Tales of AppleScratch: Return of the Dark King

by The Batmane of equestria

Peaceful Monday

The suns light rays warmed up the orchard as Jacquelyn "Applejack" Apple and Vinyl "Apple" Scratch were busy harvesting their limited special product that grows only once a year: Zap Apples. Vinyl's powerful legs kicked a tree in it's centre, causing all of the zap apples to shake and drop off into carefully positioned baskets. No sooner had the zap apples landed than she had moved onto another tree. Applejack, however, simply gave a comparatively light kick, causing all of those zap apples to drop, and shaking some of the zap apples from neighbouring trees loose.

Both women were sweating as the exerted themselves to their limit.

"AND APPLEJACK IS IN THE LEAD BY 37 TREES! WAIT, NOW IT'S 38!" Came an amplified voice from above. Pinkie Pie flew above the orchard on yet another flying machine, this one having wings like and bird, only, unmoving, and made a continuous buzzing sound as it flew at high speeds. "IT'S CLOSE MARES AND GENTLECO- I MEAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Why do I keep forgetting that I'm in humanised fics?"

Vinyl's hands were covered in a faint blue hue as she continued to kick the trees. Slowly, a large ball at the far end of the orchard increased in size, vibrating and pulsing with energy. Back at the homestead, the rest of the Council of Harmony, Arabella Smith, McIngtosh and Apple Bloom stood in silence. All of the council had learned from last year and had placed all of their chips on Vinyl, except for Rarity, of course. McIngtosh was leaning on crutches due to a broken leg, caused by Timberwolves no less than 5 days ago.

"NOW IT'S A WHOPPING 45! AND ONLY TEN SECONDS TO GO! TEN!"

The two women picked up their pace as Pinkie started her count down.

"NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!"

AJ's speed picked up almost twofold, making her almost a blur as she worked.

"SIX! FIVE! FOUR!"

Vinyl maintained her pace as Applejack frantically kicked the trees.

"THREE!"

AJ was starting to tire out as she pushed herself.

"TWO!!!!"

Vinyl stopped and concentrated her magic into her hands.

"ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Vinyl released her pressure, causing the giant ball of energy to explode outwards, shaking the zap apples out of 70 trees and sending a tremendous boom echoing throughout the farm. The force was so much that the Council and the Apples could feel it through the ground.

"AND STOP! THIS YEAR'S WINNER IS VINYL SCRATCH WITH A LEAD OF 19 TREES!!!"

The two women made their way towards the homestead, AJ sighing in defeat. Pinkie's contraption landed near the barn and a parachute deployed to slow it down. As the trio arrived at the homestead, Rarity begrudgingly paid up on her bet and gave the other four council members 10 bits each. "I still maintain that Applejack is the best apple bucker." She fumed. The others all laughed at her reaction.

"C'mon sugarcube. Y'all know Vinyl beat me fair an' square. No need ta go beatin' yerself up 'bout it." AJ said as she approached.

Pinkie was hopping behind the two sisters. "OH MY WAWOIE ZOWIE! AJ WAS ALL LIKE KABAM," she screamed, kicking one of her legs out in a way surprisingly similar to the way Applejack kicked. "AND THEN VINYL WAS ALL LIKE BAM!" She reinforced this statement with another kick. "THEN AJ WAS ALL LIKE KABAM KABAM KABAM!" More kicking. "THEN VINYL WAS LIKE KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!" As she said that last word, she collapsed backwards with her arms stretched out. Everyone raised their eyebrows at her in either annoyance or complete confusion, though most of it was confusion.

"Meh," Rainbow said at last. "just Pinkie being Pinkie, I suppose." The others all shrugged their shoulders in agreement as Pinkie picked herself up from the dirt, shaking her body in order to rid herself of the dust.

"Anyway," Applejack said, turning her attention to Vinyl. "Ah swear that that darn thing you make with yer magic gets bigger every year. How in tarnation am ah supposed ta keep up with y'all when y'all keep doin' that?" She asked, though not entirely requiring an answer.

"Well, maybe next year, you should ask politely for me not to do that." Vinyl replied, her voice dripping with mock sarcasm.

The group diverted their attention to their own conversations as Vinyl and Applejack finished theirs.

As Applejack turned to speak with Rarity, Vinyl strolled up to Octavia. "Hey 'Tavi! How did I do?"

That question was answered as Octavia pecked her on the lips, wrapping her arms around Vinyl's neck. Pulling back but leaving her arms in place, she replied, "You did just fine."

"I still feel kinda bad for always using my energy ball."

"Don't get yourself too worked up about it. You still won. Besides, maybe I'll help you celebrate your victory in a very special way tonight." She finished her sentence in a sultry tone.

"Ooh, I'm liking where this is goi..." Vinyl was interrupted by Pinkie popping up between the two of them, causing them to jump back with startled cries.

"Congratulations! You've won this years ZAP APPLE HARVEST!!! How are you gonna celebrate, huh? Huh? Huh?" Pinkie said in her usual ecstatic voice. Vinyl and Octavia could only stare in mild annoyance and a glint of amusement at Pinkie's antics. "CAN I THROW A MASSIVE APPLE PARTY WITH ZAP APPLE JAM AND ZAP APPLE PIE AN..."

Vinyl stuck a hand into Pinkie's mouth. "Yes, Pinkie, you can throw a party, but will you please let me and 'Tavi have a private conversation?"

"OKIE DOKIE LOKI!" She said, before skipping into the house to, no doubt, plan a celebration party.

Once sure Pinkie was gone, Octavia spoke up. "Well that was... Strange."

"What did you expect from Pinkie?" Vinyl retorted.

"Well, I... Uh... Actually, that was pretty normal for her."

---

As they all delved into conversation, Applejack headed towards Rarity. As she approached Rarity, she was suddenly attacked by a leaping bear hug from said woman.

"Applejack, darling, you were simply fabulous out there." Rarity said, still clutching Applejack's back, resting her head on her chest due to her size.

"Thanks, Rares, but Ah think Vinyl won that round." Applejack countered, easily removing the clingy fashionista from her mid-rif.

"You're better than her and you know it!" Rarity said in a mock angry voice.

"Whatever ya say, sugarcube." Applejack chuckled, pulling the brim of her Stetson down over her eyes slightly.

"You know, I used to think it was funny the way you called everybody sugarcube. Now it's starting to get annoying, especially since you keep patronising me for standing up to you." Rarity huffed, crossing her arms and shifting her weight onto one hip, her face betraying the fact she wasn't really angry at all.

Applejack placed her large hands on Rarity's arms, drawing her attention to the farm girl and no-one else. "Look, sugarcube, as much as Ah'd like Vinyl ta stop using her titanian magic, there ain't no rules against it. Besides, it's only a bit o' friendly competition. Y'all have nothing to worry about." As she said this, she noticed the area was getting darker, and the others around them were giving shocked gasps.

Applejack looked up to see a large shadow cloud block out the sun, making headway towards the capitol of the country: Canterlot. The speed it was heading was unbelievable, and the farm people and the council could do nothing but stare as it passed overhead.

Finally, Applejack broke the silence. "What in tarnation is that?"

The cloud reached the castle and suddenly compressed, collapsing in on itself. The cloud collapsed to the point where it was no longer visible.

Suddenly, Rarity slapped Applejack. "That is for jinxing our day."

Author's Note:

TO BE CONTINUED!!!
This was all made possible by MariacheatBrony for his Tales of AppleScratch series and the other authors who have also taken part in the writing of the series.
Next chapter up as soon as I can.
If you want to create a Tales of AppleScratch fic, send MariacheatBrony a private message with your idea and he will no doubt give you permission.
That's all for now.