Fading Night

It shouldn’t have had to end like that. It shouldn’t. It wasn’t fair. Not now. She hadn’t even had a chance to say goodbye.

Empty stars bore witness at a single orange pony, holding her young sister tightly as the moment she feared approached.

She couldn’t deny it. That feeling in her chest, the tremble in her jaw, the pressure behind her eyes as a million thoughts fought for control of her mind, and forced salty tears to fall upon the ground. Her time was coming to an end. And she wasn’t ready.

Applejack looked down upon Apple Bloom breathing deeply, somehow at ease with life as she played in her sweet dreams. At least one of them was peaceful, however short a time it would last. Her composure failed and crumbled as she found herself facing an unnatural cold night all on her own.

Her body began trembling violently, and Applejack dug her hoofs into the earth to try to calm herself down. It was futile, and sobs escaped her as all the thoughts she’d pushed away for Apple Bloom’s sake came rushing back. It was ending. It was all over, and she would never see the light of day, not one more time.

Eyes wide and glazed, AJ looked up to the stars, seeking solace. All she found were neutral clouds of shining stars looking down upon her with an apathetic gaze. The crickets had stopped chirping, she felt a bitter taste in her mouth, and even the sweet waft of apples had long ago vanished. The mortal world was fading ever so slowly and painfully, leaving her in the dark.

“No… I don’t wanna…”

She’d been strong for her sister, but as the end approached, all of her strength seemed to fade away. Now, so close to her final hour, everything was frighteningly clear. All of her regrets, all of her wasted moments. So many things left unsaid.

“I don’t wanna go…” Applejack uttered with raspy breath, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Begging to the spring breeze, she buried her face in her sister’s mane, hiding from the world. It wasn’t fair. She hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye, not to her friends, not to her family. Big Mac would be devastated, and poor Granny… she wasn’t sure she could take news like this. It was just too sudden. It was silly, things like this weren’t supposed to just happen like that. Just that morning she’d been bucking apple trees and hanging around town with Twilight and Pinkie; some of the best ponies she’d ever met, and she’d never see them again.

“Why…?”

Her sobs gradually subsided as the cold continued to spread, and her vision blurred. It was happening, and now there was no turning back. No matter how much she fought it, everything was over. Applejack reached out a hoof and etched her final words into the ground before her.

As she took in one final gulp of air, Applejack looked into a blinding white light with her unseeing eyes, gone into another world. She saw a hazy figure step into sight, almost as if reaching out to her.

“Mama?”

Apple Bloom shuddered subconsciously in her sleep as her sister, still hugging her tight, left her for the last time, alone in the dark of night.