With Malus Aforethought

by Schismatism

Chapter 4 - Red and Blackberries

Just an hour before...

Fluttershy's cottage, nestled in the ponds and streams near the Everfree Forest, was usually shielded from the sharp glare of the morning sun, even in the height of summer. Its warm, inviting leaves and strong branches held an enormous number of bird's nests and squirrel dens, each of which was meticulously attended to by the caretaker of the wilderness. Indeed, it could be said that well over half of the fauna in Ponyville made their home here, venturing out to the township itself to partake of the goodwill of its ever-friendly inhabitants.

The pleasant chatter of those birds was Fluttershy's alarm clock, and she smiled brightly as she awoke from a long and content slumber, leaning out of her bed to nuzzle one of her avian friends. "Good morning," she murmured in a voice as smooth as honey, shifting her bedsheets to air out the mattress. And, with a happy hum, greeting the morning's sunshine as readily as she would an old friend, she skipped down the stairs to make herself a good meal.

Her first glimpse that something was wrong came when she saw some of her old friends, Angel included, huddled over a small object in the corner. Still, she put that out of her mind for the time being, simply breathing, "Hello, everyone!" However, the cursory greeting, one which had long since brought the attention of all her friends, was ignored, the three animals in the corner - a rabbit, a squirrel, and a bear - scarfing down the contents of whatever object that was.

Fluttershy took a few steps towards the group of animals, her voice quivering slightly. "Um, is everyone there all right? I mean, Mr. Bear, it's not like you to be up so early, and Mr. Squirrel, don't you have food to find for your family? Fall is just around the corner, after all?" She let out a light giggle, which turned into a squeak of dismay as the three animals turned, in unison, to stare at her.

Around each mouth was a stain of dark red, what bared teeth there were absolutely coated in those juices. Each paw clenched and unclenched, holding some sort of eldritch, slimy substance within. Their eyes were wide with delight, stains dripping down their throats and bellies, as though they had partaken in some feast long since forgotten to mortal mare. Angel in particular seemed marked in an indiscriminate fashion, as though his hunger had overwhelmed him, driven him to acts which no sane rabbit would ever contemplate...

And Fluttershy, poor Fluttershy, had only one recourse left to her. Driven back by the hunger of these beasts, sent to her haunches by the horrific sight before her, she screamed.

"How in Equestria did you get so many CHERRIES?!"

---

And now...

Panting, out of breath, and utterly exhausted, Twilight Sparkle found herself - finally - at the doorstep of her home, the library's branches shielding her from the rays of Celestia's sun. "Note to self..." she gasped, slumping against the door itself. "Ask Celestia.. why... seasons." With a squeak, she found herself falling into the library as Spike opened the door, the alicorn landing on one wing in a slightly painful display.

"Twilight! I wondered where you'd gotten off to. Is everything alright?" Spike, as usual, asked the obvious question - but that was enough to get Twilight back into the right frame of mind, specifically a better solution to the problem at hoof.

"Spike, take a letter to Princess Celestia." The statement was common enough, even now, that the dragon always had quill and scroll ready - as well as a goodly number of spares. "Right! One letter, ready when you are!" With a brief pause, the alicorn dictated:

Dear Princess Celestia:

Last night, Sweet Apple Acres was... well, the best way to describe it would be 'replaced' with a variety of plants from all across the world. I believe this to be the work of Discord, and I think that it is a definite violation of our agreement with him.

I would like to meet with you as soon as possible, and hopefully restore the farm to its natural state.

Sincerely yours,

Twilight Sparkle.

"Alright, that should do it. Send it off, Spike," Twilight decreed, her eyes momentarily drawn to the empty basket on the kitchen table. With a blink, she paused, the telltale fwoof of draconic post barely registering.

"Spike... did you eat all these peaches?" Twilight asked, looking with slight accusation at the ever-hungry reptile.

"Well... c'mon, Twilight, usually you bring home apples, and the occasional orange! They are the local foodstuff, but sometimes a bit of variety's good." The dragon coughed, sputtering up a bit of light-red flame. "Besides, I figured you bought enough for the both of us! There's still that basket in the pantry!"

Twilight sighed, looking over to the aforementioned cupboard, and swung it open with a touch of telekinesis just to ensure its survival. "That's true... but you don't know that those were even safe!"

"Wait, why wouldn't those be safe? They were peaches, and you bought them yesterday, right? Just after helping Applejack with that family reunion? I mean, I don't know where you got them from, but man were they ever good! With a momentary pause, Spike went back over the past few minutes... and cringed. "You... you mean..."

Twilight's ears flicked back, and her wings twitched upwards in a display of severe aggravation. "Spike! I didn't buy those yesterday, and if you'd read my grocery list, you would've known...!" After a moment, however, she sighed, and added, "And I was going to eat them anyway. I figured Rainbow Dash was just playing another one of her pranks. I'll forgive you this time..." Twilight grinned, and looked over at Spike, who had a sudden surge of foresight, only tempered by the fact that nothing bad - yet - seemed to be happening..

"Aw, man. I'll start recataloguing the books. Again." The dragon slumped, and began stomping off to the library, but was arrested by a purple glow. "No, Spike," responded the alicorn. "You get to help us deal with what's caused all this nonsense."

Spike looked almost frantic, both with anticipation and trepidation. On the one claw, he'd gotten out of recategorization. On the other... "All I figured was that you'd bought a basket of peaches! Why do I have to help you deal with a mad chaos thingy?"

"Spike, I'm going to need an assistant to help me deal with..." Twilight paused, looking a little bit crazy all of a sudden. "Things. Besides, you might learn something here. There is more in Equestria than is dreamt of in your philosophy..." The alicorn paused, hoping that Spike might remember that line.

"Wait, that's Bacon, right?"

With a sigh, Twilight started looking for clues.

---

Applejack knocked with no small amount of trepidation upon her sister's door. "Applebloom? Applebloom, are you there?" The mare paused, waiting for some response... but none came, at least in any audible manner.

The orange-and-blonde farmmare slumped against the wall, sighing. "Look, Applebloom, I know that you're not rightly thrilled 'bout havin' to wait for your friends to come by, but t'be honest, I'd rather not let this thing spread too far before we're ready. If it CARN'T be fixed, then... then I don't rightly know what's gonna happen. This place's been our family homestead for... doggone generations. Can't imagine leavin' it.

"Plus, ma and pa wouldn't be too happy about us tearin' up our family roots, ta say nothin' of Granny." Applejack chuckled, then let out a sad sigh. "Look. If Discord is really jus' jerkin' us about, then he'll turn the farm back sooner 'r later. Prob'ly sooner, once the joke's run its course. Right?" Applejack paused, waiting for some sort of response, but heard nothing, not even a sob.

"So, all I'm saying, is that this is... somethin' we can get past. Right, Applebloom? Apple family?"

Silence.

"Applebloom?"

Yet more silence.

With a twist of her frame that would have been more appropriate for Rainbow Dash, Applejack lept to her hooves, kicking the door in with a swing of one muscled leg. This, as it would happen, was a little bit much, as the door exploded off its hinges, showering the room beyond in a goodly number of splinters.

"Ah-a... um, oops?" Applejack's half-hearted apology - no doubt meant for the door - was quieted by the sight of a set of knotted bedsheets, tied to the frame of the bed itself and leading its way out the open window - from which, no doubt, her sister had made a rather obvious and evident escape.

"Why THAT LITTLE...!"

---

Applebloom let out a quiet sigh as she heard her sister rush off, peeking over the edge of the roof to watch Applejack fly in the direction of Ponyville. "Well, that was easy," the filly murmured to herself as she slipped down to the dirt below, rapidly making her way over to the CMC's treehouse.

Comments

[Kagitaar]

The title makes me want to beat you for such an awful pun.

[Schismatism]

3648666
I almost want to apologize, but let's be honest: it's been done before, and it'll probably be done again.

[Gladi Writes]

This is really enjoyable to read, and the tone is dead on for feeling like an episode of ~the show~. Well done.