{Dark}{Tragedy}{Teen}
Twilight hurried to clean up her study before her guest arrived. She had planned every last detail so tonight would be perfect. The last thing she needed was to have Spike walk in on her again.
Light tapping sounded from upstairs. She hurried up to meet her guest at the door. With one quick motion, her magic opened the door up.
"Applejack! I'm so glad you could make it," Twilight cheered.
"Thanks, ah reckon ah could use a break after all the weird things happenin' lately." Applejack walked inside and took a look around. "Spike is asleep already?"
"Yeah, he was really tired. Follow me; I have already heated us up some tea." Twilight gestured into the study. The two went in and took seats around a small round table.
"Ah ain't much for tea, but since ya already made it I can try some."
"Thank you, that's all I ask." Twilight levitated her teacup to her mouth and took a sip.
Applejack used her hooves to lift the steamy tea up to her nose. It smelled like flowers and cinnamon, and she took a sip. "Well, ah wouldn't normally agree with Rarity, but ya do make some good tea."
"Thank you, so tell me, how are things on the farm?"
"Awful," Applejack replied. "Ever since ya brought us that letter that Big Mac got drafted, we can barely keep up with the work. Can't imagine why Celestia would re-institute the draft at a time like this."
"I wish there was something I could do to help, maybe I could do something to help you relax."
After another sip of tea, Applejack was already feeling relaxed. "Ah reckon this tea is relaxin' enough. Long as ah got my farm ah don't much care that so many ponies are movin' out of Ponyville."
"I know, it's too bad they discovered dangerous pockets of magic under the ground. Ponyville was growing so fast."
"Whew." Applejack lifted her head back up and rubbed her eyes. "Ah must have worked harder than ah thought today, ah'm already plumb tuckered out."
"Drink some more tea, it'll help. You can even sleep here tonight, with me."
"Thanks, but ah got to keep an eye on Applebloom." She set down her tea and headed for the door. "Got—to get back before ah—fall asleep," she yawned.
"I insist," Twilight ordered. A plank of wood fell in front of the door and a magical lock clicked it into place.
"Wha—Twilight?" Applejack was feeling a bit woozy from standing up.
"There, there, why don't you come sit down and finish your tea?"
"Ah don't want no tea." Applejack followed her over to the table and sat down. It was getting so hard to stand in her current exhausted state. "Ah've got ta get home, Applebloom and Granny will be worried."
"Finish your tea, and I'll walk you home."
"Ah said I don't want you—"
"Finish your tea!" Twilight commanded.
"Twi—Twilight you feelin' alright?" Applejack glanced down at her tea. A sudden thought entered her mind, though it made no sense in her drowsy state. She had gotten tired as soon as she drank the tea. Twilight must have put something in it. With the strength she had left she lifted the cup, making a show of accidently spilling it and dropping the cup.
"Applejack!"
"Sorry—ah'm so tired. Ah'll just finish yours for ya." Applejack yawned and smiled weakly.
"That's ok, I'll make you more." Twilight removed her tea from the table and went into the kitchen.
Uncomfortable at what was going on, Applejack began to crawl towards the door. She had heard stories of ponies being taken advantage of, but surely this was some misunderstanding. The tea, the drowsiness. . . she knew she should not have stayed up so late last night.
Applejack reached the door and tried to undo the lock. She was probably being paranoid, but she'd rather be paranoid while safe at home.
Twilight walked back into the room hovering a new cup of tea for her friend. "Applejack, where do you think you're going?"
"Gotta—get home Twi." Applejack slumped against the door.
"This is your last chance, drink your tea." Twilight hovered it to her lips to help her drink it.
"No," Applejack mumbled. She weakly tried to swat it away. She managed to spill some of it, but Twilight's magic kept a firm grip.
Frustrated, Twilight flung the cup against the wall. "Fine, if you don't want to do this the easy way, we'll do it the hard way. I've only had to use this spell once on a conscious pony and it sounded quite unpleasant."
"What?" Applejack fought to keep her eyelids open and her focus on Twilight. It all felt so wrong that adrenaline had begun to pump through her veins, helping her fight off the drowsiness. "Ya are gonna do what to me?"
"You'll see soon enough. I do hate to make noise, got to be mindful of the neighbors, so why don't we start here?"
Twilight walked over, her horn glowing. Applejack tried to keep the horn away from her, slapping it with her hooves. She pushed her horn against Applejack's throat, silencing her.
"And now, my favorite part." Twilight took a step back and encased Applejack in a purple aura.
Applejack fell flat on the ground and began to squirm. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. She felt her hooves go numb as a new sensation crept over her legs. It felt like hardened plastic, smooth and cold, as it flowed upwards. Slowly her lower legs lost their feeling and the muscles stopped obeying her commands. As the icy plastic continued upward, her hooves felt as if they were on fire. The plastic penetrated deep into her through her pores.
She tried to scream again and again as the plastic advanced. The fire burnt her down to the bone, as it turned her flesh into plastic. Meanwhile, the smooth outer coating replacing her fur had reached the top of her legs. She could no longer stand, even if she wanted too.
Once the plastic began encircling her ribs, the enormity of her situation dawned on her. With her stomach now rigid plastic, and her ribs unable to expand, she fought to draw in air. She hardly noticed the burning sensation spreading into her internal organs as she fought the rigid flesh pinning her lungs closed.
Applejack looked up at Twilight, who was sipping her tea and enjoying the show. She opened her mouth several times, trying to form words to speak to her. She continued to deny it; this must be Discord or Chrysalis. Twilight would never do this to her friend.
She froze in agony as the fire reached her heart. She felt it stop beating, and her mind screamed in terror. She could no longer feel anything below her neck, except the plastic and the burning sensation. Applejack was neither breathing nor circulating blood, and a dreadful calm washed over her head.
This was it. Twilight had murdered her.
Applejack managed a few tears as the plastic crept along her muzzle. It began to pour inside her mouth and nose, followed by that agonizing burning. She forced her eyes to stay open, pouring the last bit of strength into glaring at Twilight.
A second later it was over. The pain had ceased, Applejack was at peace. Yet, she was still aware. She was laying on the floor, unmoving, and still staring at Twilight.
"Well, I may have to do that more often. It was quite fun to watch your reactions," Twilight complimented. "Now, let's fix you up and get you back to the farm."
The farm, Applejack thought. Does she think this is some kind of prank and she can just send me back now? When I get out of here. . .
Twilight's horn began glowing purple, and the world started to expand away from Applejack. Everything was getting bigger, soon it was twice as large, three times as large, and continued to expand. It wasn't until she felt her legs being bent to a standing position that she realized what was happening.
Applejack was now only two inches tall, stuck in the pose of a pony galloping along the road. Her front left hoof was raised in the air, and her back left hoof gingerly touched the ground for balance.
She was a doll.
"Now, let me show you why I invited you over." Twilight levitated Applejack effortless over towards the basement door. "I have a lovely model of Ponyville in here; I think you'll enjoy it."
Twilight turned on the lights and Applejack saw what she was talking about. There was a perfect replica of the town taking up most of the basement.
"Now, here's Sugarcube Corner. You can see Pinkie just inside, she's having so much fun selling everypony cupcakes. I'm afraid she didn't really move back in with her parents on the rock farm," Twilight chuckled.
"Here's Rarity's shop, she's quite lucky. Her and Sweetie will get to spend the rest of their lives together, and look how happy they are!
"Next up Rainbow Dash in her Wonderbolt outfit. She is quite lucky. Had her turn come up sooner she would not have been accepted into the Wonderbolts yet. Imagine my joy to not only find out she passed the tryouts, but to have her come tell me in person right after I drew her number!
"This one. . . This will be Fluttershy's cottage, but it isn't her turn yet. The real reason you are here is right over there, on Sweet Apple Acres."
Twilight levitated Applejack down to be face to face with Big Mac. "I love family reunions. Now, I'm going to leave you and Mac to catch up. We have a big day tomorrow, it's applebuck season!"
Applejack stared into her brother's eyes. She could not move a muscle, she had no choice but to stare straight ahead into his eyes. Is he imprisoned in there also? Everypony, imprisoned by Twilight?
She felt something like a tear roll down her cheek, and saw a tear mirror her own as it slid down Big Mac's muzzle.
The lights flickered out.