//------------------------------// // Chocoa-verdose // Story: Pinkie clicks Cookies // by Jot Notes //------------------------------// Applejack was hard at work bucking apples, as per usual. She'd been hard at work at all day, kicking every tree in sight, amassing tonnes of the juicy, ripe fruits. It was hard, but satisfying work, and she enjoyed it so much she rarely saw it as work any more. To Applejack, this was just another form of relaxing. Applejack continued to travel through Sweet Apple Acres oldest trees. She like these trees the most; they were old and strong, which meant they were harder to knock apples out of. But that meant that the apples were usually in greater quantities, and of much greater quality. So the hard work was always worth it, in her opinion. The country mare stopped to examine her trees. They were all fine trees, with massive trunks and branches laden with fruit. Each one was a worthy challenger, and they all promised great results. But with so many trees to choose from, where should she start? She'd harvest all these apples, certainly, but the first tree was always special. She had to pick it with care, and with this in mind she wandered through the trees, finding imperfections on each tree. This one was too skinny, and the next a bit too fat. The apples on this one weren't ready and the apples on this one were over ripe. There were so many trees, where could she begin? Then she found it: a large, sturdy tree with a massive canopy and impressive branches. The apples were ripe and delicious looking, a fine prize for anypony strong enough to shake them from the branches. This was the tree, the first-of-the-year-quality tree. It was perfect in every way, and it had Applejack's name written all over it. She approached the tree in an instant readied herself, She braced herself for a moment, then slammed her hooves into the tree with a jarring crash. The branches swayed, but the apples didn't move. She kicked again, and again, both good strikes, but still the tree didn't yield. Not one to give up, she wound up for one last, mighty kick, and struck the trunk again. The branches gave way and the apples tumbled to the ground. Giving a cheer, she looked up to watch the apples fall from the tree, and was struck down by an unidentifiable object. She wasn't hurt, only dazed momentarily. She quickly up to her hooves and shook her head to clear her slight dizziness. There was something on her muzzle, something...brown? She tried to look down her nose at it, but only saw an unfamiliar glob of dark brown goo. It could have been dirt, maybe, but why in Equestria would dirt be in her apple tree. Of course it could have been something worse...but again, it wasn't likely. She reached up with a hoof and touched the 'stuff', as she would call it until she figured out what it was. It was warm, really warm, and sticky, too. She examined it closer: Now that she could get a better look at it, it looked much more familiar almost like... She looked around to see if anypony was around, then when she was sure she was alone, she gave her hoof a lick, and stared at it incredulously. "What the hay?" She licked it again. "Chocolate?" She looked up at the apple tree. "What in tarna-?" Applejack could barely believe her eyes. The tree's ripe, delicious fruit were suddenly and inexplicably popping out of existence. Literally popping, with an audible noise like popcorn. And in their place, large, steaming chocolate chip cookies popped into existence in their place. Everywhere she looked, more and more of the apples on this tree -on every tree- were being replaced by the tasty baked goods. Even the bark of the trees was slowly turning the golden brown color of the tasty treat. The scent of the decadent treats filled the air, and Applejack heard her stomach growl. The cookies smelled incredibly good, like the homemade cookies Granny Smith might bake. But the Earth Pony knew better than to trust these strange apparitions. These were likely Discords work; she had to get some of these cookies to Twilight and figure out what was happening. Twilight usually knew what to do about strange goings on like this. Suddenly, a scream interrupted Applejack's thought process. She looked in the direction of the scream in astonishment. That was Apple Bloom! She took off galloping towards the farmhouse at full speed, weaving between the strange trees, and leaping over strange cookie bushes, which had seemingly sprouted from nowhere. She had no idea what these strange trees were about, but something about it wasn't natural, that was for sure. But she couldn't worry about it at the moment, she had to find out what was distressing her sister. She made quick time, and arrived at the farmhouse quickly and barreled towards the door, but skidded to a halt when Apple Bloom leaped out in front of her. "Don't go in there, Applejack!" The filly was terrified. "Apple Bloom, what in th' hay is goin' on? Why're ya screamin'?" "Th-there's something in the kitchen! Don't go in there, sis!" Applejack looked towards the house. If something was in the house, then she had to get it out before it did any damage. It could bust up the place, or worse, it could end up hurting Granny Smith. Whatever the case, it had to be removed, and she knew that she was just the pony to do it. "You wait here, sugar cube. Ah'm gonna take care of it." She stepped past the filly and through the door, ready to face whatever awaited her. Apple Bloom cowered behind her as she placed a hoof on the front door. There was a clattering noise inside, like the banging of pots and pans. Applejack pushed open the door and sprang inside. "Hold it right there, ya ornery...galoot?" Applejack's shout faltered into a confused stutter when she spotted the intruder. Granny Smith turned around and lifted a hoof to her ear. "What's that? Ya have to speak up." She shouted. "Sorry Granny. Ah thought you were an intruder." She admitted, embarrassed. The old mare waved her hoof dismissively. "It's all right, young'n!" She turned back to the messy kitchen. Applejack looked at her surroundings. The kitchen was a mess of flour, eggs and sugar. "Jes what are ya doin' in here, anyway, Granny?" She asked. The old mare looked back at her. "Ah'm makin cookies, of course!" She said in a monotonous voice. "Cookies?" Applejack frowned. It seemed a strange coincidence for Granny to be making cookies on the same day as the weird incident in the orchard. Did she have something to do with it? She didn't have time to think about it much more. Somepony outside screamed in terror, catching Applejack's attention. It was far away, but it was easy to figure out who was screaming. She bolted out of the house and took off down the dirt road. "Ah've gotta go, little sis! Be back soon!" She called over her shoulder to the terrified filly, still hiding behind the door. "But what about the monster?" Apple Bloom called back. When there was no answer, she gulped and turned towards the kitchen. Slowly, several more Granny Smiths shuffled past her into the kitchen. They began to pull ingredients from the cupboards, mixing dough and stuffing it into the oven. Apple Bloom slowly retreated from the house; the Grannies took little notice. "Cookies..." They sighed in unison. Apple Bloom gulped again, and crawled backwards into a pile of hay. She hoped AJ got back soon. She didn't like this at all.