//------------------------------// // Living Nightmare (Applejack and the Apple Family, Random/Comedy) // Story: Bombastic Bookpony's Bazaar of Oneshots // by Bombastic Bookpony //------------------------------//         Applejack took a deep breath as she looked around the table. She knew there was a good chance that Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and Big Mac would hate her for this. For who she was. But she couldn’t hide it anymore. Not from them, at least. The rest of the world would know when the time was right. Finally, she began.         “Now, family, I have something to tell you. I know that over the past two years, you’ve all noticed a change in me. Or maybe I’m crazy, and ya’all never noticed at all!” She chuckled, and they chuckled in return. “But I have changed. And I hope you guys will accept that change.”         “Aw, spit it out already! We’ll love you no matter what! No need for this dramatic hogwash!” Granny Smith shouted.                  “Heh, always right to the point, aren’t you Granny? This whole routine is more for me anyhow. Makes it easier to say it. Two years ago, I truly met five ponies, and had an adventure of a lifetime. And that adventure awakened feelings in me. When me and those girls came together as Elements of Harmony and faced Nightmare, the thing that possessed Luna and banished it, I felt strange. Like I felt true power for the first time. Do-do you get what I’m saying?”         “Of course, Applejack. We don’t care if you love mares. You’re still Applejack,” Big Mac calmly stated.         “What.”                  “Yeah, who cares? You love who you like, AJ! You’re still my big sis!”         “What.”         “You got your heartrending confession out, Applejack. You love mares, we love you, you’re still Applejack, yadda yadda. Just sit down and eat ya peas!”         “No! You guys misunderstand! Me loving mares is not what I came to confess! I meant that on that day, I stared upon something truly beautiful, truly magnificent. I saw Nightmare, and I took her in and became her host, her vessel in Equestria.”         Silence.         “What,” They all intoned.         “I have become the host for all that is evil and wrong! What’s hard to understand?”         “But-but why?” sputtered Big Mac.         “Because it is beautiful. Ponies suffer moral dilemmas every day, wondering if what we do is right or wrong. It doesn’t. It knows what it does is wrong, and it’s liberating! Besides, I give and give and give for the family, the farm, my friends, Ponyville, Equestria, what have you. I figured, why not take for a change? I wanna take the whole world!” She beamed proudly.         “Nuh uh! No way! No granddaughter of mine is the physical embodiment of evil!” spat Granny.         “Not the physical embodiment of evil! The physical host of evil! Will you at least try to understand!? All I want is true, ultimate power, to rule over all, and smite those who oppose me!” She paused. “And destroy all carrots. No more carrots in Equestria. Can’t ya’all see the good in that? This is who I am!”         “Yeah, Granny! It’s the twenty first century!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. “So what if AJ’s host to an unspeakable evil? It’s her choice, and you have to accept that!”         “She. Is. Evil!” she hissed.         “Granny,” AJ groaned, “I’m not evil, the thing I’m hosting is Evil! Gosh, will you at least try to understand?”         “Out! Git out you vile thing! Out and don’t come back!”         “Granny!” Big Mac pleaded.         “No, it’s her house, her right. For now. When I rule, everything belongs to me. But that’s besides the point.” She trotted to the door, grabbed the handle, and said one last thing. “Granny, you’ll regret this. Cause rejecting family, it changes ya. The damage your guilt will cause ya will do worse to you than I ever could.” A pause. “But I’m still gonna make you three the first examples of my power and burn the farm down. Maybe locusts instead. Or a flood. Meteors? Hm. I dunno. Haven’t decided yet. Cross that bridge when I get there.” She shrugged. And then she was gone.