Fuel the Eternal Flame | A DOOM MLP Crossover

by NotAnEditor

Apple Buckin' Day

The sun shone brightly over the large range of trees, providing warm tender heat over the beautiful morning. Sparse clouds formed a variety of unique shapes above the colorful and cozy landscape.

Ripe red fruit grew from the ends of large collections of apple trees, basking in the warmth of the new morning. It seemed like the perfect day to harvest such a bounty of crisp produce.

Not too far away from the large orchard sat a large reddish pink farmhouse, a barn a reasonable distance away. Small gardens of alternative crops grew nearer to the farmhouse, corn and carrots being the most plentiful amongst the bunch.

It was Apple Bucking Day in Sweet Apple Acres, and the farmhouse was already busy with the Apple family already preparing for the day.

Applejack rushed throughout the house as Granny Smith was working on a stack of pancakes. “Big Mac!” The farm pony called to her bigger brother who had just come downstairs.

“Ehyup?” the red stallion asked, rubbing sleep out of his green eyes.

Applejack grabbed extra pancake mix for Granny Smith, turning back to him. “We woke up late! Terry just didn’t do his crow!” she informed.

Granny Smith snickered, remaining calm. “Did Applebloom not tell ya that ‘er and ‘er little friends brought him to Flutter… What’s her name again?”

“Fluttershy?” she groaned, looking at her grandmother from the pantry. “Great! Big Mac, did ya fix that broken wheelbarrow after yer delivery yesterday?”

Big Mac shook his head, yawning as he made his way to the table.

“Ya said you would do it!” Applejack turned from the pantry and at her brother with an annoyed look. “Now fer half of the day me and Applebloom gotta go about the orchard bucking up trees. And ya know she ain’t ta goo- APPLEBLOOM!” she shouted, just now realizing that the filly hadn’t woken up yet.

Applejack went over to one of the cabinets in the kitchen and clanged together a large wooden spoon and a pot both in her jaws. She then rushed up the farmhouse’s stairs, going to her little sister’s room and kicking the door open.

“Ugh… Not today-“ Before she could lazily complain, Applejack began banging the two cookware together loudly.

“AH! I’m awake! I’m awake!” The now fully conscious Applebloom stood up in her bed, eyes wide in surprise.

“Apple Buckin’ Day, Applebloom! Get up!” Her big sister stated as the light yellow-colored foal fixed the large red bow in her hair.

Applebloom jumped down from her bed, trotting out of her room quickly. “I get ya! I get ya!”

The young country filly quickly took a seat at the wooden dining room table, Applejack joining her next to Big Mac. Coming around the table slowly was Granny Smith, passing about the stacks of pancakes. Once she came around to Applejack, she began eating the flapjacks extremely fast, getting out of her chair once she was finished.

“Come on ya two! Those apples won’t buck themselves!” she hurried them along, rushing out of the house and towards the barn to get a couple of buckets.

Applebloom sighed, looking down at her pancakes. “I hardly even started on my first one.” she huffed, predicting that it would be a rough day.

~

The sun clambered its way through the sky, beating down upon the countryside of Ponyville. Applebloom trudged along wearily, a stack of small empty buckets in her jaws as she relished in the brief and occasional shade of the surrounding apple trees. It had been a couple of hours since she and Applejack had first started.

She went up to the nearest unbucked tree, placing her head down to rest the stacked buckets below a clump of branch-mounted apples. Letting out a small huff, the filly went over to the other side of the tree, mentally marking an ‘X’ where she would have to kick.

Letting her flank face the tree, she prepared herself before bucking the bark with a loud crack. Not all the ripe apples fell completely from the tree, however most managed to drop down. Many even managed to land conveniently in Applebloom’s bucket.

Looking up and behind her to see a collection of apples still hung upon the tree, she let out a heavy sigh and prepared herself for yet another buck. Crack! The tree crunched under the attack of swiftly moving hooves. Crrk! It went again, the last of the apples finally falling to the ground.

“Thank Celestia.” she appreciated, plopping each hoof in front of the other towards the bucket. On her way over she forced herself to reach down and pick up each of the other fallen apples, throwing them into the bucket with each pick.

It was tedious having to do this so many times. Especially when tired. It felt as if she could fall asleep while doing this. Once she placed the final apple in the bucket, she picked it up from the rest of the stack.

“How ya doing there!?” Applejack came out of nowhere, making her little sister jump and drop the bucket in surprise.

Applebloom looked over at her with an annoyed huffed, the brief shot of adrenaline wearing off. “Fine, just a lil’ sleepy.” she told her, picking up some of the apples that had fallen out of the dropped bucket. “You seem awful chipper.”

The mare smiled at her, balancing a multitude of buckets on her back strongly. “Its what happens when ya go ta sleep at a good time.”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting was postponed to eight! I had to be there.” Applebloom excused.

“Uh-huh. Anyways, Big Mac finished fixin’ up that wheelbarrow. In fact I think I see him just through the trees over there.” she squinted past the rows of bark and wood. “’Ey! Big Mac!” Applejack called over, waving a hoof in the air.

Wheels rustled through grass as the cart-strapped stallion made his way to the row of trees his diligently working sisters were at. “Eh-yup?”

“We got a load of buckets ready for ya!” Applejack shouted as Big Mac got closer.

He nodded in a simple response, stopping the cart right in front of the two conveniently.

Applejack trotted over, jumping to make each of the bucket’s land spectacularly in the cart side by side. Not a single apple spilled from one of the buckets. Meanwhile her little sister struggled with her singular bucket, pulling it up and nuzzling it onto the cart.

Applebloom caught her breath after the exertion of such an action, watching Big Mac trot away with the cart in his wake. She let out a small yawn, raising a hoof to her open muzzle.

“I can’t believe you can be so energetic right now.” the filly commented through her deep country accent.

Applejack shrugged, starting back to the barn for more buckets. “Its not too hard lil’ sis. Just gotta get in the mode.” she explained.

“’The mode?’ What does that even mean?” Applebloom asked, only to be ignored by her big sister as she continued off, humming the tune of some old country song.

Applebloom grumbled a little, going back to her bucket stack and picking it back up. She dragged it over to the closest tree, setting it down in a good position before once more kicking at it.

This would continue for what felt like ages for the small pony. The menial tasks being highlighted only by the sound of hoof impacting into bark and apples satisfyingly plunking to the ground. bucket of apples after bucket of apples passed as the trees grew progressively more barren.

Soreness had joined Applebloom’s muscles many moments ago, making her slump along slowly through the apple orchard. She dropped her stack of empty buckets from her jaws, letting them open wide in a large yawn.

Tiredness wore at Applebloom after bucking at the trees for hours on end. The blazing sun certainly didn’t help either. “Oh, Celestia.” she placed a hoof over her amber eyes as the sun beamed down into them. “Why do ya gotta always make the sun go right in my face?” she complained.

The sun remained defiantly, Applebloom grumbling at it before picking the buckets back up and putting it near another tree. She went to the other side of it, preparing her legs before kicking straight into it. CRK! The kick sounded, dropping all the apples from its branches.

She looked back and up into it, smiling a little when she noticed the lack of apples upon the tree’s arms. “Ha! I did it.” Positive energy flowed through the foal, trotting over and picking up the apples that had missed the bucket with a small smile.

Once that bucket was full, she continued on to the next tree. By now Applebloom had made her way to the side of Sweet Apple Acres that was closest to the treeline of the Everfree Forest.

Occasionally she would glance into the dark, scary woodland. The clusters of trees forming a ceiling over its menacing undergrowth. Thankfully, a simple wooden fence separated the orchard from the forest.

A small shiver went through her as she finally made it to the next tree, repeating what she had done with the last. Put the bucket under the leaves, buck the tree, pick up apples. Surprisingly enough, once more with her strength, or possibly luck, she had brought down all of the tree’s fruit.

Just as she was about to bend her head down to pick up one of the apples, a loud and distracting rustling started in the shrubbery of the nearby dark forest. She looked up from the apples, turning towards the Everfree with curiosity. A large series of bushes in the forest stood between a duo of trees, the undergrowth being the height of most ponies. A small glow just noticed by the filly had caught her eye.

She tilted her head curiously, stepping forward towards the fence and lowering it between the planks. Squinting her eyes, she saw three green dots in a close triangular formation, glowing brightly through the darkness of the shrubbery.

Chillingly deep rasping came from the bushes as whatever was in there stared back at the small pony. Applebloom’s eyes widened, stepping back a little. Seeing the filly become startled, whatever it was turned and rushed back deeper into the Everfree before disappearing completely. As it ran, a tall, slumped over silhouette could just be made out.

Wh-...What in Celestia’s name was that? Applebloom queried herself as the bushes continued to rustle. Despite the fear that the unknown creature embedded into the pony, she couldn’t help but feel a small curiosity temp her towards its path.

After seemingly endless moments of silence and a long confused look, she finally set her hooves on the fence and began clambering over it awkwardly. Several thonks of hooves went off as she attempted to vault the fence, finally pushing off of it with her hind legs and landing before the Everfree.

Applebloom looked up at the large forest, a shiver of fear going into her before deciding to continue on through. The filly shuffled through the bushes the creature was in, curiosity tugging her onto the path. Looking down, she saw noticeable prints from whatever that thing was. It seemed to have two small feet with three long raking claws extending from them.

Looking up from the tracks, she continued shoving past the foliage in chase of its path. Darkness slowly grew as the canopy of the Everfree grew thicker, mucky heat radiating through her as she continued on. Her ears remained perked in alarm just in case whatever she had encountered would show up once more.

Applebloom suddenly stopped at the sight of a rustling bush. By now the foliage had lessened into a more clear area, the shrub standing out strongly. She jumped in surprise as a little bunny rabbit sprinted out of the bush, rushing past the pony.

“AH!” she screamed with a little hop, the small thing scaring her badly. The filly breathed heavily from the encounter, gathering herself.

By now the fear encroaching on her told her to head back, it already felt as if she was getting lost. However, the more Applebloom realized her surroundings the more she noticed a tangy scent not too far ahead.

She sniffed the air quizzically, trying to find some comparison to the sweet smell. It reminded her of apple cider, but somehow even sweeter. Incomprehensibly sweet. Any sense of fear was washed away as she felt her hooves carry herself over. She had to check this out.

It was as if the source of the smell was right over the next pair of bushes. However, when she set them aside she saw nothing. With every hoof set forward the smell only got stronger and more attractive.

Applebloom slowly got frustrated with her little progress on the source of the smell. “Where in Celestia’s name is it?” she huffed, clambering through a group of brambles into yet another clearing.

One of her light yellow ears flicked in annoyance at the lack of anomaly. More grass and occasional bushes, tall swampy trees setting the areas apart. Yet the smell still drew her nearer. Finally, after clambering through countless piles of brambles and thorns, she felt as if it was just ahead of the next patch of foliage.

Clamping her jaws on a branch, she set it aside and slowly walked through. It was stronger than ever. There sitting in the middle of the clearing was a glowing red, sizzling pool of a lava-like substance.

The smell was irresistible as the filly stepped forward to it, a comforting heat radiating from the pool of crackling red. It looked as if scarlet electricity flowed through it, sizzling over the more darker maroon formed at the base of the substance.

Applebloom stopped in front of the pool, taking one more deep breath of its delicious smell before happily dipping her head down for a drink of the welcoming substance.

After one lap of the warm liquid, she looked up from it with wide eyes and ears perked. This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life!

The pony thought to herself as she brought her head back down and continued to drink up. It felt as if it warmed every portion of her essence with a comforting hug, the small little crackles tickling her tongue with enjoyment. She absolutely loved it.

Lifting her head from it, a quick thought ran through her head. I gotta show the others! However, she realized that leading her friends into the Everfree forest, one of the most dangerous places around Ponyville, wasn't too smart.

Then again, following whatever that thing was all the way out here wasn’t too smart either, but look what came out of it! It was worth it. She declared, taking another small sip from the pool. The thought of surprising her family with this succulent liquid would be the best thing she could do. She looked around the clearing for any sort of container to hold the substance in.

She gave a disappointed look at the lack of anything to store this liquid, just about turning around before she noticed one of her wooden apple buckets right behind her. Applebloom opened her mouth, about to question the sudden appearance of the bucket. However the scent once more overrode any questioning.

The filly happily took the pail, dipping it into the pool of the strange fluid before taking it back out. Lifting the bucket of the delicious liquid, she turned and started back to the orchard, ready to show off what she had discovered.

Comments

[Moonlight Tome]

I know basically nothing about Doom, but I am absolutely certain that red liquid with arcing electricity is bad news!

[ForNeverMore20]

LIQUID ARGENT?! Bloom’s gonna be souped up soon