The Goddessy: Hestia's Revenge

Chapter Seventeen

Blurred memories swam through her mind as she felt the heat press into her wrists.

But Applejack still said nothing. Didn't even complain. Just stared as Hestia toyed with a white carnation.

She could hear Pinkie trying to console Fluttershy, but the truth was inevitable.

They were going to die and nothing could be done about it.

"Well, well, well," Hestia said. "It seems we're in a predicament. Everyone around me's dying. And I'm about to get everything I've ever wanted. And don't even think about breaking through those chains. The heat's designed to burn off your hands if you try to escape."

"Not that I'll need them," Applejack muttered, more boldly than she wished.

"You seem pretty brave surrounded by your trembling friends," it was like Hestia had literally read her mind. "I know you're secretly terrified."

Did gods and goddesses have to be this invasive of private thoughts and feelings?

Yeah, sorry. We literally can't help it. It just happens.

That voice sounded familiar.

Wait, you can telepathically speak to me? Applejack wondered.

Well, how am I even talking to you right now? The voice said. Anyway, try to hide your thoughts. Most of the time, we read minds unintentionally, but this is Hestia we're talking about. She's going to try and find something to use against you, to break you.

Yeah, I liked you better when you were "human." Seriously, goddess you is like not even close to human you... minus the fact that you apparently have something against Rarity.

Sorry, but apparently my parents just had to be Zeus and Hera for some reason. Okay, gotta go. We're trying to help Twilight with this carnatium antidote thing, but Hestia just stole the white carnation we need, and my shoulder currently isn't up for anything dangerous right now, and the others aren't as brave as they used to be, so we're trying to find an alternative. Don't worry, Sunset and Rarity are fine. Just try to hide your thoughts so Hestia doesn't know anything.

Easier said than done as Hestia kept pacing back and forth, not really doing anything. Applejack bit her lip and tried to do as she was told, but horrifying images kept entering her brain, most involving flashbacks of when her parents died.

She had only been about four when it happened, but she could still remember tightly hugging the graves as if they were people, crying herself to sleep every night, begging for them to come back, aimlessly wandering around at school after being out for a week. The day she met Rainbow Dash, she had been hiding from the entirety of her class, just sitting against the brick wall and wondering why they had to go, even three years later. That's when this girl her age with rainbow hair had walked up to her, noticeably taller than she was. The two had linked up pretty quickly, as she had said that she had also lost something important to her as well.

Now, Applejack didn't know until recently that it had been her identity. But she didn't really share how her parents had died, and she didn't receive information on what she had lost, and they agreed not to tell each other, especially when they befriended Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Sunset, and finally Twilight. But the gravity still hung between them: they had both lost something important and it was hard to break to people that hadn't experienced it. Which explained why Sunset and Twilight bonded the closest, given the monsters they had become after being consumed by magic.

But there were still many days when she would just feel the grief rise and she had to fight to keep it hidden, to try and be the strong one when everything around her threatened to make her weak again.