> Am I Crazy? > by Moony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One. The Beginning. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack stumbled slightly as she ran through the forest. She wanted to get to Fluttershy's house in time for the surprise party, even though she was early by at least an hour. She slowed down, straigtened her hat, and walked onward. She was daydreaming about one thing or another when - OUCH! She almost speared a door with her muzzle. She shook the stars out of her eyes and took a good look at the thing. It was standing, clear as day, right smack dab in the middle of the path. She peeked behind it to see if it was attached to a house, but nothing was there. Mystified, she looked behind her, and even in the bushed to see if this was some kind of prank. It wasn't. But she did see a bunch of odd signs saying things like, DANGER, DO NOT OPEN DOOR and STAY AWAY! She started to get curious. Should she open the door? Should she NOT open the door? She was completely torn so she looked at it some more, and started to laugh. "Ahahahahaha! This is the funniest darn thing ever! You guys really got me, but y'all can come on out now!" she shouted to no pony. "Guys? Come on, joke over. Come out. I'll even open the door if ya want!" she shouted again, this time a bit more nervous. What if it wasn't a prank? Was this door actually dangerous? She wanted to open it sooo bad...... She raised a hoof to open it, then decided against it. Besides, she needed to get to the party NOW, or she'd be late. How had time passed so quickly? She cantered off to Fluttershy's house, momentarily forgetting the door. "Wow, that was a FUN party Applejack! Do YOU think it was a fun party, 'cause I think it was a fun party. We really caught Twilight Sparkle off guard there! Did you see her, 'cause I saw her and she looked SOOOOO surprised -" "PINKIE!" "Yes?" "Okay, slow down. I DID see Twilight. And the party WAS fun, but I'm a bit... tired," said Applejack, her eyes flitting back and forth like they did whenever she lied - which was almost never. She edged her way around a deppressed-looking Pinkie Pie, and cantered back to her farm. She wanted to get an early night, and hopfully forget about the door. She crawled into her room through the window so she could avoid talking to Granny Smith and Big Mac. Laying in her bed though, she shake the memory of the door... > Into Darkness... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack knew that sleep was out of her reach for at least three hours as she tossed and turned in her bed. She knew inside that the door wasn't just a prank - all of her friends were at the party by the time she got there. But she also knew that she wanted to open it like all heck in Equestria. The hunger was eating her inside, and the first seed was planted. She formed a plan to curb the hunger, and laughed - hushed so as not to wake any pony. The laugh was maniacle, horrible, and wicked - it sounded nothing like the true Applejack's laugh. She crawled out of the window and cantered as fast as her hooves could take her to the Everfree Forest. The forest was cool and dark, with flowers like ghosts lurking at the edge of the path. They watched as an orange pony trotted breathlessly through the draping trees. They wilted slightly as she passed, knowing that nothing good could come of this midnight visit. "AHAHAHAHA! Must. Open. Door! It's killing me! IT IS! My friends, they think that I can't open it, but they're wrong, they're WRONG! They think it's just a prank, they think they can get away with it! I'll show THEM!" she screamed devilishly. She wasn't herself, and she was DEFINITELY going to open the door. 'Where's the door?!' she though anxiously to herself. She simply MUST open it - her curiosity's life depended on it! She would go loopy if she couldn't open the - "DOOR!" She skidded to a halt in front of the same door. The signs were still there, but there almost seemed to be MORE of them. She bit her lower lip, wondering if she should just go back home. 'I can't' she thought strongly. 'I have to open the door. Besides, it's just a DOOR! I wonder why it's makin' me so crazy? I don' know why it's makin' me so...' she let her subconcious finish with whatever word it liked, but she knew she couldn't admit it to herself at this time. She brought up a hoof, poked the door, and pole vaulted behind a bush. Peeking out, she didn't see any quick sand or swinging knives, so she walked back over. "Okay door, you're being opened." The door didn't do anything at first. It just kinda... opened. She laughed, and for the moment her craze went away. Then the door blew up. "GROAN!" Applejack said, regaining her grip on reality. She slid gracefully (Not really) to her hooves and looked around. The door was gone, but the signs were still there. She took a step and yoweled in pain. Looking at her throbbing hoof, she saw a six inch long splinter sticking out. Okay, so the door WAS there, just in a billion useless shards on the ground. Great. "What a good idea to open the door Applejack! Real great. Now it blew in yer face and ya have no clue how!" she scolded herself. She had to admit it to herself now. For a while there, she had gone unexplainably, oddly, crazily, horribly... Mad. > The World Turned Around. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack walked slowly back towards her house, pondering the whole explosion peice. She was starting to get unusually hot, so she planted her hindquarters on a rock. A cold wind suddenly swept through her, leaving her chest shivering where her heart skipped a beat. 'Too creepy,' she thought to herself, and quickened her pace on the way home - this time, it wasn't warmth that bothered her, it was the chilled to the bone frost that seemed to coat her invisably. "Where ave you ben?" Grannysmith croaked at her. She scowled. "I was just baking cookies with Pinkie Pie, sheesh," Applejack forced the lie through her teeth. She smiled at her ability to lie cleanly. Her mouth was getting better at it by the second. Grannysmith shrugged as best her creaking shoulders could and muttered under her breath about 'children these days.' Applejack wrapped herself in blankets, but nothing could aid her escape from the cold. In the morning when she awoke, goosebumps covered her limbs. "Gol danged cold," she muttered menacingly to herself. She stomped to the table and ate quickly, ignoring the looks given from Grannysmith and Big Mac. Galloping away, her hooves took her towards the Everfree Forest. 'Whahy are mah hooves takin' me there?' she wondered. Control over her madly moving feet was something she enjoyed five minutes ago. Now the pleasure was gone. "APPLEJACK!" Fluttershy shouted. Applejack reeled. 'Did Fluttershy just SHOUT?!' her mind asked. Her hooves froze (almost literally) and she turned. "WHAT?!" she shouted back. Fluttershy was standing in her yard, so Applejack walked over. "Get your stupid, ugly, mangy MUTT out of my house! She whines ALL NIGHT and barks and pees! OUT!" Fluttershy screamed at her. "Whatever Buttshy! Try being nicer for a change!" Applejack screeched back. Fluttershy sneered at her. "I'm done being nice! In fact, butterflies are nice. I don't want them on my side anymore!" she said, and with a pop, the three butterflies that made up her cutie mark were gone. Applejack stared, but held her poker face. "Well, you SUCK! I hate you, you're stupid, you're bad with animals, and you are a HORRIBLE PONY!" she countered. Fluttershy screamed loud enough to breack glass. "LIES! YOU ARE A LIAR!" she screeched at the orange pony in front of her. With that, the three apples that made up Applejack's cutie mark fell off. "GOOD RIDDANCE!" she said finally, and stalked off. She knew that the buttered up ol' Fluttershy would try and apologize. She wouldn't accept, although, she didn't need to because the apology never came. She was almost sorry, but then the cold came back, and the feeling vanished.