Chapters It was over, Flim and Flam had won. Applejack and her family had to move out of Ponyville, after all working on an apple farm was the only work they knew. And now that the two brothers were the sole providers of apples (and apple products) in Ponyville there was nothing they nor anypony could do. Applejack’s friends tried to protest but the two unicorns had won fair and square and none of the Apple family were willing to go back on their word. Even with the help of her friends, Applejack was unable to even get close to the number of barrels of cider that the Super Cider Squeezy 6000 produced.
They all said farewell and headed out the farm. Thankfully the they did have somewhere to go: Appleousa. There they would meet up with Breaburn and their other relatives and stay there for a while, while they tried to figure out what to do next, as even there they could not accommodate the Apple family for long. Yet they would not be leaving so soon as no train was going to Appleousa that day. Applejack spoke with her friends and they all agreed that the Apple family would stay the night at their friends houses: Applejack and Applebloom would stay at Twilight’s, granny Smith would stay at Fluttershy’s (especially since she was so good at taking care of animals and persons) and Big Mac would either stay at Rarity’s or Pinkie Pie’s, the decision was left to him.
The day was eventually coming to an end and after all the work they went through everypony was quite tired, so they decided to head home to rest. Big Mac told everypony that he needed some time to think, so everypony left, wishing him a good night. Big Mac stared at the night sky wondering what would happen and what him and his family could do? He knew all too well that staying in Appleousa was not the be all and end all of this situation, that they would have to find somewhere else to stay eventually. He was worried. But that was not all that went through his mind, he also remembered the laughter of the two Flim Flam brothers, the way they strolled up so confidently into Ponyville and impressed everypony, the way they tricked his family into agreeing to a deal he knew they would lose (a deal with huge consequences), the way they didn’t even think twice about what would happen to him and his family. It hurt but it also angered him, it angered him greatly. After having walked for a while, to his surprise he found himself to be quite sleepy so he decided to head back to get some sleep. Rarity’s house was closer so he decided to go there for the night. When he reached the house he carefully and quietly headed in, making sure not to wake up anypony. He found a comfortable spot and just lay there not worrying about where it was, at least he could be in peace in his dreams.
However he woke up the next day having slept through a nightmare. He dreamt that him and his family were kicked out of Ponyville and that no matter where they headed to, that they were unwanted. He shook of these thoughts and headed to the train station (as this is where they had all promised to meet up the next day). The Apple family decided to leave early not wishing to drag on their negative experience any longer. All their friends waved them goodbye (an of course Pinkie cried in her usual fashion), as the train set off, also telling them that they would try their best to stay in touch.
When they arrived they were warmly welcomed by Breaburn in his usual cheery fashion. He told them how sorry he was for what happened but that in a few days they would be feeling much better as they got used to their new home. Big Mac wasn’t so sure, he felt that they were being a burden, but so as not to upset anypony he simply replied with his usual: ‘Eeyup’.
Days passed and yet the Apple family were unable to find any work for themselves and Big Mac continued to worry and stress out, he also continued having trouble going to sleep but as the elder brother of two he did his best to hide his worries. He was good at that, he was always had been, even when things got really bad he would never flinch but he never expected something this bad to happen, especially to his own closest relatives. He didn’t know if he could keep it up, and that night he didn’t. His nightmares had become far worse: his family was suffering and he was blamed for it, the one who was expected to be able to look after them all, the one who would try his best for his loved ones was now failing and he couldn’t take it. He instantly rushed outside running as far as he could with tears running down his cheeks. With all the commotion, most ponies in the house woke up wondering what was happening but Big Mac had already run quite far and it wasn’t until he came back a few minutes later that they knew for sure it was him. He had already wiped away the tears and the darkness concealed the sadness on his face. When he was back he didn’t say anything or make eye contact with anypony, he simply headed back to bed and went to sleep.
From that point on, the large red pony spoke far less then he usually did. Whenever his family tried to speak to him or ask him if he was alright he would tell them that he was fine and walk off. His thoughts were getting more and more negative. He began despising the Flim Flam brothers, he even began hating Ponyville. He believed that they had just allowed them leave without doing anything. Applejack’s friends should have known that him and his family would be stubborn about going back on their word and yet they didn’t do anything. None of Ponyville did anything, they all just stared, as him and his relatives left the farm, all they cared about was getting cider. These thoughts and beliefs mixed in his mind like a cauldron of anger and hatred.
Every day and night while he worked or slept, his worries for his family, his worries about being a burden and never finding a job to support his family and his anger towards Ponyville and the Flim Flam brothers would go through his mind and most nights it would keep him awake. With all this happening he slowly, day by day, changed. He looked absolutely exhausted but he would glare angrily at anypony who would try to help him. This caused his relatives to worry and speak about him behind his back. They were of course talking about how to help him but with everything that was happening he did not know that and he was eventually becoming paranoid of every whisper (no matter whose mouth it came from).
The next night he was again unable to sleep so he decided to walk alone with his thoughts. It was far more open out here. The landscape had far less trees and the ground was smoother. He walked and he walked and he walked for hours with all his pent up anger. He could deal with sadness, he was not afraid to cry around his family but he just couldn’t release his anger even when it was just himself. To him it was a sign of weakness and he never wanted his family to see how truly angry he was. He yawned and then stared at the sky. He knew he couldn’t stay out here all night, it would arise too much suspicion and the last thing he wanted was questions, so he started heading back. And yet as he did he noticed a figure in the distance. It neither looked like a pony nor a buffalo. His curiosity got the best of him and he started running towards the creature.
The creature instantly started running away but Big Mac was determined to catch it whatever it may be. The creature was quick but Big Mac’s anger pushed him forward eventually allowing him to catch up. When he did he saw exactly what the creature was:a wolf. Even though it was a wolf, it wasn’t very big. Its colour matched the ground, normally allowing it to camouflage and hide in the sand and soil during the day but with everything now black it was in full view. Despite the fact that it was being chased a moment ago it wore a large grin. When they were face to face it said: ’Hello Big Macintosh, it’s good to finally meet with you’. ’What are you talking about? Who are you?’ responded Big Mac. ’You see…’ said the wolf ’… me and my relatives have been watching you and your relatives from afar, we know of what happened to your family and the feelings you hide from them’. ’So what? What does it matter to you wolves what happens in my personal life?’ he replied angrily. ’Well you see, we were interested in having a deal with you, we thought we could help you’. This piqued Big Mac’s curiosity, he listened further. “We are interested in helping your family back to Ponyville but we want something in return. We are going to need you to take the lives of a few ponies, in order for me and my family to feed. In return we will pay you, as well as of course dispose of the bodies in our own way. ” ’Wait a moment, you want me to kill another pony! That’s ridiculous!’ Big Mac shouted. The wolf was ready for this: “Is it?, Is it really, after all they did to you? If you kill the persons who caused all this happen to your family, you can all go back. You can all live the way you used to. However we won’t simply be satisfied with a couple of ponies, but then again I’m sure you won’t mind taking the lives of a few more, after all Ponyville deserted you and your family, after all the service you provided to everypony.” Normally Big Mac would not have even listened this far into the conversation but with day after day, week after week of anger he was willing to consider the wolf’s proposal. ’ I’ll think about it.’ said Big Mac. ’Good, good…’ replied the wolf ’…after all this might be your families only chance’.
It did not take long after that for Big Mac to make his decision as the following night he ended up shaking the wolf’s paw agreeing to the previous nights proposal. He had agreed to go forward with the plan the next time him and his family decided to visit Ponyville, which was the following week and he decide that once him and his family moved back into Sweet Apple Acres that he would mail the meat and in return the wolves would mail money. If the wolves failed to send the money, Big Mac would stop the plan after the first kill. Either way he was benefiting, he either would have at least Flim and Flam out of they way or he would be able to continue providing for his family with the money he got from the wolves. From then onwards Big Mac was a lot more cheerful, the idea that this horrible nightmare of events was finally going to end (even with such horrible methods) calmed him and his family and relatives were greatly relieved to see his old self back.
The day to visit Ponyville came and him and his family all got on the train saying farewell to their relatives, little did the others know that they would be saying goodbye for longer then they thought. Big Mac was ready, he could just feel his pent up emotions waiting to burst out, waiting to strike unsuspecting victims. The day went as expected, everypony hugged and said how much they missed each other. They all talked about their lives since their separation. It wasn’t until that night that Big Mac followed through with the plan. The events just before they separated occurred again that day: they each went to the different ponies houses to stay the night and Big Mac told everypony that he wished to be alone, they agreed said goodnight and went off.
However this night things would be different, instead of worrying about what might be, this night Big Mac would be a part of what would be, he would take control of the situation and finally solve him and his families problems. He went straight over to Sweet Apple Acres and found his old house. He easily and quietly entered. He slowly walked up the stairs to find Flim in what used to be granny Smith’s room. He was fast asleep as if nothing had happened, as if no one was staring over him with the intent to kill. Big Mac carefully took a pillow and smothered Flim with it while at the same time using his body weight to stop his movements. Flim instantly woke up and he tried his best to struggle but Big Mac was to strong and he eventually stopped breathing. Ok thought Big Mac next is Flam. He was actually kind of enjoying this, sneaking quietly and then suddenly ending the life of his victims, it all seemed so simple, so easy, as if he could do anything, for the first time in a long time he was in power, he was the one controlling his fate! He found Flam reading a book in bed. Unlike Flim, Flam instantly noticed the figure at his door, he tried to yell out loud but before he could Big Mac covered his mouth. He then grabbed his head and banged it as hard as he could against the wall. He repeated this process until Flam’s face was nothing but a bloody mess. Once he had killed them, he proceeded by taking them to the barn. There he found various farming tools. One caught his eye: a hacksaw. He sawed up the two ponies in to small enough pieces to fit into a large cardboard box. After cleaning himself up he finished with the smaller details. Writing the address, making the sure the box was well sealed and did not seem out of the ordinary. Looking at it he felt quite proud of himself. He wasn’t done yet, however he wouldn’t be able to post the parcel until the next day, he would also have to clear up any evidence he may have left behind. He hid the box in the corner of the barn and covered it with hay before heading back to Pinkie’s, which was where he decided to stay that night.
The next morning he got up extra early and snuck outside the house straight to the barn. He hurriedly took the parcel straight to the train station (as they also did deliveries) and left it in the post office there. He instantly felt a feeling that he had not felt in a long time, happiness. He felt great, he was so overjoyed he almost couldn’t hide it but he knew that he would have to remain low for now before the next part of the plan was to take place. It didn’t take long for somepony to notice that the two brothers had disappeared. And with the return of the Apple Family things also didn’t take long to fall into place. They eventually took back Sweet Apple Acres, temporarily at first as everypony expected Flim and Flam to eventually return but nothing happened. Nopony could believe it Flim and Flam had just left! But not only that they had left their cider making machine too. However with the return of the Apple Family and with no clues as to the brothers whereabouts everypony eventually didn’t think about the event. The Apple family were back and with their new machine their profits grew and on top of that Big Mac kept up his job with the wolves making sure that he killed not too many ponies and with just enough space between deaths for nopony to become too suspicious. He also made sure not to kill anypony that was friends with his relatives or that were well known. Obviously (even with these precautions) this could not go on forever but for now Big Mac put such thoughts behind his mind and continued his life as things seemed to be going great for both him and his family.
Then it happened. One night as Big Mac was doing his usual job in the barn he heard a noise. He decided to ignore it believing that it was probably nothing of importance but then right there at the edge of the barn door he saw it. Applebloom was staring at him in shock and when she realised that she had been seen she ran. Why was Applebloom down here at this time of night Big Mac didn’t know but what he did know was that he had to catch her. It wasn’t very hard, Big Mac easily caught up with Applebloom before she could even get to the house. With all that had happened Big Mac had changed far more then he had before, he no longer cared about his family, he simply cared about his own small world and how he could keep it the way he wanted it to and Applebloom was about to ruin it. When he caught her she cried and begged him to let go but he didn’t listen he simply took her back to the barn, threw her on the ground and smashed her head in with a nearby shovel. However Appleblooms cries did not go unnoticed and granny Smith yelled from her window to whatever it was that was bothering her grandchild. When things first began, Big Mac would have seen this as a threat, however now he was thankful that this was happening as in his mind he knew this would have happened sooner or later and sooner was a lot more fun! He rushed into granny Smith’s room bludgeoning her with the weight of his body and then smashing the shovel onto her head. Applejack having just heard everything ran as fast as she could out the house. She had to tell someone, anypony what was going on but Big Mac was already on her tail. He knew that she was strong and very fast but that just made it more enjoyable for him. Applejack had a plan, it wasn’t a good one but it was the best she could think of at the time, and she knew that simply running away may simply allow the problem to go on for longer. She headed straight towards a cliff and stopped right at the edge. Big Mac was no longer thinking at this point. He had gone completely insane and all he cared about was killing Applejack, his own sister, so without thinking he ran straight towards her. However at this moment Applejack leaped up while at he same time lassoing a nearby tree allowing herself to swing over and straight past Big Mac, almost as if using the lasso as a swinging vine in a forest. Big Mac couldn’t stop, he went straight over the edge and let out a horrifying scream as he fell and at the same time Applejack safely landed where her brother originally was, just a few feet (or hoofs) away from the edge. It was over, she was safe and yet everything she heard, all that she had to go through in that one night, including having to kill her own brother was too much for her.
She stared sadly over the edge, into what looked like an endless pit. Her whole family was dead and she was even partly responsible for that. The scream of her brother echoed in her thoughts. She just sat and stared, and stared, and stared for a very long time… Then, she was gone.
At the far bottom of the cliff two dead figures lay side by side and slowly but surely closing in on those figures were a group of creatures. These creatures were not ponies nor were these creatures buffaloes. Their sharp teeth shined bright in the darkness before piercing through the skin of the two dead bodies.