Trees!
It was a cool summer day in Ponyville -- which meant, as it often did, that Twilight Sparkle was studying inside of Golden Oaks Library, her quill scratching across the parchment as she carefully took notes on the ancient treatise on griffon culture that she was reading. Absorbed in her work, the alicorn dipped her quill into the last ink bottle at her side and withdrew it gently, placing the tip back on the paper to start writing again. It took a moment for her to realize that she was out of ink, after having ‘written’ several sentences on the parchment. Chuckling at her mistake, Twilight turned to Spike, who was curled up reading a (definitely mundane) comic book.
“Spike, could you run and grab some ink for me? I’ve run out.”
The little dragon hopped to his feet, happy to be useful. “No problem, Twilight!” He put the book on his shelf and hurried towards the door, ready to pull it open.
“Twilight! Ah need yer help!”
The door to Golden Oaks Library burst open from the other side and Applejack rushed inside, looking as if she had just seen a ghost. Twilight lifted her head quickly to see what was going on.
“Applejack? What’s wrong?”
“It’s...” Applejack’s voice broke. “It’s the apple trees. They’re... they’re tryin’ to eat each other!”
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The mane 6 stood gathered around the center of the library. Twilight stood in front of them, wearing a white labcoat and a pair of goggles.
Twilight’s horn glowed faintly and a screen popped into existence beside her, mapping out a diagram of an apple seed. “So, now that you’re all here, I’d like to explain how magical residue affects inanimate objects like this apple seed.” The seed was wreathed in a magenta glow and grew a bit bigger and darker.
“Unlike most inanimate objects, which shed any magical charges as soon as they are hit, plants -- especially seeds -- tend to retain these charges much more easily and release them after extended periods of time -- or not at all.” The seed shivered and grew into a sprout, and a healthier-looking, brighter seed popped into existence beside it. “Now, you may see that the sprout hit with the magical charge is still exhibiting the effects of the spell -- it’s still darker and bigger than the unaffected sprout. The question is, why did this happen?” The sprouts vanished and Flutterbat appeared, sucking the juices from an apple atop a tree branch. “When Fluttershy was hit with the spell, she siphoned the juice out of several apples -- which are also plants and contain seeds. Typically, after a subject is hit with a spell, they release quite a bit of the energy from that spell from their bodies for a while after the spell is cast. It is completely possible that when Fluttershy came in close proximity of the seeds after being hit with the spell, some of the excess energy drifting off of her was transferred to the seeds of the apple she was eating, along with the effects that the spell caused,” Twilight finished with a nod. The screen vanished and the library grew quiet as the other ponies and Spike thought this over.
“So what are we gonna do about it?” Rainbow Dash interjected. “We’ve gotta stop the trees from eating each other, otherwise there won’t be any cider!”
Applejack gave Dash a deadpan look. “Nevermind the cider; mah farm is in danger! These vampire trees are spreadin’ like wildfire!” Her eyes widened fearfully. “Who knows where it could spread next..”
“Well, then there’s absolutely no time to waste!” Rarity chimed in with a flick of her mane. “We’ve got to do something to stop this dreadful invasion. Twilight, what do you think should be done?”
The alicorn tapped her hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “Well, there are two possibilities that have a chance of succeeding. One option is chopping down all the trees around the cannibalistic trees, since they were probably affected too” -- Applejack gasped and put her hoof to her mouth -- “and clearing out all of the residual magic around the trees and within the soil. The other option is systematically hitting the entire area where the seeds were planted with the antidote spell, which would probably be more effective but would take a really long time to do.”
Rainbow Dash butted in. “Well, I think we should just take out all of ‘em before they can eat more trees!”
“But those trees are innocent!” Applejack argued.
“They could still be dangerous!” Rarity shot back.
“Let’s try talking to them!” Pinkie suggested brightly.
“Well, I think --” Fluttershy began to speak but was abruptly interrupted by the other ponies’ arguing.
“Trees have feelings too!”
“They do not! Especially these ruffians!”
“We have to save ‘em!”
“Apples!”
The clamor in the library rose higher and higher until Fluttershy loudly hissed, “SSSsstop!”. Shocked into a stunned silence, the other ponies quieted down to listen to what she had to say.
“W-well, when I was under the spell, I felt like I could’ve heard an apple fall from a mile away, and I was, um... really really fast. Catching a lot of vampire trees would be really hard, because they’re so fast and have such good hearing -- and, uh, no eyes,” Fluttershy finished shyly, shrinking back to her normal height again.
“Thank you, Fluttershy!” Twilight said. “So, we’ll just have to spray all of the places where the trees have grown. Are you with me?”
“Yeah!” the ponies and Spike shouted, Applejack with considerably less enthusiasm than the others. With that, Twilight trotted to the door -- soon followed by the others.
Rarity was at the end of the line and noticed Applejack hanging back, head drooping. "Applejack, dear, whatever is the matter?"
Applejack avoided her friend's gaze, ears back. "Nothin', it's just... I hate seein' the trees like this, y'know? Feelin' like there's nothin' Ah can do, it's all muddled up with magic and numbers...:
"Oh, Applejack, there's no need to feel that way!" Rarity exclaimed, putting a hoof around her friend's shoulder. "You've done all that you could, and that's all that really matters. Sometimes there are times when you've tried your hardest, but what you're trying to do just isn't in your nature. Say I tried to buck an apple tree. I probably couldn't do it the way you do, could I? You're an earth pony and I'm a unicorn; we both have different strengths and different weaknesses.That's what makes us who we are!"
Applejack lifted her head and nodded, standing up to her full height. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Let's get going!"
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After arriving at Sweet Apple Acres, the ponies and Spike all took large hoses connected to tanks full of the antidote spell that Twilight had cast and began running around the orchard, spraying all the trees as they passed. Within several hours, all of the infected areas had been sprayed; the trees were already looking brighter and healthier than ever before. The setting sun cast a golden glow across the farm as the ponies waved their good-byes, returning home for the night.
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"Let's see here... learning the consequences of your own mistakes, cleaning up after yourselves, teamwork, long-term benefits of plans that don't seem like a good idea in the short-term.... Done!" Spike shut the journal with a satisfying thud and turned to Twilight, who was studying in the center of the library again. "There sure have been a lot of magical disasters going on around here. I wonder what's causing all of this?"
"Hmmm..." Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know... Well, it's probably nothing to worry about. Goodnight, Spike!"
The candles inside the library were extinguished and all was dark. All but the shadowy figure creeping through Ponyville, yellow eyes flashing brightly in the darkness and vanishing.
~The End~
... or is it?