• Published 21st Oct 2012
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The Assumption of Applejack -or- Appletheosis - Blue Print



Applejack deals with ascension to godhood.

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Chapter Eight: Thumos

Chapter Eight: Thumos

The next few days were, for Applejack, an exercise in creepy. It felt like somepony was constantly watching her while she worked. For now Big Macintosh was handling the sales while AJ did most of the physical labor, an inversion of their usual routine during applebucking season. Applejack’s recently heightened senses were absolutely wigging out while she was alone though. Every few minutes she would look over her shoulder and just stare, looking for a pony who wasn’t there. She could feel the wildlife around her, that didn’t bother her. When she felt a squirrel beside her, she could look and see the squirrel. When her senses told her if a ripe looking apple was still too sour, she could bite it and prove it to herself. The phantom pony, however, just wasn’t there, even though every fiber of her body was screaming out that it was. If this was what Pinkie felt like every moment of every day, no wonder the mare was crazy.

On the third day, things took a turn for the worse. Objects she would leave lying around would suddenly be close at hoof when she needed them. Apples would sort themselves. Every few hours a glass of cold cider would appear beside her. Whoever this ghost was, at least they were hospitable.

Finally, around four thirty in the afternoon, an entire salad bowl with her favorite dressing just showed up on a stump while her back was turned. Applejack screamed and reared back, stomping the ground with enough force to cause a localized earthquake. The grass and trees for a dozen feet around shot up and out to outrageous proportions. Another scream wailed back at her from somewhere in the jumble of stalks and twigs. Applejack’s jaw set harder than a block of granite while her eyes took on a dangerous glow. Stomping through the weeds she came upon a pink-maned, green-furred pegasus tangled in the branches of an apple tree. The pegasus grinned weakly at AJ. “Uh, hi!” she said.

“Merry. May. Whut. In. Tartarus. Are. You. Doin’. In. Mah. Tree!”

… helping?

“Y’all nearly scared me ta death! How long have ya been sneakin’ about!?”

all week…

Applejack shook with barely constrained rage. In a hoarse whisper she asked. “And whut possessed ya ta do that?”

I wanted to show you that I could be helpful so you’d like me…

“Well, it ain’t workin’.” Applejack telekinetically tore the pony from the entangling branches that held her prisoner and continued to hold her as she trotted out of the farm. When she was a short ways from town, Applejack released the hapless pegasus and did an about-face. As she trotted away from her erstwhile stalker, she heard Merry May call out to her, but didn’t respond. Never had Applejack felt so furious in her life. She absolutely seethed at the insincerity and flattery of the ponies of Ponyville. As she stomped towards the storage barn the earth blackened under her hooves, accompanied by little wisps of ash. Nearby plants wilted at her anger and she frankly didn’t care. She sat down in the mostly empty building, trying to calm down before she broke something, or somepony.

A good half hour later there was a knock at the door. Applejack ignored it. A timid, wavery voice called out from the other side. “Hay Applejack. I-I’m sorry if I upset you. I got you something to apologize.” Silence. “I guess I’ll leave it here.”

Applejack waited until she heard the flapping of a departing pegasus before retrieving the gift. It turned out to be a basket of chocolates and edible flowers. Snorting in displeasure, she grabbed a chocolate orange out of the basket and started munching on it. Admittedly, it made her feel a bit better. It still felt insincere, but at least it was tasty insincerity. Sighing, she turned back to the orchard. There was plenty more to do today. She had just gotten the apple baskets laid out under a row of trees when Big Macintosh galloped up all in a lather.

“Sis, be ready.”

“What’s that supposed ta mean?” She looked back in the direction that her brother was staring. A horde of ponies could be seen in the distance marching along the path. In the front of the procession was somepony holding a hastily made banner that read, “Cheer up the Princess Parade!” A certain pink and green somepony. All the stress, insanity, betrayal, frustration, confusion, and empty flattery of the last couple of weeks boiled up in Applejack as her eyes narrowed to pinpricks. Big Mac backed away, slowly at first, then at a gallop. Applejack threw back her head and let out a scream of rage that shook the very foundations of the world and perforated the air above her. She extended her wings to their fullest breadth and rose into the air, carried on a wave of pure magic. As she rose, glowing green and orange with foxfire and magic, the earth around the farm rumbled and shifted aside as massive brambles shot up from the dirt, peeling aside the fences and gates. They snaked to impossible heights and criss-crossed the skies overhead. Within moments the entire farm was covered in a dome of thorns. Not a single space was left where even the smallest pony could squeeze through.

As soon as the dreadful spell was complete, all the color drained out of the exhausted alicorn. The sound of her falling was far too quiet for anypony to hear.

***

Far off in Canterlot, two sets of ears perked up then immediately flattened. The Sun and Moon shared a glance that pierced stone and earth from opposite sides of the palace.

***

Outside Sweet Apple Acres, an impromptu parade found itself suddenly stymied. Merry May dropped her cheerful banner in shock. There had been some horrible, unnatural keening noise, and then this massive barrier of thorns showed up. Was… Was Princess Applejack ok? The pegasus looked behind herself at the ponies assembled. There were quite a few of them looking at her expectantly. It honestly made her feel very important, kinda like Mayor Mare or Pinkie Pie. She’d never been paid any serious attention before now. The mare drew herself up to the fullest of her little frame. As the official… well… unofficial-official hoofmaiden of the new Princess, it was her duty to rescue her if she was in trouble. She could make up for whatever she had done wrong this morning. “E-everypony!” Dozens of eyes gazed at her. “Th-the Princess needs our help! She has been trapped by an evil enchantress and it is up to us to break through and revive her!” She actually had no idea, but it sounded right. Wasn’t that the plot of Sleeping Handsome?

Trotting up to the barrier, she started gnawing and pulling at one of the nasty tasting weeds. The stems were a lot tougher than they seemed. The rest of the group started pitching in, but it felt like no progress was being made. After a few minutes of this, a unicorn galloped up from behind the group and charged at the thorns at a dead run. Just as Merry was about to call out to her, she disappeared in a flash of purple. Merry’s eyes went huge at that. “Hay, everypony! Uh, don’t hit the thorns at high speed.”

***

Twilight Sparkle wasn’t going to let anything or anypony keep her from seeing if Applejack was alright. She’d been in her library sorting books when some kind of commotion had taken place outside. She’d ignored it. A few minutes later though, there had been a faint wailing sound on the wind, and a subtle rush of strange magic. It wasn’t unicorn magic at all. It felt a little like one of the times when Princess Celestia had let her stand next to her while she raised the sun. It was still different than that feeling though, a little wilder, far more uncontrolled, yet also fainter. Putting two and two together wasn’t hard for the scholar, and she had rushed out the door as soon as she finished the equation.

Twilight gave a low whistle as the massive dome of thorns hove into view. Non-unicorn magic indeed. Growth spells were pretty tricky, but something of this scale and complexity was outright impossible. There was a group of ponies fruitlessly trying to pull a section of it apart, but Twilight didn’t have any time for that. She teleported straight through the bramble onto the other side. The farm was in shade, but otherwise seemed the same as always. None of the Apples seemed to be about, so she rushed towards the farmhouse, praying to Celestia, Harmony, and anything else she could think of that AJ was ok.

***

Merry May had managed to clear a hole big enough to stick her head through when she heard a rush of flapping overhead. Worming free, she glanced up in time to see both Luna and Celestia cruising overhead, trailed by what must be an entire Wing of the Royal Pegasus Guard. The guards, at some unseen signal, broke formation and descended on the mass of thorns, circling it neatly. Three of them landed near the erstwhile parade. She and her posse soon found themselves shunted away from the thorn wall as Celestia and Luna landed in their place. Merry May furrowed her brow in determination. They could pull her away, but they couldn’t stop her.

***

Luna fretted to herself. The gossip she had overheard as they had flown over Ponyville had been bad. Apparently Applejack had been throwing ponies forcibly off of her farm, handing out feathers as presents to her most loyal, and even cackling in the library over the past few days. Celestia was over by the barrier, one hoof resting on the thorns. No doubt she was quietly drawing and quartering herself for another ‘failure’ while the situation continued to flow past her unawares. Luna shook her head. Applejack would NOT fall like she had. There were plenty of fallen gods and goddesses, but there would not be another one, not here, not now, not if Luna had anything to do with it.