Sorry about my lack of updates recently- I have just lost so much inspiration in the past few weeks. At first I thought I was losing my love of the MLP fandom, and ditching it for another fandom, but then I realised that that's not it. It's not MLP, it's FanFiction X3
Yeah, been going through a massive YouTube phase lately, where all I want to do is watch YouTube videos- especially speed paints for some reason. But yeah... Here you go, a chapter for the CMC.
• Chapter Thirty-six: Group Complete? •
…
Foliage crept up the windows of the old cottage, jagged, and caving their way over the house's texture. The vines snaked all the way up to the roof, clinging on to it like a tick and giving the house unnecessary protection from falling over. Blue, green, red and yellow stain glass windows were barely visible through the draping tundra. They painted the pictures of mountains, butterflies the sun and oblivious ponies, all seeming happy through the image, if they weren't ponies in reality.
The windows hadn't been washed in a while, and a musky scum hugged the colours, living off of the light which beamed through the glass. The mould had it's own colour in comparison to the window, either pale green, black, or blinding yellow.
Through the windows was a small old-fashioned kitchen. It had the classic eccentrics, as in a stove, oven, tap ect. The white fridge was probably the largest thing in the kitchen of checkered black and white tiles. The fridge was rusted from age, giving off an unattractive vintage feel, and had rainbow coloured magnets all over the surface, mainly pictures of letters of the alphabet. There was one door leading to the kitchen, and on the other side of the door, was six ponies stuffed into the clustered living room. Granny Smith, Red Applehood, Scootaloo, Rumble, Babs Seed and Sweetie Belle.
Every single pony of this group was speechless, and every single pair of eyes were locked on the certain white unicorn filly.
Sweetie Belle had finished her story now, and it had been three minutes of absolute silence. The sound of an old clock was the only sound audible, making the low ticking sound every odd second.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Finally, to break the unbearably awkward silence, the earth pony filly, with the short tomboyish mane spoke. "So... he's cool and I can't murder him?"
"I don't think so," Sweetie Belle snorted, giving Babs Seed a playful shove. "Sorry 'bout that. I know you were really looking forward to it!"
"Let me get this straight," Scootaloo spoke, a hard expression on her face, meaning that she was up for no amusement whatsoever. "You had pancakes for breakfast? Pancakes?"
Irony.
Sweetie Belle gave a goofy grin. "Yep. I remember I had waffles once too..."
"Oh why? Why did she get pancakes and waffles? No fair!" Scootaloo looked like she was about to cry.
"Enough 'bout the pancakes! That's not relevant! It looks like ya' had a whole roller coaster of a time, there!" Red Applehood uttered.
"Seemed a bit too tranquil to be a roller coaster," Rumble pointed, earning a nod from Scootaloo.
"It seems you were like an important resource to him. He must have worshipped you," Babs Seed murmured, a tang of jealousy in her voice.
Sweetie Belle twitched her nose. "He didn't worship me... he just highly valued me, and treated me with undeniable kindness and equality."
"Better than any of us could ever treat you," Scootaloo muttered.
Was she proposing that he was a better friend than them? Sweetie Belle shook the thought away, and gave a small laugh. "Hey, despite all of your flaws, and bad moments, I still love you all. You know that."
Scootaloo nodded, relief swimming onto her purple eyes.
Sweetie Belle sighed. "Enough about me, there's really nothing much to say- I have a question. How come you guys are still all here..?"
Granny Smith, who had woken up a bit earlier, spoke up, causing everypony to turn to her on her rocking chair. "Ya' mean here? At mah' place? Well d'ya remember we told ya' that the changelin' guards took all of ya're friends here? We all made a decision to keep 'em indoors or outdoors with permission just fer' a tad longer 'cause we didn't wanna risk 'em gettin' caught by the guards again." The elderly mare stifled a laugh. "Or aneh'time soon, at least!"
Sweetie Belle admired the tea-green senior. She may be frail and puny by appearance, but there was definitely nothing wrong with her tongue.
Red Applehood peered at the ground. "Granneh', ah' know that ya' have enjoyed havin' companeh', but it has been a while since the changelin's last left, and ah' think that these little'uns are readeh' to leave."
Granny Smith gave off a throaty laugh, as she glanced at the four foals peering at her pleadingly. They looked like they missed their independence- not that they hadn't enjoyed seeking refuge with Apple Bloom's grandmother. Granny Smith rolled her golden eyes. "Ya' could have gone aneh' time ya' wanted! Ah' ain't stoppin' ya'! Just travel safeleh'!"
"Yay!" All four cheered, hoof-bumping at the same time.
"Thanks for keeping us here!" Rumble spoke up, giving Granny Smith a thankful nod.
"Oh, I wonder how our home is going to be!" Scootaloo squealed like a school-filly... which she was, minus the 'school' part.
"Did we lock the doors before we last left?" Babs Seed added to Scootaloo's sentence, concern scorching her gaze.
"Our house is a wreck," Sweetie Belle spoke up, causing the heads to turn to her. "Damaged windows, all of our food stock has been stolen, the bathroom smells weird from a distance- I haven't gone in the bathroom yet- seems too traumatising..."
"Oh well," Babs Seed blew a tuft of her mane from her eyes. "We were leaving it for a good cause. It's better having a ruined house which can be repaired, than losing each other to the law, and having shattered hearts which could never be rebuilt."
"Great positive, yet, dark thinking!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, before trotting towards the door. "Goodbye Red Applehood and Granny Smith! Thank you for looking after my friends!"
"Ah'd better be off too," Red Applehood trotted out of the door. "Wouldn't want Mother thinkin' somethin's happened to meh. See ya'!"
"Bye!" Scootaloo, Babs Seed and Rumble called to both Red Applehood and Granny Smith before departing alongside Sweetie Belle.
Their home was the opposite direction of Red Applehood's, and she was only a speck of orange and red in the distance.
"How did you find us at Granny Smith's anyway?" Rumble glanced at Sweetie Belle curiously. "We weren't at home, and we hadn't left any trail towards her house- no, if you followed our trail, it would have lead you right out to town, and then our trail would have cut off completely."
"My hooves just took me there," Sweetie Belle shrugged.
"Your... hooves?" Babs Seed bit her lip. "Most efficient of ways...?"
"Well it took me there, so my method must be effective."
"I wanna try!" Scootaloo chirped, closing her eyes shut. "I wanna walk home..." She trotted forwards, but only in a matter of seconds, did she slam into the face of a tree and fall right over. "Ouch."
Everypony burst into laughter, as Rumble helped the embarrassed filly up onto her hooves.
"I think I had my eyes open when I was doing it," Sweetie Belle perorated. "You know- just in case I banged into a tree."
Scootaloo's cheeks were bright red, but she laughed along. "Okay, despite the throbbing pain on my muzzle, that was kinda' funny."
Sweetie Belle couldn't keep the smile from stretching across her face. She had missed her friends much more than she realised, and she couldn't imagine ever leaving them again.
…
Apple Bloom had now reached a dead end. Possibilities churned in her mind, slicing through consideration, but none being logical enough. If she didn't make the gold, those two sisters of Tartarus would send her to a Canterlot dungeon, where she would likely never be able to escape from. That was the last thing she'd want to happen. If she did manage to take ahold of some sort of witchcraft and actually spin the blasted gold, the sisters would endlessly come each day- getting the gold, bossing her around, leaving. She was practically screwed for the rest of her life. Something inside of her told her to blame Scootaloo, since it was the orange pegasi who had given this curse to her in the first place, but then, she couldn't blame her friend. It was basically Scootaloo's nature, and she was trying to defend the CMC from the bullies. Apple Bloom missed Scootaloo and the others so much as well, and if she ever actually returned to home, the first thing she'd do would be to hug all of them- and then slap that nuisance of a filly which she was truly good friends with, hard across the face. Apple Bloom sighed, a depressive pang tingling inside of her heart, and making her want to just cry. Thinking of her friends was making her even more miserable than she already was, and her homesickness was evidently strangling her. She wiped her nose, with a yellow hoof, seeming darker in the dim light of the barn. It was raining outside, and a yucky blue colour was the only thing which she could see of outside, visible through the shabby windows. There was a sudden flash of light through the windows, blinding Apple Bloom, and with that sudden whiteness. She could swear she saw two Crimson eyes glowing through the light before whipping away at that very flash. Apple Bloom squinted, but she could no longer see anything, and her furs began to stand on end, a fearful glint in her golden eyes. In nature, red meant danger, and having eyes peeking through the window couldn't mean anything good. The sound of thunder resonated through the shed, deafening any sounds of the cascading rain, pitter-pattering. Apple Bloom flinched, and gingerly trotted towards the window. It was high up on the wall, and she had to strain her neck to see through it, the closer she got. A drop of water slipped from the ceiling, splashing onto her snout, and giving her a sudden shock from the coldness. Muttering to herself, Apple Bloom slumped down at the side of the barn, right underneath the window, and peered at the raindrops drizzling from the roof.
Tap. Tap.
Apple Bloom's ears pricked, and she jumped from the side of the barn which her back had been up against, as she felt the impact of something knocking the side and causing the sound.
Tap... Tap. Tap.
Apple Bloom peered at the wood of the barn, then at the window. Something was outside- whatever it was, it was making those taps, and it was most likely the one responsible for the red eyes. Apple Bloom shivered, before hiding her anxiety with a hard and determined look. She was going to find out whoever was harassing her, then she'd give them a piece of her mind.
Apple Bloom trotted to the other side of the barn, carefully avoiding the large puddles of murky rainwater. From there, she peered at a massive, clump of hay, about one cubic metre, and the perfect 3-dimensional square. It was held together by two pieces of rope, running down both sides of it, wrapping around it like the string around a present at Hearths Warming. Apple Bloom leaned forwards, clenching her teeth down onto the rope. She could still hear the tapping on the side of the barn. She needed to bring the hay all the way to the other side of the room to where the tapping was on the barn wall, so that she could climb atop of it, and peer through the window above. Apple Bloom was too small for anything else. Apple Bloom boldly clamped her teeth as hard as she could onto the rope, before building up her energy and heaving backwards. The straw reluctantly scraped across the floor a few inches, before the filly slipped on some fresh mud, and went tumbling backwards.
"Ugh!" Apple Bloom licked her lips, trying to soothe the rope burn nipping at them. "Ah' wish ah' was as strong as mah' brother!"
She stepped forwards, her hoof coming in contact with a liquid, and she peered down into a puddle, her own reflection peering back up at her. A drop of water flew down again, landing into the puddle, causing the water to ripple and distort her image.
That's what she was right now, physically and mentally. Deformed.
"But that can change," she firmly told herself, her golden eyes illuminating the room and glowing as bright as the bedazzling lightning.
She trotted towards the hay again, but instead of pulling it from the front, she moved to the back of it, and faced away, so that her tail brushed against the silage.
Determinedly, she reared back onto her front legs, and impelled her hind ones, letting them meet the hay and force it backwards with all of the strength the earth pony could muster. She dropped back onto all fours, and peered behind her to see that the hay had moved about a metre from what it had been before. "Ye-ha! Now ya' know who's boss!" Apple Bloom put her joy to a halt, as she heard the tapping continue to chorus. Apple Bloom trotted back again, ready to buck the hay another few times, her spirit restored.
…
Eventually, she managed to get the hay all the way to the other side of the room, pressing it against the side of the wall. Because the block of straw was sitting right in front of the part of the barn where the knocking was occurring, it was muffling the sound slightly.
Apple Bloom excitedly bounced up onto the silage- she should be tired, since she had kicked the hay about five times in order to get it all the way across the room, but her joviality was easily washing it away, replacing it with energy.
Now it was time to find out who was tapping on the barn.
Apple Bloom leaned over, and pressed her face against the icy glass, her exhaling making it fog up a tiny bit. Water ran down the window, trickling in small droplets. Apple Bloom peered down towards the ground, a fair bit down. All she could see was mud- dull, wet mud. Apple Bloom's felicity weakened a tad, and her ears drooped, but she could still hear the tapping. Apple Bloom concentrated harder, and finally, her eyes caught onto a moving mop of grey fur, drooping down to the ground, and the ends laden with mucky, brown dirt. It was the form of a pony- a pegasi, as Apple Bloom's eyes caught onto the dripping wings, ruffling every so often, and the form of the pony was an obvious female. She was tapping on the wall every so often, her body language signalling boredom.
Apple Bloom tilted her head. Why was she here, who was she and why was she tapping on the barn?
"Hey!" Apple Bloom cried as loud as she could.
Almost instantly, the pegasi's ears pricked and she glanced up, her eyes glistening with hope. They weren't red- but a very bright pink- an easy colour misconception on Apple Bloom's behalf.
The pegasi met the eyes of Apple Bloom through the window, and almost instantly, she zoomed up, ignoring the water which gushed from her fur at the sudden movement. Whilst flying, she shook like a dog, and the clouds of water and mud went flinging off of her- only to rain back down onto her dusty grey fur and mane again. She reached the window, and peered at Apple Bloom through the glass.
Apple Bloom couldn't read her expression.
"Sup!" The pegasi shouted above the rain, her voice somehow reminding Apple Bloom of sandpaper.
"What are ya' doin' here?" Apple Bloom cried as loud as she could, her throat beginning to hurt.
"Huh..?" The pegasi tilted her head, some water leaking from her ear whilst doing so.
"Ah' said, what are ya' doin' here?" Apple Bloom repeated, pausing at each word to catch her breath and shout.
"Oh! I'm here to save you!" The pegasi cried. She seemed to have no troubles making her voice loud for Apple Bloom to hear.
"Save me?" Apple Bloom's face lit up, and jubilation surged through her like a swarm of wasps.
"Yep. My two evil stepsisters were up to something, I could tell. But I am being deadly serious when I say this. Once you are out of this grotty old shed, you are to run away, and never come back again. Swear to me, never to see those two spoiled-rotten rats again." The pegasi's eyes narrowed with suspicion. She seemed to be very trustful- and she was undoubtedly up to no business other than setting Apple Bloom free.
"Sisters...?" Apple Bloom shook her head, pushing away the shock into vapour. "Ah' swear!"
"Repeat that, just so I can be clear!" The pegasi's eyes were slit.
Apple Bloom gulped before clearing her throat and speaking in the loudest voice she could handle. "Ah' swear!"
The pegasi's gaze changed from doubtful to kindhearted. "Okay then! Let's bust you out of here! Now I need your help- you see this small knob here, on the window?" The pegasi pointed her hoof at the switch on the bottom of the window pane, rotted slightly from age.
"Yes," Apple Bloom glued her eyes to it.
"I want you to push it to the left as hard as possible. It may be a bit difficult, but you gotta trust me! Got that?" The pegasi met Apple Bloom's gaze.
"Ah'-ah' think so," Apple Bloom bit her lip. The lever seemed like it was locked in place.
"You don't think so," the pegasi hollered. "You know so!"
Apple Bloom nodded, gulping down her hesitancy, before placing her hoof around the snag, and pushing it as hard as she could to the left.
"Harder!"
"Ah'm trying!" Apple Bloom cried, but latch didn't seem to budge. Not even the slightest. Apple Bloom lightened her grip, and dropped her hoof. "Why can't we just break the window?"
"It's solid hard glass," the pegasi explained above the pouring rain. "You wouldn't be able to break it, no matter how hard you try- even a fully grown earth pony would struggle. I could probably break it, but then those two sisters would know it was me. We need the evidence of your escape to be as misleading as possible. Now please try and thrust that stud open." The pegasi paused. "Think of all of your loved ones."
A new determination blazed at Apple Bloom, as she firmly grabbed ahold of the trigger, not caring whether she hurt her hoof or not.
Yes, her friends needed her. She could do this.
Apple Bloom began to hoist the knob, tugging it as hard as she could to the left. Scraping began to sound, as the handle moved ever so slightly. It scoured the glass it was up against causing a thin crack to grate onto the window's surface.
I need my friends- Babs Seed, Rumble, Scootaloo- and Sweetie Belle, even if she is far away now.
With one final boost of force, Apple Bloom finally had the knob all the way across.
"There you go! Wasn't so difficult, was it?" The pegasi called, amusement sparking in her magenta eyes.
"Ya' betcha'!" Apple Bloom cheered, and watched as the grey, and temporarily brown mare grabbed ahold of the window pane, before effortlessly pushing it up, even if the window's arrogant protests seemed strong. This pegasi seemed very athletic and tough.
"What now? Ah' can't jump out of the window! It's too low!" Apple Bloom whimpered, no longer needing to shout, as there was no longer any barrier between the two.
"I got wings, remember?" The pegasi spread her wings out as she flapped, just to express her point.
"Yeah, but-" Apple Bloom began, but was cut off, as the pegasi reached through the window, grabbing ahold of Apple Bloom, and tugging her out. Apple Bloom let out a cry, as the pegasi flew her out into the rain, cradling Apple Bloom with a sturdy grip. Apple Bloom's saviour slowly lowered her down, and set her gently onto the ground. Almost instantly, Apple Bloom leapt to her freedom, and kissed the wet, soggy ground with gratitude. Oh, she missed the wilderness so much! The smells of the forest surged through her nostrils, making her dreamily sigh.
"Thank ya' so much!" Apple Bloom cried, racing forwards, and hugging the pegasi with appreciation. "Thank ya', thank ya', thank ya'!"
"Hey, no problem kiddo..." The pegasi gazed doubtfully up at the open window and to the ground.
Apple Bloom backed away, and peered as he pegasi questionably continued to peer between the window and the ground.
"They need more evidence to backup your escape," the mare muttered. "Let's call it a suicide attempt..."
Apple Bloom tilted her head, before watching in terror, as the pegasi reached into the woods and grabbed ahold of a large, pointy, sharp stick, the jagged twigs jutting out of the ends dangerously.
Apple Bloom cowered slightly, before blinking in shock as the pegasi pierced the stick into her own flesh. It tore into her hoof, deep, but not so deep that it reached her bone, and drew a fair amount of blood.
"Ouch," the pegasi simply spoke, not a single trace of pain wavering in her voice. It just seemed casual, as she wrung the blood onto the ground, and smeared it onto the side of the shed.
Apple Bloom grimaced away, never too fond of the appearance of blood.
"There you go," the pegasi spoke, once she had finished her gory work of art. "You jumped out of the window for suicide, but survived. Now you have ran back to your friends. That's all Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon will know."
Apple Bloom was grateful and conscientious at the same time. "Are ya' hurt..?"
"Na," the pegasi shrugged. "I'll be fine. It's nothing that can't heal itself!"
"If ya' say so..." Apple Bloom nervously nodded.
There was barely a pause, before the pegasi spoke again.
"Remember what you swore to me."
Apple Bloom peered at her. "Ah' need t' run away now, don't ah'?"
"Yep. And don't you ever return," the pegasi replied, a stern look on her face, all her former frivolousness having vanished.
"Can ah' just know yer' name before ah' go..?" Apple Bloom pleaded.
"Didn't you hear me?" The pegasi snarled, raising the stick which she had stabbed herself with into the air. "Scat, you nuisance! I don't want to see you ever again!"
Apple Bloom's hysteria blasted up, her heart ached, and tears welled in her eyes, before she raised a hoof. "But-"
"GO!" The pegasi roared louder than the thunder which exploded through the sky at the same time as she had spoken the very word. Her eyes flashed red, and she fiercely menaced forward, raising her stick higher and baring her sharp teeth like a dog.
Apple Bloom squeaked, and fled, her tail in between her legs, as she zipped away, through the forest as fast as her little hooves could carry her. She tripped over a few times, but didn't care about the mud which was sticking to her face, and the tears which fogged up her eyesight. All she knew, was that she needed to get away.
Cinderainbow watched, as the filly scampered away, her fury having melted away before it had even started. She dropped the stick, and it clanged onto the earth.
"Was that truly necessary..?" She spoke to herself, a docile expression on her face. She paused, her mind zipping through answers, before she nodded. "Yep. She had to learn, whether it was the hard way or not."
She glanced at her fur, before peering at the blood stained stick. She quickly kicked it into the woods, knowing that the undergrowth would cover it. She didn't want a tinge of evidence for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Not a trace.
…
There was a scream in the bathroom, and everypony looked up. Scootaloo came soaring into the living room before anypony could react.
"You know that mould stuff that we saw in the bathroom?" Scootaloo breathed so heavily that her ribs showed underneath her skin. "That wasn't mould!"
"I'll go help you out," Rumble offered, getting up onto his hooves, and trotting into the bathroom, Scootaloo at his tail.
Sweetie Belle smiled, levitating some shards of glass away, the heat of the fire from the living room radiating throughout the house. She and her friends had arrived back at home not long ago, and they had all been relieved to be undercover after it had started raining. Only just recently had they began to clean the house, and get things back into order.
Sweetie Belle was fixing the windows, since she wouldn't need to touch and glass because of her unicorn magic, Babs Seed was cleaning the kitchen, Scootaloo had unfortunately been voted to clean the bathroom, and Rumble had been tidying the living room- well, until Scootaloo had demanded help, that was.
Sweetie Belle levitated some more pieces off of the ground, and placed them onto the window. Using a magic seal to make all of the glass merge into each other, Sweetie Belle repaired the window, making it's appearance look as good as new glass.
It felt good to be doing housework again- she had gotten pretty slack at the other house, doing whatever she wanted with her freedom, at the same time as she had a limitation to freedom... it was confusing. Sweetie Belle dusted the last fragments of glass away, and peered at the windows, feeling a magnificent accomplishment with her achievement. She was about to wonder into a new room to see what she could fix, when she heard the doorbell to the house.
"I'll get it!" Sweetie Belle sung, hearing Babs Seed calling a thanks back.
Skipping to the door, Sweetie Belle allowed her magic to wrap around the doorknob, and twist it, before pulling it open.
It was dark outside, and Sweetie Belle could only just make out the silhouette of a drenched wet filly, with glinting, topaz eyes. Her fur was an obvious creamy-yellow colour, and despite the darkness, it was clear that she had a red mane and was an earth pony.
Sweetie Belle's emerald eyes widened. "Apple Bloom..?"
The pony looked up, and surprise shrouded her gaze. "Sweetie Belle..?"
Babs Seed entered he living room, and peered behind Sweetie Belle, who stood stiff from shock. "Is that you Apple Bloom?"
"Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo came bursting from the bathroom, this time Rumble tagging behind her, both sets of amethyst eyes sparkling.
"I can't believe it's you..!" Sweetie Belle whispered.
"Ah' can't believe it's ya' either!" Apple Bloom chided. "Ah' am overwhelmed to see all of ya'!"
Sweetie Belle stepped back, allowing Apple Bloom to enter. Almost instantly, was the earth pony attacked by four lively foals, cherishing the moment where all five of them were together again at last.
Sweetie Belle was over the moon- she knew that she should feel renewed and complete now that she was with her whole family once more- but something made it feel wrong to her. Something was missing, but she was oblivious. For now.