School was out for the day and the young foals began to exit the building. Three fillies zoomed out the door as if shot from a cannon.
“I’ve got so much planned for this afternoon!” exclaimed Scootaloo, her wings buzzing excitedly.
Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement, a huge grin on her face. “We’ve got a lot of crusading to do!”
“I, uh, have to go do my chores first,” mumbled Apple Bloom. “Sorry.”
“Can’t you put them off for a while?” asked Scootaloo.
“No, I can’t. You know how my family is.” Apple Bloom sighed. “I’ll meet you girls at the clubhouse whenever I’m done.”
With groans of disappointment, the three parted company. Apple Bloom trotted quickly back to the family farm, wanting to finish her work as soon as possible. She headed through the decorative archway that announced the name of the orchard, Sweet Apple Acres.
Near the barn, Apple Bloom found her older sister, Applejack. She had a few bushel baskets set out, loaded with delicious looking apples. Applejack looked up and smiled. “There you are. Now, we need about three more baskets to sell at the market tomorrow. I’d like you to get them from the south field.”
Apple Bloom groaned inwardly. “Sure.”
Catching something in her little sister’s tone, Applejack noted, “And don’t go slackin’ off with the quality. Collect only the good apples. Ponies depend on us for the best.”
“Sure, sis.” Collecting three baskets, Apple Bloom headed for the south field.
Bucking apples was a long standing tradition passed down over the generations. It depended on technique and talent to properly get the bad apples off the tree before placing the baskets to collect the good ones. It was also time consuming. Apple Bloom groaned about how much fun she was missing with her friends.
Reaching the field, she set the baskets down and lined up for a buck on a nearby tree. Not being as strong as her older siblings, Apple Bloom had to exert herself just to shake down the weak-stemmed bad apples that were overripe and past their prime. After a few kicks, she decided that the tree was probably ready for a proper buck.
Positioning the first basket, she slammed her hooves against the tree trunk. Despite her best effort, only a few apples fell. Apple Bloom sighed and lined up for another buck. She kicked the tree several more times in quick succession, managing to fill the basket about halfway.
Pausing to take a breather, Apple Bloom surveyed her meager productivity with dismay. Filling three baskets full of apples would take so long! Even if her friends were okay with waiting for her to finish, she might be too tired to do any crusading.
Apple Bloom glumly returned to work. It seemed to take ages of bucking before the first basket was filled so she could start on the second one. She moved on to another tree and knocked off the bad apples before starting to harvest the good fruit.
If anything, filling the second basket took even longer. By the time she was finished, Apple Bloom was dragging her hooves . She took the third basket and positioned it before giving the tree a kick. Apples poured down, filling the bushel instantly.
Apple Bloom paused, and then let out a grunt of frustration. She’d forgotten to remove the bad apples first and now the basket was filled with them. Moving to dump it out, she stopped. None of the fruit looked bad. They might not have been the greatest, but easily passed visual inspection.
Hesitating, Apple Bloom made her choice. She got the three full baskets back to the barn and put them with the others headed for market. Then, she happily scampered off to meet up with her friends.
“Hang on!” Called Applejack, emerging from the barn. Apple Bloom pulled up short.
Her older sister glanced at the three bushels of apples and turned her eyes to Apple Bloom. “You’re done already?”
“Yes!” Apple Bloom fidgeted, antsy about going to play.
“These are all good apples?” asked Applejack.
Apple Bloom’s hooves stopped trotting in place. “Y-yes.”
“Well, alright then. I hope you have a good time.” Applejack turned around and went back to work. Apple Bloom took off like the bullet she had just dodged.
It was wrong to lie, especially to her big sister. Apple Bloom cringed slightly, but couldn’t bring herself to turn around. If the lie was over and done with, then the last thing she wanted to do was think about it any more.
Apple Bloom made good time to the clubhouse and met up with her friends. They hung out for the rest of the afternoon, having a good time and planning adventures. Forgetting what she had said to obtain a little more playtime, Apple Bloom returned home that evening.
Dinner conversation with the rest of her family was light. Apple Bloom found herself tired after eating and decided to go to bed. She had a busy day ahead of her, with school and more playtime with her friends.
The early bedtime, however, did not seem to result in proportionately more rest. Apple Bloom awoke in the morning feeling somewhat off, as if something wasn’t quite right. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, however, and after a moment she shrugged the feeling away as her imagination.
Applejack stood on the front porch, her brow furrowed as she gazed skyward. Apple Bloom stepped out of the house quietly and stood beside her sister for a moment.
“Gonna be a thunderstorm this afternoon,” Applejack said. “You might want to get home quick after school.”
Apple Bloom frowned. “I don’t remember anything about that in the pegasus weather report.”
Applejack shrugged. “Maybe a wild storm out of the Everfree.”
The two of them walked down the porch steps and Applejack checked a cart that was loaded high with apples for the market. She took three from the load and gave them to Apple Bloom. “Here, take these for you and your friends. They’ll like ‘em.”
“Uh, sure.” Knowing that some of the apples could be contaminated suddenly put Apple Bloom on edge. She did her best to hide her reaction, knowing that she was doing a poor job of it, but Applejack didn’t seem to notice. Apple Bloom put the three apples into her saddlebags and immediately left for school.
Down the road in Ponyville, Apple Bloom meet up with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They had a few minutes before class began and paused at a table outside the building to wait.
Sweetie Belle hunted through her bag. “I think I forgot my paper today. Do either of you have any I can borrow?”
Apple Bloom opened her bag and the three apples tumbled out.
“Hey, that’s a lot of snacks even for you,” Scootaloo observed, catching the apples before they rolled off the table.
“I’m just hungry,” Apple Bloom quickly lied. There was no way she was going to let her friends eat bad apples.
“Well, I’ll trade you my bananas,” Scootaloo said, pulling some out of her bag. “If you’re hungry, a bunch is better than one, right?”
“Yeah,” agreed Sweetie Belle. “And I’ll give you my sandwich for one of those apples.”
Apple Bloom opened her mouth, but closed it again as her friends snatched two of the apples. Both of them quickly began to eat, crunching happily.
There was a reason Apple family products were well renowned, and the two fillies looked liked they were enjoying themselves. Their snacks looked just as excellent as any top-quality apple. Apple Bloom breathed a little easier.
The school bell rang, calling all students to class. Inside the school, Miss Cheerilee sat at her desk at the front of the room. She dropped an apple core into the wastebasket and stood up, ready to begin. “Good morning, class!”
The students took out their supplies and Cheerilee started her lessons. Apple Bloom took her usual notes, getting into the routine of school.
The morning passed quickly and almost before Apple Bloom realized, it was time for lunch. She got a table outside with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, although the three of them were wary of dark clouds rolling in. It looked like rain would come soon.
Apple Bloom ate the sandwich she had gotten from Sweetie Belle and one of the bananas from Scootaloo. The third apple she had brought that morning rested on the table.
“Why aren’t you eating that? I thought you were hungry,” said Sweetie Belle.
“I…” Apple Bloom knew she should come clean, but that would mean admitting that she knowingly let her friends eat potentially contaminated apples. “I have a stomach cramp.”
“Well, I feel queasy,” replied Scootaloo.
“I’m nauseous,” added Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom gulped. “You are?”
“Totally. It’s like the worst thing ever.” Scootaloo took another bite of her lunch.
“But wait, why are you still eating?” asked Apple Bloom, frowning.
“Yeah, why?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I bet you’re not really sick, unlike me.”
“You’re still eating, too,” pointed out Scootaloo.
“It’s because I know a spell to work through it.” Sweetie Belle stuck out her tongue.
Aside from the fact that Sweetie Belle didn’t yet know how to cast spells, confrontation over who was sicker was about the last thing Apple Bloom expected. She got up and mumbled, “I’m going to see Miss Cheerilee.”
Inside the school, Apple Bloom’s teacher was reading from a magazine while she waited for her students to return. She looked up. “Is something wrong, Apple Bloom?”
“Um, Miss Cheerilee, I think I have a problem. What could happen to a pony who eats a bad apple?”
Cheerilee paused for a moment to consider it. “Well, they could catch a virus.”
“How would that happen?” asked Apple Bloom. “My sister is always going on about bacteria, but never said anything about viruses in apples.”
“Trust me, I’m a doctor,” Cheerilee replied.
Apple Bloom scrunched her face in confusion. “Um, why didn’t you mention that last week when we had those health lessons?”
Cheerilee picked up her magazine again. “I have my reasons.”
“Like what? I mean, if you’re a doctor then why aren’t you out saving lives instead of teaching at an elementary school?”
Her face showing traces of annoyance, Cheerilee replied, “I used to be in the Army doing black ops but when my cover was blown they sent me to medical school. Then the Minotaur League of Evil found me and I had to get a new secret identity.”
“Why is your cutie mark for teaching, then?” Apple Bloom pressed.
Cheerilee sighed and shook her head. “Don’t you know that cutie marks can change?”
“That isn’t what you taught us in the cutie mark lesson!” Apple Bloom’s eyes darted around the room, attempting to find something that made sense. She spotted the apple core in the trash can. Her eyes flicked to Cheerilee, who was still looking at her impatiently.
“That’s all I needed.” Apple Bloom took a few steps backwards before ducking out the door.
Outside, she paused. Could the bad apples really be making ponies act strange? How many townsponies might be affected? Hesitating just a moment longer, Apple Bloom left the school grounds and headed towards the town market.
She told herself that if she hurried she could admit to Applejack the problem and be back before the end of lunch period. Maybe she could even use timing as a reason to escape punishment, using the excuse that she had to get back to school. Apple Bloom grimaced. But then all afternoon she would be dreading punishment when she got home.
At a quick trot, she entered the market and found the apple stall. Her older sister was there and was surprised to see Apple Bloom at that time of day. “AB, what are you doing here?”
“My friends and my teacher are actin’ weird,” Apple Bloom said. “It might be something they ate.”
Applejack’s brows pinched with concern. “Who else knows?”
“I think I’m the only one who’s noticed. They aren’t throwing up or anything, just acting weird.”
“Weird like how?”
“They’re...lying.”
Applejack had been listening with rapt attention, but now leaned back slightly. “Not to toot my own horn, sugarcube, but not all ponies live with the Element of Honesty. Hearing other ponies lie ain’t exactly uncommon.”
“But...but why would Miss Cheerilee tell me she was in the Army? And was a doctor? It doesn’t make any sense!” Apple Bloom stamped her hoof in emphasis.
“Uh, you sure?” asked Applejack, concerned again.
“Don’t you believe me?” Apple Bloom pleaded.
“I’m just saying that maybe there’s another explanation.” Applejack turned her head as Rainbow Dash landed nearby. “Back for more, Rainbow?”
“Nah, I got to get to my afternoon nap,” replied Rainbow, snagging an apple off one of the baskets. Apple Bloom started to raise her hoof to stop Rainbow, but didn’t follow through.
“What about this weather?” Applejack asked, looking up at the dark clouds. “This storm was unscheduled.”
Rainbow glanced up at the dark, rolling clouds. “Storm? Hardly. This’ll blow over.”
“I’m not on the weather team, but even I can see that we’re going to get buckets of rain,” Applejack argued.
Rainbow took a bite of her apple. “Aw, it’s barely a storm.”
“If you don’t start soon, you’re going to need every pegasus in town to help,” Applejack advised.
“Didn’t you hear?” Rainbow grinned. “All of them but me got their weather licenses revoked for being bad with record keeping. It was kind of a big deal.”
“You’re bad with record keeping,” Applejack retorted. “Besides, they post revoked weather licenses in the newspaper. If they did that to the whole weather team, I’m sure I would have noticed.”
Rainbow shrugged. “The newspaper changed format. They buried all those names in the back pages.”
Applejack cast a suddenly worried glance at Apple Bloom before turning back to Rainbow and leveling an accusing stare. “No, the paper’s exactly the same as it’s always been. I read it this morning.”
Just then, a fat raindrop smacked down on the wooden stall. It was followed by a few more.
“Come on, Apple Bloom.” Quickly covering the stall with a tarp, Applejack led her sister away. Sugarcube Corner was nearby, and it seemed like an ideal place to wait out the weather.
The two of them went inside and sat down at a table. Mrs. Cake’s voice called from the back, “Be with you in a moment!”
Applejack sat nervously, rubbing her hooves together. “What you said about ponies lying, Apple Bloom...I guess I believe it now. Rainbow might be a little loose with the truth, but she had no reason to be fibbing like that. I wonder what could be causing it.”
Apple Bloom swallowed hard. She hesitated. Just then, Pinkie Pie appeared beside their table. “Hey you two! I was just thinking we would have visitors and what better snack than some fresh apple pie!”
“My favorite.” Applejack smiled.
“Uh, what else do you have?” Apple Bloom put in quickly.
“Oh, we don’t have any other pies,” Pinkie said. “Today is one-pie-only day. Or would that be two-pie-only day, because technically I’m a Pie, and with another pie that makes-”
“Order up!” called Mrs. Cake, bringing a few warm pies out of the kitchen to put in the display.
“What kind are those?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Oh, those aren’t pies.” Pinkie waved a hoof.
“Uh, they sure look like pies,” Applejack said.
“They aren’t pies,” Pinkie stated flatly.
Apple Bloom traded glances with her sister, both of them wearing a look of concern. Applejack cleared her throat. “Pinkie, I want you to promise me something.”
“Sure, Applejack!”
“Pinkie Promise me that you’ll tell us the truth.”
“Cross my heart and hope to lie, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie went through the motions. She finished with her hoof covering her left eye.
“What was that?” asked Applejack.
“Fly. I said fly.” Pinkie winked her left eye.
Apple Bloom leaned across the table to whisper to Applejack. “Now that she promised, what should we ask her?”
Applejack looked up. “Pinkie, are those pies over there?”
Pinkie’s left eye twitched. “No.”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “If they aren’t pies then what are they?”
Pinkie appeared to melt a little under Applejack’s gaze. Her eye twitched. “Um...space aliens in a buttery golden crust?”
Apple Bloom threw up her hooves. “Even the Pinkie Promise doesn’t work! We’re doomed!”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Applejack assured her, starting to get up. "It's too bad the weather isn't very good for it."
Just then, there was a crack of thunder from outside and rain began to pour down. Apple Bloom trembled slightly, but calmed herself with the knowledge that her sister hadn't been taken by the mysterious affliction. She could count on Applejack. "So where do we start?"
"Well, maybe Twilight knows something about this," Applejack speculated. She headed for the door. "Come on, let's go see her."
The rain quickly drenched the both of them as they stepped outside. Struggling against the gale, Applejack lead the way towards the library.
Calling loudly enough to be heard over the wind, Apple Bloom asked, "Do we have to do this? What does a little lying hurt? We don't even know if the whole town is doing it."
"Just lying is bad enough," Applejack replied. "I thought I taught you that. Your words can't be seen or touched, but they're more valuable than anything else you have."
The made it to the library and Applejack held the door for her sister. They stepped inside the building, dripping water on the floor.
“But words can’t hurt you, right?” Apple Bloom asked. She nearly jumped out of her skin as a thesaurus smashed into the wall right next to her.
"You're tempting fate, girl," Applejack muttered.
Twilight Sparkle’s voice shouted from somewhere in the library. “Spike! You said that you put everything away neatly!”
“Owlowiscious messed everything up!”
“I know that’s not true!”
“What in tarnation-!” Applejack exclaimed, raising her voice over the hubbub.
Twilight poked her head out from behind a bookcase. “Sorry girls, Spike has been behaving terribly today.”
“That’s nothing compared to you!” Spike retorted, appearing from behind a small bookfort across the room. “Who stole the gems I was saving for a snack?”
“You can’t prove that was me!”
“Uh, Applejack?” Apple Bloom muttered. “I don’t think they can help us.”
The two of them backed out of the library into the rain. Apple Bloom brushed her mane back out of her face, looking up at her sister desperately. “Who can help now? The whole town’s gone crazy!”
Applejack considered that. “Somepony in charge could help. We need to see the princesses."
Apple Bloom opened her mouth to reply, but the next flash of lightning illuminated a huge winged form speeding down from the heavens. A tall blue mare, her wings and horn crackling with electricity, slammed into the ground, throwing mud away from her landing zone.
“Where is Celestia?” she demanded. “She has been telling outrageous falsehoods!”
“Right here, sister!” shouted a voice from above. Celestia dropped from the sky to land close to Luna, the two of them angrily going nose to nose.
“You have a lot of nerve,” Celestia growled. “I can’t believe you would say something like that.”
“Well, somepony ate all the breakfast apple tarts!” Luna replied hotly. “What did you expect!”
Celestia snarled. “I expected you not to lie to my face when I asked about the cider!”
As the scene continued to escalate, Apple Bloom looked at her older sister. They both wore similar expressions of fear as the two princesses continued to argue, each beginning to charge magic spells.
Applejack swallowed hard and stepped forward hesitantly. She cringed slightly and then pushed between the two princesses. “Simmer down please, your majesties.”
Miraculously, there was a break in the shouting and even the storm seemed to momentarily go quieter.
Applejack went on. “Now, when did this all start?”
“After breakfast,” Luna provided.
“Before breakfast,” Celestia said almost simultaneously.
The two of them continued to coldly stare at each other before Applejack broke the moment. “Now, I can tell that neither of ya is telling the truth.”
She winced as both princesses fixed her with a glare, but went on. “But let’s say that it happened around breakfast time. Was there anything unusual that might have caused this? You don’t have to say it out loud, but I want you to think on that.”
Celestia and Luna both considered the question, but based on their expressions neither appeared to remember anything out of the ordinary.
“Hmm, so maybe this is a magical thing or something?” Applejack speculated aloud. “Because it’s affecting a whole bunch of ponies in town, too. Maybe something in the food supply?”
Applejack suddenly stiffened. “Uh...food. I just remembered that I, uh...sent some apples on the morning train to Canterlot for the castle kitchen.”
“Did you?” Luna asked, her voice coming through teeth clenched in rage. Celestia said nothing but moved with her sister and loomed over the cowering Applejack.
“I’m so sorry for what happened.” Applejack gulped. “I’ll do whatever I can to make it right. Anything.”
“How do we know you aren’t lying?” Celestia asked.
“Do you know what you have done? Do you know what we do to those that threaten the foundations of Equestria?” Luna pressed.
Both princesses lit up their magic and stepped closer to Applejack. The light from their horns grew brighter as lightning split the sky above.
“Stop!” cried Apple Bloom, rushing forward. She jumped in front of her sister. “It’s not her fault!”
“Out of the way,” Luna insisted.
“No, please listen to me! It’s my fault. I picked bad apples.” Apple Bloom’s jaw was tight, but she forced the words out. She had sat on this lie for too long, but there was no way she could keep silent any longer.
“I-I lied about doing what my sister asked me to do. Those bad apples were my fault.” Apple Bloom couldn’t hold back her tears, but she forced herself to keep going. “It’s my fault everypony is acting strange. When I first figured out what was going on, I didn’t say anything and now it’s too late. I should have said something sooner. I shouldn’t have let this go for so long.”
She was now openly sobbing and fell to the ground, curling into ball. Apple Bloom had never felt so bad about anything before, and the mental anguish seemed to block out the feeling of the mud and falling rain. She rolled, feeling something binding her. Twisting, she attempted to get free, even if lousy lying ponies like her deserved whatever punishment they got.
“Calm down, sugarcube…”
Apple Bloom wailed, and tried again to get free. Hooves touched her gently, rolling her over.
“Calm down,” Applejack repeated. “It was just a dream.”
Opening her eyes, Apple bloom looked up at the ceiling of her bedroom and the tousled sheets that had wrapped around her. Applejack sat on the bed next to her, untangling the sheets.
Apple Bloom took a stuttering breath and then let it out slowly. Everything had felt so genuine, and she could still sense the lingering emotions.
“Oh AJ, I’m so sorry. I dreamed that you told me to only buck good apples, but I didn’t and then lied about it. I didn’t tell anypony, but soon the whole town was going crazy and the princesses got into a fight. But you were there for me. I knew I could count on you not to lie. Ponies were saying crazy stuff that didn’t make sense, but-”
She paused to shake her head. Her sister gently stroked her back, listening quietly. Apple Bloom continued, “Through it all, you never lied. Everything you said actually happened.”
Applejack nodded. “I know.”
