MLP Laboratories- The Outbreak

by NeuPferdfurt

Worms

Applejack was proud of her family's orchard.

It was hard work, and if you looked at the price the Apple ponies got for the literal fruit of their labour, it was almost safe to say that they just survived from month to month. Though neither Applejack, nor Big Macintosh, nor anyone else in the family would ever have looked at it that way.

Ponyville needed them apples.

And the Apple clan was proud. Proud to shoulder one of the hardest tasks in the pony community. They saw themselves neither as the lowest nor the highest strata of society, but as reliable neighbours who did what they did best- slaving every day for a commodity so integral to the everyday life of the ponies that most didn't even waste a second thought on it.

-

Applejack was more than happy to show Twilight Sparkle around the farm. The librarian had visited the farm before, but this time she had told Applejack that she would like to take a closer look, even something like a guided tour if that was possible and didn't make too much trouble.
It didn't make too much trouble.

If there was one form of bragging Applejack was more than happy to commit, it was bragging in the name of the clan.

-

At the end of the little tour, Applejack brought Twilight to her favorite spot, on top of the highest hill on the farm.

"Now feast your eyes on this sugarcube. Isn't it splendid? I could stand here for hours just taking in the view."

"I shall say. How big is the orchard anyhow?"

"Funny you should say that... Let's just say it's quite a hoof full. We work sector by sector until we're all done for the day..."

"And then you just continue working the next day?"

"As I said, it's quite a hoof full..."

"It's just... you seem to be harvesting all the time."

"Well, not ALL the time, Twilight. I mean otherwise I wouldn't really have the time to show you around now would I?"

"No, what I mean is... It never seems to end, except when it's winter. Almost every day you're out in the orchard. You have cellars and silos, and you put apples in them almost on a weekly basis. Year-round."

"There is no shortage on my watch, that I can assure you. There's a lot of hungry ponies to feed around these parts."

"Tell me something about Applebuck Season. We all helped you last time, because Big Macintosh had broken his ribcage, remember...?"

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me. I already admitted I could not have done it alone, I learned my gosh-darned lesson, get over it already!"

"In a way, it was a lot like the Running of the Leaves: It was something that had to be done before winter. Taking down all apples at once..."

"Like every year."

"See, this is what I don't get. The rest of the year, there is always apples. No matter how many you're taking down. It's only in the winter that they don't grow back..."

"Well, DA. Twilight, I know you're not from the countryside, so let me tell you: apples don't grow in winter. They really don't."

"But why do they grow back the rest of the year?"

"Because it's not winter."

"Week after week?"

"Personally I'm glad they do. You may not have noticed, but we're eating apples every day."

"It just seems strange to me that we have such a steady supply..."

"Oh Twilight, you think so much about things, I'm surprised your head doesn't burst like a big purple pumpkin- no offense. There is good ol' mother nature on the one side, and there is a carving for vital vitamins on the other side, and in the middle, there is the Apple family. And that's how it goes."

Twilight was slowly shaking her head.

"You're at the heart of the system... and you work all the time... without ever complaining, without ever asking questions, because Ponyville needs you..."

"Now there sugarcube, are you trying to make this big ol' workhorse cry? My, if you put it like this, I'm overwhelmed by my own glory. They should make me a statue, don't you think? Right in the middle of town..."

Applejack showed her friend the pose she'd like her monument to be. Twilight couldn't help but giggle, and at least for a moment she forgot what had troubled her.

-

"Say, Applejack, do you have any... machines?"

"Machines? We don't have no fancy automatons down here, my friend. It's all hooves and sweat, all traditionally-like, just as nature intended. What ever got you that idea?"

"I'm not sure... For a moment I almost thought... Ah, forget it. Thanks a lot for showing me around, Applejack! You have quite a farm down here. I won't bother you much longer, I bet you'll have to get up early in the morning again..."

"You're right on that account, sugar cube. Celestia knows this pony needs her rest... I better head for the stables."

-

This evening, Big Macintosh stayed outside for a little longer and gazed upon the orchard.

Big Macintosh didn't talk much. In fact, he didn't even feel much. Big Macintosh especially tried to muffle feelings that couldn't be traced back to their origin. But this evening, while gazing upon Sweet Apple Ackers, he couldn't help but feel sad.

The reason why Big Macintosh had given up feeling and thinking about everything was simple.
Because if you did, you might have come to the conclusion that none of this made any sense.

-

One of the benefits of doing hard, physical labour all day was that you tended to fall asleep quickly and that your dreams were deep and blue, devoid of the strange entities and cryptic messages that inhabited the sleep of ponies such as Twilight Sparkle.

It was probably mere coincidence that Applejack woke up that particular night, maybe just one sound that was loud enough to reach the pony's sleeping mind.
Or maybe it was Applejack's mind itself which had changed without her even noticing. Maybe the questions Twilight had asked about the farm had touched something deep inside of her which had been dormant for so long. Maybe it was both, or none of these things. We'll never know for sure.

At first, Applejack was just staring at the ceiling, not even aware that she was awake. She couldn't remember ever waking up in the middle of the night like this.
Her muscles and even her bones were hurting. She needed her rest, and she needed it badly. So why was she awake?
Then she noticed the strange noises outside. Someone had entered the farm!

Applejack leaped out of her bed.

"Suck my apples and call me a horse... !"

Whoever it was, they were going to pay. This was private land.
Also, they had deprived her of her rightfully earned rest. That's what you call aggravating circumstances.

Applejack grabbed a lantern downstairs, and off she went into the night.

She expected to see the light of another lantern. But the orchard was completely dark. She had to follow the sounds.

With every minute that passed, her confidence was shrinking a little further. Applejack didn't like to think of herself as a coward, but she didn't like the darkness either, the deep shadows between the appletrees.

Somehow her hopes that she would stumble upon Snips and Snails, or any other pony committing harmless mischief, started to fade.

Then she saw light after all. Tiny, green dots in the darkness. Fireflies? Yeah, fireflies. The color was off, but whatever. It was also strange that they weren't buzzing around, just hanging in the air in an awfully geometrical formation.

They were floating in front of the silo where the ponies of the orchard had locked up the apples they had gathered during the day. Applejack also spotted a couple of shadows lurking around the structure.

Strange glowy lights or not, she was dealing with apple thieves!
Applejack dashed towards the silo and started to shout.

"HEY! Now wait just a gosh-darn second! WHAT do you think you're doing?"

The shadows twitched, and Applejack was granted a sweet second of triumph before they slowly turned around and filled her heart with terror.

-

Applejack didn't dare to come any closer so that the light of the lantern would have fallen unto the strangers, but she saw enough.

Big, glowing eyes. Glass helmets. Dozens of spindly arms and legs. Even as they were staring at her, some of their limbs continued to move, picking up apples and sticking long needles into them.

And the green lights? No wonder they were arranged in such a regular pattern.
They belonged to the underside of a flying saucer.

Deep inside Applejack's spine, something screamed. But Applejack didn't.
Instead, she turned around and walked back to the farmhouse. Slowly. Calmly. She felt the stares of the strangers on her skin, but she paid no attention to it.

Because none of this was actually happening.

She went upstairs and curled up in her bed.
None of this was happening.

And she managed to believe that.

Every time she heard another noise, her certitude was shaken, but then she would just rebuild it, good as new. Hour after hour. She was just dreaming, after all.

-

In the morning, she got up for another day of hard work.

She looked into the mirror and smiled.

"Just a silly ol' dream."

She hadn't been sleeping during the last seven hours. The dark rings under her eyes were more than just circumstantial evidence.

-

"Sis, you should try to sell some apples today."

"What, you mean... these apples over there?"

"Yup."

"Why... sure, big brother... Right away..."

She even put twice the load on the cart she'd usually carry. She happily ignored the tiny little holes that could be found on most of the apples. No one had ever stuck a creepy needle into one of THEIR apples, no sir! Best quality from Sweet Apple Ackers.

-

There were quite a lot of hungry ponies on the market place today. Applejack sold a lot of apples.

She watched in horror as the ponies were eating them, seemingly ignoring the tiny red worms that were squirming around inside. Applejack had never seen mycetozoa, the crawling slime molds, but if she had, she would have had the vocabulary to describe the red parasites which had infested her harvest.

One of them even crawled right out of the apple and into the corner of the eye of a pony while she was eating.

Of course Applejack didn't see these things.
Because they were not real.

"Gather around everpony! Get yourselves a taste of them apples! We have enough for everyone!"

She and her family had a job to do. Apples here, ponies there.

And that was the whole truth.

The only truth that mattered.

Comments

[Zyggy]

The world is what?

[NeuPferdfurt]

39702 They were told it's name was "Equestria".

[Katamariguy]

I am not enjoying reading this, but I keep reading anyway. Is something wrong with me?

[Tyek]

This is freaky. This is the definition of a grimdark.

[Darian Stephens]