As the Apple Blooms

by The FraudulentBrit

The Two Princes

As the Apple Blooms

Respite 7; The Two Princes

Equestria Land….

“Woo-hoo!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she leapt into the air. Landing with the kind of grace that only the pink girl could only pull off, she squealed, “This is the best day ever!”

The last few hours had been one of sheer joy for the group of girls. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash rode the park’s many roller coasters (much to the former’s dread), Applejack and Rarity were able to scour the park’s many boutiques and kiosks, and even Twilight and Pinkie had taken the opportunity to enjoy the cuisine around the park. And now that the sun was starting to set, everyone was trying to find something that would be the perfect way to cap off the day.

As the six teens walked through the theme park, Rarity suggested, “You know, we should check out the Crystal Palace!” Applejack immediately replied, “It took me an hour to get you out of there once. Ah don’t know if Ah can do it again.” The pale fashionista rolled her eyes as she rebuffed, “And now that I know what they sell, I won’t get overwhelmed.”

The two teen’s mild argument was interrupted by Rainbow Dash groaning, “Ugh. That sounds so boring! How about something more exciting?” Fluttershy then spoke up with a gentle, “Um, I don’t know about you girls, but I’ve had enough excitement for one day.” The next one to speak was Twilight Sparkle (Also known as Sci-Twi), who was fixing her backpack as she spoke up, “And since Pinkie and I just ate, I don’t want to risk upsetting my stomach.” This was followed by Spike the dog as he remarked, “And I don’t wanna get left out of anything else.”

After a few moments, Applejack raised her hands as she said, “Alright. How about we check out the stuff near the park entrance?” No one had any objections, with Pinkie Pie enthusiastically replied, “That sounds like a plan AJ!” Satisfied that everyone had seemingly agreed on the next step, the orange farm girl called out, “Alright. Follow me girls.”

As the group walked through the amusement park, Applejack found that, for the first time in a while, she’d been enjoying herself. Ever since she’d “lost her cool” in Apple Bloom’s room, the farm girl had barely had a moment’s rest, spending most of her time either working extra hours at either the farm or her job at the smoothie shop, shopping for new pieces of furniture that she’d “damaged,” and for the most part, keeping herself busy.

And that didn’t even include the insane adventures they’d been on since school let out for the summer. First up was their week at Camp Everfree, where they’d managed to stop a counselor from enslaving all the campers. ‘Heh. At least Twilight met that cute Timber Spruce fella.’ Applejack thought to herself, fondly remembering the only part of that trip that hadn’t ended in disaster.

After that had been their nightmare on the set of the Daring Do movie. The day that they’d been invited to go behind the scenes just happened to be the same day the director’s niece, some girl named Juniper Montage, tried to sabotage production. When the gang tried to stop her, Juniper learned the hard way what happens when you get shocked with a cattle prod while drenched in water.

“Ugh.” Applejack shuddered as the memories of Juniper’s fate flashed in front of her. Shaking her head, the teenaged farmer couldn’t help but mumble to herself, “Ah wouldn’t even wish that on Apple Bloom.”

Applejack was so distracted by her train of thought that she barely registered Rainbow Dash trying to get her attention. The rainbow haired girl called out, “Hello, earth to Applejack!” When the farm girl turned to face her friend, Rainbow Dash explained, “Pinkie found something. Take a look.” She then pointed to something to the group’s right.

Turning to see what her friend was pointing to, Applejack found a large yet simple tent, the kind that was made to house large groups of people. Intrigued, Rarity remarked, “Well, it doesn’t exactly blend in with the rest of the park. What do you think it is?” Fluttershy shook her head as she replied, “I have no idea.”

Pinkie Pie, however, wasn’t worried about how different the tent was to everything around it, and instead pleaded, “Can we check it out? I’ve got a good feeling about this. Please?” As Fluttershy hesitated, Twilight shrugged as she answered, “Well, I guess it could be fun.” Relenting, Applejack agreed, “Alright. Let’s go see what’s in this mystery tent.” And with that, the group made their way towards the mystery tent, curious as to what would be inside.

The Mystery Tent….

Entering the tent, Applejack found herself taken aback by just how ornately decorated the simple portable structure actually was. All throughout the simple structure were bookshelves filled with countless texts, some of which were written in languages none of the group understood. In between the pillars of literature were an assortment of sets of armor, works of art, bladed weapons, and an untold number of other relics. And seated right in the center of all of this was a fancifully carved wooden table with a few scrolls and maps.

Taking everything in, Applejack couldn’t help but remark, “Whoa. Ah’ve never seen anythin’ like this before.” Turning to face Twilight, the blonde girl asked, “You ever seen anythin’ like this?”

Shaking her head, Twilight answered, “I wish. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Starting to give in to her inner scholar, the purple book worm made her way up to one of the many bookshelves as she continued, “I mean, it looks like all of these books here are in Latin.”

At that moment, both girls were distracted by the sound of an old man’s voice replying, “Vulgar Latin to be precise.” As all eyes turned to see who it was, Applejack was surprised to see a frail old man with gray skin, pink-red hair and moustache, and holding a mahogany cane. As this man approached the group, Rarity tiptoed up to Applejack as she asked, “Who’s he?”

“My name is Kranix.” The old man introduced himself. As he gave a respectful bow, he continued, “And this here is my humble residence.” Making his way up to Twilight and the bookshelf, he began, “Ah, this is some of my finest work. I’ve been translating many great works into Vulgar Latin. It’s practically taken me a lifetime.”

Intrigued, Twilight replied, “Wow. That’s awesome!” Taking a moment to catch her breath, she pushed up her glasses as she introduced herself, “Sorry about that. I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She then extended her hand, leading Kranix to shake it back as he replied, “It is an honor to meet a fellow scholar.”

Once they’d finished their handshake, Applejack made her way up to Kranix and introduced herself, “Howdy there. Ah’m Applejack.” She then extended her arm to her friends as she continued, “An’ these are our friends Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.” As everyone gave a gentle gesture of acknowledgement, Kranix replied, “Well, it is an honor to meet you all.”

Pinkie Pie then asked, “So what do you do here? Are you like a book seller?” Kranix let out a gentle chuckle as he answered, “Oh no my dear. I maybe a scholar by passion, but here I am a seer and fortune teller.” Pointing to his table, he continued, “I can tell you who were in the past, or what you can be in the future.”

Scoffing, Rainbow Dash doubted, “Yeah right.” Kranix hobbled up to the rainbow haired girl as he replied, “Oh, ye of little faith.” Giving a small smirk, he asked, “How about a little demonstration?” Rainbow Dash shrugged as she replied, “Alright.” With that, she and Kranix made their way to the table and sat down, placed opposite of each other.

As everyone gathered around them, Kranix took Rainbow Dash’s hand and, closing his eyes, he began, “The child in front of me now is an athlete driven by competition and challenge. You seek excitement in your life, and if there’s one thing that is important to you above all else….” As he opened his eyes, he finished, “…. It is loyalty.”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped as she asked, “What? How did you know that?” Shrugging, Kranix simply answered, “You’re not too difficult to read.” He then added, “Though I must add, in another life, you were far different. A fashionista of sorts.” Upon hearing this, the cerulean teen rose up to her feet as she replied, “Ew. Ok, I’ve had enough.”

Once Rainbow Dash had rejoined his friend, Kranix asked, “So, who would like to go next?”

A Short While Later…

“Are you serious?” Pinkie Pie asked Kranix. “Are you saying that I am a being of pure chaotic energy?” The older man tried to explain himself, but the pink girl enthusiastically interrupted, “Well there was that time me and my cousin Surprise got lost on a family trip and I covered that rock with sprinkles and then everything just blew up and….”

Placing his hand over the teenaged baker’s mouth, Kranix interrupted, “I am merely saying you are a wildcard. You are unlike anyone I have ever met.” As Pinkie Pie rose up to her feet, he continued, “And if you were to ever stand against anyone, may Primus have mercy upon them.”

The last while had been a very enlightening experience to the group. During this time, Kranix had entertained everyone by either peaking into their future or explaining a past life, and all of the girls were both intrigued and entertained by his stories. Whether it was Rainbow Dash’s seeming past as a fashionista, Fluttershy’s future with a young man who could seemingly bend reality to his will, or Spike being a dragon elsewhere (Something everyone knew but decided to play along with), it seemed that the old man knew all about them.

All except Applejack.

Making her way to the table, Applejack asked, “So, Mr. Kranix. What can you say about me?” Taking her hand, Kranix closed his eyes as he began, “I can safely say you are someone driven by a sense of pride and determination. If there is one thing that gives you joy beyond your friends, it is your family.” As the orange girl blushed, he continued, “However, if you perceive that someone has in any way betrayed you….”

At that moment, the gentle smile on Kranix’s face began to slowly turn into an expression of subtle terror. A concerned Rarity asked, “Mr. Kranix? Are you alright sir?” Applejack then joined in with, “Yeah. You’re givin’ me the creeps.” She then tried to pull her hands back, only to find that the older man was grasping them with a strength that could put the blonde farm girl to shame.

Taking a deep breath, Kranix muttered, “I haven’t felt a presence like you since….” Now starting to panic, Applejack asked, “Since what? What are sayin’?” As she struggled to pull herself free, Kranix said something; something that none of them were going to forget for a long time.

“…..Since Megatron.”

As the gang took in that name, something began to happen. Smoke began to enter the tent as the girls realized something was wrong. Starting to panic, Applejack turned to face Kranix as she demanded, “What in tarnation is goin’…..” She would have continued, only to find that the older man had disappeared.

“What the hell?” Applejack asked out loud. “Where’d he go?” Backing away from the table, she called out, “Girls, please tell me Ah’m not the only one who’s seein’ this.” However, there no was no answer. Now starting to panic, the young farm girl continued, “You girls hearin’ me?”

When no one answered, Applejack turned around to find that, just like Kranix, everyone had seemingly disappeared into thin air. ‘Oh no.’ The blonde girl thought to herself as the smoke grew thicker and thicker. ‘First this old geezer and now mah friends. Somethin’ weird is goin’ on.’

Just as she began to process her situation, the fog began to fade, revealing that Applejack was no longer in the massive tent. Instead, she now found herself in a large chamber made of polished marble. The walls were decorated with detailed mosaics, the kind she remembered seeing pictures of in history class.

However, what really intrigued her was a large table placed in the center of the chamber. Making her way up to it, Applejack found that it was dominated by a large map of Europe. Lines were drawn along it, creating a border that seemed to engulf almost all of the contentment, from as far north as Britannia, as far west as Lusitania, as far east as Syria, and as far south as the tip of Aegyptus. And written across this large territory, larger than those that described any province, was the word “Imperium.”

“Wait a minute.” Applejack said as she realized just what she was looking at. “This is a map of the…..”

At that moment, the sound of doors slamming open distracted the orange farm girl. Turning to see what it was, she found that two men were entering the grand chamber. One was a younger man with light gray skin, blue hair and eyes, and was dressed in a white outfit with red accents. The other man was noticeably older, also possessed gray skin, had a white beard and hair, and dressed in a fancy silk outfit, the kind one only wore when they had a lot of money to spend.

As the two men approached her, the younger man spoke up, “But father, I still do not understand why you will not explain why you summoned me.” The older man raised his hand as he gently explained, “Patience Orion. First, we must wait for your brother.” The younger man, Orion if Applejack heard correctly, nodded as he replied, “As you wish father.”

Curious as well as confused as to how she ended up here, Applejack asked, “Uh, howdy there. Who are you guys?” Neither man answered, or even gave any sort of acknowledgement, leading the orange farm girl to continue, “Hello there. Earth to whoever you are. You two hearin’ me?”

Just as she realized that the two men were not going to acknowledge her, the doors were forced open again. This time, however, the man who entered had pale white skin, piercing red eyes, and was dressed in a purple tunic and silver plated armor around his chest and shoulders. He held a helmet with purple feathers arching across the top in his arm as he kept a hand on the sword fastened to his waist. All in all, this man who was clearly a warrior was giving Applejack the sense that he was not someone to get in the way of.

Approaching the two other men, the white soldier set his helmet on the table as he boasted, “Great news! The barbarians to the north have been pacified! Our people will sleep soundly for the foreseeable future!” The other younger man playfully rolled his eyes as he replied, “It’s good to see you too brother.”

The older man then turned to the two siblings as he commanded, “Orion Pax? Megatron?” As the two brothers turned to face their father, Applejack found her jaw dropping as she thought to herself, ‘Megatron? That’s what, or rather who, Kranix said Ah reminded him of.’

Once the two brothers were facing their father, the older man continued, “My sons, I fear that we are dealing a problem no one has dealt with in our empire’s history.” Megatron immediately cracked his knuckles as he asked, “Let me guess, an invader unlike any other?” Letting out a gentle chuckle, Orion Pax quipped, “If there were such an invader, I fear you have destroyed them.”

Shaking his head, their father solemnly answered, “I wish that were the case.” He then turned to face the map on the table as he said, “Come look at this map, and tell me what you see.” As the two men approached the map as Orion answered, “It is our empire father.” Megatron laughed as he added, “Of course. From the pillars of Hercules to the far reaches of the Adriatic, and from the shores of the Danube to the sands of Aegyptus, my empire knows no bounds.” When his father and brother gave him concerned looks, he scoffed, “Oh please. Since when was the last time either of you went on campaign?”

Sighing, the older man explained, “That is the problem. Our empire is too vast to effectively rule.” As he pointed to the center of the empire, he continued, “It takes a legion weeks, if not months, to travel from where they are garrisoned to where they are needed. It hampers our merchants and tax collectors, and….” Pausing for a moment, he finished with, “We have expanded far, maybe too far.”

Lifting his head, the older man explained, “My sons, as my time grows nearer, I have realized that to ask either one of you to rule is asking for a miracle. As such, I have decreed that you will each rule half of our great empire. Orion will rule the east, and Megatron, you shall rule the west.” As both of his sons gasped, Applejack realized she was witnessing an important moment in history. Gulping, the whispered to herself, “Wait a minute. This is when the empire was divided. That would mean this is somewhere around…..”

“NO!” Megatron Bellowed as he slammed his fist into the table, intimidating Orion and their father as well as distracting Applejack. Starting to growl, the pale warrior complained, “I do not understand father! I am the first born, and I have spent my entire life on campaign, adding new lands to our empire and pushing the barbarians back! I am the rightful heir to the entire empire!”

As Applejack took in what the pale man had said, the older man immediately barked, “Silence Megatron! You may be my oldest son, but you are not emperor yet. And as for your triumphs, Orion has not been idle, instead refining our laws and improving our tax revenue to improve the income inequality.” Orion Pax then added, “And if I may brother, I agree with father. The empire is too big for either of us to rule alone.”

Sadly, Megatron arrogantly scuffed, “Pah. You simply lack the will to lead Orion. You are weak, and leaders must be strong!” As both brothers found themselves pressing their noses against each other, their father stepped in between them and pushed them away as he angrily declared, “Enough!” Turning to his eldest son, the emperor warned, “There is more to leadership than mere strength.”

Megatron Growled as he rolled his eyes and grumbled, “I don’t have time for this.” He then took his helmet and, as he began to barge out of the chamber, he called out, “Do not deny me my birthright father!”

As Megatron left through the door, the smoke began to return. Applejack groaned as she thought to herself, ‘Oh great. Here we go.’ Sure enough, she, Orion Pax, the older man, and the chamber were consumed by the smoke.

Once the great fog began to dissipate, Applejack realized that she was now in a different location. Instead of the previous chamber, she was now in an open, circular room. The room was set up with rising layers around an open circle, so that the speaker had to speak up to the audience as they looked down upon him.

Speaking of a speaker, the old man from earlier was now speaking to the many men who sat around and above him. As the crowd chatted among itself, Applejack thought to herself, ‘Huh. There must be almost a hundred or so of these fellas.’ As she took in what she was witnessing, the older man raised his hand as he called out, “Friends, senators, lend me your ears!”

As the crowd, or rather, the senate, calmed down, the emperor continued, “My friend, we deal with a crisis our people haven’t known since our great empire was born.” Struggling to keep himself calm, he continued, “My wayward son Megatron has declared himself emperor and now marches upon us, seeking my crown.”

The moment he finished speaking, many senators grew angry and concerned. One senator rose up and declared, “We should have done something about him, many years ago!” Another man added, “You should have disowned him and declared Orion Pax your only heir!” All the emperor could do was sigh as he dejectedly replied, “I know.”

As Applejack processed what she was witnessing, a new sound rang out throughout the chamber; that of a door being forced open so hard it was pushed off of its hinges. Turning to see who it was, the orange farm girl found Megatron, clad in his armor and holding a sword in his hand and with a spear on his back, barge into the room, followed by several similarly dressed and armed soldiers.

Once Megatron made his way to the edge of the open circle, he menacingly called out, “Hello father.” The emperor locked eyes with his son as he angrily asked, “You dare storm the senate? Such a sin is tantamount to treason!” The pale warrior let out a menacing chuckle as he menacingly replied, “I am no traitor, father. However, I simply demand one thing.”

As Applejack wondered what Megatron meant, the pale warrior growled, “I demand you make me the sole heir to the empire!” The emperor shook his head as he replied, “I will not. I had hoped for you and Orion Pax to split the empire, but now….”

Sighing, the older man remorsefully began, “Now that you have shown you are willing to storm the senate, I fear you are too dangerous to rule.” Making her way to a pillar, Applejack gulped as she muttered, “Ah have a bad feelin’ about this.” Megatron began to tremble with rage as he asked, “Is this your will father?” Sighing in resignation, the emperor answered, “It is.”

With that, Megatron pulled out his spear and, acting faster than anyone could react, threw it right at his father, impaling him through the heart.

As Applejack watched, she could hardly believe that she’d just watched a man murder his own father. “Why that two timin’ backstabbin’ little…” She growled as Megatron strutted up to his father’s corpse and mockingly asked the senate, “Are there any other objections?”

One of the senators angrily called out, “You monster! Unicron will devour your soul for this!” Rolling his eyes, Megatron turned to one his soldiers and ordered, “Starscream, silence him.” Nodding, Starscream answered in a raspy voice, “With pleasure sir.”

As Starscream and the other soldiers made their way to the other senators, something strange began to happen; everyone began to fade away as the light began to dampen. Confused, Applejack began to inspect her arm, and was thankfully relieved to see that she was just as opaque as ever.

The orange farm girl was distracted when she heard the sound of Orion Pax’s voice calling out, “FATHER!” Lifting her head, Applejack found the blue haired man running up to the corpse that had once been his father. Pulling the pilum out of his chest, Orion Pax cradled his father as he begged, “Please, Primus, not like this.” When his father gave no response, the young man simply leant his forehead against his father’s as he wept.

After a few minutes, Orion’s sorrow transformed into fury. It was a fury Applejack couldn’t help but find gave her a sense of déjà vu. She wouldn’t get long to think on it, as once Orion set his father’s body back on the ground, he couldn’t help but give into his anger as he shouted one word at the top of his lungs.

“MEGATRON!”

And with that scream, the fog returned, consuming everything once again. As Applejack vainly attempted to swipe the smoke out of her face, she couldn’t help but feel her eyes water. Groaning to herself, she whispered, “Ah hope this is because of this damn fog and not….” Sadly, the orange farm girl couldn’t help but feel a few tears escaping her eyes as the image of a broken man weeping at the sight of his murdered father.

Before she could process what had happened any further, Applejack was distracted by the ear piercing scream of Megatron’s voice calling out, “Surrender Orion!” The orange farm girl began to look around her in an attempt to find the murderous man. As she searched, Orion’s voice replied, “I’ll never surrender to a tyrant like you!”

And just as it seemed this day couldn’t get any more stressful, Applejack found Orion being thrown to her feet. The younger man was dressed in a red tunic and covered in the same plated armor as Megatron had been wearing, and in his hand was a battle axe.

As Orion stood back up, Megatron emerged from the fog, wielding a mace and sporting a look on his face that could only be described as “evil.” Lifting the spiked weapon above his head, the pale man furiously bellowed, “This is the price you pay for betraying me!”

‘Betrayin’ him?’ Applejack thought to herself. As time slowed down to a crawl, the orange girl continued, ‘You were the one who betrayed him! You murdered your own father!’

Once time returned back to normal, Orion Pax lifted his axe to block Megatron’s mace. As the pale man hesitated for a moment, his younger brother pushed the mace away as he angrily retorted, “I’m not the traitor, you are!” He then swung at Megatron, slashing at the older man’s torso. As Megatron collapsed, holding his hand to his now bleeding side, Orion sighed as he continued, “And you have lost the right to call me brother.”

Feeling she had to do something, Applejack ran towards the two brothers as she screamed, “STOP!”

Thankfully, Orion didn’t go through with his swing. Instead, the blue clad man sighed as he allowed his axe to fall to the ground. Collapsing to his knees, Orion asked, “Why did it have to come to this?”

Stumbling back to his feet, Megatron answered, “Because you and father denied me my destiny.” Orion groaned as he replied, “How many times do I have to spell it out for you? We were supposed to share the empire, but your pride wouldn’t allow it! And now….”

As Orion Pax extended his hand, the fog disappeared again, revealing that both men (as well as their unwitting observer) were now standing in the middle of a street deep in a ruined city. The air was filled with smoke and blood, and the sky was a crimson red as fire rained down and rose up from the many buildings. And laying all around them were the bodies of slain soldiers, some of whom wore the purple tunic of Megatron, while others wore the red tunic of Orion Pax.

Sighing, Orion finished, “Now our once great empire has been reduced to ashes. Nothing more than the two of us fighting over these petty scraps of past glory!” Megatron scoffed as he snorted, “This could have been prevented had you just done as I ordered. All of this happened because of YOU!” Orion groaned as he retorted, “No! Primus almighty, you just can’t accept it, can you? Maybe father made a mistake, but that gave you no right to murder him!”

For several minutes, both Orion Pax and Megatron just stood there, trading glares with each other. As both men stood in silence, Applejack couldn’t help but remark, “Ok, now Ah know Ah’m havin’ a sense of déjà vu.”

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Orion sighed as he asked, “When will this war end?” Megatron sighed as he answered, “There’s only one way this ends.” He then steadied his body as he prepared his mace. Realizing he knew what his brother was insinuating, he prepared his axe as he said, “So be it. One shall stand, one shall fall.”

Both men were so distracted by each other that neither of them noticed Starscream tiptoeing up to Megatron, a knife held firmly in his hand. It took Applejack several seconds to realize he was going to do, but when it finally clicked, all she could do was call out, “Behind you!”

But as Starscream plunged his blade into Megatron’s back, all anyone could do was watch in horror as the pale man collapsed to the ground.

Snickering to himself, Starscream sarcastically quipped, “Oh, how it pains me to do this!” Orion tried to charge him, but the black haired backstabber evaded him as he snuck off into the alley.

Orion Pax, however, didn’t focus on the assassin. Instead, he ran right up to his brother, who was now lying on the ground. Holding his brother in his arms, the blue haired man began to weep.

Watching this happen, Applejack began to tear up as she begged, “Please, someone make this stop!” Collapsing to the ground, she began to call out, “Someone! Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Anyone!” As she began to bleed tears, the smoke returned once again, consuming the city, Orion Pax, Megatron’s body, and Applejack.

She was so consumed by sorrow and confusion that the farm girl failed to notice the bright light forming around her and consuming Applejack in the brightness and, unbeknownst to her, returning her to the land of the living.

Kranix’s Tent.…

Shooting up from the ground, Applejack screamed, “Gah!” Rarity immediately ran up to her and rested her hands on her shoulders while asking, “Darling, are you alright?” As Applejack shook her head, the farm girl answered, “Ah think Ah’m goin’ crazy.”

Trotting his way up to her, Spike called out, “I’ll say. You entered a trance and fell to the ground while talking to yourself.” Making her way towards her friends and dog, Twilight picked him up and added, “It was kind of scary.”

As Applejack stood up, everyone heard the sound of footsteps and a cane hitting the ground. Turning to face the source of the sound, the farm girl found Kranix walking up to her, a shocked expression still plastered on his face. Applejack grew angry as she asked, “What the hell did you do to me?”

Sighing, Kranix answered, “That anger. That fury. There are only a few people I’ve known to have such spite in their soul.” Applejack shook her head as she replied, “That doesn’t answer mah question. What did you do to me?”

Giving the orange farm girl a serious scowl, Kranix explained, “You were shown what lies inside you. You may not recognize it, but there is a darkness inside you, and I knew the only way you would see it was if I showed you.” Now growing more confused and frustrated, Applejack asked, “What do you think I needed to see from seein’ a man kill his father?”

Kranix raised his cane and pointed it at Applejack’s chest (a move everyone found intimidating) as he said, “You are angry about something. Something your sister did. But now, that anger has grown out of control. Whatever slight she did to earn your ire is not worth your spite!”

Everyone found themselves petrified. None of them mentioned Apple Bloom, or even that Applejack had a sibling, but now this total stranger seemed to know what everything going on in the orange farm girl’s head. It was unsettling, it was unnerving, and most of all, to Applejack, it was terrifying.

Backing away from Kranix in fear, the young farm girl begged, “Get out of my head.” The old man shook his head as he answered, “I’m not the one who’s in danger. I’d be careful about your temper, lest you hurt her.” As Applejack gritted her teeth, she shot the old man a look that could easily have killed him.

As everyone gathered around her, Applejack growled, “Shut up!” Kranix let out a gentle chuckle as he let out a mischievous, “Enjoy your evening ladies. I do hope we meet again.” With that, he slammed the tip of his cane into the ground.

The moment Kranix’s cane hit the ground, there was a great flash of light, consuming everything and everyone around him.

Once the light died down, Applejack and her friends realized that Kranix and his tent had disappeared. They were now standing right outside Equestria Land, which was now closed for the night.

Pinkie Pie tiptoed to Applejack as she asked, “What just happened?” The orange girl shook her head as she replied, “Ah have no idea.” Rarity then added, “I don’t know about you girls, but I think that we should head home before we get into trouble.”

Nodding, Rainbow Dash replied, “Yeah, I should probably get going. See you girls later.” As she left, Twilight continued, “I should probably be heading home too. It’s getting a little late.” Applejack gave a confirming nod as she replied, “Same here. Take care everyone.” With that, everyone began to make their way home.

Pinkie Pie, however, found herself consumed with anticipation and dread. This was because, in a few days, she and her family were going to be going on a trip to see Marble to visit for her birthday. The only problem; they were going to be visiting Allspark Wells, and from what her sister had learned, she was now close friends with Apple Bloom.

Still, it was more important to be there for her sister than it was to keep up any petty grudge, and with that, the pink haired girl hopped off home, hopeful her little sister would like the present she found for her.

Author's Note:

Next time; Apple Bloom, Sideswipe, and Marble learn just how chaotic things get when serving Pie for dinner.

Comments

[The FraudulentBrit]

11019346
I’m happy you liked it. And while it won’t be here, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Kranix.

[Darksoul85]

Awesome chapter I love what you did here

[WarriorofFaith18]

Id listen to the crazy guy if I were you, AJ!

Hope Pinkie's visit goes well.

[Theresa]

I hope aj friends and family can help her see the light because I don't think unless she gets more spite visions she will get over this.

[Brian Sheil]

I hope Applejack heeds the warning of Kranix before somebody gets hurt. And, that someone could be Apple Bloom.