Birds were chirping on top of the tall and shadowy canopies of sweet apple acres, the wind carrying their faint songs far, far away. It was a warm end of summer afternoon and spaces between the leaves and branches of the numerous trees had turned into cozy resting places for all sort of small creatures.
So far, the Apple family had spent the last weeks basking in such a stupendous harvest. In fact, they barely had space for more apples; even the barn was about to explode under so much weight.
Even if it happened, it wouldn't be the first time their barn collapsed. The poor building was rebuilt together with every new season.
Lately the Apples have been very busy with their own business, quite more than usual. To the misfortune of Applejack, the massive harvest also brought massive problems.
You know what they say - 'With great apples comes great responsibility.'
What was once a modest family thing, had expanded far beyond the acceptable apple borders. She simply couldn't handle all those damned fruits, and Ponyville alone wasn't willing to drown in apple juice, apple pie, apple cider, apple rolls, apple bread, apple sticks, fried apple, and all the possible and impossible apple recipes only for the sake of consuming the gigantic harvest before it all got rotten and wasted.
For those and some minor reasons, Sweet Apple Acres found itself oddly quiet and lifeless on that standard day. The Apples were in Manehattan, they had left for the week. All of them except Big Mac, who was trusted to take care of the place, and keep the cider production line running.
It wasn't a big deal for him, Mac preferred to stay alone in the farm rather than spending his week with the Oranges, trying to persuade them into buying the harvest leftovers.
His sister knew how to do that, not him, he'd likely do the hard work.
Laying against one of the wide open hardwood doors of the barn, Mac whispered a soft tune to himself. All the chores he was supposed to do, were done. Hay was packed, apples squeezed into juice, casks of hard cider were sealed, weeds ripped from the lawn, wagons fully loaded. His official job was finished.
And Mac sighed in relief.
Now he was free to do what he loved the most - witchcraft.
Naturally, that was a secret. And a very well kept one. The stallion seldom had an opportunity to make his experiments. He needed peace, silence, concentration, and sometimes a guinea pig. Unfortunately for him, none of those things could be found in Sweet Apple Acres.
There was always something heavy to push around, an apple tree to be kicked, a little sister to take care. But not that day.
It was the perfect day, one of those that only happen once or twice in a year.
Closing the door with a slight bump, he turned around to face the outside world, the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres bordering the wild edge of the forest.
Somewhere, behind the hard cider storage cellar, crossed a moss stone path leading far into the forest, ending in an ancient looking stone circle, mostly hidden under a thick layer of vines and dead leaves, but still noticeable for those with a keen eye.
Big Mac found that place years ago, when he was nothing but a foal, since then it became his personal heaven, and was treated with profound respect and reverence.
There was still enough natural light in the sky, and the warm rays of the setting sun pierced the stone circle through the spaces between the nearly rectangular rocks. Mac knew nothing about the ponies who built such a thing, the age was unknown, as so were the oddly shaped runes carved into the rock.
The mystery only revealed itself through feelings and intuition. The ancient magic was faint and practically undetectable, but still penetrated the soul of those willing to accept it.
Mac was no unicorn; he hadn't a hint of how unicorn magic worked. A unicorn would probably understand a lot more those feelings, maybe even the runes, he thought. But Mac wasn't planning to invite one - not that day - not to his personal arcane circle.
As softly as he could, the stallion dragged a huge bag to the crooked center of the stone circle. The linen bag was the size of a pony, several ropes entwined around it, meeting each other in a tight knot. The bag seemed lifeless.
Mac disappeared behind a large stone, there, a few inches below the surface was an old looking wooden chest, a little bit wet from the natural humidity. As he opened it an earthly scent escaped in the air, it smelled like fresh rain in dry soil, of drenched dead trees in the forest. From the chest he retrieved a long aubergine cloak, an ornate ebony scepter, a cider bottle, and a massive stone hammer, which he dragged with his mouth.
Putting on the cloak, and arranging the objects around the central altar, Mac sighed. He was ready to start the ritual.
Not very far from Sweet Apple Acres, a vibrant pegasus lazily floated from cloud to cloud, just enjoying herself as usual. It was Rainbow Dash, and she knew nothing about the whereabouts of the Apple Family, she expected to find Applejack or at least Granny Smith when she decided to pass by their lands, only for the sake of drinking some hard cider.
The place was dead, and not a single pony soul was at home to invite Rainbow for a drink or two. The mare rolled her eyes in frustration, groaning as she walked away.
The Apples never leave their place like that - like a ghost town - she thought.
Then a metaphorical light bulb turned itself on over her head. The hard cider cellar, of course! Applejack wouldn't mind if she tasted some of her cider, she wouldn't even notice the difference.
With a smile in her face, Rainbow made her way towards the cellar entrance, nothing but two wooden doors protruding from the ground. She licked her lips, already tasting the delicious beverage in the air. Confidently, she pulled the handles.
"Ah, you must be kidding me!" She groaned, shaking the handles furiously. "Crap! Why do you have to lock everything? It's not like we have cider thieves in Ponyville, for Celestia's sake." Rainbow muttered, admitting defeat.
Still, something was in the air. Something odd. Something apple. And Rainbow Dash was quick to notice this faint scent by the time she took off. For a second she hesitated, raised an eyebrow at the oddly quiet forest. That smell was unmistakable; there was hard cider being poured in that forest, and she was going to have some.
Stealthily, Rainbow followed the suspicious stone path splitting the woods apart, the crunchy sound of dry leaves under her hooves was the only thing daring to break the silence. Suddenly, the pegasus froze in place, quickly cowering behind an old oak. A gap between the thick bushes surrounding the tree allowed Rainbow Dash to catch a glimpse of what was happening there.
A hooded silhouette dragged a long staff through a circular glade in the woodland, the thing muttered strange words every time it passed by one of the stones. Rainbow swallowed hard - not in fear - of course she had no fear...
There was something in the center of that clearing, tied in a bag. Could it be... Applejack?
Rainbow shook her head at the thought. No, that couldn't be. No way.
The unknown figure stopped on its tracks, turning around towards the central altar, where the bizarre pony-sized bag rested lifeless. Rainbow Dash fought against the urge to leave, her curiosity wouldn't allow her body to walk away from such a spectacle of oddities.
With the sun already near the edge of the horizon, the natural light was scattered and displayed a gradient of yellow and orange tones, the shadows of the trees were long and misshapen, branches crisscrossing over her head. She noticed a large number of candles arranged around the stone circle, many of them pilling up near the center.
Suddenly, the creature lowered his hood, revealing a pair of glowing eyes.
"What the... Big Mac?" Rainbow gasped.
All the candles lit up at the same time, the tied bag in the center seemed to squirm. Rainbow Dash was in shock. In a trance-like state, the stallion levitated the hammer and the wooden staff, approaching the stone altar. There, he grabbed the cider bottle, and the liquid seemed to shine together with his eyes.
Effortlessly, Mac removed the cork of the bottle with his teeth, pouring all its shimmering contents over the linen bag and tossing the bottle aside.
"May the soul in every apple rise, and vivify the land under my hooves." His voice was deep and oddly ethereal, as if something spoke through his body. There was something definitely wrong with him, Rainbow thought. She had this gut feeling that wouldn't go away.
The bag contorted and squirmed again.
"With this sacrifice, the old harvest comes to an end"
"With this sacrifice, a new harvest shall arrive."
And so with a spell he raised the wooden staff, its sharpest point resting against the restless bag, floating still. With another hoof he grabbed the stone hammer, raising it far above his head. That was the moment, the summit, the last chance to do it.
"STOP!"
Rainbow Dash was fast, as she galloped into the magic circle, stepping over burning candles and everything else on the way. But she wasn't fast enough.
With a heavy thud, Big Macintosh hit the staff. He hammered it, making half of the wooden stake disappear into the bag, piercing whatever was inside, the other half was turned into pieces by the weight of the hammer. The bag was squeezed like a sandwich, and a stream of liquid splashed on their faces.
Dash was petrified, the only thing moving were her trembling legs.
"Y-you... you..." She muttered. A stream of liquid oozing into her mouth. For a moment, the thought she was tasting Applejack crossed her mind. But then she realized her friend wouldn't be so tasty.
"Please say that's just squeezed apple..." Rainbow muttered.
The stallion stared at her in surprise, his red cheeks flushing. Well, it's not everyday somepony stumbled against him while he performed arcane magic.
"Ah... Sorry." He rubbed his neck, fidgeting with the apple debris scattered around. "I was just... sacrificing the best apples."
Rainbow opened her mouth to ask, but realized it was better not to.
"Look Mac... Ah... I think I don't really want to know. But does your sister knows about this?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"No! I mean- she can't." He looked down at the ground.
"I won't tell anyone about your thing - whatever it is." She looked dubiously at the crunched bag of apples.
"Really?" He asked.
"Yeah... But only if you agree to open some bottles of hard cider for me." She chuckled, pretending to ignore what she had just witnessed. "Do we have a deal?"
"Yep!"
Thinking positively, it's not like Big Mac was sacrificing living creatures for the sake of their harvest.
At least not anymore.
But nopony needs to know that... Right?
