Spy

Apple Bloom galloped out of the Everfree Forest and looked for shelter from the rain. There was a canopy of leaves just outside the forest. She laid under it and scanned the area. She saw a small shape that she knew was the fort for all the rebels that dared to fight the evil. She knew that that is where Sweetie Belle, her husband, Stormcloud, and their son, Night Crest, lived. She pondered the thought of going to the base and joining them. She stood up many times, trying to get herself to go to the base, but didn't.

"Where's Thorn when I need him?"

Thorn had also gone against the ponies who tended to the Everfree Forest. Now Thorn roamed the forest. She longed for his wisdom and understanding. He was younger than Apple Bloom, yet was treated as an elder. As the rain lightened, she headed to the rebels base. She walked in and collapsed in the doorway. Scar Wing went over to her.

"Why have you come? To spy!"

"Please!" she said as she raised her hooves in front of her face, "I've changed! I have lost somepony near to me and now know the consequences of my actions. I have come for revenge."

All of this was true, but twisted. She used to spy on the pony base in the Everfree Forest. They had enslaved her and she now worked for them and was spying on the rebel base. The only pony that she had lost was Applejack and the consequences of her actions had gotten her this job. She had come for revenge on the rebel base.

"Come, lay down. You must have been through some stuff. I'll get you a towel."

He left the room and Apple Bloom started to scrounge through the drawers and flip through notebooks. She put some of the things in her saddle bag and laid back down.

"How are you?"

"Meh."

One trait that had carried on from her sister, Applejack, was that she never told a lie. It was all true, but twisted. An example would be if she said her head hurt, it may just mean that too many thoughts whirl around her heads. Scar Wing guided her to a spare room and let her to sleep. He told the others about Apple Bloom.

"You're mad!"

"Maybe I am, but at least I am kind enough to let her in."

Apple Boom was thinking the exact same thing.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came into Apple Bloom's room and set down a platter of toast next to her.

"Why'd you come back! We thought we made it clear you were not to rejoin us after you lost the gems that Luna gave us."

"I've told you a million time, I didn't loose them! They were stolen!"

"But it's all we had left!" said Sweetie Belle who's voice was shaky.

"It doesn't matter anymore. You know as well as I do that you will not grow strong enough to fight back."

The girls left and Apple Bloom realized that they had chained her hoof to the frame of the bed. She tugged of the chain and only heard it slide around the metal. She payed back down and reached out for a piece of toast. As she ate the toast, she wondered how she would get back to the earth pony base before she was late and they would send and executioner. There was a tap on the window and Apple Bloom swung her head around to see what it was. More like who it was. Thorn came through and pulled out a knife. He sawed the chains and Apple Bloom broke free.

"Thanks for coming back. I don't really see you as that kind of pony."

Thorn was a pony of few words and dramatic actions. He stroked his hoof against the side of Apple Bloom's face and gazed into her eyes.

"What was life like before this? I'm starting to forget."

Thorn's voice drifted from reality and he stared out the window. Apple Bloom that Thorn's question was rhetorical. Most any questions he asked were. Apple Bloom ran over to the open window and stood on the frame.

"Gotta go. Don't wanna be late for my report."

Apple Bloom kept out the window and Thorn was right behind her. The galloped all the way back to the earth pony base and Thorn left Apple Bloom outside it's gates.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come back? Have a safer life?"

"Slavery is not safer than dangerous freedom."

Thorn quickly walked away and Apple Bloom went to the slave quarters and reported to the master pony.

"The rebels have plans for war."

She pulled out some of the maps and pictures that she had stolen.

"Very good. Keep up this kind of work and you'll be only a hop, skip, and jump away from freedom."

Apple Bloom smiled at the master pony and went back to the rebel base. She climbed back through the window. Apple Bloom massed up her mane and tail and gashed her cheek with a piece of glass from the window. She sprawled on the bed as Sweetie Belle opened the door.

"We thought we heard voices and came up to see what-"

She gasped as she saw was what an injured Apple Bloom and broken window.

"By Celestia's beard, what happened in here!"

"Some kind of monster broke through the window and cut me. I passed out and don't remember the rest."

As Apple Bloom lied, her stomach started to knot and pain shot all around her body. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and her head lowered.

"Is something wrong, Apple Bloom?" said Sweetie Belle sarcastically, "I've know you your whole life and I know when you lie! What really happened!"

A look of pure rage spread across both of their faces. Scootaloo walked past the door and heard the staggering of glass inside the room. Her hoof reached out towards the door and she slowly pushed it open. Scootaloo stared through the crack and watched as they hoofed each other and tumbled across the room. Scootaloo dropped what she was holding as her hooves slowly rose to her mouth. She lost balance and one of the two hooves she had been standing on shifted and opened the door. They stopped fighting and watched as tears flooded Scootaloo's eyes. She ran off and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom chased after her.

"I can explain!" Sweetie Belle pleaded.

Scootaloo swung around, tears streaming down her face, her voice shaky, "I came here to escape all of this fighting! You have just crushed everything I've worked for! Believe me, this is one debt you can't repay."

She ran out and Scar Wing followed. Scar Wing looked at Sweetie Belle. His face was angry, but his eyes were sympathetic. Sweetie Belle ran to the door and watched as the ran into an uninhabited part of Everfree Forest. Apple Bloom was still leaning against the door frame, wishing she had never come. Wishing the executioner would have found her. Wishing the war would have killed her. Wishing that she had never met Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle turned and face Apple Bloom.

"You monster! How could you do that!"

Sweetie Belle's gaze fell to her hooves and her voice became soft.

"You've done this all your life, and I'd been to blind to see it."

Sweetie Belle went over to Stormcloud and whispered something in his ear. As she backed away, Night Crest grabbed Stormcloud's leg and crawled onto his back. They walked out of the base and towards the remains of what used to be Ponyville. Apple Bloom had singlehandedly torn apart her friends.

Apple Bloom made it back to the earth pony base and went to the master pony. She gasped for air and her words were spaced.

"The...rebels...they...called off...the war..."

"How did you do it! You singlehandedly brought down our only enemy. You have earned you freedom."

The master pony ripped up Apple Bloom's file. She smiled and immediately darted out of the forest.

The master pony called in the distance, "Hey! Come back! We'll get you if it's the last thing we do!"

Apple Bloom continued running, adrenaline shooting through her. She could barely breath by the time she made it out of Everfree Forest. She collapsed and laid on her back.

She stared at the sun and whispered to herself, "Take me, Celestia," and she became unconscious.

When she woke up, she was in Zecora's house. Apple Bloom was still laying on her back and to her right side was Thorn. She sat too fast and became dizzy. Thorn set his hoof on her chest and gently pushed her back down.

"How long have I been out?"

"About a week."

"What happened?"

"Come see."

Apple Bloom stood and Thorn pulled back a curtain where the door should be. Outside on the path lay two letters. Apple Bloom picked the and sat back down. One was from Scootaloo and the other Sweetie Belle. She teared the top off of Scootaloo's and read:

My dearest Apple Bloom,

Things have changed more than I knew. Our base has fallen as well as our friendship. Scar Wing and I know your location and also Sweetie Belle's. We are a threat to you safety and must stay hidden and continue to move. I would tell my location, but by the time you arrived we would be gone. Do not reveal your location in any form. I'll see you in the club.

-Scootaloo

She put the letter next to her and opened Sweetie Belle's. It read:

Apple Bloom,

Night Crest is dead. Stormcloud has a broken leg and can barely walk. Scootaloo has met up with us and is traveling with us. If you want to know more, meet us where we used to be friends.

-SB

She looked up and tried to think. Thorn took the note and read it. Apple Bloom got up and ran to the exit.

"Thorn, let's go."

Apple Bloom dashed out of the house and towards where Sweet Apple Acres used to be. She zigzagged through the trees, Thorn on her tail. The master pony came and unicorn were behind him.

"Shoot them already!"

The unicorn blasted beams of dark magic. Apple Bloom turned as one neared her head. Thorn ran in front of her and took a blow to the chest. The unicorns left, thinking they had killed her. Thorn's body fell backwards and Apple Bloom tried to catch it. His hooves laid where he was struck. Apple Bloom gently lifted them off. Under his hooves was a rose with a single thorn.

Apple Bloom picked up the rose and it lay limply in her hand. She ran her hoof up the stem and stopped at the thorn. She put the rose behind her left ear and covered Thorn's body with leaves.

"Back to nature."

She continued on her journey through Sweet Apple Acres.

"Over here!"

Sweetie Belle was flailing her arms above her head. Apple Bloom ran over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse and it was untouched.

"It must have been so hidden it wasn't destroyed during the war."

Scootaloo, Scar Wing, and Stormcloud were waiting inside. Sweetie Belle walked over to Stormcloud who looked to be in pain. No one here even knew that Thorn had been with Apple Bloom which made it harder to explain everything that had happened since she was enslaved.

"He saved my life. And what did I do for him. Get him killed?"

Apple Bloom out her head in her hooves and Scootaloo's put her hoof on her back.

"Hey, it's not your fault. That could just have easily been you instead of Thorn. It could have been any one of us."

Apple Bloom smiled while her eyes still lay drooped. She put her hoof under her muzzle and wiped away the tears.

"OK, I feel sorry and all but we're all gonna die if we can't think of a way out of this," said Sweetie Belle with crossed arms.

There was a knock on the door and an earth pony yelled, "Open up! You can't hide forever!"

They scrambled around and Apple Bloom dropped to the floor.

Scootaloo whispered, "What are you doing! You can't just lay around at a time like this!"

"I'm playin' dead so when they come in, they'll think we're dead already and'll leave!"

The others dropped as the door burst open and two earth ponies walked in, both carrying spears. One of the guards went over to Sweetie Belle and lifted her arm with the spear. Stormcloud sat up as the guard started to jab the spear around her face.

"Well, we better make sure."

The guard lifted the spear above his head and Stormcloud lunged at his midsection and knocked him down. The guard wrestled with the guard as the other ran out of the treehouse. The other guard ran to Stormcloud and speared him through the chest. They pulled out the spear and walked through a pool of blood as they ran after the others. Sweetie Belle started to pant and her running slowed. Apple Bloom ran back to Sweetie Belle and tugged on her front arm.

She grunted, "We need to go!"

Sweetie Belle answered, "It doesn't matter. They've taken everything I really need in life."

"Well, we need you! Surrendering would only give them the upper hand. Now let's go!"

Sweetie Belle nodded and they ran back to the rest of the group.

"What do we do now?"

"Not die?"

"Thanks, Scar Wing. Now does anyone have an actual idea?"

"Well, we can take care of those guards."

Scootaloo cut in, "Or we can literally take care of them. Who knows? Maybe they'll even join us!"

Apple Bloom walked over to the guards. They pointed their spears at her as she slowly raised her right hoof. Tattooed on the bottom of it was the earth pony leaf crest.

"She bears the mark of obedience."

The guards bowed and Apple Bloom said quietly, "I am working as a spy. I have befriended these rebel ponies and am waiting for the perfect time to strike. Please, offer me and these rebels protections unless you would like to be killed."

The guards nodded and followed Apple Bloom back to the group. The guards walked in front of them through Sweet Apple Acres.

Sweetie Belle whispered, "Wow. How did you do that?"

Apple Bloom showed them her hoof.

"It's a mark of an earth pony gets when they have served their base."

"So what did you do?"

"Drove you apart. I found a couple blueprints that showed routes to the different bases. They thought they were war plans."

"War plans! Those were emergency escape routes."

"All this time? They were going to kill you because you knew which door to exit out of there was a fire!"

"Well, now that we know how the bases act, we know what can bring them down."

"What do you mean, Scootaloo?"

"Come on. I'll show you."

Apple Bloom ran to the front and spoke to a guard, "We need to stop somewhere else before we return to the base."

Apple Bloom and the others passed in front of the guards, Scootaloo guiding them. They turned around and walked towards Ponyville.

Sweetie Belle pointed to a roof that had caved in and said, "Isn't that my old house?"

Scootaloo gestured for her to walk over to the remains of her house. Apple Bloom walked over to the spot where Applejack had always set up her apple stand. Scootaloo looked at the sky and her eyes followed a giant patch of clouds. They all reminisced for a while and then met up with Scar Wing.

Scootaloo explained, "This reminds us of what makes us happy. This is what makes us tick. If we can find what makes the rebels tick, we can destroy it and they will fall."

"What would that something be?" asked Scar Wing.

"I know," said Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom dashed into the forest, the others not far behind. The guards could not catch up and were separated from the group. They ran wildly through the brush until they made it back to the rebel bases.

"Come on! I know what we need to do!"

Apple Bloom dashed to the main headquarters of the rebel bases.

"This is where their government is run. This is what keeps them from falling into anarchy. This is what makes them tick."

Apple Bloom ran down the hall of the main headquarters and into the gathering room. In the middle was an orb of dark magic serving as the rebel's power source. Apple Bloom walked around the pedestal it was sitting on and examined it carefully. It was not sitting on the pedestal, but floating. Apple Bloom swiped her hand underneath the orb and it remained floating. She slowly lifted her hands and grabbed the edge of the orb. As she did, the orb erupted into shards of dark magic that swirled around the room. Apple Bloom spun around watching the dark magic when there was a sudden pain in her chest. She looked down and saw a black mark positioned where her heart was. It spread through her veins, Apple Bloom watching as her coat started to crawl with black markings. She fell to the ground, weakened by the magic. One of the black veins creeped up her neck and hit her forehead. Then, Apple Bloom passed out.

When Apple Bloom woke up she was in a dark room with one window. She smiled and walked over to it, but his something. She reached out her hooves and felt the invisible wall that separated her from the only exit.

A voice said to her, "This is a force field made of all your inhibitions and fears. The only way to get through is to overcome your fears. Good luck."

There was a grinding of stone and Apple Bloom looked back to see the wall moving closer to her and the force field. If she didn't make it in time, she would be crushed. She quickly started to feel around the force field with her hooves. She started to panic and slipped. Her head hit the force field and she was sent into her mind.

The voice spoke to her again, "Stage one. Fear of drowning."

The wide space had enclosed her into a small glass box that was rapidly filling with water. Apple Bloom watched as it rose over her legs and she stood. The water creeped up her neck and she started to swim to the top of the box. She tried to even her heavy breathing as she tipped her head up and took a deep breath. The water filled the box and she relaxed her body as the box turned dark. She woke back up in the room with the force field. The wall had moved much closer. She sat down and caught her breath before setting her head back against the force field.

The voice came back and said, "Stage two. Fear of heights."

Apple Bloom opened her eyes to see herself balancing on a small pedestal, ropes connected to buildings on both sides of her.

Apple Bloom looked down and said, "It's not so much a fear of heights. It's more of a fear of falling."

Apple Bloom wrapped herself around the rope and slowly crawled along it. She didn't go very fast and knew this would only allow more time for the wall to crush her body. She started to hit her back hoof against where the rope was connected to the pedestal. The rope came loose and fell down towards the side of the building. Apple Bloom clutched the rope tighter. Her back hooves smacked against the side of the building and she used the rope to scale the side of the building. She made it to the top and it once again turned pitch black. She woke up and the wall had not moved as close as she suspected, but it was still moving rapidly. She set her head against the force field and got ready to face her next fear.

The voice said, "Third and final stage. Fear of losing."

Apple Bloom wasn't sure what it meant until she saw her sister sanding next to a rebel. Memories of the war swirled through her head. She reached out for her, but was restrained by shackles on her hind legs. She watched as the rebel hung her sister using a vine, thorns cutting into her skin. The blood pooled under Applejack's body and the rebel sneered at her body.

Apple Bloom screamed, tears rushing down her cheeks, "No! That's my sister! No!"

Applejack and the rebel disappeared. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh, her grandmother and big brother, appeared in the same spot. They were in a cage along with Twilight's parents, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence. Granny Smith was choked by one of the rebels and another pushed Big Mac to the floor and broke his neck.

Now, Apple Bloom had started screaming violently, "Monsters! Monsters!"

Hot tears streamed down her face and rage filled her eyes. A fire inside started to burn in her chest and erupted into violence. Her shackles snapped and she ran over to the rebels and started to kick them. Her fighting inflicted no damage because it passed through them. Apple Bloom turned and set her hand on the bar of the cage and it fell through. The projector clicked off and she woke up, the wall pressing her body against the force field.

Apple Bloom erupted, "You said that was the last stage! This force field should be gone!" Her voice turned to a quiet sob, "It should be gone."

The dark magic in the force field flew to the wall and pushed it back into its original position. Apple Bloom ran to my he wall and climbed out the window. She jumped and fell for a while before slapping the ground. She laid there and the two guards came and started to shake her. She sainted her eyes closed and when she opened them, Sweetie Belle was shaking her violently.

"Wake up, Apple Bloom! Wake up!"

Apple Bloom groggily looked at Sweetie Belle and said, "What happened?"

"You almost killed yourself using the most unstable dark magic in all of Equestria! It got into your head and I though it killed you!"

"Why didn't it?"

"It wasn't a direct hit. Did you have any hallucinations?"

"You don't know the half of it."

Scootaloo burst into the room and shouted, "Apple Bloom, you did it! We've destroyed the rebel bases!"

They ran out and watched over the balcony. The bases had collapsed and ponies were scattered in every direction.

Sweetie Belle smiled and said, "Our mission is complete."