Altering Harmony

"Time to buck some apple trees!" Applejack shouted with joy as she approached a rather tall apple tree. Rearing up, she kicked at the tree's trunk with her strong hindlegs, forcing the apples it held to fall and drop into the buckets she had positioned beneath the tree.

On her tenth tree, she suddenly noticed that she was a lot more tired than usual. Thinking it to be nothing, she once again kicked at the tree just as a puff of purple smoke appeared and surrounded her a few times before disappearing. "Aw shucks, is this only mah tenth tree?"

Applejack began to pant heavily, feeling as if she was completely drained of every last oune of her strength. "That's odd," she mused, looking at her hooves. "Maybe Ah really should take a break, probably overworked buckin' those apples yesterday."

She managed to discover a tree that had plenty of shade and was suitable for her to rest under. Succumbing to her fatigue, she collapsed underneath the leaves that had gathered at its roots and fell into a deep sleep. By the time she awoke, Princess Celestia's sun had just rose.

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom shook her big sister, fully waking her up. "How long have ya been asleep? I haven' seen ya since yesterday night!"

"Just a few minutes, Apple Bloom. Buckin' trees all day ain't exactly an easy task, y'know," Applejack lied against her will. Huh? Ah didn' mean to say that, much less lie... what's goin' on?

"Really? Ain't look like ya've got a whole lotta trees done," Apple Bloom shrugged, tilting her head.

"Ah, don't worry 'bout it lil sister. Ah've got it covered, alright? Ah'll do the rest of the trees today," Applejack assured her. "Now go play with yer friends. Ah reckon ya've got some crusadin' to do, ain't Ah right?"

"Right, Ah'll be back soon then, Applejack!" Apple Bloom waved goodbye before taking off in the direction of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse.

"Aw shucks," Applejack sighed. "Ah definitely ain't been up all day.... if it's morning now, then that means Ah've slept for quite a while." She shook her head, bewildered. "Ah guess it's alright that I lied though, Ah'm just tryin' to set a good example for Apple Bloom so she can be as hardworkin' as Ah am! Besides, if she knew Ah've been sleepin' since yesterday... well, that wouldn' have been good."

Applejack, still feeling strangely exhausted, knew that she had to finish up more trees. "Maybe Ah'll do it later," Applejack told herself, sitting down again.

"APPLEJACK!" Pinkie's voice called out as the pink mare came into Applejack's view. "Rarity and Fluttershy... going loco coco..." Pinkie panted heavily.

"Loco coco? What'd ya mean by that?" Applejack got up, her expression one of mild alarm. "Is there somethin' goin' on that Ah don't know about?"

"You bet; everyone's acting totally crazy and not like themselves! I had to postpone this super fun birthday party because Rarity refused to make me a chicken costume, and Fluttershy had this weird angry outburst while tasting my cakes!"

"Ah feel different too, y'know," Applejack admitted, sighing. "There's definitely somethin' bad goin' on, Pinkie, and Ah tell ya... Ah don't like it one darn bit."

"I know right! Somepony must be pulling this huge prank on me so I can't spread smiles anymore in Ponyville! They're even stopping me from hosting the most awesome, super duper, cool parties!"

"No, Pinkie, Ah'm sayin' that there's some-" Applejack began, only to be cut off.

"Don't worry, AJ! I've got this great plan, you know! I just met up with Twilight a while ago and she sent invitations to our friends inviting them to a nice picnic, which is in, like, a few minutes!" Pinkie Pie gestured with a hoof at a nearby hill, excited.

"Alright then," Applejack said, following Pinkie as she led her in the direction of said hill. "Let's get to the bottom of this, shall we?"

As soon as Pinkie heard those words, she pulled out a detective hat from nowhere and put it on, grinning. "Yep, we shall!"