have even been able to ignore her, if it weren't for her constant bragging.

Apple Bloom suddenly found her grip on her lunch growing that much stronger again.

"- with the hat from Prance; Silver, you know the one, that ratty old thing that the old bat was so whiny about selling?" Diamond Tiara dragged on, accentuating every other word with a disgusted toss of her mane for emphasis. "Ugh, crazy old biddy didn't even know how much one of those antiques was worth, I'll bet she didn't even remember where she got it-"

Diamond Tiara flinched almost audibly as the apple exploded against the tree trunk directly beside her head, and she whipped toward the panting filly with a look of outrage; although at being a target or being interrupted, Apple Bloom couldn't tell.

"What is your problem?" she stood along with Silver Spoon, a couple of the others edging away.

"Yeah, geez, blank flank!" Silver scoffed, mimicking her. "What is your problem?"

"Shut up," Apple Bloom glowered hatefully at them both, her eyes burning. "Both a' you, just shut up, shut up right now!"

"Apple Bloom!"

She froze upon the sound of Miss Cheerilee's voice ringing powerfully through the air, and she automatically cringed when she saw the angry schoolteacher stomping directly toward them.

"She-!" Apple Bloom tried to say, jabbing a hoof at Diamond Tiara, but was cut off by the fury of her teacher.

"Absolutely not!" Cheerilee snapped her hoof toward the schoolhouse, marching Apple Bloom ahead of her. "I saw that, young filly, don't you dare try to blame that on Diamond Tiara again!"

"But-but-but…!"

Apple Bloom's cries and protests slowly dwindled, and she felt Diamond Tiara's smug, self-satisfied smirk on the back of her head with every single step.

---

Such a long day.

Apple Bloom dragged her hooves along the grass as she walked, still trying to get the chalk dust out of her fetlocks. Her hooves skidded heavily along, but some of the chalk just wouldn't come off – similar to the bite of pain she felt from Miss Cheerilee's disappointed stare while she wrote her lines on the chalkboard.

Stupid Diamond Tiara. She wouldn't have been held after school again if it weren't for Diamond Tiara and her stupid crony. Stupid Silver Spoon. She wouldn't have to worry about being late if it hadn't been for them, and she wouldn't have the dread in her stomach from not getting home to take care of Granny Smith in a timely manner. Stupid, haughty Diamond Tiara. She wouldn't have nearly as many problems if it weren't for stupid, stupid, stupid-

"OINK!"

Apple Bloom shrieked and tripped over her own hooves, the sound of high laughter ringing in her ears. She kicked up dirt ferociously as she whirled to face the giggling fillies, Diamond Tiara's trademark headgear glinting in the afternoon sunlight.

"Get done scrubbing some desks already, blank flank?" Silver Spoon circled her at the same time that Diamond Tiara did, reminding her of a pair of hungry predators. "I'll bet somepony left gum on the undersides for you."

"She probably didn't do a very good job," Tiara sniggered. "This is an Apple we're talking about, Spoony."

Apple Bloom felt a twinge of discomfort that her friends hadn't even bothered to wait after school for her, but that those two awful little horrors did. Didn't they have anything better to do with their time than torment her?

"Go. Away," Apple Bloom growled, shoving past them when she spotted an opening and continuing her angry marching. "Not in the mood, go away. Just go away, leave me alone already!"

"Ooh, she sounds so mad," Diamond Tiara tittered, practically prancing beside her as the grey filly imitated her actions on Apple Bloom's other side, flanking her. "Doesn't she sound mad, hmm?"

"You know how wild animals are, Tiara," Silver readjusted her glasses with a gratified leer. "Careful, it probably bites, too."

Apple Bloom fumed in quiet rage, clenching and unclenching her teeth in vehemence as she struggled to keep moving. Just had to keep going, had to refrain from even looking at them, and then everything would be fine.

Just ignore them, like Sweetie and Scootaloo suggested.

Like it had ever worked before.

"What are you, deaf now?" Diamond Tiara flicked her nose, and Apple Bloom fought the impulse to scream in anger. Her face reddened with rage and the restraint it took to keep from hitting either of them, the tension pounding her head like a hammer.

"Mute, too! Or maybe she just bit her tongue again, like an idiot," Silver giggled as Apple Bloom refrained from bellowing every single curse word she knew at them, focusing only on keeping her head down and walking. Just ignore them and they would go away, just don't fight back and there wouldn't be any more trouble…!

"Wow," Tiara tutted with what sounded almost like genuine sympathy. "Deaf, mute, born an Apple… oh, and dumb. Can't forget dumb!"

"She was born an Apple, I think that goes without saying."

"Ooh, you're so right, Silver. Wouldn't be a real Apple if she weren't poor, too. Fix that roof of yours yet, hmm? Nah, probably not," Tiara sniggered.

"She really got the short end of the stick, huh Diamond Tiara?" she cackled.

"Shut the buck up!" Apple Bloom screeched, her voice breaking as she swung at them and hit only empty air. "Shut up, just shut up and leave me alone!"

"Aww. Poor widdle fiwwy," Tiara snickered when Apple Bloom forcefully jerked away, tail tucked between her legs as she shoved her legs forward. "Look, Silvy; I think we made her cry!"

"Ooh, what is she now, a blank flank little foal? Gonna cry like a little foal, is she?"

"Nah, listen to that squeal. I think you mean she sounds like a piglet."

No matter how hard she tried, the words weren't lost in Apple Bloom's ears, and she was nearly tearing up grass as she ran. No matter how hard she ran, though, it still didn't stop the tears from burning her eyes. It didn't stop the pain from ripping at her.

It didn't stop the laughter.

---

"Help me get Granny Smith to bed, Apple Bloom."

The aged mare shook her head rapidly back and forth, ceasing her rocking in the corner. Her wooden chair squeaked as she did so, and the lime colored old pony stared at them both with slightly milky eyes.

"Now, you hang on a second, young 'un," Granny Smith frowned. "Who's puttin' who to where what now?"

"We're going to bed, Granny," Apple Bloom responded emotionlessly, helping to lift her under one of her forelegs as Applejack took the lead on the other side.

Her grandmother gave her that same blank, slightly hurt stare that Apple Bloom had grown to hate so much. The look that almost begged to be considered, to be listened to and noticed. She nearly felt like they were putting away an old box of toys whenever it was Granny Smith's bedtime, but a tiny bit sadder.

"Who do you think you're grabbing?" she scowled suddenly. "Get your filthy hooves off'a me, my family's gonna beat your flank!"

Applejack cringed at her words, going back to the calm tone she had used before.

"Take it easy there, Granny," she murmured, helping the nearly crippled mare up the stairs. Her hooves shook with every step, and Apple Bloom constantly feared that her grandmother would topple over. The stairs creaked and groaned, and for a split second she feared that they would break. "It's goin' to be fine, it's just Applejack, all right?"

"None of you is – none, none are any of you is…!" Granny Smith blubbered incoherently, lashing out suddenly. Apple Bloom cried out more in surprise than pain when her jaw was struck, but managed to keep from losing her grip on the old mare. Applejack froze up, and furrowed her brows and bowed her head shortly afterwards to the point where Apple Bloom couldn't even see her sister's eyes anymore.

"All these apples make a peach. All these apples make a peach," her grandmother began muttering darkly again.

"… Apple Bloom."

"Yeah, Ay Jay."

"You go on back downstairs. I'm gonna take care of Granny," Applejack said grimly.

She started to protest, but held herself in check. The coppery taste tainting her tongue for the second time that day convinced her further, and she wordlessly nodded before releasing her grandmother and slipping off back downstairs. The sound of Granny Smith fussing slowly died down the more distance she put between them, and she simply sat at the bottom of the stairs until Applejack had finished getting the elderly mare to bed.

Apple Bloom carefully dabbed her tingling lip with the side of her hoof, and absentmindedly wiped the spot of blood on her leg. She frowned when the wetness stuck to her hoof, a little stickily. She hated the sight of her own blood. It was something that stood out as an emblem of her own failure, a motif of the unhappiness literally leaking out of her. And now, now it was sticking to her fur. Apple Bloom's frown deepened at the thought.

She felt the unexpected and rather bizarre urge to wipe the blood on her flank, as if it would suddenly burst into an impromptu cutie mark. A terrible, bloody blotch of a cutie mark. The little frown of disgust that tinged her face grew, and she was quick to push the thought from her mind.

Apple Bloom jammed her hooves angrily under the kitchen sink faucet, letting the cold water run over her hooves. She let the icy stream slap her quivering hooves until they began to go numb, at which point she splashed some of it on her face. She wanted to let the anger kick out the aching feeling in the pit of her stomach, but it just wouldn't happen, and she knew it. Besides, it wasn't as if she could get angry at her own grandmother. Not for having problems because of her age, at least.

She rubbed her sore bottom lip wistfully, finally turning off the tap. Apple Bloom listened intently to the sound of silence that reigned throughout her home, the sound that stole away her thoughts and fears and stealthily replaced them with a grinding, dull despondency that only accentuated her bitterness.

Apple Bloom slid her wet hooves over her temples, leaning over the sink and sighing.

She missed when it was as simple as being tucked into bed by her sister. She missed having a hot drink before somepony would tell her a bedtime story. She missed being just young enough not to be worried about the whole world weighing down on her shoulders, about still being hopeful for a cutie mark.

Apple Bloom missed her grandmother most of all, though.

"You all right there?" Applejack softly pried around the corner, and Apple Bloom nodded wordlessly.

"Fine."

"… Finish your homework?" her sister asked conversationally, to which Apple Bloom silently nodded again.

"Yeah," she lied, knowing full well that she had been too busy between her extra chores to even bother touching it. "All done."

"Then you best get to bed."

Applejack nudged her toward the stairs again, which she reluctantly plodded up.

Granny Smith must have been a little fussier tonight than Apple Bloom realized. One of the pictures on the wall had a distinct crack, splintering across the family photo.

She almost pointed it out to Applejack, but instead held her silence.

Apple Bloom found the photograph rather fitting.

0-0-0-0-0

Finally, a day that seemed to match Apple Bloom's mood had finally arrived.

The ferociously bright early summer sun was thankfully concealed behind a blanket of tumbling grey clouds, bloated and pregnant with the possibility of downpour. A rumble of thunder, like the grumbling of a rising giant in the sky, resounded weightily in the distance. Apple Bloom stared with a longing gaze out over those thick, roiling clouds out her bedroom window. She wondered what it would be like, how pegasi must love trotting so freely atop the clouds and flying like birds high up above the ground and away from all their problems.

She longingly wished that she could fly like that, so high and free.

Apple Bloom's hazy reflection in her bedroom window drew her back to reality, her dull glower leveled only at herself. She looked terrible. Messy mane, bloodshot eyes that hatefully turned away from the rising sun. It was going to be one of those days, Apple Bloom just knew it.

Her sister hadn't even begun calling for her yet, which she found a little strange. It was definitely a school day, Apple Bloom knew that for a fact. Her uncertainties were addressed before long, as she found Applejack sitting wordlessly at the kitchen table with a tall glass bottle before her.

"Morning," Apple Bloom cleared her throat a little uncomfortably, and she tried not to look at her sister's bloodshot eyes.

"Hop to on your chores," the mare rubbed her eyes tiredly, awkwardly jamming a stopper onto the top of the bottle the moment she spotted her. Applejack acted almost guiltily, as if she were trying to hide the bottle, but gave up at the last second. It reminded Apple Bloom of a chimney in the way the smoky amber liquid tossed beneath it, and she half expected it to begin churning out smoke. "Doc'll be here soon."

"What? Doctor? What for?" Apple Bloom cringed, knowing pretty well what for. Applejack only stared deeply into the mug before her, swilling around the remnants of her drink. She wondered for a moment if her sister had even slept at all – and from the looks of her disheveled mane and bags beneath her eyes, Apple Bloom guessed that she had not.

"Granny's not doing so good," she answered quietly. "Big Mac's watchin' her right now. I said get going, Apple Bloom, or you'll wind up late for school!"

She detected the tension and anger in Applejack's voice, and wordlessly bowed her head before slipping out the door. The screen door slapped noisily shut behind her, but she paid it no mind.

Chances were high that she was going to skip breakfast again today, and she ignored the rumbling in her stomach as well to focus on her tasks.

Feeding the chickens again, their too loud squawking raucous in her ears. Busy gathering more eggs, searching for holes in the fences. Desperately hoping that there weren't any, they just couldn't afford another fox incident this year. Taking care of the old sow and her unbearably noisy piglets, tiredly dragging the buckets of slop to them and mucking out the pens. Over and over again, the same thing every single day of her life.

Apple Bloom gripped the tin garbage pail loosely as she leaned over the fence and watched the pigs gluttonously shoveling down the scraps, vociferously darting in like vipers to scarf down as much as they possibly could. Her lips ever so slowly turned down in disgust, the gruff squealing reminding her all too much of a certain filly. The familiar sting of anger began bubbling swiftly up inside her once again, and she didn't even have to look to know that her hooves were shaking.

She might as well have been blind, because even though she was looking right at the oinking piglets, all she saw was the smug, simpering face of Diamond Tiara. The anger roiled and built in her chest, pumping and clamoring together like pressurized steam filling a bottle. She felt like she were going to explode from the tautness, of all the unfairness and rage. Her vengeful squeezing of the tin bucket grew greater, her muscles shaking. Stupid pigs flopping around in their own filth, might lose what was left of her grandmother, still had to look forward to all week long with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Their jeering voices almost rang in her ears, and Apple Bloom hurtled the bucket as hard as she could at the boisterous pigs.

The vessel sailed through the air forcefully, but cruelly did nothing to carry away Apple Bloom's anguish with it. It landed with a weak splat a couple of feet away from the piglets, who didn't even look up from their breakfast at the pail, which slowly but surely began sinking into the mud. One of the smaller piglets, tottering about at the back of the crowd and freely running back and forth to grab what scraps the others dropped, stopped for a bare moment to sniff at it before shuffling back to the grub.

Apple Bloom watched that straggling piglet for a long, hard moment, resentment painting Diamond Tiara's self-satisfied expression on his pudgy pink face. Even the piglet's squeals and oinks sounded like the terrible two's mocking catcalls. The rod of white hot anger in her chest didn't go away as she thought; rather, it cooled and sharpened to a point, and Apple Bloom returned to her empty expression that she had grown so used to wearing like a mask. It wasn't so much of a conscious thought as it was a firm understanding, something that Apple Bloom just knew. Kind of like her grandmother knew about the apples.

The pig had to go.

It was smaller than she was, even though it was a very fat piglet. Apple Bloom wordlessly strode toward the barn, rifling over the farming equipment until she found a length of spare rope that Applejack kept around in a dirty wooden box. The worn rope felt a little thin in her hooves, but she rolled it up until it was tight and taut. She wouldn't need a whole lot. She was careful to grab the rusty shovel hanging from a metal hook on the wall. It would come in handy.

Apple Bloom puffed through her nostrils, tossing the little roll over her neck and around her shoulder, evenly marching back to the pig pen. The piglets had finished digging through the refuse for scraps by that point, and several were running around the swollen old sow that stood over them.

"… Hey there, Momma Sow," Apple Bloom murmured as she allowed herself into the pen, latching it firmly behind herself. "Oink, oink."

She fought the sudden mad urge to giggle as she looped the rope around the smallest piglet's neck, and it didn't even fight back as she tied a firm knot. Almost like she was walking Winona again. Except Winona didn't need a leash, and pretty much used to come and and go as she pleased.

Apple Bloom missed Winona.

"Come on," she jerked the makeshift leash, tugging the grunting piglet out of the pen and relocking it. "C'mon, you come with me."

Apple Bloom threw a quick look over her shoulder to ensure that she wasn't being watched, and promptly began dragging the chubby piglet out toward the apple orchards. That was where she needed to go. She already knew what would happen, she had to do it. She had to do it for the apples.

Not a single ray of sunshine broke through the misty grey clouds, and Apple Bloom absentmindedly wondered if it was going to rain that day. It certainly seemed as though it might, but Apple Bloom didn't even own an umbrella. A little water never hurt anypony, after all.

The snorting piglet trundled stupidly after her, faithfully following her frequent tugs. Apple Bloom walked until she was far away from the farmhouse, far out of earshot of anypony else. The healthy apple trees loomed overhead, some of which hadn't even been bucked yet. Without pausing, she trotted directly toward one who's branches were already bare.

The piglet tried pulling away when she looped the roped around the base of the tree, nostalgically patting the trunk. Strong, reliable. Apple Bloom liked these trees.

Squawking interrupted her thoughts, and Apple Bloom roughly dragged the uncomfortable piglet closer until she could make another loop around his neck. Big Macintosh had taught her plenty on making knots, and she inattentively decided between an anchor knot or another bowline. Without slowing, Apple Bloom smiled at the tubby animal, looking right into his eyes. The loop on the end of the rope that she held in her hoof felt much tighter now, and fit snugly. Apple Bloom leaned the heavy shovel against the side of the tree as well, letting it sit peacefully on the bark.

Stupid thing probably didn't even know what was going to happen to him.

Apple Bloom jerked on the rope roughly, yanking the pig back hard against the tree. It squealed loudly, kicking in surprise and pain as it found itself completely unable to escape the noose that Apple Bloom had fashioned for him. Her empty smile slowly faded as it screamed, eyes rolling in his head in panic. She yanked again with all her might, the piglet screaming louder and louder the harder she pulled. It wound up pulled tightly against the tree, just as Apple Bloom expected he would. The impromptu noose choked it the harder she pulled, her eyes never leaving the shrieking thing the entire time.

Its screams sounded so… equine.

Apple Bloom squeezed hard on the rope, she kept right on pulling until she began losing feeling in her hooves. The little piglet gave a few more kicks before his screaming was finally cut short, and the thrashing kept up for a little while afterward. She pulled and tugged until the rope was so taut that she thought it would snap from the pressure. When she finally thought that the thing had stopped breathing, she at last released the rope and gave her tingling hoof a little shake to let the blood begin flowing back into it.

The piglet promptly began kicking again, but only the back legs. His head was pressed firmly against the trunk, and the knots prevented it from freeing itself.

Without pause, Apple Bloom grabbed the shovel in both hooves, gave it a single twirl, and bashed the pig over the head. The resounding dull thunk of old hefty metal against flesh resonated in her ears, and its final squeal was cut off by another heavy swing. Apple Bloom was utterly unforgiving in her assault, raining blows down on the unfortunate thing until it stopped moving altogether. One weighty swing after another, each one leaving with a wet squelch as his head was crushed a little bit more with every added strike.

Apple Bloom was panting heavily by the time she stopped, and the first few trickles of rain had begun to fall. She was silently grateful for it, as it would save her the trouble of washing up; she definitely had a tad of blood on her, as well as the shovel. She stared down at her handiwork for nearly a full minute, watching the blood ooze out of the crevice that she had created. Flecks of bone here and there were still stuck to the end of the shovel, which Apple Bloom wiped off carelessly onto the grass.

She buried her anger along with the piglet that day, and she didn't shed a single tear as the downpour washed away the last remnants of her sins.

0-0-0-0-0

Apple Bloom was completely soaked by the time she finally returned to the farmhouse.

Her bow sat askew on her matted and dripping mane, rivets of water pouring off of her as the rain pelted the ground. Apple Bloom barely felt the stinging, however – all that remained in her chest was a dulled sort of upbeat cheerfulness, like she had finally reached the top of a very steep hill after a long time of climbing. It was a strange sense of satisfaction, but satisfaction nonetheless.

She was almost whistling as she put away the freshly cleaned shovel and sopping wet rope, as they too had been cleansed of the filth from their duties.

She trudged wordlessly into the kitchen through the screen door, wiping her hooves cheerfully on the old worn mat. Apple Bloom saw not a single sign of life anywhere else; nothing from her grandmother, not a single word from her brother, there wasn't even a peep from her sister. The entire house was, for all intents and purposes, completely and utterly silent.

Apple Bloom found that she rather liked the sound.

Silence.

The pouring rain hadn't let up in the slightest in the time it took to grab her school saddlebag and begin the long walk to the crossroads where her friends usually waited for her.

Apple Bloom darted from the little dry patches beneath the apple trees, bounding from one to the next even though it did very little in the way of protection from the rain. If anything, it only caused her to slow down, but she didn't particularly care anymore. She wouldn't be all that surprised if Cheerilee suspended her from school for as many times as she had been tardy.

What she was surprised by, however, was the fact that her friends were still waiting for her at their usual meeting place at the crossroads.

"There you are!" Scootaloo threw up her hooves in an odd mixture of annoyance and relief. Her mane was flattened against her head in a manner similar to Apple Bloom's own, although Scootaloo was clearly not in as good a mood. "Geez, Ay Bee, what took so long?"

Her heart pounded unexpectedly, and her words caught in her throat as she almost blurted the truth. Apple Bloom felt so completely foolish for it, as it surely would have been disastrous. It felt like it had been hours, maybe days ago that she had walked out to the field with the piglet. Like it was far behind her now.

"We were getting kind of worried," Sweetie blinked from beneath her black and white umbrella, which shook dangerously in the breeze.

"Sorry, girls," Apple Bloom grinned sheepishly, wiping a trickle of water from her face and huddling with a sliver of gratitude beneath the tiny umbrella alongside her friends. "Y'all didn't have to wait up for me, you know that."

"Pfft. 'Course we did," Scootaloo rolled her eyes, her anger already dissipating. "What kind of friends would we be if we just left you hanging?"

Apple Bloom was very strongly compelled to remind her of the incident recently in which both her friends had failed to wait for her after school, but she only pursed her lips. The stinging rod of anger poking her chest started to peek back into her again, but Apple Bloom pushed it away. It wouldn't do to be angry at Scootaloo, she probably had a life of her own, too. It was surprisingly difficult, though.

"You don't think Miss Cheerilee's going to be very angry, do you?" Sweetie Belle frowned in mild worry as they hobbled up the road like a bizarre, multi-legged mutation while they failed to hide from the rain.

"Nah, probably not," the pegasus shrugged carelessly. "Maybe at me an' Apple Bloom, but you've got great attendance and all. She'll probably let us off the hook if you butter her up."

"Again?" Sweetie sighed, but her grin remained. "You know, Scoots, always buttering up Miss Cheerilee is awfully taxing…"

Scootaloo snorted, throwing her wet mane back as they trotted.

"You're probably doing it wrong, then," she sniggered, pushing Sweetie slightly to the side and letting a few droplets of rain splatter them all. "If you wanna butter up your teacher, you gotta do it right."

"So you butter her up!" Sweetie laughed, bumping Scootaloo back and into Apple Bloom. "Just be nice and honest, it's what I do."

"Oh, I'll butter her like you do, alright," Scootaloo rolled her shoulders, lips twitching with an even wider smirk. "I'll butter her real good. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN."

"What."

"Bow-cha bow, ba-chicka chicka bowbow, ba-bow," Scootaloo bounced back and forth. "Butt~erin' up my tea-"

Scootaloo was rudely interrupted when she was pushed back into Sweetie Belle by the laughing farm pony, which ultimately resulted in making Sweetie's umbrella absolutely useless.

---

There was no heavy clanging of the worn old school bell this morning, and even if there was, Apple Bloom suspected that it would have been heavily muffled by the rain.

"Oh, goodie!" Miss Cheerilee beamed at the trio with blatantly false enthusiasm. "I'm glad to see you girls finally decided to show up for class today."

"We're awfully sorry, Miss Cheerilee," Sweetie Belle bowed her head innocently as she entered the classroom, her friends close behind. "We didn't mean to be late, honest."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're all late again," her teacher's eyes narrowed slightly as Scootaloo slammed the door shut behind them and shook water ferociously from her mane, oblivious to the noise she was making.

"We got caught up talking to a doctor," Apple Bloom lied swiftly, earning odd looks from both Sweetie and Scootaloo. "Family stuff, real important."

Cheerilee's eyebrows rose a little, and she nodded seriously.

"Ah, of course. Go ahead and take your seats, everypony else is already – Rumble, I saw that!"

Apple Bloom let out a little sigh of relief, although the niggling in the back of her mind picked at her. She was turning into such a little liar lately. Applejack would have been ashamed of her. Of course, it would probably pale into comparison to what Applejack would think of her if she ever found out what happened to one of the piglets…

But then again, it was just one piglet, and some of them did get out from time to time. It was probably already forgotten.

The dull thump of an eraser smacking Apple Bloom's head just as she sat down yanked her back to reality, and she let out an almost inaudible sigh through her nostrils.

"Oops," Silver Spoon tittered. "Must have dropped that. Sor~ry!"

And just like that, the boiling hot bar of rage dug straight into Apple Bloom's chest again. The momentary reprieve she had been granted by her sacrificial piglet had all been for naught. Another thump against the back of her head knocked her bow slightly askew, and this time the faint giggling sounded like Diamond Tiara.

"Whoopsie, blank flank. Dropped mine too, totally sorry."

"No," Apple Bloom seethed through her gritted teeth, eyes boring a hole in the desk before her. "No, you aren't."

"You're right," Tiara whispered just loudly enough for her to hear, Miss Cheerilee busy instructing students with an arithmetic problem on the chalk board. "For once."

Apple Bloom ground her teeth, a headache already starting to form. She just wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready to put up with the callousness of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon today, she just wasn't ready.

And then, something finally cooled the raging fire in her belly. Her thoughts had lingered for only a second on the idea of another sacrificial piglet when a much better, more focused one became apparent. Almost as if it had been staring her in the face the whole time, it just seemed that obvious. Apple Bloom's miserable frown slowly began tilting upward, twitching into a tiny, almost imperceptible smile.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had to go.

0-0-0-0-0

Apple Bloom's chores didn't seem like they were nearly as taxing or strenuous as they usually were, and she blazed right through them all. She hardly even noticed, her mind was so completely occupied. Gone was the heat of the moment fury, replaced with the steely, ice cold tension and focus that fueled her.

Besides, the sooner she finished her chores, the sooner she could continue her plotting.

It was like the entire world had become clearer for Apple Bloom, like things were finally making sense. She dragged another length of rope through the little clearing, afternoon sun shining glumly down on her tools. Apple Bloom would need them for later, this she was certain of. She had stolen away with a good number of items from the barn that nopony would find missing, but could still be used to aid her. Ancient and worn things, some spare carpentry tools. Even some of Big Macintosh's old things that were just collecting dust in the hayloft.

The real trick was ensuring that she didn't accidentally lose any of them.

The rusty old shovel rested against one of the lazily swaying bare apple trees, firmly overlooking the wooden box that Apple Bloom had so painstakingly carried all the way out through the orchard so that the heavy box would leave no tracks. Even further than she had taken the piglet, and that was quite far. She was assured that nopony would miss most of the tools she had gathered, and it took much of her time to ensure that she knew exactly where the spot was. After leaving numerous markers with bits of tape, Apple Bloom felt that she was finally ready for the oncoming night.

Apple Bloom let out a loud breath, thinking heavily. This was really the first time in her entire life that she had ever earnestly plotted the demise of somepony else, and her hooves were shaking a little. She made sure to slowly rub out the quivers, focusing on her task. She had to do this, she knew it deep down. This was what it was going to take, to make sure that nopony ever tormented her like that again.

They would be hers.

Her sacrificial fillies, devoted solely to the leviathan within.

---

It had hardly taken half an hour of Apple Bloom's time to scout out Silver Spoon's manor. In part, this was because she already knew where the filly lived – however, for something of this nature, she needed to know where she slept, which was on the second floor. Apple Bloom would be prepared, though.

"She's not eating it."

Apple Bloom glumly tried feeding the spoonful of applesauce to the scowling visage before her, and her grandmother only turned away again with a mumble. She sat next to Granny Smith on the bed, the worn quilt spotted with numerous flecks from the recent attempts to feed her. The scent of mothballs was nearly overpowering the applesauce, but Apple Bloom ignored it. She almost wished that she could focus more on it instead, as it might have taken her attention away from how thin Granny Smith had grown, how pale she was and how frail and weak her movements were. Even that wasn't as bad as the look of concern and confusion that her grandmother wore when she failed time and again to so much as recognize her. Apple Bloom hoped that she would, eventually – sometimes, she recognized Big Macintosh. But not her. Never her.

"All these apples make a peach…" Granny Smith muttered wildly. "All these apples make a peach. All these apples make a peach."

"Just keep tryin', Apple Bloom," her sister poked her head in through the wizened mare's bedroom doorway, although she bit her tongue when she saw that the more applesauce that dripped from Apple Bloom's quivering hooves the more she seemed to be ready to give up. Applejack sighed softly, nudging the shaking filly up and taking the half empty bowl of applesauce from her.

"I can do it," Apple Bloom frowned, but Applejack only shook her head.

"Come on, young 'un. Your hooves are shaking. It's alright, it's fine. Just go get your homework done. You hear me?"

Apple Bloom nodded silently, slipping off of the mattress and passing the bowl and spoon to her sister in the same motion.

"Sorry Granny," Apple Bloom breathed under her breath as she slipped out of her grandmother's bedroom, although she didn't know quite why she was apologizing. She felt as if she had failed on some part, like it was somehow her fault. A tight pain tore at her chest, but she brushed it to the side in favor of allowing the empty, cold feeling to take over. It was so much more preferable to feel nothing at all than the constant, gnawing heartache that mysteriously seemed to grow whenever she thought of her poor grandmother's potential, and very likely, unraveling mortality. Or maybe it was because she had just slipped away with a bottle of her grandmother's sleeping pills.

Or, the more she thought on it, perhaps it wasn't a void of feeling – maybe it was just plain old apathy. A small part of her felt fundamentally wrong for so much as trying to find that mercifully empty feeling again, like doing so was one way or another harmful to her family, like she wouldn't be doing them justice.

But on that note, if there were any such thing as justice, somepony would have done something to save Granny Smith by now.

Apple Bloom fought the urge to slam her hoof into the wall, which surely would have disrupted Granny Smith again. Instead, she silently trudged back toward her room and wordlessly kicked the door shut behind her, opting to simply stare mutely out the window at the clear night sky.

Her low, soft breath fogged the glass a little, making the crescent moon hide behind the artificial cloud. She almost laughed at the thought of Applejack pointing out her trembling hooves. She really should practice hiding things like that.

Oh, Applejack. If only you knew.

Her eyes wandered to her neatly made bed, and a tiny voice in the back of her head tempted her with the notion of sleep. She could just sleep her problems away, it would be that simple. Just clamber back into bed and pretend that there was nothing wrong, drift away into the land of dreams where she had no worries or problems.

Apple Bloom crushed the idea immediately.

She shook her head, slowly pacing back and forth in her darkened room, wall to wall. No, that wouldn't do at all. It would have made all her efforts so far for nothing, all meaningless. Completely pointless. Apple Bloom would have hated herself to have come so far to give up now. And even now, she still had to pick away the doubts. Was this something that just happened to ponies who did what she was about to do? Was it just a natural reaction for somepony to have doubts?

Should she really be having doubts at this point? Apple Bloom would have liked to think not. She shook her head, deliberately quieting her steps a little more and cursing the wooden floorboards. At the very least, they didn't creak much.

This was something that was going to be done. This was something that she needed to do, something that Apple Bloom had to do. There couldn't be any doubts, she needed absolute conviction.

And for that, she had only to remember just why she hated Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara so much for that same burning conviction to return.

They had to die.

Just like the piglet.

Apple Bloom shook her head again, as if she could cast away the thoughts. Back and forth, back and forth, wall to wall; Apple Bloom marched as if she were wearing a hole in the floor, and was utterly oblivious to it.

No, not quite like the piglets. That wouldn't do at all. It had to take longer, that much she knew as well. it had to be stretched out, she had to ensure that they didn't go quickly. Her thoughts drifted pensively to the screwdriver that she had stored beneath the packet of old nails in Big Macintosh's toolbox at her stash in the orchard, but she brushed that off as well. She could make up her mind when the time came.

Part of Apple Bloom hated herself for how casual she was being about plotting their doom, how she wasn't completely appalled at the idea like she felt that she was supposed to be. Maybe that was why she felt like she had failed, like she wasn't the paragon of goodness that all young fillies were supposed to grow up to be. Granny Smith probably would have been ashamed of her.

If she could even remember.

Apple Bloom stopped pacing almost immediately, her breathing heavy.

Back to the window she went, overlooking the moonlight soaked orchard and its many bountiful trees. It looked so pale and calm, so full of strong, sturdy apple bearing branches and simultaneously so very empty and still. It was like a midnight paradise, like it was all a moment away from dancing in a nonexistent breeze to the sound of the night.

Apple Bloom tried lying down, on top of her blankets of course. Sleep didn't even bother tugging at her eyes tonight. She simply sighed again, her hooves crossed over her chest as she stared up at the ceiling. It vaguely occurred to her that everypony else would be asleep before long.

It wouldn't be long now.

It wouldn't be long at all.

---

Silver Spoon had to die first.

Apple Bloom trundled over the dark hills with ease, her small red wagon clinking behind her a little with its contents. Strange how things so mundane could be used for such an awful deed. But Apple Bloom didn't have time to focus on things like that if she wanted to get to Silver Spoon's home in good time, lest she let the night waste away.

Apple Bloom threw her head up in the air a little as she traveled off the road, but stayed within eyesight of it so as not to get lost. The spoiled filly's mansion wasn't quite as large as that of Diamond Tiara's family's, but was still difficult to miss in the dark. She knew precisely where she was going, thankfully. It was difficult for somepony to not know where she lived, what with her nearly constant bragging.

It also helped that Apple Bloom followed her home after school a couple of times, but that was a completely different story.

She panted lightly as she crept up to the low green hedges that surrounded the manor, and was thankful that the building wasn't on top of a small hill like Diamond Tiara's was. Apple Bloom absentmindedly pondered going that route instead, but remained firm in her choice. Silver Spoon first. It had to be Silver Spoon.

Apple Bloom snuck even more slowly, quieting the clinking of the glass jar filled to the brim with her mushy concoction. The combined applesauce and whole bottle of Granny Smith's ground up sleeping pills should do the trick, if watching how quickly her grandmother fell asleep from them by just a few was anything to go by. What really worried Apple Bloom wasn't if she was caught, but if Silver Spoon were to die of the overdose before she were carted back to her hiding place. Oh, how ironic that would be.

She didn't smile at the irony, though. She didn't smile at all.

Apple Bloom breathed through her nose again, keeping her jaws closely shut as she rounded the corner and snuck over to the lattice on the eastern end of the manor. Why did the grounds have to be so large?

It didn't matter, after all. What mattered was that Apple Bloom had entered the next phase of her vengeance.

The foalnapping.

East side of the building, third window down with the lattice of roses winding up it.

She warily eyed the lattice reaching up the building, the rickety wooden structure looking none too appealing to her. Apple Bloom frowned again, yanking the length of rope from her wagon and throwing it around her neck. It wouldn't do any good for her to drop Silver on the way back down and chance breaking her neck. That could wait until later. A tiny voice in the back of her head reminded her that even after all this, it wasn't too late. She could still turn back. It would be so simple to just crawl back in between her warm sheets and close her eyes.

Apple Bloom nodded to herself before charging into her task without another pause, carefully sticking one hoof at a time through the wooden lattice and gingerly clambering upward to what she desperately hoped was Silver Spoon's bedroom. She made sure not to drop the rope or jar, tying the glass jar tightly to her foreleg just to be safe. She couldn't risk losing it any more than she could risk being wrong about Silver's location.

She couldn't afford to be wrong. Not about this.

Apple Bloom muffled a grunt and dragged herself upward one step at a time, adrenaline coursing through her veins. This would be the hard part, the next…

She shrugged the thought off, continuously and painstakingly pulling herself up again and again, at the same time urgently struggling not to knock against the house or make so much as a peep. Apple Bloom was only halfway up the lattice and was panting hard from the exertion of straining to remain silent, but she gritted her teeth and continued. She hadn't come this far to stop now.

Apple Bloom climbed and climbed for what seemed like an eternity, funneling her fear and anger into more fuel for the fire in her belly. She was draining, but focused and alert. Every movement in the moonlight seemed almost ethereal in quality, like she were walking through a dream. Apple Bloom shook her head, stifling a gasp when her back hoof missed one of the slats in the lattice. She let out a quiet breath of ease when she caught herself, at last peering in through the bedroom window.

It then occurred to Apple Bloom that there was something that she might have forgotten, now that she could see the sleeping filly peacefully snoozing in her enormous four poster bed.

What if the window was locked?

Apple Bloom almost swore aloud, but managed to bite her tongue long enough to actually check. With quivering hooves, she balanced carefully against the house and tugged ever so slightly on the window…

Click.

Apple Bloom breathed a quieted sigh of relief as the window slowly slid up, noiselessly gliding beneath her hooves. A sickening tightness began to form in her stomach the longer she watched Silver Spoon's undisturbed breathing, and she dropped from the window ledge onto the thankfully carpeted floor.

In the dim moonlight, Apple Bloom could see that the filly's room really was as opulent as the rest of her home; paintings that she couldn't quite make out lined the walls, shelves of knickknacks and expensive looking golden trinkets, along with finely crafted jewelry boxes, were littered here and there. Were Apple Bloom here to steal away anything but the filly, she could probably have made off with quite a small fortune if she were careful.

But that was not Apple Bloom's purpose.

She tensely slinked toward the dreaming Silver Spoon, simultaneously unknotting the jar of applesauce. The jar itself luckily wasn't very large, but the sleeping pills contained within would hopefully do the trick.

Apple Bloom leaned wordlessly over her, watching Silver serenely breathing. Her chest rose and fell so slowly, so calmly that Apple Bloom felt a sting of something rather painful in her chest.

How the brat could sleep remained a mystery. It must have been because she didn't have a conscience.

Apple Bloom sidled up close to the filly, keeping her in place firmly with one hoof around her head as her other tipped the jar ever so slightly over her open mouth. No sooner had the yellow ooze begun to drip from the jar and into Silver Spoon's open mouth that she began to choke, eyes flaring open in surprise and fear. She jerked and quivered, but found herself tightly held against her bed as Apple Bloom strained not to spill a single drop of the applesauce.

"Shh, shh shh shh." She hushed her, pressing the jar tightly against her lips and squeezing her other hoof against her throat. "Drink it."

Silver Spoon did no such thing, and only began to thrash harder against her as Apple Bloom mashed the jar hard against her face, panic rising as she tried not to spill any. Silver's cries were swiftly muffled by Apple Bloom's sharp jab against her throat, her whimper cut short.

"I said drink it!" Apple Bloom seethed, gaining control over both the filly and herself. "Just drink it and be quiet, Silver Spoon. Everything will be fine, I promise, you just have to drink this and then I'll explain everything. Diamond Tiara sent me, I'm going to 'splain it all if you drink it, okay?"

Silver Spoon's eyes were wide with fear and confusion, but upon the mention of her friend's name she seemed even more wary. However, Apple Bloom simply stuck with her approach of quietly urging her to swallow the chemical concoction upon promise of answers from Diamond Tiara. For a long moment, Apple Bloom was fearful that she would refuse to obey and break away, that her shouts would draw the others and that everything would be for naught.

But finally, finally she began swallowing, until nearly the entire jar was empty. Apple Bloom breathed a heavy sigh of relief, cautiously drawing away the jar from the sour looking filly's face.

"… There," Apple Bloom exhaled shakily, nervously dabbing at Silver's face with her hoof to get the last bit of applesauce while ensuring that no trace was left on her bed sheets. "There, now was that so hard?"

Silver Spoon opened her mouth to ask again, but she cut her off.

"Just relax," she insisted, pressing Silver back against her bed and keeping her hoof firmly on her chest. "Everything's going to be fine, Diamond Tiara sent me. It's all going to be over shortly, you just have to trust me, okay?"

Apple Bloom whispered such lies over and over again, hushed tone wafting over the befuddled filly until her eyes began to droop. She were certain that were it not for the drugs forced into her system, Silver likely would have put up more of a fight; but Silver Spoon gradually became more lethargic the longer Apple Bloom patted her mane, soothingly murmuring lies into her ear to make her docile.

Apple Bloom watched her as she slept again with a hint of victory tingling in her chest. She made sure to clean up any little bits of applesauce that she could find, painstakingly scouring for anything she might have missed. And it was fortunate that she did, otherwise she might have missed a few incriminating flecks. She breathed another sigh of relief and reattached the jar to her limb, wrapping it tightly. Apple Bloom had quite enough rope to make sure that Silver was tightly tied for her upcoming journey, but she wouldn't need it – instead, she carefully began trundling the deeply dozing filly off of her bed with her sheet, wrapping her firmly in them. It would make things simpler.

She dragged Silver Spoon vigilantly to the window, heart pounding in her ears as she pulled as softly as she could so as to avoid making noise. The anticipation was nearly as heightened as her fear, and Apple Bloom momentarily considered simply killing her now. It would be so easy to just smother the little monster while she slept, even if it was fitfully. Silver was thoroughly drugged and wouldn't fight back, Apple Bloom would probably have no difficulty in choking the life out of her and then making it look like an accident before leaving.

She slowly shook her head, forcefully beginning to lower the bundled-up filly down on the rope, careful not to let her fall.

And with that, Apple Bloom stole away with Silver Spoon like a thief in the night.

0-0-0-0-0

Apple Bloom loved the orchard.

It was such a peaceful place. A place of rest and solitude, a grove of growth and quiet. The orchard itself seemed alive with the little night breeze, making the trees dance and sway like greedily grasping fingers in the wind. Almost like the entire field were blearily waking itself up, half of its barren branches shivering in the air like Apple Bloom did on a cold morning.

Apple Bloom smiled as she slipped another fishhook into Silver Spoon's mouth, held open as it was by numerous others. She silently complimented herself on her ingenuity, as it was doubtful that Big Macintosh would even miss the rusty old things. The lengths of rope that kept the grey filly stretched rigidly over the bark of the apple tree didn't budge an inch, even with all of Silver's pitiful squirming for release.

"Fwhee!" Silver wept, struggling weakly at her bonds that kept her uncomfortably upright against the desolate old apple tree. "Fwhee, hawp whe!"

"What's that?" Apple Bloom raised her hoof to her upturned ear in a mock-curious tone. "Sorry, Silvy. I can't make out what you're saying. What's the matter? Did'ja bite your tongue?"

The filly squirmed in pain as one of the fishhooks pierced the edge of her lip with her desperate motion, and a thin sliver of blood began trickling down her forcibly opened mouth. The tears streaming down her face mingled with the dribble of blood, only causing it to run faster. Silver's choked sobbing rose and fell with her shaking chest, and as Apple Bloom watched, she almost felt that the filly's voice and body were two separate entities. Such a silly notion to distract her at a time like this.

"You sure do look disgusting, Silver Spoon." Apple Bloom's nonchalant words were quiet as she rifled languidly through the old toolbox on the ground. "You can keep on howlin', if you want to. Nopony is going to hear you all the way out here. Nopony is going to help you."

Silver Spoon tried shaking her head as she cried, vainly attempting to jiggle the fishhooks out – but when Apple Bloom saw, she softly ran her hoof over Silver's face. The tip of her hoof touching the filly caused her to freeze up in pain and fear, her crying breaking down into small, confused gasps.

Apple Bloom then smacked her hard across the face, the sound of hoof powerfully meeting flesh ringing deliciously in her ears.

Silver Spoon screamed in agony as the rusted fishhooks tore at her face, forcing her mouth open into a wickedly twisted grimace, a travesty of what might have been a smile. Her weeping resumed as she tried not to shake, as the hooks caused even more blood to dribble out of her mouth. Apple Bloom was reminded of a fondue fountain that she had once seen, things reserved only for rich folks like Silver Spoon.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Apple Bloom asked cheerfully, rubbing Silver's cheeks. The filly flinched, the tears blurring her vision. "Yeah, I'll bet it does. I hope it hurts. I hope it hurts a lot, Silver Spoon."

Apple Bloom carefully revealed the carving knife that her Grandmother used to make wooden apples with, the gleaming tip catching Silver's attention. Her eyes widened at the site, and she immediately began hysterically thrashing at her bonds again, but to no avail.

"You must be pretty stupid," Apple Bloom chatted over the sound of Silver Spoon's desperate muffled pleas. "Jerkin' around like that's gotta make it hurt even worse. Didn't I say nopony would come to help you?"

"Aah! Awha, awhee! Who! L-le-nah! Nah!" she screamed, words muffled as her lips were pierced by yet another fishhook. Apple Bloom almost heard the flesh tearing as it jabbed through, its pointed barb wiggling through.

"Are you trying to say 'no?' Huh?" Apple Bloom caressed her face gently with the tip of the cleaned knife, letting it glide over her cheek. "Would you tell anypony if I just let you go, right now?"

Silver Spoon's eyes widened further, darting around in her head. The flow of tears stopped for a bare moment, and her gaping mouth hanged open like that of a fish. Albeit, a weeping, bleeding fish.

"I'll let you go. I'll do it, right now," Apple Bloom whispered into her ear, even though she knew that there was nopony around this far out in the orchard. "Would you like that, Silver Spoon? I'll let you go, and you just have to do one thing for me. Will you do it?"

Apple Bloom was slightly amused to see that she didn't even question what her request was. Silver's eyes seemed to show agreement, and her upset cries became even more pleading.

"Tell me that you want me to let you go."

It was utterly silent in the glade for a few moments, the only sound being Silver's quickened, raspy breath.

"If you don't," Apple Bloom showed her the sharpened edge of the carving knife again. "If you don't, I'm going to start carving you."

Silver screamed in denial, inadvertently causing the fishhooks in her mouth to yank painfully back at her. This elicited further shrieks of pain, and her eyes rolled wildly in her head. Her panicked shaking grew even more the closer Apple Bloom slid the knife over her belly, around and around in circles.

"Time's running out," Apple Bloom teased her, hoof touching her almost steady stream of tears. "Hurry, Silver Spoon! Come on, it's not that hard – just tell me you wanna go, and I'll let you go!"

"Wemme o!" Silver sobbed, tugging uselessly at the ropes spreading her against the tree. "Wemme oh!"

"I can't hear you," she pestered her humorlessly. "You haven't begged for it yet."

"Phwee! Phwee! Phwee!" she wept over and over, her voice breaking with the effort. She screamed and shook when Apple Bloom's knife just barely began to poke painfully into her belly, no matter how hard she tried to suck it in.

"Huh," Apple Bloom grunted. "Can't even talk. What's wrong with you, Silver? Just a dumb little piggy? Is that what you are? Tell me, come on."

Apple Bloom had long since lost most, if not all pleasure in tormenting the piteously bawling filly. It had been amusing to turn the suffering on her for once, but Silver was never her true target. She slid the knife with a little bit more pressure into her belly, halting her screams.

"Squeal, Silver," she said in a hushed voice, right into her ear. "Squeal like a little ol' piggy."

Perhaps it was from the shock of finding the tip of the carving knife penetrating her stomach, or perhaps it was just Silver Spoon's final act of despairing rebellion against her, but she didn't make a single sound. Silver's eyes widened considerably as her cry died in her throat, the knife dragging a white hot pain through her belly and tortuously crawling upward to her chest. Blood trickled out of the wound, and her screams returned with gusto as she thrashed. Each violent yank only brought the knife a little deeper, every jerk of her head causing the stabbing pains in her mouth to rip a little further as her gums were torn open.

Apple Bloom used both hooves to grip the polished wooden handle of the knife, Silver's screams filling her ears as she roughly wrenched the knife from her bleeding, open belly and watching the stream of crimson slip steadily out on a wave of her innards. It slipped and poured out of her in a miniature wave, coating and spraying the ground before her. Apple Bloom almost didn't even notice just how much of it she had gotten on herself, but it didn't bother her. Silver Spoon gave one last pitiful twitch before finally succumbing to the darkness that called for her, falling limp at last and leaving only the sound of Apple Bloom's labored panting in the orchard.

Apple Bloom felt a rush of immense satisfaction, a pleasure that tingled deep inside her. She was nearly tempted to check between her legs it had felt so good. Her grin slowly faded as she stared over the lifeless body of Silver Spoon, her mind already cranking again.

The nearby stream and the buckets she had ready would be helpful in cleaning up. As for the time being, what she needed was the shovel. The exhaustion was beginning to set in now that the excitement was beginning to wear off, and she could feel her body crying out for rest now that the beast within had been fed. But for now…

It was time to begin planting.

0-0-0-0-0

Apple Bloom awoke that morning feeling as fresh and chipper as a spring daisy.

She stretched lazily, peaceful expression growing as the morning sun ever so gently caressed her cheeks, drawing her into the land of consciousness on arms of gilded warmth. A subtle yawn slipped through her teeth, taking with it the last of her dreams as she blearily rubbed the back of her head, letting the contentment sit in her chest.

Silver Spoon was dead.

Apple Bloom had rid herself of one of her tormentors at long last. After years and years of subjugation, after seemingly endless torture at the hooves of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, at long last she had already solved half of her problem. She went about her usual morning routine, humming a happy tune as she washed the sleep from her eyes and prepared for her morning chores.

Oddly, Applejack hadn't awoken her that morning, which probably should have alerted her first. She was still humming to herself when she passed the cracked photograph of her family hanging precariously on the wall. The morning shadows thrown over the images seemed to blot out some of the faces, but Apple Bloom paid it no mind. The stairs creaked as per usual with her every step, her cheerful demeanor not put off in the slightest.

She was almost whistling as she entered the kitchen, finding Applejack sitting forlornly at the kitchen table across from a somber Big Macintosh.

"G'morning, everypony!" Apple Bloom said cheerfully, smiling forcefully in the vain hopes that her enthusiasm would begin wearing off onto her siblings. Anything was better than seeing them mope around like she had grown used to. It took her a moment to realize that the bottles scattered across the table were almost all empty, sips of hard cider in this and that one. "Come on, ya grumpy geese – it's almost school time, who let me sleep in?"

They both remained silent, neither Macintosh nor Applejack speaking a single word. Big Macintosh's face seemed empty and pale, and Applejack looked as if she had been crying for some while from the puffiness in her eyes. Apple Bloom grew slightly more apprehensive at their wordlessness, a slight tingling weight growing in the pit of her belly.

"Ain't no time for lazing around!" she stretched her false smile a little wider, almost desperate to wipe away the awful, empty look in her sister's eyes. It reminded her too much of Silver Spoon. What happened there needed to stay there, not interfere with her family.

Her brother and sister shared another long, silent look before Applejack nodded, eyes downcast as she glumly turned to Apple Bloom.

"… Granny's gone."

Apple Bloom's stomach felt as if the bottom dropped out, the walls shifting hard. It took her a second to realize that the house wasn't moving, but that she instead had fallen against the doorframe rather hard and likely bruising her shoulder from the impact.

"… What?" her voice seemed to disobey her, hardly rising above a croaky whisper.

"It must have been last night," Big Macintosh stated quietly as words failed Applejack, who only went back to holding her head in her hooves. "Already sent for somepony. Funeral's…"

"You know we don't have the money for it," Applejack breathed. "Just git the shovel, I'll take-take care of it."

Big Macintosh's one enormous hoof landed softly on her arm, and he shook his head slowly. It was almost like watching a mountain move, Apple Bloom thought. As if the distress had caused part of the earth to rise up and take form of a stallion, each movement insistent and stalwart as the stone itself.

"No, Applejack. Not this time."

Apple Bloom stood in stunned silence in the doorway as her brother silently left the house, her heart thudding in her chest as she silently prayed that the shovel was sufficiently dried by the time that he reached it. Funny how her own grandmother, one of the ponies she loved and cherished the most in the whole world was gone, and all she could think about was the dryness of a shovel. She felt dirty and selfish for it, almost as if it were her fault.

"… You don't have to go to school today," Applejack quietly reminded Apple Bloom, who was silently busying herself with straightening her bow and arranging her saddlebag.

"Is-is she, you know…" Apple Bloom tried to speak, her voice oddly even for the circumstances. "Is she still here?"

"Yeah. In her room."

"I don't think I can be here right now," she answered, unable to look Applejack in her eyes any longer.

Applejack didn't speak to her as she left. She didn't even look at her.

Apple Bloom wanted her to, though.

0-0-0-0-0

She wished that it would rain.

Apple Bloom shuffled in a stunned silence to the crossroads where her friends were waiting for her. She wished that it would rain again, just enough to wipe the humidity from the air that felt as if it were slowly smothering her. She could even see the puffy clouds on the horizon, just barely peeking over the edge with the daunting promise of more rain at any moment, but it seemed as if it would never come.

She wiped her eyes wearily, shifting her aching back away from the old apple tree and continuing along her way. It felt as if her heart were numbed, like her stomach had swallowed it and there was only an aching dull pulse left in her chest now. But more than that, she felt as if she had failed somehow.

And when Apple Bloom discovered that her friends were not waiting for her at the crossroads as they usually did, she added 'abandoned' to the list of things she hated feeling at the moment.

It still had not begun to rain even after she reached the school, knowing that the bell must have already been rung a dozen times before she even would have heard it. Miss Cheerilee said something snide to her about being late, and it went in one ear and out the other. She simply nodded a couple of times, unblinkingly tumbling into her seat and staring blank faced at something far behind the blackboard where Cheerilee demanded attention.

Granny Smith was gone.

Granny was dead and gone, just like that. Apple Bloom wasn't even by her side when it happened, like she promised she would be. But a tiny nagging at the back of her head reminded her that Granny Smith probably wouldn't even have remembered that, and a golf ball suddenly lodged itself in her throat.

She wished she hadn't come to school after all. She wished that she had simply gone somewhere else – but she couldn't go back home, Apple Bloom knew that. She couldn't look her sister in the eye. Not today. She knew that much.

And then, right smack dab in the middle of the deepest and most miserable depression Apple Bloom had ever found herself in, somepony slapped her in the back of the head.

"Down in front!" Diamond Tiara giggled as the eraser bounced off of Apple Bloom's head.

Apple Bloom did not snap. She did not explode. She did not shout or rage, or show her anger in any way. In fact, that might have been the worst part of it – that when she turned to face the sniggering filly, her eyes were clouded and empty of emotion, devoid of any feeling whatsoever.

She didn't say anything. She didn't speak, she didn't make a single noise. All Apple Bloom did was give Diamond Tiara a level stare, and a single nod of acknowledgement.

Diamond Tiara would be gone soon, too.

---

Apple Bloom had it all planned out to the letter.

For the entirety of that last day, Diamond Tiara made her absolutely miserable. But Apple Bloom didn't retaliate. She took it all in stride as per usual, the only thing keeping her from lashing out and striking the unruly filly the thought of her future revenge.

As she stared over her returned test, though, she couldn't help but silently muse that her thoughts seemed to become rather violent in a hurry whenever she grew upset, and right now she was rather upset.

"Failed?" she balked at her schoolteacher, who frowned down at her sternly.

"Maybe next time you'll think before cheating, hmm?" Cheerilee cocked an eyebrow in an 'I told you so' manner.

"But-but I swear, I didn't…!" Apple Bloom chest began to burn with indignant fury, but she quashed it. Perhaps there was still hope of saving herself.

"I got an 'F'?" Diamond Tiara scowled haughtily at the paper as Cheerilee passed it to her, continuing down the line.

"Perhaps Apple Bloom could try cheating off of somepony else next time," Cheerilee stated smugly as she returned to her desk. "Or, you know, take that crazy alternative and actually study."

Apple Bloom ground her teeth in silent fury, rage against Diamond Tiara boiling up again.

The little monster had cheated off of her test, she must have, because Apple Bloom didn't cheat at schoolwork. There were some principles that she just stuck by, which struck her as rather odd considering, but she shoved it to the back of her mind in favor of thinking horrid thoughts about what she was going to do to Diamond Tiara. It was so much easier to be properly furious with her, to let her mind wander to those dreadful, dark corners where she had been so afraid of before.

But really, what was there to be afraid of anymore? It was that snot nosed little abomination that should be afraid.

And if she wasn't, Apple Bloom was going to teach her the meaning of fear.

It seemed like weeks before the school bell finally rang, its sweet tones of departure ringing at last in everypony's ears as they skedaddled and skipped out of class as swiftly as possible, the jostling and clamoring of overeager colts and fillies deafening all but those whose ears were protected. Cheerilee followed some of the last ones out, carrying a small tin in one hoof.

Apple Bloom silently slipped her saddlebag on, keeping her head down so as to avoid drawing attention. She subtly kept her eye on the spoiled demon as she smartly admired herself in her personal mirror again, sticking her polished tiara back into her desk for safekeeping. Apple Bloom looked away to avoid being noticed as she moved, and pretended to be busy with paper that she had dropped beneath her desk.

"You comin', or what?"

Apple Bloom flinched at the sound of Scootaloo's voice, her heart pounding.

"Uh, what?"

"To the clubhouse today?" Scootaloo blinked, tapping Apple Bloom's desk twice. "Geez, you've really been out of it today. You're not coming down with something, are ya?"

"No, no," Apple Bloom shook her head swiftly, and backtracked almost immediately. "I mean, maybe. I haven't been feeling so good lately, I-I dunno if I might miss school…"

It was an outright lie and Apple Bloom knew it, but she couldn't just tell her what she was planning. She didn't even feel comfortable telling her about her grandmother, though she didn't know quite why.

"I doubt missing school would be good for you," Diamond Tiara's self-satisfied voice came from behind her, making her skin prickle beneath her fur. "After all, you're dumb enough as it is. Your brain might fall out if you miss a day."

"Pack it, Diamond Tiara," Scootaloo frowned, speaking more freely now that Cheerilee was outside of the rapidly emptying classroom. Sweetie Belle could be seen peeking in through the doorway, wondering what was taking her friends so long. "Nopony asked you."

"Notice that she wasn't disagreeing with me, either," Diamond Tiara smugly smacked Apple Bloom ever so lightly with the tip of her tail as she passed, and it took every last ounce of her self-control not to mangle the wretched brat then and there.

"I might catch you later, Scoots," Apple Bloom seethed quietly. "I can deal with Diamond Tiara."

"But-" her friend began, a little hurt.

"Not now, Scootaloo!" she shouted, almost desperate to get the pegasus to leave.

Scootaloo chewed her bottom lip for a moment before throwing a harried look to the confused Sweetie Belle, and eventually, after looking as if she swallowed her very words, she finally turned away and sulked back toward the exit as Diamond Tiara arrogantly stared at her.

But at long last, Apple Bloom had Diamond Tiara alone. The spoiled filly could have simply gone home while Apple Bloom rummaged in her desk. She could have walked away, she could have simply turned around and slipped out the door, and maybe, just maybe, Apple Bloom might have rethought her position. But instead, Diamond Tiara stayed behind to pick at her, to make her life just a little bit more miserable.

That was something that Apple Bloom noiselessly assured that she would come to regret.

"What'cha doing?" Tiara inquired with a mocking undertone as she rummaged in her desk for nothing. "Trying to find some integrity? I doubt your family can afford that, either."

Instead of responding with a kick to the high echoing laughter that seemed oddly hollow without Silver Spoon there to mimic it, Apple Bloom put on her own smug look of false assurance.

"None of your business," she retorted sharply. "My whole family is about to be way richer than you ever were, Diamond Tiara."

Her lie caught the filly's attention, just as she assumed that it would. But even if it hadn't, Apple Bloom had backup plans. A filly like Diamond Tiara had a noticeable sense of pride, and Apple Bloom ensured that it would be her downfall.

"Oh, please," Tiara rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, leaning over her desk and glowering at her. "What, do you have some pig-tossing get rich quick scheme? Going to move into a brand new shack with three whole walls, hmm?"

"What do you even care?" Apple Bloom said defensively, standing to leave. "Once I have the rest of it, our family could just buy your house."

Diamond Tiara froze, uncertainty etched onto her face as Apple Bloom walked away.

"What are you talking about, Apple Bloom?" she asked dangerously, and Apple Bloom hid her smirk of victory. Now that the flesh was exposed, time to start digging at the weaker organs…

"I can't tell you," Apple Bloom nodded seriously without turning around. "It's a secret."

Diamond Tiara's lips pursed for a moment.

"Aw, come on…" it was fairly evident from her tone that she was trying to act casual, and wasn't doing a very good job. "It's not like I'm gonna tell anypony…"

I know you won't.

"You-you promise not to tell anypony, right?" Apple Bloom asked, the uncertainty blatant in her voice.

"Nah, of course not," Diamond Tiara looked at her unblinkingly, and Apple Bloom kept up her charade for a while longer.

"Well…" she started, as if she weren't sure. She needed to make it convincing enough. "I-I mean, I guess it couldn't hurt…"

"Of course not, of course not!" Diamond Tiara patted her on the shoulder with false enthusiasm, and she had to refrain from grabbing her hoof and making her stop. "Come on, you can tell me. I won't tell anypony, I promise."

"… It's not safe here," Apple Bloom's eyes shifted back and forth as she tried hard to look suspicious. "Somepony might overhear us."

"Whisper it in my ear, then…!" Diamond Tiara's impatience began to leak through, but Apple Bloom shook her head.

"I have a better idea," she perked up a little. "I could just show you the treasure!"

"Treasure?" the filly's eyes gleamed.

Hook, line and sinker.

"But you have to promise that you won't ever tell anypony about it, okay?" Apple Bloom frowned, doing her best to play the part.

"Filly Scout's honor," Diamond Tiara said with a smug little salute, hoof over her heart. She doubted that Tiara had even been in the Filly Scouts at all.

"Well… okay, then," she nodded, pretending not to notice the look of poorly concealed triumph on the filly's face. "But it's totally super secret, so just keep real quiet and follow me until we get there. Okay?"

Diamond Tiara made a zipping motion across her lips, signaling the secret she would take with her to the grave.

---

The crunching of dead leaves and twigs underhoof were strangely muffled by the stillness of the apple orchard. The trees swayed creakily in the afternoon wind, the dapper sunlight leaking occasionally down in orange spurts through the treetops as they zigzagged in a seemingly random pattern.

But Apple Bloom knew where she had left the markers, and was careful not to reveal her secret. Diamond Tiara groaned again, stomping loudly behind Apple Bloom.

"Ugh! How far is it?" Tiara whined as Apple Bloom silently made a mental note of the spot on the tree she had marked. "You said it wouldn't take very long! I swear, farm filly, if you're just leading me in circles…!"

"We're almost there," Apple Bloom assured her. "Just a little bit further, and it'll all be over."

"Why would there even be treasure all the way out here?" Diamond Tiara asked suspiciously as Apple Bloom steadily trotted ahead. "How?"

"Probably from the diamond mines under the orchard," she lied again, and could almost hear the filly's gears turning as she plotted against her. Apple Bloom almost laughed at the irony.

"It's right over here…" Apple Bloom continued as they carefully made their way over a steep little hill. A familiar old barren tree came into sight, the sound of nearby trickling water reaching their ears.

"What, here?"

"Uh huh!" she nodded as they approached. "Come here, I'll show you."

Diamond Tiara's eyes scanned the area, her heart pounding in her ears. Something about the battered old desolate apple tree seemed a little… off. There wasn't a single glistening ruby or diamond in sight, no doubloons or emeralds or precious metals. Not a single thing about the little clearing surrounded by watchful trees was reminiscent of 'treasure' at all. In fact, the only thing that even drew her eye was the dull glint of an old rusty toolbox filled with a mishmash of seemingly random junk that Diamond would never lay her hooves on.

And then, while Diamond Tiara was busy confusedly studying the befuddling lack of wealth that she was promised, Apple Bloom clubbed her over the head with a wrench.

Pain splintered through the back of her head as she fell, agonizingly clutching the throbbing ache as she scrabbled to kick herself away from her attacker. Apple Bloom didn't say another word as she swung again, missing Tiara's head by a hair's breadth. Tiara let out a choked scream of panic at the crazed filly, desperately scrambling to run away as fast as possible.

Diamond Tiara was young and agile, but Apple Bloom was not riddled with panic as she was. She was prepared, practiced, and fueled by anger. Her scream was lost in her ears as Apple Bloom rammed into her from behind, knocking her painfully to the ground. Tiara's vision swam when her head hit a stump, hot stinging tears blinding her further. Fearfully, Diamond shoved and kicked back against the punches raining down onto her, but it was like beating her head against a wall. Apple Bloom suspected, and even hoped that it would have been such.

Diamond Tiara was a spoiled filly, lazy and indolent as often as possible. She even still had some of her foal fat, and her resistance was that of one who was unready for such a thorough thrashing. Apple Bloom, however, had years of hard farm work and labor to assist her, her growing muscles compounded by repeated work.

Apple Bloom rained punches down on every square inch of Diamond Tiara's body, her vicious grin only growing with every despairing squeal of pain and terror. She gave one last weighty punch to the filly's stomach, making her shaking form quiver and cringe further. Her frightened sobs of agony were like music to Apple Bloom's ears, after waiting so long to hear them.

And without another word, Apple Bloom grabbed the weeping, battered filly by the ankle and slowly began dragging her back toward the barren tree.

"S-stop, stop!" Diamond Tiara pleaded weakly, bleeding profusely from both her lip and a cut beneath one of her eyes. "Wh-why? Why are y-you doing this to me?"

"Why?" Apple Bloom asked casually as she began to collect the used rope from the toolbox. Diamond Tiara attempted to scrabble away again in fear, only for Apple Bloom to viciously kick her numerous times in the ribs. Tiara's eyes widened in pain when she slammed hard, and heard something crack. The filly's breath was knocked from her as she cried, wheezing for breath.

Apple Bloom strung the rope swiftly around her neck, tightening it into a noose as well as hogtieing her to the base of the empty tree. She made sure to smack Tiara's face against the rough bark for good measure, earning another raspy yelp from her.

"Did you just not even care when Silver Spoon didn't show up for school?" she asked quietly, a little out of breath from the exertion of assuring that her nemesis wouldn't be going anywhere. "Come on, stupid bitch, tell me what you think happened to her."

"Wh-what?" Diamond Tiara rasped in equal parts confusion and denial, tears streaming freely down her bloodied face. "Why?"

"Why. Why, why, why," Apple Bloom mused quietly as she delved languidly into the borrowed toolbox before withdrawing a rusty instrument. "Nopony cares about how, it's always why. What do you think, Diamond Tiara?"

Tiara opened her mouth to reply, and was immediately struck hard in her shin by the same wrench that had been used to bludgeon her.

"I don't give a fuck what you think!" Apple Bloom screamed hatefully into her face as she cried from the pain, flecks of spittle hitting her. She gripped the wrench a little more tightly, pulling all the way back like she were playing stickball and swinging with all her might at Diamond Tiara's other exposed leg. An awful, sickening thud rang out from the impact, followed by a horribly excruciating crack! when bone finally gave way to cold steel. The filly screamed so loudly that her throat began to go rough. "You think I care what you say, you obnoxious whorse?!"

"Help!" Tiara shrieked in a choked voice as Apple Bloom pulled back to swing again. "Please, help me!"

"Go ahead," Apple Bloom touched her gently on the cheek, lowering the wrench for a bare moment. "You scream all you want to, there ain't nopony gonna save you. Scream real loud for me, Tiara. Squeal like a piggy."

Tiara struggled vainly against her bonds before Apple Bloom struck again, this time shattering her leg. Her bloodcurdling scream of agony were stifled by the thick canopy of forest. Somewhere, an apple fell.

"That," Apple Bloom said with a little pant. "Was for never leaving me alone."

She swung again, harder this time, and heard something begin to crack when she made violent contact with Tiara's other leg. Apple Bloom was vaguely reminded of tiddlywinks, and the overwhelming urge to giggle was struck down by her boiling anger.

"This is for always picking on me!" Apple Bloom's screams mingled with the tormented cries of Diamond Tiara as she swung with every hateful proclamation. "This is for my friends! This is for calling me names, for ruining my life! This is for Granny you fucking bitch!"

Apple was winded and panting heavily by the time her last blow struck the filly's ribs, but was nothing to say of Diamond Tiara. The gaping gash on her face was bleeding profusely, tiny strangled gasps of suffering escaping her. Her shattered legs had splintered bone clearly jutting out in odd places, and it was a wonder to either of them that she was still breathing at all from the damage her torso had taken, little rivets of blood running down her here and there.

"So-rry," Tiara's frail breath came in miniscule, weepy shakes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"No you're not," Apple Bloom's gaze hardened as she dropped her makeshift weapon, digging for something new to use. She wanted this to last longer than her last one, and she had nearly lost Tiara from indulging in her anger. Even now, the roiling hate bubbling up in her belly was still craving sickly for more, lusting to continue. "You're saying that because you think I'll let you go. Because somewhere in that stupid, stupid little head of yours, you think you still ever stood a chance."

Apple Bloom ever so slowly withdrew with the corkscrew in hoof, turning it over leisurely to ensure that Diamond Tiara got a good look at it. Her puffy and blackened eyes widened significantly at the sight of the jagged end, which Apple Bloom pointed in her direction.

"Let's see if we can get that idea out of your head, hmm?"

"No!" Tiara choked on a gobbet of her own blood, struggling with one final burst of all consuming fear as Apple Bloom carefully place the pointed end just on top of her head. "Please, please! Please! Please, Celestia please I'll give you anything, please don't kill me!"

Apple Bloom paused as she stood over the beaten and broken foe, hoof poised over the corkscrew's wooden handle.

"Really?" she leaned down to face her, placing her own serious face directly in front of Diamond Tiara's. She looked dead into her watery eyes, and watched as the filly froze. "Really now. You'll give me anything I want if I just let you go?"

"Yes!" Diamond Tiara's bloodshot eyes lit up at the prospect of escape, even if she had to drag herself away with her only unbroken leg. "An-anythin-ng, anything!"

"Is that right. And what could you possibly have that I want, Diamond Tiara?"

The uncertainty and panic rising in her face was obvious as she wracked her brain for something, anything that would save her skin.

"Name it," Tiara said shakily, urgently staving off the pain to look at her. Something to grasp at the hope dangling just in front of her. "Anything, please!"

"And if I tell you to do something, you'll do it, without question?" Apple Bloom asked quietly, watching the filly's eyes flicker with uncertainty.

"Yes!" she complied when Apple Bloom moved. "I'll do anything, whatever you say!"

"Kill yourself."

Diamond Tiara stared at her for a full beat before the hopelessness sank in. She screamed and cried at the unfairness, the fact that Apple Bloom was only toying with her finally sinking in as her captor resumed placing something pointy and hard against the top of her head, just behind her ear.

"Stop it!" Tiara bawled, unable to shake her head away from the slowly turning corkscrew. "Stop, stop, stop, stop!"

"Too bad you'll be missing school…!" Apple Bloom gritted her teeth as she ground hard against the corkscrew, another terrified scream of anguish escaping Tiara as it punctured her flesh. "I'll tell everypony your brain fell out!"

No matter how she screamed or pleaded, Apple Bloom only turned the corkscrew another crank. Then another, and another, faster and faster as she lost herself in the gyration, forcing herself to begin giggling manically in hopes of reaching her high as the blood spurted over her hooves in jittering spasms.

Apple Bloom did not know for how long she had been thrusting the slightly rusty instrument into the filly, only that Tiara had not been screaming for a long time when she withdrew. Her laughter was hollow and empty, and she soon gave up trying. The only thing she could compare it to was vainly hoping to get drunk off of cider and instead drinking a barrel full of water.

She took a couple of steps back to admire her handiwork, frowning. Diamond Tiara simply wasn't built to last, it would seem. She didn't last nearly as long as she wanted her to. More than that, Apple Bloom was sincerely disturbed. Not by the sight of the cadaver with a corkscrew still sticking comically out of her head, but by the fact that she still wasn't happy. Apple Bloom had done all she could to ensure that Diamond Tiara's death had been exactly as she envisioned it.

She wasn't happy with it. There was no joy, no sense of completion. She had no satisfaction.

Her frown deepened, and she began to urinate on her for good measure.

---

Apple Bloom still felt no sense of her desired gratification as she washed the blood from her borrowed tools in the shallow stream.

The sound of peacefully trickling water filled her ears, and she managed to relax at last as she carefully scrubbed everything, including the most recently used shovel. She kept her hooves as busy as her mind, quietly scouring every inch of ick from both herself and the apparatuses.

What she had done was clearly very wrong, she knew it. But she had done it on the premise that she would have at least achieved some level of satisfaction from freeing the world of one more monster, and in retrospect, she was displeased. Perhaps she had done something wrong with the murder, maybe she had still been too preoccupied with satiating her lust for vengeance that she hadn't really taken her time to really enjoy making Diamond Tiara suffer.

She stared at her watery reflection for a moment, carefully washing a fleck of blood from her cheek.

Apple Bloom sighed softly, drying an old worn nail puller on the grass before replacing it along with the myriad of other tools. She wished that she could have snapped at some point or another, really gone off the deep end and lost all control. Not just because she consciously wanted to absolve herself of responsibility, but because she still hoped for that sense of contentment that might have been granted to her at last.

What was the purpose, where was the point of ending Diamond Tiara's life if she wasn't able to satiate the monster bubbling in her belly? She had committed what was possibly the worst atrocity imaginable, and she wasn't even happier for it.

"Ain't that just a peach?" she asked her reflection with a wry frown. The sudden urge to giggle as her grandmother's words drifted back to her arose, but it died down when she remembered where she was.

All these apples make a peach. What does that even mean?

She shook her head slowly, the familiar glumness settling in as she packed up for good. Still not wanting to return home to the atmosphere that she knew would be waiting for her, Apple Bloom began to bury all of the spare tools but one in the sandy embankment when an idea occurred to her. She tucked the carving knife away, a strange sense of attachment to it already growing, possibly from the comfortable weight in her hoof.

Perhaps she was just looking for gratification in the wrong place.

She was much quicker and more eager to finish, making sure to properly clean herself in the stream first. Apple Bloom drained a bit of water from her bow before returning it to her head, letting the warmth of the dying sunlight trickling through the trees dry her as she began to make her way back toward Ponyville.

She walked in silence the entire way, her mind weighing heavily on her as she tramped along. Perhaps it would have been better if she were completely mad. Murder was not a sign of madness, after all – only an action. Apple Bloom found herself almost maddeningly sane, but shook that thought from her head as well. That was the kind of circular thinking that her grandmother was most fond of, the kind that Apple Bloom could never really wrap her head around. She pushed it back with everything else to deal with once she had finished her task at hoof.

The schoolhouse came into sight before long, and she smiled a little at the sight of the empty building. Miss Cheerilee would be long gone by this point in the afternoon, and she knew that nopony bothered locking the window on the left side of the building. Apple Bloom trailed around it quietly, grass softly bending beneath her as she slid the window open with another grin.

Without a word, Apple Bloom carefully scrambled inside and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dimness. The shapes of desks littered across the room were a familiar sight, and the scent of books and chalk met her nose. She made her way like a specter over the wooden floor toward Diamond Tiara's desk, seating herself comfortably at it. She leaned back in attempt to make herself more at ease, propping open the deceased filly's desk and shuffling her things about until she found what she was looking for.

Stupid little Tiara.

The gilded silver of the bejeweled diadem shone a little, and Apple Bloom perched it momentarily upon her own head in front of her bow. She took it off after a moment, feeling utterly ludicrous. She dropped it with a snort onto the desk beside her, unable to even deride pleasure from disgracing Diamond Tiara's memory further. It wasn't as if there was much more that she could do, and she wasn't all that sure that she even wanted to.

Apple Bloom was almost ready to leave, the dejection of a futile search building when she spotted a little bundle of papers wadded together beneath one of Tiara's untouched schoolbooks.

She pried them out curiously, ruffling the papers and peering hard at them. At first, Apple Bloom assumed that they were inane notes passed from the devilish duo back and forth to each other, but upon closer inspection they were revealed to be…

Letters.

School is going great, Silvy and me had a lot of fun in Fillydelphia. I wish you could have been there to see it, we're planning on seeing the seaside in Baltimare-

Apple Bloom dropped the paper, a hint of something unpleasant tingling her belly as she looked at another one instead.

Silver Spoon wrote a song for me, it's awful. I didn't have the heart to tell her, but it reminded me of you so I hanged hung onto it. Are you going to be here for Hearth's Warming this year? There are a whole lot of foals here that don't get along with anypony, they're all a bunch of jerks. Daddy said that you'll send your gift at the end of the year, but he says that every year. I keep waiting to send mine to you, but they always get sent back. How come you never write back, Mom? Please come back, Mom. Why don't you ever write back? I can't stand this stupid little hick town, I want to go back and see you again. How come you never answer? At least come home, please please pretty please. I miss you, Mom.

Something strange stirred in Apple Bloom as she wordlessly placed the letters neatly back inside Diamond Tiara's desk. Her lips were pursed tightly, and an odd sensation made her stomach churn horribly. If possible, she felt even worse than she did before, an unexpected perception of her own frothing remorse tearing painfully at her.

Apple Bloom decided that it would be best to go home now, and left without uttering a single word.

0-0-0-0-0

Apple Bloom paced across her floor with a tak, tak, tak as her hooves met hard, her heart feeling heavy.

She got what she wanted.

She obliterated Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. She got rid of them for good so that they could never hurt anypony else ever again. At long last, Apple Bloom finally got revenge against her bullies.

So why did she feel so awful?

Her pacing led her in a small, slow little circle as her thoughts turned darkly to her grandmother, whom she desperately wished that she could turn to in her time of turmoil. Her beloved Granny Smith, once the wisest mare she had ever met.

"All these apples make a peach," Apple Bloom muttered to herself. "Dammit, Granny."

Apple Bloom turned the carving knife over in one hoof as she paced, looking at a piece of her reflection in the worn old tool. She frowned hard as her amber eyed reflection glowered miserably back at her, and she fought back a sigh. The sound of muffled hoofsteps clambering heavily upstairs alerted her, and she was swift to tuck the knife beneath her patched blankets.

She was right in her suspicions, as her door was opened after only two knocks.

"Oh. Hey, Big Mac," she nodded to her elder brother as he allowed himself in.

"There ya are," Macintosh said with a little bit of a furrow in his brows. "Me and AJ were wondering when you were gonna come back from school."

"I was busy with the others…" Apple Bloom half-lied, sitting cautiously beside the knife. She carefully tried to tuck it inconspicuously a little further beneath her blankets, now wishing that she had simply buried the useless thing.

"You missed dinner. Your sister's still got some dessert, if'n you want some."

There was something a little off about her brother's tone, the comparably gargantuan stallion giving her a look that she did not recognize as he approached.

Apple Bloom shifted uncomfortably in his gaze, saying nothing. For some reason, the longer he looked at her like that, the louder the nervous little voice in her head screamed that something was very, very wrong.

"Apple Bloom," he said after a while, coming to a halt in front of her and speaking with some difficulty. "You know, when I had to go through some of your Granny's things, I had to go out to the shed to find a box to sort stuff through."

Apple Bloom unconsciously froze, sweat beginning to prickle along her uncomfortably.

No. No, no, no, please Celestia, no.

"Now, Apple Bloom," Big Macintosh said sternly as he towered over her. "I know you ain't been feeling too good lately and all, but you ain't seen any of my tools, have you?"

Apple Bloom shook her head furiously, not trusting herself to speak.

"… You're sure?" he asked again, and Apple Bloom's heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she could barely hear him over the irregular drumbeat.

"I didn't take any stuff from the shed," she lied with wide eyes when her voice had returned. "Are you Applejack didn't lose it?"

"A lot of stuff's been going missing…" Big Macintosh said with a suspicious tone. "Now you tell me right now, Apple Bloom, and you look me in the eye when you say it. Have you been stealing from me?"

Her mortified silence was all the answer that he needed.

"Now, you wanna tell me what you've really been up to, or am I gonna have to make you show me where you took my work tools?"

He knew.

He knew.

Apple Bloom didn't move for a full beat.

Big Macintosh suddenly found it much harder to speak with a knife sticking out of his jugular vein.

His eyes bugged out of his head and a strange gurgle came from his mouth as he with a THUNK! to his knees, and Apple Bloom threw her blanket over his head quickly to prevent the blood from getting anywhere. The fear screaming in the back of her mind urged her to stop him from flailing, and she jammed her hoof hard where she had last seen the handle of the knife.

Big Macintosh suddenly fell very, very still, and the only sound remaining was Apple Bloom's labored and horrified breathing.

The sound of hooves ever so slowly began ascending the stairs.

Apple Bloom panicked, straining to rein in her scream of despair. She wanted to throw herself out the window, she wanted to cry and pull her mane out, but the last shred of rationality urged her to bundle her older brother as quickly as she could into the closet. He was heavy, impossibly heavy – she tugged and yanked at his body as hard as she could, mortified and almost weeping with fear that her door would open at any moment, and there would stand Applejack watching her stuffing her brother's body into the closet.

At last, at long last, Apple Bloom finally pushed and shoved the unmoving body of Macintosh into her closet, the blanket covering him already stained a deep crimson. The hoofsteps drew closer and closer, louder with every passing moment. The flecks of blood on both her hooves and the floor bore witness to the barbarism against nature, and she hurriedly yanked the sheet from her bed and stamped on it quickly on the spot where the flecks had fallen. Simultaneously wiping her hooves just in time to bundle up the sheets, Applejack gave four raps in quick succession at her door, thankfully without opening it.

"Hey. Saw you comin' home, you okay sugarcube?"

"F-fine!" Apple Bloom said too loudly, the rush of blood going through her head almost dizzying as she hoped and prayed to an entire pantheon that something, something would make her go away.

"You sure?" Applejack cracked open the door, peering in worriedly at her sibling. "You sound – yikes, you alright there Apple Bloom?"

"I slipped and hurt myself," she lied instantly, even though it sounded unbelievably feeble in her ears. She held up the spotted sheet to show the blood on it, face burning. "Bit my tongue really, really hard."

"That's an awful lot o' blood…" Applejack said worriedly, approaching. Apple Bloom noted with abject horror that a viscous redness was ever so slowly beginning to vacate itself from beneath her closet door, and the screaming inside her head became predominant once more.

"It hurts so bad!" Apple Bloom whined. "Can-can you get some disinfectant for it, please Applejack?"

"Yeah, I think there's some in the downstairs bathroom," she nodded without pause.

"Help me get it?" Apple Bloom almost begged, practically dragging her from the room. She desperately hoped that Applejack didn't notice just how sweaty she was, just how close her voice was to breaking.

Don't look at the closet. Don't look at the closet. Don't look at the closet. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Don't look at the closet! All these apples make a peach! Don't look at the closet!

"Alright, come on, young 'un."

Apple Bloom could have cried from the sheer relief, following her sister closely and latching the door firmly shut behind herself as they traveled to the hall.

"Thanks, sis," Apple Bloom breathed, rubbing her jaw for emphasis. She didn't even know why she was still clutching the sheets.

"Aw, shucks, it's fine," Applejack nodded again as she began making her way downstairs, passing a cracked picture frame. "Hey, you don't know where yer brother went, do you?"

ALL THESE APPLES MAKE A PEACH. ALL THESE APPLES MAKE A PEACH! ALL THESE APPLES MAKE A PEACH!

"I think he's looking for something," Apple Bloom's falsehood was out of her mouth before she knew it.

"Yeah, probably still after Granny's meds." She snorted and shook her head.

"Oh? Medicine?" she asked conversationally as they reached the bottom, fighting every single cell in her body against the overwhelming urge to scream that Big Macintosh wasn't looking for anything, he was gone, he was dead, it was her fault please make it stop make it stop make it stop.

"Yep," Applejack nodded as she scratched a spot behind her ear. "Wanted to try an' take back her heart medication, see if he could get a refund on it since, y'know… but you don't worry 'bout money problems none, me and Big Mac are gonna take care of everything."

Apple Bloom froze.

"H-heart medication?"

"I still say she threw it away by accident," Applejack said sadly as she pointed toward the kitchen. "You go on and get yourself a plate while I get somethin' for you, sugarcube."

Apple Bloom stumbled into the kitchen feeling as if her head were completely numb, the memory of mashing pills directly into applesauce still fresh in her mind.

She hadn't even read the label.

She hadn't taken sleeping pills, she had made Silver Spoon overdose on heart medication.

Medication that her grandmother needed.

Medication that her grandmother didn't get.

Apple Bloom's legs buckled beneath her as she barely caught herself on the table, her shaking intensifying. It was impossible. It was completely and utterly impossible.

This is for Granny!

Monster.

Murderer.

"All these apples make a peach," she laughed weakly, realizing that she had not blinked in a long time. She was still clutching the sheet tightly, bloodstains all over it. The more that she unfolded it, the more that she realized that it had far, far too much blood on it to be convincing that it all came from a nonexistent cut on her tongue. She was going to be caught, and then Applejack would get curious, and she would realize that she was holding a sheet instead of her blanket and look in her room, and then-

"Dagnabbit, where'd he put it?" Applejack's voice came drifting back to her. "Big Mac, you best get your flank in here!"

With a sudden surge of panic, Apple Bloom took the sheet and did the first thing that came to mind to get rid of it. A small glass jar of grease was sitting near the stove that was almost always used for breakfasts, and she doused the sheets and countertop before bundling the jar inside the sheet. She wrenched open the oven and was met with a wonderful scent of apple pie. Without wasting another moment, Apple Bloom jammed the entire thing into the stove, quickly closing it back up and turning the heat up as high as she could to burn away the evidence. That would get rid of it for sure, then she could stop this madness once and for all, and then everypony could sit down for dinner with Granny Smith-

Apple Bloom screamed hard into her hooves, smacking herself repeatedly about the head.

Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it! Snap out of it, Celestia, please let this all be over, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!

"You feeling okay, darlin'?" her sister's voice came to her as she returned without anything of use.

Apple Bloom wearily clambered to her hooves, feeling oddly lightheaded.

"Yeah," she said with the biggest false smile she could muster. "Fine, you ain't got to worry about me."

"… If you're sure," Applejack said uncertainly before grunting in displeasure. "Good gravy, I done told your brother to hurry up, I swear to Celestia if he's out gettin' drunk in the barn again…"

She mistook the look of horror Apple Bloom was giving her as one meant for an altogether different situation, and patted her on the head.

"Just forget that, sugarcube."

Without saying anything else, Applejack turned on the spot and began making her way upstairs once again. The scent of burning reached Apple Bloom's nose, but she ignored it.

"Where are you going?" she almost tripped over herself in panic, anxiety powerfully rising again with every step.

"Aw, he's probably moping over pictures in Granny's room again, don't you worry."

"A-Applejack, wait…!" the filly pleaded, stumbling after her. Her eyes were burning badly as she tried to keep up pace, her breathing coming faster and faster. She needed to tell her the truth for once, she needed to know. Somepony had to know, she had to put things right, somepony had to make everything back to the way it was before.

"Look," Applejack turned with a hint of agitation. "We ain't about to start fighting again, if that's what you're worried about. You're too young to be worrying about that kind of thing, just let me- do you smell smoke?"

"Applejack, please!" she wailed, her voice breaking. "Stop, just listen…!"

"Hang on to that," she brushed a lock of mane from her face, edging roughly past her. "Dang it, I done left the pie in the oven too long, I knew it."

"There's something I have to tell you, please!" Apple Bloom's voice continued to rise with her desperation.

"I done told you once, I told you a hundred – sweet sassafras!" Applejack yelped in fright when a hungrily billowing sheet of flame erupted from the kitchen doorway.

"Fire!" Apple Bloom shouted instinctually, and was promptly shoved back by Applejack.

"Go get outside!" Applejack demanded swiftly. "Go get out, get out now!"

Apple Bloom rushed out through the steadily increasing heat, almost tripping over her own hooves in the dark. Dirt and leaves crunched as she tore outside, fear and despair puncturing her heart.

"Tarnation – it's spreading fast!" Applejack swore as she ensured that her sibling was far from the house. The flickering flames licking the sides of the building starting from the kitchen engulfed part of the roof, hungrily spreading further and faster with each passing moment. "Get the water bucket for me, thank Celestia the neighbors saw the smoke!"

The stars themselves were blotted out by the churning, hateful black belches of smoke emanating from the Apple farmstead's home. Fire had already consumed much of the house by the time the aged old couple finally arrived, very much out of breath. Apple Bloom could do nothing much but flinch when another angry crackle of flame spit over the wood. The weary old donkey passed another bucket with a tired grunt to Applejack, who was quick to toss it at the flames with all her might – however, for all the good it did, it might as well have evaporated before it even landed.

The sound of cracking glass echoed through the night as another roar of flame bit into their home, smoke and ash choking Apple Bloom and filling her lungs.

"Don't stop!" Applejack demanded, sweat pouring off of her as she shakily gestured for more water. "We can do it, don't stop!"

"I'm trying, I really am…!" replied the old mule at the water pump, struggling against the intense heat to fill the wooden bucket with as much water as possible.

"It's not helping," Apple Bloom shouted over the noise, worriedly looking back and forth between them and trying to cover her muzzle to keep the awful stench of smoke away.

"We just need more water!" she insisted. "Tell Big Mac-"

Applejack froze in shock, eyes wide.

"Where's Big Macintosh?"

The old couple looked between each other in confusion, and Apple Bloom couldn't bring herself to reply.

"Oh, Celestia, he's still in there!" Applejack panicked, starting toward the house.

"No!" Apple Bloom screamed in fright, feeling rather as if she were going to be sick.

"You go get help, I gotta save Big Mac!" Applejack bellowed over the crackle of intense conflagration as their home burned to the ground. "You don't worry about me, I'll save him!"

"No, stop, stop, stop!" Apple Bloom shrieked so loudly that her voice cracked, and she felt a pair of rough, leathery hooves holding her back from joining her sister in the blazing inferno.

No matter how she screamed, no matter how she cried or pleaded, Applejack shouldered straight into the raging fire in search of a brother that she would not save, to reunite a family that was long since broken. And as Apple Bloom watched her go, she sank at last to her knees and wept until soggy ash began leaking down her face, mingling with the tears.

She did not cry because of what she lost. She did not cry because it was her fault.

She wept because now, she was going to get away with it.

And at long last the leviathan was finally satiated as the sound of silence filled her ears, and thus stirred no more.

0-0-0-0-0

Author's Note:

I'm sorry for writing this.

I truly am.