On the Apple Farm
Five years, Babs Seed thought. That was how long since she’d last visited Ponyville. She looked out the window as the countryside passed her by, the train horn blowing in the distance. Already she missed the gleaming towers and relative stability of Manehattan and would have killed for an oat bagel at the moment. Everything outside the city was just too depressing. She’d read about the drought, the protests, the violence that racked much of the rural regions of this once prosperous nation.
After the disastrous war with Saddle Arabia came to a conclusion, Equestria faced a new catastrophe. With so many ponies dead or maimed in the war, there weren’t enough to tend to the weather and the land. Earth pony communities had lost an entire generation of workers and farmers. Those that remained couldn’t possibly accommodate the large demand for food required to feed a growing population.
What’s more, the loss of so many pegasi meant fewer ponies to provide rain to a draught-hit country. The weather factories were working overtime, sometimes triple shifts or more, to create as much moisture as possible, but even their Hyraculean efforts proved in vain. Rumors that the pegasi were hoarding the water caused friction to grow, rumors that the pegasi adamantly denied even though their privileged status as the keepers of the sky allowed them to decide which parts of Equestria received the most water, which gave them an unfair advantage over the surface ponies.
Some pegasus factories demanded a large sum for their services, sums which struggling towns and farms were forced to pay if they wanted water for their crops. This lead to some very heated exchanges that had erupted into all-out violence. The Great Baltimare Massacre, as it had been dubbed, whereas pegasus soldiers were forced to shoot lightning into a crowd of protestors that threatened to storm their factory, had taken the life of six ponies and injured hundreds more. The Princesses themselves had to get involved to prevent the violence from escalating, but the damage had been done.
Incidents like this were becoming all too common throughout Equestria. Just last month in a Manehattan borough, a turf dispute between gangs had become a full-out war when one side was trying to muscle in on the illegal trade of artificially-enhanced seeds. As one of the safest communities in Equestria, there had never been a need to maintain a large police force, leaving the local authorizes overwhelmed and poorly-equipped to handle the fighting.
News that Las Pegasus in the west was threatening to secede from Equestria was having a domino effect throughout the country. There was even talk of mobilizing the army to put down such dissident movements, a move which would surely incite civil war. Babs couldn’t believe it would lead to that. She believed the Princesses would find a way to restore harmony and peace to Equestria. The people just needed to give them more time.
Then again, here she was, a privileged pony with a full belly and traveling in a first-class passenger seat. Ponies like her could afford to wait. She didn’t have to worry about starving or whether she’d have a roof on her head the next morning. Babs couldn’t begin to imagine the hardships her fellow ponies were facing, not when she hadn’t done a day’s hard labor in her life.
She was an earth pony, but an earth pony of comfort. She grew up in the largest, most advanced city in all Equestria, where the most difficult choice she had to make was deciding whether or not to leave her bangs the way they were or allow them to grow. Who was she to ask for patience?
Who was she to call herself an Apple?
“Are you okay, Babs?” Came the polite and cultured voice beside her.
Babs turned away from the window, relieved that her best friend had returned and bring her back from her dark musings. “I’m good,” she said in her thick Bucklyn accent. Blowing a thick red bang out of her eye, Babs smiled at Sweetie Belle. “Bout time you got back. I was worried you got lost.”
Sweetie Belle smiled. Her horn was alit with green magic as she levitated a bag of sweets in the hair. “I’m not the country filly I used to be. Trains used to seem so big to me.” She took the seat across from Babs, her illustrious mane catching a glint of the sun. Sweetie Belle was beautiful even by unicorn standards. Her cutie mark, a violet musical note surrounded by three golden stars, was a sight to see. It was much fancier and better looking than Babs’ scissor cutie mark, though at least she could lay claim to having gotten it before Sweetie Belle.
After moving to Manehattan, Sweetie Belle had difficulty assimilating to big city life. Rarity had no choice but to move, given that the Carousel Boutique had gone under after all business had left Ponyville. Her business partners in Manehattan had allowed her to start a new life for her and her little sister. As a small pony in a big town, Sweetie Belle had nopony she knew other than Babs, and the two started to hang out. It wasn’t long before they became best friends and were together all the time.
Babs was grateful that Rarity allowed Sweetie Belle to accompany her on this trip. Aside from their mutual friendship, having a Ponyville native along would be useful. Babs had only visited a hoof full of times, namely to see her favorite cousin, during the Apple Family Reunions. A lot of Apples had lost their lives in service to Equestria during the war and there hadn’t been a reunion since. Babs was worried. She missed her cousin and her kinfolk.
When she wrote to Apple Bloom telling her she wanted to visit, she finally received a letter back stating, “Come on by,” written in Apple Bloom’s flowing cursive. She packed her bags that night and readied to leave the following morning. When she told Sweetie Belle, the unicorn had practically begged to come along. She missed Apple Bloom and her hometown, and only needed an excuse to go. Convincing Rarity to leave took some effort, but Sweetie Belle was now a young mare and more than capable of making her own decisions. Besides, she was going home to Ponyville with her best friend. What could go wrong?
Sweetie Belle opened the bag and, after taking a treat for herself, offered it to Babs. “So what were you thinking about?” She asked as she munched loudly. For all her unicorn regality, there was enough “country charm” in her that made Babs smile.
“A lot of things,” Babs admitted, chewing her food.
“Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I can’t believe it’s been five years.” She swallowed and glanced outside the window. The vast fields of Equestria’s heartland rolled by like a moving picture.
“I know what you mean.” Sweetie Belle became sad. “She was one of my best friends along with Scootaloo. We used to hang out all the time.”
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Babs said, looking back.
The name brought a lot of memories back to the unicorn, and Babs could see her bright green eyes light up with recollection. “That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”
“Cheer up. This trip is supposed to be a way to reconnect and remind Apple Bloom we still care about her.”
“But why has she stopped writing?” Sweetie Belle put the bag on the seat and folded her hooves. “I don’t know why she wouldn’t keep in touch anymore. It’s like she didn’t want to be my friend.” She sniffed at that.
Babs moved over to sit next to the unicorn. “Hey, kid. Don’t think that way. Apple Bloom just has a lot to deal with. When AJ got injured, it was up to her to take care of the farm. That can’t be easy for a filly.” Babs put an arm around Sweetie Belle. “She ain’t got it easy. We gotta remember that. Apple Bloom couldn’t just up and leave the Apple farm.”
“But I up and left.” Guilt entered Sweetie’s voice. “I sometimes feel like I abandoned her.”
“Hey now! Your sister took you along. It’s not like you wanted to leave.”
“But I could have done something. Maybe…maybe I could have gone back every week to help her on the farm. Maybe I could have sent some money. Maybe…”
“Maybe you could accept there was nothing you could have done,” Babs cut her off. “A lot of ponies left Ponyville. It’s not easy out there. Too many bad things happening.” She rubbed Sweetie Belle’s shoulder. “Scootaloo had to leave too, remember? So did Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and Princess Twilight is all over Equestria, trying to keep the damn thing from falling apart.”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “At least Pinkie Pie stayed.”
“That’s the thing,” Babs went on. “Some ponies have nowhere else to go so they make the best of what they have. I don’t think I could leave my family if things went south in Manehattan. I’d tough it out, Apple style. All the Apples are doing the same thing. Not one of them left their orchards. They stayed right where they are.”
“But do you think they would have left,” Sweetie Belle asked as she laid her head on Babs’ shoulder, “if they could have, I mean?”
Babs thought about that. Leaving behind everything you worked so hard to build was never easy. She figured they’d have to drag Apple Bloom and her family kicking and screaming off of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Babs?” Sweetie asked when her friend did not respond immediately.
“I think…I think they would leave if there was no other way,” she admitted. “But it takes a lot of stuff to remove an Apple. We plant our roots deep anywhere we go. It’s like my ancestors when they moved to Manehattan. We haven’t left since because it’s our home. I don’t know how bad things are in Ponyville, but I’m gonna help my cousin any way I can.”
Sweetie Belle perked up at this. “Me too.”
“I can’t wait to see her,” Babs said, looking out the window as the train whistle blew again.
Ponyville was exactly as she remembered it, and that worried Babs. The train station was nearly empty as there were few passengers who decided to disembark. Sweetie Belle had told her stories, how the town had fallen on hard times during and after the war, the mass migration of locals to more prosperous regions, the severe lack of able-bodied ponies who kept everything up and running.
Babs and Sweetie Belle had prepared themselves for what they might see. It would be heart-breaking for Sweetie Belle especially. Her last memory was a tearful goodbye between her and her friends on the very same platform before the train came to take her and Rarity away.
As much as Sweetie Belle was here to support her, Babs was there to support her friend in what would undoubtingly be a painful homecoming.
There was no such thing.
“Is this Ponyville?” Babs asked Sweetie Belle. “It don’t look like nothing’s happened.”
The town was not only alive, but prospering. There were many ponies trotting the streets. The homes had been remodeled and repainted with bright vivid colors that seemed to resemble the Apple Family barn. They were all smiling and jubilant, and more than one sent a hardy welcome to the Manehattan visitors.
“This is amazing!” Sweetie Belle was ecstatic. “I haven’t seen it like this since before the war. But I thought everypony was starving.”
“Starving?” A jolly and well-fed stallion chortled as he approached them. “Why, we’re the most stuffed town in the region. Ya folks ain’t from around here, ain’t ya?”
Sweetie Belle eyed him curiously. “Well, not exactly. I mean, I am but,” She studied the stallion. “I used to live here. But I don’t recognize you.” Ponyville was a small town and as such Sweetie Belle knew every pony on some level.
“Well ain’t that a kick in the flank!” He laughed aloud, his flippant pink mane a sharp contrast to his pitchfork cutie mark. “Ah just moved here maself not six months ago. Feel like Ah’ve lived here ever since.” He studied the two mares. “Yup. Ya look like city stock, if ma name ain’t Hoedown.”
Babs Seed took two steps toward Hoedown, putting herself between him and Sweetie Belle. It was a defensive gesture as Babs was very protective of her best friend. Something about this pony didn’t feel right. “What’s goin’ on here? Last I heard, Ponyville was in big trouble.”
“Trouble? Shoot no!” Hoedown shook his head so fast that Babs was worried it would come right off. “We ain’t been in no trouble since the Apple Farm took charge.”
“Took charge?” The mares said in unison.
“Ya city folk are strange, talkin’ at the same time an’ such.” Hoedown took a step back as Babs leered at him.
“Start talking. What do you know about the Apple Farm?”
Hoedown perked up immediately. “Well that if ain’t for them, there would be no Ponyville here now, no sir! Them Apples saved the town an’ put Ponyville back on the map. It was their apple trees that kept everypony from starvin’ t’ death. Miracles workers, them Apples!”
“How could that be?” Sweetie Belle came around Babs. “I thought the draught devastated their crops.”
“It did. But boy howdy did they show that draught what for!” Hoedown leaped and kicked his hooves in the air. “They grew sum magic apples that could grow without water. Sure nuff’, everypony fer miles aroun’ was a’comin’ to Ponyville. We got ourselves a real town again. Jus’ take a look aroun’.” Hoedown waved his hoof. “Ain’t it the pertiest slice o’ heaven you ever did see?”
“The Apples did all this?” Sweetie Belle’s voice was questioning yet full of hope. It lifted her heart to see her old town alive again.
Babs was more skeptical. Life on the tough streets of Manehattan taught her never to take things at face value. “So about these magic apples,”
Hoedown kicked his hooves in the air again. “Hoo eeh! Ya’ll wanna try some? Every shop in town sells em’. Come on. There’s a place called Sugarcube Corner that makes the best apple fritters in town.”
Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed looked at each other. If whatever wonder fruit the Apple Farm produced was good enough to be sold at Pinkie Pie’s old spot, then it must be something to eat.
“I don’t see why we can’t have a little snack before seeing Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said.
Babs patted her stomach. “Maybe. But we kind of filled up on sweets on the train ride.”
But Hoedown wouldn’t take no for an answer. He slipped behind them, pushing them both towards the center of town. “Ya’ll won’t regret it. In fact, ya’ll may never wanna leave Ponyville after eatin’ our apples.”
Babs shrugged. One more bite couldn’t hurt.
Their guide was unnecessary as both mares knew where to find Sugarcube Corner. But Hoedown was insistent that he tag along, and Babs was willing to humor him if it meant she could get a look around. Almost every house resembled the Apple Family Barn, with ponies putting in work to maintain them. Not one of them was busy enough to pause and say hello as they walked by.
Babs knew the ponies here were all too friendly, but something about their greetings felt off, almost unnatural. The way they looked at her and Sweetie Belle, so cheerfully, sent shivers up and down her spine.
Fortunately, Sugarcube Corner had remained unchanged, which was a welcomed sight. Hoedown thankfully excused himself from their company—to which the mares were only too grateful—and suggested they try the fritters. Then he kicked his hooves in the air one last time before trotting off back to where they found him.
“Weirdo,” Babs said, and turned to follow Sweetie Belle inside.
Sugarcube Corner was standing room only. They didn’t see Pinkie Pie or the Cakes anywhere, which was disappointing. It was strange that they hadn’t seen a single familiar face since arriving. Had all the original inhabitants up and left? Surely they knew of their town’s remarkable revival? Having a crop that could defy a severe draught was definitely news-worthy material.
Finding a seat near a window, Babs and Sweetie looked around. “So many new faces,” Sweetie Belle said. “I haven’t seen anyone I recognize.” There was a smiling yellow mare behind the counter. That was Pinkie’s spot. Sweetie Belle had half a mind to go over there and ask about her old friend when a waitress came up with a tray of samples.
“Welcome to Ponyville,” the mare said. “Where are you visiting from?”
“Manehattan,” Babs said.
“But I was born here,” Sweetie Belle said.
The mare looked at her. “Oh, that’s great. Welcome home.”
“Thanks. Um…so did most of these ponies move in after Sweet Apple Acres started growing their new crops?”
“Sure did. I’m from Vanhoover originally. Lived all across Equestria until I found this little piece of paradise. Now I don’t ever want to leave.” Without taking their order, she began placing the samples on the table. “Enjoy!” She turned to leave.
“Wait!” Babs said. “We didn’t even order. How much is all this stuff anyway?”
The cheerful mare whirled back to them. “Oh we have a set menu. Today is fritters and candy apples. And it’s on the house.”
“Really?” Babs asked.
“Well of course. What good is having wealth if you can’t share it among friends? After all, Ponyville is the town of friendship.” Smiling, the mare bounded off to speak to another patron.
Babs turned back to their table. The samples did look good and her stomach rumbled despite eating on the train. “Huh. My cousin must be happy. If all these ponies eat is apples, then they must be making a mint.” She poked at the fritter, noticing its bright, red color.
“Looks good.” Sweetie Belle felt her mouth watering. She picked up a fritter and brought it to her mouth.”
“Psst!” The sound stopped her cold. She and Babs looked around for the source of the sound. “Don’t eat that,” it said urgently. Startled, Sweetie Belle dropped her fritter.
“What in the…” Babs eventually found the origin of the voice; hard to miss considering it was right outside their window. “Who’s there?” She leaned upward.
“Don’t make a scene,” the voice insisted. “You don’t want to eat that, trust me.”
Babs settled back down. “Trust you? We don’t even know you.”
“Yes you do,” the voice said. “Leave and meet me by the pagoda. Don’t run, or they might suspect something.”
“Who are you?” Sweetie Belle whispered back.
“A friend. Now hurry.” There was a rustling sound and the voice was gone.
“What the hay was that all about?” Babs asked Sweetie Belle.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. But do you think we should take its advice?”
Babs began to eye the patrons. They were all too busy eating to notice them. The way they ate, voraciously, as if they hadn’t eaten in days, was made all the more disturbing by how their mouths were filled with saliva. Red saliva. It trickled down the sides of their chins and pooled at the tables and floors. The waitress didn’t take any orders but kept serving out the sample trays at every table. Everypony, mare, stallion, filly, and colt, ate to their heart’s content.
“Let’s get out of here,” Babs said, her sixth sense going off. She led Sweetie Belle to the exit when they bumped into the serving mare.
“Leaving already?” She asked. “Did you enjoy your samples?”
“We ate on the train,” Babs said. “But we’ll be back for dinner,” she lied. “Come on, Sweetie Belle.” She urged her friend outside first, her eyes never leaving the smiling waitress whose teeth were stained red.
Taking the advice, the mares slowly made their way to the pagoda which was the only untouched building in the square. All others now resembled barns. The pagoda, in fact, was falling apart. Its walls were in dire need of a paintjob and the wood was splintered. The windows were cracked in some places and the bushes around the perimeters hadn’t been watered in some time.
“Wonder why the voice asked us to meet here,” Sweetie Belle paced back and forth.
Babs was on alert. She eyed everypony who looked at them, giving them her best MYOB look. They weren’t intimidated. In fact, they smiled and waved, spouting “welcome” and “hello there.”
More than twenty minutes passed before Babs, in her usual big city frustration, finally had had enough. “Okay, was this some kind of joke? Where the hay is that jerk?”
Sweetie Belle was sitting down, gently stroking her tale. “It sounded urgent.”
“It was probably a scam.”
“A scam to what?”
Babs sighed and decided to change the conversation. “Did you see how those ponies ate?”
The unicorn nodded. “Weird, huh?”
“It was more than weird. It was…feral.” She couldn’t think of another word. “I once saw a video in school about timberwolves and how they would hunt down animals, tearing them apart with their fangs and claws.”
Sweetie covered her mouth. “That’s horrible!”
“It’s how things are done in the wild. But this ain’t the wild. This is civilization.” She glanced around. “Ponyville ain’t the same anymore.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” the voice said.
Both mares visibly jumped at the sound.
“Alright, prick. Come out so I can bop ya!” Babs cried.
“Keep your voice down,” the voice told her. “We don’t want to draw any attention.” The bushes behind them rustled.
“There!” Babs threw both arms into the bushes and pulled out a small pony in a green traveling cloak. “Who are ya? Huh?” Shaking the pony, she forcefully removed his hood. The painted stallion was smaller than she was with a tuft of brown hair. Babs raised an arm to punch him when she felt Sweetie stop her.
“Hold on, Babs! It’s Pip!”
Babs looked back. “Who?”
“Pipsqueak. He used to live in Ponyville like me.” She gently nudged Babs’ raised hoof away. A grateful Pip offered a smile to Sweetie Belle, though he quickly covered up his face again, pulling the hood up tight.
“Nice to see you again, Sweetie Belle.” A hint of his old Trottingham accent had returned. How he managed to hide it so masterfully was beyond her. She always remembered the tiny colt with the funny accent who had a way of winning your heart with his charm. “Sorry for the deception, ladies. But I had to remain inconspicuous.”
“Running around in a green cloak is inconspicuous?” Babs asked.
“I blend in a great sight better than you, Miss Seed. I am, after all, a Ponyville native.” He gently removed himself from the bushes. “You’ve no idea how relieved I was to see familiar faces. I recognize almost nopony I grew up with anymore. The town’s almost completely infested.”
“Infested?” Sweetie Belle asked. “With what?”
“Them.” Pip pointed to the ponies working on the homes. “They’re not from around here.”
“Of course they ain’t. They all came here after the town got back on its hooves.” Babs rolled her eyes. “What’s with the getup anyway? You look funny.”
“Well that’s a fine way to thank a stallion that just saved your life.”
Babs blinked in confusion. “Come again?”
“Those pastries back at Sugercube Corner. Had you eaten them, you’d have no longer been yourselves. It’s why all the ponies in town are the way they are. It’s why all the old residents are no longer here. It has something to do with the apples.”
Pip took a quick look around. “You see, I’m now a member of the Royal Secret Service. Special Agent Pip.”
Babs muffled back a laugh. She failed. “Are you kidding me?” She didn’t notice Sweetie Belle’s hard glare.
“That I am not, Miss Seed. You see after Miss Cheerilee closed the school, I left Ponyville to continue my studies in Canterlot. I developed a knack for espionage and the like, which is why as soon as I was able, I joined the RSS. My first mission was to infiltrate Ponyville and learn the secret behind the town’s marvelous revitalization during these troubled times.”
“Infiltrate? But why would you need to do that?” Sweetie Belle asked. “You lived here for years.”
“Not in a long time, Miss Belle. Besides, the RSS knew something was up. You see we’ve had reports of ponies vanishing from Ponyville for a while now. We are stretched thin all over Equestria at the moment and were only able to send a couple of agents to investigate. Neither of them reported back. That’s when they sent me. With my knowledge of the town, it’s layout and its people, they figured I would have the best chance at learning what went wrong.”
“What did you find out?” Sweetie Belle asked before Babs could open her mouth.
Pip looked them squarely in the eyes when he spoke. “I believe…that ponies are being murdered.”
Silence pervaded between the ponies.
“W-What?” Babs said when she found her voice.
Pip continued. “I followed the trail of the missing agents as best I could, picking up where they left off. Whatever is going on here has something to do with Sweet Apple Acres. The place is a veritable gold mine. It single hoofedly brought the town back from the brink of complete collapse.” He leaned in close, his voice low. “But how?”
“The apples?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Quite right, Miss Belle. Based on the notes left by my predecessors, it all has something to do with the apples on that farm. They change ponies somehow. They become subservient, almost mindless. Besides rebuilding the town all they can think about is eating.”
Babs thought back to the bakery and how the ponies devoured their meal. She recalled the red spittle drooling down their faces. “So they’re all mind slaves or something?”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Sweetie Belle said. “You’re saying the Apple family is doing this on purpose?”
“Either that, or they too have somehow been influenced by the mind-altering properties of their product. Either way, I have to find evidence linking the farm to the disappearances of the missing ponies.”
“Now hold on there,” Babs towered over Pipsqueak, her face stoic and hard. “There ain’t no way Apple Bloom and AJ would go along with this. You must have made a mistake.”
“Two missing, possibly dead agents, are no mistake, Miss Seed.”
“You ain’t got no proof,” Babs spat.
“Then perhaps you can help me get it.” He glanced from one mare to the next. “I take it you’re here to visit your cousin?” He asked Babs.
“What of it?”
“I’ve only seen Apple Bloom from a distance. Neither she nor any member of her family leaves Sweet Apple Acres. I’ve yet to penetrate the perimeter and believe that, with your help, I can finally obtain the evidence I need.”
“Yeah? And do what? Put my family behind bars?” Babs fumed.
Pip raised an eyebrow. “Am I to assume you know something I don’t?”
“Listen, kid. I don’t know what you think you know, but my cousin would never do the crap you say she’s doing. Apple Bloom’s the best pony I know.”
“And I would agree with you, Miss Seed. However, Ponyville is not the same town it used to be. There is something terribly wrong, as I’m sure you’ve come to realize in your brief time here.” He looked at Sweetie Belle. “This is your home, Miss Belle. And you,” he went back to Babs. “You have a direct relation to the primes suspects in this case. With my resources back in Canterlot, I believe the three of us can unravel this sinister web.”
Pipsqueak took a deep breath. “Listen, I realize this may be difficult to hear. I pray that I am wrong, that it is the conspiracy theorist in me that is grabbing at straws. But if we don’t work together I fear that many more innocent lives may be lost. I cannot do this without you. Please, for the sake of this town, will you help me?”
Babs inhaled. “And what if my family is responsible for all this? What will happen then, huh?”
Pipsqueak spoke clear and directly. “Then I’m afraid the law will have to step in.”
“They’ll go to jail?”
“Only if proven guilty.”
“And if they ain’t?” Babs challenged.
“Then you will have my sincerest apologies. But one way or another, we have to do something. So, are you in?”
Sweetie Belle stepped forward. “What exactly do you want us to do, Pip? Er…Agent Pip?”
“Pip will suffice, Miss Belle.”
“Sweetie Belle.”
He nodded. “As you wish, Sweetie Belle. As I’ve said, I’ve already surveyed Sweet Apple Acres. I have a general lay of the land and know various points of entry. However, I will find it difficult to get any closer so long as the Apples are up and about. I need you to distract them while I do a little digging.”
“Hold on!” Babs couldn’t believe what she’d been hearing. “First you tell me you think my relatives are responsible for a series of murders, and now you want us to go visit them? Alone? What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing, other than my rather diminutive size, I am perfectly healthy.”
“That sound dangerous, Pip,” Sweetie Belle said. “What if we get in trouble?”
“I won’t be long. I just need enough time to search the premises; house, barn, all that. Then when I have the evidence I need, I will give you two the signal that it’s time to leave. Apple Bloom trusts you two. You are her friend and family, respectively. Should there be any trouble, however,” Pip lifted his cloak. The mares were shocked to see a long blade underneath. “I won’t be far.”
“You’re not hurting my family, kid.” Babs told him.
“I am sure it won’t come to that, Miss Seed.”
“Babs. Stop calling me Miss Seed. It sounds…perverted.”
“Alright then. Babs. As an RSS agent, I am more than capable of incapacitating a target. No harm will befall you or your family, I can promise you that.”
“You can’t make that promise,” Babs said.
“Nor can you promise that nothing unfortunate won’t happen when you see your cousin.” He looked up at the sky. “Look, the night is fast approaching. We can’t spend all day with this lollygagging. Twenty minutes is all I’ll need. After that, I will give you a signal, a bird call.” Pip raised his hooves to his lips and blew a short, harmonic whistle. “When you hear that, excuse yourself and rendezvous by the old treehouse. I’m sure you’re familiar with that, Sweetie Belle?”
“Doy. That used to be our old clubhouse.”
He nodded. “I shall await you there. Also, the treehouse will be our meeting spot should there be any trouble. It’s elevated and the only way in is via a retractable lamp. In case of danger, simply run up and pull the ramp up behind you. Hide and wait for me there. Is that clear?”
Babs took in a deep breath. It was a lot to process. “You really expecting the worse, Pip?”
“I always expect the worse and hope for the best. If we play our parts and work as a team, we can all be on a train bound for Canterlot before nightfall.”
“I think you’re wrong about this,” Babs said.
“Believe me, Babs, I sincerely hope I am.”
Babs took one look at Sweetie Belle. The fear was apparent all over her beautiful face. They had come to reconnect with a friend, not possibly put her behind bars. Apple Bloom was no murderer. Pipsqueak had to be wrong.
“Well?” Pip asked a bit urgently.
“Alright, kid. We’ll go check the place out. But you’d better be quick.”
“Quick as a whip!”
“Fine.” She nodded. “I came here to see Apple Bloom. I ain’t leaving here until I do.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” Pip said. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Pip.” Babs said threateningly. “Cause if you’re wrong, and Apple Bloom is innocent in all this, I’m going to knock your funny-sounding ass all the way back to Trottingham.”
“Deal.” Pipsqueak slowly slid back into the bushes. “Meet me at Sweet Apple Acres in half an hour. Until then remember, do not eat anything they give you.” He vanished suddenly, as if a rustle of air and nothing more.
Sweetie Belle began to paw at the ground. “I don’t like this, Babs.” She sat down. “Apple Bloom an accomplice to murder? It just can’t be true.” She was acting strong, Babs knew, fighting back tears that threatened to overwhelm her.
Babs realized just how hard this was for her BFF. Babs may be her cousin, but to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle was as good as a sister. They grew up together, formed a club, had all sorts of amazing adventures. Babs loved Apple Bloom, but she didn’t know her anywhere near as well as Sweetie Belle. Would she be able to face her, Babs wondered? Could she handle this?
“You alright, Sweetie Belle?”
The unicorn mare looked up from where her eyes had been glued to the floor. It was like she was looking at the dusts of time, looking back at a moment when she and a certain red-haired filly used to play in these very streets.
“We don’t have to do this, you know,” Babs said, suddenly regretting making a decision for the two of them. “I want to see Apple Bloom, but if you’re not comfortable we can hop the next train back to Manehattan.”
But Sweetie Belle was shaking her head before Babs finished. “No, Babs. I need to do this.” Her face grew stern, as if solidifying into something stone cold, “I need to look Apple Bloom in the face and demand the truth from her. I need to know she’s not the pony Pip believes her to be. Otherwise I’ll never be able to sleep well again.”
Babs smiled. When did the prissy little filly from Ponyville get so tough? Perhaps she’d been hanging with Babs too long.
“What about you? Will you be alright?”
“Shoot yeah. City girl or not, I’m still an Apple. We look out for each other.”
“I hope Apple Bloom remembers that.”
Her tone stole the bravado from Babs. Strong as she was, Sweetie Belle was having some very serous reservations.
Babs suddenly rubbed her arms because she was cold. Then she realized there was no wind. Night was falling, but she wasn’t shivering because of that.
She was shivering…because she was scared.
Author's Note
So here's the second installment in what has suddenly become a planned trilogy. I don't know why, but I've become so enamored by MLP Dark Fics that I'm still reading them and listening to them via Youtube readings. While this is rated Mature for now, I'm not sure if I'll add any gore. I'm more into ambiance than blood and guts, but there will be blood, that I can promise you.
Note you don't necessarily have to have read "Apples Forever" to know what's going on, but there will be allusions to events in that story made by the characters. It's a good one-shot so go ahead and have a look if you're one for continuity.
Half an hour came and went fast. Babs and Sweetie Belle approached the site of Sweet Apple Acres with a heavy heart.
For Sweetie Belle, it was like walking down memory lane. She couldn’t recount the number of times she and Scootaloo would traverse this path on their way to their clubhouse to meet with Apple Bloom. She knew the road as well as any street back in Ponyville…the old Ponyville.
While she reminisced about the old days, Babs was busy wondering how much Apple Bloom had changed. Her favorite cousin, her sister from another mother…had Apple Bloom become something so dark as to be unfamiliar to her? She was still trying to wrap her mind around what Pipsqueak had told them, wanting nothing more than to write it off as misinformation. Apple Bloom was not a murderer.
But the feeling of foreboding never left Babs as she paused on the road.
“Babs?” Sweetie Belle turned to her. “What’s up?”
“Are we really doing this? Are we really trying to help a government agent find dirt on Apple Bloom?” She looked at the ground as she spoke. Her eyes were wide in disbelief.
“We’re going to prove him wrong,” Sweetie Belle said in all confidence. “Pip is just doing his job. But that doesn’t mean he’s doing it well. There’s no telling how much bad info he got in that time.”
Sweetie Belle sounded confident, but underlying it was a hint of concern that Babs did not miss. The perceptive mare could read Sweetie Belle as if she were an open book. She was desperate, Babs knew. Sweetie Belle wanted to prove Pipsqueak as wrong as she did, only she was scared of what she might find. She was scared that maybe, just maybe, Pip would be proven right.
“Yeah,” Babs said to alleviate the tension the long silence had built. The wind was picking up and it was getting colder. Dust kicked up, forcing the mares to shield their eyes. If nothing else, they would need to find shelter soon. Darkness would be upon them and neither of them wanted to be out here in the middle of the night. Funny that as children the notion of staying over at the Apple Farm once filled them with joy. Now there was only a creeping dread with every step they took.
“Let’s keep moving.” Babs took the lead as they continued their walk. It wasn’t long before Sweet Apple Acres appeared before them. This was their first impression: “That’s strange,” Sweetie Belle said.
“It doesn’t look any different,” Babs muttered to herself. Before them stood one of the most industrious and successful farms in all of Equestria. Fields of apples as far as the eye could see with a large red barn, the biggest in the town, standing as the principle structure.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” said a now familiar voice in the hushed whisper of a conspirator. Like magic, RSS Agent Pipsqueak appeared right next to them, causing the ponies to yelp.
“Dammit, runt! Don’t you don’t that again!” Babs Seed warned.
“Sorry for the fright, Babs. Just keeping my skills sharp.” Pip removed the hood of his cloak and with a wink, drew their attention to the farm. “There’s your target. Now remember, I only need twenty minutes. Afterward, I will give you the signal. You do recall what that is, correct?”
Babs rolled her eyes. “You make a birdie call. Geez, kid. It ain’t that complicated.” Her Bucklyn accent dripping with sarcasm, Babs nudged Pip with her hoof. “Now scram. We don’t want anypony knowing you’re here.”
“I assure you they won’t. In fact,” Pip backed away as the wind picked up, “I’m not even here.” Once the dust settled, Agent Pip was gone.
“That’s a neat trick,” Sweetie Belle pointed out.
“Riot. Come on.”
They entered the grounds and proceeded through the field of apples. On either side of them, large trees loomed over them like attentive sentries. Their boughs were full of the reddest, juiciest apples that either pony had ever seen. The mere sight of them made Babs recall the sight of the patrons back at Sugar Cube Corner. Their saliva had reminded her of blood, which was the same shade of red as the apples on the trees.
“Your treehouse ain’t far from here, right Sweetie Belle?” Babs asked. In case of emergency, Pip had instructed them to wait for him at the old Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse.
“It isn’t,” the unicorn told her. “I just hope we don’t have to use it.”
“Same here.” Babs saw the lights on at the house. A pony was sitting on the front porch. Babs recognized the hat from here. “Hey, Applejack!” She called and waved. The orange pony stirred in her seat, which had a pair of wheels attached to them. Babs paused. “Oh!”
Seeing they had visitors, Applejack greeted them with a smile. “Well howdy, Babs! Sweetie Belle. Long time no see.” She rolled down a ramp which had been installed on the porch. “How ya’ll been?”
“AJ…what happened?” Babs asked in true shock.
“What this? Don’t ya mind none. Just a little accident.” Applejack stopped just before them.
But Sweetie Belle was near tears. “What happened, Applejack?
“Wasn’t payin’ attention one day. Pulley dropped some crates on me. Kept ma head but lost ma legs.” She folded her hooves on her lap. “Twert nothin’. Still fit as a fiddle. So what brings ya’ll back here to the Apple Farm?”
But Babs and Sweetie Belle were too transfixed by her condition to answer. To suddenly learn that the hardest working mare in all of Ponyville was handicapped was a huge surprise. That Apple Bloom didn’t write Babs, didn’t tell her about this tragedy so that she could come and see her, showed just how distant they had become.
“I’m sorry, Applejack,” Babs said after realizing she’d been staring. “I would have come sooner had I known.”
Applejack waved her off. “Ah said don’t worry about it, Babs. This won’t stop me. Ah still work the farm same as everypony else.”
Babs approached her cousin. “Still, I,” she stopped after looking at Applejack’s eyes. There was a distance in them, a great depth that made them feel cold. They were no longer the sparkling orbs of a pony who enjoyed life as much as she loved her family. She was different somehow.
“But how do you do it?” Sweetie Belle’s sudden outburst caused Babs to break out of that trance, a trance that felt like she’d been falling into a hole from which there would be no escape. “You can’t possibly buck the apple trees now that…” Sweetie Belle stopped herself.
One of AJ’s eyes went up. “Now that…what? Ah’m a cripple?” She eyed the unicorn dangerously.
Sweetie Belle shrank as if afraid. Babs looked cautiously between the two, wondering if she and Sweetie Belle would suddenly have to make a break for it.
Then Applejack started laughing. “Sweetie Belle, yer as clueless as yer big sister sometimes. Jus’ because ah ain’t buckin’ like ah used to don’t mean ah don’t help around the farm. Ah’m still an Apple and that means ah don’t give up. Ain’t that right, Babs?”
“Huh?” Babs, now in the spotlight, fumbled over her response. “Er…yeah. Sure.”
Applejack looked between the two of them. Her eyes finally settled on Sweetie Belle. “So how’s Rarity doin’ nowadays?”
“She’s okay. I mean…she’s managing.”
“Ah’ll bet. Being a big city pony now mean she don’t have time to come by an’ visit us no more.” Her tone became cold, almost sapping the warmth right out of the air. “Jus’ up an left us…all of us. Some ponies jus’ can’t hack it, ah guess.”
Babs gasped. Sweetie Belle’s cheeks puffed red as if about to burst. She glared at Applejack, all traces of awkwardness gone. “Rarity did not leave because she wanted to. She just wanted to take care of me. She didn’t run away.”
Applejack softened all of a sudden. “Awright, young one. Ah didn’t mean nothin’ by it. Ah understand takin’ care of family. Shoot, anypony that don’t look after family ain’t a pony worth associatin’ with.” She smiled kindly at Sweetie Belle. But there was no warmth in the gesture. “Yer sister was jus’ lookin’ out for ya. Ah can relate. Ah’d do anythin’ for Apple Bloom and she’d do the same for me.” Her face perked up. “Well speak of the devil.”
Her gaze shifted beyond the two ponies and they turned to find a younger, stronger version of Applejack casually strolling out of the orchards. Her red mane hadn’t changed other than being a bit longer than either of them remembered. She wore a hat similar to the one her sister did and hoisted a shovel over her shoulder. Strong, muscular legs ate up the distance between them and the closer she came the more the visitors began to realize just how big she’d gotten.
Years of back-breaking labor on the farm had chiseled Apple Bloom into a fine example of an earth pony. She stopped just in front of them, lifting her head up so that they could see her chewing a blade of grass between her teeth. “Howdy,” she said in a strong voice. “Been a while, Sweetie Belle.”
“Apple Bloom!” The unicorn rushed to embrace her childhood friend, wrapping both arms around Apple Bloom’s powerful neck. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Likewise,” Apple Bloom said, and it seemed like she meant it. Still, Babs expected more of an outpouring of emotion. Apple Bloom seemed almost as cold as Applejack, which only worried her more.
Wiping a tear from her eyes, Sweetie Belle stood back. “I’m so sorry we haven’t kept in contact. I miss you and Scootaloo. Oh, if it wasn’t for that stupid war we’d still be together.”
“Ah know. Ah wish things had gone a different way. But it is what it is. All ah know is that we’re still friends.”
“Always!” Sweetie Belle laughed. “Wow. You’ve changed.”
“So have you.” Apple Bloom looked at Babs. “Well hi, Babs. What? No hug for yer favorite cousin?”
Babs went over to hug Apple Bloom. As they wrapped hooves around each other, Babs felt herself tense. Apple Bloom was hard, as strong as a rock. What labors she must have gone through to become so powerful? She smelled sweat and dirt on Apple Bloom’s fur and something else as well, something metallic. She was almost relieved when Apple Bloom finally let her go.
“How’s it hanging, Apple Bloom?”
“Not bad. Why don’t ya’ll come inside and we’ll catch up?” Spitting out the blade of grass, Apple Bloom walked over to Applejack, whispered something her ear, and headed towards the house. “Come on, ya’ll. Yer just in time for supper.”
“Ah’ll catch up with ya in a second,” Applejack said. “Jus’ gotta go an check on somethin’.” She rolled away before she finished that sentence, moving with more haste than Babs thought warranted. She and Sweetie Belle fell in line behind Apple Bloom who clung onto that shovel of hers like it was another leg.
“Sweetie Belle,” Babs whispered so that only she would hear. “Look.” She motioned to Apple Bloom’s flank. Her cutie mark, a large apple tree with several bright red apples, was a sight to behold, but not as captivating as the strange red streaks coming out of the apples, like lines of red juice. Babs’s memory suddenly returned to Sugarcube Corner where the red spittle came to mind. Remembering how the ponies ate made her shiver.
At the house, Apple Bloom casually placed her shovel inside the entrance to the door and waited for her friends to enter before looking out across the field. The sun was gone, casting the farm in darkness. Apple Bloom shut the door.
The house looked like something trapped in time. Everything was exactly as the Manehattan ponies remembered it, quaint, homey, warm and inviting. So why did it all feel so wrong?
“Granny Smith,” Apple Bloom called as she entered the kitchen. “We got company!”
Inside, they found the aged green mare working over a pot of stew. Sipping from a wooden spoon, Granny Smith looked up at their guests. “Well hello there, youngins. Been a while since we had visitors.”
Babs and Sweetie Belle exchanged odd looks. The farm was bustling and business was good. Surely they must have had a few ponies drop by now and then?
“How are you, Granny?” Sweetie Belle spoke as if she were a part of the family, forgoing any formalities. “You’re looking good.”
“Always have,” Granny chuckled. “Why don’t ya’ll have a seat now? Supper’s almost ready.”
“Sure thing. Babs?” Sweetie Belle sat down at the table. Babs sat in the seat adjacent to her while Apple Bloom, after putting up her hat on the rack nearby, joined them. The three mares stared at each other in a silent triangle. “So...” Sweetie Belle started. “How are things?”
“Not too bad. Farm’s doin’ awright.” Apple Bloom looked out the window. It was dark outside—not much to see. She smiled. “Heck, we’re doin’ better than awright. Did ya see the town?”
“Sure did,” Sweetie Belle admitted. “Everything looks like a barn now. Except for Sugarcube Corner.”
“What happened to Pinkie Pie?” Babs asked abruptly. “She don’t work there anymore?”
“She’s still around,” Apple Bloom, her eyes still glued to the window, said. “She works with us now. Been a big help.”
“Pinkie,” Sweetie Belle asked, “left the bakery?”
“Business wasn’t good. With nothing t’ sell, Sugercube Corner closed down. We couldn’t leave Pinkie without a home so we gave her a job on the farm.” Apple Bloom turned back to her friends. “She’s been with us ever since.”
“Where is she?” Babs asked.
“Oh, in the North Orchard somewhere. Her experience growin’ up on a rock farm has been a big help.”
Babs was a city pony. She had no experience in country life, but she was a pretty savvy to know that once the sun set, all work came to an end. With no light, it was impossible to see what you were doing, so why would Pinkie still be out on the field at this time, when the sky was pitch black? When they arrived, Apple Bloom had already been on her way home, so shouldn’t everypony? Something wasn’t right.
“She’s awright,” Apple Bloom said as if reading Bab’s mind. “In fact, Applejack went to check up on her.”
Sweetie Belle exchanged a glance with Babs. “But now that things have gotten better,” the unicorn started as she turned back to Apple Bloom, “wouldn’t she have gone back to Sugarcube Corner? The place was doing good business when we were there.”
“Things have changed around here, Sweetie Belle. Pinkie was grateful to us for givin’ her a roof over her head when she had none. The Cakes left Ponyville not long after ya did, ya see, and she had nowhere t’ go. We gave her a home, a job, so she’s repayin’ us by workin’ the farm like an Apple.”
“But the bakery,” Sweetie Belle tried to speak but was quickly cut off.
“Is doin’ jus’ fine now. Pinkie’s with us. She likes it here.” Apple Bloom looked Sweetie Belle square in the eye. “Ya know, you and Rarity could’ve stayed here too instead of up an leavin’. We’d have provided ya with shelter in exchange for some work. We’d have done the same for Scootaloo an’ all our friends. None of ya had to go. Sweet Apple Acres could’ve been yer home.”
“I didn’t want to go.” Sweetie Belle felt embarrassed, ashamed even. “I begged Rarity to stay. I never wanted to leave Ponyville.”
Apple Bloom’s next words were curt. “But ya did.”
Sweetie Belle gasped as if she’d been yelled at. She brought a hoof up to her chest where her heart was. “I’m…sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Babs said. She gave Apple Bloom a stern look. “Nopony knew things would be that bad after the war ended. Ponies had to make a lot of hard decisions. Rarity wanted Sweetie Belle to have a chance at an easy life. That’s why she moved them to Manehattan.”
“She’s right, Apple Bloom. I never wanted to leave. I missed you and Scootaloo so much. I cried for days.”
Babs went on. “You guys could have left too. You could have stayed with us in the city. I’d have taken care of you, Apple Bloom.”
“When Apples plant roots, we mean to stay,” Apple Bloom told her cousin flatly. “Ponyville wouldn’t exist without Sweet Apple Acres. This is our home. Now and forever. Livin’ in the big city, ya must have forgotten’ that, Babs Seed.”
“I didn’t forget where I came from.”
“Oh really?” Apple Bloom’s brow went up.
Babs stood up, her hooves on the table. “Yeah. Really.” She was clearly agitated, seemingly ready for a fight. Sweetie Belle placed a hoof on her arm to calm her down. “I came here because I was worried about you guys. I wanted to know why you stopped writing. I wanted to see if you were okay.”
The red-haired mare laughed. “We’re fine. Ain’t we, Granny?”
“Sure as apple sauce.” Granny Smith filled three bowls with soup. Carrying them over to the table, she placed the bowls with the skilled hooves of a caretaker, without a single drop. “Eat up now.”
Maybe Granny didn’t sense the tension in the air. Maybe she didn’t care. She just went about her business while the ponies got into a heated staring contest.
“Ya know what?” Apple Bloom started. “It don’t matter none. Ah don’t wanna fight. Let’s just agree to let bygones be bygones.” Picking up her spoon, she dipped it the smoking red soup that smelled of apples and cinnamon. “Ya’ll here now and that’s what matters. Here’s t’ family.” She raised her spoon and took a sip, slurping loudly. “Mmm. That’s good eatin’.”
Babs finally sat back down and sighed. This is not how she wanted to spend her time back in Ponyville. She couldn’t believe how much tension there was between them. She and Apple Bloom used to be so close. Now it was like she was talking to a complete stranger. To say Babs had forgotten her roots was like saying she’d turned her back on the Apple Clan. She’d have loved it if Apple Bloom had moved to Manehattan. Both she and Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo of course, all together with Babs. The Cutie Mark Crusaders take Manehattan! It would have been something.
But things didn’t turn out that way.
“I really missed you.” Sweetie Belle looked down at her soup. “I wish I could have done more to help you and your family. I could have sent money or something.”
“Don’t think nothin’ on it, Sweetie Belle. It weren’t yer fault. Shoot!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Yer here now. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are back together again.”
“Minus one.” Picking up her spoon, Sweetie Belle began poking at her soup.
“Scootaloo ain’t easy t’ get a hold of, being up there in them clouds an’ all. Those pegasi have pretty much shut themselves up tighter than a grub on pokin’ day.” Apple Bloom sipped her soup again. “But we’ll see her again. Don’t ya fret. Having ya here now is like gettin’ the family back together. Just like we got our trees back.”
“Speaking of which,” Babs began, “how did that happen? Last I heard, Sweet Apple Acres was going under.”
“It’s called earth magic, Babs. We tended to this land for generations. When we needed help, it answered. We got nothin’ but bumper crops ever since.”
“Earth magic?” Babs repeated.
“The best kind.”
“But how’d the trees grow without water?” Babs asked, genuinlly curious.
Apple Bloom paused as if to consider her response. “We found… a substitute.”
“What is it?” Babs pressed.
“Anypony tell ya that ya ask too many questions?” Apple Bloom sounded annoyed. Her eyes darkened at Babs.
“If we’re all family here, then you won’t mind sharing your secrets,” Babs countered.
“Good point.” Apple Bloom placed the spoon on the table. “Tell ya what, ah’ll show ya the secret after dinner. That sound good? Ya ain’t gonna believe it. So eat up!” She started slurping her soup again.
Babs looked at the soup. It was such a thick haze of red that she couldn’t see her own reflection. Something about the smell reminded her of something. She smelled it on Apple Bloom when they’d hugged earlier. She recalled Pip’s message not to eat anything while they were here and told Sweetie Belle as much with one stare. The unicorn picked up on it and nodded. “I ate on the train,” she said and pushed her bowl away.
“Me too.” Babs did the same thing.
Apple Bloom stopped. Her head was bowed so they couldn’t see her eyes. Slowly, she raised her head to reveal a very stoic face. “Come again?”
“We ate so we’re not hungry,” Babs clarified.
“If that’s so, then why’d ya’ll go on over to Sugercube Corner?” She smiled, showing teeth stained with red. “If ya’ll was full, ya wouldn’t need t’ be lookin’ for some grub.”
“Come now, Apple Bloom,” Granny Smith said over by the stew pot. “Maybe they just don’t like ma cookin’.”
“That ain’t it, Granny Smith. Sweetie Belle and I just filled up on food before we got here.” It was a weak argument and Babs knew it. Country pony though she was, Apple Bloom was no fool and she knew her cousin was lying to her.
“Besides,” Sweetie Belle picked it up, “We were looking for Pinkie Pie.”
“Really?” The red smile widened.
Babs and Sweetie visibly trembled.
“Ya sure ya don’t want jus a little sip?”
“We’re good…right Sweetie Belle?”
“Y-yeah?” She stammered. “Real good. Too bad too cause this sure does look yummy.” The tremble in her voice was apparent. Apple Bloom’s red smile slowly vanished as if mulling over what to do with her ungrateful guests.
“Well that’s too bad.” Apple Bloom began sipping again.
The door opened up. “We’re home,” Applejack’s voice said. She was rolled into the kitchen by Big Mac. The large red stallion glistened with sweat and a hard-day’s labor. He stopped when he noticed the guests at the table. “Hello there, Sweetie Belle. Babs.”
“Hi, cousin,” Babs said while Sweetie waved. “How’ve you been?”
“Good,” he said as he rolled AJ to the table.
“Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Sweetie Belle asked. She watched as Granny Smith placed extra bowls on the table before joining them herself.
Applejack answered. “She’s workin’ on somethin’ right now.” With that, Applejack began eating. Her brother didn’t use a spoon. He just picked up the bowl and slurped it down in one big gulp. A trickle of red liquid seeped down his chin and neck. The smell of metal assailed their nostrils.
Babs glanced around the table. These ponies, once her family, once so familiar to her, now filled her with a great unease. The way they devoured their meal, the soup just pouring out of the mouths, make her think of something voracious, something evil.
“After this, sis, ah decided to show Sweetie Belle and Babs our big secret,” Apple Bloom told Applejack.”
Applejack belched and wiped her mouth. “That’s a great idea. Pinkie will be happy to see them.” She looked at the city ponies and smiled the same bloody smile that Apple Bloom gave them. “Ya’ll gonna love it.”
Supper couldn’t have ended fast enough for the Manehattanites. When it was over, Apple Bloom put on her hat and led them to the front porch. She lit a lamp and told them to follow her. Applejack remained in the house with Granny Smith. Their only other company was Big Mac, the massive stallion bringing up the rear.
The night was dark. Luna’s Moon was shrouded behind a veil of clouds so thick that only slivers peeked through, like talon marks in the sky. Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed walked side by side, their steps heavy and their throats dry.
“So Apple Bloom,” Babs said in an attempt to make conversation. “That’s an interesting cutie mark you got there.”
“Sure is,” she told Babs. “Like the earth itself was congratulatin’ me on a job well done.” Even in the dim glow of the lantern, the bright red of her cutie mark apples was apparent. It appeared as if some terrible creature had raked Apple Bloom’s flank, drawing blood.
“So tell us about it,” Babs said, but was looking at Sweetie Belle when she did. She didn’t have to say anything to let Sweetie know what she was thinking. The Crusader clubhouse wasn’t far from here. Sweetie Belle tilted her head in its general direction. Should they make a break for it and wait for Pip there as instructed? Surely he had something on the Apples now. It had been more than twenty minutes since they last spoke. When was he going to give the bloody signal?
“It happened one mornin’,” Apple Bloom started, “ah woke up and there was ma cutie mark. Ah take it it must have been all the plantin’ ah was doin’. After the trees began sproutin’ up all over the place, ah was busier than a bumble bee in Spring makin’ sure to harvest all the new apples. Ah’m right proud of it.” Looking over her shoulder, Apple Bloom said, “Speaking of cutie marks, ah see ya’ve got yer own Sweetie Belle. Rarity must be proud.”
“Um…she sure is.” Sweetie Belle glanced once at Babs, her eyes asking her what they should do now?
“Ah bet it’s on account that ya can sing an’ all? Is that right?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Right you are.”
Observant, Apple Bloom asked, “How come there are three stars around that musical note, Sweetie Belle?”
Her question caught the unicorn off guard. “Oh…I’m not sure. At first I thought it had something to do with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Then I remembered…we weren’t together anymore.” She finished that sentence hesitantly, a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Shoot, Sweetie Belle. We’re always gonna be together. Distance don’t keep friends apart.” After walking for some time, Apple Bloom paused in front of a large tree. Raising the lantern so as to illuminate it, the ponies looked upon a massive trunk. The boughs were clear of apples, no doubt bucked earlier, but that didn’t make the tree any less mesmerizing. It was the bark, as red as blood, appearing alit in the lantern light. “We’re like the roots of this here tree. We may spread out in different directions, but in the end we’re always gonna be connected to the same base.”
Turning around, Apple Bloom addressed her guests directly. “This here’s the first tree t’ bloom thanks to our special crop. This is where Sweet Apple Acres was reborn. Ah wanted you guys to see it firsthoof, because it’s the key t’ our good fortune.”
“Looks nice,” Babs said. “Listen, it’s getting kind of late. When are you gonna show us this new super crop that saved your farm?”
“Patience, cousin. Ah’m takin’ ya over there right now. Ah jus’ wanted ya t’ see where it all began.” Apple Bloom looked at the tree. Her gaze shifted, gradually, downward until her eyes were fixed on the base of the trunk. A smile crept along her face. “This way.”
Hesitant, the two mares began to follow. Big Mac followed silently, taking silent steps for a pony of his size. He remained passive, letting Apple Bloom do all the talking, while keeping his eyes on the Manehattan ponies.
They walked on for what felt like a mile, through the vast fields of Sweet Apple Acres, to a part of the farm that Babs and even Sweetie Belle was unfamiliar with. Out of the darkness rose a monolithic structure. Its wooden walls towered over them like ramparts. There were no windows or portals of any kind and for a moment it looked like Apple Bloom had intended to walk straight through a solid wall.
The building was at least as large as the barn by the house, though what purpose it could serve the city mares had no idea. “Here we are.” Stopping short of the wall, Apple Bloom stepped aside for a moment. “Do the honors, big brother.”
Stepping past Babs and Sweetie, Big Mac approached what was until that very moment a concealed door on the ground. Big Mac opened the latch and heaved open the door, the hinges crying out like tormented demons. The sound startled Babs and Sweetie Belle and only Apple Bloom’s hard look kept the two of them from running off at that moment. “Follow me.” Apple Bloom took the first steps into the basement, the light growing dim with each step she took.
“B-Babs?” Sweetie Belle asked in the growing gloom. “I…I don’t think…”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” Babs took a deep breath. She whispered into Sweetie Belle’s ear. “We came here to find out what was going on. To prove the runt wrong, remember?”
Sweetie Belle’s voice was barely audible in the dark. “Babs…I’m scared.”
“Ya comin’ or not?” Apple Bloom’s voice asked from below.
Touching her friend’s shoulder, Babs could feel Sweetie trembling. “Hold on a sec, Apple Bloom,” Babs said aloud. Back to Sweetie Belle she whispered, “I can say you’re feeling sick and wanted to go back to the house. On the way, you can run to the clubhouse. Pip’s probably waiting for you. I’ll meet you there as soon as I find out what’s going on.”
But Sweetie Belle was shaking her head. “I’m not leaving you, Babs. We have to stay together.” Her hoof clenched Babs’ own, squeezing tightly. Taking a deep breath, Sweetie Belle muttered, “Be ready to fight our way out if we have to, okay?”
“You got it.” Babs clenched her friend’s hoof, drawing much needed courage. Though she may put on a tough front, Babs was as scared as Sweetie Belle. She didn’t want to be alone either.
“We’re coming down!” Babs went first, followed by Sweetie Belle. Big Mac brought up the rear. The stairs were steep, almost vertical. Black, earthen walls rose up to either side of them. It felt more like entering a tomb than a basement, an observation made more real by the musty air. Apple Bloom was waiting for them at the bottom, holding up the lantern so that they could all see.
“Watch yer step.” She turned toward a narrow tunnel which ran a shorty way into the interior. The earthy walls surrounded them on all sides. It’s like the tunnel and stairs were built into the earth itself and not out of artificial substances like wood or stone. Upon leaving the tunnel, the troupe found itself inside a large room that was square in shape, the lantern light able to tell them that much by how it climbed the corners in right angles. The roof was fifteen feet above their heads and from it protruded what appeared to be tree roots.
At the center of the room was a table with a bowl of apples in them. Apple Bloom placed the lantern on the table and walked across to the other side. She sat down. “Welcome.”
Babs and Sweetie looked at each other, to Big Mac—who was standing sentry-like by the corridor—and back to Apple Bloom.
“W-Where are we?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously.
“Why, where the magic happens of course!” Apple Bloom nudged the bowl their way. “Apple?”
Babs took a brave step forward. “What’s going on here, Apple Bloom? You’re not acting like yourself. None of you are.” Her chest heaving, for the metallic scent was all over the place here. Her head was swooning.
“Why so upset, cuz?” Apple Bloom picked up an apple and took a loud, crunchy bite out of it. “You scared?”
“I’m upset! This isn’t you!”
“Ponies change, Babs. We had to. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have survived.” Her mouth was dripping with the same red juice as before. Each bite was louder than the last, the juice dripping on the table. “Mmm. Sure ya don’t want a bite?”
“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle cried and jumped next to Babs. “Is it true? Are you a murderer?”
Babs gawked at Sweetie Belle, unable to contain her surprise. “What are you doing?” She mouthed.
“What do you mean?” Apple Bloom asked her fellow Crusader.
“Are you…are you killing ponies?” Sweetie Belle hesitated. “Are you responsible for the disappearances?”
“Now where’d ya hear a crazy story like that?” Finishing the apple, the red-headed mare picked up another one. Taking a fresh bite, she chewed thoroughly. “Ah don’t kill ponies, Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom swallowed. “Ah grow them.”
“W-What did you say?” The unicorn stepped back, her foreleg up in the air.
“Then it’s…true?” Babs was in complete shock. It couldn’t be. Not her favorite cousin. Not Apple Bloom.
“Been doin’ it for five years now.” She smiled. “It’s the blood. The blood is what makes the trees grow. It’s how we beat the drought. It’s how we stay in business. The earth needs sustenance. It just drinks ponies now instead of water.” She offered them an apple. “Sure ya won’t change yer mind?”
“You’re crazy!” Babs yelled at her. “I can’t believe you’d do something like that!”
“Magic is as magic does, Babs. Speakin’ of which,” She leaned both her arms on the table as if stretching. Her bloody smile was wide. “Wanna see a disappearin’ trick?”
The lantern went out.
In the dark, Sweetie Belle screamed.
