Applejack’s Wish

by Slate Sadpony

Applejack’s Wish

“Consarn these accursed rocks!” said Applejack, kicking another one loose with her hoof. She and Big Mac had been attempting to plow all day, but it seemed like every few feet they hit yet another stone. “Since when was this field part of the Pie Rock Farm?” Picking up the offending object with a hoof, she tossed it into the adjoining woods.

Big Mac just shrugged and leaned into his harness, starting the plow up again as Applejack moved back behind it to direct it with her hooves. No matter how many times they stopped he kept smiling, even when he needed to unharness the plow and pound out a dent or re-sharpen the edge. Applejack envied his attitude. It must be nice to feel no need to worry.

Just then the plow stopped again, jammed on yet another rock that was too big for Big Mac to shift. Applebloom galloped over and began to dig at the dirt with her hooves. As she did so, she gasped. “Applejack, come look!” said Applebloom. “Ah’ve never seen anything like it!”

Curious, Applejack stepped out from behind the plow to see what they had unintentionally unearthed. As soon as she stepped out from behind the plow, she was astonished to see what looked, in shape and dimension, like an ingot. However, unlike any ingot she’d ever seen, the stone had a strange, radiant color, glowing gently in the dark. It was also slightly translucent, and as she finished extracting it from the ground. She found herself staring into it deeply, entranced by whatever strange opaqueness was deep inside the stone.

“What is it?” said Applebloom.

Applejack held it up to the light. Strangely, it did not become brighter or more well lit. It appeared to be shaded in the light, but illuminated in the dark. “Ah don’t know, Applebloom,” said Applejack. “But if you’ll help Big Mac steer the plow, Ah’ll take it to someone who does!”

Rarity leaned over the strange ingot-like stone, staring at it intently with her jewelry loupe. “Well I can tell you this - it’s not a jewel."

“How can you tell?” asked Applejack. She had found, on rare occasions, numerous mysterious and sparkly items in her fields before, and they always turned out, under Rarity’s inspection, to be low-grade gems or broken bits of glass.

“Well, gems in Equestria have naturally occurring facets,” said Rarity. “However, they are also translucent all the way through, as opposed to being only partly translucent with an opaque interior. Additionally, Equestrian gems can be shattered, but this seems resistant to even the best of my diamond chisels.” To prove the point, she used her magic to pull out a hammer and chisel and tap it lightly against the corner of the stone. The chisel’s tip shattered instantly. “Even Spike couldn't crack this thing - not without shattering his dragon teeth, anyway.”

“Ah’ve never heard of anything that was sturdier than a dragon’s tooth!” said Applejack.

“I have!” said Twilight Sparkle, picking up the stone with her magic and examining it. “This is a Wishing Stone! Starswirl the Bearded was the only pony magical enough to ever create these. They are physical manifestations of intense magical power, capable of granting exactly one wish placed by the holder. Starswirl supposedly gave them out as presents to his best friends, and I was unaware that any of them ever existed in an unused state.”

“So...Ah can wish on this stone?” said Applejack, staring deeply into the rock as it levitated in front of Twilight’s face. “An’ it’ll come true?”

“Well yes,” said Twilight. “But I’d be careful with that. You only get one wish, and the manifestation of a wish may not be exactly what you wanted it to be. That’s why Starswirl the Bearded made so few – after he handed out the first few to his friends, he found them less happy with their wishes than without. So he destroyed as many as he could – along with his notes on how to make them.”

“So yer saying maybe Ah shouldn’t make a wish?” said Applejack, rubbing her chin with her hoof. She had heard many fairy tales and read many foal’s books about how a greedy or foolish pony had come to regret having their wishes granted.

“I can’t say whether you should or not,” said Twilight, handing the stone back to Applejack. “All I can say is that, whatever you do with this stone, be careful.”

“Wish for me to get my cutie mark!” said Applebloom, putting both her hooves on the table and staring deeply into the strange interior of the Wishing Stone.

“Didn’t yer exposure to the Cutie Pox teach you that would be a bad idea?” said Applejack.

Applebloom frowned. “I’m sorry. It’s just that’s what I’ve always wanted!”

“We should sell it!” said Granny Smith. “Or bury it back in the ground where it came from! Don’t go messin’ with magic you don’t understand!”

“What do you call all the things you do with the Zap Apples?” said Applejack, incredulous at Granny Smith’s demands. This gift promised the chance for the Apple Family to do something great – if, of course, it was properly used. And only if.

“I said magic you don’t understand!” said Granny Smith. “Besides, the worst that can happen there is that we wind up with a few jars of lousy jam. And that’s hardly the worst thing that can happen!”

“Big Mac, do you think Ah should make a wish?” said Applejack, looking for support. Big Mac paused for a moment, thinking the question over.

“Nope!” he said, shaking his head. Applejack sighed. Clearly, he was on Granny Smith’s side in this.

“Well, it’s mah wishing stone and Ah found it!” said Applejack. She just knew that this strange artifact offered her an opportunity she’d never had again. How could she just bury it back in the ground again, or sell it off to some pony who couldn’t even be trusted to wish properly? Besides, Applejack would never wish for something greedy or self-serving. If anyone deserved one wish, it was her. “An’ Ah wish that...Apple Family apples were the best tasting ever! That no pony could resist ‘em!”

Suddenly the stone shattered like a dropped mirror, splintering down the middle. A large purple cloud emerged from the stone and immediately dissipated out a nearby open window, taking off like lightning. Everypony stepped back, astonished at what had happened. Applejack didn’t even realize that she’d been giving voice to her wish, or that it would be so sudden. In the books and stories there had always been some sort of procedure to follow in order to make a wish. But she hadn’t needed to use special words or rub the stone or anything. It just happened – she thought of what she wanted, and in a flash, the stone had acted.

“Did it work?” asked Applebloom.

“Ah don’t know,” said Applejack. Curious, she walked out into the orchard. The place was always creepy at night, the neat rows of trees illuminated by moonlight, their branches swaying in the evening winds. She went up to one of the trees and kicked it firmly with her hooves, resulting in a small shower of apples. She looked at them closely, doing her best to examine them in the moonlight. They certainly didn’t look any different. Nor did they feel in any way unusual as she manipulated them in her hooves. Sure, they were lacking in defects, bruises or worm holes, but so were most of the Apple family apples. This might be nothing more than an unusually high quality selection, the result of little more than a bit of good luck.

There was, however, only one true way to evaluate the quality of an apple. Lifting one gently with her hoof, she bit into it deeply, sinking her teeth down into the soft flesh. She’d never felt an apple crunch like that before. The feel and texture were almost impossibly crisp, and as soon as she bit into it, her entire mouth was awash in deep flavor. It was not too sweet, nor was it too sour. It was not too hard or soft. It was, in fact, perfect in every way – the sort of apple that every apple she’d ever eaten was striving to be, but not quite achieving.

Still unconvinced, she bit into another, and then another. Each one seemed, somehow, to be even more perfect than the last. It was unlike anything she’d ever eaten. All of the pies, the cakes, the apple fritters, the apple cider and apple sauce – it paled in comparison to how utterly superb these apples tasted. “Applebloom, come try these apples!” said Applejack. “They’re just...Wonderful!”

“That’ll be ten bits!” said Applejack, grinning as she rung up yet another satisfied customer. Market stall days were usually exciting and uncomfortable. There was a slew of regular customers, along with the occasional visitor to town or some pony looking to diversify his diet, but mostly it was a struggle to try and make sure she sold enough to make the day off of the fields worth it. Today was different.

“I’ll buy a second bushel for twelve bits!” said the next pony in line, who was jostling for position in the crowd. Word had spread quickly that Applejack had an unusually superb crop of apples today, and after handing out a few free samples, she had been positively mobbed by customers. It was so bad that she’d been forced to limit them to one bushel per customer in order to spread them as widely as possible. Even then, Big Mac had been forced to play the role of “bouncer,” using his intense strength and unusual size to keep the crowd waiting patiently.

“The price is ten bits,” said Applejack. “No more, no less. An’ one bushel for customer, please!” The pony in front of her handed over his bits, grumbling a bit as he took the single bushel. He had been the third one trying to buy a second bushel, and several ponies had even gone to the back of the line in an attempt to get a second chance. One little colt with a beanie had even worn a moustache in an attempt to disguise himself.

“Heya Applejack!” said Pinkie. Applejack was surprised to see Pinkie in line. Pinkie liked apples, to be sure, bit not enough to wait in line for them for an hour. Maybe she was picking them up for someone else? “I was just sitting around at Sugar Cube Corner, and like, nopony was there, so I was wondering what was up! And when I saw everypony lining up in front of your booth, I thought that wow! Applejack must have some super-scrumptious apple treat that everypony wants to check out! So here I am, buying whatever you’re selling!”

“Ah’m just sellin’ apples,” said Applejack, hauling up another bushel. “Ten bits!”

“Apples huh?” said Pinkie, skeptical.

“Sure!” said Applejack. “They’re a special new variety Ah call Magic Wish. Try one!” She gently kicked an apple off the top of the bushel with her front hoof and popped it towards Pinkie, who caught it in her teeth. She took a small, testing bite at first, then licked her lips and smiled with delight.

“Oh WOW!” she said, positively bouncing on her hooves in delight. “This is like, the best apple EVER!” She dug into it greedily, chewing happily. “I never knew apples could be so scrum-diddly-umptiously GOOD! Well, without being candy apples anyway. Like this one time I had a candy apple of yours at a fair and I was like…”

“Pinkie, we have a bit of a line,” said Applejack, smiling and pushing the bushel forward. “How ‘bout you just pay for this bushel an’ we can talk about candy apples afterward, ok?”

“Okie-dokie-loki!” said Pinkie pie, expertly tossing ten bits out of her saddlebag and onto the counter, then helping herself to the bushel of apples. She immediately began eating another one, positively bouncing with delight. Applejack grinned. If even Pinkie Pie liked these new apples more than the candies and cakes that Applejack normally had to compete with, then this wish had worked out more perfectly than she’d thought!

“One thousand, five hundred and sixty bits!” said Applebloom, bouncing up and down next to the apple barrel that Applejack had found herself using as an impromptu “cash register.” “I’ve never seen so many bits all in one place at once!” Applejack sold out of the first, second and third cartloads of apples, and had been forced to send Big Mac back for more apples a full five times during the day. Indeed, after noon, he’d been doing nothing else but hauling apples – nothing other than helping himself to a little bit of the crop. Clearly, no pony could resist the deliciousness of these new Magic Wish apples, and even after Applejack had increased her prices to twenty, and then thirty bits per bushel, the customers kept coming. It seemed as if everyone in ponyville had bought at least one bushel!

“So I hear that you made a wish on your wishing stone,” said Twilight. She normally dropped by to see how Applejack had made out during the day’s sales “Looks like I came too late to buy what you wished for. But it looks like you got what you wanted!”

“Yer tellin’ me!” said Applejack, grinning at the huge pile of bits as Big Mac sealed up the barrel tight, placing it on the cart and preparing to take it to the bank for deposit. The whole affair was made slow and clumsy by his refusal to stop munching on an apple as he worked, but Applejack wasn’t about to intervene. He’d worked hard to harvest so many apples all day. He deserved to have as many as he wanted. “These new Magic Wish apples are the best thing to happen to the Apple Family! And I got a telegram from Braeburn in Appleoosa – his apples turned into Magic Wish apples overnight too! The whole town turned out for a pie-and-jam makin’ holiday an’ everythin’!”

“So you wished for apples, huh?” said Twilight, rubbing her chin with her hoof. “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever read about any pony wishing for something like that. And it certainly doesn’t seem to be doing any harm.”

“How could it?” said Applejack, folding up her apple cart and placing Applebloom in the back. “Everypony should enjoy apples. They’re nature’s toothbrush, and they jes’ taste great! All these Magic Wish apples do is jes’ make sure everypony finally learns to enjoy the most perfect fruit!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” said Twilight. “But after hearing Pinkie Pie rave about how good they are, I know I’d like to try some. You don’t happen to have a bushel left, do you?”

“Ah sure as shootin’ do!” said Applejack, handing over one of the half-dozen that had been left when she’d closed up for the day. So many hundreds of bushels brought in, and so few left! It was unlike any market day ever before. Twilight went for her bits, but Applejack stayed her hoof. “Naw, y’all can have this one for free.” She handed the bushel over to Twilight, who eagerly bit into one and smiled.

“Wow!” said Twilight, grinning widely as she chewed. “These ARE good! I’ve never read of an apple tasting this good!” She dug into the rest of it with big, eager bites, chewing and swallowing greedily. “Spike, taste one!”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Spike hopped out from behind Twilight and helped himself to an apple, licking his lips and digging in deeply. “Mnff! This is even better than some of the gems I eat!” he said. “Thanks, Applejack!”

“Aww, it’s no problem, sugarcube!” said Applejack, beaming with pride. Sure, these new Magic Wish apples weren’t the result of many hard hours of careful husbandry, but it was her brilliant and forward thinking wish that caused them to exist in the first place. What other pony would be so smart as to wish for apples instead of gold, jewels or magic powers? And what could possibly be the harm in a few exceptionally tasty apples?

“Fifty bits, take it or leave it!” said Applejack, thumping her hoof down on the counter. The customer whimpered, looking at his small pile of bits. There couldn’t be more than thirty at the most.

“Can...Can I buy a half bushel?” he asked, desperate. Though he was chubby as an overfed pig, he nonetheless looked like he was starving, licking his lips and staring at the apples with deep desire. Nonetheless, Applejack could not budge.

“No. Whole bushels only,” she replied. “If Ah made an exception for you, then Ah’d have to make an exception for everypony!” The customer sighed and walked off, dejected.

In the past few months, it had been increasingly difficult to sell her Magic Wish apples. Not because there was a lack of demand – indeed, the problem was exactly the opposite. Even though the apples magically grew back overnight, ensuring she always had more to harvest, the actual harvesting of them was backbreaking work, especially when she had to do it every day. Then there were problems with the logistics of selling so many apples to so many ponies. Bigger and bigger carts had been needed, and Big Mac had proven increasingly unable to haul them. Not only was he putting on a surprising amount of weight, but his formerly reliable pulling power had been degraded by sloth and constant eating. All he seemed to ever want to do was eat apples, and his former skill at bucking, harvesting, hauling and processing apples seemed all but gone.

Applebloom and Granny Smith were likewise worn out. It seemed that only Applejack had managed to avoid putting on weight lately, and she was also the only one without bruises, bumps and burns from the process of constantly harvesting and preparing the apples. Granny Smith seemed ready to collapse into a heap at any moment, and many batches of Magic Wish Jam had needed to be fed to the pigs because she’d fallen asleep while boiling them down. Applebloom too was exhausted. The endless number of apple fritters she’d been making to try and meet demand was more than any one little filly could hope to manage. And, of course, she hadn’t gotten an apple fritter cutie mark, despite her hard work, and much to her disappointment.

Nonetheless, Applejack pressed them onward, demanding more and more from them. She had to – who knew how long this wish would last, or if the ponies would grow tired of Magic Wish apples and leave the Apple Family with nothing more to sell? This had been the first true financial windfall Applejack had ever experienced and she couldn’t let it end. If they just kept it up long enough, they could do more than just pay for the minor day-to-day repairs that had consumed their budget for as long as she could remember. They could fix up the house! Buy a new oven and a new refrigerator! Pay off the mortgage on the farm! They might even be able to send Applebloom to college – an opportunity unthinkable for most members of the Apple family.

“Uhm, one bushel please,” said the next pony in line. Wearing a shawl and sunglasses, she was clearly a unicorn, but everything else, from her mane to her fur color, was obscured by unseasonably thick clothing. She looked out of place, to say the least.

“Rarity? Is that you?” said Applejack, astonished. Though the quality of clothing was superb, it hung loose around the body, and seemed weighed down immensely. This was in sharp contrast to the sort of body-fitting, tail-accentuating dresses that Rarity normally made for herself.

“Shh! Do you want everyone to know?” said Rarity, holding up a hoof to her face and scowling.

“What, that you buy apples?” said Applejack, incredulous. “Everypony buys apples, Rarity.”

“No, that...That…” suddenly, Rarity started bawling. “That I’m FAT!” She sobbed uncontrollably, leaning back and removing her outermost jacket. It became immediately obvious why she was wearing so much cloth. Her normally light and thin proportions, so close to the models and celebrities she longed to design for, was now weighed down with immense amounts of fat. Far from the pleasantly plump appearance of ponies like Ms. Cake, Rarity had descended into genuine obesity, and she clearly wasn’t taking it well. “Just look at me, I’m hideous!”

“You’re...You’re not that bad,” said Applejack, trying to lie. She couldn’t. “Awwh, who’m Ah kidding? Ah’m...Ah’m sorry Rarity, but how did this happen?”

“It’s those darn apples!” said Rarity, rubbing her running mascara with a hoof. “Pinkie Pie gave me a few Magic Wish apples and now I just can’t get enough! At first it was just a nibble here and there, the occasional apple fritter there. But then I just couldn’t stop! Before I knew it, I was up to three apple pies a day, and more apple fritters than I could count! I even resorted to letting Sweetie Bell cook apple pies for me. Do you know what Sweetie Bell’s apple pies taste like? Do you?” The mere thought of Sweetie’s cooking made Applejack wince. That filly could burn breakfast cereal.

“Look sugarcube,” said Applejack, putting a comforting hoof around Rarity’s shuddering shoulders. “Ah can’t stand to see you hurt yourself like this. Tell you what – from here on in, no more apples. Ah won’t sell you a one! No fritters or pies or cider or cupcakes either. Ah’ll even help you run to lose weight! C’mon, buck up – we can get you back into shape an’ prettier than a polished peach in no time!”

“No apples?” said Rarity, her sobbing face suddenly switching to panic. “As in, no Magic Wish apples? You aren’t going to sell me any?” She angrily pushed her hooves on to Applejack’s shoulders, her surprisingly substantial weight threatening to knock Applejack off her hooves. “You don’t understand! I NEED those apples!”

“She isn’t selling apples!” said somepony in the crowd. “She’s cut us off! She isn’t selling any more!” Before Applejack could even realize what was going on, the crowd had turned into a panic, rushing her stall and threatening to trample it with their hooves. Dozens of ponies crowded around her, rushing at her on all sides, waving their hooves and gnashing their teeth. “APPLES! APPLES! APPLES!” they shouted, stomping their feet and pushing hard on the cart. It gave way under their weight, and bushels of apples spilled everywhere. The ponies descended upon them ravenously, ignoring the bruises, bumps and dirt in their eagerness to get at the apples. Applejack fled, pausing only to make sure that Applebloom, Granny Smith and Big Mac were free from the melee.

“Y’all stay right here!” said Applejack, her voice filled with panic. “Ah’ll go get help!”

“Twilight, please open up!” said Applejack, pounding on Twilight’s front door with both hooves. If anyone knew how to reverse the wish, it was Twilight.

“What is it Applejack?” said Twilight, opening the top half of her door. She seemed harried – her eyes had deep bags under them and her hair was uncombed. It looked as though she hadn’t slept properly in days. There was also a strange smell coming from the inside of Twilight’s library. It reminded Applejack of the time that Applebloom had tried to get her “housekeeping” cutie mark and had failed to clean the house for an entire month. It was a mixture of disorder, garbage and dirty laundry, along with mildew and dust. “I’m very busy right now.”

“Mah wish has gone horribly wrong!” said Applejack. “Everypony in town has gone crazy for Magic Wish apples! They trampled my stall and everythin’!” Twilight was indignant.

“Every PONY?” she said, kicking open the lower door. Through the gloom, Applejack could clearly see Spike laid out on a bed. He looked emaciated, as if he hadn’t eaten for quite some time. “Spike won’t eat anything else, and apples do nothing for baby dragons! He needs to eat gems to be healthy and strong. But he just won’t! I hope you’re happy. Spike’s so obsessed with eating Magic Wish apples that he hasn’t eaten a gem in weeks!”

“This isn’t what Ah wanted!” said Applejack. “Isn’t there some way Ah can take it back?”

“You can’t un-wish a wish!” said Twilight. “Don’t you think I’d have demanded you do so if I knew how? All I can do now is comfort Spike until he finishes wasting away – and feed him more of your stupid Magic Wish apples to ease his pain!” Twilight was crying now, her frustration and helplessness clearly proving too much. Applejack stomped on the ground, pulling her hat over her eyes to hide her own tears. How could a few delicious apples turn out so badly.

“Ah’ve got to find help!” said Applejack. “Ah don’t know how, but I’ve got to un-wish my wish! Pronto!”

Applejack was running around like a mad mare, but everywhere she went she encountered nothing but empty shops and overweight ponies who demanded she provide them with apples. Ponyville was a strange sort of ghost town – slow-moving shambling and obese ponies seemed to pop out of every corner she turned, and while they couldn’t catch her, the hungry look in their eyes and their huge overweight bellies were terrifying. At a full gallop she fled towards Sugar Cube corner, hoping to find refuge inside. With no lights on and the bakery oven emitting no smoke, it at least proffered to be some refuge where Applejack could collect her thoughts and try to figure out what to do next.

However, as soon as she put herself inside and locked the door, she realized she was not alone. Some pony was sobbing heavily, and in the emptiness of the bakery it echoed powerfully, bouncing off the walls in a series of haunting, almost scream-like sounds. Following the noise, she found Pinkie Pie sitting in the kitchen, hugging her hind legs to her chest and rocking back and forth in the gloom.

“Nopony...Nopony came to my party,” she sniffed. Her hair was even more messed than usual, with bits of cake frosting, candy and broken balloons embedded in it by dried splats of confectionary sugar. “The...The cakes had no sales for a month. They wanted to close up shop. So I threw a party to try and make everypony come and eat cake. But they didn’t want cake – they wanted apples. And I didn’t have any apples. So Mr. and Ms. Cake took the twins and left. Nopony came to my party...” Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder, trying to comfort the poor mare.

“Awwh sugarcube,” said Applejack. But Pinkie didn’t respond. She just kept rocking back and forth on her haunches.

“Nopony came to my party,” said Pinkie. “Nopony…”

As Applejack moved in to hug Pinkie, she realized that the Pinkie was deathly thin – thinner than Applejack had ever seen Pinkie get. She must have not eaten since the bakery closed down. From the looks of things, that had been weeks at least.

“Pinkie Pie, can y’all help me throw a party?” said Applejack. She wasn’t sure what else to say, but with Pinkie in her state of shock, Applejack could think of nothing else to shake her loose.

“Party?” said Pinkie, immediately perking up. “Oh goodness! I’ll need to bake a cake, and buy balloons, and break out the games…” Pinkie got up slowly, unsteady on her hooves.

“An’ you’ll need to invite everypony!” said Applejack. At the very least, she needed to bring her friends together to stop this crisis. Twilight Sparkle might not know what to do, but surely the six of them together could come up with something – anything – to stop this crisis!

“Oh dear, you’re right!” said Pinkie. Her gait was drunken and unsteady, as if she had forgotten how to walk. “Now, where is my party invitation basket hat? And Gummy – can’t deliver invitations without my number-one bestest pet ever!” It was hard to see Pinkie Pie in such a state of ill-health and insanity. But there was no time for Applejack to cry right now – she had work to do, and four more ponies to bring out.

Applejack was astounded to see that Fluttershy’s house seemed to be surprisingly normal. Birds were chirping in the birdhouses, fat pigs and happy chickens trotted around in the back yard, and numerous other forest creatures were watching her approach with curiosity instead of fear. Applejack tapped her hoof lightly on the door, and Fluttershy opened up immediately.

“Howdy sugarcube!” said Applejack, trying to disguise the intense unease she felt. Fluttershy didn’t appear to be panicking, and putting off Fluttershy’s panic and fear was essential to getting her help under these circumstances. “Did Pinkie Pie come by here? We’re throwin’ a party down at Sugar Cube Corner, an’ we need you to join us!”

“Oh, uhm, I’m terribly sorry,” said Fluttershy, hiding her face in her mane. “It’s just that Angel Bunny is very sick, and I need to take care of him.” Fluttershy invited Applejack in, and Applejack was almost immediately overwhelmed by the smell. As a farm pony, she was used to the stench of manure – even chicken manure, which was the most overpowering of all smells. But the stench coming from inside Fluttershy’s house was unbearable, even for Applejack. It made her eyes water. She found herself struggling to keep down the dry heaves. There was even a creeping wooziness, threatening to knock her right off her hooves.

The room was filled to the brim with all sorts of animals, all of whom were in a sorry state. Every one of them was massively obese – Angel Bunny chief among them. There were animal droppings everywhere, and while an effort had clearly been made to remove them, it was simply not possible for one pony to remove them all.

“I just don’t know what’s gone wrong,” said Fluttershy, gently caressing a chimpunk which resembled a dehusked coconut. “One day I found these animals in my back yard who were incredibly obese, and then I kept finding them! I tried to nurse them back to health with a low-fat diet, but they wouldn’t have it. The only thing I could get them to eat were those Magic Wish apples you were selling. I think they got into your orchard at night and now they won’t eat anything else, the poor dears!”

Applejack let out a sigh, and then broke down sobbing, retreating slowly to the front door. All she’d wanted to do was help. She just wanted to make something that everypony wanted. Something that, like the Zap Apples, she could be proud of and that every pony would buy, love and cherish. But these Magic Wish apples were just a curse.

“This isn’t what Ah wished for!” said Applejack, sobbing on Fluttershy’s doorstep. “Ah want to take my wish back! Ah want it back!” Frustrated, exhausted and scared, she collapsed into the dirt, putting her hooves over her hat and crying like a filly. All she’d ever wanted in life was to help other ponies, and dependably bring them good things.

As she cried, she felt the soft touch of a friendly hoof on her shoulder. “There there, dear,” said Fluttershy, giving Applejack a hug. “I don’t know how. But I know everything will be okay.” Applejack sniffed, wiping the tears out of her eyes as best she could.

“Since when are you the brave one?” said Applejack, turning around to hug Fluttershy tight.

“It’s not brave to believe something you know to be true,” said Fluttershy, nuzzling Applejack on the cheek. “Now let’s go to that ‘party’ and see if we can figure out what to do, okay?” Applejack smiled, pulling her hat back up on her head. “Just...Promise me you’ll help me get through town. It’s really, really scary out there right now…

Applejack surveyed her five friends and sighed, feeling every bit as frustrated and helpless as before. Rarity was still sobbing over her obesity from underneath a comically large amount of clothing, Twilight was enraged over the illness that had befallen her number-one assistant, Pinkie Pie looked like a skeleton with a fright wig, and Fluttershy was so afraid of the other three that she could do little more than hide in the corner. Worst of all, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen, and even in her manic state, Pinkie Pie had no luck in finding her. They’d just have to continue as a party of five.

“So – does anyone know anythin’ about where we could find another Wishing Stone?” said Applejack.

“What are you looking at me for?” said Twilight, huffing. With her disheveled, uncut mane and unsettling smell, she looked decidedly un-princess like, although she was certainly putting on a royal attitude. “If I knew where to find a Wishing Stone, I’d have wished Spike back to health already.”

“Well, what about cutting down the trees?” said Applejack.

“Darling, your wish applied to ALL Apple family apples,” said Rarity. “I’ve been from Fillydelphia to Los Pegasus. Every orchard owned by a member of the Apple family is growing nothing but Magic Wish, whether they want to or not. Even if you were willing to bankrupt the Apple family by cutting them all down, how could it possibly be accomplished?"

“Well, we won’t harvest ‘em!” said Applejack. “Let ‘em rot!”

“Uhm, I’m not sure that will work either,” said Fluttershy. “My animal friends have been getting into your orchard at night without any problems. I’m sure that, as much as ponies want to eat those apples, they’ll find a way to get them so long as they exist.” Fluttershy tapped her hoof on the floor, shying back a bit after speaking. “Sorry…”

Just as Applejack was ready to throw up her hooves in frustration, there was a resounding crash. The ceiling of Sugar Cube Corner exploded in a shower of splinters and roofing material, sending all five of the ponies sprawling. As the dust settled, Applejack found herself staring face to face with a red eyed and clearly intoxicated Rainbow Dash, the drunken pegasus stumbling uneasily on her hooves and constantly going into a half-flight with her wings.

“Rainbow Dash!” shouted Applejack, infuriated and frustrated beyond all self control. “Just where in Equestria were you?”

“Where am I?” slurred Rainbow Dash, grinning absently. “I dunno. Sugar Cube Corner, I guess. I heard there was a party here?” She burped loudly. The scent was disgusting – a mixture of unbrushed teeth and excessive cider. “Is there Magic Wish cider here? Please, Celestia, let there be more Magic Wish cider here!”

“Con-sarnit Rainbow, you’re drunk!” said Applejack, trying to steady the pegasus and force her to the ground. She was only moderately successful.

“I’m not drunk,” said Rainbow, letting out another belch. “At least not yet. C’mon, where’s that cider?” She immediately began stumbling and fluttering around clumsily, seemingly oblivious to the damage she was doing to the empty shelves of Sugar Cube Corner.

It was all too much. Her experience with Fluttershy had led her to believe that she and her friends could fix all this if they just put their heads together. After all, threats from Nightmare Moon to invading dragons to Queen Chrysalis had proven vulnerable to the efforts of the six of them. Why couldn’t they solve the issue of too many apples?

“You’ve had enough cider, Rainbow Dash,” said a voice from behind Applejack. It was unmistakable – only one pony in all of Equestria had a voice that flowed so softly and yet carried so much force.

“Princess...Celestia?” Applejack turned around, awed by the royal presence. She hadn’t even heard the princess approach, no doubt thanks to the traveling accident that was the drunken Rainbow Dash.

“I had a feeling something was wrong when I stopped receiving letters from Twilight,” said the princess, gently stepping into the now-ruined dining area of Sugar Cube Corner. “And I knew things were getting worse when Sugar Cube Corner didn’t respond to my catering requests. Not to mention the fact that Rarity failed to make an appearance at the Canterlot Fashion Show, even though her works were featured, and Fluttershy wasn’t there to see Philomena’s latest re-birth. But it wasn’t until I almost ran down Rainbow Dash here that I got the full story – am I to understand you found a Wishing Stone?” Rainbow Dash beamed, doing her best to strike a prideful pose. Even inebriated, she still wanted to play the role of hero.

“Yes, yer Majesty,” said Applejack. “An’ Ah wish Ah never had! That wishing stone was the worst thing Ah ever dug out of the ground!”

“I can see that,” said Celestia. “But don’t worry. I’ve brought something that can fix this.” Using her magic, Celestia summoned, seemingly from nowhere, deep blue ingot-shaped rock with a mysterious opaque substance seemingly floating inside.

“Another wishing stone!” said Applejack. “But Twilight said that nopony knew how to make ‘em! Even you!”

“I didn’t make this,” said Celestia. “Starswirl the Bearded did, many years ago when I was just a filly. He gave one both to me and to my sister Luna as birthday presents, just as he did for all his students. When I lost mine in the Everfree Forest, Luna gave me hers, and I’ve cherished it as a memento for the kindness we shared as children. The missing stone you found was the one that had been given to me. And now it’s time for me to give this stone to you.” Celestia gently laid it down at Applejack’s feet. Applejack looked at it, and then back up at Celestia.

“What...What should Ah wish for?” she asked.

“You’re the pony who made the first wish,” said Celestia. “Only you know what to wish for to undo it.”

Applejack thought for a moment, staring deeply into the mysterious stone. Then she grinned. She knew exactly what to do.

“Ah wish that Ah’d never wished on the first Wishing Stone!”

“Wish for me to get my cutie mark!” said Applebloom, putting both her hooves on the table and staring deeply into the strange interior of the Wishing Stone.

“Didn’t yer exposure to the Cutie Pox teach you that would be a bad idea?” said Applejack. Applebloom frowned.

“I’m sorry,” said Applebloom. “It’s just that’s what I’ve always wanted!”

“We should sell it!” said Granny Smith. “Or bury it back in the ground where it came from! Don’t go messin’ with magic you don’t understand!”

Suddenly Applejack shuddered a little bit, feeling herself overcome by a rush of deja vu. She’d had strange feelings and intuitions before, but none like this. She was filled with a sudden clarity and purpose, as if realizing the answer to a question she hadn’t even known to ask. Applejack blinked, then stared at the stone a bit and smiled. Applebloom cocked her head a bit, confused. “Did you just decide what you wanted to wish for?” she asked.

“Naw,” said Applejack. “Ah just decided what I’m gonna do. Ah’m gonna give it to Celestia! Don’t ask me how, but somethin’ just tells me this belongs to her. An’ Ah’m sure she’ll be really greatful! What do you think, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup!”