Darkly Familiar

Dear Diary,

Now I know why Pa was always so dangerously close to collapsin’ when he did Cider Season by himself. It’s more than a might tirin’ when ya can’t find any extra hooves ta help.

This year’s tha first time nopony else is around to help. Granny is off on her way ta help Braeburn and Appleloosa with their own Cider Season, Big Mac is off in Trottingham getting some new seeds, Apple Bloom is off visiting Sweetie Belle in Manehattan, and Caramel broke 2 legs yesterday, so he’s out for the rest o’ the season like the rest.

I’m sure Rainbow’d have energy to spare for helping me, but I’ve had no luck in finding her. Weather Team said she ain’t reported in once this week. Pinkie and Rarity both went through a lot o’ trouble recently, so I’d guess they’re off on some joint voyage to let things cool down. Fluttershy’s got her own “Season” of trouble, so I left her be.

I’m a little worried about the mares I can’t find, but I don’t have enough free time to invest a ton o’ thought into tha matter. Fortunately Twi did come by and offer ta help me though, and I greatly appreciate it, even though she’s the last pony I’d have expected farm help from under tha circumstances.

Probably won’t have time to write to ya for a few days. It’ll be worth it when the bits start to roll in from my first basically solo Cider Season though.

-Applejack

***

Applejack shook in an attempt to clear some of the sweat that gathered all too quickly on her now. After a quick breather, Applejack leapt off of the Cider Press and over to the still un-bucked trees nearby. Only sparing a few moments to inspect the trees for bad spots, AJ set about bucking and successfully filled enough buckets for 4 more barrels of cider, though she was shaking from head to hoof at that point.

As AJ steadied herself, she felt a certain sensation about her. Galloping quickly forward and heaving behind the nearest tree, Applejack realized she could hear another pair of galloping hooves a moment later. Wiping her mouth on her front hooves, she righted herself and looked about for the other pony that was quickly approaching.

Twilight galloped over the hills that lead to the South Orchard, her horn flared bright. A moment later, what appeared to be a gigantic cloud of apples appeared behind her, encased in her magic. Applejack smiled genuinely as she saw how much her friend was able to help her through this season. Applejack slowly trotted over towards Twilight as she got ever closer.

Twilight halted her running and thrashed her head forward, directing the apples towards the giant buckets Applejack had set aside for her earlier when Twilight had indicated she fully intended to use ALL her magic to help AJ. Twilight closed her eyes and focused for a moment, evenly dividing the apples among the containers.

“Ah must say Twi, you’re really making me wish Ah was a unicorn too. This is phenomenal work, and ya don’t even look tired! Your magic must’ve gotten stronger eh?” Applejack laughed as she approached Twilight, instantly plastering a strained smile on the purple unicorn’s face.

“Yeah. All to…HELP my friends through their troubles.” Twilight closed her eyes and shivered for a moment before she smiled, having had to fight down the Other’s voice only a few seconds ago. Even as her powers grew stronger, the Other’s voice grew with each new death she caused.

Applejack surveyed her friend somewhat sceptically for a moment after her odd answer and reactions, and Twilight mentally prepared a spell that would smite her where she stood. A moment later though, Applejack laughed and jokingly bumped Twilight’s right front shoulder.

“No need to fool me Twi. Ah’m tired after all this work too. Normally it takes tha whole family an entire season ta make this much cider. Ah’ve had ta do it by mahself for 2 weeks, and I’m surprised Ah can even have a cider season this year! No need ta act almighty and invulnerable around me sugarcube.” Applejack smiled as she shifted her hat off of her head and onto her back to let her mane breathe some.

Twilight sighed genuinely, glad her ruse could continue. The final result was not nearly as satisfying if there was no trickery and specified planning involved. Twilight felt the emotion that the Other would have expressed through crying in the back of her mind again. Brushing it aside, she put a gentle smile on as she re-opened her eyes.

“I guess I am a little tired. I’ve been going non-stop for the past while. Why don’t I go get us each a glass of water while you do a quick inspection of the apples I just brought in?” Twilight offered, eliciting a smile from Applejack in return.

“That’d be mighty appreciated Twi.” Applejack added as Twilight went off towards the house where she was temporarily staying for convenience with helping AJ all day.

Applejack looked into each container, shifting the largest clumps of apples around until she was certain there wasn’t a rotten one among them. The process took just shy of 20 minutes for Applejack, and in all that time she only happened across 6 unripe apples, 2 rotten ones, and 4 bruised ones. As Applejack heaved herself outside of the last container, Twilight trotted over with a glass of water for each of them.

Applejack drained her glass nearly instantly, the taste far more refreshing than she remembered. Blinking a couple times at the odd burst of energy, Applejack surveyed Twilight for an answer.

“Shining gave me a recipe for a really strong energy drink a while back when I was reading through nights nonstop. If you mix a couple drops of it into water, it will really help you get your energy back fast. I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty.” Twilight explained, looking worried for a moment at her friend as she gauged her reaction.

“It’s fine. More than fine Ah’d reckon. Maybe try mixing more inta mine next time. We still got a lot of work left to do before Cider Season opens.” Applejack encouraged Twilight, slowly making her way back towards the house now that the day’s work was done when she finished speaking.

Twilight followed suite, her eyes shifting once more to vile green and her smile taking on a maniacal gleam to it as she awaited the end of Cider Season.

***

Dear Diary,

That energy drink o’ Twi’s has really sped up the Cider Makin’ process. I used ta just get it as a Pick-me-Up at the end o’ tha day, but now I must drink at least 8 glasses o’ the stuff a day.

Twi told me there’s no limit to the amount ya can drink in a day, so I’m taking my liberties. Twi ain’t drinking as much as I am, but she’s been bursting with Pinkie level energy and happiness lately. Maybe Spike’s finally coming home soon or somethin.

I know why I’m happy at least. As of tomorrow, Cider Season is officially open and all I’ll have ta worry about for the next while is selling the stuff and not making it. The days are still gonna be long though.

Good thing I got Twi for all this though. Maybe I oughta set aside a cask for her if there’s any left at the end as a Thank You. I’m already thinking o’ asking her ta come by for Zap Apple Season too, so maybe that’d seal the deal.

Night for now. Strange that I still go ta bed so early even with all these energy drinks. Twi said when she had em that they let her stay up right through a few nights in a row. Ah well. I’ll…ask Twi…tomorrow

-Applejack

***

Applejack adjusted the piles of bits before her into a straight line as she finished counting the sales for today which, as it was the final day of sales for this year, signalled the official end of another Cider Season for the Apple Family. Applejack had handled all the bits and customer service for this season, while Twilight had actually served the cider and restocked the barrels with her magic as the need arose.

Going over the bits both from today and as a whole for the season confirmed a suspicion Applejack had thought about since she saw that Pinkie Pie wasn’t the first in line for Cider Season this year. This year, none of Applejack’s friends except for Twilight had been on Sweet Apple Acres at all during any part of Cider Season. This fact worried AJ greatly.

A letter from Apple Bloom had shown up the other day indicating she’d be staying longer with Sweetie Belle as she wasn’t doing any better without any news from Rarity whatsoever. No matter how sad Rarity might’ve been over her business, Applejack knew she’d never leave Sweetie Belle without any form of contact for this long. Sweetie Belle wasn’t the only filly worrying about one of her friends either.

Scootaloo had come by just today at the Cider Stand in an attempt to find Rainbow Dash. The cyan Pegasus hadn’t checked in with the Weather Team in well over a month, and Scootaloo hadn’t seen her in over 2 months now. Applejack had never seen the filly look more worried, even when she had chronic nightmares. It looked like Scootaloo had been crying herself to sleep recently. After much encouragement from Twilight and Applejack though, she agreed to take the train out to Manehattan to stay with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle until some kind of news came in.

The Cakes hadn’t looked so well when they stopped by either. They also bought an inordinate amount of cider while they were here. They openly admitted to missing Pinkie. They agreed that having her back soon would still be rough for her new reputation, but that they’d give also anything to just know where she even was right now. When Applejack asked about whether they might be able to reach her by finding Rarity or Rainbow Dash as they all appeared to be off on the same sort of journey or whatnot, they said that Pinkie had assuredly left alone and nopony had seen hide nor hair of her since.

Adding in the new true lack of information on Pinkie and Rainbow, this meant that 3 of Applejacks’ P.F.F.’s were missing with no clues whatsoever to where they were now. Even Spike hadn’t been seen in over 4 months now. Applejack realized that this was all too large and complex to be a just series of coincidences. What was the connection though? Yes, they all knew her, but that couldn’t be the only link.

As Applejack mulled over all this in her mind as she bagged up the bits, she suddenly got a tap on her shoulders. Looking around, Twilight had levitated another glass of liquid energy over to AJ. Applejack smiled as she took the glass in her grip and Twilight released her aura around it. As Applejack guzzled the drink, her eyes suddenly flew open and showed immense fear as she realized at last what the true link was.

Applejack quickly spit out what she hadn’t swallowed of the drink yet and heaved the glass itself a good distance away. Once she had rid herself of the drink, she suddenly began to gallop away from Sweet Apple Acres, knowing this was her only chance. A short distance into the run though, Applejack’s legs weakly gave out and she collapsed. Suddenly heaving even though she felt full of energy, Applejack shivered as she heard a slow trot behind her.

“I might’ve been smarter to get rid of you first AJ. You’re far too observant and involved in Ponyville’s community.” Twilight smugly whispered as she inched ever closer to Applejack.

Applejack tried to scramble away as Twilight got ever closer, but again she felt herself become exhausted after little to no work. As Applejack came to the realization that there was no way out of her situation, she also realized she had best confront her former friend about this while there was still time to understand.

“That….wasn’t no energy drink was it?” Applejack accused Twilight, eliciting a light tinkling laugh from her first.

“Well, the answer is both Yes AND No Applejack. I did make it SEEM like an energy drink to your taste buds and brain, but it’s actually a special preserving agent primarily used in Celestia’s Statue Garden.” Twilight loosely explained, revelling in the fact that she could reveal her true self only now at the end.

“So….Spike…Pinkie…Rarity….an’ Rainbow too? You…did this to all of em?” Applejack heaved, even speech becoming a huge effort for her now.

“Not exactly this scenario with each of them, but the short answer is I did. I’ve been at it for months now. And now there’s only one more left.” Twilight toothily grinned as Applejack’s eyes began to slowly close.

“Flutter…..shy……” Applejack choked out as her eyes slid shut and her body went limp. Her hat slid off of her head but a moment later.

“You should be happy Applejack. With that much preserving agent in you, your body will be able to nourish the orchard here for decades. Even in death, your place is here at Sweet Apple Acres.” Twilight spoke over Applejack’s body as she hefted in her magic, carrying it out to the West Orchard.

Twilight’s path went unimpeded, and Twilight smiled as a dark shadow flew over her and landed in the nearest tree. Owlowiscious hooted down at Twilight, and Twilight smiled up at him with great pride in her eyes.

“Good job Owlowiscious! I knew you’d be able to get rid of those meddlesome Fruit Bats for me. You were nearly late though because you were still chasing Tank. Still, he was a better hunt for you than Opal was. As a reward for all your help, you can go hunt Winona now. Angel can be yours tomorrow.” Twilight cooed up at Owlowiscious, who took to the air again mere moments later.

“He sure is getting big lately with all this hunting. Good thing Fluttershy won’t have to see him like this.” Twilight spoke aloud to herself, shaking her head as she realized she had felt genuine sadness over mentioning Fluttershy’s love of animals aloud. The “Other” had grown a bit stronger these past weeks it seemed.

Twilight carefully peeled back the earth and roots before her once she reached the largest tree in the West Orchard, placing Applejack’s body beneath them all. Once she had carefully rearranged the earth to hide her handiwork, she hung Applejack’s hat from the highest empty branch, and set off back towards Golden Oaks.