I turned, and there before me stood... the TIMBER WOLVES! I've never run so fast in my life! My saddlebags were filled to the brim with those incredible apples, that they slowed my every step! I could feel their hot breath against my back as I continued to run, trying to find my way out of those forsaken woods!
Their teeth snapped at me, and I could have sworn that they almost grabbed my tail!
Then I saw my cottage through the thicket and I did the only thing I could think of: I grabbed a cooking pan and slammed it against our large cooking pot. The wolves whined at the shrill noise and slowly backed into the forest, their green eyes still penetrating my body. Then I-
"Stop, Granny!" The light green mare paused her story to see her grandchild cowering underneath the living room mat. Her body was shivering uncontrollably and her eyes were filled with such fear that it turned the mare's stomach to rot.
"Oh, Applejack!" She cooed, slowly picking up the young filly in her arms. "I didn't mean ta scare ya." She slowly caressed the young filly's mane until her body stopped shaking and her eyes returned to normal.
"Is that true, Granny?" The young filly asked, gazing up into her Granny's amber eyes. "Did timber wolves really try to eat ya?" Granny Smith paused and tried to think of the right words to keep Applejack calm.
"I don't think that they were gonna eat me, young filly, I think they were just scared ah me."
Applejack tilted her head in confusion.
"How could a timber wolf be scared a ya?!" Applejack looked over her Granny and scoffed at the very mention of such an idea. Granny only smiled at her youngest grandchild and shook her head in amusement.
"Every creature is scared a somethin' that they don't understand," Granny explained. "When I was in those woods, the wolves saw me as a threat. They didn't know that I was simply tryin' to feed mah family, so they protected theirs."
"Their what, Granny?"
"Their families."
Applejack was still confused by how Granny was defending the monstrous creatures, but she let out a wide yawn and Granny Smith smiled.
"Looks like somepony needs ta get some shut eye." She gently lifted the foal and placed her on her back, slowly walking up the creaking staircase of their home and into Applejack's room. She gingerly placed her grandchild on the bed and kissed her forehead. She then turned out the light and closed the door.
Applejack became engulfed with the darkness surrounding her, and at first she welcomed it. She lifted her hoof-stitched quilt around her neck and nuzzled into the warm fabric, sighing contently.
Then she heard something and she froze.
"What was that?!" She whispered in alarm as she quickly turned towards her window. The soft breeze from outside continued to make the shutters slam against the side of the house and cast shadows across her bedroom floor.
"Nothin'." Applejack said, reassuring herself. "There's no nothin'."
Just to be safe, she ducked her head underneath the covers and tightly closed her eyes, begging for sleep to overtake her. And it did take a century, but Applejack finally found herself drifting off.
Grr...
Applejack's eyes snapped open. She could hear the deep-throated growl of a monster... and it was right next to her. She gulped and slowly lifted the covers off of her head, knowing what she would find standing over her.
She paused when she felt sharp claws being laid on her bed, slowly puncturing the quilt and scraping her thigh. She couldn't even let out a whisper as she felt the claws slowly drag up towards her throat. She smelled an awful stench and had to pull her head completely out of the quilt for air, but as she did so... she regretted it.
Two piercing green eyes stared right at her, no pupils, no irises, no soul. She saw the sharpened fangs of the monster, dripping slobber all over her quilt.
"H-Help..." Applejack whimpered as the monster slowly got closer to her face. "Help."
It suddenly tilted its head up and let out a piercing roar!
"AHH!" She shrieked, rapidly rising from her bed and out into the hallway. She ran as quickly as she could, feeling the monster's breath against her back. The teeth snapped at the ends of her tail, almost enclosing around them.
Applejack ran outside of the house, screaming all the more when it continued to gain on her. She looked away from the monster for one minute and then felt its claws on her back, tackling her to the ground.
She looked into the eye's of the monster as it lumbered over her, pinning her to the ground with its front two paws. It snarled at her and roared to the sickly red moon in the sky. Applejack cried out and covered her eyes as the teeth slowly closed around her throat-
"Applejack! Wake up!" Granny Smith hollered, shaking her grandchild forcefully. Applejack woke up with a start and almost hit her Granny in the muzzle. "OH!" she cried out as she avoided AJ's throw by a mere centimeter.
"GRANNY!" Applejack yelled, still in the middle of her nightmare.
"I'm right here, darlin'! Wake up!"
Applejack snapped back to consciousness to find herself entwined in Granny Smith's hooves. She turned towards the doorway and saw her father and mother standing there with sleepy yet concerned looks. Then she buried her head in Granny Smith's chest and sobbed.
"It was gonna kill me, Granny! It was gonna kill me!" Applejack weeped.
"What was, Sugar Cube?" Granny Smith pulled away from her grandchild and looked deep into her eyes.
"The timber wolf!"
Granny Smith blushed in humiliation as she heard Applejack's mother gasp in horror.
"You told her that story?!" Applejack's mom rushed over to her daughter and pried her away from Granny Smith's hooves. "Mother, you shouldn't have told her that! Just look how frightened she is!"
"But, I-" Granny Smith protested.
"Shh! It's OK, AJ." Her mother cooed, stroking her mane like Granny Smith had previously done.
Tears formed in Granny Smith's eyes as her son-in-law also walked over to the teary display and placed a hoof on his wife's shoulder. He cast a fierce glance over at Granny Smith and then embraced his wife and daughter. Granny Smith sighed and slowly walked out of the room.
"It's OK, Applejack," Her father assured her. "You just had a bad dream."
"But it was real! He was going to kill me!"
"You silly filly!" Her mother teased. "Just calm down. Calm down."
Applejack's heartbeat began to slow down, eventually matching her mother's. She let out a sigh of relief and buried her face in her mother's bright yellow coat. She felt... safe.
But something at the back of her mind told her that it was more than just a dream...
No. Applejack thought. I'd be a fool to think so.
All the same, she slept with her parents that night and she kept a wary eye on the open window. Then she slowly, so as not to wake her parents, walked over and silently latched the window shut.