Cursed Apples
Applejack stood out amongst the apple trees of her family's orchard, her sunny yellow hair a distracting contrast in comparison to the darker green leaves. It was but another day of business for the farm, and with it being Nightmare Night, today was no exception and still no reason to be slacking off from work. While many ponies would be busy throughout the day perfecting their costumes and making the final preparations before the big night, she had to make sure that all the necessary apple tress that needed a bucking were given so. But then again, no other ponies were up this early except the Apple family. Applejack took in a deep breath, the sun slowly rising and lighting up the entire area surrounding and covering Ponyville and the farm.
"Another morning of apple-bucking..." she said quietly, but proudly.
And so, she got to work. Moving to the nearest tree, she prepared herself, facing away from the trunk. She calmed herself, took aim and - THWAK. One by one, shiny red orbs of delicious fruit fell into the pre-positioned baskets, not one touching the earth upon which the tree sat. Pleased with her first bucking of the day, she continued on, moving from one tree to the next, bucking to her hearts desire. She was making quick work and she knew it, and neither was she working up a sweat. The cooler air helped with that, but as it was Nightmare Night, she didn't have many trees to buck for the day anyway.
After a few more trees, Applejack looked back upon her work so far today. Behind her, hundreds of apples lay still in baskets, the leaves above them bare for another season, the leaves fluttering gently in the small breeze of the morning. Her first job of the day was done, one of many in preparation for the business of the night. She too her leave from the orchard and began the small trek to the barn. She passed many a fruit-full tree, the tips of a few fruit bat wings could be seen poking out from the foliage, sleeping away the day. At least they aren't vampire fruit bats, she thought to herself.
Arriving at the barn, she found her brother Big Macintosh working on a contraption of some sorts, most likely one that would help him in ploughing the fields for the next season or something, she didn't know. She did know that he always came up with these schemes after reading through one or two farming magazines that he was subscribed to. She also knew that with his attention fully on his work, she could have a little fun. It was like this every Nightmare Night since she had taken over the family business. Every year she would play some pranks on her siblings to get them into the mood. It's like getting a present during Hearth's Warming, she reminded herself every year. Quietly, she snook up and hid behind a bale of hay, being careful not disturb the barn doors on the way in, or to rustle the hay she had taken position behind. She cleared her throat and put on her best Granny Smith impression.
"Big Macintosh, where's mah glasses at?" she croaked. His ears pricked up, and slowly he spun round. Looking around, he was bemused to find he couldn't see Granny Smith anywhere in the barn. Sighing audibly, he withdrew from his current task and started to make his way outside, in the hope that she might be outside wandering about blindly. Just as he made it to the barn door, he paused.
A rustling could be heard to his side, nothing else. He turned his head slowly, the rustling of the hay bale only intensifying. He turned his full attention to the bale now, and slowly extended a hoof out to touch it. Although he was a physically strong earth pony, he was visibly shaking from what could be hiding amongst the soft needles. and of course, the moment he touched but one of the needles - nothing. The rustling stopped. He exhaled, relieved that nothing happened. Perhaps it was just the wind, he thought to himself.
It was then Applejack made her move. She pounced from the hay bale, the needles flying everywhere in all directions, and very loudly shouting 'boo' all the while. The resulting surprise was big, big enough to scare Big Macintosh into a small ball, curling up at the entrance to the barn, as Applejack stood on her back legs, her fore-hooves outstretched way above her head. Unlike her brother, she was laughing her head off and before long she was on the floor ill with laughter. Upon realisation that it was his sister, Big McIntosh recomposed himself and stood up once again.
"You know ah don't like it when you do that." He said plainly. Even after the sudden ordeal he just went through, his voice was quick to stable unlike his trembling hooves.
"You shoulda seen ya face!" Applejack said between laughs.
"Granny didn't need her glasses, did she?" Big Macintosh already knew the answer, so he made his back over to his work in the centre of the barn.
"Nope, but she will need you to pick up those apple baskets out on the orchard. Can't have those just sitting around today!" He stopped again, shook his head in defeat and made his way back to the barn doors. This time, he made it all the way out.
Pleased that her celebrations of Nightmare Night were well under way, she made her way out of the barn and into the house. She waved kindly to Granny Smith, who was busy with cooking up some food, and made her way upstairs to Apple Bloom's room. Being a filly, she still wasn't entirely used to waking up this early, and as Nightmare Night was a holiday for the school fillies, there was no chance that she was likely to get up before lunch. Peeking into her bedroom, sure enough, Apple Bloom was fast asleep in her bed. This gave Applejack another opportunity.
Stealthily, she crept along the wooden floor, being extra careful so as to not disturb Apple Bloom with a creaky floorboard, and slipped under the bed. Giggling quietly to herself, she prepared her legs from last bucking of the day. She cleared her throat like before and very loudly shouted "HOWDY!" before giving the underside of the bed a swift bucking, not enough to launch Apple Bloom into the air, but enough to knock her awake. She was quick to make her exit, as several cushions and stuffed toys followed her out of the door, as well as an equally loud "APPLEJACK!". Pleased with another successful scare, she made her way back downstairs, where Granny Smith waited, a stern look on her face.
"You know, you really shouldn't treat the young'un like that so early." she said.
"But Granny, today's an important day for the family business. Ah mean, with Big Macintosh busy with the farm this year, and you pretty much avoiding everything related to tonight, who's gonna come down with me to Ponyville and help with the stall for tonight?" she explained.
"That may be true, but Apple Bloom doesn't get many days off. Maybe next time keep her sleeping, okay?" Applejack shrugged and left to make her way down to Ponyville to check up on the progress of the town's festivities for the night.
---
The town was an amalgamation of bright and dark colours, all of the rainbow imaginable possible to identify. Everywhere Applejack looked, Pinkie Pie could be seen bobbing in and our of view, putting balloons here or ribbons there. It wouldn't be a celebration if Pinkie Pie didn't get involved. Applejack made her way to the stall reserved for Sweet Apple Acres. Unlike the previous celebrations where she set up an apple bobbing stall, this one would take on a more business-heavy approach. In bright orange lettering, a sign said: "ZAP APPLE JAM COVERED APPLES, 2 BITS A PIECE".
While either products were well known and loved on their own, the Apples had never attempted to mix the two. During Nightmare Night, toffee apples were a common sight before they were eaten in a flash by some little filly or another. Applejack thought that this year they should introduce a new twist on the idea. This did mean business with Filthy Rich was down on account of this, but Applejack was sure it would work out.
Pleased with the progress the town was making on the night's festivities, she gave a friendly wave to Pinkie Pie, who by now had started to shout out Applejack's name from across the road, and made her way back to the farm.
---
Back on the farm, Applejack decided to check on Big Macintosh, to see how far along he was in getting the apples in for tonight. Unlike earlier when entering the barn, she swung the barn doors open wide. With a big grin and closed eyes, she spoke.
"You got them apples in yet, Big Mac?" she asked in earnest.
The only problem with this question was the answer - there wasn't one. Applejack opened her eyes to find the barn empty. There was no sign of Big Macintosh. There was no sign of the contraption he was working in. More importantly, there were no apples in the barn! Consarn that brother of mine. What's he up to? she thought.
Taking a quick tour of the barn, she explored every nook and cranny to make sure he or the apples weren't here. In only finding hay bales, she gave up the search in the barn and made her way to the house. Flinging the door open, she began to speak but soon stopped. Like the barn, the front rooms were deserted, save for the furnishings. But not a single pony could be found.
"Granny Smith? Apple Bloom?" she asked. "Big Macintosh?" Her voice grew in anticipation. This was unlike any Apple family member - to just up and leave their work, it was unheard of! Making triple sure that nopony was in the house, she checked all of the rooms, and every orifice that could house a living soul. But to no avail. She knew they couldn't have left the farm. They all had work of some form to do during the day, and they couldn't have gone to Ponyville, otherwise she would have seen them on the way back. The only other place they could have gone would have been in the orchard somewhere. and so she set off, in search of her relatives in the miles of apple trees.
---
It was well beyond nightfall that Applejack had started to give up on finding them in the orchard. By now, moonlight was filtering in through the treetops, the gentle breeze of early morning was picking up, and she needed to get back to the house, put on her costume and go to the celebrations in town. Silent in her defeat, she trudged along up to the edge of the orchard so as to make a beeline towards the house. Against the purple hue of the night, the dark green leaves continued to stand out against the sky. She was glad they still looked bright in their own way, even if she wasn't.
One tree caught her eye though, just as she made it to the edge. This one was a sickly grey, the apples themselves taking on a blood red shade of their usual juicy redness. Being a stubborn pony though, Applejack couldn't just ignore an apple related problem, even if she had other things to do. and being Applejack, she took to the problem in the only way Applejack would.
With a large THWAK, she moved out of the way to let the apples fall from their grey bindings and onto the floor. But they didn't fall. They didn't even shake from the disturbance.
"What in the -?" Confused, she took another shot at it, continually wailing into the trunk. This tree was as stubborn as she was, and still not one apple budged. She took one last hit and - one fell.
"How do you like them apples?" she asked, glowing triumphantly.
But the apple stopped falling, and stopped right in front of her face. It became as still as it was when up in the tree. Confused even more, she gave it a few nudges with her hooves, trying to push it away from her, but this did nothing. It didn't even spin it on the invisible pedestal it now sat upon. A few seconds passed where nothing happened, and Applejack made no contact with the apple, not even physical contact, but the other blood red apples followed suit. But instead of falling as fast as the first one, they gracefully floated downwards and hovered at the same level as her face. At most, around thirty apples surrounded Applejack, all of them not making one single movement. The only thing moving was Applejack, who was getting more and more spooked by the minute as the apples almost stared at her. After a full rotation, she came face to face with the first one again.
Slowly, but every so slightly, the apple began to shudder, turning slowly. and thus, the real terror began to show. Small bat-like appendages began to form out of the flesh of the apple, extending to form wings that slowly beat up and down to keep the apple floating, a large mouth began to open, rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth baring themselves in the moonlight, the glint bouncing off of them. A snarl emanated from behind the fangs, a snarl similar to that of a vampire fruit bat. Now it fully faced Applejack, it's wings extended to its maximum length and it's fangs bared to the full stretch. Applejack could do nothing but stare in terror at what was in front of her, fear paralysing her from running. She heard a few snaps and breaks to her side, and other floating apples started to do the same, all forming their own bat wings and producing their own fangs.
Her legs found the energy to move again, and she ran for the house. She ran as fast as she could, the fear of her situation digging in deep to her physical strength. As much as she tried, she couldn't help but look back behind her. The apples were following, not close behind, but near enough to keep track. She could hear their screeches, the sound hurting her ears, their cries painful as she heard them more and more. She spurred herself on, the lump in her throat getting bigger and bigger as fear kick-started her heart into pumping viciously with the same power as she would with bucking apple trees.
She made it to the house, and swung the door open. Greeting her were more apples, except these ones sat on the ground. Like their bat cousins, they slowly turned and extended a greeting, gaping, toothy smile. Slimy green legs grew out from underneath them and slowly they were walking towards Applejack. Shouting from the increasing fright, she left the house and ran for the barn, the last safe solace of Sweet Apple Acres.
She ran in, closing the doors behind her. While the apples couldn't get into the barn any other way, that didn't stop their shrieks from piercing through the wooden walls. With her back against the door, Applejack slumped down, and covered her ears with her Stetson as best she could. She could still hear them, gathering outside the doors, figuring out a way to enter the barn and continue her misery.
But soon, she heard a new sound. A rustling sound. Looking up, the hay bales directly opposite her were rustling sporadically, and didn't carry any rhythm to the rustling. She got up, leaving her post at the barn doors and moved towards the hay bales. Without the rustling or the screeching, the only thing to be heard was the heavy breath Applejack took with each hoofstep. As she got closer, the bales shook more violently, a low groaning to be heard. She was but a hoofstep away when the hay bales exploded.
Amongst the needles that flew through the air, three pony shaped beings jumped out of their hiding places, causing Applejack to jump out of her shell, even if there wasn't one after the apples started chasing her. Slowly she backed away towards the barn doors, and they followed just as slow, groaning and moaning as they went along. Pale green liquid oozed our of their muzzles, mud and leaves covering their bodies and vacant stares only made confirm Applejack confirm her worst fears about the trio - zombie ponies!
And now, the barn doors flew open! Applejack spun round and an influx of apples, both winged and legged, swarmed into the barn. She stood in the centre, watching as legged apples covered her only exit, the zombies were closing up behind her and the winged apples flew above, covering an unlikely aerial exit. Applejack broke down into tears, cowered and crawled up into a ball as they slowly encircled her, blotting out anything else that wasn't a monster.
"Get me out of this nightmare!" she wailed. The apples swooped in and then -
"That's enough!" A bright purple aura enveloped the monsters, holding them still. Applejack looked up, fear still in her eyes and heart. At the barn doors stood Twilight Sparkle, her horn glowing with the same purple aura that held the monsters at bay.
"Twilight? Is that you?" she asked.
"Yes, Applejack, it's me. But I think there's somepony else that you should be talking to, not me." Twilight outstretched a hoof.
Applejack followed her aim, towards the three zombie ponies that were not covered in the aura. Slowly, they pulled the mud and leaves off of one another, and wiped their muzzles free of the liquid ooze - the other members of the Apple family now stood before her. Applejack stood there, her jaw wide open in aghast, as her siblings slowly began to chuckle themselves away.
"Somepony mind explaining to me what's going on?" Applejack asked.
"Well, we got so fed up with yer tricks every Nightmare Night, we thought we would get you back good an' proper this year." explained Apple Bloom. "To get you to know how we felt all those times."
"Eeyup." chimed in Big Macintosh.
"I did say to leave the young'un alone like that." said Granny Smith.
"But why didn't you saying anything? Why didn't you tell me that you didn't like my preparations for ya during Nightmare Night?"
"Ahem... Ah did this morning..." Big Macintosh had an angry face that Applejack didn't like, but recoiled all the same.
"...I guess ya did..." and very quietly, she said "I'm sorry, y'all."
With a smile on their faces, they gathered around the farm worker, and embraced her in a family hug. With all of them on equal footing, they departed from the hug and now faced towards Twilight.
"Thanks for yer help tonight, Twilight!" said Apple Bloom.
"Wait - you were in on this?!" asked Applejack. "And did you turn these good apples into monsters?"
"Yes, AJ, I was in on it. Apple Bloom came to me a few days back and explained everything out of worry you weren't listening to her like an older sibling should be. When somepony is worried about something or they don't like something that you've done, you should listen to them, help them in understanding or just to meet on equal grounds." explained Twilight. "And I didn't make these apples come to life. Discord did. I felt he needed something to do after contracting "blue flu" again and cramping up the library once more, but he did it out of pure friendship once he had heard Apple Bloom's story."
"Oh. Still a waste of apples if ya ask me."
Twilight giggled. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to put them back to normal by the time we get to the fair in town."