Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

The time-traveling pony finds herself being surrounded by her sister and her friends, both surprised and confused about the situation.

"You really are Applebloom, as in Applejack's little sister?" Twilight asked.

"Yes." Applebloom answered. "I'm that Applebloom."

"How could she be Applebloom when she's only a filly and this one's a mare? Applejack, is she another relative of yours with the same name?" Pinkie Pie asks Applejack who shakes her head.

"No but it doesn't make any sense, I was with my sister earlier, there's no way there could be another Applebloom." said a confused Applejack

"Unless she's some kind of clone." The pink mare randomly suggested.

"No, no I'm not a clone, just let me clear up some things for you all; I'm from ten years from the future, I traveled back in time using a time traveling spell." Applebloom explained.

"A time traveling spell? That would explain why you look around our age, Applebloom" said Twilight "I remembered using one like that but that one could only sent me back for only a short period."

"The time traveling spell we used was an enhanced version that doesn't have a time limit but required a lot of power, so we-" stated Applebloom but before she could explain more about it, she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

"Ooh! Ooh! What's it like in the Future?! Are there robots? Are there skyscrapers that reach into space? Is everything made of chrome?! Hah? Hah hah?!" Pinkie Pie asks Applebloom a bunch of questions under a minute.

"I wish it was Pinkie Pie, otherwise I wouldn't have needed to come to the past." Applebloom said looking down with a depressed tone.

"Wait...Is something bad going to happen?" Twilight asks with a concerned look, which Applebloom nods.

"The reason I have traveled to the past is so I can tell you all something of grave importance" Applebloom lifts her head up as she looks at the Mane Six with a cold, serious expression. "Six months from now, The entire country of Equestria will fall into eternal darkness by an evil entity, who in my timeline rules Equestria with an iron fist and enslaved ponykind, the name of that entity is none other than Lucifer."

"L-Lucifer?!" said a shocked Twilight as the name rang a bell to her. "As in the dark lord of the Underworld?!"

"The same." confirmed Applebloom.

"Pardon me if I sound ignorant but who the heck is this Lucifer fellow?" wondered Applejack while Twilight pulls out a history book from the top shelf and looks through the pages.

"I never heard of him." said Rarity.

"Me neither." Fluttershy quietly muttered.

"Hey Twilight, do you know who Applebloom is talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.  

"Yes I do" Twilight stops at a page and reads it out for her friends to hear. "A thousand years ago, before he became ruler of the Underworld, Lucifer was once an emperor of a barbarian dragon empire. Cunning and ruthless, Lucifer along with his army raid and conquered many countries until he tried to invade Equestria, he was however stopped by Princess Celestia who cast him into the abyss which later became known as the Underworld. She also placed a magic seal to make sure that Lucifer can never leave that place."

"But how could that be? How was Lucifer able to get out and invaded Equestria in your timeline?” asked Rainbow Dash as she looks at Applebloom. “Didn't we tried to stop him?"

"You have fought a brave battle but to be blunt with you, the six of you were killed before you could use the Elements of Harmony" Applebloom begins to inform the mane six of their demise. “Applejack was the first to go, Fluttershy was next, then Pinkie Pie and Rarity; Rainbow Dash and Twilight were the last two to fight against Lucifer but it was all in vain as the two of you have died in battle as well...”

The room was in brief silence as it took a moment to let this information to sink into the gang; the apocalyptic future of Equestria and the girls' unforeseen deaths. Rarity had a worried look on her face as the same goes with Applejack, Fluttershy was too scared to even think about it. Rainbow Dash curled her hoof as if she was making a fist in anger, even the usually-cheerful Pinkie Pie wasn't too happy about this. Twilight held onto Spike as she listens to Applebloom's story.

“The remaining citizens of Ponyville were wiped out after that, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Zecora. Spike and including myself were the only survivors of the onslaught” Applebloom explained. “We formed a resistance group that we ironically called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as a tribute to our old childhood club.” She smiled a bit in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“What about Princess Celestia? Didn't she tried to seal Lucifer back?” a worried Twilight asked again.

“No...She never did.” Applebloom replied sadly. “Six months before the invasion, Princess Celestia was found dead in her bedroom.”

“WHAT?!” The girls including Spike exclaimed in unison.

“B-but that's impossible, w-what could have possibly killed her?” Said a stunned Twilight.

“We were shocked and confused at first, all of us thought that she passed away by natural causes which to me didn't make any sense at all.” stated Applebloom “But years later, after we sent Spike on a mission to spy on the dragons about Lucifer, we learned that Lucifer had somepony killed Celestia for him while she was asleep. After that, Lucifer dispose of the assassin seeing that there was no use for that pony anymore, so we don't even know who it was.”  

“I'm a spy? That is so awesome!” said Spike before getting a cold look from Twilight. “Oh right, not the best time to get excited about.” Spike awkwardly rubs the back of his head.

“Princess Luna took over her sister's place after her death but even she nor Princess Cadance stood a chance against Lucifer and they were defeated, Shining Armor was so heartbroken about Twilight and Cadance's death and the fact that he could not save them that he took his own life." Applebloom continues on showing a mix of sadness and anger in her tone as the others listen.

"After that, Equestria as we known had turned into a living hell to every pony; our friends, families, love ones and our homes are all gone because of him. For years, we tried so hard to take Lucifer down but each time, we could barely put a scratch on him!" Applebloom suddenly slams her hoof on the floor, making Fluttershy jump a bit, her teeth gritted and her body trembling with rage.

"Damn it! He's just too powerful!" Tears shed out from the angry pony's eyes. "I wanted everything to go back the way things were, before that bastard came and took everything away from us! I hate him....I hate him for causing all of this!" Applebloom was on the verge of crying, the others especially Applejack felt sympathy for her, they could see in the future pony's tear-filled eyes that she had suffered a lot through out these ten years.

"That is why...I traveled back to the past to make sure that these events never happen" sobbed Applebloom before turning her attention back to the mane six "Not only for me...but for Equestria."

"Applebloom..." Applejack goes to her side and puts her front leg around Applebloom's shoulder. "We can guarantee you that Equestria will have a future, a bright future." She gives her a heart-warming smile.

"Applejack..." said a comforted Applebloom as she wipes away her tears.

"Yeah, we're not gonna let some punk try to take over Equestria." said Rainbow Dash now determined. "He won't know what hit him!"

"If this Lucifer fellow thinks he'll come terrorize us, he has another thing coming!" Pinkie Pie joined. "Right Applebloom? Or should we call you Future Applebloom to avoid confusion with Present Applebloom? Ooh Ooh! How about Futurebloom for short?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll just stick with Future Applebloom instead." Future Applebloom chuckled a little.

"Applebloom, when will this assassin come to kill Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked

"Three days from now." Future Applebloom replied.

"Spike, I want you to write a letter to the princess about this, pronto!" Twilight tells Spike.

"I'm on it." Spike said as he starts writing down a letter.

"I want you all to keep this information between us, no other pony besides the princess should know about this otherwise it could put the entire future in jeopardy, got it?" Future Applebloom informs the gang.

"You have our word, sis." said Applejack.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie Pie said as she pokes her eye with her hoof.

"Thanks everypony" smiled Future Applebloom. "I knew I can count on you all."

Spike finishes writing the letter to Princess Celestia as he breathes fire to the scroll and blows the ashes into the air. Moments later, Spike belches out a scroll which he opens up to read it out loud.

"Dear Twilight, This new information you gave me sounds very serious and I like to discuss about our situation tomorrow when you and your friends come to Canterlot. Be sure to bring your time traveling friend over as well."

"It is getting kinda late so we should get some rest till tomorrow." suggested Twilight.

"Say Applebloom, would you like to spend the night at Sweet apple Acres?" asked Applejack "Seeing that you miss our home after all."

"Thank you Applejack, I would love too." Future Applebloom smiled.

As the rest of the group leaves Twilight's place, Future Applebloom stops and looks back towards Twilight. "Oh and Twilight, Spike from my time wanted me to tell you that he misses you." She said as she left with Applejack, Twilight smiles as she gave Spike an unexpected hug.

"Hey easy there, Twilight." said the little purple dragon.

Later that day as the sun sets, Applejack and Future Applebloom were walking together near the farm.

“Now remember, you can't tell you- I mean your younger self about you” said Applejack. “Knowing you- I mean her, she would ask questions non-stop.”

“Yeah, I was quite a spitfire back then.” chuckled Future Applebloom.

“Hey, I don't mean to get too personal but how did you lose a part of that ear of yours?” Applejack ask about her sister's partly disfigured ear, which Future Applebloom sadly looks down. “Err sorry, forget I ask.”

They arrived at their home with Applejack entering first and Future Applebloom following her behind. There they met with the Apple family. “I'm home!”

“Welcome home sis!” the younger Applebloom runs to her older sister but then notices the other pony behind her. “Hey who's that?”

“Oh her, I like to introduce you to our cousin...cousin....” Applejack was trying to think of a name for her.

“Applelove” Future Applebloom called herself as she smiles. “I'm cousin Applelove, it's nice to meet Applejack's family, you must be her little sister Applebloom.”

“That I am.” Applebloom smiled back.

“And you are Granny Smith and Big McIntosh or big.” She said at the two.

“Eeyup.” replied Big Mac

“I never knew we had a cousin Applelove” said Granny Smith. “How come you never been to one of our Apple Family Reunion?”

“Well she-”

“I live at a country far, far away from Equestria.” Future Applebloom interrupts Applejack, explaining about herself to Granny Smith. “And I've been very busy so I didn't really have time for any of the reunions.”

“What happen to your ear, Applelove?” asked Applebloom who pointed out her cousin's ear.

“Applebloom, you know that's really rude of you to ask-” Applejack scolded her but the future pony stops her.

“No Applejack, it's alright” Future Applebloom said as she looks at her younger self. “If you want to know, lets just say that when somepony tells you not to play near heavy machinery, you better listen or this would happen.” She pointed to her deformed ear.

“Yikes, that's gotta hurt, I'll be sure to remember that” said Applebloom “Sorry if I ask....”

“Don't worry about it, I get questions like that a lot.” said Future Applebloom as she patted her present self on her head.

“So are you gonna join for dinner, Applelove?” asked the elderly pony.

“Yes, in fact Applejack said that I could stay here for a few days, so I can get to know the family.” smiled Future Applebloom.

“Yay!” cheered Applebloom. “There's a bunch of things I want to tell you about.”

“You can do that after supper, okay sugarcube?” Applejack said as her sister nods.  

“It's good to be home again...” thought the happy future pony to herself.

The family soon had dinner together, with Granny Smith telling a funny story about an incident that happen at the farm when she was a filly. The others laugh at her story especially the often-quiet red stallion, Future Applebloom laughed along with them, she never laughed this much nor felt this kind of family bonding since she was a filly. Later at night time when everypony was soundly asleep, Future Applebloom was sleeping in the guest room but the mare was tossing and turning in bed. She was having a nightmare about her past; random images in her dream show the destruction of Ponyville as homes were ablaze and ponies were running from flying dragons. She see's herself running with Applejack through town while coming across the bodies of dead ponies.

“Don't look at them, Applebloom! Keep your eyes on me!” shouted Applejack.

It was like a war zone, ponies were being murdered left and right; one family was trapped in a burning home as the dragons kept them from escaping, a silhouette shows one pegasus having her wings torn off from her back before being killed and a couple of fillies met their doom when they were surrounded by a few dragons. Suddenly a dragon swoops down and bites down onto Applebloom's left ear, the young filly screamed as she was being lifted off her feet, Applejack grabs onto her tail and tries to pull her sister away but the dragon bit down on her ear so hard that it tore off the top part. Applejack kicked the dragon away from Applebloom as they took off running, the filly was crying in pain as blood drips from her now torn ear but there was no time to stop to mend the wound, they needed to run for their lives as quickly as possible. They were soon stopped by a gigantic shadow that resembles a dragon with glowing yellow eyes, Applejack yelled something out at the dragon but Applebloom couldn't make out what she was saying, in fact she couldn't hear anything as if the filly was suffering from the effects of shell shock. The gigantic dragon opens it's mouth as flame poured out and was heading straight towards Applebloom, Applejack kicks her out of the way as the filly watched her older sister being engulfed in flames.

“APPLEJACK!!!!!” screamed the horrified filly. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”

Future Applebloom woke up screaming at the top of her lungs, her heart beating like crazy and her body covered in cold sweat. Future Applebloom took a few deep breaths as she starts to cry, the door opens and the lights turn on as she turns to see the apple family awaken.

“Are you alright dear?” asked a concerned Granny Smith.

“We heard you screaming like bloody murder.” Said Applejack.

“Y-yes, I'm fine” replied Future Applebloom wiping her tear-filled eyes. “I just had a nightmare, that's all...”

“It must have been a really scary dream to make you scream like that.” said the young Applebloom.

“You ponies head back to bed, I'll stay with Applelove until she goes back to sleep” Applejack tells her family as they went back to their bedrooms. “Come on darling, I'll get you something to drink.”

The traumatized pony followed her sister into the kitchen where Applejack makes her a glass of milk for her to drink. Future Applebloom takes a sip of it and looks at her.

“Thank you sis” said Future Applebloom before looking down. “Sorry for waking everypony up."

“Don't worry about it, remember when we woke up at the sound of granny banging pots together to scare away the timber wolves? You screaming like that was nothing compared to that.” said Applejack.

“Yeah...” Future Applebloom briefly smiled.

“Applebloom, dear....” Applejack sat down next to her. “That nightmare you had...was it what happen in the future?” she asked as her sister nods.

“Yes...it was” Future Applebloom took another sip of milk. “Applejack...there's something I want to personally tell you what I didn't tell the others.”

“What is it?” Applejack asked “Don't be afraid to tell me, sugarcube.”

“The reason why you never used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Lucifer....was because of me.” The mare sadly admitted.

“What?!” exclaimed Applejack.

“When Lucifer invaded Ponyville, his minions attacked our farm. Big Mac tried to hold them off but they ambushed and overwhelmed him and they got to Granny Smith after that. I was the only one left until you manage to get me out of there, soon we were running through town and everywhere we saw was death and destruction. One of the dragons grabbed onto me but luckily you pulled me away from it, though at a cost...” She explained, mentioning her disfigured ear.

“We thought that we would get out safe and sound but then...we ran into Lucifer himself...your friends were trying to fight him off but to no avail, I couldn't remember what you said to him, my mind was messed up from the sheer shock. Lucifer opened his mouth and breathed out a large stream of fire that was heading towards me, that's when you kicked me out of the way and...” Future Applebloom stops for a brief moment as the brutal image of her sister burnt to death flashed in her mind, her eyes widen in horror and tears started to pour down.

“Oh Celestia....I ran towards you and I....I could...barely recognize you...” Future Applebloom stuttered. “You looked up at me ....and you told me....to run away as fast as possible...I didn't want to look back but...I watched you die right before my very eyes, Applejack!” She wept. “I had to watch you die, If it weren't for me, you and your friends would have taken down Lucifer, it's all my fault that you and everyone died!” Future Applebloom broke down crying on her sister shoulders as Applejack hugged her.

“Applebloom, I understand what you are going through and I really do but you can't just blame yourself for what happen in the past” said Applejack comforting her traumatized sister. “You're alive because of me and now you traveled to the past to make sure that we won't suffer the same fate. In a way, you are not only saving me and our family but every pony in Equestria and I thank you for it.” Applejack smiles as she gives her a handkerchief to wipe the tears away.

“Thank you, big sis.” Future Applebloom tightly hugs her sister back but outside the kitchen, the younger Applebloom was hiding and listening to their conversation. She was very shocked to learn that her so-called cousin is actually herself from the future and her story also brought her to tears. Applebloom quietly heads back upstairs and to her room where she lays back in her bed, leaving her worrying about the future.

“I hope the future...doesn't end up like that...” Applebloom said to herself as she falls asleep.

To Be Continued.

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