JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE FARM....
JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE FARM....
The sun shined brightly over the land of Equestria and on a farm located along the out skirts of Ponyville an orange mare named Apple Jack stood on a hill basking in the golden light. She wiped her brow with a foreleg then placed her Stetson hat back on her head. She stretched and shook herself off. It had been a long morning and it was sure to be a long rest of the day but that wasn't something that bothered her much. Hard work was something shed been used to sense she was a filly. After her parents deaths she watched her brother, Big Macintosh carry the weight of the farm on his still slim shoulders. She vowed that when she was big enough to help on the farm she would do so with the same determined spirit he had.
She had watched him for years toiling away to ensure the family would have food to eat and a roof over their head. Shed watched him buck apples alone till he literally collapsed and she and Granny Smith would have drag him into the house together. Shed watched him go out and work in the blazing heat or freezing cold all while he was sick or hurting from some pulled muscle or a stiff back. And even when he was in good health she knew that the work he was doing was taking a tole on him. But still Big Mac worked on and didn't complain about anything no matter how hard the work was. Apple Jack loved him. She wanted nothing more than to be as strong and dependable as him. He was her inspiration and everything that she hoped one day shed find in a stallion. He was more like a father to her than a brother and that in her mind made him even more of a big brother. And she knew that to Apple Bloom he was Dad. She had never known their parents and the only memories shed had of them were fleeting flashes of a kiss or a laugh from one of them and the scent of their mothers perfume.
Apple Jack sighed and started back down the hill. She knew she didn't have time to sit and bask in the sun if she wanted to get all the work that needed to be done that day finished before that golden ball set. A loud voice caught her ears and she perked them up listening intently as the voice sounded familiar.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THREW THEM OUT BY MISTAKE GRANNY! THEY WERE IN MY ROOM! YOU HAD TO GO INTO MY ROOM TO GET THAT BOX!"
Apple Jack was shocked, the loud voice was Big Mac. It was rare that her brother ever raised his voice and when he did you knew he was either very serious or very mad. Apple Jack broke into a full run rushing back to the farm house to try to see what she could do to calm the situation. She came up to the farm house but saw no pony there outside. Rushing inside she found Granny Smith sitting in her rocker tears falling silently down her face.
"GRANNY!! What Happened Here!? Wheres Big Mac!? I thought I heard him yellin' at ya! Are ya alright!?" Apple Jack ran to her grandmother and wrapped her hooves around her holding her close the same way she used to hold her when she was a filly and would wake up in the night crying over her parents.
"Oh Apple Jack...I think I may have done something very bad to Big Mac. I was going through the house doing summer cleaning, and I saw this dusty old box under his bed. I didn't think to look in it, I just thought it was some trash he'd forgotten about. Oh Apple Jack...He was so angry....I've never seen him this angry before. I never wanted to do anything to hurt him. He does so much for us and I would never want to see him this hurt. Apple Jack he said he hated me. He said he hates me Apple Jack. I've never heard him say he hated any pony. He hates me Apple Jack. I cant believe he hates me." Granny Smith cried into Apple Jacks shoulder her tears wetting her granddaughters fur.
Apple Jack made herself breathe slowly as an anger she didn't know she had in her started to bubble to the surface. She had never seen Granny Smith cry. She hadn't even cried at their parents funerals. But here and now she was broken into a pool of tears. She was too old to have to deal with such stress. Big Mac had no right to say something so heartless to his Grandmother. When their parents died it was Granny Smith who took them in so that they could stay in the only home they'd ever known. The home their father and mother had helped repair so many times over the years from one storm or another doing some kind of damage to it. Big Mac had no right to say what he did, and later after shed gotten her beloved Grandmother calmed down she would find him and give him a piece of her mind.
"Don't ya worry yer self none Granny. I know Big Mac didn't mean what he said. Hes just talkin' outta anger is all. Hes gonna come back in here before ya know it and beg y'all to forgive him, just you wait and see." Apple Jack smiled at her Grandmother hoping her words would cheer her but the look in Granny Smiths eyes said that she was scared, scared of her own Grandchild.
"I wish I could believe you sugar-cube. But you didn't see him. He is beyond rage. He hates me Apple Jack, I know he does." Granny Smith let Apple Jack go and rose from her rocker. "I am going to go to bed dearie. I feel very tired all of a sudden. Dinner is in the over. I don't think I will be joining y'all tonight. Goodnight Apple Jack." And with that Granny Smith walked slowly up the stairs to her room and closed the door. Apple Jack growled softly and stormed out the house. She knew where Big Mac was being he always went to the same place when he was upset or sad. Storming into the barn she let the heavy doors slam open so he would know that Tartarus was coming for him. She stomped up the ladder to the hay loft making all the angry noise she could so he would know how close she was. The she grabbed a rope that was hanging from the ceiling and yanked it hard making another ladder crash down to the floor.
She stormed up this ladder as well and made her way over the top of the roof. There sitting on the roof was Big Mac his back was turned towards Apple Jack but she could tell from how he was sitting that he was highly upset. She didn't have to see it but she knew that he was crying. Some of the anger she felt dissipated at the knowledge that her amazingly strong big brother was in tears but part of it remained and burned brightly at the memory of her Grandmother in tears as well because of some hurtful words that he had said to her whether he'd only said them out of anger or not. She was here to give him a piece of her mind and that's just what she was going to do.
"They were the only pictures I had of Mom, Dad and Cheerilee...They were all I had left of them Apple Jack." Big Mac said to her before she could even open her mouth to try to light into him. She stopped her advance on him looking at his strong shoulders as they shook as he cried silently. "They were the love letter Cheerilee wrote me. And the letter she wrote me before....." A choked sob escaped Big Mac and Apple Jacks anger wavered. "Why would she go in my room and throw anything away Apple Jack? I always keep my room neat, unlike you and Apple Bloom." Apple Jack felt a blush creep up her face as she thought about the fact that her brother a stallion had a room that was spotless while she a mare had a room that looked like a hurricane went through it and Apple Blooms was worst. "I don't understand Apple Jack...WHY!? WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT!?" Big Mac's voice rose and Apple Jack forgot about her anger and went over to her brother wrapping her forehooves around him from behind. From what she could tell the box had been holding pictures and letters that were very important and special to Big Mac.
Apple Jack knew that her brother was a simple stallion and instead of getting a fancy photo album he simply put everything into a old shoe box and put it under his bed. The box had probably been under there forever. She couldn't give him a reason as to why Granny Smith would go into his room and throw away anything. She couldn't understand why Granny Smith had been doing a lot of the odd things shed been doing lately. Shed been calling them by names that weren't their names, shed been putting food on then completely forgetting about it. One time she almost burned down the house doing this. Shed been sleeping a lot during the days and seemed to like to wander at night. Shed been forgetting what she was doing or where she was going. Apple Jack knew that part of it was old age but she could tell that something more was going on. But she wasn't a doctor and Granny Smith would refuse to see a doctor in town so Apple Jack just made sure to remind Apple Bloom to turn off the stove if Granny Smith left the food on for too long, or to make sure she locks all the locks on the doors at night so Granny Smith couldn't wander out the house.
Apple Jack placed a kiss on Big Mac's cheek hoping the gesture would calm him down as it had often done when they were younger and he'd gotten upset. She smiled as she felt his shoulders relax and a deep sigh left him. "There, there now Big Macintosh. Ya know Granny Smith has been acting strange lately. I'm sure its got somethin' to do with her being so old. I think tomorrow we need to drag her to a doctor if she wont come willingly and find out whats wrong. But before we can do that, ya need to go in there and apologize fer what ya said to her. I don't care how mad y'all are ya don't got no right tellin' her somethin' like ya hate her! Shes our Grandmother Big Mac, shes all we got here other than each other and Apple Bloom. And I know ya remember Pa tellin' us how important family was all them times you and me got into little bickering matches when we were little. Now ya do the right thing and make it right between you and Granny. She said shes gone to bed but ya know shell be up later wanderin'. Ya better make sure ya tell her sorry and ya love her more than anything and ya will never say nothing like what ya said again. Cause if ya ever tell Granny something like that again, I promise y'all...Ill buck yer jawline clean to the moon, and I mean that Big Brother. I love ya to death, but you wont disrespect Granny like that ever again, I don't care what she does. Do ya understand Big Mac?"
Big Mac nodded and sighed, but he didn't answer her. Apple Jack didn't press the matter because she knew Big Mac being silent meant he was thinking and she assumed he was thinking of how he'd tell his Granny sorry and she didn't want to distract him from that. Little did she know that inside Big Mac's head wave after wave of dark images were flooding his mind. He'd long had these thoughts but he never entertained them. He would shake them off and ignore them. He would go to his room if it got to be too much and look at his pictures of his Mother, Father and Beloved Wife. This always calmed him and made him feel better....Normal. But now they were gone and he couldn't pull one single memory of those pictures up while so many bloody and horrible images raced through his mind. He sighed heavily as he rose slowly to his hooves. Granny Smith probably didn't mean to hurt him. She probably didn't mean to throw away something so precious to him.
That's what his logical, normal brain said. But his other brain, the darker one, whisper venom into his soul. "She did it on purpose, the old bitch. She doesn't give a damn about you. Your just the muscle and not even hired muscle because you don't even get a single damn bit of the Bits you help bring in. Well, unless you beg her for some to use for yourself. Ungrateful hag! Stupid old crone!! How dare she take whats yours and throw it out. Some pony should kill that bitch.....YOU Should kill that bitch. Kill that Bitch....KILL that BITCH!! KILL THAT BITCH!! KILL THAT BITCH! KILL THAT BITCH! KILLTHATBITCHKILLTHATBITCHKILLTHATBITCH!!!" Over and over the darker voice whispered till the whisper became a roar. Big Mac tried to ignore it but the voice got so loud he was sure that everyone in Ponyville could hear it. Big Mac missed a step as he climbed down the ladder that led to the hay loft. He fell hard smacking his head against the solid wood floor. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was the sound of the dark voice in his head saying,"KILL THE BITCH BIG MAC AND MAKE HER PAY FOR HURTING YOU!"
The thoughts started in his head.
The death started in the Apple Family's barn.
And the killing ended at the Lunar Execution Chamber, which hadn't been used in over one thousand years.
I know it hadn't been used in that long because I am Princess Luna and I am the only one that can open that room.
My sister may be able to raise the moon with much concentration and effort but that room is tied to my very being.
Without my direct magic it wont open. And I had hoped that when I returned I would never have to open it again.
But I was wrong....So very wrong....
The twisted events began at the Apple Family's Farm, Sweet Apple Acres.
The day as far as I could tell from his dreams, and as far as any pony else could tell, had started like any other.
Apples needed to be harvested, chores needed to be completed and dinner needed to be made early so every pony could get to bed and start the next day bright and early.
But for one, the next day would never come....
For one soul the night would hold terrors unimaginable and it would only be the beginning of a horrid, bloody and senseless string of crimes.
All perpetrated by a pony the victims trusted the most.
No pony saw it coming.
He didn't give any warning signs.
He didn't give even a hint of the evil that lived in his soul.
Quiet....So very, very quiet he was. Never showing the raging storm that lived in his heart.
He was a beloved family member.
He was her faithful Grandson.
He was their ever Dependable Big Brother.
And.....He was their Executioner.
