Secret

by Albert Manhattan

Rating: mature
Tags: Tragedy, Dark
Length: 9015

Applejack learns how to keep secrets. When ponies go missing and one friend starts keeping something from her, Applejack investigates. Is it really something she should be digging into?

Applejack, the element of honesty. If there is one pony that anypony can rely on, it’s her. And rely on her they do when ponies decide to confide in her with all their hopes, dreams, and problems. But something is up when a certain pink friend seems to be keeping something hidden and ponies disappear. Are all secrets worth keeping?

Note: Please don't judge this based on what you think will happen, judge it based on what actually happens. And if you dislike it, please tell me why, that's all I ask.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-31 23:04:24 UTC

Ch.1

There is a time in everypony’s life when she is told something that should not be repeated. Words and ideas that need to be said but can’t be. Many ponies are unable to keep such things all to themselves. Perhaps it’s the knowing something others do not, or the feeling of liberation when telling, but all too often telling a secret is not a question of if, but  a question of when.

Some consider keeping a secret nothing more than a form of lying. For one mare, a lie is something despicable, something reviled that simply should not happen. But as she has come to learn, a lie and a secret are not the same. Secrets can be kept without the need of a lie; rather, lying only made it easier to keep the secret.

Applejack became, slowly at first, a keeper of secrets. Ponies could trust her word like nopony else. That sweet release that came with talking about their problems was always met with a kind, non-judgmental smile.

At a glance she didn’t seem the type to play counselor, and maybe at first that was true enough, but the kind of release that comes from talking about one's problems is a self perpetuating thing. All it took was a few ponies confiding in her and soon half the town wanted a private session.

Applejack sat in her family orchard. A red maned mare named Roseluck with a cream coat and a flower cutie mark sat in front of her. They were alone, nothing but apple trees surrounding them as they talked.

“...So I guess what I’m asking is... What should I do?” Rose asked.

Applejack adjusted her hat and breathed deeply. “Well, if you really feel like you’re suffocatin’ with your family around all the time, move. I mean, you are definitely old enough to live on your own right?”

Rose shifted her weight and fidgeted. She looked to the side of Applejack, not wanting to meet her eyes. “I–I guess... Yeah I know I can move out but...”

Applejack smiled and put a hoof to Rose’s shoulder. “Listen, Sugarcube, if you’re worried about livin’ on your own, don’t be. You’ve got friends to help you; you won’t be alone. Besides, you don’t have to move far away or nothin’. If you still want to be close to ‘em you could probably find someplace nearby, maybe even next door. Then you can have your space and your family.”

Rose smiled and, after a moment of silence, stood. “Thanks. That really helped.”

Applejack stood and brushed some dirt off her legs. “It’s no big—”

Rose hugged Applejack, cutting her off. “Really though. Thanks.”

Applejack put a hoof over Rose and patted her on the back a couple times. Rose broke the hug and waved goodbye as she walked away. Applejack kept a smile on and waved as she watched her friend leave.

Applejack let her smile fade once Rose was out of sight. She sighed, turned, and walked toward her family's barn. A bead of sweat fell over her face. She quickly lifted her hat and wiped the sweat away. Several barrels full of rainwater were grouped together just outside the barn. Applejack tossed her hat aside, lifted one of the barrel lids, and splashed the water on her face to cool off. Though she knew it wasn’t really the heat that was making her sweat.

“Hey, AJ!” a voice called.

Applejack looked around. There was nopony there. The voice was close but Applejack couldn’t pinpoint a location.

“Up here.”

Applejack craned her head straight up, squinting to keep the sun out of her eyes. Rainbow Dash’s head peeked over the roof of the barn. Dash smiled and waved before jumping off the roof, floating down, and landing next to her friend.

Applejack wiped her face to dry off. “Mornin’, Dash.”

Dash mindlessly kicked one of her forelegs against the dirt. “So... whatcha up to?”

“Well I was tryin’ to get some work done. A lot of ponies have been wantin’ to talk today, though.” Applejack firmly placed her stetson back on her head and adjusted it.

Dash rubbed the back of her neck and forced a smile. “Heh-heh, yeah. I bet that kinda gets annoying after awhile huh?”

Applejack smiled coyly and looked her friend right in the eye. “You need to talk, Dash? Again?”

Dash smiled wide in response.

Applejack chuckled and started walking into the secluded barn. “Come on then, we can talk privately in here.”

Dash trotted happily after her friend.

A stallion awoke to a sharp cry of pain. Not his own cry, another pony somewhere near him. The cries were muffled and continued in short bursts, each one accompanied by some kind of bludgeoning noise.

He was in a dark room, too dark to make out any useful detail. Only a few flickering candle lights kept the stallion from being totally blind. He tried to get up but found that his limbs were tied down, each one pulled by ropes in a different direction. A rope around his neck and one around his tail prevented any movement as he lay, stomach down, on the floor. He tried to yell, but something in his mouth gagged him and stopped his voice.

The stallion’s eyes darted back and forth. He started hyperventilating through his nostrils. He still heard the smothered screams next to him. His whole body started shaking with little tremors. What was happening?! Where was he?! Why was he here?!

The screams stopped. There was no sound in the room except for the stallion’s own labored breathing. A hoof clopping against the floor made the stallion’s eyes widen. Another clop. And another. They came slowly, but grew louder with each step.

A hoof on his spine, just below his neck, made the stallion jump. His captor leaned in. Their heads were right next to each other but he couldn’t discern a face. All he could see was a long, straight, light-red, mane draped over his eyes.

The captor whispered something in his ear. He was too panicked to understand what was said, but he did understand one thing, the voice was female. It was a mare that kidnaped him.

She lifted her head away and put all her weight down on the stallion’s spine. He cried out, mimicking the muffled screams he heard before, as his backbone cracked. The mare twisted her hoof, pressing deeper. Tears rolled down the stallions face through closed eyes. The mare waited, letting her victim sob and struggle to breathe.

Questions were all that came to the stallion’s mind. Who was doing this?! Why?! Did he do something wrong?! Was this all a sick joke?! He wished he was a unicorn or a pegasus, maybe then he’d be able to get out.

These thoughts were interrupted. Something was poking his back; something sharp; a knife. His eyes flung open, pupils shaking with fear. He clenched his jaw on the gag as pressure slowly built on his back against the tip of the knife. Finally, the knife broke the skin. It slid into his body.

The stallion thrashed around with a burst of adrenaline. That only made things worse. The ropes held him tight. Each jerking motion only served to drive the knife farther in. He could feel it puncture his lung. He tried to take a breath, but only felt pain. He coughed. A small amount of blood seeped through the gag. Then everything went black.

Rainbow Dash flew through the air, a smile on her face. She flew more for the fun of it than to get anywhere, taking her time to feel the wind in her mane. Right then, nothing could make her feel down. She was, quite literally in fact, high as a kite. Talking her problems out with Applejack had that effect on her. It had that effect on everypony, really.

A sudden grumbling in Dash’s stomach broke her trance. She stopped and hovered, rubbing her belly to try and sedate the hunger pain. With that plan failing, she looked around for the nearest place to grab a bite. Why didn’t she think to bum an apple while at the farm? No matter, there were plenty of places to go for food.

Sugarcube Corner. Dash wasn’t really in the mood for sweets but a blueberry muffin sounded good. It was also a good excuse to visit more of her friends.

Dash walked into the shop. A bell above the door rang. Pinkie Pie bounced into the front of the store and widened an already big smile when she saw Dash.

“Hi, Dashie! Wow, you have the most perfectest timing ever! I was just thinking about something and I thought ‘Hmm, I should go look for Rainbow Dash, I bet she could help me,’ and here you are!” Pinkie closed in on her friend, inching her face closer until their muzzles were almost touching. “So, you wanna help me? Wanna? Wanna? Wanna?”

Dash pulled her head back and walked around Pinkie. “Uh, yeah, sure thing. But can I get some food first? I’m kinda hungry.”

“Sure.” Pinkie skipped back behind the counter and started pulling food options out. “I’ve got freshly baked cupcakes. Or how about some yummy chocolate-chip-banana-nut cookies. Or maybe a strawberry truffle cake.”

Dash looked at her options with disinterest.

“Hmm,” Pinkie said, rubbing her chin. “Oh, I know! How about my new Extreme Sweet And Sour Chimmy-Cherry-Chonga With Hot Sauce.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. Even for Pinkie that one sounded a little odd, then again maybe it could work if you liked hot sauce. “Uh, maybe next time, Pinkie. I’ll just have blueberry muffin.”

“Okey dokey lokey.” With a quick duck and bob, Pinkie produced a muffin and set it on the counter. “That’ll be three bits.”

Dash grabbed her morsel and took a bite. “Thanks. Put it on my tab.”

Pinkie pulled out a slip of paper from the cash register, grabbed a pencil, and marked the price down. “Let’s see… carry the one, divide by pi, multiply by the quantum speed of an aerodynamic rainbow, and you owe… fifty-six bits?! Geez, Dashie, you know you have to pay sometime right?”

Dash smiled nervously. “Heh, is it that much already?”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes and glared skeptically at Dash.

“Don’t worry I’ll pay!”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes further.

“Really. I’ll have it for you the next time I come by, promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Pinkie Promise.”

“Okey dokey,” Pinkie said, snapping back into a cheerful grin. “Hey look, it’s break time. Lets go eat together.”

Dash sighed lightly, a bit relieved that Pinkie wasn’t angry or anything. She followed Pinkie into the back of the store and sat at a table. Pinkie grabbed a bag out of her refrigerator and unwrapped it. Apparently her lunch was one of the Extreme Cherry-Chongas she was talking about and, from the way she proceeded to douse it in hot sauce, the name seemed perfectly suitable.

Dash wolfed down large bites of her muffin taking no time to savor any of it. The hunger from in her stomach demanded to be dealt with immediately.

“Whoa, slow down, speedy pants,” Pinkie said. “You don’t want to choke on it!”

Dash gulped down what was in her mouth and took a break from chewing. “Sorry. I haven’t eaten anything today, I was sorta busy this morning.” She took a sip of water to wash down the muffin.

“Talking about stuff with Applejack?” Pinkie said, nonchalantly taking a bite of food.

Dash coughed on her water. “Wha— how’d you know?”

Pinkie put down her Cherry-Chonga and giggled. “Silly Dash, you always come here for food after talking with AJ. It’s like a weekly thing now. Though we should really eat together more often like this.”

Dash’s face contorted in thought. She didn’t remember going to Sugarcube Corner specifically after every talk. Then again that would explain her racking up a bill so fast without realizing it. Was she really that predictable?

Dash rubbed the back of her neck and focused her eyes on something uninteresting to the side. She smiled awkwardly and shifted her body slightly.

“Aw, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Dash,” Pinkie said, noticing her friend’s sudden uease. “Lots of ponies talk with AJ.”

Dash quickly straightened her posture. “I’m not embarrassed.” Though Dash wasn’t really sure if that was entirely true. She kept up appearances anyway. “So I guess you talk to her too, huh?”

“Me? Oh, no no no,” Pinkie said shaking her head. “Well, I mean, I do talk to her, but not like, talk to her talk to her. She already helps so~o many ponies, I wouldn’t want to bother her. Besides, I’m good on my own.” Pinkie wore a big toothy smile to make her point clear.

It was a little surprising to hear that, especially from a pony who likes to talk as much as Pinkie Pie. Talking with Applejack really was one of the biggest stress reducers for a lot of ponies. How Pinkie managed her stress on her own and never once let it show to anypony seemed like such a miracle. Whatever Pinkie’s secret to unparalleled happiness was worked for her to an almost insane degree. That thought was enough to bring a grin to Dash’s face; Pinkie’s happiness was kind of infectious that way.

“So what do you two talk about anyway?” Pinkie asked before taking a big bite of cherries.

Dash’s grin faded. She remained silent.

Pinkie waved her forelegs in the air nervously. “Oh, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! I was just curious but if it’s a secret I totally understand!”

“Actually, have you heard the rumors about the missing ponies?”

A rare, non-smile expression formed on Pinkie’s face. “Missing ponies?”

“Yeah. They say there’ve been a few ponies who just disappeared and nopony knows where they went or why.”

“Hmm, maybe they just went away on vacation.”

“Yeah... maybe.”

The pair ate the rest of their lunches in silence.

Dash broke the silence after swallowing the last bite of her muffin. “So, what was that thing you needed help with?”

Pinkie looked up at her friend and smiled. Her toothy grin grew to an almost creepy extent. “Come on, I’ll show you. It’s in the basement.”

Ch.2

Applejack lay in her bed. She rolled back and forth, fidgeting around in her sleep. Suddenly, she gasped and her eyes shot open. Cold sweat trickled down her face as she rubbed her forehead.

“Just a bad dream,” she told herself.

Early morning sunlight came in through the windows. The brightness stung a bit. After taking a moment to rub the grogginess out of her eyes, Applejack jumped out of bed. It wasn’t like her to wake up after Celestia raised the sun; Big Mac would already be outside waiting for her.

She walked down the hallway and stopped at Applebloom’s bedroom. Cracking the door open, Applejack checked to see if her sister was awake yet. If Applejack wasn’t already fully alert, the sound of Applebloom’s snoring would have been more than enough of an alarm.

Applejack knocked loudly on the door. “Applebloom, time to get up! You got school soon!”

Waking up mid-snore, Applebloom looked around until she found her clock. “It’s too early. Just five more minutes.” Applebloom plunked her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes.

“Now, Applebloom. Get yer butt downstairs. I don’t want you skippin’ breakfast again and bein’ too hungry all day.”

Applebloom threw off her sheets, fell out of bed, and literally dragged herself across the room, groaning all the while. When she reached the door, she stood up and looked at her sister. She tried to make a slightly angry expression but only managed to look tired.

“Aren't you forgetting somethin’?” Applejack asked.

Applebloom raised her eyebrows and remained silent.

Applejack gestured to the bed. “Make yer bed first. Then come downstairs and get somethin’ to eat.”

Applejack walked away, leaving her groaning sister to finish her task. Only a few steps down the hallway, a faint, sweet smell tickled AJ’s nostrils. She smiled, savoring the aroma as it grew stronger. A pitter-patter of hooves came from behind. Applejack turned to look only to be knocked over by the passing yellow blur that was Applebloom racing downstairs. AJ picked herself up and ran down after her sister.

Applebloom sat at the kitchen table as Granny Smith placed a big plate of pancakes smothered in syrup in front of her. The filly wasted no time digging in. Applejack joined her sister at the table.

“Oh, you’re up, Applejack,” Granny said bringing over another plate of pancakes. “It’ not like you to be up after Applebloom. Mac’s already out in the field. Here, eat something before going out.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Applejack said looking at the food in front of her.

Granny went back to cooking. Applejack took a bite of her pancakes and chewed slowly as she stared off to the side. Applebloom was nearly halfway through her stack of pancakes already.

Thoughts of her nightmare began swarming in Applejack’s head. “Hey, Applebloom.”

“Hmm?” Applebloom said, her mouth full of pancake.

“You ever have a dream, like a really bad one that felt real?”

Applebloom gulped down her breakfast. “Oh, I had a dream last night. Miss Cheerilee was a giant orange that was rollin’ around crushing buildings. But she didn’t mean to. Sweetie, Scootaloo, and me had to use our special talents to save the day! Then there was something about giant hearts behind us and ‘once again the day is saved’ or something…

“Oh, Scootaloo and Sweetie, I forgot! I’m supposed to meet them before school this morning.” Applebloom quickly wiped her face with a napkin and ran for the door. “Thanks for breakfast, Granny.”

Applejack frowned and held her head up with one of her hooves as she watched her sister run outside. She sighed and took another bite of food.

“Heh heh,” Granny chuckled, walking over and taking a seat with her own plate of food. “I remember when you were just a little filly, you’d have dreams that scared the color right out of your coat. Why, you’d come running right up to me and try to hide between my legs. I’d pick you right up and gently rock you back to sleep.”

“I did that?”

“Sure did. You were just the cutest little thing. You really do take after your father.”

Applejack smiled. Truth be told, some part of her wanted to relive hiding behind her grandmother.

Granny Smith glanced up at a clock. “Oh, look at the time. You best be getting out there to help your brother. Gotta get the apples to market soon; you don’t want to end up with a bad spot because all the others were taken.”

“Right,” Applejack said sounding almost dejected.

Big Mac bucked one more apple tree. The apples promptly fell neatly into buckets lying on the ground. Mac grabbed one of the buckets with his teeth and dragged it over to a nearby cart. With one big heave, the bucket full of apples was loaded and ready for transport.

Big Mac sighed and wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. This line of work meant constant labor. It was difficult, but Mac liked it that way. Some might call him a workaholic, but he really wouldn’t even know what to do with himself if he wasn’t working. He was certainly a simple pony with simple needs and he had everything he ever needed or wanted.

He turned back for the other buckets but stopped when a bright color in the distance caught his eye. It turned into a blur and disappeared behind a tree before he could make out who or what it was. Mac stretched his neck from one side to the other to see if he could spot it but all he saw were trees. Maybe it was just his imagination.

“Hey, Big Mac,” Applejack called from behind sounding less than enthusiastic.

Mac turned to his sister. “Morning.”

“Looks like we’re just about ready to go, huh?” Applejack walked to the buckets of apples and gripped one in her teeth. “Here, let me get these last buckets.”

There was a slight melancholy hidden in Applejack’s words. The average pony would never have noticed, but Bic Mac was her older brother. He knew something was bothering her, even if she didn’t want to say what. As much as he wanted to help, it wasn’t his place to pry. If AJ wanted to talk about it, she’d talk about it.

Mac grabbed the other end of the bucket and helped lift it into the cart.

Applejack furrowed her brow and looked up at her brother. “I can do this ya know.”

Mac stared back at his sister and remained silent for a moment. With his unwavering gaze that showed no sign of pity or sorrow or contempt or anything other than his normal, caring eyes, Mac responded simply with an, “Eeyup.”

Applejack relaxed her shoulders as she sighed and walked to the last bucket. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s just get going.”

The siblings loaded the rest of the produce into the cart. Applejack strapped Mac into the harness, Big Macintosh was the heavy lifter of the family after all. As they made their way through the trees, Applejack caught something in her peripheral vision, something bright and out of place, but when she looked there was nothing there. She shook it off and kept pace with her brother.

Pinkie Pie clung to the back of one of the apple trees. She only just managed to duck out of the way in time to not be spotted. After a moment, she glanced around the tree at Applejack and Big Mac only to see them walking away.

“Shoot!” Pinkie whispered to herself. “Missed my chance. I’ll have to wait until he’s alone.”

With near perfect stealth, Pinkie crouched down and silently dashed a few trees closer before hiding again. She let the apple siblings get farther away before repeating the process as she stalked her prey.

The stand was all set. Applejack and Big Mac hadn’t arrived too late and were able to get a decent spot in the open market. Plenty of apples were divided up by type and placed around their booth in a display. All there was to do now was wait. AJ rested her head down against the wooden tabletop and let her eyes droop slightly. The last of the other vendors were setting up their booths; it wouldn’t be long before ponies came to shop.

Mac stood dutifully beside his sister. Something was definitely up with her this morning. As much as Mac wished he could help, he wasn’t really one to strike up a conversation. Besides, talking about personal problems in such a public place didn’t seem right. He sighed only loud enough for him to hear. If he could help at all, it would have to wait.

Pinkie Pie sat on top of a building in the distance and watched the Apple siblings through binoculars, keeping a close eye on Big Macintosh in particular. All she needed was a distraction or something that would separate the two, then she’d have her chance to swoop in.

Time past and Pinkie waited and waited. AJ and Mac started selling apples. And selling more apples. And selling more apples…

“Geez it’s like that’s all they do or something!” Pinkie said to herself, growing somewhat irritated.

Finally Pinkie spotted a familiar, yellow, pegasus trotting through the market. When the pegasus stopped to talk to Applejack, Pinkie saw her moment.

“Come back again,” Applejack said to one of her customers as he walked away. A smile had found its way onto Applejack’s face at some point. Working had that effect on her; even if it was only temporary, she felt better.

Big Mac kept himself busy bagging apples to replenish the bagfuls his sister sold. Though his face didn’t express it, he was happy to see AJ smiling. A little work and interaction with customers was all she needed, right? It always helped Mac when he was having a bad day.

Applejack saw Fluttershy walking in the distance. Fluttershy was looking around a bit frantically at the stalls and towards the sky like she lost something and wasn’t sure where she’d find it. AJ waved her friend over and Fluttershy came right up to the apple stand.

“Mornin’, Fluttershy. Whatcha up to?”

“Good morning, Applejack,” Fluttershy said as calmly as she could. “I’m actually looking for Rainbow Dash. You haven’t seen her by any chance have you?”

Applejack stroked her chin as she thought for a moment. “She came by the farm a couple days ago. She hasn’t been around since.”

Fluttershy frowned and glanced down. “Ohh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I’ve been asking and nopony knows where she is. It– it’s like she just disappeared.”

Applejacks eyebrows shot up. She remembered how Dash was talking about missing ponies during a few of their talks. Dash was, of course, always loyal and always worried about her friends. What was really bothering Dash was a nagging feeling that one her her friends could be the next one to vanish.

AJ shook off her thoughts and returned to a normal expression. “I’m sure she’s fine. Wouldn’t she be practicing some trick or other about now?”

“Well, maybe. But she always has somepony there to watch her practice. Nopony has seen her and she hasn’t been to work in days.”

Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, who saw her last?”

“Hmm… When did you say you last saw her?”

“Two days.”

“Nopony else has seen her for at least three.” Fluttershy squirmed and had a worried look on her face. “Ohh, I just don’t know what to do. Rainbow always goes to Pinkie Pie after her talks with you, but Pinkie hasn’t seen Dash in three days.”

Applejack’s face contorted like she was suspicious of something as she put a hoof to her chin. “Pinkie Pie huh?” AJ turned her head and finally noticed the absence of a certain brother of hers. “Hey, where’d Big Mac go?”

Pinkie Pie ducked and weaved as fast as she could around buildings and ponies as she raced toward the market. Fluttershy was just about to reach Applejack and if their conversation was long enough and distracting enough, Pinkie would have her chance.

Pinkie slowed down when she got close and hid behind a building. After a few deep breaths to regain her composure, she peeked around the corner. There, just a short distance away, was Applejack, Big Mac, and now Fluttershy.

“Mornin’, Fluttershy,” Applejack said.

Big Mac realized his sister was about to get into a friendly conversation; it wasn’t his place to eavesdrop so he took a few steps back, turned away, and busied himself with whatever work he could think to do.

As he took a mental inventory of the apples, Mac heard a somewhat loud, ‘Psst!’ He looked back at Applejack but she definitely wasn’t the source. Another, ‘Psssssst!’ came and Mac finally saw a pink hoof waving at him from behind a house. He raised an eyebrow and went to investigate.

Pinkie pulled Big Mac around the corner, hoping that neither Applejack nor Fluttershy saw her. She smiled wide, looking up at Mac who only stared back with his usual poker face.

Pinkie leaned in close and whispered, “I have something to show you. Follow me.”

Big Macintosh stood still instead of following Pinkie’s lead. He let out a low, “Hmm,” and glanced back to Applejack as if to say he was too busy right now to go along with any of Pinkie’s crazy antics.

Understanding what he meant, Pinkie looked at him with pleading eyes. “Please? It won’t take long. Just come with me.” Pinkie grabbed one of Mac’s forelegs and struggled to pull the heavy stallion with her but made no progress.

Mac debated in his head for a moment. Whatever it was Pinkie wanted to show him it must have been important, at least to her. AJ was more than capable of running the stand all alone, though he didn’t want to simply leave her all of a sudden.

“Alright,” Mac said finally, turning back to the apple stand. “I’ll just go let AJ know.”

“No!” Pinkie said, getting between Mac and his path. “She, uh, can’t know yet! In fact, we should hurry before she notices anything.”

Mac gave another low, “Hmm.” This time to show annoyance. Though with Pinkie being so insistent, he could hardly resist and went along.

“Hey, where’d Big Mac go?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy looked around and caught a glimpse of the red stallion’s tail-end around the corner of a building. “Is that him over there?”

AJ looked just in time to see her brother’s tail-end walk away. “What in the world?” she asked quietly to herself before taking a few steps closer.

“Um, Applejack?” Fluttershy asked, gesturing to a couple of waiting customers.

AJ thought for a moment. There was no way her brother would just walk off without saying anything; something was definitely up. Then again, she couldn’t just wander off and leave the stand. Then an idea came to her.

“Fluttershy, watch the stand for me.”

“What?!”

“It’s easy, just give ‘em the apples they want and take their money. The prices are written right there.” Applejack quickly walked off to find her brother. “I’ll be back quicker than a barefoot jackrabbit on a dirt road in August.”

Fluttershy looked at the impatient customers and smiled nervously.

Applejack rushed around the corner and spotted Big Mac in the distance. She started after him but stopped and hid behind a bail of hay when she noticed Pinkie leading the way. Something was going on. If Pinkie took the time to lure Mac away without Applejack noticing, that meant she was trying to keep something secret.

AJ could have run right up and confronted them directly, but she figured they wouldn’t tell her anything. It would be better if she simply followed them. She did her best to stay out of sight but remain close enough that she wouldn’t lose them. Pinkie and Mac were talking about something, though Applejack couldn’t hear what.

They didn’t go very far before arriving at Sugarcube Corner. Instead of going inside though, Pinkie led Mac around to the back. Applejack raised an eyebrow and rushed over. Peering around the corner, she saw them standing in front of a bulkhead that led into Sugarcube Corner’s basement. The bulkhead doors were shut tight and locked with a padlock.

AJ ducked back when Pinkie started looking around like she was making sure they were alone. When Applejack looked again, Pinkie was shuffling around in her mane until she finally pulled out a key and proceeded to unlock the doors.

“Applejack? What are you doing down there?” a voice called.

Both Pinkie and Applejack jumped. Pinkie pushed Big Mac around to the side, trying to hide him. She fiddled with the lock in a panic, trying to close it again.

Applejack looked up to see Mrs. Cake hanging some laundry two floors up. She ignored Mrs. Cake and marched over to Pinkie. “What’s goin’ on here, Pinkie?”

Pinkie finally managed to secure the lock and held the key out of sight. “Nothing! Nothing at all!”

“Oh really? Then what’s that behind ya?” AJ said, her head bobbing from side to side, trying to see Pinkie’s back.

Pinkie mirrored Applejack’s movement and blocked her vision. AJ tried squirming her way around her friend, but Pinkie was relentless. Gritting her teeth, Applejack grabbed Pinkie and tried physically moving her. After a brief back-and-forth, Applejack stood triumphant. But the key was gone.

Applejack grunted in frustration. “Alright, just what are you up to? Spill!”

“Nothing!”

“Then why is your basement locked?” AJ said as she started toward the locked entrance.

Pinkie quickly jumped on top of the bulkhead doors to act as an extra barrier. “No! You can’t go in!

“And why not?”

“It’s… uh… not your turn!”

AJ glared at Pinkie. Pinkie only smiled as innocently as possible, which was, in fact, pretty innocent-looking with her big, adorable eyes and glimmering teeth.

Applejack refused to let Pinkie’s happy exterior fool her; something definitely smelled fishy. She took a few steps away from Pinkie and looked around the corner for her brother. Mac was long gone.

“Where is he?”

Pinkie held her smile in place as if her face were frozen and spoke through her teeth. “Where’s who?”

The conversation was going nowhere. It was obvious that Applejack would get nothing out of Pinkie.

“Fine,” AJ muttered, backing away. “If that’s how you want to play it…”

Pinkie held her expression as she watched Applejack disappear around the corner of the building. Finally, when it was safe, Pinkie relaxed and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She perked back up and smiled wide when AJ suddenly poked her head back around the building. Pinkie watched once more as her friend slowly disappeared around the corner.

Rainbow Dash coughed as she awoke. She shifted her muscles as much as she could, which wasn’t very much at all. Her limbs, wings, and torso were all tied up tightly with ropes; she hung from a wall like an ornament.

Dash slowly opened her eyes to, once again, see the darkness of the room she was in. She wasn’t sure exactly where she was or exactly how she had gotten there, but she knew she had been stuck there for a while. Days at least, she figured. Though, without any sunlight or clocks, it was impossible to know for sure.

All her senses were useless. She couldn’t feel around for anything. She couldn’t see beyond her snout. She couldn’t hear anything. Oh, Celestia! She couldn’t hear anything! There was another pony in there with her when she passed out last time! She couldn’t even hear any breathing beyond her own! What happened to him!?

Just thinking about it made her want to cry. But her eyes were already dry from hours of sobbing.

A door opened to Dash’s right and a pony walked in. The brief bit of light from outside, soft though it was, stung Dash’s eyes. She shut them, wincing from the pain. The pony that entered made her way down the wooden stairs and paused for a moment. A candle lit up, providing only minimal light.

Dash watched silently as the mare walked across the room and inspected what looked like a body on the floor. After a moment, the mare started to drag the body toward the door.

Dash could only watch on in horror. She tried to speak, but her voice only came out weak and dry. “Apple… jack…”

The mare stopped and turned towards Dash. She walked closer until Dash could clearly make out her orange coat and blond mane. The only thing missing was her stetson.

“So you’re awake,” AJ said, standing on her hind legs and getting right in Dash’s face. “Don’t you worry, I’ll be right back. Just takin’ out the trash.” There was no emotion on Applejack’s face or in her voice; it was as if none of this phased her and she was just going through the motions at this point.

Applejack walked back to the body and spoke before dragging it again. “Pinkie’s up to somethin’. I’m sure of it. She must be on to me. You and I are gonna have a little talk about that when I get back.”

Applejack was out the door before Dash could say anything more. Dash’s breath quickened. She started sniffling and panting. At this point, she wanted the tears to start falling, but there were no tears left in her eyes.

Ch.3

{Three Days Ago}

“Come on, we have to go around back,” Pinkie said as she bounced with excitement out of Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow Dash silently followed her friend. Whatever Pinkie was up to, she sure was excited. Rainbow had seen excited Pinkie before. It wasn’t always a pretty sight; sometimes things just went too far. Like one time, when Pinkie  went on an overzealous pranking tirade. It took a river of tears from Fluttershy just to get Pinkie to realize it was time to stop. At least this time Dash would be there from the get-go to stop anything too crazy.

Pinkie led Dash to the back of the building. After fishing out a key from her mane, Pinkie unlocked the bulkhead and stood to the side. Dash went in, Pinkie following after and shutting the doors tight.

Dash stumbled at the bottom step, almost tripping over her hooves when she realized she was standing on the basement floor. “Ah! Pinkie, I can’t see anything. Where’s the light?”

“Opps. Sorry, Dashie.” Pinkie stood next to Dash and felt around for the light switch.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry.” Pinkie giggled. “Hey, s-stop tickling! Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“Pinkie, that’s my ear!”

“If I could just climb over…”

“What are you…”

With a click, the lights turned on. The two mares saw how tangled up they were with Pinkie barely balancing on Dash’s back and Dash’s tail somehow caught in Pinkie’s mane. They promptly fell over with a thud.

Pinkie stood and shook a bit of dizziness out of her eyes before helping her friend up. Dash stood and looked at the pink mare with just a hint of contempt. Any disdain faded as Dash looked into the face full of teeth that was Pinkie’s grin.

“You know, Pinkie, sometimes when you get really excited, your smile can be… kinda creepy…”

Pinkie laughed like that was one of the most delightful jokes she had ever heard. “Silly Dashie, smiles aren’t creepy, they’re fun!” Pinkie turned and bounced to the other side of the room.

“If you say so,” Dash muttered.

With Pinkie out of her face, Dash finally got a good look at the room. It was definitely a Pinkie Pie room. The walls were covered in bright colors. Stacks of streamers, confetti, party hats, and balloons sat in one area.  Two small tanks of helium stood next to three separate Party Cannons. Pictures that looked like a filly’s crayon drawings were scattered across one of the walls; calendars and lists of dates lined another.

The only thing that seemed out of place was a small area next to the stairs. Bags of flour lay on the floor. Spices, sugars, frosting, molasses, and various other such things were neatly organized on shelves.

The stairs they came down looked like the only way in or out of the basement except for a few small windows that had been covered up.

“So, what is all this?” Dash asked, trotting over to Pinkie.

“This is my super secret party planning room! The Cakes let me have it back when I was making the first Party Cannon prototype. They insisted that this was a much better place to test it than the kitchen upstairs and boy were they right!”

“Super secret party planning room?”

“Oh it’s okay, Dashie. I trust you to keep a secret. Besides, I super need your help with this one. We’re going to throw… the most awesome… super stupendous… biggest… bestest surprise party… for Applejack!” Pinkie said, jumping up and throwing confetti in the air.

Dash blinked a couple of times. “For Applejack? What for? I’m pretty sure it isn’t her birthday or anything.”

Pinkie giggled. “Nope. It’s not a birthday party, it’s a thank you party.”

Dash smirked. “A thank you party?”

“Yeah! Applejack’s been helping everypony for months now and she doesn’t even take bits for it! A thank you party is the least she deserves.”

Dash’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile. “Yeah! That sounds awesome! So what should I do?”

Pinkie pulled a large chalkboard over and drew a bunch of seemingly random X’s and O’s along with a rough drawing of a house labeled, Sweet Apple Acres. “Here’s the plan. I need Rainbow Dash, that’s you, running interference. Tomorrow, go and tell Applejack you want to talk again. The longer you distract her, the more time I have to talk to her family and get them on board. I’ll also need to find every other pony she’s ever helped. This operation will take a few days, at least, to pull off.”

Rainbow saluted. “You can count on me!”

“Good. For now, though, we need to enlist some help…”

{Present Day}

Applejack had some time to herself for once. Big Mac, for whatever reason, insisted she take time off from working and go into town for a while. She said she was fine, but Mac wouldn’t hear of it. “You need a break. You’re workin’ yourself to death.” Blah Blah Blah. Though he wasn’t really wrong about that.

There wasn’t exactly anything for her to do in town. There was no sign of Twilight, Rarity, or Fluttershy. The only pony left to try was… Pinkie. They had to talk at some point; Pinkie knew something, she had to. Though Applejack wasn’t about to go up and start yelling about it.

Applejack meandered through Ponyville, eventually making her way to Sugarcube Corner. She stood outside, staring at the front door. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the building, ready to go inside. As she reached out, the door opened from the inside and there in the doorway was her little sister.

“Oh! Hey, Applejack!” Applebloom said unusually loudly.

“Hey, Applebloom. Whatcha up to?”

“Uh, just stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Sorry, can’t talk right now. I got, uh, crusading stuff to do today. Bye.”

“Wait…” Applejack said, but Applebloom had already run out of earshot. “Aw, whatever.” Applejack went inside Sugarcube Corner.

Pinkie stood behind the counter, wearing a big grin. “Goooooooooood morning, Applejack!”

“Mornin’, Pinkie.”

“What brings you here today?”

“Oh nothin’ really. Just, you know, takin’ a day off.”

Pinkie smiled a knowing smile before nonchalantly inspecting one of her hooves. “Oh? So, you have anything planned for the day?”

“Not really.” This conversation was going nowhere; Applejack needed to steer it on topic. “You know, it was my brother who said I should take a break today. Kinda odd for him. Don’t suppose you know anything, do you?”

Pinkie gulped, keeping it as subtle as she could, and kept her usual smile. “Me? Don’t be silly. Why would I know why?”

“Well, the two of you were havin’ quite a chat yesterday. Thought maybe you said somethin’ to him.”

“Oh, that. No… See, that was just, um… Mac just wanted a cup of flour.”

“Flour, huh? What for?”

“Uh, something about apple pies or something. I’m not really sure.” Pinkie felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of her neck.

Applejack stared Pinkie down, but the party pony remained steadfast. Pinkie was a tough nut to crack, but Applejack had practice breaking some tough psychological shells with all the ponies she gave advice to. This case might need a little less subtlety though.

“Speakin’ of yesterday,” Applejack said, much to Pinkie’s relief. “I was talkin’ to Fluttershy before. She said she was lookin’ for Rainbow Dash and couldn’t find her. You heard anythin’ about that?”

Pinkie’s smile faded a bit.

“Seems kinda weird, right? It ain’t like Dash to just disappear for days.”

“I’m sure she’s fine though, right?” Pinkie asked, concern evident in her tone.

“Probably,” Applejack said before turning toward the exit. “Anyway, I don’t wanna hold you up any longer. I’ll probably just head back over to the farm.”

“The farm?! Why there?”

“I may be takin’ a break but I still got stuff to do, you know –” Applejack looked Pinkie in the eye “– hobbies. See ya later, Pinkie.”

“Yeah… See ya later, alligator.”

Applejack trotted slowly out of Sugarcube Corner and in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. After a short distance, she glanced inconspicuously from side to side trying to see behind her. Something glaringly pink in her peripheral vision stayed with her. Applejack furrowed her brow and smirked. Perfect; Pinkie had taken the bait.

Pinkie followed as close as she could behind Applejack, careful to stay out of sight. Applejack just couldn’t go back to the farm now, she just couldn’t; it would ruin everything! It was supposed to be Dash’s job to keep AJ busy, especially now. When Dash hadn’t reported back that first day, Pinkie sent Fluttershy to go find her. But she never thought Dash would still be missing.

Whatever Rainbow was up to, it was hopefully important. Now PInkie had to be the one to make sure AJ was in the right place at the right time. Maybe she wouldn’t go back to the farm right away. Maybe Pinkie could keep her off the trail without direct interference. Maybe they could still pull this off.

Applejack was, in fact, headed toward Sweet Apple Acres. But to Pinkie’s relief, she was taking her time with an indirect route.

Pinkie wondered what kind of hobbies Applejack had; she didn’t seem the type to even have a hobby. Between work, friends, family, and now her counseling, Applejack really couldn’t have had much free time on top of it all. That was all the more reason for this party to happen, though, and nothing would stand in its way.

Pinkie kept pace easily. Too easily. AJ moved slowly like she wanted to be followed, even taking extra time around corners. It wasn’t like the day before when Pinkie tracked AJ and Mac to the market. Then, she walked with purpose, quickly to her destination. Now it was more like she was wandering her way there.

Finally they came to Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie bit one of her hooves nervously. Luckily Applejack didn’t go directly to the barn, or her home, or anywhere near it actually. She just went around the large property and out to a large field. It was pretty distant from the farm Pinkie knew.

The area looked like an old abandoned part of the farm. It was mostly grass with only a few withered trees and stumps that Pinkie could hide behind. There were a couple old buildings standing next to the Everfree Forest that looked like they were falling apart.

Applejack quickened her pace and entered an old barnhouse. Pinkie watched from afar, not quite sure what to do. She needed to keep track of Applejack for everything to go down right. But that wasn’t really doable if AJ was inside. She could go in and make up some excuse, maybe that would be easier.

After a minute of thinking and nervously trotting in place, Pinkie made up her mind; she peeked inside. She didn’t see Applejack anywhere, just an old barn with a few old bails of hay and a breaking down ladder covered in dust.

“Hello? Applejack?” Pinkie called as she entered the barn. “I’m on a break and thought we could hang out for a while. Maybe—”

Pinkie hit the ground with a thud when something fell on top of her. Before she could yell or talk or know what was happening, a wet rag was pressed into her muzzle. She struggled to no avail. A few short breaths through the rag and she passed out.

Pinkie slowly regained consciousness. She blinked profusely, trying to find even a small hint of light. Her muscles twitched as she tried to move, but she was tied up, hanging by her hooves, on a wall. Refusing to give in, she pulled and struggled at the ropes, but to no avail. Panic set in as her breathing quickened. Each intake of air brought a rancid odor, something she couldn’t identify.

“You ever have dreams, Pinkie?” a familiar voice asked.

It was Applejack. Pinkie could tell, even without sight. She relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You ever have a nightmare you thought was real?” Applejack continued.

Pinkie giggled a bit nervously. “Okay. You got me. Ha ha, funny prank. You can let me down now.”

“This… isn’t a prank, Pinkie,” a weak voice said.

Pinkie’s eyes started to adjust to the darkness and she saw a figure hanging nearby on the adjacent wall. “Da-Dashie? Uh-ha! So this is where you’ve been.”

“Sometimes ponies don’t wake up from those dreams,” Applejack continued. “Sometimes they stay there, livin’ the nightmare forever.”

“Okay… You’re starting to scare me now.”

Applejack ran up to Pinkie, stood on her hind legs and slammed her right hoof on the wall next to Pinkie’s head. Pinkie flinched. The two stared at each other eye to eye. Applejack was missing her stetson. Her mane fell long and straight without its rubber band. There was a slightly crazed look in her eyes.

“You’re scared? Please, we both know the reason you’ve been followin’ me.”

“W-what?”

Applejack pulled away and sat down. “Still playin’ dumb huh? You must’ve figured it out. The missin’ ponies, Dash not comin’ right to ya like she always does after our talks. That was my mistake. I shouldn’t have taken Dash like that, but she just wouldn’t leave me alone! She just kept botherin’ me! She wouldn’t let up!”

AJ, fuming, hit one of Dash’s forelegs hard.

Dash winced in pain.

Tears fell from Pinkie’s eyes. “How can you do this?”

AJ calmed a bit and sat back down. “Chloroform. It’s funny, you read about it in books all the time. Never really thought it would work though.

“But that’s not what you meant is it? Still, it was easy. Way too damn easy. It started months ago when everypony started tellin’ me everything. They just kept comin’ to me and talkin’ and talkin’. It never ended! And was I ever allowed to talk? No! Not even my own family will listen. It’s just them and their stupid problems. ‘I don’t like my job.’ ’I don’t want to live at home.’ ‘I’m too scared to ask my special somepony on a date.’ ‘Will I ever get into the freaking Wonderbolts?!’”

Applejack glared at Dash for only a second. “And then it just happened. All at once. Like a parasprite that suddenly takes the town without warnin’. There was this one young stallion a while ago. He just would not shut up! I couldn’t even say one word. And he kept me there for hours. Hours! Just yammerin’ on about… I don’t even remember what. I couldn’t take it. And then… I hit him. I hit him again and again and again. Before I knew it, he was lyin’ on the ground, not breathin’.”

Pinkie was sobbing. No matter how hard she tried, the tears wouldn’t stop.

“It felt good,” Applejack continued, chuckling. “Just makin’ it all stop felt so good. I ditched his body in the Everfree Forest. I thought, at first, that would be the end of it, but time went by and ponies kept talkin’ more and more. I started wishin’ for that sweet feelin’ of freedom from it all. And then I did it again. I had a strategy this time though. Lucky for me, this old cellar isn’t used anymore; it’s too close to the forest. Nopony could hear them scream.

“Ha-ha! You would not believe the blood! I swear, sometimes it would look like I dyed my mane red. Can you imagine the look on Rarity’s face if I actually did that? She’d be all, ‘Oh goodness! What a fashion disaster! Ahh’.”

Applejack laughed. For a moment her laughter was the only sound in the room. Then, silence. The three mares stayed in the silence for a while, interrupted only by the occasional sob from Pinkie.

Applejack finally stood and walked to the door, retrieving her hat and hairband. “You best make yourself comfy, Pinkie. You’ll be here for a while.”

After locking the cellar doors behind her, Applejack stood for a moment and listened to the faint sound of her friend crying. AJ closed her eyes as if wincing from pain. She shook it off and walked away.

It was about time she got back to work. She tied her mane back, donned her hat, brushed herself off, and started the walk back to the farm. Something she liked about that old, open area, it was quiet. Nopony ever bothered going back there. There weren’t any animals making noise; even the creatures in the Everfree Forest stayed peaceful unless provoked.

Applejack looked at the clouds as she walked. Sometimes it just seemed perfect, even if it couldn’t last.

She reached the farm and realized that if she was going to be apple-bucking, she would need buckets. She headed for the barn and opened the door.

“SURPRISE!”

AJ jumped as streamers and confetti fell around her. “Huh? Wha—?”

There, packed in the barn, was everypony she knew. Her friends, family, ponies she counseled. The Cutie Mark Crusaders held up a giant drawing of AJ with the words, ‘Best Sister Ever!’ drawn underneath. Vinyl Scratch stood at the ready with her sound system in the back.

There were decorations everywhere including a large, ‘Thank You Applejack’ banner hanging from the ceiling. A table full of food stood on one side of the barn and a table full of gifts stood on the other.

Twilight walked over to AJ. “What do you think?”

“A— What?” Applejack stammered out.

“It’s a Thank You party. Pinkie and Dash have been planning it for days. We all wanted to thank you for everything you do, especially for talking with everypony when they need to.” Twilight looked around Applejack, checking to see if anypony was there. “I’m not sure where Pinkie or Dash are right now, though.”

Applejack just stood still, staring wide-eyed at all the ponies.

“Is something wrong?”

Applejack shook the shock off her face and smiled at her friend. “It’s nothin’. Just a bad dream.”