//------------------------------//
// Freaky Thursday  
// Story: Apple Pie 
// by GauntletsofRai 
//------------------------------//

	It was a beautiful Wednesday morning as Applejack trotted through the apple orchard to the barn that had been re-purposed for her family to live in. She had already pulled a stubborn stump from the road side and fed rooted the carrot and potato patches before the sun had even risen above the horizon. She was still thinking about that amazing party that Pinkie Pie had thrown last night. Even though she had to leave early, she had had a really good time. Pinkie Pie insisted that she stay longer, but Applejack gave the same excuse she always did when at one of Pinkie Pie's parties. The old 'lots to do tomorrow' was tried and true. But honestly, Applejack just liked to get up early.     

She could already smell the savory wafts of air that carried the scent of breakfast to her muzzle. She inhaled deeply, remembering the lack of food in her stomach, and quickened her trot. She could already taste the delicious slices of toast smothered with Granny Smith's special apple butter, followed by a delicious plate of eggs and an apple or two on the side. Granny might be old, but she was still one heck of a cook.      

Applejack reached the old wooden gate that surrounded the house and jumped over the stile that was lodged between the posts. As she cantered up to the house, she heard a repetitive ringing sound around the corner. She looked around the corner of the house and saw her big brother, Big Macintosh, hammering away on a horseshoe that glowed red hot on his anvil.  

"Hey Big Mac, smells like Granny's 'bout done with breakfast! Why dont'cha head on in?"    

The massive red work horse dropped the hammer out of his mouth, brushing away a trickle of sweat as he looked up at her. "Eeyup."        

Applejack rolled her eyes at her brother's short-winded response and trotted into the house as he followed behind her. She smiled at the beautiful scene before that was laid out before her. Her little sister, Applebloom, was filling the table with hot slices of toast, jars of jam and apple butter, a smorgesboard of different fruits arranged pleasantly in a bowl, piles and piles of fresh scrambled eggs, slabs of cold butter, and as the center piece, a huge pile of steaming waffles.  

Her stomach rumbled violently as she began to drool. She thought she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. Granny Smith hobbled to the table, toting a giant pitcher of orange juice to the table. "Alrighty now, lets git to eatin'!" The four ponies pulled up their own chairs and sat down eagerly at the table. The sunrise cast a gorgeous orange glow on the table, catching the food in a lovely picturesque light. Applejack paused for a moment and stared at the scene. Her family gathered round, a table full of good food, and a beautiful sunrise. What could be better? She broke the serene feeling by shoveling a mound of eggs and waffles onto her plate. She ate until all the tastes blurred together into one ultimate super- taste. 


* * *


It was a beautiful Wednesday morning as Pinkie Pie lay asleep in her bed. The sun had risen a solid hour ago, and she had refused to get up. After the sunrise hit her pillow, she had scooted down the bed until she escaped the rays. Then the sun crept down further, back into her face. She scooted once more. She lay in the bed as the rays of sunlight once more shifted over her face. With a grunt of displeasure, she rolled over and hit the floor, still refusing to get up.     

Her ear twitched as she cracked open one sleepy eye. She gasped with pleasure at the sight before her. There were three green-frosted cupcakes in a box left over from last night's party. Man, what a party! She had not had a party that good since... last week! But of course, party-pooper Applejack had to leave before it got really good, like always. How much work is there to do on a farm anyways? She loved and respected the pony, but Pinkie wished she would loosen up just once. It would do her good.     

Her drifting train of thought was magnetically pulled back to the day-old cupcakes sitting in the box. Mmm, breakfast! She shot out her tongue and scooped up all three cupcakes in one mouth-full, chewing around the paper cups. Cup cake cups? Cake cups? Cupcake cake cups? Whatever. She spit the "cupcake-cake-cup-things" out of her mouth and bounced onto her hooves. She trotted over to her mirror-desk and reached for her hairbrush with her mouth. Rarity called it a "toilette", but Pinkie thought that was a weird name, and it sounded too much like toilet, and why would she keep her hairbrush in a toilet? Woah. Got WAY off track, yet again. Oh, right! Hairbrush!     

Pinkie ran the brush through her mane, wincing as it caught in a tangle of curls. She tugged hard to get it out, and when it did, the force of her pulling sent her rolling backwards into her beaten-up wardrobe, knocking several articles of old clothing and three rain boots down on top of her. She shook off the detritus and decided that her mane was good for now.  

Pinkie clip-clopped down the hallway, stopping to look into the twins's room. Their cribs were empty. It must be later than she thought! She hopped down the stairs two at a time and landed at the bottom of the stairwell. She cantered into the kitchen behind the store-front of Sugarcube Corner, spotting all four Cakes sitting down at the small kitchen table. Their plates were already clean and Mr. Cake was already getting up to haul in flour sacks for baking.   

He looked up and saw Pinkie in the doorway. "Well hey there, Pinkie! Looks like you sure slept good last night!"   

Pinkie looked around, searching for the clock on the wall. "Mr. Cake, what time is it? How long have I been sleeping?"    

Mr. Cake rubbed his chin with a hoof, thinking. "Well, you passed out a few minutes after everypony left, which was about one 'o clock. It sounded like the party was over, so I went downstairs and walked you back up to bed." Searching for the clock, he swiveled around until he found it laying on the kitchen counter. "And right now, it's about half past nine."    

Pinkie gasped and tensed her entire body. "I'M LATE!!!" She zipped through the kitchen, knocking over various kitchenware as she searched for something.              

Mrs. Cake ducked as Pinkie bounded over the table to search through the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen. "Pinkie, whatever are you doing?!"      

Pinkie stopped, panting frantically and looking for something among the kitchenware she had knocked to the floor. She inhaled with recollection and bounced to the counter towards a breadbox covered with decorative cozy. She pulled the cozy away to reveal, not a breadbox, but an oblong orange birthday present tied with a red bow. "THERE IT IS!"    

Pinkie shot out from the kitchen leaving Two very confused ponies and their twins in a cloud of dust. She burst out the front door of Sugarcube Corner and sped down the street to the town square galloping as fast as she could go. Skidding around a corner, she bumped into a couple of barrels, spilling their contents onto the street. She shot an apologetic glance at the pony who owned the Barrels 'n' Buckets store, and then sped off down the street. She could see ponies setting up shop in the square, putting various goods onto display carts. She had hoped Applejack was not there yet, because she was supposed to give her the surprise that she had forgotten last night.  

Up ahead, a young colt dropped a jar of marbles, causing them to spill out onto the road. Pinkie tried to hop over them but ended up landing right on top of them, causing her to slip about on her hooves uncontrollably. She slipped froward and skid face first along the cobbled street, a few marbles rolling beneath her to keep her moving.    

Pinkie slid to a stop and looked up at Applejack, who was standing behind her apple cart and giving her a positively puzzled face. Pinkie dropped the present she had been carrying in her mouth and offered it up to Applejack. "Surprise!"   

Applejack's puzzled expression became even more puzzled. "Pinkie, what are you doin' slippin around like that? You could really hurt somepony like that!"    

Pinkie sat up on her haunches and drew in a deep breath. "I was gonna' give this to you last night but I couldn't find it and then you left before I could, and then I was looking for it all night but then I passed out, and I found it this morning, so here it is!" She offered the present once more with a wide grin. "Happy late Birthday, AJ!"    

Applejack smiled and rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, my birthday ain't for another month!"     

Pinkie sat, stock -still, staring at nothing in particular, trying to piece things together. Finally, she got up on to her hooves and scratched her head. "Then what was that party last night for?"     

"Beats me. It's not the first time you threw a party just 'cause, so I didn't ask."      

Pinkie looked down at her hooves, her brow furrowed in thought. Seemingly out of nowhere, she pulled out a brown notebook with three balloons on the front. She flipped through the pages and stared intently at it. Her face then lit up with comprehension. "OHHH, it's the fourteenth of NEXT month, not this one!" Pinkie put the notebook back from wherever it came from, tsk'ing at herself and shaking her head. "Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie. Off your game again."   

Applejack sat, still confused, as Pinkie talked to herself. But nothing out of the usual there. "Oh well, you can have it anyways! I'll just get you a bigger, better present NEXT month!"   

Applejack dodged the present being shoved her way, looking a little uncomfortable. "Oh, Pinkie, ya'll aint gotta' do that. Really, I can wait a month!"    

Pinkie pressed the present closer to her face, peering over it with huge, sparkling eyes as she whispered. "Open it!"   

Applejack acquiesced with a sigh and took the present by the bow. She pulled on it with her teeth as the bow unraveled and lowered the box to the ground. She smiled expectantly as she opened the lid of the box. Her smile faded to an even more deeply puzzled look than was previously thought possible. Inside the box was a very strange wooden object shaped like a spool of thread, but elongated to the length of about two hoofs*, and the width of about three or four inches. At the center of the object was a carving of two apples, one light and one dark. It looked as though a section of each apple had been bitten out and replaced in the opposite apple's empty spot. The carving of the apples was surrounded by very strange markings that looked like the old runes that ponies in the north used long, long ago.         

Applejack lifted her head and spoke in an even tone. "Pinkie Pie. What the heck is this?"      

Pinkie practically bounced up and down with joy. "Do you like it?! I bought it from that new antiques mare that moved in last week! I saw it had apples on it, so I thought you'd might like it!" Applejack picked the strange object up in her mouth and set it on her apple cart, staring at it thoughtfully. Pinkie instantaneously dropped to the ground like a rock, her joy dissipating. "You don't like it, do you?"     

Applejack looked around, feeling a little trapped, and less than willing to say anything that would make Pinkie cry, especially out here in public. "No, I love it! Honest! It's just... I ain't never seen anything like it is all!"       

Pinkie inflated with joy and started bouncing again. "I KNEW IT! It is pretty cool, huh? The antiques mare didn't even know what it was! It's probably one of a kind!"  

Applejack looked sidelong at the object. "You c'n say that again."       

Pinkie seriously resisted the urge to literally "say that again," having learned her lesson that it was just an expression. "Welp, I'm off to work! Enjoy your present, AJ!" As she started to walk away, she stepped on an errant marble and bumped into the apple cart. The strange object wobbled and fell into open air as Applejack dove to catch it. The object landed on Pinkie's flank as Applejack caught it in her mouth. A blue spark arced from her to the object to Pinkie and then a dizzy feeling fell over both of them. In an instant, the feeling was gone and they both stood up, wondering what had happened.  

Pinkie shook her head, looking nonplussed. "Welp, see ya later AJ!"                       

Applejack waved a hoof weakly in parting and stared tentatively at the object. She set the thing behind the apple cart as a customer trotted up, forgetting about it for now.         


* * *
           

Later that evening, Applejack returned to her home as the sun sat lazily on the horizon. She toted her apple cart up the hill to the barn and unhitched the latch at the gate. She parked the heavy cart next to the barn and undid the thick leather harness. She took a sack in her teeth and scooped in the unsold apples, along with a couple of carrots and some other vegetables. As she cleared away the last of the produce, she uncovered Pinkie's strange gift. She eyed it warily, remembering the weird feeling it gave her earlier that day. But then, she heard Twilight Sparkle's voice bouncing around in her head. You sure are superstitious some times, AJ.       

Oh what the hay? It's just a piece of wood, right? She scooped the strange item in with her fruits and vegetables and headed into the barn. She set the produce down in the wooden box by the door and took the wooden item and headed up the stairs to her room.  

She placed the object on her dresser and stared at it thoughtfully for a minute. But no matter how long she looked at it, she could not shake the feeling that something was just not right about it. That Pinkie Pie can be mighty strange sometimes. 

Her little sister Applebloom trotted by the door and saw her looking at the object. She poked her head in and looked up to the top of the dresser. "Hey sis, what's that?"   

"It's just a birthday present from Pinkie Pie."   

Applebloom tilted her head and frowned. "But yer' birthday's not till next month!"    

"Yeah, I know."   

Applebloom stood with her head tilted to one side as she thought about that for a moment. Applejack walked out the door and patted her on the head. "Never you mind, Applebloom. Let's git' on down to dinner, now." The little filly shrugged and followed her sister down the stairs to the kitchen.   


* * *
        

Applejack walked back up the stairs, her belly full and her eyes heavy. It was well past dark as she climbed into her bed, sighing in comfort at the soft pillows. She drifted peacefully off to sleep...        

When she woke up, her room had changed colors. Where there had once been clean rustic furniture there was now piles of extremely bright clothes piled on the floor. She got up quickly and hit the floor, her head spinning with confusion. And then she looked down at her hooves.      

Where there had one been two finely muscled forelegs with an orange coat, were two short ones covered in eye-popping pink. She started hyperventilating as she looked for a mirror. She found a dirty one shoved against the wall and covered with miscellaneous objects. Her heart stopped dead in her chest as she beheld, not her own face...  

But Pinkie Pie's.             


* * *