Big Macintosh carefully placed the apple pie into the picnic basket, its wafting aroma of cinnamon and freshly baked pastry inciting his stomach to growl and grumble much to the amusement of Granny Smith, who worked at one of the kitchen counters, rolling out a new batch of pastry for the next round of pies.

“Ye best go n’ git before it gets cold, Big Macintosh… Flutter-whatshercallit’s cottage is on th’—uh—th’ other side of Ponyville ‘n we don’ wan’ that. These ‘ere pies need t’be eaten nice ‘n hot like, so go giddy up ‘n get that flank to gear!”

“Ayep,” replied Big Mac, grasping the handle of the basket between his teeth as he turned to depart the kitchen, but found his path interrupted by a rather small - and suspiciously smiling obstacle standing in his way.

Big Mac blinked down at his little sister, who only looked back up at him with her big cute eyes, the kind that always managed to melt his heart and bring a smile to his face.

His smile fell into a frown as he awaited the inevitable.

Applebloom only ever pulled this expression on one of two accounts: something bad has happened and she’s attempting to smooth over the damage before it is discovered, or she is after something the elders of the Apple family would disapprove of.

“Hey, Big Mac, Granny, can I go an’ deliver this one?”

Big Mac sighed, his suspicions confirmed.

“This pie is for Miss Fluttershy, righ’?” Applebloom ventured with a step forward, “Ah know where she lives an’ Ah’d love to see her again! She’s always workin’ away an’ she takes her animal friends with her to that fancy Canterlot apartment when she’s workin’ an’ all…”

Big Mac merely lifted a brow.

“An’ Ah’m big enough to walk home from school by m’self so it should be okay to walk to th’ other side of Ponyville too, righ’?” Applebloom trailed off as she battered her eyelashes rapidly up at her big brother, attempting to pull the wool over his eyes with her innocent act.

Ashamedly, it was working on him.

Big Mac could never deny his younger sister’s desire to be useful, nor could he disapprove of her growing need to be an independent pony and a working member of the family; after all, did he not go through the same phase when he was about her age?
However, the concerned and doting older brother within him argued against this logic. Allowing her to travel across the village by herself certainly had Big Mac conflicted about the subject, even if he was secretly proud of his little sister’s initiative to step up and volunteer to do chores instead of forcing him to ask her.

“Well…” Big Mac glanced back to Granny Smith, who was presently hard at work rolling the pin over the lump of pastry with a rather focused expression. Either the old mare did not hear Applebloom’s plea or she was silently awaiting Big Mac’s brotherly decision.

He figured the latter.

At her older brother’s clear uncertainty, Applebloom clung to his forelegs in desperation as she poked her lower lip up at him, fearing the worst.

“Awww, pleeeeeeeeease, Big Mac! Ah promise Ah won’t get distracted an’ Ah promise Ah will be right back as soon as Ah can! Ah swears it on my honour as a Cutie Mark Crusader!”

Averting his eyes from the onslaught of pouty cuteness, Big Mac’s heart shivered in his chest as he quickly relented to his sister’s demands.

Placing the basket down onto his sister’s back, Big Mac took several steps back to formulate his sternest of stares.

“Alright, Applebloom, but ya’ll better be quick, is tha’ understood?”

Wobbling a touch on the spot to balance the basket containing the apple pie, which perched somewhat haphazardly upon her back, Applebloom squeaked merrily as she turned about and bolted out of the kitchen door before either Granny or Big Mac had a chance to reconsider.

“Ah won’t let ya down big brother! Ah’ll be back before ya know it!”

Big Mac sighed, hanging his head a touch as the slam of the front door signalled Applebloom’s departure from the Apple family household, now entirely unsure if his decision in the matter was the correct one.

Turning about, Big Mac paused as he came face to face with the grinning face of Granny Smith.

“Does she be remindin’ ye of some other youngin’?” Granny Smith intoned with a chuckle, which only caused Big Mac to fluster and stammer over his words before smiling to himself and joining in with his elder’s laughter.

“Nnope.”
_____________________

By the time Applebloom had arrived at the door of Fluttershy’s cottage, she was already out of breath.

The filly had somewhat miscalculated the length of time it would had taken to get to her destination by at least ten minutes, due to a slight detour she simply could not ignore, even if she wanted to.

Without fail, whenever she passed through the centre of town, Applebloom stopped by to solemnly observe the long abandoned and neglected Carousel Boutique, which was now merely a rundown shell of its former glory.

A place where nightmares were discovered.

A place where the crusading ceased.

Where one of her best friends was…

Applebloom shook the thoughts from her head as a sadness threatened to rise within
her, the memories of that fateful day and the news reaching her ears still a fresh wound that itched at her emotions with every waking moment.

Refocusing her attention to the closed door of the cottage, Applebloom steeled her resolve and approached it, knocking ever so softly as to not frighten the shy mare and the animals who resided there.

After several minutes of silence, Applebloom knocked harder; assuming the mare was either sleeping or tending to her animals in the back garden.

When another few minutes had passed, Applebloom simply shrugged, deciding to raise her voice in hopes Fluttershy would be able to hear her.

“Miss Fluttershy! It’s me, Applebloom! Ah’ve got tha’ pie you ordered! It’s freshly baked an’ smells good! If ya’ll don’ hurry up it is gonna get cold!”

No reply came.

Applebloom tilted her head, pouting. “Huh… Ah wonder where everypony is?”

Not even Angel or any other of Fluttershy’s animal friends answered the door.

“Maybe they’ve gone out for a walk?” Applebloom reasoned as she turned her head to bite at the handle of the basket, placing the wares in front of the door with a frown, knowing full well by the time Fluttershy returned home, the pie would be long cold and past its prime of consumption.

“Ah well, no point cryin’ over cold apple pie…”

Turning to make her way back home, Applebloom paused a few steps in her journey to glance back to the door as she heard the definite sounds of the lock clicking open and the scrape of a deadbolt sliding on the other side of the portal.

Soon after followed an all too familiar whisper drawing a wide, beaming smile from the lips of the filly, which only turned into a frown as she heard a fit of terrible, hoarse coughs.

“Um… h-hi… Applebloom… I’m sorry I didn’t come to the door sooner… I would have come to Sweet Apple Acres to get it myself but… I’m not feeling too great… thank you so much for coming… you’re really too kind to come all the way out here…”

The door creaked open, revealing a figure wrapped heavily up in a pink blanket meekly half-hiding itself behind the door.

Applebloom could not see who it was underneath all those folds obscuring her vision, but she recognized the voice belonging to the kind and loving mare she fondly remembers, further noting how strangely dark it was inside the cottage.

With a step backwards, Applebloom took note that all of the window shutters outside the cottage were closed tight, as if the building was prepared to fight off a raging storm.

Finding neither of these things strange, Applebloom smiled towards the sheet-wrapped figure.

“That’s terrible news… do ya’ll need any help? Ah’d be happy to oblige!” Having grown to respect her elders and help those in need, Applebloom stepped forward, squinting her eyes to get a better look at the enshrouded mare as she dipped her head down to pick up the basket she had previously left on the doorstep.

“Th-thank you. You’re too kind, Applebloom… you’re just like your sister.”

Applebloom puffed out her chest as she lifted her head up high, trotting on into the cottage and through the peculiar aroma of flowers, a spring in her step at the mere concept that she was anything like her sister. Her ego swelled at least five times than what was the norm.

Once Applebloom had ventured far enough into the cottage, her steps came to an abrupt stop as her nostrils wrinkled in disgust, her body almost convulsing at the terrible stench permeating the air; her ears and tail flicking awkwardly as the buzzing of tiny flies assaulted her personal space and pestered her consistently.

Placing the basket down, Applebloom struggled to contain the contents of her stomach, a hoof lifting up to firmly press against her nose in a vain attempt to block out the stench.

“What’s tha’ smell? It smells worse than rottin’ pig swill in here, Fluttersh—”

The slam of the door and its lock slipping into place caused Applebloom to jump and spin back towards the door, her eyes widening a touch as she watched the mare wrapped up in the cloak shed her disguise and casually bound towards her.

Applebloom felt herself retch as she took retreating steps away from the grotesque creature that had impersonated Fluttershy’s voice to an eerie perfection stalk closer, tripping over the forgotten basket and spilling its sweet, succulent still steaming contents all over the floor.

Pinkamena’s long straight hair was frazzled about in all directions in a sticky, greasy mess, her Fluttershy skin-suit barely clinging to her body as decomposition had long started its destructive process upon the dead flesh as patches of her true pink coat blotted amongst the gangrenous holes of the darkening yellow fur.

“M-my pie… oh dear, maybe you should be more careful next time… if you don’t mind me saying, that is…” Pinkie Pie spoke in Fluttershy’s voice, whispering the words perfectly as she took her slow, purposeful steps toward the filly that laid trembling in fear on top of the ruined pie.

With a smile, Pinkie Pie held out a hoof to help the Applebloom up from the ground while the young mare struggled to contain the bile rising up in her throat, the stench of rotting flesh only intensifying the closer Pinkie got.

Why didn’t she smell it the moment the door opened?

Something had smelt intensely flowery when she had passed the mare, but figured it was just the fresh country air.

It had to be that sheet.

Ripping herself from her despair with wide, pinprick irises, Applebloom focused her trembling gaze upon the outstretch hoof that was offered, noting the pitter-patter of something falling from the slack yellow flesh that badly covered the pink appendage.

Once Applebloom had made out what the tiny white shapes writhing on top of the skin-suit were, Applebloom could no longer contain herself or her scream. Emptying the contents of her stomach out onto the ground, Applebloom wailed whenever she struggled to take a single gulp of foul air into her lungs between the spasms.

“You know, Applebloom… maggots don’t just eat dead flesh, you know...” Pinkie Pie drew her face closer, the decomposing death masque tearing as the mares manically wide, maggot ridden smile broke the cheek’s flesh; still maintaining her accurate impersonation regardless of the sadistic amusement present within her wide blue eyes, “they can eat fruit, too…”

Applebloom writhed on the ground as her fight or flight response fully kicked into gear, speeding adrenaline around her body as her legs scrambled to get to her hooves, slipping and sliding over her own expelled stomach contents and the hot filling of the apple pie.

“But you know what they say!” Pinkie Pie giggled manically, breaking character as she snapped her forelegs out to wrap them about Applebloom’s neck, capturing her instantly to crush the mare against her chest; subsequently cutting off her supply of oxygen.

“An apple a day…” Pinkie Pie chimed as she clenched tighter about the filly’s neck, feeling the filly’s struggles weaken with each passing moment, “granted, you were the wrong type of apple I had planned for, but I suppose you will have to do for now. But hey! I am sure if we wait long enough your big sister or brother will surely come looking for you and they can join in on the fun, too!”

Weakly, Applebloom helplessly beat her slowing hooves at the arms about her neck, her wide bulging eyes becoming bloodshot as she felt her body burn with the need to breathe, her mouth wide as saliva frothed from her gurgling attempts to draw air in.

“Shhh… it’s going to be okay… you can close your eyes… I’ll keep you safe…”

Stretching her hooves as high as she could, Applebloom pathetically struck out at Pinkie Pie’s muzzle, merely breaking and peeling back the death masque from Pinkie’s beaming face, causing little to no injury to the living flesh underneath.

“Oh! I’ve got the perfect song! Fluttershy sung this to me a couple times when I couldn’t sleep. Wanna hear it? Yeah? Great!” Pinkie Pie giggled, impersonating Fluttershy’s voice once again, as she sung ever so beautifully.

“Hush now, quiet now, lay down your sleepy head…”

Applebloom’s eyes rolled back in her head as her body convulsed and finally sagged in Pinkie Pie’s grip.

“Hush now, quiet now, time to go to bed…”

At the abrupt limpness of the diminutive body in her grip, Pinkie Pie unfurled her legs from about the filly’s neck, allowing the unconscious body to slump onto the ground with an unceremonious thud.

“Aw, the poor thing must had been so tuckered out! Oh well… sweet dreams, little filly… but when you wake up? We’re going to have such fun…” Pinkie blinked, gasping as she threw her hooves to her cheeks, “...I KNOW!”

Pinkie Pie clapped, her eyes shining with glee as she continued.

“We should totally organise a surprise party for your sister before she arrives!” Pinkie Pie bounced merrily in a giggling circle around Applebloom’s unconscious form, the pink mare’s once straight hair springing back to its curly crazed state which at one point, was the norm for the mare, “and there will be cakes! And balloons! And smiles; lots and lots of smiles! Streamers of all kind of colours! And punch! And cider… and…”

Slowing in her maddened dance of death, Pinkie Pie’s smile drew sinister as she regarded the little filly, moving to press an ear to Applebloom’s chest, listening out for a heartbeat to which she could just about make out.

“And tears. Delicious, delicious, tears… and blood. Glorious, blood! And you know what, Applebloom? I’ve just got the most awesome-est and perfectest idea for the most succulentest apple to ever be pied…” Pinkie Pie raked her surgical gaze along the filly’s length, assessing cuts of meats that required harvesting for the festivities, “…let’s both do our best to make sure your siblings enjoys every mouth-watering morsel! And you know what? You should be happy! Just like Sweetie Belle, your big sister is gonna eat you all up, except this time, it will be over a romantic candle lit dinner with me!”

Giggling, Pinkie Pie spun on the spot several times, “I’m so nervouscited! I can’t wait to tell her how much I love her! How much I’ve thought about her since I was locked away!”

Abruptly, Pinkie Pie’s face contorted into a fierce scowl, spittle leaking from her lips as she hissed.

“And just how deep this maggot has eaten its way into her core… Tehehe!”

Author's Note

Update: There is a sequel! Maggots and Apples: Eternal Party