The apple blossoms were swirling through the air when he first laid eyes upon her. Her flanks were a hauntingly pale gray. Her mane shone silkily, black as a ravens wing, with stripes of charcoal grey swirled through it. She had the saddest mismatched eyes he had ever seen; one a deep sea blue, the other the same soft pink as the flower petals that fell from the apple trees around her. It was her eyes that did it, he realized later. In the moment his own eyes locked with hers, Big Macintosh was lost. Before he could so much as greet her...she ran, disappearing into the apple orchard. So would begin the end of all the Apple Family held dear.
It was a warm, beautiful morning. A few clouds dotted the horizon, here and there, but they didn’t get in the way of the sunshine streaming down from above. So magnificent was the day, in fact, that for once Twilight Sparkle listened to her apprentice and helper, Spike, and had gotten out for a breath of fresh air. Of course she had brought her tome on the Quantum Mechanics of High Energy Magic: With Detailed Schematics of the Higher Spheres of Power and Index of Useful Spells, Incantations, and Last Rites for dealing with those situations that might arise from an inexperienced mare attempting to master said tome. It was a bit of a light weight subject for Twilight, this hulking volume, but she thought it would be best to have a book along that wouldn’t distract her over much from the dirt road or the glory of the sunny day.
Even so, she did find herself absorbed in a particular passage about spatial translocation and its effects on the curve of space time when she suddenly realized she had just bumped into a pony standing right in her path! “Oh, pardon me!” said Twilight, inspecting her book for damage, first and foremost, before making sure herself or the stranger she had bumped into were alright. Satisfied the book was undamaged, she turned her attention to the pony she had bumped into. To her shock, it was Applejack, with the most worried look on her face that Twilight had ever seen! “Applejack? What are you doing standing in the road out here in the middle of nowhere? If I had been pulling a cart we would’ve both been in trouble!”
The orange pony with the long blonde mane smiled nervously at her friend. “Well, actually Twi, you’ve been in Sweet Apple Acres for the past fifteen minutes. Ah’d been tryin ta get yer attention but it seems that there book yer readin is mighty interestin!” Bewildered, Twilight Sparkle looked around her, and sure enough, she was surrounded by apple trees. She shouldn’t have been anywhere near her friends farm. Had she been teleporting subconsciously again? “I figured maybe if ya just sort of, bumped into me in yer own time, ya might notice me then. Seems ta have worked!” She said, laughing with her mouth but not with her eyes. Twilight’s social skills might not be as developed as some other ponies, but she could tell that something was very wrong with her friend. Putting her tome into her saddlebag, Twilight turned her full attention on her exhausted looking friend.
“Is everything alright Applejack?” asked Twilight, “I haven’t seen you look this tired since last Applebuck season.” Applejack visibly winced at the memory. She had made a bet with herself that she could harvest the entire apple crop last harvest season without the help of her brother Big Macintosh. He had been injured at the time, so Applejack felt she had no other choice than to do all the work herself. She had run herself into the ground and made several messes before Twilight had finally talked some sense into her and she had consented to having her friends help her finish the harvest. Since then, of all Twilight’s friends, Applejack had been the most stable, with the least problems. Applejack was no ‘silly pony’ to sweat the small stuff and she had a good head on her shoulders. If there was something that had her worried it was likely something worth being worried about.
“I hate to mention it Twilight, but truth be told, if I hadn’t found ya here wandering the fields I’d be on my way to your place anyways.” Said Applejack in a drawl made all the more pronounced by her obvious exhaustion. “Ya see, some mighty peculiar things have been goin' on round these parts here lately. I’ve been tryin' ta deal with it all as best I can, but there are times when a filly has just got ta admit she’s beat.” She took off her hat and hung her head at the admission. “This may sound odd to ya, ya may not believe me, but I swear it’s the honest truth. Somepony is out to get me and my family. Somethings haunting this here apple orchard. Something or somepony is out to ruin us and I can’t for the life of me begin to deal with this situation on mah own!”
Twilight was taken aback by her friends words. It was hard to imagine that anyone would want to ruin the Apple family, but she couldn’t just dismiss her friends concerns. It was clear that something had happened and she would be a terrible friend if she were to simply laugh in Applejack’s face and assure her no pony was out to get her. She had to know more. “What do you mean Applejack? Who’d want to ruin you? What makes you think that?”
Her friend looked around, eyes shifting back and forth as she put her hat back on. “It ain’t safe to talk about it here Twilight. The orchard isn’t safe anymore. I’ll tell ya more about it once we get back to the house, but for now just follow me and keep yer eyes open. Stay on the path. If’n you stray off it now, I don’t know that we’ll ever see ya again!”
He’d searched for her for weeks. He’d catch glimpses of her while he was in the fields, always just beyond the next hill. She’d slip out of eye sight only to appear a few moments later, always infuriatingly out of reach. He’d tried to ignore her and go about his chores, but whenever he’d bend his shoulder to the task at hand, there she would be, just in the shadows...watching him. Was it sadness on her face? Longing? It was hard to say. Once he could have sworn she was within only a few feet of him when he was inspecting a tree for rot or fungus, but when he turned, she had seemed to fade into nothingness. She left behind nothing but a warm spot in the grass and her scent on the wind.
It never occurred to him to tell anyone else about her. For a time he thought he was imagining her. That he spent every waking moment thinking of her, where before he had only thought of apples, seemed to re-enforce this theory. Even so, he was only a simple farm pony, not given to much deep introspection. If he had been he might have wondered when this change had come over him. As it was, he only knew that it had. When he found her sleeping peacefully in his bed, snuggled cutely under his blanket, that at least eliminated the worry that he might be losing his mind. Sadly it would only open up a new set of problems for him to deal with.
Over a couple of glasses of fresh pressed cider, Applejack shared her woes with Twilight Sparkle. Work around the farm had all but ground to a halt. She’d increasingly find that chores she had done would be undone as soon as she had finished them. Tools had been found scattered after they had been put away, barrels and jars of food had gone missing after they had taken stock only hours before, and worse, a few of the trees had been found to be damaged. Just as bizarrely, her brother Big Mac would often begin to work on his chores only to disappear for hours at a time. When he’d come back, he would be tired and listless, and nothing he set out to do appeared to be getting done. He’d grown distant and quiet of late, but other than that nothing seemed to really be wrong with him. To Applejack it seemed that he had simply forgotten to do his chores and that wasn’t like him at all. That would’ve been bad enough, but when she had broached the subject of the strange goings on around the farm to him, Big Mac had just smiled at her, shook his head and told her not to worry, that he would take care of it.
None of this seemed particularly bizarre to Twilight and when she said so a look of defiance crossed her friends face. Glaring slightly, Applejack went on to tell Twilight of a mysterious pony that had been seen moving about the farm. No one knew who she was, only that whenever she was approached she’d run off or otherwise disappear. She was a frightening apparition, colorless and gray, always staring at her from a distance. It was this pony Applejack suspected of trying to ruin the farm. Even if she wasn’t directly to blame, it was clear she couldn’t be up to anything good.
“I don’t know Applejack...what does Granny Smith think about all this?” Asked Twilight. That had apparently been the most infuriating thing. When Applejack had told Granny Smith about what had been going on with the mysterious mare and her big brother, Granny had only grinned toothlessly and laughed, telling Applejack not to worry and just try to make the best of the situation. Even Applebloom didn't seem to think any of the goings on were more than a bit out of the ordinary. The little filly had been trying her best to help her sister get the farm in order, but she still had her hooves full with school. Applejack was near losing her mind and nopony seemed to be taking this seriously! Twilight tried to calm her down then, stroking the back of her friends neck gently with one hoof and making soothing noises, but Applejack wasn’t having any of it.
“Not you too Twi! You’ve gotta help me here! You know I wouldn’t ask unless I really needed yer help.” The hurt look on her friends face made Twilight rethink her doubts. Even so, she didn’t really see what she could do to help.
“I’ll do what I can Applejack, but I don’t really know what you expect me to do.” Applejack looked down at her glass of cider, half gone already, the sticky juice had left a film around the inside of the glass.
“Well, it would be good if’n you could help me catch this trespasser I told ya about. Quick as I am, I just can’t seem to run her down.” She could see the look of doubt on her friends face, so she quickly added. “I know with your magic we’d be able to stop that pony in her tracks! Please Twi?”
Twilight Sparkle thought about it for a moment, then relented. “Of course Applejack. I’ll do whatever I can to help. I think there may just be something of a misunderstanding here, but we’ll get to the bottom of what's going on.”
She was wearing the polka dotted dress today. It’s soft blue fabric clung to her contours, leaving little to the imagination. Not that Big Mac really needed to imagine anything anymore. The sun was bright and warm, clouds drifted by the hill top as the grass undulated in waves beneath them. The picnic had been a wonderful idea. He’d have to work extra hard later to replace the food that they had eaten, but work was nothing to Big Mac. She, on the other hoof, well... she was everything.
He’d lose himself in her eyes, running his hooves through her long mane. Her kisses tasted like apples... He loved apples! But not as much as he was starting to love her. She giggled after every kiss, and a sad little smile would curl her lips as she gazed into his eyes. He wished fervently that this day could last forever. Yet in the distance he could hear his little sister calling his name, and he knew it was not meant to be. Applejack was already close enough that he could see she had her friend with her, Twilight Sparkle. His lover immediately got to her feet and seemed about to bolt, as she had every time before when someone other than Big Mac drew near her, when she suddenly hesitated. It was odd, but all Big Mac could think was that now, at last, he’d have the chance to introduce her to his family. Instead, she made a noise somewhere between a hiss and a growl.
When Big Mac looked at her, her face had contorted into a vision of rage and despair. He‘d never seen her look like that before. By now his sister and her friend were halfway up the hill. He heard his sister shout, “There she is! Get her Twi!” and as they bolted up their side of the hill, his love quickly ran down the other. Big Mac had absolutely no idea what was going on. In a flash, She was suddenly deep in the orchard, further than any pony should be able to run even with the added momentum of going down hill. In another flash, Twilight Sparkle was right behind her, magical energy leaving a trail of light from her horn. His sister was galloping full tilt down the hill after them now, but it was clear she’d have no chance of keeping up with the other two pony’s who were already lost in the distance.
Big Macintosh pawed the earth beneath his feet, perplexed. He set about the business of tiding up after the picnic that had been so suddenly, and strangely, cut short.
The smell of magic was palpable in the air, like hot tin and ozone. Whoever this pony was, she was using several powerful spells at once. Twilight could detect a spell similar to her own teleportation magic, but there were also over tones of lesser magics designed to make a pony quieter and less noticeable. These spells could work amazingly well on an average earth pony or pegasus, and even on most unicorns. For Celestia’s favorite student, however, these magics were like a beacon leaving an almost visible trail for her to follow. She blinked in and out of existence as she went along the path that glowed to her refined senses, gaining quickly on the other pony who was likely hoping to lose her in this over grown section of the orchard.
Twilight Sparkle had never seen this part of the farm before. If she had time to stop and make more detailed observations, she might have noticed that all of the trees here were much older than the rest of the orchard, their twisted limbs blocking out the sun and making an unnatural dusk beneath their leaves. She might have noticed other signs of abandonment aside from the tangled undergrowth between the trees as well, but as it was, she almost ran right past the dilapidated farm house before she realized that the trail of magic had gone cold. The tumble down edifice was the only hiding place for miles around, so moving cautiously and using her own magic to try and mask her presence, she entered the old building. Doing her best to mask the sound of the old creaking floorboards under hoof, she made a quick search of the house, looking for the mystery mare that Applejack seemed sure was trying to cause the Apple Family grief.
Here and there, as she went further inside, were signs of recent habitation. There was a wrinkled blanket, some fresh apples in a bowl on an otherwise dusty table, and even a few books scattered about the place, their spines bent and pages dog eared enough to make Twilight internally wince. It was as she was looking over these books, mostly pulpy romance novels, that the pony she had been chasing down suddenly materialized in a flash of purple light in front of her.
“STAY AWAY FROM MY BOOKS!” The mare’s otherwise pretty face was a mask of rage, her very presence seemed to thrust Twilight back on her heels. “GET OUT!” bellowed the pony, her polka dot dress in tatters from running through the woods and tears streaming from her eyes.
“I’m...I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to do anything to your books.” Twilight paused as she re-assessed the situation. “If they even are your books...this house certainly isn’t yours. If it belongs to anyone it belongs to the Apple Family. You’re trespassing on their property and I’m sure they’d like to know why!” Twilight moved to block the only exit from the room so the other pony couldn’t run again, though that would do little to stop her if she could teleport as twilight suspected. It didn’t seem like running was what was on her mind, however.
“This house was given to me. Big Macintosh knows I’m out here. He wanted me to stay close to him and have a warm place to sleep. You don’t have any business being here Twilight Sparkle, so you just leave me alone and go home!”
“How do you know my name?” That was when Twilight noticed, despite all this magic this pony had been doing, she was not a unicorn. It was unheard of for an earth pony to be able to use this level of magic, even after years of study! Just who was she? She watched as the bedraggled pony narrowed her eyes.
“You don’t recognize me, do you?” She laughed, a short, sharp bark of a sound, before continuing, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I don’t think you ever really loved me. You kept me locked away for years, only to drag me out into the light of day long enough to suit your own ends and throw me to a howling mob!” Her mismatched eyes glowing slightly with barely suppressed power, she began to stalk towards Twilight Sparkle, forcing the other pony to slowly back away with the sheer force of her anger. “You’re lucky I’m giving you the chance to leave here at all. But since it was partially your doing that I met Macintosh that day, I’m willing to let you leave just this once, in gratitude for having allowed me to inadvertently meet him. Good-bye Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight didn’t understand what the other pony was talking about. She would never, in her wildest dreams, treat another pony as shamefully as this mare had just accused her of doing. Not only were the accusations laughable, they just didn’t make any sense at all. But the way she spoke each word, dripping with venom, it was clear that this pony fervently believed Twilight had somehow wronged her. Rifling through her memories, Twilight's eyes suddenly went wide. Her coloration, the mismatched eyes, the dress and her mane...she really liked her mane. “Smarty Pants...?”
At the mention of the name, magic suddenly swelled from the pony’s eyes, washing Twilight Sparkle in a shower of indigo light. “I SAID GOOD-BYE!”
The world rushed away from Twilight Sparkle, and suddenly she was back at Sweet Apple Acres, with her mind spinning out of control. Fortunately Applejack was there to catch her as her friend fainted.
It took some time for Twilight to come back around. Applejack watched over her the entire time, not caring about the backlog of choirs that were just piling up or the escape of the mysterious pony, only concerned for her friends well being. When the unicorn finally did come around it was already well passed sundown. The first words out of Twilight’s mouth seemed to be nothing more than fanciful nonsense. It was a strange tale about some toy from her childhood coming to life. Applejack only vaguely remembered the doll Twilight spoke of from a few months back. Her friend had, to put it bluntly, had something of a breakdown when she had realized she hadn’t written the Princess her weekly letter about friendship. None of her friends had really taken the matter all that seriously, except maybe for Spike. That baby dragon must have seen trouble coming from a mile away, because when Twilight came unhinged, she did so in a big way. She had half the town in love with, and fighting over, a little rag doll. The idea had apparently been to force some sort of schism between friends that Twilight could then fix and write Princess Celestia about before the day had ended. Needless to say, things hadn’t gone to plan.
As the somewhat delirious pony got to her hooves, Applejack was a little worried something like that might be happening again, even though Celestia had made it a rule that they need only send her a letter about friendship when, and indeed if, such lessons were learned. Twilight’s story was just too wild. “Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but I think you need to lay back down. I can tell you must’ve used up a lot of yer strength zapping yerself back here. Maybe things got a little jumbled up in yer mind when ya did.” Twilight looked more bewildered than hurt, but grabbed Applejack and pulled her close so she could see the sanity in her eyes.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you! I didn’t ‘zap myself’ back here! Smarty Pants did! I don’t know why or even how, but somehow that doll from my fillyhood has become a real pony! Not just that, but if my senses weren’t lying to me, she’s at least as versed in magic as I am! Do you know any pony, aside from myself and the Princess’s, that could even begin to translocate another pony successfully!?” Twilight was panting with frustration and more than a little bit of fear.
“Well...if you mean do I know any other pony’s that can zap themselves and others around, no not really darlin. But that’s all the more reason that it makes sense you zapped yerself back here. I mean you said that pony you tracked down was an earth pony, right? We may be good at a lot of things you unicorns aren’t, but Ah’ve never known an earth pony to be better than a unicorn at magic.” Applejack smiled a little worriedly, hoping her friend would see reason. Twilight just threw back her head and made a grunt of frustration before letting Applejack go.
“Right...I guess it would be easier for you to believe in ghosts instead of magic phenomena!” At the hurt look on her friends face Twilight Sparkle sighed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound that way. You’re smart Applejack, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years of study in magic, it’s this. Sometimes, when you strip away all the outlandish possibilities in a given situation whatever your left with, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. I don’t know that there might be somepony else behind all this, but for now the one thing I know for sure is that there is a pony, who looks very much like my Smarty Pants doll and who has very similar powers to mine, sitting in an abandoned shack on your farm!” Twilight thought about what had happened to her and went back over all she’d seen and heard. “And even with the power she has, I don’t think she set herself up in that shack. She said something about Big Mac wanting her close by...and she spoke as if he was the reason why she was here in the first place. Where’s your brother now?”
The farm pony thought for a moment, “Well, I gave him a right stern talkin’ to after we saw him dallying with that filly ya chased. I can’t be sure, but I think he might’ve been havin' a picnic with her when he shoulda been weedin' the fields. I reckon since the sun has gone down, he’s probably already up in his room. Back when he was a bit more reliable, he’d go to bed with the sun and rise with it when it came back up. If’n this pony really is what’s been distractin' him from his choirs, then he’s likely already asleep.” Twilight Sparkle picked up a candlestick with her magic, the wick instantly igniting with flames. “Ah’m guessin' you’re wantin' to disturb him anyway? Well alrighty, but you can go in first. Last time I tried to wake that fella up I got a right bucking for my trouble before he was fully awake, dang near dislocated my shoulder!” Applejack led the way upstairs, moving quietly as Granny Smith and Applebloom had already gone to bed as well.
Fortunately for Twilight Sparkle, Big Mac had not fallen asleep yet. The huge red stallion was laying quietly in bed, staring out an open window at the stars. The peaceful scene gave the unicorn pause. Part of her didn’t want to disturb the farm pony, but she knew that he was their best lead for getting answers. “Come on in. Ah 'magine I know what you girls are here about. Figured ya would’ve asked me sooner, but ah can’t say that I minded waitin.” Big Mac rose from his bed, his body almost black in the star light, save for the mark on his flank that glowed a pale green. The candle flame flickered in his eyes.
“Big brother...who was the filly ya was talkin' with today?” Asked Applejack.
“I reckon Twilight there could tell ya better than I could. Her name is Smarty...least ways that’s what she’s asked me to call her. We met a few weeks back, but I figured we’d met before that. Ah’m pretty sure she’s that rag doll of Twilight’s everypony was goin' crazy for a few months back.” Big Mac smiled at the look on his sisters face. “Sorry I didn’t tell ya about her before...but ya know with one thing and another...Ah was kinda hoping to keep her to myself.”
Twilight eyed Big Mac in the candlelight. He looked a little uneasy, sure, but not scared or angry. If anything he looked a little defiant and...bashful? “You knew...maybe not from the start, but you figured it out quickly enough that you’ve known for awhile now. You love her...don’t you?” Big Mac looked down at his hooves, before looking up, eyes burning with pride as he shook his head yes.
“This is just plain NUTS! There’s no way that Ah’m gonna stand here and believe that mah big brother’s fallen for a walkin, talkin' doll! There’s no way Ah’m gonna buy that the only reason Ah’ve been havin' so much trouble around the farm is because of a love sick dunderhead and a patchwork pony!” Applejack was livid as she stomped out of the room and out the front door, which slammed noisily behind her. Big Mac watched her go and didn’t move a muscle to stop her.
“She’ll be fine...she’s always been kind of protective of me when it came to matters of the heart. Can ya picture that? Yer little sister bein' protective of ya?” The farm pony snorted humorously, but there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes. “Ah love her to pieces, ya know? Ah really didn’t mean for this to cause her so much trouble but...can I tell ya somethin?” Twilight just nodded. “I know what was goin' on that day wasn’t real. Everypony fallin' head over hooves in love with a rag doll? I know it was a magic spell ya worked on the doll to make her irresistible...but when the fog cleared from everypony’s eyes...well, I reckon I felt sorry for that little doll." Big Mac turned away from Twilight, gazing back out his window at the stars. The moon was rising now, pale and ghostly. "It had been well loved once. You could see that in the frayed stitchin' and the material worn soft from handlin. But you could also tell at a glance that the poor thing hadn't been looked after in an awful long time. Even without magic, Ah liked that rag doll and I...I kept it cause Ah didn’t think it was right just leavin' it there in the dust. When it went missing I was dang near beside myself, thinking I’d lost it. Then she showed up.” Big Mac turned big, soulful eyes on Twilight Sparkle, “If’n she really is just a doll...my Smarty...that doesn’t stop me caring about her.”
For a long time the unicorn didn’t say anything. “I can’t speak for your sister Big Macintosh, but I respect your feelings. I can see you do really care about Smarty...who or whatever she is. But I need you to understand that it would take a massive amount of magic to animate an object like my Smarty Pants doll. That she’s not just animate, but anthropomorphous, speaks of volumes of power that go beyond almost all I’ve encountered. Whomever is behind this can’t have used that kind of power without a reason. You need to keep an eye on Smarty. Be it out of love or pity, I know you care for her...but that doesn’t mean that whatever you think she may feel for you isn’t an illusion. There’s more going on here than a little miss-spent magic and I do plan on finding out what’s what.”
Big Mac hung his head. “I wouldn’t expect any less of ya Twi. If’n ya see mah sister before Ah do...tell her Ah’m sorry for all this mess. When ya do find out what’s behind Smarty comin' alive...let me know, alright?”
Twilight smiled and kissed Big Mac lightly on the cheek to show she wasn’t angry with him herself. “Of course.”
Twilight didn’t have to look far for Applejack. The farm filly was fuming just outside on the porch. “Ah don’t want to hear it Twilight. Ah don’t want to hear what that lunkhead had to say and I don’t want ta hear anymore of yer wild theories. There’s a squatter on mah land and I aim to see her off myself tonight!” As she spoke, she was throwing on a saddlebag equipped with an old oil lantern and gearing up with farm tools as if she were going to war. Her earlier exhaustion seemed to have melted away in the heat of her anger. “No matter what’s goin' on, I just know things will get back ta normal round here once that filly’s been run off!”
Watching her friend expend her pent up frustration tightening the rope that bound her farm tools to her and stomp off the porch, Twilight let her friend move a few yards away before calling, “You’re going the wrong way!” Applejack whirled around, spilling some of the oil from her lamp and a few tools from her pack.
“Well then, which way is it!?”
The purple unicorn just sighed. “Applejack...I’m not sure I could tell you. The amount of magic I had to expend just keeping up with her was enough to disorient me, let alone the fact that we were surrounded by trees. For all I know, you could be going in the right direction, but you’re not going to do anything wondering around in the dark with a pack full of tools. Not only would she hear and see you coming, she has power enough she could make it so you’d never find her, even if she didn’t. I think that's why you've had such a hard time tracking her down. She could be standing right behind you, and with the right combination of spells, you'd never know! ”
The anger drained out of Applejack’s face. “Well whut am I supposed ta do then!? She comes in here...ruins mah life, steals mah land, steals mah apples...steals mah brother!” At this, the tough earth pony burst into tears. Part of her must have suspected something like this might have been going on. She wasn’t a foal, she knew good and well what might have been distracting her big brother from his work. That was part of why she’d let things go on so long, but she just couldn’t handle it anymore. For weeks she'd been trying to run the farm mostly by herself, finding her work ruined and slowly watching everything crumble around her. A reservoir of un-shed tears opened up as her friend hugged her and held her close. “I just...” she said between sobs, “I just...don’t know...whut ta do Twilight. Everythin' used ta...used ta be so harmonious on this here farm. Now it’s all...all ruined...we haven’t sold anything in weeks...and we won't have anythin' to sell at this rate...”
“Shhh...it’ll be okay.” Twilight held Applejack close, even though it meant her mane was already becoming soaked with salty tears. A thought occurred to her as she tried to calm her friend. It was like a light had been switched on in her head and a sudden resolve filled her eyes. “Don’t worry Applejack. We’re going to take care of this. I think I might have an idea who could be behind all this...but it may take some time for me to make certain. I’ll talk to Big Mac and make sure he helps you get the farm back on track until we get this Smarty situation sorted out.” The farm pony glared angrily through her tears, “No, don't be so angry. He really is sorry...and besides...no pony can help who they care about. Just do what you can to fix the farm...I’ll deal with the magic that’s set this all in motion.” Smoothing down Applejack’s tangled mane, and wringing the tears out of her own, Twilight turned to head back into the farmhouse.
“So then who is it? Who do ya think would do this to us...ta me...ta him?” Silhouetted against the light streaming from the farm house, Twilight Sparkle’s eyes seemed to glow for a moment as she turned to her friend.
“Discord. Who else?”
The halls of Canterlot palace were brightly lit, as always, illumination spilling forth from the various arrow slits and turrets. Despite the late hour, the grounds around the castle were almost as bright as day as Celestia, Luna, and Twilight followed the path through the palace gardens. The Princess had agreed to meet with Twilight Sparkle as soon as she had received her letter from Spike. If what Twilight suspected were true, all Equestria could once again be in peril. For much the same reason, the Princess Luna had insisted that she come with her sister and her favorite student. If Discord were loose again, Celestia and Luna’s combined power might be just enough to allow Twilight and her friends time to gather the Elements of Harmony to seal away the Lord of Chaos once more.
However, as the three powerful pony’s drew closer to their destination, it was not dread that filled them, rather it was confusion. “I do not profess to be an expert on the subject, exalted sister, but it seems to us that the fel beast is still very much inert.” This was from Luna. She still slipped into royal Canterlot speech that had ceased to be common place some hundred years ago, though her control of volume was much improved of late. Despite her archaic mode of expression, her summation was still entirely correct. Frozen in a pose of surprise and indignation, Discord, master of infinite chaos and strife, was as cold and stony as he had been for thousands of years.
“But that doesn’t make sense. As Twilight has pointed out, there has not been a pony magician powerful enough to render the inanimate anthropomorphous since Starswirl the Bearded! If her doll truly has come to life, as she suspects, the only being capable of such a spell, other than myself and you sister, is this being!” The Princess of the sun looked over the statue, analyzing it carefully with not just her eyes, but her own considerable magic. Yet nothing seemed to be amiss. Even Twilight could tell that the presence that was Discord still resided deep within the statue, subdued and bound tightly by the Magic of Friendship.
Twilight just hung her head. “I’m sorry Princess, I thought for sure that this problem was a product of Discord. It’s clear I was wrong.” She lay one hoof against the statue and felt a slight tingle of magic, but no more than that. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”
“Nonsense Twilight,” spoke Princess Luna. “It is good of you to be so vigilant. Though Discord appears not to have been the cause of your friends woe, he most easily could have been the culprit were he not so expertly bound by your powerful friendship. Were he to break free again...without our knowledge..” Even Luna shuddered slightly at the thought.
“Quite right sister.” added Celestia. “Come Twilight...we’ll discuss what other cause there may be for this phenomena in our study over some hot tea.” As the Princesses turned to depart Twilight moved to follow, but paused in mid canter as she heard a strange noise just on the edge of her hearing. A sonorous laugh, rich and deep, vibrated her very bones. The Princess’s didn’t seem to notice, both were already well down the path back to the Palace. Twilight Sparkle turned back to the statue. The eyes that had previously been frozen seemed to be looking straight at her, spirals spinning in empty sockets.
“Oh, don’t mind me Twilight. Run along with the Princess’s and have your little tea party.” The statue’s mouth was frozen just as before, but the words vibrated inside Twilight’s skull all the same.
“So it IS you. I was right!” Twilight spoke in hushed tones, equal parts fear and triumph. Her eyes locked with the malevolent orbs staring her down.
“Not at all Twilight. Or rather you’re only half right. But then I suppose that’s to be expected.” The voice of Discord paused, as if pondering something before he continued. Then he sighed heavily. “Oh, I was expecting you to say ‘You’ll never get away with it’ there. Too intimidated for the usual cliche’s my little pony?”
Twilight shook her head. “No...I was just waiting for you to tell me your plot in a dramatic monologue before saying that.”
“But that’s so predictable! You pony’s really don’t understand the gifts I’m offering you. Freedom from this mundane existence of cause and effect! Just for fun, why don’t we try having the cause before the effect for a change?” Discord’s eyes blazed two different colors as a spark of magic erupted in the world.
“You’ll never get away with this Discord!” Shouted Twilight, steeling herself for whatever magic the statue was about to unleash, sure in the knowledge that it would alert the Princess’s to this monsters awakening. Yet as soon as the words left her mouth, the magic ceased to exist. It was extinguished in such a manner as if it had never existed.
“Is something wrong Twilight?” Princess Celestia called from down the garden path. The statue was exactly as it had been before. Not a single second had passed from the moment Twilight had heard Discord’s laughter in her head to the present. The unicorn shook her head as if trying to clear away cobwebs.
“No, everything is fine. I just.. I thought I heard something, that’s all.” She trotted after her teacher. A pair of mismatched eyes watched her go.
“We have to leave now!” Her words were fervent, passionate in his ear. She was so close to him that he could feel the heat radiating from every inch of her body. She was warmer than the golden sun and her eyes shone brighter than the morning dew on the grass. Smarty...why did it have to be this way? She nudged him out of the barn, coming out after him and trying to lead him down the road away from the farm. Big Mac hesitated.
“Smarty...ah know what yer thinkin’, but ya haf ta listen ta me. This is mah family were talkin’ about here. Even if they can’t accept ya, I can’t rightly abandon them. They need me.” The farm pony stood his ground, his chin more firmly set than his resolve.
“More than I need you?” Her words cut straight to his heart. She could see it in his face. “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t think it was the only way Macintosh. I know how much your family mean to you, but they will never let us be together. If we don’t leave now, before your sisters friend comes back, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She tried to trot further down the road, but Big Mac still would not budge.
“What’s so dangerous about Twilight Sparkle, Smarty? Why are ya so afraid of that filly?” Smarty whirled on the red stallion, eyes burning with power.
“I am NOT afraid of her. If she comes anywhere near me again, I will prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt!” Seeing the sudden fear in her lovers eyes, Smarty seemed to bank the fires of her rage. “But it is true that she’s the only pony that can...can make me leave. She will too. Whenever she was...done with me...she would always make sure to lock me away. She thought she was keeping me safe, but in truth she was only keeping me alone in the dark...for so long.” She was shivering now, as though the memory itself were enough to chill her to the bone. Before he realized what he was doing, Big Mac had wrapped his arms around her, cradling her to his chest as he had done when she was still just a rag doll. She burrowed into his chest, a dampness that, could only be tears, soaking into the soft fur on his broad chest.
“That’s quite the sob story ya’ve got there sister. But I ain’t buyin’ it.” Neither Big Mac nor Smarty had noticed Applejack in the shadow of the trees. The bags under her eyes were a testament to how long she had been waiting there. A quite rage radiated from her in waves. “Ya really took my brother in, didn’t ya? The poor little doll, all alone, no one to love her and no one who cares. Tell me somethin’ rag doll.. When exactly did ya have a chance to make all these wonderful memories with the fluff that was crammed in yer noggin? Is he suppose’d to believe ya had memories and feelin’s before ya even had a pulse?”
Smarty suddenly pulled away, the look on her face one of unmitigated shock. Her mismatched eyes were wide as she stared at Applejack. “What... What are you talking about?”
“I’m sayin’ your sellin’ my brother a load of horseapples! Those memories of yore’s are about as real as Granny Smith’s wooden teeth!” Applejack growled as she moved out of the shadows, stalking slowly towards Smarty and Big Mac. “Yer just a parasite, feedin’ on my brothers love! Taking advantage of his soft heart and good nature. Well let me tell ya somethin’ missy, that ain’t gonna fly with me! You don’t steal from the Apple Family... Not food, not land and definitely not love!” Applejack charged suddenly, knocking Smarty into the dirt before either she or Big Mac could so much as blink. Smarty looked up at the golden haired earth pony that stood before her. Her eyes began to glow a deep crimson.
The night melted away. Twilight must have slept at some point, but she couldn’t remember when. She also didn’t remember how she had found herself back in Applejack’s orchard. Slowly the gap between her memories closed. She remembered having tea with the Princess’s and deciding that the pony bedeviling the Apple Family must have had a unicorn friend nearby to help her seem to perform magic. Why she would make the claim to be a rag doll wasn’t anything any of them could seem to explain, but they had decided the existence of a secret unicorn helper would be the most likely explanation for an Earth Pony claiming, and appearing, to know magic.
She was on her way to tell Applejack just that when her mind had started to wander. She happily trotted through the morning breeze, the fragrant smell of the apple trees dancing on the wind. That’s when she heard it again...or was this the first time? A deep chuckle was also carried on the wind. Twilight Sparkle froze, listening intently with all her senses. There...in the darkness just below the trees, she could feel a presence she knew all too well. “Discord. So it IS you. I was right.”
“Not at all Twilight. Or rather you’re only half right. But then I suppose that’s to be expected.” The words seemed to vibrate in Twilight’s very bones.
“You’ll never get away with this!”
“Hmm? Get away with what?” The voice sounded truly puzzled.
“You know...making Big Mac fall in love with a doll. Ruining life on the Apple Farm and sowing the seeds of chaos in Ponyville so that you can break free to terrorize all of Equestria once more!”
There was a pause. “Oh my, Twilight, that’s a splendid idea! Why it makes me wish I’d thought of it myself! Sadly no. No, it would be wrong of me to take credit for your work. I can see why Celestia likes you so much...you truly are a gifted thinker!”
Twilight’s brow wrinkled as she tried to keep up with the conversation. “You mean...you’re not responsible for Smarty?”
“Not at all Twilight. Though as I said, you’re half right.” The voice of Discord thrummed in her head. “You see, it takes two to tango Twilight. Oh, a little of my chaos might still be loose in the world, enough to give a doll the shape and form of a living, breathing pony. But it was your magic that put all of this into motion, your feelings.” She could feel Discord’s presence weighing down on her. She could almost feel his claws digging into her shoulders as the voice went on. “What were you feeling when you made every pony in Ponyville fall in love with that doll? Abandoned by your friends? Fear of your teachers disapproval? Shame? Paranoia?” Twilight cringed. Truth be told, she didn’t clearly remember that day...her mind had been elsewhere. “Oh my dear Twilight Sparkle. Nothing is quite as chaotic as a young filly’s heart. You can blame me for creating Smarty if you want, but if I am the father, then you are her mother. But I think, perhaps, you already knew that.”
Twilight shook from head to hoof as if she were trying to shake off the clinging shadow. “Fine. I accept I might have been partially responsible, okay!? But if you’re not the one pulling Smarty’s strings, then who is?” Silence was all that answered Twilight Sparkle. She looked around, birds were chirping, the breeze felt wonderful through her mane. It was a beautiful morning. She had the oddest feeling she'd just been talking to somepony, but who could she possibly be talking to way out here? As she tried to sort her thoughts a pillar of light pierced the heavens on the horizon, and she could feel the wave of destructive magic washing over her from where she stood, almost a mile away. She was gone in a flash.
“Who are you to question my memories? Who are you to call me a liar!? You don’t even know me!!!” A magical wind whipped from the fallen grey pony. A palpable aura of power surged from Smarty Pants as magic crackled, vaporizing each mote of dust that caked her flanks in an instant.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I completely forgot ta introduce mahself to the thievin’ little hussy snuggling up ta my brother! Names Applejack! Oh, and if’n yer plannin' on livin’ up to yer name, Smarty, I think ya best run off like ya’ve been doin’ for the last few weeks. But ya aint’...” Applejack leaned down close, so she was eye to eye with the magical pony, “Takin’...Mah...BROTHER!” Power blazed in Smarty’s eyes as an invisible wave of force tore out from her and sent Applejack flying back under the trees, where she just barely managed to land on her hooves.
Smarty slowly stood, shaking, but this time it was not from her memories, be they real or fake, but from another emotion she had only recently discovered. “I’m not running. I was going to, but you know what? I think I’m going to stay right here. You on the other hoof? You can go Applejack. Right now.” All the magic drained from her then, all the power, but only part of the rage. “I know how much you must love him, but no matter how much your brother means to you...he means so much more to me. Please, just leave us alone.”
“No chance, no how little filly! You started this, but Ah aim to finish it. You’re call, you can leave here whole or in pieces, it don’t make a lick of difference ta me!” Applejack charged again, faster than Big Mac had ever seen her move, faster than his eyes could easily follow. But this time when she slammed into Smarty, it was like she hit a brick wall. Smarty’s eyes shone brighter than the sun.
“No.” The pillar of light that engulfed Applejack was blinding. The farm pony was only a shadow in the column of burning energy. A loud cry of “NO!” was the only sound other than the sizzle as the very air was burned away, but if it came from Applejack, Big Mac, or somepony else, it was hard to say. In the very next instance a peel of thunder shook the world loud enough to send all the birds clawing desperately for the sky for miles around. When the spots finally cleared from Big Mac’s eyes, the place where his sister had been standing was nothing but a smouldering circle and a blackened hat. Tears filled his eyes. But then, not but a few yards away laying on her side, he spotted her.
Twilight Sparkle crouched protectively over Applejack, a gentle light emanating from her horn as she stared at the pony who claimed to have once been her rag doll. Applejack was frazzled somewhat, the product of being sent flying through the air so fast that air friction had singed her fur. Without thinking, Macintosh ran to his sisters side and called her name, asking her if she were okay. Applejack coughed, her eyelids fluttered, opening slightly. Her hair was completely dry, crisp to the touch, but Twilight’s intervention had stopped her from being sent flying to Cloudsdale. The wallop of magic had still knocked the breath, and a lot of the fight, out of her.
“How dare you.” Twilight Sparkles voice was low, but dripping with venom. “These are my friends. How dare you come into their lives...and treat them like...like...”
“Like dolls?” Asked Smarty Pants. “Oh I don’t know Twilight, maybe it’s because that’s how I’ve always been treated? Maybe because you were a lousy owner? And a worse mother.” Smarty Pant’s grinned, her mouth pulling back into such a grimace of madness as to make even Twilight blink in confusion. “Give me a break. Are you really going to get so upset because I decided to throw away one of your little toys? Like she really matters to you. Like you really care about any of them. The truth is, Twilight Sparkle, you’ll treat them all exactly how you treated me. When you get tired of them, you’ll just put them away and pretend they never existed. You’ll only bring out your friends when it suites your own ends.”
“That’s not true!” Twilight Sparkle made sure to put herself between her friends and the child of magic. “Applejack is my friend! You... you are just a monster who should have never been born!”
“That hurts mom, it really does. Except your anger is about as believable as your concern for your friend there. She’s just a book who’s spines been a little cracked. If she’d been completely broken, would you still be calling me a monster? Would you even care?” Just like that, waves of magic surged from both pony’s. Whatever the spells had originally been meant to be dissolved into a ball of chaos halfway between them. Life bloomed and died, faster than the mind could comprehend, the spells evaporating each other until not even air was left. A peel of thunder echoed once more across the orchard as the air rushed to fill the resultant vacuum.
“You’re just a puppet, nothing more.”
“Hah! Pot, meet kettle!”
Big Mac could barely follow what was going on. He had never seen Smarty like this. She was a completely different pony. There was so much anger, and so much hopelessness, in her face. It was like she was goading Twilight into fighting her. He still couldn’t believe that the sweet, innocent little filly had been able to send his sister flying like that. As the two magical pony’s fought, he made sure Applejack was comfortable. He could feel her muscles strain under her skin as she tried to get back on her hooves, but with a gentle nudge he held her down.
“No gettin’ up little sis. Ya’ve done enough. Let me an’ Twilight handle this.” He turned to head towards the battle, to see if there was anything he could do to calm the warring ponies. His sisters hoof caught him though, and he turned back to her. Still smoking slightly from air friction, her mane had come unbound from it’s band and splayed out on the ground around her head.
“Big Mac.. Ah want ya to know.. I love you.” The red stallion ruffled his sisters mane like he had when she was a little filly.
“Ah know that, silly.” Applejack shook off his hoof and got up quick as a flash.
“No, you don’t.” Suddenly her mouth was against his. She kissed him with a passion he’d never expected. Even Smarty had never kissed him like this. He blinked and pulled away from his sister, hoping no one else had seen. “ I love you Macintosh. Ah always have.” About that time Twilight Sparkle was sent flying overhead to land in a sprawl next to the Apple siblings. It was doubtful she had seen Big Mac and Applejack kiss, but Smarty certainly had.
“So that’s how it is!? For all your talk about stealing...hah....it’s because you know he’ll never love you the way he loves me!” The somewhat demented pony had undergone a transformation in the last few moments. As she had expended magic on fighting Twilight, badly sown seems had begun to appear all over Smarty’s body. Stuffing showed, spilling out of her body here and there. Where her eyes had been there were now only two buttons, one drooping ever so slightly held on by a tattered thread, yet they still managed to show a spark of life and anger that buttons simply should not possess. “How does it feel to be jealous of a doll!?”
Applejack looked on what was left of Smarty with pity. “It feels bad. It feels.. Horrible. It must be how you’ve felt ever since ya laid eyes on him. Knowin’ ya can’t ever have him, no matter how much ya want him. The truth hurts.” She looked at her brother lovingly, yet all she saw in his eyes was doubt, and maybe a little bit of disgust. She looked back at her rival. “Smarty, yer comin’ apart at the seams!” It was true. The illusion was gone. The magic that had been able to fool not just the ponies senses, but the senses of the universe at large was unraveling quickly.
“I don’t care... It’s enough... Enough for me.” She struggled on, as the magic leaked from her uncontrollably “That you won’t have him, that he’ll always love me, even when I’m gone. He will always love me, always remember me... and NEVER YOU!” The words choked forth in a mixture of futile rage and triumphant sorrow. As she spoke, the stitching around her mouth broke apart and a ball of destructive magic surged towards Applejack. Just before it would have engulfed her, Big Mac stood in the way. The dancing greenish flames surrounded him and sent him falling to the ground at his sisters feet.
“No!” cried Smarty and Applejack in unison. Both went to Big Mac’s side...the smoke billowed from the ragged hole in his chest as blood slowly seeped into the dust beneath him, turning the earth into a rich, ruddy mud. Applejack and Smarty both wrapped their arms around him, but it was no good, he was fading fast.
“I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to! I’d never hurt him! I wasn’t even trying to hurt you the power just... Slipped out!”
“He’s losin’ a lot of blood.” Applejack tried to staunch the flow with her hoof, but the crimson flow just kept dribbling down his chest.
“We have to get him a doctor, fast!”
“There’s no time, get Twilight, she’ll know what ta do!” Both ponies looked around frantically, but Twilight Sparkle was still sprawled where she had fallen, dazed. There would be no help from the unicorn for another few minutes yet. Smarty locked eyes with Applejack. Where there had been anger and resentment between the two before, now there was nothing but fear and a growing sadness.
“Promise me you’ll let him fall in love with someone else.”
“What...?”
“I said promise me! You can't keep him for yourself...stop trying!” Smarty was little more than a pony sized ragged doll now. Almost all her stitching had come loose and the magic around her was slowly fading. Applejack looked into her lustrous button eyes and saw something there she hadn’t expected. It was a look that would haunt her dreams.
“Ah promise.” With that Smarty wrapped her body around Big Mac like a blanket as the last of her stitching came apart. There was a flash, a moment lost in time, when it looked like what was left of her mouth was pressed against his. Then it was over as swiftly as it had begun. Macintosh coughed loudly, but the flow of blood had stopped. A little grey patch of material very warm, and much like flesh to the touch, covered the hole over his heart. He opened his eyes just long enough to smile dreamily at his sister before falling into a deep sleep.
A few days had passed since then. Twilight Sparkle was back at Sweet Apple Acres. Though it was clear there was still a lot of work to do, you could see signs that the Apple Family were making progress towards some sense of order. It was a amazing considering Big Mac was still laid up, but Applejack had friends like Twilight and Rainbow Dash to help her until he was back on his hooves. Even now, Twilight could see the energetic young flier out in the fields, zipping about the orchard doing chores as fast as the pony could clear clouds from a gloomy sky. She’d be done with her work in ten seconds flat!
Twilight found Applejack taking a breather in the shade of her porch. “Hey Applejack! How’s Big Macintosh doing today?” After everything that happened, Big Mac had still been pretty badly injured. Smarty’s sacrifice and Twilight’s magic could only help the stallion so much. When the pony paramedics had at last arrived they managed to get him stable. Fortunately, the worst of it had been blood loss, but there had been other problems as well.
“Oh, better than he was. He still doesn’t remember much from the past few weeks... Though there are some things he does remember that I wish he didn’t.” Applejack blushed furiously. “Ah’m afraid things are gonna be a bit awkward between him and me.”
Twilight blushed in sympathy with her friend. She hadn’t actually seen the kiss that the siblings had apparently shared, but Applejack had confided in her after she had regained her senses. “Are...are you two? Um...”
“No Twilight. We’re not and we probably never will be. Smarty was right about one thing at least... I was comin’ from a place of jealousy when it came to her and my brother. He loves me ah course, like any brother loves his sister. An’ that's enough for me. It has tah be.” Applejack eyes misted up a bit, but she didn’t cry. Applejack was too tough a pony for that. “But enough about that. Have ya been able to find out anything else about what might have caused all this?”
“Well, after having analyzed the fabric bandage,” Twilight began, “it certainly is the same type and age the material should be if it came from my Smarty Pants doll. As to the magical composition, I’m sorry to say that I was only able to detect fragments of old and new spells that were cast by me. It would seem the mixture of spells is what gave rise to the being known as Smarty. She was the daughter of my magic.” Twilight paused. “You can blame me for all this trouble if you want Applejack. The truth is it’s all my fault, every last bit of it.”
“Nonsense Twi. Ya didn’t have any more control over the situation than Ah did, and ya sure helped a lot more than Ah could have. Ah heard a lot of what Smarty was sayin’ about you, and how ya treat yer friends. Ah got to thinkin’ about it and yeah, maybe sometimes ya can be a little stand offish, a little cool to us. But ya just ain’t one to abandon yer friends, no matter what! Don't let her words get tah ya when their ain't no truth to 'em.” The farm pony gave a little twitch that could have been a wink.
Twilight smiled at her friend and thanked her. The two ponies went into the farm house for some fresh pressed cider and other apple treats, talking quietly of the Apple Farm, Big Mac, and about a rag doll who had briefly loved him. They paused in their gossip to play with little Applebloom. None of them noticed the pair of eyes that watched them from high in the farms eaves, eyes ever spiraling with madness.
Epilogue:
It was night again. Twilight had long since gone home...it was time to check up on her big brother. Applejack opened the door to his bedroom quietly, just in case he was still asleep. Big Mac was indeed in bed, but he was sitting up, staring at the stars out his window. When his sister came into the room, he glanced over to her and started to speak. His voice was drowsy, "Ah had the dream again sis. About a grey filly beneath apple trees in full bloom. Are ya sure it's no pony I've ever met before?"
He watched as his sister made a strange face, then answered, "Well a course. Do ya really remember any pony like that? Yer just havin' night mare's...perfectly natural given how old ya are and that accident ya had." Her eyes were shifty, but Big Mac was too tired to think anything of it. He rolled over to go back to sleep, then a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Ya know...ever since that basilisk bit me, Ah've been havin' another dream too. That you and Ah...we kissed." He blushed, ashamed at just mentioning such a lewd dream about his little sister. Applejack didn’t seem to mind though. She just smiled.
"Well now ya know yer just bein' silly Big Mac! We'd never kiss, even in yer dreams lover boy!" She laughed cheerfully, but not with her eyes. "But even so, ain't nothin' more natural than a brother showin' the sister who's takin' care of him some affection.” She pulled the blanket her brother was beneath up over his shoulder and gave him a little peck on the cheek “Nothin' more natural at all..." The same twitch that overcame her face while she was talking to Twilight Sparkle came back to Applejack's face. Neither the now sleeping Big Mac nor his sister could hear it. But somewhere, a deep voice boomed with laughter.
