//------------------------------// // Of Apples and Notebooks // Story: A Collection of Encounters // by Tiny Star //------------------------------// Of Apples and Notebooks Applejack was not having a good day. This was not the typical bad day the apple farmer usually had, the apples were fully grown and juicy, ready to be bucked form their trees and sold on the market, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and Fluttershy’s beavers agreed to be more careful when building their dams. There really shouldn’t have been anything bothering her… With the exception of the disturbing god of death that was following her everywhere. He said his name was Ryuk and so far, he was the biggest annoyance she ever had to deal with. He had a terrifying visage, resembling a human, but much taller, thinner. His face was a ghastly white and she wasn’t certain if it was because he was always hunched over, but his arms seemed far too long for his body, they always dangled in front of him like some sort of decoration. His red eyes were by far the creepiest thing about him. They seemed big-too big and too wide for his face-and now that she thought about it, she had yet to see him blink, even once. Ordinarily, the farm pony would have told the strange creature to get off her farm, but he really wasn’t hurting anything. He just flew there, with wings even larger than Celestia’s, slowly trailing behind her as she worked the day away and only spoke when spoken to. Applejack’s mind trailed back to earlier that week, when her head had been snapped up from her work when she felt something relatively light land on her back and then bounce onto the grass below. She had been alone in the orchard when she looked around to find a black notebook lying on the ground, cover facing upwards, and thus allowing her to read the title before she could stop herself. “Death Note?” she mumbled to herself, “That’s an odd thing ta put on yer notebook.” She scanned the skies for any passing pegasus who might have dropped it, but there was nopony to be seen. She then checked the ground, in case a unicorn had been passing through and tossed it via magic, and again, not a soul to be seen. With a raised brow, she gently scooped it up with her hoof and flipped to the first page; perhaps there was a name inside so she could return it to its proper owner. Much to her shock, there were no typical notebook pages, at least not right away. The first several pages were different, they had a strangely designed paper and at the top in a somewhat disturbing writing were the words, “How to Use it.” What came next made her stomach twist in disgust. “The creature whose name is written in this notebook shall die?!” she yelled in disbelief, “Who in the hay would come up with such a terrible thing?!” It was such a morbid idea, but there seemed to be no magic coming from the book, so it was probably a fake, just something to scare ponies with or perhaps, a very stressed pony’s way of somehow coping with those who they did not like. Either way, she was glad she was the one who found it. She didn’t want to imagine how badly it would scare Apple Bloom if she had been the one to stumble upon it. Applejack wasn’t entirely sure why she didn’t just simply destroy the dark and morbid book. She had given a long hard look at the “How to Use it” pages and there were a lot of them, sixty-six according to her last count. They had one to four rules, they were disturbingly detailed, hours of thought had been put into them; and even a few loopholes into how the book supposedly worked were included. She had hoped the book was fake, just a terrible prank made by the twisted mind of some sick individual, but a small part of her mind left her scared. Scared at the possibility that it might be real. That it actually did have the terrifying power to kill any creature just by writing their name with that person’s face in their mind. Applejack had considered taking the book to Twilight, so see if she could discover if the book truly did possess some dark power over life and death, but she didn’t. She had no idea why, but… something just stopped her. She knew better than to keep it hidden, and perhaps it was the power of the book that kept her from giving it to somepony who might be able to learn more about it, but in the end, she took to hiding it in the darkest corner of the barn, hidden away in a small crack in the wall. It was almost impossible to notice and as a filly, Applejack would sometimes hide her private treasures inside it. Every day for five days, she went to check on the book at least once, making sure nopony else had found it. From the amount of dust and bits of old hay that laid around it, she could be certain no other pony had been here. On the fifth night, she was especially grateful for where she had hidden the book. It had been at dinner, the family was taking turns telling how their day was. Big Mac had just finished his story about how he and the Pony Tones had been trying out a new song when Apple Bloom took her chance to talk about her day. She went on and on about how she and her friends had tried to clean up the barn, hoping to get their cutie marks in organization but had no such luck. Hearing that they had gone poking around in the barn made Applejack come to a stop. A twisting sensation had formed in the pit of her stomach, making her feel the tiniest bit sick. Fearing they might have found the book, she stepped outside once the dishes were cleaned and put away for the night. When Granny Smith asked where she was going, the middle grandchild answered that she thought she felt something was off and was going out to investigate. It wasn’t a lie, it was just part of the truth, and nopony really seemed to question it. She carefully carried her lantern as she walked to the barn as calmly as she could, she didn’t want to risk the chance of somepony looking out the window to see her running from the house. They might think something was wrong and come to help, only to discover her holding the notebook. She forced herself to keep her pace steady as she trotted inside, much to her relief; the dirty floor at the very back had been untouched. She now considered how silly she had been; after all, their focus had been on cleaning and organizing all the tools and supplies, they weren’t focusing on the walls and corners. Just to be safe, the young mare knelt down by the crack and pulled out the notebook; it hadn’t been touched since earlier that morning. She let out a small sigh, relieved that those fillies hadn’t even come close to finding it. She flipped open the first few pages, past the “How to Use it” pages and straight to the actual notebook paper. It was unremarkable, rather average looking; if she didn’t know better, she’d think it was one of her own notebooks from her school days. Then she heard the wheezy laugh that sounded like it was made through clenched teeth. “Well, look at what we have here.” She never saw him coming, never even heard him, and she dropped the book in a startled yelp. It then turned into a scream when she saw the creature standing in the glow of her lantern. She took in his appearance all at once, the all black outfit, the spikey blue-tinted hair, the unnatural eyes, the pointed teeth, everything. He simply continued to laugh until she stopped screaming. “W… Who in Tartarus are you?!” she demanded through her fear. He let out another, smaller laugh, as if amused. “They call me Ryuk,” he answered simply, “And that there is my notebook.” “Y… Yer notebook?” the orange pony quickly picked it up and held it out to him, “Here, take it! Ah don’t want it!” “Now now, there’s no reason to panic,” the creature answered in a gravely voice that made Applejack’s ears hurt, “I dropped it on purpose.” “Wah… who in the hay drops something this… this creepy on purpose?” “Creepy? Hm… Mind if I see it for a moment? I just want to check something.” “Sure, it is yer's, ain’t it?” Ryuk gave no response as he picked up the notebook and filled it open, before letting out a surprised noise. “Well I’ll be, you haven’t written a single name in the notebook yet have you?” “No, why would ah?” “Well, the book’s power is real.” “Real…? Then why in the world did you drop it?! It says how to use it and everything!” “Oh I know that, it’s on purpose. I wanted to see what would happen if I dropped it into the mortal world and what kind of person would use it.” “Wah… you dropped this thing here… because you expected somepony to start killin’ with it?!” Applejack stomped her hoof on the last word, “That… That’s just despicable!” “What do you expect? I’m a shinigami and I got bored.” “A shini-what now? Wait…you did all this just ‘cause you were bored?!” “Of course… you see, the shinigami realm has been decaying for some time now, and the only thing we really have to do anymore these days is gamble. I dropped my that notebook into the mortal realm some time ago and had quite an amusing time with the human who picked it up. It’s been quite some time since then and I wanted to try it again.” “So you dropped it here in Equestria?! Do ya’l have any idea how reckless that is?! Mah lil’ sister coulda picked it up! She's just a filly! You coulda scared her half to death with this thing!” “Oh don’t worry, scaring someone to death isn’t as easy as it sounds. Besides, I’m impressed you haven’t written anyone’s name in here yet, most folks succumb to its power. The nature of the book compels people to want to use it, at least once, the fact you’ve resisted it this entire time is impressive.” “Ah don’t see how. No sensible pony would write in that thing.” “Well the human I mentioned before wrote quite a few names in that notebook before I met him. He was a crusader of justice, hoping to purge the world of evil by killing criminals.” “And you didn’t stop him?” “Nah, it wouldn’t have been as interesting if I did.” “Interestin’?! Ya’ll let him kill folks just because it was interstin’?!” “More or less.” Anger filled the young mare’s body, this… this thing had made her beyond furious! This was a crime against nature! She had to tell somepony! Twilight, Shining Armor, Celestia even! Somepony had to stop him but before she could open her mouth, he was looking away and sniffing the air. “Is… is that…?” He spread his somewhat mangy looking wings and with a single flap, flew out the barn doors, like a dog on the hunt. “H-Hey! Git back here! I ain’t done with you!” Applejack yelled as she gave chase, but she was barely out of the barn when she tried to stop. Ryuk was just standing there, staring at something she couldn’t see from behind him. She couldn’t stop in time and began to skid across the damp grass. The propulsion sent her barreling head over hoof, losing her hat in the process and sent her crashing straight into– She felt a chill as she tumbled straight through Ryuk’s legs and came to a stop a few feet away. “What the… h… how did I…” “You… have… apples…” Applejack turned back to look at the shinigami, only for him to be looking at her dead in the eye, his face was uncomfortably close to hers. Gentle green stared into neon red and from between the blue lips of a corpse came the smell of decay, turning her stomach just a little bit. “Uh… y-yeah… we have apples.” It wasn’t fear Applejack was feeling… it was… she wasn’t sure what it was… “Why do you have so many?” “Ah’m an apple farmer. Mah whole family is.” Ryuk stared at her blankly, it was the first time she realized his eyes were… wrong. They stared off in two different directions, not in the cute way the grey mailmare had but more like a chameleon’s but more disturbing. What made it worse was they didn’t even move. They were as still as a statue, they didn’t twitch, the lack of pupils meant there was nothing to dilate and up close; she could see that the supposed “whites of his eyes” were in fact a sickly yellow. What left her scared was that so much of him was partially hidden by shadow. She had left her lantern in the barn and now the light from it was shining on Ryuk’s back, making the hunched over monster more terrifying than even Nightmare Moon. “So… you grow apples?” the gravely voice asked. “Yeah…” “…can I have some?” “A… Ah suppose so,” she nodded, “Just don’t take too man-“ There was a gust of wind as Ryuk flew over her head and into the nearest apple tree, plucking two apples at a time and dropping them into his cave of a mouth. It was at that moment she realized he was huge-even bigger than a human, the fact he could eat an apple in a single bite made her the tiniest bit queasy, she took this moment of distraction to retrieve her hat from the ground. After a minute, he stopped and sighed in relief. “Apples in the mortal world are always the best, but I certainly didn’t imagine I’d end in a place with so many of them.” “…ya’ll like apples, huh?” “Of course, they’re so much better than the apples that we have in the shinigami world. They’re just so… juicy.” That was an interesting word for it, though it made Applejack wonder what kind of apples were in his world if they couldn’t be described as juicy. As if reading her mind, Ryuk spoke again. “I let a human girl try one from the shinigami world. She really didn’t like it, said something about it tasting like sand.” “Like sand?!” Applejack exclaimed before shuddering as she thought of how that must have tasted, “That’s disgusting!” “Yeah I suppose it would be to you mortals, but then again, you have so many apples, I think I’m going to like staying here.” Green eyes snapped open. No. There was no way in Tartarus he was staying here! “Look you, Ah want you offa mah farm, right now! Ah ain’t gonna use your damn book, so there’s no reason for you stick around! Now git!” Ryuk stopped for a moment before slowly turning to look at her. Were…. Were his eyes glowing? “Really? If you make me leave now, I’ll have to take my notebook back.” “Ah don’t care! Ah don’t want that unholy thing!” “You know… the second it touches the ground, it becomes part of the mortal world and the first mortal to pick it up becomes the new owner. You currently own the notebook Applejack.” “How do you know mah name?!” “Shinigami can see the name and lifespan of any mortal floating over their heads,” he pointed an unnaturally long finger over the young pony’s head, making her look up at the empty air. “Now why in the hay would you need to know something like tha…” she trailed off as it began to click together in her mind, “The notebook…” “That’s right, we shinigami stay alive by killing mortals and taking their remaining lifespans. That’s why we can see your name and lifespan, so we can kill you and know just how much time we’re getting.” Applejack’s face went pale. Was… Was this thing going to kill her for telling him to leave? “But if you really don’t want the notebook, I’ll just take it and be on my way. Of course I’d have to erase your memories of it, myself included.” “…so… you ain’t gonna kill me because I told you to leave?” “Nah, I am a bit annoyed I won’t be able to have this many apples again, but this really isn’t something that bothers shinigami. Of course, if I did leave, I’d have to try dropping the notebook again, and it could be picked up by somebody who would use it.” Now her blood was running ice cold. She hadn’t considered that. Ryuk let out a wheezy laugh. “Didn’t think about that did ya? Tell ya what: I’m willing to make a deal, keep the Death Note and let me have some of your apples and in return, I don’t let anybody else find the notebook.” “What… you mean… you don’t care about things bein’ interestin’?” Applejack wasn’t wrong for being suspicious, after hearing him talk so casually about the notebook and how it had been used, any sentient creature would question his motivations. “Nah, it’s nothing like that. I do want things to be interesting, and I’ve heard this town always has some sort of disaster or another going on. That’s why I dropped it here, although I wasn’t certain if it would be used or not. Word has it you creatures are pretty much too good to kill anyone.” “Well, Ah won’t deny we usually do have some sort of calamity here in Ponyville, but there are plenty of ponies who’d be happy to cause trouble… killin’ is somethin’ else entirely though…” “So it would be good for me stay then?” “Ponies would panic if they saw you! And we have enough problems to worry about!” “Nah, they’d never know I was there. Mortals can only see shinigami if they touch their notebook, and so long as you don’t go flinging it around in public, you’ll be the only one able to see me.” “…are you serious?” Ryuk’s face never showed emotion, only his jaw moved when he spoke, simple up and down motions, it almost like a puppet or a marionette. His mouth also never changed shape to match the sounds of words as he spoke. It was almost as unnatural as the book. “You didn’t hear me come in, did you?” “What?” “In the house, you didn’t hear me come in right?” “What?! You were in mah house?!” “Yeah, I was standing behind you the whole time, I went out of my way to make sure you didn't see or hear me. Your family didn't react, and when I flew into the barn you didn't hear me then either.” To prove his point, he flapped the two raven-like wings on his back; they made quite a bit of noise and picked up enough wind to make Applejack place a hoof on her hat. She certainly hadn’t felt a breeze in the barn, and come to think of it, when he left to look at the orchard, his wings hadn't made even the slightest sound, despite the fast he had left fast enough that Rainbow Dash would have almost been impressed... but if the cyan pegasus had left at that speed, the still burning lantern would have gone out. Touching the book distorted reality. “So, tell me about this place. Is it as exciting as people claim?” Ryuk asked. “Well… you never get bored.” “So… you gonna give up the notebook or not?” Applejack took a few minutes to consider this. Could she deal with having such a dangerous object in her possession? Ryuk claimed it had a power to make creatures use it, and she hadn’t even considered using it. Sure, there were ponies she disliked, but not enough to want them dead, and he did raise a valid point. If somepony else got their hooves on the book, they might actually use it, either on accident or intentionally. If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to remember ever having the book… she wouldn’t be able to help stop whoever it was that might be using it… Then she thought of her family. How they could be in danger if she couldn’t keep an eye on the book. Well… she was a responsible young mare… she could handle one more thing right? “Alright… ya got a deal.” After that, Applejack was surprised how little she saw of the shinigami; he spent most of his time in town, watching for the latest thing to catch his attention. He normally didn’t have to wait long before somepony’s personal drama or a town-wide emergency came up and, true to his word, not a soul spotted him. Whenever he was on the ground, ponies would walk right through him, completely ignorant to his existence. Nothing could hurt him and whenever he saw her staring at him, he’d give a little wave before wandering off to find something new to do. On occasion she would see him when something bad was happening, and, as if he took a page out of Discord’s guide to being a pest; he would find the best seat to watch from. Unlike a certain Spirit of Chaos however, he would remain silent and stare. Just… stare… If she watched him staring for too long, she would get uncomfortable, before remembering he seemed to lack eyelids. She assumed he did anyway, as she never bothered to ask. At night, he would return to Sweet Apple Acers to have his fill of the delicious fruit. He seemed to favor the red ones over the green for some reason, but she could never figure out why. When asked about his return trips to the farm, Ryuk explained that the human who had the Death Note last made him realize an important detail he hadn’t considered before. If he picked up something, it would look like it was floating in the air to anyone who hadn’t touched the notebook, and since he didn’t find everypony in town freaking out over floating apples interesting, he decided to wait until it would be impossible to see them being plucked from the trees. Applejack couldn’t poke a hole in that kind of logic and would go about her days on the farm like nothing had changed. If she was alone, Ryuk would sometime follow her; simply to watch her go about her daily business and on occasion, they would discuss recent events. He may have been the creepiest, strangest and perhaps the most sinister creature in Ponyville-if not all of Equestria-but he was slowly becoming a part of her every day life and so long as she kept the notebook well hidden, he would stay her little secret. She felt she could live with that.