//------------------------------// // Fulfilling Curiosity // Story: Discord's Delightful Disharmony // by GameJunkie7 //------------------------------// “Ah, that was fun! It has been forever since I’ve pulled out the classics without just snapping my fingers. There’s something satisfying about actually putting some effort into the delivery that I forgot with the convenience of my magic.” Discord mused as he lounged on a low-flying cloud that was currently hovering over Sweet Apple Acres. “Alright then…hm…while I’m here, Applejack seems a rather prime target. But what to hit her with, it must be suitably silly, yet ironic.” Discord snapped his fingers, only for nothing to happen and he sighed. “Right…manual…have to use the clutch.” Discord reached his eagle talon into his chest, which sank into it like it was an illusion. He then pulled out an enormous canvas sack that was reminiscent of Santa’s bag in media. He then dove headfirst into it, making it squirm and jump on the cloud as he searched around. “No…too cliché…not enough irony…aha~…this will do JUST fine….” (<^>) It was just another day of work at Sweet Apple Acres. AJ and her brother Big Mac were bucking trees and collecting apples as usual, but they were working faster than they normally do, since they had to spend the past couple of days also cleaning up the muffins from Discord’s relapse, so they had to make up for the loss in production. “Woo! Ah say, today feels like its applebuck season again. That ‘bout right Big Mac?” “Eeyup!” The big red stallion of few words replied as he hitched himself to the cart filled with buckets of various apples, since they were working both the red delicious and granny smiths for their stall in the market. “I’m takin’ these to the cellar; I’ll be back for the next round.” After letting out that surprisingly long string of words for the stallion, Big Mac quickly trotted through the trees towards the barn. “Well then, better get buckin’ if Ah’m gonna have the buckets filled for when he gets back.” AJ was about to hit the next tree with her incredibly strong hind legs when she paused. She sniffed the air and raised an eyebrow in confusion as she settled back to all fours. “The hay? What makes that kinda smell?” She smelled a wonderful array of fruity scents beyond the comfortably familiar scent of apples, and her curiosity got the better of her. “Ah say, it does smell delicious. Where’s it coming from?” AJ trotted through her orchard, following the alluring scents that seemed to tease her by seeming to be just around the next row of trees, only to continue to be led on further and further away from her current work area. Finally, after several minutes and heading much deeper into the orchards, AJ found the source. It was a wicker basket-like, tightly-woven large horn that lay sideways on the grass in a small clearing of the orchard. But that wasn't the source of the smell, it was the sheer abundance of fruits that spilled from it onto the grass. “Boy howdy! Where in tarnation did a horn-of-plenty come from? It ain't nowhere near time for any feasting holidays....” AJ cautiously looked around, even up into the air, and then walked up to the spilled array of fruits. Everything from the expected apples, to pears, peaches, even grapes were included in the array, but on closer inspection, there were also carrots and other fresh vegetables in the horn as well. AJ's stomach growled, reminding her that she skipped lunch to meet quota today. She blushed in self embarrassment, before looking more intently at the delicious array. “W-well...this is an opportunity.” She lowered her head and bit into an apple, only to pause in shock as she continued to chew and then swallow. “Pears?! The apple tastes like a pear! Then what...?” AJ's curiosity was piqued, if an apple tasted like a pear, then what did a pear taste like? Grapes apparently. Grapes were apples, carrots were broccoli, tomatoes were leeks! It was just enticing to bite into something, expecting a certain flavor, and getting something else. Before AJ knew it, she had eaten all the food that was on the grass, and had grasped the horn in her hooves, burying her face into it as she rabidly chowed down, her hunger becoming greater as she was absorbed in fulfilling her curiosity. However, it seemed like the horn never ran out of food, it just kept coming, and she kept eating. However, she stopped when she felt a sudden rough pinch against her right flank, snapping her out of her feeding frenzy. “Ow! What...wha...?” AJ froze, in shock as she looked down at the offender, and saw an apple tree bending away from her firm, toned flank. She gasped as she suddenly lowered the giant horn which was still to scale with her, and saw that she had become a giant! She took up almost the whole clearing, and could see clear from here to her house! The trees were like tiny broccoli compared to her. “A-Ah'm huge! What's going on here?!” AJ was worried as she reached her hoof up to her hat, and was relieved to find it had somehow grown with her. “Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~!” AJ's attention was drawn to the familiar laughter, and sneered at the sight of the Spirit of Disharmony laughing at her expense at near eye-level on a small cloud. “Oh! Oh I forgot how fun the Corpulent Cornucopia was! Sure it makes things big, but not fat like it was supposed to, but still, it's a good one.” Discord dodged a giant orange hoof that tried to swat him and tsked as the cloud he had been on was disrupted into mist. “Oh come now Applejack, you have to admit that this was clever of me.” “Change me back right now Discord! How am ah going to be able to do...well, anything at this size?!” AJ stood and carefully shifted the giant horn onto her back, which somehow kept it's bounty from falling out, and cautiously arranged her stance so she didn't damage any of her precious apple trees. “Oh poo! You ponies are all so short-sighted! Don't you see this isn't just some prank, but a clever one? I remember Spike telling me about when you girls ran into my lovely poison joke, and how you specifically became little Appletini! Ah-ha-ha-ha~!” Discord laughed as Applejack blushed in embarrassment, and suddenly remembered something else embarrassing and tucked her tail between her legs, making Discord smile sinisterly. “Ah, I see you got the other part of this prank. I hope you have pants AJ.” “You rotten varmint! Nopony's going to be seeing my nethers lest they're courting me!” AJ obstinately planted her haunches to the ground, and winced at hearing the ground beneath her give way, and she flushed as she got up slightly to see an indent of her flanks on the ground, making Discord laugh even harder. “Oh, this is hilarious! I hope you have fun Ms Pony Bunion! The effects will wear off within a day, but otherwise use it to your advantage.” Discord began flying backwards, tail first off towards Ponyville as he laughed himself stupid, leaving AJ fuming and embarrassed in the middle of her orchards. Speaking of which. “How am ah getting outta here without hurting mah trees?!”