"HOW COULD YOU!?" Celestia shrieked, her efforts to rip herself free of her harness giving her no results. She remained bound to the raised platform in the center of the room, her leather straps and belts holding her down as her horn gleamed with yellow healing magic. "How could you betray me so?!" She wept, tears spilling down her face.

"Sister please!" Luna begged, pawing at the ground and biting her bottom lip in nervousness. This was not the way Luna wanted to go about handling the situation "You have to see reason, you must understand that this is the only way!"

"LIES!!!!" Celestia roared, her horn flaring with a sudden burst of magic. The Lunar princess recoiled in shock as a sudden, invisible force slammed into her, throwing her off the platform and into the hard ground below. She yelped as she struck the surface, her chains rattling around her from the impact. "How could you buy into his lies, how could you even BEGIN to believe a word he said!?" Roared the sun princess, the glow from her encased horn traveling down to her helmet. Little by little, cracks began to form in the metal, spreading all over its surface.

"Sister..." Luna breathed, crawling backwards and keeping her eyes locked on her furious elder sister "I did what I did for the good of my ponies, to save them!"

This statement only seemed to enrage the Sun Princess more, her helmet suddenly bursting outwards into several pieces, crashing to the floor with a violent bang. "Do you have any idea..." she hissed, her eyes bringing a sharp gasp to her littler sister "What thou have DONE!? Who you sound like!?" Her pink eyes were glowing and agleam with bright light, wisps and trails of smoky magic emanating from her eyes. "You sound just like m-"

"Aaahh....Princess Celestia, REBORN!" cackled a voice from behind the white alicorn, a voice which sent an involuntary shudder through her form. "How wonderful this is...all of us reunited again!"

"Discord," Celestia spat, her words dripping with venom "You should have stayed buried, stayed dead in that stone!" She rounded on the multi-formed beast as her harness gleamed with a bright yellow aura before disintegrating into dust. "Why did you come back...what are you after?" she growled, fanning her giant wings outwards in a chest-puff sort of power display.

"Oh but you already know don't you?" he whispered, slithering through the air towards her like a snake. He rested his bottom feet on the ground, drawing a claw up under the sun alicorn's chin. "We shared much back in those days...our dreams, our ambitions..."

"Stop it," Celestia whispered, her voice faltering slightly as a small blush spread along her cheeks "I will not be swayed again."

"Shared everything," he went on, staring into her gleaming eyes with his own reds "Even our bodies..."

The lord of chaos wasn't surprised when the alicorn spit in his face, his smiles unfaltering as he wiped the saliva from his face. "You disgust me," she grunted, glaring back into his stare.

"I missed that fire in you Celly," he whispered into her ear, running his claw from her chin down the side of her neck. She shivered once again as he whispered "You know what I want...and you know there's nothing you can do to stop me. I have a right as well as you do, and you WILL respect that." He pulled back to look at her face, a look of fury etched into her face. "It's that or...well I'll destroy EVERYTHING in this world, instead of the alternative."

The alicorn scoffed, turning away from him to face her sister who lay cowering on the floor. "What will you do if I refuse, which I will anyway," she asked, glaring down at the poor lunar princess "What more damage can you do to my ponies that hasn't been done mentally or physically already?"

"I could maybe have my way with this world, turn it back into the old lands...those lands you once marveled at." he paused to loom over the princess, looking down upon Luna as well. "Or maybe I could have my way with your sister..."

Celestia slowly turned her head, glaring her most venomous glare into the beast's eyes as she whispered "Mark my words demon, and mark them well." She paused to fan out her wings to their fullest extent, her horn and eyes gleaming as a yellowish aura covered her and the surrounding guards keeping silent vigil over her and the throne room "No matter what happens, no matter what I do, or you do, or what anypony does..." She peered deeply into his chaotic orbs, her words sinister and firm "By the end of this war, she is going to kill you. Even if I have to guide the blade towards your heart myself, she is going to kill you" She turned her head towards her sister, an emotionless look on her face. "Let this be a lesson to you..." she said simply before she ignited a large burst of magic, her form and her guards' forms disappearing instantly.

"Soon...yes...very soon," Discord breathed, smiling evilly at Luna. The poor alicorn shook and shivered in fear as he whispered menacingly "Now...where were we?"

~~~

"RAGE!!! HATE!!! KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL, I HATE THEM!"

"Shhh...quiet your mind little one, it's ok."

"I HATE HER, I HATE HER! KILL HER, BLEED HER, DESTROY HER!!!!"

"Hush, dear Honesty, hush...do not lose yourself. Breathe dear, breathe."

"CRUSH, KILL, DESTROY!!!!!"

"You will soon learn. Just as I have. You will learn."

"OH GODS AND GODDESSES ABOVE WHO AM I!?!?"

She ran.

Oh she ran.

The poor mare ran and ran.

Oh the poor mare.

She ran as fast as she could, her hooves thundering on the ground beneath her as the howls of other monstrous creatures reached her ears. In the far off distance she could faintly hear the sounds of cannon and gunfire, but with the looming trees surrounding her and the mountainous terrain that made up the deeper part of the Everfree Forest, it was impossible to tell exactly where it was coming from since the sound bounced off all the nearby cliffs. Her ears perked to the sounds, the shrill sounds of blood curdling screaming and the hungry munching and chomping of pony teeth echoing loudly in her brain. She felt attracted to the sounds, her stomach rumbling loudly and a sudden, terrifying need to hunger gripping her around her raging, burning hot soul.

She stopped temporarily, thrashing her head about and screaming. Blood and saliva splattered the nearby rocks around her as she flailed about, rolling across the gravel and grass beneath her. Her coat was quickly dirtied, her hooves kicking out every which way in a panic as the sounds intensified. "STOP." she roared to herself in her head "STOP!!!" The sound only seemed to intensify though, a new, sudden pain flaring through the poor mare's brain and causing her to let out a gurgling scream. Saliva seeped and drooled from between her teeth and fell in heavy, thick drips to the ground below. It was tinged with red, her body regurgitating blood and mixing it into the thick drool.

She snorted, scrambling to her hooves and letting out several loud yelps as she bucked the air in several directions. It was if she was being ridden by some unseen force, but there was clearly nothing there. "EAT, INFECT, EAT, INFECT, KILL KILL KILL STOP!!!! STOP!!!" she heard screaming through her skull, the mare flailing her head about crazily for only a few more moments before kicking off and bolting off into the thick wood once more. She didn't know where she was going, she was even starting to forget where she was. All she could start to hear was the same never-ending chanting through her brain. "MURDER, EAT, BITE, CHOMP, SMASH, KILL!!!"

She pushed on, thrashing her head in protest as her legs burned with fatigue, crying out for the poor mare to stop. She didn't listen, continuing to push herself harder and faster through the trees. Her speed and precision through the wood would be almost inconceivable to any normal pony looking on at the scene before them, a blur of a pony nimbly flying through the woods whilst dodging an untold number of thorny bushes, tangling branches, and other similar dangers to the careless traveler. She seemed to be making it through completely unscathed however, her agility utterly astounding as she took a leap up onto a log that only crossed a large ditch before her by only about half.

She bolted up the log and without breaking her stride, kicked off into the air and performed at least three front flips before hitting the forest floor on the other side of the ditch, performing a forward roll through the grass and kicking perfectly back off into a full hard sprint. Her eyes were as wide as they could be, her irises small and filled with panic. She felt so many emotions at once she thought her heart, soul, and brain were going to explode at any moment. She felt rage mostly, anger, sorrow...and heat. She couldn't explain why, but she was just filled with such a massive amount of lust and the urge to just...murder something.

She started to slow down slightly, her lungs heaving for air and forcing her body to give up at last. She moved down to a canter, and finally a fast to a moderate trot. She didn't want to stop, didn't dare stop. If she stopped, her mind would be free to wander into the ravaging chaos she felt trying to crush and infect its way through her entire body. She had to keep her mind focused on running. Maybe then she could find a way to get rid of that endless chanting.

She knew something was wrong, something was going terribly wrong. Or...did she? How was she supposed to know how this whole process of infection worked? Was she supposed to give in to the chanting or resist it? Would it matter anyway? Maybe the infection had yet to kill her entire personality, her entire soul yet. Maybe...no matter what she did, she would be dragged into the fiery depths of rage and endless insanity and forced to become nothing more than another number in an ever growing army of chaos.

She finally stopped in a large clearing, her lungs absolutely causing her to gasp and wheeze for air. Her breath came out in harsh rasps, the rasps that always frightened her whenever they started coming over the fence. That fence...riddled and mangled with bodies...all those ponies she killed.

She suddenly whipped her about, screaming as she struggled to cope with those memories, an enormous amount of guilt and grief building up in her heart. She told herself that there was no other alternative! They were dead and gone, no longer good ponies! They were nothing but MONSTERS! But the Purge, maybe if she had just knocked em out and carted them off to some private section of town...if she had just waited, maybe the Purge could have cured them, given them a second chance at life.

"NO! They were dead, they were dead! Their souls were gone, they were all gone!!!

"But what about you...does that mean you're dead? You are mine now...MINE. Does that make your soul just as dead as theirs? Do you deserve to die like them...a mindless monster?"

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP! KILL, CRUSH, KILL! I WON'T LISTEN, I WON'T!"

Her ears perked suddenly to the sounds of crashing foliage and panicked night birds behind her. She slowly turned her head, her panting sending large vaporous plumes of breath outwards into the icy cold air. Something was rushing towards her through the woods, something that, judging by the snarling roars and cries, didn't seem very friendly. Without another word to herself, she turned and kicked off in yet another full gallop. Her lungs cramped up tightly in protest, attempting to stop her and drag her back down to a stop.

She refused...

She had to run...

She had to get away...

She ran and ran, the furious crashing growing louder and louder behind her. No matter what she did, the crashing got closer...and it started to turn into galloping. Somepony was following her...and judging on its unfaltering pace, it was catching up to her very, very quickly. She pushed her legs as hard as she could, her thundering galloping only serving as a direct trail to lead her pursuer right to her.

She let out a shrill gasp as she burst through a sudden treeline, a massive wall of rock being the first thing she saw. She skidded to a halt, her hooves kicking up large clumps of grass and dirt and splattering them across the massive cliff face. She looked to her left and right quickly, her mind an erratic panic of thought and hopelessness. The wall extended and curved outwards into a massive 'C', leading into the trees on both sides. She had trapped herself.

She let out a snort, turning her head back towards the crashing that was coming quickly towards her. Whatever it was...there was no running from it now. She had the clear, distinct feeling that whatever was coming after her, it was hostile. She toyed with the idea of giving into that endless, rageful chanting for a moment...using the strength of such an anger to take down whatever was out there. She was certain nothing was going to survive such a dreaded rage. After all...it seemed like nothing ever did in the end, even if you escaped it, it would just come back stronger and deadlier than before.

She spread her legs outwards, getting low and baring her teeth as she let out a loud, threatening whinny to her would-be pursuer. The thunderous crashing suddenly halted however, the loud commotion quieting down to the mere sound of galloping and then trotting hooves. The mare blinked in confusion for a moment, her eyes locked on the foliage in front of her as the trotting got closer. Eventually, it sounded as if her pursuer was merely walking towards her now. The steady clip-clop of hooves against rocky gravel echoing out across the gigantic cliff-face.

She pawed at the ground in front her, ready to charge head-long into battle. If her attacker was bent on toying with her, it would be a quick end to his miserable little life. Just as she was about to rush onwards, a pony poked its head through a bush in front of her. She didn't know what to think at that moment, seeing this pony...this particular pony.

She felt her heart catch, her head suddenly pounding with a furious headache as her thoughts started rambling and flooding at her head at an insane speed. "HATE, PILLAGE, BURN, N...no! Love, LOVE! Care, devo...devotion! Nnnngh!!! RAGE, BLOOD....MINE, MY HEART, MY LOVE!" She fell back on her flank, her eyes clenched shut tight with pain. She put her front hooves upon her own head, shaking and thrashing her head about. She felt thick tears of blood leaking from her ears as painful, nerve-wracking sobs poured out of her. She wanted it to end, all of the pain, all of the misery.

"You're incredibly difficult to keep up with...a worthy challenge...that's what I think I liked about you the most...the challenge."

It's a trick...don't listen...he's one of them, you saw it! You saw him...you............what?!

She opened her eyes slowly, her blood red eyes gleaming with chaos and infection. She stared up into a similar pair, a tinge of gold resting in those reds. A fleck of it here, a spot of it there....as if...as if despite such a sickness...a part of him remained. He was seated in front of her, looking down on her slightly. One of his wings was lashed with thick leaves and vines, a make-shift bandage covering the apparently wounded appendage.

She opened her mouth to speak, her eyes wide and frightened. She felt like such a little filly, shock and awe plastered over her weary, blood-tear streaked face as if she was watching fireworks or a beautiful meteor shower. A tiny squeak echoed out of her as the stallion put a hoof against her cheek, peering close at her eyes. "Tell me it worked...tell me it's working on you too."

She had to have been dreaming, or just completely hallucinating. There was no way that this was real, no way that this was in any shape or form a reality. "I'm dreaming..." she whispered, her own voice shocking the complete hell out of her. "I'm dreaming...having a nightmare...this isn't real."

The stallion looked up suddenly, a sigh of relief and a light-hearted chuckle escaping his lips. He looked back down after a moment, bloody tears of his own dripping down his face as he whispered "Oh she wasn't full of shit...thank goodness. I can't believe it's actually working!"

The mare simply stuttered, her frantic mind starting to quiet down. It was strange...but such a relief that the murderous chanting in her head was slowly quieting to nothingness. Thoughts started to seep through her brain yet again...calm thoughts. Slowly, bit by bit and piece by piece...she felt herself again. Memories started to pour into her, causing her to let out a sharp gasp as the memories of the pony before her flashed through her mind rapidly. Emotions roared through her, the rage and hatred simmering down to near nothingness....although they didn't disappear entirely. Joy swept through her, joy and relief...but above all...she felt a warm, tingling feeling grasping at her rapidly beating heart.

She knew what that feeling was...knew what it...that one specific memory....that night......

...."That night....I..."

"So what do you think?" she said, smiling as she stared up at the star-speckled sky. "Was it everything ya'll imagined it'd be?"

"Well I have to say..." he said back to her, pushing his side up against hers as he nestled his back into a more comfortable position in that soft grass he loved and often missed "It's certainly better than falling through that sky into combat." He turned his head to look at her, his eyes soft and lingering on her still star-gazing ones. Those...beautiful emeralds "It's...nice to be on the ground for once. It's...it's beautiful."

She turned her head to face him, her eyes locking with his. They stared at each other for a few moments, their breath blowing against each others' snouts for a moment. "Hey..." he started to whisper, his eyes suddenly looking away and a blush creeping up on his cheeks "I don't mean to be...um...I just...I don't want to overstay my welcome here...I..."

"Shhh...." she whispered, putting a hoof on his cheek as his eyes looked back into hers. They started to move towards one another, their eyes partially closed and their breath warm. He put a hoof around her, pulling them both closer to one another as they each closed their eyes, their lips just inches apart...and...

"Hey ya'll!!!" Called the rough, deep voice of a stallion through the trees, causing the two ponies in the grass to gasp and scoot away from each other "Yer pie's gonna get cold! Ya'll know yer gonna get an ear full if ya don't eat it up now!"

The mare's blush was undeniable, her voice calling back out into the night shakily "Um...yeah! We'll be right down!"

The stallion sat up on his flank, looking away bashfully as he whispered "Sorry...about um...that..."

The mare turned towards him, smiling and putting a hoof under his chin, gently forcing him to look at her. "Sa'll right." she whispered, nuzzling and planting a small kiss on his cheek "Ah won't tell a soul that you're just a big softie under that hard armor o' yers."

They shared a quiet chuckle as she turned away to leave, her stomach suddenly rumbling for some of that apple pie. Just as she started to walk away, his voice calling out to her made her stop. He sounded...so far away...so...different.

So...so...

Her ears perked, her heartbeat starting to escalate rapidly as he whispered to her...

"Hey...Applejack?"

"Applejack? .... Applejack? .... Applejack? ........

"....Applejack? You...you still in there?" he whispered to her, nudging her cheek with his hoof. He was sitting on his flank in front of her, trying to snap her out of the sudden trance she seemed to be stuck in. "Come on now...you're scaring me." Applejack stared deeply into his eyes, his mind absolutely refusing to believe that any of this could still be real. She had seen it all, seen it all happen from the start to the current time. The very first Ravaged pony she had seen when she was with her beloved friends at that picnic...the first set of blood red eyes she had ever set her own eyes upon.

There was no way that...out of all the others there was no...possible way...

"Applejack...come on now say something, please!"

But what if...what if this WAS real? How could that be possible, how could they both be...both be...

"....Shadow...Mane...?" she whispered, her raspy voice cracking slightly. Shadow-Mane smiled, his gold-flecked bloody eyes gleaming in the darkness of the Everfree. He nodded his head as Applejack put her front hooves on his cheeks, letting out a sharp breath as she whispered "Shadow? Is...is this real?"

The lunar guard put his own hooves over hers, nodding and smiling as he whispered back "It's real...this is real Applejack."

She didn't care, couldn't care anymore. Dream or reality, nightmare or not, she wasn't going to let this moment go. She wasn't going to let him go again. She didn't care why they were different...why they were sick but not sick. Was she like Twilight now? Was she something special? A new Carrier or something? She didn't know...didn't care. All she cared about at that moment...was him.

"So..." Shadow began, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly while he looked off to his right "I'm...not sure where to start...um...you see there's this mare who has Discor-MMPH!" He had been suddenly cut off by a body pushing up against his, hooves wrapping around his neck and his lips being crushed by something. His eyes darted back to his front, a teary set of reds flecked with emerald meeting his gaze. Shadow blinked, shock pouring through him as Applejack pushed her lips against his a little more firmly, pulling him tightly against her.

The two of them stared at each other for only a few more moments before they each closed their eyes, pushing against one another firmly as they started to passionately kiss one another under the canopy and cliffs of the Everfree Forest. They kissed frantically, desperately, their hooves running all over each other as if they'd been holding back for a long time. The apple mare dipped herself backwards, pulling the stallion down with her as her back hit the soft patch of grass behind her.

"AJ..." Shadow gasped between kisses, his cheeks hot with a blush "I don't...there's so much I need to explain and...I think that-"

Applejack pulled her lips away from his, taking in a huge breath and exhaling with a hushed whisper of "Shut up..." she caressed his cheek slowly, looking deep into his eyes as she went on "Ah don't know what the hell is going on right now. Ah don't know why you and I are different, or anything." He went to open his mouth to explain but she quickly moved her hoof over his lips, smiling as she said "But right now...in this bloody, chaotic world, ah want this moment. Ah NEED this moment. Ah want to be away from this world...from this misery...just for a moment." She gave him a small smile, her own blush radiating through her orange fur "Could you give me that moment...could you?"

He stared at her as she moved her hoof away, the two of them staring at one another as a gentle breeze blew over both of them. He slowly started to smile, nodding as he whispered back to her "Well...I DID miss you..."

"Ah missed you too sugarcube..." she said, smiling and pulling his face back down towards her "Now shut up and kiss me you batty idiot..."

He was almost too happy to oblige, the two of them locking into another passionate kiss. The stallion nibbled along her jawline down to her neck, drawing a happy sigh out of the mare as she felt her moment rushing to meet her quick. "AJ...are you su-" he started to ask, looking up at her. He was quickly cut off by a hard kiss from the country mare and a slight shifting of her body and rear legs under him.

"Do you need any other invitation?" she scolded playfully, pausing for a breath and biting on one of his bat-like ears. He rolled his eyes in a joking manner, smiling as he tugged his ear away from her, pushing his lips against hers in another kiss as he held her front hooves over her head with his own.

Just a moment...that's all she needed. And it was just....about....

"Oh mah STARS!" she seethed, grasping the stallion into a tight hug.

"What is it, are you ok?!" Shadow asked, pressing his forehead against hers as they both panted slightly.

She merely gave a slight shudder, shifting slightly underneath him as she whispered "Ah'm fine...just...well hell, it don't hurt as much as the headache does."

Shadow let out a small, playful scoff, staring down at her with an unvoiced question. After about a minute or so, she took in a gulp of air and let her breath out slowly, nodding up to him. They smiled at each other, the ravaged, chaotic world around them forgotten for once.

And for once, if just for a few hours........they both had their moment of peace.

A bastion of peace, love, and lust....in a world marred and torn to pieces by war, hate, and chaos.

A moment...together.